This is my second AAR, once again starting as an Irish OPM. My previous failed due to some technical difficulties. Hopefully this one will go more smoothly. I'm also hoping that I'll have a more successful campaign now that I'm more familiar with EU4. I may still have some EU3 habits and assumptions I need to break...
Anyway, it's ironman, normal difficulty and handicaps.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Turlough the Bold
Chapter 2: The Celtic Brotherhood
Chapter 3: "Greater Wales"
Chapter 4: No plan survives first contact with your allies
Chapter 5: The Queen Regent
Chapter 6: With Friends like these
Chapter 7: Vive la France!
Chapter 8: Big Dreams...
Chapter 9: ...Bigger Nightmares
Chapter 10: Faith and Fire
Chapter 11: A Turbulent Relationship
Chapter 12: The Quiet Council
Chapter 13: The Danewars
Chapter 14: Cold Wars
Chapter 15: The Merchant War
Chapter 16: Interbellum
Chapter 17: The Second Merchant War
Chapter 18: Friends and Family
Chapter 19: New Horizons
Chapter 20: The Bavarian Intervention
Chapter 21: A Friend of a Friend of a Friend
Chapter 22: Colonial Concerns
Chapter 23: March on Stockholm
Chapter 24: The German Wars
Chapter 25: Rest and Regroup
Chapter 26: Fág an Bealach!
Chapter 27: The Deluge
Chapter 28: The Price of Hubris
Chapter 29: Regrouping
Chapter 30: Retaliation
Chapter 31: The Peace of Westphalia
Chapter 32: The Imperial Succession War
Chapter 33: The Northern Front
Chapter 34: War for the Med
Chapter 35: Imperial Prerogatives
Chapter 36: Changes
Chapter 37: The Provence War
Chapter 38: The Diplomatic Front
Chapter 39: The Canton Trade War
Chapter 40: The Subjugation of Germany
Chapter 41: Twilight of an Empire
Chapter 42: The First Napoleonic War
Chapter 43: The Second Napoleonic War
Chapter 44: Éire go brách!
Lord Turlough O'Brien isn't exactly the most impressive ruler in Europe, but at least he's a step above England's Henry VI. His heir Tadhg is an improvement (if not much of one), so I'm not going to be too worried about sticking Da on a horse and pointing him at the enemy. Like the other Irish OPMs we start with 3000 troops, a cog, three barques and a barely functioning economy. The primary concern in this part of Europe is obviously the English, but they're stuck in a war they can't win and a ruler I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I need to expand as much as possible while they are still distracted. If I'm lucky they'll still be at war with France by the time I take the last of the OPMs, which will mean they'll be suffering from high war exhaustion (and therefore rebellions), so I'll be able to walk in and take Meath.
I recruit one unit of cavalry while sending diplomats to Brittany and Scotland. I also make Connaught and Leinster my rivals, granting me a mission to take Leinster. I soon have royal marriages and alliances with both Scotland and Brittany and an alliance with Tyrone (I turn down their offer of a marriage - I'll be attacking them pretty soon and I don't want the stability hit). Soon enough I'm marching on Leinster, Turlough leading the troops personally. Leinster's forces are soon destroyed and the siege begun. Turlough is fortunately a good siege leader, so the province is soon mine.
As I prepare to repeat the above with Connaught I glance across to the east and am shocked to discover that Burgundy occupied a province in England. A quick look at the ledger reveals a shocking discovery - England's army is almost nonexistent.
Burgundy somehow got an army past the Royal Navy and then crushed the English army and was now laying siege to some provinces. The English were already mustering more troops (hence the non-existent manpower, I guess) but wisely chose to surrender Calais rather than risk more losses. They were already starting to have trouble with rebellious peasants. I need to finish dealing with Connaught and Tyrone as quickly as possible so I can take advantage of their weakness.
Tyrone breaks their alliance, but I'm not too worried. I attack Connaught and am soon besieging them. As I wait for the city to fall I receive a message.
I decide to take the money. A little extra gold in my pocket will help speed up the conquest of Ireland so I can strike at Henry VI all the sooner.
Connaught is soon mine, leaving only Tyrone to deal with.
As I prepare to attack Ulster the Scots declare war on England. Thousands of highlanders answer the call to war and they move south quickly, laying siege to the northern half of the country. The English are too busy dealing with rebels to do anything about them.
I march on Ulster and am soon waiting for their walls to fall. Anxious to get in on the war with England I begin ferrying troops across the Irish Sea to Scotland and recruiting new units in Leinster and Munster.
