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unmerged(6838)

unmerged(6838)

Wearer of Pants(TM)
Dec 14, 2001
247
0
byzirregulars.blogspot.com
Emperor Manuel VII Paleologus (long may he reign) appointed me viceroy in the year of our lord 1419. An awkward peace weighed heavily on his shoulders, and his secret command to me rang in my ears: Rid us of the Turk.

I arranged royal marriages with our Orthodox brethren in Wallachia, Serbia, Athens, Novgorod, and Muscovy. With our encouragement, Athens threw off the yoke of Catholicism, and became our ally and vassal. With the assistance of the Duke of Athens pledged, and Konstantinos XI commanding our army of Rome, we revoked the Turk's right to passage through our land in 1425. The Turk declared war.

We rapidly tore through Macedonia and Bulgaria; as we waged our war, opportunistic Tepes, Voievode of Wallachia, invaded Dobrudja. With the Turk reeling, we were near victory when suddenly Candar invaded Thrace, and we accepted peace with the Turk, along with an indemnity of 174 ducats.

Just after our new peace was completed in 1429, our beloved Emperor died, replaced by his meek yet crafty son. For my successes, I was made Viscount. We built up our trading houses, establishing presences in Novgorod, Danzig, and Venice, all the while honing our military (+1 Quality). As soon as our truce with the Turk expired, we went to war again.

Our Roman fleet suffered hideous casualties, but on land our alliance with Athen proved unstoppable. Within a year (1435) we had sieged and captured Macedonia and Bulgaria, and Anatolia lay beneath the heel of Athens. The Turk sued for peace, and in exchange for our Christian mercy, we took Anatolia (for Athens), Smyrna and Trabazon. By the end of the next decade, we hope to wipe the Ottoman Turk from the face of the earth.

The glory of the Second Rome has not yet faded from the earth.
 
Interesting strategy, taking Athens under your wing instead of annexing them. Have they converted to orthodox? In any case, I assume you're looking for an eventual diplo-annexation.

Keep going m8!
 
Responses to queries

I hope to eventually diplo-annex Athens, but that might be night impossible. Since they unvassalized from Tuscant so early, I've been working on keeping relations high. I also lucked out with gaining both them and me land in Asia Minor (I have Smyrna and Trabazon, they have Anatolia). Ottomans are down to Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Antalya; I hope to take them out within the next ten years. Wallachia is making a serious bid to block European expansion, so I guess I'll head east or north through the Golden Horde.

My settings are at Normal/Normal, so I don't think it will be too difficult to carry my plan through. I took a serious monetary hit, though; inflation crisis came up (noble stealing from the gov't) and I opted to fight corruption, which made me take a loan, and I was 15 ducats from repaying it when it came due, so I had to take a second one.

I'll continue the AAR prolly tonight, after a few hours of play.

Thanks for the input.
 
Quick update (more detail will follow after Xmas [cursed vacations]):

Allied with Georgia, who dragged me into war. Came out of the war with a white peace. Declared war on Ottomans as soon as possible. We crushed them, and got every territory but Macedonia (their capital). They were our vassals.

Then all hell broke loose.

Venice conquered Macedonia; Armenia freed itself from Ak-Koyunlu; we gained a royal marriage with Armenia; and took a huge stability hit (-5) from random event Crush the Nobles (in order to gain centralization). Thrace (the capital) converted to Catholicism.

To top it off, my monarch was crappy at everything. And all my generals were dead. So I battened down the hatches, and tried to afford a refinery in Morea (to gain benefit of trade increases).

Revolt in Bulgaria! I promptly crushed the revolt. Now here's the funny part. They revolted, even though they were orthodox (alright, and slavonic); whereas Antalya, which is Turkish and Muslim, is one of my most laid back provinces. I acquired them at the same time, and both had tax collectors.

So I made the single largest mistake of my career as viceroy of Byzantium: i created Bulgaria as a vassal. They instantly allied with Bosnia and Venice (whose sole foothold in the Balkans was my much-wanted Macedonia). Then, as my alliance gained Armenia, I was attacked by Venice, Bosnia, and Bulgaria. At first I fared well. Macedonia was falling under my vast siege army (34 units, about 22 of it infantry, half from Athens). And my fleet of galleys had destroyed three venetian warships and two transports. Then the venetian main fleet annihilated my fleet (34 to 9). And my besieging army was crushed between Bulgarian and Venetian forces.

I lost Morea and Smyrna in the peace. That, coupled with the massive investment in a (destroyed) army left me crippled.

Over this time, I had tried and failed to diplo-annex Athens four times. Three of those times with a 7 rated diplo king. Not happening.

