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Michaelangelo

Archaeopteryx
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Feb 3, 2011
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Hello people of the Internet and welcome to my very first AAR. :) I'm Michaelangelo and I shall be your guide as we journey through the chaotic period extending from 1444 to 1820. As the title suggests, I will be swapping between nations as I go along. I have Conquest of Paradise, Wealth of Nations, and Res Publica installed, but I am not using the randomized New World feature. I started the first update with version 1.7.3, but that may change as Paradox patches the game even further. I'll make sure to make it clear when I'm playing under a new patch. I am playing on normal difficulty with lucky nations turned off and no bonuses for either the player or AI. If you have any questions about my game, feel free to ask. Seeing as this is my first AAR ever, feel free to provide comments and suggestions. In fact, I demand that you do. Receiving feedback and knowing I have a readership will give me the needed drive to finish this thing. I intend this to be a mostly gameplay AAR with screenshots, but I might mix it up as I get a feel for my inner AAR writer. I haven't met him yet, so he might turn out to be an award-winning poet instead. I'll try to update this at least once a week, but I can't promise that will always be the case if life gets in the way. Now enough rambling. You came here to read an AAR, not a lame introduction. Let the tag-swapping commence!


Rules:
- I will tag-swap at the end of every decade regardless of circumstances such as an active war. This may change if 10 years does not feel like enough time.
- I will use the Random Nation button to pick a new country.
- If the nation picked is one I've played within the past 50 years, I must use the Random Nation button again.
- I have the option to skip any nation that I deem unplayable so as to avoid boring and tedious updates (ex. OPM vassals, minor PU partners, etc).
- There will be a 1-in-5 chance that the ruler of my new country is insane. This means that instead of trying to better the nation, I must make completely irrational choices and try to run it into the ground. Hopefully this will spice things up.
- Once I reach 1700, I will be holding a vote on which nation to play, with a minimum of 3 choices. The list of nations to vote on will be chosen by me, with at least one nation chosen by the random nation button.
- More rules may be added as I figure out what I'm doing. I'm an amateur AAR writer, after all. :p


The interactive portion of this AAR has been approved by Mr. Capiatlist.



Table of Contents
France: An Evening In Paris - 1444-1450
Berar: Indian Nights - 1450-1460
Teutonic Order: A Knight to Remember - 1460-1470
Bahmanis: Here We Go Again - 1470-1480
Muscovy (Part 1): Midnight in Moscow - 1480-1484
Muscovy (Part 2): Snowed In - 1485-1490
Naples: Misdirected Italian Ambitions - 1490-1500
1500 World Update
Jaunpur: Back Once Again - 1500-1510
Pueblo: Gone Native - 1510-1520
Chagatai: Not Quite India - 1520-1530
Saxony: All Hail the Emperor - 1530-1540
Crimea: Chilling in Crimea - 1540-1550
1550 World Update
Naples: Return to Rome - 1550-1560
Patch 1.8 Mini-Update
Ethiopia: Gold Fever - 1560-1570
Hungary: Hungry Hungary Hippos - 1570-1580
Utrecht: Rise of the Phoenix - 1580-1590
Mahican: New World, New Nation - 1590-1600
1600 World Update
Spain (Part 1): Soon, France, Soon - 1600-1606
Spain (Part 2): A New Hope - 1606-1610
Austria (Part 1): The BBB Strikes Back - 1610-1615
Austria (Part 2): Return of the von Habsburgs - 1615-1620
Switzerland: Swiss Adventures - 1620-1630
Crimea: Horde No More - 1630-1640
Shan: Stuck Between a Blob and a Hindustan - 1640-1650
1650 World Update
Baluchistan: I Can't Stan It Anymore - 1650-1660
Morocco: Am I European Yet? - 1660-1670
Hejaz: Hanging in Hejaz - 1670-1680
Mewar: The Big Brown Blob - 1680-1690
Lithuania: The Mad Monarch - 1690-1700
1700 World Update
Cree: Adventures of a Westernized Native Nation - 1700-1710
Naples: Propagating the Purple - 1710-1720
Naples (Part 1): With Friends Like These, Who Needs Enemies - 1720-1725
Naples (Part 2): One Last Campaign - 1725-1731
Sweden: Saving Scandinavia - 1731-1740
Romania: Birth of a Nation - 1740-1750
1750 World Update
Portuguese Colombia (Part 1): The Road to Independence - 1750-1756
Portuguese Colombia (Part 2): Freedom for the Americas - 1756-1760
Hindustan (Part 1): India for Indians - 1760-1765
Hindustan (Part 2): Cleaning Borders - 1765-1770
Magdeburg (Part 1): HRE Hijinks - 1770-1775
Magdeburg (Part 2): Coalition Chaos - 1775-1780
Ming (Part 1): Searching For Friends - 1780-1785
Ming (Part 2): Clash of the Titans - 1785-1790
Great Scotland (Part 1): Cleaning House - 1790-1795
Great Scotland (Part 2): Scottish Hegemony - 1795-1800
1800 World Update
Revolutionary France (Part 1): Vive la Revolution! - 1800-1802
Revolutionary France (Part 2): A Shift in Power - 1802-1804
Revolutionary France (Part 3): Out with the Old, In with the New - 1804-1805
Revolutionary France (Part 4): The Reign of Terror - 1805-1807
Revolutionary France (Part 5): Napoleon Reincarnate - 1807-1809