With the fall of Tyrone I declare war on England and prepare to free the Irish people! My units in Scotland march south, led by Turlough, while his son Tadhg (also a good siege general) takes command of the remaining forces in Ireland and attacks Meath. The Scots seem to have the English on the run and their Portuguese allies seem to have their hands full dealing with some rebels. It's still a risk, but I'm not going to get a better chance, so...
Though I've been busy on the battlefield I haven't forsaken diplomacy and it pays off with a marriage between my boy Tadhg and a Castilian princess. This will hopefully lead to good things once the war is over.
And now my first setback. The Scots (for no reason that I can fathom) pull out of the war and march back north.
Damnit. Maybe they couldn't afford the haggis needed to feed all those highlanders. Still, the English have taken a hell of a beating, right? I've nothing to worry about, right? The English do make an attempt to destroy my forces in Lancashire, but my forces in the next province just abandon their siege and join the battle, driving them back south. Lancashire and Meath soon fall. Phew, nothing to worry ab- wait, is that a Portuguese fleet off the coast of Munster?
It's now a race against time. I need to capture enough provinces to bring my warscore up to 10%. Having Meath is a huge help, as it will slowly increase the warscore by itself, but if Munster falls I'll probably lose the war. My merchant marine dodges the English fleet as it moves to the Irish Sea, instead moving around Scotland to blockade England's east coast. Meanwhile my transports slip away with Tadhg and the troops from Meath, taking them to reinforce my army in England.
Cumbria falls, giving me some more precious warscore. I'm confident now that I can get up to ten percent. However the Enlish army is trying to relieve Lancashire. Gathering my forces together in Cumbria I march them south. My military tech is higher and I outnumber them and sure enough they are quickly routed.
My warscore is now 10%, but I decide to pursue them to give them another thrashing before making peace. That done I send Henry my terms. He agrees and Meath is mine!
With the extra cash I pay off the small loan I had to take out to fund the war and pay for the construction of a new barque. I consolidate my units and march them north as quickly as possible (they appear to be almost surrounded by thousands of rebels). England is in turmoil, has next to no army and is still at war with France - long may it continue. Hopefully I'll be able to improve my finances and military tech over the next few years and see where we stand when the truce ends. In the meantime I think Turlough will celebrate his liberation of the Irish people!
Anyway, it's ironman, normal difficulty and handicaps.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Turlough the Bold
Chapter 2: The Celtic Brotherhood
Chapter 3: "Greater Wales"
Chapter 4: No plan survives first contact with your allies
Chapter 5: The Queen Regent
Chapter 6: With Friends like these
Chapter 7: Vive la France!
Chapter 8: Big Dreams...
Chapter 9: ...Bigger Nightmares
Chapter 10: Faith and Fire
Chapter 11: A Turbulent Relationship
Chapter 12: The Quiet Council
Chapter 13: The Danewars
Chapter 14: Cold Wars
Chapter 15: The Merchant War
Chapter 16: Interbellum
Chapter 17: The Second Merchant War
Chapter 18: Friends and Family
Chapter 19: New Horizons
Chapter 20: The Bavarian Intervention
Chapter 21: A Friend of a Friend of a Friend
Chapter 22: Colonial Concerns
Chapter 23: March on Stockholm
Chapter 24: The German Wars
Chapter 25: Rest and Regroup
Chapter 26: Fág an Bealach!
Chapter 27: The Deluge
Chapter 28: The Price of Hubris
Chapter 29: Regrouping
Chapter 30: Retaliation
Chapter 31: The Peace of Westphalia
Chapter 32: The Imperial Succession War
Chapter 33: The Northern Front
Chapter 34: War for the Med
Chapter 35: Imperial Prerogatives
Chapter 36: Changes
Chapter 37: The Provence War
Chapter 38: The Diplomatic Front
Chapter 39: The Canton Trade War
Chapter 40: The Subjugation of Germany
Chapter 41: Twilight of an Empire
Chapter 42: The First Napoleonic War
Chapter 43: The Second Napoleonic War
Chapter 44: Éire go brách!
