Yet Another Multiplayer AAR Poland vs Turkey vs. Austria

[Jools]

MULTIPLAYER AAR!!!

Friday Night/Morning instead of hanging around with actual people, Me, MrLifford and Martinov played an extremely interesting yet short Multiplayer game.

Settings.
IGC 2.3
Tax Settings: Chaos hurts
COT in Moscow
All 5 unrests
Free Bretagne

8 majors
We used 3
Poland Lithuania --> Jools
Austria ---> Mrlifford
Turkey ---> Martinov

SKIP THIS POST FOR SUMMARY!!!

We started our game in 1492 and it ended in 1511.
NOTE: I didn't take any notes during the game and the dates might be mixed up.

The Polish Perspective

Seeing as we had a 0 stability somehow, I decided to lay low for some time. I didn't have a big income, it was only 180 a month. Every year I built a bailiff in one province and fortified my Northern provinces (those bordering with Teutonic Order).

This policy was kept untill the year 1497. Having many armies at the beginning of the game and now 10 cannon we, the king, decided to invade Prussia. But, oh wait! I don't have a CB against them? Damn... invasion called off.

That's when I saw ther are in an alliance with TO, so instead I declared war on them and Prussia joined.

My entire army was thrown to Eastern Prussia were it won a few battles and beseiged it for 1.5 years. The Teutons were raiding my fortified northern provinces and during those years I was seiging Prussia they took Wielikia, Polotsk and Belarus...

This situation changed when Konstanty Ostrogski arrived in (grr...) Bogutjar... By the time he got to the siege, the castle was stormed and conquered. The troops, being decimated by attrtion moved on to Memel, when after storming the walls, the defenders panicked and surrendered.

Prussia was annexed somewere in 1499. The overall situation was mixed. Russia was weak and was warring with the mongols and no threat to me. I was allied with my western neighbours (Pommerania, Hansa, Saxony) and the only real threat was from the south.

In 1499, whilst my war was entering it's 3 year, my alliance declared war on the Austrian(Austria-Mrlifford) alliance and in order not to get a stab hit, I declared war too. The War in general was a fiasco for my side but others like to call it a draw. Since Hungary was in the Austrian alliance, they quickly mobilised their men to invade Krakow were I stationed 25k cavalry to defend our historic capitol.

Needless to say, Krakow was never beseiged...

This terrible situationed worsened further when Turkey attacked Hungary and those dum Hungarians instead of beating up the turks with there 60k army, they used it to constantly invade Krakow.

Hungary was annexed by Turkey in ~1499 and now I had a very fearful foe to my south (Turkey-Martinov).

Now, back to my TO war. Prussia being annexed, and all my Northern provinces recaptured, Plettenberd KIA, I took Kurland along with my Hanseatic allies and headed for the TO's Capital with my puny yet well led army...

Whilst my troops were beseiging the Teutons, I noticed that Turkey-Martinov has assembled quite a large army near my borders. I could see approximately 80k troops... Yikes! This was then four times as much as I had, to tell you the truth I was scared so I signed a secret pact with Austria (lifford) that would make sure I wouldn't be overun completely...

Then it happened... circa 1501 the Turks invaded, my allies declared they will support me and Austria joined the war a few months later.

My puny Krakow troops were beaten and regrouped in Chernigov. I thought "Hey what the hell! All my southern provinces are fortified! I'll just take Kurland from the Teutons and go south and kick his ass out..."

But my seige was only bringing casualties and after the third assault wasn't succesful I signed a white peace with The Teutons.

My two armies regrouped in Chernigov and were about to assault Turkey held Galicia... Infact, now I noticed that turkey controls Krakow, Galicia, Podolia and Besarabia... This was bad, I had 5k infantry and no cannon.

my regrouped army attacked Galicia and lost. We regrouped once more and attacked Podolia and lost. Infact I didn't win one battle during that time of the war even though the Turkish troops left only small 10k groups of men in each province whilst the bulk of the Army probably left for Austria, my secret ally.

Turkey send two peace offerings demanding Besarabia and Podolia. I rejected them and got two consecutive -1 stability hits. My stability now was -2.

