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Unfortunately, I lost the text I wrote for the majority of this chapter due to an error with the forum not saving my draft when I reopened the forum a bit later. This is why this update is a bit shorter, text-wise, than previous ones.


Chapter XXXIX - The Conquest of Siberia

Amsterdam focuses on her overseas's empire again after the recent land gains in Europe and Northern Africa. The target this time becomes Arkan and her ally Ava. Ava is a one province minor and the Grand Republic is confident of annexing them.


Shortly after, in February, 1762, a second war is declared. The target is Assam and her ally Sarig Yogir. Amsterdam intends to start a rapid expansion campaign in Asia because a third war targets Nepal in March, 1762. Nepal's ally Hsenwi is made a co-belligerent and they call in a few other countries including Khmer. Bengal refuses to honor the call to arms because of a high debt.

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Hsenwi has only one fortified province which happens also to be their capital. This province falls by July, 1762, and consequently they lose all but one of their provinces. Ava and Arkan suffer an even worse faith. Both get annexed!

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By November, 1762, Amsterdam has occupied the majority of Tibet and Assam but it is not time to make peace yet. Overextension is a common problem these days. The fighting continues and more and more provinces get occupied.
Half a year later, the Raadpensionaris decides to repel the Colonial Administration Act because there are only a few uncolonized provinces left.

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By September, 1763, overextension is again above 100% because the integration of Greek has been completed and the Greek forgot to core Busäu. Silly Greeks!
Six months later, Khmer, an ally that Hsweni had called into the war, becomes landlocked by losing all coastal provinces to the Grand Republic.

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After overextension allows more annexation, Tibet, and shortly after Sarig Yogir are no more!
Therefore, it's time to get one step closer of becoming Master of India by finally removing Bengal from the map.

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In January, 1765, Amsterdam then annexes Assam. The war score has been at 100% for a long time but only now did overextension allow their annexation. The Grand Republic has already suffered from too many nasty events caused by high overextension.
The Bengalis hold out until June, 1765. Then they get annexed, too. It was an easy war and the Grand Republic returns to peace.

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Lithuania is a blobby threat in Eastern Europe. They have in common with Amsterdam that they share a border with ally-less Shervan. Therefore, to prevent Lithuania from even thinking about annexing them, the Raadpensionaris calls for war against Shervan. The siege phases are very, very long. Luckily they only have two fortified provinces!

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When it's not nasty overextension events that are troubling Amsterdam then it's the usual comet. The economy, fools!
A comet cannot stop Amsterdam's expansionism in Asia though. Japan becomes the target of interest when war is declared on Takeda, the largest country in Japan which happens also to have westernized, and her two allies Ouchi and Jianzhou.

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The Amsterdammer defeat Shervan and demand their full annexation on 21 June, 1766. Lithuania's expansion into this area has been stopped - for now.
The locals of the Indian Subcontinent are highly displeased by the Raadpensionaris decision to allow the construction of dye plantations in Bengal. Unrest increases.


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Ouchi's two provinces are occupied by Amsterdam in January, 1767, and a month later they get annexed. This gives the Grand Republic a first foothold in Japan. The war against Takeda continues.
Takeda's army gets stackwiped at the Battle of Tajima. Without an army, it will be easy to beat Takeda. Province after province gets besieged and occupied.
Religious Unity has meanwhile dropped again to just 78% because of Amsterdam's rapid conquests. Even five missionaries are not enough to keep it even close to 90%.

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Takeda recruits a new army in provinces that Amsterdammer cannot reach because the movement is blocked by their forts. This 18.000 men strong army gets annihilated in February, 1768. They should have stayed home. The siege of Mino lasts for 315 days and afterwards, the Grand Republic can finally lay siege on Takeda's capital Kai.
Amsterdam also declarers a war to conquer Makassar's last remaining province, Buton. Burton becomes a part of Amsterdam in May, 1768.

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Taker's ally, Jinanzhou, gets annexed also in May, 1768. They only owned one province. In June, Amsterdam then proceeds with making peace with Takeda which happens to lose a bing chunk of Japan to the Grand Republic. They are also forced to release Ainu as a sovereign country.

