God does play dice – A random AAR in a random world

[alscon]

Knowing the AI, this is something it's very capable of .
Me too, though I really doubt that this will happen.
Would be nice. Though I think Russia doesn't qualify for it, being a horde. Maybe that is what Venezuela is aiming for ?

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Chapter Thirty-Six: France? Nupe.


Bienvenue. I am certain you still know Nupe, the reformed Gascons who went on to conquer most of France and Western Italy by Jalayirid-supported aggression. Well, here we are! Just having integrated Jharkhand, we also control the islands of the Western Mediterranean. Which gave Ibrahima II Solaja, our enlightened despot (6/2/3), the brilliant idea to accord some monopolies to boost trade. That the scientific revolution suffers is entirely not his fault. He (or his predecessor) was even wise enough to complete Exploration ideas! With the whole world discovered, this could only be a good idea choice. Actually, I am keeping them this time, because I tire of replacing. And because the policy of Benign Neglect is helpful for a change.

Even if most of the income doesn't come from trade. Nupe is well-off, and with the technology on par, I don't need to hire better advisers than the +1 ones present. Military leadership has seen better days though. My 89k men may not have good leadership, but they don't need them anyway. A look at our diplomatic situation shows why: Any enemy, save perhaps for the Russian-Venzuelan alliance, stands no chance should my allies join. The Nupe-Jalayirid alliance has been terrifying since its beginning just like Russia-Venezuela in the East.

My first target doesn't get to face the full might of this alliance though. Crete, sitting ally-less on 3BT Brescia, is begging for someone to free them from their existence. Bashkiria, HREmperor, is busy as we've seen in the previous chapter, and the Jalayirids wouldn't risk their eternal friendship for some useless minor that happens to be Catholic. Thanks to Rufai's military genius, the army takes more casualties marching from the capital in Armagnac to the battle site of Lombardie than in the battle itself.

As Sokoto attacks Epirus to carve out an even more impressive Eastern African Empire and Champa looks towards China (Aragon), I remember to take a look at Europe's religious situation. Because Nupe is, together with Aïr, the only nation of note that is Reformed. (There's also Nagpur.) A successful reformation took place after all, and Orthodoxy suffers under the Russian oppression.

Taking inspiration from our good Mexican ally, men everywhere are fascinated by the new Impulse Warfare (mil 30), which allows for Nupe to adapt this strategy as well. The Napoleonic Square will crush Crete... Oh, it is already crushed? Well, then it will crush Osage. No matter how good their general is, he can't keep 50k troops at bay for long. Aïr seeks, motivated by their last victory, to reconquer more English lands from Champa.

After leaving some men behind in Cremona, I advance on Sus after they gained military access through Orléans. Bad choice there, Sus. I also decide to give Ibrahima's heir 'Umaru Majigi command of an army. He's better than Rufai, and has to prove himself against the Xiu that have marched through Russia to attack Grisons. Not a smart choice either. I give the chase, and soon enough the mighty allies of Osage are as much under siege as they themselves.

With Jalayirid help, Yarkand managed to further advance on the African coast against Rewa Kantha, taking Cameroon. For some reason that completely escapes me, Yarkand thought it wise to claim Benghazi as well. On the other side of Rewa Kantha, bordering Egyptian Mentese. I won't even try to understand it. My troops in Treviso do, innovative as they are. They steal the ship design of the fishermen there. Maybe it is the first step to an overseas empire... Maybe in Tibet, where Norway finally overpowered Koch for good?... On second thought, even if the Norwegians have good ships, I can't reach them.

Garhwal (Sundgau), elector of the HRE, is a better target. Their troops are fighting somewhere, and they are yet another OPM thorn in Nupe's side. It so happens that they are allied to Sunda too, and I want to end their existence as well, so I'll take it. Conveniently saves me the hassle of declaring war on someone related to his majesty by some obscure marriage. The traitors from Québec join Sunda in this war – their mistake. Prince 'Umaru shows them why in Alençon before dealing with Sunda in Barrois.

The carpet is deployed, only Australia not covered. They certainly cower of the thought that Nupe's soldiers may come sooner or later. La Plata, having extracted enough concessions of defeat out of Peru, now attack Date. These glory-hunters are too far away to core these lands, so I guess there will be yet another concession of defeat incoming. Tafilalt peaces out with Luang Prabang, recovering a bit in SEA and ceding Namning to Scotland as well.

I rob Xiu of their ducats and alliances as Peru falls into internal conflicts. Seems that the periodical wars with La Plata brought some stability there. Might also be because of their westernization that they completed shortly after. Peru is not the only nation bringing my attention to the New World though. The USA and Mexico both declare themselves defenders of the Protestant/Catholic faith respectively. Interesting. My generals, reminded of the Mexicans with this declaration, turn towards our allies to improve our military technology.

As enough of my enemies' lands have fallen for me to free a 17k men stack, I prepare the invasion of Australia. The HRE has just been relatively pacified with Nepal restarting their expansionist cycle and Doughlat's aggression against Bengal ending in a relatively mild peace. There's just Switzerland taking advantage of the weakness of Doughlat's alliance to strike themselves. Aggressive expanders.

The enemy doesn't pose much of a threat. But his population does. Garhwali peasants try to free Sundgau from my occupation, so I have to reroute my Australian invaders to deal with them. More dangerous are the Osage revolutionaries in Cremona, by far outnumbering my army present. Somehow, they manage to fend off the rebels, the last sign of Osage as the fall of Treviso opens the peace talks with Sus and therefore the integration of Cremona into Nupe.

Nepal looks for another target in Djerid, and they are not the only ones to seek a new target. Australia is bled out from the HRE war, and I start occupying without any troops outside of their walls. Though I have to start being a bit more careful about European expansion, as a strong coalition can easily destroy Nupe even with Jalayirid help. So I call my good friends into my war against Garhwal, bringing in much needed assistance to take the few castles remaining, maybe Québecian South Georgia that I had forgotten during the war.

Not really. It is just that the Pawnee, protectorate of the Jalayirids, are Nupe's best bet to start getting into Imperialism. There is even uncolonized land! And with the Jalayirids on my side, they can't protect their centuries-old protectorate. I am sure the Portuguese Mongols won't notice the loss of Pawnee anyway.

Mombasa almost drives Brandenburg out of continental Asia as Ning's fall seems to come to an end. They have been reduced to nothing but their core lands, and China is in a similar state as before Ning's rise. I am sure historians would qualify the Ning period as 'one of omnipresent corruption, but also one of stability very much needed after the fall of the Medri Bahri Empire'. I wonder which Chinese state will dominate at the end.

Rufai can finally do what he joined up for as conquistador (attacking helpless natives) as he defeats the Pawnee in Trarza, then chasing them down to the last man in Siine. As I am dealing with one of their protectorates, Funj again tries to attack Lüneburg. Mere five days later, the Jalayirids intervene. That'll teach you not to leave the Ivory Alliance, Funj! There would have been an Animist West Africa if you hadn't!

The Nepalese generously entrust Patiala to keep Nassau, as the Swiss retreat from Switzerland, forcing Djerid to cede Zürich to Garhwal. Thanks, I'll take good care of it. Just as Ming does with Ryukyu. Well, Okinawa fulfilled their purpose, it is not a great loss. Not caring more for them, my custom nation (should have placed them on Rapanui instead, maybe) takes their revenge by unleashing a plague on Nupe. All right, I am sorry for your loss.

 

[alscon]

I've taken care of Australia, and therefore convert them to Reformed. They are an elector, and maybe Nupe could aim for emperorship some day... My diplomats are highly motivated by this ambition. No amount of aggression should stand in King Ibrahima's way. All our demands are justified, and the HRE princes shouldn't be foolish enough to try to stand in my way.

Kara Del beats up Rewa Kantha to establish themselves as true rulers of West Africa as a new player enters this region. Africa for Africans! I fear that the Jalayirids will peace out of my won war in Europe soon, and I can't reach their inland provinces anyway. Only their capital remains on the coast.

Back in Europe, I relieve Québec of their richest province, Nantes (14BT), spread the reformation and release Rev.France again. Entirely selfless, of course. Garhwal meets a better fate. They are an elector after all. Reformed it is. Vassalage as an added bonus. As for Sunda? Any trace of this former emperor is to be eradicated, or annexed by Nupe.

Bashkiria is outraged and demands the unlawful territory of Barrois. Well, I won't give it to you. Take it then. I am sure my great alliance will just sit around and watch. Speaking of which, the Jalayirids want my assistance against the vile aggressors of... no. They want me to help show Funj that they can't do anything alone and will have to gains against Lüneburg. Without hesitation, I'm in. The Swiss are outraged about my presence in Europe anyway and started a coalition.

My national bank gives Nupe all flexibility needed to raise funds, though the treasury is well-filled at the moment and loans will hopefully not be needed. A welcome event in response of which I repeal Benign Neglect. Nepal continues their expansion as they reduce Djerid to an OPM. This time, they don't risk much from the HRE coalition hammer, as it seems to form against Nupe. Not that much of a threat though, still small, and Rev.France loves me enough to enter the pre-vassal-stage of an alliance. Québec even seeks to renew our alliance after I took Nantes. They are truly good friends, so I accept.

Funj is depraved of any territorial gains yet again as the Jalayirids take war reparations. In South America, Pagarruyungan La Plata tries to turn the tables on Champani Peru for their previous aggression, though I think it will backfire on them. La Plata leaves Scotland with war reparations. The US have missed out on the fun before, but are now determined to take part as they attack Ramazan (in Western India).

Huai cures some Chinese problems as they sell Fuyang to Ming. A drop of water into the border-gore volcano. Nupe can finally start their colonial ambitions in Tekrur and Brakna as the Pawnee land has cored, and I celebrate by eradicating the natives there. Too aggressive, almost like Nupe. To show my good will, I also guarantee no attack on RFR or Québec in exchange for trade power. I also see that there are some things missing... Nupe has no Embassy or Military Academy, a fact that I have to correct. As the construction starts, my efforts pay off with an exceptional year.

The Manchu seek to invade Brandenburg again, though I am sure nothing will come of it. The HRE is in uproar again as Lan Na attacks Keladi, while the few gains I made in Huron are starting to dissipate with the Shetlands defecting to Manchu. My great general Rufai dies, and is replaced by Ma'azu Ezinwa (4/0/0/1).

La Plata's... complicated relation... with Peru, proven with their constant raids, bears some fruit as they make peace with their target Date. Not mere cash extraction, there are even cores to be returned! A lucky day for Peru (surely wondering how they got their hands on two provinces they can't even dream of reaching and that no merchant of the republic has ever heard of), celebrating with a guarantee of the Shoshone's independence. It is in their best interest that nobody tries to test this guarantee. As Dyes are produced in Tekrur, Ibrahima stands before a tough decision. He is an enlightened despot, but should the people take part in that? Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité? Rather not.

Instead, I take advantage of the Jalayirid armies present in Africa to attack Kara Del. Nupe is a great Imperialist power, and more land in Africa is the key to be recognized as such. I also of course honour the call to arms of Pagarruyung against Champa, trying to defend their Peruvian colony. If they make the mistake of landing on the continent, they will pay. Well, that is not entirely true. Champa's ally Orléans joins, and Nupe's mighty army advances on the South-Eastern border.

