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I'm not great at EU4 and these may be things you've since learned, but some notes:
One way of breaking apart coalitions is to improve relations with the members. Once you get above +50 (according to these translations from Old Norse writings by 'Wiki the Red', odd name) a country will eventually leave. It's probably not safe to start warring again right after because you still have all the aggressive expansion but it can help mitigate them taking the chance to pounce on you.
Your maps eventually spread to other nations or can be stolen. By not exploring beyond what you can colonize, you might ever so slightly slow down other colonizers. Though that might be memories of long ago versions of EU4.
The anti-Frisian coalition might be an issue, but I'm more worried about the spread of Protestantism. The confessional conflict was hugely destabilizing in OTL (and I say this as a Protestant).
Something you can do to deal with the annoyance of your allies having allied your enemies (post-Emperor update) is to use your favors to ask them to break their alliances. This is likely only a long-term option (or would be were you able to implement this piece of advice directly), but it can be convenient in long-lasting alliances and/or if you are avid about currying favors
Previously on filcatian invasion of the frisian dream:
Alliance with the france-tag is a serious choice (...). Yet it comes with its dangers: (...) In order to prevent that, the player must, should, has to improve relations with all of the potential targets of the france-tag (...)
This war is correctly defined as an accident, since it could have been prevented, with the aforementioned methods: increase the opinion up to fifty (50) with all potential targets of the ally, then set the attitude as friendly. Naturally, this will not work on a common rival that both allies share.
There is nothing that can be gained from a war that is started by any code-ally in the game. The player will be always (always) in loss for being dragged into a war started by the code. The marginal gain in terms of favours is useful but only for circumstantial cases.
- To maximize your chance of recompensation in the form of land, try to occupy as much of what you want as possible yourself and mark it as being of 'vital importance' in the diplomatic interface.
Ix:Risor is correct in this regard; in order to maximise the chances, one has to participate in the war, but the vital importance mechanic should be used before the war (you will not be allowed to select a province for vital importance if it is already as such for any war ally) - and this brings the trouble of desiring the same provinces with the ally. If the war is inevitable, else the player is willing to join, then setting the provinces as vital importance can be done at the moment of call-to-arms, just before hitting yes to accept it. If the desired province is given by the code-ally in the peace deal, that is a lucky strike. Otherwise, it is sane to expect the player will not be given any benefits after the war. Especially if the player is the minor power in the alliance. Also: do not forget to set the provinces back to neutral after the war.
Yes, this will only increase your chances, and it is never a guarantee. The code will always seek its own interests over its ally. In this specific case, code-france will never share any province of burgundy-tag with any of its allies. Those will be set as vital by the code already at the beginning. Even if code-france and code-burgundy become friendly and allies (a possibility by the pseudo-random start), they will still want each others lands (strategic importance as opposed to vital).
The reason for being always in loss by wars of the code is the war-mode of the code.
The code does not always target the player as most of the players claim. The code has only higher advantages as constants in its equations to evaluate its own moves. The player is susceptible to attrition, on land or at sea, whereas the code will not suffer from it. The code has greater visibility on the map, and it has greater range for waging wars, choosing allies and rivals, etc. And the inherent advantages: the code is infinitely faster than the human player, and the code is infinitely more patient than the human player. Moreover, the code knows whom it has to attack in any war: the weakest ally, the farthest fort, the coldest theatre of the entire war-field.
This is the modus operandi of the code. As such, the code-englandorbritain will take all of its army and embark on the single colony in bahamas, even while code- or player-france is completely invading the isles. As such, the code-castilleorspain will start sieging down from the bering sea against the code- or player-russia, even during iberia is under complete occupation. As such, the tags of the code will rush over hungary, poland, then crimea, through caucasus mountains, and into east anatolia in a league war to siege down the code- or the player-otto provinces there, the farthest points, even if entire europe is under siege.
