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Yup, that last decade was intense! I plan on keeping it that awayFinally some action
Chapter II - Cordoba
Francois I hated to lose Aragon as an ally but there was no other way - French troops marched on Montpellier and Barcelona and began occupying city after city. After Valencia fell, Aragon was forced to sign a separate peace treaty. Montpellier was reclaimed and the provinces of Roussillon and Girona became part of the kingdom.
Good news also spread from London: England had given up its claim on the French Crown!
Venetian forces conquered Ferrara and thereby became a threat to the Roman Pope Paulus II who must have forgotten that Francois I was a supporter of the Avignonese Papacy when he asked him to join the League of Cambria against the Most Serene Republic of Venice. France declined Paulus II's request but the Pope declared war on Venice anyways after convincing Austria and Aragon to support him.
A Castilian delegation met with French diplomats in Bern to finalize a peace treaty. On November 30th 1344, Castile agreed to give France control over the Crown of Cordoba if France promised to defend Iberia from Granada. Francois I liked those terms and sent an army to deal with Granada.
After less than a year, Granada was forced to pay 12 ducats as compensation and to annual all treaties with those Moroccan heathens.
The King hired new advisors for the small council - he was unhappy with the existing members. Some of them were lazy - others greedy. He hired aBernad d'Aulany as Master of Mint, Knight Chaplain Vivian Wernigerode and Master Recruiter Odet de Balatier. The newly composed small council advised Francois I to complete the integration of Orleans, Navarra and Bourbonnais. Wernigerode also pointed out that the Kingdom should focus on a third set of ideas. Francois I wanted to have a more competitive military and navy and so it was decided that Quality ideas were the best choice for the realm.
Furthermore, it was decided that the government should hire high-skilled researchers (Administrative Research Policy, Military Research Policy, and Diplomatic Research Policy were enacted)
Ältermann Siegrid Muhl, leader of the Hanseatic Union, traveled to Paris to asked Francois I if he could spare some men to defend the Hanseatic Union from outside aggressors - Denmark had declared war on the trade league!
When the merchants of Toulouse heard these dire news, they immediately sent their chief to Paris. The chief explained to Francois that France's membership in the Hanseatic Union had greatly increased the country's trade income. He begged the King to honor the Hamburger call-to-arms. Francois I wanted to stay at peace for once but he agreed to send an army to support the Ältermann.
1346 marked the beginning of the Black Death in France - thousands of men, women and children were destined to die a painful death. The Black Death originated somewhere in Asia and made its way via the Silk Road to Crimea - Byzantine and Venetian merchants then brought the disease to Italy from where it then spread to France and the German-speaking countries. Asti was the first French town to which the Black Death had spread.
Less people meant less taxes and soon France was in financial troubles and was not able to pay the salary of master of mint Bernard d'Aulnay anymore. He was replaced by a bureaucrat Jean-Jacques d'Ornano who accepted to work for less than a half of d'Aulnay's salary.
The war against the Danes was complicated because of their superior navy. 10.000 French troops managed to reach the cities of Kolding and Ribe. Both were occupied in less than a year. Tired of war, Francois I peaced out of the war. Kolding (province of Nordslesvig) was annexed and a French enclave in the North was founded.
At peace, Francois I gave orders to integrate the Duchy of Berry and the counties of Armagnac and Foix into the Kingdom of France.
Genoa recently lost a war against Milan in which it had to cede Liguria to the Viscontis and the island of Corsica declared independence. Doge Negrone sought an alliance with the French and Francois I accepted his offer. He hoped that good relations with the Genoese merchant republic might turn them into a French vassal someday.
Bordelais fishermen complained that they were bullied by Bretons who regularly stole their freshly cough fish. The Bretons stilled ruled the western part of the Bretagne. Francois I used the fishermen's complains as pretext to declare war on Brittany in mid-April of 1353. By November of the same year, Brittany as completely occupied but Charles I decided to send his army to Utrecht before making peace. Utrecht had honored the Breton call to arms. The city of Utrecht was protected by massive fortifications (fort level 4) but Francois I was an expert at besieging castles and after 214 days the siege was on and Utrecht vassalized.
In August Brittany was annexed and France became the sole ruler of the Bretagne. Two years later, Auvergne was integrated into the realm and priories of St. John was rebuilt in the Clemont and Poitiers.
