Pretty sure that's AE with countries of same religion as the target, not you.
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Denmark really starting to stretch its muscles. Beware your CoTs - the Danes have eyes on them, now with added Fervour (as it were 
).
).
Why couldn't he have just died at a normal EU4 death age? (like in his 40s or 50s)
That would make more sense. But wiki said otherwise (I have screenshot proof: -) ) . Maybe wiki means religious group not just religion . I can go back and check to see what Protestant nations did (there are no Reformed besides Denmark so far )
Yes, it appears that everyone except DEnmark is getting PUs . Hungary over Austria. Bohemia over Poland and Lithuania. And now Spain over ENgland. A bit unfair since these are all from missions.
BUt it works to my advantage because i get two ( or three ) for the price of one if I ever manage to claim the throne of one of the big allies. BUt that means a tough war at the drop of a hat . Which brings me to this comment....
Beware your CoTs - the Danes have eyes on them, now with added Fervour (as it were
Yes, indeed. I want to build the money making trade chain from Malacca to the Channel . Having a large income means I will be able to recruit every merc unit within reach at the same time, which will be needed if/when I claim a big ally throne. I need some luck for this run, but luck favors the prepared as they say.
I'm guessing the favors -> trust comment on my AAR had something to do with this? Or at least helps in future instances? Either way, it was nicely handled.
Those damn Neapolitans!
NOOOOOOOOOO!
I am not familiar with client states. Can't force a relative on the throne like with vassals?
I undestood like you, but on the other hand, it does make more sense that the religion of the recipient is the one affected. And now you made me look on Reformed for my run... Returning the favor I guess?
Also, the double and triple crowns are going nuts. What´s next, a cuadruple crown?
A good plan.
How fitting!Despite his aggressive wars on the Mohammedans, Christian personally was a tolerant person and he promised his future subjects that he would govern with a light hand, and would not seek to force convert them to Christianity .
The wiki article says it was last verified for 1.30. Probably out of date then.
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Chapter 11: All Around Africa (1540-1550)
The new decade opened right away with a significant event. Hungary called Denmark into a war with tiny Ragusa who was protected by big France. Christian's first reaction was that of annoyance, as he was getting Denmark ready for war with Kilwa, and initially joined reluctantly to avoid losing the Hungarian alliance.
But then he realized this was a golden opportunity to grab some of the French colonies in the Ivory coast, colonies that Denmark was unable to nab in the last direct war with France. And although the first encounter saw the French army defeat a combined Danish-Toulousian-Gallian force at Auvergne, Denmark's ability to recruit many mercenaries would eventually turn the tide of the war in France
And Bohemia apparently thought Denmark more than capable of handling France, because they also called Denmark into a war against tiny enemies ( Christian again agreed to keep the alliance ) . And we will not detail fighting in France . Instead we will describe the fighting in Africa, which was more interesting.
In the Ivory coast, France was in the process of nearly finishing a colony at Wydah , with 885 colonist already there. Emperor Christian quickly ordered the Free company recruited in Beafada and had them march straight to Wydah, arriving there 4 months later.
ANd with the French colonists there at 997 , the Free company seized the colony for Denmark just in the nick of time. A month later, Denmark had her furthest core province on the Ivory coast, since Luanda was still incomplete. Unfortunately that was still too far to be able to core the Cape province, so completion of Luanda was still needed before the Kilwa war could be started. The Free company then proceeded to occupy all the other French provinces in Ivory Coast.
Meanwhile in Europe, Danish , Hungarian and allied armies quickly overwhelmed the outnumbered French . And the war became a race with Hungary to try to get as much war score for Denmark as possible ( Hungary managed to occupy Paris, the biggest prize). But before we get to that , we note two internal events. First, thanks to having fulfilled many age objectives, Denmark claimed the ability of "Religious Wars" during negotiations, lowering the cost of annexation .
And soon after Christian shepherded the 6th government reform which was an easy choice
THe Aristocratic Court gave Denmark more improved relations with everyone as well as favor gains with her allies.
Back in Europe, French resistance was collapsing and Emperor Christian estimated that Hungary would soon peace them out.
Since Denmark had no claims on France, Hungary was not going to give her anything in any eventual peace. So the Emperor decided to conclude a separate peace, sacrificing Hungarian Trust for more strategic gains.
In the peace Denmark gained quite a bit of valuable real estate in the Ivory coast, with minimal aggressive expansion because of the distances to Europe. The provinces were immediately added to the Gulf of Guinea Trade Company. . This peace vindicated Christian's choice to go Reformed as the decreased war score cost ( stacked on top of the discount from Diplomatic ideas) allowed annexation of more land than normal. Another benefit of the Reformed faith came soon after when lower spy cost allowed stealing of maps from Kilwa in anticipation of that upcoming war.
(and yes, Bohemia called us into another war). In the lull of peace between Calls to Arms from the Hungarians and Bohemians , Denmark put Bar and Toulouse on Scutage to begin their annexation as soon as possible. And the diplomatic dance to diplo-vassalize Wales and Gaeldom was begun ( the usual improving relations, sending gifts, royal marriage and alliance) . That diplo-vassalization took on some urgency when Spain finally established her personal union over England.
As soon as the new reached Zeeland, the ambassador in Madrid was asked about Spanish opinion of Denmark , and a sigh of relief came over the Danish court when the report came back that Spain still loved Denmark, and that good cousin Christian was still in line for the throne. And DEnmark soon had another chance at getting another cousin on a big throne by using favors to put Christian von Wittlesbach as heir to Bohemia
[although there is this caveat
A few month later the colony of Luanda was completed and that meant a colonist could be sent to Namaqualand , bordering the Cape. And that war with Kilwa could start since coring range now reached the Cape which can therefore be annexed in the peace .
