By Land and By Sea - Franco/Austrian Alliance AAR

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I consider myself an average player. I played alot of EUII and finally got a computer new enough to run EUIII. I'll be playing both France and Austria. I will run each country for five years, then save and load the other country and play the game for five years. I have the standard version EUIII, no expansion packs. All settings are normal and no cheating (Edit - I did use the stability cheat twice w/ Austria), and I am now off of it. I'll list the goals of each country seperately. I'll try to play them as specific to my goals as possible. I'll ally the two countries as quickly as the game will permit.

What if France and Austria allied with each other? Two of the more powerful nations on the earth in the 15th century, could they carve up all of Europe and make the America's a French and Austrian playground? Will the rest of the world stand by and watch? Can England, Spain, and the people of the east, Poland, Lithuania, Russia stop this two headed monster?

France​

French Goals / Strategies

1. Unite the French homeland as quickly as possible
2. Disrupt the efforts of England, Portugal Castille/Aragon in colonizing and trading throughout the western hemisphere, and ultimately conquer both the Spanish and the Portuguese
3. Rely on naval forces, once the homeland is secure.
4. Attempt to have friendly relations with Sweden
5. Be the Defender of the Catholic faith.
6. Reclaim the Holy Land
7. Protect and defend Austria

Austria​

Austrian Goals / Strategies

1. Unite the Holy Roman Empire
2. Become the Papal Controller
3. Create the largest land army the world has ever seen.
4. Maintain good relations with the people of the east (Poland, Lithania, Russia)
5. Send the Ottoman Empire back to Asia
6. Control the entire Italian Peninsula
7. Protect and defend France

 

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Jazmanian Devil: I consider myself an average player.

that is better than i am ! !

Jazmanian Devil: ...What if France and Austria allied with each other?

i suspect that they would be unstoppable once they carved up Germany ! !

Jazmanian Devil: ...Can England, Spain, and the people of the east, Poland, Lithuania, Russia stop this two headed monster?

and this list suggests that very scenario will happen ! !

Jazmanian Devil: ...French Goals / Strategies

hmmm. i don't see conquest of Germany in that list...

Jazmanian Devil: ...Austrian Goals / Strategies .. 1. Unite the Holy Roman Empire

that is the only item in the Austrian list that may include the conquest of Germany. oui ? ?

awesome premise ! ! i'm IN ! !

 

[Capibara]

Very nice, I really like AARs using two countries, they result in very interesting games, I'll be following

 

[EUROO7]

My two favourite countries!

I'll surely follow this.

 

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France 1453-1457​

The English and Brittany Wars​

France is ruled in 1453 by soon to be 50 year old Charles VII. He has seen France to the end of the Hundreds Years War and although he has seen threats to his throne he is a failry able administrator of his realm.

I quickly notice I have a 29k strong army in my southern region. I divided this army up into three distinct unit. I formed a 10k cavalry unit and renamed it the King's Cavalry. I have two infantry unit's of 10K (with the 1k unit in Paris) each now named the King's Infantry and Normandie Infantry.

Jean Bureau is the commander of the King's Army. He is a very fine commander and will be put to use uniting French lands and extending our claims.

I have hired Luca Pitti to serve as my Trade Advisor. He is a level 4 advisor and will give me an 8% increase in competition for my merchants. I am placing all available merchants in Ile de France or in Vlanderren.

I have also hired Maximillien de Galard to serve as my Naval Advisor. He is a level 4 advisor and shall aid my efforts to form a competitive naval force.

When the game started I accepted trade agreements with all my vassals in the hopes of annexing them in the future.

I moved the King's Army to Perigord to await the 13k strong English marching from Gasconge. I've also sent the Normandie Infantry to Calais after gaining military access from Burgundy.

 

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Ghost Writer - I guess I assumed the conquest of Germany with the Unification of the HRE.

 

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I dispatched a diplomat to Norway to tell them of the parting of our alliances. Im not going to get bogged down in a land war in Scandanavia, and hey I have to make room to cozy up with Austria somehow right? With that in mind I sent a little gift to my Austrian friends. Does Charles have a daughter to marry off?

 

[EUROO7]

Interesting choice. To begin the game in a defensive pose, rather than the usual march on Aquitaine. But the English army in France should be only a few thousand men.

