The pocket empire, updated to 1.42

The celebrations were not over yet and the Byzantines already started to plot against the empire. They will have their fix when the right time comes.
"July 23, 1421 : Byzantine Empire went with Release Mustafa and hope for the best in Pretender to the Ottoman "
The army was already maneuvering for a new war and those rebelions were pitiful. They will pay for the nuisance however.
These swift dealings with the rebels gave much confidence to the new ruler. Perhaps too much, some would say in the future. Notice the promotions underway on the the royal provinces.

"February 1, 1424 : A White Peace was signed between Ottoman Empire and Georgia."
The war is declared over and now we are free to pursue... new wars.

"May 21, 1424 : Byzantine Empire went with Accept the Treaty, become Ottoman vassal in Treaty of 1424."
The Byzantines are not that foolish, it seems. A renewed vow of allegiance arrives.

A fortuitous event, and a wise decision from that people of Anatolia.

October 6, 1425
Some debate takes place on what to attack next. Meanwhile, a conservative measure is taken. It pacifies the empire for a while; however soon that tranquility would be gone for long years.

A lack of CBs and the low income from the pre-Constantinople age make the choosing of a target quite troublesome. Finally one objective is chosen; over the following years I learn much about net profit in the game. Not all gold pays. We shall fight for the Armenian mines nevertheless.
"May 17, 1428 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Kara Koyunlu."

It looked easy, honest. Their allies, Shirvan, even chose to stay out of the war. They were busy with the Timurids on their heels. Georgia was fighting them, too. Those mountainous provinces were bad, bad for my cavalry based army, though.
Indeed experts care about logistics over strategy or tactics. My first mistake shows.
"June 1, 1428 : We took a loan."
Something that is hardly a factor in a normal Ottoman game is crippling in this particular game. My army is too large. Seeing I had an inflation of 0.2%, I press on minting.

It does go well at the beginning.
"June 17, 1428 : We won a battle against Kara Koyunlu in Armenia."
Yet it dragged on and on.
June 17, Shirvan rejoined them. That does not bode well since I need, in theory, a fast victory.
July 30. Good, or maybe mixed news. Georgia declares war on them, and it means some help but also massive attrition from the brainless AI troops.
August 10. The Timurids join the party. Even more attrition is expected. We lead the sieges over the gold mines and their capital.

February 1, 1429, The last Ghazi province is inherited as well.

"March 24, 1429 : Plague! happened to us."
A disaster right now, why don't you. Exactly what we needed.

More bad news follow.
"April 10, 1429 : We lost a battle against Kara Koyunlu in Azerbaijan."
General attrition takes his toll on the invaders. Thanks for nothing, AI. Now we have to start the sieges over.

"July 1, 1429 : We took a loan."
This is going very bad. A second loan? Maintainance is reduced despite the awful timing.

A weird, weird approach is devised. Since we need to lose troops and our stability is so low anyway:
"November 30, 1429 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Ak Koyunlu."
That shall help. However... oops.
"November 30, 1429 : Timurid Empire joined the war on the same side as Ak Koyunlu in their war against Ottoman Empire."

Greetings. I just added a screen from their advance. An AI cannot beat a human but in a different setting that mistake would prove quite deadly as they can reach Angora, which is still mine.

I must admit I even forgot about taking screenshots for a while. That went worse than I... planned? What plans? I played like I had the Thrace COT and now i was paying the price for such carelessness.

"January 22, 1430 : Shirvan accepted peace with Georgia on the following terms: Full Annexation of Shirvan by Georgia"
Don't really know what to think of that. The fight over the gold rages on, while I sneakly take...
"August 26, 1430 : We captured the province of Sivas from Ak Koyunlu."

Some good news, even though it serves us little at the moment. Raises our spirits, of course, and alleviates the budget somewhat.
"October 30, 1430 : We captured the province of Armenia from Ak Koyunlu."

Great news follow as the White Sheep is knocked out of the war.
"November 12, 1430 : We captured the province of Nuyssaybin from Ak Koyunlu."
They procrastinate yet the Timurids are not able to save them in time, so
"February 1, 1431 : Ak Koyunlu accepted our generous peace offer."


Meanwhile, somewhere else... the AI perform another of its excessive diploannexations. This one might affect the Black Sea region, even.
"April 30, 1431 : Milan annexed Genoa."


