Longtime EU player here, but this is my first attempt at an AAR. No narrative/story, just gameplay and my thoughts.
I chose Burgundy because I wanted a relatively easy country as I'm still learning the changes of EU4, plus Burgundy is one of my favorite countries and in an interesting location. I enjoy the French region, but France is just too easy, and Burgundy also has good interactions with England and the HRE.
I don't have that many screenshots early on, as I wasn't sure if I wanted to do an AAR or not. I apologize, but I'll try to detail everything interesting that happened, even if no screenshot.
Settings:
I know, as Burgundy, my first and most important goal, over all else, should be knocking out France. France starts out as weak as they're ever going to be, and if I leave them alone and instead gobble OPM to my east, I know I'll regret it.
I have an excellent military leader in my king, and an army roughly 1/2 to 2/3 as large as the French. My manpower isn't nearly as good as the French, so if the conflict drags on, I'll really be in trouble. On the other hand, my provinces are very wealthy and I largely control Antwerp's trade. I've never really used mercenaries before, but Burgundy seems set up well to use them; the major advantage to them would be not only extra forces, but conservation of my manpower (so that I don't finish any war with France crippled).
To start, I try to find any allies I can who could help against France. Brittany and Savoie both are willing to ally with me, so I do so. A short while later Bavaria and Bohemia both indicate interest in an alliance; while they may not help much with France, I'm hopeful that an alliance with these two may discourage the other power I need to be concerned about (Austria) from any funny business, so I accept.
I don't have a CB against France right away, so I decide to let them fight the English some, and take a Mission to liberate Bar from Provence. I DOW them shortly thereafter, Sav and Brittany joining in, and move my troops in. Shortly after, though, I notice this:
It looks like somehow, the English have scored a major victory against the French - that battered stack of 5 is actually the remnants of the greater part of the French army, the stack of 19 infantry they start with. I can't let an opportunity like this pass by, so I do something I almost never do - I declare war against the French with no CB.
I manage to completely destroy that French stack, and the English continue their upsets by largely handling the rest of the French forces. Along with my starting army, which I split in two, I hire a substantial (10-12) stack of mercenaries, and between the English/Portuguese and myself and allies, we proceed to dismantle France - by far the easiest that has ever been and, I think, in part to a good deal of luck, not the least of it being the continued survival of my King.
Meanwhile, in my war against Provence, Bar defects to me via event, which allows me to take the province of Provence in peace. Unfortunately, since I don't have a land connection, I can't core it, so I regret the decision somewhat.
Finally, I accept a reasonable peace with France, taking two provinces NE of Ile-de-France and forcing them to release Auverne. The English accept peace shortly after, taking Poitou and possibly demanding other concessions. A massive rebellion will rock France immediately after, leading to the release of Guyenne and later Dauphine and leaving France with only four provinces. However, I'm otherwise occupied, because...
A massive coalition, led by Austria and including England (!) declares war on me. Austria is angry because I refused to cede my "unlawful" HRE territory of Bar - pshaw, I say! I'm very fortunate the war with France went so well and my manpower is still intact - otherwise I'd be in real trouble.
The conflict drags on - I'm able to destroy most of the forces that venture into my lands, but not take the fight to anyone of significance, really. Austria is stubborn in refusing any good peace deals, and I don't like the idea of this war dragging out too long.
So at a loss for what else to do, I accept a peace that sees England cede Calais to France (who I'm now less scared of than England).
Sometime during all of this, my King dies, his son inherits, and France conquers the two remaining provinces of Provence. This is actually a good thing for me - it means I can release Provence as my vassal, and get rid of the overextension from Provence, although they take Bar with them as well. In the meantime, I conquer Gelre and Berg. This causes everyone in Europe to despise me, and soon I'm facing a coalition of pretty much everyone, including England, France, and Austria. Soon after, Utrecht declares war on me, as leader of the coalition.
I quickly conquer them and force concessions from the coalition, most notably the release of the provinces France conquered to Provence, who is my vassal. In retrospect, I now feel this was too gamey - I think I should have forced a white peace instead. On the other hand, I don't think it makes sense in this time period for the massive coalition that faced me to even really exist, so I don't know. I still regret it, though.
Currently, France has declared war on England, who is suffering through the war of the roses. They've occupied the mainland English territory, and Scotland is ripping through the non-rebel-occupied English territory. Aragon conquered all of Dauphin but suffers from repeated rebellions, which I covertly support. Oddly enough, one of the rebellions occupied 2 of the 3 provinces, crossed the border to Auvignon, seized it, and immediately created Dauphine, but only with the province of Avignon - not quite sure what happened there.
This is how things stand currently, both for myself and Europe as a whole. I took Innovative as my idea, since it ties nicely into all of Burgundy's strengths. I almost took Administrative for the first time, since it works so well with mercenaries - I may yet as my second idea.
From here on out, I'll try to do a better job of having more/better screenshots, and noting more things, since I know I'm going to try for a real AAR. Please let me know what you think so far - this thing is a lot of work, and if everyone hates it, I won't do it
Thanks!
