• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
Chapter XXII - A Protestant Empire

Protestantism has triumphed! The Church of Amsterdam has proclaimed the 19 of January as a religious holiday.
Back at peace, Raadpensionaris von Schack finances a modernization project in the Grand Republic. Marketplaces, manufactories and other buildings are being constructed in various provinces in Europe. In Picardie a castle gets torn down because of neighboring fortifications in Paris and Cales.
With Cologne as an Amsterdammer province, the Handelsgilde has gained significant influence in the Rheinland trade node which is reason enough for the Handelsgilde to place a merchant there to steer trade towards Lübeck and from there to the Channel. The route via Champagne is also possible but the Handelsgilde has less influence in Champagne than it has in Lübeck.


HbMaOXv.png


Muscovy's debt has increased to 4698 ducats. When will they be bankrupt? In the last assembly of the Raad of Amsterdam, von Schack cast a tie-breaker in favor of annulling the alliance with the Muscovites. Their recent defeat against Sweden has reassured von Schack that he made the right call. The alliance is officially dissolved on 1 February, 1587.

efpjy1f.png

Wc2CZob.png


The Colonial Empire of Amsterdam has received little war over the last 10 years, mostly due to the War of the Protestant League. von Schack wants to change that and sendsGeneral Eise von Altmark to Nieuw Brugge in Colonial Colombia.
von Altmark arrives there in mid-March. He has the mission to conquer first Chimo and then Cusco. Chimu belongs to the Colonial Colombia region whereas Cusco is part of Colonial Peru.

wamQCxX.png


On 13 August, Chimu gets annexed by Nieuw Brugge and von Altmark declares war on Cusco. Cusco is said to be the largest and strongest Native American tribe in the Americas. Cusco is joined by her allies Guarani and Mapuche as well as by her vassal Cajamarca. Will 16.000 mercenaries be enough to conquer them?
The military profits from Amsterdam's latest technological advancement. Forced March has been developed which allows armies to march a lot faster at the cost of some monarch power.

ethlDJ2.png


Nieuw Antwerpen is an helpful subject and supports her overlord with troops against Cusco. Their combined forces defeat an army of Cusco at the Battle of Piwra.
Ethiopia becomes a target of Amsterdammer aggression in March, 1588. Spies had previously worked tirelessly to fabricate four claims on Ethiopian provinces. These claims are needed to start the war because the overseas expansion casus belli does not apply against the Muslim-tech group.

eVg2R8R.png


Ethiopia is ally-less and the war goal is the province of Garoowe. However, the unofficial war goal is to conquer all of Ethiopia's provinces in the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia is already embroiled in a war against Medri Bahri and Oman and the Ethiopian's are losing both those wars. Previously they have gotten beaten down by rebels. Life in Ethiopia is tough.
Cajamaraca's capital as well the castle in Chachapoyas are occupied within five months. This, on top of winning a few battles, gives Amsterdam 47% War Score with Cusco - enough or peace.

5rSA6xW.png


The peace negotiations are fast. General von Altmark has clear orders on what to demand. Given that the goal is to establish a colonial nation in Peru, he demands on 11 June, 1588, all of Cusco's coastal provinces as well the full annexation of Cajamarca as well as three of Cusco's inland provinces. The administration begins coring them immediately. This is the last step needed to found a colonial nation in Peru.
Next to Colonial Peru, the Grand Republic is also lacking colonial nations in Colonial Brazil, Colonial Louisiana, Colonial California and Colonial Alaska.
Settlers embark from the Low Countries to Biloxi and Natchez in Colonial Louisiana to establish two colonies there. Amsterdam already has three colonies in that colonial region which means once Biloxi and Natchez become self-sustaining, another colonial nation can be founded.

kyl4NN6.png


In an effort to fight corruption, the treasurers suggest to use military veterans as servants and quartermasters. Commandant van der Oije and Raadpensionaris von Schack have no objection to the treasurers' plan so it becomes a common practice in November, 1588.
New Ship types, namely the Galleon and the Early Frigate, become available, too. The existing fleet gets slowly upgraded. This process is very money intense though. The first ships that get upgraded are the old caravels which are patrolling the waters of Lübeck and the Channel.

hPd2cAh.png

gfDjmLm.png


Because Ethiopia's realm is divided into two parts, the navy has to transport the sell-swords from the Horn of Africa to Ethiopia's home territory. Province after province falls without resistance. Oman and Medri Bahri have killed the Ethiopian army and navy already. Resistance is impossible.
But Amsterdam is not greedy and stops the hostilities in July, 1589. The war ends with Ethiopia ceding holdings in the Horn of Africa region as well as the province Assab. Assab? Yes, from Assab Amsterdammer spies will be able to fabricate a claim on Hejaz. In its last assembly, the Raad of Amsterdam has decided with a large majority that the Grand Republic shall conquer the Holy City of Mecca. Having a claim on Hejaz means that this conquest can be done without declaring a non-CB war.

