• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
ok, then. Double-header incoming in an hour or so, right after lunch.

edit: And we have reached 5,000 views. Thank you, guys.
 
I enjoyed the overview update, its great to have these periodically so the reader can get a sense of the context.

Regarding the next update, I don't mind bent her its back to back or a few days apart, whatever is easier for you!
 
m6TYM4P.jpg



Chapter 13: Victory And Defeat, Part I




KSMMoLY.png


Another vassal annexed, some more room under my diplo cap, and a successful mission. What more could you ask for at the start of a session?
Let’s see what our next mission will be.


4TpqnOl.png


Talking about the perfect start, since I was planning on going to war with them anyway.
Of course, I waste no time doing just that.
I have 1 army move into Bourgogne and another one into Zeeland, with 2 more standing by, just in case.
It takes Utrecht and Brunswick 3 days to join the war. Not really something that is going to bother me.
Burgundy seems hellbend on self-destruction. Their army in Bourgogne doesn’t even try to move, even though I have a large stack heading their way.
The one in Holland, 11,000 strong, does something even crazier: they attack my 22,000 man strong army!


TnGPoDE.png



The results are predictable, if a bit more spectacular than even I had dared to hope for.
With all meaningful resistance taken care of, I can begin carpet sieging.
The small Utrecht army uses some fancy moves to outrun my forces and lays siege to Antwerpen. They will, of course, be taken care of.


IKQU6Ai.png


The Battle Of Bourgogne is over. Their shattered remnants will run all the way to Breda in the end, where they will be wiped off the board by my siege force.
Having complete naval dominance (there is only 1 Light Ship in the enemy camp) allows me to blockade the coast of Holland with my 8 heavy ships. They are still Early Carracks, and I have been meaning to replace them with Carracks, but right now, they will do just fine.


CAmwhZj.png


Someone mentioned the Holy See. Well, here it is. I’d say you can call that “a safe margin of control”.

Utrecht is sieged and Friesland gives me access, so I send a large force to Hannover (the only province Brunswick has left).


fRcdPF2.png


Who do we have here? Muscovite troops sieging Hannover? Great, so I won’t be able to do anything to them. I station my troops in Osnabruck, where they won’t be attritioned and wait for my sieges to finish.


y7VB7CC.png


The reformation hits Europe. Life just got even more complicated.


U8Lo29D.png


The plan for Utrecht and Brunswick is really quite simple: I have 4 large loans due in the next couple of years, so they can help me raise the money to do it.


pDzCmDg.png


I was not expecting this at all. Something to use for later, perhaps?


NtZUL4v.png


The reformation spreads to Rouerge and, later, to Artois, and the pope is annexed by a protestant Tuscany.


tOR5c1o.png


I am still waiting for Muscovy to make peace with Brunswick, but Utrecht obligingly forks over 95 ducats. I turn them catholic just out of simple spite.
About a week later, Muscovy leaves the area and I move in to siege Hannover myself, hoping there’s any loot left to take.

c4qgZjd.png


Poland seems to have bitten off a bit too much for its own good. Ottomans AND Muscovy at the same time, along with their various allies? That could be ugly.


dHkF7j3.png


I am only called into the war against Muscovy, but I can’t help but wonder: "Do I even want to help"? If Poland gets smacked around, would it be better or worse for France?
 
m6TYM4P.jpg



Chapter 14: Victory And Defeat, Part II.


8z3PGl5.png

Brunswick has been thoroughly cleaned out by Muscovy, and I am not interested in Hannover, so I have them annul all treaties out of sheer spite.

With most of my sieges getting done, I move about 40K troops to Austria in 3 columns. I sit there for a little while, debating whether to intervene or not. Finally I decide to honour the alliance, because that’s what trustworthy nations do.

I see a Muscovite army of 18,000 in Grodno and hit them with my best leader and 26,000 men, while another army of about 18,000 moves to engage in the south.


0eu9gGz.png


Bad die rolls, inferior starting morale, a river crossing and an opponent with shock 5. This is going to hurt. I send my second army to reinforce, but it is doubtful they will arrive there in time.


HbJcJCH.png



However, I am temporarily distracted by the peace negotiations with Burgundy. To be honest, I want them gone. I am tired of warring with them over and over again. Brabant, Gelre, Holland and Nevers could be released, but not all at once and they would not really help France.
This seems like a good compromise. The warscore needed to annex/vassalise drops from 200+ to 176.

