Thought I'd write a little report of the state of the world at the time my connection screwed itself up;
Powerhouses of Europe:-
1) Spain: Was undoubtably the dominant power in European affairs for the last half of the 16th century, a super economy and a strong hapsburg alliance meant Spain could run riot during its golden age, totally destroying Venetian power as well as beating England and France handily. Perhaps such a situation could not be sustained forever but Spain was unquestionably on top when i left.
2) England: Early intereference in European affairs paid dividends for Ear, giving him a friend in France and forcing a massive payment from the Swedes that would marginalise them for the rest of the game. Afterwards developed as an England should and did a pretty good job, after the defeat of Venice was the only power to really be comparable to Spain.
Major Powers of Europe:-
3) France: Better than comepetent administration gave France a strong position but they never really fully utilised it, was not as rich as Spain and in raw military capability was outclassed by Austria. Decent diplomatic contacts with Venice and England should have been enough to defeat Spain but for various reasons this was not achieved. Probably suffered most from the Ottoman implosion
4) Holland: Steady buildup since a few opening setbacks had left Holland in an excellent position at the 17th century dawned, owning a fleet equal to England and Spain and with extensive mercant interests and a strong colonial presence in the east indies. Defintely a consideration in European affairs and a major power in the rest of the world.
5) Poland: Nice work by Engel to expand and consolidate Poland to such a size, with a military only really matched by Austria in central and eastern europe. Was a force, but may perhaps have been living on borrowed time, earlier bullying of Russia may have had repercussions, combined with Brandenburgian need for Prussia and Poland tossing his hat into the ring on the french side only to lose to Austria seemed to herald a series of gangs...
6) Russia: A bit of an enigma, Joohoo took a lot of punishment from Poland early on but seemed to have used the time gained wisely to build a strong Russia that in a little while would perhaps have been able to take revenge for such things. Sadly I saw little of Russian actions on the world stage and cannot comment further.
7) Persia: The only country that Austria could truthfully claim to outtech, Persia was still a formidable country, its geographic isolation and the presence of a buffer state in the form of the Knights and its lack of enemies should have meant its technological weakness was a temporary problem only and its vast territories could allow it to be a very effective force as the game continued.
Regional Powers of Europe:
8) Sweden: Suffered from its early defeats to England, and did not seem to recover significantly. Had a big fleet at the end but was behind in tech and had not done anything of note in the international stage in decades if not centuries. Lost a war to Russia as well I beleive, I'd think any expansion could only come overseas by joining the dueling naval alliances.
9) Brandenburg: Lack of a player for the first few sessions was not a big a problem as it could have been, Brandenburg was competetive in military tech and was second most fortified country (after Austria) but it had lost any chance it had to contest defacto Austrian control of the entire HRE. Its future remained very much promising though, a victory or two against Poland would leave it in a nice position to either take Poland out completely or compete with Austria for hegemony of Germany.
10) Portugal: Not much I can say here, was an ok game, but didn't provide as much support as Spain would have liked I suppose, and was perhaps more of a liabilty at times than a help. Economywise an ok performance but more is generally expected of a Porto in a 1453 start with a monopoly on India and China.
11) The Knights: As a power they were a poor replacement for the ottomans and on paper seemed almost neglible as a dying Venice proved. Still it was thanks to their strenous diplomatic efforts that the Ottoman menace was vanquished and as such they played a huge role in the fate of Europe.
Powers fallen by the wayside:
12) Venice: They seemed to be one of the major powers, using trademark diplomacy and guile to collect nearly all of italy, despite Spain having advanced nearly to Tuscany, followed soon after by the lions share of the Ottoman Empire's possessions in Greece and the southern Balkans. A large thriving colony in west africa also fuelled the rich Venetian realm. Loosely allied with Spain and France they took a risk and attacked the Spanish for the remaining possessions in Naples. Victory looked likely but for Austrian intervenetion, its troops flooding the peninsula and beginning the short sharp decline of Venice. Spanish vengeance was swift and Farnese and Alba wasted no time in seizing nearly all of Italy as Austria took much of the Balkans despite French aid. Sometimes such gambits pay off, and sometimes they don't but this was the first time I'd seem such fail in so spectacular a way.
13) The Ottoman Empire: No player for the first sessions was nasty, but the Knight's machinations really put paid to the Sublime Porte. They simply could not fend off attacks of the Persians, Venetians, Spaniards and Templar forces. Even could they have done such attacks had crippled the empire for good, egypt was never going to be a safe base of ottoman power as the Persians fought to the death for it, and Hungary and even Serbia and Bosnia had been lost to the ravenous Archduke whilst the Sultan was fighting for his life. A glorious demise it was, but a demise nonetheless
