CHAPTER IV: BENGAL
Part 1: Death of a Tiger (1505-1510)
Welcome!
Bengal. Ha ha. Very funny, Johan. (You know he's in charge of the RNG, right?) That's okay. I'm a big boy. What do we have to work with?
Not much.
We are an OPM with Shan to our east, part of Orissa to our north, and Nepal to our west. They are all NOT OPMs, which means they're stronger than me.
Well, let's take a look.
My current ruler, Mir Muhammad Ja'far, is a great administrator. And not much else. His eleven year old son is worthless.
Our tech, 5/5/7, is more or less on par with our western neighbors. Interestingly, it's ahead of Shan (3/4/4). This means I have arquebuses and cannon, and he does not. Something to keep in mind.
We have only one rival: Kachar, who we can't get to without MA through Shan. We've declared Jaunpur, Shan and Nepal rivals. I immediately cancel the latter two to avoid antagonizing my larger neighbors. Jaunpur may also be a worthy target, though I need to get MA through Nepal.
We have one ally and RM with Carnatic, which really doesn't help. We have CBs on all of our powerful neighbors, probably for reducing me to an OPM. We've also been warned by Nepal and Orissa not to start trouble. Similar to Lan Xang, I don't like either one of them enough to ally even though it'd be a good idea. Great. This promises to be boring. Pardon me while I make a sandwich.
Right. Where were we?
Not shown, but very important, is that Nepal and Orissa both have CBs on me. The former has forged a claim good until 1522, the latter has a core that won't expire until 1640.
I have three merchants: Siam pushing trade to Malacca, Malacca to Bengal, and collecting in Bengal. Since I don't have a navy, I can't protect the trade so I'm not really getting anything out of it.
That's right. No navy. No army either. I immediately take the mission to create an army for my nation and work on a cavalry unit.
Looking for Trouble
As the game clock starts, I busy myself with domestic issues. First we support the Advaita (non-dualist) movement for -1 RR (The peasants don't like my taxes, and like me even less after I apply harsh measures) and +0.5% missionary strength. I also have the option to tolerate religious sects, but since Nepal and Orissa are both Hindu, I'm Hindu, and I could care less about Shan, I ignore the option that would give me a bonus versus 'heretics' at the price of weakening my missionaries. I learned my lesson in a Vijayanagar game where I had 0% chance of converting Ceylon.
We also take Trade Idea-3 (Merchant Adventures) for +25% Trade Range. It really doesn't matter, but I was nowhere near gaining a Dip tech level so I might as well. This also opened up Indian Sultanate Idea-1 (Tolerate the Idol Worshippers), which is rather funny since I'm now Hindu. Bengal must have force converted or been annexed/reappeared at some point. The latter would explain Orissa's core on my province.
This raises my tolerance of heathens like Christians and Muslims by +3. They probably don't like being told they're idol worshippers, but what do I care for people who don't worship Peperna the Holy Cow?
Diplomats to Orissa and Nepal keep them off my back as I look around: I want a fight, but I don't want to be maimed. We hit Administration-6 in January 1506. Then things get curious:
Punjab asks for Military Access, which is a little strange given their location.
It gets even stranger when the Timurids ask for MA one month later. Then Jangladesh. I finally figure out what's going on: The three of them are allied in some North Indian war, and somehow Shan got involved on the opposing team. While normally I'd be perfectly happy to let them go through, I'm starting to look at my tech advantage with Shan as an opportunity and I don't want them stealing provinces. I say no, which of course irritates my merchants who don't understand foreign policy.
They don't understand governmental policy either, as they ask for a piece of the action.
I explain there's really no power to go around, and a drunken lemur could run an OPM like Bengal. They assure me I'm a perfect match for the job. I think it's a compliment...
So my Stability drops to 0, but I have completed my mission by raising my army back to 4 regiments. I now have three options for my next mission: Build a fleet, which will take forever as my naval force limit is 11, or RM Orissa - who sees me more as a future snack pack than an equal partner, or claim a province in Shan. I look: Shan is still allied with Ayutthaya, and while Orissa's warning has apparently expired, Nepal's is alive and well.
Right. Time to build a fleet.
A Beautiful Little War
Or not, as in August 1507 Nepal declares war on Jaunpur. Finally! Nepal is going to be too busy to worry about me for awhile. I still don't want to fight Shan AND Ayutthaya, and I didn't see Stuyvesant's excellent advice to erase the stain on this game that is Lan Xang, but we still have Kachar. I'm about to request access through Shan when I happen to check Kachar's allies:
Nepal and Orissa.
Hm. Well, Jaunpur was already fighting (and defeating) Bundelkhand. They're allied with Gujarat and Golkonda - the latter is an OPM, and the former has their hands full with Nepal. Nepal's not going to punish me for fighting THEIR enemy - indeed, it might convince the AI that I'd make a good alliance partner. I declare war.
My people wonder what the heck I'm doing as my Stab crashes to -2, but I throw Admin points at them until they're only mildly puzzled. (Stab up to -1)
We arrive in Bihar in September. Jaunpur gets out of its war with Bundelkhand, but Nepal's 9K army smashes theirs of 7K. The Nepalese and later Kachar even spare small armies to help me take out Bihar, which falls in June 1508.
I then watch Jaunpur's other province, looking for an opening. At first I think I might get lucky: Kachar had 3,000 on the enemy capital, but began to move them. I hoped to sneak in, steal the siege, and perhaps conquer or vassalize Jaunpur outright. No such luck - Nepal moves 10,000 in before I can get there. Their attrition must be horrible, but apparently the Nepalese can spare it.
In October 1508, Jaunpur offers me 32 ducats for peace. No. Even if Nepal takes the capital and eventually peaces out, I'll just move in and resiege Jaunpur province before they can build any units. Brilliant!
A Not So Beautiful War
Orissa decides to take revenge on me for all the Vijayanagar games where I grind them into dust and declares war in May 1509. I believe across 'the pond' Brits would call this cheeky. Richardish is a little closer to my opinion. Nepal is somehow up to 25K in Jaunpur, so there won't be any trouble from that direction.I move my army to a neighboring Orissa province, but they have 12K in my capital almost before I can react.
I have to try. I hire five different generals looking for the best one, but end up sticking to my leader (F1 S2 M1 Sg1) and storm the Orissan army. 5 on 12, identical tech. What do you think happened?
Well then.
In August 1509 Jaunpur once more offers peace. This time I accept.
The astute among you might notice that I could have used my possession of Bihar province to frustrate Orissa indefinitely, assuming they didn't have MA to get there. Well...there's a difference between refusing to tank and playing out a crappy nation, versus using gamey tactics just so we can suffer through a few years of Orissa sitting on my province not letting me build anything. I settle in and wait for it.
On April 29, 1510, Orissa conquered my capital of Dacca. Then put me out of my misery.
Next!
It's a little early for another overview, so let's just see where Johan would like us to visit next...
Yes, please!
