CoT-Krig IV: Rage Quit - The Reckoning

[Zalasta]

Brandenburg AAR 2 - For the good of the empire

Spoiler

The year of our lord 1467

Prince-Elector Albrecht III achilles von hohenzollern who had inherited the Brandenburgian dukedom back in 1459 had grand plans for expanding his realm.

To rid the empire from the pommerian sucession crises once and for all he begun integrating Pommerania to Brandenburg.
He also sent his armies north to the province of Narva who the Hohenzollern dynasty came into possesion through his father the late Friedrich II von Hohenzollern.

Achilles plans was to invade the Novgorodian land and make them a vassal for the good of the empire (obviously) and to stop the expansion of the Muscovite hordes.
Before the plan could be set in motion Albrecht III achilles von hohenzollern died at august 7 1467. Chief advisor Ivan Elak took charge of the investigation and came to the conclusion that Albrecht died of wine poisoning.

Leaderless and with broken morale the army begun it's journey back home.
A regency council was quickly set up for the heir Joachim I Ernst von Hohenzollern who was only 9 at the time.

Sadly enough the regency council did prove inadequate (or incompetent).

The following year a messenger was sent back to the now crippled Novgorodian merchant republic. The wars with the Muscovites had left them with only the province of Novgorod still under their control. Completely surrounded by Muscovite controlled provinces.
A guarantee for their independence was signed in order to deter another attack.

The Muscovites were however not deterred at all. And late autumn 1471 they launched the campaign for the conquest of Novgorod.
A messenger was quickly sent between enemy lines to Hohenzollern castle.

The ruling council saw no other way then to honour the agreement and took charge of the war. Messengers were quickly sent out to the Polish and the emperor in wien.
Answer was quickly recieved that they would both join the war.
The emperor himself announced that he would take charge of this war against the barbarians in the east, bringing with him several other princes of the empire.

With help from the Polish the brandenburgian armies engaged the enemy at Narva.
It were chaotic. Huge number of both enemies and allies swarmed the battlefield, Austrian armies with needed reinforcement were said to be on the way.

The war took it's toll since the armies of the alliance split up to start sieging after the initial battles and the Muscovites retreat.
Several smaller siege armies were wiped out by the second Muscovite army.

Joachim I Ernst von Hohenzollern took personal charge of the armies when he reached the age of 15 and was coronated new elector of Brandenburg.

The war raged on for almost a decade but in the end the Habsburgian empire was clearly victorious. Not only did the Muscovites return alot of core territory to the Novgorodian merchant republic but also they released the state of Finland as a Sovereign nation.
Finland quickly sought protection under Brandenburg as a vassalstate.

After the wars had settled Chief advisor Ivan Elak approached the young ruler.
He explained he had found out the culprit behind the poisoning of his father.
The Novgorodian was to blame. They had acted through the Prince of anhalt.

Stunned by the news since the empire had just spent a decade of war to protect the ones that was behind the murder of his father he declared war even before he bothered sending orders to the army and inform the trusted polish and austrian allies and even to the newfound allies of the Kalmar union, the Danish Wittelsbach dynasty and the Lithuanians.

Needless to say the cause was just and the the novgorodians were swarmed down by the mighty Brandenburgian alliance.

Novgorod was forced to give away 50% of their trade power for 5 years aswell as giving up the province of Kola and annul their treaties with anhalt.

A few years later the vengeance came upon the Prince of Anhalt.
They were quickly annexed into the Brandenburgian electorate.

Prince elector Joachim I Ernst von Hohenzollern died in an hunting accident at late november 1495. He was succeeded by his oldest son Georg I Von Hohenzollern.

Georg I was disappointed over having to missed out on the great war and were looking for excuses to get himself and his realm into hostilities.
He didnt have to look long. Bohemia the only ruler in the holy roman empire allowed to title himself King instead of prince had not been idle during the expansion on his northern border.
Border disputes were growing and finally resulting in a war.
The emperor looked another way since he was busy with wars outside of the empire.
Georg I was a military genius and the King of Bohemia with allies did not prove a difficult obstacle. Prague was pillaged and the provinces of Niederlausitz and Breslau was forced into Brandenburgian possesion.

After the disappointment of this short and easy was Georg's eyes were set north. The Hansa was at war with the Kalmar union and the Muscovites.
The Sound was blocked by the mighty Hanseatic Navy and the enemy troops could do nothing but watch while hanseatic troops occupied the danish heartlands.

It were an effective way to win, but it was not the Georg way.
He sent emissaries to the Hanseatic League in Lübeck and a treaty of military access was signed.
War was declared on the danes of the Kalmar union who brought in the Muscovites as expected. The Polish king joined on the Brandenburgian side and the armies begun their march.

On time bonus: Admin Power
AAR bonus: Admin Power
Session: 1500

 

[Zantavian]

Bavaria

Han var väldigt ung när han väl först förstod, en smärtsam sanning men den gick inte att undvika. Hans far var en dåre och tillika en fyllbult som skapade allianser och giftermål utan eftertanke och på så sätt äventyrade hela Bavaria.
Något måste göra det var tydligt, för allas bästa sa han till sig själv för allas bästa, han kramade kniven hårdare och smög iväg mot faderns sovrum..

Kungen av Bavaria var död, länge leve kungen.

Det tog dock 8 år innan kröningen 8 långsamma år då den nya kungen av Bavaria inte hade mycket annat att gör än att observera sina grannar.

Dagarna efter kröning skreds det till handling, De gamla allianserna skapade av den gamla kungen av Bavaria upplöstes, En ny allians skapades med självaste kejsaren både genom ord och giftermål.
Dock kände sig den Bavariska kungen ensam i mitten av imperiet och en tanke av att skapa vänner upptog hans tankar. Den första att skriva under vänskapsavtalet var Salzburg, därefter följde, Ulm, Baden, Mainz, Switzerland.
De hade nämligen förstått om än med lite militärisk övertalan att Bavaria var den bästa att visa vägen och de lovade att följa i stort som smått vasal kallade somliga det men det var mer likt lojal vänskap än ett vasalskap i sin grund.

