Reload smreload..
Putting a few paragraphs out there isn't the worst that ever happened
Good luck with the war
Why thank you. I am also glad you liked the written out style. Thankfully, I did not make too many blunders like this, so I should not need to do this a second time.
Looks Awesome. Mecklenberg is a country I like to play myself. It's such a shame they were downgraded to an OPM. I play some games myself just like this. I will follow
Mecklenburg was actually the first nation I ever played a game of EUIII as. I played my first game as them in IN and I agree, it was very sad that they downgraded them to opm status. However, I have had some epic games as them both before and after the nerfing.
Great stuff, colour me subscribed. I've really enjoyed reading your HoI2 AAR and this one promises to be just as full of action and warfare; exactly the type of AAR I enjoy. Hopefully the coming war with Saxe-Launenburg goes well, I always find starting with a small nation in EU3 requires a good deal of luck above all else, so too it appears now, I'm eager to see who respects the various alliances. The narrative style is very good, I like the subtle changes from the more gameplay/historical style you used in Last Bastion of Freedom.
As for reloading or not, I don't think it required. Your descriptive abilities are more than good enough to make up for a lack of screenshots for this coming war!
Thank you very much. You are right, you do need a fair bit of luck with a small nation. My first game as Mecklenburg in HTTT, I got VERY lucky when Pommerania declared war on me and, with the help of my allies, I was able to seize one province from them and vassalize the rest. I was then able to conquer Luneburg and sat as a 3pm for a long as heck time. I got DOWed by Hesse several times and only survived by pulling an end run around their armies and siegeing their one province before they could siege mine. It was a slog, but eventually, I turned myself into probably THE dominant power in Continental Europe in that game and had several epic wars with France and Austria. I wish I had gotten a screenshot, not the least of which because the Ottoman Empire actually managed to eat Russia. They conquered almost all of Russia and had a direct border with me. It was somewhat scary. That being said about OPMs, I have always loved taking a small, insignificant country and turning it into a superpower in EUIII. I am hoping to be able to do that with Mecklenburg.
As for reloading, due to a tie, I decided to do a compromise. I loaded back and took screenshots of the majorly important events that I thought needed screenshots, but did not take screenies of the battles.
King Ulrich sat in his throne thinking. He had risked everything on this war. If he failed, his country could cease to exist entirely. While he was confident that he could beat Saxe-Launenburg and that Wurzburg would not take part in the fighting, he knew Brunswick would take part. Moreover, he knew he could not hope to beat Brunswick on his own. Luneburg would also be little more then a snack to mighty Brunswick, who had been looking for an excuse to re-annex the territory since it splintered from them. Ulrich therefore knew they would target Luneburg immediately if they sided with Saxe-Launenburg. This would normally be comforting news, as one would think, knowing what Brunswick would do, he could simply send his men to Luneburg to help them defend their lands and hope their combined forces could win the resulting battle. However, the problem was that Saxe-Launenburg lay between him and Luneburg, meaning he would have to first defeat their army before marching into Luneburg. Furthermore, if he did this before taking the region, his rear would be exposed. Even if he did defeat the Launenburg army and advance into Luneburg, the chances were that the Luneburg armies would already be long since defeated before he arrived. Thus, he knew he had only one chance: Munster. If they declared for him, his realm would be secure. The Men of Munster would charge into Brunswick while they were distracted with Luneburg and lay waste to their lands. If he was lucky, they might be able to seize a foothold before the Brunswick army returned. If he was really lucky, the Luneburg army would be somewhere other then Luneburg when the Brunswick army arrived. If all of this happened, then an unwinnable war suddenly became winnable. He therefore sat here waiting for Gustav to bring him word of whether or not Munster had sided with him.
Just as that thought entered his head, Gustav entered, with a role of parchment in each hand, grinning from ear to ear.
"Good Morning Sire, I trust you are well".
"As well as can be expected, what news have you brought me".