In this case, code-france is allied to the tags of portugal, savoy, florence, genoa, mantua, attacking the code-brittany, which is allied to code-burgundy. The attacking party is infinitely powerful against the defending party, yet the code still calls the five-province, 14k friesland-tag, the player, to arms. This is the code; it will call everyone to an invasion of HRE (against hundred-thousand allies of everyone), or to an invasion of the isles (to which no ally can reach), or of course even to conquer an opm without any allies (the war ends within months, before any attacker-ally can reach).
And the weakest ally of the attackers, to which the defender code-burgundy can reach, is the player-friesland. Naturally it will be the target of the rabid tag.
Scenarios as this should be avoided by friendly attitudes through effective diplomacy as aforementioned.
Doom scenario is code-france attacking code-england and calling the player-friesland. The code against the england-tag will almost always fail, due to the enormous naval-bonus of the code-england tag. That war will last at least five (5) years, until call-for-peace threshold is achieved, and the player-friesland will be stuck waiting in that period, unless it can embark on the isles by itself. Good luck with that while having twenty-something light trade-ships against the code-england.
Therefore the england-tag is otherwise known as the this one does not need to be played, it plays itself, so choose it, press the play, send the ships in hunting mode, then leave the computer, attend your daily routine, have dinner, preferably with the loved one, make sweet, sweet love with the loved one, wash up, tidy up, sleep, come back next day, and these baßtards will still be there on the isles, even if it loses normandy or what else tag.
Apocalypse scenario is a code-ally attacking code-denmark, and calling the player to the war. Apocalypse, as only the jutland peninsula is reachable, then onwards to finland over entire germany region, poland-lithuania region, baltics region, then russia region; and upon reaching there, the player will see that the code-denmark has sent all its forces to jutland. Return from finland, through russia region, baltics region, poland-lithuania region, germany region, then finally upon reaching jutland, the player will see that the code-denmark has moved all its forces from jutland back to finland region. This will go on for at least five (5) years, until the attacking party can reach sweden and norway-tags over finland region. Also, if the war target is the capital københavn, then good luck trying to defeat the hundreds of galleys with a couple of galleys and transports.
Therefore the denmark-tag is otherwise known as the most annoying tag.
Also: danish rebels entered through our borders! This is the definition of for faqs sake in terms of stackwipe for opms in the vicinity, exactly due to the location of denmark-capital, and the game mechanics not allowing to move over islands when a ship is present in the kattegat straits, but code-rebels can then take the scenic route around entire baltic sea, and freely through all tags on their path.
In this case of The Accidental War, it seems the player has been lucky in the defence against the burgundy-tag. But this luck should not be counted on; the code-france should not be trusted with.
Avoid allying to the code as much as possible. If necessary, which is the beginning phase of most tags in the game, thus the player-friesland has to; avoid being called to any of the wars of the code. If willing to else necessary to participate, then defend the forts, stick around with the allies until it is over. Judging by this, it was a well-play of the player in The Accidental War, but then again: improve opinions with all potential targets of the ally to avoid being called to any of the wars of the code.
I just took the one in the vicinity that looked the most salubrious. And we don’t want to imitate those inferior Dutch, do we? It will be done the Frisian Way (in this case blundering around without any real knowledge of the game, not thinking at the time I’d be silly enough to turn it into an AAR and subject my blunderings to public scrutiny!)
If colonies are expensive then just as well I’ve been building the economy. What with France and the Empire as neighbours, and wanting to try out the colonising mechanics, I figured the only large expansion I’d be doing is outward into colonies and upwards in developing home provinces.
I'm not great at EU4 and these may be things you've since learned, but some notes:
One way of breaking apart coalitions is to improve relations with the members. Once you get above +50 (according to these translations from Old Norse writings by 'Wiki the Red', odd name) a country will eventually leave. It's probably not safe to start warring again right after because you still have all the aggressive expansion but it can help mitigate them taking the chance to pounce on you.