Of course, The Hansa wasted no time joining the coalition, along with a couple of other HRE minors.


FgLddCa.png


The Battle Of Grodno is by far the worst French defeat since the HYW and the shattered remains retreat all the way back to France. Seeing about 50,000 enemies closing in, I decide to have my other army follow them. This war is lost. My MP is down to 28,000 and I am in no position to win anything more here. Sorry, Poland, you’re on your own.

I have reached lvl-10 in military tech a while back. With all my forces safe for the moment, I can enact the necessary upgrades.
A rather nasty event gives me a choice between -1 stability or +3 inflation. I choose the stab hit because I still have some of those loans outstanding.

Now what do I do? I can:

Increase my stability back up to +2 to cut down on RR, but that would cost 210 AP due to Overextension.
I could core Holland and Zeeland (they’re really good provinces to own) or I could wait for the war to end so I can release Holland as a vassal.
I can get another Admin tech, which would give me my 3rd Idea Group.
I can take the idea “debt & loans”, which would reduce interest.


RzbPxTv.png


In the end, the rebellion in Paris seals it. I HAVE to increase my stability in order to cut down on RR. And of course, the rebellion breaks out just after I have started upgrading my armies.
Since I won’t have the points for a tech level or an idea, I might as well grab the Dutch cores myself. Get a nice naval and trade boost out of the whole mess.

To make a long story short, the next 6 months are spend running from uprising to uprising.14K protestants in one province, 11K nationalists in another, 14K peasants in a third. I couldn’t possibly have lifted a finger to help Poland.


lNGm4Hx.png


After those hellish 6 months, I am down to 634 MP and my armed forces need about 56K reinforcements.


czFGFrg.png


And the war was lost, of course. Muscovy got Smolensk in the peace deal and Poland is forced to end their alliance with Sweden, who lost the Orkneys to England in a seperate war. Russia is one step closer to being formed and Sweden is out of powerful allies.


PDX7MIW.png


Savoy accepts an alliance with France, and that’s when I noticed something.


PtBgzmy.png


Guess who’s back?
 
How did Austria get independant? Was that a part of the peacedeal between the Ottomans and Poland?
 
How did Austria get independant? Was that a part of the peacedeal between the Ottomans and Poland?

I missed it completely. I had just closed the alliance with Savoy and was checking my AE with the rest of my neighbours, when I noticed Austria had made an alliance with one of them. So those last few lines of chapter 14 are exactly as I experienced it. Needless to say, that came as a thunderstroke on a clear day.
My guess would be that Poland had lost its entire army and had dropped to negative prestige and Austria was able to break free with little effort.
 
I missed it completely. I had just closed the alliance with Savoy and was checking my AE with the rest of my neighbours, when I noticed Austria had made an alliance with one of them. So those last few lines of chapter 14 are exactly as I experienced it. Needless to say, that came as a thunderstroke on a clear day.
My guess would be that Poland had lost its entire army and had dropped to negative prestige and Austria was able to break free with little effort.

Well, anyway they will not be a big threat since they are not emperor and have not inherited Burgundy.
 
At least 2 electors are ready to vote them back in, though, and France will need about 10 years to recover from the Polish debacle. I hope nobody will get any ideas in the mean time.
 
I can't believe you marched your troops all the way to Grodno while Austria was sneakily getting back its independence :)

In my defense, I must say that they were still under PU at the time, because my troops gathered in the general Tyrol area without needing access. :)
 
Great thread!

Just got into EUIV myself, wanting to take France for my first game, so this is a great inspiration. Subcribed!

Welcome and enjoy!
 
I have played some more. Will write and post tomorrow.
 
m6TYM4P.jpg



Chapter 15: Renewal.


In the midst of continuing religious turmoil, relations with Lorraine, by 1523, have improved sufficiently to start annexing them. While this will upset the HRE, I need those provinces to fullfill my original premise: building up France at least to its modern-day limits.

In order to decrease the number of revolts, I embark on a building spree of courthouses in those provinces with the highest revolt risk.

By oktober of that same year, I reach level-10 Administration. Time to choose a new idea. There are several likely candidates:
Religion, to help fight heathens and heretics.
Diplomacy to help in foreign relations.
Expansion because it gives me a colonist and missionary.