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In December, Yarkand, which has lost all her allies, is declared war on.
In March, 1769, Manaus becomes the last uncolonized province in the world to which settlers are sent. The world has been colonized! Can Amsterdam into space?
It takes only about nine months to defeat Yarkand. They become an integral part of the Grand Republic.

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With Yarkand annexed, the Raadpensionaris believes that making a move against Bukhara and her ally Kangra is the way to go.
Savoy's forces beat the ones of Bukhara at the Battle of Maymana without additional support from the Grand Republic. Such a loyal subject, despite being integrated.

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Military technology reaches level 28 in June, 1770. This unlocks superior infantry and calvary units. Diplomatic technology reaches level 27 because DIP power is close to being at the limit of 999 once again.
Later that year, the Savoyards then beat an even larger enemy army. Savoy's forces rock,+
Kangra gets annexed in March, 1771 and Raadpensionaris Frans Nassau can officially call himself Master of India!

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By July, 1771, more than 60% War Score has been reached and Bukhara is ready to make peace. They agree to cede 21 provinces to the Grand Republic. Their vassal Afghanistan gets also annexed. The next six months no new war is declared but a new target has already been found: Muscovy. The reason why Amsterdam waged war with Bukhara was to get a border with the Musvoties. Amsterdam is planing to take over Siberia.

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On 20 March, 1772, the war against Muscovy begins. Muscovy has no allies and a total army of just 38.000 men. Why such a large country has such a tiny army shall remain forever a mystery. The Muscovite navy counts 19 ships. This must be a joke.
The forces of Conquistador Alexei Paletskij get stackwiped at the Battle pf Uriankhai.

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Muscovy has only four fortified provinces. Unbelievable for a realm this large and none of the provinces has a high level fort. Therefore, after occupying all four forts, a total war score of 67% has been reached within less than one and a half years. Enough to make peace with Muscovy but the war continues. Amsterdam plans to take as much land as possible which requires a higher war score.
At the same time, a war is declared on Shirmazu in Japan. Shirmazi controls two provinces. It takes three months to annex them. Afterwards, Yamana, another Japanese one province minor, becomes the target of aggression. Their province gets annexed too.
On 1 July, 1774, Muscovy then cedes all possible provinces, which are 69, to the Grand Republic.

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The world in July, 1774.

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Author's comments:

I can't believe how easy this is! The only difficult war was against the Polish and Swedish a few decades ago. I expected Muscovy to be much, much, much stronger but their army was tiny! It's like they begged us to take their land.
Amsterdam also gained a foothold in Japan. We have truce with the other Japanese countries so we won't be able to annex them anytime soon.
Amsterdam is slowly running out of countries which we can annex, unless we fight Sweden or Lithuania. I don't expect those wars to be cake walks. Maybe something more challenging could be fun.
There are 46 years left to conquer. I wonder what Amsterdam can achieve in those years :cool:
 
Do you still have a save from the 100 years left mark? If so, it'd be cool to see whether the AI would let your whole empire collapse or not.
 
Do you still have a save from the 100 years left mark? If so, it'd be cool to see whether the AI would let your whole empire collapse or not.
I took a save game after almost every chapter. The closest one to the 100 years mark is from the year 1724 but I'm not quite sure what you want me to do with it. Please elaborate :)

Link to corresponding Chapter
 
I took a save game after almost every chapter. The closest one to the 100 years mark is from the year 1724 but I'm not quite sure what you want me to do with it. Please elaborate :)

Link to corresponding Chapter
What I was saying was to, if you have the time after the AAR, let the AI take control of your empire in the older save and, over the last 100 years of the game, see if it will ruin your empire.
 
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What I was saying was to, if you have the time after the AAR, let the AI take control of your empire in the older save and, over the last 100 years of the game, see if it will ruin your empire.
Sounds cool. If I have the time I'll do this and report back here :cool: But I don't have high hopes that the AI will be good :D
 
Muscovy was so weak because he was not connected to his siberian lands, and because his lands are very poor. His siberian lands were diconnected by Perm and one Golden Horde province, unless you just released them.
 
You probably could do a World Conquest you know (not a one tag, obviously, but still a World Conquest). Might need some truce breaks (or some abuse of the guarantee mechanic to shorten truce timers) but you could do it. Not sure there's much point though as you'll just wish you'd been in Ironman for the achievement!
 