W9HDJzT.png


The administration informs von Schack the the integration of the provinces in Colonial Peru is going splendidly. Soon they will be cored and transferred to a colonial nation.
Goud Mond declares a colonial war on Pima in August, 1589. They are strong enough to conquer this one-province-minor without involvement from Amsterdam.
That very same day, Creek becomes the target of Nieuw Antwerp.

vDT95Dr.png


Hesse sends a call to arms to Amsterdam, Defender of the Protestant Faith, on 14 November, 1589. The Hessians are being attacked by Nassau. Naturally, the call to arms is accepted. Catholics must die. von Schack mages an army of 13.000 regulars available to fight Nassau. He feels he must protect his Protestant brethren.

nhoF1cy.png


Nassau is a weak opponent and therefore Amsterdam continues to focus on her expansion in India. The Grand Republic still has an almost six-year-long truce with Vijayanagar but von Schack would like to continue to conquer them now. This is possible thanks to them guaranteeing the independence of Amsterdam's neighbor Malabar.
On 29 November, 1589, Amsterdam declares war on Malbar and Vijayanagar accepts their defensive call to arms. The truce is bypassed!
The war is slowed down by a 20.000 men strong rebellion in Goa and South Konkan. The rebels have to be dealt with before focusing on Vijayanagar.

NnjGkNW.png

D6VqsD4.png


Nieuw Europa is founded on April 1, 1590, in Colonial Peru after the provinces that were taken in the war against Cusco have finished the coring process.
Potiguara, a small tribe of Native Americans in Brazil, becomes the target of Amsterdammer expansionism in late April but declaring a colonial conquest war on them is not possible! They completed the westernization process. Unbelievable but true: Potiguara is a Westernized, Animist Duchy in Brazil. Their military technology level is almost on-par with the one of Amsterdam. The only way to conquer them is to fabricate a claim on one of their two provinces and this is exactly what happens next.

D6VqsD4.png


Amsterdam signs a separate peace treaty with Nassau in which the one-province-minor is forced to convert to Protestantism. von Schack leaves them to Hessen now.
A national arsenal is also developed in the Low Countries. This increases Amsterdam's naval forcelimit modifier by +25%
Catholic heretics fleet to Kolonie and help turning Urugay and Picunmapu into self-sustaining provinces. It is best when the heretics are in the colonies. This prevents them from causing chaos in Europe.

LKKHeFT.png


The East India Trade Company receives control over four new provinces. Two from Vijayanagar and two from Malabar. This is the result of the war with Malabar in which they were annexed and Vijayanagar lost two provinces. The treaty that ensured the swap of ownership of these four provinces is signed on 23 October, 1591.
Religious Unity is still below 70%. The Church of Amsterdam is wondering why the war for the Holy City of Mecca has not yet been declared. The reason is quite simple: von Schack wants more than one claim on Hejaz. The clergy does not understand this. They become more impatient with every day that passes.

zDpTTkQ.png


By April, 1592, Amsterdam has a claim on Potiguara and it is time to end their miserable lives. Amsterdam cannot tolerate westernized Native American tribes. Imagine all the madness in this world if other primitive countries would also westernized. The thought makes von Schack puke.
Brandenburg calls her ally Amsterdam into the Brandenburgian Conquest of Fünen in June. The Grand Republic accepts the call to arms. Saxony and Saxe-Lauenburg side with the outnumbered enemy.

wkkIhar.png


After Biloxi becomes a self-sustaining colony, von Schack decides to reorganize the colonies in Louisiana into a colonial nation: Zwaard is founded.
Portiguara stands no chance against the invading Amsterdammer. They hold out for four months before getting annexed in August, 1592.

F6Jv9qW.png


Raadpensionaris von Schack questions the naming of Nieuw Antwerp's latest colony. They named it Nieuw Amsterdam which is also a name of a different colonial nation in Colonial Canada! Oh no!
Scotland activly participates in the name of Amsterdam in Brandenburg's war against Pomerania. Together, they make good progress. Brandenburg has good chances to annex a few Pomeranian provinces if they play their cards well.

lhrCehT.png


Two claims have been fabricated on Hejazi provinces by November, 1592, and documents for a third claim are currently being forged. Enough to declare war. Amsterdam has to conquer the Holy City of Mecca. The Church of Amsterdam has lost its patience with the Grand Republic. Mecca has to be conquered at all costs. As expected, Oman and Warsangali honored the call to arms whereas the Mamluks declined it due to excessive debts.
An army of mercenaries takes care of Warsangali. Regular troops lead by General von Altmark use the navy to land in Jazan.
Trade income is as high as ever. This allows for faster colonial expansionism. Up to eight colonies are being sustained simultaneously. The cost for the colonies increases exponentially. The first colony costs 2.14 ducats to sustain; the eight one costs 36.47 ducats. No problem for the Grand Republic.

jq3MJ2p.png


Amsterdam relies still in part on sell-swords. About one third of all regiments are mercenaries. So far, so good. The mercenaries are smart men and realize that Amsterdam needs them. They demand 50% higher wages. Commandant van der Oije agrees to pay them more money. Otherwise they would desert.
Half a year later, Warsangali has lost all hope to achieve anything in this war. Their capital has fallen and the majority of their Princedom is occupied but it is not time for peace, says von Schack. He is waiting for their last province, Zeila, to fall first.
The situation for Hejaz does not look any better. Mekka and the coastal provinces are occupied; General von Altmark is marching on Oman.
Zeila falls in late August and in early September peace is made. Warsangali ceded her capital and three other provinces in the Horn of Africa region.
Hejaz and Oman have sent their combined armies to retake Mecca. 32.000 soldiers are besieging the province. The mercenaries which fought against Warsangali are brought via the navy over the Red Sea to Jeddah. From there they march on Mecca to engage the enemy. Both sides suffer a number of causalities but the sell-swords have managed to force Hejaz and Oman to retreat.


