Chapter 14: We Went Thataway...!
As we enter into this chapter in the annals of the mystery and history of our beloved Milan we find ourselves led by a King with Mamlukian aspirations. Visions of Alexandria consume his dreams, and Jerusalem haunts his sleep.
As we begin, we make our obligatory moves and placements, starting with a shift in gears...:
First thing you'll notice is the brain fade on the central move. This won't be the first I'm afraid. My head was in it, but my mind wasn't, and AMTRAK was right on schedule derailing thoughts with ruthless efficiency...
The second is the Warning to Naples, so as to try and take advantage of the core mission we currently have.
Our research is doing OK, as we're pumping Production currently to get those almighty workshops. Santa isn't the only one who needs those...:
Government Tech has been cruising along quite nicely with the combination of Universities and an excellent advisor. We're pushing for Tech Level 10 for a switch to Noble Republic...
Things kick off with a revolt in Abruzzi, which is ping and a pong and a gone, followed by not a whole lot.
It isn't until September that anything happens at all:
This gives us something you don't see every day:
It's basically on auto pilot now, which is nice. One less thing to worry about, or screw up... Within days of that our Naval Tech bumps to 5. I'm not in any hurry for that to go anywhere just yet. Once we hit 9 and the inevitable Pirate swarms we'll punch up research there a little.
Perhaps a sign of things to come...?:
That makes it both France and Burgundy trying to sow the bad blood. It also makes for a little trepidation when considering getting involved over seas. We'll have to keep an eye on this.
It isn't until almost a year later anything at all happens, and that a minor rebellion in Scwhaben. It seems 6,000 people decided they wanted to follow a guy named Chlingensperg to his death. Idiots. It's another ping and then a pong and then lunch.
Not a scant few months later, the same province spawns yet another ruckus...:
Maximilian Maximillian...?
What, pops couldn't afford another 'L'...?
And what's with following guys with the weird names...?
We managed to go an extra ping with this group, but when it's over they end up where most rebels go... The special 'You Just Really Annoyed Me For No Reason' section of electronic hell where there's weeping and wailing and alot of flies.
On a bright Spring day
On the 1st of May
Twas a Saturday
From the Herald 'Hey'
'Good news I say'
'Share if I may...?'
'Oh shut up and spill it...!' The King growled...
'The good news: We have reached Production Tech Level 8, sire.'
'The bad news: We are 10 years ahead of schedule to level 9.'
'Thank You.'
'Now go away.'
'Right now I say...'
'I've had quite enough of you today.'
'And all of this rhyming, well it's just...'
'Silly.'
We're also 10 years ahead of time on GOVT still too. The game then reads my mind and throws me a bone:
Why certainly. Absolutely. Happily even. Hired. Done...! The only problem...? The only logical placement is in the slot my 2 star Diplomat currently resides... It's +15 GOVT tech vs. 0.02 BB reduction. Given that Noble Republic waits at the end of this rainbow, where I can go for Diplomatic rulers every 8 years, I have to say I can make up the 0.02 with a decent candidate... So, so long Mr. Diplomat.
It seems both France and Burgundy are quite ambitious this game... France is spreading outwards both south into Castille and east into Piedmont heading towards Liguaria. The Burgundians have had one war with Baden already, and are pushing the Palatinate around too. This is not a good sign I tell you. My best case scenario is the two of them go at it and relatively soon. At least that way I can jump on the loser (and maybe the winner too) and take them down a peg.
Hey, we built a Temple in Trent...!
From the 'We're so happy your our target... Er, neighbor...' Dept:
Thanks for saving me 5 BB too, while we're being friendly. With the core on München the DoW is only -1...
I think I'll start looking around and see what's what. I need to make something happen, whether overseas in Mam land or closer to home.
As I said in the teaser, the Mamluks have been downright docile, as have the Ottomans. Neither has involved themselves in much, and neither has suffered any of the usual meltdowns or rebel fests or enemy crushings that usually befall these two giants. This could be a good thing... When they finally do go into cardiac arrest, it'll be one heck of a show.
Closer to home, I get something else I haven't seen in a very long while:
Another French vassal to boot. They may not get the decentral cancel in a mission, but they'll be trying to annex it in the future. The English army in the pic lasted all of a day. That French stack walked in and *spoof*, no more English.
The only other event of 1441 was a revolt in Trent which was pinged, then ponged.
1442 Started off on a sour note:
Already being at 5+ inflation, and having the ability to get a STAB level back in 6 months I opted to take the hit and lose the inflation. The +1 STAB didn't look so hot, but the 2.1 inflation was a welcome sight. Already being able to maintain zero gain, it opens the door for some minting to take place should the need arise, like say, when I need to build all those workshops...
In July, we get our first STAB level back, peasants in Modina decide rebellion is the quickest way to die and Holland enters the CoT owners fraternity with a new franchise.
