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The Eastern Vikings, Part 3 - Baltic Mega-Campaign

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Celtic North America is dead!

The problem is that, once the Andalusian War is over, the Celts can attempt to retake the continent. Probably starting with Newfoundland, considering their diplomatic isolation.
 
1840 - 1846 AD
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Maasik's Black Eye - Estonia Stumbles in Bohemia
The American Revolution ended in the summer of 1838, which allowed the newly-formed United States of America, Canada, and Newfoundland each to secure their individual liberation from the Celtic Empire. Whereas Empress Ciara had once claimed dominion over most of North America, now that continent was dominated by two large, sovereign republics governed principally by Native American ethnic groups who, along with the monarchy and theocracy of the Navajo and Cherokee respectively, would have a leading role in forging a brand new political landscape in the western hemisphere.

The revolution in America had been watched with keen interest in Estonia, and its success was met with considerable fanfare. The emergence of the United States and Canada meant that Estonia was no longer the only large democratic state in the world, and President Huvameel Maasik was one of the first foreign dignitaries to visit both nations following their independence. As Maasik campaigned for his re-election in 1940, he traveled to the American capital of New York and met with John Blackfeather, who had been chosen as the first president of the new nation. Kanti Maskwa, elected as Canada's first president, joined the two, and Maasik made it well known that he intended to maintain friendly relations with "the newest and brightest examples of freedom in our world," as he called them.

Maasik's campaign was a successful one, and the 1840 election saw him retained for a second term, largely on his promises to maintain positive diplomatic ties with his fellow republics and to continue to demonstrate Estonia's role as a leading proponent of freedom in the world. Unfortunately, his second term would not prove nearly successful as his first, owing first and foremost to a military conflict with Germany that erupted in 1842. Kaiser Siegbert, hoping to restore his honor after suffering a defeat at the hands of Italy and Estonia over Serbia, mobilized Germany in the spring of 1842 in a war over Italian-occupied Tirol. Once again, President Maasik answered King Durante's call for aid, and Estonia marched to do battle with Germany once again. But when the armies met, disaster struck for Estonia.

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The Kaiser's army sent a concentrated force to meet the Estonian army right at the border, and within the opening months of the war a massive battle had erupted in Hradec Kralove, in northern Bohemia. There, under the command of General Joseph von Kirbach, the Germans defeated an Estonian force nearly three times its size, killing or capturing the entire force down to the last man, completely annihilating the single largest concentration of Estonian infantry at the time. In the space of a few months, the republic had lost more than three quarters of its entire military strength.

The loss at Hradec Kralove set off a panic as the morale of the army plummeted and the Estonian commanders scrambled to try and recover what forces they still had to prepare for a defense against further German aggression. President Maasik, realizing that he was in severe danger of losing the war as a result of that single battle, quickly sent an appeal to Estonia's satellite republics, calling on them to deploy their own armies in support of the war effort.

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At President Maasik's call, the Elbe, Jutland, and Guelder Republics called their armed forces into action, making a widespread march south into the northernmost portions of Germany, which were poorly defended thanks to all of Germany's military might being focused against Estonia and Italy. Several border provinces were initially occupied by the troops in a cautious campaign, but Maasik urged them to press southward in a more focused attack on the German army itself, hoping to reduce the Kaiser's fighting strength rather than being concerned with occupying territory.

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While the Estonian army had met a swift defeat in the field, the satellite republics had much greater success. Led by the talented command staff of the Guelder Republic, the three independent forces moved with impression cohesion and marched for the Alps, where Italian and German forces were engaged in a series of battles for control of the defensible mountain regions. Together with the Italians, the republican troops drove German forces back over a year-long campaign, securing the Alps and then holding defensive positions while the remaining German regiments were forced to leave them and deal with rebels attempting to revolt in the southeastern portion of the empire.