Palatinate var också nära att skriva under men Bavaria vill inte såra sin militäriskt starka frände i norr som genom sin starka militärmakt och allierade hade tvingat den skräckinjagande Bohemia på knä ett beundrat drag och även ett drag som Bavaria fann nytta av så av respekt för Brandenburg avstod Bavaria leda The palatinate in på den rätta vägen.

Några år förflöt och Bavaria var nöjd med tillvaron men en dag kom en kallelse till krig, Milan Ett land i söder var under attack av Frankrike av somliga kallade the big blue bloob. Kejsaren bad uttryckligen Bavaria att delta.
ALLT FÖR KEJSARDÖMET, Bavaria gick i krig många slag skede och vid ett skede belägrade Bavaria själva Paris till en stor manna kostnad somliga ifrågasätter än idag om det var värt det.
Kriget var långt och blodigt men Imperiet var till slut segerrikt och kejsaren i sin vishet tvingade Frankrike att ge
provinser till England.

Framtiden är oviss men Bavaria är mellan hammaren i norr och städet i söder, och i ett sådant läge måste man antingen vara hård eller knäckas.


Spelare: Christian
Land: Bavaria
AAR bonus: Military Power
On time bonus: Military Power

 

[BullDoozer]

Economic Expansion

During the late 15:th century the Hanseatic league had built up it's economical power and the fleet was the single strongest in the Baltic region. The council urged to bring more free cities into their protection before they could be threatened by larger coalitions from the west and south.
To the west the trade node of Antwerpen was beginning to attract the eye of many merchants in the republic but the city had fallen under Austrian control when the Burgundian kingdom crumbled. To increase the Hanseatic influence in the area, it was decided that a small alliance of duchies were to be persuaded to join the republic. After some initial breakthroughs the negotiations broke down when the dukes realized that by joining the league they would be giving up their right to rule. The Hanseatic diplomats told of terrible conditions for the populace in these kingdoms however and soon the fleets set sail to coerce the rulers by military means.
Oldenburg and Gelre soon fell and when the dukes were dethroned the citizens voted to join the Hansa. The last city of Utrecht fell as well but many warned against keeping a border with Austria and therefore the peace was settled by economic measures.

The Statthalter Niclas Adler that had carried out the successful liberation was celebrated in Lübeck. The glory got to his head somewhat cause he took the opportunity to renounce the power of the papacy over the Hansa and started taxing the church to increase the state revenues. The following rejection from the Pope was not unnoticed by the greedy Northern union and the Danish King took the papal declaration as a reason for attacking the free cities.
By the time word got out to the navy still stationed outside the lowlands the combined armies of the Union was marching out from Copenhagen.
The admiral in charge made haste for the Sund and encountered the Danish fleet west of the Danish mainland. Fortunately the danish had not anticipated such a quick reaction and they had yet to receive reinforcements from their union partners. The naval battle that followed was a total victory for the league which ensured Hanseatic naval dominance in the north. The navy then made haste to the Danish Isles and successfully prevented the combined union armies to reach the mainland. Instead the League could liberate Holstein and march further north. Although the Danish sent an army around the Baltic the League was able to secure the liberation of Holstein in the peace that followed. Statthalter Adler lost the next election due to his reckless behavior that could have ended much differently if not for the perfect timing of the navy.

The economic expansion continued thereafter as more and more merchants were sent out. The navy was built up even further and the League now had more ships than that of the combined Union. Some more cities were freed to join the League until the chance came to free Stade from the Unions grasp. War was declared as the Danish fleet was caught unaware outside Amsterdam leading to its utter destruction. By the year 1500 the League occupies almost the entire country of Denmark and Brandenburg has just entered the war to help drive out the Muscovites from Scandinavia.


AAR bonus: Diplomatic power
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic power

 

[unmerged(458424)]

A Horde of Vassals

As the reign of Mallikarjuna Raya started on its ninth year (1467) some said that the Emperor would be remembered as Mallikarjuna the Idle. But as all good rulers know there are times to act, and there are times to plan and prepare. So the Raya crushed the rebellion on Ceylon, reinforced the army, made sure that the merchants had proper naval backing for their endeavors and worked hard on incorporating his biggest vassal Ahmadnagar, formed from the provinces conquered from Bahmanis by his predecessor, into the Empire.

As soon as the annexation was finished the now even stronger Imperial Army and that of allied Golkonda fell upon Gujarat to reclaim North Konkan, which has always truly belonged to Vijayanagara - as everyone knows. Their ally Baluchistan joined the fray (unfortunate but expected) as did Bahmanis (expected and actually counted upon). The vastness of of the enemy lands and the difficulty of coordinating the efforts all the vassals and allies meant that the war dragged on longer then it should have, but after five years Gujarat finally agreed to return North Konkan. The war also left Bahmanis as a vassal of the Empire, which some said had been the true goal all along.

The Raya now focused on protecting and expanding his trade and looked into the possibility of settling distant lands. After hiring a colonist the close by islands of the Maldives formed the first Imperial colony. An explorer was hired to discover more of the world and several settleable territories were discovered both to the south west and far to the south east. Most of these where to distant to be immediately interesting and some of the closer ones proved so difficult to land on that some nation called "Ayutthaya" or some such managed get a foothold there first.