Orléans' army hasn't gained any confidence since I left and prefers to hide in Treviso instead of seeking the battle. Kara Del faces a great invasion from the Jalayirid colonies while I advance from the West and wipe out a small army in Gabu. The Mexicans, always the great soldiers, land in Aztec Morocco and attack them in Gharb – The Aztecs take a moment to wonder why their own land, the founding mythos of Tenochtitlán on their flag, attack them, and soon realize they are not up to such a fight and retreat.

Rev.France sees how the might of Nupe frightens Orléans and makes the right choice accepting vassalage. Orléans' hiding place maybe shelters them from the conflict, but opens up their lands for siege. They don't move, not even as Aïr ships over 22k men to Romagna. Being invaded by African Europeans, or even worse African Europeans in exile, and they don't react. Then I'll bring the fight to them. After the fall of Mantua, my new general Idirisu Umaru is determined to drive them out of Treviso, and I see that they made the right choice trying to hide.

They hide in Istria now, but the rest of their country is under siege. Kara Del doesn't have more luck in Africa. Time to leave? Sadly, yes. A two. Well, a very good turn here, so I leave with some regrets, but there are still good opportunities. With the start of the 19th century, in two more countries, as I won't bother making a new dice roll – the first of them is Serbia. Will be interesting to see if I can lead them to retake much of the territory they have lost before. Maybe there'll be a more interesting war. I think there has to be one in the last turn though. After Serbia, I am right now tending to pick up as the Jalayirids again – and declare war on Russia. Europe's greatest alliance against the hordes of the East should make for a good final showdown.

 

[Michaelangelo]

It seems that as soon as you get a great power like that, it's endless warfare until the update ends. I'm pretty sure I did the same in my tag-swap AAR too.

I'm hoping Nupe can integrate Quebec and Revolutionary France before the game end to better unifying France under their rule.

Well I'm certainly looking quite forward to seeing the Jalayirids take on Russia. That showdown will be worth the wait.

 

[alscon]

Well, after a rather long pause due to succession games and holidays, the time has come to end this with the updates of the 19th century. Serbia first, then the Jalayirid-Russian War. Then a world update, and maybe also a 'what could have been' update, considering how the world has been shaped. Will likely make some problems to read this one in that twisted world now (maybe take a look at the last world update again?).

It seems that as soon as you get a great power like that, it's endless warfare until the update ends. I'm pretty sure I did the same in my tag-swap AAR too.

I'm hoping Nupe can integrate Quebec and Revolutionary France before the game end to better unifying France under their rule.

Well I'm certainly looking quite forward to seeing the Jalayirids take on Russia. That showdown will be worth the wait.

Gobbling up minor powers until the coalition comes knocking, then look for other targets... what else is there to do if you have no equally strong opponent to test your strength?
I doubt they can vassalize Québec, though integrating RFR is well possible.
I think the war as it turned out is interesting enough - though no promises about the written form .

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Chapter Thirty-Seven: Remove... Pyramids?


Welcome to Serbia, a nation that has some... troubled times behind it. The first thing I notice is that the Sultanate has gone through some radical changes and is now an administrative republic. The people has rebelled, and it has been heard. Plans to restrict serfdom and to alleviate the suffering of the populace have been made, as well as naval improvements... thanks to Serbia's non-existent American colonies. A great time to live in Serbia!

The economy is also doing well, and Khorasan, Sokoto and Rewa Kantha are useful allies, the Mamluks our protectorate. Our recent Westernization leaves us far behind though, both in tech and ideas. Alençon is close to accepting vassalization, so I make that my mission. All is well – until I look at Serbia's current 40 loans, the still ongoing internal conflicts and the pitiful army of 11 regiments out of the 44 force limit. Damn.

To end the internal conflicts, no province has to be occupied – General Obilic is working towards it, but the 15k rebels on Socotra will be unbeatable. I also have to restructure the last idea, as exploration truly makes no sense at all for Serbia right now. Trade is a better choice. Just four days after, Sokoto calls me into their war with Epirus, with most of the nation already occupied. No, thanks. I will go for their land myself.

The Epirote are defeated by the Sokot alliance in Adan, and retreat to Mahra, where Obilic's men are waiting. The tech difference hurts at each encounter and draws a high toll, but they end up victorious, and manage to finally annihilate Epirus' army in Kindah.

Because of a province that prefers to stay anonymous, I have to face the problem of religious struggles. Let's hope this won't be a problem. I also end the internal conflicts by accepting the demands of the Socotran reactionaries. Looks like much, but as I am already Western so they can't stop the westernization, and it is only 8 prestige that I lose thanks(?) to being at -92 already. But it is worth it. The instability of the last years is finally over!

Orléans pays the price for siding with Champa as they go bankrupt. How I wish that the Tiepolo had never gone extinct... Serbia's soldiers at least have an excuse for their poor results in battle against the three new Epirote regiments: prestige, tech, their general... The Orléanais had none. Still, despite ending the internal conflicts, it is seen as poor government policy. I manage to avoid a new loan, but not by far.

Nupe is merciful towards Kara Del, maybe eyeing some Italian land for themselves. This light peace persuades Nupe's coalition to slowly disband... but not long, as they get what they were after from Orléans through Pagarruyung: Parma, Verona, and most of all Mantua, one of the world's richest cities. The coalition reforms as Ming reduces Aragon to an OPM in China. Looks like the Celestial Emperor is slowly crawling back into his original home after the fall of Ning.

Sokoto seals their peace with Epirus, allowing me to vassalize Alençon. My war will take some more time. Then a very unexpected popup opens. I can't believe it. With all the colonizers, the whole world discovered for some decades now – Serbia is the second nation to make a circumnavigation? That means that since Asakura's first one, more than a century (or even two?) has passed!

Yeren returns to the Imperial throne as Aïr faces defeat against Champa. Unable to reach the isles, they are so outraged that they break their long-standing alliance with Asakura. Despite having a new emir in the military mind Milosh Bojovic, the poor government policies repeat. Why isn't Serbia like Venezuela, easily finishing their Westernization despite falling into internal conflicts during that time?

Mentese invites the Emir to the Eid al-Fitr. Do they hope to appease our desire for rightful reconquest? Then they are fools. Just as Ana I, ruler of Connacht, facing a revolution. As I have now finished my war with Epirus, having started to get more serious as it was just a single-front war, Mentese needs every distraction it can get. Because Adan is Epirus' capital, I can't bring all of Arabia under Serbian control.

I research the bayonet (mil 27) as Mentese has to fight some reactionaries. Sokoto continues to assert their dominance in East Africa as Xi becomes their vassal and they move against Miao again.

Finally, my government makes a good move as the centralization efforts pay off. Now it is the turn of the military to squabble, and I choose to defend. And as we all know, attack is the best form of defence, isn't it? Mentese falls into internal conflicts...

 

[alscon]

The Jalayirids attempt to expand their overseas territories against Ramazan, involving most of India, as the luckless Manchu attempt to do the same against Miao. I fear they'll be too late this time (again), with Sokoto involved. Milosh has to learn of Manchu's misakes if he wants to avoid them, so I stop a book burning preserving the 'History of the World's greatest Failures' amongst others. I recruit new troops, while Patiala attacks Australia, reduced to OPM by Bengal.

The US get what they wanted from Ramazan, war reparations, as every good former colonial nation does, while Sokoto takes Eastern Miao. As I thought, there's nothing left for the Manchu to take – they are simply too late, as always. My army built up to 24 regiments, having allied Yarkand and with Mentese fighting peasants, I know think the time has come to reclaim Egypt. The numbers are clearly in our favour.

Because of taking the SEA mission, Nupe breaks their alliance with the Jalayirids. I have to correct that – they reforge their alliance anyway, but now I cancel this nefarious mission before the Western power block crumbles for good. No alliance that lasted for three centuries should be broken on a whim like that if there's a common enemy. I'll need Nupe if I am to move against Russia as the Jalayirids later... I'd also love to have them now, too, as Obilic's men are unable to break Mentese's superior army even after their fight against the rebels in as-Suways.

My allies in Khorasan can't profit from my new grain depots (adm 24) either. At least not immediately. Their first wave gets stopped in Cizre, their second attack sends the Bavarians running.

My other ally, Rewa Kantha, has more problems. Nice as they are, they deal with the pretenders that have risen up in Mentese. Sultan Dündar I is smart enough to take full advantage of it, wiping out the army of the African Indians. Ouch.

It doesn't get better as my troops face the Mentesans still encouraged by their great victory in Sina. Obilic's men never return. Ouch again.

How's Khorasan faring? They should have the raw manpower and money needed to strike true... Well, suboptimal manoeuvres have them lose an army to the Bavarians in As Saliyah, before they strike back. Not all is going bad.

The rich Serbians agree, and make a much needed donation to the treasury. Recruiting single regiments is hopeless, so I wait a bit longer before I start a new army. Brandenburg has other problems as they are under attack from Ming and Scotland.

Yarkand lands in Sirt, only to be utterly crushed. Bavaria is Western and not to underestimate, even the top-notch Yarkandi general has to face it. This absolute victory has severe repercussions back home – the oligarchy is overthrown, and Negübei von Saarbrücken crowns himself Despot of Yarkand. In Mentese on the other hand the internal conflicts end – not ideal.

Still, the enemy has only one truly terrifying army, and numerical superiority is clearly on our side – we just have to win! Emir Milosh started this war, so he is given a second term to end it. With the allied troops swarming over Bavaria, Obilic joining them with 14k fresh troops, there is a good chance it will end in our favour, just as the colonial war did for Pagarruyung, enforcing minor demands on Champa.

Sultan Dündar of Mentese manages to score some victories against smaller allied armies, most notably against the Khorasani, before they are stopped in Ar-Raqqah. Fleeing back to Egypt, the Bavarians try to return to their homeland, and Obilic is unable to stop them in Gazzah as the Mentesans return in force.

The Connachtian revolution ends with the defeat of Queen Ana and the institution of republic, while my war reaches its final stage. Having passed the Serbians, the Bavarians advance into the desert of Ajloun – the last piece of Bavaria they will see. The allied army advances further, and helps the Serbians to victory against Mentese in al-Quds.

Mentese cannot recover from that loss, and is chased around by Khorasan. The overwhelming advantage in numbers finally pays off. With new, privileged cuirassiers (mil 28), more recruits are found in Hafar al-Batin as the Manchu choose Brandenburg as their new target. This time, they might actually have a chance to claim their spoils.

Venezuela has been peaceful during their Westernization, likely because of their internal conflicts, but the Chinese can no longer revel in safety as it ends as well. Russia already looks to incorporate the Shoshone of Assam into their horde. Who will come to stop them? Not Serbia. The war still goes on in 1811, but the signs are clearly pointing towards the return of Serbian Egypt.

And that means that it is time for the war to decide if the horde will continue to threaten Europe. Time to return to the Jalayirids for the final decade.

 

[Michaelangelo]

I was just wondering what happened to this AAR the other day. Glad to see it back.

That war was certainly a back and forth battle. For every battle you won, you lost another. I see now that your alliance has the overwhelming numbers though, so I imagine Serbia will pull off a victory without you.

