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Hi Ariel
Haven't posted to your aar for a long while since I've been involved in some machinations in Italy but I just wanted to drop you a line and congratulate you on the ongoing sucess as the real power behing the throne of England. They should use this aar as a tutorial since it has a wide range of tactics that surve as a great learning tool for newbies. And please be gentle with the French. They make great cooks.
Joe
Haven't posted to your aar for a long while since I've been involved in some machinations in Italy but I just wanted to drop you a line and congratulate you on the ongoing sucess as the real power behing the throne of England. They should use this aar as a tutorial since it has a wide range of tactics that surve as a great learning tool for newbies. And please be gentle with the French. They make great cooks.
Joe
I think you're right about good (or not so good) king Henry and his nth wife. However it is also true that a marriage was not considered official as long as it wasn't consumated. The trick is that betrothal was a contract that had force of law : so refusing to consumate the marriage (or even submit to the wedding) was a serious breach of contract, and you needed some serious reasons for the Church to allow you to break its laws in this way.
And no, being horsefaced or whatever was definitely not a good reason.
As for being some kind of spies or traitor to my country I deny any such accusations fervently ! Charlie C. shouldn't utter such slander if he doesn't want to not wake following the fall of a fire-iron .
As for revolt in India, I never had trouble there as long as my tolerance toward islam was nice. But I did not conquer India many times (once as France and once partially as England).
And no, being horsefaced or whatever was definitely not a good reason.
As for being some kind of spies or traitor to my country I deny any such accusations fervently
! Charlie C. shouldn't utter such slander if he doesn't want to not wake following the fall of a fire-iron .As for revolt in India, I never had trouble there as long as my tolerance toward islam was nice. But I did not conquer India many times (once as France and once partially as England).
Dan Cook - It's a possibility. Maybe in about 1780 or so...
Storey - Hi m8. Long ime no see indeed. I'll try to make it on over to Italy if I can, but what with deadlines being the way they are, it's a tricky one. The French make even better dinners... if you're stuck on an island in the Far East and you've run out of coconuts that is...
T.Fournier - I think when you're the head of the Church of England you can probably decide what constitutes a good reason, so " bloody hell, she's pig ugly, she is" was probably great grounds for non-consumation as far as Harry was concerned Charlie C says he'll take you and Bloomfield both on with one hand tied behind his back (but I'm beginning to suspect he's more than a little mad...) and your news about India is reassuring to say the least. Maybe other people had trouble when the bits they conquered were converted to a different religion at some point in the past before they took them over? Just a thought...
Right then, quick update, then a game of pool, then home. I get an hour's EU time tonight for good behaviour. More screenshots tomorrow morning (you lucky, lucky people...)
Storey - Hi m8. Long ime no see indeed. I'll try to make it on over to Italy if I can, but what with deadlines being the way they are, it's a tricky one. The French make even better dinners... if you're stuck on an island in the Far East and you've run out of coconuts that is...
T.Fournier - I think when you're the head of the Church of England you can probably decide what constitutes a good reason, so " bloody hell, she's pig ugly, she is" was probably great grounds for non-consumation as far as Harry was concerned
Charlie C says he'll take you and Bloomfield both on with one hand tied behind his back (but I'm beginning to suspect he's more than a little mad...) and your news about India is reassuring to say the least. Maybe other people had trouble when the bits they conquered were converted to a different religion at some point in the past before they took them over? Just a thought...Right then, quick update, then a game of pool, then home. I get an hour's EU time tonight for good behaviour. More screenshots tomorrow morning (you lucky, lucky people...)
The Third Great War of Europe, Continued – February 1688 - June 1689
We capture Istria on the 22nd with the help of an Austrian detachment and with minimal losses. Our army marches at once for Illyria. 39,000 Turks are spotted heading for Ragusa and so our fleet puts to sea off Crete to remove the garrison and transport them to Thrace. Word arrives on the 25th that we have successfully established a colony in Luzon. Our fleet in Romagna puts to sea and the Romagna garrison prepares to take ship. They will wait in the Adriatic until the Turks assault Ragusa and fail to take the city then they will sweep the province clean. We lay siege to the Saxon capital on the 28th.
Certain allegations have been circulating at court regarding the accidental demise of the late King James. I do not allow such filthy lies to go unpunished and the suspected perpetrators are arrested. We are planning to send missions to Siberia in the near future and we are sure the army could use more ‘recruits’ for such a task…
March 1688
Flandres revolts - an army of 58,000 - but the peasants do not take the town. Marlborough shall deal with them later. The French dare to attack us in Athabaska but we eliminate them handily. Marlborough's latest bombardment fails to damage the walls of Cologne and the Turks besiege Ragusa on the 8th. The armies of Saxony have invaded and laid siege to Thuringen, rather than Hessen, which is a bonus for us. On the 27th we encounter a Turkish recruit army in Illyria which we should be able to defeat without blinking, and our fleet patrolling the coat of Saxony is attacked by a squadron of Swedes, Danes and Brandenburgers. On the 30th our army lands in Picardie and marches once again for Paris. We are thinking of asking the French King to improve the roads in the region to avoid undue muddying of our soldiers’ boots next time they come this way.
April 1688
On the 8th we defeat the defenders of Illyria and lay siege to the town. The North Sea fleet is defeated by the massed enemy and loses five ships before limping back to The Hague. Our Crete squadron sails for Thrace. On the 11th Marlborough orders the assault of Cologne and on the 12th our army reaches Paris and lays siege. On the 28th a force of 15,000 Persians invades Indus. Our army from Hyderabad marches to assist the garrison in case they are forced to retreat and we immediately set about recruiting reinforcements in our central Indian provinces to teach the Persians a lesson they won't soon forget.
May 1688
Cologne falls to Marlborough on the 5th. Our army in Indus does indeed retreat in good order to Thar to rendezvous with reinforcements on the 8th, but ensuring that the Persians are left with insufficient numbers to initiate a full siege. Having rested, Marlborough marches to put down the rebellion in Flandres on the 11th. He lost some 14,000 men in the taking of Cologne and so reinforcements are raised in Zeeland to join him later. Our Mediterranean fleet arrives off Thrace to find an army of 60,000 Turks passing through. We will wait for them to go on their merry way to Ragusa before attacking Thrace. There is no point in sustaining unnecessary losses in order to take a city that we know from experience will fall within a month or three.