"It is both good news and bad news. The good news is that which you have been waiting for. The councilors in Munster who were favorable to our cause have managed to convince the Bishop to side with us. Munster has answered our call. "
Upon hearing this news, It was all Ulrich could do to keep from jumping for joy. His country's future, which had seemed so precarious only moments ago, seemed like it might actually be looking good now. Had Gustav been a woman at that moment, Ulrich might have kissed him. As it were, he simply clapped him on the back and congratulated him on a job well done.
"Do not congratulate me yet sire, for I bare two facets of bad news as well", replied Gustav.
"What is it, old friend".
"The first was expected. Brunswick has sided with Saxe-Launenburg, however, we were already planning for that and with Munster on our side, they are not as invincible as they were. The second bit of news is more personal. I am afraid to inform you that I just spoke with Heinrich and he has told me that an informant has told him that Erich III Askanier has died, in a most suspicious fashion I am told. On his deathbed, they reportedly found a will that made Magdelena's teenage son, Eric, the new heir to the throne as well as adopting him as his son".
Upon hearing this, Ulrich reacted with a mixture of rage and sadness. The man he had once called father-in-law and whom his wife called father was now dead. He was certain that this "will" was a forgery and he knew exactly who had forged it. He was also furious that, after outliving his usefulness, Magdelena could have King Eric killed in so callous a manner. He paused a moment to think how Amalia would take this news. She would never see her father again and the country was, for all intents and purposes, now being run by the very person who had had him killed. He knew this news would greatly sadden her, something she most certainly did not need at the moment. Amalia, who had once been so full of life, had seemed to fall into a deep depression lately and Ulrich could barely stand to be around her, as it pained him to much to see her like that. He swore that he would get Magdelena and find out who she had hired to kill Eric and then kill him with his own hands. Had Magdelena not been a woman, he would have made a similiar vow about her as well. As it were, he resolved to capture her and have her put to death, and he was seriously contemplating carrying out that sentence personally as well. Maybe that would give Amalia some sort of peace and, maybe, vengeance would help to lift her out of her depression.
After letting the news sink in and thinking some more about Amalia, Ulrich finally responded.
"This is grievous news indeed, but at least with Munster on our side our army can march more easily and we might have a chance at vengeance."
"Now that you mention it Sire, how are you finding campaigning".
"It is a hard life, but it gives me ample time to clear my head. I still wish we had been able to find a proper general, but we have not fought a war in a long time, so their is not abundant of talent in our country. Also, I have to admit, while I am no great military genius, Heinrich was right, their are not that many people I could trust with this kind of authority."
"About that, I thought for certain you were going to give Heinrich the command. He has military experience and his loyalty to you can hardly be questioned. Why did you chose to command yourself?"
"Simple, Gustav, he wanted it too much. I remembered how much he hated campaigning and I found it odd that he should be so eager to go on campaign again. Also, while I do not doubt his loyalty to me and feel certain he would never turn on me, I cannot say the same about my eventual successor. If I leave him in command of the army and I die, whether I have produced an heir or not, I am not altogether certain he would not attempt to use his command of the army to seize the throne."
At that, he noticed Gustav breath a sigh of relief, which told him that his friend had had the same misgivings. Gustav then turned and left the tent. Ulrich then went back to the business of leading the army. He ordered it to march to march on Saxe-Launenburg with all haste.
A few weeks later, in the camp of the Mecklenburg army.
The man who was now being throne at his feet hardly looked like a duke. Indeed, he could hardly be called a man, being no older then 17 or 18. The so called Duke Erich IV had been captured after Ulrich defeated him in battle and had been brought before him.
"Young man, you have been brought before me to answer for your crimes. You stand accused of being a usurper, having robbed my wife and by extension me of our rightful claim to the throne of Saxe-Launenburg throne. What have you to say for yourself?"
"I offer nothing".
"You will not attempt to defend yourself".
