Porta Atlanticum, Portus Classis / An England MMU AAR

[unmerged(90806)]

Poor, poor Burgundy! AI should never be allowed to play that country.
I wouldn't doubt England can pull this French dow through, but this war exhaustion looks nasty and France tends to be slow to accept white peace. Luckily, with Portugal on your side the waterways will be yours.

I fear the Habsburgs might overtake the English throne! Oh, I'd rather see a Greek than a Habsburg ruling England.

 

[Chris Taylor]

_________________________

Capitulum X.
Bring me my Chariot of fire!
_________________________​

The French Reconquest of Artois was a relatively short but bloody conflict. France brought her two remaining vassals (Orléans and Auvergne) into the war, along with two new allies, Milan and Naples. These two were somewhat poorly situated to make war on a northern European power, and the Neapolitans had an additional complication—they were already at war with Pope Paul II, and starting to suffer grievous reversals at his hands. England was supported by longtime ally Portugal, plus Irish vassals Desmond and Leinster. The English also gained support from unexpected quarters: the recently-liberated County of Holstein, and a sometime enemy/recent friend—the Kingdom of Scotland.

The King of Scotland, James I Stewart, had led a fairly tumultuous life. As Duke of Rothesay (heir to the Scottish throne), he had been driven from his homeland in 1406 when the rival Albany Stewarts—aided by the "Black" Douglas clan—decided to eliminate him as the only impediment to their accession to the throne. While sailing for the relative safety of France, the Duke's ship had been intercepted by English pirates, and he became a captive of the English king, Henry IV. Because of these dual calamities, James' father King Robert III is said to have died of despair two weeks after learning of his son's capture. Though James was now the uncrowned King of Scots, the scheming Albany Stewarts and Black Douglases succeeded in quashing any attempt to pay his ransom. Fortunately, during the 22 years of his captivity, James developed a friendship with and respect for Prince Henry of Monmouth, the future Henry V. By all accounts he appears to have approved of the Lancastrian claim to the throne of France, in spite of Scotland's technical alliance with the Valois. When Henry VI made plans to invade France in 1428, James even went to Gascony to fight with the English army. Favourable relations with the Lancasters would continue even after the Regency and the Scottish Estates agreed to terms of his release in 1428, and when France declared war on England in 1445, James terminated the Auld Alliance and sent an army to France in support of his Lancastrian brethren.

In addition to fortuitous action of the King of Scotland, English fortunes rested on the decisions of the nobles and commons who would fight in France. Among them were two lesser noblemen from the Anglo-Irish aristocracy: Edmund, Baronet Davis, and George Saunders, Baronet of Newtown (County Mayo). Both had received training at the military college established by Henry V, and through sheer luck, would end up in de facto command of English Continental forces after the transports carrying the more senior earls and dukes were delayed due to weather.

[

​

Conventional wisdom calls for a numerically inferior army to fight on its own territory; taking advantage of familiarity with local terrain and a friendly civil populace; forcing the enemy to weaken his combat strength via garrison forces to hold captured territory, vulnerable supply lines and increased attrition. The French armies currently in Cambray, however, are too large to tackle immediately; they have slightly less infantry than Saunders' own force, but 1/3rd more cavalry—a sure recipe for a long, agonising, casualty-intensive fight. When another large French force appears in neighbouring Pays de Caux, it's apparent that the French mean to entrap the English armies in a pincer movement from Cambray and Normandy, annihilating them with overwhelming numbers.

The only way for the English army to survive is to go on the offensive; to disarm the pincer by attacking the Normandy force before it can coordinate movement with the armies in Cambray.

English forces in Picardie move to attack French forces gathering near Rouen.

Saunders' bold move destroys half of the French forces arrayed in Normandy, marking the start of the Baronet of Newtown's meteoric rise to fame in the military annals of the kingdom.
_________________________​

Modern usage of the term "humanism" should be understood as being a very different and distinct beast from the term as understood by scholars and thinkers of the Renaissance. In those days, scholars who called themselves humanists wished to augment—not repudiate—the Christian faith, via a meticulous exploration of the sources of ancient God-inspired wisdom. This was certainly Jane's 15th century understanding of humanism, and an important factor in her ongoing support of humanist scholarship.

But even so, there were always those that regarded the project as vaguely heretical; some scholars believe Pope Paul II saw humanism in this light. What is certain, though, is that the Pope's 1445 gift to the Queen of England was meant to ensure that London did not drift too far out of the Papal orbit—for as the old truism notes, it is easier to catch flies with honey than with vinegar.