In the meantime the Raya had stared to feel his age. While he had finally been able to produce a decent Heir his death in 1485 came a little to soon and the nobles of the Empire had to step in and help the young prince. While fairly competent there was much rejoicing when they could step back after only 3 and a half years as the new Raya, Vijaya II, proved himself worthy. He started the annexation of Bahmanis and explored the oceans even further. Not wanting the colonist to sit idle once the Maldives had grown to a proper province he sent him to the Andamans while he looked into how more distant colonies could be supported.

To the north the once minor nation of Malwa expanded, conquering small neighbors and splitting up the now much weakened Gujarat between themselves and Baluchistan. The Raya joined the coalition against them after discovering in old documents that the province of Khandesh should actually be part of the Empire. He and his horde of vassals and allies fell upon them and had in the short space of three years soundly defeated them. Due to some confusion during the peace negotiations the end result was that Multan, an former ally of Malwa ended up an Imperial vassal. Not the planned outcome perhaps, but not necessarily bad - and Malwa will be dealt with in the future as they still occupy Khandesh...


Session: 1500
Spelare: Erik
Land: Vijayanagara
AAR bonus: Diplomatic Power
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic Power

 

[Host_Per]

The fear of the big blue blob​

King Per was terrified in his terrificness. There had long come reports of the Big Blue Blob (BBB) in the west that devoured smaller nations of various colors and through means unknown to the scholars, made them blue. King Per worried since he had had a realistic dream of the furure where BBB got made it it's mission to conquer his Land. He looked out through his window and deduced that his land was a red-grayish variant. IT MUST BE SAVED AS THUS! Alliances had to be forged and relations had to be soothed.

Then alliance with the BBB was tenius and after a few years they broke their alliance with us. Time was short and friends were sough far and wide. In the End the brave Tuscanites and the Grosse Austrians were bound in alliance, to the DEATH!,,, At least it the eyes of King Per. Then there was preperations and a waiting game, and sure enough, one sunny autum morning there suddenly stood ~65000 blobbish troops along the Milan border... DESPAIR.

War came and with it an avalanche of french troops that the King Per didn't really want to fight, so he let them pass through his lands into Austria. How he laughed then and a smile set on his lips. However this was only the start and he soon discovered that he had much to learn in the art of mountainous warfare. With the aid of the Tuscan army he set out on a campain into the mountans that drove several thousand of his troops to starvation. The French were defeated in Austria but a large Hungarian amry had to be driven back and King Per and the Tuscans succeeded in this endeavour with too much attrition losses.

The he retreated into Milan and went on to siege the BBB. It went quite good for many years untill the BBB fough back. In a disastourous fight in the mountains of Lombardia the Milan/Tuscan army was undone and lessions about mountains were learned the hard way.

In the end, with the help of Bavaria and a large coalitions of forces the BBB was brought to a halt and Austria ended the war. Pheww...

The remaining years untill 1500 was spent chillaxing on the riviera with superior Milanic wine and a few grapes...

Really have to start taking screenshots =)

Session: 1500
Spelare: Per
Land: Milan
AAR bonus: Guld
On-Time bonus: Guld

 

[hantheman]

Kaptiel 2
Diplomater & Muslimer:

I mitten av det 15:e Århundradet hade ö-staten Sardinien svurit sin lojalitet till Prinsen i Toscana. Dess folk hade precis slagit sig fira från ett diktatorialt förtryck under den Agaronska kronan, och man sökte nu skydd för att slippa detta öde även framöver. De repbublikanska idealen lockade därför dess adel till stadsbesök i Florens, och efter att Toscanska diplomater tagit på sig att sköta administrationen gick man med på att ansluta sig till republiken. Likaså det lilla kungadömet Urbino kände obehag av flåsande Agagonska lakejer som kom med lockande men uppenbart falska löften av vad det skulle innebära att svära sig till deras krona. Man hade sett misären i Neapel, och vägrade sluta på samma sätt. Välfärden och ideologin man såg hos sin granne i väst gjorde att man så småningom kom att den Tocanska fanan snart hissades i staden Anconas alla torn.

Vid denna tid hade man en ansträngd men för båda parter viktig allians med Kungariket Milan. Dessa vettvillingar som en gång anammat de republikanska idealen för att sedan förkasta dem för Despotism kunde givetvis inte tillåtas komma för nära, men mindre stater i Europa måste hålla ihop mot större maktgalna monarker. När så Det Franska riket med huset Valois i spetsen öppet förklarade krig för territorium mot Milan var det självklart om än illvilligt som Toscana anslöt sig på Milanesiska sidan. Med Florens trupper samt Kejsaren i Wien kunde alliansen hålla stånd mot de blå. Äran för segern tillskrevs främst Habsburgarna, främst på grund av dessas anti-republikanska lobbyister som såg till att den Toscanska Interventionen inte gavs den respekt man gjort sig förtjänt av.

En period av hög inhemsk stabilitet följe för republiken. Skatterna och produktionen gav en duglig inkomst, och infrastrukturen kunde förbättras. Dock saknade man den kontroll över handeln i medelhavet som närliggande stater uppvisade. Dessutom ville man vidare sprida sina ideal om Katolsk demokrati. När Sardinien väl genomgått sitt ombyte kunde denna ö användas som bas för att angripa de Muslimska vildarna på södra sidan av havet. Ideologiskt krig mot Tripoli förklarades och deras kumpaner Marocco anslöt sig mot bättre vetande. Snart kunde Prinsen stoltsera med en kuststräcka till söder samt en som låg bortom Gibraltar, och således har stor potential för framtiden.

I århundradets sista år var det åter dags att slå till mot muslimerna. Denna gång var den den klena sultanen i Algeriet som stod för motståndet. För folket i Algeriet kommer detta med tiden att ses på som en befrielse, detta är man i Florens övertygad om.


