Before I start this I want to clarify a few things first. I’m not going to get too historical, the people that come up are going to have random personalities for advancement of the story. With that being said I’ve noticed a lot of people having corrupted saves and such and I’ll admit never having those. Also, when I play a game I tend to finish it and will now that I’ve published the first part of this AAR. So even if there are no comments I’m going to finish it anyway.
I can’t say where I’ll end up but that’s where the fun is, no? I am by no means an expert at this game but here is what I’m playing:
Level: Hard
Version: 1.3 w/ Magna Mundi
Here’s my basic rules and while you won’t know whether I’ll follow them, I will:
- No cheating (kinda defeats the purpose of a strategy game)
- No turboannexing
- I can’t use spies to gain cores
- No giving loans to get a cb; can’t give loans larger than 30 ducats and never more than one at a time.
- And there are a few other house rules I abide by but I’m not going to list them all as I think you understand the point.
- I have no goals right now other than to survive and to create Russia. If you have any ideas for goals you'd like me to take on, be sure to mention them.
The deaths of 1257 were clear yet so much more destruction seemed to be on its way. Now 1453, Yaroslavl sits, stuck between behemoths of many types with few ways to expand. King Alexandr Bryukhatiy seemed to have no way out except clever deception, brutal diplomacy and a strong-willed fist. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before Yaroslavl would be committed to dust but King Bryukhatiy had other plans, plans he instilled in his successors.
June of 1453 began with excited, nervous cries as Kazan went to war with Muscowy, Yaroslavl signed an alliance with Novgorod’s leader Doge Yeufimei II, and Yaroslavl sought swift expansion by declaring war on neighboring Tver. Yaroslavl was to see its first action of war with ally Novgorod against newfound and surprising enemies of Tver and Pskov.
Skirmishes erupted between the borders, all too insignificant to mention but bloody nonetheless. Hatreds heated in September when the Yaroslavl 1st Army [0/1/0] headed by its King [2/2/0/1] lost the Battle for Yaroslavl and was forced to retreat, allowing Tver to set siege in Yaroslavl’s capital.
The advancing months only seemed to bring further dire news when on 1 November 1453, Sweden declared war against Novgorod who was having a surprisingly tough time in putting down the Pskov armies. Yaroslavl, completely bare without her ally, felt compelled to aid but could do no more than offer encouraging words while the 1st Army marched to besiege Tver’s capital on 17 December 1453. Before the year let out the Swedes occupied Novgorod provinces of Olonets and Kexholm.
By 31 January 1454, it can be seen by recreated historical maps that the war was not going well for either Yaroslavl nor Novgorod. Safety remained in Novgorod’s size and Yaroslavl’s distance but fear still rose whenever Swedish armies began marching in an eastward motion. However, as seen by another map merely three months later, the tides had begun to change... at least for the ailing Yaroslavl nation.
The war stagnated with rival families fighting in Yaroslavl/Tver towns and quick exchanges of land between Novgorod, Sweden and Pskov when on July 3 word came from the east stating the Sibir region had declared war on Novgorod. Fearing consumption and the weakness Novgorod was gaining, King Bryukhatiy declined to aid his ally after little more than one year of signing papers of trust.
The following month however, Pskov fell to a small Novgorod army and peace was quickly declared between Yaroslavl and Pskov. King Vasili III Shuiski met a foreign dignitary and agreed to terms of becoming a Yaroslavl vassal and payment of 50 ducats in reparations. Novgorod was now free to set her sights on the troublesome Swedish armies while the stagnant war between Yaroslavl and Tver maintained its mediocrity. All that seemed to be shed was not blood, rather coins from peasant pockets.
On 9 September 1454 a stalemate situated itself between Sweden and Novgorod to the point that both sides agreed that a white peace was in order. Quickly signed, both sides laid down their arms but not before Novgorod stole Sweden’s colony of Österbotten. And twenty days later the Tver capital fell to Yaroslavl’s 1st Army, unfortunately Tver had also managed to successfully occupy Ustyug by this time, thus avoiding the threat of annexation. The war continued.
