The ainm of this AAR is to see who far I can get as England, with intentions of becoming Great Britiain as early as possible, then expanding as chance dictates.
I chose to turn the lucky nations off so as to simplify things for this, my first AAR.
This is a 3.1 IN game with no mods.
Sorry there are no pictures in this one, but I don;t have any good ones yet.
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14/10/1399
Henry IV takes control of his nation, and examines the advisors who are available to him. As well as the famous 'artist' Geoffrey Chaucer, the court included two young nobles who would help to reinforce the prestige of the realm, and thus without further ado these were hired.
(Not a bad set of advisors - I picked up a 4* and a 5* prestige boost advisor)
Next, he turned his attention to the matter of the complaints from his people that too many were bound in perpetual serfdom, and after some consideration agreed to loosen his grip, allowing the people to move towards a more free society.
Next he surveyed his continental possessions, and with a heavy heart decided to sell them so as not to bleed dry his important lands in England. This netted him 340 ducats for Sintonge and Gascogne together, although Burgundy refused to consider the offer for Calais.
Perhaps not having caught their Lord's mood, and being more in tune with his departed father's way of thinking, the nobles suggested a trip to France to conquer Normandy, and restore it to English rule. Henry refused this, turning to other of his nobles who suggested that Scotland could perhaps be vassalised, their King forced to kneel and do homage for his crown. In Henry's opinion this did not go far enough, but it was at least a start so he began to build up his armies.
(I really didn't want to enter a war with France at this point. After all, I'd just divested my self of all the territory they could convieniently attack, and I didn't want to start trying to get into a war that would give them CB on me.)
Less than a month later, on the 6th of November, France declared war on England. This war lasted 7 months, and only one engagement took place, a solitary French ship sailing into the might of the Royal Navy, being captured and pressed into service. A peace was concluded with no penalties to either side, and again Henry began to recruit and move troops towards Scotland who had betrayed their French allies by staying out of the war. Now isolated, they were soon to meet the might of England.
In September of 1401 Henry was finally ready, and pausing only to check that Scotland were looking the other way, he sent his armies forth to capture Scotland.
The war was short and predictable, Scotland retreated before the armies of England, and were brought to bay in the far North and destroyed, their King fleeing. When all the sieges settled, Scotland agreed to surrender all but it's capital, but refused to kneel before Henry.
The next four years passed quietly, the majority of Henry's armies being engaged in holding down rebellions, until on the 1st of September 1405, both Brittany and France agreed to Royal Marriages. The shock of France, his enemy agreeing to the marriage must have been too much for Henry however as he died 16 days later, his throne passing to his cousin William III, a gifted monarch (7/7/6).
During the second year of his reign, a miracle occurred, boosting his people's already high support for their brilliant young king. (I was already at 3 stability and working towards innovative, so unfortunately I had to lose the benefits of this event
)
On the first of January 1408, with his troops poised, and aware that the clans of Ireland (still separate nations) supported his rival in Scotland, William committed his forces to an assault on the last bastion of Scotland. Wisely the Irish kept out of the war though, turning their backs on the doomed kingdom. Lothian fell in 5 months, and still smarting over the insult paid to his cousin, William had the king of Scotland dragged before him and executed, taking up the crown of Scotland as his own.
(Scotland annexed 10/06/1408 - now to wait 50 years and I can declare GB...)
Once again the nobles recommended assualting france to win back the provinces of Normandy, and once agin they were forced to bow to the will of the king. This time their secondary advice was to capture Ireland, and unite their crowns with those of England and Scotland.
(At this stage I checked my BB - 11.6/31 - time to sit back, relax and build)
Henry decided that this was sound advice, but that he should consolidate his grip on Scotland first, also keeping a wary eye on his new neighbour - Norway who still held Orkney, a perfect staging point if you intended to attack the newly enlarged England.
On the 3rd of October 1408, tragic news reached the court, Chaucer had died, and there were no other artists of his skill and fame available to maintain our people's love for the crown. Taking a careful look around, William appointed Markus Mosham as the new court artist.
In May 1410, William came to a realisation - the newly expanded realm was using different currency in different areas. Only one thing was to be done. He gathered his nobles and commanded them to agree on a single coin for his whole realm, and to set up a National Bank.
(At this point I entered negative inflation )
A year later William ontinued the wise policy of his predecessor, expanding the freedoms of the common man, and was surprised when this resulted in the people handing in all the old coin that they had been hoarding, consolidating the currency even further.
(I got an event for -2 inflation, wiping it out entirely. Now I could use the bit of leeway I had from the bank to mint a little bit of money without inflation - if I needed to)
Royal marriages came and went, with the powers of the iberian peninsular being particularly amenable. After some consideration, and as France was surrounding it Calais was sold to them for 340 ducats.
Perhaps disturbed by this lack of regard for foreign subjects, the next few years saw two incidents where nobles had to be publicly reprimanded for ignoring orders sent from court, causing the nobles to lose support for William.
A glorious day was reported to the court in February 1417. Denmark had lost it's hold on both Norway and Sweden, both of whom were immediately agreeable to forming marriages with William's daughters and cousins. Sweden even went so far as to propose an alliance.
Later that year the source of some of the realm's troubles was discovered. His Grace, the Duke of Cumberland was found discussing matters of state with a French noble. Outraged by the level of idiocy in his Grace, William sent him to Tybourn to be executed as a common criminal, and revoked the Duchy back to the crown.