As the war changed from a Total Turkish victory to a slight turkish victory, Lifford and I were relieved. It seemed the blitzkrieg of the Turks was stopped and it was now the Sitzkriegs turn

Whilst my puny armies tried doing anything without getting whopped by the Turks, my -2 stability kicked in and three provinces were embroiled in rebellion. Fortunately they were either in the extreme north or east so they never really bugged me that much.

That's when Sultan Bin Martin sent me another peace resolution demanding Podolia and Besarabia, i accidentally pressed ACCEPT. Darn it! Lifford was angry and demanded I declare war anyway. So I did. Wasn't the smoothest of actions but hey! 3 new rebellions and -3 stability...

"Okay I thought, this time we're gonna open a can of whopass". Having no money, no army and no perspectives, i took a 1000 ducat loan. I built a few forts and a formidable army and decided to invade Turkey.

I succesfully took Podolia and Besarabia and was heading for Bujak, Dobrudja and finally Thrace.

Yes I know this was extremely optimistic and needless to say, my plan failed. My country by now was embroiled by a 'civil war'. Everything East of Lithuania and Chernigov was under rebel contol.

Newly occupied Podolia and Besarabia were also revolting (+3 nationalism, har har har). So I scrapped the plan and withdrew to destroy the revolts. I managed to take out the rebels in Podolia and Besarabia but just when I was going for another turkish province, they revolted again. By that time the Turks have regrouped and were heading my way... So I ran as fast as I could...

Went bankrupt for the first time. Took another 1000 loan and built another huge army and fortified some more provinces.

This time we went for carpathia, Magyar in order to directly aide Austria.

Now to make a small digression. Austria was in a much better state than me, I reckon. They had bigger armies, more gold and only lost one province. They defeated a Georgian Army (Turkish allies) and were holding out quite well, compared to me.

Back to topic. My forces were halted in Carpathia after an assault was unsuccesful. This time round, the only rebel free provinces were the ones of Masovia, Eastern Prussia, Memel, Posen, Krakow, Danzig.
In the middle of my carpathia seige, Ukraine revolted. A new four province country was born... DAMN! That was really bad.

My seige in Carpathia ended afte we took some more heavy attrition losses. I was about to march into Buda when I saw a 30k army(versus my only 15k army) marching straight at me. Traditionally, I ran away... Carpathia was beseiged, assaulted and once more under Turkish control.

Having no hope for better income, I took another loan and was soon bankrupt for the third time.

I was at constant war for the twelth year... My country was a mess, Ukraine had revolted (Turkey wanted to ally itself with them but failed, Hurrah!).

Austria, Poland and their allies signed a White Peace with Turkey circa 1507.
Poland was in true turmoil. Inflation was 54%, 75% of the country was under rebel control. I was just praying that they don't invade Warsaw, cause all I need is a government collapse. Stability -3, yearly income 80.

Summary
-------
Poland vs. TO&Prussia 1497-1501
Poland vs. Turkey ~1501-1504 ~1504-1507
Austria vs. Turkey 1501-1507
Poland vs. Ukraine 1506-1509

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Jools]

The reconstruction of the Republic

After the wars were over, Poland was in a very bad shape. Having Turkey regroup and find itself in a war versus the Mamalukes and their friends, I decided it is time to rebuild our might. Ukraine was defeated and annexed in two years after the treaty was signed.
Then my expierienced leader(of my only army counting 10k) Ostrogski went on a national tournee destroying, defeating, killing and humiliating rebels all around. This liberation lasted for a few years but the effect was final and at the time of the end of our session only Danzig was revolting (new revolt).

Our stability will be back to -2 in 1517, experts predict. Built a few bailiffs, strengthened all my southern and central forts.

Overall, I think I am in an extremely bad situation, having practically no army at all and being behind in all techs I reckon the next five years will be crucial to my survival. I know the power of Turkey is great. I already ceded two provinces to them and I don't plan on ceding more... The existance of Poland is crucial to the European balance.


We had about four crashes so I guess 1.10 isn't that stable but it's sure better than 1.09. Overall we are very happy. The Polish 12 year war, as I call it, was extremely fun. My casualties were much smaller than Turkey's and Austria's. Turkey lost something like 700k men and 68 cannon. I lost 24 cannon ~45k men and 80k cavalry. Austria lost ~400k men. My losses were actually ver small.