Queen Jane supports further scholarship and research into ancient Greek, Roman and Hebrew texts.
_________________________​

Having defeated a significant portion of the French army in the Pays de Caux, English forces return to Cambray in an effort to dislodge the invading Franco-Orléanais army. The joint French forces are less numerous than the English, and ought to be easy prey. On the 12th of January, the armies of Davis and Saunders move forward into contact with the French and find—amidst fierce resistance—that they are facing both Henri II de Valois, King of France, and Louis II de Valois, Duke of Orléans. Over the course of the next week and a half, a series of bloody slugfests ensue; though Davis can bring greater numbers of troops to bear, the superior tactical doctrine of the Valois ensure that the English victory is costly in men and morale.

The Pyrrhic victory of the winter of 1446.​

As the bulk of French forces are concentrated in the north, England's southern French provinces escape the worst of the war. Though there are occasional raids by French cavalry, Scottish and Irish allied troops are present in great enough numbers to prevent a major assault on Gascony.

_________________________​

In London, Queen Jane continues the centralising policies of her predecessors, vesting more powers of government in the Crown and the great officials of state; the baronial peerage of England has not been restricted to such narrow scope of rights and responsibilities since the signing of Magna Carta. Many lords are indifferent so long as England's domains (and therefore the lords' opportunities for advancement) increase; how long they remain contented is an open question.

Jane has won this round, but the lords have ways of exerting their will over the monarch.
_________________________​

News of Jane and Constantine's friendship (flirtation?) travels to the Near East, raising fresh concerns about Western crusades in Eastern salons. There has been no discernible change in English diplomatic posture toward the Eastern Roman Empire and the Osmanic Empire of the Turks; both appear to be equally irrelevant in London's geopolitical calculations. Nonetheless, the Turks hedge their bets by sending yet another formal warning that interference in the eastern Mediterranean will not be tolerated.

Once again, the Turks are not pleased by even the rumour of English-Greek amity.
_________________________​

Though the war with France is just under a year old, Jane knows that the country desperately needs a quick conclusion. The English defenders have won a series of engagements that have temporarily reduced the fighting power of the mighty French armies; but in late summer when the Valois have mustered replacements, the calculus of war will change—and not for the better. Despite the victories, the English army has lost an astounding 40% of its strength to casualties, and its reinforcements will not arrive as quickly as those of the French. Additionally, Queen Jane's loyal subjects have borne an enormous cost in lives, treasure and opportunity; in the fifteen years of her reign, the country has been at peace for only two. With this in mind, the Queen orders her field commanders to secure a favourable peace as rapidly as possible.

Orders in hand, Davis and Saunders throw together one last sortie, hoping to knock the French out of the war completely. The weary English veterans follow the retreating Franco-Orléanais army to Dieppe, where battle is offered; but the exhausted French cannot put up much resistance. In order to save their king the indignity of yielding to an English army for the second time, French nobles instead capitulate to a very surprised and pleased Thomas, Count of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp. Though modern military analysts attribute the allied victory to the superior leadership of Davis and Saunders, a slew of post-battle songs and illuminated manuscripts (produced by both French and German scribes) go a long way toward lodging Thomas Holstein-Gottorp's legendary victory in the public's imagination. Not until several centuries later would any other German be so famous for defeating the French.

Though no cities have changed hands on either side, Davis and Saunders have fulfilled their duty; the French king agrees to pay significant compensation, and to abandon all claims to the provinces taken from Burgundy.

_________________________​

Later the same month, Pietro III, Count of Savoy, arrogates to himself the title of duke. Notification of this self-elevation arrives from the Savoyard court, but ultra-punctilious courtiers in London—having received no confirming missive from Savoy's nominal liege, the Holy Roman Emperor—continue to address Pietro in correspondence as a mere count, much to his annoyance.

_________________________​

Though costly, the war wasn't a complete disaster for France. Having sustained a life-threatening wound in his final encounter of the war, Duke of Orléans Louis II de Valois expires after a lengthy illness. As the Duke's son and heir has also perished in the recent war, his lands and title are subsequently absorbed into France's royal demesne.

_________________________​

As peace returns to English dominions in France, so does prosperity. The burghers of Lübeck decide to open a Hansa kontor in Saintonge.

