Introduction and General Notes.
This is the story of one of my ‘filler’ games, the ones I’m playing in between the segments of the England game that is driving the ‘For God, the King and Saint George’ AAR, while I request and collect Privy Council feedback and so forth.
So there I was, having fall-but finished a big conquest game as Sweden (I might AAR it one day, I might not, depending on how I feel) and about to start a new one. Glancing down the list of nations on the startup screen, I spotted Brunei. “Where the hell is Brunei then?” I wondered, geography not being one of my strongest subjects. Starting a game, I discovered that it was actually an island Kingdom in Indonesia (I’d guessed a minor Middle Eastern or Indian nation so I wasn’t far off). The reason I’d not spotted it before was probably because in my Sweden game, by the time my I had explored out that far, Brunei was gone – swallowed up by Atjeh and Ayutthaya.
“Right then,” I thought, “that looks like a challenge…”
And so, I started to play.
Initially, my main aim was to survive as long as possible before being swallowed up by my larger and more aggressive neighbours, which I assumed was a likely outcome. I also wanted to play an AAR with the aim of maintaining as honourable a reputation as possible. Not something I’d done before. Ever.
I’ll let you read on to find out how long and how well both these objectives have lasted, but bear them in mind as you read, because they do remain the two over-riding motivational factors – survival and honour. I will say that I’m still playing the game, on and off, but I won’t tell you how far I’ve gotten. That would spoil the fun.
Before I begin, a little historical background on the Sultanate of Brunei, RL style. This from a website that I found which explains the origins of Brunei’s Islamic religion:
“Islam came to Brunei Darussalam much earlier than had been popurlarly believed because Chinese accounts indicated that Muslims were already influential in Brunei Darusslamin 977, and Jawi, which is derived from the Arabic scrip, had been used as the written language long before 1370. Chinese records of 1371 described Sultan Mohamad Shah, who was Awang Alak Betatar before he embraced Islam, as a Muslim ruler of Brunei. During his reign he fosted trade relations with the neighbouring kingdoms from Temasik (Singapore) to as far as Pegu in Burma. Islam spread rapidly when Sharif Ali from Taif, Saudi Arabia, who was a descendent of the Prophet's grandson, Saiyidina Hasan, became sultan (Seri Sultan Berkat), succeeding his father-in-law, Sultan Ahmad.
His orderly and just rule based on Islam made Brunei Darussalam a respected and powerful country. As a result with the neighbouring kingdoms in the Malay Archipelago, China and the Arabs flourished, and Brunei Darussalam entered an era of peace and tranquility. Thus the sultanate became known as Negara Brunei Darussalam (Brunei, the Abode of Peace).”
So there you have it – an actual historical basis for my game philosophy, which was nice to discover.
And now, a quick look at Brunei’s starting position in EUII:
Brunei is a nation of only two provinces; Brunei (pop 11,000) and Sabah (pop. 5,000), with, as it transpired, an annual census income of approximately 13d.
The Kingdom’s military forces consist of a mere 5,000 infantry and 100 cavalry (the nobles of the Kingdom) and a fleet of 5 galleys and five transports.
Domestic Policy Sliders:
Centralisation: +0
Innovation: +0
Mercantilism: -1
Offensive: +2
Land: -2
Quality: +2
Serfdom: +1
Stability starts at +2
Our various policies generate 2 settlers, 4.4 merchants, 3 diplomats and 1 missionary per year (not that we’ll be able to afford many missionary missions at 13d. per annum census tax… )
Brunei’s neighbours are the trade centre owning Malacca and Atjeh to the west, Makassar to the south east and Mataram, the only Hindu nation in the region, to the south. All other provinces in the region are controlled by local princelings or warlords, many of whom are violently hostile towards strangers and protect their territory fiercely - although there are one or two exceptions to the rule.
Brunei also has a permanent CB against Oman… not that they actually know where Oman is. Or perhaps they’ve just forgotten, explorations don’t extend as far as Vietnam, never mind Arabia… (“oh, it’s off to the west… somewhere…” – waves hand vaguely in direction of setting sun…) still, if we ever meet those pesky Omanis (Omanii? Omanians? Omanites?), then boy are they in for a good kicking…
Lastly, Brunei’s leader: the (ageing but still wise) Sultan Ahmad (5/3/3).
I’m going to be writing this up as a textbook-style after-the-fact AAR. I won’t be inviting any roleplay-style interaction on this one, as I’ve already played through a chunk of it, and so I’ll be posting retrospectively (hence the textbook approach). I do welcome the usual comments and questions, of course, should anyone feel the urge to make or ask any…
The notes I have been making are quite detailed, but I’ll try to work them into an overview to keep the narrative moving, rather than giving annual income reports and so forth. I’ll try to post as often as I can, but my England AAR will take precedence, and my forthcoming participation in the Dual of the Doges will no doubt require some writing time as well…
So, without further ado (there’s been quit enough of that already, methinks), I give you the first installment in The Sultans of the Isles - A saga of the Lords of Brunei Darussalam…
This is the story of one of my ‘filler’ games, the ones I’m playing in between the segments of the England game that is driving the ‘For God, the King and Saint George’ AAR, while I request and collect Privy Council feedback and so forth.