And the main fleet with teh flagship The Atwix leading it was sent towards Luanda to anchor there in preparation of being involved in the war. But when the fleet was just off the coast of Cape Verde, it was ordered to turn back to Europe because of momentous news that got the Emperor's heart racing.
Christian II von Wittlesbach had just ascended the throne of Spain. This was so soon after the Anglo-Spanish Union that the English managed to break free under Henry XI Tudor. But that was of no import to our Emperor. What mattered was that a Wittlesbach ruled Spain and *he had no heir* at the moment. Immediately a diplomat was told to claim the Throne of Spain for Emperor Christian . Except that he was stymied by an unexpected problem: Prestige
Emperor Christian directed his helpers to look for something - anything- that would raise Danish prestige by just a smidge THey looked for some poor minor in Europe to declare war on ( Muscovy was truced out ). BUt that was all for naught because next month Carlos von Wittelsbach was born in Madrid and became heir to the Spanish Throne.
At least he was a Wittelsbach, and Denmark had gotten one step closer to claiming the SPanish throne. And so orders went back The Atwix to continue her journey with the rest of the fleet to South Africa , and she dropped anchor at the Cape in December 1543.
There, she was met by Danish troops that had traveled by land all the way from Arabia where they were exiled at the end of the war with Egypt (thanks to map stealing the path was easy to find and no one molested the black-flagged troops).
The entire group then marched east to the border of Kilwa, with several thousand men on board the fleet, and then war was declared on Kilwa in March 1544.
Surprisingly, Kilwa had allied France ( they had colonies in South Africa). And France decided to answer her new ally's call despite being in heavy debt after their war with Hungary. And that was actually music to Emperor Christian's ears, because France was out of money and manpower, and Denmark could easily raise mercenary armies in Europe to defeat her. Kilwa was also allied to Adal, who would have been far away from Denmark's Provinces in West Africa to be annexable. Except that the "punch through the Suez" plan had just borne fruit, with the completion of a core in Suez province in August 1544 putting Adalian land in coring range of Denmark.
We will not detail the fighting between mighty and rich Denmark on one side, and exhausted France and backwards Adal and Kilwa on the other. We will rather jump to the peace treaties.
First to peace out was Adal, who surrendered when armies moving south from Denmark's holdings in Lebanon and Egypt finally linked up with armies moving North through Kilwa. Adal was forced to cede 5 provinces, three of which contained Centers of Trade of the Gulf of Aden node. That ensured that DEnmark had 25% or more control of the Aden node, a pre-requisite of the African Trade mission. There was a good bit of aggressive expansion generated here , but much of the Muslim world either had no knowledge of Denmark, or was a in a truce with her ( and the one regional non-Muslim power, Ethiopia, was made an ally of Denmark before the war - we will discuss that separately at the end ) .
Next to peace out was France. But just before those negotiations started, our beloved heir Christian fell ill and despite a hefty payment to the medicus, he died
Luckily for Denmark, the succession would still fall to a von Wittelsbach and not some random noble from another dynasty. This was important because Denmark shared the dynasty with Spain (and Gallia) and so it was important to preserve it. And of course, the Emperor fervently prayed for a new heir.
But the death of the heir, just like the untimely birth of Carlos von Wittlesbach, reminded our King how the vagaries of fate [RNG] can wreak havoc on the best of plans. And that led him to reconsider his peace with France. Whereas initially he thought about releasing a small tag or two that can be diplo-vassalized, annexed and then fed to Gallia ( like he did with Bar), he decided to force France to release a large Gascony. Gascony was too big to turn into a vassal ( and Denmark owned a Gascon core from the annexation of Toulouse anyways).
So his plan was no longer to feed Gallia, then one day break vassal, claim throne and declare union war ( a process subject to some of the vagaries of fate, if Gallia got an heir on subject break) . Rather he decided it is better for Denmark to maximize her chances at creating Personal Unions from independent countries, and *then* feed those Junior partners lands. And the more countries this was tried on, the higher the chances that it would bear fruit. So he decided that Gascony would be independent, but would immediately forge an alliance and a Royal Marriage with Denmark. And being much smaller than Denmark , favors would be accrued quickly with them. If one day a Union was established over Gascony , then they would be given all the land of Toulouse to make them impervious to uwnanted inheritance. HE therefore decided that DEnamrk would hold on to the Toulouse lands until such a momenet arrived, and keep those lands in her custody until they could be given to a Junior Partner [see footnote].
Then it was time to make peace with Kilwa . Here there was a slight problem in that Kilwa's southernmost provinces other than the Cape were still out of range of Luanda core, and therefore not annexable..
BUt luckily , her northernmost provinces were within range of Suez province, and that meant that all of Kilwa's coast could be annexed in one treaty ( although not all of it could be turned into cores right away).
That caused a tremendous over-extension problem. And so Denmark quickly concluded a White Peace with Munich ( losing some trust with Bohemia), then released Pate as a vassal and gave her all provinces that were not centers of trade .
Bagamoyo, home of the Zanj mercenaries, was kept by Denmark. After that there were no more wars started by Denmark this decade, as she rested and allowed cores to finish. But Denmark did answer calls to war by her allies Spain and Bohemia. And she actively participated in both in the hope of earning more favors with both allies.
And on the dynastic front, Denmark celebrated the birth of heir Frederik 3/1/2/ [RNG named him Christian - I re-rolled the dice], but also lamented the death of the Wittlebach heirs in Bohemia and Hungary .