"February 9, 1432 : Ghazi are now our vassals."
Given the deadlock on the east, and desiring a vassal Ghazi instead of a poor province, I maneuver to grant them independence merely to take Smyrna back and vassalizing them promptly.
"February 9, 1432 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Ghazi."
It is good that stability does not go worse than -3.
"July 3, 1432 : We captured the province of Smyrna from Ghazi."
"August 23, 1432 : We captured the province of Antalya from Ghazi."
"August 24, 1432 : Ghazi are now our vassals."

"February 1, 1434 : A White Peace was signed between Ottoman Empire and Kara Koyunlu."
That is just not right, we were sieging their gold province which was occupied by the Timurids. Blame the game engine.
"March 1, 1435 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Kara Koyunlu."
That is right! We cannot get more chaotic than this!

Following the philosophy "It cannot get worse", Candar is brought in as a vassal.
"March 30, 1433 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Candar."
"January 11, 1434 : Candar are now our vassals."

This time, I can say about this -3 stability event "Do I care?"
"October 7, 1434 : Assassination of Noble happened to us."


The Sultan is concerned with the lacky performance of the army and a reform is introduced in a convenient time.
"May 17, 1432 : We went with Great Army Reform in Military Reforms."


Much, much later... finally reasons to rejoice. The gold is ours after their capital fell in 1436. This was an ugly, ugly display of lack of awareness on logistics.
"May 11, 1436 : We captured the province of Azerbaijan from Kara Koyunlu."

July 1, 1438
While skirmishes with the Timurids went on over eastern Anatolia, our vassal and ally decides to grab some lands.
Why not, really? My sliders lessen war exaustion anyway. And I want more vassals.
"July 2, 1438 : Ottoman Empire joined the war on the same side as Wallachia, Albania and Bosnia in their war against Moldavia."
Let's have them kill each other for a while first, though.

That was just not fair... stability could have taken one extra month to increase.
"February 1, 1439 : Our stability increased."
"February 1, 1439 : We went with Remind me in Domestic Policy Reminder."
"February 1, 1439 : Our stability dropped."

February 22, 1439
The Byzantines convert to Catholicism. We could not care less.

News from the east. Seems like the sheeps are allied for now. Reinforcements are diverted from the western front.
"March 9, 1439 : Kara Koyunlu joined the war on the same side as Timurid Empire in their war against Ottoman Empire."
The AI, however, is easy to fool and attacks our digged-in forces in Armenia. Despite a high numerical advantage they lose the battles.

"August 1, 1439 : We captured the province of Dobrudja from Moldavia."
Meanwhile, the cannons take Dobrujda, which is for some reason ceded to the Livonian Order. Go figure.

May 21, 1440
The Timurids are tired of losing and their alliance hands us 100 ducats.


The Sultan goes ahead and steals a siege. It feels good to steal them from these dirty AIs, which do it all the time.
"December 20, 1440 : We captured the province of Moldova from Moldavia."
So now only a final push to take them down is left.

A risky maneuver at this tech stage but what I have to lose... inflation is reaching 10%, so submit, damnit.
"March 13, 1441 : We won a battle against Moldavia in Bujak."
"April 13, 1442 : Moldavia are now our vassals."
Peace, at last. Will it last, however?

Given our relatively dangerous position (I bet the AI would pull one of its dogpiling tricks on me at this weakened state of my own choice; in practice it is like a BB war except that you cannot possibly win given the early, undeveloped stage) I flew by to post-1453 to take Constantinople.

"January 11, 1442 : We went with Take direct control in The Death of Gjon Kastrioti."
In one of my infamous maneuveurs to get more vassals, I choose to annex them... only to liberate them the following month.
"February 8, 1442 : Albania are now our vassals."


It looks like a fast forward button indeed, even the log is uneventful other than the rise of a minor Mehmed who would conquer much on the next decade.
Events and diploannexations around Austria help to shape the future white blob.
In 1447 the Timurids start to crumble.
Wars of religion devastate the Indian subcontinent.
Our stability finally reaches 3 after decades of chaos. In the future things will get fixed much, much faster.

"February 3, 1451 : Mehmed II will now rule our glorious nation!"
The time is approaching. Let's break this boredom. Some events related to 1453 I hoped to witness did not even fire.

The OE starts in the mod with 40 cannons, why would I want 10 more... Instead I choose the useful slider adjustments.

1453 passes and the events depicting the Byzantine provocations do not materialize. This is getting boring. We wait no more and in 1454 preparations to siege The City start.
"May 20, 1454 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Byzantine Empire."