Germany would eventually surrender in 1844, and Siegbert was further humiliated when he not only failed to capture Italian Tirol, but was forced to hand over the German-controlled half of the state to Italy. The war was a victory for the combined forces of Italy and Estonia, but it was a massive loss for Huvameel Maasik. Blame for the disastrous Bohemian campaign fell squarely on his shoulders, as his rivals accused him of failing to properly modernize and equip the army for success. His lack of preparation, they accused, had led to the deaths of tens of thousands of soldiers and could have lost the entire war if not for Estonia's satellite states coming to its aid.

The blunder cost Maasik the 1844 election, as he was ousted in favor of Mart Lohmus, a rival conservative politician who ran on a platform of increased militarization and technological advance. Maasik permanently retired from politics following the election, living out his retirement in his Saaremaa estate, leaving Lohmus to take the reins of the country and seek to enact his aggressive agenda.

Seeking Their Place in the Sun - The Conflicts of Europe and America
The successful American Revolution led to Canada and the United States of America existing as sovereign republics, but once the war was over both nations faced the question of how to proceed into the future as they sought to earn their place on the world stage. For both of them, the answer came quickly: expansion. Canada was quick to turn against the small dictatorship of Newfoundland, occupying the tiny nation in a swift campaign that was over nearly as quickly as it started. The United States, meanwhile, had more neighbors and even more ambitions.

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Emboldened by his nation's victory against the Celtic Empire, President Blackfeather became increasingly vocal regarding his support of the United States' expansion through the rest of North America. The United States, he often proclaimed, had shown itself to be the largest and strongest beacon of freedom in North America, and had the obligation of further uniting the continent against outside influence. Under his guidance, the USA pursued two military campaigns -- one to claim Arkansas and Missouri from the small remaining Aztec state, and another to completely annex the tiny state of the Pawnee tribe. Both campaigns were successful, but began to create visible unease in the young nation's neighbors. Both the Navajo and Cherokee states began to view the country with caution -- especially when, in the mid 1840's, the United States forged a military alliance with the Inca Empire, creating the largest power bloc in the Americas by joining two of its largest states into a cooperative alliance. The Inca Empire believed that it had brought the USA under its sway as part of its sphere of influence, but most within the United States would have disagreed, calling the arrangement an alliance of equals instead.

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In Europe, the small republic of Holland made an ill-fated attempt to occupy Normandy from the Celtic Empire, believing that Empress Ciara was unable to repel an invasion following the humiliating defeats at the hands of Andalusia and the American natives. However, Holland's army was quickly humbled as Celtic forces not only repelled all attempts to occupy Normandy and Brittany, but then proceeded to run roughshod over Holland and sack most of the country before signing a peace agreement that put a swift halt to Holland's hopes at expansion.

For a time, the balance of power in Europe had stabilized to a degree. However, Estonia was in the midst of a massive endeavor to regain its military strength, while at the same time dealing with a sweeping political movement that was coming close to a historic political upheaval in the republic.
 
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RedTemplar said:
On a random noob note.. Can someone tell me what this little "A" with a circle icon means?

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If the anarcho-liberals were to rebel, this unit would join the rebellion...

Also, sorry I missed the start of this AAR. Will follow closely from now on!
 
Well now, that is one very black eye. Ouch. Saved by the satellites!
 
Absolutely mystified by the battle loss in Bohemia. Any idea whether anything may have contributed?
 
HIMDogson said:
That means that unit is likely to side with anarchist rebels. There are other icons for other ideologies.
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Oh, that's... Lovely. :eek:

DensleyBlair said:
Absolutely mystified by the battle loss in Bohemia. Any idea whether anything may have contributed?
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I'm not sure! I had a big numerical advantage, maybe my ratio of infantry/cavalry/artillery was off? Maybe I misunderstood the frontage and wasted some troops? I don't fully understand why I lost that bad but I'm sure it's player error haha.
 
Well, Estonia's satellite states prove useful for something...

Remember when the Aztecs controlled land all the way to Europe? How the mighty have fallen!

Estonia and its satellites should partition Germany. Many new satellites could be made from German land...
 