"I do not believe their is anything I could say that would change my fate. I did not ask to be King, I was put here by my mother's machinations. She is the one who has always wanted power, not me. However, unlike her, I am willing to admit when I have failed and I accept whatever fate you deem appropriate."
Ulrich was immediately impressed with this boys courage. He had fought well in the battle, he had been told, striking down a dozen men, and now here he sat, staring death in the face and he showed now signs of fear. He also had to admit, this boy had not asked for any of this. It was his mother's schemes that had put him on the throne, most likely hoping he would be a compliant puppet. However, after this display, he doubted whether he would have been as easy to control as Magdelena thought. He looked at his wife, who had decided to come to witness this affair. Finally, he spoke.
"Eric Askanier, rise"
Eric rose to his feet
"You stand accused of a terrible crime, however, you do not fear your judgement. More importantly, you make a good point. You did not ask for the power you have been given. Your mother stole it from my father-in-law and then gave it to you. Therefore, I have decided to spare your life. However, I have two conditions. The first is that you must ask my wife, whose father your mother stole from her, for forgiveness. If she accepts your apology, your life will be spared, so long as you swear allegiance. I will not ask you to take up arms in this conflict against your own mother in this conflict, but I will ask that you serve me faithfully in all future conflicts and renounce any rights to the throne of Saxe-Launenburg."
Upon being told this, Eric Askanier silently thanked God that he had been spared. He then did the only thing he could do. He fell to his knees before Amalia Askanier and begged her forgiveness
"my dear queen, I know the crimes that my mother has committed against you are unforgiveable. She stole your father from you and their is nothing that I can say that will change that. As a man who has also lost his father, I can understand some of the pain that you are going through, however, my father was not murdered so I would be lying if I said I knew how you felt. I do not ask for you to forgive my mother for what she has done, no one can, for her crime deserves no forgiveness. She not only betrayed the trust your father placed in her by scheming to put me on the throne, she also went so far as to commit the ultimate betrayal and took his life when he was no longer useful to her. All that I ask is that you forgive a man who neither wanted this power or the part I have played in taking your father away from you."
1. Erich Askanier throwing himself at Amalia's mercy.
Upon hearing this testimony, Amalia rose. Many thought that she would condemn young Eric to death, as payment for the death of her father instead she responded thusly.
"Eric Askanier, your families crimes are legion. First, when my father fell ill, an act I am not convinced that Magdelena did not cause, she began plotting to steal my rightful inheritance from me. Then, she had the audacity to have my father murdered and put you, who have not a drop of my families blood, on his throne. She even went as far as to forge a will declaring your adoption, allowing you to lay claim to the name Askanier, my name. However, I do not believe that you had any hand in these events, and I have seen no evidence to the contrary. You did not ask to be made King and you certainly did not ask for my father to be killed. I could have you killed, but what purpose would that serve? Your mother's crimes are not your crimes and by killing you, I would thus be killing an innocent boy and how would that make me any better then your mother? Therefore, on the behalf of the Askanier's, and my father, I forgive you young Eric."
Eric could hardly believe his ears. He had been certain that he would be put to death, even though he had not been a part of his mother's plotting. In fact, while she claimed she had done it all for him, he knew better then that. None of this had been for him, it had always been about her. She wanted power and, as a woman, the only way she could have it was through a man. She thought she could get it with Eric III but, when the old man proved less pliable then she liked, she had had him eliminated. No doubt she had had him made King because, as his mother, she felt he would feel compelled to listen to him. Little did she know he had had no intention of being her willing puppet. Had Ulrich not declared war when he did and had he not been captured here, he had begun putting plans in motion to have her removed from power and arrested, possible making her face justice for what she had done. Now, however, he did not have to worry about that. Ulrich would see to his mother, and if there was one thing he knew, it was that Ulrich was furious at what his mother had done. He most certainly would not want to be her when he finally got a hold of her.