June 1688
Thuringen falls to Saxony on the 2nd and the Saxons march south to Wurtemburg. Taiwan expands again on the 6th and we send another colonist. We notice the French have cleared the province of Kalimantan, east of Brunei, and so we send a trader there before they can. The Persians, having received reinforcements, launch a full assault on Indus on the 16th. Our defeated troops reach Thar, then immediately turn round and head back across to Indus in anticipation of the failure of the assault.
July 1688
Marlborough's Grenadier Guards reach Flandres. The rebels there are defeated on the sixth. Marlborough then marches for Freisen. The Turkish army is now well clear of Thrace and so we begin our landing there. On the 12th France sends a force of 3,000/10,000 to attack our 45,000 (including 200 cannon) in Helvetia. In three days of bombardment, the entire French force is annihilated, and another army of 12,000 appears in Franche-Comte, wanting the same treatment no doubt.
Just as the assault on Indus is failing on the 16th, our army of 11,000 returns to smash the 4,000 Persian survivors and send them fleeing westwards into the desert, pursued by our troops on the 22nd. Meanwhile on the 18th Brandenburg seizes Western Pommerania from Poland, but Madgeburg is already under siege by our allies. The army of Saxony has, it would seem, decided to bypass Wurtemburg in favour of an attack on Helvetia instead. Interesting... Our army lands in Thrace on the 28th to face 10,000 Tripolitanians and Adenis, who we proceed to beat soundly before laying siege to Constantinople once again.
August 1688
We suffer a revolt in The Hague - an army of 14,000 peasants seizes the fortress. We shall let it go for the time being as Marlborough has bigger fish to fry. On the 2nd those 12,000 Frenchmen, all cavalry, charge up the passes of Helvetia into the waiting cross-fire of our 200 artillery pieces and are predictably slaughtered in three days flat. York's guns finally pound Holland into submission on the 5th but we receive a shock on the 6th when a force of 19,000 Danes has the temerity to land in Anglia and besiege London.
We immediately change our plans. Marlborough and three quarters of his army will be brought back to England to see to the defence of the capital whilst the rest go on to Saxony and York marches on Freisen. Our 13,000 recruits in Zeeland march for Saxony as well. And speaking of Saxons, it appears they have changed their mind as their army is now marching northwards through Wurtemburg once more.
In the east, the Persian situation becomes a little more serious when we spy a force of 56,000 gathering across the border from Indus in Kalat. We abandon our pursuit of their fleeing advance army and prepare to stand our ground instead. Our fleet under Herbert attacks the Danes off Anglia on the 15th but we are defeated and forced to withdraw to port. Damn those Danes, they're too feisty by half. On the 26th we lay siege to Freisen and on the same day the howling Persian horde descends on Indus. Our 12,000 brave lads stand their ground against 56,000 arabs and actually manage to inflict both losses and moral damage on the enemy with their superior firepower. The tide begins to turn when the enemy gets into hand-to-hand range though, and by the end of the month the situation is looking grim.
September 1688
The Danes abandon the siege of London and march westwards. We take the opportunity to thank them for the timely reminder of our negligence and commission an upgrade of the fortifications in the capital and, likewise, Lincoln, Yorkshire, the Marches and Cornwall.
The valiant Colonel Bridgewater continues to stand fast in Indus but by the 14th his situation has become untenable. He retreats with his surviving 360 cavalry and 6 artillery pieces to Kutch, where reinforcements are already gathering for a counter-attack. The Persians lay siege to New Genoa. On the 15th the Danes lay siege to Bristol. On the 18th the French land in Niteroi with a force of 232 cannon, sans infantry support, and wipe out our garrison of 1,800 before seizing the trade post. France offers Cologne for peace on the 19th but we refuse. We will take Paris and Freisen, and then we will talk to the French. They retaliate by burning the trade post in Niteroi on the 22nd. We care little. Marlborough's embarkation is disrupted by an attack on our fleet by a squadron from Brandenburg. Annoying.
October 1688
We gather a force of 37,000 in Kutch and immediately fling them at the Persians in Indus. We are victorious against the Brandenburger ships on the 8th and Marlborough continues to board the channel fleet, which then sails immediately for Wessex. Paris takes a battering (-7) and Freisen is weakening (0) so soon we will have achieved our primary war objectives. On the 18th our army of 12,000 foot in Anhalt meets the retreating Saxon army, fresh from a beating by Austria in Thuringen. Marlborough lands in Wessex and immediately marches on Bristol. King William III, who has traveled with Marlborough for his best protection thus far, makes his way instead to London to meet his Queen for the first time (and consummate the marriage), and take his rightful place at the head of our nation.
On the 27th our force in Anhalt is defeated and 4,000 survivors sent fleeing back to Hessen. We decide to call it a day and withdraw our largely ineffectual army from Saxony via Thuringen. We shall sue for peace with France soon and Saxony will be forced to comply with the leader of their alliance with minimal harm done on either side.
November 1688
We suffer another revolt in troublesome Zeeland. Marlborough will have his hands full once he has dealt with the Danes in Bristol. On the 4th another French suicide attack is dealt with in short order by our artillery in Helvetia and our army attacks the Persians in Indus.
The on the 6th Paris falls to England yet again. We shall wait for the capture of Freisen and then make our demands. Marlborough engages the Danes on the 9th. They have a similar number of cavalry, twice his artillery but only half his infantry, and nothing like his military genius. On the 16th we win a total victory against the Persians, completely annihilating their 38,000 men for only 4,000 losses on our part. Then on the 17th Marlborough performs a similar feat, completely wiping out the 19,000 strong Danish army in Bristol. He then marches back to the south coast to take ship for the Netherlands and deal with the rebels.