Duke Maximilian I of House Wittelsbach, 46 years old, lacked a heir and so an alliance was formed with the Duchy of Bavaria. The alliance was celebrated with a royal marriage between Maximilian's daughter Anna and Francois's second-born son Louis.*
Reports spread through the Holy Roman Empire, that the Emperor had passed away and that his heir Konrad III lacked support from the prince-electors. The majority of them voted for Johann Kasimir I von Wittelsbach who was the prince-elector of the Palatinate.
Siena had been an ally of France for a couple of years when the small council advised the King to send a diplomat to Siena to enquire whether the Sienesi was interested in becoming a vassal of France. Diplomat Saint Omer explained to the Sienese Gonfaloniere that being a vassal had several benefits but the most important one was protection - protection from the evil Roman Pope, the ruthless Visconti and the greedy Venetians. The Gonfaloniere accepted and the Republic of Siena became a French vassal on November 4th 1356.
The Catholic Church was still divided by the Western Schism. Francois I feared that the Roman Pope might come out on top and reclaim Avignon therefore he decided to integrate Avignon into France.
In August of 1358, the King met with small council which informed him that the friendship with Genoa finally paid off: "My King, Genoa is willing to become your vassal if you promise to reclaim their land for them. Shall we send a diplomat to Genoa to sign the treaty?" asked one of the council members. "That sounds like a plan." responded Francois I.
The small council also informed Francois I about the status of the realm's economy. Trade was responsible for less than 20% of all income and the monthly balance was a little under 9 ducats per month. Not so bad after all considering the Black Death was rampaging through Europe.
To be continued...
I'm not sure what you exactly want to know :/ but I've annexed Avignon because I know that in the Treaty of Constanz will always return Avignon to the Papal States if Avignon is owned by Avignon..
I've always wanted to play veritas et fortitudo. Never really got around to learning it. This fantastic AAR has inspired me to, though!
Thank you! I'm glad to hear that this AAR has inspired you to try out VeF
At first glance, the mod might look confusing but after a couple of tries you are probably good to go.
Oh sorry, I forgot a word. Here's the fixed sentence. Are you going to make sure that the Avignon Pope wins or do you not really care? I saw you get a Western Schism CB so I thought you could ahistorically force everyone to recognize the Avignon Pope.
I'd love to do that but this is not possible in VeF 1.2.0. It will be possible in VeF 1.2.1 or 1.2.2 if I'm not mistaken. So in this AAR I won't be able to do that. Sorry..
Edit: I found a quote from one of the devs on that and it will be in the next update.
The changes you discussed with RivtalDM will be in 1.2.1 due out this Friday.
Fantastic
I think these changes will enhance the experience of Catholic countries. In a future campaign, I will definitely try to force the Avignon Papacy on the rest of the world but not in this AAR.
Chapter II - Glorious Genoa
The French weavers of Arras had trouble competing with the ones from Mons, Hainaut, and so they made a petition to declare war on Hainaut with the goal to take over the cloth production of Mons. Hainaut was shocked when France declared war and asked the Holy Roman Emperor to protect them but he refused to honor their call to arms. Johann Kasimir I's reputation within the Holy Roman Empire greatly suffered. It took the French army less than half a year to occupy Hainaut which resulted in a full annexation of the county.
When Genoa became Francois I's vassal, he promised to reconquer the Genoese lands. The King was a man of his word and in April of 1361 a campaign to retake Cagliari began, which lasted for about 10 months. Cagliari was once again ruled by the Merchants of Genoa. Doge Buonaparte was incredibly thankful for retiring the province. It seemed being a vassal of France wasn't so bad after all.
Art and poetry flourished in the entire kingdom but especially in Reins where Guillaume de Machaut wrote a series of poets that were later on imitated by other poets including Chaucer. He titled his most famous work Le Voir Dit. The poem was about a love affair with a 19-year old girl - some speculated that it was autobiographic but that was contested by others.
Adriano Buonaparte met with Francois I to discuss whether France had already made plans to reclaim more Genoese provinces. "Adriano, I have instructed Admiral de Saint Germain to position the royal navy outside of Genova. War will be declared in a matter of days. The Viscontis won't know what hit them!"
Siege engineers managed to breach the walls of Genova fairly quickly and the siege lasted only 48 days. Scouts reported that Neapolitan forces were seen just outside of Siena and so 11.000 brave men were transported to Grossetto from where they marched on the enemy.