Actually, at the end of the session I noticed that the rebels killed so many people that I could convert 6 orthodox provinces to catholic
ones. Thanks to a colonial dynamism event, I had 3 colonists and succesfully converted 3 provinces... Hahaha, at least that wa was useful for something.

If anyone still hasn't played a MP game I highly recommend it. Just make sure that you are next to each other. That's the most fun... Cheers, bye

P.S. I'll try to get lifford and martinov to post here...

 

[unmerged(4944)]

In the infidel year 1493 the Great Sultan Bin Martin murdered his father, brothers, cousins, grandparents, second cousins, uncles, great uncles and took the throne of Istanbul. His God Given mission: to bring a message of peace and brotherhood to Turkey and the Free World, and death to infidels, pagans, pagans and infidels who don't pay their taxes everywhere.

Realising his term of years might be short he rejected the sweet temptations of a Persia on her knees and he took his mighty spear and thrust it between the buttocks of the balkans...this is his story...

For five years his sergeants enticed every cheap levyman they could find with their clubs and whips. His armies swelled with elite high quality peasants from every fief. The slightly more expensive cavalries were withdrawn to anatolia to enjoy the healthy mountain air.

Taking advantage of the moral weakness of the notoriously disunited and backward christian alliances his legions swept into Hungary and Moldovia and took them entire, while the cowardly poles and austrians stood idly by. The victory was so complete that for many years afterward the turkish governors would be plagued by mobs of stone-throwing christians, but they would be ignored.

By 1501, with his armies swollen with hungarian and moldavian 'volunteers', the assault on poland began. With the main Polish army bogged down against the not-so-bad-christian teutonics, province after province fell. Taking pity on their weakness, and wanting to smash austria for a while, he offered them a -1 stab peace, but they refused. Under house rules it would be another 12 months before he could offer a -1 peace again.

As minor after minor sued for peace, the Austrian alliance broke their peace treaty and joined the war to bolster the faltering poles. In a moment of madness the Polish king took a 2 province peace and was obliged to resume the war with a -5 stab. Oh well, at least he wouldn't suffer the -1 every 12 months.

For the next 12 years the war heaved backward and forward, with Polish, Bohemian, Austrian and Turkish provinces changing hands time after time. Manpower reserves became exhausted and one by one reserve armies from Greece, Anatolia and the Persian border were summoned to join the battle.

Sadly, God was not with Bin Martin, and despite wreaking more destruction than a j...never mind...and making minor gains, after 700,000 casualties and 250 cannons lost and with the all sides exhausted, the turkish armies retired to their bases to rest and prepare for the next assualt...

 

[Jools]

ZOIKES!?!?
Another attack?

Hahaha!
I think we need a Persian player, don't you think, lifford???

Great post Sultan Bin Stinky...

 

[unmerged(1631)]

The Year was 1492. The Electors of Germany, some say backed by Austrian ducats, elected David von Lifford to be Holy Roman Emperor. History tells the story of this most Noble Emperor and the proud Kingdom of Austria.....

