Edit: I meant 13 years!
Basileous Apokaukos was my first immediate hire because I needed his diplomatic reputation. I allied Serbia immediately and began currying favor with Poland. I began building galleys immediately and built one infantry and one cavalry to fill out my force limit. The Ottomans warned me at some point. Serbia called me into a war of conquest against Bosnia. I already had my troops stationed in the Serbian capital with a military access treaty. I was able to siege all Bosnian provinces before the Serbs got there. Bosnia was forced to accept a humiliating treaty of vassalage. I soon after declared war on Ragusa, citing my new vassal's conquest CB. Serbia did not take kindly to this and immediately cancelled our treaties and declared Byzantium a rival of Serbia.
The Ottomans at some point declared war against an Eastern beylik, and Murad II foolishly moves all his troops to Anatolia, not recognizing the threat to his European holdings. I declare war on the Ottomans when I had about 36 galleys or so (I kept 4 transports). No help from Poland they had problems of their own; they were losing terribly against an alliance of Hungary, Mecklenburg, and the Livonian and Teutonic Orders. I was able to surprise attack half of the Ottoman fleet in the Sea of Marmara; the rest were in port in Macedonia, and were easily destroyed when Thessaloniki was regained. After sieging all European provinces, I asked for military access from Genoa and landed my troops in Kaffa. Once I had my whole army (10/2/0) in Kaffa I attacked the Crimean army for the warscore. All Greek cores, Albania, and Burgas (I was able to gain a claim on Albania and Dalmatia after taking Ragusa). Rhodes flipped to me sometime before or during the war. I should have tried to get my WS up more to get Silistria too. It was alot more WS for one more province, but I probably could have gotten it after a few more months of sieging Crimea.
Durad I of Serbia died soon after my war with the Ottomans was over. Royal ties severed, I used the opportunity to invade and vassalize Serbia, using Bosnia's conquest CB. My northern borders were now secure. Since my standing armies only had to fight once in the entirety of the last war. I DoWed Venice for their Greek holdings plus Dalmatia. They were allied to Aragon, but Aragon was fighting a losing battle on the Iberian mainland against Castile, and could not come to Venice's aid. The Venetians had 40 galleys in their fleet, but again they foolishly divided them into 2 squadrons, and I easily destroyed one in open sea near Crete. I asked for MA from Austria and Hungary to reach Venezia. (I currently have Austria as an ally, but not during this war; Hungary only begrudgingly granted me MA, being upset about the AE I accrued with my control of the Balkans.)
Half of the Venetian army was stuck on the island Venezia, and the other half at the moment was isolated on the mainland in Treviso. The Swiss were nowhere in sight. Separated, the Venetian army was soundly destroyed. I occupied Venice; the Swiss and their 13-stack arrived too late, they were stuck on the mainland. The rest of the Venetian fleet was destroyed with the fall of Venice. The Doge was forced to release his Greek holdings and accept the loss of Dalmatia to the resurgent Eastern Roman Empire.
Beautiful stuff. With the extra long truces, I have plenty of time to tighten my grip on Eastern Europe before the next bout with the Ottomans. Athens was on its way to annexation. Poland was forced to release Moldavia after its wars with the Baltic states. Moldavia has claims on Hungarian lands and currently has Wallachia as a rival. Wallachia stands alone. Ideally a war will break out between them soon, at which point I will DoW and vassalize Moldavia, and either vassalize Wallachia or feed them to Moldavia when I get sucked into their conflict. I am thinking vassalize Wallachia and feed them Bulgarian cores, and Moldavia will get Hungarian lands.
Both wars were relatively easy even without allies because of poor generalship on behalf of my AI adversaries. Some luck was involved with Aragon not joining the Venetians, but Aragon usually has trouble with Castile, and the strategy of divide and conquer is not difficult with the AI fleets. I am disappointed because the Commonwealth didn't form on my last Byzantium campaign, and it doesn't look like it will this time, either. The Ottomans still have a very strong army, and storming Anatolia is still a very daunting task. I will try and get my ally Austria to join me, but they are not rivals with the Ottomans. My other ally Poland is the sick man of Europe right now, but they may be of use in Crimea.
