From Russia with Love

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut Everyone.

After playing a few games of EU, I decided that I was going to tackle the BIG one, the GCG. Choosing a country was not easy. I am allergic to England (The Conquered Syndrome I imagine...), too sympathetic to France, Spain too hot, Sweden too cold, Poland too surrounded, Austria? I hate heights. Turkey? I prefer red meat. So I went for Russia. I Chose the Hard/Aggressive mode, prayed and launched the game....

First impression? Well to me Russia seemed much bigger. A few provinces, 122 000 inhabitants and about the same population of soldiers. 8D per month income and technologically we are mastering the bucket - with handles.
The court of the Duke(Tzar)is full of bearded men... and women. It is a balmy minus a million in the frozen streets of Moscow and just a little warmer inside the hut, er castle of the bearded Tzar. As newly appointed counsellor to the Tzar I have a few minutes to explain to him my policies to bring about greatness and riches to Russia (and him of course).
It seems that the the only way out of the Dark Ages for this country-wannabe is to attack, and fast. Somehow there is a great army out there with even more cavalry that I could dream of. So here we go. Kazan, the Hordes and Astrakan in that order. All before 1500. I need to build an alliance west to keep Poland busy too.

January 1492.

Pskov is my first target for a gift. 100D. They seem to enjoy the idea of mutual friendship and climb to +46. No money left. I start to move my armies east in preparation for the great offensive against Kazan. Striga Obolenski seems like a good leader and I am happy to see him there, we will sure need him!
A good look at the armies tell me that it will not be an easy fight. We still are in the early stages of middle-aged warfare and the infantry does not look too eager to fight! I hope that Kazan does not have a big army or I am doomed.
The Czar is still eagerly eating in Moscow waiting for news.

April 5th

Spain (I long for that warm breaze of Seville now!!) has annexed Grenada. The Czar barely burped his interest at the news. The gathered herd of bearded nobles all mumbled "Da" with great shakes of shaggy-haired heads.
I can't wait for our infrastructure to go up enough for us to invent barbers...

May 15th

Still waiting for a diplomat. I put up a poster last winter asking for volunteers to go deliver a message to Kazan but I still wait for the pleasure of the first interview. Bearded maybe but smart are those nobles! Meanwhile a Danish official bravely made his way to court today and asked to see if we could maybe possibely spare a Duchess or a Marquise to wed a close cousin to the King of Danemark. The Czar was terribely exited by the news and even lifted his head off his plate, but not the beard wich seemed glued there, permanently. The assembled hprde of nobles cudling in a bunch near the fire grunted "Da's" and seemed almost as enthousiastic. I ran all over the palace for a decent looking clean and unbearded princess and with good fortune found one. She seemed very happy to leave and actually was last seen in the streets of the capital pushing and shoving the envoy up is horse and off they went. So moving. My dream of creating a western block was, granted in a very small way, starting to become reality.

June 24

An other embassy, this time from Bohemia forces the construction of a guest house at great expense and the shipping of our second clean princess to the west. The Czar even took time to ask where in hell was Bohemia. Such knowledge in table maners ripped a great sigh from the assembled nobility, now without their coiffe, but still bearded, assembled now by the open window.

July 3

War. Finally a mad monk decided to bring the letter to the kazan savages and the army follows a few days later. A siege force of 13i is send to Ryazan and Lipetz while Striga follows a few days later with 6i and 42c. The Kazan main army of 42k is heaaing for Bodabo and his 36i 7c.

august 15

Victory!!! At Vladimir today Bodabo wipes out 25k of the ennemy while losing but 3i 1c himself. He might have looked Cro-Magnonish in the corner of the palace but he is solid as a rock out there! He pursues the enemy to Kazan.
At Lipetz our siege force was beaten by 10c and retreats to moscow. A few days later Striga catches the enemy and wipes him out to a man.

september 28

All our forces save the siege armies move back to Russia to wait out the winter. A few assaults gives a lot of casualties but for little gain.
Where are my canons? The only way russian can siege is by building wooden trebuchets and towers. It seems that these sieges will last forever...

January 1493.

New Year. Or is it. It is neew year on christmas day in germany, in october here, on easter in Italy, on march 1st in France and on January 1st on my watch (well hidden of course). The only good thing is all the parties the various embassy throw!
Income is still low, my armies are dying in the fields of Kazan and the cities are witholding the sieges with alarming ease!!
On the 19th we offer another princess (the word is getting out that there are un-bearded men out west and it is really shaking the princess-world) this time to our friends from Pskov. They accept and we throw yet another wild party, all the while thinking with envy at our troops warmly sieging the enemy out east!



Oups tim flies! gottago, the rest will follow soon!

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut everyone!

Well here we go...

April 1493

Nothing much happened in the winter. I suscribed the court to many fashion pamphlets to no avail. The beard was still in fashion. I did insist on the fireplace which warmed rooms much better than the casual hole in the ceiling. Less smoke too.
As spring arrived to the fields of Kazan I send some reinforcements to the 3 sieges. During the winter months various Kazan detachments attacked our siege forces but were beaten back easily.
It finally happenend, on the 15th we have a military alliance with Pskov. The nobles grunt their approval while huddling near the fireplace. Ivan is so pleased that I am made Viscount of some 8 syllable village somewhere north.
I feel privileged.