You'll have to take out Britain if you want to become dominant in the seas as France, though.

 

[EUROO7]

I dispatched a diplomat to Norway to tell them of the parting of our alliances. Im not going to get bogged down in a land war in Scandanavia, and hey I have to make room to cozy up with Austria somehow right?

Indeed. Let the viking sort their troubles amongst themselves.

What about the Scottish alliance? Will you let that go as well?

EDIT: oh, and when will we see the Habsburg-Valois union?

 

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Richard Neville headed a unit of 13k men with I disposed of with the King's Army and the King's Cavalry.

30 year old Louis XI now sits on the throne, he is a much more qualified leader of our great nation than his father was

Within a few months of the complete destruction of Richard Neville's men England ceded Calais and Gascogne to France as Jean Bureau was preparing to sneak his men onto the English mainland. The English shall never claim French homeland soil again!!!

 

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A Start of a Beautiful Alliance

I have to start somewhere and I might as well marry off one of Louis' cousins's into the Habsburg line to get things rolling.

For my first national idea I took Military Drill in order to solidify my power in France quickly as the game begins.

With the war with England now being over Brittany looked like an enticing target just waiting to be plucked. I declared war on Brittany and Navarra joined their side.

Just as quickly as it started.

I decided to go the annex and leave one province route. It will be 10 years before I can declare war on them again. We will see how my reputation is doing my then.

I am spending the remainder of my time continuing to butter up Austria and my vassals with gifts. I gave and received military access from them.

I then received an ambassador from Austria with this message.

Even better than I could have hoped for, AI Austria offered me an alliance. Lets hope we can gain power quickly so that we can repel any attacks jointly.

 

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I entered a Royal Marriage with Scotland also. I am not sure if I want to join an alliance but it would help me keep England in check as much as I possibly could.

At the end of 1457 I have 200 relations with Austria and I decided to place all 30k of my troops on the border of Burgundy in case AI France gets jittery in the five years Im gone.

 

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Austria 1458-1462​

Extending our Influence​

On to Austria. We are now allied so I dont have to empty Austria's coffers to snuggle with France. I notice they have an army of 35K but didnt seem to cut any fat from Europe during my five years as France. They have also taken military drill as their first national idea.

I've decided to do a little reorganizing with their military and have now sorted them into different cavalry and infantry regiments.

The Holy See is a holy mess

.... And much to my surprise Austria is already the ruler of the HRE!!!

Now how to keep that power??

Austria has an interesting relationship with Aragon (that being an alliance) Should I keep that alliance as Austria to keep them at bay while France takes control of home? Or should I disband that alliance and use to to win favors in the HRE?


Austria is ruled by King Ladislav Postumus.

He is just 18 years old and it should be noted that Austria's military commanders will have considerable power under the "kid's" reign.

 

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What Austria Does Best

Why not get things started right for Austria and DoW on a small neighbor. Its the quickest way to consolidate the HRE. Salzburg is the first to fall as their are my neighbor. Wurzburg and Utrecht quickly aid their ally Salzburg. Both France and Aragon decide to fight with me? Will France go after Utrecht?


The infantry forces of Johann Karl Zwerger quickly lay siege to Wurzburg as the boy king himself leads 8k men to Bamburg. 12k Cavalry and 8k infantry will make quick work of the Salzburg forces.

Within thirteen months all four provinces of the three enemy combatants were captured. Utrecht was indeed captured by the French and accepted vassalization from Austria. I now have a foothold in the region, although I may at some point sell it to France once Burgundy is subdued.

Wurzberg accepted vassalization after they ceded Bamburg

Salzburrg was quickly annexed and added a nice province on my borders to extend the main line of my nation.

 

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** As a side note France is now embroiled in a war against England and Portugal because they went and allied themselves with Scotland. Ill have to monitor their progress closely. **


Next on my Austria agenda is to get the budget inline without going crazy with inflation. I may have to trim my armed forces a bit to make money each year. I already have a tarnished reputation. How many more BB wars can I take before I start fighting BB wars all over the place?


I sent a diplomat to Bohemia to offer a royal marriage which was declined. Bohemia is an elector for the HRE and is also one of my more powerful neighbors. A few more years of greasing the wheels in the northeasterly direction I may be able to diploannex them and gain a friend on the HRE electorate. Immediately after they declined my most gracious offer they declared war on the Saxon's. The Hessians came to their defense. It looks like my northern brethern are going to butcher each other.

September 5th 1459 Sardinia decalred war on Aragon. I decided to end out alliance right there. I hope to use this now free alliance to gain favore inside the HRE.

** France is marching troops to Portugal **

I revoked military access to the Swiss. They are only allied with Hamburg, and those iron producing provinces are looking tempting.

 

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Since the Bohemian's denied my advances I entered into a royal marriage and an alliance with the Bavarian's. They are also a very good target for diploannexation.

I declared war on Switzerland in July of 1460. I assumed it would be best to try to capture their provinces before the snow flies. Johan Karl Zwerger again led the attack against the Swiss. The 8k infantry they employed was gobbled up quickly by the 14k infantry I sent to besiege both provinces. The French sent a cavalry force to my aid in Bern.

By January the Swiss had accepted vassalization and ceded Schwyz to me.

 

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War of Mecklenburg Succession

Unfortunately for me Bavaria got dragged into this mess within a year of me going back to France. Since I want to eventually annex Bavaria I have to go along with it. My armies are 36k strong right now, but I know Brandenburg and Mecklenburg can be a tough nut to crack together. Bavaria has 10k men themselves. I hope the Austrians can solve this!!

To aid in their cause I sent Johan Karl Zwerger and his men to the northern part of Saxony to check out what he can see from the border into Brandenbrg. They are also an HRE elector, and I can assume I wont gain any points with them by putting an army in their backyard. The Steinemark Cavalry was also sent to destroy the shaken foes.

The war has gone well very quickly for our allies. Brandenburg was quickly carved up between our forces and those of Bavaria and Pommerania. Its the end of 1462, and this is how I leave Austria.

 

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France 1463-1467


Closing the Door​

Let's see what has France been doing since I've been gone. All the vassals are now allies, so it shouldnt be too difficult to diploannex them all in this five year stretch. The borders look the same. Our reputation has increased. Louis XI is gone unfortunately and we are now ruled by Henry II, which makes me want Louis XI back.

The first order of business is to get rid of that Brittany province. A quick DoW and two months later the siege is over and Brittany is no more.

The second order of business and likely to take all if not most of this five years is to annex those provinces on my borders.

Austria got tangled in another succession war, this time it was the Hessians.
I as usual helped out Austria and send all 36k of my armies off to fight in various Northern German provinces.

End result however was a white peace. Bavaria picked up a province but it wasnt worth out time or effort.


Then Austria started doing what Austria does best and thats DoW people. First it was Hungary and they picked up a province from them. I picked up something else, and that is my new ruler Louis XII (0-5-5) Althought he isnt GREAT he's better than Henri II, although it may be hard for him to rule effectively given he's 5 years old.

Here is France at the end of 1467. Ive consolidated it all but two vassals.

 

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Austria 1468-1472​

Ottoman Adventures and Economic Investment​

Here is what it looks like at the start. Austria DID pick up Saxony as a vassal in the war of Hession Succession (I didnt notice it earlier)

Im afraid that Austria is spreading itself too thin. We have an awfully high number of enemies peeking over our borders. I didnt like the DoW on the Ottomans at the end of my last French years. We have to concentrate on the HRE and the Germans. I guess AI Austria doesnt realize that.


I also didnt notice this either.

and

I guess I have some work to do in the HRE. Two wars of succession, and two vassals in five years will turn some against you.


.....to be continued.......

 

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Am I unsure of the reason but the manpower in Austria is at a minimum. It says my maximum is just over 10k, and I have only about 6k troops that havent been lost fighting the useless war against the Ottoman Empire.

I sent my best general Zwerger down to fight the infidel Ottomans. He was successful in leading the siege of Serbia. After Serbia fell (and a DoW on the Ottoman's from Bohemia, Transylvania and Montenegro I was able to gain Banat and Pecs from them stretching my borders dangerously thin into an area I did not yet want to be.

Now I have to reinvest in the Army and take care of business in the HRE.