Revolutionary France (Part 6): The German Wars - 1809-1813
Revolutionary France (Part 7): Nationalism & Imperialism - 1813-1816
Revolutionary France (Part 8): Italian Ambitions - 1816-1821
1821 World Update
1820s Post-History (Part 1)
1820s Post-History (Part 2)
1830s Post-History (Part 1)
1830s Post-History (Part 2)
1840s Post-History (Part 1)
1840s Post-History (Part 2)
1850s Post-History (Part 1)
1850s Post-History (Part 2)
1860s Post-History (Part 1)
1860s Post-History (Part 2)
1870s Post-History (Part 1)
1870s Post-History (Part 2)
1880s Post-History (Part 1)
1880s Post-History (Part 2)
1880s Post-History (Part 3)
1890s Post-History (Part 1)
1890s Post-History (Part 2)
World War I
WWI Revolutionary Victory
WWI Counter-Revolutionary Victory

 
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- I will use a Random Number Generator to pick a country based on a formula I devised. If anyone knows another good way to pick out nations, I am open to suggestions.

You could always use the built-in "Random Nation" button.
 
An Evening In Paris

To start things off, I decided to go with France. I know I said that I'd be picking nations randomly, but the first one is the exception. It's an easy nation to play and a good way to ease my way into this AAR. Of course at the game start France is engaged in the Hundred Years War with England. Since I want France to continue on without me once I move on, I make this France's official mission.



Now it's time to fight the English. As any EUIV rookie knows, France can easily dominate England on the continent. I immediately split my starting army and set out to destroy England's armies.



The English armies fall easily enough.



Of course being the idiot that I am I forgot a screenshot for the armies in the north. Oh well. :p

With the English armies taken care of, it's all a simple matter of sieging. Seeing as the English AI doesn't even consider bringing their army over, all the sieges go over without a hitch.



The sieges were such a breeze, especially with the aid of all my vassals. Wait a minute...



Lazy vassals! Stop sitting around and help me win this war!

Now it's a matter of waiting. Since the wargoal for England is to occupy Paris to force a PU, the ticking warscore favours me. I contemplate a cross-channel invasion, until I see this.



My ten puny ships would get trounced by that navy! Seeing as that is out of the question, I decide to occupy my time with other pursuits.



Brittany has no allies and is a sitting duck for the BBB. I almost feel sorry for it... almost.

Just like England on the continent, Brittany's army is crushed with ease.



The British navy is gone! I promptly gain military access to Scotland and send a small force overseas. Fortune is with me this time, since my army makes it there without running into the British navy.



On the negative side, I do run into the British army.



Scotland, why would you give England military access! It's an unfair battle and ends predictably in England's favour.



Things in Brittany are going much better though.



To celebrate my success in Brittany, the artisans force me to abolish a tax and the peasants demand improvement for their lives.



With the warscore ticking against England and Brittany under siege, I notice that the decade is almost at an end. Seeing as I started in 1444 and I wanted to end at the turn of every decade, I only had six years with France. I attempt to assault the forts for the two remaining sieges before time runs up, but with no success. Since I don't want to leave France in charge of two wars, I immediately end them both with as favourable terms as I can get.



And with that my time with France is done. I kicked England out of northern France, at least, and grabbed a province from Brittany just for laughs. I must call my first tag-swap nation a success.



Thanks for reading my first AAR entry. It probably seems quite noobish, seeing as I have no experience with writing these things. Feel free to give any suggestions you can, since I welcome all feedback. Make sure to stick around to see what nation I'll end up with next. Here's hoping I get to be an insane ruler. ;)
 
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You could always use the built-in "Random Nation" button.

