Asturius 1465-1490
1465-1475: A time of disappointment.
The last Scottish war had nearly been won. But for the Bretons losing their nerve, we were not far from defeating the Scottish army, after which they would have had nowhere to retreat to, since most of their land was already occupied. Oh well... Since then, I'd put a lot of money into expanding my fleet, with the aim of liberating the lands they stole from my ally, and avenging myself for the rude treatment I'd received at their hands over the last 30 years(See the two previous AAR entries).
In the last session, I'd increased my galleys to about 82 ships. Right away, in this session, I began a further increase. But first, in junction with Genoa and Brittany, I participated in the partition of Lanquedoc and Auvergne, coming into possession of my claims in those lands- Gascogne, Roussilon, and Gerona.
Having raised a bit more money during the war, I aggressively continued the building program throughout, and within a few years, had a whopping 140 galleys. In talks with Delian, it was agreed that we'd try to take back his claims in Ireland within a couple years of conclusion of the Auvergne war. I had my fleet ready, with a 645 admiral, which meant that, against Scotlands 80-90 ships, all I needed was one decent roll, and one victory, and their fleet would be utterly broken. Alas! The dice had other things in mind.
Delian sent the declaration, and I spearheaded the attack, with 30 inf and 30 cav loaded on my fleet. My fleet, strengthened now to 150 ships, encountered the Scots 90 ships off the coast of Wales. The dice favored them and, though I inflicted more losses, things came about even. That critical roll having eluded me once, I sailed up again once my morale recovered somewhat. They moved away, and Brittany, joining me, unloaded some occupying forces into Ireland. Then the Scots returned with their ships, and won another startling victory, again defying the odds.
I wasn't worried too much about this. They unloaded an army, and then sailed into their port. We sailed North, and I dropped my 30k cav force off. Delain fought a battle with the Scots army in Southern Ireland, and I joined in, and we destroyed it along with its leader. Then the Scottish fleet came out and we, with our combined 140 ships(they had 35, and I still had about 105), against their 80, lost yet another battle. Still the elusive "good roll" was nowhere to be found. Had I gotten one, just one decent roll, with my 645 admiral, and preponderant numerical advantage, he would've been dead in the water. But alas, it was not to be.
A few months before this, Hansa League diplomats had been sticking their noses in, saying that we should drop demands for Ireland, which was completely ridiculous. Haven't they got better things to do? They allow Bavaria to conquer almost literally all of Germany without batting an eye, but then when I try to liberate a territory that was stolen from one of the weakest countries int he game, they feel a moral imperative to come and stop us? Outrageous.
It was really not possible to process the demands of the Hansa, in the midst of also carrying on the war, which was still only one good die roll away from becoming a victory. Soon enough of course, the Hansa had their fleet in sight. When I saw them a sea zone south of our fleet off the coast of Wales(that's the place we retreated to after the last uninspiring series of die rolls), I ordered the charge south against Hansa. They lacked home waters, had fewer ships, and an inferior admiral. The advantage was still mine, and there was every chance that we would inflict a defeat here that would allow us to still win the war. I had, besides, some 20 ships of naval reinforcements closing in from the South, but alas. Did I get a halfway decent set of dice? No, I did not.
Meanwhile, Scotland had landed a large cavalry force in Ireland, killing the infantry that Brittany had landed before, and then slaughtering most of my cav army. The 5 shock leader was on the run. It was at this time that a peace was brokered.
It was nice that Hansa still arbitrated a peace granting the two French territories under Scotland and Norway to Brittany, but I still found this very disappointing, and the meddling of another into our feud with Scotland left a very bitter aftertaste. Needless to say, it will not be forgotten.
As part of the peace, a 20 year NAP was signed with Scotland, on request by Urko. People reading this may remember that a couple sessions ago, when I was being held hostage to my high WE by the Scots, without the least provocation except maybe a desire by Urko to still revenge himself for me seizing the Lenape at the start of the last game, something he apparently didn't get out of his system even after 200 years of plaguing me in that game- well, at that time I also offered him a NAP. I had no reason to want war with him, but he chose to provoke me until I came after him. Wasn't it inevitable, Urko, that if you kept me at war long enough, that I would eventually gather my forces and do something about it? You lucked out in the first war, and you lucked out majorly in the second war. You've been playing with fire by pointlessly antagonizing me. You should thank the stars that it didn't result in a very big disaster for you.
The Rest of the Session: 1475ish-1490
At some point, I reached infra 3, and built two refineries. Then, I made a deal with Delian to annex Burgundy for him in exchange for him attacking Morocco for me. I wanted to expand into Morocco so that I could go from there into Mali, and grab those juicy gold mines. It was a more costly deal for him after all his BB events starting firing, but still worth it I guess, since it got him a cot right away without costing an additional 6 BB.
The Morocco was just another rote AI war. They had Algiers with them, so I occupied them first, and then finished with the Moroccans. Haven't peaced yet, but I'll do so at the beginning of next session.
I've been mostly teching LT since getting infra 3. As a result, it looks like I'll be getting LT 9 well ahead of everyone else, which opens some interesting possibilities. However, it's really hard to say what shape the next session will take.
Now, here is the Asturian take on all the other major powers of the game. I have these rated from weakest to strongest.