The Emperor's everlasting reign began peacefully enough. Austria was the largest of the German states but by no means exceptional. Its army was strong, but goverment was weak. Emperor Lifford began his reign with needed reforms. Bailiffs and tax collectors were sent to the provinces and merchants were sent to the lucrative COT in Venice.
Although allied with Bohemia and Hungary, Austria needed a powerful alliance to counter the ominous evil of the Heathen Sultan bin Marti of Turkey. Baden, Wurtembourg and the Palantate wisely joined the Austrian alliance.
With dreams of an Austrian Mare Nostrum in mind and only needing a port to realize this. The Emperor offered a cash trade for the port of Istria to his Venetian cousins to the south. Strangely enough The Doge refused these generous terms and mobilized his troops and sent them off on tour of his island realm.
The fine people of Austria were outraged at this mobilization and clamoured for war. They too wished for an island getaway. Emperor Lifford decided that this insult was too much and Declared war upon the Venetian Republic.
The War went smoothly enough. Austrian armies marched south and quickly occupied Mantua, then marched on Venice itself. Another force moved south from the Steirmark and laid siege to Istria. Venetian troops under Borgia moved north and laid waste to the Tyroleon countryside.
Venice fell after a lengthy siege and the main Austrian force marched on Istria. Tyrol fell to Venetian Bandits and 6000 troops that were left marched to Venice and impotently lay siege to their capital.
1499 - The Polish Alliance fouly declared war upon Austria. Poland came into the war but agreed to limit fighting to the border provinces since they were engaged heavily in the north. The Austrian alliance took this occasion to fall apart with only Hungary staying true to their word. A few months passed until Bohemia and Wurtemburg joined again.
While the siege in Istria continued The Emperor dispatched a small army to carry the war to the Hansa in the north. 15000 men with 10 of those new fangled " cannons " marched north through the German States. A few thousand were lost to the wiles of Saxon women and German chocolate along the way. Those were the lucky ones..... once Hamburg was reached in the dead of winter a bloody battle was fought against the Hansa defenders. The valiant troops of the Emperor were victorious but at cost of 1/2 their army. The survivors abandoned the province and fell back to Pommerania.
Diplomatic efforts with the notoriously unstable Sultan were at an all time low at this point and the evil Heathen Declared war upon Austria's true friend... Hungary. Once again the Austrian alliance fell apart and needed rebuilding. Only Austria and Hungary faced the Turkish hoard.
The Troops of the Emperor were scattered. A small army of 10000 men were fighting the Hansa troops in the Netherlands. The main Austrian Battle Army of 20000 troops were engaged against the Venetians, 10000 more were in Vienna, and 5000 troops were hobbling back from the Northern expedition.
The Emperor could only watch in horror as the Turkish hoard gobbled up Hungary, province by province. Where was the main Hungarian army?... why fighting the Poles of course.
Istria finally fell to the Emperor's Legions and Austria made peace with Venice taking Mantua and Istria. A white peace was signed with Poland, and for $43 ducats a peace was made with the Hansa League and her allies. All Austrian forces were sent to the Hungarian border. Unfortunately for Hungary, it was too late. The Heathen to the south had annexed the mighty kingdom of Hungary. Turkish troops moved to the virtually undefended border of Austria.
The Turkish horde faced Austria across the former Hungarian border. With only 17000 troops left in the Imperial Army and the borders protected by only minimal forts. Austria was doomed if the Turks made any advance.
The Historians of Europe are still amazed by what happened next. The Austrians call it the Miracle of Pressburg.... Sultan bin Marti offered a White Peace!
Emperor Lifford readily accepted and bells of peace rang throughout the Holy Roman Empire.
It was peace, but the wise Emperor Lifford knew it was only a truce, a breathing space.
Turkey went on to annex Moldavia and made threatening demands upon the Poles.
"This Heathen Madman must be stopped", Declared the Emperor. A secret mutual defence alliance was signed with the Poles. If Turkey invaded either Kingdom the other would come to their defence. The Emperor also built up his own alliance. Bohemia was already in the fold. Wurtemburg, Baden and Spain were added soon after.
He also directed a massive military buildup. Soon two 30000 man Imperial armies were assembled under Ferdinand and von Frundsberg and stationed on the Hungarian border facing the Turkish levies.
This proved a wise precaution as war broke out between the Poles and Turks. After a few months too finally ready their troops, The Emperor came to the aid of his Polish friends, took a huge stability hit, and Declared war upon the most foul Turks. Much to the surprise of The Emperor, his allies joined the war.
The resulting war was lengthy and bloody. Von Frundsberg was a great boon to the Imperial cause. His armies were everywhere along the border. Provinces were exchanged month by month. Spain proved to be a helpful ally and lent many troops to the Christian cause.
The Sultan finally made peace with Bohemia, taking Moravia. Then made peace with Spain offering $250 ducats. Baden, Austria, and Poland remained to fight the good fight and the war continued for another bloody few years.
At the end with Poland facing collapse the Sultan offered a white peace which the Christian Alliance accepted. Austria and Poland, despite all odds, managed to fight the Turks to a standstill.
For the time being Christian Europe was saved from the Turks! The cost was high though. 200000 soldiers of the Empire fell in battle. 90 Cannon were also lost.

Emperor Lifford celebrated this hard fought victory by Declaring war upon the Venetian Republic and accepted Emilia (which was taken from the Papacy) into the loving bosom of the Austrian Empire.

Long Live the Emperor!

 

[unmerged(4944)]

See how the infidels lie!!!

As I recall a SPANIARD was elected Holy Roman Emperor, due to the weakness of the Austrian gene pool!!!

The Swinging Sultan

 

[Jools]

Had another session this Monday and I am going to tell ya (yep!) what happened from the Polish point of view (the best one of course ). Since Martinov called my last post a "bloody tactical discussion" I am going to keep this one short (or at least try to) for YOUR reading pleasure... BTW, doesn't anyone want to comment on our fabulous game? Another important thing: A new player joined and took the weak Russia

In Between World Wars

The once almighty Kingdom of Poland being literally shattered by the Ottoman invasion fell into a trap. Rebellions, finances, relations, all a problem.

After containing rebelled Lithuania and annexing Ukraine, things calmed down a bit, though the occasional peasant uprising does happen...

A long time of peace followed the bloody fight down in central Europe... Infact the populace of many voivods dropped so radically that as many as three provinces were converted to the one true catholic faith.

An alliance was signed with Russia and a royal marriage between our most noble nations was also arranged. This would ensure that any attack (especially funded by the evil ottomans) wouldn't occur. Infact Russia was extremely weak and fielded an army smaller than the Crowns (GASP~!). At first Russia colonised and fortified their northern provinces and then took many years for an all out invasion of the Golden Horde.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the peace, the stability rose from -3 to -1 which signifacantly improved our income. Our army was enlarged as much as three times and three new excellent leaders ensured that our army would be a REAL challenge (unlike the last time) for the heathen Turks.

The many years of peace that followed improved the overall situation in our country and even though we are extremely behind in all tech (especially military) we feel strong. Rebellions are contained, our 'special' pact with Austria (now called the Eastern Entente ) and the gradual rise of income strengthen our security.

The Second Damn War with Turkey!

Yep it happened. Turkey after signing peace with their Northern neighbours immediately funneled it's attention to the east. Persia and Mamalukes began a war with them. Mamalukes were converted to sunnism and the crown's ministers aren't sure what exactly happened in Persia

The Turkish war-like attitude deeply worried all devout christians (that btw, elected the Austrian as their Emperor ) and after the Sultan Bin Marti annexed Naples (SHRUG!) the proud and noble nation of Bohemia (allied with Austria and German minors) declared war on the infidels that held Moravia... Indeed they had a good Cassus Belli.

Austria, honored their alliance with Bohemia and joined the war. Poland, kindly asked and funded by Austria joined the war a few months later. To tell you the truth, We, The King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, Duke of Prussia, Livonia and Moldavia D) feared this would turn into another massacre of the Poles. Indeed, he was greatly shocked.

Austria, Brandenburg and Bohemia deeply penetrated the Turkish Empire. Having stormed through Hungary like lightning, they marched for Thrace (!). Meanwhile the brave yet outnumbered Polish army captured Besarabia and Ruthenia and defeated three large (~30k) Turkish Armies. This was indeed a succes!

Whilst the Emperor reached Thrace, the cowardly Bohemians, who were unfortunately the temporary alliance leader, signed a peace with the infidel (and getting ass wipped by BB wars) Ottomans. This infuriated the Polish king who is now at a cross road. Continue the war? If no, then agree to what terms? Indemnities? Besarabia/Ruthenia? A white peace?

And that's when we stopped... Tune in for the next episode!

As for the Bohemians, those dastards - our brothers, the God Loving Austrians, will take care of them

We finished at around 1545.
One crash, and it was me, we didn't continue after it.
Tried for 1.5 hours to start a game and succeded and played for an hour. Guess you need to patient whilst playing a game as moody as Europa Universalis.

Ciao!

 

[unmerged(1631)]

The Emperor was not very happy with his cowardly Bohemian vassals at all..... Too many Austrian soldiers lost their lives for the $250 the Bohemians gained for their war. The will indeed pay.

This session began quite like the other session. Many problems loading up the darned save game. The game ended in EU is indeed a moody animal when it comes to MP.
The Austrian Empire began in fine shape this round. However a serious build up of Turkish troops along the Hungarian frontier caused the good Emperor to begin his own military build up. An arms race was unofficially declared and the Imperial Army numbered close to 100000 troops before hostilities broke out.
Bohemia gladly became a vassal of Austria and the Emperor had forged an alliance with most of Germany numbering around 10 nations. To the North East, The Emperor was pleased to see the Russians join in alliance with their Polish cousins in a defensive coalition, along with The Empire, against the Turks. The Eastern Entente as it became known as. On that front The Empire was secure.
The nasty Turks annexed Ragusa to the south further alarming Christian Europe and cementing the alliance. The Heathen, Sultan bin Marti, to the south continued with his aggressive expansion and annexed poor Naples. This was too much for the French and they declared war upon the Turk. This also brought in the strange combination of the Persians and the Papacy.
Before The Emperor could react to this welcome development and launch The German Alliance against the Turks, That darned upstart prince in Bohemia took it in mind to declare war upon them himself. This caused some confusion in the ranks of the Alliance as some members feared insulting the Emperor by honouring the upstart and stayed out of the war. In total 5 nations, including Spain, joined with the Bohemian Prince in his crusade against the Turk.
The good Polish cousins to the north, despite some misgivings at first, readily honoured their alliance with The Empire and joined in as well.
The war was a spectacular success for the Germans. The Imperial troops under Von Frundsberg and Ferdinand cut through the Balkans and even occupied Constantinople. However, that dastardly cur in Bohemia accepted a $250 bribe from the Sultan and caused the German Alliance to go to peace with the Turk despite its success.
The Austrians are now in a quandry. With their army intact and occupying the Balkan provinces do they break the peace treaty and risk great unhappiness and instability but help the Poles, or do they continue to build?
In the meantime, The Emperor has declared that the Bohemians will get the snubbing of their lives if they ever come to Vienna

 

[unmerged(4944)]

After the First Christian War wound down, the Sultan consolidated his grip on the Mediteranean, sending expeditions to convert the Mamelukes to Sunni, capture some Venetian Islands, engage in a couple of frustrating alliance conflicts (to be sold out on the verge of success by unreliable allies) and conquer Southern Italy.

The imminent fall of the Eternal City sparked the Second Christian War. Bohemia attacked, bringing Austria's huge eight country alliance in, the Polish alliance entered soon after and a Persian alliance saw its opportunity.

This second war was even more bloody than the first, but with more mixed results. The Ottaman armies seemed to have lost their edge over the christians on the european front and suffered horrendous losses whilst gradually losing ground. In the east the Ottaman armies gradually gained ascendancy but their equally huge losses drained other fronts. Only in Italy were the armies of Mohammed able to achieve a clear victory with the occupation of Rome.

With his armies reduced to a fraction of their normal strength the Sultan decided it was time to divide and conquer. The Bohemians, worried about potential brandenburger or hapsburg gains, had already secretly offered to scuttle the war in exhange for turkish gold, and this offer was accepted, with those nations giving up their gains bitterly and learning the price of alliance wars.

With this masterly stroke, the entire complexion of the war changed. Now Poland finds itself alone on the continent, whilst the anglo-papal alliance is rendered impotent in the Mediteranean and the Persians on the back foot in the east. Perhaps this war will end with increased Ottaman power after all.

Despite its repeated calls to crush Polish power once and for all, Russia was to play no part in the second christian war, remaining bogged down in a bloody struggle to occupy Crimea.

 

[boehm]

Great AAR....I hope u play again soon!

 

[unmerged(366)]

So you don't feel unhappy about the low postcount (I think everyone is busy reading/posting to the EUII boards, I know I am.) I will post.

Cool account of a game that had to be fun!

Keep it coming! More AARs!!

 

[unmerged(5985)]

Nice AAR

Excellent report - sounds fun - especialy liked Bin Martin's account

 

[Jools]

This game was scuttled because of save game problems. I guess martinov was right that you should start writing an AAR AFTER you finish the game