Yaroslavl, Yourself

[Brandenburg III]

On the beginning day of 1722 Yaroslavl declared war upon Lithuania [Lithuania and Burgundy v. Yaroslavl, Modena, Kazan and Finland.]

Nothing changed but the time as the armies settled, routinely beating the Lithuanians wherever they went. The people of Kurland rejected the conversion when, just two months later King David II died in a battle at Poltava on 30 July 1722. In his place rose a Regency Council [Admin 6 Dip 6 Mil 3.]

And as the year climbed to an end, Lithuania’s cities began falling as Yaroslavl armies continued marching into untouched territory.

There were no important battles in the coming year. Podlesia, Grodno, Chernigov, Minsk and Cherson all fell in 1723 as the Lithuanians seemed unable to slow the advance. By 3 February 1724 the Lithuanians had enough and accepted a peace offering from Yaroslavl’s Regency Council: ceding Voronezh, Poltava, Chernigov and paying 150 ducats.

Celebrating the end of the war, missionaries were sent out to Kouban and Pskov. Over the course of the year few rebels broke out, it was noted that France had become the Holy Roman Emperor and King Aleksandr IX [Admin 7 Dip 5 Mil 7] took to the throne.

As if to test the new king, less than two months after his inauguration, Dulkadir declared war [Dulkadir and Mamluk v. Yaroslavl, Finland, Kazan and Modena.] While Yaroslavl’s armies began marching across the vast space that had grown over the previous decades, the 2nd Army was thrown from Kaffa while the 3rd and 9th both beat back Mamluk investigations into Sarai.

Less than a month went by when the 3rd Army moved into Georgia, the 18th bit into Lugansk and the Mamluks surprised citizens in Poltava.

Again, as in previous wars, the Mamluks lost plenty in the opening stages, primarily in Sarai after three failed battles where the 7th, 9th and 10th Armies were continuously patrolling. And as the 8th Army moved into Astrakhan the border with Yaroslavl and France seemed to break open! The Yaroslavl cities bordering these Scandinavian/French lands needed to be secured and so a sum of money was sent to the ailing France.

By April the Mamluks had already lost more than 20,000 men and were quite bloodied. Witnessing these events Dulkadir agreed to a white peace with Yaroslavl, but the war with the Mamluks went on.

The Mamluks occupied Kaffa in early 1727 while the 7th and 11th Armies engulfed the Mamluk eastern provinces. The Mamluks had briefly broken through the Yaroslavl lines and besieged the poverty-stricken Sarai while the 2nd and 15th destroyed a Mamluk army in Kaffa and, after assaulting it, returned control to its rightful owner. Later in the year Crimea was blanketed by the 16th Army meanwhile, in Sarai, a battle lasting little more than a month between the 2nd, 11th and 12th Armies against the Mamluks handed the southern nation more than 15,000 casualties.

Unlike previous wars with eastern nations, Yaroslavl had no manpower problems and so the regular shifting of armies from front to rear and rear to front worked perfectly. While these fresh units were in the field the Mamluks seemed incompetent to field a full army and so they did nothing but lose ground, lose men and lose time.

The war began to settle in 1729 but General Aleksandr Troekurov [6/6/0/4] was hired and placed in the 2nd Army anyway. By the turn of the year Cairo was under siege, Alexandria had fallen and Eresum was under attack. The Mamluks weren’t confident enough to engage anything other than fleeing troops.

The Mamluks lost just over 8000 men within the first five months of 1730 with much credit going to the new general. The 8th Army moved from Astrakhan (where Kazan had taken over and occupied the province earlier) into Armenia while Kartli succumbed to pressure from the 9th. By 1 June 1730 the Mamluks apparently had enough, accepting a peace sent repeatedly over the years of the war: the Mamluks were to cede Crimea to Yaroslavl and hand Astrakhan to Kazan. One month later a missionary was sent to Crimea and five months after that, another was sent to Kaffa.

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PrawnStar: Thanks for the tips on the Mamluks. Should they attack again that’s what I’ll do after I whittle down some of their big armies. My WE is getting a little monstrous again, as big as it was when Qara K kept picking on me so I may have to settle it down for a few years but that’ll give me time to take on more cores and convert some provinces.

 

[Brandenburg III]

Little more than a year after the peace with the Mamluks, Dulkadir declared war, pitting Yaroslavl against the Mamluks once more. There seemed to be no break in the beating of the borderlands.

The aim of the war was clear from the start: Dulkadir had to forego their possession over Georgia. It seemed that Dulkadir would declare war over and over again unless this happened, repeating the same tactic Najd used against Qara Koyunlu which ultimately resulted in Qara’s reduced state.

With the war taking place so soon after the previous one had ended, many of Mamluk’s armies were weak and weren’t replaced. Few battles took place as Yaroslavl and her trusting ally, Kazan, moved their pieces into position. By 1 July 1732 Georgia had fallen and Zaporozhia, Lugansk, Azow and Mus were all under Yaroslavl siege. Twelve days after the cited date Dulkadir agreed to cede Georgia.

Soon to follow were falls of Zaporozhia and Lugansk while the 3rd Army in late October moved into Van. The goal was to finish the war as soon as possible until lightning flared, bringing an idea to light. The easiest way to steal Dagestan away from Qara Koyunlu was to occupy her capital province yet the province was cut off from Yaroslavl due to Mamluk lands. However, since Yaroslavl was at war with the Mamluks the Mamluks had no say what Yaroslavl did. Yaroslavl declared war upon Qara Koyunlu on 17 April 1733 while advances were made to keep the Mamluks in check.

Upon the year’s halfway point Crimea rejected conversion, Kaffa accepted and Dulkadir declared war upon Tripoli [Dulkadir and Mamluks v. Tripoli and Kanem Bornu.] The positive flow of information was quickly forgotten fourteen days later when another nation managed to frame the Yaroslavl royal court [BB 26.82/20.00]

Through November and December more Mamluk provinces fell; Dagestan, Trebizon along with Qara Koyunlu’s capital. On 1 January 1734 Qara Koyunlu agreed to peace: cede Dagestan and pay 50 ducats.

Nothing changed over the following six months. Yaroslavl war exhaustion was high, its people ready to revolt and Yaroslavl no longer needed to be bothered breaking provinces she had no desire to own. Therefore on 21 July 1734 a white peace was agreed upon.

Over the course of the following two years missionaries were sent out to Sarai, Crimea and Memel as generals began to die suddenly after war. It would seem they only lived for one thing.

The ending of the Mamluk war seemed to incite something inside the people of Yaroslavl to become something more, to establish themselves upon the world stage. It was true that Yaroslavl had beaten back all bordering states and so, a Russian state was created.

Mere months after the raucous celebrations a number of nations convened, handing Russia an ultimatum. Russia was too large now, too confident to be bothered with such matters and so the messenger was impaled... and forgotten while Memel, Sarai and Crimea all converted to the Orthodox relgion!

Two years after the warning the Timurid Empire declared war. Still reeling from the weary wars against the Mamluks, Russia had no desire for further conquest and so the object was to end the war as swiftly as possible [Russia and allies v. Timurid Empire, Arkan, Bhutan and Delhi.]

It was too late in the year (14 June 1738) to send men into Timurid lands for the winter weather was to arrive within months and so the initial objective was to fight defensively, using attrition and the weather against the Timurid’s ill-timing. Because of this the first battles erupted in Bolgar, Uralsk while a weak Russian force moved into Samara to work as a distraction.

The unit in Samara was repulsed from the region by February 1739 while battles erupted in Bersh and Viatka through the months of January and February.It wasn’t until 23 April that the first Russian Army (13th) managed to stake a hold in Timurid lands in Viatka.

The war couldn’t last long as the objective was to keep it as short as possible. Spies, though rarely used throughout Yaroslavl/Russia’s history, were used without regret to infiltrate the Timurid army.

Meanwhile the 11th Army burned the set of Timurid colonies as the Timurid army watched the 7th Army sinking Solikamsk’s walls in June. Less than two weeks later Viatka would fall to the 13th Army while casual battles took place throughout the Timurid region and in eastern Kazan.

Since the Timurids had far too much land and not enough to support large armies, the 9th split into: 9th [0/5/0] and 18th [0/3/0] with the 18th besieging Ust Yurt while the 9th went off to fight. The 18th would eventually have to give up its post before 1740 but news from the middle of the Timurid Empire raved across Russia as Zheteru fell to the 16th Army’s prowess.

There was no choice in spite of Russia’s victories but to find peace [War Exhaustion at 114%!] For peace, Russia canceled Modena as a vassal and disbanded the 11th Army. The 11th Army was disbanded for two reasons: 1. It was stuck in Delhi and 2. There were far too many casualties that needed to be refilled. It was much more expedient to create an entirely new army with the springing of the 21st Army [2/3/0] in Tver and the 22nd [2/3/0]. The 2nd split into: 2nd [0/4/0] and 19th [1/3/0] while the 3rd split into: 3rd [1/3/0] and 20th [1/3/0].

Kurland converted to the Orthodox religion in May but just three months later the small province was elevated to a separate state as a way to assure foreign states that Russia held no ill-will toward the international community.

 

[PrawnStar]

First things first, congratulations on RUSSIA!

Shame about that framing - otherwise you could have picked up the Mamluk lands norh of the Caucasus. Good work all the same.

War exhaustion at 114% looks pretty high - I hope you've missed a decimal point!

 

[unmerged(105695)]

First chance you get stab them in the back and push them past the Urals!

 

[CatKnight]

Congratulations on making Russia! I think, however, with your high BB and high war exhaustion you're going to see very little peace from now until the end of the game.

 

[Brandenburg III]

At the end of 1741 another ultimatum was handed to Russia and without any alternatives - less her neighbors attack at once - Russia accepted. [lost 34.00 reputation, lose 5.00 we, national tax modifier -60% and national manpower -66% for 7300 days or 20 years.]

There was no way Russia could live off the new income which, ironically, incited Russia to declare war upon her neighbor, Lithuania, at the start of 1742 [Lithuania, Norway and Brunswick v. Russia and allies.]

No battles occurred that were worth mentioning due in part to the Ottoman’s rise through the south. By 1 July 1742 Lithuania was nearly completely under siege.

Through the year, Lithuanian provinces continued to fall with the only alteration being the initiation of a new King, Vasiliy VI [Admin 6 Dip 3 Mil 6] and Brunswick offered to pay 50 ducats in order to escape punishment.

Little more than a year after the war began, the Teutonic Order [OPM] declared war upon Russia [Ottoman Empire, Bohemia and Teutonic Order v. Russia, Modena, Kazan and Kurland.]

Polishing off Lithuania was to become the object of most importance and on 3 July 1743 the Lithuanians agreed to cede Kiev, Minsk and pay 125 ducats. This flow of ducats further funded the troubled Russian economy while the war shifted solely onto the Order and the Ottoman Empire. While the Ottomans were nearly equal in terms of military technology, they simply hadn’t had the numbers Russia crashed upon their rising nation. By the end of the year the war had shifted dangerous for the Order and the Ottomans. And by late January 1744 the Teutonic Order had become vassals of the Russian Empire.