Session: 1500
Spelare: Hannes
Land: Tuscany
AAR bonus: Diplo Power
On-Time bonus: Diplo Power

 

[longjohnsilver]

In the year of 1467 The Doge of Venice decided that it was time to strike. In their stronghold on the island of Rhodos the Knights of St John had for some time disturbed and threatened venetian trade interests in the eastern mediterranean for some time. But not any more, in 1467 the Doge personally took command of a detachment of Venetian troops, boarded the transport ships in the harbour and set sail with the Venetian fleet towards Rhodos.

When the venetian fleet approached Rhodos the Doge sent one of his diplomats in advance to deliver the declaration of war to the Grandmaster of the Knights, and as soon as the diplomat returned to the Doge venetian troops started landing on the beaches north of the city of Rhodos. The Venetian troops quickly routed the army of the Knights and the siege of Rhodos started. Eventually the city fell for the venetian troops and in the peace negotiations that followed Rhodos were handed over to Venice.

When the Doge returned to Venice he immediately started planning his next move, and his eyes fell on two small kingdoms on the Balkans, Bosnia and Serbia. The Doge started to to dig in the archives in Venice and soon found evidence that the lands of Bosnia and Serbia rightfully belonged to Venice. War soon followed and soon the lands of Bosnia where incorporated into Venice and Serbia were made a vassal of Venice.

The following years the Doge of Venice worked to increase the economy of Venice by sending out new merchants to trade centers around the eastern mediterranean and by building workshops all around the venetian lands. Suddenly news reached the Doge that in the east the Ottoman empire and The Mamlucks was at war. The Doge immediately seized the moment and declared war on the Ottoman empire in order to reclaim the Venetian land of Albania. The venetian army invaded the Ottoman lands and soon armies of the venetian allies of Austria and Serbia followed.

At the same time the venetian fleet were out hunting down the Ottoman fleet, and in a series of great naval battles in the eastern mediterranean the Ottoman fleet were destroyed. After these great victories the Venetian fleet sailed to the the sound of Bosporen and started a blockade of the Ottoman capitol. After that the war went very well for Venice and Austria and in the end the Ottomans were forced to admit defeat. In the end he Ottomans were forced to hand ocer the province of Albania to Venice, the Duchy of Athens were made a vassal of Venice and the countries of Epireus, Morea and Bulgaria were liberated from Ottoman oppression.

Session: 1500
Spelare: Johan
Land: Venice
AAR bonus: Admin Power
On-Time bonus: Admin Power

 

[Watzie]

After the armies at last had returned to full strength Bob decided to deal with the big threat to the south: Aceh. Although the Aceh armies was led by an awesome leader, Bobs armies locked them in their capitol and sieged everything else, which in the end was enough to convince Aceh to return the malaccan core and cede a few provinces to Ayutthaya. Soon after that Malacca was annexed. Meanwhile Bobs colonizing project finally bore fruit and the colonization of Taiwan began.

Feeling satisfied with the situation to the south Bob turned his eyes north again. Unfortunately many of the remaining potential victims there had banded together, formed a coalition and allied themselves with Tibet, which left only the minimal state of Tuanga to exploit. Said and done it was soon annexed, which revealed another single-province state called Arakan. After annexing Arakan only states in the coalition or allied with them remained, and even though Bob managed to get a frail alliance with Dai Viet, he felt he had to wait for the coalition to crumble. Instead he turned his full attention to the colonization process. He soon recruited another colonist to speed the process and Manilla and a few islands south of the Indian peninsula were soon under Bobs control.

Then suddenly, both Bob and the ruler of Dai Viet died, wich left Bobs son, lets call him Curt, as the leader of a personal union. With all uncertainty of Dai Viets loyalties gone, Curt siezed the moment to declare war on the northern alliance. As luck would have it, Tibet was off fighting the Oirat Horde or some such, and Shan and Lan Xang fell easily to Curt which left him with substantial land gains. Currently Curt wonders if whats left of Aceh wouldnt do better as Ayutthayan vassals, and where to colonize next.

Session: 1500
Land: Ayutthaya
AAR bonus: Admin Power
On-Time bonus: Admin Power

 

[Watzie]

Although Aceh put up a good fight, in the end they had to accept Curts offer of vassilization and all seemed well in the realm. Unfortunately the peasants didn't seem to think the same and the peasants war was a fact. Due to the peasants war everything but colonization was put on hold and the war dragged on until Curt suddenly died, which left a regency council in charge, since Curts son, lets call him Dave, was only seven years old.

A time of peaceful colonization settled over Ayuttthaya. The vile Vijays had ignored the settlement act of 1500 and started colonizing in Indonesia, but fortunately they chose the most inhospitable provinces possible, which gave the Aytthayan settlers plenty of time to occupy all of Africas east coast. Furthest south on the African continent the settlers met a people called Portugese which seemed technologically sofisicated, so the regency council began planning how they could steal these technologies, a project they called westernisation.

Dave had other plans though, and as soon as he turned 15 he declared war on Shan to complete his fathers project. The sneaky Shans however were allied with the Oirat horde which in turn proved to be allied with both Tibet and Korea and a disaster seemed unavoidable. After depressing negotiations Ayutthaya had to cede two provinces to Shan and release the two vassals Arakan and Pattani. The Pattanis were soon subjugated again, But Dave decided to try and get Arakan as vassals and therefore allied himself with them. The Arakans were crafty though and declared war on their poor neighbours in Jaunpur which led to their swift annexation and suddenly Arakan was too big to vassalize diplomatically. On the plus side though, the Arakans then spotted the perfect time to declare war on Shan and Shan now has the perfect size for vassalization!