In neither nation were there enough favors to re-install an heir. However, in the case of Bohemia, thanks to Danish contributions to the war againstIngolstadt , the favor threshold was reached just as the decade ended and another Christian was again in line for the Bohemian throne.
And those events bring us to the end of the chapter and the beginning of a new decade with the Spread of the Printing Press
The Printing Press institution began in Central Germany. But Reformed Denmark should have no trouble getting it in short order.
We close with a dynastic view of Europe, and with a list of Denmark's 17 (!) diplomatic relations .
These include every sizeable Christian Kingdom, including Ethiopia. Obviously the aim is to get a Wittelsbach on the throne of as many of these nations as possible. And finally, the domains of Emperor Christian II The Tolerant
Footnote:
I am aware that Toulouse lands are wrong culture. Since they are in territories ( albeit full cores), they do not show up in the ledger or culture tab. I think they are below 20% , but like we discussed before, the point of the additional culture rule was not to hamper the run , but to prevent bordergore and outright conquest of all of Europe. And that is clearly not the case here. At the end, Toulouse will not be part of Denmark. as @stnylan said why create a rod for my own back, so I am suspending that rule for now. As soon as I get a PU that I can feed Toulouse to, they will get the land.
Second I am maximizing the number of nations I can PU by spammign marriages and alliances to earn favors. And while I am mainly targeting the big fish for PU, small fish are also worth it because I can turn them into big fish ( I have 50 years before they can be inherited if I am not mistaken). I really want to do this run without save scumming for heirs ( something I suspect players do a lot for this achievement) .
The new decade opened right away with a significant event. Hungary called Denmark into a war with tiny Ragusa who was protected by big France. Christian's first reaction was that of annoyance, as he was getting Denmark ready for war with Kilwa, and initially joined reluctantly to avoid losing the Hungarian alliance.
But then he realized this was a golden opportunity to grab some of the French colonies in the Ivory coast, colonies that Denmark was unable to nab in the last direct war with France. And although the first encounter saw the French army defeat a combined Danish-Toulousian-Gallian force at Auvergne, Denmark's ability to recruit many mercenaries would eventually turn the tide of the war in France
And Bohemia apparently thought Denmark more than capable of handling France, because they also called Denmark into a war against tiny enemies ( Christian again agreed to keep the alliance ) . And we will not detail fighting in France . Instead we will describe the fighting in Africa, which was more interesting.
In the Ivory coast, France was in the process of nearly finishing a colony at Wydah , with 885 colonist already there. Emperor Christian quickly ordered the Free company recruited in Beafada and had them march straight to Wydah, arriving there 4 months later.
ANd with the French colonists there at 997 , the Free company seized the colony for Denmark just in the nick of time. A month later, Denmark had her furthest core province on the Ivory coast, since Luanda was still incomplete. Unfortunately that was still too far to be able to core the Cape province, so completion of Luanda was still needed before the Kilwa war could be started. The Free company then proceeded to occupy all the other French provinces in Ivory Coast.
Meanwhile in Europe, Danish , Hungarian and allied armies quickly overwhelmed the outnumbered French . And the war became a race with Hungary to try to get as much war score for Denmark as possible ( Hungary managed to occupy Paris, the biggest prize). But before we get to that , we note two internal events. First, thanks to having fulfilled many age objectives, Denmark claimed the ability of "Religious Wars" during negotiations, lowering the cost of annexation .
And soon after Christian shepherded the 6th government reform which was an easy choice
THe Aristocratic Court gave Denmark more improved relations with everyone as well as favor gains with her allies.
Back in Europe, French resistance was collapsing and Emperor Christian estimated that Hungary would soon peace them out.
Since Denmark had no claims on France, Hungary was not going to give her anything in any eventual peace. So the Emperor decided to conclude a separate peace, sacrificing Hungarian Trust for more strategic gains.
In the peace Denmark gained quite a bit of valuable real estate in the Ivory coast, with minimal aggressive expansion because of the distances to Europe. The provinces were immediately added to the Gulf of Guinea Trade Company. . This peace vindicated Christian's choice to go Reformed as the decreased war score cost ( stacked on top of the discount from Diplomatic ideas) allowed annexation of more land than normal. Another benefit of the Reformed faith came soon after when lower spy cost allowed stealing of maps from Kilwa in anticipation of that upcoming war.
(and yes, Bohemia called us into another war). In the lull of peace between Calls to Arms from the Hungarians and Bohemians , Denmark put Bar and Toulouse on Scutage to begin their annexation as soon as possible. And the diplomatic dance to diplo-vassalize Wales and Gaeldom was begun ( the usual improving relations, sending gifts, royal marriage and alliance) . That diplo-vassalization took on some urgency when Spain finally established her personal union over England.
As soon as the new reached Zeeland, the ambassador in Madrid was asked about Spanish opinion of Denmark , and a sigh of relief came over the Danish court when the report came back that Spain still loved Denmark, and that good cousin Christian was still in line for the throne. And DEnmark soon had another chance at getting another cousin on a big throne by using favors to put Christian von Wittlesbach as heir to Bohemia
[although there is this caveat
also screenshots confirm it is the target religion that gets AE].
A few month later the colony of Luanda was completed and that meant a colonist could be sent to Namaqualand , bordering the Cape. And that war with Kilwa could start since coring range now reached the Cape which can therefore be annexed in the peace .
And the main fleet with teh flagship The Atwix leading it was sent towards Luanda to anchor there in preparation of being involved in the war. But when the fleet was just off the coast of Cape Verde, it was ordered to turn back to Europe because of momentous news that got the Emperor's heart racing.
