Chapter 2: Opening Moves
History:
As with most of Germany, Lubeck's history is intertwined with the drama of the Holy Roman Empire. Slavs founded various villages in the area, Liubice being one, in the 7th century. The area remained thinly inhabited and unimportant until the 11th Century, when the castle was upgraded several times, then used as a capital by Henry, King of the Slavs. With Henry's death, Liubice was sacked in 1128 and destroyed in 1138.
Count Adolf II of Holstein was given permission to rebuild the town in 1143, and it was rebuilt near the destroyed castle, on the river island Bucu. The town was ceded to Henry the Lion in 1158, and was made an Imperial City in 1181 by Emperor Frederick II upon Henry's death. The city was made a Free City in 1226, while it was also becoming the main point of departure for Germans moving to the lands settled by the Teutonic and Livonian Orders.
Lubeck would have just been another imperial city, except that in 1241, she joined in an alliance with Hamburg, and Cologne joined in 1260. With their nascent trading empire controlling the German salt-fish trade, they were able to convince Henry II of England to grant them broad trading powers.
The Hanseatic League was made formal in 1356, uniting Hansa (guilds) from Lubeck, Hamburg, Cologne, and dozens of other cities. The league was relatively informal, however, and cities often did not send representatives to meetings. The league's power was not just its breadth, but its ability to establish kontors - in Bergen (Norway), Bruges (Flanders), London (England), and Novrogrod.
1399, in many ways, represents a high water mark for the Hanseatic League, with domination over Northern and Central Germany's trade, along with trade rights in England and Scandanavia. The key is to maintain and expand those rights. That will require diplomacy and force, which are often in opposition.
The Hansa begin with alliances with Riga, Bremen, Luneburg, Magdeburg, and Oldenburg. Riga is a problem, since she gets attacked relentlessly by everyone around her.
Stathalter Gregor Thelemann is a very good leader - average Administration, good Diplomatic, and great Military skills.
We start at Tech Level 3, and immediately move our budget slider to Government. Small nations regain stability very quickly, and we need to get our first idea ASAP (March 1406, at this rate). Our budget should quickly improve, because for some idiotic reason, we start with no merchants in Lubeck.
On the military side, we start with 1000 Latin Medieval Infantry, and 12 ships (4 galleys, 4 carracks, 4 cogs).
In religious news, we start out unable to take any decisions except Blasphemy act (meh). Also, note a new religious decision in 4.1b: Send Delegate to the Pope. This recurring religious decision lets you trade 1 missionary for 2 papal influence. If you turn on the message setting for decisions by other nations, you will get spammed mercilessly by this decision.
We convert our ruler to a general...4 fire, 1 shock, 2 maneuver. Why, oh why, does the game love to give you fire in 1399?
Our starting sliders are pretty good, though note the limits on centralization. We start with a move towards Free Subjects and immediately lose 1 stability.
If you look back up at the map of the Hanseatic league, you'll notice that Poland and Bohemia are on the league's borders, and not part of the league. I'll send two diplomats to lock them up in my league, before they get snapped up by Venice or Novrogrod or give away trade rights. Never take for granted that you can grab a juicy target later, until you're the last merchant republic standing. Both are Very Likely, and they accept.
Note that Lubeck's trade starts at 1030.20 - we'll watch it's value rise and fall over time.
October 15: Holstein breaks free of the league. They still trade in Lubeck.
Burgundy declares war on Hainaut, using the Reconquest CB. Burgundy is an early target, as they almost always get excommunicated within 25 years, at which point I want to grab Antwerp.
We get our first mission - End the Sound Toll. The best part of this mission is that it gives us a permanent modifier that stacks with the other Sound Toll modifier.
Non-binding Voting time: Do we go for war, or peace? Keep in mind I do
not get a conquest CB, which means 2 wars against Denmark at max infamy. War will also probably lose all of Scandanavia from the League.