Now I just feel dumb for not noticing that. How many hours have I played EUIV and never knew there was a random nation button?!? :D
 
Looks like you got a good start to your first AAR. I'll tag along to see how your decisions will affect the world. Good luck and I look forward to the next update.

Here are some advice. First, you shouldn't worry about failures. In the case of your AAR, failures could lead to some interesting writing. For example, you can talk about a last stand or a cowardly ruler abandoning his people. It just leads to many more options to explore as a writer. Secondly, you shouldn't get discouraged by the lack of readership. There are many people that don't comment but still follow along (known as lurkers). Simply have fun and that might just be the drive you need to finish the AAR. Some people may say that an audience may eventually materialize but I'm a pessimist :p. Thirdly, try out different styles and check out other people's styles. They won't all work for you but you'll find your cup of tea eventually. I started with gameplay AAR like you as my first AAR but I have, since then, changed the style up a bit to suit my taste.

My question is whether or not we, as the readers, will know if the ruler is insane. Either way, it's going to be fun.
 
Looks like you got a good start to your first AAR. I'll tag along to see how your decisions will affect the world. Good luck and I look forward to the next update.

Here are some advice. First, you shouldn't worry about failures. In the case of your AAR, failures could lead to some interesting writing. For example, you can talk about a last stand or a cowardly ruler abandoning his people. It just leads to many more options to explore as a writer. Secondly, you shouldn't get discouraged by the lack of readership. There are many people that don't comment but still follow along (known as lurkers). Simply have fun and that might just be the drive you need to finish the AAR. Some people may say that an audience may eventually materialize but I'm a pessimist :p. Thirdly, try out different styles and check out other people's styles. They won't all work for you but you'll find your cup of tea eventually. I started with gameplay AAR like you as my first AAR but I have, since then, changed the style up a bit to suit my taste.

My question is whether or not we, as the readers, will know if the ruler is insane. Either way, it's going to be fun.

Thanks for all the advice. I'll certainly keep it all in mind as I continue working on this AAR. :) I suppose for the failure thing it's more me not having fun when I'm losing, but hopefully this AAR will help me get over that. And of course the famous lurkers. I remember years back having to pressure friends to actually comment on things I wrote instead of just reading it.

As for the whole insane thing, I'll probably state it right at the start of each update. Either that or maybe at the end so as to add suspense. Either way, it won't entirely be a surprise, although making weird decisions without telling the reader could be just as fun. :p
 
Hi Michelangelo! Great to see you starting an AAR, and a random-nation one at that. :) France is remarkably easy, ofc, but it should get more interesting. ;) Blkzard already gave any advice I could've!
 
Hi Michelangelo! Great to see you starting an AAR, and a random-nation one at that. :) France is remarkably easy, ofc, but it should get more interesting. ;) Blkzard already gave any advice I could've!

Ah, a familiar face.. or rather username and flag. :p How interesting the future updates will be will all depend on how generous the Random Nation button is to me.
 
Indian Nights

For my first random nation, the random nation button has chosen the tiny country of Berar, smack dab in the middle of India. Technically this is the second time playing it since my computer crashed a minute into my first play. At least I didn't lose much progress. The RND gods have also spoken to me. In fact, I'm hearing voices in my head. You could say that things are about to get a little crazy. ;)



Here is Berar, a lovely little country amongst the hodge-podge of Indian minors. But there's something wrong here, something very wrong. You need to look at this from a different angle to see what I mean.



There are a bunch of Muslims next door holding onto Hindu provinces. Our illustrious king, 'Ala' ad-din I Sindhia, who wishes to be known as Aladdin from now on, is not pleased by this. As our misplaced Disney prince points out, this is no place for Muslims in a land that will one day be called Hindustan under his rule.



Just look at the name: Hindustan. It's not called Muslimstan for a reason. Aladdin prepares for his inevitable conquest of the Indian subcontinent by raising funds for his army.



These loans are wondrous things. One simple click and money comes from nowhere! There can clearly be no downside whatsoever to this. With the money available for an army, Aladdin turns his sights on Khandesh to the west, a vassal of Gujarat. No threat there. Gujarat will probably not come to their aid anyway.



Maybe I spoke too soon.



This is just a minor setback. They're probably trembling in their boots.



What, they won't even accept my generous peace offering?!? Fools! They'll regret this later. The Berar army cannot be stopped so easily.



Or maybe not.



Clearly the problem here is the difficulty of getting at the enemy. Maybe it'd be easier if we broadened the field of battle.