Christian II von Wittlesbach had just ascended the throne of Spain. This was so soon after the Anglo-Spanish Union that the English managed to break free under Henry XI Tudor. But that was of no import to our Emperor. What mattered was that a Wittlesbach ruled Spain and *he had no heir* at the moment. Immediately a diplomat was told to claim the Throne of Spain for Emperor Christian . Except that he was stymied by an unexpected problem: Prestige
Emperor Christian directed his helpers to look for something - anything- that would raise Danish prestige by just a smidge THey looked for some poor minor in Europe to declare war on ( Muscovy was truced out ). BUt that was all for naught because next month Carlos von Wittelsbach was born in Madrid and became heir to the Spanish Throne.
At least he was a Wittelsbach, and Denmark had gotten one step closer to claiming the SPanish throne. And so orders went back The Atwix to continue her journey with the rest of the fleet to South Africa , and she dropped anchor at the Cape in December 1543.
There, she was met by Danish troops that had traveled by land all the way from Arabia where they were exiled at the end of the war with Egypt (thanks to map stealing the path was easy to find and no one molested the black-flagged troops).
The entire group then marched east to the border of Kilwa, with several thousand men on board the fleet, and then war was declared on Kilwa in March 1544.
Surprisingly, Kilwa had allied France ( they had colonies in South Africa). And France decided to answer her new ally's call despite being in heavy debt after their war with Hungary. And that was actually music to Emperor Christian's ears, because France was out of money and manpower, and Denmark could easily raise mercenary armies in Europe to defeat her. Kilwa was also allied to Adal, who would have been far away from Denmark's Provinces in West Africa to be annexable. Except that the "punch through the Suez" plan had just borne fruit, with the completion of a core in Suez province in August 1544 putting Adalian land in coring range of Denmark.
We will not detail the fighting between mighty and rich Denmark on one side, and exhausted France and backwards Adal and Kilwa on the other. We will rather jump to the peace treaties.
First to peace out was Adal, who surrendered when armies moving south from Denmark's holdings in Lebanon and Egypt finally linked up with armies moving North through Kilwa. Adal was forced to cede 5 provinces, three of which contained Centers of Trade of the Gulf of Aden node. That ensured that DEnmark had 25% or more control of the Aden node, a pre-requisite of the African Trade mission. There was a good bit of aggressive expansion generated here , but much of the Muslim world either had no knowledge of Denmark, or was a in a truce with her ( and the one regional non-Muslim power, Ethiopia, was made an ally of Denmark before the war - we will discuss that separately at the end ) .
Next to peace out was France. But just before those negotiations started, our beloved heir Christian fell ill and despite a hefty payment to the medicus, he died
Luckily for Denmark, the succession would still fall to a von Wittelsbach and not some random noble from another dynasty. This was important because Denmark shared the dynasty with Spain (and Gallia) and so it was important to preserve it. And of course, the Emperor fervently prayed for a new heir.
But the death of the heir, just like the untimely birth of Carlos von Wittlesbach, reminded our King how the vagaries of fate [RNG] can wreak havoc on the best of plans. And that led him to reconsider his peace with France. Whereas initially he thought about releasing a small tag or two that can be diplo-vassalized, annexed and then fed to Gallia ( like he did with Bar), he decided to force France to release a large Gascony. Gascony was too big to turn into a vassal ( and Denmark owned a Gascon core from the annexation of Toulouse anyways).
So his plan was no longer to feed Gallia, then one day break vassal, claim throne and declare union war ( a process subject to some of the vagaries of fate, if Gallia got an heir on subject break) . Rather he decided it is better for Denmark to maximize her chances at creating Personal Unions from independent countries, and *then* feed those Junior partners lands. And the more countries this was tried on, the higher the chances that it would bear fruit. So he decided that Gascony would be independent, but would immediately forge an alliance and a Royal Marriage with Denmark. And being much smaller than Denmark , favors would be accrued quickly with them. If one day a Union was established over Gascony , then they would be given all the land of Toulouse to make them impervious to uwnanted inheritance. HE therefore decided that DEnamrk would hold on to the Toulouse lands until such a momenet arrived, and keep those lands in her custody until they could be given to a Junior Partner [see footnote].
Then it was time to make peace with Kilwa . Here there was a slight problem in that Kilwa's southernmost provinces other than the Cape were still out of range of Luanda core, and therefore not annexable..
BUt luckily , her northernmost provinces were within range of Suez province, and that meant that all of Kilwa's coast could be annexed in one treaty ( although not all of it could be turned into cores right away).
That caused a tremendous over-extension problem. And so Denmark quickly concluded a White Peace with Munich ( losing some trust with Bohemia), then released Pate as a vassal and gave her all provinces that were not centers of trade .
Bagamoyo, home of the Zanj mercenaries, was kept by Denmark. After that there were no more wars started by Denmark this decade, as she rested and allowed cores to finish. But Denmark did answer calls to war by her allies Spain and Bohemia. And she actively participated in both in the hope of earning more favors with both allies.
And on the dynastic front, Denmark celebrated the birth of heir Frederik 3/1/2/ [RNG named him Christian - I re-rolled the dice], but also lamented the death of the Wittlebach heirs in Bohemia and Hungary .
In neither nation were there enough favors to re-install an heir. However, in the case of Bohemia, thanks to Danish contributions to the war againstIngolstadt , the favor threshold was reached just as the decade ended and another Christian was again in line for the Bohemian throne.
