CHAPTER VI: SAVOY
Part 1: Fight Damn You! (1540-1545)
Greetings
Welcome to Savoy!
I needed to take a little longer than you might think to get comfortable with Savoy. Load up. Take a few pictures. Turn it off and think for awhile. Despite (or perhaps of) being a somewhat large country the situation here is a bit complex.
King Carlo di Savoie (A1 D4 M3) isn't very good. His heir Vittorio has his own problems (A3 D1 M6), but I'm hoping that military will help me if we're here for a few turns.
We have all sorts of nice little modifiers, and the AI's done a tolerable job of taking care of the place. For example, the Liquor Act and Scales/Weights/Measures combines for +10% Tax. We're a happy, loyal member of the HRE which also has its perks, and we're in the midst of the Counter Reformation.
Speaking of which, how are the Proddies doing?
Not too bad. Armagnac and Switzerland are both Protestant - something to keep an eye on as we start the clock.
Diplomatically our part of the world is involved in a bit of a standoff. Burgundy doesn't like me or Spain. Spain and England seem to be looking for reasons to pounce on Burgundy. We have a CB on Spain I never plan to use unless they collapse. Armagnac is a pawn - allied with England (and Milan), and no doubt Spain and Burgundy will notice if and when I pay them a visit.
About four years ago we finished up a war with Bavaria, Hamburg, Hesse, Switzerland and Utrecht for reasons that no doubt made sense at the time. We have a solid alliance of our own consisting of Brandenburg, Palatinate, Wurtemburg, Mantua, Milan and Tuscany.
Wait. We're fighting Burgundy??
Guess what? We're getting out of this war as soon as we can. Not shown, but of vital importance is that I've fought every single battle of this campaign: A campaign which would net Ferrara for Tuscany and squat for Savoy.
Do you know what they call it when you do all the work, but they get all the reward? Being an Apple employee.
I have merchants steering trade in Alexandria, Ragusa and
Constantinople. And collecting nowhere. I've read that I might collect from my 'home' node anyway, but it has to be more efficient if I move a merchant there. And perhaps use my caravels to protect the trade: They probably fled to port when the Tuscan war started.
Short term, we have no mission. The easiest one seems to be converting Wallis province to Lombard culture, so we'll work on that while looking for something to do.
As you know, I went into the Timurids with a plan to change tag. Well, I have two possibilities for Savoy:
1) Form Sardinia/Piedmont: The problem here is Sardinia, which is currently owned by Spain. Again, barring a complete collapse I'm not going to provoke them.
2) Form Italy: This requires Lombardia (Milan), Firenze and Ancona (Tuscany), Siena and Rome (Papal) all to be owned and cored. This might actually be easier.
While I'm getting everything just so, I guess I better see how the Empire is doing:
New plan! I'm going for Emperor!
Imperial Ambitions
First, we get out of the Tuscan war by conceding Burgundian superiority. Whatever guys.
Second, we have 8/6 allowed Dip relations. Six of these are my RM/Allies, and I don't want to give them up. Two are MA through Hungary and Switzerland. Again, it probably made sense at the time, but not anymore.
We were getting a +1 Dip bonus thanks to our theologian, but at 2 gold/month he's too expensive. He gets sent back to Rome, but not before I pass the Advancement of Religion Act (+1 RR, +1% Missionary).
Third, we move our merchant to Genoa, and tell our caravel captains to protect trade.
Fourth, Burgundy asks for MA. Don't push it, pal.
Emperor. This is great! I can do so
much damage many good things as emperor. Mainz is at least willing to consider the possibility I'd be better than a heretic, so I send a diplomat there. I then ponder Armagnac's fate.
Armagnac is allied with England and Milan. The former I don't care about: Yes, England is strong in this game, but I'm thinking not enough for a determined continental push. Milan... Milan is an elector, and I don't want to anger them. On the other hand, they already like me more than Armagnac, so might just stay out of the war. Armagnac is also lodged between Spain, Burgundy and Brittany (PUed with Spain), so hurting them is likely to antagonize some powerful neighbors. Still, it's something to do, so let's move our army towards the border.
In February we hit Admin-10. This opens up another idea slot. We already have Trade (Dip) and Economic (Admin) ideas, so let's throw a military in there. You've probably already guessed I really like the Offensive Ideas line for that +1 Leader Shock, but we'll change it up a bit and go for Aristocratic. After all, this is supposedly where the romantic chivalric code took hold thanks to medieval court bards. This also lets us pass the Conventicle Act (+1% Missionary Chance, -1 Tolerance of Heretics). This is my first time in EU4 playing through the Protestant Reformation, I might as well go all in.
