Wallachia's starting position is mostly fine in game, but it has a few flaws that most of them could more easily be fixed, while others would need more thought put into them as they would be more related to the politics of the time.
Warning: long post
First off, the court, I won't go over the stats since I do not know what neboulous concepts PDX uses for determining them
Voivode: Vlad II Draculesti: seems mostly fine, he could be an year younger considering he was born around 1392-1394 making him at the most 53 years old when ingame he is 54
Heir: Mircea Basarab: Mircea was Vlad II's first son. Vlad's house was that of the Draculesti, one of the two houses of Basarab, the other being Danesti, which split before the game's start. Vlad II's son, Mircea should also be a Draculesti.
Consort: in game lacking, irl his consort would be a bit hard to accurately pinpoint, sources claim two persons, an unidentified one and then a daughter of the former ruler of Moldavia, Vasilisa, who by some is called Eufraxia. Considering his most likely wife at the game's start is Eufraxia, she could also be ingame as Eufraxia Musat. Considering she would be the sister of the starting Moldavian ruler, it could lay grounds for a starting royal marriage with Moldavia.
Now, the cores
Wallachia used to be larger before the game's start, with Vlad II's father, Mircea I ruling over these lands
We will start with what is classified as Terra Dobrotici
As we can see, Tolcu(4706) is fully encompassed by it, while Silistre(159) is mostly encompassed by it, but I'd consider it too, considering Drista and Silistre are the same fort in different languages and it was the fort Mircea used to defend those lands. Said lands were lost by Mihail I(Son of Mircea I and brother of Vlad II) in 1420, thus, I'd consider they would be valid for cores, Wallachia having lost them only 24 years prior to the game's start, meaning they should last only 16 more years as by the game's rules they are of a different culture and thus the core duration should be shorter, but yet again considering that also by the game's rules a war between countries resets the core duration, and Wallachia participated in the crusade of Varna, I'd say they should definitively start as cores.
The Tatar Frontiers are mostly unknown to what extent Wallachia owned them and to what extend Moldavia owned them, and conflict regarding the region between the two states would happen a few years after the game starts, so I wouldn't consider giving Wallachia a core on Basarabia(1756) without further discussions, though some maps show Wallachia owning that land too so it's up in the air for now, though thes document I have attached below, called coman_marian.pdf might help.
Now for Terra Seurini
It was mostly a contested land between Hungary and Wallachia, the western region of the Terra Seurini could justify giving Wallachia a core on Temes(156), but if that were the case, Hungary should also have a core on Severin(4532), so, it is up for debate.
And finally, Fogaras and Omlas
First of, we know from documents (such as the one found here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46532723_ON_THE_MEDIEVAL_URBAN_ECONOMY_IN_WALLACHIA) that the border between Wallachia and Transylvania was set at the peaks of the mountains separating them, which in EU4 it's not shown to the aesthetic detriment of Wallachia, as Hungary seemingly owns more than it should.
The red line should be where the actual border between the two should be, the dashed area is where it's not fully known for sure considering the push and pull of the Terra Seurini issue.
Now, as we can see, Kiralyfold(4128) is in big question weather or not it should be a Wallachian core. I am going to say that it shouldn't, one, because Fagaras and Omlas wouldn't cover the majority of it, two, because its most powerful economic-political centers of Sibiu and Brasov would be well outside the Wallachian owned(or previously owned, we do not know fully if Vlad II at the start of the game still held Fagaras or not, but most seem to agree he did, considering Wallachia's involvement on the Christian side in the battle of Varna and thus alignment with Hungary). At best it could be a claim.
Now, the diplomatic situation
After the battle of Varna, the Christian army which managed to retreat did so either along the Danube, or through Wallachia. John Hunyadi was one of the survivors of the battle, after the battle Hunyadi wanted to return to Hungary through Wallachia, but he was captured by Wallachian soldiers at the Danube. Now why that happened it's up to hot debate, some historians say it was because Vlad wanted to hand him over to the sultan, other say because he held him responsible for the catastrophe and wanted to kill him, others say it was because the soldiers simply did not recognize him. He was only freed after Lawrence Héderváry, Palatine of Hungary threatened Vlad with a war, after which Vlad gave him, John, precious gifts and accompanied him as far as the Hungarian border, which lends me to believe it was mostly an embarrassing accident that Vlad II didn't know how to capitalize on and needed Lawrence to wake him up.
