Tuscan Raiders -- a Magna Mundi IV 1.3 AAR

[unmerged(82977)]

Redbaron1918 - I guess my aims can be summed up as 1) determine just how strong The Ottoman Empire really is... like I mentioned in an earlier post, their armies seem "soft", certainly more so than those of France and 2) to grab as many as 4 (preferably Catholic) provinces if possible (since I've currently caught them in a weakened state) in order to have a more solid toehold on the east bank of the Adriatic.

(If they do turn out to be more bark than bite, I may just end up engaging in further subsequent wars against them to "liberate" more territory in the Balkans -- this may be the easiest direction to grow in).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Picking up on the action from July 1/1587, enemy forces begin to regroup... 3,000 Ottoman troops counterattack our already tired army in Salonica, with a further 3,000 reinforcements also moving toward Salonica from Edirne. However, the Tuscan army in Salonica manages to hold on and defeat the initial force before the reinforcements can arrive and more troops are poured in from Macedonia to try to shore up the defence. In the meantime, the regiments that captured Corfu move into Janina to put down a rebel force and then continue south to bring the battle to Ottoman troops in Athens.

By mid-August, Salonica has been successfully reinforced and defended and battle has also been joined in Athens...

where we are eventually victorious, driving the surviving Ottoman forces into a cul-de-sac in Morea. Sea escape routes are also cut off, with 2 Ottoman ships sunk in the Aegean by our main fleet sailing out of Naxos while 4 more sent to the bottom in the Ionian by our newer secondary naval force based in Apulia.

Before the month is out, Tuscan forces capture Banat and sink another 4 Ottoman ships in the Aegean.

During the reamainder of the year, I continue to press forward slowly. Armies advance from Serbia to Bulgaria and from Banat to Oltenia, and Macedonia is captured while, in North Africa, Constantine and Gafsa also fall. In the north, allied armies also continue to move slowly eastward with limited opposition (the Poles being helpful in this regard). Genoa even lands a diversionary force in Antalya.

As 1588 opens...

Janina is captured soon thereafter, followed by Athens and Salonica in short order.

In April the Ottoman's manage somehow to get Poland to sign a white peace (the rationale of the AI in accepting on Poland's behalf escapes me)

In May, the Tuscan armies from Athens and Janina both advance into Morea to throw the Ottoman troops trapped there into the sea...

With their backs against the sea, the trapped army fights with a strength borne of desperation. This, coupled with a timely attack by a small Ottoman flotilla against the Tuscan fleet in the Ionian which cut off the advance of the army from Janina and prevented them from joining the battle, resulted in a pyrrhic Ottoman victory...

Once the Ottoman ships were driven off, the way was once again clear for the army in Janina to advance across the Gulf of Corinth, this second wave making short work of the few surviving "victors"

Ultimately, this futile effort resulted in TOE losing another 14 ships.

However, TOE is not finished yet... In August a total of 19,000 Ottoman troops from Silistria and Ederne are noticed to be converging on Bulgaria! In response, Tuscan contingents from Oltenia and Macedonia are directed to Bulgaria to reinforce the province and our best General is put in charge of the defence. Unfortunately, it was not enough and we are eventually driven out, both sides losing about 6,500 men. Our forces retreat to Serbia -- the first time this whole war that our front has been pushed back! (sorry, no pic)

Bulgaria is then assaulted by the Ottoman force and quickly recaptured.

With resistance stiffening, another way must be found to cripple the enemy. Since we have achieved naval superiority, I decide to interfere with the Ottoman war effort by effectively cutting the empire in half... The Aegean fleet boldly sails through the Bosphorus into the Sea of Marmara...

where the 8 Galleases that opposed us were quickly sunk. As the blockade takes effect, no further enemy reinforcements are able to cross over from Asia -- now we can begin to hunt down the forces remaining in Europe while the bulk of the Ottoman army looks on impotently from across the bosphorus

Feeling confident now... and as a bonus, as the year comes to a close Tuscany gains core on Messina, Palermo, Malta and The Baleares

 

[unmerged(82977)]

With the coming of the new year, the north continues to be easy pickings for our allies, the Ottomans putting up little resistance to their eatward advance...