I chose Burgundy because I wanted a relatively easy country as I'm still learning the changes of EU4, plus Burgundy is one of my favorite countries and in an interesting location. I enjoy the French region, but France is just too easy, and Burgundy also has good interactions with England and the HRE.
I don't have that many screenshots early on, as I wasn't sure if I wanted to do an AAR or not. I apologize, but I'll try to detail everything interesting that happened, even if no screenshot.
Settings:
I know, as Burgundy, my first and most important goal, over all else, should be knocking out France. France starts out as weak as they're ever going to be, and if I leave them alone and instead gobble OPM to my east, I know I'll regret it.
I have an excellent military leader in my king, and an army roughly 1/2 to 2/3 as large as the French. My manpower isn't nearly as good as the French, so if the conflict drags on, I'll really be in trouble. On the other hand, my provinces are very wealthy and I largely control Antwerp's trade. I've never really used mercenaries before, but Burgundy seems set up well to use them; the major advantage to them would be not only extra forces, but conservation of my manpower (so that I don't finish any war with France crippled).
To start, I try to find any allies I can who could help against France. Brittany and Savoie both are willing to ally with me, so I do so. A short while later Bavaria and Bohemia both indicate interest in an alliance; while they may not help much with France, I'm hopeful that an alliance with these two may discourage the other power I need to be concerned about (Austria) from any funny business, so I accept.
I don't have a CB against France right away, so I decide to let them fight the English some, and take a Mission to liberate Bar from Provence. I DOW them shortly thereafter, Sav and Brittany joining in, and move my troops in. Shortly after, though, I notice this:
It looks like somehow, the English have scored a major victory against the French - that battered stack of 5 is actually the remnants of the greater part of the French army, the stack of 19 infantry they start with. I can't let an opportunity like this pass by, so I do something I almost never do - I declare war against the French with no CB.
I manage to completely destroy that French stack, and the English continue their upsets by largely handling the rest of the French forces. Along with my starting army, which I split in two, I hire a substantial (10-12) stack of mercenaries, and between the English/Portuguese and myself and allies, we proceed to dismantle France - by far the easiest that has ever been and, I think, in part to a good deal of luck, not the least of it being the continued survival of my King.
Meanwhile, in my war against Provence, Bar defects to me via event, which allows me to take the province of Provence in peace. Unfortunately, since I don't have a land connection, I can't core it, so I regret the decision somewhat.
Finally, I accept a reasonable peace with France, taking two provinces NE of Ile-de-France and forcing them to release Auverne. The English accept peace shortly after, taking Poitou and possibly demanding other concessions. A massive rebellion will rock France immediately after, leading to the release of Guyenne and later Dauphine and leaving France with only four provinces. However, I'm otherwise occupied, because...
A massive coalition, led by Austria and including England (!) declares war on me. Austria is angry because I refused to cede my "unlawful" HRE territory of Bar - pshaw, I say! I'm very fortunate the war with France went so well and my manpower is still intact - otherwise I'd be in real trouble.
The conflict drags on - I'm able to destroy most of the forces that venture into my lands, but not take the fight to anyone of significance, really. Austria is stubborn in refusing any good peace deals, and I don't like the idea of this war dragging out too long.
So at a loss for what else to do, I accept a peace that sees England cede Calais to France (who I'm now less scared of than England).
Sometime during all of this, my King dies, his son inherits, and France conquers the two remaining provinces of Provence. This is actually a good thing for me - it means I can release Provence as my vassal, and get rid of the overextension from Provence, although they take Bar with them as well. In the meantime, I conquer Gelre and Berg. This causes everyone in Europe to despise me, and soon I'm facing a coalition of pretty much everyone, including England, France, and Austria. Soon after, Utrecht declares war on me, as leader of the coalition.
I quickly conquer them and force concessions from the coalition, most notably the release of the provinces France conquered to Provence, who is my vassal. In retrospect, I now feel this was too gamey - I think I should have forced a white peace instead. On the other hand, I don't think it makes sense in this time period for the massive coalition that faced me to even really exist, so I don't know. I still regret it, though.
Currently, France has declared war on England, who is suffering through the war of the roses. They've occupied the mainland English territory, and Scotland is ripping through the non-rebel-occupied English territory. Aragon conquered all of Dauphin but suffers from repeated rebellions, which I covertly support. Oddly enough, one of the rebellions occupied 2 of the 3 provinces, crossed the border to Auvignon, seized it, and immediately created Dauphine, but only with the province of Avignon - not quite sure what happened there.
This is how things stand currently, both for myself and Europe as a whole. I took Innovative as my idea, since it ties nicely into all of Burgundy's strengths. I almost took Administrative for the first time, since it works so well with mercenaries - I may yet as my second idea.
From here on out, I'll try to do a better job of having more/better screenshots, and noting more things, since I know I'm going to try for a real AAR. Please let me know what you think so far - this thing is a lot of work, and if everyone hates it, I won't do it
Thanks!