Session: 1537
Land: Ayutthaya
AAR bonus: Admin Power
On-Time bonus: Admin Power

 

[Zalasta]

Brandenburg AAR 3 - For what's left of the empire

Spoiler

The year of our lord 1500

Georg I Von Hohenzollern engaged in the war against the Kalmar union and the Muscovites.
The brandenburgian army marched through the hanseatic controlled lands into southern Sweden. The army was quickly spread out to begin sieges in the swedish provinces. Together with the Hanseatic league a few major battles in the vicinity of Stockholm resulting in devastating victory for Brandenburg and the Hanseatic league. The Swedish army was utterly defeated at the battle of Värmland.

After occupying most of Sweden and Swedish Finland, and the hanseatic league had sued for peace. The Brandenburgian army marched east to face the hordes of the Muscovites, the polish and novogordian troops had not fared well.
In a series of battles victory was at hand!

And finally at the battle of Penza the remnants of the Muscovite army was annihilated.

Peace was declared, a few provinces was ceded by the Swedish to Finland and a few from Muscovy to Novgorod.
Georg I Von Hohenzollern prepared a triumph parade through the capital.
During which he took an arrow to his knee and broke his neck in the fall from the horse.


Georg I von Hohenzollern's only son Wilhelm Friedrich I von Hohenzollern were proclaimed Duke of Brandenburg at the year of our lord 1509.
His regin was shortlived he died only 2 years later in an hunting accident.

Wilhelm Friedrich I von Hohenzollern were unfortunately without an heir.
No eligible son or daughter of the Hohenzollern dynasty were found, resulting in peasant and religious riots and a dark age of Brandenburgian history.
A regency council lead by Ivan elak was appointed.

The legitimacy of the council was sadly very low in the eyes of the men and women of Brandenburg.
A new Duke from another dynasty was elected to take the place of the Hohenzollern dynasty.
The legitimacy still low and the country in chaos since both reformists, catholics and protestants roamed the countryside.
The new Duke Georg Albrecht I ordered the army to put down the rebellions and the following years the Brandenburgian army was cut down to size by different rebel formations.
Merceneries were hired to replace the losses and then the coalition of Muscovy, Lithuania and Polen decided to strike.
After long and bloody battles the war ended with a white peace.

Back home with the army a messenger arrived from the Habsurgs of Austria. (No longer the Emperor since late 1508)

The French and the Austrians were fighting it off in the Hungarian succession war.
The armies were prepared but Duke Georg Albrecht had already made a deal with the Bavarians and the Hanseatic league who had joined the French side in the conflict together with Milan and several vassal states.
On the Austrian side were only Brandenburg and the republic of Venice.

Needless to say the French side won and they now rule the french and the hungarian throne.

With the army almost depleted and the Bavarians aggressively expanding northward with the help from the King of France, Ivan elak of the inner council explained to Duke Georg Albrecht that time was of the essence and the time to act was now!

War was declared towards both the prince elector of Saxony and to the King of Bohemia whom was currently invaded by mostly french troops.
Brandenburgian merceneries started sieging some of the provinces when the coalition to the north and east decided to strike again, this time containing the Muscovites, Lithuanians and the Hungarians.

The country already in chaos from the rebellions and the previous wars looked very fragile at the moment.
The new Duke not especially good at anything decided it was time to go hunting.
Ivan Elak appointed Field marshal Parabellum to take charge of the armies.

Field marshal Parabellum shipped the troops to the province of Ostpreussen and marched north to join up with the Finnish and Novogordian troops.
Several skirmishes and battles were fought a few of them more important like the battles of Rhzev.

Peace was settled quickly and the Muscovites were forces to cede a few more provinces to Novgorod.

With the sweet taste of vengeance the polish kingdom no longer a friend of Brandenburg was attacked when the Polish found themself without allies and on the receiving end of a pounding from the French-Hungarian armies.
Most trusted Field Marshal Parabellum quickly oversaw the invasion.
The renmnants of the polish army was engaged at the battle of Sandomierz.

And were completly wiped out.

The provinces of Danzig and Marienburg was incorporated into Brandenburgian Duchy. And with these new territories Duke Georg Albrecht I proclaimed himself not only Prince Elector and Duke of Brandenburg but also King of Prussia.

On time bonus: Military Power
AAR bonus: Military Power
Session: 1537

 

[Zantavian]

Sorg och beslutsamhet var de ord som bäst kunde beskriva hans sinnelag, Kungen av Bavaria satt i sin trädgård och läste igen brevet från frankrike.

Brother, the empire is rotten, the princes and even thy emperor himself no longer cares for his people, in your heart you know this and a conflict will arise.
in that time who will you stand for, the people of the empire or an emperor and his friends that only cares for glory and gold.

Brother, it is my deepest wish that we be not enemies.

signed FRANCORUM REX


Kungen av Bavaria kände redan till en del av detta, när folket svalt så festade de högburna, och armér skickades ut i avlägsna delar av världen för att dö i krig ingen förstod sig på.
För Bavaria för hans folk måste en ny tid komma med nya ändringar.

Först skulle de egna leden rensas hur ska man kunna hjälpa andra om inte har tagit hand om sitt eget först?,
Ulm, mainz, Salzburg, baden, regenterna över dessa områden fick snart stå till svars för sina synder och till folkets jubel rullade deras huvuden över borggården.
Stathållare skickades ut för att långsamt införliva områdena till Bavaria, vissa områden behövde mer tid än andra men "huvud"saken var att de långsamt skulle införlivas i Bavaria. Med fransk stöd invaderades Hesse
för att avsätta denna tyrann, och en stathållare skickades ut även här för att styra.

En tid förflöt men inte i ovetskap krig var i luften och Bavaria hade av sina diplomater fått reda på allt som den ogudaktiga kejsaren hade gjort där incest var det mildast och folkmord tillhörde vardagen.
Kallelsen kom slutligen, Frankrike hade till slut hamnat i krig med Austria, Brev skickades fort ut till imperiets alla hörn och alla hederliga och nobla regenter valde att inte slåss för kejsaren som hade svikit kejsardömet.