And those events bring us to the end of the chapter and the beginning of a new decade with the Spread of the Printing Press
The Printing Press institution began in Central Germany. But Reformed Denmark should have no trouble getting it in short order.
We close with a dynastic view of Europe, and with a list of Denmark's 17 (!) diplomatic relations .
These include every sizeable Christian Kingdom, including Ethiopia. Obviously the aim is to get a Wittelsbach on the throne of as many of these nations as possible. And finally, the domains of Emperor Christian II The Tolerant
Footnote:
I am aware that Toulouse lands are wrong culture. Since they are in territories ( albeit full cores), they do not show up in the ledger or culture tab. I think they are below 20% , but like we discussed before, the point of the additional culture rule was not to hamper the run , but to prevent bordergore and outright conquest of all of Europe. And that is clearly not the case here. At the end, Toulouse will not be part of Denmark. as @stnylan said why create a rod for my own back, so I am suspending that rule for now. As soon as I get a PU that I can feed Toulouse to, they will get the land.
Second I am maximizing the number of nations I can PU by spammign marriages and alliances to earn favors. And while I am mainly targeting the big fish for PU, small fish are also worth it because I can turn them into big fish ( I have 50 years before they can be inherited if I am not mistaken). I really want to do this run without save scumming for heirs ( something I suspect players do a lot for this achievement) .
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It looks like this Emperor Christian is starting his human sacrifice campaign...
"The flagship Atwix will sail to Africa TO WAR!"
*Spanish heir dies*
"Wait. Shit. Come back."
*New spanish heir"
"The flagship Atwix will sail to Africa TO WAR!"
*Spanish heir dies*
"Wait. Shit. Come back."
*New spanish heir"
"The flagship Atwix will sail to Africa TO WAR!"
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Seems like Bohemia is ramping up its conquest of the German minors. How will this impact your strategy in Germany?
Some important steps (or stops) complete on the Trade Route Gravy Train. That, at least, I remember from years past.
I had to laugh, and @Steckie here pretty much captures my internal monologue reading that section.
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I don't like what Bohemia is doing, but I will not be the one to break alliance to stop it. I am going to let them expand . If I get to claim their throne, it is a fixed 80 WS no matter how big. If they rival me and break alliance, then it is on them, and I will break them up and marry/ally the remnants
But to be able to easily beat Bohemia in either scenario I need to continue growing Denmark in Africa and Asia.
If he lives long enough, then it is worth it for that 5DIP. If not, then our tolerant Emperor may have been the target of an evil curse.
So since Hungary is Catholic, the AE is with Catholics. If they were Reformed, it would be only AE with Reformed countries?
Is there a chance of you getting the union over Spain peacefully, or is that too much RNG to hope for?
If you get Spain he'll be a real OTL Charles V.
Correct.
Not enough blood was spilled for the RNGods
As long as you are at war, dynasty wont change iirc. Also you are big enough to prevent spreading of another dynasty.
sohnds vagely familiar...
I read that in Saruman´s voice
runs in the family
In another note, how many CTA from Bohemia this decade? WTH? I guess is the price for a second heir chance
Yes, I think AE happens with target country religion and Wiki needs correction. In the last introduce heir action I did , Reformed Muscovy did not gain AE ( Muscovy was force converted by me in a previous chapter)
I hope to test it out when I introduce an heir on a non-Catholic. So far has not happened, and only possibility is with Ethiopia, but in next chapter I hope to be releasing more Christian non-catholic monarchies that I can PU.
Iguess there is . But I would rather claim throne when they do not have an heir than hope for a peaceful PU.
In other words, if Spain's King dies without heir and Denmark is in line for succession, how old should Spanish King be for me to wait it out versus Claim throne by force? Is 60 a good cutoff? 50?
thanks for clarfiying this. I usually do not play PU game so I was not sure. This is important because I would like to disinherit Frederik because of lousy DIP rating ( the most important Mana for this run, because I will be over relations limit a lot ) . I hesitate to do so because of the Prestige hit and FOMO on a claim throne while prestige recovers. And fear that Dynasty changes. Now I only have to worry about Prestige.
I counted five. They are earning favors with me being big themselves. The wars are a nuiscance, but my subjects earn me participation and therefore favors with Bohemia.
Chapter 12: Dorothea von Altena, Wedding Planner (1550-1560)
We ended the last Chapter with the birth of the Printing Press and with Christian II acquiring for Denmark trading ports all around the African continent. A few months into the new decade, Denmark used her favors in Pest to introduce another Christian Wittelsbach ( age 28) as heir to the Hungarian throne. Time will tell if this Christian will one day sit on the throne, or will face the same fate as the previous Christian of Hungary [the game naming all of them Christian does not help, but this is my second heir introduction in Hungary].
This was followed by a quick war for Abomey, the capital of Dahomey and home to the Dahomey Amazons mercenary company .
The Emperor's aim was to upgrade those mercenaries military technology by having Denmark rule their home, and thus make them an integral part of Denmark's field armies ( Denmark already owned the home of the Zanj company ) . And in the same vein of buffing up her mercenary armies, Denmark adopted the "Mercenary Discipline " age ability soon after.
During that war , Cape province became a core and that fulfilled the "Control the Cape " mission, earning some mercantilism .
That also unlocked the "Expand African Trade" mission. Unfortunately , the mission archives[wiki] were erroneous and the Aleppo trade node did not count in fulfilling the mission . A quick workaround was done by sending the English Channel trade fleet to TUnis temporarily, giving Denmark enough control there to deliver the mission.
That mission gave Denmark a big windfall of over 6,000 ducats and a new merchant. The money was immediately invested in money-making ventures, including several manufactories of Textiles in Flanders and England, Harbor investment in the trade company regions and upgrading of the Kronborg Great Project in Sjaelland to significant level.