_________________________​

Aside from brief Castilian and Italian interregnums, English clergy have had a powerful influence on the Roman curia for the better part of three or four decades. For the most part, that English influence has been subtle and innocuous, but during Jane's reign it has become more overt—as in the 1433 wartime excommunication of France, and several papal dispensations for Lübeck. Brazenly political action tended to lessen popular and princely respect for the Church, and the more devout Catholic princes were well aware of it.

When calls for church reform start to become irresistible, Jane the pragmatist offers no opposition.
_________________________​

The recent war has reinforced the lesson that England alone does not have sufficient strength to master the French. So much hinged on the participation of allies—if Scotland had chosen to back the Auld Alliance rather than her southern neighbours; or if Portugal (or the Irish) had elected not to fight—that it is very likely the outcome would have been the rollback of English gains in northern France.

Many in Parliament blame the recent French adventurism on England's lack of a strong Continental ally. Following the Princess of Wales' recent marriage to a scion of Austria's ruling Habsburg dynasty, Austria once again seems like a logical choice. It is hoped that with more than mere political pragmatism binding the two nations together, the Austrians will at long last start to engage in western Europe.

Austria, meanwhile, obtains a corridor to its Bosnian holdings at Hungary's expense.
_________________________​

All foreign claims on her realm having been disposed of, Jane feels it is now safe to travel further abroad and see something of the world. But when Greece (and in particular, Constantinople) is revealed to be on the itinerary, Parliament refuses to provide funds for the trip, citing the ever-present dangers of Berber piracy. The Queen makes several subsequent inquiries, but regardless of whether naval reports from Gibraltar indicate pirate activity to be increasing, decreasing, or relatively static, the threshold is never quite low enough for the lords to sanction the voyage. Though Parliament's concerns over Berber piracy are well-founded, Jane has the sensation that another, wholly unstated purpose is to prevent her from ever being reunited with Constantine.

Ariadne writes a letter to Theseus. From Octavien de Saint-Gelais's translation of Ovid's Heroides, illustrated by Robinet Testard, 15th c.​

In the summer of 1447, Greek ambassadors in Rome hint that their Emperor Manuel III might be willing to discuss a reconciliation of Latin and Orthodox churches in exchange for military assistance. Both the Queen and the Pope endorse the idea enthusiastically, but Parliament and the Privy Council are less sanguine. Any conflict tying up English armies so far from home will inevitably tempt the French; and worse, the Greeks will only be net consumers in a security alliance—they have no ability to assist England in its own wars.

Still, it is an opportunity too good to pass up, and with a flood of indulgences Pope Paul II successfully lobbies the Queen and the lords to support the Eastern Roman Empire. Parliament agrees to ratify the alliance on one condition: in the event of war in Greece, England's French garrisons will be excluded from mobilisation and remain in place as a deterrent.

The Eastern Roman Empire reconquers some of its lost territory.​

As usual, Parliament deems it too risky to have the Queen travel to Greece in order to demonstrate English friendship and commitment; the Navy Royal conveys the Duke of Norfolk (also Marshal of England) to Constantinople in her stead. The wisdom of this measure is borne out when Norfolk reports back to Parliament that a certain Constantine Doukas is in fact a widower, with a young son from his first marriage.

_________________________​

Trying to aid France in its reconquest while simultaneously trying to defend their homeland proves to be too much of a burden for the Neapolitans. In late spring of 1448, they are forced to make humiliating concessions to the Papal States. A visiting English cardinal offers the King of Naples many crocodile tears of consolation, noting that if he had not been misled into joining France's illegal and unjust war, the Successor of St. Peter may not have seen fit to admonish the Neapolitans so fiercely.

_________________________​

With the kingdom at peace once more, Queen Jane is able to garner considerable goodwill in Parliament by pursuing one of its long-neglected priorities: the extension of English sovereignty over the remainder of Hibernia. Gentle inquiries from London seem to indicate that the lords of Desmond and Leinster may be receptive to the "surrender and regrant" initiative; especially since engagement in England's many recent wars has sapped their personal wealth. England has a large base of tax and trade income to support its sizeable army; the Irish counties are far less wealthy in comparison.

After months of secretive negotiations, the two remaining Irish lords agree to turn over their lands to the Sovereign under "surrender and regrant"; receiving the lands back freehold, as well as appointment to the Anglo-Irish peerage, a seat in the Parliament of Ireland, and a sizeable annuity from the Crown.

The Parliament of England, in turn, is suitably pleased that the Irish matter has been resolved at long last, without bloodshed and great discord. The lords are ready to commit the nation to another great endeavour, which promises to be neither amicable nor bloodless.