Lord Turlough O'Brien isn't exactly the most impressive ruler in Europe, but at least he's a step above England's Henry VI. His heir Tadhg is an improvement (if not much of one), so I'm not going to be too worried about sticking Da on a horse and pointing him at the enemy. Like the other Irish OPMs we start with 3000 troops, a cog, three barques and a barely functioning economy. The primary concern in this part of Europe is obviously the English, but they're stuck in a war they can't win and a ruler I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. I need to expand as much as possible while they are still distracted. If I'm lucky they'll still be at war with France by the time I take the last of the OPMs, which will mean they'll be suffering from high war exhaustion (and therefore rebellions), so I'll be able to walk in and take Meath.
I recruit one unit of cavalry while sending diplomats to Brittany and Scotland. I also make Connaught and Leinster my rivals, granting me a mission to take Leinster. I soon have royal marriages and alliances with both Scotland and Brittany and an alliance with Tyrone (I turn down their offer of a marriage - I'll be attacking them pretty soon and I don't want the stability hit). Soon enough I'm marching on Leinster, Turlough leading the troops personally. Leinster's forces are soon destroyed and the siege begun. Turlough is fortunately a good siege leader, so the province is soon mine.
As I prepare to repeat the above with Connaught I glance across to the east and am shocked to discover that Burgundy occupied a province in England. A quick look at the ledger reveals a shocking discovery - England's army is almost nonexistent.
Burgundy somehow got an army past the Royal Navy and then crushed the English army and was now laying siege to some provinces. The English were already mustering more troops (hence the non-existent manpower, I guess) but wisely chose to surrender Calais rather than risk more losses. They were already starting to have trouble with rebellious peasants. I need to finish dealing with Connaught and Tyrone as quickly as possible so I can take advantage of their weakness.
Tyrone breaks their alliance, but I'm not too worried. I attack Connaught and am soon besieging them. As I wait for the city to fall I receive a message.
I decide to take the money. A little extra gold in my pocket will help speed up the conquest of Ireland so I can strike at Henry VI all the sooner.
Connaught is soon mine, leaving only Tyrone to deal with.
As I prepare to attack Ulster the Scots declare war on England. Thousands of highlanders answer the call to war and they move south quickly, laying siege to the northern half of the country. The English are too busy dealing with rebels to do anything about them.
I march on Ulster and am soon waiting for their walls to fall. Anxious to get in on the war with England I begin ferrying troops across the Irish Sea to Scotland and recruiting new units in Leinster and Munster.
With the fall of Tyrone I declare war on England and prepare to free the Irish people! My units in Scotland march south, led by Turlough, while his son Tadhg (also a good siege general) takes command of the remaining forces in Ireland and attacks Meath. The Scots seem to have the English on the run and their Portuguese allies seem to have their hands full dealing with some rebels. It's still a risk, but I'm not going to get a better chance, so...
Though I've been busy on the battlefield I haven't forsaken diplomacy and it pays off with a marriage between my boy Tadhg and a Castilian princess. This will hopefully lead to good things once the war is over.
And now my first setback. The Scots (for no reason that I can fathom) pull out of the war and march back north.
Damnit. Maybe they couldn't afford the haggis needed to feed all those highlanders. Still, the English have taken a hell of a beating, right? I've nothing to worry about, right? The English do make an attempt to destroy my forces in Lancashire, but my forces in the next province just abandon their siege and join the battle, driving them back south. Lancashire and Meath soon fall. Phew, nothing to worry ab- wait, is that a Portuguese fleet off the coast of Munster?
It's now a race against time. I need to capture enough provinces to bring my warscore up to 10%. Having Meath is a huge help, as it will slowly increase the warscore by itself, but if Munster falls I'll probably lose the war. My merchant marine dodges the English fleet as it moves to the Irish Sea, instead moving around Scotland to blockade England's east coast. Meanwhile my transports slip away with Tadhg and the troops from Meath, taking them to reinforce my army in England.
Cumbria falls, giving me some more precious warscore. I'm confident now that I can get up to ten percent. However the Enlish army is trying to relieve Lancashire. Gathering my forces together in Cumbria I march them south. My military tech is higher and I outnumber them and sure enough they are quickly routed.
My warscore is now 10%, but I decide to pursue them to give them another thrashing before making peace. That done I send Henry my terms. He agrees and Meath is mine!
With the extra cash I pay off the small loan I had to take out to fund the war and pay for the construction of a new barque. I consolidate my units and march them north as quickly as possible (they appear to be almost surrounded by thousands of rebels). England is in turmoil, has next to no army and is still at war with France - long may it continue. Hopefully I'll be able to improve my finances and military tech over the next few years and see where we stand when the truce ends. In the meantime I think Turlough will celebrate his liberation of the Irish people!
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