After a brief reign King Vasiliy VI disappeared, promoting Ivan IV [Admin 7 Dip 5 Mil 4] to the throne where he watched the crumbling of the Ottomans and neglected to aid the Teutonic Order after Sweden declared war in early July.

On 8 August 1744 trouble rose again for Russia when the Mamluks declared war [Mamluk, Dulkadir and Najd v. Russia, Kurland, Modena and Kazan.] By October the Mamluks had moved into Georgia, seeking its destruction while King Ivan IV did what he could to end the Ottoman war as profitably as possible, sure that the Mamluks couldn’t be sent away easily.

Before the year ended, taking with it more Russian money, a nation Russia had never before encountered had declared war [Carnatic v. Russia and allies.] And during this last month of 1744 the Mamluks had advanced into Sarai as well while the 19th Army did what it could in Zaporozhia.

The war was so successful against that Ottomans that it couldn’t be stopped, not that the Ottomans wanted any kind of peace anyway. After a brief battle in Macedonia against the Turks, Mysore declared war in February; exactly why these countries were declaring war was unclear and still remains a mystery. By May the war with the Mamluks had ended after Russia agreed to end their vassal relationship with both the Teutonic Order and Kurland. Meanwhile, the war against the Ottomans continued rather well.

By mid 1746 the Ottomans agreed to peace, ceding Podolia, renouncing their illegally obtained Crimean claim and paying 300 ducats in reparations. Missionaries were sent to Vologda, Kholm and Voronezh. And by the end of 1747 white peace treaties were made with the Indian aggressors.

In the last few years of the decade Vologda, Voronezh and Kholm had converted, the Papal States appeared in Lappland [Scandinavia] and the Quest for the New World swept through Russia. If Russia could just take Solikamsk away from the Timurids and then go to war against Sibir, the gateway to the east would be wide open.

 

[Brandenburg III]

PrawnStar: Thanks. I thought once I became Russia things would get easier but they seem to be getting tough again. I guess I thought the Mamluks and the Timurids would implode because of their expansions... so much for that.

I’m not so sure its going to be easy getting those accepted culture provinces off of the Timurids especially since the Mamluks seem so stingy. Not to mention that whenever I’m at war with one or the other, I always feel weak on one side. The Mamluks are surely the more aggressive ones in this game so it makes me wonder if I don’t have to knock them down a few times before I go against the Timurids. And if I’d even be able to do anything to the Mamluks at all without another ten years of war!

Oh, I did forget the decimal point for the war exhaustion - 114.0% :rofl: If you look at my first post on page six, the last image I have a little drop down of my WE at that time. There it was 89%. I can’t remember how much more MM influences WE but I know it does to some extent. I guess I’m used to it because I play MM almost exclusively. That doesn’t mean I’m getting used to rebels coming around which can make warring a little tougher.

Jambor: I definitely want to. They still have five of my accepted culture provinces and if I can’t do something soon, I may not be able to fulfill that part of my objectives, granted they were only added after I figured I’d form Russia but still, I’d like to polish off all objectives. With that said, I don’t think I’ll make it to the Pacific but I’ll still try if I can. WE is a killer and my big neighbors aren’t willing to let me go long enough to get it down.

CatKnight: Thanks! Its been a long, long road. I will admit that I’ve played ahead a bit and I’ll say that there are some stiff challenges. I was hoping that taking the Ultimatum would slow down some of the foreign aggression but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Either way, it makes it more interesting!

 

[Brandenburg III]

 

[Brandenburg III]

Well everyone, I finished the game earlier today so my offer to send the save game no longer exists since I’ll be starting a new game after this is posted. And so, onto the AAR...

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A generous gathering of nobles sent a gift to Russia’s capital due to its intrinsic interest in the aristocracy. This gift of 300 ducats was swiftly spent as missionaries were sent into both Minsk and Mordvar to rid the province of the Protestant and Muslim religions respectively.

During late September of the same year - 1750 - the Ottoman Empire declared war upon Hungary which caused Hungary’s ally, Bohemia, to disassociate themselves from the Hungarian-Bohemian alliance [Ottoman Empire and Tripoli v. Hungary.]

Soldiers swept across Russian territories toward the Hungarian borderlands as Hungary maintained hold over a Ruthenian province taken away from Lithuania in a previous war. In early December (2 December 1750) Russia declared war [Russia, Kazan, Modena, Kurland and Finland v. Hungary.]

With her troops mostly hiding either in the Hungarian interior or behind Ottoman lines, trespassing into Hungary proved an easy feat with only a single battle taking place in Volhymia. The lack of resistance proved not to be only a theory but the law since only two minor battles took place throughout 1751.

One month after the inauguration of 1752 Hungary agreed to peace ceding Ruthenia, releasing Transylvania as a proper state and paying 75 ducats. All tolerated Russian culture in the west was now under Russian control however 19 February proved a trying day as the Mamluks declared war. Russian regiments were in position to move swiftly into Mamluk’s Crimean lands such as Zaporozhia, Azow and Lugansk.

In these first months of the Mamluk war, General Mark Bibikov [6/5/1/4] was promoted for the 8th Army and King Ivan IV [3/2/0/3] took the reigns of the 23rd. Dagestan was the place for the first battle between the Mamluks and Russia, a battle which completely destroyed a 7100 Mamluk army through the middle of June. This victory provided for further support along Eastern Mamluk territory. And not more than a month later the Mamluks were repulsed in Georgia.