Thanks. I had an inkling of by that time, though with 15 or so of them, I was waiting for time to wear down the hostility below 50 (given there were so many of them for my two diplomats to cover, along with ally management, claim fabrication and keeping Austria from hitting me). And I knew I was taking a big risk after the first run was ended by a coalition, but in this case was betting the French alliance would counteract that. It has so far, though at the cost of an Accidental War. I won’t say how long it goes on working …
Your maps eventually spread to other nations or can be stolen. By not exploring beyond what you can colonize, you might ever so slightly slow down other colonizers. Though that might be memories of long ago versions of EU4.
Yes, I experienced a bit of that later. Though in this case I wanted my explorers to discover as much as possible, mainly out of curiosity (and because I assumed to Portuguese and Castilians would have already explored further than me anyway). But it bears keeping in mind.
The anti-Frisian coalition might be an issue, but I'm more worried about the spread of Protestantism. The confessional conflict was hugely destabilizing in OTL (and I say this as a Protestant).
You are right to be worried about the spread of ‘the other blue blob’! You will see Frisia get more engaged with this a bit later: at this time, I was weighing up whether to have Frisia resist or join the Reformation, and also still knew very little of the religious mechanics, including what uses influence in the Holy See could be put to, using missionaries, etc.
Basically, at this point, anything I could get my hands on! Though I was keen to build a substantive colony in America as the centrepiece. There were even ambitions to become the biggest colonist in North America ( it’s Frisia, so we must dream, right? ) But I was also interested in Africa, south east Asia and Australia too.
Something you can do to deal with the annoyance of your allies having allied your enemies (post-Emperor update) is to use your favors to ask them to break their alliances. This is likely only a long-term option (or would be were you able to implement this piece of advice directly), but it can be convenient in long-lasting alliances and/or if you are avid about currying favors
So does that mean looking to see who their rivals are and what they have claims on? Anything else that’s an indicator? And noting such advice is for the future, given how far this one is played ahead.
I’ll have to look at that one, for future reference. Does already having a claim on a province confer the same priority/effect, or is this more/additional?
And the weakest ally of the attackers, to which the defender code-burgundy can reach, is the player-friesland. Naturally it will be the target of the rabid tag.
I reckon I got that feeling even at the time. Hence my ‘duck and cover’ strategy, as France and Friends were eventually going to crush them anyway, and I didn’t want my army destroyed in a futile defence.
Amen. Trust is too optimistic and hope is not a strategy. But calculated risk can sometimes work out. You will see whether it did in the following chapters.
Avoid allying to the code as much as possible. If necessary, which is the beginning phase of most tags in the game, thus the player-friesland has to; avoid being called to any of the wars of the code.
I felt I needed to this time, given what happened in the First Dream. I could at least try it out as a strategy and a way to learn the mechanics by trial and error.
For now at least, no European colonies had been detected in the north of the New World, though rumours from Portugal indicated they may have established settlements well to the south by this time. But the first Frisian contact with native civilisations in the New World was made.
But the big news was the establishment of Friesland first overseas colony on 19 March 1525! Ernst Casimir Wynja had led the first venture into Wiscontiss, though only 11 settlers had landed thus far. They were getting along amicably with the local population of 1,000 natives.
hallelujah! also, i think some estuary provinces will have an innate bonus to trade. if the one you colonized is not one of them, for sure very nearby there are a few
Now a castle is ordered for construction in oversticht; judging by the remaining chapters, it seems all previously built or already existing castles - utrecht, geldern - are still kept. This is inefficient, and costing the player. Castle in oversticht is enough to protect oversticht, friesland, gröningen, and geldern. There is already the utrecht castle, protecting utrecht and geldern; and then the one in den haag, which is conquered in the next chapters. Other than the sentimental values - den haag and utrecht castles were important for the rebellion against the habsburgs - keeping all is redundant. Castle in geldern can be demolished after oversticht is built.
Cultures of oversticht and geldern are ordered to be converted into frisian; extremely redundant move. All those provinces are in the same culture group, so the penalties are already reduced; besides, it would cost much less if the culture is just accepted.