I chose to turn the lucky nations off so as to simplify things for this, my first AAR.
This is a 3.1 IN game with no mods.
Sorry there are no pictures in this one, but I don;t have any good ones yet.
____________________________________________________________
14/10/1399
Henry IV takes control of his nation, and examines the advisors who are available to him. As well as the famous 'artist' Geoffrey Chaucer, the court included two young nobles who would help to reinforce the prestige of the realm, and thus without further ado these were hired.
(Not a bad set of advisors - I picked up a 4* and a 5* prestige boost advisor)
Next, he turned his attention to the matter of the complaints from his people that too many were bound in perpetual serfdom, and after some consideration agreed to loosen his grip, allowing the people to move towards a more free society.
Next he surveyed his continental possessions, and with a heavy heart decided to sell them so as not to bleed dry his important lands in England. This netted him 340 ducats for Sintonge and Gascogne together, although Burgundy refused to consider the offer for Calais.
Perhaps not having caught their Lord's mood, and being more in tune with his departed father's way of thinking, the nobles suggested a trip to France to conquer Normandy, and restore it to English rule. Henry refused this, turning to other of his nobles who suggested that Scotland could perhaps be vassalised, their King forced to kneel and do homage for his crown. In Henry's opinion this did not go far enough, but it was at least a start so he began to build up his armies.
(I really didn't want to enter a war with France at this point. After all, I'd just divested my self of all the territory they could convieniently attack, and I didn't want to start trying to get into a war that would give them CB on me.)
Less than a month later, on the 6th of November, France declared war on England. This war lasted 7 months, and only one engagement took place, a solitary French ship sailing into the might of the Royal Navy, being captured and pressed into service. A peace was concluded with no penalties to either side, and again Henry began to recruit and move troops towards Scotland who had betrayed their French allies by staying out of the war. Now isolated, they were soon to meet the might of England.
In September of 1401 Henry was finally ready, and pausing only to check that Scotland were looking the other way, he sent his armies forth to capture Scotland.
The war was short and predictable, Scotland retreated before the armies of England, and were brought to bay in the far North and destroyed, their King fleeing. When all the sieges settled, Scotland agreed to surrender all but it's capital, but refused to kneel before Henry.
The next four years passed quietly, the majority of Henry's armies being engaged in holding down rebellions, until on the 1st of September 1405, both Brittany and France agreed to Royal Marriages. The shock of France, his enemy agreeing to the marriage must have been too much for Henry however as he died 16 days later, his throne passing to his cousin William III, a gifted monarch (7/7/6).
During the second year of his reign, a miracle occurred, boosting his people's already high support for their brilliant young king. (I was already at 3 stability and working towards innovative, so unfortunately I had to lose the benefits of this event
)On the first of January 1408, with his troops poised, and aware that the clans of Ireland (still separate nations) supported his rival in Scotland, William committed his forces to an assault on the last bastion of Scotland. Wisely the Irish kept out of the war though, turning their backs on the doomed kingdom. Lothian fell in 5 months, and still smarting over the insult paid to his cousin, William had the king of Scotland dragged before him and executed, taking up the crown of Scotland as his own.
(Scotland annexed 10/06/1408 - now to wait 50 years and I can declare GB...)
Once again the nobles recommended assualting france to win back the provinces of Normandy, and once agin they were forced to bow to the will of the king. This time their secondary advice was to capture Ireland, and unite their crowns with those of England and Scotland.
(At this stage I checked my BB - 11.6/31 - time to sit back, relax and build)
Henry decided that this was sound advice, but that he should consolidate his grip on Scotland first, also keeping a wary eye on his new neighbour - Norway who still held Orkney, a perfect staging point if you intended to attack the newly enlarged England.
On the 3rd of October 1408, tragic news reached the court, Chaucer had died, and there were no other artists of his skill and fame available to maintain our people's love for the crown. Taking a careful look around, William appointed Markus Mosham as the new court artist.
In May 1410, William came to a realisation - the newly expanded realm was using different currency in different areas. Only one thing was to be done. He gathered his nobles and commanded them to agree on a single coin for his whole realm, and to set up a National Bank.
(At this point I entered negative inflation
)A year later William ontinued the wise policy of his predecessor, expanding the freedoms of the common man, and was surprised when this resulted in the people handing in all the old coin that they had been hoarding, consolidating the currency even further.
(I got an event for -2 inflation, wiping it out entirely. Now I could use the bit of leeway I had from the bank to mint a little bit of money without inflation - if I needed to)
Royal marriages came and went, with the powers of the iberian peninsular being particularly amenable. After some consideration, and as France was surrounding it Calais was sold to them for 340 ducats.
Perhaps disturbed by this lack of regard for foreign subjects, the next few years saw two incidents where nobles had to be publicly reprimanded for ignoring orders sent from court, causing the nobles to lose support for William.
A glorious day was reported to the court in February 1417. Denmark had lost it's hold on both Norway and Sweden, both of whom were immediately agreeable to forming marriages with William's daughters and cousins. Sweden even went so far as to propose an alliance.
Later that year the source of some of the realm's troubles was discovered. His Grace, the Duke of Cumberland was found discussing matters of state with a French noble. Outraged by the level of idiocy in his Grace, William sent him to Tybourn to be executed as a common criminal, and revoked the Duchy back to the crown.