Poland: I know very little about Poland, except that Hal is playing it. However, I think that that is all that I really need to know. There is going to be some crazy stuff happening there, and it's going to be entertaining to watch. It looks however like it'll be a little rough getting rid of all that inflation. It's unfortunate because we really need to have strong counters to the Bavarian juggernaut, and I don't know if Poland will be up to it.
Asturius has no dealings with Poland, but wishes them the best in consolidating the east under their care. I hope to see Poland grow into a reasonably potent counter to Bavaria and Byzantium in the east, but it's hard to imagine that happening anytime soon.
Brittany: A country that has suffered tremendously, between battling coalition after coalition of ruthless, high quality AI forces, to being, during his weakest moment, taken advantage of and then kept at war for over a decade by Scotland, resulting finally in the loss of all overseas possessions. This country has suffered terribly, and continues to be extremely vulnerable, even after consolidating most of the Gallic region. He borders the most powerful country in the game, which, if it wanted to, could effortlessly cut through his defenses. It faces terrible existential insecurities, and needs considerable foreign support in order to maintain its integrity.
Asturius considers Brittany an ally, and will stand by it against any who try to undermine it further. Why is this? First of all, unlike most, I don't mind Delian's singing. Secondly, I think we need a viable Gallic country to counter-act other imbalances which have grown up in Europe. Thirdly, we shared, for a time, in suffering under the aggressions of Scotland, and these tribulations have brought us together.
Scotland: Scotland seems to be doing rather well. They've united all the British isles, pissing off two of their neighbors in the process, but have gotten away with it thanks to disgusting luck, and the misguided sentimentality of the Hansa leadership. They're the first ones to reach the new world, and have a small collection of refineries going. It looks like they'll be on track for healthy economic development. However, I would rate their monarchs diplomacy at about 1 or possibly 2.
Asturius does not like Scotland.
Hansa League: Hansa is on a good economic track, with two cots, competitive tech, and the second highest trade income. They also have currently the largest fleet. They have, besides, a large tract of land to the north that they will probably be able to digest at a leisurely pace, since no other power is in a position to really get at any of it. In terms of economic power, and naval power, their potential is as good as anyone's. However, they have serious problems when it comes to army power. Their manpower is abysmal, and their holdings on the continent are glaringly vulnerable.
Asturius sees the Hansa as a potential partner. However obnoxious their recent intervention, I have to admit they were reasonable in how they brokered the peace in that war, and one can work with them. We would rather not butt heads, as there is really nothing for us to fight over, and there are more pressing concerns elsewhere.
Genoa: Having united most of Italy, Genoa could be considered a first rate power. They have high MP, a high income base, and decent enough naval support. It's not enough to make them a match for their neighbors Bavaria or Byzantium, but in the future, this combined with their central position, set between these two, will give them a lot of influence in major conflicts.
However, its out of areas to expand to in Europe, and none of its neighbors are easy pickings. It seems that its level of success will be decided outside of Europe.
Asturius considers Genoa an important bulwark against the growth of the two titans to North and East.
Byzantium: This country has limitless potential. To the east, they can just keep going and going, and nobody is in a position to stop this. So as the game continues, it's possible that we'll see a gradual shift in power toward the Byzantines, even if their pace of growth is somewhat restrained by their badboy.
They also have the most impressive leader file in the game. What does this mean to everyone else? Those of us whose leaders will consist almost entirely of the two leaders we get per session will be at a serious disadvantage to them most of the time. Their leader coverage gives them about 2.5 leaders with 5 stats per century, so practically every other session, they're going to have an uber at their disposal.
This is a very formidable built in feature that will make it challenging for most powers to contend with them, considering the pool for most others is far less inspiring.
Economically and militarily, they're quite strong. However, in their economy, they're a lot weaker than Bavaria, and in the early game, when nobody is strong enough to make full use of their manpower pool, this is a very important factor, and is why I rate them as second strongest.
Asturius has no quarrels with Byzantium, and can foresee none. We're just too far away. But that doesn't mean we don't have things to talk about. Asturius sees Byzantium, as one of the two superpowers, as an essential player in maintaining the balance of power.
Bavaria: This country has done an excellent job of gathering momentum and then running with it. They've united almost all of the German culture provs, which encompasses a massive amount of territory on this map. As a result, they have the second highest manpower. But its not just about culture. They have simply managed to expand a lot more than most countries, such that they have over forty European provs. Unlike many countries, they appear to have not had any serious trouble with AI in the early years of their expansion, and the process in general appears to have been about as efficient as it could have been in SP.
On top of this, they have trade four, and a budding income from trade that gives them almost twice as much monthly income as the next contender. Overall, their economic and military power mean they stand head and shoulders higher than every other country, except perhaps Byzantium.
Asturius doesn't feel directly threatened by Bavaria, but is still affected by their preponderance. It's a very awkward, uncomfortable situation when you have a country that could, if it wanted to, very easily seize large swathes from its neighbors. Only broad, concerted support would be able to stop them from overwhelming the most vulnerable, such as the Hansa, Brittany, or Poland. And even then, it'd be hard to guaranty.
In a situation where the weaker parties must be constantly fearful of the actions of the strongest party, and where the strong must be constantly tempted by the prey lying before him, one must ask: how long will this tension last?
Edits: Ontime + long, early AAR: 3.5 deflation(If I understand the bonuses right)
FAA bonus: 30*25 = 750 to stab
). I wasn't too interested. I didn't think it would affect me, so why ever not. To be honest, I didn't even realize we had a player playing Scotland.