However, in the south the Ottoman's continue to push their offensive. One small army advanced into Salonica and another, much larger one, started making it's way toward Macedonia. In response I sent one Tuscan army into Edirne and then on to Thrace to try to wipe out the enemy's pool of reinforcements while the army in Serbia headed for Macedonia to try to counter the Ottoman army targeting the province...

Unfortunately, the large Ottoman stack won the battle in Macedonia before the reinforcements could get there. We were, however, able to quickly route the Ottoman force in Thrace. 2,500 Tuscan troops were left behind to begin the siege of Thrace (without fear of troops crossing from the Asian side due to the blockade) while the rest of the army pursued the fleeing Ottoman's to Edirne.

Despite this strike at their capitol, the Ottoman's still retain the initiative. First they re-capturing Salonica and then managing to beat back my assault on Edirne... but it's another one of those "losses" I can't really be disappointed with, since many more enemy troops were killed in the battle...

To try to take advantage of the Ottoman's weakened postion in Edirne, I march the Tuscan army in Serbia to Edirne via Bulgaria. The Sultan's troops are quickly defeated and the few remaining survivors flee to Salonica. Soon thereafter, Morea finally falls and the troops there join the army in Athens (the combined force now constituting Tuscany's only remaining fully manned force... all our other armies in the region are at half-strength or less).

But just as I was about to launch an attack against Salonica from Athens, half of the Ottoman army there splits off to launch an attack on Albania...

Obviously, the splitting of this single large force is a stroke of good luck for me... those that remain behind are insufficient to put up any real resistance to the assault from the south and are quickly driven into Janina; the victorious Tuscan army hot on their heels to try to finish the job. A second army of 6,000 in Zeta (newly recruited in and recently transported over from Italy to shore up the defense) is now also in a perfect position to launch an attack against the other half of the Ottoman force that had entered (and almost immediately assaulted and captured) Albania.

The Ottoman troops in Janina are completely wiped out in the ensuing battle there, while their army in Albania also quickly defeated...

and pushed back into Salonica, where they are intercepted by the force returning from Janina and also wiped out.

In the meantime, Albania and then Edirne and Bulgaria are all captured (the army from Bulgaria then advancing on a small Ottoman force in Silistria)

The same army in Salonica then advances on Macedonia, trying to take out the last Ottoman regiments remaining behind the front lines...

and eradicates all 3,200.

At this point, we are greeted with the news that a new Doge has taken over... Giancarlo Cybo-Malaspina (A5/M3/D8) is the new leader of Greater Tuscany!

There is still a bit of life in the Ottoman resistance though... In December 6,000 more enemy troops show up in Silistria, sharply swinging the balance in the ongoing battle there against our army...

Rather than be wiped out, A strategic retreat is enacted and the army returns to Bulgaria. The victorious Ottoman's then begin to march on Thrace to try to break the Seige of Istanbul (while a revolt in Oltenia also ends up returning that province to Ottoman control). The army in Edirne is quickly dispatched to strenthen the army in Thrace against the coming assault... luckily, these reinforcements do manage to reach Thrace in time to avert disaster and the enemy attack is twarted -- the 4,000 Ottoman survivors are forced to retreat back to Silistria.

In February of 1590, the Ottoman capitol finally falls! The armies from Thrace and Edirne then follow the retreating enemy force into Silistria and drive them into Bessarabia.

Over the next couple of months allied armies continue the push forward in the north, while Oltenia, Salonica and Macedonia are all recaptured by Tuscan forces in the south. The advance across North Africa also continues with no further opposition -- Tlemcen and Oran are finally captured at this same time and all Ottoman territories in North Africa are now under our control...

In June, the last bastion of Ottoman strenth in the south is eliminated when an army of ~3,800 is wiped out in Wallachia. With the south finally under complete control and 10,000 Ottoman troops raging impotently in Bithynia, the Tuscan force in Wallachia then moves north into Transylvania to help a Mantuan army turn an Ottoman attack from Bessarabia. They then advance against Bessarabia and completely destroy the last remaining Ottoman force in Europe...