In October of 1448, the royal commission established by the Lords Regent finally completes its task of harmonising English common law and Irish Brehon law. The commission's recommendations are debated and eventually adopted by the legislatures of both nations as the Statutes of England and Ireland Act, 1448.

To recognise Ireland's formal integration into the realm, Jane alters the Lancastrian coat of arms. The quartering of the arms of England and France are swapped, with England taking pride of place in the dexter chief and sinister base quarters; the harp of Ireland is added to the dexter base quarter. These changes reflect England's growth in importance and influence from the initial Norman Conquest; a time when Normandy was the seat of power, the throne of France the primary goal, and England a mere provincial backwater.

_________________________​

Sadly, the nation's respite from war and sacrifice is all too brief. Danish king Christian II seeks to expand his nation's borders and influence into formerly-held lands, namely the County of Holstein. Nearby Lübeck remains a port of great importance to English commerce, and since Holstein is the thankless buffer between Lübeck and the Danes, it is all but inevitable that many armies will be drawn to her defence. Though England requires rest, it requires trade and revenue even more.

_________________________

ENGLAND c. 1448

Jane I Lancaster (ADM 7/DIP 7/MIL 8)
By the Grace of God, Queen of England and France and Lady of Ireland
Duchess of Aquitaine, Countess of Artois, Cambray and Picardy​

Dynastic Links:
~ Burgundy (Duke Philippe IV Lancaster-Valois-Bourgogne)
~ Cyprus (Basileus Jacques II Lancaster-Lusignan)
~ Lüneburg (Duke August I Lancaster-Brunswick-Lüneburg)

Treasury: £4.6 million (46m ducats)
GDP (estimated): £61.89 million (618.9m ducats)
Domestic CoTs: London £36.49 million (364.94m ducats)

Army: 10,000 Knights (Chevauchée), 20,000 Footsoldiers
Reserves (potential levies): 13,345
Navy: 17 Carracks, 17 Pinnaces, 21 Cogs
Discipline: 125.80%
Tradition: Army 30.40% *Navy 21.80%

Prestige: First (98.40)
Reputation: Tarnished (6.25/23.00)
Legitimacy: 100

 

[Ashantai]

This is an astonishingly good AAR! A perfect mix of pictures, gameplay and narrative.

 

[Dewirix]

To what extent can you get away with limiting your involvement in Holstein to a naval presence? That should help you run down your WE while protecting your allies.

Great job getting the last two Irish minors on board. Are you planning on leaving Ireland Catholic post-Reformation? That could create some interesting situations from an RP point of view.

And lest I forget, I'm very impressed by how quickly you took the French out of the war!

 

[CJL78]

Having revoked France's cores in Aquitaine, I would have definitely gone a Dutch route and avoided a war with France for quite some time. But it seems you are managing quite well with your Eliza-Jane going the French route.

 

[Chris Taylor]

This is an astonishingly good AAR! A perfect mix of pictures, gameplay and narrative.

Thanks again, much appreciated.

To what extent can you get away with limiting your involvement in Holstein to a naval presence? That should help you run down your WE while protecting your allies.

Great idea in principle, but in order to get the Danes to cough up the core, I have to commit ground troops and occupy something. Or hope that a German minor commits enough troops and occupies something. I think I'd be faster than the German, though.

Great job getting the last two Irish minors on board. Are you planning on leaving Ireland Catholic post-Reformation? That could create some interesting situations from an RP point of view.

I haven't really figured out what I will do in terms of province religions when the Reformation rolls around. If Ireland receives any attention for conversions, it will be a lesser priority after England itself.

And lest I forget, I'm very impressed by how quickly you took the French out of the war!

That was (as you suggested earlier) cramming most of the armies together and beating the hell out of anything they could reach. The beating part was easier thanks to the enormous shock value of George Saunders, too.

I figured I had a year, at most, to issue the beating; if the war stretched on into two or three years 1) France's manpower would start to outstrip mine and they would inexorably win any war of attrition; and 2) my war exhaustion would cause some kind of civil breakdown that I wouldn't want to deal with. So I had to bloody France's nose quickly and then settle for whatever was available, given the limited war score.

Having revoked France's cores in Aquitaine, I would have definitely gone a Dutch route and avoided a war with France for quite some time. But it seems you are managing quite well with your Eliza-Jane going the French route.