yC04Atc.png


Very surprisingly, Brandenburg demanded only monetary reparations from Pomerania after beating them up nicely. How silly of them!
The two provinces which were taken from Poriguara have been cored by April, 1594. The colonies in Brazil form a colonial nation called Kanonskogel. It is anticipated, that Kanonskogel will have to compete with Leon and Scotland for dominance in Brazil. The two Amsterdammer subjects are also colonizing South America.


qiAtzlH.png


At the Battle of Sana'a, Amsterdam loses a siege corps that was laying siege on the former Yemenite capital. They were beaten by Omani troops. Always a pity to lose a battle like that.
In Italy, provinces change hands again. Milan conquers northern Tuscany. Lucca, Modena, Parma, Genoa and Albenga become Milanese territory.
In June, 1495, a separate peace agreement is reached with the Omani government. Sultana Lujayn I cedes the island Socotra as well as three coastal provinces in Arabia to Amsterdam. Later that month, Hejaz cedes all her coastal towns, the Holy City of Mecca, and five more provinces to Amsterdam. Victory, at last!


nzcScZY.png


Back at peace, the clergy seems finally pleased that the Grand Republic controls Mecca. With three missionaries, they are still not confident to successfully combat the low religious unity. It is at 63%. The Church of Amsterdam suggests to also conquer a second Holy City. It so happens that Amsterdam holds a claim on Rome thanks to the excellent spy network. The Church of Amsterdam has financed the forgery of the necessary documents. von Schack is unsure though whether war is really the right move.
With now nine simultaneous colonies, the administration is at its limits. Leading bureaucrats suggest to return to a maximum of eight, preferably seven colonies.


XhUfIDG.png


The small council's latest addition is Giselert von Sachsen who enjoys a good reputation as Inquisitor. He represents the interests of the Church of Amsterdam. It is believed that David van der Oije might retire soon given his age. It could be that Boudewihn von Heimbach will be his replacement. von Heimbach has served the military well in various positions.
Westernization is spreading like madness through Africa. Morocco has managed to westernize off a Portuguese core in Fez. From Morocco, westernization spread to Timbukto and from there to Mali, Dagbon and Songhai. A disaster.
The Polish and her powerful allies declare war on Bohemia, a Protestant nation. The Polish are Catholic and therefore a call to arms has been sent to Amsterdam. Lithuania, Sweden and The Hansa have joined Poland in this offensive war as well as their subject Moldavia. The Emperor has come to defend Bohemia.
Amsterdam has a few days to decide what to do. van der Oije suggests to dishonor the call to arms. There is little to gain in this war and the attacking forces are quite numerous. He is sure that Poland will beat Bohemia in this war. van Schack does not want to simply decline the call to arms though.
He realizes that this is the opportunity to conquer Lübeck. The Hansa is a free imperial city and usually enjoys protection from the Emperor but the Emperor is at war with the Hansa which has sided with Poland.

Rytz2s0.png


48 hours later, a declaration of war is sent to the Hansa. Poland dishonors their alliance with the Hansa; only Danzig sides with them. von Schack then notifies Bohemia that he would love to defend him from Catholic aggressors but that he cannot because the Grand Republic is already at war with the Hansa. One country cannot be in two wars against the same country. How useful!
For more than a century, the Handelsgilde has wanted to own Lübeck. Now is the time to take the city one and for all.
Nieuw Antwerp is a major producer of Tobacco and the profit a lot by the growing popularity of it. Originally, marketed as medicinal plant, Tobacco has come to be increasingly popular in both the Christian and Muslim world for its recreational purposes. From Amsterdam to Alexandria the habit has grown to such an extend that the tobacco business is becoming quite lucrative. The price e of Tobacco increases by 50%!

Ef74rfo.png

XhaBw0U.png


Commandant van der Oije dies at the age of 76 on 3 December, 1595. A state funeral is held the following day. van der Oije has served the Grand Republic for almost five decades faithfully. He will be missed.
Leading generals suggest to promote Boudewijn von Heimbach as his replacement but at the end von Schack decides against it and picks Robert von Diest as new representative of the military. 30-year-old von Diest has been hired not only to represent the military but also to continue to reform the army.
The Hanseatic navy sinks some Amsterdammer ships at the Battle of Storebaelt. Reinforcements arrive and ultimately the port of Lübeck gets blockaded. No ships may leave the harbor anymore.
As expected, Bohemia is slowly getting beaten by the overwhelming forces of the Polish and her allies. A good decision to not join this war.