June 19

The province of Kazan falls to general Bodabo who promptly moves west to siege Tambov.

July 20

Ryazan falls and I see an end to this very bloody war. As hard as I try to save our precious cavalry I have lost over 15k of them already. Even if our infabtry costs 3D I tray to limit losses to a minimum. I will need them later!

We hear that Poland has conquered Eastern and western Pomerania from the Hanseatic League. Mmmh. maybe I could dispatch a diplomat there.

November

Done deal! I ship a princess to the Hanseatic League and get a military treaty in return. That should quiet the Poles for a time!
Kazan-wise we are not doing well. Several assaults have resulted in massive losses for no gains. It seems that nobles have a hard time understanding the principles of ladders. They prefer piling dead serfs at the walls, then climb them. I need Guns!!!!!

January 1494

This war is killing us. I have to raise fresh troops, 11i at Vladimir and 8i in Moscow. I hope that we can beat and annex Kazan this summer at the latest.

February

Turkey at war with the Mameluks and the Golden Hordes attack Astrakan. Great! they will weaken each other enough to become easy picking.

March

Somehow our Ivan as aquired quite a reputation in European courts that he has become the talk of the hour in all the salons.(+10 relation!)

may 10

Tambov finally falls, onwards to Voronez. This time I will assault and finish off this war once and for all.

June 22

Fatefull day as the las Kazan province falls. The Mongols are finally removed from power and the population is freed from their barbarian rule! The Russian Kingdom's population growas another 50,000 souls! The Czar is beside himself with joy and orders seconds!
Time to look at the cost. We have lost 84i and 34c. Ouch! To attack the Hordes we will need to rebuild. The cavalry corps is down to 14c from the original 40c.
I hope for the sake of Russia that our neighbours stay quiet!

July 10

We see an army of 30k from Astrakan besieging Kujbechev. It is attacked by 10k strong G-H detachments but beats them back everytime! This war is a boon for us as it weakens our future enemies! But as we dream towards the east I must prepare our western borders.

September

As our school of manners and social behaviour just keeps turning up princesses to marry I look towards a potential ally to keep Poland honest. Brandenburg has a strong army, so does Bohemia and they both seem well disposed towards us. We finally conclude an arangement with a very german Prince and link ourselves with Brandenburg.

January 1495

Our treasury now receives 98D from cencus taxation. Not bad. We immediatly promote a bailif in Moscow. The candidate, a strong (bearded) well-to-do man very well connected within the noble comunity is picked from the throng of loyal followers huddling near the throne. The rest show their approval by a round of applause unfortunatly muffled by layers of mittens worn even inside. Gotta look at the rules to see when we receive central heating!!

the rest will follow soon - stay tuned

 

[unmerged(599)]

Well done. Keep it coming.

In my own current GC as Russia, I annexed Kazan and the Golden Horde in two steps each to keep the BB value down. I also left Astrakhan it's capitol province (permanently, perhaps) because of it's religion. This also keeps BB down, and the only real reason to attack Astrakhan is to open the corridor to Sibur, which doesn't include the capitol province.

I timed the conquest of Sibur to coincide with the arrival of my first conquistadors. Now, shortly after 1600, I have colonies or TPs in every province between Russia and the Pacific...THREE gold mines makes the coffers groan! I've just turned my attentions on Persia to open a better corridor to China, as I can't get into the Chinese CoT from the north, apparently. Need to find a way to their capitol, I suppose.

Persia, though it seemed well armed at first, gave a lackluster performance in this first war, just concluded with a gain of two eastern provinces. Their primary ally, Turkey, was only desultorily involved against me. Their attentions were focused on Hungary throughout the war. Crimea, Persia's other ally, made the mistake of actively campaigning against me and suffered annexation for their temerity. Sacking Isfahan gave me Persia's maps, which were badly needed.

Next stop, India!

Regards,
Maturin

 

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"Don't worry about me, they couldn't hit an elephant from that distance..."

- Last words of an obscure Union general visiting his troops at the front!

Sir, you have slighted Uncle John Sedgewick, a noble and competent general of the United States Army, who served during the war to suppress the southern rebellion.

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut everyone!

Maturin, Like you I try to capture the eastern kingdoms in one campaign to keep that dreaded BB rating down. I am now faced with a dilemna; when all the east is mine, er I mean russia's, (hopefully!) Then I need a port. That is a reason for the western alliance. I think I will have to attack the Teutons and go for St-Petersburg. That I know will shoot my BB rating upwards. My other option is Crimea, but by then they should be annexed by Turkey. A war with Turkey and a strong Poland standing by is not a comfortable proposition...
Persia interests me little, but that gold mine in Armenia is awfully tempting. Maybe when Persia DOW on me I'll go for an all out offensive to capture it...

see you all soon

 

[unmerged(599)]

Originally posted by nabo1er
Maturin, Like you I try to capture the eastern kingdoms in one campaign to keep that dreaded BB rating down. I am now faced with a dilemna; when all the east is mine, er I mean russia's, (hopefully!) Then I need a port.