You probably could do a World Conquest you know (not a one tag, obviously, but still a World Conquest). Might need some truce breaks (or some abuse of the guarantee mechanic to shorten truce timers) but you could do it. Not sure there's much point though as you'll just wish you'd been in Ironman for the achievement!
He should probably make hid first client states, they are coring machines, and they almost never rebel.
 
You probably could do a World Conquest you know (not a one tag, obviously, but still a World Conquest). Might need some truce breaks (or some abuse of the guarantee mechanic to shorten truce timers) but you could do it. Not sure there's much point though as you'll just wish you'd been in Ironman for the achievement!
Maybe world conquest is possible. I won't force it to happen but it might eventually happen if I run out of countries to conquer.
Luckily, I'm not an achievmenter hunter so it's ok for me if I miss out on the achievement (I did successful WC runs with the VeF mod, too, and got no achievement either but it's no problem for me) :)
 
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Chapter XXXX - The Betrayal
The administration was busy coring the 69 provinces that were taken from the Muscovites and so the country stayed at war for a few months. In Jule, 1774, diplomatic technology catches up with Amsterdam's administrative and military technology when it reaches level 28.
The Raadpensionaris also receives an update on the integration process of Savoy. In July, 1774, it is at 54.8%.

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Horrible News arrived in Amsterdam in August, 1774: Ming has completed the westernization process!! This meant that Ming no longer is a protectorate of the Grand Republic. Establishing a protectorate over them was a mistake in the first place. On top of that, Ming announces Amsterdam as her new rival. What a setback!

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Amsterdam is worried that Ming might conquer Korea and other neighboring countries. Therefore, the Raadpensionaris feels like the best strategy is to hit Korea before Ming does. In November, 1774, war is declared on Korea and her co-belligerent ally Oirat.
Korea has massive fortifications in her provinces and there was some luck involved in breaching the walls o Gyeonggi after the second siege phase. Nevertheless, the siege lasts for 305 days.

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The majority of the provinces are cored by February, 1776, and by that time the Oirat Horde has been completely occupied which leads to their full annexation.
One month later, a new Raadpensionaris is elected because of Fran Nassau's passing away at the age of 63. The nobleman Thierry von Holstein-Gottorp becomes his successor.

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Despite still having about 57% overextension, the Grand Republic proceeds with annexing Korea on 13 January, 1777, about two and a half years after the declaration of war. It is estimated that overextension will drop bellow 100% in a bit more than six months but because of severe rebellions it took much longer.
The rebels even managed to force Amsterdam to cede one province to Muscovy! In fact, it takes more than twelve months to deal with all these rebel nonsense.

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In June, 1778, it is time for war again. The target this time is Poland and her ally Lithuania. The Flying Battery also becomes Amsterdam's preferred artillery unit later that month.
At the Bttle of Hunyad, two Amsterdammer armies defeat the armies of Poland and Lithuania.

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A more decisive victory was achieved over another Lithuanian army at the Battle of Vilnius. Vilnius had been occupied by Asterdammer forces and the Lithuanians were trying to liberate their capital when they were being ambushed by Amsterdammer forces. None of the Lithuanians survived that battle.


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In December, 1779, Amsterdam gets the chance to unlock her last idea group slot but no idea group is chosen for now. The Raadpensionaris is unsure what to take.
In April, 1780, Amsterdam goes also to war with Yeren in Asia. This war lasts only for a few months. By August, 1780, Yeren has become a part of Amsterdam.
A call to arms from Holstein is declined in November, 1780. They were being attacked by Sweden but Amsterdam had no interest in defending them.

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The Lithuanians cedes ten provinces to the Grand Republic in August, 1781. Two of these provinces belonged to Lithuania's vassal Kazan.
By that time Poland is defeated, too, but peace is not made until April, 1782. In March the Polish then cede a bunch of provinces to Amsterdam and Savoy. Poland is left with just three provinces.

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With the war against the Poles over, Amsterdam focuses again on the Asian theater where war is declared on Takeda in an effort to unite Japan.
The reign of Raadpensionaris von Holstein-Gottorp ends already on 1 November, 1782. He dies at the age of 47. The best rulers always die young. Arnulf von Slesvig is his successor.