Serbia's current 40 loans

That gives me nasty flashbacks to my tag-swap AAR. What is with the AI and excessive loans?

 

[alscon]

Serbia has a very good excuse this time. Westernization coupled with Internal Conflicts and losing Egypt. Besides, I've not been too cautious with loans myself at one point (*cough* Pagarruyung *cough*), so it has helped said nation a lot in the next centuries. Onward, to the last battle!

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Chapter Thirty-Eight: West vs. East – Part One


So we are back again. The last time, I helped the Jalayirids to further establish their domination of Iberia, allowing them to become the world's greatest power. Now, it is time to decide once and for all if they really are or if Russia is. It will be the fight of money against men.

Why? Just look at that surplus. Over 100 ducats monthly, despite being 49 regiments over the force limit. The Jalayirid wealth knows no bounds. 214k soldiers, 597 ships. Shah Walad III Solaja (5/1/2) rules as enlightened despot, with mostly American allies – save for Nupe in Europe and Yarkand spread over multiple smaller territories, Mexico, La Plata and the USA are on the Jalayirid side – , but at war with Ramazan. I make it my mission to have a larger army than Russia, and try to end the war as fast as possible while transporting troops back to Iberia.

(Ship naming wasn't easy in the very productive Iberian docks – and the troops are scattered all over the world)

As La Plata invades Date once more, I broker a white peace with the Indian subcontinent, who has to face the Americans once again. Rumours are that the ruler of Date already prepares the official recognition of his defeat.

The time has come. The 7th December 1811, King Shah Walad makes an announcement. 'Over the last centuries, our proud and mighty nation has grown to become the greatest realm of the world. People all over Earth bow to us, and our riches are legendary. But with our might comes responsibility. We are in Iberia, and have been safe from the barbarian threat from the East, the Russian horde, that has encroached more and more into Europe. We can no longer ignore it. They border our ally in Nupe. If we don't act now, and save Europe, then it will just be a matter of time until the hordes, having overcome all hurdles in the East, reach out for Iberia. And we will be overwhelmed. No! Everyone shall see that the Jalayirids are the saviours of Europe! We will stop the horde! Europa watched long enough! To arms!'

The numbers may look like they are in our favour, but that is mostly thanks to my CNs. Of my allies, only Nupe honoured the call. And even if the Russians still have their bows, they are almost on par in military tech, at 30 compared to 31. It will be a hard and long conflict, and I aim to keep a steady front line which will push deeper and deeper into enemy land as the forts fall. Many are those who approve of this war. Nupe, as they integrate both Garhwal and Rev.France. All my subjects, as they see our just cause. But the time for words is over.

Jalayirid armies cross the Alps as they make their way into lower Austria and Croatia, where the first battle of the war is fought. Zaid Mirza leads the Jalayirid troops against none other than Khan Fyodor IX himself, and with the arrival of Nupe reinforcements, attains a glorious victory. Shah Walad III is heading for the front, and therefore dismisses the proposal to build a great palace. What idiocy is that, to even consider it when the fate of the world is at stake?

Regulating the medical profession is a much better initiative, and is used to encourage population growth. If the archers from the East have an advantage towards us, than it is their unbending will and overwhelming numbers. This can only help in what will certainly be a bloody war. There is a small problem though... The doctors aren't entirely sure if their research is safe. So they are brought to Rapanui to conduct their experiments far, far away from the rest of the world. Should anything happen, we are safe. But I don't see how this will help population growth....

Following the victory of Zagreb, the Nupians (?) chase the Russians all the way to Moldavia, where they inflict another defeat on the horde. Yet Umaru's manoeuvre has the unfortunate consequence of leaving him and his men isolated, deep in enemy territory, close to their reinforcements. In the second battle of Moldavia, he manages to prove the quality of Nupe's army as he inflicts severe casualties on the Russians before he is forced to retreat. A display of bravery that allows Umaru to return home as a hero despite his ultimate defeat.

The Russian fleet harasses small trading detachments in the Mediterranean as the main fleet makes its way there. In time, this harassment will end, just as Orléans' problems – the old, bankrupt kingdom is overthrown by Masaba Opara, a Nupian freedom fighter, and the king demoted to a mere representative figure. Opara dreams of leading Orléans back to former glory, perhaps revenge against the nation that he had to flee, but that isn't realistic for now.

After Zagreb, Jalayirid troops further march East to establish a front line from Vidin to Macedonia. As an army reaches Sofia, a Kazakh army bars their way. Certain of victory, the young general at the army's command engages them, only to be surprised by a huge number of Russian reinforcements on their way. Shah Walad III personally leads the relief forces from the West, and in the end, Sofia ends in victory, though at a much higher cost than expected.

Nupe's hero of the last march, Jimada Umaru, doesn't respect my plan. With his brave, or should I say suicidal army, he advances towards the Russian capital in (fittingly) Tsaritsyn. In Bessarabia, he is intercepted. 37k men under the Khan, later joined by 25k Kazakhs, await him. With his small army, more than half of his troops artillery, he stands no chance. This time, he returns in shame, with very few men remaining.

The emperor's attack on Flanders sets the HRE ablaze once more. It is really time to save it from the encroaching horde as they clearly can't save themselves. The Russians attack my position in Vidin, but his majesty manages to repel them. The 14th April 1814, the front I want is stable, but the Russians' defensive ideas have severely drained my manpower. Nupe aims for another march East, hopefully ending better than the first.

My main fleet finally arrives in the Mediterranean; the Russian pirates will no longer harass my traders. But the fleet arrives too late to stop Khan Fyodor from crossing the Dardanelles together with the Khazars. Mirza's men are surprised and overwhelmed at first, but with the arrival of Nupian reinforcements, the battle already ended in a Pyrrhic victory. The front will break soon if I can't get fresh mercenaries – for the remainder of the war, the merc pool is always empty as soon as it refills.

The Russian vassalize the Shoshone, allowing the Bavarians to join the war on their side and for Russian armies to invade the Jalayirid lands in SEA. I hope that the tropics take care of them and am glad to see these Russians on the other side of the continent.

 

[alscon]

The revolution continues to succeed as Yunus Idnan forces the de Camoys of Aïr to concede their political power to the people. The revolution is everywhere; but it isn't revolutionary enough to trouble the monarchies, luckily. In the wake of the republican movement, the Consul of Kangra insults Shah Walad III. A misunderstanding. The protector of Europe is beloved by his people. Surely the consul doesn't understand how the Jalayirid state is built. Stating his point and reasons for fighting the horde, the tension with the neighbours is eased.

The great Khan had retreated to Morea before being chased out again, this time headed for his core lands. Another smaller army is trapped in Achaea and annihilated – leading to enough Russian losses to fulfil my mission. More men than Russia are under Jalayirid arms – not for long, as the Bavarian attack on Edirne fails, but demands its price. The crossing giving my men an advantage, I am not blockading the strait for now.

Ning has fallen long ago – Japan has been united by Brandenburg for centuries. Likely not much longer. Ming retreats, having claimed their last continental holdings. Now the Scots and Manchu are running rampant, and the treasury is empty. Goodbye Brandenburg. More troubling for my current conflict is that La Plata has noticed an island in the Atlantic. South Georgia. “Les Malouines sont Argentins” – but when you have these islands, you have to look further East. Conveniently, Québec is from the same culture group as the Wallonians of the South. It complicates matters as they call me into the war – sadly only after Nupe could answer Québec's call. My ally will have to deal with American invaders because of some barren icy land.

But it seems they know which fight is more important. General Umaru manages to defeat the Russians as he returns from the steppe in Yedishkul, the attrition being harsh on him. Nupe also helps Mirza to repel the Russians in Muntenia. Truly a great ally.

Venezuela makes its first appearance in the West, but their small scouting force under none other than Sultan Fernando VII himself doesn't come very far before forced to retreat. The Russians are driven out of Greece with the attack on Morea.

My manpower has long reached zero, and this will be very troubling. At least I research the Four-Field-Rotation (admin 32), enacting agricultural cultivation with nothing more to spend my admin power on (manpower recovery policy is already active since my return). More force limit will make me even richer and allow for more mercenaries – would their pool refill fast enough to compensate the losses. Umaru's third odyssey ends in Kuma.

At the end of this year 1815, the enemy makes a determined try to break through my front line. Mirza and the Nupians fend off the first attack in Moldavia, their own attack in Podolia not achieving the desired result though. Through a misunderstanding between the generals, the Nupians hadn't followed Mirza's attack immediately, and now head further North, whatever they want to accomplish there – find a cold grave?

Khan Fyodor senses the opportunity, and wipes out a leaderless Jalayirid force in Bender. Mirza's revenge attack is a costly victory. More losses are not an option.

This is when 110k more men under Venezuelan leadership arrive – I sound the retreat. Back to the mountains. As I flee, the Venezuelan army attacks Mirza in Moldavia – Shah Walad turns back. The brave Nupians attempt to stop the rest of the enemy's stack, and the king has every chance to turn things around. The Siberians are defeated.

Nupe still holds the line, so I attempt to save them as well. The right choice. The enemy is defeated, and only the Russians manage to retreat – the Bavarians and Kazakhs surrender. A great victory in Yedisan, yet I still plan to retreat before returning in force. The Russians and Venezuelans can easily wear down my remaining forces with sheer manpower, so I aim for recovery. The 24th March 1816, the king of Nupe dies. My armies are in a well-defensible position, while more and more enemies come from the East. Is the war turning around, or will money triumph in the end?

(The last screen depicts my remaining army, freshly recruited mercenaries only on their way to join)

 

[Michaelangelo]

If there wasn't a restriction on how many mercenaries you could hire at once, I bet you'd be hiring them in the dozens.

Looks like a random Russian army got behind your line and is besieging Athens. Weird.

I find it amusing how so many countries are collapsing right before the end.

 

[alscon]

The war wouldn't have been interesting if there was no merc restriction back then - Russia wouldn't stand a chance.
Looking at my screens, I have no idea how they got there either .
There has been few certain things in this AAR - the terrifying horde, lucky Mexico, CNs fighting for war reparations and collapse. Without it, it would have been less interesting .
But now, to the final showdown:

Chapter Thirty-Nine: West vs. East – Part Two


Without General Umaru, the Nupians don't fare much better in Bratslav, though to be fair they faced a much bigger enemy army. With the next offensive idea unlocked, I have even more force limit, but it's not of much use. I do spend everything I can on mercenaries, yet I still make a net profit of at least a hundred ducats a month. A patch later, and I could drown the Russians in more mercenaries than they have manpower. This is not the case, so I am happy that the trade company in Indonesia builds a new fort. Let them bleed out over there.

The mercs are on the way, but in Iberia, life goes its way. Merchants develop new concepts for trade. A sculptor creates a unique masterpiece, further establishing the Jalayirid dominance in the arts as well.

The Venezuelan Sultan dies, throwing his nation into a regency. Maybe this will help to disrupt the cooperation of the enemy? They are returning in force into Wallachia, but I bar their way into the Bulgarian hills of Tarnovo. Two waves are fended off.

