Hohenzollern Dominance - An Ansbach Diplomatic AAR

[TrojanAC]

congrats, now you are the power to be feared
what's the situation in the Dutch provs, from the pic it seems you gave them to a vassal/PU nation, Brabant? or my eyes are fooling me

You've ssen right i gave the provinces to Brabant, looking at the House rules this was the best solution.

this was a nice event , but unfit for the AAR ^^

If this thread wasn't called Hohenzollern Dominance i would have thought about taking the offer, being ruled be a von Habsburg + Centralisation and Plutocracy could have given the game a new direction

I once had my heir dying while having a regency council. Then I just had the council for 20 years, then I got an heir. 15 years later, the right dynasty was in place again!

I've seen the same thing happen to Brandenburg in my game, changing of dynasty and a Hohenzollern Pretender setting thing right again.

Are you close to form Germany or are you going to decline the event if it happens to you. I think this was mentioned at the start but I don't remember.

There is no german unification event anymore, it is a decision. And i lack nearly every province required . And i won't form the HRE ... to powerful and unbalanced.

The Hohenzollerns seem to be doing pretty well, the day when all of Europe is ruled by one of them is ever closer. The difficulty is going to be stopping family feuds

They are unstoppable, the other Hohenzollerns (espacially Prussia and France) want to be Number One. They keep trying

Good to see. You did have to take the long way in this case.

Brabant is rather powerful, so i don't think i will inherit them any time soon.

It is an interesting and original AAR keep up the good work

Thanks and welcome =)

 

[TrojanAC]

Chapter 13 - 1587 - 1597

Karl Albrecht II. next action involved a petty thief, a spymaster and other shady contacts.

The outcome was effective, we regained our province Osnabrück in 1588 and freed it from false rulers.

In November 1588 the diet in Freiburg enacted Landfriede. A terrible decision if you are the emperor, but... i want to become Erbkaiser for roleplayings sake.

In 1589 the french branch started one of their attempts to become the leading Hohenzollern branch.

4 month later Flanders learned that it was wrong to back France. They got incooperated in the Hohenzollern realm of Brabant at the end of the war.

In january 1590 Dauphine begged for peace leaving the french without an ally.

I collection of mentionable battles occuring in the war.

In October 1590 France gets another beating, will they ever learn?

In june 1592 our nobles saw an opportunity to get another province from Hohenzollern bavaria, we decided to take the shot and declared war.

Bavaria was busy fighting Milan, so we concluded a fast peace after 3 month of fighting.

In 1593 Karl Alexander opened the second University of Ansbach in Hannover.

His generosity led to another time of prosperty and development.

This times ended in 1596 when the Hohenzollern branch of Prussia questioned our lead.

Our ally Brandenburg betrayed a loyal noble, we convinced him, that he has to accept our rule to get his right. We now have a claim on Lüneburg.

In November 1596 the heir of Pommerania died. Despite being already in a war bold natured Karl Alexander wrote a letter declaring his support to Hohenzollern Claims in Pommerania.

We declared war instantly losing 3 points stability. We are at -1 now. And Bohemia backs up the claims of the Pommeranian dynasty von Bielhke. Oh my.

Riga misinterpreted Karl Alexanders step and thought they were no longer protected against prussian pressure and sued for peace with prussia.

Fortunatly our clergy backs Ansbachian Hohenzollern in their struggle against the pretenders.

Will we be able to stand against the united troops of Bohemia and Prussia?
Will Hohenzollerns rule Pommerania again?
These and (nearly) all other open question will be solved later

 

[dublish]

Does Brandenburg-Prussia have a shot at forming? That would be one hell of a Hohenzollern state.

 

[TrojanAC]

Does Brandenburg-Prussia have a shot at forming? That would be one hell of a Hohenzollern state.

If something like that form it will be a union of Brandenburg, Prussia and Ansbach ... led by Ansbach

++++++++++++++++++++++++
Chapter 14 - 1597 - 1603

Despide fighting already two major wars another war within the empire broke out in july 1597.

But we had troops in the region, so it was a short war ending in financial reparations.

Here are the noteable battles of our war against Bohemia, thanks to the fact that bohemia sieged brandenburg we were able to intercept there moves after moving our forces into place.

The outcome of this was a peace settlement favoring our side and freeing silesia.

With Bohemia beaten no one was left backing the von Bielhkes in Pommerania. Karl Alexander II took his rightful place on the throne of Pommerania.

Now we were able to concentrade our forces in the north and strike against Prussia, another insubordinate Hohenzollern branch. We crush their army in two quick battles.

They fold in July, Riga gets its independence again and Mecklenburg becomes a free state again. We signed this peacedeal because we got backstabbed by France

Our manpower was at minimum (general winter ) and our troops moved to slow from prussia to the combat zones in central europe. We decided to send flowers to the french Hohenzollerns. They accept our gesture.