Now it's just a matter of mopping up... Silistria, Transylvania and Serbia are all captured by the end of August and a peace offer is only then offered... and accepted!

(The warscore was 78% and my demands added up to 82%. Luckily, they accepted right away... I would not have been looking forward to having to try to storm across the Bosphorus, the whole war would likely have dragged on for at least another year).

 

[SerFranke]

How lucky you are that OE accepted your peace offer. In my games, they're quite stubborn, even when I demand a white peace. You must have hit them really hard...

Are there any realistic chances to link your newly acquired territories to your heartland, by some annexation of vassals;or is your BB too high for that?

 

[Capibara]

Nice work against the Ottomans, those provinces are surely a nice add to your empire, let's hope you crush in further wars.

 

[unmerged(82977)]

RedBaron1918 - They were hit quite hard, and not just by me... like I said, they had been at war for a decade before I attacked and likely didn't have much left in reserve at this point.

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm going to be able to forge a connection with the new territories very soon... most Venitian and Austrian territiories are member states of the HRE and as you'll see it's hard to hold on to those when the Emperor comes knocking... I figure I'm going to have to become Emperor myself before I can hope to start diploannexing and holding on HRE provinces so in the meantime I'll keep nibbling around the periphery and building up strength and influence.

Capibara - Thanks... more attempted crushing coming right up!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Soon after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, unrest erupted in North Africa, with Gafsa falling to rebels. Over the next year or so, TOE was unable to muster the forces to put down the uprising (as the weakened Ottoman Empire had been attacked once again by the alliance of Lithuania/Poland & the Tutonic Order almost immediately after the peace agreement with Tuscany) and the rebels were thus also able to capture Tunis, eventually declaring independence in 1593.

In the meantime, I was biding my time, building up infrastructure, rebuilding the Tuscan army and drastically increasing the size of the navy. With the Ottoman's engaged in near constant warfare and most of their troops pulled away from the border regions, it was only a matter of waiting for the truce to lapse before the resumption of the crusade to "free the Balkans from Ottoman tyranny!" (which was helped immensely by a boundary dispute which gave Tuscany core on Slavonia).

But first, in January of 1594, war was declared on Tunisia, with the intention of forcing vassalization on the newly independent state. Armies moved swiftly into Gafsa and Tunis with little opposition and began the process of breaking their will to resist our overlordship.

But even as this war was still in progress, I also took advantage of the Ottomans' continuing vulnerability to declare war vs. the Empire in March of that year after moving the Tuscan armies and fleet into position...

with the declaration Tuscan armies advanced: from Corfu to Athens (via Janina) to confront an Ottoman army garrisoned there, from Croatia to Slavonia, from Bosnia to Banat, from Hum to Serbia and from Ragusa to Zeta.

At the same time the Tuscan battle fleet in the Aegean Sea initially sank 2 Ottoman ships. This skirmish was subsequently followed by a massive naval battle as the bulk of the Ottoman navy came out to meet us for a decisive battle which, unfortunately for TOE, turned out to be a very one-sided event. Tuscan naval tech supremacy easily trumped the Ottoman's numerical advantage...

But then I was pinged with a Corruption event... I chose to lose 1 stability rather than gain 3% inflation, but at least it's a way of losing stability other than via another pirate attack.

Unfortunately, while Tuscany has been at war Austria regained the throne of the HRE and demanded the return of Krain. Tuscany is currently in no position to stand against the whole of the HRE and particularly not while engaged in hostilities with TOE so Krain is grudgingly returned... it does, at least, end up improve relations with many of the other member states of the HRE...

But following on the tails of this loss of territory, Tunis is finally captured and soon thereafter, Tunisia accepts vassalage...

In the meantime Banat, Slavonia, Zeta, and Athens have all been captured by Tuscany and Sopron was taken by a joint Milanese/Swiss force... as of January 1 1595 Tuscany is continuing to advance into Ottoman territory, but once again, after the initial quick hit against weak to nonexistent opposition, enemy troops are beginning to appear (after TOE signed a white peace with Lithuania)...

