Dropping in to say great AAR so far. Big congrats for the success against the OE too. Keep up the good work.
Cheers!
Cheers!
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New chapter coming out in a few hours. Guess I'll take a look at what you guys think so far...
Unfortunately we don't have any trade ships or national trade ideas so there isn't much control over the Nile delta yet. I only control about 20% of Tunis trade...trade is really not bringing in much for the Knights
I am worried as well about the vulnerable position of the Holy lands, and will talk more about that in the coming chapter.
I have tried to get other great powers in an alliance with me. Because of the 'x already has powerful allies' penalty its pretty much impossible to make an alliance with multiple great powers. If I broke my alliance with France then the Commonwealth would actually ally me, but that defeats the point if I lose France. Gonna have to wait for a good time to strike with France and my minor Italian allies
That's the next goal! All of the old crusader states must be once more in Christian hands!
Hm, striking a blow against the muslims by capturing their holy cities? I like this idea
Unfortunately we don't have any trade ships or national trade ideas so there isn't much control over the Nile delta yet. I only control about 20% of Tunis trade...trade is really not bringing in much for the Knights
I am worried as well about the vulnerable position of the Holy lands, and will talk more about that in the coming chapter.
Great move falling on the vile Ottomans like you did, and the Holy land is free. You should make everything in your power to keep the French alliance, they seem to be quite inclined to fight Turks. Maybe get the Commonwealth as well?
Liberating all the former Crusader states in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon is a great goal. I'd like to see a reformed kingdom of Jerusalem, even if it's a risky move.
I have tried to get other great powers in an alliance with me. Because of the 'x already has powerful allies' penalty its pretty much impossible to make an alliance with multiple great powers. If I broke my alliance with France then the Commonwealth would actually ally me, but that defeats the point if I lose France. Gonna have to wait for a good time to strike with France and my minor Italian allies
Thanks you guys!
Chapter 6: Into the European Theatre
1600-1625
The Turks had been defeated and the Holy land was once more in the hands of the righteous. There was clamor among the nobles of the Order of St. John to revive the old Crusader states and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Grandmaster agreed that the old crusader states along the Levant should be reconquered...but firmly pointed out that Jerusalem and the new crusader bases were surrounded by danger and in a delicate state. Moving the capital to Jerusalem was a prestigious decision, but was one that left the headquarters of the Order an easy target to the Ottomans in the event of a future war. Until more of the middle east was under crusader control, the Tunisian mountains and the island of Malta were a more solid power base from which to lead the assault against the Turks.
A truce would give us time to consolidate our control of the Holy lands. Until 1610, no Ottoman army would dare cross our borders. The issue was that the French treaty with the Ottomans enforced peace with the Ottomans until 1614, so there was a window where the Ottomans could choose to invade the Order of St. John without the French having the option of intervening. The plan was to further militarize the Order to ensure there were easier targets for the Ottomans to go after in this short window of opportunity. This would be done by greatly expanding the Order's small fleet, as well as increase army size. It was also important to make the new regions into states so that a permanent claim could be made...territorial cores would be lost if the region lapsed back into Ottoman hands while full cores can easily be reconquered at no ADM cost. After upgrading the existing 9 ships and commissioning another 10 all along the Tunisian Coast, the order quickly found itself short on gold.It was time to visit the bank.
Every time we visit the bank we somehow end up causing it to change religion...currently it was Ibadi and in the process of changing to Shia.
Still sapped of all of its manpower, substantially weakened from its losses and still at war with the Persians, the Ottoman Empire was in a tenuous position. In 1602, Russia decided to jump on the Ottomans and join in on the 'kick the Ottomans while they are down' party.
The Ottomans somehow managed to throw enough mercenaries at Persia that it was able to force it into a white peace; one could only hope that the Russians would put up more of a fight and keep the Ottomans down. The Order had reached ADM tech 14 and could now adopt a new idea group. The Grandmaster reasoned that developing militaristic ideas would help against the Ottomans and should be prioritized.
The best idea group for eliminating the offensive heathens beyond our new borders.
A new Merchant-Grandmaster, Johannes Baptista I de Montbeliard (5/1/2), was chosen to lead the Knights of St. John and a successor by the name of Petrus (1/2/5) was also named. Some Knights absently wondered why it was that the merchant guilds never seemed to grow in influence when every Grandmaster, save the odd exception, seemed to be a rich merchant. They shrugged and returned to their duties.
Word reached the new Grandmaster of the defeat of the Persian Empire to a new rising threat: the Mughals. This helped explain why Persia had been so eager to settle for a quick white peace with their hated Ottoman rivals recently. Another peace treaty arrived in 1606 which informed the Knights that the Russians had been victorious against the Ottomans! The Russians had grabbed half of Ottoman Crimea and had demanded a large gold settlement in the peace agreement.
How much would the Turks recover in the next few years? Would they recover enough to see the Knights as an easy enough target for reconquest? The Order could not wait around to find out... it was time for another African Crusade!
We would need to win this war quickly and without too many losses so that we could avoid making ourselves an easy target for the Ottomans. Fortunately, we still held a six mil tech edge over the weaker Sub-Saharan Sultanates and we can use mercenary infantry to take the brunt of the casualties. Furthermore, The Songhai empire was already losing to a Moroccan invasion and so it should not be too difficult to achieve our goals.
We quickly capture the first enemy fort and crush their main armies in a few key battles before seeking concessions. We demand land which largely cuts off Moroccan expansion directly southwards and decide not to keep fighting since the Ottomans peace treaty will end in a half year.
Our armies garrison the borders and, thankfully, the Ottomans decide not to press us between 1610 and 1614. It would be perfect to be able to press the Ottomans and crush them under the combined power of the Knights-France alliance... but the French had done nothing but war the last decade and had conquered all of Switzerland and some of Italy, at the cost of most of its manpower. The Knights could not strike now, but at least now that the French-Ottoman peace treaty had ended, the Grandmaster was able to let out a breath of relief and send out the Knights once more to seek glory and salvation in the heart of West Africa. The Crusades must go on!
Our valiant Knights overran the feeble defenses of the Benin while the Mossi are so busy warring their Kong neighbors that they don`t even bother to fight back against us at all. Their victory over the Kong would mean little as their entire Kingdom had already been occupied. Much of the land that they had fought hard to obtain would belong to us within half a year.
As the peace treaty with the Mossi was sent, Grandmaster Johannes was beginning to wonder why the Knights had yet to see a single soldier of the Mali Sultanate. Where was the army? Did they not intend to defend their homelands as the Knights' armies spilled over the border? Perhaps this victory would be sooner than anticipated!
Grandmaster Johannes was more than a little surprised that his vassal apparently did not find it important to inform him that the Malians had trekked through the Moroccan Sahara and were almost done occupying Touggourt.
Everything seemed to be falling into place for the Order... not only had the Beninese Kingdom been destroyed and annexed in its entirety, but news reached the court that the Sicilians had thrown off their Spanish overlords and were now independent. For the first time in hundreds of years, a Grandmaster of the Order ordered spies to begin preparing to fabricate claims and prepare for the invasion of a catholic nation. It was a necessary evil, that the catholics of Sicily be initiated through force into our Knightly order so that they could join the fight against the Muslim threat.
These muslims had seen the true power of God and were willing to bend the knee and acknowledge our might! (Note: We had been subsidizing Mzab for a few years to be able to reach +190 relations since royal marriages are unusable when using a religious government).
It was a shame that with over 80% overextension there is so little that could be safely demanded from the Mali Sultanate, but this was still a successful Crusade! By now more of West Africa was Christian that any other faith!
Europe was settling into an uneasy balance of power, with Spain at the center of the deadliest international politics. The Ottoman Empire had outrageously decided to guarantee the independence of Spain! It seemed like a natural reaction to the growing Knights-France alliance, but it was still upsetting that an invasion of Spain was no longer an option. Spain was declining in other regards; in addition to Sicily and some of the Dutch Lowlands, the Kingdom of Naples had also broken free of Spanish domination. This was delightful news for the Grandmaster... perhaps an Italian invasion would indeed be a good course of action for the Order. The Spanish, along with the Portuguese, had also guaranteed the Moroccans as they sensed that if they did not do this it was likely that all of North Africa would fall under our control entirely. Finally, the Spanish had made moves to reverse decline by make dynastic claims on the Austrian throne. Things were about to get messy in Europe. No matter; God wills it!
Let the Sicilians know that while independence is fine and noble goal, uniting to defeat the Turks must come first! Rejoice, as your defeat will pave the way to the salvation of Christendom!
The Pope had publicly declared the Neapolitan King a heretic! He had been excommunicated from the church. No doubt this was at least in part motivated by the rivalry and desire for land that the Neapolitan king and the Pope shared towards one another, but regardless this provides us the perfect opportunity! We shall bring the Italians under our own banner and save them from their tyrannical ruler! Onwards, brave Knights of the Order!
Taking all of Sicily and most of the Neapolitan regions creating an enormous strain on the government administration as a result of overextension being higher than anticipated (102%). Grandmaster Johannes realized that at this time the French were likely to have mostly recovered their manpower and that an invasion against the Ottomans might work if launched after the Order had dealt with its current overextension and Italian unrest. Unfortunatlely, it seems that the French also had realized that they were in a strong position and that they should take advantage of that now.
The Knights were increasingly a part of the European theatre, for better and for worse. The Knights readied themselves reluctantly to fight their Austrian and Russian foes, knowing that they would much rather be marching against the Ottomans and for the glory of God.
1600-1625
The Turks had been defeated and the Holy land was once more in the hands of the righteous. There was clamor among the nobles of the Order of St. John to revive the old Crusader states and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Grandmaster agreed that the old crusader states along the Levant should be reconquered...but firmly pointed out that Jerusalem and the new crusader bases were surrounded by danger and in a delicate state. Moving the capital to Jerusalem was a prestigious decision, but was one that left the headquarters of the Order an easy target to the Ottomans in the event of a future war. Until more of the middle east was under crusader control, the Tunisian mountains and the island of Malta were a more solid power base from which to lead the assault against the Turks.
A truce would give us time to consolidate our control of the Holy lands. Until 1610, no Ottoman army would dare cross our borders. The issue was that the French treaty with the Ottomans enforced peace with the Ottomans until 1614, so there was a window where the Ottomans could choose to invade the Order of St. John without the French having the option of intervening. The plan was to further militarize the Order to ensure there were easier targets for the Ottomans to go after in this short window of opportunity. This would be done by greatly expanding the Order's small fleet, as well as increase army size. It was also important to make the new regions into states so that a permanent claim could be made...territorial cores would be lost if the region lapsed back into Ottoman hands while full cores can easily be reconquered at no ADM cost. After upgrading the existing 9 ships and commissioning another 10 all along the Tunisian Coast, the order quickly found itself short on gold.It was time to visit the bank.
Every time we visit the bank we somehow end up causing it to change religion...currently it was Ibadi and in the process of changing to Shia.
Still sapped of all of its manpower, substantially weakened from its losses and still at war with the Persians, the Ottoman Empire was in a tenuous position. In 1602, Russia decided to jump on the Ottomans and join in on the 'kick the Ottomans while they are down' party.
The Ottomans somehow managed to throw enough mercenaries at Persia that it was able to force it into a white peace; one could only hope that the Russians would put up more of a fight and keep the Ottomans down. The Order had reached ADM tech 14 and could now adopt a new idea group. The Grandmaster reasoned that developing militaristic ideas would help against the Ottomans and should be prioritized.
The best idea group for eliminating the offensive heathens beyond our new borders.
A new Merchant-Grandmaster, Johannes Baptista I de Montbeliard (5/1/2), was chosen to lead the Knights of St. John and a successor by the name of Petrus (1/2/5) was also named. Some Knights absently wondered why it was that the merchant guilds never seemed to grow in influence when every Grandmaster, save the odd exception, seemed to be a rich merchant. They shrugged and returned to their duties.
Word reached the new Grandmaster of the defeat of the Persian Empire to a new rising threat: the Mughals. This helped explain why Persia had been so eager to settle for a quick white peace with their hated Ottoman rivals recently. Another peace treaty arrived in 1606 which informed the Knights that the Russians had been victorious against the Ottomans! The Russians had grabbed half of Ottoman Crimea and had demanded a large gold settlement in the peace agreement.
How much would the Turks recover in the next few years? Would they recover enough to see the Knights as an easy enough target for reconquest? The Order could not wait around to find out... it was time for another African Crusade!
We would need to win this war quickly and without too many losses so that we could avoid making ourselves an easy target for the Ottomans. Fortunately, we still held a six mil tech edge over the weaker Sub-Saharan Sultanates and we can use mercenary infantry to take the brunt of the casualties. Furthermore, The Songhai empire was already losing to a Moroccan invasion and so it should not be too difficult to achieve our goals.
We quickly capture the first enemy fort and crush their main armies in a few key battles before seeking concessions. We demand land which largely cuts off Moroccan expansion directly southwards and decide not to keep fighting since the Ottomans peace treaty will end in a half year.
Our armies garrison the borders and, thankfully, the Ottomans decide not to press us between 1610 and 1614. It would be perfect to be able to press the Ottomans and crush them under the combined power of the Knights-France alliance... but the French had done nothing but war the last decade and had conquered all of Switzerland and some of Italy, at the cost of most of its manpower. The Knights could not strike now, but at least now that the French-Ottoman peace treaty had ended, the Grandmaster was able to let out a breath of relief and send out the Knights once more to seek glory and salvation in the heart of West Africa. The Crusades must go on!
Our valiant Knights overran the feeble defenses of the Benin while the Mossi are so busy warring their Kong neighbors that they don`t even bother to fight back against us at all. Their victory over the Kong would mean little as their entire Kingdom had already been occupied. Much of the land that they had fought hard to obtain would belong to us within half a year.
As the peace treaty with the Mossi was sent, Grandmaster Johannes was beginning to wonder why the Knights had yet to see a single soldier of the Mali Sultanate. Where was the army? Did they not intend to defend their homelands as the Knights' armies spilled over the border? Perhaps this victory would be sooner than anticipated!
Grandmaster Johannes was more than a little surprised that his vassal apparently did not find it important to inform him that the Malians had trekked through the Moroccan Sahara and were almost done occupying Touggourt.
Everything seemed to be falling into place for the Order... not only had the Beninese Kingdom been destroyed and annexed in its entirety, but news reached the court that the Sicilians had thrown off their Spanish overlords and were now independent. For the first time in hundreds of years, a Grandmaster of the Order ordered spies to begin preparing to fabricate claims and prepare for the invasion of a catholic nation. It was a necessary evil, that the catholics of Sicily be initiated through force into our Knightly order so that they could join the fight against the Muslim threat.
These muslims had seen the true power of God and were willing to bend the knee and acknowledge our might! (Note: We had been subsidizing Mzab for a few years to be able to reach +190 relations since royal marriages are unusable when using a religious government).
It was a shame that with over 80% overextension there is so little that could be safely demanded from the Mali Sultanate, but this was still a successful Crusade! By now more of West Africa was Christian that any other faith!
Europe was settling into an uneasy balance of power, with Spain at the center of the deadliest international politics. The Ottoman Empire had outrageously decided to guarantee the independence of Spain! It seemed like a natural reaction to the growing Knights-France alliance, but it was still upsetting that an invasion of Spain was no longer an option. Spain was declining in other regards; in addition to Sicily and some of the Dutch Lowlands, the Kingdom of Naples had also broken free of Spanish domination. This was delightful news for the Grandmaster... perhaps an Italian invasion would indeed be a good course of action for the Order. The Spanish, along with the Portuguese, had also guaranteed the Moroccans as they sensed that if they did not do this it was likely that all of North Africa would fall under our control entirely. Finally, the Spanish had made moves to reverse decline by make dynastic claims on the Austrian throne. Things were about to get messy in Europe. No matter; God wills it!
Let the Sicilians know that while independence is fine and noble goal, uniting to defeat the Turks must come first! Rejoice, as your defeat will pave the way to the salvation of Christendom!
The Pope had publicly declared the Neapolitan King a heretic! He had been excommunicated from the church. No doubt this was at least in part motivated by the rivalry and desire for land that the Neapolitan king and the Pope shared towards one another, but regardless this provides us the perfect opportunity! We shall bring the Italians under our own banner and save them from their tyrannical ruler! Onwards, brave Knights of the Order!
Taking all of Sicily and most of the Neapolitan regions creating an enormous strain on the government administration as a result of overextension being higher than anticipated (102%). Grandmaster Johannes realized that at this time the French were likely to have mostly recovered their manpower and that an invasion against the Ottomans might work if launched after the Order had dealt with its current overextension and Italian unrest. Unfortunatlely, it seems that the French also had realized that they were in a strong position and that they should take advantage of that now.
The Knights were increasingly a part of the European theatre, for better and for worse. The Knights readied themselves reluctantly to fight their Austrian and Russian foes, knowing that they would much rather be marching against the Ottomans and for the glory of God.
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Someone is becoming quite the power house. I'm anxious to see something like the 20th crusade being against the heathens of the Indus River Valley, or the pagan knights of Japan.
in defensive war, allies will not be hampered by truces. If france wants in, they will aid
wait, what? Now that is a rare nation to see in AI hands..
Did they declare independence? How big are they?
it can be annoying/funny at same time if that happens
Pity you got 102% oe. Hope the rebels won't be too bad.
Ah, fighting for the glory of God against an excommunicated sinner. Truly, god wills it. Delaying the rightful fight against the Saracen is surely a pity.
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AFAIK, this doesn't matter for a defensive war, since the AI will get a +30 bonus for being in a defensive war.
I believe the Mughals are already independent and big at the start of 1530, if I'm not mistaken.
in defensive war, allies will not be hampered by truces. If france wants in, they will aid
wait, what? Now that is a rare nation to see in AI hands..
Did they declare independence? How big are they?
it can be annoying/funny at same time if that happens
Pity you got 102% oe. Hope the rebels won't be too bad.
Here I was on the edge of my seat awaiting an Ottoman invasion and not knowing the French would be willing to help... well at least I know for next time!
Tom you are correct that the Mughals start independent at the 1530 start date. They start about even with the Persians, with around 450 development (and 2 tiny vassals) to the Persian 430 development, although the Mughals also have a god king at that start, Babur Timurid. I am not sure just how big they are now since fog of war and all that, but its obvious that things are going very bad, very fast for Safavid Persia at the moment
haha that's an entertaining thought
Most likely I won't go that route though; I dropped exploration ideas and there isn't much gain in picking it up again at this point. I need all my idea groups helping me get a leg up on my Ottoman and Spanish neighbors.
Thanks for the support Casko. Deus Vult!
I forgot to mention in this chapter but at the end of 1625 the Knights actually won control of the Curia, so crushing more excommunicated sinners may be on the horizon
But you are right that we must not get too far from our goal to crush the Turks! Deus Vult!
Nonsense! We must form the Kingdom of Jerusalem! (also culture converting hurts...plz no stab loss
).
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one thing you REALLY need to know: You can only form Jerusalem up to 1650!
Hope you did it in time.
And does it still change you into feudal monarchy? If so, you can start PU game! Subdue those French in a PU
Hope you did it in time.
And does it still change you into feudal monarchy? If so, you can start PU game! Subdue those French in a PU
Did they change the rule? I thought I once read it was possible until the Reformation began.one thing you REALLY need to know: You can only form Jerusalem up to 1650!
Hope you did it in time.
And does it still change you into feudal monarchy? If so, you can start PU game! Subdue those French in a PU
@Pigzhu275 were you in time to form Jerusalem? Or was my assumption of 1650 as last possible formation date wrong?
I hope the sudden absence of updates isn't due to me being right
I hope the sudden absence of updates isn't due to me being right
Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Work has kept me from having too much free time in the last two weeks. I should have a new chapter out tonight or tomorrow depending on how fast I write.
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Don't worry I managed to form Jerusalem just in time! The 1650 time limit is true and I'm glad I saw your comment before I got around to playing or I might have missed it!@Pigzhu275 were you in time to form Jerusalem? Or was my assumption of 1650 as last possible formation date wrong?
I hope the sudden absence of updates isn't due to me being right
It does indeed change you into a monarchy. Actually sad about that; I was starting to enjoy the theocratic free loot bags every time you get a new heir and I'm no good at figuring out how to get personal unionsAnd does it still change you into feudal monarchy? If so, you can start PU game! Subdue those French in a PU
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Well, being a monarchy opens up many interesting choices. In EU3 (Death&Taxes) i played as the Knights -> Greece -> HRE, and theocracy wasn't really fun compared to having the HRE vassal swarm (switched to Abs. Mon. as soon as I was able to).
But EU4 had improved on theocracy gameplay (at least they have a free heir-general too now), and I'm not very good at PUs, so it feels sad that you are not a monastic order anymore.
(switched to Abs. Mon. as soon as I was able to).But EU4 had improved on theocracy gameplay (at least they have a free heir-general too now), and I'm not very good at PUs, so it feels sad that you are not a monastic order anymore.
Chapter 7: The Crusader States Reborn
1625-1648
The French and Commonwealth Empires had steadily been growing in power over the last few decades. The Holy Roman Empire and, to a lesser extent, Russia were in decline as they continued to lose war after war to the Commonwealth-France alliance. The Grandmaster began to wonder, as the borders of the Knights and France both inched closer, whether his successors would one day be facing the French as foes. He dismissed the thought; this was something they would have to deal with, not him.
While the Kingdom of Naples was understandably reluctant to allow our forces military access, it seemed that the Papal States was more than willing to allow us access. It was quite nice of them to destroy Naples and allow us to march over the occupied Neapolitan provinces unhindered.
As Russia and the Commonwealth battled it out along the Eastern frontier, Austria and the Holy Roman armies quickly found their armies being encircled and wiped out by the French. The army of the Knights reached Austria’s capital to find the Austrians attempting to save their occupied capital. It was time to end that attempt. Hilarius de L’Isle Adam, the general of the Knights of the Order of St. John, may have lacked the skill of his ancestor but he still found that little skill is needed when the French are quick to roll in the doomstacks.
Grandmasters did not tend to rule very long. Often it was not until one’s fifties of later that one would have gained enough experience to be nominated to be Grandmaster, and it was with little surprise that one more had passed away this year. The newest Grandmaster was a capable commander, though he lacked the skill of administration. The newest heir was indeed promising: word of the new heir’s skill already had spread, although his nomination had greatly upset the clergy and time would tell if his rule would be great…
The Holy Roman princes fell soon after the battle of Prag, and soon the Knights found themselves fighting on the Commonwealth-Russian border. The cold and climate was unlike what many of the knights had seen, having grown up in the mediterranean or central African climates. General Hilarius was careful to keep his smaller army clear of massive battles; there would be no gain from this war for the Knights so there was no point risking his men’s lives.
The Russians decided not to drag the war on once Moscow had fallen, and the French and Commonwealth both demanded large land concessions from the enemy alliance. The Knights, of course, received nothing for their assistance. Grandmaster Jacobus (1/4/5) would remember this the next time the Knights were in charge of making peace deals.
Lost time is a horrible thing, and the Ottomans had used the last few years to vassalize Kabylia and Hausa as well as begun a reconquest of its lost balkan regions. It was tempting to declare war and stop the Ottomans, but the French weren’t willing to assist in such a war until manpower recovered. Nothing could be done.
Sicilian and Neapolitan rebellions broke out in the Italian provinces. Even though overextension had been dealt with it had been at 102% for much of the war and so had revolt risk had been hovering at 90% for a full year before erupting at this time.
We integrated one of our vassals, the Malikate of Djerid, so that we could free up a diplomatic slot and begin establishing other alliances which might be able to aid us.
Our allies won’t help. Why? They are too Ferrara away
Morroco was another thorn in our side. They had grabbed a significant amount of land in Western Africa and were positioned to continue to do so unless we struck first. The increased coring coring cost tradition of the Moroccans was something that they were spreading throughout the conquered regions and had to be stopped. The ideal solution would have been to destroy Morroco and push them out of Africa, but both Spain and Portugal were guarenteeing the Sultanate.
Grandmaster Jacobus decided on the next best solution: an invasion of Mali. Too bad the Grandmaster would not see the result of the war, as he died at this time. Short lives for grandmasters indeed. A new heir named Raphael (4/5/1) is chosen, and Grandmaster Annetinus (4/5/5) begins his rule of the Order.
A huge controvery spread across the nation, and the new Grandmaster had to decide to enforce religious freedom or unity.
In choosing religious freedom, the country would lose a lot of short term devotion (read: would lower taxes, increase revolt risk and lower papal influence) and the province of . would become protestant. This would hurt, but let us see the other option before deciding…
LOSE 1 BASE PRODUCTION IN ALL OWNED PROVINCES??!
So my choices are:
1. Be a protestant heretic and convert .
2. Be a pious catholic and impoverish my people by as much as 75 development
This was not a well balanced theocratic decision…
After a few quick stackwipes, the Mali Sultanate is forced to cede 100% warscore in a peace treaty. The Sultan is practically in tears when we demand 4/5 of his realm and most of his gold. We are sure that they will bounce back fine; they are Mali-able.
No longer can Morroco expand into Africa. We also peace out with Fezzan (who we declared war on earlier but I forgot about) and demand full annexation; they are no longer very useful as a buffer zone so we might as well gain control of their land. Mil tech 18 is reached slightly ahead of neighboring nations.
We realize that we have hit a snag that many of the newly aquired Mali provinces have been recently converted to Islam and, consequently, it will take decades before they can be converted to Catholicism. Our empire has various revolt risk and stability issues so we decide to change this where we can.
With no immediate need for DIP for tech or ideas, it seems a good time to convert our provinces to accepted cultures. By choosing to spread Tunisian and Hausa cultures we can make it nearly impossible for them to become unaccepted even far into the future, while also getting a nice 25% discount for spreading adjacent culture that is hard to get compared to spreading our Occitan culture. Overall we have a 70% discount because of this policy, the adjacent culture discount and for having full religious ideas complete.
We launch another short African campaign which ends in the complete annexation of Kong. Other than Morroco, Mossi and what remains of Mali and Songhai, we control all of Western Africa.
Word reaches us that the Russian Empire has declared war on the Ottomans…despite the Russians having no alliances and the Ottoman Alliance being at full manpower capabilities. Grandmaster Annetinus begins readying the 27,000 Knights of the Order for war, but is not willing to commit to war just yet.
Mughal #1: ‘Hey so you know how the Russians just declared war on our closest ally?’
Mughal #2: ‘Yeah, so?’
Mughal #1: ‘Well maybe this means it would be perfect time to start another war against a third of India’
Mughal #2: ‘Sounds like a great plan which can in no way backfire’
The Knights received the ‘Discontent’ modifier from activities of foreign agents which added a +3 revolt risk and -1 yearly devotion modifer for the next five years and made over a dozen types of seperatist rebel groups begin growing throughout the country. Even so, Grandmaster Annetinus could not let this opportunity of striking the Ottoman Alliance slip away. Onwards once more brave Knights! Reclaim the lands of our ancestors and take back the rest of the Holy Lands!
The Crusader Forces: France, The Knights, The Papal States, Mzab
The Islamic Alliance: The Ottoman Empire, The Mughals, Hausa, Kabylia, Tripoli
Following what seemed to be a new theocractic tradition, once more a Grandmaster passed away right after a declaration of war had been issued. The stress of war likely did nothing to prolong the lives of the old rulers, but it would have been considerate of these old men to at least live long enough to see the end of the war that they started.
Newly apppointed Grandmaster Raphael (4/5/1) decided to adopt Quality Ideas as the fifth national idea group. Between national ideas, Offensive Ideas and Quality Ideas, the Knights would soon have armies more disciplined than any of her neighbors. A new heir with high military skills was selected (1/4/5).
With most Ottoman armies hard pressed in Georgia by the Russians and in the Balkans by the French, the first two years saw absolutely no resistance to the onwards march of the crusader armies of the Order of St. John. Ottoman Maghreb fell quickly, but multiple rebel armies appeared throughout the Knights’ provinces in Africa in attempts to secure independence; these rebellions slowed the crusader armies substancially because of how far they would have to backtrack to reach the rebellious west african regions.
Our cities of Jerusalem, Gaza and Rosetta were in sight and rejoiced at the sight of our approaching forces! Ottoman Egypt was falling quick and our Touggourt allies were quick to set up a forward position at Damascus. The Ottomans were now on the defensive on the Russian border and the French had nearly reached Constantinople.
Curses! Rebels have risen up throughout the Ottoman empire in a desperate attempt to throw off our occupation! If the forts fall we also risk being cut off and trapped behind enemy lines down in the Arabian Penninsula, let us fall back!
Fall back men! We can do nothing for the Knights of Touggourt! Regroup and prepare to face the Ottoman devils!
We have regrouped and hold defensible terrain at El Karak, but Commander and Grandmaster in waiting Raimundus decided to take a gamble and pull his men back to less defensible lands in Egypt while the route had not yet been cut off. He expected that the Ottomans would end up picking a fight with the rebels and that this might leave them open to counterattacks…
Raimundus’ gamble had paid off! The Ottomans had been baited into attacking the rebel armies and had suffered enormous casualties reducing a 53,000 strong force down to less than 34,000 at Alexandria. Even so, Raimundus was slain in a ‘Hunting Accident’ as his armies moved to intercept the still engaged Ottoman-Rebel armies.
Victory! With General Raimundus slain, the battle did not go as well as it could have and the Ottomans were able to organize a retreat, but it is still a day to celebrate as we can begin retaking the Ottoman provinces and driving them out of the Holy Lands!
A new general was hastily sent to the front lines, and under his command the Knights pushed to stike the second Ottoman army before the first could recover enough to make such an attack impossible. Let God be with our men this day!
The Ottoman forces continued to be pushed back and we continued to hunt down and hit the same army, led by the Ottoman Sultan, again at El Karak and Damascus. Finally, after they had suffered three consecutive defeats while we continued to levy mercenaries from Jerusalem to reinforce, there was an opportunity to surround and destroy them for good as we cut off their escape.
Deus Vult! The Ottomans had lost much of their armies and while the second Ottoman army had returned, it was clearly still weakened and we were able to repeat the same steps that to surround and destroy this army as we had done to the first.
Within another year, the Ottomans had lost what armies they had left in Europe and Constantinople had fallen. With seiges quickly making key ottoman fortifications fall, warscore was rising and the war would soon be at an end. The Spanish were terrified that their guarentor would be destroyed and sent chests of gold to buoy the Ottomans up with mercenaries. The fools. We will not forgot their attempts to aid the scourge of christendom.
It was nearing the end of 1648, and it was time to end this war. While the Grandmaster was tempted to drag on the war and allow the Ottomans to splinter apart, his own people wanted peace. The rest of the Holy lands were demanded, as well as the rich port city of Alexandria.
The former crusader states had been reclaimed! The Grandmaster of the Order announced that the Knights of the Order of St. John would now rule from the new capital in Jerusalem and continue to safeguard the realm from threats, those both Islamic and otherwise. Most importantly, the Grandmaster stated that with the order would now be a Kingdom of Heaven! The Grandmaster was now King!
1625-1648
The French and Commonwealth Empires had steadily been growing in power over the last few decades. The Holy Roman Empire and, to a lesser extent, Russia were in decline as they continued to lose war after war to the Commonwealth-France alliance. The Grandmaster began to wonder, as the borders of the Knights and France both inched closer, whether his successors would one day be facing the French as foes. He dismissed the thought; this was something they would have to deal with, not him.
While the Kingdom of Naples was understandably reluctant to allow our forces military access, it seemed that the Papal States was more than willing to allow us access. It was quite nice of them to destroy Naples and allow us to march over the occupied Neapolitan provinces unhindered.
As Russia and the Commonwealth battled it out along the Eastern frontier, Austria and the Holy Roman armies quickly found their armies being encircled and wiped out by the French. The army of the Knights reached Austria’s capital to find the Austrians attempting to save their occupied capital. It was time to end that attempt. Hilarius de L’Isle Adam, the general of the Knights of the Order of St. John, may have lacked the skill of his ancestor but he still found that little skill is needed when the French are quick to roll in the doomstacks.
Grandmasters did not tend to rule very long. Often it was not until one’s fifties of later that one would have gained enough experience to be nominated to be Grandmaster, and it was with little surprise that one more had passed away this year. The newest Grandmaster was a capable commander, though he lacked the skill of administration. The newest heir was indeed promising: word of the new heir’s skill already had spread, although his nomination had greatly upset the clergy and time would tell if his rule would be great…
The Holy Roman princes fell soon after the battle of Prag, and soon the Knights found themselves fighting on the Commonwealth-Russian border. The cold and climate was unlike what many of the knights had seen, having grown up in the mediterranean or central African climates. General Hilarius was careful to keep his smaller army clear of massive battles; there would be no gain from this war for the Knights so there was no point risking his men’s lives.
The Russians decided not to drag the war on once Moscow had fallen, and the French and Commonwealth both demanded large land concessions from the enemy alliance. The Knights, of course, received nothing for their assistance. Grandmaster Jacobus (1/4/5) would remember this the next time the Knights were in charge of making peace deals.
Lost time is a horrible thing, and the Ottomans had used the last few years to vassalize Kabylia and Hausa as well as begun a reconquest of its lost balkan regions. It was tempting to declare war and stop the Ottomans, but the French weren’t willing to assist in such a war until manpower recovered. Nothing could be done.
Sicilian and Neapolitan rebellions broke out in the Italian provinces. Even though overextension had been dealt with it had been at 102% for much of the war and so had revolt risk had been hovering at 90% for a full year before erupting at this time.
We integrated one of our vassals, the Malikate of Djerid, so that we could free up a diplomatic slot and begin establishing other alliances which might be able to aid us.
Our allies won’t help. Why? They are too Ferrara away
Morroco was another thorn in our side. They had grabbed a significant amount of land in Western Africa and were positioned to continue to do so unless we struck first. The increased coring coring cost tradition of the Moroccans was something that they were spreading throughout the conquered regions and had to be stopped. The ideal solution would have been to destroy Morroco and push them out of Africa, but both Spain and Portugal were guarenteeing the Sultanate.
Grandmaster Jacobus decided on the next best solution: an invasion of Mali. Too bad the Grandmaster would not see the result of the war, as he died at this time. Short lives for grandmasters indeed. A new heir named Raphael (4/5/1) is chosen, and Grandmaster Annetinus (4/5/5) begins his rule of the Order.
A huge controvery spread across the nation, and the new Grandmaster had to decide to enforce religious freedom or unity.
In choosing religious freedom, the country would lose a lot of short term devotion (read: would lower taxes, increase revolt risk and lower papal influence) and the province of . would become protestant. This would hurt, but let us see the other option before deciding…
LOSE 1 BASE PRODUCTION IN ALL OWNED PROVINCES??!
So my choices are:
1. Be a protestant heretic and convert .
2. Be a pious catholic and impoverish my people by as much as 75 development
This was not a well balanced theocratic decision…
After a few quick stackwipes, the Mali Sultanate is forced to cede 100% warscore in a peace treaty. The Sultan is practically in tears when we demand 4/5 of his realm and most of his gold. We are sure that they will bounce back fine; they are Mali-able.
No longer can Morroco expand into Africa. We also peace out with Fezzan (who we declared war on earlier but I forgot about) and demand full annexation; they are no longer very useful as a buffer zone so we might as well gain control of their land. Mil tech 18 is reached slightly ahead of neighboring nations.
We realize that we have hit a snag that many of the newly aquired Mali provinces have been recently converted to Islam and, consequently, it will take decades before they can be converted to Catholicism. Our empire has various revolt risk and stability issues so we decide to change this where we can.
With no immediate need for DIP for tech or ideas, it seems a good time to convert our provinces to accepted cultures. By choosing to spread Tunisian and Hausa cultures we can make it nearly impossible for them to become unaccepted even far into the future, while also getting a nice 25% discount for spreading adjacent culture that is hard to get compared to spreading our Occitan culture. Overall we have a 70% discount because of this policy, the adjacent culture discount and for having full religious ideas complete.
We launch another short African campaign which ends in the complete annexation of Kong. Other than Morroco, Mossi and what remains of Mali and Songhai, we control all of Western Africa.
Word reaches us that the Russian Empire has declared war on the Ottomans…despite the Russians having no alliances and the Ottoman Alliance being at full manpower capabilities. Grandmaster Annetinus begins readying the 27,000 Knights of the Order for war, but is not willing to commit to war just yet.
Mughal #1: ‘Hey so you know how the Russians just declared war on our closest ally?’
Mughal #2: ‘Yeah, so?’
Mughal #1: ‘Well maybe this means it would be perfect time to start another war against a third of India’
Mughal #2: ‘Sounds like a great plan which can in no way backfire’
The Knights received the ‘Discontent’ modifier from activities of foreign agents which added a +3 revolt risk and -1 yearly devotion modifer for the next five years and made over a dozen types of seperatist rebel groups begin growing throughout the country. Even so, Grandmaster Annetinus could not let this opportunity of striking the Ottoman Alliance slip away. Onwards once more brave Knights! Reclaim the lands of our ancestors and take back the rest of the Holy Lands!
The Crusader Forces: France, The Knights, The Papal States, Mzab
The Islamic Alliance: The Ottoman Empire, The Mughals, Hausa, Kabylia, Tripoli
Following what seemed to be a new theocractic tradition, once more a Grandmaster passed away right after a declaration of war had been issued. The stress of war likely did nothing to prolong the lives of the old rulers, but it would have been considerate of these old men to at least live long enough to see the end of the war that they started.
Newly apppointed Grandmaster Raphael (4/5/1) decided to adopt Quality Ideas as the fifth national idea group. Between national ideas, Offensive Ideas and Quality Ideas, the Knights would soon have armies more disciplined than any of her neighbors. A new heir with high military skills was selected (1/4/5).
