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Tinto Flavour #7 - 21st of February 2025 - Bavaria

Hello, and welcome one more week to Tinto Flavour, the happy Fridays in which we take a look at the flavourish content of the new, super-secret Project Caesar.

Today we will be taking a look at Bavaria. Or, to be more precise, at the Duchies of Upper Bavaria and Lower Bavaria, as the Wittelsbach divided their lands among different branches; in addition to these two, the Treaty of Pavia (1329) also established the lands of the Electorate of the Palatinate of the Rhine (best known as The Palatinate) to be ruled by a third Wittelsbach branch.

"The Heartland of the Holy Roman Empire endured the long period of the Great Interregnum and looks to the next decades with worry. In the face of the advancing age of Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV. von Wittelsbach, the families of von Wittelsbach, Luxembourg, and von Habsburg once more prepare for a competition for the imperial crown. While imperial authority south of the Alps is deteriorating, German merchants scramble to secure their trade routes into Italy while Hanseatic League are enjoying their dominance over the region of North Germany.

Under the leadership of Holy Roman Emperor Ludwig IV. von Wittelsbach, the Duchy of Upper Bavaria is at the height of its power, as he commands respect and authority among the imperial princes. While the Duchy of Lower Bavaria is ruled by Duke Heinrich XIV. von Wittelsbach, his health is steadily declining due to his leprosy, and his expected early death could lead to a reunification of Bavaria.

With strong relations among the von Wittelsbach rulers of Europe, Bavaria is ready to claim its right to the imperial crown and dominance over central Europe against their rivals in Bohemia and Austria."

Country Selection.png

You might have noticed that the courtroom is different from other European rulers we’ve shown previously; this is the Throne of Charlemagne, part of the Palatine Chapel in Aachen, used in the coronation of Holy Roman Emperors; thus, is the one used by these rulers. We’d like to eventually keep adding some more unique art, such as the Imperial Crown; but, as usual, please take the UI, 2D and 3D art as WIP.

Here you have the core lands of Bavaria, divided among Upper Bavaria, Lower Bavaria, and the Palatinate:
Bavaria.png

Don't you love how Bavarians decided to split their lands into multiple polities?

The position of the Wittelsbach is quite strong, as Emperor Ludwig’s son, also named Ludwig, rules over the Electorate of Brandenburg, thus making the dynasty control 2 out of the 7 Imperial Electorates effectively:
von Wittelsbach.png

Here you can see the lands controlled by the Wittelsbach dynasty, and also their two main rivals for the Imperial Crown, the Luxembourg and Habsburg dynasties.

One of the main objectives for any of the branches of the Wittelsbach dynasty will be to unite these lands, and create/recreate the Kingdom of Bavaria, one of the formable countries that we presented in last week’s Tinto Talks:
Form Bavaria.png

You might have noticed that we fixed the starting country of Bavaria, and now is Tier III, which is the Kingdom rank.

Let’s start today with the narrative content, namely events, linked to the aforementioned dynastic issues. Early in the game, if the Duke of Lower Bavaria dies of his leprosy, leaving an underage ruler, you might receive this event:
Duchy Lower Bavaria.png

The first option makes Lower Bavaria a vassal, the second directly annexes it, and the third leaves the Duchy on its own.

If you select either the first or the second option, a follow-up event about the revision of the Treaty of Pavia may trigger:
Treaty of Pavia.png

I promise this treaty is historical, and it's not related to my vanity!

If we select the second option, this may happen:
Palatinate falls in our hands.png

Wittelsbach lands are reunited! We need to do some fixes for the dynamic localization of the Palatinate of the Rhine to appear properly in all instances, by the way.

Leading to this outcome:
Bavaria reunited.png

The Kingdom of Bavaria is recreated!

And you will also get this another event, as you may decide to change your succession law at this moment:
A New Law.png

Cognatic Primogeniture sounds like a more stable law, indeed.

Besides the Wittelsbach dynastical troubles, other Bavarian dynamic historical events that may be of interest:
Ockham.png

Ockham’s Razor in action!

Codex Bavarica1.png

Codex Bavarica2.png

What about a new Code of Laws?