This whole debacle could and should probably be represented ingame, as a decision for Wallachia which opens up an event giving several options of what to do with John.
- Cordially release him back to Hungary: the most historically friendly decision, should improve relations between Wallachia and Hungary, have Wallachia send 10 ducats to Hungary and if Hungary wills it, as an added bonus, maybe reforge the alliance between the two states
- Send him to the Sultan: Hungary gets an event to declare a subjugation war on Wallachia, Ottomans get an event to accept Hunyadi in exchange for ducats and maybe even giving Tolcu to Wallachia if they want to as an added bonus, if Hungary ends up declaring war and the Ottomans accept the deal, the Ottomans might also get called in to defend their newfound puppet.
- Kill him: Wallachia gets prestige, but gets hit with negative diplo reputation and Hungary gets subjugation war event against Wallachia, with significantly reduced AE and cost, probably the most stupid choice for Wallachia.
- Negotiate his release: Wallachia risks going to war with Hungary, again, but if Hungary accepts a large sum of cash should be sent to Wallachia alongside a truce between the two perhaps
Choices can and should be discussed, as I do now know the full extent this might have on Hungary and Ottomans, two very important players in 1444
I have mentioned that Lawrence Héderváry, Palatine of Hungary threatened Vlad with a war, that should translate in game to Hungary either having a decision or an event shortly after the game starts to demand Hunyadi back, basically forcing Wallachia to choose, and Wallachia should always take the first choice if the player is Hungary as to not add frustrating RNG to Hungary's start.
Vlad II would immediately further clash with the Ottomans in 1445 alongside a fleet of Burgundian crusaders led by Walerand of Wavrin. This might alter the current game situation a bit too much considering it would also involve Hungary, so it is better discussed for another time.
Now, Vlad the Impaler's event
I consider that this should more or less be converted into a copy of Roman's Invasion event chain between Poland and Moldavia, but this time between Hungary and Wallachia, with Wallachia having the choices of either accepting Hungary's rule, Ottomans' rule, or staying independent either with their current ruler resisting the assassination or with the assassination going through but Vlad III filling in the power vacuum as independent ruler. It should go as follow
Hungary gets an event similar to Poland to start the event chain
Wallachia has 4 options:
- Become subject of Hungary, ruler and heir die, ruler is replaced by Vladislav II Danesti, Vlad III rises up as a pretender rebel
- Resist the assassination, Vladislav II Danesti becomes pretender rebel
- Fail to resist the assassination but let Vlad II Draculesti take the mantel, ruler and heir die, Vlad III Draculesti becomes ruler, Vladislav II Danesti yet again becomes pretender rebel
- Become subject of the Ottomans, ruler and heir die, ruler is replaced by Vlad III Draculesti, Vladislav II Danesti becomes pretender rebel
if Vladislav II Danesti wins the rebellion Wallachia becomes Hungary's subject, if Vlad III Draculesti wins the rebelion Wallachia gets to choose between independence of being subject of the Ottomans.
The specifics of each choice are up for further discussion.
Yes, I did just say assassination. In 1447, after Vlad II both made peace with the Ottomans and also supported Roman II, Poland's protégé against Peter II, Hungary's protégé, Hunyadi ordered the burghers of Brașov to give shelter to a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Vladislav Danesti, who was a cousin of Vlad. Hunyadi unexpectedly broke into Wallachia in late November, taking with him Vladislav (also known as Dan). Vlad fled from Târgoviște, but he was captured and killed in the marshes at Balteni. In a letter written on 4 December 1447, Hunyadi styled himself "voivode of the Transalpine land" (Wallachia) and referred to Târgoviște as his fortress, implying that he had taken control of Wallachia by that time. Hunyadi placed Vladislav on the throne of Wallachia. These are the events that ultimately led to Vlad III being released by the Ottomans to take Wallachia for himself.
That should pretty much sum up all the qualms I currently have with Wallachia's setup. Any form of criticism is more than welcome.
Warning: long post
First off, the court, I won't go over the stats since I do not know what neboulous concepts PDX uses for determining them
Voivode: Vlad II Draculesti: seems mostly fine, he could be an year younger considering he was born around 1392-1394 making him at the most 53 years old when ingame he is 54
Heir: Mircea Basarab: Mircea was Vlad II's first son. Vlad's house was that of the Draculesti, one of the two houses of Basarab, the other being Danesti, which split before the game's start. Vlad II's son, Mircea should also be a Draculesti.
Consort: in game lacking, irl his consort would be a bit hard to accurately pinpoint, sources claim two persons, an unidentified one and then a daughter of the former ruler of Moldavia, Vasilisa, who by some is called Eufraxia. Considering his most likely wife at the game's start is Eufraxia, she could also be ingame as Eufraxia Musat. Considering she would be the sister of the starting Moldavian ruler, it could lay grounds for a starting royal marriage with Moldavia.
Now, the cores
Wallachia used to be larger before the game's start, with Vlad II's father, Mircea I ruling over these lands
We will start with what is classified as Terra Dobrotici
As we can see, Tolcu(4706) is fully encompassed by it, while Silistre(159) is mostly encompassed by it, but I'd consider it too, considering Drista and Silistre are the same fort in different languages and it was the fort Mircea used to defend those lands. Said lands were lost by Mihail I(Son of Mircea I and brother of Vlad II) in 1420, thus, I'd consider they would be valid for cores, Wallachia having lost them only 24 years prior to the game's start, meaning they should last only 16 more years as by the game's rules they are of a different culture and thus the core duration should be shorter, but yet again considering that also by the game's rules a war between countries resets the core duration, and Wallachia participated in the crusade of Varna, I'd say they should definitively start as cores.
The Tatar Frontiers are mostly unknown to what extent Wallachia owned them and to what extend Moldavia owned them, and conflict regarding the region between the two states would happen a few years after the game starts, so I wouldn't consider giving Wallachia a core on Basarabia(1756) without further discussions, though some maps show Wallachia owning that land too so it's up in the air for now, though thes document I have attached below, called coman_marian.pdf might help.
Now for Terra Seurini
It was mostly a contested land between Hungary and Wallachia, the western region of the Terra Seurini could justify giving Wallachia a core on Temes(156), but if that were the case, Hungary should also have a core on Severin(4532), so, it is up for debate.
And finally, Fogaras and Omlas
First of, we know from documents (such as the one found here https://www.researchgate.net/publication/46532723_ON_THE_MEDIEVAL_URBAN_ECONOMY_IN_WALLACHIA) that the border between Wallachia and Transylvania was set at the peaks of the mountains separating them, which in EU4 it's not shown to the aesthetic detriment of Wallachia, as Hungary seemingly owns more than it should.
The red line should be where the actual border between the two should be, the dashed area is where it's not fully known for sure considering the push and pull of the Terra Seurini issue.
Now, as we can see, Kiralyfold(4128) is in big question weather or not it should be a Wallachian core. I am going to say that it shouldn't, one, because Fagaras and Omlas wouldn't cover the majority of it, two, because its most powerful economic-political centers of Sibiu and Brasov would be well outside the Wallachian owned(or previously owned, we do not know fully if Vlad II at the start of the game still held Fagaras or not, but most seem to agree he did, considering Wallachia's involvement on the Christian side in the battle of Varna and thus alignment with Hungary). At best it could be a claim.
Now, the diplomatic situation
After the battle of Varna, the Christian army which managed to retreat did so either along the Danube, or through Wallachia. John Hunyadi was one of the survivors of the battle, after the battle Hunyadi wanted to return to Hungary through Wallachia, but he was captured by Wallachian soldiers at the Danube. Now why that happened it's up to hot debate, some historians say it was because Vlad wanted to hand him over to the sultan, other say because he held him responsible for the catastrophe and wanted to kill him, others say it was because the soldiers simply did not recognize him. He was only freed after Lawrence Héderváry, Palatine of Hungary threatened Vlad with a war, after which Vlad gave him, John, precious gifts and accompanied him as far as the Hungarian border, which lends me to believe it was mostly an embarrassing accident that Vlad II didn't know how to capitalize on and needed Lawrence to wake him up.