During this time both Mordvar and Minsk had converted, expanding the Orthodox religion.

Advances were made with haste with the 8th Army marching into Kartli, 22nd sieging the gold province Alania however the Mamluks were capable as well, providing enough support to encircle Dagestan. With improved strength and manpower, the object of Russia once again, was to bleed her enemy dry and so battles raged from Eresum to Shirvan with little time to rest between. The Mamluks lost more than 21,800 men in the opening year.

As 1753 began the Mamluks lost control over Zaporozhia and Najd lost control of its capital thanks wholly to the 8th Army’s advances. The success was short-lived as news arrived of the fall of Dagestan. In an effort to establish a strategic stance, Russian armies besieged Sinope, Adana and Mus all by March. By July all of the Mamluk’s Crimean possessions were under occupation.

Battles became fewer and far between as sieges set the stage for the new Russian strategy. A roving band of Russian armies, often mixed, tred across Mamluk territory, taking down a number of strong Mamluk armies. And while the Mamluks had lost far less than they had the previous year, every loss was surely felt.

Troubles over Dulkadir lands became the main point of 1754; it was Russia’s hope to make Dulkadir vassals while it was Mamluk hope to keep Dulkadir as an ally. Adana, Dulkadir’s capital, had fallen but the 28th Army in Mus was thrown from its position in late March. By the half-year mark the Mamluks were making attempts to recover Adana and had such success in Dulkadir’s Sinope. There was little good in the year; the Mamluks recovered Qarabagh and King Ivan IV died in battle which brought forth Fyodor VI [Admin 6 Dip 4 Mil 3].

1755 stayed the course of the previous year, the only successes coming from the south as the 8th Army moved into Alexandria while the Mamluks recovered Adana. A brief bleeding policy resumed between the months of March and May which caused a total Mamluk loss of 8900 and a total Russian loss of 2600. Peace was eventually agreed with Dulkadir since fighting over the lands wasn’t going anywhere... a white peace was signed.

The Mamluks finally accepted peace due to their losing state. As a result, sweeping changes were made on 19 September 1755 as King Fyodor VI ditched his nation’s dream of colonizing new worlds and swapped the idea for Military Drill. But these weren’t the only changes... King Fyodor VI made a move to improve the quality of his troops and instituted an Administrative Monarchy.

Russia’s world remained quiet for the next two years until the Mamluks declared war again, violating the truce. The object of the war was to reduce the Mamluks to a former state and to vassalize both Najd and Dulkadir at all costs. If such maneuvers couldn’t be made then the Mamluks would surely violate other truce’s at crucial periods. The initial overall strategy was to fight a defensive war and to allow attrition to conduct its magic... and not long after a new King was made in Pyotr I [Admin 5 Dip 5 Mil 4.]

In early December of 1757 the 9th repulsed the Mamluks from Dagestan causing more than 6000 casualties. Little occurred over the next eleven months excepting the firing of all advisors while the Mamluks large army [24/34/2] [manpower by October: 3514/5032/582] whittled itself down to low numbers in Georgia. On 1 October 1758 and for fourteen days afterward, the 2nd, 7th, 10th, 12th, 20th, 21st and 22nd Armies convened in Georgia, utterly killing more than 6000 while taking on little more than 1500. The large Mamluk army wasn’t destroyed until it made attempts to hide in Alania, here the massive Russian army followed and obliterated the 60 regiment Mamluk force.

A 24th Army [1/2/0] was created in Bogutjar as the Russian armies assaulted weakened, attrition-affected Mamluk armies. The slaughter became so prevalent that few Russian armies settled long enough to convert cities; Mamluk armies were destroyed such as was the case when the 7th and 8th Armies smashed a 25 regiment [10/11/4] [manpower 9048] army in Dagestan. It seemed the quality of the troops and the new training they received worked well. By the end of the year another Mamluk Army [7/8/0] was destroyed thanks to the patrolling 10th and 16th Armies in Kartli. The Mamluks had little else to defend themselves...

Insignificant efforts were made by the Mamluks to assault various areas but it was nothing an extra Russian army couldn’t handle. It seemed as though the Mamluks had exhausted their entire front-line army within the first year and had nothing left but the freshly recruited reserves she was raising. She couldn’t even defend her ally Dulkadir for by October all of its lands were under Russian control... on 9 November 1759 Dulkadir accepted to become vassals of the Russian Empire.

1761 was a time for refueling as the 3rd, 9th, 12th, 16th, 18th, 23rd and 24th Armies rested while the others either patrolled for rebels or struck out into Mamluk lands as a diversion. Whenever the Mamluks made attempts to cross into Russian territory the new, fresh armies were there to repel the invaders. Before the year ended, with both her capital and its neighboring province occupied, Najd agreed to pay 50 ducats to leave the war which left only the Mamluks.

The first half of 1762 was a mixed year with advances and failures resulting in the stalemate that had occurred less than ten years before. It took until August for the Russians to recover what momentum had been lost as Kartli soon became occupied, General Nikodim Fermor [6/6/1/5] was added to the 23rd Army and new sieges were placed in Armenia and Qarabagh. The war seemed to be going so well until the Russian Civil War of 1762 broke out.

And less than a month later the Ottoman Empire declared war... Fortunately for Russia, by the end of the month (31 December 1762) the Mamluks agreed to a white peace. The Ottomans could easily be handled however the rebels that rose throughout Russia proved to be a different matter.

By April 1763 the 22nd Army had besieged Sirt, the 9th was in Cherson and the 17th was moving into Bessarabia with more armies on the way. By July of the same year the Ottomans agreed to sign a white peace, allowing Russia to deal with her internal war.

 

[Brandenburg III]

As the Russian Civil War waned there were new decisions to be made, more expansion to be had. Within the span of a few short months Russia canceled Kazan’s vassal status, removed the shared alliance, revoked military access agreements and on 7 April 1764, declared war [Kazan v. Russia and allies.]

Kazan hadn’t had a single military unit within her country which made the war quick and easy for the Russians. On 5 March 1765 Kazan agreed to cede Idnakar, Astrakhan, Uralsk and paid 75 ducats. At last, the military university Yaroslavl had built more than a century ago was back in Russian hands.

In the latter portion of 1765 the Russian Civil War had officially come to an end with the fleeing of the rebels. The King refused to chase the rebels for there was already too much war and to inflict further pain upon the Russian people seemed wasteful without reason.

Over the next four years a 25th Army [2/3/0], 26th Army [2/3/0] and 27th Army [2/3/0] were recruited and a missionary in Ruthenia successfully converted the populous there. Russia looked on as the Timurids were being declared war upon by countless nations and in 1769, a few months after a Russian declaration of war against Kazan, a King was crowned: Pavel I [Admin 6 Dip 6 Mil 3.] And by early 1770 Kazan had agreed to cede both Simbirsk and Bolgar with a payment of 50 ducats.

With wars waging all around the Timurid Empire [14.56% WE average in neighboring provinces] Russia geared for war, making it so on 12 March 1770 [Timurid Empire, Arkan, Delhi, Amago and Maharasthra v. Russia, Finland, Modena, Kurland and Dulkadir.]

Two days later the Mamluks declared war upon Ming.

Sieges were initially made in Ust Yurt, Viatka, Baybaktu, North Ufa, Solikamsk, Alimuly, Khawarzan, Zheteru all within the first six months of the war. To ensure further success and to preserve casualties General Varfolomey Spiridof [6/6/0/2] was promoted to head the 27th Army. Few battles took place with Timurid armies fighting far-off opponents, their manpower dwindling due to constant warmongering. The war seemed to be too easy.

The Timurids could do little to stop the Russian advance as Timurid cities failed their master between January 1771 - July 1771. Even the Timurid’s ally, Delhi had managed to fail on a massive scale when it lost 23 regiments in a desolate Kara Kum against the notorious 8th Army.

Later in the year the Timurids made many attempts to battle the Russians away from occupied lands but all that resulted were catastrophic casualties on the Timurid side. And in late October, just like her Delhi ally, the Timurids lost ten regiments in a battle along Tyumen against the 23rd Army. Victory seemed to be only a few months away.

Swahili declared war upon the Timurid African region in late 1771 which only added to the Timurid troubles however this seemed to be the only area where the Timurids bore any success against anyone. With the war sewn up all seemed to be going well until a Mamluk declaration of war against Russia on 18 January 1772.

Russia’s reserve armies moved into action, the 24th invading Azow while others left the Timurid theater, entering the Mamluk region. But advances were still made against the Timurids; there could be nothing but victory. The 23rd Army headed into Timurid Tara as the 8th felled Khiva. And by 31 March the Timurids managed to lose another fourteen regiments in Bukhara against the 8th Army.

The 10th Army moved into Lugansk while the Mamluks headed into Sarai. By In March, the 22nd Army, which had been resting in Dulkadir’s African possession had begun encircling Alexandria while further occupations and entrenchments gathered throughout the Timurid Empire.

A white peace was arranged with Delhi, Timurid’s only valued ally, in early June. At the very same time the separated Ethiopians declared war upon their former masters. On the Russian front, Tara fell to the 23rd Army in June and the Mamluks were pushed out of Sarai with the arrival of the 7th and 17th Armies in the same month. Could a two-front war with such magnificent adversaries be won?

With the arrival of the tipping point for the year the 28th Army [0/3/0] was created as the 19th besieged Cairo and the 16th headed into Zaporozhia. Fears of an Ottoman declaration dwelled but there was too much at stake. The following months moved fast with the occupation of Argyn, Turkestan and Samarkand, the Timurid Empire’s capital. And the Russian Army was strengthened as the 29th Army [2/3/0] entered the world in Vladimir.

The Mamluks were repelled from Georgia just as they had been in Sarai during the middle of August by the 7th and 17th Armies. These units patrolled the provinces of Sarai and Georgia in an effort to keep the Mamluks from maintaining a steady foothold in Russian territory. By 1773, with the induction of the 30th Army [2/3/0] in Estland, the Timurid Theater looked much different than it had just one year before.

Twelve days into 1773 the Timurids gave up and agreed to a large peace deal. The exchange of lands covered Ust Yurt, Baybaktu, Viatka and Solikamsk. All that was left was to integrate two Tartar provinces for a fully integrated Russian-Tartar nation.

Units in the Timurid Empire either swept northward in through Astrakhan and into Mamluk territory or into the Mamluk’s underbelly where provinces such as Fars and Iraq-I-Arab laid. By 1774 the Russians proved to be too much for the Mamluks and peace was agreed upon on 15 February: the Mamluks released Trebizon and Armenia as separate states.

 

[PrawnStar]

Great progress, I can't recall right now but presumably those Mamluk provinces North of Crimea are Mongol rather than Tartar and that's why you haven't taken them? I like forcing the Mamluks to release nations - the other trick would probably be to try and let Dulkadir take provinces in Anatolia and force the Mamluks to cede them to Dulkadir.

Two provinces to go, Kazan and that isolated Lithuanian province?