On the 18th France offers Cologne and Holland for peace, but we smilingly decline. Saxony attacks Hessen on the 21st, laying siege to our fortress there (6). Our army in Paris reorganises, sending its 50 artillery pieces with a 4,000 strong infantry escort up to Freisen and the rest of its troops head to deal with the rebels in Zeeland in advance of Marlborough's arrival. Our Venetian garrison is also on the move - heading back through Istria, where the Austrians have claimed the province, to bring the siege of Illyria to a close in advance of the fall of Constantinople (-2). On the 23rd we establish our colony in Timaru and send a new mission to Towoomba, north of Nandewar in Australia. Word arrives that our trader to Brunei failed to arrive and so we send another.
December 1688
We reorganise our channel fleet. 18 transports are left in the channel to transport Marlborough back to the Netherlands and then 45 warships sail west, hunting Frenchmen. Our 13,000 strong army in Kleves is sent to assist in Freisen and bring this chapter of the war to a close. On the 15th our 45 warships catch a squadron of 5 Frenchmen off Land's End. On the 17th our Mediterranean fleet is attacked by the Turks off Corfu and is forced to withdraw to port to protect the army on board. Taiwan expands again on the 16th and we send another colonist immediately. Persia demands 250d for peace on the 19th, which we naturally refuse to pay. We defeat the French squadron on the 24th and our warships continue their channel patrol.
January 1689
Tax 889d. Peter I rises to the throne of Russia. A new Centre of Trade opens in Itaimas - yet another French-held territory in the south of New Spain. We currently have over 3,000 ducats in the treasury. Time to spend some of it, we think. Indus gets another fortress upgrade, we commission a transport in the same province and six warships elsewhere in India. We raise 3,000 troops in Bali. Half a dozen sub-standard fortresses are upgraded on the English mainland. A total of 11,000/4,000 colonial troops are raised in New England and a fortress upgrade commissioned for Athabaska.
France launches a counter-siege on Paris but with insufficient strength to make an impression on our holding garrison's defences. On the 13th Poland cedes Western Pommerania to Brandenburg and drops out of that segment of the war. Our reinforcements arrive in Illyria and we decide to launch an immediate assault. Brandenburg demands 250d for peace on the 20th. We refuse and instead offer Portugal a white peace but are in turn refused. On the 21st our army arrives in Zeeland and attacks the rebels there and on the 22nd, we capture the Turkish capital yet again. We shall wait on the end of the assault on Illyria before suing for peace. Persia again demands 250d for peace on the 23rd and we refuse again. We capture Illyria on the 28th and send a demand for its surrender to us plus 250d reparitions to the Sultan. He accepts and hands over 62d and the province and we withdraw our army from Constantinople at once and his force of 105,000 is likewise obliged to quit Ragusa.
February 1689
We defeat the rebels and Marlborough lands in Flandres and marches south to drive the French from Paris while our Zeeland army heads for The Hague. We launch an assault of Freisen, eager to finish off the province before the French can re-take Paris. France signs a white peace with Spain on the 2nd but again we are no longer worried by such developments.
Then Freisen falls to us on the 13th and our army marches on The Hague while the Zeeland force turns southwards to wreak more havoc in northern France.
March 1689
We lay siege to Hainaut on the 6th. Another Persian force of 22,000 including cannon, attacks us in Indus on the 10th. On the 12th our channel fleet of 43 warships attacks a French fleet of 18/0/3. Our channel fleet is victorious by the 21st and again we annihilate the Persians in Indus by the 25th. France signs a white peace with Poland on the 26th, the same day that Marlborough attacks the French siege army outside Paris. Persia again demands reparitions from us and again we refuse.
On the 26th France offers us Cologne and Freisen for peace, which we refuse, and Brandenburg demands 250d, an offer that we similarly ignore. On the 30th we defeat the French outside Paris and Marlborough demands the surrender of Cologne, Freisen and Holland. The French King refuses. We are bemused by his stubbornness and so decide to persuade him further. 11,000 recruits are raised in Flandres and 13,000 in Zeeland for the express purpose of laying waste to northern France. Marlborough heads for Artois.
April - June 1689
We commission a fortress upgrade in Illyria. The rest of the month is quiet, the only events of note being the failure of our trader in Kalimantan and the subsequent sending of a replacement, Marlborough's initiation of a siege in Artois and the Saxony's fresh attack on Thuringen, which the Austrians re-captured the month before.
Poland surrenders the provinces of Welikia and Belgogrod and pays 102d to Russia for peace on May 1st. Not a good result for our ally on their eastern border. France attacks Paris again on the 11th and so Marlborough breaks off his siege and marches to defeat them. On the 13th Denmark and Brandenburg both demand 250d for peace and we refuse both.
On June 1st our admirals report the development of the lower deck battery to improve the firepower of our ships. Marlborough engages the French in Ile de France on the 2nd and sends them fleeing on the 9th, pursuing them this time into Champagne. Persia offers a white peace on the 9th and we gladly sign the treaty with them to bring about an end to the threat to Indus, although Bridgewater, now the hero of India, had already proved it a largely empty one…
Then on the 10th the French finally see sense. Their ambassador presents himself to King William and Queen Mary with an offer of Cologne, Freisen and Holland in return for a cessation of our attacks on their capital. We accept, and take control of the rest of the eastern Netherlands plus Cologne, thus connecting our German and Dutch territories and making in-roads in to Northern France. This is but the start of our conquests in the region, in the next twenty years we intend to seize their channel ports on our way to recreating the glory of the Angevin Empire and bringing France to her knees. After that we shall rob her of her maritime power by taking every coastal port from Normandie to Navarre. Then the German provinces on France’s eastern border, then the Massif Central and the French heartland, until naught but the Ile de France remains. God has sent me a vision, and in that vision the English flag flies from every church steeple in France and the King of France sits, embittered and weeping on his wooden throne in Paris, master of naught but the French Ile itself and living in fear for his very existence…
God bless England. Long Live the King!
We capture Istria on the 22nd with the help of an Austrian detachment and with minimal losses. Our army marches at once for Illyria. 39,000 Turks are spotted heading for Ragusa and so our fleet puts to sea off Crete to remove the garrison and transport them to Thrace. Word arrives on the 25th that we have successfully established a colony in Luzon. Our fleet in Romagna puts to sea and the Romagna garrison prepares to take ship. They will wait in the Adriatic until the Turks assault Ragusa and fail to take the city then they will sweep the province clean. We lay siege to the Saxon capital on the 28th.