I agree the Dutch route is more profitable, and if I were not constraining myself by trying to hew closely to semi-historical goals, I would go after the Dutch provinces like gangbusters. (Though I'm sure the Dutch route would be historically plausible too, given how many English peers tried to nab Flanders over the years.) But in the end I preferred a France-first approach as being the most likely/desirable for an English monarch of the day.

 

[unmerged(235409)]

A great read of an AAR. Looking forward to more updates.

 

[Salik]

Well done keeping the French at bay. Now, as much as I hate to see you fight Denmark, I hope you will manage to protect your trade in the Baltic.

 

[Omen]

Excellent updates. I, for one, hope that Jane is able to forge a personal Greek alliance.

 

[Chris Taylor]

A great read of an AAR. Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks! And welcome aboard, fellow Canuck.

Well done keeping the French at bay. Now, as much as I hate to see you fight Denmark, I hope you will manage to protect your trade in the Baltic.

I try to be ... minimally disruptive when not fighting a mortal enemy. Denmark's no threat, I just have to convince them not to eat Lübeck (and to leave Holstein as a buffer zone). In a decade or two you might even say the war was beneficial for the Danes, surprisingly enough.

Excellent updates. I, for one, hope that Jane is able to forge a personal Greek alliance.

Dynastically, anything can happen. All I can do to influence things is make a binary choice—royal marriage: yes/no?

I think I would prefer to end up in a union with Cyprus, if I had any choice in the matter. It can be defended by the navy and one wouldn't end up in constant bar brawls with the Ottomans.

 

[unmerged(195775)]

Dynastically, anything can happen. All I can do to influence things is make a binary choice—royal marriage: yes/no?

I think I would prefer to end up in a union with Cyprus, if I had any choice in the matter. It can be defended by the navy and one wouldn't end up in constant bar brawls with the Ottomans.

Yet wouldn't the most likely successor be August I's Luneberg, because August is the last remaining child and direct descendant of Henry VI. Which would mean a royal union with Luneberg

 

[Chris Taylor]

Yet wouldn't the most likely successor be August I's Luneberg, because August is the last remaining child and direct descendant of Henry VI. Which would mean a royal union with Luneberg

You're correct (and have a great memory!), August is the youngest child of Henry V and would be next in line assuming that neither Jane nor Mary has children of their own.

I just meant that in the grand scheme of things, I'd rather not have another small but demanding Continental possession requiring maintenance of a huge army.

 

[Dewirix]

I forgot to mention before, but I like the change in England's coat of arms when Ireland is annexed. Is this an MMU thing, and does it also change if and when Scotland is added?

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Do I smell a secret date in Gibraltar?

I agree the Normandy route is more plausible; but the rump of Burgundy is just asking to be dealt the final blow. You should add it to your to-do-list.

Jane is overall a very millitant monarch, almost no peace. Luckily for her people, most of the wars are fought on foreign turf.

I also love the CoA of Savoy, haven't seen it before (and while searching for pics to my Savoy aar I saw many); pity, Jane is so mean and didn't acknowledge Pietro's ambitions. Savoy might make a good ally/buffer for England, especially now that France is consolidating; and I doubt Austria will stand by you if you go aggressively against France, well Savoy pbly won't either.

The 'trade station' event has nothing to do with the old Helius's Hansa, I guess; it's part of the new HttT trade leagues system, right?

In what figuers is your w.e. now? I don't think it decreased to 0 within the break between the old war against France and the new one against Scandinavia. If you can save Holstein, it means you can shape Europen map to your liking. So no grand isolation pbly.

 

[Chris Taylor]

I forgot to mention before, but I like the change in England's coat of arms when Ireland is annexed. Is this an MMU thing, and does it also change if and when Scotland is added?

It's not an MMU thing, it's just a graphical tweak by me—replacing the original ENG.tga flag file with one of my own design. Before I started the AAR I had actually created 3-4 different ENG flags and shields to cover possible outcomes re: France, Ireland, etc. But the process of activating them is manual (i.e. rename default ENG.tga to ENG_original.tga, then rename my custom file—ENG_FRA_IRE.tga—to ENG.tga.)

In order for the game to accommodate it naturalistically you'd have to add in new, unique country tags for each different country iteration and then make copies of the ENG/GBR events, missions, decisions, etc, with the new country tags substituted in. That would be way too time-consuming, much easier to just replace the flag file, clear the cache and relaunch EU3.

Do I smell a secret date in Gibraltar?

