A Relic of the Past - The Achaemenid Megacampaign Part 3

[Killcrazy13]

The dramatised retaking of Achaemeniyya in the 1330 AD by Tsar Dragoman​

A Relic of Antiquity (Achaemenid Megacampaign Part 3)

The Achaemenid Empire had existed for more than 2,000 years though there were periods in the long century when it was no more than a daydream in an Achaemenid’s head. Surviving the ravages of the 3rd century’s many crises, the Muslim Invasions and the Great Catholic Betrayal, the entity lurched into the 15th century a shadow of its former self. Having once ruled the greatest empire the world had ever seen, the Achaemenids was now reduced to their core holdings in the Balkans and a scattering of territories in North Africa, Syria and a few islands in the Mediterranean.

It was still ruled by an Achaemenid who could trace his ancient bloodline back to Amastris and Cyrus and the many great rulers of the house – Darius, Orestes, Hormazd and many others. Despite their lineage, the Achaemenids had long abandoned their Persian heritage as they focused on ruling from Achaemeniyya, their great city straddling the Bosphorus and the crossroads of Europe and Asia. From their exile in the Eurasian steppes, they brought with them Slavic migrants and renewed their strength by infusing new traditions and cultures into their old domains. The empire had always been exceptionally tolerant, barring a few periods of xenophobia and persecution and that meant its lands were diverse, multicultural and at times riven with strife. Perhaps that contributed to the losses of territory it experienced as its many different people sought to break off from the crown that they had little in common with.

What held the empire together? Perhaps inertia but we cannot discount the influence of the Khodan Orthodox Church. From its inception encouraged by its Zoroastrian converts, the Church had always presented itself as the champion and the truest followers of the original precepts of Christ. In spite of these claims, the Khodan Orthodox Church had seen its own divisions on doctrine over the centuries and clashed with the sitting Shahanshah or Tsar as the emperors began to style themselves in the latter centuries. The Church evolved over time and it increasingly became defined by its opposition to the Papacy which dominated Western Europe and its evolving relationship with Islam that shifted from uneasy co-existence to outright hostility. In the last decades of the medieval age, the Church and the Empire view themselves as the last bulwark against Muslim invaders for an ungrateful Europe.


The Political Situation

From its hegemonic days, the Achaemenid Empire has fallen far. However, it’s still one of the great powers of the world, able to marshal armies and ships to match any of its rivals and enjoys a level of prestige unmatched outside of the courts of the Holy Roman Emperor, the Ming Emperor and the Nizari Imamate of Jerusalem. The world is becoming increasingly multi-polar and as it enters a new era of global exploration, the Achaemenids are finding trustworthy friends increasingly few and far and far between.

The antagonism with the Catholic West stems from the ill-advised conflict over France and the subsequent retaliatory crusade and loss of major parts of Greece. The Holy Roman Empire that arose out of that conflict now look to hamper the Achaemenids from restoring their old Hellenic heartlands and force it to expand resources that could perhaps be better used to defend Christendom from Muslims. Only in the Northern Russian forest and in Northern Gaul are there Khodan Orthodox compatriots who share the same tenets as Achaemeniyya but they too are raising their own Patriarchs to guide their nations – an outcome of the Khodan reformations that the Achaemenids engendered.

Al-Anatolia, lost since the 8th century, has only had fleeting periods when it returned to Achaemenid control. Now a Turkic power has consolidated a new realm there and the Osmanoğlu are calling for all ghazi warriors to join them to once again retake the red apple of Achaemeniyya for Islam. In the Hungarian plains, the Rev-Mehrans have converted many of the Dacians and Hungarians to Islam and look to hold off the surrounding Christian vultures. In the Middle East, rival Shia and Sunni factions square off in one of the wealthiest and most prosperous regions in the world.

However, it’s the far West where new developments might overturn the standing world order. The Christian nations of Portugal and Baetica on the southern end of Iberia are exploring new horizons and there’s talk of sailing around the world to access the wealth of the Indies. The Caliphate of Castille and the Muslim Berbers of Hadrametum are eager to join the race for new trade routes and wealth as the conflict between Islam and Christianity enters a new more global stage.

Welcome to the 3rd part of my Achaemenid Megacampaign!

 

[Nikolai]

Welcome to the 3rd part of my Achaemenid Megacampaign

Thank you. If part 1 and 2 is anything to go from, this will be a blast!

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Away we go. Presumably west. but maybe they buck historical trends and go east.

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[Killcrazy13]

Welcome old and new readers to this, the 3rd part of my megacampaign. You can read the previous chapters in these links:

Part 1 in Imperator Rome here: The Last of the Achaemenids (Part 1)
Part 2 in Crusader Kings 3 here: The Achaemeneh - A Saga of the Byzantine Kings (Part 2)

I've given a short overview of the past events in the introductory post but you are welcome to read the previous AARs for more details and to ask questions about the story/world in those threads or here.

My plan is to hopefully take the campaign all the way into Vic3 but let's see if we get there. For EU4, I plan to provide updates that are closer in-sync with the gameplay. I realised it can get draggy when you're 300 years in the future, excited to talk about events there while the readers are enjoying reading about the Muslim invasions. The other reason is that this will be my first actual EU4 playthrough and you get to watch me blunder through it, and maybe some of the experts like @jak7139 can provide advice if I dig myself into a hole. I have about 40 hours of play, just enough to know the basics but not enough to fully understand how the game works. Last note, I'm playing with Lucky Nations and Hard difficulty. Yes, it's asking for trouble but let's see how bad it can be.

Mods used here are mostly clamp mods recommended by Zemurin to create a better Vic3 conversion + XormeAI:

1. AI wants nice borders
2. Realistic African Colonisation
3. Slower Colonisation (-50% version)
4. Rebalanced Technology Spread
5. Responsible Blobbing
6. Responsible Warfare
7. Xorme - AI
8. Great Project Unlocked (this is for fun since it's not an Ironman cheevo run)

Cheers and welcome aboard!

 

[Killcrazy13]

Major Powers of the World

We’ll come to a more detailed look at the Achaemenid Empire at the turn of the century, but first, it’s important to outline the world the empire finds itself in the year of our lord 1400 AD. Not included in this list are the powers in India and China. We’ll talk about them when they come to be pertinent to the story.

The Muslim States

From their inception in the deserts of Arabia, the Muslims had spread across three continents, dominating Africa north of the Sahara, penetrating deep into Asia before clashes with the Indian Rajas stymied their progress and breaking into Europe from both East and West. In less than 600 years, they had established some of the most powerful realms yet but they were riven by internal schisms similar to Christianity that set sultan against sultan and only grew deeper as the Sunnis and Shi’ites continued their wars.

The Caliphate of Castille - Sunni
From its humble origins on the Valencian coast in the 8th century, Castille would grow to become the single largest power in Western Europe until the formation of the Holy Roman Empire in the 13th century. Unlike Islam in other regions, most of its population were native Romans who sought protection from Germanic invaders in the long dark ages after the fall of the Roman Empire and not Arab or Persian migrants bringing their faith with them. They would expand steadily over the next few centuries, eventually bringing the Word of the Quran beyond the Pyrenees and conquering Aquitaine and much of central France. Their domination northwards could not last as the HRE, Valois and Arles pushed them back or broke their power in dozens of wars. Now Aquitaine is a separate Muslim state but pays respect to the spiritual leadership of Castille.

The Sultanate took on a new spiritual dimension in the 11th century as the ruler Timotheos Flavian Bin Severus Flavius became the first Caliph of Hispania claiming he was given visions by Allah to unify the European Ummah in their holy cause. Now ruled by the 7th Caliph Epiphanius Flavian, they are still mighty, rich and eager to spread their faith in the lands of Europe and beyond. Many Iberian Christians had abandoned Castille over the centuries, congregating in the Christian states of Portugal and Baetica in the South, creating a rare heterogeneity within the Caliphate.

The Ottoman Empire - Sunni
A latecomer to regional politics, the Ottoman Empire was founded by Osman and his son, Ertugrul in the wake of the breaking of Byzanstani power in Anatolia in the 11th and 12th centuries. Initially serving as swords for hires alongside a dozen other Turkish tribes who migrated to the Anatolian Plateau. They would overthrow their Nizari Shia rulers in Rum and come to control most of the peninsular except for the Meander Valley and Bithynia where small crusader states stood against the growing threat.

By 1400 AD, they had expanded their power massively, even eliminating the last vestiges of Achaemenid power in Anatolia and seem to be preparing to cross the Bosphorus in their jihad to destroy Christianity. The lands they rule are populated by Byzantines, Armeno-Cumans and Cappadocians with the Turkish horsemen forming a thin layer of elites keeping the natives subdued. Beyond the war with Christianity, they also have work to do converting the local populations away from the heretical Nizari Shia faith that many professed to during the heyday of Rum just a century ago. Always on guard against fifth-column actors and religious revolts, the Ottoman regime, led by Padishah Iollas Osmanaglu (his name a fig to the Byzantine peoples) have to be careful that as they travel abroad for conquest, they don’t leave themselves exposed to danger behind them.

The Holy State of Jerusalem - Shia
Led by the Ayatollah Kresimir Radomir who can trace his genealogy back to the first Imam of the Nizari, Tigran Vishparid and from there, the Hashimids of Egypt and even further back to the Prophet, the Holy State of Jerusalem sits at the nexus of vast wealth and religious fervour. From their initial base in Anatolia, the Nizari Shias have grown to capture the 3rd holiest site in Islam and control all of Egypt. They seek to build a religious state where faith is paramount and work to expand their influence in the region and hopefully capture Medina and Mecca from the wayward Sunnis of Arabia.

From a Christian island in a sea of Islam to a bulwark of Shia Islam in an ocean of Sunnis, the power of Jerusalem has always offered its rulers a high degree of power thanks to its fertile lands, strategic location and large population. The local Egyptians and Jerusalemians have long accepted the Nizari creed and identify themselves as one people against the Arabs and Persian states that surround them.

To the North, they have a fellow Shia kingdom in Rum but the relationship between the two are prickly, switching from ally to enemy depending on the larger geo-strategic situation.

The Eranian Empire - Sunni
The Eranian Empire grew out of an idea of a non-aligned block during the peak of Achaemenid-Parsa hostilities in the 4th and 5th centuries as the two halves of the old empire fought for influence. Formed in the 10th century, the Eranian Empire called for the diaspora of Persians to gather under its banner for protection.

Now dominating both sides of the Caucasian mountains, the Eranian Empire is ruled by the High Imam Tahtaman Telavi and has grown rich on the trade along the Silk Road. Despite this, the people of the land have proven resistant to change, preferring to hold on to the ancient ways of Persia, priding themselves on horsemanship, hunting and poetry. This slowness to adapt to technology led to the devastating loss of the Crimean steppe as the Achaemenid Empire established a new Christian kingdom there called the Bosporan Kingdom in imitation of the ancient realm of the Spartokides. Despite the embarrassing loss, the High Imam has to maintain good relations with the Tsar as Achaemeniyya is still a major clearing house for goods coming from the Caspian and steppe to the merchants of Italy. Perhaps if a new trade route overland through Europe could be found, Tahtaman would be more willing push for hostilities against the Achaemenids.

Rev Mehran and Hungary – Mutazila
Lastly, we have the aberrant Muslim state of central Europe. The Rev Mehrans and the Achaemenids of Hungary had been devout Christians for generations. Somewhere in the 13th century, a preacher named Sinistra began developing a large flock of devotees who hearkened to his message that all creeds were a lie and that man was a rationale creature who needed to seek the truth on his own terms. He would even convince the Kings of the lands to take up his faith. We aren’t sure why the message resonated so strongly in the Hungarians, descendants of the old Dacian people but it should be noted that this preacher arrived during the period of religious fervour we call the Latin Domination that had nearly destroyed the Achaemenid Empire.

Whatever the cause, the Rev Mehran dynasty and their vassals in Hungary, an Achaemenid offshoot, have stood firm in their faith, despite the hostility of the Holy Roman Empire and the recovering Achaemenid Empire.


The Christian Powers
Christianity has always been marked by the division off East and West from its earliest days of being accepted as the religion of empires. The old Roman Empire and Achaemenids had established rival churches to tend to their own citizens but the Achaemenids always viewed themselves as the paramount authority, being the first great empire to adopt Christ. These would give rise to the vicious religious wars that dominated the medieval age from the Wars for God to spread the faith in the 6th century to the Achaemenid Crusade/Great Catholic Betrayal of 1203. Tensions have eased a little since then but not by much.

The Holy Roman Empire - Catholic
Formed in the 13th century by Kaiser Gerolt I who unified all of Germania, Italy and most of the Balkans under his charismatic banner, the HRE is both the champion of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, and its greatest impediment to expansion. Never unified, the nature of the vassal contracts agreed during the time of Gerolt I meant that its member lords enjoyed a great degree of freedom to act as they wished, as long as they recognised the Kaiser as leader of Christendom and provided manpower in service of the faith.

It had been founded in imitation of the old Roman Empire that collapsed in the 6th century and had never been adequately replaced by the pretender empire that called itself the Roman Empire that lasted from the 8th century to the 13th before Gerolt tore it all down to erect his shining new entity.

In the 14th century, the Italian states seek to follow the example of the East and break away to focus on their own priorities – trade and expansion. The sitting Kaiser, Gerolt III van Gaveren is the great-grandchild of Gerolt I and still rules from Rome but sees his influence slowly ebb away as German Kings in Alemania and Asciburgia contest the election for the next Kaiser.

Axuchos – Khodan Orthodox
The state of Axuchos or Valois as it used to be known was the tinderbox that ignited the Catholic-Orthodox wars of the 11th and 12th centuries. Orthodox expansion into France gave rise to resentment and calls of heresy against the Achaemenids and nearly saw their empire destroyed and replaced a Latin Empire. In the intervening period, the rulers of Valois would find a compromise with the Catholics of the West and agree to cede certain points of doctrine – in effect entering communion with the Papacy, and abandoning key Khodan tenets. This allowed the state to survive and in 1400, it and its vassals dominate northern France and seek to push the Muslims back across the Pyrenees and off rightful French clay. The Kingdom is ruled by King Khodadad Axurchos, after the previous Kozman dynasty died out. The Axurchos are foreigners, hailing from the Orthodox East but are trying their best to adapt to French culture to keep their nobles docile and compliant.

Archduchy of Austria - Catholic
Austria is a rising power in Germany and Central Europe. Only recently formed, they seek to contest the elections for the HRE and capitalise on the path of expansion eastwards into Orthodox and Muslim lands. Ruled by Tvrtko Lopac, the Austrians are another of a range of Germanic powers that threaten to make the early-modern era a German one.

 

[jak7139]

and maybe some of the experts like @jak7139 can provide advice if I dig myself into a hole.

Always glad to help if it comes to that. But it's not like the Achaemenids can do any worse than the last few collapses, right?

 

[Killcrazy13]

Embers of Rebirth – The Achaemenid Empire in 1400


The Achaemenid Empire
The Empire has lost much of its territorial and cultural identity in the disasters of the medieval era. What stands now is a drastically different entity from the one that broke apart after the Argead reign. Culturally, it’s a fusion of Slavic, Greek and Persian peoples, defined by their allegiance to the Achaemenid dynasty and the Khodan Orthodox faith. Geographically, it’s an Eastern European power and still seeks to expand into its traditional homelands of Greece and Macedonia, now held by Catholic interlopers. Its overseas holdings are scattered outposts beyond it’s strong base in North Africa as Orthodox missionaries seek to convert the Muslim natives. Carthage is a vassal state created to meet the demands of Punic rebels when the empire was struggling in the 14th century and they threaten to break with the Empire and align with the Hadrametum Empire if Achaemedia did not pay enough attention to them. Its holding in Cyprus and Syria are threatened by Muslim states of Jerusalem and Rum while the Ilyrian provinces are cut off by land from the capital. It has a long alliance with Bosporan Kingdom, ruled by Krajica Lilyana Achaemenid, 2nd cousin to the current Tsar, Dominik. Together, they are the bulwark against Muslim expansion further into Europe and seek to bring the Hungarian Achaemenids into the embrace of Christ. The Empire has also extended an alliance to the Crusader state of Nicaea, now that they have entered communion with the Khodan Patriarchate of Achaemedia, in order to block Ottoman expansion into what remains of Christian Anatolia.

The Internal Body Politic

The pressures on the stressed system have foisted new civic and governing developments affecting how the empire is ruled. When Dragoman took the throne in 1307 AD, overthrowing Mundulf Kozman, it had come with the support of the Bulgarian boyars. The nobility had never relinquished its influence on the throne and the Tsars are hard pressed to deny them their privileges. They are entrusted with Expanding the Fortifications of the empire, controlling powerful castles such as Craiova, Zadar and Zenj. They enjoy substantial Land Rights and had the Right of Counsel – the Tsar would often include a rotating chair of powerful nobles in his war and state councils. With these privileges, the Primacy of the Boyars was enshrined as an inalienable right for many of the lords.

The next most powerful faction was the Patriarchate. The Tsars had attempted to reign them in but the weakness of the throne since the 13th century had seen their influence grow and even redouble in some aspects. Several Clerical Ministers served in the royal councils and members of the clergy act as Religious Diplomats in foreign missions. A nation such as the Achaemenid Empire, lacking the cultural unity of other nations, often fell back on religion as the great unifier, and the Patriarchate capitalises on this, eager to speak of the Tsar’s policies in sermons, and repeating endless times that the Empire was a Religious State. This veiled Oversight by the Patriarchs meant that the Tsar often had to make a show of supporting the expansion and Development of Churches. Church land was tax exempt and their Land Rights protected by the crown.

There were two other estates that the Tsars had to pay attention to in managing his realm. The Burghers or merchant class was a quickly growing faction. With the growth of trade in Achaemedia that the Great Catholic Betrayal had triggered with the establishment of Italian trading houses, they had begun to be looked at as a primary source of loans and liquidity when the crown fell on hard times. Certain policies dating from the Latin Domination had never been repealed such as the right to Free Enterprise and the trading houses right to maintain Private Trade Fleets to protect their goods from piracy. They also had protected Land Rights in the trading quarters of major cities. Lastly, there are the Cossacks. These free-spirited men of the steppes are a mix of rural Bulgarians, Moldavians and Sarmatinas who ride the open plains in the northern territories. Forming the bulk of the Achaemenid cavalry, they are often a source for cavalry officers, many Recruited Cossack Leaders have earned famed for their exploits. They’ve also given Prime Herding Rights in the territories they abound in, at the expense of more settled communities.

The Imperial Family

Portrait of Tsar Dominik holding court.
He was known for his swarthy appearance from long days on campaign and his love for military garb, even for formal occasions.
​

Dominik Achaemenid is the sitting Tsar, taking over from his grandfather 11 years ago. Having grown into his power, he is still only 30 and in the prime of his life. In the intervening decade, he has developed a reputation for battlefield command and is said to be a Tactical Genius and a Bold Fighter. His wife is Dalita Vivanid-Agurvan, a Syrian princess from the Kingdom of Durinj in Mesopotamia. Together, they have a child, Emiliya Achaemenid the future heir to the throne, still only a few months old.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Away we go. Presumably west. but maybe they buck historical trends and go east.

Immediately, its probably south to reclaim its old territories. After that, who knows but the HRE is a giant impediment to journey west.

Can't wait to see what happens next!

Me too! Welcome back !

Always glad to help if it comes to that. But it's not like the Achaemenids can do any worse than the last few collapses, right?

The Tsars would frame those as momentary setbacks.

 

[Nikolai]

The Empire is in a sorry state. But revival WILL come.

 

[jak7139]

Tsar Dominik is going to have to tread carefully around the estates. A good war should distract them!

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Been pushed to the poorest part of the old lands and squeezed between stronger powers. Not a great starting place but the HRE has its own issues, Greece is rightful clay, and anatolia is always an option...

 

[Midnite Duke]

Wonderful explanation of the reasoning for the estate privileges granted. Thanks

 

[Killcrazy13]

Re-Establishing the Old Order (1400 AD – 1411 AD)

Tsar Dominik would seek to continue building on the successes of the past century. A man born more for the saddle than the throne, he would often neglect the state to prioritise the army. Luckily for him, he had Tsaritsa Dalita to attend to courtly matter. As the home of Khodan Orthodox, the Tsar felt it only right that he was the Defender of the Faith, and that any Orthodox kingdom in Europe could come to him for aid. There were far and few such kingdoms and the title was more a boost of his personal prestige than a tangible role.

Eastern Europe in 1400 AD​

The Taming of Krajina

In May of 1400, the Muslim states of Krajina ruled by the Rev Mehrans and the Ottomans launched assaults on lands that rightfully belong to the Achaemenid Empire, even if they were in Catholic hands now. The Rev Mehrans sought to capture Dalmatia while the Ottomans wanted Severan Greece, to hold land in Europe proper. The Ottoman conquest was bogged down by their lack of ships but Lycia in Anatolia foolishly answered the call to arms of the Severans. Cut off from any support, Lycia was decimated and most of its territories lost to the Turks less their border fortress with the other Orthodox states, Karahisar.

Dominik ignored the Turkish problem and focused on the breakaway vassals of Rev Mehran. They had the temerity to call themselves an empire and the Tsar sought to teach them their place. Krajina had vastly underestimated the scale of Christian reaction. The Tsar would first declare on them followed by the Pope calling a crusade to defend Dalmatia from the heathens. With pressure from both West and East, the army of Krajina and their vassal Hungary was hard-pressed and saw Strategos Islivan Dulo sack the capital, Branicevo, while the Muslim army was trapped in the highlands of Raska and Zeta. With the capture of the Hungarian capital at Temes by the Tsar himself, it seemed that the war was all but won but the Muslims were fanatical in their faith and refused to surrender – the next two years proved to be a game of cat and mouse in the Balkan mountains between the two armies until Dulo caught the main army in Zadar and slaughtered half their number. Dulo himself became a legend after the battle - a Cossack peasant who reached the highest levels of military command and defended the empire against its foes.

With that victory, the remaining months of 1404 involved mopping up the scattered enemy forces to drag Wultulf Rev Mehran to the negotiating table. The Great Sultan was forced to sign a humiliating peace treaty disbanding their empire and forced to be a vassal to the Achaemenid Empire. The Hungarian Achaemenids got off relatively – they were given their independence in return for the movement of thousands of Christians from their southern territories to Achaemenid lands and the confiscation of much of their palace valuables.

The Pressures of the Court

Tsar Dominik hoped to cow his own nobles with a show of strength but the subjugation of Krajina made the nobles only intransigent, demanding he make peace with the Catholics who were on edge by Orthodox and Muslim aggression. They sought to have the Empire support the independence of Thessali, to bring them into the fold and away from Macedonia’s control. The Tsar willingly agreed, against the advice of Tsaritsa Dalita. Thinking it simply a matter of building trust and friendship with the Bishop of Thessali, Dominik sent a religious mission to strengthen ties. It was a futile task and sending Orthodox priests to a Catholic Bishopric only hardened the stance of Thessali who had no intent to abandon their rightful Catholic lord for the heretics of Achaemedia. The Boyars held the Tsar to his word until his death, as Dominik wrestled with an impossible task. It’s said that the lords would raise their glasses in a toast to the foolish Tsar for giving them another stick to beat him with.

The war had also forced the Tsar to borrow from the merchant houses, placing him in their debt for the foreseeable future. With their new influence, they forced him to change the naval policies to focus on a merchant navy with ships dedicated to escorting merchants – compromising military effectiveness for trade would have a grievous effect on Dominik’s next war. As trade with Jerusalem and the ports of Syria increased, Bulgar-Byzantine merchants found themselves often at the mercy of local laws and customs that favoured Muslims. Again, the trading houses of Teleki and Asen, the two richest families in Achaemedia, forced the Tsar to bail their people out. The loans would be repaid slowly but would prove a drag on the Achaemenid’s finances for the rest of Tsar Dominik’s reign.

Most troubling of all was the Patriarchate. It had transformed from the tolerant and amicable entity of Nikola the First’s day into a staid, zealous entity after the traumas of the last two centuries. As Defender of the Faith and the long bond between church and state, the Tsar was obligated to champion their wishes. When reports of pagan worship surfaced among the Cossacks in 1404 AD, the Tsar was forced to take grievous action – executing any found to have strayed from the faith. The priesthood became a feared sight in Bessarabia and the larger state of Moldavia for years after.

Despite the looming debts, the Tsar refused to touch church income. Tsaritsa Dalita tells him no good can come of attacking the church directly and it’s better to have their support as she lays the groundwork for a more sweeping solution. When Dominik went offscript in his consecration of a new cathedral in the City, the Patriarch of Achaemedia questioned him about the additions to the liturgy. The Tsaritsa arranged a substantial donation to the church as a show of humility to head off the issue.

In 1406 AD, the crown would present a demand to the collective estates in the name of patriotism. The crown would be claiming a small percentage of their existing territories to further shore up the defences of the empire. All stakeholders would surrender a portion based on their existing holdings. Reminding all present of their oaths of loyalty, the Tsar, following the playbook of Dalita, reminded them it was a small price to pay and they did owe the Tsar for favours previously extended. Grumbles resounded but each faction viewed it as an opportunity to weaken the others around them and was fairly sure it was only temporary, and the crown would come hat in hand when troubles abounded again. The precedent was set and it’s said Dalita suppressed a smile after the last signature was penned to the document.

Betraying the Orthodox Covenant

With money in short supply, a new embargo by the Ottomans that prevented Achaemenid ships from docking in the rich cities of Anatolia, further harmed the finances of the throne. Despite the clamour from the merchant houses to start a trade war with the Ottomans, the Tsar took a different tack.

With a claim to lost territories in Thrace, Dominik attacked the fellow Orthodox nation of Melita based in Crete ruled by a smaller dynastic house, the Achaemenid-Goritsas. The war would bring in much of the Orthodox world as Nicaea, Galatia and Optimatoi took sides in the conflict.

The war would last for three years and the Tsar was struck down early in the campaign but refused to return to the capital to mend. The fever and coughing fits would follow him throughout the war as his armies demolished the Melitan forces on the mainland.

However, the weakness of a navy suborned to the needs of merchants soon grew apparent as the Orthodox alliance commanded the waters of the Bosphorus and the Achaemenids were unable to cross over to support their Nicaean allies. It’s here where Dominik's tactical genius and sheer bloody-mindedness came to the fore. He marched his army around the Black Sea in a year-long journey that saw many perish to exposure and exhaustion. Finally, when what remained of his 18,000-strong host reached Optimatoi, he would sack it mercilessly partly out of anger but also because he needed the coin. The Ottomans seeing an opportunity to capitalise on the chaos among the Christians, loaned their armies to the Galatans. 10,000 Turks would act as condottieries and laid siege to Achaemedia. The Tsar, cut off from his capital would carve a path of destruction through Christian Anatolia. Unable to prevent the destruction of Nicaea, he would give thought to creating a new order for the Principalities here. In Europe, the remaining Achaemenid forces were unable to break the Ottoman siege effectively as the superior skill of the Ottoman Janissaries threw them back in three separate attempts to break the siege. The city walls were strong but it seemed a losing proposition for the Achaemenids until the Turks suddenly ended their contract with Galatia, as the Christians ran out of funds to pay them after the ravaging Dominik delivered to their territories.

This saving grace was offset by the devastation that Melita and its allies were delivering in North Africa. Cut off by the naval blockade, Dominik was unable to support the provinces or Carthage who were mercilessly ravaged by the enemy. Compounded by the inaction of Krajina, it seemed the war would not deliver the complete victory Dominik was after. It took a threatening letter of rebuke from Dalita to Wultulf to get the Rev Mehran army marching to Italia and decimate King Lohrasp’ homeland before the Italians bowed out of the war. With the Italians out and Ottoman support withdrawn, the Orthodox alliance fell like dominoes. Galata was turned into a vassal and given Kocaeli to cripple Optimatoi and Melita loss all their holdings on the mainland. The war had delivered enough treasure for the throne to settle the last of its debts but had come at a huge cost to manpower and morale to the Achaemenid Empire.

Breakaway rebels in Africa arose out of the conflict and it took the throne more than a year to build a navy able to bring substantial troop numbers to Tunis and put it down and recapture Sousse. Corruption had also grown more rampant with the Tsar’s long exodus in Anatolia.

The Price of Conquest

In the wake of the heavy utilisation of manpower in Dominik’s two wars, the peasantry were up in arms and the Tsar was forced to decrease the number of men eligible for the draft from each village in order to let the peasantry recover.

Dominik’s health would never recover after his return from Anatolia. Exposure on the steppe and crossing the Caucasian mountains had prevented any chance of recovery and he would remain bedridden for the last year of his life before passing on in 1411 AD, at the young age of 41.

In his attempt to live up to the great conquering legends of his forebears, he had drastically damaged relations with most of his neighbours and left the Achaemenid Empire in a tender position to not aggravate any of them, less they band together to destroy the empire. His daughter and heir was only 11 years old and so Tsaritsa Dalita Vivanid-Agurva was made regent consort until the girl came of age.

 

[Killcrazy13]

Been pushed to the poorest part of the old lands and squeezed between stronger powers. Not a great starting place but the HRE has its own issues, Greece is rightful clay, and anatolia is always an option...

Well, we are pushing into Greece at the price of immense AE. The regent Tsaritsa is going to have to calm things down if she wants her daughter to have a stable rule.

Wonderful explanation of the reasoning for the estate privileges granted. Thanks

Thanks, it's one of the things I always wanted to touch on in EU4 and think about how a realm with such privileges would function. There's also me choosing the wrong Diet Agenda and being stuck with it for a pretty long time since I can't do anything about it so I chose to work it in as Dominik's foolishness.

 

[Nikolai]

Gibs monies? What kind of mod is it that uses such language?

 

[Killcrazy13]

I'm using a mod to provide 2k resolution and it does quite a bit of touching up of localisation. Think its stems from there as it was showing up in my graphic mod only Albanian game prior to this megacampaign playthrough. I was thrown off by it initially but barely registers to me now. And it beats playin EU4 in its native resolution.

 

[kakom]

Congrats on continuing your campaign on EUIV . I doubt I'll catch up with you with my gameplay. Especially since I'd rather continue with EUV. Anyway, good luck, EUIV is challenging for beginnersis.

 

[jak7139]

That's a lot of AE! But you have truces with some countries, so maybe it won't be a problem.

Why is AE so high? I noticed you got 125 from vassalizing six-province Rev Megran. Is their development really that high?

 

[Killcrazy13]

Congrats on continuing your campaign on EUIV . I doubt I'll catch up with you with my gameplay. Especially since I'd rather continue with EUV. Anyway, good luck, EUIV is challenging for beginnersis.

Thanks, I didn't want to wait for EU5 since that will probably be released mid-next year at the very earliest in my estimation. Good luck with your AAR. I have no idea how you manage it with the multiple mod swaps you've done in CK3 but it's great seeing the world evolve as mods introduce new themes and concepts.

That's a lot of AE! But you have truces with some countries, so maybe it won't be a problem.

Why is AE so high? I noticed you got 125 from vassalizing six-province Rev Megran. Is their development really that high?

I've no idea on what is the right amount of AE. Did a quick check on Rev Mehran. They have 122 development in 1417 with no new provinces gained. I checked Responsible Warfare and Responsible Blobbing mods and I don't think either affects war score or AE so maybe it's just a natural price for that dev.

The world in general is pretty developed. Achaemedia started as a 40 Dev province in 1400. My major pain is managing govt capacity right now with no technology solutions to alleviate it, forcing me to create more vassals than I would like.