1455 proved the start of a very interesting year as Yaroslavl’s 1st Army assaulted Ustyug for an entire week before ultimately failing while the Teutonic Order took advantage of the war and attacked Pskov. With hands so busy in the east, no arms could be spared in the west.
A second assault on Ustyug was carried out between March 3 - 9 yet again failure greeted the 1st Army at the base of wooden walls. Three hundred men were to be buried in the following week yet it was said Alexandr Bryukhatiy was determined and plotted a third assault in the coming months. Whether he didn’t care of soldiers lives, he was stubborn or sought survival by any means necessary was unclear as no personal records were left behind. All that remains of the man are oral reports and the turnout of history.
By 1 July 1455, the 1st Army made a third and final assault at Ustyug, taking victory with them. The week long assault brought 260 more casualties - total for Yaroslavl reaching 1200 men - but all was not lost for in the previous months Novgorod had shoved Tver from the Yaroslavl capital. Unfortunately the Tver Army [0/3/0] though seriously weakened, had besieged its own capital thus disallowing any efforts to make peace. One day after the successful siege at Ustyug, Tver and Novgorod signed a white peace. And two days following, the Teutonic Order annexed the Yaroslavl vassal of Pskov. Two days further Sibir and Novgorod discovered a white peace therefore leaving Yaroslavl and Tver completely alone in war excepting the soon-to-end Kazan-Muscovite War.
In late December of 1455, King Alexandr Bryukhatiy the Stubborn died while marching toward the Tver capital. His successor, a radical nephew suffering bouts of depressive tendencies took the reigns of the nation and headed the 1st Army as a General [2/2/0/1].
On 5 January 1456, King Fyodor II failed in his first attempt to retake Tver, showcasing his inability to lead. But just as his uncle, Fyodor II was stubborn and retreated just long enough to march back into Tver and take its capital with minimal losses. By 2 May 1456, Boris, leader of Tver, accepted to be annexed by his conquerors thus doubling the size of Yaroslavl.
The trouble now lied with lack of expansion. Landlocked between three giants, Yaroslavl stood at a crossroads of what to do. Attempt to wrest military access from its neighbors? Or conduct cloak and dagger politics. Either way, the road seemed long and virtually impossible.
I can’t say where I’ll end up but that’s where the fun is, no? I am by no means an expert at this game but here is what I’m playing:
Level: Hard
Version: 1.3 w/ Magna Mundi
Here’s my basic rules and while you won’t know whether I’ll follow them, I will:
- No cheating (kinda defeats the purpose of a strategy game)
- No turboannexing
- I can’t use spies to gain cores
- No giving loans to get a cb; can’t give loans larger than 30 ducats and never more than one at a time.
- And there are a few other house rules I abide by but I’m not going to list them all as I think you understand the point.
- I have no goals right now other than to survive and to create Russia. If you have any ideas for goals you'd like me to take on, be sure to mention them.
The deaths of 1257 were clear yet so much more destruction seemed to be on its way. Now 1453, Yaroslavl sits, stuck between behemoths of many types with few ways to expand. King Alexandr Bryukhatiy seemed to have no way out except clever deception, brutal diplomacy and a strong-willed fist. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before Yaroslavl would be committed to dust but King Bryukhatiy had other plans, plans he instilled in his successors.
June of 1453 began with excited, nervous cries as Kazan went to war with Muscowy, Yaroslavl signed an alliance with Novgorod’s leader Doge Yeufimei II, and Yaroslavl sought swift expansion by declaring war on neighboring Tver. Yaroslavl was to see its first action of war with ally Novgorod against newfound and surprising enemies of Tver and Pskov.
Skirmishes erupted between the borders, all too insignificant to mention but bloody nonetheless. Hatreds heated in September when the Yaroslavl 1st Army [0/1/0] headed by its King [2/2/0/1] lost the Battle for Yaroslavl and was forced to retreat, allowing Tver to set siege in Yaroslavl’s capital.