 

[TonyJoe]

I'm really enjoying this AAR - please keep up the great work.

I don't know how you manage to keep track of all the army movements in this big wars. It's very impressive.

How many of the HRE electors are Protestant? Do you have a reduced chance for them to vote for you given the disparity in religion? I assume yes in which case it could be tough to become emperor.

 

[unmerged(82977)]

TonyJoe - Thank You, I'm glad you're enjoying it. Since I'm doing a gameplay AAR I figured that those interested would want to know more of the detail of the actual gameplay so I take some basic notes on army movements and enemy troop strength and (usually) snap regular screenshots (which I save by date) to try to link each series of events to the next... I probably miss alot of the smaller details at times, but at this point I think I do a pretty good job of reconstructing the main troop movements. Unfortunately, it does oftimes result in quite a lag between updates as gameplay tends to go rather slowly, especially during the big wars.

I think only 2 of the Electors are Protestant... I don't really think that's the issue. I've had great relations with several of the Electors and I still can't get any votes in my favour. Genoa is an Elector and my vassal and I consistently keep relations with them at +180 and above and they still won't vote for me. I don't know what the requirements are as this is my first game of Magna Mundi, but I suspect that the Electors won't vote for a Republic -- I think I'm going to have to convert the state to a Monarchy at some point in the future but I'll hold off on that until Tuscany is a fair bit larger.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------​

As mentioned in the previous update, with the advent of 1595 Ottoman armies began to show up in response to the Tuscan incursion. However, these enemy contingents were still relatively weak and did not immediately attempt to turn back Tuscan advances. As the first half of the year progressed Serbia was captured and small Ottoman armies were driven out of Pecs and Macedonia. By February, Morea was also captured in the south while in the north, Moravia fell to an assault by a combined force from Alsas/Baden/Lorraine & The Palatinate.

In the spring, the Tuscan armies continued to press forward, in many cases ignoring the capture of provinces in order to attack Ottoman troop concentrations before they could be fully reinforced to take the offensive against me. The army in Pecs abandon the siege of the province in order to attack the Ottoman army in Szolnok and then followed the remnants back to Pecs to wipe them out. By June Albania and Macedonia also fall to Tuscan forces, and at the end of that month a freshly reinforced fleet totaling 50 ships swept into the Sea of Marmara from the Aegean to once again cut TOE in half (meeting minimal opposition)...

With the Empire divided, there were only a few large concentrations of Ottoman troop strength left to stand against the Tuscan advance that needed to be broken.

As the year continues, Ersekujvar falls to armies from Brabant, while Szolnok and Constantine (in North Africa) fall under Tuscan control.

By September, both army and navy tradition reached 100% and a new general (F6/S5/M5/Siege1) is recruited and put in charge of the army in Macedonia (which then marches on a small Ottoman contingent in Edirne), and a new Admiral (F5/S5/M6) takes command of half of the large fleet (which had returned to Naxos).

Janina and Salonica both fall in October, but the Ottoman's did finally manage to muster a large concentration of troops -- 11,000 attacking the small army of Baden in Partium. Tuscan troops were sent in from Szolnok to try to help them hold against the onslaught, but total allied forces were still slightly overmatched...

We were eventually driven from the province, but not without inflicting much greater losses on the enemy...

losses it would be difficult for them to replace.

However, there was still another very large concentration of 13,000 Ottoman troops in Oltenia that I had not yet tried to break. At the end of October, 9,000 of these troops marched on Bulgaria and I took the opportunity to send the army from Banat against the 4,000 men left in Oltenia once the bulk of the enemy troops had left. Though they were greatly outnumbered, the battle was much more difficult than expected...

but they were eventually overwhelmed and defeated.

At the same time Tuscan forces won other smaller battles in Macedonia and Szolnok, driving both retreating Ottoman armies (numbering only ~3,500 survivors) into Bulgaria. 2 combined Tuscan armies in Macedonia numbering ~13,000 then advanced, driving them out and then pursuing them into Silistria, while the victorious Tuscan army in Oltenia continued on to Transylvania to intercept a second, larger Ottoman force retreating from Szolnok

As January 1596 arrived, battle was joined in Transylvania but the general leading the army died/was killed during the battle, resulting in a sudden reversal of fortune...