See, it did help.



Ignore those defeats; merely a temporary setback. It'll all end well anyway. I'm sure Aladdin still has a genie wish left.

Wait a second. You have to pay loans back?



Who came up with that idea? Some scam that is. They hand out free money and then expect it back in five years. I'm never accepting gifts from them again.

Back to the war, Gujarat begs for peace. Aladdin is not so merciful to let them off the hook yet.



He does, however, forgive Ahmednager for daring to exist between him and his enemies. He is even generous enough to send a small gift of seven gold to show the sincerity of his forgiveness. What a nice guy.



His mood is soured later when some imbecile shipwrights start arguing over designs. Aladdin decides to ignore them, since informing them that Berar doesn't have a coastline isn't worth his time. In the meantime, the first loans come due.



Oh, so you can extend them? Of course I'll do that. I'm not returning any of my gifted money so easily. They'll have to pry the gold from my cold dead hands.

In war news, Gujarat is willing to tone down their war terms, perhaps due to rebellion at home.



More battles follow and I make a startling discovery.



Gujarat doesn't have an army left! Their reckoning is at hand.



Aladdin seeks an alliance with Orissa in the east to help intimidate Gujarat. That combined with Gujarat's involvement in a war with Ahmednager and their country up in rebellion leads to the results he's been waiting for.



Khandesh is ours! No one can stand against the might of Berar! We are now one step closer to forming Hindustan, at least if you ignore the fact that Hindustan doesn't require the province of Khandesh. In celebration, Aladdin hands out titles like dollar bills to a stripper. Make it rain!



Now with Berar one province stronger, there are debts to be repaid. And I don't mean those stupid loans. They'll never get those back.



Truces are for losers. Due to Aladdin's awe-inspiring disregard for truces, Malwa warns him not to leave them out next time and the newly independent Marathas, who broke free from Gujarat, seeks an alliance.



The war doesn't exactly start out as planned, but it doesn't matter since we're ditching Aladdin and the land of Berar. No more Indian nights and Indian days for you.



Almost passed by the end of the decade due to inattention, so I ended up finishing on January 10 instead of January 1. Please forgive me. By some strange fluke, I've succeeded in making Berar bigger despite my insane choices. Aladdin must have used that genie wish at some point. Anyway, here is one last look at Berar before we head off for the next nation in our random tour of the world.

 
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Interesting start so far. I like that they're be more insanity in the future.
 
Well, the people of Berar will remember Aladdin as a conqueror who expanded the nation's territory. I'm sure they will overlook his minor flaw called insanity :p.
 
Interesting start so far. I like that they're be more insanity in the future.

Yay, another familiar person. After finishing that update I almost wondered if my insane playstyle is the normal playstyle of experts like DDRJake. :p


Well, the people of Berar will remember Aladdin as a conqueror who expanded the nation's territory. I'm sure they will overlook his minor flaw called insanity :p.

I guess that's the thing with rulers. If they're successful, they're usually remembered favourably.
 
I edited my last two updates so that you can now click on the images to get a larger and more clear version. Hopefully that will help with some of the blurry bigger images.

I've also finished playing the next country and have all the screenshots ready, but I'm going to hold off on updating for awhile. I don't want to set a precedent where I update daily. :p
 
A Knight to Remember

Time for another update. We have left India and returned to more familiar territory: Europe. This time I'll be playing as the Teutonic Order. Unlike France, the Teutonic Order is in a much more tenuous position. Here's what I'm up against in 1460.



First off, the TO (it gets tiresome repeating Teutonic Order over and over) is already at war with Pomerania.



Fortunately the war is a simple one and Pomerania is the only enemy that can actually reach me. I immediately set out to wipe out the one remaining Pomeranian army and besiege all three provinces.



With Pomerania as the war leader, I can easily enforce my demands. Seeing as this is the start of my reign over TO, I decide to be a bit greedy.



The AE was a bit high and I was dealing with HRE provinces, but I'm not sticking forever with TO so what do I care. Apparently Austria, the Emperor, does care.



I decide to give up the province since I don't want the HRE against me yet. I immediately seek an alliance with the Livonian Order, who seems to have been an ally before but was forced to renounce the treaty. This proves opportune as a coalition against me grows.



I take the time to look around at TO's finances and note that Aladdin wasn't the only one who loved loans.



A rebellion breaks out in Hinterpommern, but is crushed.



Everything seems to be going well. Then fate takes a turn. A very nasty terrible turn.