While the King was fighting a war in Italy, the small council asked the royal researchers if they had made any recent discoveries. The members were informed that better pikes for mounted knights and a new type of bow for the city watch had been developed. Military researchers also published a book on battlefield tactics. But the researchers had more good news. Winemakers from Languedoc came up with a more efficient way of planting and harvesting vines. (I researched, Firearms I, Cavalry I, Battlefield Tactics I, Foreign RelationsI, Timber I, Mining I, and Winemaking I. Let me know, if you want to know more about how research works in VeF. I could explain that in detail in the next chapter.)
Catholic rulers met in Constance to discuss the division within the Catholic Church. The monarchs who supported the Roman Pope knew that Western Schism would never come to an end unless Francois I agreed to accept the Roman Pope. He didn't but he proposed to a different solution. The Roman and the Anti-Pope of Avignon would both step down and a new Pope would be elected. Everybody agreed to this solution and the Papal Conclave elected Clemens VIII as Pope (In VeF 1.2.1 it will be possible to force the Avignon-Papacy on the Catholic world. I think this will be a great mechanic and I am very much looking forward to it)
The war with Milan was dragging but a separate peace was reached with the Holy Roman Emperor: The Palatinate ceded Pfalz to France. Meanwhile, an army in Naples burned down province after province and another wine was conducting a siege in Novara.
By October of 1365, the House of Visconti agreed to return Liguria to Genoa. When Doge Buonaparte was informed about the French success, he instructed his people to move the capital back from Oristano to Genova. With the control of Genova, Genoa managed to restore its former glory and became once again a flourishing merchant republic.
July of 1366 was a sad month for the realm - Francois I was found dead in his bed. The doctors said that they found evidence that he was poisoned but the assassin managed to escape. Rumors were making various neighbors responsible for the death of Francois I. The small council believed that the English were behind this but they had no proof so no action was taken.
France's Generals were demoralized when they first heard of the King's death: Francois I always led the armies into war and he was the best siege expert of the realm. His death was a big loss to the military.
Charles VI was the first-born son of Francois I and the rightful heir to the throne. As his heir he chose his 16-year old nephew Louis since he had no children.
The newly crowned King continued met with the small council to get an update on the current political situation. Military advisor Desgouttes pointed out that the Duchy of Savoy was all that stood between France and the rich provinces of Italy. Therefore it was decided to make plans to annex the duchy. Duke Giacomo I di Savoia was popular among the other monarchs and he managed to build a strong web of alliances including Venice and Naples.
25.000 troops were sent to the Savoyard-French border and war was declared at the end of July.
Savoy called in the Holy Roman Emperor who assumed leadership of the defensive forces. Austria, Croatia and Hamburg honored the French call to arms.
Unlike his predecessor, Francois I, Charles VI prefered to stay at home during war. He gave command of the troops General Vergennes and his heir Louis (Louis is siege 2). The King was working on a new model of society that the goal of turning France into an industrial society.
The war proved to be difficult - the enemy fought well and won more battles than anticipated. This was frustrating because the enemy was heavily outnumbered but still managed to defeat the tacking forces on several occasions. Francois I was deeply missed by the troops - his spirit and presence would surly have motivated them to fight harder.
A loans was taken to recruit more units and then the war started going better (don't be afraid of taking loans!) - separate peaces were made with Modena, Cologne and Padua in which France demanded war reparations from all of them.
Trier, elector of the Holy Roman Empire, and Liege became vassals of Charles VI. These moves resulted in lots of aggression expansion but they were necessary because coring their province was out of question (Trier and Liege are both archbishoprics and provinces from archbishoprics have a +200% core creation cost modifier. Coring the province of Liege (base tax 9) would cost me the incredible amount of 810 ADM points!)
The Holy Roman Emperor was tired of war and agreed to cede a large portion of the Duchy of Savoy to France. Just a few weeks after the peace treaty was signed, Brabant declared war on France! They sought to conquer Loon, which was owned by Charles VI's new vassal Liege. All but one ally honored his defensive call to arms - The Croatian fools betrayed France and Charles VI swore to punish them at a future date.
To be continued...
Could you give us a tutorial on research? I don't really get it. It should be easy to defeat Brabant. Can you give us a map of Europe?
It should be easy to defeat Brabant. Can you give us a map of Europe?
I will have to be opportunistic when it comes to England - they hate my guts and entered a rather strong military coalition against me (I think like 10 or 15 countries are part of it). So I'll wait until my ally Scotland goes to war with England and then I'll try to grab some provinces which I need to form the Angevin Union. It will require multiple wars though to annex all the necessary territory.I might attempt England next.