However, reinforcements from Szolnok were sent in, reaching Transylvania just in time to again turn the tide and win the battle, thereafter pursuing the shattered remnants of the enemy forces into Partium...

The situation as of Feb 1, 1556...

The last remaining large concentration of enemy troops in Europe is the 16,000 strong army in Thrace itself...

 

[unmerged(82977)]

Sorry about the long absence everyone... real life's been getting in the way of my gameing time, but I ought to be able to get back to more regular updates over the next few weeks...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------​

Continuing with the events of the 3rd Ottoman-Tuscan war at the beginning of 1596...

As spring arrives, Tuscan forces take some time to recover from their relentless advance through the Balkans. Revolts are put down in Slavonia and Szolnok while Kabylia in North Africa falls. That summer Aures, Oltenia and Bulgaria are also captured by Tuscany while in the north The Palatinate wrests control of Ruthenia the Ottoman troop buildup remains behind the walls of Constantinople, apparently preparing for the inevitable assault...

But I continue to let them wait. That autumn Wallachia falls to Tuscan troops with no attempt to break the siege and both Partium and Carpathia are captured by Brabant. Though 1596 has been devoid of large clashes on the battlefield, I have continued to expand my control over TOE's Balkan...

and North African Territories...

At this time, I receive the first peace offers from the Ottomans, but they are not worth serious consideration, consisting simply of renunciations of some claims and a small quantity of money. The offer is rejected and Tlemcen promptly falls to the besieging Tuscan forces.

(Also worthy of note at this time is a continuing war between France, Spain and Portugal on Tuscany's western border, keeping them all off of my back while my energies are focused in the east).

In February, Silistria ad Al-Djazair are captured and Modena asserts control over Cyprus. By March the preparations are finally in place to press the attack on Thrace. 2 large armies are assembled: 14,500 troops in Edirne (which will lead the attack) and 12,000 reserves in Silistria (which will follow them in).

On april 13 the assaulting army from Edirne reaches Thrace and battle against the 16,000 defender is joined, but it does not initially go in my favour...

However, the second army's arrival on May 2 quickly turns the tied and a great victory was ultimately won!

With nowhere to fall back the remaining Ottoman troops flee to Edirne... leaving behind a substantial force to besiege Thrace, the rest of the Tuscan army begins the pursuit with the intention of completly destroying all remaining Ottoman forces. They are quickly driven from Edirne and ultimately caught up with and obliterated in Bulgaria.

In June, Oran is captured, bringing all TOE's North African territories under our control and the Palatinate captures Volhynia.

(My warscore at this point is at 73% and I begin the process of preparing to institute a blockade once Thrace falls)

At this point, I was surprised to notice that the troops from the Papal States (and Siena) capture Al Hasa from the Ottomans... I hadn't even been aware that it had been an Ottoman possession...

By October, the Siege of Thrace has reached 100% and so, with the expectation of it's impending fall, the blockade of TOE is put into effect. In December, Thrace was captured (as was Podolia by The Palatinate and Cherson by Brabant)...

At this point, the warscore is 92% and I demand their surrender and that Morea, Athens, Janina and Salonica be ceded as the conditions of that surrender -- but my demands are promptly shot down

However, after withdrawing the fleets back to port and resigning myself to having to cross into Asia to press the war I did make another hopeful attempt to obtain a peace settlement with the same offer in February of 1598 (with warscore only at 87% at that point). Much to my surprise, The Ottomans knuckled under and accepted the terms! The war is over and Greece is now a possession of Greater Tuscany

(Tuscany is in much better shape at the end of this war than it has been after previous conflicts. Stability is still at +2, Manpower is nearly 10 000, only 5,200 men are needed to bring the armies back up to full strength and war exhaustion is only at 16.4%)

 

[Nitrousoxide]

Are you going after Zeta, Serbia, Macidonia, and Albania next? They would complete the land connection and raise your tax income.