I think part of the reason the loss was so bad is the terrain. A lot of factors go into Vicky battles, but the terrain is a big one and attacking dug-in, roughly technologically equivalent armies in a wooded or mountainous province is generally a bad time.
 
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RedTemplar said:
I'm not sure! I had a big numerical advantage, maybe my ratio of infantry/cavalry/artillery was off? Maybe I misunderstood the frontage and wasted some troops? I don't fully understand why I lost that bad but I'm sure it's player error haha.
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As GangsterSynod says, terrain was probably a big factor — but it does still seem pretty catastrophic. Is your military stockpile spending high enough to keep organisation at a good level? That could also play a part.
 
DensleyBlair said:
As GangsterSynod says, terrain was probably a big factor — but it does still seem pretty catastrophic. Is your military stockpile spending high enough to keep organisation at a good level? That could also play a part.
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Military spending is maxed, yes. But speaking of funding, that's about to get interesting next update :\
 
Capage said:
Even United Stated led by natives ended up being typical United States annexing smaller states for their own good.
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I thought this as well. It was a brief honeymoon period wasn’t it… :/
 
I didn't realize this had started already. I see I missed lots of wars and the Celtic Empire losing its entire colonial empire, not to mention the usual issues that come with a converted game.

Have the great powers changed at all since the start, specifically have Italy or Arabia lost their status as great powers? I'm just curious because my experience with converting a EU4 game to V2 is that the game mechanics of V2 force great powers to break up their alliances since the game only allows them to have one great power ally at a time until you unlock the great wars. I lost a lovely alliance bloc of great powers because of that. :p
 
Michaelangelo said:
I didn't realize this had started already. I see I missed lots of wars and the Celtic Empire losing its entire colonial empire, not to mention the usual issues that come with a converted game.

Have the great powers changed at all since the start, specifically have Italy or Arabia lost their status as great powers? I'm just curious because my experience with converting a EU4 game to V2 is that the game mechanics of V2 force great powers to break up their alliances since the game only allows them to have one great power ally at a time until you unlock the great wars. I lost a lovely alliance bloc of great powers because of that. :p
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Only one change so far, and that's been Andalusia dropping off the list and Germany coming into it. I think I was allowed to break the "one great power ally" rule because the alliance existed in the EU4 save I converted from. As you'll see in the upcoming update, I broke one of my alliances and now I'm not able to rekindle it due to that rule.
 
RedTemplar said:
Only one change so far, and that's been Andalusia dropping off the list and Germany coming into it. I think I was allowed to break the "one great power ally" rule because the alliance existed in the EU4 save I converted from. As you'll see in the upcoming update, I broke one of my alliances and now I'm not able to rekindle it due to that rule.
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You're a lot luckier than I was then, or maybe you had a less extensive alliance web among the great powers. I lost alliances with three great powers all within a year of each other, one of which I had had since the literal start of EU4 and another which had been a former vassal. I guess they didn't like me being allied to half the other great powers. :p

Also, in regards to that weird battle where your army was stackwiped, it could be possible that tech also had an impact, although I don't know if that would be enough to cause that outcome. I saw in an earlier update that you only had two army techs, so if Germany is noticeably ahead of you, that may have contributed somewhat to Estonia's defeat.
 
Michaelangelo said:
You're a lot luckier than I was then, or maybe you had a less extensive alliance web among the great powers. I lost alliances with three great powers all within a year of each other, one of which I had had since the literal start of EU4 and another which had been a former vassal. I guess they didn't like me being allied to half the other great powers. :p

Also, in regards to that weird battle where your army was stackwiped, it could be possible that tech also had an impact, although I don't know if that would be enough to cause that outcome. I saw in an earlier update that you only had two army techs, so if Germany is noticeably ahead of you, that may have contributed somewhat to Estonia's defeat.
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My military tech is quite lacking, in several areas. I've been working on bringing that up a little better, but I wouldn't be surprised if I'm at a significant disadvantage.
 
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