The advancing months only seemed to bring further dire news when on 1 November 1453, Sweden declared war against Novgorod who was having a surprisingly tough time in putting down the Pskov armies. Yaroslavl, completely bare without her ally, felt compelled to aid but could do no more than offer encouraging words while the 1st Army marched to besiege Tver’s capital on 17 December 1453. Before the year let out the Swedes occupied Novgorod provinces of Olonets and Kexholm.
By 31 January 1454, it can be seen by recreated historical maps that the war was not going well for either Yaroslavl nor Novgorod. Safety remained in Novgorod’s size and Yaroslavl’s distance but fear still rose whenever Swedish armies began marching in an eastward motion. However, as seen by another map merely three months later, the tides had begun to change... at least for the ailing Yaroslavl nation.
The war stagnated with rival families fighting in Yaroslavl/Tver towns and quick exchanges of land between Novgorod, Sweden and Pskov when on July 3 word came from the east stating the Sibir region had declared war on Novgorod. Fearing consumption and the weakness Novgorod was gaining, King Bryukhatiy declined to aid his ally after little more than one year of signing papers of trust.
The following month however, Pskov fell to a small Novgorod army and peace was quickly declared between Yaroslavl and Pskov. King Vasili III Shuiski met a foreign dignitary and agreed to terms of becoming a Yaroslavl vassal and payment of 50 ducats in reparations. Novgorod was now free to set her sights on the troublesome Swedish armies while the stagnant war between Yaroslavl and Tver maintained its mediocrity. All that seemed to be shed was not blood, rather coins from peasant pockets.
On 9 September 1454 a stalemate situated itself between Sweden and Novgorod to the point that both sides agreed that a white peace was in order. Quickly signed, both sides laid down their arms but not before Novgorod stole Sweden’s colony of Österbotten. And twenty days later the Tver capital fell to Yaroslavl’s 1st Army, unfortunately Tver had also managed to successfully occupy Ustyug by this time, thus avoiding the threat of annexation. The war continued.
1455 proved the start of a very interesting year as Yaroslavl’s 1st Army assaulted Ustyug for an entire week before ultimately failing while the Teutonic Order took advantage of the war and attacked Pskov. With hands so busy in the east, no arms could be spared in the west.
A second assault on Ustyug was carried out between March 3 - 9 yet again failure greeted the 1st Army at the base of wooden walls. Three hundred men were to be buried in the following week yet it was said Alexandr Bryukhatiy was determined and plotted a third assault in the coming months. Whether he didn’t care of soldiers lives, he was stubborn or sought survival by any means necessary was unclear as no personal records were left behind. All that remains of the man are oral reports and the turnout of history.
By 1 July 1455, the 1st Army made a third and final assault at Ustyug, taking victory with them. The week long assault brought 260 more casualties - total for Yaroslavl reaching 1200 men - but all was not lost for in the previous months Novgorod had shoved Tver from the Yaroslavl capital. Unfortunately the Tver Army [0/3/0] though seriously weakened, had besieged its own capital thus disallowing any efforts to make peace. One day after the successful siege at Ustyug, Tver and Novgorod signed a white peace. And two days following, the Teutonic Order annexed the Yaroslavl vassal of Pskov. Two days further Sibir and Novgorod discovered a white peace therefore leaving Yaroslavl and Tver completely alone in war excepting the soon-to-end Kazan-Muscovite War.
In late December of 1455, King Alexandr Bryukhatiy the Stubborn died while marching toward the Tver capital. His successor, a radical nephew suffering bouts of depressive tendencies took the reigns of the nation and headed the 1st Army as a General [2/2/0/1].
On 5 January 1456, King Fyodor II failed in his first attempt to retake Tver, showcasing his inability to lead. But just as his uncle, Fyodor II was stubborn and retreated just long enough to march back into Tver and take its capital with minimal losses. By 2 May 1456, Boris, leader of Tver, accepted to be annexed by his conquerors thus doubling the size of Yaroslavl.
The trouble now lied with lack of expansion. Landlocked between three giants, Yaroslavl stood at a crossroads of what to do. Attempt to wrest military access from its neighbors? Or conduct cloak and dagger politics. Either way, the road seemed long and virtually impossible.
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