MDN0XaU.png


Mercenaries and regular forces, led by the Raadpensionaris, breach the walls of Lübeck after about 290 days. The siege continues.
Amsterdam takes a loan worth 1362 ducats from Florentine bankers. A situation in the colonies has required Amsterdam to act immediately. The treasury points out that it needs to be a priority to reduce the number of colonies. This could take another year or two and result in maybe a second loan they expect.
The Portuguese are heavily colonizing the region between Colonial Mexico and Colonial Colombia. This has given Amsterdam the colonialism casus belli against them. It could be the chance to finish them off. But Portugal is allied to Amsterdam's ally Aragon, next to Castile. von Schack wants to leave this issue to the Raad of Amsterdam to decide. The assembly scheduled for December.

zNpGYBG.png


In mid-November, administrative, diplomatic and military technology advance to level 16. The chambered demi-canon becomes the military's preferred artillery unit. The better artillery helps in besieging Lübeck. The city falls later that month.
Tobacco is not the only New World good that enjoys an increasing popularity in Europe. Tribal societies have used cocoa for centuries to create hot beverages. Amsterdammer seafarers have brought this habit to Europe. Hot chocolate becomes a popular drink in Antwerp and London. Soon the Handelsgilde realizes that cocoa should be marketed more in order to gain a higher revenue. Fellow Europeans begin to buy Amsterdammer cocoa at up to 40% higher prices!


F6Jv9qW.png

C5BxlUi.png


On 3 December, 1596, the assembly of the Raad of Amsterdam is held in the capital. Delegates from various parts of the world have traveled weeks and months to attend the assembly.


Edit: There were some issues with copying the BB codes of the various images. I hope I fixed all errors now.
 
Last edited:
So Canada needs a new name? What about Bevrijders?
 
Oh man, so much progress! New Colonial nations and Leon and Scotland finally colonizing! The secret advantage will be in Brazil, where a single CN might prove too big to keep liberty desire down, but if more than one CN starts, that'll be fine. Good job swiping Lubeck, it's hardly important anymore but it'll be prestigeous enough, to finally grab this from The Hansa and end them once and for all. You are truly ruling an empire.

And as an off-topic note, I have been playing a little bit (just an hour and a half, I had to restart) as Holland myself:

This is what I look like after 30 odd years:

7BBA8A5A83FE970491B6DAA6CB9F64D2BD664EB6


I could have perhaps been slightly bigger, but I wanted to get both power projection (first war versus Utrecht annexing them was 7 pp, went for a 30 pp humiliate in stead) and had to skirt around some AE. Munster is a vassal by conquest, but Oldenburg willingly joined my empire. After playing Najd before, it's a joy to run such a small but friggin' rich country. Very pleasant to play.

Additionally, I finally got around to actually installing the InHeaven Graphics' mod, man, my maps be so purty!

Totally dedicating this playthrough to you, so nice to be playing in this are again. I generally don't replay but this is so much fun. I want to get the Sinaasappel achievement, other than that I'm not sure what my goals are yet :)
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Oh man, so much progress! New Colonial nations and Leon and Scotland finally colonizing! The secret advantage will be in Brazil, where a single CN might prove too big to keep liberty desire down, but if more than one CN starts, that'll be fine. Good job swiping Lubeck, it's hardly important anymore but it'll be prestigeous enough, to finally grab this from The Hansa and end them once and for all. You are truly ruling an empire.
I think you could be right that having two colonial nations in Brazil might not be a bad thing at all. Nieuw Antwerp is also getting very large in Colonial Eastern America. Might be better if that would be colonized by two colonial nations but I don't think that will happen.
Taking Lübeck is like you correctly said more a prestige thing. Well, we have not annexed the city yet since we are still at war with Lübeck but it's only a matter of a few more months.

And as an off-topic note, I have been playing a little bit (just an hour and a half, I had to restart) as Holland myself:

This is what I look like after 30 odd years:

7BBA8A5A83FE970491B6DAA6CB9F64D2BD664EB6


I could have perhaps been slightly bigger, but I wanted to get both power projection (first war versus Utrecht annexing them was 7 pp, went for a 30 pp humiliate in stead) and had to skirt around some AE. Munster is a vassal by conquest, but Oldenburg willingly joined my empire. After playing Najd before, it's a joy to run such a small but friggin' rich country. Very pleasant to play.

Additionally, I finally got around to actually installing the InHeaven Graphics' mod, man, my maps be so purty!

Totally dedicating this playthrough to you, so nice to be playing in this are again. I generally don't replay but this is so much fun. I want to get the Sinaasappel achievement, other than that I'm not sure what my goals are yet :)
Very nice progress and don't worry about being small in the early game. Amsterdam was small too at the beginning :) Power Projection is super important because of the extra general slot and at 50 PP you get more monarch power so a nice move to humiliate them instead.
Your map look indeed nice. I haven't tried any mods that alter the map appearance yet. Might have to do that :)
As a a goal you can set yourself conquer all of Ming and the Philippines. That sounds like a good challenge. Or go for the achievement in which you have to dominate the Channe, Genoa and Venice trade nodes. I'm not much of an achievement player so I usually set my self other goals :p
 
Assembly of the Raad of Amsterdam; 3 December, 1596



Gentlemen,
Thanks for making it to days assembly. We have some important matters to discuss after our glorious victory over the Catholic League not too long ago.

Issue 1: Italy

Unfortunately, we lost Savoy as vassal during the War of the Protestant League. If we wish to expand into Italy then there are two choices. We can either improve relations with Savoy and peacefully vassalize them or we can release Siena as vassal. Siena and Savoy could be both set up as marches.
Savoy has strong national ideas which favor being a march. Siena on the other hands sits pretty in Central Italy. Siena's location will allow us to expand into Tuscany, Milan and Naples quite easily. Savoy's position will allow for expansion into the French Riviera and Milan.

IigMTPC.png

QZ8jZyT.png

Option 1: Vassalize Savoy (within the next 15 years)

Option 2: Release Siena as march (within the next 15 years)

Option 3: Italy is not for us

Issue 2: Eastern Europe; Baltic
As you know, we are currently at war with Lübeck and her ally Danzig. In a few months, we can annex Lübeck and thereby end the war or we could continue fighting and establish Danzig as a vassal/march in Eastern Europe.
Danzig has completed two military idea groups and her national ideas are that bad either. Of course, if we don't want to expand into Eastern Europe then we won't really need a subject in that region.
Setting Danzig up as a subject would be easy though given that we are already at war with them. Danzig lies in the Baltic Trade Node which steer into the Channel via Lübeck.

jPa1Slu.png

97vGjWE.png

Option 1: Do not set up Danzig as a subject.

Option 2: Set up Danzig as a subject

(if you vote this then feel free to comment whether it should be march or vassal but that's not up for vote)

Issue 3: Iberia
Getting a casus belli against Portugal and Castile is quite difficult these days because our march Leon refuses to fabricate claims on their provinces. But we have gained a colonialism casus belli on Portugal.
We can use this casus belli to declare war on Portugal and her ally Castile. But Portugal is also allied to Aragon and here things get complicated.Aragon is also our ally but would side with Portugal in a defensive war.
Target: Portuguese colonies in Mexico and Castile (we can set them as co-belligerent if we want to fight Tuscany, too) as well as a few Aragonese provinces. Taking Aragonese provinces will be expensive War Score wise unless make them a co-belligerent, too, this would mean we'd also have to fight Milan.

6ND71iA.png

Option 1: Declare war on Portugal (within the next 5 years)
Aragon has served its purpose. Going to war with the three Iberian independent countries shall be our priority.
Option 2: Keep the alliance with Aragon at all costs
Aragon has helped us a lot in previous wars. We need to stick with them. They could be a useful ally in a war against France. The Trastamaras of Aragon are a loyal ally.

Issue 4: The Colonial Settlement Act
Soon we will have completed Quantity Ideas which would allow us to pass The Colonial Settlement Act. This act gives us one additional colonist and increases global settler increase at the cost of 12 military power per year.

qAFGtYa.png

Option 1: We are better off without this Act

Option 2: Pass The Colonial Settlement Act as soon as possible.


These are the four issues on which we have to vote on. The deadline is Thursday 19:00 CEST. Before you get to discuss these issues, I want to give you an update on a few aspects of our Grand Republic.


Trade

52.4% of our income comes from trade. The Channel is by far the richest trade node in the world with a total value of more than 75 ducats. We hold 78% of the trade power in the English Channel. Our only competitors are Scotland and Burgundy.

FBxXy5Z.png


We are production leader in nine strategic goods. We also receive a trading bonus for twelve strategic goods. We have our highest market share in trading ivory with 53% followed by cocoa at 44% and tobacco with 40%.

HfFK0rO.png


Military
Amsterdam has the largest army in the world. We currently have 130 regiments under our command.
Our navy and merchant marine are unmatched. Nobody has more ships than us.

Ox0Y4kn.png

E35nqcv.png

ait8rpN.png

Subjects
Scotland has the highest liberty desire of all our subject with 37%, followed by Leon with 22%.
Six ouf our colonial nations and four of our trade companies grant us an additional merchant each.
We have four colonies and three trade companies which do not grant us any additional merchant.

GaT4G2G.png

Colonial Competition
France, Scotland and Leon have failed to establish a colonial nation in the Caribbean. This is crucial as it strengthens Amsterdammer Antilles, our colonial nation in the Caribbean. is colonizing in Colonial Canada.

l2Omc4d.jpg


The French have moved on to colonize in Colonial Canada where they are competing with Nieuw Amsterdam. They have three colonies in the region.
Scotland and Leon have moved on to colonize Brazil instead. Brazil is the home of Kanonskogel.

bjADcFS.jpg

tcwtWTq.png


Amsterdam has no colonial nation in Colonial California and Colonial Alaska but our colonial nation in Australia, Nieuw Middelburg, is doing well.

KFJL8im.png

Maps
Europe

Ueu4Z4F.jpg

xgob2Ba.jpg


Africa

aw7OWy1.jpg

6lqqibu.jpg


India

yjOnT8a.jpg

3FMyvSm.jpg


Ming

Qy4hWQ5.jpg




 
Issue 1:
Option 2

Issue 2:
Option 2

Issue 3:
Option 2;
It should be a vassal, since you can connect your territories and then annex it. Why? More land is always good. (See newly edited signature.)

Issue 4:
Option 2
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Before I vote, I have a question.

If we declare war on France (perhaps over their colonies in Canada if we have no other CB) would Aragon join us? Or if we declared a war in Italy would Aragon join us? It seems to me there must be a way to get Aragon in a war on our side before we declare on Portugal and we should be able to finish off Portugal and Castile before the war alongside Aragon is over.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
Issue 1: option 2
Issue 2: option 2
Issue 3: option 1
Issue 4: option 2



And bevrijders means liberators, because Canada liberated our country in 1944/1945.
And our countries have had a great relationship ever since.
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:
*looks at Europe* Holy bordergore, Batman!

Yes you can quote me on that in the assembly in 1596.