Certain allegations have been circulating at court regarding the accidental demise of the late King James. I do not allow such filthy lies to go unpunished and the suspected perpetrators are arrested. We are planning to send missions to Siberia in the near future and we are sure the army could use more ‘recruits’ for such a task…
March 1688
Flandres revolts - an army of 58,000 - but the peasants do not take the town. Marlborough shall deal with them later. The French dare to attack us in Athabaska but we eliminate them handily. Marlborough's latest bombardment fails to damage the walls of Cologne and the Turks besiege Ragusa on the 8th. The armies of Saxony have invaded and laid siege to Thuringen, rather than Hessen, which is a bonus for us. On the 27th we encounter a Turkish recruit army in Illyria which we should be able to defeat without blinking, and our fleet patrolling the coat of Saxony is attacked by a squadron of Swedes, Danes and Brandenburgers. On the 30th our army lands in Picardie and marches once again for Paris. We are thinking of asking the French King to improve the roads in the region to avoid undue muddying of our soldiers’ boots next time they come this way.
April 1688
On the 8th we defeat the defenders of Illyria and lay siege to the town. The North Sea fleet is defeated by the massed enemy and loses five ships before limping back to The Hague. Our Crete squadron sails for Thrace. On the 11th Marlborough orders the assault of Cologne and on the 12th our army reaches Paris and lays siege. On the 28th a force of 15,000 Persians invades Indus. Our army from Hyderabad marches to assist the garrison in case they are forced to retreat and we immediately set about recruiting reinforcements in our central Indian provinces to teach the Persians a lesson they won't soon forget.
May 1688
Cologne falls to Marlborough on the 5th. Our army in Indus does indeed retreat in good order to Thar to rendezvous with reinforcements on the 8th, but ensuring that the Persians are left with insufficient numbers to initiate a full siege. Having rested, Marlborough marches to put down the rebellion in Flandres on the 11th. He lost some 14,000 men in the taking of Cologne and so reinforcements are raised in Zeeland to join him later. Our Mediterranean fleet arrives off Thrace to find an army of 60,000 Turks passing through. We will wait for them to go on their merry way to Ragusa before attacking Thrace. There is no point in sustaining unnecessary losses in order to take a city that we know from experience will fall within a month or three.
June 1688
Thuringen falls to Saxony on the 2nd and the Saxons march south to Wurtemburg. Taiwan expands again on the 6th and we send another colonist. We notice the French have cleared the province of Kalimantan, east of Brunei, and so we send a trader there before they can. The Persians, having received reinforcements, launch a full assault on Indus on the 16th. Our defeated troops reach Thar, then immediately turn round and head back across to Indus in anticipation of the failure of the assault.
July 1688
Marlborough's Grenadier Guards reach Flandres. The rebels there are defeated on the sixth. Marlborough then marches for Freisen. The Turkish army is now well clear of Thrace and so we begin our landing there. On the 12th France sends a force of 3,000/10,000 to attack our 45,000 (including 200 cannon) in Helvetia. In three days of bombardment, the entire French force is annihilated, and another army of 12,000 appears in Franche-Comte, wanting the same treatment no doubt.
Just as the assault on Indus is failing on the 16th, our army of 11,000 returns to smash the 4,000 Persian survivors and send them fleeing westwards into the desert, pursued by our troops on the 22nd. Meanwhile on the 18th Brandenburg seizes Western Pommerania from Poland, but Madgeburg is already under siege by our allies. The army of Saxony has, it would seem, decided to bypass Wurtemburg in favour of an attack on Helvetia instead. Interesting... Our army lands in Thrace on the 28th to face 10,000 Tripolitanians and Adenis, who we proceed to beat soundly before laying siege to Constantinople once again.
August 1688
We suffer a revolt in The Hague - an army of 14,000 peasants seizes the fortress. We shall let it go for the time being as Marlborough has bigger fish to fry. On the 2nd those 12,000 Frenchmen, all cavalry, charge up the passes of Helvetia into the waiting cross-fire of our 200 artillery pieces and are predictably slaughtered in three days flat. York's guns finally pound Holland into submission on the 5th but we receive a shock on the 6th when a force of 19,000 Danes has the temerity to land in Anglia and besiege London.
We immediately change our plans. Marlborough and three quarters of his army will be brought back to England to see to the defence of the capital whilst the rest go on to Saxony and York marches on Freisen. Our 13,000 recruits in Zeeland march for Saxony as well. And speaking of Saxons, it appears they have changed their mind as their army is now marching northwards through Wurtemburg once more.
In the east, the Persian situation becomes a little more serious when we spy a force of 56,000 gathering across the border from Indus in Kalat. We abandon our pursuit of their fleeing advance army and prepare to stand our ground instead. Our fleet under Herbert attacks the Danes off Anglia on the 15th but we are defeated and forced to withdraw to port. Damn those Danes, they're too feisty by half. On the 26th we lay siege to Freisen and on the same day the howling Persian horde descends on Indus. Our 12,000 brave lads stand their ground against 56,000 arabs and actually manage to inflict both losses and moral damage on the enemy with their superior firepower. The tide begins to turn when the enemy gets into hand-to-hand range though, and by the end of the month the situation is looking grim.
September 1688
The Danes abandon the siege of London and march westwards. We take the opportunity to thank them for the timely reminder of our negligence and commission an upgrade of the fortifications in the capital and, likewise, Lincoln, Yorkshire, the Marches and Cornwall.
The valiant Colonel Bridgewater continues to stand fast in Indus but by the 14th his situation has become untenable. He retreats with his surviving 360 cavalry and 6 artillery pieces to Kutch, where reinforcements are already gathering for a counter-attack. The Persians lay siege to New Genoa. On the 15th the Danes lay siege to Bristol. On the 18th the French land in Niteroi with a force of 232 cannon, sans infantry support, and wipe out our garrison of 1,800 before seizing the trade post. France offers Cologne for peace on the 19th but we refuse. We will take Paris and Freisen, and then we will talk to the French. They retaliate by burning the trade post in Niteroi on the 22nd. We care little. Marlborough's embarkation is disrupted by an attack on our fleet by a squadron from Brandenburg. Annoying.
