version : HttT
start year : 1618 ( thirty years war scenario )
end year : ~1690
difficulty : Hard
Aggressiveness : High
player nations : Austria and England
Austrian Strategy : the original strategy was to retake the balkans from the Ottomans and gain a strong hold over Italy, but some random events early on would change that idea quickly and instead the goal became to convert the Austrian people to the Reformed faith.
English Strategy : pretty typical here for the most part. wanted to get major control over north america, push out all other nations trying to colonize it, and control the overseas centers of trade. keeping the navy strong to defend the island from invasion was also essential.
and now on to the game...
the beginining seems to be what you would expect. Austria battles venice and takes a little, conquers some northern german states, forces a few vassals, and generally doesnt make any friends. France declares war on England, who is allied with Portugal. While England is busy taking over French colonies, France crushes mainland Portugal. As a way to end the war, England offers France some Portugese provinces and they accept. This didnt seem to make the Portugese very happy, because they would spend the rest of the game fighting the English at any chance they could get.
20 or 30 years into the game some odd things happen. Austria moves its capital and national focus to Bohemia, converts to the Reformed faith, and starts removing its provinces from the HRE. Portugal moves its capital to mainland Brazil and focuses on its american holdings. France and Spain ally and jointly attack the English. the war features lots of sea battles, with the English winning most of them. France is almost entirely pushed out of north america, but hasnt given up completely yet. Austria and Brandenburg ally to create a strong german, anti-catholic force. with Austrian help, Brandenburg is able to swallow up many german states, while the Hassa does the same with Swedish help. this leaves northern germany controlled by only two nations, the Hassa have the western part while Brandenburg has the eastern half. the Ottomans declare war on Austria repeatedly but are never able to do much damage because the Russias are eager to join in. Over a few decades the Ottomans slowly lose ground to Austria, Russia, and Poland.
post 1650 things really start moving. Tuscany, who has manage to conquer most of Italy, becomes ruler of France in a personal union. this doesnt last long because the French soon declare war in order to get their nation back. Austria jumps at the change to get some easy Italian provinces and the alliance of Austria and Brandenburg are in a war vs Tuscany, Venice, Bavaira, and Poland. This was a bit scary because the Ottomans had a clear shot at Austria and could of done some major land grabbing, but the Russians were keeping them busy in the east. the war ends with Austria making minor gains in all directions. The Hassa continues to grow by beating up on the Netherlands, which Austria has to defend as they are one of the few other Reformed nations. while Austria, Netherlands, and Brandenburg battle the Hassa, Sweden, and Spain; England is licking its wounds during the years France has a regency council. France's king finally matures to an age old enough to rule, and within a month has declared war on England again. England is battling France and Spain, and about a year into the war Portugal decides to join the fight against the English.
For the final 15 years or so, Austria spent most of it killing rebels. a weak king with weak legitmacy, overextension, and lots of war exhaustion crippled its forces into barely holding onto what it had. while wondering how long it could hold on, surprising news came from the English that it had conceded and the game was over. War exhaustion had crippled its nation also. rebels were springing up all over north america, the English army had been crushed and reinforcements were coming to slow to prevent the rebel situation from getting worse. Portugal had created this downfall for the English by refusing to accept a truce that would give up its two north american provinces. When England tried to convince Portugal to do it by sending an army into european portugese lands, the only thing that happened was a sound defeating of the majority of English forces. the Portugese demanded the entire southeastern portion of north america, and it was Englands turn to refuse. the rebel situation continued to grow, and then news arrived the the truce with France was nearing its end. Instead of watching Spanish and French armies run freely through north america, the English instead decided to abdicate and acknowledge Austria as the true master of the world
start year : 1618 ( thirty years war scenario )
end year : ~1690
difficulty : Hard
Aggressiveness : High
player nations : Austria and England
Austrian Strategy : the original strategy was to retake the balkans from the Ottomans and gain a strong hold over Italy, but some random events early on would change that idea quickly and instead the goal became to convert the Austrian people to the Reformed faith.
English Strategy : pretty typical here for the most part. wanted to get major control over north america, push out all other nations trying to colonize it, and control the overseas centers of trade. keeping the navy strong to defend the island from invasion was also essential.
and now on to the game...
the beginining seems to be what you would expect. Austria battles venice and takes a little, conquers some northern german states, forces a few vassals, and generally doesnt make any friends. France declares war on England, who is allied with Portugal. While England is busy taking over French colonies, France crushes mainland Portugal. As a way to end the war, England offers France some Portugese provinces and they accept. This didnt seem to make the Portugese very happy, because they would spend the rest of the game fighting the English at any chance they could get.
20 or 30 years into the game some odd things happen. Austria moves its capital and national focus to Bohemia, converts to the Reformed faith, and starts removing its provinces from the HRE. Portugal moves its capital to mainland Brazil and focuses on its american holdings. France and Spain ally and jointly attack the English. the war features lots of sea battles, with the English winning most of them. France is almost entirely pushed out of north america, but hasnt given up completely yet. Austria and Brandenburg ally to create a strong german, anti-catholic force. with Austrian help, Brandenburg is able to swallow up many german states, while the Hassa does the same with Swedish help. this leaves northern germany controlled by only two nations, the Hassa have the western part while Brandenburg has the eastern half. the Ottomans declare war on Austria repeatedly but are never able to do much damage because the Russias are eager to join in. Over a few decades the Ottomans slowly lose ground to Austria, Russia, and Poland.
post 1650 things really start moving. Tuscany, who has manage to conquer most of Italy, becomes ruler of France in a personal union. this doesnt last long because the French soon declare war in order to get their nation back. Austria jumps at the change to get some easy Italian provinces and the alliance of Austria and Brandenburg are in a war vs Tuscany, Venice, Bavaira, and Poland. This was a bit scary because the Ottomans had a clear shot at Austria and could of done some major land grabbing, but the Russians were keeping them busy in the east. the war ends with Austria making minor gains in all directions. The Hassa continues to grow by beating up on the Netherlands, which Austria has to defend as they are one of the few other Reformed nations. while Austria, Netherlands, and Brandenburg battle the Hassa, Sweden, and Spain; England is licking its wounds during the years France has a regency council. France's king finally matures to an age old enough to rule, and within a month has declared war on England again. England is battling France and Spain, and about a year into the war Portugal decides to join the fight against the English.
For the final 15 years or so, Austria spent most of it killing rebels. a weak king with weak legitmacy, overextension, and lots of war exhaustion crippled its forces into barely holding onto what it had. while wondering how long it could hold on, surprising news came from the English that it had conceded and the game was over. War exhaustion had crippled its nation also. rebels were springing up all over north america, the English army had been crushed and reinforcements were coming to slow to prevent the rebel situation from getting worse. Portugal had created this downfall for the English by refusing to accept a truce that would give up its two north american provinces. When England tried to convince Portugal to do it by sending an army into european portugese lands, the only thing that happened was a sound defeating of the majority of English forces. the Portugese demanded the entire southeastern portion of north america, and it was Englands turn to refuse. the rebel situation continued to grow, and then news arrived the the truce with France was nearing its end. Instead of watching Spanish and French armies run freely through north america, the English instead decided to abdicate and acknowledge Austria as the true master of the world