Meanwhile the war in Africa was wrapped up giving Denmark the province of Abomey with its Amazons.
The availability of high-tech Dahomey Amazons was a timely addition to Denmark's arsenal, coming right before the beginning of Denmark's 4th war against the Ottomans
The reason for that war was that the Ottomans had continued to grow stronger, despite losing Constantinople . Since the last war they had gained footholds on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and created an Eyalet in Yemen . They were clearly still competitive with Denmark and needed to be put back in their place.
For the war , Denmark called on all her Christian allies to make the war easier, not fearing that they would take coveted land. Ottomans was conveniently allied to Antemoro -i.e Madagascar . That gave Denmark an opportunity to gain a foothold on the island , which was home to two trade centers in the Zanzibar node and the Madagascar mercenary company. Danish forces focused on fighting in the areas of Yemen and Palestine and Madagascar, letting her allies fight in the Pontic Steppe and the Balkans
And it was on the day of the fall of Antemoro that Christian II the Tolerant died , at the relatively young age of 49 . His Grandfather's secret to longevity had clearly eluded him.
He left behind his wife, Dorothea von Altena , in charge of his unremarkable heir, 5 year-old Frederik. With a potential 10 year Regency, Dorothea was destined to leave a mark on history. And her first official act was not some historical Edict or declaration, but rather a renewal of the Royal Marriage with Ethiopia
And this was followed by many others , done as soon as a diplomat was available. But her first state-craft action recorded by historians was peace with Antemoro, where Denmark limited her gains to the bare minimum to annex the centers of trade, the home of the Madagascar mercenary company and a connecting province.
Next was peace with Mahra, from whom Denmark gained the Gulf of Aden center of trade at Shihr
Then she had the presence of mind to recruit several explorers while Denmark's Colonial Ambitions were still active.
The more explorers she hired , the more likely one of them would live a long time into the future.
Finally in 1555 she presided over the peace treaty with the Ottoman representatives.
In the peace Denmark took little for herself. Just Adana which had an Aleppo node center of trade, and Antioch to connect Adana to the holdings in Lebanon . The remaining peace terms all went to the release of the free Orthodox Kingdoms of Bulgaria and Georgia . And the Regent promptly sent envoys to arrange marriages and alliances with the two nations ( Christian the Great left behind many descendants from his 3 wives , so our Dorothea had plenty of princes and princesses to marry off!!)
With the nation married to most of Europe, Eastward expansion into heathen lands was Denmark's best way to continue growing. ANd in that regard our Regent noted that the small island of Nias, off the coast of Sumatra, was colonizable . And she promptly sent the remaining colonist there ( Denmark was down to just one with the sunset of Colonial Ambitions).
And while that colonist took his time to travel to Nias, Dorothea began the annexation of Gaeldom and Wales. That would alleviate the strain on the diplomatic relations Denmark had engaged in ( one other alleviating event was Two Sicilies turning into a Serene Republic and cancelling the Royal Marriage with Denmark).
And with the end of the Ottoman war , Danish trade fleets could again ply the Indian Ocean in safety. And that allowed Denmark to fulfill the "Dansk Ostindien" mission thanks to strong trade presence in Gujarat. Denmark was one step closer to the famed Spice Islands.
A year later, the colonist arrived to Nias. And with him arrived The Atwix at the head of the Indian Ocean fleet carrying a regular army with artillery ( Denmark now had two war fleets consisting of heavy ships and transports, one called ATLANTIC and one INDIAN) . Reinforcements to that force were also forthcoming via summoning of the Madagascar Company in Nias [made possible by Mercenary Idea- recruit mercenaries from anywhere]. With that task force assembled, war was declared on Aceh
Aceh was allied to Malacca, a nice target in and of itself ( and confirmed to be in coring range, thanks to the Navigator Advisor from the Ostindien mission) . Protecting them as Defender of the Sunnis was Timurids. That was a potential problem. But a problem easily solved with money and mercenaries, which Denmark had in droves .
The heaviest fighting in the war happened in Arabia, where the Timurids poured their best armies .And although they enjoyed occasional success, sheer numbers and mercenary reinforcements eventually turned the tide into Denmark's favor ( a refrain we have heard many times in this AAR)
ANd there seemed to be no military problem that could not be solved with money and mercenaries. For example, when Nobles in Bornholm decided to rise up against the Regent, she simply ordered the Independent army raised on the spot beforehand and crushed them 2 months later . Without the mercenaries, this would have meant finding the fleet , finding a free army , loading it up and sending it to the island ( by which time, the troops would be doing a naval landing most likely).
And it was during the Aceh/Timurid war that the PRinting Press institution was adopted in Zeeland.
It would soon start to spread to more provinces, but would not be adopted this decade.
The Regent's reign was also marked by two special events, fostered by her encouragement of exploration and expansion into Malacca. First was the European Traders in China event, which gave the Danish treasury even more gold ( to be invested into more trade venture- wealth begets wealth!)
The second was the discovery of the mysterious Land of the Rising Sun , aka Japan . The land was unified and ruled by the Uesugi clan ( not Oda ) .
The fact that Denmark, who took neither Exploration nor Expansion ideas, had beaten all the other Europeans to the Far East was a testament to the power of her national missions.
Now back to the war with Aceh-Malacca-Timurids. As we mentioned , the Timurid and Danish armies fought it out in Arabia. Those battles allowed an army group to sneak its way to the Timurid capital Herat and capture it. After some more fighting, the Timurid Shah's army was finally cornered on the tip of hte Horn of Africa and destroyed.