 

[unmerged(82977)]

Nitrousoxide - The series of wars against the Ottomans will continue (see below). With each iteration Tuscany gets stronger and the Ottomans weaker.

I will speed these events on a bit though... the chain of events in the wars vs TOE are becoming fairly repetitive...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------​

After the defeat of the Ottomans, I took the opportunity that presented itself to replace our level 3 Army Reformer with a newly available level 4 Diplomat to help quicken the restoration of Tuscany's reputation. In the meantime, the rest of 1598 was spent reconstituting and rearranging the nations army and fleet structure and building infrastructure while keeping an eye on the ongoing war between Castille and it's allies vs. France and theirs. Though Castille initially held out well enough, France quickly gained the upper hand and by the spring of 1599 they had control of much of the Iberian peninsula. In response to its immanent defeat Castille began buying off French allies, first releasing Grenada as a sovereign state as the cost for gaining peace with Scotland...

... followed soon thereafter by the ceding of Roussillon to Luxembourg. In fact , Castille was in such dire straits that they ended up losing a separate war against the Inca Empire and were forced to cede Caracara and Chiquitos to obtain a peace in South America.

Yet, after all that, France ended up settling for a white peace by the end of 1600... this made little sense to me, but I suppose France did not have what was required to take the fight to Castilles possessions in the new world.

I have been struck by the speed with which England, France, Castille and Portugal have been expanding in the New World and in a feeble effort to blunt that expansion somewhat, Tuscany Proclaimed guarantees for Huron, the Iroquoi Confederacy and the Inca Empire which would hopefully give the aforementioned powers some pause before any future attempt to eradicate those native American societies (I hope to keep them around long enough to serve as possible jumping off points for future Tuscan action in the New World).

However, Tuscany's immediate concern is the continuation of the war with TOE. By April, 1601 all is once again in readiness -- 6 armies (48 regiments) and 48 ships in the Aegean Sea were in position to move against the Sultan's forces -- On May 1 a formal DoW is delivered to the Ottoman Empire and Tuscan troops spill across the border...

You may have noticed that there is no opposition to blunt the advance... Fortune was smiling on Tuscany, for at that very moment, the Ottoman Empire was already engaged in a vicious war with the Mamlukes and had diverted the vast majority of their forces to the south. Though TOE quickly signed a peace with the Mamlukes so that they could pivot to face the new threat that Tuscany presented (ceding Hawran and Gaza do do so) they were too slow for it to make much difference -- as in the previous wars, the Tuscan fleet sailed into the Sea of Marmara (sinking 42 ships for the loss of 10 of our own) to once again blockade the Bosphorus, but this time I succeeded in trapping nearly the entire Ottoman army on the Asian side -- only 4000 fresh troops, which were almost instantaneously eliminated, opposed the advance.

By November Edirne, Zeta, Serbia and Slavonia had all fallen under Tuscan control...

Albania and Macedonia were also captured soon thereafter. At that point TOE's ally, Kazan offered a white peace and I was only too happy to accept it. Tuscan forces then attacked Thrace...

and made short work of the rather weak opposition that had quickly been raised there to defend the capitol...

Over the remainder of that year, with no further opposition, Oltenia, Bulgaria, Wallachia and Silistria all surrendered in turn...

and Thrace finally fell before the year was out.

At the beginning of 1603, armies were moved into position to cross into Asia Minor. The Fleet finally withdrew from the Sea of Marmara to convoy troops from Athens and Salonica to Bursa and Smyrna, while the army in Thrace advanced into Bithynia, followed by another army advancing from Silistria.

Initially, the battle for Bithynia was fairly close...

​

but the arrival of the reinforcing army quickly resulted in the breaking of Ottoman resistance there...

​

Bursa and Transylvania both fell to Tuscan forces within a few more months. The army in Bursa then advanced on the last large concentration of Ottoman troops in Anatolia and somehow managed to destroyed the entire army even though it was of fairly comparable size and led by the Sultan himself!