July 1, 1400, in the camp of the Mecklenburg army
Things were going well for Ulrich von Mecklenburg so far. Munster had smashed the armies of Brunswick in Luneburg and at the gates of Brunswick itself. Brunswick's armies now lay broken and shattered and Luneburg and Munster were besieging their castles and cities. Somehow, Ulrich greatly doubted this was how Magdelena and the King of Brunswick thought this war would go. From what he heard, things were also doing well at home. After the trial, Amalia seemed to be less depressed then usual, but she had still not climbed completely out of her depression. He doubted that anything short of justice for her father would even have a chance of restoring her to who she was, but he had to try. She was managing the Kingdom well in his absence, with both Gustav and Heinrich to advise her.
The only blemish thus far was Saxe-Launenburg. With the renounciation of Eric's claim, Ulrich had hoped that Magdelena would be forced to surrender. Instead, however, she had rallied the men loyal to her and arrested those men who were in a position to remove her from power and declared herself Queen of Saxe-Lauenburg. She then vowed never to surrender to Mecklenburg. The people, however, spurned her rule. She had seized power by force and therefore the people saw her as nothing more then a pretender. However, as long as she held the support of the garrison and its commander, she could prolong the war indefinitely. Unfortunately for Ulrich, she had the support of the garrison commander, who was so fervently in support of her that Ulrich suspected that their relationship was a little more intimate then they both let on.
While he was thinking this, an aide burst into his tent carrying in his arm a parchment and looking very out of breathe.
"What the devil is going on? Why are you disturbing me and why do you look like you just ran a mile chased by demons the whole way?"
"I am sorry sire, but it appears that this war has just expanded".
"Whatever do you mean".
"There has been a letter from Gustav. He informs you that Magdeburg has recently signed an alliance with Saxe-Launenburg and has joined the conflict."
"and you ran all this way just to tell me this."
"yes sire".
"I fear your effort was wasted. Magdeburg has no hope of prevailing against us and our allies alone and they have no allies of note they can call in. In fact, I do not doubt that either Munster or Luneburg probably has an army in route to confront them as we speak. I fear that the Bishop of Magdeburg may have just committed suicide for his fiefdom. However, I appreciate you bringing me this news as soon as you got it. you are dismissed".
"Thank you sire"
and with that, the aide walked out. Ulrich then laughed to himself. The stars were certainly aligning for him in this war. If he could wrap up this siege, he might be able to annex Magdeburg to his Kingdom and come out of this war with one personal union and a new province. If one of his allies beat him to the punch, he might be able to get a vassal out of it for his trouble. That would certainly not be a bad thing.
September 22, 1400, Hannover, Kingdom of Brunswick
Ulrich could not believe it had had actually happened. He and his allies had finally brought Brunswick to its knees. Luneburg had managed to seize the province of Brunswick while Munster had seized the capital of Hannover. The two had then been bickering for some time. Both countries wanted to annex the provinces they had taken, but neither was willing to recognize the others claim. Ulrich, for his part, was unwilling to let Luneburg have Hannover. True, Luneburg was allied to him, but they were also allied with another, more concerning power: the Hansa. The thought of a strengthened Luneburg allied to the Hansa was not something that Ulrich relished. Therefore, he used his position as alliance leader to force through another peace treaty, realizing that Luneburg and Munster were never going to agree on a course of action, and might actually come to blows over the issue. He got King Heinrich Milde von Welf to swear fealty to him, thus making Brunswick a vassal of Mecklenburg.
Heinrich was more then happy to get out of the war without losing any territory. Whatsmore, Brunswick was still more powerful then Mecklenburg in terms of how many men they could muster. Ulrich had no doubt that Heinrich intended to bide his time until he became powerful enough to challenge him and then break the vassalage and prepare for round two. However, Ulrich did not plan to give him that time. He had plans to expand Mecklenburg and to ensure that Brunswick would not find it easy to break free. For now, at least, Heinrich had removed his most powerful enemy from the equation, perhaps permanently, and had greatly expanded his countries influence. Munster and Luneburg were angry at being given none of the spoils, but Ulrich simply reminded them that they had had weeks to agree on a settlement and that he had finally had enough of their bickering. While angry at not sharing in the spoils, they had to admit that he was right on this point, they had been unable to reach a favorable peace treaty. However, the relationship between Mecklenburg and one of their most valuable allies, Munster, was significantly strained by this act.
April 12, 1401, Magdeburg
Yet again, Ulrich had secured a victory for his nation. Magdelena had, unfortunately, proved most obstinate in her resistance to him. She had held out long enough that the army of Luneburg was able to siege and take the city of Magdeburg. However, Luneburg proved to have no desire to annex the province, as it would give them a border with the sleeping giant of Brandenburg. Mecklenburg, however, already bordered said giant, but Luneburg would not let Mecklenburg simply annex the province they had died trying to take. Therefore, a compromise was worked out wherein the bishop of Magdeburg was forced to swear fealty to Ulrich. This did not give Ulrich control of the province, as he would have liked, but it did add another forced ally. It also allowed Luneburg to dispose of the potentially dangerous province. Ulrich thus further extended his countries reach and went a long way towards securing its future.
April 13, 1401 Launenburg City
It was finally over. After a year of warfare and siege, the city of Launeburg had finally surrendered. Rumor had it that the city had been reduced to eating rats, and there were even rumors of cannibalism in the streets. Finally, the people and the soldiers manning the walls could take no more. One of the garrison commanders subordinates led a mutiny against his commander and had him arrested. He then opened the gates to the Mecklenburg army. Surprisingly, there was no sack like one would expect after the fall of an enemy city. Ulrich wanted to present himself as the King of Saxe-Launenburg, and robbing and killing his people hardly seemed to him to be a good first impression. However, while the people were spared further deprivations, the same could not be said of Magdelena. She had been dragged from her bed, some claimed naked, and thrown before the King and Queen. Then, this woman who had done so much harm to Ulrich, and especially Amalia, had the nerve to claim she was not to blame, laying the blame at the feet of half a hundred different people. When it became clear that this was not going to work, she then began pleading for her life first to the queen and then to the King in what was described as a "most unseemly manner". The King and Queen, however, refused to even acknowledge her. The King asked her one question: Who was responsible for Eric III's death. Magdelena, finally realizing that all hope of saving herself was lost, confessed her crimes, from poisoning the King to make him fall ill, to forging the will, to having the garrison commander, a man by the name of Bernhard, murder the King. After this, she again tried to beg for her life. The King, however, ordered her to be silenced. She then put her fate in the hands of his wife Queen Amalia. Unlike when he had done the same with Erick, the Queen was not merciful. She immediately sentenced her to death, seeming to spit out the words. The King then proclaimed that he would personally play the part of headsman for the woman who had had his father-in-law murdered. A few minutes later, Magdelena, the great seductress who had sparked the war, was dead and Ulrich was the new King of Saxe-Launenburg. He then vested Eric Askanier with the job of governing the territory, under heavy supervision of course. Upon doing so, the King returned to the capital of Rostock, for he had already begun planning his next conquest.
1. actual picture of Lucrezia Borgia, supposedly holding court in the Vatican in her father's absence. The
Link to where I found it is here.
There you have it. For those of you who are wondering, the reason I sparred Eric was because the game did. I noticed a little bit into the next update that he actually was still alive and leading Saxe-Lauenburg's armies. For those of you who are also wondering, no, I do not intend to exploit vassals for protection. Had I been in a position to do so, I would have annexed Magdeburg and Brunswick and vassalized the much reduced Brunswick, however, the siege of Launenburg took longer then expected. I do, however, intend to annex both countries once they have outlived their usefulness. Next update will be up as soon as I can get it up.