Zaid Mirza died in Tarnovo, and made way for the first general from the war itself, Atuf Mahmud. He immediately takes control of one of the armies that spread out, preventing further Russian advance West, or a meeting with their army in Thessaly. His Majesty camps in the mountains of Monastir, sealing off their escape, but only as long as they are just a bit outnumbered. As soon as most armies leave Tarnovo, Khan Fyodor attacks again. Mahmud returns to take the command, and strikes a severe blow to Russian morale. Khan Fyodor is dead! With his heir a child, Aleksandr Nasange becomes Khan. This has to cause some unrest.

Just as Mahmud delivers the finishing blow to Fyodor, Brandenburg's partition comes to a conclusion – for now. The Manchu finally got their piece of Asia, having taken central Honshu and controlling the strait to Kyushu, while Scotland has taken Northern Japan. Other nations have more luck. Lan Na, after countless ups and downs due to HRE coalition hammers dominates the German coast once again. Maybe the hammer won't strike them this time due to 1821 coming closer. To further rub it into the face of the mostly Protestant HRE, or simply to get on Emperor Yeren's good side, they convert to Catholic as well. Nice side effect is that they returned Yarkand their long lost provinces of Vlaanderen and Ghent.

Where's Nupe now that I've mostly secured the Balkan again and am ready to start the second offensive (this time only sending mercs to do the sieging)? They are freeing Poland. And doing a good job there. I would not be too angry about that – if the damned Poles wouldn't rise up. What nation do they seek to join again? Right, Zazzau. They will never give me a rest when I'm involved in the region, do they? The people of Varasd are much smarter. They express their wish to join the enlightened Jalayirid realm, a bid I certainly won't say no to.

My next general, Najib Zaman, goes the way of his forefathers. His replacement is again much better than the deceased, thanks to my rising army tradition: Anwar Rukh (5/4/1/2), together with my new military advisor, Commander Usama Mirza, will lead the second attack, hopefully all the way to Tsaritsyn this time. In other news, Serbia's war ends as hoped, with the annexation of Mentese. They still put up a good fight if they held out until August 1817.

Rukh advances on Moldavia, while María Teresa II ascends the Venezuelan throne. So much for possible instability. Meanwhile, General Umaru found an ally in the Yarkandi general Unegen – a bad choice. While Unegen is without a doubt a very skilled commander, he just lacks luck. He was winning this time – before reinforcements came and absolutely crushed him. Umaru's suicidal marches paired with Unegen's bad luck, that couldn't go well.

Asakura is in utter collapse. They picked the wrong side, and without Aïr behind them, the HRE turns against the formerly great colonial power. Kham seems to come out as winner of these last years, as they went from 2PM to an impressive size. Maybe they wouldn't be able to keep it, but time is on their side.

With more and more enemies pouring in, I thought it over and postponed my attack. A wise decision. Khan Aleksandr isn't such a good leader as Fyodor, and he doesn't manage to follow the bulk of his army, falling behind in Tarnovo. Long enough for Shah Walad to wipe his troops out. With the 50k Russians heading further West, he marches East.

With this last battle of Tarnovo, Shah Walad motivated his men to achieve the perfect start into 1818, a turning point of the war. He engages 36k Russians in Bessarabia. Rukh follows with 50k fresh troops. The enemy never leaves.

Mahmud then attacks the force left behind by Khan Aleksandr. Split up, with the Shoshone having led some men South, Mahmud meets a disorganized mess in battle, which quickly ends in his favour. A cavalry charge against the horde, how ironic.

Mahmud happily deals with the struggling Kazakh army that roams the Balkans after the Shoshone fled East, while Rukh heads North. A smaller Russian army is prevented from joining the Venezuelans, before Rukh attacks them in Moldavia. Another glorious victory.

After this victory, Mirza Mohsin (3/5/3/0) assumes command of the fourth army. He heads North to help Umaru in Zhytomyr, but his help his finally not needed. With 24k mercenaries, Mohsin marches towards Tsaritsyn while Brandenburg crumbles more and more, internal conflicts now.

Umaru engages a combined enemy army in Zaporozhia, and the time for waiting is over. Rukh, with the full might of his 51k men, comes to help. At the same time, Khan Aleksandr tries to break out of Greece with his stranded 68k men. Mahmud and his Majesty are fast to reinforce the army in Thessaly, and manage to repel the attack. Rukh's intervention turned to an absolute victory.

Returning to occupied Bessarabia after the battle, Rukh turns around again to meet the Russians in Ingil, inflicting serious casualties once more. Umaru has more success while Mohsin besieges Tsaritsyn, and wipes out a Bavarian and a Venezuelan force. When he's not entirely alone, Umaru has more success.

For some strange reason I cannot understand, the trade company in Indonesia steadily grows – this is the part of the world where Russians are freely besieging/occupying Jalayirid land. I wonder what that means for Russia, as their capital has finally fallen into civilized hands.

With the fall of Tsaritsyn, Russia is on the verge of collapse. Mohsin harasses fresh recruits, and wipes out a smaller relief force from Venezuela. More rebels rise up, and I am sure these are not the only ones. Khan Aleksandr begs for peace. He will get none, especially with such lenient terms.

The Jalayirids begin to hunt down Russian armies. Nupe begins hunting rebels. Wrong target! The pope finally sees our good reasons and proclaims a holy war – the few recruits who follow his call are quickly integrated into the victorious armies. Only Glinski's army remains a threat in the West, and Rukh drives him out for now.

The 28th August 1820, the war seems to be won. Enough for Shah Walad to return to Iberia. He embarrasses the court, not being used to it after nearly a decade of constant, hard warfare. He also has to deal with colonial squabbles. Warfare is so much easier.

Comes January, 1821. Umaru fights in Astrakhan, but seems to win, and Mohsin is on his way to help. New Holland declares its independence from crumbling Asakura. The war to decide Europe's fate is clearly in Jalayirid favour. And this is where I leave. Europe is saved.

After 376 years and some months, it is time to leave this world to itself. To be lost in time, and maybe some day in space. I've really enjoyed my time here, with all its crazy twists an turns, the rapid rises and falls of many nations, the luck and lack of such that other nations had. I can only encourage anyone to try this madness – it's been a fun ride. And now, all that is left to do is the last world update, and then my 'what if?' update, that can certainly hold some surprises. Though I didn't make my own task easy as I should have kept the original savegame in order to know all the nations of 1444 – I'll have to base it on the first world update then. Still, many possibilities are open. Countless 'what-if' scenarios, and I'll pick one or two of them.



If you want an after-after-action-report, then I can say that the Jalayirids, having bested the Russian beast, go on to control Europe after merging with Nupe, following Shah Walad's speech: 'The saviour of Europe shall be the ruler of Europe'. Mexico unites with the USA through a lucky inheritance, and conquers Aïr. At this point, the allies divide up the world, Mexico getting America, Jalayirid-Nupe Eurasia and Africa. Mexico might be lucky once again... Not much thought went into it, I admit . Will be better in the what-if-scenarios, I promise .

 

[Michaelangelo]

All hail the Jalayirids, defender of Europe and slayer of the Eurasian hordes!

It looks like Scotland had some luck at the end. I remember them getting trampled early on.

I'm very interested to see how China turned out. I imagine it's still a mess.

 

[alscon]

Yes. Yes, very much so. Yes, absolutely .


World Update Seven : 1821


Time to look at what the last centuries have brought forth after the great shuffle of 1444. Let's advance as before.


Europe:

Is saved . Other than the obvious war, the collapses of Orléans and Asakura would leave room for new powers to rise, such as Kham. Champa lost some land in their colonial wars, while the Manchu finally satisfied their colonial ambitions. Their concentration was so focused on colonies that the Manchu threatened no European in the last years. Maybe they were involved in the very dynamic HRE though, which has – or had – a somewhat stronger emperor since I forced Australia to convert, but Yeren did a poor job. Nepal seems to have the upper hand right now.


Africa:

Serbia is back in strength after taking back Egypt, and Sokoto extended the grip on East Africa. Rewa Kantha and Kara Del stagnated in the West, with Nupe appearing on the coast – I wonder why. The Aztecs and Pagarruyung seem to have decided to leave things as they are too.


North Asia:

Venezuela. Haixi may have gained some land from Dagbon, and Japan has been split in three, but one is irrelevant, the other has been covered. So it is Venezuela.


South Asia:

Most has happened here if not in Europe. Even if India has basically not changed – save for the Peruvian cores that have been returned. Tafilalt returned to SEA in power. The biggest impact has of course been left by the destroyer of nations, Russia. Having torn apart Dali is but one of their vile actions. China is a mess again since Ning's disintegration. But it seems as if the Celestial Emperor returns – no, not Medri Bahri. Ming! Together with Scotland, the Ming have made most gains in the region and brought a feeling of stability over the last years.


Indonesia + Australia:

Tafilalt has managed to throw the revolutionary Irish out of Sumatra again – before or after the revolution, I can't say. Save for this, the only change here is New Holland's last-minute declaration of independence.


South America:

Peru, once the invasions from La Plata ceased, finished off Tripura. The merchant republic held out pretty well. The other Inti native that survived until now didn't have it much better – the Dutch still hold some land, but Peru, Champa, Jalayirid Peru and Bijapur (westernized native) have taken most of their provinces. Else, not much has changed, as JC might have over 50% liberty desire, but isn't suicidal.


North America:

Mexico, the USA, the Jalayirids in California and Aïr still dominate this continent. Mexico gobbled up more natives and Canada, as the USA did (the native part). That leaves Portugal (at the mercy of the surrounding powers) and the Inca as notable native countries – the Inca are known for an extended period of peace, their last conflict was when I was there.


Income:

The winners of the last years have found their success reflected in their income. Mexico, the USA, the Manchu, Sokoto and Serbia all made gains here, though nobody comes even close to the supreme master, the Jalayirids. Their trade income alone is around 60 ducats more than Mexico's entire income. Russia suffers under the war, and Asakura has faded away.


Armies:

The belligerents all suffered a lot; but the Jalayirids still have the biggest army on Earth. Even if I stopped hiring mercs since the victory is clear. Could afford much more. Other than that, there are the expected suspects – Champa very far over its force limit – but also one intruder. Can you spot it? I'd guess freshly rebelled. And about the manpower – just take a look at Russia's reserves.


Navies:

The all-powerful Portuguese trade-fleet dominates it all – the Jalayirids have almost as many light ships as the five next nations have ships of all types together. Together with their CNs, they likely have as many ships under their flag as the rest of the world. Iberia rules the waves.


Score:

In the end, the result is pretty clear if you judge by score. Though for some countries, like Russia, Venezuela and Asakura, it couldn't have gone on much longer. Others are fairly safe on their positions.


Religions:

Not much to say, but interesting enough to be included nonetheless. Only one Orthodox country remains, but with most of Russia's gains unconverted, there are still many provinces following this faith.


HRE Emperors:

I've included this at the end just to show how fluid the HRE has been. Flanders has been emperor the most from what I can see.


Very well, so ends the last World Update. Time to think of some good what-if-scenarios!

 

[Michaelangelo]

It's sad when Venezuela and Russia are the strongest powers in China and they're not even Chinese. I'd also love to know how Russia even keeps their Chinese territories under control when it's so far away with no land or sea border.

Russia was clearly slacking off in the war if they didn't make use of the massive manpower pool. All the better for you and the Jalayirids that they didn't.