​

Minor battles followed while Tuscan forces mopped up throughout the second half of 1603 and first half of 1604, but eventually Smyrna, Bithynia, Kastamon and Anatolia were all captured as Tuscan troops continued to sweep eastward...

​

but by October they had had enough and surrendered to Tuscany's demands...

​

(Aures and Constantine in North Africa going to Tunis)

 

[unmerged(82977)]

With the end of hostilities against the Ottoman Empire, Tuscany returned to a state of peace, dialing down army and navy expenditures. However, the Ottomans had no time to take a breath -- the severely crippled empire was set upon by vultures... by the summer of 1605 they were at war with: Austria, Hess, Mainz, Venice & Bavaria, Bohemia & Brandenburg, The Mamlukes & Hedjaz, and Auara Koyunlu, Ak Koyunlu & Chagatai.

Before Tuscany's truce with them ends, The Ottoman's buy peace with Hedjaz by releasing Montenegro as an independent state and cede Moravia to Bohemia. When the truce period does eventually end I redeclare war in April of 1607 and the 5th Tuscan-Ottoman war begins... Unlike previous wars, this time we have much less ground to cover before reaching Thrace

and are quickly laying siege Ottoman provinces along the entirety of our shared border and transporting armies across the Aegean to Bursa and Smyrna...

The panicky Ottoman's quickly made peace with as many of their other enemies as possible, ceding Banat to Bavaria, Szolnok to Venice and Zaporozhia to Ak Koyunlu, but this was insufficient to free up enough troops to put up much opposition. By the end of 1607 Bursa, Bulgaria, Oltenia, Smyrna and Albania had all been captured by Tuscan forces.

In addition, at this time Government Tech reached level 19, which granted another Idea and also allowed for Absolute Monarchy Government -- I selected Deus Vult so that I'd no longer be so beholden to waiting for a causus belli before going on the attack

Speaking of which, as 1608 begins I suddenly had a CB vs Castille, who declared war against the Inca Empire, but Tuscany's armies were out of position and preoccupied, so unfortunately the Inca would just have to survive on their own as best they could.

I was also constantly being hit by Pirate raids... as soon as the effects of one ends I suffer another at intervals of 3 months or so, biting deeply into Tuscany's trade income.

I also hired another Diplomat (level 2) to further increase the rate of reputation decline.

Back to the war... The Ottomans continued to shed provinces to buy off their other enemies, ceding Astrackhan to Qara Konyunlu while the Tuscan advance continued unabated. Thrace was captured in March and then in april the armies in asia minor all rolled forward...

The battles of Bithynia and Konya were easily won and soon thereafter, first Silistria, and then eventually Anatolia, Antalya and Bithynia were all captured. By October 25th, 1608 The Ottoman Empire was defeated once again and Albania, Bulgaria and Slilistria were all ceded to Tuscany (and Kabylia in North Africa was ceded to Tunis). Tuscany now rules most of the Balkans.

Around this time Dalmatia was successfuly converted to Catholicism and Jesuit activity prompted the sending of a missionary there as well... ultimately all of Greece and the Balkans will accept the true faith!

As of Feb 1 1609, Tuscany also reached the status of GREAT POWER! (gaining a nice set of bonuses)...

The end of the war with Tuscany does not necessarily bring TOE misery to a close though... In March of 1609 they are also forced to cede Sinai, Adewa and Al-Hasa to the Mamlukes. However, they will not have look to the west for quite a while... Tuscany has gained what I wanted in the Balkans and I will now be looking elsewhere for strategic advantage that can be used against the other great European powers in the future.

 

[unmerged(61606)]

And the march across Anatolia continues unabated. Looks like the Ottomans are collapsing. I wonder how much territory you will be able to get from them.

 

[unmerged(61606)]

EDIT: Server troubles strike again! Sorry.

 

[SerFranke]

Now that you have Deus vult as NI, why don't you try to grab as many of the North African provinces as possible? I think this will dramatically reduce the number of pirate raids against your coast...