"...but in the meantime, France had expanded far further into the Low Countries at the expense of Burgundy. Which no longer existed as a separate entity!"
Yep, that is burgundian inheritance for all y'all.
Either scenario, burgundy-tag inherited by france- or austria-emperor-tags, is the doom for the player of any low-countries-tag, and all tags in the vicinity. Else, those lands can be even inherited by a random ducal HRE that has been the ally of the burgundy-tag; still an undesirable scenario.
Good luck if the brabantian lands are desired - which should be, since those are required to form the netherlands-tag, arguably more advantageous than any starting tag in the low countries.
"As many had expected, this had been devoted to turning Friesland into one of Europe’s explorer nations. Already, a quest for the New World had been launched with new colonial ventures being the next objective."
So the colonialism route, which is the standard for any tag in the low countries.
First of all: Faq you, you faqing imperialist coloniser scum
Second: As it is already seen in the run, the tags of the low countries cannot reach any colonial provinces at diplo-tech 10, and it will not be efficiently reachable until diplo-tech 15. Yet getting the explo-set within the first-three-ideas is still an acceptable, affordable, manageable move for the player in the low countries region. On the other hand, the opportunity cost is the diplo-set of the diplo-group. Without the diplo-set, the ducal tag has only two diplomats. It will take a lot more effort and time trying to prevent coalitions, fabricating claims, avoiding code-ally-wars, etc.
Beware of the gold provinces in the colonies. Those will cause thunderous fury with all the coloniser tags of the code.
"Protestant centres of reformation had sprung up in Ratibor, Dresden and – closer to home – Münster."
One has to decide early on which path to take: the reformation or the counter-reformation. Since the player is friesland-tag, either route will bring extra risks, due to being also a coloniser tag. Protestant tags will be free of the treaty of tordesillas modifier, but regardless, the fury of the catholic tags will be increased - especially when the council of trent happens in the negative extreme. Staying catholic will mean safety from the catholic princes of the empire, but the other catholic coloniser tags will squash all dreams of the player, since the iberian tags will fill up everywhere by the time the player can reach a single province in the bahamas, and colonising their territory promised by the papal-tag will incur hyper-negative relations with that tag and again the papal-tag.
Not to mention the defender of the faith of the catholics; with high probability the code-ally france-tag will take it, and will come to defend against the player if the protestant-route is taken. Good luck in that case.
"Counsellor’s warned Roorda of the dangers such rampant expansionism in terms of the attitude of neighbours and the Emperor to trying to take all three."
Sigh.
One last trick: From the image the potential coalition (which is actually a definite outcome) seems to be manageable; the opinions due to aggro-exp penalty are about ~ -50.
Aggro-exp penalty diminishes by ~2 per year (so... increases from -50 by +2/year), and that is not 12-month period; if one makes the peace deal on December, by next month 1 January it will tick the one-year for the calculation of the modifiers of the code. Thus, if a tag is at -51 aggro-exp opinion by December, it will increase up to -49 in the next month on 1 January, effectively preventing it to start or join a coalition.
Whether joined a coalition or not, other tags still will have terrible relations with the conqueror tag after the conquest, though.
"The Frisian alliance arrangements remained in place, with the addition of a military access arrangement with Portugal: alas, it had failed to give Frisian colonists the range Roorda had [in his ignorance of the game mechanics ] hoped might be boosted as a result."
Lol, nice try.
"The deterioration of religious unity in Friesland had triggered warnings of a looming disaster of religious turmoil for the small nation."
After the last war, in the peace deal with the münster-tag, if the force convert had been selected, then the centre of reformation in münster province would be removed. This would increase the chances against the religious turmoil disaster by cutting the spread, if the catholic-route is intended, but would not guarantee against it, since there are other centres of reformation, and in a couple of years, the calvinists will arrive at the scene too.