Brandenburg has started a coalition war against me! This drags in Bohemia and Poland, who then brings in their PU partner Lithuania. Livonian Order and Luneburg have at least joined me, but we are outmatched. I try to move my armies towards the Livonian Order so we at least have a chance to match numbers, but they never make it.



Soon the war devolves into this and I only have one province free of siege.



I make use of that free province to raise whatever forces I can to go after the one thing that can help my warscore: Warsaw. Since Poland is the war leader, I just need to peace out with them to end this thing. I send my first expedition force to Warsaw. Its fate is quite predictable.



Denmark decides this is the opportune time to jump on my ally, the Livonian Order. Seeing as I have been trying to suck up to Denmark to get an alliance and I don't need the whole of Scandinavia to swarm me, I decline. The LO (Yay, more abbreviations!) is already in my war, so I'm not too concerned about a dishonoured call to arms.



Without an army to defend myself, my provinces fall one by one.



On the plus side, I use the time waiting for my country to be decimated to pay off those loans and research some tech. No sense dying as a poor uneducated pauper!



Eventually the final siege is complete and my fate is sealed. The Teutonic Order is split into three pieces.



Just to make me feel even better about myself, I get my all-time favourite EU event. Thank you, Paradox.



I spend the remaining years rebuilding my army and strengthening my diplomatic position. I seek some new alliances and find two new partners who may help fend off Poland and Co. in the future.



I also notice some Prussian patriots rebelling in Memel. Even though I doubt it will make much difference, I send them some financial aid simply out of spite. Take that Poland!



And with that I leave the Teutonic Order not with bang, but a whimper. My ending position surely does not compare to the starting one. Perhaps I was a tad too aggressive with Pomerania and that brought the coalition war upon me. While I must call this endeavour a failure, hopefully I have laid the groundwork for a revival of the TO with its new alliances and stronger financial position. At least I didn't get annexed. :p



 
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Ooof, that's a tough situation to do anything well with.
 
I wouldn't call it a failure. After all, their position was precarious to start with and it was clear they have been weakened when you took them over. Some things just weren't meant to be. Imagine if you get Poland next and finish what the AI started :p.
 
Ooof, that's a tough situation to do anything well with.

Especially for someone like me who usually fails when playing small nations surround by giants. :p


I wouldn't call it a failure. After all, their position was precarious to start with and it was clear they have been weakened when you took them over. Some things just weren't meant to be. Imagine if you get Poland next and finish what the AI started :p.

That would certainly play on my conscious. I'd feel horrible annexing the Teutonic Order after all that. Not that it would stop me from going against former nations when I must. ;)
 
I've updated the intro to make myself sound like even less of a noob who might abandon this AAR. I swear, that's not going to happen. :D
 
Here We Go Again

For my fourth country, the gods of Randomness have decided to send me back to India. This time, though, I'll be playing as the small Muslim nation of Bahmanis.



You may also notice that Berar is on our northern border. It appears that they lost the war we left them in and were forced to release Khandesh, who is now a vassal of Ahmednager. I'm glad to see that Aladdin is still in charge. I'll try my best not to tangle with him. He might have a genie wish left.

As for our prospects with Bahmanis, we are very limited. To the north is Berar, who I cannot forge a claim on and who I'd prefer to avoid attacking. To the south and east is Vijayanager, who is far superior to us militarily and would crush us in a war. To the west is Ahmednager, who has benefited from the collapse of Gujarat but is comparable militarily to us. There is also the matter of cores.



We have cores on two provinces owned by both Ahmednager and Vijayanager. With this in mind, I begin setting myself up for a war with Ahmednager. I recruit some more regiments and start buttering up Gujarat to try to get an alliance. Bahmanis starts out with an alliance with Bengal and Jaunpur, who are both a decent size but consider Bahmanis to be a defensive ally, so they will not join if I declare war. Ahmednager is allied to Khandesh and Mewar, one who is an OPM vassal and the other with no border to get at me. I check the size of Ahmednager's and its allies' armies as I make preparations.



I'm able to raise 5 regiments and am outmatched, but I'm hoping that I can draw Ahmednager into a defensive battle to get a terrain bonus. I also notice that the AI had military maintenance on low, so I raise it to max. Glad I caught that or I might have embarrassed myself. :p With that in mind, I declare war.



Just as I reach Desh and see Ahmednager's army bearing down on me, Vijayanager sends me a message.