 

[unmerged(82977)]

rcduggan - well, the wars against the Ottoman's are done with for the time being... taking control of muslim states is more trouble and expense than it's worth (at least in the near future). Gaining the balkans have added immensely to Tuscany's size and manpower but now it's time to turn attention back to the west. First step will be to establish footholds from which to act against France, England, Castille and Portugal in the future.

Redbaron1918 - actually, going after North Africa was part of my original plan for the very reason you suggest before Ubik informed me that taking North Africa would not actually prevent the pirate raids. Given that and the fact that these provinces are Muslim, many are relatively poor and overseas it is likely that you won't see Tuscany moving against the nations of North Africa until Roman Europe is under control (if that ever happens). I'll just have to put up with the Pirates it seems.

Deus Vult was taken for another purpose entirely

--------------------------------------------------------------------------​

In keeping with the new strategy of positioning myself against the other powers of the west, my first target was chosen and armies were rapidly moved into position (after obtaining military access from the cooperative French).

On August 6, Tuscany declared war on Utrecht! (for 2 reasons: During the wars vs. the Ottomans Utrecht annexed Rhodes, which I covet, and I wish to bring yet another rich Dutch minor into the fold of Tuscan Vassal states -- and now that I have Deus vult, I need no reason to assault those Protestant heretics).

Tuscan Armies advanced from Holland into Utrecht and from Breda into Gelre while a third army that had been positioned offshore was ferried to Rhodes...

The war should have been a cakewalk... and would have been if I hadn't forgotten to boost army upkeep back up to full support after the last war against the Ottomans. As it stands, I sent in invading armies at only 40% upkeep -- in spite of this oversight, Tuscany still managed to win 2 of the 3 battles (but the one that was lost was the big confrontation in Gelre).

The celebrations by the army of Gelre were premature however... Army upkeep was increased to max and on Sept 24th of that year the Tuscan army in Utrecht assaulted the city and captured it in a week... A joint attack by the armies in Utrecht AND Breda was then launched against Gelre and this time their entire army was destroyed. The city was then assaulted and captured in short order.

This looked like it was going to be one of the shortest wars in Tuscan history, but unfortunately the parasites in Brandenburg decided to jump on the bandwagon and declare war on Utrecht after all the heavy lifting had been done, so I settled in to wait... Rhodes was captured on Jan 16, 1610 and with Army and Navy traditions both at 100% I spent some money to recruit a new general (6/6/6/1!!!) and a new admiral (6/5/6!!!) -- very nice!

Luckily, I didn't have long to wait... once all of Utrecht's territories were under Tuscan control it was only a few days before Brandenburg signed a white peace with Utrecht. Immediately thereafter, Utrecht agreed to a Tuscan offer that they could not refuse...

As 1610 continues, Bihar was discovered and Tuscan merchants were soon en route to the lucrative CoT. Tuscany was also hit by a corruption event soon thereafter, costing -1 stability and toward the end of the year Naval Tech reaches level 18, enabling the construction of wargalleons

There is no time to rest though... I already have the next strategic target in sight. In December of 1610 2 armies (from Calais and Vlaanderen) boarded ships of an invasion fleet in the Straits of Dover and the fleet set sail north.

with the fleet in position, on January 19 of 1611 Tuscany declared war on Grenada and an army in Almira (graciously allowed to land there by Castille) marched in...

The next day, their allies the Scots made the poor judgement call I had been counting on, joining the war on Grenada's side (taking leadership) and prompting both previously mentioned Tuscan armies that had been waiting offshore in the Firth of Forth to land; one in Lothian and the second in Aberdeen...

By mid February the initial battles were all won and sieges were underway... and, of course, pirates attacked on March 25th (cutting trade efficiency by 35%) and then again on May 7th (cutting trade efficieny by a further 20%), taking stability all the way down to -1 (I've grown to expect this though -- wars are always accompanied by a cluster of crippling pirate raids).

By July, Grenada was captured and forced to accept Vassalization...

and by December the fall of Lothian lead to the capitulation of Scotland...

I now have launching pads for any future wars against Castille and/or England.

 

[unmerged(98701)]

Any chance of this being continued?