This is my first AAR.
It will have a rather high level of abstraction. Every ten years the high counsil will have a meeting, this group of noblemen will roughly symbolize the player. Their titles are assumed to be inherited, thus they will always have the same names. Their names come from the default names of the Swedish colonels. Other events will be commented by me, raw comments regarding the game will be in brackets.
Since I'm a Swede myself, I would like to issue a warning: Besides gameplay, I base this AAR on some facts and on some things I've made up myself. Thus, it will probably contain a mix of real historical facts and anachronisms. As an example, at a given time the members of the high council may be either from families that haven't yet moved to Sweden or families that are extinct. I haven't done any research.
To give a Swedish touch, I will use Swedish names where their English translation is obvious. I might drop that idea later.
I play vanilla EUII, with the exception of two events I added to reflect Swedish expansionist policies.
I appreciate all comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------
1419.
Monthly income: 7 ducats.
Army: 18k - 5k - 0
Navy: 10 - 0 - 5
BB: 0
Castle Tre Kronor, Stockholm. The high council has a meeting regarding the future.
Chairman Eka began to speak.
-"What do we want to do?"
-"The Kalmar Union is not a very successful concept. We must end it!", Gatenhielm shouted, slamming his hand into the oak table.
-"What then?"
-"We should have a long term strategy." The intelligent strategist Sture began to speak.
"If we just end the Kalmar Union our many enemies may crush us. Danmark are becoming more and more uncooperative and they continue sending us evil bailiffs which the peasants detest. Norway is just Danmark's puppy - we can't trust them any more than the Danes. However, the old Viking tales about a foreign land on the other side of the sea are interesting ones if they are true. We know the scrolls are still located in Oslo. We should try to get a look at them as well as the charts over the northern seas. This must not be forgotten as it may lead to unexpected opportunities in the future. If an unsettled land exists beyond the sea, we should be there to settle it! Back to the long term strategy. We should strive to unite all Scandinavian people. The Kalmar union is obviously the wrong way - we should unite them under the Swedish flag! Then we have the Ugric people, not just in Finland but in the realms of Novgorod and the Teutonic Order. They should be included in our country as well. Finally, we have the issue of the Baltic trade. We should control it! The cities in northern Germany are rich. We should try to seize some of them, with Lübeck as the main objective."
-"How would we - a poor country in the north - be able to achieve all these goals?"
-"They are long term goals - if we are determined and have a strategy then we may one day succeed."
-"What about the near future? Does anyone have a situation report?"
-"Of course." Åkerhielm was chief of security and intelligence.
"Danmark is rich and strong, Norway are as poor as we are but they still control old Viking settlements and they are loyal to Danmark. Together they surround our southern, western and northern borders. They also have a mighty navy. In the east, Novgorod is not as strong as it once has been. Instead, the city of Moskva is getting stronger and stronger and we believe they will annex Novgorod. If they do, we will have a powerful enemy in the east. Therefore we should try to secure as much as possible of Novgorod territory. On the other shore of the Baltic Sea we have the Teutonic Order, Preussen, Poland and Lithuania - two powerful nations - and some minor German nations. In Europe, England seems to have the upper hand in France. Castile has almost defeated the Moors. In Eastern Mediterranean, the Ottomans are getting stronger and stronger and now they are threatening Konstantinopel. The Italian cities are reluctant to help Bysantium and we can do nothing about it. This is the situation in Europe in the year 1419. Far away, there is a nation called Kina and a nation called Indien. We know that they are very rich trading goods such as spices and porcelain, but the way to those countries are blocked by moslem nations, mountains and deserts. There are also mongol hordes, their nations begin beyond Moskva and stretches far to the south and to the east. South of the Mediterranean there is a big land called Afrika. Arabs live in the northern part, then there is a big desert and somewhere is a great christian king. On the western coast, south of Kap Bojador, we believe there is a monster."
The room was silent for a minute, then Sture presented a strategy to successfully end the Kalmar Union and emerge as the strongest of the three nations.
-"I have a cunning plan. We believe that Norway will be get an even tighter bond to Danmark if we leave the Kalmar Union, right? We also believe that Norway doesn't want a war. If we attack Novgorod Norway would probably let us down. That would give us a casus belli on them. If we strike Norway instead we should be able to cripple them seriously enough to conquer most of their territory and Danmark can't do anything about it without violating international law. Meanwhile, Novgorodian troops would probably lay waste in Finland but they wouldn't reach further. Once we have a peace with Norway, we should be able to drive Novgorod out of Finland and take the war to their territory. When fighting them we should use the winter to our advantage. Then we could try to get some of their unsettled land to prevent it from falling in the hands of Moskva and being settled by people loyal to them. If we can accomplish that, our eastern border should be relatively secure in the future. It would also provide us with a buffert zone of defence. What do you think?"
A unison "YES" was heard in the room.