In my Russian GCs I usually DoW the Teutonic Order in 1492, take a couple or three of their provinces, then settle for Ingermannland + 250D as quick as I can. That gets me a port and colonists right away. Prior to the arrival of conquistadors, I use them to bring Archangel and the northern colonies up to city status.

Regards,
Maturin

 

[unmerged(3438)]

With Russia, when you attack the Mongol states (Kazan, Golden Horde, Astrakhan, Sibir in the GC) early (before 1500) you should assault their fortresses not siege them : most of them don't contain a big garrison and they don't have cannons either. And the attrition rate there is awful as you experienced, the infantry you will replace easily (cheap) but the cavalry is so expensive that your losses will be potentially crippling.

Didn't know the BB rating stayed lower if you annexed in several steps; I just began a Russian campaign and annexed Kazan, Golden Horde and Astrakhan before 1500 in 3 short wars and my BB is 17 . However I got worried if I did not make preemptive strike my polish neighbours and their more than 300k men would get interested.

Good luck for the future of your empire !

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut le monde!

First to Fournier; I tried my best to keep my attrition down but as you will see my cavalry all but diseapeared by 1500 in battle. Oh well. Assaults worked well against those 2500 men fortresses but were very costly against the other. Thank god the Horde and Astrakan fought each other! I will probably fight reduced armies. I hope!

Maturin, I hesitated about attacking the Order first. In retrospect it seems like the best option since I could have beefed up the northern colonies. Now I have to wait til may 1507 for their alliance to end. Then I will have a port.

And now part 3 of my Saga...

The rest of 1495 was very quiet. After the spending spree of january my lack of cash effectively ended any government activities, so the whole court packed their belongings and shifted east to watch the Astrakan - Golden hordes match.
Astrakan kept beating off the Horde's attempt at breaking off the siege of Kujbychev while other detachments kept fighting for Saratov. Finally the 30k Astrakan army reduced now to less than 7k was finally wiped out in march... two days after the fortress surrendered! Now the Horde started a siege. I ordered a new round of treats and meade (still waiting for beer!)
We were interrupted in our rounds of betting by the annoucement that our embassy to Bohemia was succesfull in convincing their King in joining the H-L, Pskov and Russian in our alliance. The Polish ambassador was looking gloomy but if it was that news or the fact that another Astrakan army trying to releive the fortress of Kujbychev had been defeated I wasn't sure.
After running out of men (the biggest armies now consisted of 3 or 4000 men!) both parties settled for 4D to go to the Hordes. What a waste!
But what an oportunity!
In the fall I prepare the armies for the upcoming war against the Horde. Striga in Tambov with 11i 5c, Bodabin in Lipetsk with 10i, Golatzin in Voronev with 16i. The cavalry corps of 8c waits in Ryazan. I also call 13i in Kazan and 8i in Tambov.

Jan 1496.

96D to spend. But wait! Just in! France, Savoy the Pope, Navarre, Helvetia and the Scots are now at war against Lorraine, Spain, England, Milan, Naples, Poland and Cologne. Wow. Quite a big party and we managed (thankfully) to be out of it!
The king is all exited again and the polish ambassador eager to make up his earlier loss is starting to take bets again. To be closer to the fun we decide to go back to Moscow, if we can find it under all that snow that is!

February

On the 6th we declare war on the Horde and wait for spring. Imagine my joy when their armies start moving against us. In march there is no standing army left to the Horde.

May

All the Horde's provinces are under siege.

July

On the 17th Saratov falls followed on th 19th by Kujbychev. We move all the infantry towards the remaining two provinces.
Our Cesar Ivan is now nervous about the fact that we have only 7i in Novgorod acting as our guardians out west. In fact all our armies are attacking the Horde.
I try to hide the fact that it makes me very nervous also, but with Europe busy bushwacking each other, Orthodoxy is safe at the moment. The assembled nobles, visibly better dressed now that our wealth is accumulating, seem unconvinced and grumble for protection out west!

October

Samara and its gold mines fall on the 17th after a third assault! it cost us over 12i, but we now can finish this war soon.
Meanwhile Scotland is eliminated in the preleminary round, pays 80D to England and pulls out of the competition.
On the 30th Bogutja falls, as we say in french "par la peau des dents!". It was very close. We annex the Hordes. 30,000 new souls are welcomed within our growing nation!
The Cesar, I mean Czar, is beside himself with joy and wants more! Attack he says Attack! Astrakan must be ours!
Unfortunatly we have a mere 23i and 12c left to fight them with. We must rebuild.