After a lot of soul searching, I decide to go for the Idea Group that will help me the most throughout history: Defensive Ideas.


QIAHvVk.png


Four years later, both the number and intensity of revolts have decreased dramatically, giving my army time to finally begin recovering.
I am hesitant to enact significant decisions to help fight the upheavals. They all carry an equally significant price tag: increased Revolt Risk, increased tech and idea costs, increased stability costs.

In 1529, Scotland is vassalised by England. Their days are counted, it seems. The Royal Navy is as unassailable as it has always been in 80 years.
In the same year, Micmac and Powhatan become English protectorates. I am playing with the normal New World, so England has reached Canada. A quick check tells me that my own Colonial Range is only 375 km and I know that there are at least 2 provinces in South America that have not been colonised. If I want to get in on it, I will need added range and Colonial Ideas. Let’s start with the range issue by improving relations with Galicia.


6o0XFrZ.png


January 1530. I haven’t been able to further decrease the RR in France, so I start looking at the various religious decisions again. A plan begins to form, and a quick question on the forum tells me what I need to know.
Enacting the Edict Of Nantes, along with the Declaration of Indulgence, means, basically, a medieval form of Freedom Of Religion. Protestants and Reformists will still be frowned on, but they will be tolerated. This, along with converting Picardie, leaves me with only 2 provinces that have Revolt Risk, Zeeland (Dutch nationalists; I really should change their culture but it costs 200 Diplo points) being the most worrisome (+7.5%).

Six months later, with the integration of Lorraine finished, I definitely feel like France has made a fresh start. My active armies are back up to full strength and I even have a full 5,541 MP in reserve again!


3aPtGnP.png


This game never ceases to amaze me. Austria asks me for an alliance. They have an army of 32,000 strong and a strategic position in the HRE. Of course, I acccept and strengthen our ties with a Royal Marriage.


jQACGTm.png


Here is a look at my Religion tab, dated 18 August, 1530.


DQhZrS2.png


Two important things happen on the 25th of November, 1530: Austria asks for my help in a war against Mainz and France gets a 15% boost to army morale.
I accept the call to arms, mainly because Burgundy is allied with Mainz.


5tZRoMZ.png


This war becomes even more promising when France becomes war leader. Four days later, Burgundy honours their alliance with Mainz.
Bad mistake!

I annihilate their armies and start carpet sieging, while getting military access rights through a neutral HRE member. This will allow me to move armed forces to Austria through the Alps.

By March, 1531, all enemy armies have been destroyed and France is mass sieging Mainz, Munster and Bavaria as well.


EFtA24N.png


Louis XIV becomes the new king of France. There’s even an heir that’s not called “Louis”!


0qWAfcI.png


The two Spains and Hungary are in a war of their own. Even though the numbers claim superiority, it’s obvious that Hungary will be the one paying the price.


jb6kaKQ.png


Münster is the first to bow out, in early february, 1532.


i9NKuWv.png


Miltary Tech level 11. I am at 100% warscore, but I am waiting for Gelre to fall.


x036tsI.png


Austria peaces out, but the war continues. If I am lucky, I may be able to finally cut Burgundy down to size.


wcdRI7W.png


It is done. Burgundy looses Gelre and Brabant. I quickly move to RM Brabant and ally with them. Hopefully, after some coaxing, they will accept an offer of vassalisation.


x7o5Qz2.png


All that is left of Burgundy is now surrounded by French lands. I cannot help but wonder what kinds of nightmares the duke has when he goes to sleep at night?


YXZ8gvu.png


I pushed the wrong button at one point and ended up with a world map, so I might as well share it with you.


France’s spirit is soaring again. Prestige and legitimacy are in the 90s, France has the largest army in the world and one of the highest incomes in the world.
I cannot wait to see what the future holds and I hope to see you there.
 
Good update but I hope that you will soon start colonizing and going for Italy! ;) Also the Ottoman Empire looks really big.
 
Good update but I hope that you will soon start colonizing and going for Italy! ;) Also the Ottoman Empire looks really big.

I fully intend to go for Italy, especially now that I can just walk through Savoy. As for colonising, I'm afraid that will have to wait for my next idea slot.
 
Nice recovery!