Directly after the conclusion of the first wave of imperial wars we asked the electors to support our claim to be the one and only Kaiser. They passed the reform. Ansbach, AEIAU - All Erdenreich ist Ansbachs Untertan

In November Veterans of our northern campaign settled down in Brunswick. Thats not enough to counter Landfriede so we just let them live without interfering.

In june 1600 Karl Alexander got the information that his country was ready for another national idea. He struggled between Ecumenism (for roleplayings sake thinking of Friedrich II of Prussia - „Jeder soll nach seiner Façon selig werden“ - "Everybody should be blessed according to his own ways) and keep the slot open till techlvl 30 (something told him that it would be profitable to enact scientific revolution and smithian economy without switching ideas) You can also see my sliders, besides free subject everything is in a nearly perfect shape.

A minor war started an 1601. Ferrara asks for our support against sicily.

The war was finished without fighting any battle ourself.

In april 1602 a pretender seized the pommeranian throne ... again. We instantly declared war. Austria, Prussia and Polotsk join the war end back Pommeranias claims.

8 month after the start of the war the first peace was accepted, Austria backs down and settled for a peace restricting their claims to the regions they own.

And then something "new" happend. While our army are busy in the north France meddles with the Empire again. 2 Front war again. We are not pleased. But Karl Alexander was like a duck in the water. He isn't called "the bold" for nothing.

This finishs todays update, stay tuned for more imperial wars. I organised the chapters to make orientation easier and i corrected some spelling mistakes in the first chapters. Thanks for reading

 

[Johan11]

So many wars.......

Aaaaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[unmerged(90806)]

what a change when one compares your early updates!
i think there's sth very wrong with Hochenzollern branch in france, maybe thery're not real hochenzollerns after all

 

[Malurous]

Good job handling all that activity, sure was a busy chapter

I organised the chapters to make orientation easier and i corrected some spelling mistakes in the frist chapters.

Admirable!

 

[Johan11]

This finishs todays update, stay tuned for more imperial wars. I organised the chapters to make orientation easier and i corrected some spelling mistakes in the frist chapters. Thanks for reading

Maybe you need to correct this as wello

 

[Sweboy]

Is it just me or are you releasing minor countries left right and centre. Is that a divide and conquer ploy against France and other blobbing candidates? I don't think I have seen this many nations raised from the dead.

 

[Marco Oliverio]

Is war exhaustion a big deal in HttT? Just curious - Ansbach has been embroiled in quite a few in just a short period of time! Or maybe Karl the Bold has a decisive downward impact on war exhaustion?

 

[Malurous]

Is it just me or are you releasing minor countries left right and centre. Is that a divide and conquer ploy against France and other blobbing candidates? I don't think I have seen this many nations raised from the dead.

If you look at the house rules (they're in the first post), there sometimes aren't any other real options to weaken countries... At least as long as TrojanAC sticks to the rules

 

[TrojanAC]

So many wars.......

Somehow the AI doesn't think about hey Ansbach is backing Bar, they just think "Hey, Bar looks quite tasty."

what a change when one compares your early updates!
i think there's sth very wrong with Hochenzollern branch in france, maybe thery're not real hochenzollerns after all

Bavaria and Denmark are republics, so there is no offensive war left at the moment. The next updates should be steadier

Good job handling all that activity, sure was a busy chapter

Thanks to autopause it was playable, but yes ... it was everything expect a handsoff game

Maybe you need to correct this as wello

Done o

Is it just me or are you releasing minor countries left right and centre. Is that a divide and conquer ploy against France and other blobbing candidates? I don't think I have seen this many nations raised from the dead.

There are two reasons for reviving the dead. First my houserules and second (not that important anymore) imperial authority.

Is war exhaustion a big deal in HttT? Just curious - Ansbach has been embroiled in quite a few in just a short period of time! Or maybe Karl the Bold has a decisive downward impact on war exhaustion?

Nothing changed concerning war exhaustion, At one point i had to by myself out of a war based on it and manpower loss, but all in all i got a maximum of ~4. I tend to go for fast wars, crushing the opponents army, assaulting the city, wait till moral is up, go to the next victim. It worked well so far

If you look at the house rules (they're in the first post), there sometimes aren't any other real options to weaken countries... At least as long as TrojanAC sticks to the rules

I have already changed them once in the game so i will stick to rules. But i can't garanty they are the same as now.

 

[TrojanAC]

Chapter 15 - 1603 - 1612
After the french declaration of war we were forced to leave the prussians for now and settle for a minor peace. We freed another HRE territory and got some reparations.

An instant later pommerania was forced back into our family.

While our troops were on their move to the western front french soldiers established french rule in occupied Hainault.