Also: alliance with denmark-tag is a smart move, especially when it is also allied to the poland-lithuania-tag. But it is susceptible to the ottos. Yep, otto-tag, otherwise known as the it is only 1490 and you are already 100k-strong? For faqs sake have you taken quantity you faqhead? yep, it has taken quantity-, admin-, and pffft, influence-sets. Bloody hell, ottos, bloody faqing hell tag. Destruction of the poland-lithuania tag by the otto-tag is a high probability, and thus it will leave denmark-tag exposed to the muscovy-tag; that scenario will cause serious headaches for the ally player-friesland. In such a case, one can only hope that either france- or castille-spain- or austria-tag is the defender of the faith against the muscovy-russia tag, otherwise known as the 100k? pffft, this faqhead loses that many during a mistake-move, then spurts another 100k out of thin air tag.
End of the filcatian invasion
One last point, and then the thread will be free from the monster-posts.
The Trade
The player has been collecting from the channel node and the lübeck node. This is the main mistake.
The channel node is the home node of the friesland-tag. Whether a merchant is present or not, the trade-ducats will be collected from the home node automatically, so sending a merchant for collecting gives only a marginal increase, therefore unnecessary at this point.
The lübeck is actually upstream node, feeding the channel; it has one outflow, going to the downstream channel node. By sending the merchant to collect in lübeck node, the player's own trade power has been cut in that node by fifty percent (-50%). Checking from the images, it says the player is collecting ducats with an order of magnitude between 10^-2 and 10^-1 in the lübeck node - starting about 0.02, and 0.55 only by 1525. In fact, the player has lost hundreds of ducats due to this since 1444.
Friesland-tag has provinces only in the channel node region; the trade power in every other node comes from the global trade power; so it has no provincial trade power in the upstream nodes of lübeck and north sea. Its home node is also an end node; no outflows. This means that the player-friesland will never benefit more by collecting from other trade nodes. The only way to increase the trade income is by transferring trade power; send one merchant to north sea node, and the other to lübeck, both to transfer trade power. This will (1) increase the trade income by the cumulative transfer effect (2) steer the trade from nodes that has multiple outflows. For example, the north sea node has two; one to lübeck, the other to the channel nodes. Sending the merchant to the north sea and steering the transfer to the channel, the player's home node, will turbo-increase the trade income.
Trade ships will increase the trade income, especially the transferred amount of ducats from the other nodes that the tag has no provincial trade power; so sending some to north sea and lübeck will be beneficial - which is done correctly in the run. Plus, since the channel node is a very competitive one, with many tags having home nodes, trade ships protecting the trade at the channel will enormously increase the trade income, too.
Collecting from nodes other than the home node will also nullify the bonus global trade power one can get from the colonial subjects. Each colonial subject with 10 provinces will provide 5% global trade power at every node the overlord is present. This will be nullified when the overlord collects from a different node other than the home node.
As more merchants become available, and when the nodes are accessible, send them to transfer. For example, once the colonies in north america, and perhaps bahamas, are established, and have 10 provinces each, they will provide +1 merchant each. One merchant to the carribean node, one merchant to chesapeake bay, both transferring to the channel node; this will turbo-charge the trade income. For example, once the sub-saharan provinces are colonised, preferably as trade companies, one can get another merchant (when the trade company has 50% trade power); one merchant to ivory coast to transfer to the channel node will increase the trade income by astronomical scale - entire trade of Africa, India, China, Pacific, America, can be steered through the cape via ivory nodes, provided enough merchants are acquired to steer from all those nodes upstream. But for this run, the iberian colonisers have already filled that region, so the player is at a significant disadvantage at this point.
