• 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.

dharper

Dei Gratia author
86 Badges
Aug 7, 2002
20.705
2.371
  • Victoria 2: Heart of Darkness
  • Majesty 2
  • March of the Eagles
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
  • Victoria: Revolutions
  • Europa Universalis: Rome
  • Rome Gold
  • Semper Fi
  • Sengoku
  • Supreme Ruler 2020
  • Victoria 2
  • Victoria 2: A House Divided
  • Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition
  • Rome: Vae Victis
  • 500k Club
  • Cities: Skylines
  • Europa Universalis III: Collection
  • Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado
  • Europa Universalis IV: Pre-order
  • Pride of Nations
  • Crusader Kings II: Way of Life
  • Pillars of Eternity
  • Humble Paradox Bundle
  • Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense
  • Stellaris: Necroids
  • Divine Wind
  • Cities in Motion
  • Crusader Kings II
  • Crusader Kings II: Charlemagne
  • Crusader Kings II: Legacy of Rome
  • Crusader Kings II: The Old Gods
  • Crusader Kings II: Rajas of India
  • Crusader Kings II: The Republic
  • Crusader Kings II: Sons of Abraham
  • Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion
  • Crusader Kings II: Sword of Islam
  • Europa Universalis III
  • Europa Universalis III Complete
  • Arsenal of Democracy
  • Europa Universalis IV
  • Europa Universalis IV: Art of War
  • Europa Universalis IV: Conquest of Paradise
  • Europa Universalis IV: Wealth of Nations
  • Europa Universalis IV: Call to arms event
  • For The Glory
  • For the Motherland
  • Hearts of Iron III
  • Heir to the Throne
  • Impire
LaSerenissima.gif

The country: The most serene republic of Venice, 1453
The mod: Magna Mundi Gold 2.22 with TOT2.1 graphics mod (thanks to Pishtacho)
The rules: No reloads, no swapping national ideas before the game begins, no mimes allowed. They scare me.
The style: Roleplaying.
The warning: I am not a good player. Don't expect Venice to conquer the world. I wouldn't even expect Venice to conquer a wet paper bag with me in charge.
The twist: Venice will be played as a tag-team effort by dharper and Ubik. David will start the game as Francesco Foscarini and will have complete control over Venice - events, sliders, national ideas, wars, beauty contests - up until his death, when Ubik takes over. Each player controls the republic for a single reign. No matter how short, once that doge dies, turn passes to the other player.

Expect a bit of chaos as we adjust to each other's playing style. Then expect a lot of chaos. :cool:

1423-1454: Francisco Foscaroni (Introduction)
1454-1474: Pasquale San Paulo (Prelude 1454, Chronicles I, Chronicles II, Chronicles III, Epilogue 1474)
1474-1505: Enzo Magno (1474-1480, 1480-1495, 1495-1505)
1505-: Carlo Barbarigo
 
Last edited:
1423-1454: Francesco Foscaroni

La Republica Caotica: Chapter One​

1423-1454: Francesco Foscarini

Ah, Venice. La Serenissima. From a swampy refuge for Romans fleeing Germanic invasions in the dying days of the empire to a trading power capable of destroying what remained of the Eastern Roman Empire in 1204, Venice was a testament to human will…but its imperial ambitions were crushed under the boots of ten thousand Turks marching towards Constantinople.

1453-Setup1.jpg

By the time the city fell in 1453, Venice had already lost several of her Aegean possessions. The republic could do little to stop the Turkish advance, preoccupied by three decades of Lombarian wars begun just two years after Francesco Foscarini took office as doge in 1423. Foscarini was an imposing man who left his mark on Venice over the course of his thirty-year reign; intelligent, driven, he left behind him a mixed legacy: on the one hand his long, difficult struggle with Milan and the loss of Greece to the Ottomans; on the other, his diplomatic successes and the grandeur of his court.

1453-Alliances.jpg

Venice’s worthless allies. Seriously, thanks for nothing. Jerks.

In the 15th century Venice was experiencing a renaissance, and few cities were as eager to embrace new ideas as the most serene republic. The Venice of Foscarini was home to brilliant thinkers, but none quite as famous as Vitale San Paulo, the great renaissance merchant prince who revolutionized banking. With control over trade in the Eastern Mediterranean, Venice was poised to become a rich and powerful merchant empire.

1453-Court.jpg

Ah, I remember that day well. It was a Friday.

Despite the long war with Milan, Foscarini managed to amass a powerful coalition of allies: Naples, Genoa, Mantua and even pope Nicholas himself! Unfortunately, being the aggressor in the matter, Venice was left to her own devices in Lombardy, and so in 1453 it was towards Milan, not Constantinople, that Colleoni marched with his 3,000 foot and 1,000 horse.

1453-Colleoni.jpg

Venice’s bravest (and only) general

The Venetians maintained a military in which the highest military rank was subject to a ten-man civilian council, something which had kept Venice’s republic intact through the centuries. It also resulted in some capable men such as Colleoni – but he met his match in the Sforzas who ruled Milan; duke Francesco himself led the Milanese armies against Venice.

1453-Battle.jpg

The battle of Lombardy. One of many.

The battle was a pyrrhic one; Milan won, but their duke was struck down in the fighting and Milan was left with no clear heir. The new regency council showed no signs of wanting peace; instead, they took advantage of their victory to push into Brescia, and for the next several months battles raged in Lombardy. Without their duke to lead them, the Milanese armies seemed to lose heart and fought poorly, but despite this continued to wrest victory from the jaws of defeat. Nevertheless, Foscarini supported Colleoni and did not recall him from Lombardy in the face of public criticism.

By winter there was an immense amount of pressure on the doge to end the war. San Paulo himself delivered the bad news in person: the war would bankrupt Venice if it continued. Increasingly it seemed like Foscaroni was not so much driven as he was obsessed, uncaring of the consequences of his war, and a movement grew in Venice to demand his abdication. The Milanese shrewdly took advantage of this by making impossible demands of Venice that would surely bankrupt the republic.

1453-Day1.jpg

Notice the date here, one day into the game. Do you think it’s a sign?

It was a cheerless Christmas Day in Venice, but the doge had one last trick up his sleeve. Just three days later, an emissary from Corfu arrived with the news that the island had agreed to Foscaroni’s proposals and for most intents and purposes it had become nothing more than another Venetian possession – a strategic market, port and fortress against the Ottomans all in one. But the timing of the ship was off, and it arrived too late. Had it been there on Christmas Day, as Foscaroni had undoubtedly planned, would it have made a difference? It is hard to say.

1453-ChristmasPresent.gif

A belated Christmas present

What we do know is that Colleoni began a spring offensive into Parma, forcing the Milanese to quit the city to relieve the siege and allowing him to lay siege to Milan itself – but with a large Milanese army still on the loose and no hope of ending the siege soon, it wasn’t enough. On June 14, Foscaroni finally succumbed to the will of the Council of Ten and abdicated his office. An election was called, and the brilliant Pasquale San Paulo – ironically, a cousin of the San Paulo that Foscaroni had patronized – became the doge. What Foscaroni had begun, San Paulo would finish.

1454-SanPaulo.jpg
 
Last edited:
Well that was certainly a short reign. :D Looking forward to the next Doge. :cool:

Joe
 
This looks like fun. It'll be interesting to see how the Doges of Magna Mundi fare against their own creation.

Good opening post - I assume you are at war but your allies aren't - but some of the pictures aren't showing properly.
 
Cyrus_The_Great said:
BTW: In Italian, the adjective comes after the noun, so it would be La Republica Caotica.
Gah! :eek: