Rex Germania - A Brandenburg to Prussia Strategy AAR

[Historywhiz]

By the way, I noticed one of the introductory hints while loading the game a couple weeks ago which made my jaw drop. Apparently it’s not necessary to have a Merchant in your home trade node in order to collect trade income there!!! I did test this, and it’s true. So for 200 years I basically was wasting a Merchant sitting on my home node when I didn’t apparently need to have him there.

I think I and a few others noticed this, but we didn’t say anything for two reasons: the first is that there were other fires to put out, and the second is that merchants do not simply steer or collect trade, they also add a small amount of trade power and trade efficiency to a node. The Saxony node at game start has so many hands in the pie and so few meaningful ways to steer money into it from elsewhere that for much of the game to date, it probably was genuinely better for you to keep your merchant there to squeeze just that little bit extra out.

Now that you are a bit bigger, yes obviously it’s now better to steer from other nodes into Saxony, but I would actually suggest moving your home node to the Baltic and start steering and collecting from there.

 

[Historywhiz]

Now that you are a bit bigger, yes obviously it’s now better to steer from other nodes into Saxony, but I would actually suggest moving your home node to the Baltic and start steering and collecting from there.

Whoops, made a mistake, meant to say Lubeck, not Baltic.

 

[jak7139]

And…. I know in the screenshot it says he’s Collecting. I just saw another where he was Steering. I kinda think I started him off Steering, and didn’t like the results, so I switched him within a couple of months to Collecting.

This is common with merchants in this game. Check your trade income, make a change, check it again after the month-tick update, repeat until you find a combination that works. It's a lot of incremental movements to try and make the most profit.

Apparently it’s not necessary to have a Merchant in your home trade node in order to collect trade income there!!!

Yes. But having it there does give a small boost. So it wasn't a complete waste. Though generally, it's more worth it to transfer than collect.

I’d welcome comments from those in the know about my strategies, discoveries, and below trade rundowns on what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong. Clearly I do not understand the trade world as well as I should, and I’m guesstimating my way through most of this game.

I'm pretty sure most EU4 players guesstimate their way through trade!

If I've read you right, you currently have four merchants, with your home node in Saxony.

• one collecting in Novgorod
• one collecting in Saxony
• one collecting in the Baltic Sea
• one transferring from Krakow to Saxony

The nodes that flow into Saxony are Wien and Krakow. The nodes that Saxony flows into are Lubeck and Rheinland.

If you want to make more from trade, conquering into Wien and Krakow, and sending your merchants there to transfer would be a good start. You aren't even transferring from Wien at all, so can move your Saxony merchant there.

You also want to conquer into Lubeck and Rheinland, because that's where the money flowing away from Saxony is headed. From the screenshot you provided, Rheinland is taking 9.52 gold from Saxony, while Lubeck takes none. Establishing enough control over these two areas will effectively mean nothing flows out of Saxony. All your wealth will stay at home.

As @Historywhiz suggests, moving your home node to Lubeck once you've gained enough of a presence there would be a great idea. The reasons why are because Lubeck has many locations flowing into it, but only one location flowing out of it. So it's easier to contain the wealth there. All the Novgorod, Baltic, and much of the Persian and Chinese trade will eventually end up in Lubeck, so it tends to amass a lot of money. After that, you're not that far away from the ideal setup, an end node, the English Channel. Nothing goes out, everything goes in.

But a very important key: if you can't establish control over your home node (wherever you decide to move it), it could end up costing you money. Don't move your node to Lubeck, the EC, or wherever else until you have a good, consistent chunk of the pie (30% or more).

So now our ally Thuringia is Saxony. And this is… mostly good?

Does this new Saxony have cores over the former Saxony's land that you annexed? Is it causing tension?

We choose “Individual Creeds” as an Aspect of Faith (costing Church Power), which reduces our costs for Ideas (this was right before I chose our Quality Idea – score!).

Most of these aspects also have a secondary effect. And you can swap them out freely as long as you have enough Church Power.

I haven’t played EU IV as a colonial power, and I don’t know if they’ve modeled difficulty of survival/subsistence into the colonial model as they do in Victoria.

Slightly, but not enough to make a difference. Jungle colonies and such grow slower. But disease isn't a factor at all. Every colony, even the ones in Siberia, will grow at a standard rate.

So, there… I have placed before you maps of all the realms of the known world. Where do you suppose Brandenburg’s attentions might best be next directed??

Given you've asked about trade, securing more of Germany for a start...

And… (knowing me) What do you suppose I did instead?

...But you also mentioned that France is embroiled in two major wars. And they were a rival of yours at some point. Time for revenge!

 

[Steckie]

And… (knowing me) What do you suppose I did instead?

You declared the War of the Protestant League?

 

[Nikolai]

And… (knowing me) What do you suppose I did instead?

I’d go east. You probably DoWed France, only to have everyone else peace out.

 

[El Pip]

In November we pay for another Economic Idea – the Kammergericht – which gives us a 10% increase in National Tax.

Establishing a supreme court and encouraging lawyers increases tax revenue? I would be surprised, but this is Paradox who coded the Vicki2 economy so artisans could make tanks out of fruit.

My attempt to analyze the trade screen to show how the trade is calculated has spectacularly failed, as “the math isn’t mathing”.

Relax, if the system thinks more lawyers helps an economy then of course the maths will never make sense.

Where do you suppose Brandenburg’s attentions might best be next directed??

War with France.

And… (knowing me) What do you suppose I did instead?

War with France.

 

[Bullfilter]

RL driven absence temporarily in check, caught up again so will comment while I can.

By the way, I noticed one of the introductory hints while loading the game a couple weeks ago which made my jaw drop. Apparently it’s not necessary to have a Merchant in your home trade node in order to collect trade income there!!! I did test this, and it’s true. So for 200 years I basically was wasting a Merchant sitting on my home node when I didn’t apparently need to have him there.

If I knew it or was told it I’d forgotten it! I’ll have to go check my game next time it’s loaded.

moving your home node

How do you do that?

Spain and France were at war again, and Venice joined this effort to put France in her place. Recall that Great Britain was already at war with France, and seemed to be doing quite well. Would they succeed in weakening the dragon, I wondered?

Sounds like this should be a positive for Proto-Prussia, I guess you’d be hoping so. In addition to them all maybe weakening themselves.

So, there… I have placed before you maps of all the realms of the known world. Where do you suppose Brandenburg’s attentions might best be next directed??

And… (knowing me) What do you suppose I did instead?

Given you've asked about trade, securing more of Germany for a start...

But you also mentioned that France is embroiled in two major wars. And they were a rival of yours at some point. Time for revenge!

I agree with both of these. So did you attack the Teutonic Order instead and take out the mandatory war loans?

 

[jak7139]

How do you do that?

When you click on a province, near the top left of the window are two buttons. One looks like a crown (move capital), the other looks like a crate (move home node). Both buttons effectively do the same thing, since moving your capital also moves your home node. But if for RP or strategic reasons you want to move your home node and keep your capital where it it, the other button exists. Moving your capital costs admin, moving your node costs diplo.

 

[Rensslaer]

Well….


I’m going to tell this story a little bit backward. Because there’s stuff that’s easiest to get out of the way first so as not to distract from the main elements of the update.

Plus, it kinda precipitates what I’m about to do, so…


Firstly, France…

You’ll recall, perhaps, that France had been at war with Great Britain since 1570, in order to grab her colonies, but on the British Isles themselves the British had actually reoccupied their French-annexed territory to the south of London. Then, in 1573, as you may also recall, the Spanish Empire invaded France.

As you can see, by January of 1575, the Spanish had made significant progress against the south of France.

Then, weirdly, the Ottomans were called into the war against Spain by the French, and they honored that treaty in November of 1575.






Weirder still, earlier that year the Ottomans had made some sort of rapproachment with Brandenburg, and ceased to be our Rival, and at the same time the Muslim Turks joined the Protestant League…

Mmmkay!

Well, I know what some of you are thinking. You’re thinking one or both of two things. Either:

Gosh, this might be a great opportunity for Brandenburg to dogpile on France, while Britain and Spain are already occupying their attention. Course that could bring me back into conflict with the Ottomans.

OR

Gosh, this might be a great opportunity for Brandenburg to kick off the Great Religious War between the Protestant and Catholic Leagues, while France and Russia and the Ottomans might join us against Spain and Austria and Sweden.

Well….

Let me assure you these things did occur to me, and I was considering them. But there were a lot of moving parts going on in Europe at this time. And the things you see in the above screenshot took place over the course of a year.

Meanwhile, other things were going on.






At the beginning of 1575 Bavaria declared war upon the one-province state of Salzburg. This brought Brunswick, our perennial enemy, into the war on Salzburg’s side.

This war – to cut to the chase – resulted in the Bavarian annexation of Salzburg after 15 months of fighting.

Meanwhile, in August of 1575, Oldenburg declared a war of conquest against Berg. To quickly wrap up this war, I shall say that in May of 1576, Oldenburg completely annexed the remaining provinces of Berg. Oldenburg, after two such wars, had grown to 4 provinces.

And that same month, Lubeck declared war upon Saxe-Lauenburg, drawing yet more of northern Germany into war. This war would continue through some of the rest of what I’m about to describe.

I had decided I wasn’t quite ready for a messy Coalition war between the religions, nor to take on France and perhaps accidentally have to carry on the war by myself.

Brandenburg had certain war goals which I think you may recall from earlier updates. And to be honest, this war was precipitated somewhat unexpectedly by Bavaria’s declaration against Salzburg. We were concerned that someone else might punish Brunswick and take some of her territory that we wanted.

It was nice that we’d achieved Mil Tech 14 in December 1574.

We had managed to set up a claim upon Hanover, and we decided to press for this claim by declaring war upon Brunswick directly in March of 1575. This brings us into a war against Regensburg and Mulhouse also. Regensburg (as you can see in the graphic) is part of the dwindling Coalition against us, but because we’re not declaring directly against her it doesn’t count as an attack against the Coalition.

This could be a useful technique, actually. I might knock off the frequent Coalition members one at a time…







Brunswick immediately hires the Colognian (?) Army as condottieri against me.

But by the end of March we had forced Brunswick’s own army to surrender at Paderborn. And we marched with overwhelming force against Cologne’s condottieri at Köln, forcing them also to surrender at the end of April. Paderborn had provided 3.42 Warscore, and Köln netted an astonishing 10 Warscore!

The summer of 1575 proved exciting and eventful. We arranged military access through Bavaria to reach Regensburg, and battles at Sundgau and Mulhausen defeated the last of Mulhausen’s army.

But the sneaky Regensburgers kept us on our feet by besieging Olomouc, the capital of our vassal Moravia.





But the most stunning word of the summer, having arrived in June, was that Hungary was preparing to go to war with another of our bitter enemies – the nefarious Teutonic Order.

Also, the scouts of our armies, as they crisscrossed southern Germany, spotted some 30,000 Austrian soldiers lurking nearby our frontiers.

Whether to be used against the Teutons or the Austrians, we needed more troops. We began to raise more regiments, including 3 cavalry and 10,000 infantry.





Our previous war with the Teutonic Order had left us richer, and with more territory, but still wanting more of these lands which traditionally belonged to the Brandenburger/Prussian kings. So said some, anyway.

The Hungarians called us to join them in war on 21 September 1575. We found ourselves at war also with Lucca, which was not that daunting. Thankfully Spain dishonored their alliance with the Teutons. Not sure what had brought that about – and not sure I realized beforehand it was a risk. Spain had its hands full with France.

Or Spain had its hands deep into France, one or the other. You’ll notice their advance has reached even further!

Brandenburger forces rushed into the Teutonic lands as soon as the war was underway. There was but one Knights army of 17,000 to oppose, and that was kept at bay by a strong counter force nearby.





On the 1st of November, 1575, Austria stunned Brandenburg, and most of Europe, by pulling off a tremendous Imperial coup – the Emperor expanded Austria’s borders to include all of its former vassal, Bohemia! This magnified the threat to Brandenburg, and set everyone’s teeth on edge.

In October Brandenburger armies also converged upon Olomouc, breaking the siege there. A second battle at Manhartsberg was the cause of the Regensburger surrender on 18 November.

With Brandenburg at war with five countries, still, it was difficult to amass a significant force to really take on the Teutonic army. After Manhartsberg those forces could be spared. But by that time Hungary had engaged the Teutons at Kulm and broken the spirit of their army, which retreated toward Kauen. We followed quickly behind, occupying as the Knights withdrew.





Finally, in March 1576, Strassburg falls and Mulhouse makes peace for 120 ducats and indemnities paid every month for 10 years.

And we take another Infrastructure Idea which improves our prosperity growth and budget spending.

In July 1576 the Teutonic Order surrendered to Brandenburg in a separate peace (I got that darned -25 Prestige hit again – I didn’t even notice it until I started writing up the AAR, so I didn’t realize).

I know – this war was somewhat anti-climactic. I hadn’t even fought a battle in this war! The Hungarians had done all the killing. Brandenburg only went through and captured territory.

We claim FOUR new provinces – some of the provinces which are considered cores for Brandenburg/Prussia.





This completed the Prussian Expansion Mission, as we now held all the core provinces in East and West Prussia and in the Mittelmark. The Mittelmark is where Berlin is, and East and West Prussia are where the Teutonic Order used to hold sway (the northern two portions, not the southern). Accomplishing this also gives us cores upon Silesia and Lusatia – basically everything directly southeast of Berlin all the way to Krakow/Krakau.

I suspect that Hungary, now that we’ve bowed out, may try to take some of the rest of what we’ve allowed the Teutons to retain. We actually have no need or desire for much of what the Knights hold. But Hungary wants it – that’s why they started this war. They can have it. We have another war to fight.






We broke the city of Regensburg, and they agreed to pay 75 ducats and an indemnity for 10 years. At the beginning of October 1576 Brunswick was fully annexed by Brandenburg. We took Hanover and Gottingen – all that remained after Oldenburg took Hoya (and of course since we took Braunschweig in the 1400s).

We also achieve Diplo Tech 11 (again, quite behind).

At the end of this war Brandenburg had grown by 6 provinces and now dominated northern Germany. That white blob to the south of us was worrisome, however.






And I note that the Spanish appear to have suffered a reversal of fortunes, with the French apparently claiming back some of the lost territory. And I could imagine that some significant portion of the Spanish armies might be trapped in those northern provinces where they still held territory. Maybe this wasn’t going to weaken France as much as I had hoped.

So I’ll ask again… Will there be a period of peace, after this, or do you anticipate I have another campaign to wage sooner rather than later?

 

[Cromwell]

Bravo, next stop forming Prussia! As for your next move... I think you well rest and recover and digest what you have eaten, at least that is what I would do but I am a very cautious player (too cautious to be very good honestly) I sort of hope you do the wild thing and stab France in the back and really test your abilities!

Hungary is going to end up with some really ugly borders by the time this run ends but the bigger the better as you will need a stong ally when the time comes to humbe your eternal nemesis the Austrians.

 

[jak7139]

This could be a useful technique, actually. I might knock off the frequent Coalition members one at a time…

It is very useful indeed. Finding new ways to keep a large coalition divided via truces, alliances, or wars is always fun.

Colognian (?)

Cologner? Colognish? Colognese? IDK.

Or Spain had its hands deep into France, one or the other. You’ll notice their advance has reached even further!

Spain is heavily distracted. And Hungary has taken the opportunity to strike.

We claim FOUR new provinces – some of the provinces which are considered cores for Brandenburg/Prussia.

Some very good land gained. I'm surprised you were able to take land. Hungary declared with the Diplomatic Insult CB, which if I remember right prevents taking land. I guess that only applies to Hungary, not you.

Maybe this wasn’t going to weaken France as much as I had hoped.

They'll still be weakened. Less manpower. High war exhaustion. Accrued debt. And if they get involved in the League War soon after or during this, it won't be good for them.

So I’ll ask again… Will there be a period of peace, after this, or do you anticipate I have another campaign to wage sooner rather than later?

I think you'll go to war soon. Or at least start preparing for one.

 

[Lord Durham]

Congrats on a successful campaign. Looks like 'Prussia' is in the cards.

 

[Bullfilter]

Brunswick immediately hires the Colognian (?) Army as condottieri against me.

Outrageous! Someone else hiring mercs against you? Should be a Law of War against it!

But the most stunning word of the summer, having arrived in June, was that Hungary was preparing to go to war with another of our bitter enemies – the nefarious Teutonic Order.

So I was mainly right, even if Hungary was the instigator. No loans and mercs required though.

wanting more of these lands which traditionally belonged to the Brandenburger/Prussian kings

Exactly - it had to be done at some point soon.

In July 1576 the Teutonic Order surrendered to Brandenburg in a separate peace

Huzzah! And cheap enough in blood with Hungary pulling its weight this time.

We claim FOUR new provinces – some of the provinces which are considered cores for Brandenburg/Prussia.

Great progress.

At the end of this war Brandenburg had grown by 6 provinces and now dominated northern Germany.

First Prussia - then an early German unification down the track?

Will there be a period of peace, after this, or do you anticipate I have another campaign to wage sooner rather than later?

That white blob will be an increasing problem as you expand in Germany and the religious wars start. Lance the boil early if possible: can you do that now or will you need time to prepare? Otherwise, maybe some more local expansion, if the AE will bear it?

 

[Rensslaer]

I think I and a few others noticed this, but we didn’t say anything for two reasons: the first is that there were other fires to put out, and the second is that merchants do not simply steer or collect trade, they also add a small amount of trade power and trade efficiency to a node. The Saxony node at game start has so many hands in the pie and so few meaningful ways to steer money into it from elsewhere that for much of the game to date, it probably was genuinely better for you to keep your merchant there to squeeze just that little bit extra out.

Now that you are a bit bigger, yes obviously it’s now better to steer from other nodes into Saxony, but I would actually suggest moving your home node to the Baltic and start steering and collecting from there.

@Historywhiz true, it's a relatively minor issue when there are so many other things to attend to. Interesting idea to move my home node. I'll consider that, at the point where I'm playing now. This is an amazingly complex game. It's good to have folks like you to contribute and provide advice while playing!

This is common with merchants in this game. Check your trade income, make a change, check it again after the month-tick update, repeat until you find a combination that works. It's a lot of incremental movements to try and make the most profit.

Yes. But having it there does give a small boost. So it wasn't a complete waste. Though generally, it's more worth it to transfer than collect.

I'm pretty sure most EU4 players guesstimate their way through trade!

If I've read you right, you currently have four merchants, with your home node in Saxony.

• one collecting in Novgorod
• one collecting in Saxony
• one collecting in the Baltic Sea
• one transferring from Krakow to Saxony

The nodes that flow into Saxony are Wien and Krakow. The nodes that Saxony flows into are Lubeck and Rheinland.

If you want to make more from trade, conquering into Wien and Krakow, and sending your merchants there to transfer would be a good start. You aren't even transferring from Wien at all, so can move your Saxony merchant there.

You also want to conquer into Lubeck and Rheinland, because that's where the money flowing away from Saxony is headed. From the screenshot you provided, Rheinland is taking 9.52 gold from Saxony, while Lubeck takes none. Establishing enough control over these two areas will effectively mean nothing flows out of Saxony. All your wealth will stay at home.

As @Historywhiz suggests, moving your home node to Lubeck once you've gained enough of a presence there would be a great idea. The reasons why are because Lubeck has many locations flowing into it, but only one location flowing out of it. So it's easier to contain the wealth there. All the Novgorod, Baltic, and much of the Persian and Chinese trade will eventually end up in Lubeck, so it tends to amass a lot of money. After that, you're not that far away from the ideal setup, an end node, the English Channel. Nothing goes out, everything goes in.

But a very important key: if you can't establish control over your home node (wherever you decide to move it), it could end up costing you money. Don't move your node to Lubeck, the EC, or wherever else until you have a good, consistent chunk of the pie (30% or more).

Does this new Saxony have cores over the former Saxony's land that you annexed? Is it causing tension?



...But you also mentioned that France is embroiled in two major wars. And they were a rival of yours at some point. Time for revenge!

@jak7139 interesting idea about steering everything into the English Channel once I get control there.

The new Saxony does have the same cores as traditional Saxony, so yes, tension!

France is embroiled in war. And you recommend contributing! But, of course, this feedback was before the latest update, and we've discovered that the French war is already starting to conclude.

You've left a second comment, with feedback below...

You declared the War of the Protestant League?

@Steckie Aha! And this is a good idea. In some circumstances. Perhaps I will, perhaps I will not. You'll have to see!

Thanks for reading!

I’d go east. You probably DoWed France, only to have everyone else peace out.

@Nikolai and if you've read my latest update you know that I did, in fact, go east! But no France -- that's exactly what I suspected would happen. The others would peace out and I'd be left holding the bag.

Establishing a supreme court and encouraging lawyers increases tax revenue? I would be surprised, but this is Paradox who coded the Vicki2 economy so artisans could make tanks out of fruit.

Relax, if the system thinks more lawyers helps an economy then of course the maths will never make sense.

War with France.

War with France.

@El Pip I cannot vouch for the process used by Paradox in determining what various events do. I recall from EU III beta days that sometimes there were events inserted for balance without a whole lot of rationale. But I think maybe you do not give the V2 coders enough credit -- it would not do to have artisans making things out of nothing at all. All that fruit, at the time, could not be transported fresh, and so these artisans had to eat canned fruit. And so, naturally, they had a lot of tin cans just lying around. Artisans being artisans, they could not throw potentially useful items out, and so they probably just repurposed the tin cans as tanks! This is what artisans are best at!

Yes, war with France... I'll get to that. One of these days.

Apologies and correction

Previously claimed that the emperor of the hre is not allowed to convert; apparently, this was wrong, and only with a click even the emperor-tag can convert as demonstrated.

Have checked patch notes, some own old saves; it is not related to version or else, but simply own misinformation on the subject (still searching the older patch notes, though, to find out the root cause of assuming it as such. Sigh.). Apparently the emperor-tag is always allowed to convert, whether before else during the counter-reformation, and neither the imperial reforms nor the league wars have an effect, but converting before the proclaim erbkaisertum will cause immediate re-election, naturally. Any tag of christian denomination (except orthodox and coptic, which are not allowed) can convert at any time. Only when a tag is the defender of the faith, the conversion is not allowed.

The previous comments will be corrected immediately.

@filcat Yes, keeping track of the initial rules, and all the later rules changes, and all the patch changes, etc. It's a difficult task. Thank you for keeping us on track!

RL driven absence temporarily in check, caught up again so will comment while I can.

Sounds like this should be a positive for Proto-Prussia, I guess you’d be hoping so. In addition to them all maybe weakening themselves.



I agree with both of these. So did you attack the Teutonic Order instead and take out the mandatory war loans?

@Bullfilter glad you're back at it, and very glad to have your readership!

Always good to have France weaken themselves. Or so.

As you have seen by now, I did attack the Teutonic Order, though I think I maybe took one loan out? Which was quickly repaid. You'll see we're running a very lean budget these days!

Third response down below...

When you click on a province, near the top left of the window are two buttons. One looks like a crown (move capital), the other looks like a crate (move home node). Both buttons effectively do the same thing, since moving your capital also moves your home node. But if for RP or strategic reasons you want to move your home node and keep your capital where it it, the other button exists. Moving your capital costs admin, moving your node costs diplo.

@jak7139 Ach! All these minute strategies for how to make the most out of ones' country! It's difficult to keep track of. I recall playing Star Fleet Battles many years ago -- the rules were always wheels within wheels. You had tactics and techniques to give advantage, but there was always a counter to every advantage, and only those who really knew the rules would prevail in the end!

You replied a third time -- feedback below!

Bravo, next stop forming Prussia! As for your next move... I think you well rest and recover and digest what you have eaten, at least that is what I would do but I am a very cautious player (too cautious to be very good honestly) I sort of hope you do the wild thing and stab France in the back and really test your abilities!

Hungary is going to end up with some really ugly borders by the time this run ends but the bigger the better as you will need a strong ally when the time comes to humble your eternal nemesis the Austrians.

@Cromwell Thank you! I'll get to that whole Prussia thing eventually. And I do get to test my abilities for real, in time. That time is coming, but I cannot forecast how soon.

Yes, Hungary does have very ugly borders. I'm actually very impressed by how well they've done. They have avoided rivalry from the Ottomans, which could have destroyed them, and between my alliance with them and their own initiatives, they've done very well. Never expected them to be among the Great Powers! And yes, very glad to have them at my side against my enemies.

It is very useful indeed. Finding new ways to keep a large coalition divided via truces, alliances, or wars is always fun.

Cologner? Colognish? Colognese? IDK.

Spain is heavily distracted. And Hungary has taken the opportunity to strike.

Some very good land gained. I'm surprised you were able to take land. Hungary declared with the Diplomatic Insult CB, which if I remember right prevents taking land. I guess that only applies to Hungary, not you.

They'll still be weakened. Less manpower. High war exhaustion. Accrued debt. And if they get involved in the League War soon after or during this, it won't be good for them.

I think you'll go to war soon. Or at least start preparing for one.

Thanks! I was very happy by my conquests this time around. It's really time that I want to face full front toward the west, but I don't know if I'll be able to manage that... I'm sure you're right about the ability to take territory. Maybe that's why the Hungarians didn't take territory the time before?

Congrats on a successful campaign. Looks like 'Prussia' is in the cards.

@Lord Durham thanks for reading! I'm definitely aiming toward Prussia.... Just the timing that needs to get worked out.

Outrageous! Someone else hiring mercs against you? Should be a Law of War against it!

So I was mainly right, even if Hungary was the instigator. No loans and mercs required though.

Exactly - it had to be done at some point soon.

Huzzah! And cheap enough in blood with Hungary pulling its weight this time.

Great progress.

First Prussia - then an early German unification down the track?

That white blob will be an increasing problem as you expand in Germany and the religious wars start. Lance the boil early if possible: can you do that now or will you need time to prepare? Otherwise, maybe some more local expansion, if the AE will bear it?

I know! I thought I was the only one using mercenaries!!! Actually I haven't used them much lately. But circumstances may dictate.

Yes, the white blob and the blue blob. Hard to know which to take on first. I don't really WANT to take on either. But I kinda have to. Grumble...


Okay so I have a little bit of progress on the next update, but I've had other things distracting. Hopefully in another few days I'll have an update ready.

I haven't actually played the game since September, but I've just begun playing again. I didn't want to get too far ahead of the story. Plus I have a rather daunting episode coming up, and I had to gird myself for it.

Thank you all for your readership, and also for your votes in the ACA round this quarter!

Rensslaer

 

[Nikolai]

Prussian accepted culture! Soon you will be the mighty Prussian KINGDOM.

 

[Rensslaer]

I have a succession of good and bad news...

The good news is I've begun playing the game again, for the first time since September. And I'm having a blast!

The bad news is it's kept me from preparing an update for this week.

The good news is my wife and I went tonight to belatedly celebrate our birthdays at the best steakhouse in southern Georgia.

The bad news is that while I was gone my cats apparently tried playing the game, and didn't do so well. One of them has the habit of enjoying the warm keyboard if I leave the screen up, which I do if I'm continuously playing.

The good news is she didn't mess anything up, as I'd saved just before leaving.

The bad news is I still have no idea how to win this war...

The good news is because I'm having such a good time, now I'm in the mood to tell you more about the events leading up to this, and therefore I'm now committed to preparing the next update.

So please give me a few more days and I'll try to have an update ready.

Rensslaer

 

[Lord Durham]

The bad news is that while I was gone my cats apparently tried playing the game, and didn't do so well. One of them has the habit of enjoying the warm keyboard if I leave the screen up, which I do if I'm continuously playing.

I have much the same problem with one of my dogs. He likes to sit on my lap and tap the keys. I wouldn't mind so much, but he keeps correcting my spelling mistakes...

Looking forward to your next update.

 

[Nikolai]

Much good news, some bad news, bad news seems repairable. All in all, victory!

 

[Steckie]

I have much the same problem with one of my dogs. He likes to sit on my lap and tap the keys. I wouldn't mind so much, but he keeps correcting my spelling mistakes...

Evolution at work: now that we don't need them for hunting anymore, dogs are involving into the new Canis Lupus Autocorrectus species.

A bold evolutionary strategy, let's see if it plays out.

 

[Rensslaer]

When last we left our heroes, Brandenburg had just annexed the last of our longtime enemy Brunswick (they were among our first rivals, when I started the game), and we’d also made a separate peace with the Teutonic Order after Hungary had called us in.