After seeing the stats of Ahmednager's general, I start having second thoughts about this war. The last thing I need is Vijayanager joining in. I decide that a white peace is probably for the best in the end. Thus ends my shortest war. To celebrate my wise decision, Gujarat finally agrees to an alliance. Better late than never.



At the news, my ruler goes insane. It's probably because his stats suck.



I can't help but notice his name. A distant relative of Aladdin, perhaps? Insanity does run in the family. I shall call him Aladdin II in recognition of their inter-religious familial bonds. I opt for the best solution for insane rulers with good heirs: I make him a general. Even though I don't need him to lead the army, he might catch a cold or something while inspecting the stables. Instead he prays to Allah and rejects scientific discoveries. Then in a completely contradictory fashion, he adopts some new administrative technology.



I continue twiddling my thumbs, waiting for something exciting to happen. Then Jaunpur provides me with the answer.



It seems that the thing I've been trying to avoid has come to pass. Let us see which Aladdin is stronger. I raise my military maintenance back up and prepare to engage the smaller Berar army. Then Orissa launches a sneak attack by crossing through the Vijayanager province of Telingana.



My army, which has not fully mobilized, is defeated and forced to retreat to Bijapur. Orissa decides to siege my capital and not pursue. Aladdin I, however, chooses otherwise. The first Bahmanis-Berar battle commences.



The Berar army is routed and Aladdin I forced to retreat. Too bad I didn't have Aladdin II leading the army or we could have had a true face off. As I wait for my army to reinforce before taking on Orissa again, Malwa agrees to an alliance. Hopefully this alliance will prove beneficial for taking on Ahmednager again at a later date.



With the alliance set, my general promptly dies and forces Aladdin II to lead the troops. I bide my time for the opportune chance to attack. Jaunpur provides the perfect distraction by defeating the Berar army and drawing Orissa away from my capital.



They miss the army and are ready to head back to Bidar, but change their mind and head north instead. Here's my chance.



I march north into Berar and seek out their tiny army. The battle of the Aladdins begins.



The Berar army is decimated. Aladdin II has proven the stronger. I shed a tear for poor Aladdin I. He will always be remembered as a courageous and highly insane king. Long may he reign.

I move over to West Berar and begin to siege the province. Orissa decides it has had enough of chasing Jaunpur's army around and heads back south. I cross my fingers and hope that the defensive bonus will help me.



It does not. The army retreats to Bijapur to recover. Orissa follows as far as Bidar and begins to siege. I bide my time, waiting for another opportunity to strike. Then the reality of my financial situation hits.



I get hit with about half a dozen automatic loans. At first I was losing almost 3 ducats a month when the army was weaker, but it lowers down to 1 a month. If this situation continues, I will go into serious debt since Bahmanis has little resources to support itself financially. When the army is fully recovered, I decide to attack Orissa's army against my better judgement.



The results are disastrous. My entire army is wiped out and Orissa continues to besiege my capital. There is no way I can recover from this. On the plus side, I'm now making a profit due to not having to support an army. :D Knowing that it is only a matter of time until I'm fully occupied and defeated, I negotiate the best peace I can with the war leader, Dhundhar.



Considering the fact that I was about to be fully occupied, this peace is quite reasonable. Without an army I can make up the 4 ducats in a month or two and my new alliance with Malwa doesn't mean much since they're currently being occupied by Vijayanager. I begin the slow process of recovery by recruiting a single infantry unit and working on paying off my remaining loans. I get hit by a few events in the meantime. It swear those shipwrights in India don't even know what water looks like.



I check my diplomatic situation and it appears that Gujarat has been forced to break their alliance with me. I have thus lost both of the alliances I gained over the decade, but both are willing to renew them once the truces are over. If the AI is smart, they'll renew them to avoid getting overrun by Vijayanager.

To finish off the decade, I pay off one of the larger loans Bahmanis started with.



Thus the decade comes to an end. I've succeeded in doing little besides paying off some loans and having my army decimated. Perhaps Bahmanis is in a better diplomatic position, since I've been buttering up their neighbours. Of note is northern India, where Jaunpur beat Dhundhar despite us peacing out early and forced them to release Marwar, Jangladesh, Mewat, and Gwalior. While certainly a greater success than the Teutonic Order, I don't feel like I accomplished much with Bahmanis. I blame Aladdin I for using a genie wish against Aladdin II. That can be the only explanation.



 
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Why am I getting the feeling that you're definitely getting Poland next?

This update was eventful to say the least. Not much was gained but things could've gone a lot worse. From this post, it's obvious that a ruler could become insane mid-game. Did you actually roleplay after that event?