We also get a CB on Austria, as apparently they decided to play the spy game and lost. With my two advisors, I have huge defense numbers. Doesn't help much if I want to instigate, but keeps me from having to deal with the AI spam of silly spy actions whenever they don't have anything better to do.
In anticipation of some hostilities I build up some extra forces, starting with 6K CAV. I'm on the fence about Austria though, as she has some very big and healthy allies...
The end of the year finishes better than it started...:
I had totally brain faded on this for the strategy session... The nice thing is it would be a minor inconvenience to change it.
In the past I would take Military Drill, no questions asked. However, I wanted to see if Discipline would be an advantage on par or better than Moral. I know what Moral does, as I'm used to fighting with it. This should prove to be an interesting comparison.
Our last tech level to Noble Republic is 13 years ahead of schedule. That means I have all kinds of time to wait for it. I can even trade away one of my advisors should something open up.
By January 1443 I have my STAB back. The Mams further demonstrate their new peaceful, civilized ways when the diplo annex Syria in February. What happened to the hard charging always fighting Mams of yore...? They've been at peace now as long as I have...!
The produces a few other noteworthy events also. The Palatinate becomes the new HRE, though it currently has a few issues. The biggest is the province of Franken, where rebels are holding everyone hostage. Maybe now with the added manpower they can actually build an army big enough to move them.
Our CB expires on Austria. She was clearly wanting a fight, having positioned her main armies on my border. But after the CB went away, she decided to back down and went looking for trouble elsewhere.
Burgundy annexed Brabant, continuing it's push to expand at the rate of France. I can't help but feel this is going to get ugly...
Then I get another wonderful event just to let me know I'm not alone...:
I can't afford to go in the hole over 2,000d in GOVT tech. That'll be another 2-3 years to get to Noble vs. 6 months of +2 STAB.
Speaking of STAB, we complete another temple in Schwyz. I've never been much on building Temples, but my STAB level cost is currently 487d, minus the new 5d. It was over 600 a little bit ago. Maybe not a big deal now, but as we continue to grow, every little bit helps.
Especially when the game has an agenda... 1443 is going to go down as a banner year for ouch...:
Another lost STAB level as I can't afford the cash hit. Them's the bounces though, and maybe we've got them all out of the way now...
Hey, you remember that Papal State thing there...?:
I never even noticed the rebellion. Seriously, total brain fade. What's worse is that now our relations are zero... At least they're one of the few countries I get a positive number with. Needless to say, diplo annex aint coming soon.
I also have to re up the alliance, which I do right away. Later a gift to just help things along.
By July our STAB is fully recovered, so we can go back to business as usual on the tech front.
Later that month, England decides to excommunicate Aragon. I suddenly wished they had picked someone else. For some reason Aragon just doesn't take to excommunicating very well.
At the end of July, the Year of our Lord 1444, I decide the time has come to put Bavaria in the proper position. I need to make that core accessible, which means making Bavaria an OPM.
The DoW is minimal, and the time is right. Even better is the cadre of accomplices I may get to become entangled with...:
A bonus Ferarra AND a shot at completing the mission against Naples...? Heck Yeah...!
My trusty Allies, Cleves, The Papal State and Switzerland all join in the fray. They'll be enough to draw fire away from me for awhile, which is all I'll need.
The first battles are ping pong classics, bouncing around Europe a few hundred men at a time. I'm not too concerned, as it's just the nature of things.
This is probably the first war where I have little manpower fear issues. I imagine it will be quite difficult to lose 28K against these guys. As such, my only real concern is attrition.
Come September I discover that Portugal has re-gifted the 'See and Excommunicate' I gave them...
Ugh. I wonder how long we'll have this one go roundy round...
I make another 4K INF siege unit to give me some flexibility with the CAV to chase down enemy forces. As they maneuver to their form up province, word arrives that the Bavarian main army is no more:
It went pretty well considering the army was at 6/9/0 when it started. That there is alot of pong. At least with that I can start getting aggressive in siege mode, and maybe get some help down south with Naples, where I'm spread out pretty thin.
The battles rage, England Excommunicates, Battles are won, England Excommunicates...
And so it goes through the end of 1444... However 1445 starts with me making a bit of a gaffe...:
Nothing like throwing 3K CAV away just for fun. Maybe I'm just jealous that Portugal didn't send the See and Excommunicate to me.
Gaffes and blunders aside, I can't complain. The only real issue is that we seem to be heading in the wrong direction. However, given the continued activities of Burgundy and France, this may not be a bad thing at all. The provinces we're after are all above 5 base tax and all have decent manpower numbers. At the very least we'll have a decent foundation for defending ourselves, at the best we have enough to actually afford to send enough men off the reservation to actually accomplish something.
Still a ways to go before we can wrap up this war, so until then...
T