Their allies join in, and that is good as it means more vassals.
"May 20, 1454 : Cyprus joined the war on the same side as Order of St John, Byzantine Empire and Morea in their war against Ottoman Empire."

Led by the Sultan himself, the Ottoman armies immediatly run over the defenders. Currently leaders have lower siege and fire and higher shock from sliders.

While the battle for The City raged, another battle was fought among the viziers. Found an army belonging to the crown itself or not? The choice we made is very unlikely to be chosen by a human player.
That is because it saves half a century of slider adjustments, years of stability costs, and inflation from the two loans I would take. Let's hope everything works despite my mere half a dozen provinces; that conscription center will be quite a sacrifice.
"June 10, 1454 : We went with Expand the timariot system instead in Imperial College Instituted."

Constantinople did not put much of a resistence. Even with the lowered siege from slider settings, Mehmed plus the cannons win the siege in only six months. The legendary walls are breached and the Middle Ages are over.

"December 11, 1454 : We captured the province of Thrace from Byzantine Empire."

I chose the innovative option in the hope to keep it on a neutral position, IIRC position 4 for narrowminded used to allow both conversions and free manufactories. It turns out it reaches position 5. What a waste.
"December 16, 1454 : We went with Allow the Patriarchate to exist and keep the current Patriarch in Fate of the Patriarchate."

The inherited fleet is immediatly put to use, and landings on Morea and Rhodes are completed successfully.

While the sieges progressed, in the new capital talks on whether kind of war taxes takes place. We go conservative as we do not really need more inflation.
"January 29, 1455 : We went with New Taxes Only in Fiscal Policies of Mehmed II."

This OE is quite ahistorical... Now I cannot really tell what will happen in later centuries with such weird choices.

Morea falls.
"March 12, 1456 : Morea are now our vassals."

The forces are redeployed east to take on the last island stronghold.

The previous landings were not decisive and some required several attempts. This time the Sultan shows up and annihilates more than 20 thousand in few days.
"August 20, 1457 : We have engaged hostile armies in Cyprus."
"August 29, 1457 : We won a battle against Cyprus in Cyprus."

They all resist but it is all but futile.
"August 18, 1460 : Order of St John are now our vassals."
Finally it is over; a new, strange empire is born on the crossroads over the three continents. The pocket empire shall... hmm vassalize you all!
"January 11, 1461 : Cyprus are now our vassals."


Even today, more than five centuries later, Constantinople still is...
Obviously, the COT belongs to us.
"February 14, 1461 : The Economic Reforms of Mehmed II happened to us."
"February 14, 1461 : The Center of Trade in Kerch have disappeared."
"February 14, 1461 : A new Center of Trade has opened in Thrace."

Some months of rest is granted for the troops.

By the end of the year, a new campaign is started.
"December 11, 1461 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Athens."
"December 11, 1461 : Venice joined the war on the same side as Athens in their war against Ottoman Empire."

The Most Serene Republic can do little to help her ally. They have their own problems, too.
"January 27, 1462 : Venice had Silver Crisis."

"July 28, 1462 : Athens are now our vassals."
Submit to the mighty pocket empire!

Despite their problems and logistical challenges, the Venetians put up a gallant resistance. Someone should teach the AI to use cavalry, though.

This new 1.42 seems to make the AIs kinda aggressive. I do not really recall seeing countries DOWing minors from the other side of the continent before. Perhaps this is not the best example but I have seem weird things in these few decades.
"December 19, 1462 : Brittany joined the war on the same side as England, Naples, Aragon and Connaught in their war against Albania."

"July 30, 1463 : Siena declared war upon us!"
See? Yeah, right... Siena versus the OE, suuuure. If I followed the traditional OE play I would conquer them all to teach them who is the boss. This time I am happy with vassals all over the place, though.
"July 30, 1463 : Papal States joined the war on the same side as Milan and Siena in their war against Ottoman Empire."
This Milan is quite powerful as they have Genoa and Mantua, maybe other minors, annexed.

August 1, 1464. I could risk a landing to vassalize Venice but unfortunately my inherited fleet cannot beat the combined fleets of the Italian minors. That will have to wait. For now this not too exciting outcomes finishes that war.

Oddly, I did not find the event too useful. Centralization must be kept low to get manpower and cost discounts from vassals.

"April 6, 1466 : Vassalage of Wallachia happened to us."
"April 6, 1466 : Wallachia are now our vassals."
Good, good.

Countless skirmishes over the Aegean follow. The AI seems to enjoy these brainless, random, piecemeal attacks. Or they simply use a go to command.

