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Great AAR!
 
I've got my own Milan game. Lookin' good so far. :)
 
Languish said:
That's a good, careful and reasoned start to the game - not the usual warmongering - though i can see you could be gearing up to something soon :)
Thank you! A certain mini-AAR (or maybe a certain couple!) in the Strategy Guide aside, it's actually my normal style of play to not be especially aggressive. Wars will come in time. Best be ready for them! :D
stnylan said:
Becoming quite the local godfather aren't you ;)

Beware the Swiss...
In my beta-AAR, Switzerland was dismantled by 3 neighbors. As they have only 2 provinces, you might wonder who got shafted in the annexation process... That would be me! :rolleyes:

HannibalBarca - The Ottomans were my favorite country to play in EU 2. I'm sure they'll be near the top for me in EU 3 also. Enjoying your story!

Lord E said:
perhaps in time you can unite Italy under your rule and crown yourself King of Italy? Should be very interesting to see how that works in EUIII. Looking forward to more, good work :)
You know, I've never actually seen it... I might have to try that! :D It certainly fits within my general goals.

That's another thing about my gameplay style -- I generally do not set hard & fast goals for myself. I keep them general, and let the game/story develop itself, taking advantage of opportunities as they come along.

Sophianumg@mer said:
This will be the first EUIII AAR I'll be following. ;)
Thanks! Glad to have you along for the ride!

Olaus Petrus said:
Good start. I like your informative writing style.
I see this as a sort of extension to the Strategy Guide. There will be others elsewhere... It's a shame to have to try to contain the Strategy Guide in only 110 printed pages. :)

Freddan, Valzoz, Snake IV, Coz1, Fiftypence, Kurek, Inostra, Billy Bob, Duke of Wellington & Fulcrumvale, thank you all for your kind attention and your comments!

My EU-playing computer will be away from internet access probably until tomorrow, so update will be coming soon but not right away.

Rensslaer
 
Enjoying your AAR. Warmongering isn't my strong point in Paradox games so your playing style is most interesting to me.

*Dumb question mode* What's the Iron Crown? *End dumb question mode*
 
Garuda said:
* What's the Iron Crown? *

The Iron Crown was the ancient crown of the Kings of Italy, kept in Monza Cathedral.
Maybe you know the story about Napoleon crowned King of Italy and saying something like "God gave it to me, nobody will touch it!".

My saying go for the Iron Crown was just a way to tell Rensslaer to try to become King of Italy.
 
berhaven said:
The Iron Crown was the ancient crown of the Kings of Italy, kept in Monza Cathedral.
Maybe you know the story about Napoleon crowned King of Italy and saying something like "God gave it to me, nobody will touch it!".

My saying go for the Iron Crown was just a way to tell Rensslaer to try to become King of Italy.

Thanks very much berhaven. I learn something new everyday on these forums. :)
 
"Freddan, Valzoz, Snake IV, Coz1, Fiftypence, Kurek, Inostra, Billy Bob, Duke of Wellington & Fulcrumvale"

And...? :(

Do you recommend me playing the Demo first, or waiting for the real game? Will the demo end too quickly and leave me at a cliffhanger?
 
Walter Model said:
"Freddan, Valzoz, Snake IV, Coz1, Fiftypence, Kurek, Inostra, Billy Bob, Duke of Wellington & Fulcrumvale"

And...? :(

Do you recommend me playing the Demo first, or waiting for the real game? Will the demo end too quickly and leave me at a cliffhanger?
Sorry, Walter. The way I acknowledge folks, I go from when I last gave feedback. I try to list everybody I've seen since that last feedback.

As I recall, you were the very first fellow to comment on this new AAR! I think I noted it back in my first feedback. But thank you for your interest! I appreciate it.

As for the Demo, I don't think there's anything wrong or disappointing about the Demo. I haven't played it, but from comments I've heard good things about it. There may be some settings and modifiers that are different, but I think it's fair to assume that the 1.1 (the patched full game version) will be better than the Demo in any way. So enjoy -- and then when you get the full game, enjoy more! :D

Rensslaer
 
Also in May of 1474, an opportunity came along to pull some ecclesiastical properties away from the archdiocese. Though this was considered somewhat risky, with Papal troops so nearby (though very occupied!), I decided it was better than knuckling under for the Church (i.e. losing prestige).

We received 150 ducats from the sale of these lands to some of my best friends (and enemies), and invested the funds in the construction of two carracks – a larger ship class than my navy previously possessed.

AntiCleric.jpg


The French war with the Papal States continues. The Pope’s soldiers have access across our land, but the French and all her allies keep asking me for access the other way, and I refuse to grant it. I’m hoping this will be rather helpful to the Pope, as I’d love to see France knocked down a notch. I’m not sure, from the exchange so far, whether he’ll be able to accomplish a military victory.

The Pope’s armies keep getting turned back from the French territory, even though they are better led and more numerous. It appears – it’s hard to tell in fog of war, but I think – that Rome is under siege. In an attempt to help out, I offer 5 ducats a month for 6 months in war subsidies. Let’s see if this affects the war at all (probably not!).

SubsidizePope.jpg


On three occasions, I was repairing relations with Modena through state gifts. Finally, in September, I succeeded in getting back to where I had been originally. It’s time to try for vassalization now (their king just died, and they have a regency – not that that’s here nor there, for vassalization purposes, except that there’s no one to get angry for us displacing him).

One month later, I successfully got them to agree to become our vassals. We’re surrounded, now, by 3 vassals – delivering money into our treasury, and becoming targets for future diplo-annexation.

ModenaVassal2.jpg


During this period, I also had an event which expanded my cores against several of my neighbors. While I’m not particularly keen on angering Savoy – my first prospect for diplo-annexation – I do like the cores on Switzerland, and the Casus Belli, and when I do diplo-annex Savoy and/or Mantua, I’ll have an economy ready to start making serious money for me (100% vs. 10% for non-cores) right away! Glory be!

BoundDispute.jpg


Next – how’s my trading going? An analysis.
 
That border dispute is amazing! They must have had some downright awful maps in order to get so many cores...
 
Wow, you are doing a spiffy job, sir! Milan is indeed a fun country, and you are really exploring the EUIII gameworld in some interesting ways...

translation: stop making me want to buy it!!!!!!! I don't have the money yet!!! :D
 
I like these new boundary dispute events, because they make playing as minor more reasonable. Although when playing as major, they give sometimes too much advantage.
 
Rensslaer said:
It appears – it’s hard to tell in fog of war, but I think – that Rome is under siege.

Can't you send one of your carracks to sit off the coast of Roma to 'see'. Or do you have to advance further in naval tech for that?
 
Excellent work assisting the Papa like that. And I do so love those core events. If anything, they are incentive to expand. ;)