October 1688
We gather a force of 37,000 in Kutch and immediately fling them at the Persians in Indus. We are victorious against the Brandenburger ships on the 8th and Marlborough continues to board the channel fleet, which then sails immediately for Wessex. Paris takes a battering (-7) and Freisen is weakening (0) so soon we will have achieved our primary war objectives. On the 18th our army of 12,000 foot in Anhalt meets the retreating Saxon army, fresh from a beating by Austria in Thuringen. Marlborough lands in Wessex and immediately marches on Bristol. King William III, who has traveled with Marlborough for his best protection thus far, makes his way instead to London to meet his Queen for the first time (and consummate the marriage), and take his rightful place at the head of our nation.
On the 27th our force in Anhalt is defeated and 4,000 survivors sent fleeing back to Hessen. We decide to call it a day and withdraw our largely ineffectual army from Saxony via Thuringen. We shall sue for peace with France soon and Saxony will be forced to comply with the leader of their alliance with minimal harm done on either side.
November 1688
We suffer another revolt in troublesome Zeeland. Marlborough will have his hands full once he has dealt with the Danes in Bristol. On the 4th another French suicide attack is dealt with in short order by our artillery in Helvetia and our army attacks the Persians in Indus.
The on the 6th Paris falls to England yet again. We shall wait for the capture of Freisen and then make our demands. Marlborough engages the Danes on the 9th. They have a similar number of cavalry, twice his artillery but only half his infantry, and nothing like his military genius. On the 16th we win a total victory against the Persians, completely annihilating their 38,000 men for only 4,000 losses on our part. Then on the 17th Marlborough performs a similar feat, completely wiping out the 19,000 strong Danish army in Bristol. He then marches back to the south coast to take ship for the Netherlands and deal with the rebels.
On the 18th France offers Cologne and Holland for peace, but we smilingly decline. Saxony attacks Hessen on the 21st, laying siege to our fortress there (6). Our army in Paris reorganises, sending its 50 artillery pieces with a 4,000 strong infantry escort up to Freisen and the rest of its troops head to deal with the rebels in Zeeland in advance of Marlborough's arrival. Our Venetian garrison is also on the move - heading back through Istria, where the Austrians have claimed the province, to bring the siege of Illyria to a close in advance of the fall of Constantinople (-2). On the 23rd we establish our colony in Timaru and send a new mission to Towoomba, north of Nandewar in Australia. Word arrives that our trader to Brunei failed to arrive and so we send another.
December 1688
We reorganise our channel fleet. 18 transports are left in the channel to transport Marlborough back to the Netherlands and then 45 warships sail west, hunting Frenchmen. Our 13,000 strong army in Kleves is sent to assist in Freisen and bring this chapter of the war to a close. On the 15th our 45 warships catch a squadron of 5 Frenchmen off Land's End. On the 17th our Mediterranean fleet is attacked by the Turks off Corfu and is forced to withdraw to port to protect the army on board. Taiwan expands again on the 16th and we send another colonist immediately. Persia demands 250d for peace on the 19th, which we naturally refuse to pay. We defeat the French squadron on the 24th and our warships continue their channel patrol.
January 1689
Tax 889d. Peter I rises to the throne of Russia. A new Centre of Trade opens in Itaimas - yet another French-held territory in the south of New Spain. We currently have over 3,000 ducats in the treasury. Time to spend some of it, we think. Indus gets another fortress upgrade, we commission a transport in the same province and six warships elsewhere in India. We raise 3,000 troops in Bali. Half a dozen sub-standard fortresses are upgraded on the English mainland. A total of 11,000/4,000 colonial troops are raised in New England and a fortress upgrade commissioned for Athabaska.
France launches a counter-siege on Paris but with insufficient strength to make an impression on our holding garrison's defences. On the 13th Poland cedes Western Pommerania to Brandenburg and drops out of that segment of the war. Our reinforcements arrive in Illyria and we decide to launch an immediate assault. Brandenburg demands 250d for peace on the 20th. We refuse and instead offer Portugal a white peace but are in turn refused. On the 21st our army arrives in Zeeland and attacks the rebels there and on the 22nd, we capture the Turkish capital yet again. We shall wait on the end of the assault on Illyria before suing for peace. Persia again demands 250d for peace on the 23rd and we refuse again. We capture Illyria on the 28th and send a demand for its surrender to us plus 250d reparitions to the Sultan. He accepts and hands over 62d and the province and we withdraw our army from Constantinople at once and his force of 105,000 is likewise obliged to quit Ragusa.
February 1689
We defeat the rebels and Marlborough lands in Flandres and marches south to drive the French from Paris while our Zeeland army heads for The Hague. We launch an assault of Freisen, eager to finish off the province before the French can re-take Paris. France signs a white peace with Spain on the 2nd but again we are no longer worried by such developments.
Then Freisen falls to us on the 13th and our army marches on The Hague while the Zeeland force turns southwards to wreak more havoc in northern France.
March 1689
We lay siege to Hainaut on the 6th. Another Persian force of 22,000 including cannon, attacks us in Indus on the 10th. On the 12th our channel fleet of 43 warships attacks a French fleet of 18/0/3. Our channel fleet is victorious by the 21st and again we annihilate the Persians in Indus by the 25th. France signs a white peace with Poland on the 26th, the same day that Marlborough attacks the French siege army outside Paris. Persia again demands reparitions from us and again we refuse.
On the 26th France offers us Cologne and Freisen for peace, which we refuse, and Brandenburg demands 250d, an offer that we similarly ignore. On the 30th we defeat the French outside Paris and Marlborough demands the surrender of Cologne, Freisen and Holland. The French King refuses. We are bemused by his stubbornness and so decide to persuade him further. 11,000 recruits are raised in Flandres and 13,000 in Zeeland for the express purpose of laying waste to northern France. Marlborough heads for Artois.
April - June 1689
We commission a fortress upgrade in Illyria. The rest of the month is quiet, the only events of note being the failure of our trader in Kalimantan and the subsequent sending of a replacement, Marlborough's initiation of a siege in Artois and the Saxony's fresh attack on Thuringen, which the Austrians re-captured the month before.
