I haven't taken screenshots, but I thought you guys would like to know about this. I've been playing WATKABAOI today with chefkoch's 2009-start add-on. So I've been playing from the present day, more or less. Things haven't been that odd, except in the case of Ireland. Long known as the little green punching bag of Europe, Ireland has been defying expectations and, well, kicking some serious arse. It all began with a mildly but not tremendously insane power grab by the Emerald Isle:
June 9, 2009 : Ireland declared war upon Netherlands.
True to historical form, Ireland's bullying older brother, the United Kingdom, stepped in:
June 13, 2009 : United Kingdom declared war upon Ireland.
But the Irish were evidently skilled diplomats, turning their shared love of beer into an alliance with the Hun:
June 27, 2009 : Germany entered a Military Alliance with Ireland.
June 27, 2009 : Germany joined the war on the same side as Ireland in their war against Netherlands.
June 27, 2009 : Germany joined the war on the same side as Ireland in their war against United Kingdom.
Together they put the hurt on the UK, and after two years Britain found itself begging for mercy. The Paddies were lenient:
December 8, 2011 : Ireland accepted peace with United Kingdom on the following terms: United Kingdom pays 42$ in indemnities.
But the Irish taste for war, like their taste for beer, could not be sated. A mere two years later a new fight beckoned:
March 13, 2012 : Ireland joined the war on the same side as Germany in their war against Denmark.
March 13, 2012 : Norway joined the war on the same side as Denmark in their war against Ireland and Germany.
Faced with this new opportunity to seize much salami and lutefisk, the Irish decided to finish up with the Netherlands:
April 20, 2013 : Ireland accepted peace with Netherlands on the following terms: Netherlands pays 107$ in indemnities.
Soon Ireland was becoming the power broker of Northern Europe:
November 29, 2014 : Norway accepted peace with Ireland on the following terms: Norway pays 74$ in indemnities. Eidsiva ceded to Germany.
As well as showing a pretty vindictive side sometimes:
August 9, 2018 : Ireland declared war upon Netherlands.
August 9, 2018 : Italy joined the war on the same side as Spain, Netherlands and Portugal in their war against Ireland and Germany.
Not that even a coalition of Mediterranean layabouts could do anything against the mighty shamrock:
Ireland accepted peace with Netherlands on the following terms: Netherlands pays 27$ in indemnities.
...and later...
March 12, 2022 : Ireland accepted peace with Spain on the following terms: Spain pays 189$ in indemnities.
The freebooting continued:
February 8, 2020 : Ireland joined the war on the same side as Germany in their war against Denmark.
Norway reluctantly joined in, still reeling from the last pasting. But some countries just couldn't get the new political reality through their heads:
October 2, 2020 : United Kingdom declared war upon Ireland.
Ireland then negotiated peace with the Scandinavians, giving her allies most of the Jutland peninsula. As the situation stands, she controls Ulster and is looking hungrily across the Irish sea.
The lesson is abundantly clear. Soon enough everyone will understand that if you mess with the Paddies, you get hurt. Expect UN sanctions against the Emerald Isle, and possibly a US-led blockade. But it will not be enough...
One month, one day and counting. You have been warned.