This whole debacle could and should probably be represented ingame, as a decision for Wallachia which opens up an event giving several options of what to do with John.
- Cordially release him back to Hungary: the most historically friendly decision, should improve relations between Wallachia and Hungary, have Wallachia send 10 ducats to Hungary and if Hungary wills it, as an added bonus, maybe reforge the alliance between the two states
- Send him to the Sultan: Hungary gets an event to declare a subjugation war on Wallachia, Ottomans get an event to accept Hunyadi in exchange for ducats and maybe even giving Tolcu to Wallachia if they want to as an added bonus, if Hungary ends up declaring war and the Ottomans accept the deal, the Ottomans might also get called in to defend their newfound puppet.
- Kill him: Wallachia gets prestige, but gets hit with negative diplo reputation and Hungary gets subjugation war event against Wallachia, with significantly reduced AE and cost, probably the most stupid choice for Wallachia.
- Negotiate his release: Wallachia risks going to war with Hungary, again, but if Hungary accepts a large sum of cash should be sent to Wallachia alongside a truce between the two perhaps
Choices can and should be discussed, as I do now know the full extent this might have on Hungary and Ottomans, two very important players in 1444
I have mentioned that Lawrence Héderváry, Palatine of Hungary threatened Vlad with a war, that should translate in game to Hungary either having a decision or an event shortly after the game starts to demand Hunyadi back, basically forcing Wallachia to choose, and Wallachia should always take the first choice if the player is Hungary as to not add frustrating RNG to Hungary's start.
Vlad II would immediately further clash with the Ottomans in 1445 alongside a fleet of Burgundian crusaders led by Walerand of Wavrin. This might alter the current game situation a bit too much considering it would also involve Hungary, so it is better discussed for another time.
Now, Vlad the Impaler's event
I consider that this should more or less be converted into a copy of Roman's Invasion event chain between Poland and Moldavia, but this time between Hungary and Wallachia, with Wallachia having the choices of either accepting Hungary's rule, Ottomans' rule, or staying independent either with their current ruler resisting the assassination or with the assassination going through but Vlad III filling in the power vacuum as independent ruler. It should go as follow
Hungary gets an event similar to Poland to start the event chain
Wallachia has 4 options:
- Become subject of Hungary, ruler and heir die, ruler is replaced by Vladislav II Danesti, Vlad III rises up as a pretender rebel
- Resist the assassination, Vladislav II Danesti becomes pretender rebel
- Fail to resist the assassination but let Vlad II Draculesti take the mantel, ruler and heir die, Vlad III Draculesti becomes ruler, Vladislav II Danesti yet again becomes pretender rebel
- Become subject of the Ottomans, ruler and heir die, ruler is replaced by Vlad III Draculesti, Vladislav II Danesti becomes pretender rebel
if Vladislav II Danesti wins the rebellion Wallachia becomes Hungary's subject, if Vlad III Draculesti wins the rebelion Wallachia gets to choose between independence of being subject of the Ottomans.
The specifics of each choice are up for further discussion.
Yes, I did just say assassination. In 1447, after Vlad II both made peace with the Ottomans and also supported Roman II, Poland's protégé against Peter II, Hungary's protégé, Hunyadi ordered the burghers of Brașov to give shelter to a pretender to the Wallachian throne, Vladislav Danesti, who was a cousin of Vlad. Hunyadi unexpectedly broke into Wallachia in late November, taking with him Vladislav (also known as Dan). Vlad fled from Târgoviște, but he was captured and killed in the marshes at Balteni. In a letter written on 4 December 1447, Hunyadi styled himself "voivode of the Transalpine land" (Wallachia) and referred to Târgoviște as his fortress, implying that he had taken control of Wallachia by that time. Hunyadi placed Vladislav on the throne of Wallachia. These are the events that ultimately led to Vlad III being released by the Ottomans to take Wallachia for himself.
That should pretty much sum up all the qualms I currently have with Wallachia's setup. Any form of criticism is more than welcome.
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