Poland surrenders the provinces of Welikia and Belgogrod and pays 102d to Russia for peace on May 1st. Not a good result for our ally on their eastern border. France attacks Paris again on the 11th and so Marlborough breaks off his siege and marches to defeat them. On the 13th Denmark and Brandenburg both demand 250d for peace and we refuse both.
On June 1st our admirals report the development of the lower deck battery to improve the firepower of our ships. Marlborough engages the French in Ile de France on the 2nd and sends them fleeing on the 9th, pursuing them this time into Champagne. Persia offers a white peace on the 9th and we gladly sign the treaty with them to bring about an end to the threat to Indus, although Bridgewater, now the hero of India, had already proved it a largely empty one…
Then on the 10th the French finally see sense. Their ambassador presents himself to King William and Queen Mary with an offer of Cologne, Freisen and Holland in return for a cessation of our attacks on their capital. We accept, and take control of the rest of the eastern Netherlands plus Cologne, thus connecting our German and Dutch territories and making in-roads in to Northern France. This is but the start of our conquests in the region, in the next twenty years we intend to seize their channel ports on our way to recreating the glory of the Angevin Empire and bringing France to her knees. After that we shall rob her of her maritime power by taking every coastal port from Normandie to Navarre. Then the German provinces on France’s eastern border, then the Massif Central and the French heartland, until naught but the Ile de France remains. God has sent me a vision, and in that vision the English flag flies from every church steeple in France and the King of France sits, embittered and weeping on his wooden throne in Paris, master of naught but the French Ile itself and living in fear for his very existence…
God bless England. Long Live the King!
"Hmmm. Let me get this straight," the monk in the rain crumpled robe mumbled, scratching at the back of his head. "The chamber pot was located right by the fireplace."
Cromwell studied the unassuming monk for a few seconds. There was something odd about him. His look! He had a glass eye. That was it. "Yes," Cromwell replied.
"A brass chamber pot, beside a blazing fire place?"
Cromwell was getting exasperated. "Yes, yes, what of it?"
The little man began to walk away, mumbling. "It's probably nothing... nothing."
Cromwell relaxed, until the scruffy man stopped and faced him. "Don't you think it would be too hot to use? But then, I can ill afford these luxuries. I have to settle for an outhouse."
"I wasn't watching. Perhaps when he sat down the heat propelled him forward in to the fire-iron."
The monk looked convinced and clapped his hands once. "You're probably right, but..."
"Do you have a point to make? I have urgent business to attend to!"
The scruffy monk slapped his forehead. "Of course, of course. So sorry of me to intrude. Thankyou. You've been most helpful." He walked to the door.
Cromwell reached for some papers when he saw the little man stop again. "Yes?" he asked in barely contained anger.
"Just one thing bothers me, sir, just one thing."
"Well?"
"If he was propelled into the fire-iron, how is it then that you were holding it...?"
Cromwell studied the unassuming monk for a few seconds. There was something odd about him. His look! He had a glass eye. That was it. "Yes," Cromwell replied.
"A brass chamber pot, beside a blazing fire place?"
Cromwell was getting exasperated. "Yes, yes, what of it?"
The little man began to walk away, mumbling. "It's probably nothing... nothing."
Cromwell relaxed, until the scruffy man stopped and faced him. "Don't you think it would be too hot to use? But then, I can ill afford these luxuries. I have to settle for an outhouse."
"I wasn't watching. Perhaps when he sat down the heat propelled him forward in to the fire-iron."
The monk looked convinced and clapped his hands once. "You're probably right, but..."
"Do you have a point to make? I have urgent business to attend to!"
The scruffy monk slapped his forehead. "Of course, of course. So sorry of me to intrude. Thankyou. You've been most helpful." He walked to the door.
Cromwell reached for some papers when he saw the little man stop again. "Yes?" he asked in barely contained anger.
"Just one thing bothers me, sir, just one thing."
"Well?"
"If he was propelled into the fire-iron, how is it then that you were holding it...?"
To:
Charles W. Cromwell, K.B., K.S.C., F.R.S., S.O.B., K.C.
Sir:
We here in New England are getting quite tired of your English threats and raving and shall surely elect ourselves a President one of these days.
I have the honour to remain etc. etc.
yr hble ob't svt
Sgt. E.T. Bloomfield, R.C.
Charles W. Cromwell, K.B., K.S.C., F.R.S., S.O.B., K.C.
Sir:
That red hot skewer would not be the very same fateful fire-iron that so soon deprived England of her rightful King? As for our earlier duel, Sir, I thought it incommensurate with my dignity:
I hold Your father in too high regard to have subjected myself to the spectacle of your turning your back, dropping your breeches, and presenting your posterior on the commons for my chastisement.
We here in New England are getting quite tired of your English threats and raving and shall surely elect ourselves a President one of these days.
I have the honour to remain etc. etc.
yr hble ob't svt
Sgt. E.T. Bloomfield, R.C.
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I see you're proceeding nicely. I haven't dropped in for a couple of days - too busy at the office during days, and too busy with my Austrian IGC at nights. Sleep? There are always meetings for that!
I wonder what will happen to next english king with protestant leanings? Maybe he'll accidently burn himself to death with those fancy new cigars from West Indies?
Good reading, as usual - just love the twists in the plot! Your wars start to become too easy, though. Or maybe you're just too able of a commander.
I wonder what will happen to next english king with protestant leanings? Maybe he'll accidently burn himself to death with those fancy new cigars from West Indies?
Good reading, as usual - just love the twists in the plot! Your wars start to become too easy, though. Or maybe you're just too able of a commander.
Oh, dear... certainly a constitutional crisis! I hope his royal majesty only had to fall once...
Great stuff... keep it up!
Cheers!
I love the vision you have of the future: an Ile de France surrounded by St. George's Crosses flying from every spire. Now either you've given away too much or maybe, just maybe, you're toying with us...hmmmm. I am confused though. Persia attacked you, but I seem to recall that earlier you stated that they had dishonoured the French alliance...I must have misread.