It's cool to see some blobs appear after the mess at the game's start. The Jalayirids and Nupe seem like strong European powers. Mexico is clearly doing well for itself, as well as our good buddy Air. I don't even need to mention the hordes. Dear god they're big.

 

[alscon]

Yatenga caused all that trouble. They collapsed, but had to keep one province over there . And Russia probably just scared the Chinese into submission.

Might have something to do with 'I have no free reinforcements!' that crippled Russia's finances . On the other hand, without Russian ideas their pool wouldn't be as big.

The consolidation proceeded fairly well in some regions, in others *cough* China *cough* not so. Still, that was the interesting part - who comes out on top?

_________________________________________________________

What-If-Scenario One – Natives in Control:


Many hasn't been set in stone during these years. A lot could have done completely different, and that is what I am looking to show in these scenarios. I'll advance region per region, starting with the one I knew from 1444 onwards. Should really have kept a save from then around, but it will work out too. At the beginning of the regional descriptions, there will be a map from the first world update (or first look), at the end a comparable one with roughly traced borders – that will have to do, my graphical skills are not the best, and I don't want to work with the saves due to patch difference .


Europe:

At the time of our first look at Europe with the Jalayirids in 1481, there wasn't one all-dominating power – what if it stayed that way? In this scenario, Europe's borders are shifting all the time.

In Britain, Champa and Aïr had the upper hand, but with long and draining wars, Nagpur, Tuscany and Shirvan pounced. Always fluid, nobody came close to uniting the five nations, and when they did, revolts tore it apart again.


France was a battlefield for Chavchuveny, Québec, Nupe and Powhatan. Kangra was expelled, but with constant pressure from Sunda in the East, alliances were short-lived and directed only against the invader from the HRE. Around 1700, Powhatan finally gained the upper hand, but the full annexation of its rivals in a long war brought more troubles. Revolutionary France rose up, and finally united the region from the ashes of its predecessors, threatening the HRE as the world enters the 19th century.


Iberia is yet another region where rivalling nations tear each other apart. The riches of Jalayirid lands can't be left solely for them, or they will develop into a terrifying world power. An alliance of Yan, Kangra and Creek declares its mission to cut them down to size before the age of exploration dawns. The fighting is hard and long, and it is Egypt's attack that decides it in the favour of the enemies of the Jalayirids. The Muslims, backed by their brothers in faith from Africa, push forward deeper into the peninsula, taking advantage of the Catholics' weakness. As the reformation hits, their faith separates the Christian states as well. But as Egypt's colonial ambitions end in a disaster, Ryukyu's time has come. Preying on the heretic Kangrans first after their defeat in France, Ryukyu grows strong enough to lead a Catholic alliance to start the second reconquista. Egypt is pushed back, but holds on to the coast. The League War stops Ryukyu's ambitions, and it is only afterwards that they manage to unite the Christians of Iberia and finally push out the Muslims in 1780.


The HRE has been place to countless wars. Each time a nation seemed to gain a dominant position, its neighbours ended that position by joining together and bringing the conqueror down. Only the emperorship of Sunda over the 16th century brought stability into the empire, nobody daring to anger the mighty emperor that conquered the low countries and pushed deep into France. That is, until the reformation made its impact. Led by the princes of Orléans, Pattani and Flanders, most Eastern HRE members formed the Protestant League, that rapidly found many supporters. Sunda found itself surrounded quickly; few sided with the mightiest nation of Europe, save for the Christian Iberians who wished to defend their faith. The League War saw the West of the HRE crumbling under staggering casualties, yet the emperor wouldn't give up and started to make gains. Then, the French nations banded together to expel the invader, and Sunda and its allies faced two fronts. It was the money that decided. They went bankrupt, the armies left disbanded, and the nation collapsed, its spoils shared under all who could. The HRE would continue its entire following existence in inconsistent chaos.


Scandinavia came to be a bastion of peace in Europe. With fights breaking out everywhere else, the four major Scandinavian powers controlled the entire region in 1500 – Khandesh, Transylvania, the Manchu and Jerusalem. With their equal strength, no matter who attacked whom, both would be at the mercy of the other powers. This balance came to unite them. When the Songhai attacked Jerusalem in 1570, the Scandinavians worked together to stop their advance. With peace at home, they could, unlike most other Europeans who met severe resistance in their colonial adventures and soon gave up, start to look outward.


The Balkans have been the Balkans. Multiple smaller nations that weren't crushed either by the Miami Turks or the Russian horde. With the Greeks from Saxe-Lauenburg, York and Salzburg working together to push out the Muslims, Orthodoxy came to be the dominating faith, even more so after a period of Liègan rule over Touggourt and Pate – ended in the League War as Liège sided with Sunda, but with the lasting legacy of Orthodoxy.


Eastern Europe outside of the steppes and Russia has seen some major conflicts that allowed the HRE to push East. Poland fell under Imperial influence after a failed attack from Zazzau on Multan while the Guarani lost their Western lands during a successful campaign against Huron. Otherwise, the region always suffered of being between Russia and the HRE...


Speaking of whom, the Russian horde was still a fearsome foe in this scenario, but focusing more on the South, rapidly conquering the Caucasus. Songhai on the other hand proceeded to absorb Canada, Caddo and Champasak, with the Shamans of Sardinia conquering Dai Viet. When Russia turned its gaze North a century in, most of the actual Russian core land had been unified under Songhai rule. They were fierce and effective at holding back the horde, but seemed to crumble under their sheer manpower – until Sardinia intervened and attacked the horde. With no notable ally in the East, the horde was defeated and had to cede vast swaths of land to its northern foes. Rebels sought their independence from the horde as well, and Russia's decline had begun to find its end far later, with Vijayanagar coming from the Caucasus to end their former oppressors' last holdout in Azov. Songhai felt itself so strengthened from the Russian war that they initiated the Great Northern War, that ended in failure and Scandinavian unity. Forced to release the Caddo and Canada again, Sardinia once again attacked a weakened enemy. Over the next years, the Shamans took most of Songhai's Eastern lands.


Marked by constant warfare with few major powers emerging, Europe mostly had to concentrate on its own matters – so natives around the world had their chances.

Africa:

One might remember faintly that my first years were in poor West Africa, in Gondwana. During these years, three powerful nations fought for dominance in this region, many in the North and East. Just as it happened in this timeline, Gondwana established the Ivory Alliance and absorbed most other nations around fairly quickly. Spain met similar success in the East, profiting from Coptic and Muslim infighting. In the North, Albania and the Aztecs split up the Berber lands, free from Iberian influence, too busy unifying themselves. The Khmer unite most of Egypt.


After the phase of initial aggression, things calm down a bit. But unlike last time, Gondwana and Spain find strength in their religion – the Animists start reconverting the lands lost to Muslims before. The Muslims find this highly disturbing, people formerly praying to Allah turning towards the Great Elephant and the other animal spirits. Kara Del and Rewa Kantha ally, and declare war on Gondwana. With Spain not weakened, and both Kiowa and Funj honouring the Ivory Alliance, Gondwana manages to fend off the attack, and the Muslims are weakened for good. In the North, Albania and the Aztecs help Egypt (the nation) out to conquer most of Iberia, while Khmer fends off the Serbian incursion in Egypt (the region).


The 16th century sees unifications in Africa. Gondwana finishes to assert its rule in West Africa, pushing out the Muslims over the desert, just as Spain does in the East. Further South, Ming has taken control of the coast and the gold mines; Albania and the Aztecs cross blades the first time after the first conquered Tunisia – just around this time, the reconquista in Iberia begins, with the Berbers unable to help Egypt. Albania comes out as victor, and the Aztecs will never recover. The Khmer seize Tripolitania.


Egypt was the first nation to establish colonies along the African coast; with their collapse in Iberia, Gondwana seized these colonies in the West. Later, Albania's colonial efforts saw them landing in Kongo; the Brazilians there stood no chance. Albania further colonized the Cape. With the support of their faithful ally, Spain conquered the Ming in a series of wars. The Animists are in control. Smaller skirmishes are all that further moves borders, especially in the critical zones, where the Muslims border the Animists. Only one major change occurs – Ryukyuan settlers arrive on Madagascar.

South America:

Tripura already had a tight grip on most of the Andes during my short stay in Tver; the unsuccessful independence war showed the Tripurans that they have to use other methods than vassalization to keep their realm together. In conclusion, they conquered all other Inti nations over the next fifty years. Slowly reforming their faith, Tripura began to colonize savage lands, and took control of most of Western South America.


In the East of this continent, Sweden has a fairly strong presence and an economy able to sustain colonies – with nobody around, the tropical vikings begin to seek lands to conquer, or at least raid. Sweden's influence steadily grows. At the tip of Brazil, the Navajo unify the three tribes, and face a similar problem, with a similar solution.


The first colonists from Europe are Egyptians in the mid-16th century. They land just between the Navajo, settling Southward, and the Swedes, expanding Westward. Egypt's colonies manage to establish themselves well enough, until they encounter both tribes around the same time. First with simple trade, connections are established, but the tribes have their ambitions. After adapting the Western technology, the Swedes and Navajo seal an alliance to end Egypt's presence in America. The Egyptians make use of most of their resources to hold on to their precious colonies, but are finally repelled from America, the begin of their downfall.


Fighting over the spoils, the native alliance was very short-lived. Sweden comes out as victor, and take over the Navajo over the course of the next century. As they meet the Tripurans in the West, the nations seal a treaty, dividing the continent up – Tripura gets the West, Sweden the East. The ferocious warriors drive out any European putting a foot on their soil, and without the technological advance, there is few they can do against it.

North America:

In Mesoamerica, the Abenaki have come out on top of the Atlepetls. With their first reform though, its vassals break away, and Sibir sees the advantage. Strongest of the Mayans, they advance and conquer most of Abenaki's former vassals, converting them as well. With Sibir's first reform, it all breaks apart again, but they held on to their core lands, and gained the possibility of colonization – Sibir begins settling lands further South.

One of their victims, Kurland, gains strength under this new faith. They conquer their former overlord, and form a Northern border – over the next years, they begin looking North. Allying with Sibir, a cycle begins, undisrupted by any European arrival, at the end of which Kurland controls the North and Sibir the South.


The rest of the continent has either some vastly superior nations, like Gelre, Scandinavia, Colima

or Portugal, who begin taking over their weaker neighbours. Or they have isolated nations, like Corfu and Lanao, who have no need for a standing army and invest into new lands. Some tribes have a less clear outcome; Jan Mayen takes over Oda and Warsangali, not hindered by Portugal, and Charrua manages to unite the tribes of the Appalachians.

Such conquests over, greater federations form, and peaceful settlement begins. Most of the continent is being settled permanently by the multiple tribes that have come out on top. Most Europeans that arrive are a few half-starved adventurers that hope to flee the wars of their homelands, but when they enter conflict with the tribes, support from home is so few that they stand no chance.

Gelre takes over California, Siak the rest of the West coast, Lanao most of the plains, Scandinavia Louisiana, Jan Mayen Canada, Corfu Québec and Nova Scotia, Colima the Great Lakes, Portugal New England and Charrua the central East coast.