Kudos, since no aar with such gigantic images can attract own interest to read it, but this is a standard bullfilter, and the images are enriched with important details and enhanced with nice additional period- or thematic-images, making them tolerable; kudos once again, and good luck with the run.
hallelujah! also, i think some estuary provinces will have an innate bonus to trade. if the one you colonized is not one of them, for sure very nearby there are a few
Now a castle is ordered for construction in oversticht; judging by the remaining chapters, it seems all previously built or already existing castles - utrecht, geldern - are still kept. This is inefficient, and costing the player. Castle in oversticht is enough to protect oversticht, friesland, gröningen, and geldern. There is already the utrecht castle, protecting utrecht and geldern; and then the one in den haag, which is conquered in the next chapters. Other than the sentimental values - den haag and utrecht castles were important for the rebellion against the habsburgs - keeping all is redundant. Castle in geldern can be demolished after oversticht is built.
I wasn’t that aware of the interlocking zoc relationships at that point, or any systematic theory of applying them. I see the point re zocs, but don’t the forts also have a defensive value and benefit of their own, irrespective of the way the zocs work? So, if there’s a wall of them, or castles in depth, doesn’t that still provide additional defensive strength, in that each province then needs to be sieges down if the enemy is invading?
I take the point that they are an expense, but if you can afford them (and mothball some in times of peace to economise) aren’t they still of value? For example, if you have a smaller amount of domestic provinces and a larger colonial empire to fund such defensive works, is that a feasible (if not always optimally efficient in $ terms) way to defend the homeland? Spoiler: this ended up being a feature of later play, which I can’t do anything about now.
Cultures of oversticht and geldern are ordered to be converted into frisian; extremely redundant move. All those provinces are in the same culture group, so the penalties are already reduced; besides, it would cost much less if the culture is just accepted.
I didn’t really understand the culture mechanics and had developed a bit of an rp thing for spreading Frisian culture wherever possible. If you see that happening later, as with fort building you’ll just have to nod tiredly and remember it’s already done and I’m not ignoring advice!
Yep, that is burgundian inheritance for all y'all.
Either scenario, burgundy-tag inherited by france- or austria-emperor-tags, is the doom for the player of any low-countries-tag, and all tags in the vicinity. Else, those lands can be even inherited by a random ducal HRE that has been the ally of the burgundy-tag; still an undesirable scenario.
Good luck if the brabantian lands are desired - which should be, since those are required to form the netherlands-tag, arguably more advantageous than any starting tag in the low countries.
Quite. As you can see from these early decades, forming the Netherlands ain’t going to be easy - if even possible - and if it happens may be something that takes centuries. But there are other option for the Dream to thrive, of course.
Second: As it is already seen in the run, the tags of the low countries cannot reach any colonial provinces at diplo-tech 10, and it will not be efficiently reachable until diplo-tech 15. Yet getting the explo-set within the first-three-ideas is still an acceptable, affordable, manageable move for the player in the low countries region. On the other hand, the opportunity cost is the diplo-set of the diplo-group. Without the diplo-set, the ducal tag has only two diplomats. It will take a lot more effort and time trying to prevent coalitions, fabricating claims, avoiding code-ally-wars, etc.
Yes, it soon became clear I’d need those ideas to get anywhere before the other colonial oppressors gobbled up everything useful. Can’t recall for now whether the diplo group got taken up subsequently. And at that time, I wasn’t as aware of the value and uses of the diplomats as I was later, and certainly not now with the advice that has come in with making it an AAR.
I wasn’t really taking much notice of the various commodities in the provinces: one too many details for a newbie playing what I thought at the time was a throw-away learning game.
One has to decide early on which path to take: the reformation or the counter-reformation. Since the player is friesland-tag, either route will bring extra risks, due to being also a coloniser tag. Protestant tags will be free of the treaty of tordesillas modifier, but regardless, the fury of the catholic tags will be increased - especially when the council of trent happens in the negative extreme. Staying catholic will mean safety from the catholic princes of the empire, but the other catholic coloniser tags will squash all dreams of the player, since the iberian tags will fill up everywhere by the time the player can reach a single province in the bahamas, and colonising their territory promised by the papal-tag will incur hyper-negative relations with that tag and again the papal-tag.