As for Sgt.Bloomfield and your much ballyhooed on-again, off-again duel, the odds are 3-1 in favour of Charlie C. at the moment, but then again not a soul expects him to fight fairly whether it be with fireirons or sabres.
If I'm not mistaken, that monk that Lord Durham pointed out must have been from the ancient order of St. Columbo: they are both devious and dangerous, and you must expel them all from the realm immediately sir, else these foul rumours that swirl about your person fail to cease...
Vimy.
As for Sgt.Bloomfield and your much ballyhooed on-again, off-again duel, the odds are 3-1 in favour of Charlie C. at the moment, but then again not a soul expects him to fight fairly whether it be with fireirons or sabres.
If I'm not mistaken, that monk that Lord Durham pointed out must have been from the ancient order of St. Columbo: they are both devious and dangerous, and you must expel them all from the realm immediately sir, else these foul rumours that swirl about your person fail to cease...
Vimy.
Petronius Falkenburg of the Order of St.Columbo is mortified at the allegations of deviousness. And dangerous? "I just do my job," he mumbles, shuffling off down the corridor.
Your Suffering Navy
I'm noticing that quite often your enemies' fleets "have the wind behind them" a lot more than your's do. Perhaps it is time to invest in some naval tech. as you seem well ahead in land? Of course, you're way better at this game than I am, so your the expert. Just thought it was an interesting trend you might not have thought of. Of course, I suppose you're way ahead now and things have changed compared to where we are.
I'm noticing that quite often your enemies' fleets "have the wind behind them" a lot more than your's do. Perhaps it is time to invest in some naval tech. as you seem well ahead in land? Of course, you're way better at this game than I am, so your the expert. Just thought it was an interesting trend you might not have thought of. Of course, I suppose you're way ahead now and things have changed compared to where we are.
I thank you
Ariel
You ever thought about getting this published (flesh it out a little), would make a great "alternative" history novelette ??
I can picture it now, RED province's everywhere in France.......that'll teach them to inflict Marceau Marceau (sp?) on the world !!!
BTW, if your feud with the upstart from N.England starts getting too heavy, you know you can always rely on your compatriots (especially those with millions of hordes at their beck & call)
Ariel
You ever thought about getting this published (flesh it out a little), would make a great "alternative" history novelette ??
I can picture it now, RED province's everywhere in France.......that'll teach them to inflict Marceau Marceau (sp?) on the world !!!
BTW, if your feud with the upstart from N.England starts getting too heavy, you know you can always rely on your compatriots (especially those with millions of hordes at their beck & call)
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The Case of the O'er Heated Chamberpot. Chapter Two.
Cromwell's anger seethed within him like a stoppered wasp's nest, a boiling miasma of rage and spite about to be unleashed upon the world in a stinging cloud of irrepressible fury.
That damnable, thrice-damned monk. Ever since the visit of the unassuming yet oh, oh so knowing Falkenberg, Cromwell's sleep had been broken by dreams from which he rose screaming, in which the figure of the fallen King lying before him suddenly twisted and writhed, the face collapsing in upon itself to be replaced a moment later, like a fungus growing with un-Godly speed from the bole of a rotten oak, with that of his father, the great Lord Protector himself.
His reveries were disturbed by a knock at the door.
"In."
He turned, to see his trusted and most able lieutenants, the burly, thick-necked, red-faced Corporal Khan, and the thin, ascerbic-looking French agent, the Marquis de Fournier. He spoke without preamble;
"This monk. This Falkenberg. What do you know of him?"
Khan stood stolidly whilst Fournier pursed his lips and thought hard.
"Milord Cromwell. The order of Saint Columbo are an ancient and venerable institution whose lives are given over to the doing of good deeds and the righting of... alleged... wrongs. I believe Father Falkenberg is a member of their inner circle, the Council of Caedfaelius. His methods are... unorthodox, but I understand he never abandons a case once he has set his mind to solve it."
Cromwell considered. "He is like a hound with a scent, then?"
Fournier arched one elegantly coiffured eyebrow. "Or a terrier with a rat."
Cromwell's lips twisted into a moue of displeasure. "I like not your choice of metaphor, sirrah. Have a care. Khan?"
The big man stepped forward, his attention focused, ready.
"I hear the cloisters can be a dangerous place for a careless man... or monk. It would be unfortunate indeed were the ancient and venerable order of Saint Columbo to lose one of their most able members through an... accident?"
Khan nodded. "Milord." He turned on his heel, thoughts of great deviousness already crossing and re-crossing his mind.
The Frenchman turned to leave also, but Cromwell held up a hand.
"Msr. Fournier. I understand that you are skilled in certain of the more subtle political arts?" The thin man nodded, but almost reluctantly. "Speak to the Ambassador Nalivayko. I understand he has a collection of rare and exotic... medicines. Tell him I sent you and ask to borrow something... effective. I believe Father Falkenberg may have been suffering form a head cold when last I saw him. He may need... treatment."
Fournier nodded, and then bowed to hide his grimace of distaste. he did not enjoy acting as Cromwell's assassin, but as an exile from his own realm and a man with a price on his head in just about every European nation, he had little choice as to how he employed his skills and the Lord Cromwell always paid exceedingly well.
"Milord. It shall be as you wish." The Frenchman, too, turned on his heel and left.
Cromwell watched him go. He would of course make other arrangements to ensure that no-one else spread these vile rumours at court any further. The servants of course would have to be retired and his driver on the night would most likely develop a sudden interest in the Far East.
If only, he thought, there was some way to get the image of his father's heavy sabre out of his mind, so that he might find some rest and sleep at last...
Cromwell's anger seethed within him like a stoppered wasp's nest, a boiling miasma of rage and spite about to be unleashed upon the world in a stinging cloud of irrepressible fury.
That damnable, thrice-damned monk. Ever since the visit of the unassuming yet oh, oh so knowing Falkenberg, Cromwell's sleep had been broken by dreams from which he rose screaming, in which the figure of the fallen King lying before him suddenly twisted and writhed, the face collapsing in upon itself to be replaced a moment later, like a fungus growing with un-Godly speed from the bole of a rotten oak, with that of his father, the great Lord Protector himself.
