Expansion and exaspiration
When we last left England they had just ended up with a holding in Scandinavia that they didn't want and were attempting to give it away. Because of various geopolitical reasons, Henry VI wanted to give the province to Sweden rather than Norway, hoping to contribute to the creation of a relatively strong Scandinavian state that does not spend all it's efforts on expanding into the Holy Roman Empire, which a strong Denmark-Norway coalition would be bound to do.
Unfortunately, the Swedes refuse to cooperate, most likely expecting some sort of trick on England's part to establish a Casus Belli [[anchorlink=footnote1]*[/anchorlink]]. With no other option really open to him and desperately wishing to get rid of this useless province, Henry VI sees no other options and gives it back to Norway.
Henry could now turn his attentiod westward. A second explorer, a man called Arthur de Clifford, was quickly recruited, and sent west from the Azores, allowing Benbow to explore toward the southwest as Clifford explored northwest. On October 9, Richard Benbow finally reported home to England that he had now located Bermuda. It had been close to where he had predicted all along, located in between East Bermuda Sea and West Bermuda Sea. Benbow reported that he and Clifford had employed a new technique to locate it, which he had dubbed triangulation. A colonist is immediately dispatched to Bermuda, and 6 months later on 21 March, 1456 England had established an important springboard towards the new world, a port of their own in the west atlantic.
This meant that the explorers no longer had to travel back east across treacherous waters to reach the nearest friendly port in the Azores. Had it not been for the Portugese ambivalence towards colonial matters, it is likely Bermuda would have been absolutely crucial for our colonization effort. But, as it stands now, it is still very practical for our explorers to use as home port.
As 1455 draws to a close and 1456 is about to begin, we discover the american mainland for the first time, the province Unami on the east coast of North America. The discovery is quickly followed by the sighting of Connecticut and Narraganset. Connecticut has a lot of angry natives, living there, and while the natives of Narraganset are friendly, there is not much of value to be found there. Unami, however, has a large colony of beavers that can be hunted for their fur. Seeing a chance to quickly get established on the mainland, a colonist was sent there immediately.
It is worth noting that Unami is about as far northeast as you want to establish colonies in the beginning of the game, or more specifically, Unami's next door neighbour Manhattan is. From Manhattan and down you will almost exclusively find provinces that produce at the very least Fur (with Cotton, Sugar and Tobacco being thrown in the mix). Also if you move westward you will find more of the same, and northwestward you will find a lot of fur as well. However, New England, Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland are a drag if you're looking for provincial profits in North America. However, our first attempt at establishing the northern frontier of our overseas empire was not destined to succeed.
At this point our competent explorers had explored further south, and so we made an attempt to establish a colony in Santee instead, a Cotton producing province bordering both Cherokee and Creek, a strategically very important province, that will need to be turned into a city before any war with Cherokee or Creek is attempted.
As the attention of England's ruler is on the continuing exploration of the North American coast, and south into the Caribbean, there is a growing concern at home regarding the state of our fortifications, which results in a big boost of the coffers of England, allowing us to recruit our first Conquistador.
As our conquistador is sent westward to America by ship, our explorers discover the first Spanish settlement in the New World, located on the Caribbean island of Saint Thomas.
Our explorer is unable to find more settlements nearby, but he is however skilled enough to find two small shipments of colonists travelling in the Caribbean appearantly on their way to Puerto Rico and Barbados. Our conquistador is sent to the scene, and he quickly explores these two islands to reveal the spanish settlements there, none of them is very big though, so we still have time to establish ourselves before a war is necessary.
The following year not much happens, as exploration continues to dominate things. Settlements are established all over the rich island of Hispaniola, it being a favorite place of the AI to colonize. We also reach stability level 2 during this year, and our research priorities change accordingly, focusing entirely on achieving the first level of production technology.
Then, tragedy strikes.
Our beloved king Henry VI, who had such a great vision for the future of England, is replaced on the throne by his son George I, who, while he is a half-wit of sorts, at least remains true to his father's goal of making America English.
[[anchor=footnote1]*[/anchor]] This is a little exploit a player might employ against a nation he wishes to conquer. By giving away one of the players own provinces to the victim, he gains Casus Belli. The player can then declare war on the nation with few penalties, then take that province and much more back.
Seriously though, if I didn't get rid of the province, I would have to defend myself in a war against Norway sooner or later, and I want to be able pick and choose my wars as much as possible.