Issue 1: option 2

Siena is in a better position, I feel that the actual vassal properties are less important, since you are strong enough to do whatever you want.

Issue 2: option 2

We might as well at this point. This whole campaign I've been advocating not to blob too much, but we're at the point where there's not much else to do than to conquer and you'd be just artificially limiting yourself.

Issue 3: option 1

If it doesn't have to put us at war with Aragon directly, then by all means, clean up the mess that is the Iberian peninsula (and whatever they have overseas). Then later when the timing is convenient, deal with Aragon.

Issue 4: option 2

No discussion, this is the best colonial policy in the game. And if you're already not struggling with admin and diplo policies, a military policy should definitely not be a problem.

General note:

The map and your holdings in Europe are really turning into a mess. Luckily we still have plenty of time on our hands (with the risk of sounding like a broken record: it's still kind of unbelievable it's not even 1600 yet). It'd be nice to see the holdings that don't connect to your capital be in the hands of marches, so Léon in Iberia and Siena or whoever in Italy. Then Burgundy will be a prime European target, simply cause they seperate your nouveau French lands with your original Dutch territory. Around the world, South America is still scarily empty, but you do reign uncontested so that's good. I'd like seeing you capture the Arabian peninsula just for prettyness of the map and I'm sure you're intent on gobbling up India, which is a nice goal even if it'll take a while. But time is on tour hands so no worries there :)

I've been meaning to try the InHeaven graphics mod for a while for that sweet cartographer feel. Unfortunately it's not on the Steam workshop and I had to register my game here first, which I've been too lazy to do for a while until yesterday.

There's a less drastic mod I can recommend though, GFX overhaul. It makes your map look like this, which just makes the colours look a bit richer and nicer. Might be nice to switch here. And if you want to really improve your quality of life, put MapModeButtons on there. All it does is simply display every map mode as its own button on the screen. It's unintrusive and makes using maps so much less of a pain. After getting it, I can't go back.

I only use IronMan compatible mods cause I like getting an achievement every now and then, but mostly to prevent myself from save scumming ;) As you mentioned achievements, I like to sort of have an optional goal to give myself some direction with play, it prevents me from giving up games too fast or expanding in a very messy way. But I can see how they're not for everyone and I do play games in between just for the hell of it.

By the way, I might go after Ming indeed, but I've never gotten Master of India so I'll try and follow your success in Asia, curious how it plays out. I started out with Admin (jey Mercs and coring costs, also my early leaders had good Admin scores, but not much else), probably taking exploration next. Could you maybe include all the idea groups up to now in one of your future updates? I think it was Admin, Explo, Expan, Quant, but I may have lost track along the way. Was digging through the topic yesterday but couldn't find it.
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:
Issue 1 - Option 2 - In all honesty, I'd go for both Savoy and Siena as vassals since I never put much stock in dip points and both would make perfect vassals/marches, but out of the two, I'd choose Siena.

Issue 2 - Option 2 - Definitely setting up Danzig but not as a march since it's actually near you and you can feed it in a way you'll have control of the Baltic, if you get the chance to expand there that is.

Issue 3 - Option 1 - I'd go with war because, not even long-term, Aragon is someone you'd conquer, and now you have more than enough troops to defeat the French on your own(unless they have some very big allies). I also wouldn't actually take anything from Aragon yet - I'd make them release Corsica, Sardinia and Sicilia(if possible), who you can feed to Siena. Though, as someone else suggested, you should check if there's an option to attack France first then Portugal to keep the alliance until both wars end.

Issue 4 - Option 2 - More colonists, I mean why wouldn't you pass that policy?
 
  • 2
Reactions:
Issue 1 - Option 2 - In all honesty, I'd go for both Savoy and Siena as vassals since I never put much stock in dip points and both would make perfect vassals/marches, but out of the two, I'd choose Siena.

Issue 2 - Option 2 - Definitely setting up Danzig but not as a march since it's actually near you and you can feed it in a way you'll have control of the Baltic, if you get the chance to expand there that is.

Issue 3 - Option 1 - I'd go with war because, not even long-term, Aragon is someone you'd conquer, and now you have more than enough troops to defeat the French on your own(unless they have some very big allies). I also wouldn't actually take anything from Aragon yet - I'd make them release Corsica, Sardinia and Sicilia(if possible), who you can feed to Siena. Though, as someone else suggested, you should check if there's an option to attack France first then Portugal to keep the alliance until both wars end.

Issue 4 - Option 2 - More colonists, I mean why wouldn't you pass that policy?
You just had to break our same votes streak, didn't you?
 
  • 2
Reactions:
Before I vote, I have a question.

If we declare war on France (perhaps over their colonies in Canada if we have no other CB) would Aragon join us? Or if we declared a war in Italy would Aragon join us? It seems to me there must be a way to get Aragon in a war on our side before we declare on Portugal and we should be able to finish off Portugal and Castile before the war alongside Aragon is over.
Smart man! Aragon would join us in a war against the French if we wait until the truce expires. About one more year. They would join us in a war against Naples or against Italian minors with whom we have no truce. So I guess we don't have to break the truce.


Issue 3 Option 1 does not mean anymore that we will break our alliance with Aragon.


*looks at Europe* Holy bordergore, Batman!
Yes you can quote me on that in the assembly in 1596.

