• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
PetitBourgeois said:
The Pope? The Pope is nothing anymore - we Venetians have proved it.
and the Glorious Duke of Brabant has more power than him.
I got restraints of appeals :D
 
Chapter V: Trent and the Dardanelles
1458-1470
flagofmostserenerepublive0.png




With the Habsburg empire in pieces, it would only be a matter of time until the fragments were conquered. Rather than risk that chance, we decided that an invasion would be the only option. However, the major powers of Europe had all begun to send expeditions to the New World, and the Republic would not be left behind. We had long prepared for an exploration of the lands south of the Barbary Coast, and the forts in Ifni had been set up for this purpose.


01_QFTNW.gif


Though it would strain the treasury considerably, the expedition was sent forth and the focus could again be redirected to the Stato da Tera. The Swiss Confederation had taken Brescia, which rightfully belonged to an Italian state, and namely under the protection of the Republic. The Confederation had also allied with the newly independent County of Tirol, which provided an opportunity to bring the Italians in Trento under our wing.


02_Swiss_War.gif

The Second War of Italian Unification

The main offensive would be in the north, to quickly deal with Tirol, the weakest of the allies.


03_Peace_Tirol-1.gif

Tirol quickly fell to our forces.

Unfortunately, this would be the only gain from the war, as our advance had been stopped. We had overextended ourselves, and so quickly sought to return to the status quo ante bellum.

With advances in Italy stopped for the time being, we then turned to the Stato da Mar.

[Note: Here my participation in the session ended due to a crash. Rather then embellish what I cannot, here's just a quick overview]


04_Stato_Da_Mar.gif

By 1470 the success of the war with Byzantium was known. The toll on cargo passing through the Dardanelles proved to be a great economic boost to the state; though that was the great success of the war, the importance of seizing Albania and Naxos cannot be forgotten either.


Religion1470AAR.gif


Europe1470AAR.png


NewWorld1470AAR.gif


----------

Yes, this is a short AAR, but I feel I need to get up to date. Also, for the maps other than Europe (e.g, New World, Africa, Asia) should I make maps of religion too?

 
Last edited:
Nice!

About the new world religion map, Don't make a religion map until there are significant changes like the Protestant Reformation.
 
comagoosie said:
Awesome maps, nothing out of the ordinary for you.

Also you changed your NI, which can be risky, but hopefully it will pay off.
Thanks, this AAR has been an experiment for me, it'll hopefully improve more.

I didn't change the NI, I got my second one - I don't know why the text says that. Right now, 1497, I have National Bank, QFTNW and Land of Opportunity.

EUROO7 said:
Nice!

About the new world religion map, Don't make a religion map until there are significant changes like the Protestant Reformation.
Sounds good.
 
Part 4

100px-Coat_of_arms_of_Brabant.svg.png

Chapter 1: The fight over the supremacy of The Netherlands
A Brabant/Dutch AAR
Peace, War, and a New World

The Quest for the New-World

QFTNW.jpg

Hey, I just got an idea, lets cross the ocean, maybe we’ll find a new world!

It was obvious that the Duke was after the newly found lands in the west that the English found a couple of years before. It wasn’t long until he ordered all researches to be directed towards Naval Technology and Exploration. The Glorious Duke Antoine I promoted Admiral Orland Albers to leader of the Zeeland Expedition.

Zeelandexpedition1.jpg

The Zeeland expedition in port, just before the 1st Expedition

The 1st Zeeland Expedition left port in the 19th of January, 1465. His route was to reach the Portuguese Island of the Azores, which the King of Portugal accepted Naval Access. After that, he sailed westward, to the unknown... In early spring, his first ever expedition would pay off. He was the first Dutch and the second European to reach the New-World. He named this land New-Netherlands.

1dutchclaimnewworld.jpg

The New-Netherlands!

Admiral Albers personally landed on what the natives called Manhattan Island. Not only he discovered and claimed new land for the Glorious Duke, it was true that some “Native People” lived there. The crew traded some resources for furs. Furs were beginning to become scarce since the European Beaver was close to extinction. He knew that on his return, Antoine would be very happy with the discoveries. He left this new world to return to the Glorious Duchy. He would discover a deserted Island in the middle of the ocean, between the New-Netherlands and The Azores. He mapped the island and thought its emplacement was of great strategic value.

orlanddiesapril1466.jpg


Sadly, a year after his expedition, he died for unknown reasons. Admiral Orland Albers the Explorer will remain in Dutch history as the first Dutch to sail across the Western Ocean.

5 years later, War!

DoWHolland.jpg

To arms men, we attack at dawn!

In January, 1470, The small Duchy of Holland, puppet of the King of Aragon, declared that the region of the Netherlands was theirs and they proclaimed himself as the King of the Netherlands. What he didn’t know is that it conflicted with Brabant’s own claim of 1400. This meant War for Antoine I. Only some days later, Antoine I of Brabant declared war of the Duchy of Holland. Antoine led his army toward Amsterdam. The war would only last days as the Duke of Holland accepted annexation. The Count of Zeeland became the Duke of Holland. Holland was conquered by Brabant.

AnnexHolland.jpg

Holland is officially part of Brabant

Antoine was happy. He had claims on the New-World, he was the most powerful nation in the Netherlands. Only 2 bishoprics was on his war on a United Netherlands, Utrecht and Liège, the latter expanded after rebels in Vallenciennes defected to the Bishop. But sadly, he was getting old.