Did you ever work out why the Indian nations DOWed you or why the Mamluks attacked Ming?

 

[Brandenburg III]

Great progress, I can't recall right now but presumably those Mamluk provinces North of Crimea are Mongol rather than Tartar and that's why you haven't taken them? I like forcing the Mamluks to release nations - the other trick would probably be to try and let Dulkadir take provinces in Anatolia and force the Mamluks to cede them to Dulkadir.

Two provinces to go, Kazan and that isolated Lithuanian province?

Did you ever work out why the Indian nations DOWed you or why the Mamluks attacked Ming?

You're right! Those provinces in the Crimea that I haven't touched are Mongol. You know this game better than I do.

My strategy with releasing nations was more for bad boy and war exhaustion than anything else since the AI generally sees it better to release nations than give up land.

The problem with trying to get Dulkadir to take land is that they haven't built more than 1 regiment in their nation since I made them vassals. So their unit usually dies before I can try and stop them from committing suicide. But at least they're not throwing 5 - 10 k troops at me like they had when they were in the Mamluk alliance.

The two provinces left are Ufa and Samara. Ufa was a colony at the start of the game and while I had it briefly, I didn't send a single colonist. When the Timurids took it over I think it developed on its own and remained Tartar. Samara, the gold province TE took from me when I was falling apart in the East is also Tartar and is worth about 40 - 50 war score so it'll likely be another long war.

This is going to be a race to the finish to be sure. To try and get all of my accepted culture and make them all Orthodox isn't going to be easy. Also my third and fourth objectives, (3)to reach the Pacific seems unlikely and my own personal goal is (4)to destroy as much Mamluk land as possible since they declared war on me so many times.

The Indians went to war with me because they were a part of the Timurid alliance. I think sometime after that war the alliance broke apart but I can't exactly remember when. With TE being declared war on so much it was only a matter of time.

And the Mamluks attacked Ming because the Mamluks border Ming. In my previous post look at the 6th image from the bottom and you'll see the Mamluks to the East of TE. This is because the Mamluks inherited or diplo-annexed Kashmir. The Mamluks have had Military Access through the Timurids almost the whole game so they also had a unit over there trying to recover some of my occupied Timurid lands - you can see that in the same pic.

 

[Throne]

How come now one has colonized Manglyshak or Kara Kum yet?

 

[Brandenburg III]

June and July of 1775 were busy months with the Mamluks declaring war against the Armenians, and when Russia opted to help, Sibir declared war [Mamluks and Najd v. Russia and alliance; Sibir and Kokkand v. Russia and alliance.]

The 8th Army was stuck in Najd from the previous war and was left in the region.

Again the Mamluks seemed to lack the capability to effectively combat the Russians while protecting their vulnerable provinces. The Mamluk’s ally, Najd saw such actions and opted for a white peace after only five months of fighting which freed up the 8th Army in the south.

At the very start of 1776 the Mamluks attacked the 13th Army protecting Armenia but the battle ultimately resulted in a loss for the Russians. A siege began. Luckily actions in the south proved more favorable with sieges in Cairo while in the northeast Van was soon under occupation and Eresum capitulated.

Sibir, for their involvement in the war, was beaten back in Solikamsk after a month long battle with the 7th and 18th Armies. These Russian armies would move into Tobolsk - the Sibir capital - by 22 March where the 18th committed to a siege.

Meanwhile, the Mamluks Crimean provinces were predictably falling but a dark cloud was cast on 28 April 1776 when Armenia was annexed and brought back into the Mamluk grasp. As a means of getting back at the Mamluks for the move, a long line of Mamluk cities fell, all during the month of May!: Alexandria, Murgan, Sivas and Kartli.

The Mamluks bad luck continued over the next six months as Azerbaijan was besieged, Alania fell to the 23rd, the 22nd sieged Gaza, Imerti fell in October followed by Cairo, the Mamluk capital. And by November the Mamluks conceded to peace: releasing Zaporozhie as a separate state [three provinces in Crimea.] Before the year let out a white peace was also signed with Sibir and Kokkand.

Fewer than two months after their independence, Zaporozhie tested the ties of friendship, putting their liberty at risk when they declared war on Lithuania 7 January 1777 [Poland and Lithuania v. Russia and Zaporozhie.]

While Russian troops raced from the Mamluk region to the Baltic, little occurred excepting a Zaporozhie siege of Kursk.

Not a single battle worthy of mention took place as Russian units invaded a number of Polish and Lithuanian provinces. Luckily for the stunted Lithuanian alliance, Russia accepted a white peace in September.

After the war’s end, Russia made attempts to vassalize both Zaporozhie and Trebizond but both replied with rejections. At the same time a missionary was sent into Orel and Podolia while relations were repaired with Zaporozhie until they accepted to become Russian vassals.

As Russia brought in Smithson Economics, an eye was cast toward the Timurid Empire’s people who seemed quite upset over their state of affairs.

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Throne: The Timurids did colonize them but I burned them in one of the recent wars. Look at my post at the top of the page, the second image from the bottom. You can see there that the colonies are held by the Timurids. They had Tartar culture and I didn’t want to seize them every single war so I burned them.

To others: In the latest update I spent money on making Zaporozhie a vassal - not much - because I don't want to be stuck in a war with Poland - Lithuania while being at war with TE or Mamluks.

 

[Brandenburg III]

The Russians declared war upon the Timurids in early 1780 after rebels began cropping up throughout the Timurid Empire [Russia and allies v. Timurid Empire, Arkhan, Delhi, Gujarat, Amago and Maharasthra.]