General note:

The map and your holdings in Europe are really turning into a mess. Luckily we still have plenty of time on our hands (with the risk of sounding like a broken record: it's still kind of unbelievable it's not even 1600 yet). It'd be nice to see the holdings that don't connect to your capital be in the hands of marches, so Léon in Iberia and Siena or whoever in Italy. Then Burgundy will be a prime European target, simply cause they seperate your nouveau French lands with your original Dutch territory. Around the world, South America is still scarily empty, but you do reign uncontested so that's good. I'd like seeing you capture the Arabian peninsula just for prettyness of the map and I'm sure you're intent on gobbling up India, which is a nice goal even if it'll take a while. But time is on tour hands so no worries there :)
Maybe before the end of the campaign we manage to get prettier borders but I have never been much of an advocate of pretty borders :p Also our French lands are connected by land with our capital but of course you are right that the Burgundian lands have to be conquered. I just don't know when we'll have the time to do that with all our wars :p We are mostly limited by overextension.
South America looks still a bit ugly with its few colonies but what can we do. At points we have been sustaining up to nine colonies simultaneously just to increase the speed at which we colonize. I also have a feeling that the Raadpensionaris's vision to have a colonial nation in every Colonial Region by 1600 won't happen. We have no colonies in Alaska and California as of today.


No discussion, this is the best colonial policy in the game. And if you're already not struggling with admin and diplo policies, a military policy should definitely not be a problem.
Issue 4 - Option 2 - More colonists, I mean why wouldn't you pass that policy?
Haven' taken this policy before because I mostly played VeF in the past which had its own policies. That's why I put it up for vote :p But yea, this policy looks extremely strong, especially if we compre with with The Colonial Administration Act which we ran in the past.

At all costs is strongly worded, but it'd be nice to gobble up Castille and Portugal first, then slowly eat Aragon until the Peninsula is glorious purple.
Do I understand you correctly that you want Amsterdam to conquer Portugal and Castile but you are voting against war?

I've been meaning to try the InHeaven graphics mod for a while for that sweet cartographer feel. Unfortunately it's not on the Steam workshop and I had to register my game here first, which I've been too lazy to do for a while until yesterday.

There's a less drastic mod I can recommend though, GFX overhaul. It makes your map look like this, which just makes the colours look a bit richer and nicer. Might be nice to switch here. And if you want to really improve your quality of life, put MapModeButtons on there. All it does is simply display every map mode as its own button on the screen. It's unintrusive and makes using maps so much less of a pain. After getting it, I can't go back.

I only use IronMan compatible mods cause I like getting an achievement every now and then, but mostly to prevent myself from save scumming ;) As you mentioned achievements, I like to sort of have an optional goal to give myself some direction with play, it prevents me from giving up games too fast or expanding in a very messy way. But I can see how they're not for everyone and I do play games in between just for the hell of it.

By the way, I might go after Ming indeed, but I've never gotten Master of India so I'll try and follow your success in Asia, curious how it plays out. I started out with Admin (jey Mercs and coring costs, also my early leaders had good Admin scores, but not much else), probably taking exploration next. Could you maybe include all the idea groups up to now in one of your future updates? I think it was Admin, Explo, Expan, Quant, but I may have lost track along the way. Was digging through the topic yesterday but couldn't find it.

Thanks for the graphical mod recommendations. I will take a look at the them.
Regarding Ironman, it does not really prevent save-scumming. People have posted in the main forum that they use the Windows task-manager frequently to quit the game when something bad like a regency council happens. I am fine with playing Ironman, my Sunni Pope AAR was Ironman for example, but if you do something by accident then you cannot undo it in Ironman which in my opinion would not be save scumming. An example for that comes from my Sunni Pope AAR where I had to restart because I accidentally clicked the declare war button on a large country which I did not mean to do. The large country the destroyed me. In a non-Ironman game I could have undone this by simply reloading.


Regarding Amsterdam's idea groups have taken Admin, Exploration, Expansion and Quantity so you got that right :) Exploration makes a lot of sense as second idea group as Holland if you grab Iceland at some point. Otherwise you will probably have to wait until dip tech 9 in order to reach North America, even if you control Ireland.
The Master of India achievement is quite fun but conquering all of China that is even more challenging because you usually end up fighting a blobby Ming with long truces in between wars.


Did Amsterdam annex the Zeila province?
Is there any reason Amsterdam haven't annexed Cayor and Benin provinces which have trade power bonus?
Zeila is the province in the Balkan or not? If yes, then that's a province from Naples. Amsterdam has no presence in the Balkans.
We have not annexed Cayor and Benin because of overextension really. If overextension was not an issue we'd have conquered them already but we had to make priorities.
Maybe in the next chapter Amsterdam can conquer them :)




Issue 1 - Option 2 - In all honesty, I'd go for both Savoy and Siena as vassals since I never put much stock in dip points and both would make perfect vassals/marches, but out of the two, I'd choose Siena.
We can also make two subjects in Italy. Diplomatic power will be more important once we start to integrate Scotland (yes this day will come :p ) and once we choose Influence Ideas. The more Dip Power we generate per month, the faster we can complete influence ideas.