GuillaumeI.jpg

All hail Guillaume I, Duke of Brabant!

After a rule of almost 24 years, the aged duke died. His son, Guillaume I became the Glorious Duke of Brabant. Sadly, his tutors could not make him a strong leader, a good diplomat, or a good administrator. Hopefully, ruling this Glorious Duchy will make him a Duke to be remembered by future generations. 2 years later, his military strength would be tested.

FrenchAragoneseWar1479.jpg

Nobody seems to like the French besides us...

The French-Aragonese War of 1479 began. Guillaume hoped that with this war, he could capture The Azores, which would greatly help with the explorations of the New-World. The Jägers van Brussels were sent to the Azores. The Ducal Fleet transported them successfully until they were close to the Portuguese coast. The expedition lost 3 carracks and 1 cog on 5 carracks and 5 cogs used (there were 4,000 men in the cogs). The fleet eventually reached the Azores, where the Battle of the Azores began. The Dutch army were victorious in capturing the Island after a very bloody battle that lasted for days. Sadly, the cost was useless. The cowardly French Emperor decided that he had lost the war. We would gain nothing at all. The duke was so outraged that the French Emperor promised pay for the damages during the war. Since the Fleet was in a bad shape, the Army was left there while the fleet returned to Brugges, where they found out that there were 6 privateers blockading Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht and Gelre. For now, they couldn’t do anything about it until the Duchy recovered from the war.

Decades of peace in the Duchy
After the costly war, there was almost three decades of peace. With occasional wars that never spread to the Duchy. Even so, by 1497, the Duchy still hadn’t recovered yet and was a bit unstable. Guillaume I had to do something unless he would become the worst duke of Brabant...

The Netherlands in the year of our Lord 1497

thenetherlands1497.jpg


____________________________________________
Accomplishments of the Glorious Duchy, 1458 to 1497
-Found and claimed New Lands (New-Netherlands)
-Conquered Holland
-Adopted QFTNW without changing a NI
-Became Elector (not mentioned, I forgot when it happened)
-Rest of the Duchy joined the Holy Roman Empire
Current Mission: Conquer Liège
____________________________________________
 
Last edited:
PetitBourgeois said:
Don't worry, it comes ever closer. ;)
So very true...
 
Yeah i know, i was way too slow.
On my IN game I was able to form the Netherlands with Brabant before 1500
 
Chapter VI: The Holy League
1470-1497
flagofmostserenerepublive0.png




Though we had waited years for the return of the African expedition, it had finally proved to be fruitful. Led by Vittore Casanova, the expedition traveled along the Niger river and met the Emperor of Mali, Mamadu II. Though Mamadu II was a talented ruler, Vittore described his empire as one in its zenith, lavish gilding covering its age. To the benefit of the Republic, Vittore was able negotiate a trade route through Ifni for gold from the mines of Bambuk, Boure and Galam; to protect this trade forts were set up further south along the coast.

01_Africa_Occidentale.gif


This was made possible by the two decades of peace the Republic was able to enjoy. During this time of prosperity the Umbrians and Sicilians finally accepted Venetian rule and were finally integrated into the Republic. We were able to impose new census taxes because of this, which filled the treasury. Our coffers were put toward an expansion of the army - necessary considering increasingly hostile relations among our neighboring countries.

However, no amount of armament would prepare the Republic for what was to come:

02_Holy_League.gif


It began in 1494 as Castille, eager to control the gold trade, used the pretense of the Duchy of Savoy's claim on Nice to declare war on the Republic. Castilian armies quickly overran our forts on the African coast, but our army was just as quickly able to reach Savoy. The war seemed manageable, until all our enemies of Eastern Europe, who had grown greedy, joined the war - the War of the Holy League. The coalition was named so because our enemies viewed us as going against Catholic tradition and wished to restore the Papacy to Rome. A nice sentiment, if it were true - they were only motivated by expansion and power, not to give up any of their power to a restored Papacy. However, they had no idea what was about to happen:

03_Protestant_Reformation.gif

Below: What Brabant actually said.

It seemed that this time of turmoil for the Republic would bring about radical religious change. Though the Reformation had begun in Brabant, less then a month later Neapolitan Protestants were successfully spreading Lutheranism in Abruzzi. For the time being we were ambivalent to their cause; although we agreed with the message of the Reformation, the Republic would not be able to survive it, particularly not now. The Byzantine army had taken all of Greece, and the Austrians were marching through Hungary, eager to loot Venice.

04_Protestant_Abruzzi.gif


This proved more then anything the greed of our enemies, for even though we were edging closer to an open break with Roman Catholicism, they wanted only territory. We offered to the Byzantines Edirne, which lost us control of the Hellespont, and to the Austrians Albania and Friuli. We had survived the war, but the Republic had lost a great deal of its power.

Religion1497AAR.gif


Europe1497AAR-2.png


NewWorld1497AAR.gif


-----
Finally, I'm not two updates behind. The session today was quite interesting, you'll have to see it. ;)

 
comagoosie said:
that's a feat.

Everything is harder is MP, which is way it is so fun.

Depends on how you play it out.

I really think mp is easier than sp. If you'd ever play with me, you'd know why I think that. ;)
And if you don't, I tend to mooch off of other players in the beginning of the game. Always.


Anyways... Who got the Swahilli provances?