That led to their exit out of the war with the price being the cession of Jedda, a center of trade of the Alexandria node. With the largest enemy nation out of the war, Malacca and Aceh surrendered. Malacca ceded the centers of trade at Malacca and Siak, and the strategic connection between them that was the province of Johor.
Denmark could have taken more, but Malacca was a non-cobelligerent, and there was no need to upset everyone in the neighborhood. Finally , Aceh was fully annexed.
That gave Denmark a good foothold in the Malacca region, and all the provinces were given to a Trade Company . Meanwhile, exploration was still ongoing, although Denmark lost her explorer to Poison arrows in New Guinea.
Luckily the Regent had recruited a few more already.
ANd that almost ends our chapter but the Regent found time to conclude two more marriages ( and alliances when peace time permits), and those were with Catholic Savoy and Protestant Thuringia.
And to show Denmark's current diplomatic situation we first start with aggressive expansion . Thanks to focusing on improved relations and avoiding wars in Europe, Denmark has been mostly forgiven her past expansion. Even England was now out of coalition range.
OF course things are not the same with the Muslim world. But the Muslims do not matter because they cannot engage in Personal Unions and will not get hit with penalties when Denmark claims a throne or installs an heir. And Denmark is not really afraid of a Muslim or Heathen coalition with almost all of Christian Europe in alliance with her.
And speaking of aggressive expansion, Bohemia had acquired quite the reputation .
Finally the dynastic map
I count 10 marriages with independent nations. Of these just Bulgaria has no heir ( but young ruler, and not enough favors). The nations are conveniently spread around the map into various culture groups and any of them could be grown quickly should they fall into a Personal Union with Denmark ( Thuringia being the notable exception as an HRE nation - which is making the Regent think the HRE needs dismantling)
Finally , our Regent is the first person to claim an Empire on which the sun never sets.
Her only concern is her son's diplomatic (in)ability. She will be leaving him with a lot of relations to manage.
We ended the last Chapter with the birth of the Printing Press and with Christian II acquiring for Denmark trading ports all around the African continent. A few months into the new decade, Denmark used her favors in Pest to introduce another Christian Wittelsbach ( age 28) as heir to the Hungarian throne. Time will tell if this Christian will one day sit on the throne, or will face the same fate as the previous Christian of Hungary [the game naming all of them Christian does not help, but this is my second heir introduction in Hungary].
This was followed by a quick war for Abomey, the capital of Dahomey and home to the Dahomey Amazons mercenary company .
The Emperor's aim was to upgrade those mercenaries military technology by having Denmark rule their home, and thus make them an integral part of Denmark's field armies ( Denmark already owned the home of the Zanj company ) . And in the same vein of buffing up her mercenary armies, Denmark adopted the "Mercenary Discipline " age ability soon after.
During that war , Cape province became a core and that fulfilled the "Control the Cape " mission, earning some mercantilism .
That also unlocked the "Expand African Trade" mission. Unfortunately , the mission archives[wiki] were erroneous and the Aleppo trade node did not count in fulfilling the mission . A quick workaround was done by sending the English Channel trade fleet to TUnis temporarily, giving Denmark enough control there to deliver the mission.
That mission gave Denmark a big windfall of over 6,000 ducats and a new merchant. The money was immediately invested in money-making ventures, including several manufactories of Textiles in Flanders and England, Harbor investment in the trade company regions and upgrading of the Kronborg Great Project in Sjaelland to significant level.
Meanwhile the war in Africa was wrapped up giving Denmark the province of Abomey with its Amazons.
The availability of high-tech Dahomey Amazons was a timely addition to Denmark's arsenal, coming right before the beginning of Denmark's 4th war against the Ottomans
The reason for that war was that the Ottomans had continued to grow stronger, despite losing Constantinople . Since the last war they had gained footholds on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and created an Eyalet in Yemen . They were clearly still competitive with Denmark and needed to be put back in their place.
For the war , Denmark called on all her Christian allies to make the war easier, not fearing that they would take coveted land. Ottomans was conveniently allied to Antemoro -i.e Madagascar . That gave Denmark an opportunity to gain a foothold on the island , which was home to two trade centers in the Zanzibar node and the Madagascar mercenary company. Danish forces focused on fighting in the areas of Yemen and Palestine and Madagascar, letting her allies fight in the Pontic Steppe and the Balkans
And it was on the day of the fall of Antemoro that Christian II the Tolerant died , at the relatively young age of 49 . His Grandfather's secret to longevity had clearly eluded him.
He left behind his wife, Dorothea von Altena , in charge of his unremarkable heir, 5 year-old Frederik. With a potential 10 year Regency, Dorothea was destined to leave a mark on history. And her first official act was not some historical Edict or declaration, but rather a renewal of the Royal Marriage with Ethiopia
And this was followed by many others , done as soon as a diplomat was available. But her first state-craft action recorded by historians was peace with Antemoro, where Denmark limited her gains to the bare minimum to annex the centers of trade, the home of the Madagascar mercenary company and a connecting province.
Next was peace with Mahra, from whom Denmark gained the Gulf of Aden center of trade at Shihr
Then she had the presence of mind to recruit several explorers while Denmark's Colonial Ambitions were still active.
The more explorers she hired , the more likely one of them would live a long time into the future.
Finally in 1555 she presided over the peace treaty with the Ottoman representatives.