It is only the arrival of organized Scandinavian settlers in the early 17th century that change the fate of the continent. Transylvanians land in Canada. Jerusalem in Manhattan. The Manchu in Florida. Khandesh in the Caribbean. They start looking for trade agreements with the very present natives. Mostly, the peaceful Scandinavians find profitable agreements without having to resort to military might, but not always. Wars break out against Corfu, Portugal and Charrua over the control of the coasts, wars that end clearly in the Norsemen's favour. The coast taken, the natives keep their heartlands, and reform to Western standards later, co-existing with the Europeans.

Middle East:

The Miami Turks have capitalized on their strong starting position to claim supremacy over the other Anatolian nations. In compensation for their losses in Greece, they took over most of our Turkey with the help of an unlikely ally. Threatened by the hordes of Bavaria and further East, the crusader Catholics from La Plata helped the Miami to rule the peninsula. The alliance gave them the safety to triumph over the neighbouring hordes without fearing a Serbian attack, and they managed to secure Mesopotamia. With the Caucasus free from Russia under Vijayanagari rule, the alliance grew of a third nation.


Arabia has been under Serbian domination, and without Epirus being able to extend their influence into Spanish East Africa, they fell to Serbia as well, the birthplace peninsula of Islam fully under Serbian rule. The way North barred by the Platine-Miami alliance, Serbia, left on its own, tried to expand into Egypt under the Khmer, a campaign that was hard-fought, but finally ended in failure after peasants rose up in Arabia, tired of the very costly war, signing a white peace. The peasant's war left Serbia weakened, and La Plata took advantage of it to seize the Holy Land, severing Serbia's connection to the Mediterranean. In order to prevent another loss, Serbia found the Ashanti as willing allies.


The Ashanti who have slowly taken control of Persia after defeating Yatenga, venturing forth to the gates of India, where their advance was stopped. Seeing weaker neighbours in the North, the Ashanti seized the regions of Bukhara and Khiva from Tlaxcala, securing their rich heartlands. The Tlaxcala may have lost their South, but they are nomads – crumbling Russia was a way to escape. And since they sealed an alliance with Kiche and Hannover, the region came to peace.

North Asia:

Sardinia dwells in the shadow of the terra incognita just as does most of Kiche, yet it is these two Shamanist nations that are undisputed rulers of Siberia. Without Russia to back them or Hannover's corpse to feast upon, Venezuela cannot attain the greatness it has reached before. They can absorb the Cheyenne, but when advanced Sardinian troops return from their Russian campaign, Venezuela stands no chance. Kiche could back them, but this horde is rich enough to live without looting and has divided up Siberia with their brothers-in-faith from Sardinia, reforming their government as soon as possible. With the massive Hannoverian horde and Mombasan empire in the South, their choice was quickly made, and the conquest of Eastern Siberia is all that Kiche does before settling down.


Mombasa managed to to fall prey to rebellion, as did China, which left this region as a beacon of stability, not so much different from Scandinavia in Europe. With Hannover ruling supreme as the mountain horde, Medri Bahri's celestial rule unchallenged and Mombasa controlling Manchuria and Korea, only Japan was divided. The Shogun from Mainz could not keep his belligerent daimyos under his thumb, and faced a dangerous external threat – the Qi tribe. Constant warfare weakened the empire massively, and while the daimyos fought each other in the west, the Qi marched more and more Westwards and conquered Sakhalin. In the end, it was not the Shogun, nor any daimyo, that united Japan, but the Qi in the mid-17th century, far later then Brandenburg did.


This caused the only war of a bigger scale in East Asia, as Mombasa had kept hold of its exclave in Chikuzen over all these years. The Qi wanted to take it to truly rule the Japanese isles and built up a massive fleet. The war began over Chikuzen, but the Qi fleet didn't manage to decisively beat the Mombasan one. Landing after landing, the Mombasans attempted to defend their land, occupying half of Qi, being repelled again. It was Medri Bahri's intervention that brought Mombasa to concentrate on their homeland, and to finally concede some of their Southern territories to the celestial emperor. The Qi would have had the upper hand, if the Scandinavians didn't appear. Seeing a weak and belligerent nation, they split up Japan into four parts, and quickly overwhelmed the Qi.

South Asia:

India could have gone many ways. But as usual, three nations come out on top after centuries of fighting – Kano in the South, extending their grasp to the Deccan plateau. Alsace in the East, using their control of the Bengal delta to dominate the entire region. And Naxos in the West, counting on the support of both previous powers to establish their hold on Rajputana. With the three nations allied to each other and defending the subcontinent against external threats from the Ashanti in the West, Hannover in the North and Scotland in the East, India stays stable for the last hundred years.


South-East-Asia was firmly in Scottish hands. This time, the Scots didn't get too greedy nor did they persecute the peoples they conquered, but tolerated them. With acceptance of their rule, Scotland's might was unstoppable, and SEA fell entirely into their hands. Allying with Connacht to drive out the Muslims of Tafilalt, no European could take a hold of anything else then Japan in Asia.


As Connacht, sea-faring superpower, used their potential and knowledge. Stretching from the Andamans to the Society Islands was not enough, all of Polynesia and the multitude of islands in the South-West-Pacific would have to be under their rule. This was their destiny. Using their foothold in Sumatra, they overran most other nations, only stopped temporarily by Tafilalt, cause of their alliance with Scotland. After it was sealed, Tafilalt and Baluchistan were defeated decisively, and Connacht's rule was supreme. Colonization began.


The Javanese Irish's focus was not on Australia, so Scandinavian explorers managed to settle before Connacht did, and split it up again to keep their balance.

So this is the first what-if-scenario. Europe has been in constant warfare, and met strong or aggressive (or both) natives wherever they went, so that few colonization could be done. Hence the title – Natives in Control.

I envision two more scenarios before closing this AAR for good: Full-Scale Imperialism and The Natives Strike Back. For the sake of authAAR and readAAR, I'll gladly take any advice on the second scenario's maps, or I'll leave them out entirely, as I don't think these are working. That's a better idea, but as I made these crude maps, might as well show them.

 

[Michaelangelo]

It's fun thinking out possible scenarios of how your game could have gone.

A unified China is nice to see.

 

[alscon]

And it is hard to imagine a scenario in which China has more problems .

What-If-Scenario Two: Full-Scale Imperialism


After abandoning map-making, I'll advance in somehow chronological order for this second scenario. I think it is relatively easy to figure out what is going to happen here .


Over the first decades, the world progresses similarly to the one before. Only this time, the Holy Roman Emperor doesn't change for a simple reason – it benefits the stronger HRE powers, who intimidate all weak electors. The Hansa stays a powerless emperor, and with the strong nations working together, no coalition hammer can bring down the growing HRE nations. Asakura, Sunda, Lan Na, Keladi, Bengal, Nepal and Flanders divide the German lands under themselves. Orléans takes control of Italy.


Europe becomes too small as terrifying alliance webs cover the continent. Still, war escalates from time to time, most notably the war in the West between the Jalayirid-Powhatan alliance against the Kangran-Sundanese and their minor allies. After long years of fighting, the Jalayirids have to concede defeat; the Leonese coast goes to Kangra, most of Portugal to Yan, and Sunda seizes Powhatan Flanders. Around the same time, a Champani explorer lands in Newfoundland, signalling the start of the colonial race.


With conflicts in Europe bloody and rarely bringing much change in power, the Europeans try to gain an advantage through colonies. Each major nation with a port starts to look elsewhere. Champa. Aïr. Transylvania. Khandesh. Manchu. Asakura. Keladi. Lan Na. Sunda. Powhatan. Québec. These nations land in North America. Kangra. Yan. The Jalayirids. Creek. Orléans. These nations reach Africa or South America. 16 nations, all looking elsewhere to gain an advantage over their rivals.


With the decline of the hordes in the East, Russia defeated by an Orthodox alliance of Liège, Zazzau and Songhai, these three nations begin to control Eastern Europe. Not falling behind the colonists in the West, they turn East to grow their influence, and horde after horde falls. The Miami and Serbia expand their influence in the Middle East, with Persia falling to a joint invasion. China and Scotland collapse under countless rebels.


The colonizers conquer the natives without a second thought. Creek and Orléans take over most of West and North Africa, only the respectable force of Serbia and Miami standing in their way. The remaining Iberians scramble for South America together with Québec. The Powhatan have been defeated by Sunda in Europe, but come out on top in Mesoamerica, trouble brewing with their powerful neighbour.


Colonial nations are established, and their rivalries are dominated by the rivalries of their overlords. Multiple colonial wars break out in the Americas, few escalating in Europe. Powhatan Mexico's attack on their Sundanese counterpart is an exception. Falling into the period of the reformation, it unleashes the League War, Sunda seeking retribution. Europe is in flames, and some colonial nations achieve their independence in the ensuing chaos, most notably the trigger of the war; Powhatan Mexico, controlling most of Mesoamerica, becomes a respectable power, as do Québec Peru and Earth, Aïr's colony in Eastern North America, soon known as USA.


Unconcerned by the war in Europe, the Indian nations tangle in their own alliance web, and whenever one realm seems to come out on top, then a coalition hammer like the HRE one in the original timeline hits. China and Japan are also a constant rise and fall of nations.


The storm over Europe loses its momentum with a Peace of Westphalia signed in the HRE, the claims in America are fairly well distributed between the colonizers and the now independent colonial nations. For some, the war meant the end of their ambitions; the Powhatan won in America, but were overrun at home, which led them to lose their American possessions as well. Québec and Sunda took their remaining coastline. Khandesh and Transylvania pushed into Manchu. But the other nations fought until the bitter end, that meant that not much changed. So they turn towards their imperial ambitions again, their gaze wandering East.


The Iberians claim the cape, but Madagascar and the smaller islands remain as gate to Asia for the Northern powers. Orléans invades Miao instead, seizing Zimbabwe's gold mines. With a coalition turning against Syria in India, the Europeans come. Unlike the Miami and Serbia who can match their power somehow, the weakened Indians cannot. Europe splits up the subcontinent after the ideals of 'first come, first serve'. The Northern nations come too late to claim their parts.


Instead, they feast on the remains of the Scottish empire, never again close to unity as they were under the Scots. The European Imperialists reach Cathay. Yet they don't find a fabled stable empire. Their expeditions showed a chaotic mess, where nobody knows who rules over who. Traders trying to make some nice profit were intercepted as spies for the other country. Ning, Min, Chu, Medri Bahri, Aragon, Mombasa, Salish, Sicily, Iroquois, Norway, Scotland – always the other one.


It was up to the great powers of the West to bring order to China. With Songhai, Zazzau and Liège almost reaching the Middle Chaos from the West, for once the colonial powers were acting together, with the shared goal of preventing their Orthodox enemies from reaching the riches of Cathay. The region, together with Korea and Japan, is split into spheres of interest, and successive invasions carry the designed borders from the paper on the map.


Not only the Europeans have their Imperial ambitions. Their former colonies have them as well, only their focus laid on their continent until it was fully settled. Only Australia and Indonesia weren't under European dominance at that point, and they wouldn't. Peru, the USA and Mexico invaded Connacht, grown decadent on their comfortable situation in the Spice Islands. The Americans took control fairly easily after sinking their outdated fleet.