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In June, 1783, Takeda gets annexed by Amsterdammer forces. 100% War Score had been reached already by October, 1782.
Later that month, the Grand Republic goes to war with Bukhara. The enemy suffers a big defeat at the Battle of Taraz and from there it's a cake walk (again).

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And so in February, 1785, the full annexation of Bukhara is demanded. Amsterdam is what you call a modern coring machine.
Meanwhile, religious unity keeps dropping and dropping. It has been many, many, many decades since it's been at a low of 70%.

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In January, 1786, Amsterdam then declares war on Ming to correct what must have been Amsterdam's biggest mistake. One month later, was is also declared on Khmer.
A third war is declared on Ainu in Japan.
Defeating Khmer is not difficult at all any in September, 1786, their provinces become a part of the Grand Republic. Ainu holds out until December of the same year. Japan has been united under Amsterdammer rule.

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Amsterdam's diplomatic power is stacking up again. Therefore, in December, 1786, two diplomatic ideas are unlocked, simply for the purpose of spending the points.
One month later, Amsterdammer forces defeat a large army of Ming. Ming's forces heavily outnumbered the ones of Amsterdam, yet only about 6.000 Amsterdammer died that day. Ming lost more than 25.000 men during the same battle!

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By September, 1787, 30% War Score has been reached. Far from enough to make peace though..
Inflation is also troubling Amsterdam but who cares about the economy when you have 847.000 ducats in your treasury?

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In October, 1788, the siege of Beijing is won. It has lasted for 430 long days. After it is won, the war score increases to 70%.
Later that month, a new Raadpensionaris is being elected after the old one died unexpectedly. David van Keppel is a decent administrator, diplomat and knows a few things about the art of wars. He's a decent ruler.

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The largest battle of the war takes place in Wuchang. Therefore, the army of Ming suffered another tremendous defeat. Shortly later, a peace agreement between the two parties is reached.
Ming agrees to release Chu and Ning as sovereign states. Furthermore, they cede 26 provinces to Amsterdam. The Raadpensionaris chose mostly provinces of strategic importance, like fortified provinces.
Something went wrong in the peace deal because Amsterdam was now sitting on 105% overextension (the tooltip said about 98%). Therefore, Amsterdam decided to return Najing to Ming.

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Time for another big war: This time the target is Sweden and her three allies Lithuania, Austria and Poland. War is declared on 2 May, 1789. Amsterdam has positioned lots of armies along the border with the enemy which explains why by December, 1780, Austria and Poland have been completely occupied. The Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, has also fallen.
Therefore, in December, the Raadpensionaris demands the full annexation of Austria and their vassal Nevres. The provinces go to Savoy.

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87.000 Sweds are trapped in the province of Ösel. 25 Threedeckers blockade the straits between Ösel and Reval and another 25 Threedeckers those between Ösel and Goldingen.
Administrative technology 30 is reached in September, 1790. A few months later, also military technology 30 is reached which unlocks superior infantry units.
In March, 1791, Poland gets annexed and the provinces are once again given to Savoy..

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In December, 1791, Lithuania then cedes eight provinces to the Grand Republic which now owns every coastal provinces in the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
The fighting with the Swedes continues until March, 1793. Then they cede 21 provinces to the Amsterdam!

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Author's comments
This campaign is slowly reaching its end. As you probably noticed, the time covered by each chapter has drastically increased lately. That is because I now simply focus on the wars Amsterdam wages and honestly, that is all Amsterdam really does.
Maybe by 1821 all of Europe, including Lithuania, will be under Amsterdammer control. What would certainly sound nice :cool:
Amsterdam has long truces with most countries now so we might end up having to do some truce breaking.. Truce with Ming ends in eight years and the truce with Lithuania and Sweden is very long, too. Next chapter Amsterdam will most likely finish off Perm and Muscovy, as well any other small countries that we have no truce with.
 
Perhaps you should vassalize China?
 
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Perhaps you should vassalize China?
That's an interesting idea which I hadn't considered. I guess it depends if we want to own the land in China directly by the end of the campaign or if it's ok if China is a subject. Vassalizing them might be possible if we beat them up one more time. I assume they are still too large for being able to force them into vassalage.