In the peace Denmark took little for herself. Just Adana which had an Aleppo node center of trade, and Antioch to connect Adana to the holdings in Lebanon . The remaining peace terms all went to the release of the free Orthodox Kingdoms of Bulgaria and Georgia . And the Regent promptly sent envoys to arrange marriages and alliances with the two nations ( Christian the Great left behind many descendants from his 3 wives , so our Dorothea had plenty of princes and princesses to marry off!!)
With the nation married to most of Europe, Eastward expansion into heathen lands was Denmark's best way to continue growing. ANd in that regard our Regent noted that the small island of Nias, off the coast of Sumatra, was colonizable . And she promptly sent the remaining colonist there ( Denmark was down to just one with the sunset of Colonial Ambitions).
And while that colonist took his time to travel to Nias, Dorothea began the annexation of Gaeldom and Wales. That would alleviate the strain on the diplomatic relations Denmark had engaged in ( one other alleviating event was Two Sicilies turning into a Serene Republic and cancelling the Royal Marriage with Denmark).
And with the end of the Ottoman war , Danish trade fleets could again ply the Indian Ocean in safety. And that allowed Denmark to fulfill the "Dansk Ostindien" mission thanks to strong trade presence in Gujarat. Denmark was one step closer to the famed Spice Islands.
A year later, the colonist arrived to Nias. And with him arrived The Atwix at the head of the Indian Ocean fleet carrying a regular army with artillery ( Denmark now had two war fleets consisting of heavy ships and transports, one called ATLANTIC and one INDIAN) . Reinforcements to that force were also forthcoming via summoning of the Madagascar Company in Nias [made possible by Mercenary Idea- recruit mercenaries from anywhere]. With that task force assembled, war was declared on Aceh
Aceh was allied to Malacca, a nice target in and of itself ( and confirmed to be in coring range, thanks to the Navigator Advisor from the Ostindien mission) . Protecting them as Defender of the Sunnis was Timurids. That was a potential problem. But a problem easily solved with money and mercenaries, which Denmark had in droves .
The heaviest fighting in the war happened in Arabia, where the Timurids poured their best armies .And although they enjoyed occasional success, sheer numbers and mercenary reinforcements eventually turned the tide into Denmark's favor ( a refrain we have heard many times in this AAR)
ANd there seemed to be no military problem that could not be solved with money and mercenaries. For example, when Nobles in Bornholm decided to rise up against the Regent, she simply ordered the Independent army raised on the spot beforehand and crushed them 2 months later . Without the mercenaries, this would have meant finding the fleet , finding a free army , loading it up and sending it to the island ( by which time, the troops would be doing a naval landing most likely).
And it was during the Aceh/Timurid war that the PRinting Press institution was adopted in Zeeland.
It would soon start to spread to more provinces, but would not be adopted this decade.
The Regent's reign was also marked by two special events, fostered by her encouragement of exploration and expansion into Malacca. First was the European Traders in China event, which gave the Danish treasury even more gold ( to be invested into more trade venture- wealth begets wealth!)
The second was the discovery of the mysterious Land of the Rising Sun , aka Japan . The land was unified and ruled by the Uesugi clan ( not Oda
) .
The fact that Denmark, who took neither Exploration nor Expansion ideas, had beaten all the other Europeans to the Far East was a testament to the power of her national missions.
Now back to the war with Aceh-Malacca-Timurids. As we mentioned , the Timurid and Danish armies fought it out in Arabia. Those battles allowed an army group to sneak its way to the Timurid capital Herat and capture it. After some more fighting, the Timurid Shah's army was finally cornered on the tip of hte Horn of Africa and destroyed.
That led to their exit out of the war with the price being the cession of Jedda, a center of trade of the Alexandria node. With the largest enemy nation out of the war, Malacca and Aceh surrendered. Malacca ceded the centers of trade at Malacca and Siak, and the strategic connection between them that was the province of Johor.
Denmark could have taken more, but Malacca was a non-cobelligerent, and there was no need to upset everyone in the neighborhood. Finally , Aceh was fully annexed.
That gave Denmark a good foothold in the Malacca region, and all the provinces were given to a Trade Company . Meanwhile, exploration was still ongoing, although Denmark lost her explorer to Poison arrows in New Guinea.
Luckily the Regent had recruited a few more already.
ANd that almost ends our chapter but the Regent found time to conclude two more marriages ( and alliances when peace time permits), and those were with Catholic Savoy and Protestant Thuringia.
And to show Denmark's current diplomatic situation we first start with aggressive expansion . Thanks to focusing on improved relations and avoiding wars in Europe, Denmark has been mostly forgiven her past expansion. Even England was now out of coalition range.
OF course things are not the same with the Muslim world. But the Muslims do not matter because they cannot engage in Personal Unions and will not get hit with penalties when Denmark claims a throne or installs an heir. And Denmark is not really afraid of a Muslim or Heathen coalition with almost all of Christian Europe in alliance with her.
And speaking of aggressive expansion, Bohemia had acquired quite the reputation .
Finally the dynastic map
I count 10 marriages with independent nations. Of these just Bulgaria has no heir ( but young ruler, and not enough favors). The nations are conveniently spread around the map into various culture groups and any of them could be grown quickly should they fall into a Personal Union with Denmark ( Thuringia being the notable exception as an HRE nation - which is making the Regent think the HRE needs dismantling)
Finally , our Regent is the first person to claim an Empire on which the sun never sets.
Her only concern is her son's diplomatic (in)ability. She will be leaving him with a lot of relations to manage.
- 2
Well Denmark does like naming monarchs Christian (there's been 10 of them irl), and I'm guessing it's the Danish branch that these introduced heirs are coming from.
Boo, hiss! What was the point of sacrificing his original heir?