In November 1576, before Hungary made peace, Lithuania and Sweden together dogpiled on the Teutonic Order!

In April 1577 Hungary made peace by taking six provinces (sorry I neglected to include in the screenshot 3 of their remaining provinces off to the east), then in November Lithuania claimed the Order’s three remaining eastern provinces (the ones I mentioned), and required them to release most of the rest of their territory as Poland.

<<GROANS!!>>






Okay, well… Altogether, after Brandenburg took 6 provinces, Hungary took another 6, Lithuania annexed 3 and 4 provinces became Poland, the Teutonic Order went from 20 provinces to only 1 in barely more than 3 years. Wow!

So the Teutonic Order – our once-great rival – is now a one-province minor.

And I’m kind of ticked, because now I’ll have to go back and deal with them. PLUS I’m going to have to go back and deal with Poland, again, now, whereas I’d kinda hoped Poland was gone and would stay gone.

In May of 1577, to annoy us further, our enemy Lubeck had annexed Saxe-Lauenburg. So they’re 2 provinces now – of relatively little consequence, except economically. That’s their strength – their self-named Trade Node, which is quite rich.






We’d had so much hope for this Spanish-French war, but after such significant and wide-ranging warfare it came to a close with a whimper in October 1577 with only one additional Flemish province changing hands from French to Spanish control.

Around this time we decided that our likelihood of wanting to take on France in a war of our own was not wise. We switched our rivalry from France to Great Britain, and began attempting to soften the bad relations between us and France. They would have to be a war in the next century, maybe. We weren’t ready for another such war in the near future. Especially if even Spain couldn’t inflict serious hurt on her.

Predictably, in 1578, Great Britain declared war upon two of the three cast-off states that had survived the collapse of Scotland in the 1550s and 1560s.



Maybe also predictably, a few months later Denmark declared war upon the last of the three cast-off states, The Isles. Brandenburg was called to war against The Isles. As before, it seems most proactive to move before the Danes could, and get this war over with.






After a year of quick battles and long-term sieges, Brandenburg made a separate peace with The Isles, asking only a small indemnity, as well as a 10% monthly payment.

As you might imagine, those payments didn’t last long. In August of 1582, after being forced to re-occupy the lands Brandenburg had first taken on their behalf, Denmark concluded a peace that brought The Isles (the Hebrides Islands) into their growing Scottish territories.

And in September 1581 Great Britain had annexed Gaeldom after its war aims were satisfied. All of Scotland had been divided, by the end of 1582, between Denmark and Great Britain.

In 1582 we took the Infrastructure Idea Organized Construction, which gave us a 10% break on construction costs. Along with it seemed to come the Divide the Estates event/idea, which saves 10% on Stability cost.

We also constructed or improved many buildings, a high percentage of which were related to defense and military interests. Most significant of these was upgrading 3 fortresses to Bastion level (which I believe is the 4th level, just before the star fort).





And we came across a quick war with Lithuania again. The third war Hungary started with Moldavia/Lithuania, and this time again we begged out quickly after having taken a fair amount of Lithuanian territory. The war began in September and was concluded by us the following March. We left the Hungarians still fighting in 1583.

The Hungarians concluded that war with another easy peace in November 1583, asking for money and payments.

Right around that same time King-Elector Friedrich VI is recognized as a Scholar, and our technology costs go down.





In September of 1583 the Mamluk Dynasty collapsed, and the Ottoman Empire took them on as a vassalish “eyalet” (to accompany their Persian eyalet). Gosh, I know I’ve seen huge Ottoman Empires in other folks’ games, but even mine is making me cringe. I don’t want to fight these people. Not before I’m ready… If ever.

In April of 1583 we had begun the process of annexing our voluntary vassal Hesse, and that process concluded in June of 1586. We add two more provinces to our territory, which puts us in better stead with regard to our presumable future opponent Austria. We’re not necessarily stronger, but we’re keeping pace.

We hit MilTech 15 in July of 1584, increasing our Military Tactics (important!) and our Land Morale by a whole point (also important!). I believe we chose Maurician Infantry.

In December of that year we took another Economic Idea (almost done with the Idea Group) – Efficient Mining – giving us improvements to Inflation reduction (which is already hardly an issue, with only 1% Inflation).






And, for those of you who still worry about my Loans, I’m down to only 2 Loans at 1% Interest, which costs us only 2 ducats a month. Overall monthly income is 108 ducats – 2 for reparations, 1.32 from Vassals, 24 from Trade, 26 from Production, and 54 from Taxation (which is gathered at 81% Efficiency).

I’ve been building Economic buildings, too. Manufactories, which improve Production, and other buildings which improve Trade or Taxation.

Our expenses are 98 ducats a month, leaving a monthly surplus of almost 10 ducats. That’s going toward loan repayment and new building construction. Yes, I know it might be wise in many circumstances to keep the 1% Burgher loans instead of paying them off. But I’ve recognized the threat the Burghers may pose to our throne, and I don’t want them hanging that over my head. Plus if affects one of these stats – I think it reduces Trade Efficiency by 5% to have those loans.