With the whole world under European control and no dominant power emerging as all grew in strength fairly similarly and the alliances held throughout the ages, another factor had to upset the balance of power – the revolution. Like the Reformation, it broke out within the HRE, but spread even faster; the crowns of the HRE and Scandinavia were overthrown. United against common enemies, Europe's alliance blocks dissolve and reform into two – monarchists and revolutionaries. War will soon erupt, and a new era begin; the age of Imperialism that shaped the world ends.

With this, one scenario remains - the natives strike back. Other natives than the ones of the first scenario, and no, they won't just be the other power that could have come out on top .

 

[Michaelangelo]

A strong HRE in this world is as absurd as a unified China.

There should be a scenario where Russia just swallows all of Europe and Asia.

 

[alscon]

That's so true it isn't even funny . And you can easily imagine a scenario like that yourself .


What-If-Scenario Three: The Natives Strike Back


For this scenario, I will not do any chronological order but advance in regions again. And include maps – less crude, as they'll be in-game ones . Just imagine the empty land as colonized, Malta as the Jalayirids and another easier substitution. So let us start in


Europe:


This continent has a very troubled history, with few nations remaining where they are in 1444. Of the great nations present at that time, very few are those surviving. The Russian horde is amongst the survivors. Instead of pushing West, the Khanate turns its gaze Eastward, with the aim of ruling supreme over all hordes. Not crushed immediately by the monster next door, the Muscovites and Meissians profit. When Zazzau and Champasak exhaust each other in a terrible war, both are quick to take the opportune moment. Muscovy absorbs the lands in its North, while Meissen conquers land in the West. Songhai, thinking to sense a weakness in Russia, tried to take advantage of it, but faile miserably, overwhelmed by the horde's endless manpower. Again, Muscovy profits. Having come out as victor, their position is not challenged and they eat their smaller neighbours before defeating Sardinia, becoming the ruler of non-nomadic Northern Russia.


With clever warfare, the Meissians had reached the HRE, a region that was too small for its ruling powers – or too big. The Hansa tried to bring in order as emperor, but after they 'liberated' Kham and Macina, annexed by Keladi, through taking it for themselves, support for the emperor was wavering. A coalition led by the Commonwealth drove the Hansa out of the Rhineland, and they settled for their Northern domains, slowly expanding their influence there over the next years, controlling Northern Germany and Denmark in the end.

Flanders was elected in the Hansa's place, only to strive towards their own goals as well. Flanders defended crumbling Sunda from Powhatan aggression and claimed the Powhatans' lowlands as their price. A strong, but greedy emperor, Flanders waged wars of liberation against Asakura, Bengal and Sunda, freeing Poland and Switzerland, but asking very high prices for the liberation in other land. Soon enough, the entire HRE and powers from the East were against the overly aggressive ruler. In two different coalition wars, started within two months, Flanders was mostly dismantled. Holland and Liège invaded from the West by sea and claimed provinces in the lowlands. Meissen, taking part in the war seeing profit, seized Bohemia. Danzig, Poland and the Commonwealth claimed the Saxon lands. Flanders was broken.

As Orléans assumed emperorship, they used the Imperial power to push into France, driving out the Creek from there. The di Piombinos didn't care for Imperial internal politics though. Flanders' dismantling left a vacuum and multiple non-members entering the HRE, Meissen in the East and the Balkan countries in the West. Meissen waged a costly war to gain complete control over the Polish- Ruthenian lands, and this would be their mistake. Poland, the Commonwealth and Danzig allied to remove this threat, and expand the HRE. Meissen won, then was attacked by the three nations. Having no interest in the poor Bohemian land, they took control of Meissen's recent conquests, splitting the Polish region between Danzig, later conquering the Eastern Baltics, and Poland, while the Commonwealth should control Ruthenia in the future. With the Muscovites coming from the East, Meissen's capital moved to Prague, making it a member state.

In North Italy, Crete didn't attract Orléans' attention long enough to conquer the smaller states around. Embarking to defend Bundelkhand from Navarrese aggression due to an alliance, the Cretans used their new base in Hüdavendigar to stab their allies in the back and annex the Greek islands. Switzerland, having taken over the upper Rhineland, struck while the Cretan army was in Greece. With their Genoese ally, the Swiss divided Crete's homeland into a Swiss North and Genoese South, confining the Cretans to their Greek conquests.

The Emperor pushed further into France when the League War erupted, involving belligerents from all over Europe. The Commonwealth lost its Rhenish possessions to the Swiss, while Liège and Holland met strange fates. With Albania and Serbia invading the Balkans on the winning Protestant side, the two nations lost parts of the Balkans, and lost the rest of it over the next years while growing in power within the HRE. Pattani was overwhelmed by Styrian invaders with their Salzburgian vassal, and lost Austria over the course of the next years. Not lost for the Christians though, as the population forced the Styrians, driven out of Anatolia, to adopt Catholicism. As rebels overwhelmed their overlord, Salzburg declared their independence, backed by Crete, and entered the HRE as independent nation in exchange for their Naxian homeland. Through carefully choosing their wars, Salzburg came to dominate its part of Germany.

The Emperor Orléans was defeated, but not broken, with most concessions made by the other losing parties. The Tuscans from Scotland gained a foothold in Italy, and whenever the emperor advanced into France, the Tuscans, allying the Genoese, drove them out of the boot.

The Swiss had been too aggressive within the HRE, and their hold on most of the Rhineland was not too tight as a result. Westphalian rebels rose up in their Alsatian homeland and quickly occupied every Swiss province North of Alsace, creating this new nation. The Swiss weren't able to strike back.


Orléans had more success in France, where they focused their attention. After the Creek, Nupe couldn't resist long, as did the successors of Sunda in Southern France. Together with Flanders, Orléans attacked the Powhatan from both sides, and most of France came into Orléanaise hands.


Britain was initially dominated by the Champa – Aïr conflict, but with the Tuscans, first liberated by Aïr, later their enemy, controlling Scotland, a third power came into play. Aïr couldn't advance further, and with Tuscany gaining Italian lands, they also gained a new ally in York, controller of most of Greece. When Aïr did attack the Tuscans after a hard war in Italy, they couldn't fend off an invasion from York. The Tuscans were very pleased of their ally's efforts and thanked York with most of England. Over the next years, York ended Aïr rule in England entirely. Britain entered a period of peace, until Champa decided to take a foothold in the spice islands. Champa attacked Connacht, but met fierce resistance. The Champani fleet was sunk. The Tuscan fleet, arriving a bit later, was as well. With the Tuscan army in Italy, Connacht and their Scottish ally invaded Scotland, and after having amassed their forces marched into Ireland. Champa was humiliated. Tuscany had to cede its Scottish territories to Scotland, Champa most of Ireland to Connacht. Their colonies rebelled, and Champa's existence in Europe ended not much later, fallen to Connacht.


If Champa's example of failure was bad, then the Scandinavians' failure was the worst. Transylvania, having taken the Eastern Balkans in a trade war against Liège, and the Manchu were allied. While Jerusalem went heroically to defend the Catholics of La Plata against Muslim aggression, managing to take control of the Holy Land, the two nations conquered Finland. Payback would not come from Jerusalem, having more enemies at its new doorstep, but from their colonial ambitions. Transylvania had landed in the Mississippi delta, and the Manchu in Venezuela. Everything went as planned until their colonial governors adapted a policy of attacking each native in sight. The colonial nations hurt themselves at strong native nations, Scandinavia and Sweden respectively, fielding much bigger armies. With a war in the Carpathian basin taking the mother countries' attention, their colonial ventures were almost reset in both regions. Sweden and Scandinavia seized advanced technology, and adapted it for themselves. When the Norsemen had recovered, they declared war themselves to recover lost territory, but were not prepared to face a nearly as advanced enemy. Their attacks ended in disaster, so much that the natives embarked on their new ships and landed in Scandinavia. Defeated, the Norse had to concede their richest lands, and the Americans pressed on their advantage as soon as the truces ended. In the end, all that remained from both nations were Transylvania's Carpathian conquests.


Transylvania had gained land on the Balkan, but wasn't the only nation to appear there. Liège and Holland lost their possessions to Serbia and Albania respectively over the course of the years after their establishment in the HRE.


Greece was dominated by York after taking advantage of Miami weakness, but with York's influence in England growing, their rivals in Greece gained local strength, most of all Crete. Pushed out of Italy, the Cretans defeated the Styrians after these conquered Austria while supporting Salzburg's independence, then attacked York for Greece. Defending against rebellious colonies, not able to count on their allies' assistance due to the spice war, York couldn't hold Greece, which fell under Cretan rule.


The fight in Iberia was hard, but met a similar fate as in Britain and Scandinavia. The Creek landed in Eastern America, and when they attacked the natives there, the League War broke out, with Navarrese landing in Barcelona. Opposing the emperor for their loss of French lands, they now lost their Iberian lands to Navarra, exiled in America. The Navarrese could count on Albanian assistance, later allied Orléans as well, and pushed West against the Iberians. Kangra sought luck in their colonial ambitions, but even if they met initial success in India, their attack on Spain provoked an Orléanaise attack for their French lands. Kangra stood no chance against Orléans, and Spain landed in Iberia shortly after Orléans retreated, seizing it. The Jalayirids, siding with Kangra in the war against Orléans, had conquered Mesopotamia, but were left devastated by Orléans as well. Spain marched in from the North. Portugal, at war with the Jalayirid colony in Eastern America, landed in Algarve. Iberia was slowly getting lost for the Iberians. Bohemia, freed from the Jalayirid North coast by the Emperor, had another fate. Dragged into war with Genoa, they managed to take their Pomeranian lands and enter the HRE later. With Meissen able to get their revenge against the three nations that had taken Saxony, they were left weak, weak enough for the Bohemians to take the Czech territories. With Spain dominating the centre of the peninsula and Bohemia having lost their Pomeranian land to the Hansa, they sold their Iberian territories they could no longer hold on to.

Middle East:


In Anatolia, the Miami collapsed swiftly, under pressure from their neighbours, in Greece and Anatolia alike. The Bavarians had Mentesan help when invading, and the first uniters of Egypt took root in the land given to them by their ally in Sinop. While the Styrians and Navarrese fought in the League War and met success in the West, Mentese eyed their Anatolian land, and attacked at the same time as the Cretans. Having come out as victors over their Muslim competitors, Mentese later crushed the hordes in the East with their technological advantage, and stopped at now Jalayirid Mesopotamia.


Serbia gained strength in Arabia and drove out any pretender fairly easily, but couldn't further expand, hurting themselves at Mentese. Their first attack on weakened Holland went well, securing land on the Balkan, but the invasion of La Plata brought forth masses of Jerusalemite crusaders to defend La Plata and seize the Holy Land while doing so. Serbia lost its Mediterranean coastline, and feared losing their Balkan possessions, so restrained from waging more wars, concerned of losing access to the goldmine of Kosovo. As they tried to fend off a Cretan attack on Kosovo, all their forces were brought over to the Balkan, what quickly gained the attention of these interested in Arabia. Jerusalem and Oman invaded, taking over the North and South respectively without notable resistance. Crete was fended off though.


Jerusalem, in their new home, was at a loss after Finland had been taken by their faithless neighbours. When La Plata denied the crusaders' request for some compensation, Jerusalem invaded. Their former ally taken over, Jerusalem established itself as medium power in the region, feared for its ferocity and not losing any territory.