Issue 3 - Option 1 - I'd go with war because, not even long-term, Aragon is someone you'd conquer, and now you have more than enough troops to defeat the French on your own(unless they have some very big allies). I also wouldn't actually take anything from Aragon yet - I'd make them release Corsica, Sardinia and Sicilia(if possible), who you can feed to Siena. Though, as someone else suggested, you should check if there's an option to attack France first then Portugal to keep the alliance until both wars end.
It's a very good idea to declare war on the French or on someone else first. That way we can keep Aragon as an ally. Will be interesting to see how the Raad votes on this issue. Right now it looks more like No War wins the poll.
 
Issue 1 - Option 2

Releasing Siena now lets us get started on Italy without waiting for Savoy. We may have to keep Rome for ourselves (at least until we can get religious unity high again) but apart from that we can feed all of Italy to Siena.

Having said that, I would ALSO say to try and get Savoy back diplomatically because you can feed France to them whilst feeding Italy to Siena and spend your own admin points on ideas, tech and coring in Africa, Arabia and Asia.


Issue 2 - edit - option 2

Simply on the logic that it spreads the load, I would go for Danzig as a vassal to feed some Prussian lands to with a view to annexing them later. I would probably only keep Leon as a March, to be honest, and plan to have a mass annexation spree when you have the best group of discounts available in a few years time.


Issue 3 - Option 1

As discussed, get into a war with Aragon on our side so they cannot protect Portugal and then finish off Portugal and Castile. We will backstab Aragon anyway later to have Leon cover the whole of Iberia but there is no need to do that just yet and their help in feeding lands to Siena and Savoy could be useful.


Issue 4 - Option 2

This is a no brainer whilst there is still so much of the world to colonise. It will let you keep running the current number of colonies at a significantly cheaper cost or increase colonial growth. Either way it is valuable to us.


Other suggestions:

I think you should also prepare to advance against the Ottomans and take Jerusalem so that, after taking Rome as well, you will be able to run four missionaries. That should allow us to catch up on religious unity over time. European conversions will be taken care of by our subjects but we have a lot of colonies that need work and Jerusalem is now so close that it shouldn't be a major problem. How are the Ottomans looking? Are they weak from other wars or will it be a serious fight?
 
Last edited:
  • 1
Reactions:
Other suggestions:

I think you should also prepare to advance against the Ottomans and take Jerusalem so that, after taking Rome as well, you will be able to run four missionaries. That should allow us to catch up on religious unity over time. European conversions will be taken care of by our subjects but we have a lot of colonies that need work and Jerusalem is now so close that it shouldn't be a major problem. How are the Ottomans looking? Are they weak from other wars or will it be a serious fight?
Taking Jerusalem sounds like a plan but the Ottomans have some good allies like Oman and Tlemcen (not in game right now but I think those were them). The Ottomans are weaker than they were before because some decades ago, they ceded Greece to Venice and a few provinces to Galicia-Volyhnia but they still make for a long fight though.
 
Smart man! Aragon would join us in a war against the French if we wait until the truce expires. About one more year. They would join us in a war against Naples or against Italian minors with whom we have no truce. So I guess we don't have to break the truce.


Issue 3 Option 1 does not mean anymore that we will break our alliance with Aragon.


Do I understand you correctly that you want Amsterdam to conquer Portugal and Castile but you are voting against war?

Yeah, I thought you were saying at that point that the choice was breaking alliance or not basically. If you're not breaking alliances, then by all means, attack them (Option 1) and clean up the Iberian peninsula. It is a true eye-sore :p I'll adjust my vote as you usally request.


Thanks for the graphical mod recommendations. I will take a look at the them.
Regarding Ironman, it does not really prevent save-scumming. People have posted in the main forum that they use the Windows task-manager frequently to quit the game when something bad like a regency council happens. I am fine with playing Ironman, my Sunni Pope AAR was Ironman for example, but if you do something by accident then you cannot undo it in Ironman which in my opinion would not be save scumming. An example for that comes from my Sunni Pope AAR where I had to restart because I accidentally clicked the declare war button on a large country which I did not mean to do. The large country the destroyed me. In a non-Ironman game I could have undone this by simply reloading.

You're right it does not technically prevent save scumming, I was more talking of my own experience where in the beginning I'd go back to not declaring wars if they didn't work out. Ironman removed this temptation for me. Of course making silly mistakes, misreading tooltips and such can still lead to you wanting to reload. It's more my weakness where I save scummed for strategical errors as well. Though to be fair, I played only the first two campaigns without, which were learning phase anyway :)

The comment about the mod being Ironman compatible was more or less a reflex, having dealt with a number of "Ironman or go home" kinds of people :)
 
Last edited:
Taking Jerusalem sounds like a plan but the Ottomans have some good allies like Oman and Tlemcen (not in game right now but I think those were them). The Ottomans are weaker than they were before because some decades ago, they ceded Greece to Venice and a few provinces to Galicia-Volyhnia but they still make for a long fight though.

Well, you just won the League War do surely you need a new challenge now!
 
  • 1
Reactions:
@Baron Tanks
I said that becaise yesterday night when I wrote the chapter I had not considered the possibility of dragging Aragon in another war before declaring war on Portugal. (Reminder to myself: Don't write chapters at night)

@londoner247
I think Ming will be the challenge of the campaign. They have an army almost as large as ours and are a massive blob.
The Ottomans will be a nice challenge, too.
 
  • 1
Reactions: