The Soldier Kings, A Prussian AAR

[Braedonnal]

1642

We further expand our trade ventures and our merchants decide to work hand in hand with the government and we begin placing certain restrictions on foreign trade (Trade tech 7). Needless to say, rebellion spreads like wildfire and the year is spent quelling it.

1643

The revolts continue throughout this year as well. Our naval engineers improve the hull design of our ships and we commission more to take advantage of this development (Naval tech 22).

1644

You say you want a revolution? Come to Prussia, this is your place then.

1645

von Sparr arrives in Savoie. We plan to use him to reduce French fortresses as they have extensively built them. Unfortunately, our plans in Norway are put on hold as a wave of obscurantism rolls across the kingdom. We instead develop our naval tactics and recruit naval light infantry for our man-o-wars (Naval tech 23). Strangely though the chance of rebellion was high it was a mostly quiet year.

1646

We start the year off right and send a declaration of war to Norway on Jan 23rd. Armies are marching for a winter surprise attack! We wait for the declarations to pour in. France on Feb 27th and we decide to pursue them vigoriously in Colonial America. The Mughal Empire declares on March 8th and we plan total annexation of this muslim state. Spain declares March 9th and we also plan to drive them from holdings in America. England (Scotland) declare war March 15th and we plan to take more land to give us a more firm hold on that island. Venice (Greece and Russia) declare war on April 8th and we plan to take Illyria from Venice and to drive the Russians out of northern Norway and Finland. Poland-Lithuania is not to be left out and declare April 15th. I plan to take more bits out of Polish Hungary.

For the most part our aims are met. Norway is completely unprepared for war and see their lands swiftly besieged. France also has trouble and Ile de France, Lyonnais and Languedoc are all attacked and when they fall we move to the French interior provinces. We more our England army to take the capital and move to Wessex. A combined Anglo-Scottish force pushes this army back to Anglia so the Holland Army is loaded up and landed in Cornwall as we rebuild our shattered Dover Army. This ploy is successful and the English and Scots are brutal crushed in a brillant campaign. The campaign in the east goes much slower as weather and poor terrain are worse enemies than armies. Friedrich Wilhelm takes part in the largest battle to date pitting his 80,000 men against a 95,000 man Polish army. Protestant zeal, a superbly drilled army and the Kaiser's tactics all contribute to Prussian victory. The Poles are finished and we simply need to reduce their fortresses to force our territorial demands on them. In Russia, Novgorod is an early target but Estonia revolts and cuts supply. No matter, we land reinforcements at Ingermanland and continue to break Russian armies at Novgorod. Venice is beseiged but the terrain isn't favorable but they must fall.

1647

Norway is annexed early in the year and we swifty move to take Narvik and Osterbotten from the Russians. France is brought to the peace table and we take Honduras and Nipissing from them leaving them only one fortress in America which will fall in the next war I am sure. Saltillo was taken and Tuxpan from Spain and we come ever closer to dominating North America. Algiers declares war with their Muslim alliance but they like our money more and are bought off. We are not ready to push into this area of the world yet. Poland-Lithuania cede Galicia, Maros and Banat to us and they are in dire staights as rebels are beginning to take hold in Poland. We offer England peace in exhange for Wessex and Cornwall and now we have a good base to conquer this entire island. Russia is forced to cede Narvik and Osterbotten and we are in good position to drive them completely out of Finnish territories in the next war.

1648

Our new boundaries trigger war with Serbia and Moldavia. We take peace with Venice after Illyria falls to Prussian might. We annex the Mughal Empire and this sets off all kinds of religious problems. Persia declares war but we buy them off as well as we need to reign in our new territories. We begin to add naval infantry detachments to the navy (Naval tech 24).

1649

Serbia is annexed to Prussia. They were no threat at all to us and were not even using muskets! More naval innovations as we decide that boarding tactics would lead to a larger navy as we capture enemy men-o-war (Naval tech 25). Moldavia stands alone and falls alone and we annex them as well.

A peace conference is called for throughout Europe and it is decided that the powers of Europe will meet in Westphalia. It is no surprise that we meet in Prussian territory. Many topics are discussed but religion and balance of power are the main ones. You see, not all nations were as enlightened as Prussia. The Catholics kill the Protestants and the Protestants kill the Catholcis and everyone kills the Jews and Calvinists. The people of Europe were tired of this slaughter all in the name of God. Prussia was looked upon as an example of what tolerance of religion could achieve. Well, unfortunately, religious tolerance wasn't really accepted in Europe and the choice was left to the Kings of the realms. Whole faiths ended up kicked out of their homes to seek places of similar faith or at least of tolerance and we took in all we could and if possible they were settled in other lands, Eastern Europe was vast and so was the Indian subcontinent. We hope to merge and blend our people and there are no barriers if one wished to relocate to another part of the empire. Friedrich Wilhelm was heard to say after attending a meeting of the Freemasons that "I will even build mosques in Berlin if I must. After all, everyone must go to heaven in his own way." [Friedrich II would indeed say something to this effect and what a concept for the time].

The discussions turned to European balance of power and at this I laughed and stated,

"What balance of power? I aid my allies and the world wars against us. Our merchants are refused to trade and we declare war to end the embargo as you will not respond to reason and the world wars with us. Even powers with no real interest in our affairs seem to involve themselves in them. I even warred to protect the Dutch lands when not allied with them and not only did the world war with us but you did too!" as I pointed at the Dutch emissary.

"You come here to talk of peace and talk of balance in Europe and yet you seem to forget that it is you that declare most of these wars not Prussia!"

I paused to see what sort of comments I would hear.

"But what of Hyderabad, they did you no wrong!"

I pondered this.

"True, yet if war broke out in Europe I am sure war would have been declared and besides did not the Word of God need to be brought unto them? Did not Spain do the same to the Aztec and the Inca?"

Silence...Good, I have them now.

"We are forced into these terrible wars and our people suffer but I know your people suffer even more. How many wars has Prussia lost? None and yet you all persist and if you continue Europe will simply be Prussia."

Now I heard the angry murmuring and the 'Nevers!'

"So tell me, how will we continue to exist, at war or in peace? The resources of Prussia are great and greater now than ever so do you think you will fare any better against us?"

Silence again.

"The choice is yours, peace or war but do not come here saying Prussia is out of balance and has the blood of the world on their hands as we had wanted peace and we were given only war and war is something we excel at as you all know."

The Greek representative scoffed.

"You have been sheltered in the past and we do not forget the rape of Istria years ago nor your pillaging of our lands in the last great war. Should you war with us again you will join the Serbs and Romance in our realm."

I think a war with Greece is coming soon, what a pity.

"I hope you all choose to end these silly wars. Oh, and I have an announcement to give to you all. The Kingdom of Prussia will be known in the future as the Prussian Empire."

My speech was done and the outcry in the room was deafening. An Empire within and also without the Holy Roman Empire, they would not come to terms with this for years, I bet. So much for peace, but I prefer war anyways.

 

[Braedonnal]

1650

This year sees the formation of the Geheime Vertrauensheute, the secret police, and agents are infiltrated into the underworld to curb the growing cries of nationalism. Our agents abroad have gathered much technology and this year sees Vaisseaux, explosive balls and shells (naval tech 26-28). Our own military develops the Carbine (land tech 25) and these short guns are given to our cavalry. This year also sees Nubia declare independence from Turkey but it does not last.

1651

Nothing to report unless you love reading of rebellions.

1652

We take what we learned from the navy and convert this to the army and develop exploding shells (land tech 26).

1653

Some enterprising young Prussian officers come up with the highly novel idea of a hand thrown shell. Tests are run but losses among these troops runs high as the hand grenade is hardly reliable (land tech 27).

1654

von Derfflinger arrives in Delhi. March 13th, a state of war exists between the Prussian Empire and the French Empire. At this point our war goals are simple, we plan to take Ile de France, Lyonnais, Languedoc and Nipigon and ask for peace. Spain aids the French and her overseas possession we will whettle away at. Russia then declares and all of Europe is aflame yet again and Venice and Greece sides with their ally. We will finish pushing the Czarist forces out of Finland, God willing, and I fight personally on this front. von Sparr commands the French front. Poland-Lithuania declares war with Finland and the Knights and Friedrich Wilhelm himself commands here. England declares war with the backing of Scotish troops. Algiers declares with their allies Turkey, Oman and the Hafsid empire. Persia then declares and von Derfflinger goes to work on this front. Spain is brought to the peace table very early as troops from our Aztec holdings rampage throughout Spanish holdings. We take Tehuacan and Guatemala.

1655

Novgorod and Moscow itself burn and I sign a peace with the Czar and we are ceded Tavastland and Nyland. This removes Russian naval presence from northern Europe. This was not a moment too soon as the Finns managed to put some 80,000 men under arms and besiege Osterbotten. Rather then fight this force I swiftly move to reduce Finnish territories and winter drains the Finnish army's strength. A mere 14,000 men remain when Finland is annexed to Prussia.

1656

Algiers is bought off for 250d. Friedrich Wilhelm humiliates the Poles yet again in a brillant campaign and after peace is restored we have added Ruthenia, Croatia and Podolia. Ruthenia immediately revolts and the Kaiser is forced to finish the year reducing fortresses and numerous rebellions in Eastern Europe. von Sparr dies and this great military commander is buried with great honors in Konigsberg. I cannot attend his funeral as the French campaign slows without his presense and I make the long march to Vendee. Our original war aims were met early in France and it had been decided by the Kaiser to push our advantage to the fullest. Hapless England finds themselves annexed after a blindingly fast campaign in the Britain, Ireland and overseas (Canada and Austrailia.

We learn the reason for French troubles as their top general is sitting in Connaught. Luckily, the French and English were not at war and he was trapped until the annexation of England. Plenty of time was available to mobilize additional forces and 45,000 Prussian grenadiers supported by 250 cannon employing the newly invented bayonnet (land tech 29) make short work of this 35,000 man French army, general or not!

White peace is signed by von Derfflinger with Persia. Next time, they will not get off so lightly.

1657

The reduction of French fortresses continues apace and our naval engineers develop Optics (naval tech 29).

1658

The start of the year sees France reduced to only Vendee, Guyenne, Poitou and Bearn. I arrive in Vendee where another army has been reducing these fortresses for some time. The knowledge I have learned from the great von Sparr is put to the test. Scotland is finally annexed and I don't believe they ever recovered from the losses of the last war. The sieges come more easily but we have no opportunity to test our regimental organization (land tech 30) but no matter as Bearn falls on July 2nd and the French Empire is no more. We immediately begin a massive crash fortification program thoughout the empire and ready ourselves to the massive rebellion that are sure to follow.

 

[Braedonnal]

So, what next? Do I work on P-L and Russia and nibble away at Spain or do I push west from India to take Persia and Ubzeks? With Spain, do I take colonies or should I strike at Spain proper and reduce their manpower? I imagine the later option. Venice is annoying as well, maybe take them out once and for all. I know Spain will take some time as I need to develop bases in South America. Perhaps an annexation of Portugal might be a good idea.

I've never had an empire so huge before and suddenly I am not sure what to do next. Obviously, conquer everything but it's the whole going about it that I wonder about.

 

[Morpheus506]

I say crush Poland and RUssia first. Annex Poland, then weaken Russia enough that they won't have the money to continue the Siberian adventures they're having. Then, eat mainland Spain alive and devour Venice. Also be wary of the Ottomans, they could be a very sharp thorn in your side as you go conquering.

 

[Lord E]

I agree with Morpheus, you should take out Poland and Russia first, after that you can probably do as you wnat, but vencie and Spain seems to be s amrt place to turn then
You are doing great

 

[Braedonnal]

1659-1665

Quiet years for Europe. Naturally, Prussia was wracked with internal dissent as the long process of assimilating the conquered people of France, England and the Balkans continue. The army swelled to nearly 1,000,000 men and while this seems to be an impressive number, most of this new strength was used in rebel fighting armies. The fortification program was completed with the exception of the newly conquered territories. These times brought us the Army commissionary and the gallop charge (land tech 31 and 31). Conscription centers were built in all core territories and would prove highly useful on the eastern front. We felt Prussia was strong enough after this period of peace and war was planned yet again. We elect Carlos II of Spain as the Holy Roman Emperor more for the fun of taunting him than anything else. We also saw the Navy reformed during these times (event).

1666

In March, we declare war on the Uzbeks and hope this will trigger war throughout Europe. Russia and Venice declare war upon us and we note that the Venetians allowed themselves to be vassalizied by the Czar. Poland-Lithuania and the Knights of Saint John declare soon after. We will focus mostly on this front. Spain with Portugal then declares war and I will lead the armies here. Algiers and most of Islam declare soon after but they are paid a mere 250d for peace. My army rampages through Iberia cutting a swath from Gerona through the south of Portugal and other armies follow to reduce the few fortresses that Spain has constructed. Portugal proves most annoying, torching many trading post we inherited from the English and French but in the end it mattered little.

1667

Colonial dynamism happens yet again but we have no time for this (event). Persia and Greece both declare war finally and this is followed by terrible news as von Derfflinger is killed in an assault on Kalat. The well-trained Prussian army holds strong and soon enough Persia is suing for peace and we take Kalat and Mekran. After a brilliant campaign in the North that saw the death of hmm some Russian general or monarch named Ivan at the decisive battle outside Novgorod, they sue for peace ceding Novgorod and Tver.

1668

Portugal signs peace placing both Oporto and Algarve under Prussian administration. Turkey takes advantage of the Battle of Novgorod and declares war upon the hapless Russians. Spain cedes us Estramasuras and the gold mine at Toledo for peace and a sizable base has been won for future Iberia adventures.

1669

There are no more battles besides with rebels, just sieges and assaults in Poland and Greece. Greece is annexed late in the year and we find ourselves with a border at the Turkish capital which will be handy in future wars I am sure.

1670

Poland has been reduced leave us with only Azov to invade. Unfortunately, this must be done by sea and the most brutal fighting of the war occurs here. Four invasions are needed to finally force the large and well-led Polish forces out and to reduce this territory. Poland never really had a chance, they just delayed the inevitible in a vainglorious attempt at saving their realm. In December, their elective monarchy is replaced with Prussian autocracy and the war is over. Oh yes, I nearly forgot. We white peace the Uzbeks as we didn't push for enough in Persia to share their border. Perhaps in the next war. Armaments are ordered to replace losses and war will happen again soon. We do not wish our enemies to have all that much time to regain their strength.

 

[Braedonnal]

Thanks for dropping by Lord E. I initially planned to go east but then I thought I might want to run down Spain and Portugal first as they are Latin tech. P-L and Russia are a bit behind and are easier to fight at this point due to my tech advantages and high morale. It turned out that I was able to keep offensives rolling on four fronts (North America no longer counts as Spain has no forts left there). This game is basically over, it's just mopping up the remaining nations. Turkey and pals might be interesting as I haven't had a battle with them yet and currently they are tearing apart the weakened Russians.

 

[Braedonnal]

1671

Simply assume there are 20 to 40 rebellions a year. We have learned that there is no possible way to keep everyone happy and increased privelegies are given to the secret police. They are allowed to maintain the garrison armies that are responsible for putting down all rebellions leaving the army free to engage in warfare.

New military strategy has been developed. We decide that Vernichtungsgedanke will be our method of warfare, that is the idea of annihilation. The complete and utter destruction of men and material. Battles for now of manuvuer and the idea of concentration of force. This idea had been toyed with in the Swedish campaign to some extent but the success of this was built upon. Armies reached incredible numbers of men, in some cases up to 150,000 not including artillery support. Prussian was never a strong cavalry nation (and I rarely build it, to be honest) and this idea strongly complemented this fact. The idea was a massive yet swift bombardment followed by infantry assault. If all went well, the army was destroyed and the enemy fortresses taken and the army would continue to march to the next strongpoint. Another key was to gather tremendous amounts of reserves and station them at the border areas to allow quick reinforcements should the army require them. These reserve army would be strengthened with newly recruited grenadiers and thus the advance could continue without slowing down. Cavalry would be used to raid behind enemy lines and to disrupt reserve formations and to make opportunistic attacks. In theory, we could advance one province per month and have the enemy province completely pacified and be marching to the next.

I wish I could claim to be the architect of this method of warfare but that honor belongs to my grandson. He isn't much of an advisor but in the realm of military things he has proven himself. This theory I am still a bit dubious about but I am used to old ways and old methods. The theory is sound but it depends on many factors. It will be put to the test on the Eastern and Southern Fronts.

We see advances in naval technology, 24 pounders and line formations (naval tech 30 and 31).

1672

Flintlocks and grapeshot are invented and put to use (land tech 33 and 34).

1673

We choose to persue liberal trade practices (trade tech 8). Prussia and liberal do not exactly go together.

1674

This year we see fruits of our trade practices with the creation of the stock exchange (event). Our wealth grows even greater.

1675

Manufactories are further developed adding additional wealth (infra tech 8). War is declared upon the Uzbeks on August 12th and we wait patiently for the declarations to come in. We do not wait long. Algiers (Turkey, Oman, Hafsid Empire) declare war and Portugal (Spain and Netherlands) declare war. Venice (Russia) declare war. Armies march and reserves are mobilized and decisive battles are fought and enemies die. Our cause is not harmed by the fact Russia and Turkey have been fighting for years.

1676

Already massive gains have been made by this time and peace is forced on Spain for Andalusia and Gibraltar [little did I know it was not a crossing]. Munster does convert to the Reformed faith this year as well (event).

1677

Portugal is forced out of the war on December 28th and out of existance as they are annexed to Prussia. Naval power has come into its own allowing this to occur. Places as distant as Buru and Urugary are attacked not to mention the landings at Tangiers.

1678

July 11th, the mighty Russian bear has been hunted down like a dog and slain. The strategies of my grandson are highly successful and are also being used to good effect against the Turks. The Russians annexation being us a border with the Manchu Empire. The thought of the Far East falling in the near future is very exciting to think about but first things first.

1679

The terrain of the Turkish Empire makes this a slower campaign. Mountains and deserts mainly. I can not understate the importance of conscription centers. Without them, this war could not have been fought in this fashion.

1680

We agree to white peace with Oman. This year is spent reducing Venetian islands. Crete proves the most difficult as 65,000 and an able general are located there. Three landings are needed to force our way onto the isle. We are successful and Venice is annexed on December 28th.

1681

Spain declares again this year, has it been that long? We develop the hussar (land tech 35).

1682

We force peace on Spain for Atlixco and Tehuantepe. Turkey's government falls on May 1st, and this leaves them Angora and Niassa and was with a huge amount of territory. Peace is negotiated with the Netherlands for Bangor and Micmac. Algiers is paid 250D for peace. The Ubzeks are annexed and the war is over.

 

[Braedonnal]

I have to admit, that war went far better than I thought it would!

 

[Morpheus506]

That happens... when you control this colossus empire, you sometimes still fear nations but then when you go to war and totally smash them it's kinda suprising. (example: Sibir vs Poland or Turkey)

 

[Lord E]

Well what a great Empire
Really good playing you got there, now all that is left is to make sure no one in the world live outside the great Prussian Empire

 

[Braedonnal]

Soon, soon! I figure two more wars at this point depending if the Far East decides to DoW me like Europe and the Mideast has, one war to establish my South American bases and another to complete the conquest.

The game better let me annex those Dutch or I am going to get all grumbley. I am pretty well set to move on all fronts with a staging base on the far east of India to move on Ayulthaya and a Pacific Fleet for landings in South America and Nippon/Korea also. I figure I will two front war China when the time comes, one from Dai Viet once I take it and another from Korea when I take them. Just need a little more time and the war machine will roll again!

 

[Braedonnal]

1683-1686

Nothing terribly exciting really. We develop new technologies. Steam Power (Infra 9) and Pre-Capitalism (Trade 9). Friedrich I arrives as all future Prussian emperors do, serving in the army. We also see Industrial Development (event). In world affairs, Turkey (Algiers, Hafsid Empire) declare war upon Persia. Madness, let them fight each other I say.

1687

Pre-Industrial (Infra 10). We declare war the Hafsid Empire (Algiers) on March 1st. Interesting, Turkey abandoned them, no matter. Ethiopa declares April 2nd and then Morocco declares on the 7th. Spain declares on the 9th and Persia declares the 30th. The Hasfids are utterly crushed and are annexed on August 15th. Peace is given to Spain for Lima and Arequipa on September 21st.

1688

Friedrich I is Kaiser but Friedrich Wilhelm will always be remember as the monarch that explosively expanded Prussia borders. Morocco is annexed January 3rd. Ethiopa follows suit on Febuary 14th. Persia is also annexed on May 23rd. Pre-Industrial (Trade 10). Algiers falls September 15th and this short war is over but we would not rest long at all. We develop shock tactics (Land 36) and we immediately put this doctrine into effect. We declare war upon Ayutthaya (China) on December 30th.

1689

The idea of bayonnet assaults (Land 37) develop in the Orient as enemy armies are large but poorly equiped and trained. We find that a few volleys of fire followed by a charge is enough to shatter our foes. Turkey declares and the conflict expands. Then the Dutch declare war and we find ourselves at war with Spain as well. We invent the artillery carriage and this aids our movement and manuvuer of this arm of the army. Spain is forced to a quick peace ceding us Maquega and Huanuca. Extra bases for the final assault never hurts. Ayutthaa is annexed on October 25th.

1690

von Dessau arrives in Cologne. This is good as we plan to destroy these pesky Dutch once and for all. With a new general comes new tactics and the concept of massed fire or salvo fire comes with von Dessau (Land 38). Turkey is finally annexed. There was no being saved by the government falling this time. Mathematical siege (Land 40) is also developed as von Dessau sieges The Hague. We declare war on The Knights of Saint John and they surrender and are annexed on November 29th.

1691

We declare war on Dai Viet and they are annexed on March 26th. We make peace with China on September 2nd in exchange for Laos and Da Lat. After this we declare war on Nippon, happily using the casus bellum for their world- wide embargo.

1692

Nippon is annexed after a year long campaign surrendering to their fate on November 7th. We declare war upon Korea (China) on December 13th and ready for a lighning fast campaign.

1693

We annex Korea on February 16th. I knew they would not last long. Peace is made with China for Tianjin and Liaotung on June 2nd and if you can believe this the Netherlands were finally put down once and for all [it seems I forgot to remove Brussels when I did that Tyrol-Hainaut swap causing the game to crash on annexation, oops] and they were annexed on June 2nd.

1694-1697

We spend this time building fortresses in the South American provinces so massive armies can be built there. The sappeur (Land 41) comes into being and we train our army to make use of these men in sieges. Light Infantry (Land 42) or skirmishers are added to the army. The navy is not neglected as we develop chain shot, early clocks, melee tactics for boarding and the triple decker (naval 33-36). With world dominatation in sight there is a brief period of enthusaism for the army (event) but this recruits are killed in a terrible upraising in Venice.

1698

The wait is over and Spain and China are all that is left. We declare war on China on August 1st. These lands are well fotified but their armies are still shattered from the last war not that we ever really fought them as they were destroy on their foolish mission to try to burn down the Siberian Corridor. Needless to say, winter took care of them. Spain decides to declare war on October 1st. The final battle is upon us!

1699

von Dessau busily crushes all continental provinces and soon only the islands are left. The Inca gold mines prove difficult to reduce and we are even forced back from Potosi. We swiftly strike at the numerous unfortified sugar islands and several skirmish forces roam around South America.

1700

Felipe V of Spain is elected Holy Roman Emperor by us. Too bad for him that he will be the last.

1701

January 26th, China is annexed to the empire and I am called to Europe and von Dessau is sent to the Caribbean.

1702

von Dessau lands on Haiti and swiftly assaults the frontier fort and then after a short march the final Spanish city is captured and our terms are sent. Spain signs over their freedom on May 18th and the world becomes a Prussian one!

Behold Prussia!

 

[Lord E]

Great This is what I call world conquest

 

[Braedonnal]

It's the first time I have ever managed to pull off a world conquest not to mention to even finish a game (as I become bored with the end game) so I am very pleased.

It was really anti-climatic at the end though. You know you have won but you have to go through the motions and take what's left. I think I like the early game more than the late game. Everything is in doubt early and even a good coalition of minor states can hurt you bad. I will say that explosive expansion is fun too, pushing empire building to the maximum but you eventually hit that point where you know the world is yours.

What to play next? Burgundy, Byzantium or maybe one of the Knightly Orders I think. Any suggestions?

 

[unmerged(21523)]

I think the Knights of St. John would make a good challenge. Congrats on the WC

 

[unmerged(10971)]

Just caught this at the end. I love a good WC, and this is one of them.

I vote for the Knights of St. John for the next AAR.

 

[Braedonnal]

Thanks Zach, Lord E and welcome Judas, better late than not at all. Thanks to you also, Morph. I know you will eventually pop in again.

I've been fooling around a little bit with the Knights. Nothing AAR worthy just yet, just checking out how it plays early. It's damn rough, one province and no real income at all. I have a plan though and I think I can do this with a whole lot of luck!

 

[Lord E]

I also think you should go with the knights now, they are interesting to play, and it will be very nice to see how you are able to handle them, and as you say they sure is a challenge, but I think you can do it

 

[Morpheus506]

I have one thing to say: too slow.

other than that, nice one aso, I say no to the knights... try the TO. st john is in a scary spot, but are easy to defend and with a navy can expand well. TOcould be harder.