Deus vult, Många män dog men med guds hjälp gick det väl, Austria fann sig besegrad och hungery hamnade under franskt styre.

Tiden gick och Austria som inte längre var kejsare började sin förtalningskampanj mot Bavaria, några länder lyssnade och bavarias rykte fick ta sig en törn. till slut fick de bavariska folket nog och krävde att
deras kung gick ut i krig. Må så ske mitt folk men då endast i syfte att ge det styriska folket en ny rättvisare monark. Frankrike och Bavaria lyckades snabbt avgöra detta krig och styria skapades.

Bavaria och Prussia(tidigare brandenburg misstankar finns om att landet ändrade namn för att de inte längre ville stå för att de anslöt sig till incest-kejsaren austria i det stora kriget)
kände både oro över gränsen, trots goda relationer och år av fred där man aktivt inte skickat ut sina soldater mot varandra även om så hedern krävt detta. Kanske var svaret att komma närmare varandra
och göra sig av med buffertzonerna saxony och bohemia. Krig fördes och resultatet blev därefter, Saxony finns ej längre och Bohemia lyder nu under Prussia.



Vill du fred förbreded dig för krig, sades det men visst måste väl nog blod nu ha flytit, europas folk vill ju ha fred!



spelare: Christian
Land : Bavaria
AAR bonus: Military Power
On-Time bonus: Military Power

 

[BullDoozer]

The new enemy

With the help of the Brandenburgian armies the Muscovites were driven out of Scandinavia. Large parts of Sweden could be conquered and in the peace that followed the brethren in Slesvig could be liberated from Danish oppression. Also some tactically important islands were freed from the union and allowed local autonomy within the Hanseatic league. The Kalmar union now severely weakened could no longer threaten the Hanseatic trade but to the west the island-kingdom of England had nearly united the Brittish Isles under one banner. The Statthalter and the council agreed that it would be wise not to let them succeed in this endeavour. A plan was devised to cripple the much larger English army so that the mainland could be attacked directly. War was declared and Friesland were joined to the League, the Irish occupied English lands were also conquered. The mastermind behind the plan, general Erwin Heuer, landed on the Orkneys and continued to siege the Highlands to lure the English army north. Unfortunately the King of Hungary died without an heir just at this time and the League had to honor its alliance with the French king to secure further help against the English from the south. Despite heavy protests from the general a large part of the army in Scotland was shipped home to secure the free cities from attack from the Austrians who were the opposition in the succession war. A non-aggression pact was at least secured with the Brandenburgian king that had been forced to enter the war on Austrias side.

General Heuer knew that his smaller army might not be able to carry out his plan but he did what he could to boost morale of his men. When the English vanguard was sighted the army retreated to their prepared battlements on the Orkneys and as anticipated the English followed, confident by their advantage in numbers. They used all kinds of fishing boats and other transports to get the short distance to the islands but as they embarked they found themselves assaulted by heavily dug in Hanseatic troops. The fighting was fierce and bloody for both sides but as the English were unable to gain ground the finally had to retreat back into the sea. This was what general Heuer had planned all along and beacons were lit alerting a Hanseatic naval squadron hidden in a nearby fjord. Not one transport reached the mainland that day.

Heuer once more went inland but soon word came of protestant revolts all over the free cities and he was ordered back to Germany. Peace was signed with the English but the threat was not forgotten. In germany the protestant fraction had gained more and more followers and elections were called for, resulting in a change of state religion in the League.

While these internal troubles had occupied the council the English had approached the Union and they had formed an unholy alliance to oppose the Hanseatic dominance in the north. The Statthalter was not deterred though and when new mercenary armies had been hired the League acted. Denmark and Norway soon fell with the help of the Swedes that had finally broken free from the devilish union. In the west general Heuer had somewhat revised his plan of action and this time when the English army fell with full force on the Orkneys they met no resistance at all. Even the civilians had been evacuated. Before they had realised their mistake several League squadrons entered the bay effectively blockading the entire English army away from the mainland. Heuer and his mercenaries landed in the Highlands and swiftly swept south. The peace that followed made England release several vassals and give several strategic areas in the north and west to the League.


Session: 1537
Land: The Hansa
AAR bonus: Administrative Power

 

[unmerged(458424)]

I'm not THAT aggressive!

At the end of his tenth year (1500) as a ruler Vijaya II, still a young man, had already proved himself capable and vise beyond his years. He had his attention firmly directed to his powerful enemies to the north, Malwa and Jaunpur, with Jaunpur being the first in line. As soon as the eagerly awaited annexation of Bahmanis was complete the Imperial army fell upon them with the task of liberating the long suffering province of Garjat. Both Kangra and Nepal came to the aid of the enemy but even their combined forces proved pitiful and the whole campaign lasted only four years. The Empire gained four provinces from Jaunpur as well as the complete lands of the two allies, a nice stretch of provinces bordering the northern vassal of Multan.

This peace left the Raya a busy man - he initiated the annexation of Multan and the full integration of the newly gained territories as well as various religious conversions and further colonization, focusing on Christmas Island after the Andamans became a city. After the army, fairly occupied with numerous rebellions, had been restored Vijayanagara fell upon the heretics in Malwa and swiftly defeated them. The religious context did however only allow for the liberation of Mahakoshal and some sanctions, a waste according to some. The colonization effort was then split between some lands in Indonesia and the newly discovered island of Bourbon in the south west with explorers discovering that all the lands on the southern coasts of Africa were already settled by either Ayutthaya or Portugal, potentially limiting further peaceful westward expansion. Sometime during this years Multan and Malabar, longtime loyal vassal of the Empire, integrated fully and the trusted ally Golkonda initiated a personal union with Vijayanagara.