January 1497

We receive 105D in cencus taxes. A Bailif is promoted in Samatra to keep track of all that wealth. We also send a great gift to our friends at Pskov, a great iluminated book on the Holy Mother of Kazan. They all but ignore it which is very anoying! I will remember to translate it next! Or include more graphic pictures! (100D for a measly +2 in relations )
In may a dirty very hairy old man comes in with a metallic sphere and announces with pleasure that we have discovered metal cannonball. As we do not have any cannons to put it in we develop bowling instead.
The forgotten war between Turkey and the Mameluks ends 2-0 for Turkey as they grab Sinai and Nugssay. The world's biggest sand box I guess. Die for the Sinai. What a waste.
In August the Pope pays 155D to Naples for peace to the south then grabs 138D from Lorraine for peace in the north. The Pope with its 1 and 1 record qualifies for the quarter-finals and moves on...
In october Lorraine ties with the Swiss while the swiss lose to Cologne leaving them 154D and both drop out of the competition, leaving France, Cologne, Milan and England to finish the championship.

January 1498

We now receive a healthy 135D as cencus tax and our income is now 26.4D a month, compared to 7,6 a month in 1492.
The Czar is very happy with this. He decides to comission a geographic book to better follow the wars beign fought all over. He never even guessed that so many states existed!!
In february Milan bows out and pays France 250D to stay an independent state while Cologne is all but annexed by the French in March.
The rebuilding process of the army is going well and we decide to plan our offensive against Astrakan for february 99. They have a 36k army out there and it could prove dangerous. Striga is still our best general (4-3-3) while the ohers have faired well so far.
We now have fields of cannonballs, and still no cannon. The shape of the cannonball inspires our architects who now build all roofs with a sphere on top. Very distinctive. The Czar approves.
We try to bring in Brandenburg in our alliance but it refuses again and again. Grrrr.

January 1499

135D in cencus tax, 29.6 a month in revenue.
The army is ready so we let them all loose. War is declared on the 19th. Unfortunatly I have grown over-confident. Our last war was over il less than ten month. I therefore only have 55i and 9c for the start of this war, 12 Ducats for reserve. That could prove disastrous if the muslim world sits up and takes notice...
The Sibir allies of Astrakan do not honor their alliance. Where in the name of the Holy Mother of Kazan is Sibir?

March

Striga with 22i 5c wipes out a 36k strong army inflicting 29k casualties. Our armies now move in for the kill.

July

Trade Advance. We now have armies of accountants and tax forms. While all seemed well our 12i army beseiging Viralsk is anhililated. No survivors. OUr worst defeat since the beginnig of 1492. I reinfirce and shuffle the other armies and assault everywhere with no results but a large russian body count.

November.

Volgograd falls and all armies pull back to Russia to wait for the winter exept the army in Donetsk. All I have left are 21i and 4c. I also have 7i out west. No fortresses to speak of, 2 ducats in the coffer. This damn Astrakan envoy offering white peace while a 45k strong Crimean army just arrived at our border. Time for another meade...
Meanwhile France ties with England and will meet Spain in the finals.

December

Good news as Donetsk falls after a short assault led by Striga himself. the army then moves back into Russia to rebuild.
I do hope that we will be able to take the rest quickly before our muslim friends take full advantage of the situation!


Gotta go, enjoy and cheers to you all!

 

[nalivayko]

Good aar, showing all the difficulties Russians have to face in the wastelands of Khanates. Keep it up and post some screens

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Bonjour again!

Lets jump right back in if you will...

January 1500

138D in cencus tax, our monthly income is a healthy 32.4.
Raise troops. That's all I can think of. Hordes of infantry. 30k of them anyway (at 4D per). I'll wait this winter out and then we will descend on Astrakan like a wave of locusts...
The European finals are over, France winning Artois and Luxemburg from Spain. We here in the snowbound capital are all waiting for the rematch!! It should be entertaining!

April

Reinforcements reaches Striga in Lugansk where is army had melted to less than 3i. He now has 24i and assaults forthwith. Lugansk falls on the 25th.

May

I'm in a rush now. The Czar is getting paranoid and wants peace as soon as possible. I insist in completely defeating Astrakan and annexing them. The Province of Astrakan is a perfect springboard for an invasion of Persia and the province of Armenia with its gold mines!! Oups, have I said too much? The Czar looks at me with a distrustfull eye...
We move and move fast. The last Astrakan army of 5i 5c is wiped out by Striga and in one week all the remaining provinces are besieged (Astrakan, Uralsk and Orenburg)

June

Striga assaults and captures Uralsk on the 12th. He then takes all the infantry towards Astrakan...

July

... which is assaulted and taken on the 18th. Surprise! Sibir is just east of us. Rats. Another potential ennemy. Striga is so strijken by the news that he collapses and dies on the 29th.
The troops take it as a bad omen. Bloody pagans, only one province to go and they are disheartened!

August

Orenburg is assulted twice, the last time only 300 defenders are left on the walls but still ir resists!! Finally on the third assault, Orenburg falls on the 29th. Astrakan is annexed on september 2nd.

September

Victory, Victory. We have but 34i and 4c left in all of Russia. Time to rebuild. We are happy to have destroyed all three major nations to the east but are very worried about the state of our army, the only true weapon of peace out here!
But Wait!! Our envoy rushes in the palace from Danemerk. The king of the Danes has decided to join our alliance! Another vicory! Pskov, Bohemia, the Hanseatic League and Danemark are now allied to us. Wonderfull news.
The Poland ambassador is really sulking now. I gather the now even better dressed nobility huddled near the map on the far wall and after a short walk under onion-shaped towers we play a long game of bowling while sipping warm meade.
Ahhhh. Life can't get better than this. I think I'll even grow a beard...