Twelve days later the Ethiopians followed suit, also declaring war upon their Timurid neighbors as Russian troops progressed in a long line ready to besiege every Timurid province while cutting the costs of deadly attrition.

Only a single battle with the Timurids took place in the initial moves when the 21st and 27th Armies expelled the Timurids from Khawazam at a cost of 3000 troops. There the 21st set siege while the 27th moved on. In late March the 19th Army occupied the defenseless Tyumen while in April the 18th covered Kurgan, the 25th arrived in Ufa and Sibir declared war upon the troubled Timurid Empire.

The war proceeded to go smoothly while Timurid armies were sent either to fight rebels or against other empires while the 30th went into Alimuly, the 9th destroyed rebels in Timurid Samara and the 27th besieged Samarkand, the Timurid capital.

With some Timurid lands already besieged by rebels, transition between rebel to Russian hands was made easy and without cost. Ufa and Samara fell before July as Tara also fell into a siege from the 9th Army.

Notice the Mamluks taking out Kokkand in the east.

On 2 July 1780, after only six months of war, the Timurids accepted a risky Russian peace. The Timurids handed over their last Tartar provinces of Ufa and Samara. All that remained from Russia to take in the Tartars wholly and fully was Kazan, the last holdout.

By 1781 Orel had converted and new missionaries were sent into Viatka and Solikamsk. On the second day of the year Russia declared war on Kazan, raising war taxes again to pay for costly missionaries. After two months Kazan had fallen and was annexed. Soon after the Baltic Fleet - now consisting of only two ships - was disbanded.

Soon after Podolia converted a new King as brought to pass with Yuriy V [Admin 7 Dip 4 Mil 3.] King Yuriy V increased the minting allowance for Russia and through the next five years Viatka, Solikamsk, Chernigov, Poltava, Kiev, Uralsk and Baybaktu all converted. The only failure under Yuriy V was his attempts in Ufa. The attempts to convert the Russian nation was briefly put on hold when the Mamluks declared war in 1787 [Mamluk and Najd v. Russia and allies.]

In an attempt to end the war as soon as possible the 8th Army drove into Alexandria as another moved into Cairo. In the northern theatre, Alania was under siege along with Kartli and Aleppo. By 1788 the Mamluks seemed to have plenty of strength, and more than enough will to make attempts to seize Russian territory.

A missionary was sent into Astrakhan during this tumultuous time while Burtasia was caught converting. More troubles were added with a Sibir declaration on 1 June 1788. In an effort to find peace, King Yuriy V made an unselfish peace with the Mamluks, freeing Kurland and Finland from their vassal status. And a few months after 1789, a white peace was agreed upon with Sibir without a single battle being fought.

In the following years the rest of Russia converted wholly to the Orthodox religion: Samara on 25 June 1789, Ust Yurt on 20 September 1789 and Astrakhan on 1 July 1790.

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If anyone has any questions about anything throughout the game, why I did what I did or whatever else, then feel free to ask. I’ll publish a post-game wrap-up in two days for my final post of Yaroslavl, Yourself. There’ll be more in-depth information there if you want to know about certain nations, who colonized Siberia, among my strategies for doing what I did at certain points. And I’ll tell you where you can find my next AAR.

 

[PrawnStar]

Congratulations my friend - a triumph in the end and a great advert for keeping going in a game where things look tough. Bravo!

I definitely approve of the conversions

I would be very interested to know who colonised Siberia, in a Persia 1.3 game I fought a couple of wars with Burgundy over the Siberian coast

 

[Brandenburg III]

Scroll to the bottom for information on my next AAR and late-game details.

Strategies for Yaroslavl/Abridged Version of Yaroslavl, Yourself: As mentioned, my main objective was to survive and form Russia. I wasn’t so sure I could do either but with some luck and daring, I was able to achieve both. Honestly I didn’t expect this AAR to go beyond 1500 when it began.

The annexation of Tver was an obvious choice and I was hoping that the vassal I obtained from that war, Pskov, would prove helpful. Unfortunately in little time, the Order moved in an annexed it. In a short amount of time I had nowhere else to expand and only Novgorod and Muscovy were friendly toward me. I was hoping for expansion elsewhere; I couldn’t rely on Novgorod’s help against Sweden since Novgorod had so many unprotected provinces.

When Kazan and Crimea found themselves at war with Novgorod and Muscovy I took my time and thought about attacking Novgorod. After some waiting I did so, hoping to take an undefended Novgorod province or two. Early in the game I often take risks because I haven’t invested too much time and plus, I really had nowhere else to expand.

Novgorod and Muscovy had been at war since the beginning of the game against one country or another so after 13 years their manpower failing and I was able to obtain a very favorable peace. What I often try to do, if I have more than two free diplomats, is to request a ridiculous peace. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But when I’m down to only one diplomat I often try for something more reasonable. In this instance I was able to take away Ingermanland and Neva, much to my surprise! I suppose Genoa declaring war against Muscovy helped a little too.

The next round of occupations was an easy choice with Kazan. By splitting up my territories into three parts, I assured myself that I wouldn’t be rolled by any single nation. However, in doing so I put myself at more of a risk since I bordered more nations. It helped me out right away and may have saved me in the early stages but as we move on, it became dangerous.

I’m not afraid of going into negative stability either, as you have noticed with some of the civil wars I’ve accrued, but neither am I looking for the stab hits. Roughly, after 1550 of 1600 depending on how many cultures I have, I’ll stop making slider moves unless I get a +stab event; I’ll also only change my sliders if I change my NI or government since stab costs are cheaper the lower your stability is.

