Chapter 39: Turkish Fruit.
While I begin coring Sundgau, I have an idea. Maybe it’s time for Milan to disappear again. I would need 520 DP. Since I have no intention to go to war any time soon (not with an army consisting of 48 regular regiments and 26 mercenary regiments), I decide to use the National Focus feature, which is quite handy, really. This will give me an extra 12 DP per year.
As if to rub salt into the wound, Spain manages, after over a century, to steal Papal control away from France. In this case, however, I plead innocence. A couple of unlucky draws on my side and a couple of lucky ones on their side is enough.
I lose a diplomat, but that’s ok. I send one to Westfalen to start sucking up to his Holiness. The other two are in Moscow and Milan, respectively. I can’t risk losing their respect.
One of the most fun aspects of France, militarily speaking, is the fact that I gain 2,000 MP per month, with only a minimal investment in barracks and training fields. Of course the game throws me a monkey wrench by giving me bad iron ore (more expensive regiments).
In a spot of good news, most of my Indian holdings have been converted. Only 2 more to go, and one of them will take some doing (as in high Stability and some forts).
I take the mercs and put them to good use guarding Sardinia. Last thing I need right now is a revolt on a one-province-island.
And then, I start a massive building program. I need more Manpower, so I invest a ton of money and Military Power in 20 training fields.
Next, I will need more money, so I invest 200 Administrative Power into courthouses and spy agencies.
This is just about the most useless feature in the game. I have never known any AI nation to give “unlawful” territory to the Emperor. Did they really think I would just give it back, after all the pain I went through to actually get Sundgau in the first place?
My mission is simple: create an army for the nation.
And with that, the long, slow trek back to full strength begins.
Portugese Mexico and New Spain go at it again, dragging their respective overlords into the fray as well.
The Ottomans make a grab for Bohemia. Great Britain and Scandinavia stand by their alliance with Bohemia, and Scandinavia takes over as warleader.
Within 2 weeks, they call in Russia, who take the reigns of the war.
As one might expect, they waste no time in calling to arms the formerly largest army in Western Europe. France is at war again.
Of course, they will have to fend for themselves for the time being, since I have only just begun the recruitment drive.
In Februari, 1755, Pindingia becomes self-sustaining. There are only 2 more colonies available in the whole of Africa (indeed, I believe, in the whole world) and they will both be mine.
Sundgau is cored, but that is not the most important thing in the picture. Check out the massive Ottoman troop deployment in Bohemia.
Again, I don’t plan on getting into things with only 97 regiments at home. At least those 26 merc companies are sure to make life hard on the Turks if they want to invade Sardinia.
Genoa seems to have seen better days. On the 1st of September, they fall to a revolution and turn into a Constitutional Republic. By the end of the chapter, another revolution will turn them into a Constitutional Monarchy.
And then, the Ottos make a mistake. If they think that I have been sitting on my hands this entire time, they are sadly mistaken. That second stack, however, forces me to hit the brakes. Since I don’t have the manpower to build reinforcements, it’s time to merc up again. Thankfully, my mercenary pool has fully rebuild itself, allowing me build 18 more of them at once. When they are done, I have fullfilled my mission. Thank you for that spot of prestige and tradition.
Time to kick those buggers all the way back to Constantinople. Needless to say, if you look at the Ottoman army’s composition, the first one is just a stackwipe waiting to happen. (8.68 Warscore for that free gift).
The next stack, in Sundgau, gets wiped as well, even though they had a somewhat reasonable army composition (13 infantry and 8 cannons). It gives me 6.65 Warscore.
Now this one is the surprising one. I did not see that coming. I rack up another 18.42 Warscore.
Only one stack left, trapped in Bern. It too gets wiped. 10.93 Warscore.
Why am I telling you the warscore gained from those fights? Well, that will become clear eventually.
Franche-Comté. Another 31,369 Ottomans go to their virgins in the sky, and I get another 10.49 Warscore.
The battle of Moravia. Another 20,000 dead Turks. Another 6.08 Warscore.
I am singlehandedly turning this war around.
In the Far East, Japan loses 10 provinces in a war against Spain.
The Ottomans are not out of the fight yet. I am now fairly certain that I can handle them, so I decide to lure them in. They take the bait. I win. Another 5.87 Warscore. Still keeping track? Good.
Half their army runs to Bosnia, where I wipe them out. 13.26 Warscore.
And then things get funny. Now that France has, once again, singlehandedly saved Western Civilisation from the Ottoman Menace, the Austrians finally get their act together.
Now that is something you really don’t see every day. I have seen this on Youtube, but that was in a multiplayer-game with 3 very experienced players as Sunni conquerors.
This is the AI.
Anyone who has ever wondered why I am always to very careful about not taking things too far, here is why.
With the rest of the world in on the fun, I pull my armies back for a while so they can recover.
Just look at those numbers. Pretty scary, huh? Well, it turns out that the Russians can’t get to the battlefield. I think that they can’t get anyone to give them access. They do plant a force of 69 regiments on the Crimean border, but that’s it. And, like I said, my army is back home, recuperating.
27 January, 1758. I finally win back Papal Control.
My army advisor dies and I go for a level-2 Master Recruiter, Jagga Alupa. That extra 10% MP is more than welcome.
The British have landed a large army in former Tunisia. I count about 53 regiments. At the same time, the HRE is sieging stuff in fomer Hungary.
And the Russians finally managed to land 2 regiments on the very tip of the Arabian peninsula. Yeah, that will really turn the tide of the war :wacko:
Oh, that is going to hurt. Two enemies going at it. I should be mindful of the fact that we are on the same side in this war, but I can’t help gloating just a little bit as I see the British army about to get crushed.
Cessation of Church Fucntions. 15% less taxes, but over 1100 ducats. Good, it will keep me going. I might as well raise war taxes. This is looking to be a long war. With my army back up to strength, I send them back into the fray.
Now, remember that littany of Warscore before? Well, here is the reason why.
I really, honestly, don’t get it. How can I possibly only have 6 Warscore against them? How is that possible? If I tally up all the Warscore I made, I come out to 80.39 Warscore.
Now, I realise that battles are less important in the grand scheme of things, and that the Ottomans are still in control of the wargoal, seemingly forgotten by everyone. But 6 WS seems kind of low to me.
What makes this even worse, is that I now have the Call For Peace, giving me an extra War Exhaustion.
The British have lost their entire invasion force, and the Ottomans are taking back the occupied provinces. On the other hand, most of the Balkans are occupied by the rest of Europe.
A random event gives me -1 Stability, while Napels grabs a bunch of stuff from the Ottomans and peaces out. Seems I am not the only one with a Call For Peace. Suddenly, all the territory that had been occupied by the Austrians, is now free again. We can start over.
Luneburg (surprisingly enough still my ally and not an Austrian vassal) and Poland try to make a play for Bohemia. Scandinavia once again honours their alliance. All well and good, but I am the only one left standing. I start carpet sieging the Balkans again, but let’s face it, I am not the Warleader here. Russia is, and they are sitting comfortably at home.
An unexpected stackwipe in Burgas does not help to fuel my own enthusiasm for this war, and I start thinking about pulling out as well.
I get a funny feeling when I see this event pop up. Don’t ask me why, it is the first time I have seen it. But the hairs on the back of my neck stand on edge.
After winning a final battle in Sofia, I peace out (they have to revoke their claim on Sardinia and their core on Creete and pay me a large sum of money) and head back home. Now that I have peace again, I can finally begin the long overdue integration of Milan.
Well, that is about all for today. See you next time!