This was indeed a major call to make and (even for a new player unaware of the real pros and cons) clearly a big one for Friesland. The choice made will be revealed soon in the AAR.
Not to mention the defender of the faith of the catholics; with high probability the code-ally france-tag will take it, and will come to defend against the player if the protestant-route is taken. Good luck in that case.
That office did come on my radar eventually, though at this stage it was another ‘bigger than me at the moment’ things that I didn’t engage with or plan for yet.
Sigh.
One last trick: From the image the potential coalition (which is actually a definite outcome) seems to be manageable; the opinions due to aggro-exp penalty are about ~ -50.
Aggro-exp penalty diminishes by ~2 per year (so... increases from -50 by +2/year), and that is not 12-month period; if one makes the peace deal on December, by next month 1 January it will tick the one-year for the calculation of the modifiers of the code. Thus, if a tag is at -51 aggro-exp opinion by December, it will increase up to -49 in the next month on 1 January, effectively preventing it to start or join a coalition.
Whether joined a coalition or not, other tags still will have terrible relations with the conqueror tag after the conquest, though.
I did have a bit of an idea (though still incomplete) of those metrics by this time, so was gambling that either an attack could be staved off, at least until members started dropping out or entirely, or if they did attack I could enlist France to help sort them out (hence all the favour-currying I’d discovered was useful for that). That and keeping Austria sweet so they wouldn’t use their cb on me.
After the last war, in the peace deal with the münster-tag, if the force convert had been selected, then the centre of reformation in münster province would be removed. This would increase the chances against the religious turmoil disaster by cutting the spread, if the catholic-route is intended, but would not guarantee against it, since there are other centres of reformation, and in a couple of years, the calvinists will arrive at the scene too.
Also: alliance with denmark-tag is a smart move, especially when it is also allied to the poland-lithuania-tag. But it is susceptible to the ottos. Yep, otto-tag, otherwise known as the it is only 1490 and you are already 100k-strong? For faqs sake have you taken quantity you faqhead? yep, it has taken quantity-, admin-, and pffft, influence-sets. Bloody hell, ottos, bloody faqing hell tag. Destruction of the poland-lithuania tag by the otto-tag is a high probability, and thus it will leave denmark-tag exposed to the muscovy-tag; that scenario will cause serious headaches for the ally player-friesland. In such a case, one can only hope that either france- or castille-spain- or austria-tag is the defender of the faith against the muscovy-russia tag, otherwise known as the 100k? pffft, this faqhead loses that many during a mistake-move, then spurts another 100k out of thin air tag.
It seemed (with my fuzzy idea of the underlying diplo system) to be a good idea at the time. They were a rising great power and added insurance if France proved fickle or that alliance fell over. The other subtleties though about Poland, Ottomans etc would have been unknowable and/or lost on me. Never having played the game at all before, all that was a mystery.
Ok, but if you want to stay tuned for the odd comment here and there as it progresses, that would be very welcome. Enhanced wiki explanations are nice but not expected!
The player has been collecting from the channel node and the lübeck node. This is the main mistake.
The channel node is the home node of the friesland-tag. Whether a merchant is present or not, the trade-ducats will be collected from the home node automatically, so sending a merchant for collecting gives only a marginal increase, therefore unnecessary at this point.
The lübeck is actually upstream node, feeding the channel; it has one outflow, going to the downstream channel node. By sending the merchant to collect in lübeck node, the player's own trade power has been cut in that node by fifty percent (-50%). Checking from the images, it says the player is collecting ducats with an order of magnitude between 10^-2 and 10^-1 in the lübeck node - starting about 0.02, and 0.55 only by 1525. In fact, the player has lost hundreds of ducats due to this since 1444.
It took me quite a while to figure out more about how the trade system worked. Even reading the wiki. I did eventually figure out the upstream bit, though had assumed you’d need to maintain a merchant in at least the EC trade node to take money from it. Is that not so, then? But yes, I did figure out the experiment with Lubeck wasn’t really working out very effectively as a collection point. Just took a while.