Vassals are also a nice way, I’ve found, of securing your lands. Not only because they’ll patrol the regions but because their value in peace offers is greatly exaggerated. For example, Riga as a vassal shouldn’t be 20 war score points, especially if Finland or Muscovy as vassals also equals 20. Although that’s probably something more for the main message boards than here.

War against Sweden was next on call in early 1500 with my main goal of forming Finland. I thought it a little far-fetched but I needed to halt Lithuania’s advance in Scandinavia and France was even gaining a foothold. Luckily I managed to do it with the aid of Novgorod and Muscovy. This was about the time when Muscovy and Novgorod mysteriously formed. I’m still not sure what made such a thing happen.

Around 1520 or so I decided to invade Qara Koyunlu with my military access through Muscovy. I wanted Alania, the gold province of Georgia. This was my downfall over the next one hundred years. What had worked well for me for the first 80 years had destroyed me for 100. I ended up gaining some Qara land initially, but then I slowly lost all of my eastern provinces. I had turned this into a positive by selling Muscovy some land in the mid-1600s which caused Qara K and the Mamluks to declare war on Muscovy. This weakened Muscovy incredibly and suddenly, which allowed my inevitable success over Muscovy.

A little after my first war with Qara K, Lithuania broke into a civil war. I couldn’t resist and declared war. It was too easy to take down the fractured Lithuania and helped me weaken her strong position. Because of the war - framed - I did go over the bb limit but taking down Lithuania a notch was worth it. As seen in later decades, she would still be a tough adversary even without two of her provinces.

Close to the mid-1600s I was able to take advantage of the Teutonic Order in spite of my incredibly high W.E. It was always hovering between 80.0% - 110%. It was incredible and I’ve never been so high but Qara K, the Mamluks, Chagatai, the Teutonic Order and the Timurids were in a never-ending merry-go-round war fest against me. Eventually my objective was to weaken the Order as much as possible no matter the cost in WE until it got to the point where they could resist me no more.

Once I reached the 1700s, my rise was secured so more quests were added: taking in all accepted culture provinces, converting all conquered provinces, reaching the Pacific Ocean and disassembling the Mamluks. The last wasn’t created until about 1750 and was a failure, as was my reaching the Pacific. The Timurids simply had too much land in the way and my fleet of 5 ships - at the height - simply wasn’t going to be enough.

As the years began to end I was able to conquer all accepted culture provinces and convert them. My inflation went up a lot thanks to these conversion costs but it was worth it since I achieved my object of converting all occupied regions to Orthodox. Astrakhan’s conversion was the last one and cost 930 ducats, a dangerous position because I only had one shot but with my missionary NI’s and missionary advisors, almost all conversions had at least an 85% chance of success. If Astrakhan failed that one time, I wouldn’t have been able to declare victory.

Aside from telling you what the maps show, one nation that really surprised me was the Ottoman Empire. They seemed all but defeated after the first 100 years but then they began developing into a North African empire. They were then able to turn around, attack a few balkan regions, Veneitian holdings in the Balkans, until they were able to suitably challenge the Lithuanians. It was quite amazing seeing the Ottomans come back in this way. Not to mention the blobbings of Austria, France and Castille. I’m truly stunned that Castille didn’t take out Aragon’s last province to form Spain since she could've done so within the first 100 years.

Castille ended up becoming the international powerhouse holding almost all of West Coast North America, Canada, South Africa, all of Central America and north South America. Portugal was amazing in South America while France went deep in the North American mid-west. Holland covered a lot of Indonesia and even managed to invest some effort in Siberia. However England had more of Siberia than Holland; my maps weren’t completely uncovered so I can’t say how deep Holland and England colonized, but along the coast and surrounding provinces, they both seemed to be doing well.

I had serious thoughts about taking this game into Victoria but I'm not nearly a great player in Vicki as I am in EU 3. Plus I couldn't find a converter with the thread spammed with EU 3: IN converter updates. Or maybe I was looking in the wrong spot.

My next AAR will be posted in the EU 3 forums on Saturday. I was hoping to get it out before today but that seems unlikely. In the upcoming AAR, I’ll actually spend my time writing so hopefully it’ll have a much more polished feel with a real attempt to write. My object with this AAR was to get it out as fast as possible but my next will be to tell a story. The country in question is Algiers. Again I will be using 1.3 with MM on hard so keep your eyes peeled!

 

[Brandenburg III]

Congratulations my friend - a triumph in the end and a great advert for keeping going in a game where things look tough. Bravo!

I definitely approve of the conversions

I would be very interested to know who colonised Siberia, in a Persia 1.3 game I fought a couple of wars with Burgundy over the Siberian coast

I think its always interesting who colonizes Siberia. In this game it was England coupled with Holland. Holland were very surprising colonizers.

I love converting although I never used to do it with such fervor. Seeing everything in one color is always nice.

The game can't wholly be called a success, I think, but if I was allowed a few more years I probably could've at least reduced the Mamluks. It would've been nice to see the Timurids self-destruct too.

 

[Nyrael]

Again I will be using 1.3 with MM on hard so keep your eyes peeled!

I tought you would change to 3.1 with MMP for next AAR. Still, am not bothered.

And, of course, congrats on completing your AAR

 

[PrawnStar]

I'll look forward to your next AAR as I hugely enjoyed this one.

There are some good lessons, I wouldn't have previously considered building an empire that spread out. It was interesting to see the pros and cons of doing so. I'm still thinking about that as an approach - I'm also thinking about Unddu's nevermind the borders just kill people technique. Hopefully my next game will be different as a result.

I know you don't feel you acheived all your goals but it was still a great success.