In 1536 Vijaya II, now an old man after almost five decades on the throne but still very capable and vise, decided that the north and south halves of the Empire should finally be joined together. The easiest path was obvious: defeat Jaunpur (now controlling only a single province) once and for all. The rapid Imperial expansion had naturally frightened some neighbors into joining a coalition and the spies reported that it was very probable that Assam might come to the defense of Jaunpur. This was of course not a problem, but as the invasion started Assam apparently managed to persuade both Tibet and some distant entity calling themselves the Oriat Horde to support them. This minor border dispute had now turned into a major conflict against a coalition lead by a nation of completely unknown strength and disposition. Will even the endless experience and cunning of the Raya be enough to prevail in this endeavor?


Session: 1537
Spelare: Erik
Land: Vijayanagara
AAR bonus: Diplomatic Power
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic Power

 

[Host_Per]

Spelare: Per
Session: 1537
Land : Milan
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic Power

 

[longjohnsilver]

War, Expansion and Hubris

As the 16th century began the Doge and the nobel families of Venice started to plan the continued expansion of the Venetian lands in the balkans. The integration of Venetian long time vassal Serbia were finished a couple of years into the new century, and in a short war against the Merchant Republic of Bulgaria Venice had gained a new vassal and secured domination on the Balkans.

In the years that followed the Doge continued to build up the economy of Venice, and at the same time the Venetian navy and army were expanded.

As part of a plan to expand the Venetian influence in the eastern mediterranean Venice joined the coalition against the mamlucks of Egypt. But before the Venetian Doge could set his grand plan in motion Venice were dragged into the Hungarian succesion war between France and Austria.

Not wanting to fight a war on two fronts the Venetian Doge decided to wait for the succesion war to come to an end before attacking the Mamluks of Egypt. But suddenly a call to arms from the Ottoman Empire reached Venice. The Ottomans had declared war on the Mamluks and since both Venice and the Ottomans were in a coalition against the Mamluks Venice had no choice but to also declared war. The war went very well for Venice and the Ottomans and soon a peace deal was signed between the Mamluks and the coalition.

By the time the war against the Mamluks were over, the Doge decided to also use this opportunity to declare war on the Ottomans. Since the whole ottoman army were still placed in the eastern part of the Ottoman lands the Ottoman lands on the Balkans were all but defenceless.

War was declared against the Ottomans and the Venetian fleet were sent to the strait of Bosporen in order to prevent Ottoman reinforcment to reach the Balkans. At this time the war turned against the Venetian forces. In a great naval battle outside the city of Constantinople the Venetian fleet suffered a crushing defeat against the Ottoman fleet and soon the whole Ottoman Army invaded the Venetian lands in the Balkans.

The Doge at first tried to fight back but were soon forced to acknowledge that the Ottoman army were far superior to the venetian army. A peace agreement were soon signed, there Venice didn't have to cede any lands to the Ottoman empire but instead the two venetian vassals of Bulgaria and Athens were "liberated".

Session: 1537
Spelare: Johan
Land: Venice
AAR bonus: Admin Power
On-Time bonus: Admin Power

 

[hantheman]

Spelare: Hannes
Session: 1537
Land : Tuscany
On-Time bonus: Admin Power

 

[Watzie]

To Daves dismay the Regency Council still held some sway over the court and he realised that he had to implement the westernisation as soon as possible not to loose prestige. Before the project could start however, he felt that the old enemy Brunei and faithful ally Pegu both should be vassalized, since the westernisation project would prevent such actions within foreseeable future. Since Pegu could not be convinced until a claim expired Dave invaded Brunei as soon as the manpower had recovered. The war dragged on, but finally Brunei was vassalized with surprisingly little bloodshed. After the Bruniean war Arakan dragged Auytthaya into a pointless war with Oirat Horde and Tibet, which finally ended in white peace. This delayed the point when Pegu could finally be vassalized (after 120 years as an ally) and the westernisation could start.

Many superstitious groups within ayutthaya doubted the wisdom in westernisation and rebels started to pop up everywhere, but the king was prepared and all in all the ten year project went pretty smothly. In the final years of the project, Assam attacked and in time annexed the Shan kingdom and since Dave already had claims on the shani provinces he siezed the oppertunity and attacked. As it would show, it was a well timed attack, since the Vijays had the same thought and declared war only months later. Fortunately they only managed to grab one province and soon ended the war, which fortunately made it possible for Dave to annex the rest of the small country. The Arakans however didnt seem to approve of this annexation an abruptly ended the alliance. Dave saw this as a grave offence and forcibly annexed them too.

Meanwhile, China - also known as Ming - suffered through a civil war, which ended with the release of the new state Zhou between Ayutthaya and Ming and the reconstitution of Tibet. This opened up new possibilities which the king ponders over his midnight tea.

During all these years the colonization of Indonesia continued and several provinces were added, among others one on the southwestern tip of a big island called Austraila. The Vijays continues to colonize westward too, and even if it is at a reduced speed compared to the superior Ayutthayan colonists it is still worrisome. Currently diplomats are trying too see if the Vijays may be persuaded to colonize somewhere else in return for a province in the exotic Africa.

Session: 1565
Land: Ayutthaya
AAR bonus: Diplomatic Power
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic Power

 

[Zalasta]

Brandenburg/Prussia AAR 4 - The traitor of the empire

Spoiler

The year of our lord 1537


King Georg Albrecht I did not enjoy the thought of war at all. He liked falconry and taxes. So a system for improving the Prussian infrastructure was set in motion to increase the tax gain.