It will have a rather high level of abstraction. Every ten years the high counsil will have a meeting, this group of noblemen will roughly symbolize the player. Their titles are assumed to be inherited, thus they will always have the same names. Their names come from the default names of the Swedish colonels. Other events will be commented by me, raw comments regarding the game will be in brackets.
Since I'm a Swede myself, I would like to issue a warning: Besides gameplay, I base this AAR on some facts and on some things I've made up myself. Thus, it will probably contain a mix of real historical facts and anachronisms. As an example, at a given time the members of the high council may be either from families that haven't yet moved to Sweden or families that are extinct. I haven't done any research.
To give a Swedish touch, I will use Swedish names where their English translation is obvious. I might drop that idea later.
I play vanilla EUII, with the exception of two events I added to reflect Swedish expansionist policies.
I appreciate all comments.
-----------------------------------------------------------
1419.
Monthly income: 7 ducats.
Army: 18k - 5k - 0
Navy: 10 - 0 - 5
BB: 0
Castle Tre Kronor, Stockholm. The high council has a meeting regarding the future.
Chairman Eka began to speak.
-"What do we want to do?"
-"The Kalmar Union is not a very successful concept. We must end it!", Gatenhielm shouted, slamming his hand into the oak table.
-"What then?"
-"We should have a long term strategy." The intelligent strategist Sture began to speak.
"If we just end the Kalmar Union our many enemies may crush us. Danmark are becoming more and more uncooperative and they continue sending us evil bailiffs which the peasants detest. Norway is just Danmark's puppy - we can't trust them any more than the Danes. However, the old Viking tales about a foreign land on the other side of the sea are interesting ones if they are true. We know the scrolls are still located in Oslo. We should try to get a look at them as well as the charts over the northern seas. This must not be forgotten as it may lead to unexpected opportunities in the future. If an unsettled land exists beyond the sea, we should be there to settle it! Back to the long term strategy. We should strive to unite all Scandinavian people. The Kalmar union is obviously the wrong way - we should unite them under the Swedish flag! Then we have the Ugric people, not just in Finland but in the realms of Novgorod and the Teutonic Order. They should be included in our country as well. Finally, we have the issue of the Baltic trade. We should control it! The cities in northern Germany are rich. We should try to seize some of them, with Lübeck as the main objective."
-"How would we - a poor country in the north - be able to achieve all these goals?"
-"They are long term goals - if we are determined and have a strategy then we may one day succeed."
-"What about the near future? Does anyone have a situation report?"
-"Of course." Åkerhielm was chief of security and intelligence.
"Danmark is rich and strong, Norway are as poor as we are but they still control old Viking settlements and they are loyal to Danmark. Together they surround our southern, western and northern borders. They also have a mighty navy. In the east, Novgorod is not as strong as it once has been. Instead, the city of Moskva is getting stronger and stronger and we believe they will annex Novgorod. If they do, we will have a powerful enemy in the east. Therefore we should try to secure as much as possible of Novgorod territory. On the other shore of the Baltic Sea we have the Teutonic Order, Preussen, Poland and Lithuania - two powerful nations - and some minor German nations. In Europe, England seems to have the upper hand in France. Castile has almost defeated the Moors. In Eastern Mediterranean, the Ottomans are getting stronger and stronger and now they are threatening Konstantinopel. The Italian cities are reluctant to help Bysantium and we can do nothing about it. This is the situation in Europe in the year 1419. Far away, there is a nation called Kina and a nation called Indien. We know that they are very rich trading goods such as spices and porcelain, but the way to those countries are blocked by moslem nations, mountains and deserts. There are also mongol hordes, their nations begin beyond Moskva and stretches far to the south and to the east. South of the Mediterranean there is a big land called Afrika. Arabs live in the northern part, then there is a big desert and somewhere is a great christian king. On the western coast, south of Kap Bojador, we believe there is a monster."
The room was silent for a minute, then Sture presented a strategy to successfully end the Kalmar Union and emerge as the strongest of the three nations.
-"I have a cunning plan. We believe that Norway will be get an even tighter bond to Danmark if we leave the Kalmar Union, right? We also believe that Norway doesn't want a war. If we attack Novgorod Norway would probably let us down. That would give us a casus belli on them. If we strike Norway instead we should be able to cripple them seriously enough to conquer most of their territory and Danmark can't do anything about it without violating international law. Meanwhile, Novgorodian troops would probably lay waste in Finland but they wouldn't reach further. Once we have a peace with Norway, we should be able to drive Novgorod out of Finland and take the war to their territory. When fighting them we should use the winter to our advantage. Then we could try to get some of their unsettled land to prevent it from falling in the hands of Moskva and being settled by people loyal to them. If we can accomplish that, our eastern border should be relatively secure in the future. It would also provide us with a buffert zone of defence. What do you think?"
A unison "YES" was heard in the room.