Cheers!

 

[unmerged(2609)]

Originally posted by Maturin
Well done. Keep it coming.

In my own current GC as Russia, I annexed Kazan and the Golden Horde in two steps each to keep the BB value down. I also left Astrakhan it's capitol province (permanently, perhaps) because of it's religion. This also keeps BB down, and the only real reason to attack Astrakhan is to open the corridor to Sibur, which doesn't include the capitol province.

Astrakhan is an excellent province. When you start the game, your tolerance for muslim will be very low. Simply turn it up, and turn down tolerance for Protestant, and you'll never have a revolt there.

It's a great province because you can make 10-12 troops at a shot there, so it serves as a nice recruitment center when you attack Persia.

Almost all Persian provinces are in Asia, so they cost no BB to grab, and many of them are very rich provinces where you can recruit a lot of troops (example: Tabriz). The only drawback is that it's a -2 stability to attack Persia.

I know that you can take Siber in multiple steps in order to save BB, but I don't know if that works with the other ones. If they are in Europe, it will actually cost you a little BB if you take them in multiple steps, since you are charged one for the DoW, and one for each province taken in tribute.

Siber is in Asia, so the DoW costs nothing, and a province annex costs nothing.

bruce

 

[unmerged(1700)]

Go to www.systemvoid.com/eu to upload your screenshots without hassle of finding webspace. Within 24 hours of upload you screen shots will be placed into a nice HTML file. Also if you want to add any comments then zip your sceenshots, include a text file with your comments and upload it.

Btw, great AAR.

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut tout le monde!

When I first started this game I thought I would be able to play a quiet game of gradual progress without making too many mortal ennemies. Short wars with limited goals followed by long periods of consolidation. Wew! was I wrong!
I knew I was in trouble when my mouse arm was numb (tennis elbow), my back was aching and I couldn't hold my pointer arrow straight. I pressed pause at that point and realized that two hours had diseapeared. But Russia was still there!
Next time I will play a country that can be seen totally without scrolling! This latest session forced me to buy a wheel-less mouse! (Mouse tech 4)

So here it is;

October 1500 - May 1507

Peace at last. We decided to leave the court in Moscow for the coming winter to better plan the rebuilding of the army. The Czar was getting very nervous and kept telling me how he would'n be able to defend himself against his in-laws with what I had left him.
The good news is that having discovered field artillery we could now put to good use those cannon balls we had. Artillery is not cheap, so I decided to start with 10 guns a year.
All you rich nations out there stop laughing. That's all I can afford. I still have to build my infantry and some cavalry.
Our next move had to be decided and carefully planned for. A port or take out Sibir? Well, Sibir was useless without a port, and with one I could start sending settlers north.
That was settled then, Ingermanland it would be.
We kept sending all sorts of guifts to our friends at Pskov, none too expensive, but enough to keep them getting friendlier every year.
We also send Princesses and better looking Princes all around Europe to strengthten our ties to Europe's leading nobility. We now could boast ties with Saxony, Bohemia, Hungary, Austria, Venice, Danemark, Brandenburg, Hesse, The League, Lorraine and Cologne. We therefore had a great view of The Great War That Never Happened.
It all started in May 1504 when Hessen Then Poland, Spain, England, Milan, Naples and Lorraine declared war on the Teutonic Order. I started getting nightmares of spanish troops in Ingermanland! France followed with a declaration of war on England and her aforementioned (numerous)allies while Savoy, Navarre, Scotland and the Papal States followed France.
This promised to be good.
It never happened. The Teutonic order settled in june for 250D and France accepted 80D in july. Pfft. Just like that the fun was over and I had all this left over pop-corn. Rats.
Well I got ready to make some noise of my own. I had an army of 120i, 15c and 40a ready in Russia. Most were stationed north redy to attack Ingermanland, Estonia and Livinia. he goal was to grab Ingermanland quickly then Livonia to sue for peace, all in less then a year.
Fat chance!

May 1507

The Teutonic Order's alliance with Sweden and Persia(!) is ended. We send an embassy to the Order explaining that we are now at war and that Danemark, the League, Bohemia and Pskov are at war as well.
The receipt of this missive must have been quite a surprise to them since our armies were but a few hours behind.
By the end of May Ingermanland was beseiged by 14i, 40a and Estonia by 12i. An army of 20i was moving to beseige Livonia while the mobile force of 28i, 14c was heading towards Pskiv to intercept the Order's army moving in from the north.