I can't touch this one without going into spoiler territory, so you'll have to be patient.

I agree the Normandy route is more plausible; but the rump of Burgundy is just asking to be dealt the final blow. You should add it to your to-do-list.

The Flanders-Hainaut rump, or the Nevers-Burgundy-Franche Comte rump? I was kind of leaving the Low Countries bit for one of the Dutch minors to grab. I don't really want to waltz right up to the Admin Efficiency limit, if I can help it, and from both an RP and strategic perspective, if I'm going to burn AE points, I'd rather spend them on actual French territories.

Jane is overall a very millitant monarch, almost no peace. Luckily for her people, most of the wars are fought on foreign turf.

I had intended to fight one or two big throw downs during her reign, but as it turned out I gave out some guarantees without properly assessing the cost and so got dragged into combat more times than I wanted. I continue to be amazed at the number of times another war kicks off just as one is winding down, preventing me from lowering war exhaustion.

I also love the CoA of Savoy, haven't seen it before (and while searching for pics to my Savoy aar I saw many); pity, Jane is so mean and didn't acknowledge Pietro's ambitions. Savoy might make a good ally/buffer for England, especially now that France is consolidating; and I doubt Austria will stand by you if you go aggressively against France, well Savoy pbly won't either.

That's the coat of arms of the real Pietro I, though I think he came along a couple of decades before the present game-date.

The real story behind the Savoy business is that when the pop-up appeared, I chuckled and said "Who does he think he's kidding?" and denied it, reasoning that Emperor Bohemia would have preferred that. Then, when I was preparing the update, I did some research and noted that the actual Count of Savoy was elevated to Duke by the Emperor in the mid-1440s! And then I felt bad about shooting him down.

So far Austria has been a semi-worthless ally but they haven't dragged me into any wars, either, so that's not too bad. Mainly they are the big bad guard dog meant to deter a France or Castile from saying "Nice country you got there. Be a shame if something happened to it."

The 'trade station' event has nothing to do with the old Helius's Hansa, I guess; it's part of the new HttT trade leagues system, right?

I think you're correct, yes, connected to HttT trade league and not the old MMP Hansa system. But in game terms the HttT "Lubeckian League" is the Hansa, really.

In what figuers is your w.e. now? I don't think it decreased to 0 within the break between the old war against France and the new one against Scandinavia. If you can save Holstein, it means you can shape Europen map to your liking. So no grand isolation pbly.

It'll take a half a decade (or maybe even a full one!) to zero out, I think. Still in the 8-point-something range.

Once I get the French territories the active interventionism in western and central Europe will undoubtedly die down. I don't usually even charge to Lubeck's rescue like I did this time; I would normally just move to another trade league. If it were Norway or Sweden leading the alliance I would probably let them eat Holstein and Lubeck because the size of their combined armies would just crush me while I tried to capture one of their significant provinces. But because it is Denmark, and I can more or less bottle up the Danish armies on the islands, and prevent anything from interfering with my siege, I figured I would try to prevent the inevitable.

 

[Dewirix]

It's not an MMU thing, it's just a graphical tweak by me—replacing the original ENG.tga flag file with one of my own design. Before I started the AAR I had actually created 3-4 different ENG flags and shields to cover possible outcomes re: France, Ireland, etc. But the process of activating them is manual (i.e. rename default ENG.tga to ENG_original.tga, then rename my custom file—ENG_FRA_IRE.tga—to ENG.tga.)

It's really nice work. I've just spent ten minutes figuring out what the animal on the right is supposed to be. I would never have guessed it was an antelope, but there you go. I suppose it should also recognise Jane's overlordship of Gibraltar as well, although I'm not sure how it would be represented as it's not a kingdom.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Yeah I don't think Gibraltar quite rates inclusion, being a somewhat minor county.

In retrospect it might be fun to keep track of the arms, too, so I've retrofitted the monarch's arms into each update, replacing the generic EU3 CoA. Henry IV's arms are used from 1399-1448, when Jane alters them to re-arrange France and England, and include Ireland.

(Unless everyone hates it—I can always switch back to the generics )

 

[blsteen]

Well done,
you'll have to blockade the Oresund with the Navy Royal so it might as well carry some troops to land to get that WS.
Coat of Arms is cool. Jane needs some lovin' soon.

 

[Lord Blekinge]

A great AAR, well written and very enjoyable.

 

[Jape]

Really enjoying this AAR, excellent history book style and lovely graphics.