Sure. I'll include one in my next update - I don't think I have time to write a chapter today though (sorry!) but I'll make sure to post a map of Europe once I get home.Could you give us a tutorial on research? I don't really get it.
I think you are right about Brabant - defeating them will be easy
Here you go but I want point out that the map contains spoilers of what will happen in the next chapter. The map shows how Europe will look like at the end of next chapter. So only open the spoiler if you can live with thatCan you give us a map of Europe?
Europe in 1390 - Right click on the map and open it in a new window to enlarge it.
Frenchmen live in Wales :ninja:
Frenchmen live in Wales :ninja:
Chapter III - Take That, England!
The Brabantian Conquest of Loon wasn't going too well for the Brabantinans. They lost battle after battle and the combined forces of France and Austria managed to take province after province. The French enclave of Nordslesvig fell to Mecklenburgian forces which supported the Brabantian cause.
During the war, news spread like a wildfire that the von Habsburgs had annexed Bohemia! This doubled their size!
In early October of 1374, the Brabantians accepted the French terms for peace. France demanded Antwerpen and Brabant but the province of Brabant was immedatly given to Liege. The small council informed Charles VI that the kingdom's bureaucracy was near its limits and that adding more provinces might be difficult. (Province Capacity determines how many provinces you can own before Anti-Government rebels pretty much destroy you. This means I have to be careful about whom I'll conquer next.)
After the war, the realm had to recover for many years. Being at peace allowed Charles VI to concentrate on internal matters. He had had time to appoint a regional governor in Liege and assimilated the military command of Utrecht and Cordoba.
Furthermore, more efforts were put into making France one of the most innovative countries in the known world. Researchers from all over Europe came to France to work on new scientific theories (-10% idea cost for completing Innoative IdeasI]).
And then there were those occasional rebel problems - not in France of course but in vassal territory. Genoa refused to send its army from Oristano to Genova to deal with a peasant revolt so a battalion of 14.000 fine frenchmen took care of the problem.
Peasants were not the only ones causing problem - the clergy was even worse! They archbishop of Marseille accused one of the realm's leading philosophers of following a heretic faith and he demanded that he should be burned alive! Charles VI was forced to intervene and supported the philosopher who had recently written a book titled 'The Ego and the Id'.
France had been six consecutive years at peace when Hamburg declared its 4th rivalry war on Lüneburg. The Hamburger Ältermann called in France but before France even fought a single battle, the war already over again. It lasted less than two month because Lünenburg conceded defeat. (Seriously Wiz fix the stupid AI. Why declare war on Lüneburg if you don't plan on taking anything from them??)
Those few days at war motivated Charles VI to declare his own rivalry war - not on Lüneburg but on Naples.
French troops were among the best disciplined in all of Europe and their moral was sky high - the army missed being at war and fought brutally well. General de Broglie led an army of Genoese and French soldiers to Lucca and another army, led by an Austrian general, marched on Spoleto.
Excellent news arrived from Edinburgh: The state marriage with Scotland paid off! Hire-less James II of House Capet rose to the throne in Scotland! Charles VI prayed that James II was going to die without a heir! The smell of a PU was in the air.
Ansbach declared war on the Archbishopric of Bamberg and the archbishop called in Austria. The Habsburg then sent a call to arms to Charles VI who assumed leadership of the war against Ansbach and a bunch of German countries. Charles VI then sent a call to arms to his own allies which meant that the defensive coalition consisted of 200.000 men and the attacking forces of 25.000 men. (Wiz, did I already say that you need to fix the AI?).
Meanwhile, General de Broglio won the siege of Lucca for Genoa and the province was returned to its rightful owner. Ansbach's offer of conceding defeat was accepted in order to end this pointless war.
After Ajaccio and Bastia were occupied, a separate peace was made with Savoy: Piedmont and Bastia were ceded to France and Ajaccio was returned to Genoa. Bastia was then 'sold' for the sum of 20 ducats to Genoa. Peace was also made with Naples: The Papal States had to release Florence as a sovereign state.
The rumors that the English were behind the assassinations of Francois I turned out to be true - Riots broke out and the citizens of France demanded a punitive strike against England. But Charles VI knew better not to declare on those English dogs since they were part of a powerful anti-French coalition consisting of 16 members. So he stayed calm because he knew the opportunity to strike against the French would was going to come eventually. It came faster than excepted: France's ally Scotland declared war on Norway which was allied with England - Charles VI did not waste a second and accepted the call to arms
Louis Capet was on his way to Calais to embark with an army to Kent. He rested in a tavern and ordered a beer. The heir took a few sips before his body fell of the chair - the heir's guards arrested and questioned the tavern owner who confessed that the English Crown offered him a sum for poising the heir's beer Not only were the English behind the death of former king Francois I but also behind the death of Charles VI's nephew! Both times the English rats used poison..