With most Ottoman armies hard pressed in Georgia by the Russians and in the Balkans by the French, the first two years saw absolutely no resistance to the onwards march of the crusader armies of the Order of St. John. Ottoman Maghreb fell quickly, but multiple rebel armies appeared throughout the Knights’ provinces in Africa in attempts to secure independence; these rebellions slowed the crusader armies substancially because of how far they would have to backtrack to reach the rebellious west african regions.
Our cities of Jerusalem, Gaza and Rosetta were in sight and rejoiced at the sight of our approaching forces! Ottoman Egypt was falling quick and our Touggourt allies were quick to set up a forward position at Damascus. The Ottomans were now on the defensive on the Russian border and the French had nearly reached Constantinople.
Curses! Rebels have risen up throughout the Ottoman empire in a desperate attempt to throw off our occupation! If the forts fall we also risk being cut off and trapped behind enemy lines down in the Arabian Penninsula, let us fall back!
Fall back men! We can do nothing for the Knights of Touggourt! Regroup and prepare to face the Ottoman devils!
We have regrouped and hold defensible terrain at El Karak, but Commander and Grandmaster in waiting Raimundus decided to take a gamble and pull his men back to less defensible lands in Egypt while the route had not yet been cut off. He expected that the Ottomans would end up picking a fight with the rebels and that this might leave them open to counterattacks…
Raimundus’ gamble had paid off! The Ottomans had been baited into attacking the rebel armies and had suffered enormous casualties reducing a 53,000 strong force down to less than 34,000 at Alexandria. Even so, Raimundus was slain in a ‘Hunting Accident’ as his armies moved to intercept the still engaged Ottoman-Rebel armies.
Victory! With General Raimundus slain, the battle did not go as well as it could have and the Ottomans were able to organize a retreat, but it is still a day to celebrate as we can begin retaking the Ottoman provinces and driving them out of the Holy Lands!
A new general was hastily sent to the front lines, and under his command the Knights pushed to stike the second Ottoman army before the first could recover enough to make such an attack impossible. Let God be with our men this day!
The Ottoman forces continued to be pushed back and we continued to hunt down and hit the same army, led by the Ottoman Sultan, again at El Karak and Damascus. Finally, after they had suffered three consecutive defeats while we continued to levy mercenaries from Jerusalem to reinforce, there was an opportunity to surround and destroy them for good as we cut off their escape.
Deus Vult! The Ottomans had lost much of their armies and while the second Ottoman army had returned, it was clearly still weakened and we were able to repeat the same steps that to surround and destroy this army as we had done to the first.
Within another year, the Ottomans had lost what armies they had left in Europe and Constantinople had fallen. With seiges quickly making key ottoman fortifications fall, warscore was rising and the war would soon be at an end. The Spanish were terrified that their guarentor would be destroyed and sent chests of gold to buoy the Ottomans up with mercenaries. The fools. We will not forgot their attempts to aid the scourge of christendom.
It was nearing the end of 1648, and it was time to end this war. While the Grandmaster was tempted to drag on the war and allow the Ottomans to splinter apart, his own people wanted peace. The rest of the Holy lands were demanded, as well as the rich port city of Alexandria.
The former crusader states had been reclaimed! The Grandmaster of the Order announced that the Knights of the Order of St. John would now rule from the new capital in Jerusalem and continue to safeguard the realm from threats, those both Islamic and otherwise. Most importantly, the Grandmaster stated that with the order would now be a Kingdom of Heaven! The Grandmaster was now King!
- 7
Raimundus’ gamble had paid off! The Ottomans had been baited into attacking the rebel armies and had suffered enormous casualties reducing a 53,000 strong force down to less than 34,000 at Alexandria. Even so, Raimundus was slain in a ‘Hunting Accident’ as his armies moved to intercept the still engaged Ottoman-Rebel armies.
that was a real smart tactic, I would have done same
The Ottoman forces continued to be pushed back and we continued to hunt down and hit the same army, led by the Ottoman Sultan, again at El Karak and Damascus. Finally, after they had suffered three consecutive defeats while we continued to levy mercenaries from Jerusalem to reinforce, there was an opportunity to surround and destroy them for good as we cut off their escape.
Deus Vult! The Ottomans had lost much of their armies and while the second Ottoman army had returned, it was clearly still weakened and we were able to repeat the same steps that to surround and destroy this army as we had done to the first.
Orlando Gavalas of Naxos would have been proud!
It was nearing the end of 1648, and it was time to end this war. While the Grandmaster was tempted to drag on the war and allow the Ottomans to splinter apart, his own people wanted peace. The rest of the Holy lands were demanded, as well as the rich port city of Alexandria.
why not take Messina and Mecca? The extra missionary would have come in handy
But I suppose you had to end war before 1650 due to call for peace and forming Jerusalem.Well.. suppose you can wait 15 years.
Maybe read PU guide again and start making alliances with big ones if able. Like Commonwealth. If they rival Ottomans non stop, you can call them in with France versus Ottomans.
Jesus, what event is that
? Never knew development could be reduced by event like this.Why not make a corridor to unite your West African land with Jerusalem and Egypt? Wouldn't that be easier to allow troop movements during peace time?
It was nearing the end of 1648, and it was time to end this war. While the Grandmaster was tempted to drag on the war and allow the Ottomans to splinter apart, his own people wanted peace. The rest of the Holy lands were demanded, as well as the rich port city of Alexandria.
Congratulations with your formation of Jerusalem. May the Kingdom be the holy connection between Earth and Heaven.