Oh, one of the interesting side notes; The Ottoman's popped up as Orthodox Greeks in Asia Minor, revolting from Aragon. I quickly Royal Marriaged them. Not that it did any good.

My Byzantium never recovered. Oh, and Georgia never did help me in my war. Bastards. Venetia delenda est!

(Like I said, I'll pretty it up later. How sad to come so close to success only to fail.)
 
I'll join with my miniAAR after two days of gameplay.
I started playing Byzantium in GC(Normal,Agressive), and I saw IT - two separated provinces with turks everywhere around me! I got to do something with them. Their neighbours weren't willing to form alliance with me(i wasn't even hoping they will, C/B 4ever), so I decided to do it on my own. As soon as my army was large enough to split it in two units that can fight and win i declared War. 25k Infantry was sent to Anatolia and it's mission was to occupy four provinces in Asia Minor, as Turks aneexed Sinopi just a month before.
At the same time I sent 35k Infantry to Siege thier capitol, and take care of troops stationed there. My lack of Cavarly caused large casualties, and i was preparing to send reinforcements to Macedonia
(anyway capitol fell before I did sent them). Encouraged by Moldavia declaring war on Turks i rushed north to be sure that Moldavia won't take any provinces for itself. I made it only beacuse Moldavia took Turkish gold (a whole 50@ :) ) and signed peace. Asian provinces quickly fell into my rule, but from mighty 25k army there were only 6k left due to attrition.

March 1428 - Turks accepted the peace resolution that left them with one province.
1430 - i became a member of an alliance. (Papal States, Venice, Bosnia).
later in 1430 - Venice declares war on Turks, and i gladly join, siege Macedonia, and annex.
March 1431 - Turkish Empire dissapears from map. People of their provinces quickly assimilate, as there is no cultural and religious differences(not to mention two Islam provinces, where troops are sent to fight any rebel opposition).

In fourth decade i went fighting Papal States ... they dishonored alliance when it came to fight/annex Athens, and after that I got an event granting me C/B vs Papal St. In 1445. I had 14 provinces under rule, three of them taken from Papal States, and many wars that means nothing because of a huge BB factor i think. Anyway i have -200 relation with everybody besides Venice(invested some money there - at least i have some allies, and they helped me a little) and Nubia, as it will be vassalized soon(I'm not willing to loose any VP - about 400 now, and a mission popped up because i forgot to choose my own). After alliance with Venice expired I was on my own, not fighting any wars, investing in technology, lending gold to other nations and waiting for BB to lower.

This was way too easy for me. I had ONE good Capitol province, and one small(Morea) not even cared about defending it. I had 4k Manpower max, 2k per year, and I still could defeat Turks with 8 provinces, and taking 7 of them after the first War in 1424-28. Their diplomats and war advisors seemed to sleep, as they had no allies and no troops at the time I attacked. And they only fought one war previos to this with Byzantium/Me and gained one province in it.
I just went there and took what belongs to me now, no opposition( do you consider 2k army as an opposition? ) and quick annexation, thanks to my allies.I think they wasted too much fighting and siegeing in Asia Minor.

I got mission points for taking Smyrna, annexing Athens, and a few more, so i'm highest, Austria is second with just 200 VP.
This is my firts GC in EU2, and it's not described in full, as it's 1480 now and I have 16 provinces. My only problem is with centres of trade. I choose cheap Venice(2@ to send merchant), but with technology at level 2 and 3 merchants per year it's impossible to take any profits form it. I earn my money from loans(100@ per year) but it's not a big cash. I'm still low at tech and tweaking towards max innovation (mostly through events) doesn't help too much. And I always have highest priority to invest in stability if not +3.

I'm still new to the game, and learning the way it works.
:) :) :) to all veterans here!

PS. Some of provinces' names are probably spelled wrong, and I apologize for that and other mistakes.. i tried to avoid naming all the provinces just because i don't know if the names are correct.
 
If you guys want to give it another go, there's a bunch of new Byzantium events ready for testing. Doubt it will make things much easier, but it will certainly make them more interesting.

PM me or stop by the Scenario forum.

driftwood
 
New Byzantium on hold

Yes, I said my AAR would update. So I erred. I figured part of my problem was that I played too EU1 a game, and this was kicking my behind. As a result, I am going to train heavily before attempting Byzantium again.

But rest assured, I will rise. Triumphant, and stuff.
 