June

In a short but bloody struggle the entire Order's force of 9i 1c is wiped out in Pskov. On the 16th Livonia is beseiged. Then on the 18th we have the pleasure of receiving the visit of the Crimean ambassador who hands us a handsome declaration of war, counter-signed with Turkey, Algeria and the Hedjaz.! Uh-Oh.
The Czar chokes on his food while the assembled nobles move closer together, fur hats and all. We have build new troops (18i) in Moscow and we have 20i in Astrakhan but that is all that we have to play with! Faced with the 45k strong ennemy moving from Crimea, I have that force move north.
Who in the name of the Saint Mother of Kazan is the Hadjaz? Our cartographer is sent back to his maps.

I need money, I need troops. More than that I need time! I'll come up with the rest later !

Ciao

 

[Storey]

Just when you think all of your hard work and precise plans are going to work along comes "fill in the blank" with a declaration of war. This game keeps you on your toes. Try to hang on winter is coming and it is Russia's best friend.



Joe

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut tout le monde!

So here we are now at war against the Teutonic order and our friends fron Crimea join the fun bringing their buddies from Turkey, Algiers and the Hedjaz along.

July 1507

The 18i in Moscow and the 20i in Astrakhan will meet at Bogutjar and will then proceed to attack Crimea. While my armies are moving the 45k Crimean army moves north and besieges Donetsk.

August

The Czar begs me to sue for peace but I insist we go as planned. The Crimean jugernaut has shed 6000 men so far, down to 39, and seems only interested in besieging Donetsk. Fine with me. I am planning an offensive of my own. I detach a further 15i from our forces in the north and divide my army in 4 parts, 8i to besiege Kalmuk and Kuban, 12i to besiege Azov and 20i to attack Crimea, in effect cutting the supplies of the forces besieging Donetsk. 5i will stay in reserve in Lugansk feeding the various sieges.

November

This is a very slow-moving war. Many Danish and Pskov foeces have joined me in the sieges in Livonia and Ingermanland while Winter has set in. The attrition is foolishly high so I remove my mobile forces and leave only enough to maintain the sieges. I will try to end this war with as many men as possible.
The Crimeans are learning the hard way how to survive the long Russian winter. While all my sieges are suffering between 0 and 10% attrition the Crimean forces are dying at an astonishing rate of 30%.
On the 20th Ingermanland falls!! But we will have to capture Livonia to get it!

December

Rats! And double Rats. Our Pskov friends send a newly build army to join our forces in Livonia, dropping our morale very low at the same time a 7i Teutonic force crossed into Livonia to relieve the garrison. The resulting battle was no match as our 17i, 2c, 23a were defeated by their 7i. The fortress was at -3. Rats. I wonder at the wisdom in calling allies!
Estonia meanwhile stands at -4. Mmmh, maybe we can ask for both Ingermanland and Estonia!

January 1508

Ivan is no more. His son Vassili has taken the reings of power in his stead. I noticed that this change of power in Russia was followed by a rather quick rise in the nobility death rate, mostly amongst Vassili's relatives. I hope this will not mean a change in policy as our nation is struggling in this two-front war!
In the new year I raise 30i to replace our losses and beef up our southern foeces.

February

I send an army of 26i, 8c and 23a in Livonia against the 7i there. The battle is quick and the siege is on!
Down south the sieges are going poorly. All my artillery is up north!
we will have to resort to good ol' storming to get the fortresses!
While waiting for the results of the various sieges I aked my esteemed foreing affair minister what other wars were in progress. None was his answer. I immediately asked what were Poland's armies doing and was answered that 60k were at our border.
Time to end this war!

march

I order the storming of all fortreses under siege, I have to end this as quickly as possible. A Persian army is now sitting in Azerbadjan.

April

All assaults (6 of them) failed. Livonia and Estonia should fall soon as well as Kalmuk and Kouban. I barely made a dent in the Crimean fortress. By the way, the Crimean army besieging Donetsk is down to 4i and 8c. I have an army of 20i in Bogutjar coming south to wipe them out.

May

Kalmuk falls. The forces there (8i) will join our army in Kouban to assault the fortress.

June

Kouban falls. The 17i there will join our forces in Azov to break the fortress there
Great news! Estonia falls on the 21st and our forces there go to Livonia to force the end of the war. Since january there was four battles in Livonia but all attacks were beaten off. I will have a force of 31i, 8c and 23a, enough to assault.
I hope.

July

I assault Livonia and get beaten off by the closest of margins leaving but 300 defenders on the walls!

August

Victory bells ring all across Russia as Livonia finally surrenders. The Teutonic nights hand us Ingermanland and Estonia. Our first port! Our forces are sent south to finish the business with the Crimeans.

September 1508 - august 1509

Azov and Crimea were two tough nuts to crack. Instead of building infantry I ordered 20 guns to be build in january. It was the right decision as Azov went from -1 to -3 very quickly and a breach appeared! After an assault the fortress fell in june, leaving the road to Crimea open.
My forces in Crimea had barely made a dent on the fortresse's walls. Crimean reinforcements building up in Kerch finally attacked my besieging forces before my reinforcements from Azov arrived. The ensuing battle, 13i 2c from Crimea and 14000 russian infantry was very long and very close. In the end the Crimean forces were defeated and retreated. A few days later the Crimean ambassador offerd us kalmuck and Kouban for peace.
I wondered if it was worth it to continue the struggle but with the Poles and Persian armies unemployed, I happily accepted this peace offer.
In 18 month we had acquired 4 more provinces, but more importantly a port!
I wanted this war to be the last for a long time. The only territory to fight for now was Sibir. Its capture would open the door to the East and wondrous riches.

Peace September 1509 - January 1516

During the peace period we strengthened our newly acquired territory by upgrading our fortress in Ingermanland. Many discontent also went north to colonize Kola and Karelia turning these baren and deserted areas into profitable cities and communities.
The army was re-organized. While bowling with the herd of nobles I talked to a certain Glinski who appeared to be very knowledgeable in the running of war. He was put in charge.
It immediately paid off when 1000D were invested in Land technology and our army was now equipped with an early version of the arquebus. Let the enemies of mother Russia eat the lead belched out by these monsters!
The czar Vassili, not a bad fellow after all as long you were not family, decided that the time was ripe to attack Sibir. Poland was at war as well as Sweden and the Teutonic nights. I still thought that Persia would maybe take a swipe at us and Turkey would probably want a rematch and tried to delay the war. That's when the Czar gave me a "you sound just like my defunct family" look.
I send the order to mobilize almost immediately.

January 1516

This had to be a quick war. Only two provinces. Wrong on both count I was again!
We declared war on january 3rd and moved in to attack as soon as thaw set in just before April. A quick strike by medium-sized armies. No cavalry, Glinski with 15i was with the siege force of 10i and 40a attacking Kurgan while Irgitz was attacked by two armies of respectively 15i and 10i. All this designed to lower attrition. I would move the biggest army away as soon as all threats of attack disepeared.

June 21st

Why do bad news for Russia always come on or around june 21st? Is it a plot? I am beginning to HATE this date.
Turkey, Crimea and various other North-African states declare war on us. This is getting predictable. I do have around 50i and 12c in and around Lugansk but I hope that it does not mean that Persia will join the party too!

July

On July 7th Irgitz falls. On the 12th I receive two ambassadors, one from Persia declaring war and the other from Sibir offering Irgitz for peace. I will burn a candle to the Holy Mother of Kazan for the rest of this war! We happily accept the province and run to Astrakhan. Meanwhile I decide to borrow 200D and build some forces! I commission 20 guns and 27i, all to go help in the attack against Crimea.
My allies join me and I hope that they will soon join me in this crusade!

August

This is a busy month. Crimea and Azov are besieged. A Crimean force of 6i 3c is defeated in Crimea and retreats south. Glinski reaches Astrakhan with 40i and 40a, just in time to be attacked by an army of 23i 21c from Azerbadjan. The battle rages for days and is very close. After a loss of 7i and 5a, Glinski defeats the ennemy host and inflicts a loss of 21i and 8c. A real victory! The pursuit is organized with the siege train left behind to catch up.

September

Kerch is also besieged now. A reserve of 15i sits in Donetsk and 10i in Lugansk while there are 14i in Crimea, 12i in Azov and 13i in Kerch. Attrition should stay low. I hope.

October.

We force a breach in Crimea on the 8th. Our commander there, Bodabo, orders an assault that ends in failure! We will try again.
Glinski reaches Azerbadjan and defeats once again the now mainly cavalry force. When the siege train arrivers, the siege begins!

November.

Our Kerch army is attacked by a small force of 7000 Crimeans. They are defeated by general Pskov with no difficulty. Meanwhile on the 27th a force of 16000 Turkish infantry land in Crimea and defeats our forces there. While the battle was raging our army in Donetsk was send to help but arrived just days after the battle. In the ensuing combat the Turkish army was soundly defeated and the siege resumed once again, but in the meantime the breach in the wall was fixed.
Give me the names of those workers, they are truly god's carpenters!

December

The war will enter its second year. All seems under control. I do hope that It will stay that way!
I plan to take Crimea this year as well as azov and capture the rest of the Crimean Kahnate by early 1518. I do want to annex it!
The Persian DOW is a good opportunity for me to grab Armenia and its gold mine.
But I still have not taken Sibir.
In five years perhaps!

Ciao

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut again everyone,

January 1517

I need guns. We dicide to commission 30 more guns to help us take the cities that are now being surrounded with much better walls. Our losses are not as heavy as I would have feared, around 30000 for the whole year 1516.
On the 18th I anounce to our Czar that Azov has fallen to our troops and that the rest of the army is moving south to Kerch.

March

Rats. The Crimeans have moved into and are besieging Azov. My troops in Kerch are now out of supply and I have to pull them back to Azov. Kerch had fallen to -3. The Czar is displeased that I had not placed a garrison there. So am I. The learning curve curse I guess.

April

We defeat the Crimeans in Azov and move back towards Kerch. A great Danish army (17k) is moving to help my troops take Crimea.

May

The frigging (xcuse my french) Danes take over the siege, capture Crimea get 250D and bug out of the war. I have to start the siege over. This is insane. I fly in a towering rage but it is nothing compared to the Czar who calls the Danish ambassador and has him executed on the spot. Trahison! I cry. The bleeping fortress was at -6 and about to surrender to me. This could cost me the war as I need these troops and guns to fight the Persians.
No need to cry. But it is the second time that an ally costs me a siege.

July

Azerbadjan falls and Glinski moves to Armenia with 12i and 40a while a covering force of 15i stays in Azerbadjan.

October.

Kerch falls. My troops cross the straights to besiege the last Crimean province. Meanwhile in Crimea, my troops ere reinforced with 30 guns and 12i. The citadel stands at -3 and should go down soon.
Azerbadjan was attacked by 6i6c from Persia. The army there led by Berelovitch won a great battle inflicting 6000 casualties while losing but a mere 800 men.
Armenia is already at -3

the rest soon

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Salut everyone!

The war was now entering its thired year soon. The Crimean Khanate was all but besieged with Kerch and Azov in my hands while Kaffa and the province of Crimea under siege. Betrayed by the Danes the siege at Crimea was interrupted for a second time and the siege started again from scratch for a third time. The Persian front where my only leader, Glinski, and the better part of my army, 40 guns, were besieging Armenia was strangely quiet. After the defeat of the 40+ strong army in Astrakhan and its transformation to a mere 8000 strong detachment hiding in Kars the Persian send one Ambassador after another to beg for a few Ducats in exchange for peace. I wanted Armenia and its gold so I booted them out of the palace until they saw fit to present the Czar the treaty I demanded.

1518

I reorganized the army so that attrition losses would not cripple the various sieges in Kaffa (12i) Crimea (9i 27a) and Armenia (Glinski with 8i 37a) and post reserve forces nearby to feed reinforcement and strike any armies that would come and attack my forces.
I decide to name one new tax collector a year. This will ensure a wealthy coffre and a developping economy. I dream of being able to build a winery in Kerch one day but I will have to wait for more money and more stability in that province, when it becomes russian of course...

In june I order our 16000 men in Azerbadjan to move into Kars. Armenia falls into our hands on the 12th of the same month anad Glinski moves his forces south into Kurdistan.

July brought us our last battle in the Persian conflict when 13,000 persian troops fell upon our infantry besieging Kars. They were beaten very quickly and the siege barely interrupted.

In december Pskov receives 42 Ducats in exchange for peace with Crimea.
The court is not overjoyed with the idea of an allie deserting us but I disagree since the Pskov forces have given us a very helping hand in the various wars we fought and contributed close to 20,000 men in this war.
Of course they were responsible for a defeat in Livonia but we still needed their precious and usefull troops.
On december 14th Kaffa falls. Only crimea is left now before we can annex the whole Khanate.

1519

On january 18th the Crimean fortress fell in our hands. We ordered the presence of the ambassador and let him know that we accept nothing les than the total submission of the khanate to the will of the Russian Czar. To the great astonishment of all present (and yours truly) he scoffed at us and said that the hour of freedom for his people would come soon enough.
Now that took some balls. (In fact the Czar wanted them taken off the ambassador but the moderates and I were able to change his mind.)
Meanwhile in the great white north a rebellion broke out in Archangelsk. What were they rebelling about? The snow? Anyway 3000 men weaving baskets for the past ten years in Onega are sent there to quiet things down.


Ahh, my boss is calling. I hafta go. the rest later!

Ciao

 

[Storey]

Let the revolts begin. War weariness is a real pain. Just when you finish this war guess what. Yes someone is going to come and declare war against you. How are you going to evade this problem? When I play Russia this turns out to be my biggest stumbling block. Or are you going to just fight your way through your enemies?



Joe

 

[unmerged(3407)]

Revolts

Hello Storey

So far I figure to be able to fight them off. Persia and the Crimean are exhausted and Poland seem preoccupied elsewhere. What really helps me is my alliance with Bohemia where I can see around 100+ troops all soooo close to Warsaw. I guess the AI sees them too

The revolt in Archangelsk really surprised me. I had turned off the revolt window and was concentrating down south (with the wars and all) when I decided to send a colonist to Karelia. That's when I saw this revolting peasant (and believe me, they ARE revolting LoL) happily burning his village. hmm. I will have to scroll more often or I will get surprised by a merry band of roving armed Turkish minstrels burning up a province!

Watch the fiends!


Ciao

 

[unmerged(2540)]

ahh yes, beautiful Mother Russia. I tend to be far too warlike for most of the other powers(having taken chunks out of Poland, Crimea,and annexing both Prussia and the Teutonic Order, as well as Courland, leaving me with a 37 BB Rating. Of course, taking the Khanates as well did not help, and having to put close to 200k infantry near Sweden so she will not think it time to attack is a hassle). So, with my alliance(Can you imagine, Pskov joined those hated Poles in allaince?) to Denmark and Bohemia(Hungary refused to join in) i am next to Mazovia, so that i can take a few provinces and the capital every so often, whittle away at Poland. As for Persia, how did you manage to quell them? every time i try, i tend to lose far too much(even using aztrackhan as a starting point)and get beaten back, time and time again.
A wonderful AAR, i must say. I can not wait for the next installment.
Cheers