Basileous Apokaukos was my first immediate hire because I needed his diplomatic reputation. I allied Serbia immediately and began currying favor with Poland. I began building galleys immediately and built one infantry and one cavalry to fill out my force limit. The Ottomans warned me at some point. Serbia called me into a war of conquest against Bosnia. I already had my troops stationed in the Serbian capital with a military access treaty. I was able to siege all Bosnian provinces before the Serbs got there. Bosnia was forced to accept a humiliating treaty of vassalage. I soon after declared war on Ragusa, citing my new vassal's conquest CB. Serbia did not take kindly to this and immediately cancelled our treaties and declared Byzantium a rival of Serbia.
The Ottomans at some point declared war against an Eastern beylik, and Murad II foolishly moves all his troops to Anatolia, not recognizing the threat to his European holdings. I declare war on the Ottomans when I had about 36 galleys or so (I kept 4 transports). No help from Poland they had problems of their own; they were losing terribly against an alliance of Hungary, Mecklenburg, and the Livonian and Teutonic Orders. I was able to surprise attack half of the Ottoman fleet in the Sea of Marmara; the rest were in port in Macedonia, and were easily destroyed when Thessaloniki was regained. After sieging all European provinces, I asked for military access from Genoa and landed my troops in Kaffa. Once I had my whole army (10/2/0) in Kaffa I attacked the Crimean army for the warscore. All Greek cores, Albania, and Burgas (I was able to gain a claim on Albania and Dalmatia after taking Ragusa). Rhodes flipped to me sometime before or during the war. I should have tried to get my WS up more to get Silistria too. It was alot more WS for one more province, but I probably could have gotten it after a few more months of sieging Crimea.
Durad I of Serbia died soon after my war with the Ottomans was over. Royal ties severed, I used the opportunity to invade and vassalize Serbia, using Bosnia's conquest CB. My northern borders were now secure. Since my standing armies only had to fight once in the entirety of the last war. I DoWed Venice for their Greek holdings plus Dalmatia. They were allied to Aragon, but Aragon was fighting a losing battle on the Iberian mainland against Castile, and could not come to Venice's aid. The Venetians had 40 galleys in their fleet, but again they foolishly divided them into 2 squadrons, and I easily destroyed one in open sea near Crete. I asked for MA from Austria and Hungary to reach Venezia. (I currently have Austria as an ally, but not during this war; Hungary only begrudgingly granted me MA, being upset about the AE I accrued with my control of the Balkans.)
Half of the Venetian army was stuck on the island Venezia, and the other half at the moment was isolated on the mainland in Treviso. The Swiss were nowhere in sight. Separated, the Venetian army was soundly destroyed. I occupied Venice; the Swiss and their 13-stack arrived too late, they were stuck on the mainland. The rest of the Venetian fleet was destroyed with the fall of Venice. The Doge was forced to release his Greek holdings and accept the loss of Dalmatia to the resurgent Eastern Roman Empire.
Beautiful stuff. With the extra long truces, I have plenty of time to tighten my grip on Eastern Europe before the next bout with the Ottomans. Athens was on its way to annexation. Poland was forced to release Moldavia after its wars with the Baltic states. Moldavia has claims on Hungarian lands and currently has Wallachia as a rival. Wallachia stands alone. Ideally a war will break out between them soon, at which point I will DoW and vassalize Moldavia, and either vassalize Wallachia or feed them to Moldavia when I get sucked into their conflict. I am thinking vassalize Wallachia and feed them Bulgarian cores, and Moldavia will get Hungarian lands.
Both wars were relatively easy even without allies because of poor generalship on behalf of my AI adversaries. Some luck was involved with Aragon not joining the Venetians, but Aragon usually has trouble with Castile, and the strategy of divide and conquer is not difficult with the AI fleets. I am disappointed because the Commonwealth didn't form on my last Byzantium campaign, and it doesn't look like it will this time, either. The Ottomans still have a very strong army, and storming Anatolia is still a very daunting task. I will try and get my ally Austria to join me, but they are not rivals with the Ottomans. My other ally Poland is the sick man of Europe right now, but they may be of use in Crimea.
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