Can't really say much about the aunthenticity of this event but it sounds likely. Check out how the economy has improved now.

"January 18, 1466 : Crimea accepted peace with Milan on the following terms: Milan pays 72$ in indemnities. "
Yes, we are being "led" by Crimea.

Let's add some more domains to the pocket empire.
"February 14, 1467 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Karaman."
Good.
"February 14, 1467 : Ak Koyunlu joined the war on the same side as Karaman in their war against Ottoman Empire."
Not so good. I should pay closer attention.

That was easy. Now at eight provinces and about ten vassals, Karaman was not much of a fight. We need to lose Angora sometime, however.

"November 12, 1467 : We went with Ignore it in Non-enforcement of Ordinances."
Good, good, long live the weird empire.

"July 19, 1468 : Karaman accepted our generous peace offer."
"July 19, 1468 : The people of Ramazan declared independence from Ottoman Empire."
"July 19, 1468 : Ramazan are now our vassals."
I took the Adana province and liberated yet one more puppet.

"October 28, 1468 : We captured the province of Nuyssaybin from Ak Koyunlu."
Ah, yes.
"November 2, 1468 : Kara Koyunlu had White Sheep Ascend, Black Sheep Descend."
Argh! Godamnit!
"November 8, 1468 : Kara Koyunlu had Capture of Hamadan."
"November 28, 1468 : Kara Koyunlu had The End of the Black Sheep."
"November 28, 1468 : Ak Koyunlu had The End of the Black Sheep."
"November 28, 1468 : Ak Koyunlu annexed Kara Koyunlu."
Hmm, now we are involved in a war against a dozen provinces empire. Events. Meh.

Glad you are enjoying. This looks a bit weird though, like a dialogue between two people only .

Alright. Some real action, then.
"January 16, 1469 : We won a battle against Ak Koyunlu in Azerbaijan."
Take this, hmm, *checks colour* White Sheep!
"January 26, 1469 : We won a battle against Ak Koyunlu in Kirkuk."
And this!

"May 22, 1469 : We won a battle against Ak Koyunlu in Tabriz."
This is getting old.


"August 30, 1469 : Plague! happened to us."
Of course, just what we needed.

"September 12, 1469 : Timurid Empire had The Dissolution of Abû Sa'id's Kingdom ."
I smell future vassals there.

Instead of digging in and waiting for me to attack, the fool AI goes out on the open. Mehmed sends them to their creators.

I do have military access, which should be patched or canceled in a war in EU3. It makes it really easy and not realistic.

"March 4, 1471 : We won a battle against Ak Koyunlu in Tabaristan."

There is only two provinces to convert. And they are cheap. Most people would think an OE with less than 10 provinces is suicide but no, the manpower, income and discounts vassals give makes micromanagement in SP not really necessary ( discounts are limited to 10 vassals).

"April 4, 1471 : We won a battle against Ak Koyunlu in Isfahan."

Their early mistakes are fatal as a part of their newly acquired empire is revolting. It was surprisingly easy to reach the Persian Gulf, even taking into account the high support limits I had. Red, 78? Hmm.

"July 1, 1471 : The people of Kara Koyunlu declared independence from Ak Koyunlu."
Make up your minds, guys. Stop being annexed just to reappear so soon.

I will reedit the other thread to make it clearer maybe.

As for the extent of this small empire... I want at the very least the historical borders of the OE, vassals only of course, plus a slight change of pace in a century or two. It does not include direct conquest, no. I wonder how people deal with say, promotions in a WC. Isn't that boring to click for an hour whenever some new tech or something is discovered?

Hmm, what we missed over there, a Shiite minor. Hi.
"January 11, 1472 : Ottoman Empire declared war upon Musha'sha'."
Bye.
"July 3, 1472 : Musha'sha' are now our vassals."

"January 27, 1473 : Musha'sha' declared war upon Kara Koyunlu."
Ah, well, vassals do have control over their foreign affairs in EU...

By July the war is all but over. It is just some formal mopping up.

"March 27, 1473 : We captured the province of Mekran from Ak Koyunlu."
The last province falls. During the celebrations... the horror.
They are vassals of Karaman!
That is surely one of the weirdest peace resolutions, ever.
Their time will come. Just they wait. I wish we had an enslave option or something.

For now that is the map of the pocket empire. Had us taken Ak Koyunlu as vassals it would officialy have borders with India. The count stands at 11 vassals.