After our reinforcements arrived we fought a quick war without any major battles. We signed peace in october 1404. Both uppity Hohenzollern branches have been put in there place.

In July 1405 our realm blossoms through peace and reparations. Karl Alexanders great administrative skill played a role too

The other leading powers in central europe want to be friends. We will accept if they accept to become Hohenzollern. They refused

Karl Alexanders diplomatic skills are low, war and organising the means to fight war are his chosen professions. Besides these facts we manage quite well on the diplomatic field.

Besides the enactment of Landfriede and besides the last beating Prussia declared war.

Kurland folded one month later.

While our troops were busy fighting against general winter the last hessian noble was convinced that they are part of our patrimony.

In August we successfully destroyed the last prussian forces in the battle of Warmia.

One month later France stepped us in the back... again. At least Prussia is already subdued.

We finish the prussian job while our troops are on their move to french soil.

Did you remember the veterans in Brunswick. They are veterans from our northern campaigns. And they clearly loved pskovian girls. And imported them. And loved them. And cuddled with them. And thirteen years later:

While leading his loyal troops to further glory our great king, Karl Alexander II the bold, drowned in the rhein. A whole country is mourning the loss of its great leader. His son, Friedrich IX, ascended the throne being already 36 years old. Only future knows what his reign may bring (besides crushing frenchmen).

The state of Hohenzollern Dominance after the reign of Karl Alexander II. Our vassals in lighter purple compared to our dark purple.

 

[unmerged(7509)]

It looks like a lack of diplomatic skill runs in the family

Somehow I'm glad I'm not playing your game. When France stabbed you in the back for the third time you must have had a hard time not takíng any land from them. I'm not so good at turning the other cheek.o

 

[Malurous]

It was more quiet than last update, but I still wouldn't call it peaceful

I have already changed them once in the game so i will stick to rules. But i can't garanty they are the same as now.

Well played

 

[TrojanAC]

It was more quiet than last update, but I still wouldn't call it peaceful
)

I'm not sure if really peaceful times will ever return. We are Hohenzollerns. Resistance is futile.

It looks like a lack of diplomatic skill runs in the family

After the last beatings the other branches seems to see reason, they became very quiet

 

[TrojanAC]

Chapter 16 - 1612 - 1625

The reign of Friedrich IX started with news of french advances on the battlefield. He took the troops of his father and motivated them by showing the last cruel act of the french king, annexing without a claim...

It should be the last success of french troops, our highly motivated armies crushed them in on battle after another until the last french troops where squattered in june.

4 month later the french king accepted (another) humilating peace treaty.

Friedrich IX. changed our form of government from despotic ways to more centralised power. Everybody can believe what he wants, as long as he knows, that there is just one ruling family.

We are now allowed to play like the big boys

In 1617 we finished a mission assigned by our nobles, the boni we got are wonderful, espacially mentioning the fact that we just used one spy. The rest was done by sliders moves, events or whatever happened to bohemia.

Our glorious ruler, Friedrich IV, decided to build a new port to import goods from the new world ourself trying to avoid merchants in between.

Looking at the state of our claims in 1620 there occured problems in former realms. They both enacted something strange called republic. We will do something against it later.

In 1621 Friedrich IV died at the age of 45. His son Johann Friedrich I ascended to the throne. And the danish, republican Pretenders decided to attack a subject of our glorious family.

We overruned them quickly, they where no match for our forces. They were force to accept a Hohenzollern puppet regime.

Looks much better, doesn't it?

In August 1624 our king became sick, we decided to trust our nobles one more time.

The sickness of Johan Friedrich ! was more serious then everyone expected. He died some days before his 20th birthday in 1525. His 16 years old brother Georg succeeded to the throne.

This concludes a rather quiet time in our realm, It seems that the last beating have shown Prussia and France their boundaries.

Our next plan is to bring Bavaria (35k troops) back into the family. The problem is, that they are backed by Aragon(50k), Milan (63k) and portugal (90k) is the defender of their fate. This means i won't burn my hands before any of these factions is busy in another war
But knowing the game i'm pretty sure something else, something unplaned will need my attention pretty soon. Ah and i'm thinking of modding Landfriede down to -1 army tradition per year, + 20% stability cost is disadvantage enough.

 

[unmerged(7509)]

Ah, finally a king who knows diplomacy.

It would be nice with an overview of how things are going for the other branches of the family.

I would like to see your diplomatic status as well. Who do you have marriages with? Are you allied to anyone except the two personal unions? That sort of thing.

 

[Johan11]

Youre showing the "Berry annexed" pic twice.


"Typo-busters"

 

[aldriq]

The map of Europe was most helpful to see where you stand... it also shows how much non-Hohenzollern Europe there is still to bring to the fold