His reveries were disturbed by a knock at the door.
"In."
He turned, to see his trusted and most able lieutenants, the burly, thick-necked, red-faced Corporal Khan, and the thin, ascerbic-looking French agent, the Marquis de Fournier. He spoke without preamble;
"This monk. This Falkenberg. What do you know of him?"
Khan stood stolidly whilst Fournier pursed his lips and thought hard.
"Milord Cromwell. The order of Saint Columbo are an ancient and venerable institution whose lives are given over to the doing of good deeds and the righting of... alleged... wrongs. I believe Father Falkenberg is a member of their inner circle, the Council of Caedfaelius. His methods are... unorthodox, but I understand he never abandons a case once he has set his mind to solve it."
Cromwell considered. "He is like a hound with a scent, then?"
Fournier arched one elegantly coiffured eyebrow. "Or a terrier with a rat."
Cromwell's lips twisted into a moue of displeasure. "I like not your choice of metaphor, sirrah. Have a care. Khan?"
The big man stepped forward, his attention focused, ready.
"I hear the cloisters can be a dangerous place for a careless man... or monk. It would be unfortunate indeed were the ancient and venerable order of Saint Columbo to lose one of their most able members through an... accident?"
Khan nodded. "Milord." He turned on his heel, thoughts of great deviousness already crossing and re-crossing his mind.
The Frenchman turned to leave also, but Cromwell held up a hand.
"Msr. Fournier. I understand that you are skilled in certain of the more subtle political arts?" The thin man nodded, but almost reluctantly. "Speak to the Ambassador Nalivayko. I understand he has a collection of rare and exotic... medicines. Tell him I sent you and ask to borrow something... effective. I believe Father Falkenberg may have been suffering form a head cold when last I saw him. He may need... treatment."
Fournier nodded, and then bowed to hide his grimace of distaste. he did not enjoy acting as Cromwell's assassin, but as an exile from his own realm and a man with a price on his head in just about every European nation, he had little choice as to how he employed his skills and the Lord Cromwell always paid exceedingly well.
"Milord. It shall be as you wish." The Frenchman, too, turned on his heel and left.
Cromwell watched him go. He would of course make other arrangements to ensure that no-one else spread these vile rumours at court any further. The servants of course would have to be retired and his driver on the night would most likely develop a sudden interest in the Far East.
If only, he thought, there was some way to get the image of his father's heavy sabre out of his mind, so that he might find some rest and sleep at last...
(Very) quick fb-fb:
Lord D - Your turn
Sgt B - Skating on thin ice there m8. Lord Cromwell is busy overseeing the conquest of... well, this next conquest, but I'm sure he'll have mroe words to say on the subject at some point...
Aikman - I'm thinking of letting the others catch up a bit. It's beginning to feel like a bit of a Civ game
SimonM - You're gonna end up going the same way as Bloomfield if you're not careful. Charlie C ain't a man to piss off
Vimy - A fiver on Charlie C then.
Storey - Couldn't agree more...
Headhunter - My naval tech is slightly ahead of France's and Spain's by one or two levels, but I still keep losing at sea to much smaller fleets, so either they have better commanders, or this myserious 'wind' stuff keeps favouring them, as I see it.
Genghis -
Lord D - Your turn
Sgt B - Skating on thin ice there m8
. Lord Cromwell is busy overseeing the conquest of... well, this next conquest, but I'm sure he'll have mroe words to say on the subject at some point...Aikman - I'm thinking of letting the others catch up a bit. It's beginning to feel like a bit of a Civ game
SimonM - You're gonna end up going the same way as Bloomfield if you're not careful. Charlie C ain't a man to piss off
Vimy - A fiver on Charlie C then.
Storey - Couldn't agree more...
Headhunter - My naval tech is slightly ahead of France's and Spain's by one or two levels, but I still keep losing at sea to much smaller fleets, so either they have better commanders, or this myserious 'wind' stuff keeps favouring them, as I see it.
Genghis -
God Almighty! Considering his family's been around this english court for more than a century now he'd have managed to turn into a proper english gentleman. Of course considering Charlie C.'s current mood he'll probably just take his money and obey
. He doesn't really fancy paid vacations to Siberia.I always think it funny when I see the Turks dying of misery while besieging some heavily fortressed town in the Balkans while you just sail and take Istambul from them. But I must say your commanders have not been very good either at sea or against the Saxons. You must see to remedy this problem at once
.
Hey - I'm a Sargeant you know
Burly : correct
thick-necked: correct
red-faced: only when I over exert myself
Burly : correct
thick-necked: correct
red-faced: only when I over exert myself
Khans' Report
Lord Cromwell wanted an accident, so an accident he shall have thought Khan after leaving his master's quarters.
Walking briskly along the corridor, all manner of devious & igenious methods of carrying out this act crossed his mind.
He would have to infiltrate this Order of Saint Columbo, and wait for the right moment before striking. An idea began to form in his mind of the method in which this pesky monk would meet his demise, and in the fullness of time, the opportunity would surely arise.
BTW, why not give your Naval tech a shot in the arm. If you've got plenty of spare cash lying around, plow some in using the one off payment on the slider - just a thought.
Lord Cromwell wanted an accident, so an accident he shall have thought Khan after leaving his master's quarters.
Walking briskly along the corridor, all manner of devious & igenious methods of carrying out this act crossed his mind.
He would have to infiltrate this Order of Saint Columbo, and wait for the right moment before striking. An idea began to form in his mind of the method in which this pesky monk would meet his demise, and in the fullness of time, the opportunity would surely arise.
BTW, why not give your Naval tech a shot in the arm. If you've got plenty of spare cash lying around, plow some in using the one off payment on the slider - just a thought.
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A suggestion ?
If, as I suspect, the feud developing between Lord Cromwell et all escalates. Might it not be prudent to move to the Role Playing Forum, and keep this most excellent thread for the continuation of the AAR and the relevant discussion thereafter ?
If, as I suspect, the feud developing between Lord Cromwell et all escalates. Might it not be prudent to move to the Role Playing Forum, and keep this most excellent thread for the continuation of the AAR and the relevant discussion thereafter ?