Will Amsterdam have enough time to finish integrating Savoy?
Yes :) The integration of Savoy is going as planned. It will take about 10 more years at the current speed, unless I keep feeding the more provinces, which I intend to do. I don't mind if the integration finishes only let's say in 1810 or 1815 if it helps us coring Lithuania :)
 
That's an interesting idea which I hadn't considered
Honestly, I had thought we were in a vassalage before. I didn't realize the previous situation was a protectorate which is why I hadn't proposed it.
 
You can't vassalise Ming unless they have westernised. Have they done that and I missed it?

As for truces, don't forget the Guarantee / Revoke Guarantee exploit where you Guarantee your enemy one month after making peace and then Revoke one month later. You now have a five year truce with them whilst they still have a fifteen year truce (less two months) with you. This is due to be patched out in 1.14 but should still work at the moment.
 
You can't vassalise Ming unless they have westernised. Have they done that and I missed it?

As for truces, don't forget the Guarantee / Revoke Guarantee exploit where you Guarantee your enemy one month after making peace and then Revoke one month later. You now have a five year truce with them whilst they still have a fifteen year truce (less two months) with you. This is due to be patched out in 1.14 but should still work at the moment.

I second the revoke guarantee part. 5 year truces are pretty nice. And from an in-character point of view it's hardly an exploit, you are now the big bad bully, surely you decide how long the truce is ;) I'm not sure why you would bother making a vassal in China, I feel you're only limited by overextension percentage, admin wise you can core it all for yourself. You should just take as much as you can (time is running short), maybe take more than 100% OE, then release a client state? How much warscore is left of Ming, could you get them with two guarantee revokes (are they less than 300%?). If not maybe attack, 100% OE, core and do a truce break. I'm sure you can afford one or two? I still think a contiguous empire in Europe is the priority, but it looks like you're slowly moving east, taking pretty borders every time more or less. Just make sure you resolve that Swedish mess. If a bit of Lithuania is left in the end, no harm I'd say. Just make sure you grab Osel before the end of the campaign, it's a bit of an eye sore right now :p
 
You can't vassalise Ming unless they have westernised. Have they done that and I missed it?
Ming completed westernisation. It's in the very beginning of Chapter 40.


As for truces, don't forget the Guarantee / Revoke Guarantee exploit where you Guarantee your enemy one month after making peace and then Revoke one month later. You now have a five year truce with them whilst they still have a fifteen year truce (less two months) with you. This is due to be patched out in 1.14 but should still work at the moment.
I second the revoke guarantee part. 5 year truces are pretty nice. And from an in-character point of view it's hardly an exploit, you are now the big bad bully, surely you decide how long the truce is ;)
I haven't used this exploit before but 5 year long truces sound like exactly what Amsterdam needs so I'll try this when I continue playing the campaign. Thanks for the tip, guys!


I'm not sure why you would bother making a vassal in China, I feel you're only limited by overextension percentage, admin wise you can core it all for yourself. You should just take as much as you can (time is running short), maybe take more than 100% OE, then release a client state? How much warscore is left of Ming, could you get them with two guarantee revokes (are they less than 300%?). If not maybe attack, 100% OE, core and do a truce break. I'm sure you can afford one or two? I still think a contiguous empire in Europe is the priority, but it looks like you're slowly moving east, taking pretty borders every time more or less. Just make sure you resolve that Swedish mess. If a bit of Lithuania is left in the end, no harm I'd say. Just make sure you grab Osel before the end of the campaign, it's a bit of an eye sore right now :p
Being at more than 100% OE for a long time usually means that it takes much longer to core the provinces because of all the rebels that pop up. It also heavily drains on manpower which is why Amsterdam currently only has about 90k manpower of it's 900k manpower pool.
I had intended to take Ösel last war but then I would have had to engage Sweden's huge army that I trapped in Ösel. The game does not allow you to take provinces from a third party if the province is not occupied. The Livonian Order is a vassal of Sweden so in my opinion the game should have left me take the province because Ösel is indirectly controlled by Sweden..

Do you have any plan for Bavaria?
If there are no countries left to conquer then I'd consider declaring war on Bavaria simply for annexing them. I don't think it will work through diplomacy. Amsterdam is improving relations with Bavaria but even if relations are improve by +200 then the relation won't be hire than ~150 even with gift and RM because of high AE.[/QUOTE]