Persia saw a lot of horde infighting, until the Khorasani took over. Expanding their power to the frontier of India, Khorasan controlled Persia and most of the lesser hordes in Mesopotamia until the Jalayirid invasion, coincidentally together with a Russian attack from the North to clear the Caucasian border. Khorasan lost its Western lands to the Jalayirids, but kept its hold on Persia.

Africa:


A continent of great migrations, surprising turns and undisturbed colonialism in the South, that is Africa. Albania conquered most of the barbary states while Oman, Spain and Mentese took most of their regions. Benin was the first strange nation, pushed out of Egypt by Mentese, but only after their invasion of Hosokawa Tripolitania. Benin was seen as buffer between Albania and Mentese, and allied both. With the combined strength of its neighbours, Benin managed to push South towards Lake Chad, sharing the influence in West Africa with the Omani. When the Omani invaded Serbia, Benin saw the opportunity to strike. Having ceded Tripolitania in exchange for assistance, Benin managed to come out as victor over and over, defeating Oman in a first war, then ending their reign in West Africa in successive conflicts, being the last realm in that region.


North Africa saw the rise of Albania, and with their conquests in the Balkans, it wasn't over. They supported Egypt, hanging on to Muslim Iberia, when they attacked Alexandria. Benin stayed out of the war, and Mentese was fighting in Anatolia, so Egypt gained a foothold. With Albanian assistance, they managed to conquer Egypt, then traded Tripolitania with Benin. Egypt then abandoned its Iberian origins to focus entirely on Egypt, threatened by the crusaders nearby.


What began as conflict in the Balkans brought change to North Africa when Sus declared war on Albania to expand their trade in the Adriatic Sea. Sus managed to defeat the Albanians with the help of their allies, but didn't stop in the Balkans, in the end not even taking this land. Having heard from the riches of the New World, they took most of Morocco instead, driving out Albania from their homeland over the next years. With their new trade in the West, Sus did lose sight of the Adriatic trade, and lost its Italian land to Tuscany.


Eastern Africa is marked by failed and successful overseas invasions. The Europeans didn't set foot there until Kangra's failed invasion of Spain. Other Europeans saw this misfortune as a sign to keep out of Eastern Africa, so their conquerors came from the East. Shortly before their collapse, maybe one of the elements causing it, Medri Bahri and Mombasa invaded Sokoto and Spain respectively. The first fought bravely, but couldn't hold back the Mombasans, while Spain had their army in Iberia. After this initial invasion, the Easterners expanded their hold and finally controlled East Africa while they lost East Asia.

North Asia:


In Siberia, the hordes fought bitterly over the rich lands. No stronger power emerged, and so it was no surprise that the hordes fell easily to the attackers from the West, Muscovites and Russians dividing the vast expense between themselves.


Japan couldn't be held together by the Shogun from Mainz and splintered into the daimyo states as well as the Qi from the North. Shun managed to unite the remaining daimyos and faced a stalemate with Qi no side wanted to break. Instead, the widespread revolts in Mombasa and Medri Bahri after their African expeditions signalled expansion into the West. Shun and Qi both invaded crumbling China, and the Celestial Emperor did not only concede defeat to the invaders, but also to the rebels that rose up to contest his divine mandate. Mombasa had to release Haixi and Korea, their once mighty empire in the East now only an empire in Africa as well. With the hordes losing land in the West, the Chinese states expanded a bit West, until reaching Russia, but mostly fought each other for dominance.


With the nations from Japan invading Japan, the Indians from Date and the Ainu of Sumatra saw their chance to invade Japan. Shun lost to Date, Qi to the Ainu. With both nations losing their homeland later, Date had the stronger position and united Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku under their rule, leaving only Hokkaido in Ainu hands.


South Asia:


India has been very dynamic, with all these minor/medium powers fighting for dominance. Many rose to power to crumble again, like Date after landing in Japan, few persisted. The foreigners from Brunei, Baluchistan, controlled Rajastan. From the local powers, Koch and Kochin persisted – the former simply by expanding into the adjacent lands of Bengal. Kochin saw the weaker nations of the tip of India as targets – and used their neighbours' weaknesses to expand further there. But when the Baloch invaded their ancient home, they were quickly overwhelmed, and it didn't help that the Balochis were allied to Koch. Later entering this alliance, India was split in three.


Scotland could not hold on to their dominating position in SEA much longer after they took over Scotland. A rebellious land, many resources had to be invested to keep them in line, so many that revolts began breaking out in Asia instead of Europe. Dali, Luang Prabang and Shan rose up from its corpse, while Champa took its revenge. Based from their colonies, they invaded Scotland again, and with Connacht in no position to aid their ally, they managed to make landfall, taking over the South of the former Scottish territories, later chasing out Demak as well, conquering the peninsula and confining them to the islands.


Demak, which took over Sumatra after the Ainu gained their foothold in Japan, attacked Brunei while Baluchistan focused on India. And Connacht had the problem of being too widespread, before they landed in Ireland, but even more after. That problem broke the nation apart similar to Scotland. Ternate became Connacht's successor state in Indonesia, while they held on to their multitude of smaller islands around the Pacific and Indian Ocean.


Australia was firmly in Champani hands and the base of their attack on Scotland, but as the colony grew in strength far more than its homeland, the Champani Australians threw off their colonial shackles. The ancient elector in the HRE named Australia was long gone, so they crossed the 'Champani' in front of their name.

South America:


The first foreigners to land on this continent were the Brazilians, rulers of Kongo. They didn't stay alone long, but managed to establish themselves at the Eastern end of Brazil. The Aztecs, losing their homeland to Albania, landed in the region, as well as the Jalayirids. The Jalayirid arrival close to the Brazilians caused some friction, and it came to war later when the Europeans' colony attacked the Africans' one. Brazilian Brazil managed to defeat Jalayirid Brazil, but their homeland was invaded by the Jalayirids. Most of Kongo was taken by the Europeans, who left BB alone. Their overlord unable to do anything against it, BB declared independence; the later absorption of Brazil had them able to leave the 'Brazilian' behind. This new Brazil came to be an aggressive expander, conquering Eastern Sweden as they invaded Scandinavia, later attacked and ended JB, reigning supreme in Brazil.


With the Swedes having ended the Manchurian ambitions in Venezuela, the small Arawak tribe was fearing to fall next. But the Swedish invasion of Scandinavia and Brazil's aggression provided an opportunity to secure their survival. Arawak took the formerly Manchurian land, and Sweden had to move its capital to its new conquests. With this great territorial expansion, Arawak was rich enough to colonize the Colombian region, as well as conquer Bijapur and León.


In the West, Cajamarca and Cusco had come out as victors of the Andean region. Cajamarca kept out of the Tverian independence war involving most other nations, and Tripura, while nominally victorious in the end, was left broken and fell easy with their Dutch allies. Cuscoan rebels gained their independence, and in such number that they could control the South of the native region easily. Further expanding through colonies, Cusco held the entire Southern Peruvian region.


Kangra had their colonies mostly around the Rio de la Plata. When they faced defeat against Spain, they lost their hold of Kangran La Plata, easily overwhelming their overlord, assisted only by (New) Brazil. Dropping the 'Kangran' after there was only one crusader state left, La Plata went on to control the entire region, fighting against each one landing in 'their' land shortly after the first settlers arrived.

North & Meso- America:


The Apache seemed on a good way to unite Mesoamerica. Using Gelre's disconnected province as casus belli, they could conquer their way North into arid lands, but at a cost their ruler was well-aware of. Aiming to build a base of power in the North so that the Apache are able to return in force later, his plan involved his sacrifice as doomed ruler. All vassals broke free, but the man was right, and over multiple attacks from the North, the Apache managed to reform their faith just before it was too late with the arrival of the first Westerners. The Aztecs. Coming from their Brazilian exile with Western troops, the Aztecs saw Mesoamerica as the perfect place to settle their nation permanently without the threat of stronger enemies around, and so they acted fast before a Western power could arrive, what they did.


As the Aztecs claimed land further North, it was Aïr that settled between the Aztecs and yet unsettled Colombia. With their losses in Europe, they had to cut down their costs and maximize their profits, at the expense of their colony, which promptly revolted when York threatened to conquer Aïr once and for all. The new nation adopted the name of an obscure South American nation and was known as UPCA. Aïr's colony in Hispaniola joined with the UPCA in rebellion, and renamed itself to Haiti, a short-lived South-East-Asian nation. The rest of the Caribbean was in the hands of Orléans and York, and both held on to their colonies.


Transylvania's colonial misadventure against the Scandinavians was short-lived, not so the Hanseatic try to establish a colony. With their strength in Europe, the Hansa invaded the new Scandinavian land in Norway, but with the ultimate goal of getting a colony in the New World. Scandinavia tried their best to defend their European land, so much that the Hanseatic invasion of the Mississippi delta went without much resistance. The new colony, named Hansia after their current ruler and the nation, grew a lot to encompass a great region. Too strong for their overlord, the colony declared its independence fairly late, comparable to Québec's colony California, and renamed itself in tribute to its leader to independence Louisiana. That a nation with similar name existed on the Faroe islands is a mere coincidence.


The Creek and Powhatan were the foremost colonizers at the Eastern coast of North America. When both lost their homeland, to Orléans and Flanders, they moved their capitals to the new world, far away from their imperial oppressor. They established themselves fairly well and saw that cooperation would be beneficial for both. Using their European advantage against the natives further inland, the Creek and Powhatan dominated the East coast. When Portugal landed in Western Iberia, Powhatan joined arms with Québec to expand into Portuguese territory, profiting from the Jalayirid loss to strengthen themselves after having gotten less of America than their Creek ally. Over the next wars, the Portuguese were entirely driven out.


Québec had landed North of the Portuguese, and quickly dominated the region after conquering Corfu. Shortly after, Orléans invaded Brittany, so Québec found itself in a similar position as the Powhatan, Creek and Aztecs, exiled to America. Just as the former, they did fairly well there, controlling the entire North-West.


West of the exiled Europeans, Jan Mayen had settled most of Canada. Accustomed to the arctic conditions, the tribe had headed North after conquering its neighbours, then West until reaching Louisiana. To the South, another native nation had persisted, the Ojibwe. Having migrated to the Great Lakes, they profited from internal conflicts within Colima to take over, then establish a strong base, enough to be left alone by Louisiana, Québec or Powhatan.


Finally, the West coast had been colonized by Québec after they had their region under control. California was colonized until its borders reached the Chinook to the North and the Aztecs in the South. The Chinook had migrated West to the coast, and then gained the upper hand against the natives that were already there. Having gained enough wealth, they began settling the lands to the North, and remained peaceful from then on.

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So this third scenario concludes the AAR, for good this time. I had a lot of fun playing through it and write it afterwards, and hope that it was interesting to read as well . I can only encourage one to try this out sometime, if not for the crazy constellations it opens and that huge potential for collapse – or was this just exceptional? Anyway, thank you for reading and commenting . Now back to a real world!

 

[Michaelangelo]

That update was just an excuse to put nations where they should be.

The only thing wrong with this world is that Ning should control all of China. They deserve it.

Sad to see this AAR end. It's certainly a unique experience when the nations are distributed randomly. I could barely keep track of who was where through most of it, but at least it let to some odd scenarios.