The King chose his cousin, who was coincidentally also named Louis, as the realm's new heir. Louis was such a beautiful name and extremely popular in the House of Capet! The 'new' Louis turned out to be a more competent heir so the loss wasn't that big after all.
French siege engineers developed a primitive cannon which they named pot de fer. It was the first known metal cannon used to besiege cities. Pot de Fer were ineffective on the battlefield and often exploded on the person firing it. A renowned Bavarian tacticians claimed that the French army was in need of a reform but Charles VI disagreed with him. France looked weak.
In April of 1389, the small council advised Charles VI to focus on a fourth set of ideas but the King couldn't make up his mind and the decision was postponed. Master of Mint Guilhem Allter was embarrassed when he said to the King that the treasury was empty and that he had sent an envoy to Firenze to meet with some local bankers.
The followingg week, the envoy returned informing the small council that the Florentines agreed on lending France 216 ducats with an interest rate of 4% per year.
When Charles VI had the opportunity to make peace with Norway he sized it and instructed the French delegation to demand the Welsh provinces Deheubarth and Gywnedd. The Norwegian king, Erik II Magnusson, accepted the terms and a treaty was signed in Kobenhavn, capital city of Denmark.
Meanwhile in Paris siege engineers developed a new form of projectile that did greater damage to enemy fortifications and thereby greatly reduced siege time (Siege II was researched increasing siege ability by +20%)
(Open the spoiler if you want to learn more about Research in VeF 1.2. If not, you can skip this!)
Research in VeF
The Basics
Research is something unique to Veritas et Fortitudo and a great way to customize your country.
If you have been looking for the research tab then you better stop looking because there is none - Research is done by enacting national decisions that cost either A) Administrative Research Points B) Diplomatic Research Points C) Military Research Points.
How do I get research points? By enacting one of three available research policies. Research policies are your main source for research points. The Administrative Research Policy will increase your Administrative Research Points, the Diplomatic Research Policy your diplomatic ones and the Military Research Policy your military research points.
Ok I checked the policy tab but I don't find those policies. Where are they? In order to enact a research policy you need to have admin tech 3. Furthermore, you need to have at least one ADM idea to enact the Administrative Research Policy, one DIP idea to enact the diplomatic one and MIL idea to enact the military one. You can enact all three policies at the same time if you wish. The cost for each policy varies.
How do I know how many research points I currently have? Mouse over the ? of the Display National Statistics decision. (see screenshot below).
Are there any other ways to acquire research points? Yes. You can sponsor research. In order to sponsor ADM research you need to have completed one ADM idea group, to sponsor DIP research you need to complete a DIP idea and to sponsor MIL research you need complete a MIL idea. Alternatively, you can unlock sponsoring research by having the National Observatory idea from the Innovative tree.
Sponsoring any research costs -1200 Ruler Capacity Points and increase research points by +25. If you have the National Observatory idea then sponsoring research will increase your points by +50 instead of +25.
How many research points do I need to start researching? Tier I research costs 100 research points, Tier II research 200 research points and so on.
Do I need anything else besides research points? Most researches have some additional requirements like having a certain building, having unlocked a certain idea, having enabled a certain idea group, or having unlocked a certain research. You can check the requirements by mousing over the ? (see screenshot below)
Where can I see what I have already researched? The bonuses you get from research comes in the form of country modifiers so check your country modifier screen in the government tab.
What can I research?
Administrative research focuses on internal things like prestige, production efficiency and build cost. Certain manufactories can only be built after researching a specific administrative research. For instance in order to be able to build a winery you need to research Winemaking I first.
Diplomatic research focuses on foreign relations, espionage, colonization, the navy and everything trade related like global trade power.
Military research focuses on the military. For example you can increase infantry combat ability, siege ability, discipline but you can also decrease the land attrition you suffer. Other research options will increase the stats of your generals.
I hope this tutorial has helped you understand the research mechanics of VeF. If you have further questions then don't be afraid to ask.
A cartographer was hired to draw a map of Europe. He completed it in April of 1390.
To be continued...
Excellent AAR and excellent description of research in VeF. Would you be willing to post just that part to the VeF forums?