This is an interesting set of events. If the player decides to build the Munich Residenz, a unique building will be constructed, also opening the option to get further expansions:
Munich Residenz1.png

Munich Residenz2.png

Munich Residenz3.png

Munich Residenz4.png

Let’s now move towards the structural content of Bavaria. German countries start with this privilege for the nobility, coupled with their succession law:
Right to Inherit.png

Bavaria also has a policy that portrays its itinerant court:
Itinerant Court.png

As the Holy Roman Emperor, Ludwig starts in possession of some unique works of art, the Imperial Regalia:
Coronation Gospel.png

Saint Stephans Purse.png

Imperial Crown.png

Imperial Orb.png

Bavaria also starts with this local work of art:
Marienkapelle.png

Which may be expanded via an event:
Old Marienkapelle.png

Finally, some Bavarian advances, covering from the Age of Traditions to the Age of Revolutions:
Bavarian Dukedom.png

Dreams of Unification.png

One Faith for Bavaria.png

Bavarian Purity Law.png

However my favourite is this one:
Skilled Brewers.png

That unlocks this production method:
Bavarian Breweries.png

Which you can compare with the other PMs for Breweries:
Brewery Production Methods.png

And that’s all for today! I hope you enjoyed it! Next week we will be travelling back to the Mediterranean shores, to the land of Morocco. Cheers!
 
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In this weeks Tinto Flavour you mention that:

"You might have noticed that we fixed the starting country of Bavaria, and now is Tier III, which is the Kingdom rank."

However, in the list from last weeks Tinto Talks you have several Kingdoms that are Tier II, e.g. Prussia, Netherlands, England and Sweden, while formables like Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia are all Tier III. It seems strange that a Kingdom of Bavaria has a higher Tier than say Prussia, Netherlands, England or Sweden, and the same level as e.g. Germany. Would it not make more sense to either have Bavaria as a Tier II formable, or to also make Prussia, Netherlands, England, Sweden, and other Kingdom rank countries Tier III and then make Empire level formables like Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia all Tier 4 on a par with Russia and the USA? The latter option would seem the more sensible to me.
 
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With the Duchy of Lower Bavaria event, is there an analogous one for when you inherit land from other lines? For example, if Pomeralia split up but then all got inherited by one person, would they have the option to annex their land into one tag or would it just be say 7 countries in PU?
 
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Good overview of Bavaria.
Does the emperor have any special events?
 
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So how does the whole Wittelsbach branch extinction work as the palatinate player? If you go extinct do you just die instantly? Become Bavaria? Prevent the reunification? Conversely how does the inverse work with the Bavarian line being the one to die out?

Also is the palatinate reunification dependent on rescinding the treaty of pavia, or can it happen regardless?
 
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Regarding dynasties in the game, what diplomatic benefits are there for same dynasty members? Do the bonuses change based on your distance to a member of the dynasty (ex. brother vs cousin)?

Even though this is not a character simulator like CK3, can you still attempt to assassinate characters or improve relations with them (as opposed to with the country they rule)? As countries at this time often operated based on their ruler's desires and needs.

Final character question, will there be betrothals and divorces (in case one of the betrothed characters becomes irrelevant due to a loss of power/land)?
 
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Formable Bavaria should be a duchy. It was only made a Kingdom by Napoleon after the destruction of the HRE in the 19th century.
 
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Pavia pls, if I can’t know what these are I’m gonna EXPLODE
The name of a super secret project explanation about these super secret goods will arrive precisely when it means to.

PS: @Johan will talk about these changes coming from community feedback in a few weeks from now.
 
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In this weeks Tinto Flavour you mention that:

"You might have noticed that we fixed the starting country of Bavaria, and now is Tier III, which is the Kingdom rank."

However, in the list from last weeks Tinto Talks you have several Kingdoms that are Tier II, e.g. Prussia, Netherlands, England and Sweden, while formables like Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Scandinavia are all Tier III. It seems strange that a Kingdom of Bavaria has a higher Tier than say Prussia, Netherlands, England or Sweden, and the same level as e.g. Germany. Would it not make more sense to either have Bavaria as a Tier II formable, or to also make Prussia, Netherlands, England, Sweden, and other Kingdom rank countries Tier III and then make Empire level formables like Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia all Tier 4 on a par with Russia and the USA? The latter option would seem the more sensible to me.
We will make a pass on all formable countries according to the feedback in the Tinto Talks, but I just made a quick fix on this for the TF. ;)
 
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We will make a pass on all formable countries according to the feedback in the Tinto Talks, but I just made a quick fix on this for the TF. ;)
I thought that the 'tier' of formables was just for the 'what can change into what' logic and not the actual rank of the country. Did I misunderstand or has this maybe changed?
 
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Can I see the Bavarian flag variants? Do they get unique flag if they form Germany as well? (Probably could just use vic3’s flag for this if it isn’t implemented)
 
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It's a nitpick of mine but please don't mix english and german within one unique name. "Munich Residenz" simply sound wrong. Please either call it "Munich Residence" or "Münchner Residenz".
It was created by a German CD, and it's the Wikipedia standard name for it in English... :D
 
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