Speaking of heretics condemned to hell, it appears we have reformists in Nice. Unfortunately they have religious zeal, which prevents easy conversion back to the true faith. We send Vittorio down there to explain the tortures that await them.
Oh dear.
We do pick up a new ally! Spain! I'm over the number of Dip relations I can have again, but with Spain who cares? We'll do everything together! Have a few drinks. Talk about our wives/girlfriends/lovers/cattle. Play EU4. Stomp on OPMs. It'll be great!
In August I find out Mainz now favors me for the imperial throne: Awesome. Let's see how old Emperor Rudolf is anyway. Hopefully there's an election soon! Then I can...
What do you mean he's nine!? If this were CK2 I'd set him up for a methane bomb or to fall out of a tower, but apparently we're too civilized for that. My God, what's happened to the world?
OK, you know what? New plan (again). Forget Armagnac. I just forged a claim on Limousin, but who cares. The Holy Roman Emperor is nine fricking years old. I think I can take him. Ah, my truce with Switzerland has expired. Forge a claim on Waldstatte, then go over and deal with them. They're Protestant, their borders are ugly in this game, their allies (Papacy, Augsburg, Aachen) aren't worth talking about, they're mine.
Swiss Cheese
In November 1541 we declare war on Switzerland. Their allies rather foolishly pile in. Then again, so do mine. Within days it's SAVOY, Brandenburg, Brittany, Mantua, Spain, Palatinate vs. SWITZERLAND, Aachen, Augsburg and the Pope.
Wait: Why's the Pope allied with Protestants? Infallible my ***.
Right. Where we we? Well, what you don't see up there is the main Swiss army. I caught a glimpse of it as I was moving my army over: It's almost the same size as mine since Augsburg's attached to it. They're probably in Menningen, the southern province in Ulm, because that's their war target. Yes, they're also fighting Mainz, Wurtemburg and Ulm.
Obviously since svip's EU3 AAR we have an obligation to protect Ulm, so in we go.
By December we've found the main army:
They dicker about in Wurtemburg for awhile, primarily to beat up on the Wurtemburg army and give Aachen's time to catch up. This swells their army to some 20K, which descends on my army in Bern. Fortunately, Palatinate's attached 7K to my 3K there, which gives them enough staying power to hold while my main army moves in.
On April 28, 1542, the two armies collide.
A follow up battle eradicates the Swiss field army in May. By July Brittany and I have completely occupied the Swiss cantons. Augsburg makes one last attempt to cause trouble for Ulm, but Mainz shows up with 11K. The Papacy, the only Swiss ally worth talking about, is completely occupied by Spain. It's all over except for the lamentations of their women.
In January 1543, Wallis converts to Lombard culture. Bresigau, Waldstatte, St. Gallen, Zurich and Bern fall before the spring thaw. This frightens the reformists in Nice enough to let our missionaries in.
Due to our chivalry while dealing with Swiss Protestants, we pick up Aristocracy-1 (Noble Knights: -20% Cav Cost) and later Trade-5 (Overseas Merchants: +1 Merchant). The latter goes to Tunis to steer more trade into Genoa.
In May, Switzerland surrenders.
Yeah, I could've been more harsh: I could have taken Konstanz and Bresigau for myself. I still have outside hopes Emperor Rudolf will trip over a toy or something however, and don't want to frighten the Empire too badly. I kinda hoped Baden would be grateful: Not really.
There's a problem though: Spain occupied Waldstatte (through Brittany), so I couldn't ask for it. Which means St. Gallen and Zurich do not have a land border with me. Which means I can't core them. Which means the Emperor sends me a nastigram explaining that I have to return the territory to the HRE. Whereupon I tell the boy king what to do with himself once he hits puberty.
Both St. Gallen and Zurich are Protestant: I send missionaries to both, and between that and the boy emperor's mouthing off I have 30% RR in both. Milan gives me MA so I can get there if there's trouble.
1544 passes fairly quietly: I think my next plan, other than continuing my bid to be the next emperor, is to wait 5 years and finish off Switzerland: At the very least I need to get a land connection so I can core everything.
In August Nice converts to the one true faith: And what's one thing the Catholic Church has always been good at? Yep!
Onward!
Johan's Dice
Reign: 5 years
Roll: 6
Needed: 2+
Continue?: Yes