So there I was, having fall-but finished a big conquest game as Sweden (I might AAR it one day, I might not, depending on how I feel) and about to start a new one. Glancing down the list of nations on the startup screen, I spotted Brunei. “Where the hell is Brunei then?” I wondered, geography not being one of my strongest subjects. Starting a game, I discovered that it was actually an island Kingdom in Indonesia (I’d guessed a minor Middle Eastern or Indian nation so I wasn’t far off). The reason I’d not spotted it before was probably because in my Sweden game, by the time my I had explored out that far, Brunei was gone – swallowed up by Atjeh and Ayutthaya.
“Right then,” I thought, “that looks like a challenge…”
And so, I started to play.
Initially, my main aim was to survive as long as possible before being swallowed up by my larger and more aggressive neighbours, which I assumed was a likely outcome. I also wanted to play an AAR with the aim of maintaining as honourable a reputation as possible. Not something I’d done before. Ever.
I’ll let you read on to find out how long and how well both these objectives have lasted, but bear them in mind as you read, because they do remain the two over-riding motivational factors – survival and honour. I will say that I’m still playing the game, on and off, but I won’t tell you how far I’ve gotten. That would spoil the fun.
Before I begin, a little historical background on the Sultanate of Brunei, RL style. This from a website that I found which explains the origins of Brunei’s Islamic religion:
“Islam came to Brunei Darussalam much earlier than had been popurlarly believed because Chinese accounts indicated that Muslims were already influential in Brunei Darusslamin 977, and Jawi, which is derived from the Arabic scrip, had been used as the written language long before 1370. Chinese records of 1371 described Sultan Mohamad Shah, who was Awang Alak Betatar before he embraced Islam, as a Muslim ruler of Brunei. During his reign he fosted trade relations with the neighbouring kingdoms from Temasik (Singapore) to as far as Pegu in Burma. Islam spread rapidly when Sharif Ali from Taif, Saudi Arabia, who was a descendent of the Prophet's grandson, Saiyidina Hasan, became sultan (Seri Sultan Berkat), succeeding his father-in-law, Sultan Ahmad.
His orderly and just rule based on Islam made Brunei Darussalam a respected and powerful country. As a result with the neighbouring kingdoms in the Malay Archipelago, China and the Arabs flourished, and Brunei Darussalam entered an era of peace and tranquility. Thus the sultanate became known as Negara Brunei Darussalam (Brunei, the Abode of Peace).”
So there you have it – an actual historical basis for my game philosophy, which was nice to discover.
And now, a quick look at Brunei’s starting position in EUII:
Brunei is a nation of only two provinces; Brunei (pop 11,000) and Sabah (pop. 5,000), with, as it transpired, an annual census income of approximately 13d.
The Kingdom’s military forces consist of a mere 5,000 infantry and 100 cavalry (the nobles of the Kingdom) and a fleet of 5 galleys and five transports.
Domestic Policy Sliders:
Centralisation: +0
Innovation: +0
Mercantilism: -1
Offensive: +2
Land: -2
Quality: +2
Serfdom: +1
Stability starts at +2
Our various policies generate 2 settlers, 4.4 merchants, 3 diplomats and 1 missionary per year (not that we’ll be able to afford many missionary missions at 13d. per annum census tax… )
Brunei’s neighbours are the trade centre owning Malacca and Atjeh to the west, Makassar to the south east and Mataram, the only Hindu nation in the region, to the south. All other provinces in the region are controlled by local princelings or warlords, many of whom are violently hostile towards strangers and protect their territory fiercely - although there are one or two exceptions to the rule.
Brunei also has a permanent CB against Oman… not that they actually know where Oman is. Or perhaps they’ve just forgotten, explorations don’t extend as far as Vietnam, never mind Arabia… (“oh, it’s off to the west… somewhere…” – waves hand vaguely in direction of setting sun…) still, if we ever meet those pesky Omanis (Omanii? Omanians? Omanites?), then boy are they in for a good kicking…
Lastly, Brunei’s leader: the (ageing but still wise) Sultan Ahmad (5/3/3).
I’m going to be writing this up as a textbook-style after-the-fact AAR. I won’t be inviting any roleplay-style interaction on this one, as I’ve already played through a chunk of it, and so I’ll be posting retrospectively (hence the textbook approach). I do welcome the usual comments and questions, of course, should anyone feel the urge to make or ask any…
The notes I have been making are quite detailed, but I’ll try to work them into an overview to keep the narrative moving, rather than giving annual income reports and so forth. I’ll try to post as often as I can, but my England AAR will take precedence, and my forthcoming participation in the Dual of the Doges will no doubt require some writing time as well…
So, without further ado (there’s been quit enough of that already, methinks), I give you the first installment in The Sultans of the Isles - A saga of the Lords of Brunei Darussalam…