At 2/3 Army Maintenance we’re spending about 50 ducats a month. Nearly 10 ducats for Forts (we’ve been building more and beefing them up). Missionaries only 1 ducat a month, but they’re working. Fleet costs 6ish, which is easily worth keeping at 100% because that helps our Trade Income. Advisors take 20 a month, which isn’t bad. I’m spending 7 ducats a month to reduce Corruption, but that’s made great progress, and we’re finally nearly down to 1 Corruption (remember we “earned” 10 by Debasing our currency – a SERIOUS mistake!).

You recall my mentioning how IRRITATED I was that Poland had reconstituted??? Our truce ends in November 1586, by which time I had fabricated a claim on Polish lands…





So, just in time for the opposing Military Coalition to fall apart, it’s time to give them another excuse…

War with Poland brings us into conflict also with Siena, Saxony and Lithuania also. Yes, this is my 4th war with Lithuania since 1553 (33 years!). Saxony is the secondary war we really want. Ideally, in this conflict, I hope to annex parts of Saxony and part or all of Poland.

By the end of December two primary clashes were set to occur – Wurzburg and Dobrzyn. Brandenburg overwhelmed the enemy in both cases.






Such that by mid-January both battles had been won. Saxony’s army was destroyed. The Poles got off light, after a 6-Fire general got good rolls. But this was how the war would be, on both fronts. It wasn’t really a contest.

By the end of January both countries were already half occupied, and reinforcements were being sent from Saxony to Poland to rebalance in light of the month’s battles.

By February 1587 Saxony was prepared to surrender. They allowed Brandenburg to annex Leipzig and Wittenberg, paid an additional 235 ducats prize, and will pay 10% of its income to Brandenburg monthly for 10 years. Saxony retains 4 provinces.






Austria and Bavaria did, soon after, re-create their coalition against Brandenburg. But Brandenburg continued to prepare, building a Shipyard at Rugen, and two Regimental Camps to increase allowable Forcelimit.

In June Gen. von Dossow (6 Fire, 4 Shock!) defeated a large Lithuanian army at Ovrucas, reducing at force of 25,000 soldiers by fully half! That added 3.24 Warscore. And Brandenburger armies continued to trounce and trod over the familiar Lithuanian countryside, occupying more territory as they went.

These exploits had all become humdrum, by the end of the 16th Century. Ahh, but here begins a tale to salt the palate of any sea dog…

Five venerable carracks of the Brandenburger Navy, led by the Flagship Brandenburgischer Dragoner, under the command of Admiral Diederick von Anhalt, departed their Baltic harbor in July 1587 and staged at the Shetland Islands. From there, they transited the English Channel… bound for Gibraltar.







Anhalt’s mission was to determine how feasible an amphibious assault might be against Poland’s Italian ally Siena in her home waters!

At Gibraltar on 1 August, the carrack Pfeil was dispatched to return home, as storms had damaged her rigging and seaworthiness, and there was concern that she should not continue. Four carracks continued, though, and passed through Genoese waters to scout out the Sienese shorelines.

There they found 11,000 Sienese soldiers guarding their homeland, and another 16 Sienese ships guarding the waters nearby. Clearly, though soldiers had also been staged in the Shetlands, this was an operation that could not be completed.

Brandenburgischer Dragoner and her squadron dropped anchor at the Shetland Islands once more on 22 October, 1587. They had transited 5000 nautical miles. The Flagship, significantly strengthened over other ships, was reduced to only 78% of seaworthiness. But ragged Basilisk was down to 60%! But they had survived. Our transports? They wouldn’t have fared as well, but with proper planning and support a long-range invasion might work.

This expedition had proved this VERY important “use case” – determining whether it was even feasible for a German squadron to operate in the Mediterranean Ocean.

It was.







We continued to struggle with Lithuanian armies, who seemed to wander the Russian steppes as likely as the Lithuanian steppes. We tracked down one of their armies at Kaluga, just outside of Moskva, in October.

The Lithuanian fortress at Kaunas fell during this battle. And we continued the battle for a while, but we were not prevailing as we’d hoped – it was hard fought.

We had enough Warscore to impose a punishing peace, though not enough to annex Poland outright. Ironically, we had gone to war due to claims on Inowroclaw, but in the end that’s the only territory we left them! Partly, that’s so we still had the claim, and could come back for it again later.

But partly, I wanted a buffer between Hungary and both Poland and the Teutonic Order so they wouldn’t feel the constant need to drag me into another of THEIR wars! I wanted this territory, and there would, someday, be a reckoning with both Poland and the Teutonic Order. They would both join Brandenburg at some point. I didn’t want anybody else to be able to place a claim on these lands.





This was the new map of Europe in 1587.

Any thoughts on what to do, or where to go next?