In 1544 Georg Albrecht I passed away (or atleast wasnt seen again after a hunting trip into Grünewald Forest)
His son Albrecht IV Achilles was coronated the very same day.
The army was quickly put on high alert and war was declared against the Lithuanian-Muscovite alliance. The King of Sweden gladly joined on the Prussian side.
The prussian troops lured the Lithuanien army into a trap at the battle of altmark.

then quickly marched on up to help the vassalstates of Finland and Novgorod.
After another glorious victory at the battle of Moskva the enemies agreed to peace and Prussia regained their rightful cores.

With a weak Palatinate as the ruling emperor of the holy roman empire Albrecht IV achilles choose to join the growing coaliton against Bavaria whom had annexed several smaller princes of the empire.


And in the year of 1551 the Duke of Milan declared war on Bavaria to make them release some of the princes under the Bavarian boot.

Several of the major european states saw this as a great opportunity to strike back at the empire and joined the Bavarian side.

With so many hostile troops to the east and north, the Prussian army had to march east into Lithuania-Muscovy yet again.
A huge swedish lithuanian army was engaged at the battle of Podlasie.

After the major victory at Podlasie, the eastern campaign begun.
It was long and bloody, alot of minor skirmishes and battles.
After the battle of Moska the eastern front looked secure enough to march the badly damaged army back home.

During the march home a rider caught up and announced that the emperor had died and that the prince electors of the empire had chosen Albrecht Achilles as the new emperor.

Just a few days later another rider came with another message.
The Duke of Bavaria has chosen to show his true colours as a traitor to the empire and announced himself King and no longer a member of the holy roman empire.

The Bavarian troops with vassals engaged the allied forces of Venetian, Milanese and Prussian troops twice at the battle of Kärnten.

In the end the Bavarian war ended with Bavaria releasing Switzerland as a sovereign state.


On time bonus: Military Power
AAR bonus: Military Power
Session: 1565

 

[BullDoozer]

Island politics

The aftermath of the war with England and the northern states took Statthalter Otto Amsinck several long years to sort out and during this time the Hanseatic mercenary armies had to subdue several English funded revolts in the newly liberated cities. It was mostly the catholic priest that were inciting rebellion and when these had been shown the way of the true faith peace and prosperity once again settled over Hanseatic lands. It was not long until pleas of help came from the Irish republic of Leinster. The English had attacked thinking the Hansa was occupied in Germany. When the Statthalter sent an ultimatum of peace to the English King it was refused and once again the Hanseatic armies disembarked on English soil. The English armies were outmaneuvered once again and in the peace that followed the English had to give up all land on Ireland, release Wales and and allow the former Scottish cities in the north to join the League. On Ireland the duchy of Connacht also voted to join the Hansa.

During this war a great conflict erupted in Europe between Bavaria and her allies and the Italian states backed up by Prussia. The Hansa was kept outside the war until France decided to attack Milan but the new Emperor in Berlin paid off the French king to stay out of the war which led to a very brief war for the Hanseatic part. The fighting was long and bloody and by the end of it Bavaria had to release the Swiss cantons from their grasp.

This war had given Austria breathing-space in western Germany and they had conquered several minor states on the Hanseatic border. The remaining duchys of Munster and Brunswick wisely chose to accept Hanseatic protection from the Austrians and can soon be accepted into the League. At the time of this writing peace reigns in the League and the merchants are looking further and further west to find new lands and goods to bring to the European markets.

Session: 1565
Land: The Hansa
AAR bonus: Diplomatic power
On-Time bonus: Diplomatic power

 

[Zantavian]

Divide et impera, Söndra å härska.

Förvirring rådde, istället för att diskutera framtiden och dess möjligheter valde Milan att förklara krig mot Bavaria, Varför ville en av de södra makterna gå i krig mot Bavaria när nära nog ingenting fanns att vinna av denna osämja, detta var vansinne!.
Misstankar föddes om att krigsmaskinen i norr låg bakom och att Milan hade blivit förd bakom ljuset. Nåväl krig var förklarat och tiden att fundera knapp nu gällde det att försvara sig, vänner runt om i världen kallades in i strid
men likaså gjordes fiender och med förvirring såg Bavaria att Venice och Tuscany valde att strida på fiendens sida. De blodigaste kriget på länge tog sin början och många slag ägde rum bland annat ett berömt slag skede i alperna där få trogna soldater höll stånd mot en jättearme, mannaslakten där var legendarisk... Diplomatin försökte många gånger att vinna över krigshetsen för fred söktes konstant men Venice och Milan vägrade lyssna och diplomaterna som skickades till Prussia fick bara höra att deras härskare var upptagen i norr. Endast Tuscany var klok nog att inse att detta inte gynnande någon och drog sig därmed ur när ett lämplig fredsförslag nådde dess härskare.

Mitt i allt detta valde Frankrike att förklara krig mot Milan, Bavarias glädje var stor för kanske om Milan fick tillräckligt stora odds emot sig kunde han själv se att detta krig inte gynnade honom och att Bavaria aldrig egentligen varit hans fiende.
Säg den glädje som varar Prussia valde att med små medel betala Frankrike för att dra sig ur.

Mitt i detta tillskanskade sig även Prussia kejserliga tronen och därmed tillskanskade än mer makt. Bavaria såg inget att val än att lämna Emperiet.

Efter otaliga strider blev det till slut fredsförhandlingar och Bavaria gav upp Switzerland som Vasal, Denna eftergift gjordes för att man hade sett nog av blod och ville inte fortsätta kriga utan goda skäl.


Några år förflöt Kungen av Bavaria var vred, i vredesmod förklarade han krig mot Venice, mer för att han hade trott att Venice var en vän och hade svårt att glömma att de utan bra skäl stridit mot honom.
Det var inte ett bra skäl att förklara krig men det var mänskligt frågan som flöt i luften var kan stridyxan grävas ner och isåfall till vilket pris.


Session: 1565
Land: The Bavaria
AAR bonus: Admin power
On-Time bonus: Admin power