Byzantine AAR

American Scipio:

Sounds like you got off to a good start; I am playing the perfidious Greeks as well, and have also gotten off to a good start. I like the fact you attempted a diplo-annex of the Duchy of Athens. I did not have the patience, and blew them off of the map within the first two years....
I also tried placating the Turks initially, which worked, and also tried to keep the Big, Bad Wolves at bay (Venice, Genoa, etc.) through diplomacy. I have only recently struck at the Ottomans (1445) due to my precarious situation. I was able, however, to jump in on two sieges on their last legs and take two provinces quickly; I was also able to follow up by winning two more provinces before Constantinople fell.
Unfortunately, it seems every country in Europe is out for blood (mine). I am now being attacked (unsuccessfully, I might add) by Denmark and her allies...
What the $%*!! are they doing in Eastern Europe, anyway....?
Quick question - I am having a difficult time becoming the head of an alliance. Have you attempted this, or are you getting in on other alliances, instead? It seems the Greeks are diplomatically impaired in the game I'm playing, but at least they are still alive...(so are the Turks, though....)

Thanks,

Paul
 
PIcolano-

In my first game, I lucked out. Of course, I tend to go the dip route and avoid war, but I always go for a royal marriage with as many ortho countries as I can. Big sticking point here is Athens. If they stick with vassalized to Tuscany, you're gonna have problems. I lucked out there.

I got an alliance with Georgia and Athens, and that essentially was enough to wreak all kinds of havoc with the Turks. Keep in mind, this was 1.01, and I haven't tried it since. the important thing is to do your dip stuff early and often, because after Konstantinos dies it's impossible. The monarchs blow, and even with Konny, it's damn hard.

I would try and concentrate on alliances with friendly local orthodox countries, preferably those with greek culture (Athens, Trabzon). Sometimes, allying with the Knights and Mameluks isn't bad either. I did this once and they wiped out the Ottomans for me. And I got Smyrna and Anatolia anyway!
 
Monarchs

American Scipio:

I find it odd that the monarchs blow for the Byzantines after the death of Constantine XI. Traditionally, the Byzantines would have two or three horrible emperors (sometimes more), then a couple of really good ones. I was unable to continue yesterday, but hope to have time to soldier on in the evening. I am looking forward to your continuation of the AAR; best of luck...

Later,

Paul
 
Good going, I like to see the other side (The 'normal' side) of a Byzantine game. I went weird and allied with Turkey, forsaking the tratorous Greek Orthodox lands that aren't controlled by me.
 
Well, tonight I start my new Byzantine campaign (fixed 1.02 with Byzantine EEP events). Can't wait to see what happens. Will post AAR when I can.
 
Well, I tried it. Man, it is TOUGH! I got Cyprus (on the third try- damn those Cypriots are hardnosed bastards!) But Trebizond kept sucking me into other wars I didn't want. This so depleted me that the Ottomans rolled right over me in 1429. They took everything but Thrace. I used the revolving credit cheat, so I had tax collectors in Morea, Thrace, and Cyprus. So kiss those good bye. Oh, and they killed Konny. Peckerwoods.

After that, I just hung up my spurs. I may go back to that game. But I think I'll just start again, and try yet another strategy. :D
 
Drop Trebizond like a rhino tied to a rock on the side of a very tall bridge on a gravity dense planet. All they do is get you into wars. What you need to do is perhaps ally with Hungary, or Venice and the little nations outside Turkey. Once you have an ally stick to them! do not drop an ally after you have fought so long to get hin, I tried it, and as my AAR will show it HURTS!
 
Still too easy

I?m currently in a game as Byzantium Very Hard/Furious. It?s 1700 and I own
most of north Africa (can?t get the Sudanese into a war and it?s not worth
two stability to attack them) all the middle east, eastern Europe to the steppes,
half of Germany, Spain, Italy and all of South America. This game is still way too
easy (though it?s harder than it was). The main issue is manpower should decrease
when you maintain huge armies (replacements). As it is it?s just too easy to steamroll
when money stops mattering. Mercenaries also make it too easy to supplement
manpower.

The trick to getting off the ground with Byzantium is to stab Turkey during their
first war. Then make war on the small Anatolian states and let them off the hook
for money. They are loaded early in the game, I got over a thousand from two
wars and never looked back. Also don?t mess with the Balkans till you?re tough
enough to play with the big boys. The middle east is easier prey.
 
... I don't enjoy conquer the world games. I trie to play with some reasoning or goal, except for my Sweden and Castille games currently, those are learning games. I also go for some sort of persona, for example I would play Algeirs, and the goal would be to first pacify neighbors, second become a thorn in the side of the the Iberians by making privateer after privateer. No, it wasn't cost effective, it wasn't doing much of anything, but it was fun trying to make sure I didn't get gobbled up and to watch those pirates get on the comps nerves! (It would be even more fun in multi-player games :) )
 
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