Friesland-tag has provinces only in the channel node region; the trade power in every other node comes from the global trade power; so it has no provincial trade power in the upstream nodes of lübeck and north sea. Its home node is also an end node; no outflows. This means that the player-friesland will never benefit more by collecting from other trade nodes. The only way to increase the trade income is by transferring trade power; send one merchant to north sea node, and the other to lübeck, both to transfer trade power. This will (1) increase the trade income by the cumulative transfer effect (2) steer the trade from nodes that has multiple outflows. For example, the north sea node has two; one to lübeck, the other to the channel nodes. Sending the merchant to the north sea and steering the transfer to the channel, the player's home node, will turbo-increase the trade income.
This now makes sense and I did get to realise it as things went along. If you stay tuned, you will see when the Frisian merchants start to implement these ideas.
Trade ships will increase the trade income, especially the transferred amount of ducats from the other nodes that the tag has no provincial trade power; so sending some to north sea and lübeck will be beneficial - which is done correctly in the run. Plus, since the channel node is a very competitive one, with many tags having home nodes, trade ships protecting the trade at the channel will enormously increase the trade income, too.
Collecting from nodes other than the home node will also nullify the bonus global trade power one can get from the colonial subjects. Each colonial subject with 10 provinces will provide 5% global trade power at every node the overlord is present. This will be nullified when the overlord collects from a different node other than the home node.
As more merchants become available, and when the nodes are accessible, send them to transfer. For example, once the colonies in north america, and perhaps bahamas, are established, and have 10 provinces each, they will provide +1 merchant each. One merchant to the carribean node, one merchant to chesapeake bay, both transferring to the channel node; this will turbo-charge the trade income. For example, once the sub-saharan provinces are colonised, preferably as trade companies, one can get another merchant (when the trade company has 50% trade power); one merchant to ivory coast to transfer to the channel node will increase the trade income by astronomical scale - entire trade of Africa, India, China, Pacific, America, can be steered through the cape via ivory nodes, provided enough merchants are acquired to steer from all those nodes upstream. But for this run, the iberian colonisers have already filled that region, so the player is at a significant disadvantage at this point.
The first part I do now understand. The second is one of those things where I get the words, but not necessarily fully comprehend in game mechanics, mainly because it’s still all so new to me. I’ll probably come back here in the future to recalibrate and say, “ah, so that’s what it meant”.
The third part is more comprehensible to me already, and iirc is something I did end up doing later, at least to a certain extent. And when I resume playing down the track, I’ll check to see where I’m up to with that. We do eventually end up raking in lots of money, though, even if my implementation isn’t 100% efficient.
Kudos, since no aar with such gigantic images can attract own interest to read it, but this is a standard bullfilter, and the images are enriched with important details and enhanced with nice additional period- or thematic-images, making them tolerable; kudos once again, and good luck with the run.
Thank you! I like to use the images to tell their own story so I can use fewer words to describe the game events. Given my principal mode is gameplay, this works for me. Some of my AARs have more of a narrative aspect at times, but this one, so far anyway, will be more tracing how the game went. If I added much narrative, which part of me always feels like doing, then it would take forever to finish.
Anyway, that’s just by way of general style explanation. I do hope you hang around at least for a lurk, but if not thanks very much for all the detailed hints and explanations. You’ve obviously played a lot and delved into the code/engine a lot in the past. I always tend to take a more instinctive approach to these games and play them in my mind’s eye as more of an alternate history vehicle than a technical puzzle to be figured out, so having that side explained more is very helpful, and something I’d be highly unlikely to get into myself.
To All: images for the next chapter are done, but I have a few other AAR updates to do before I return to the Dream again, but it shouldn’t be too long.
You will automatically collect from the node where your main trade city is located, which, unless you decide to change it (in the upper left near the capital moving button), will also be your capital
You will automatically collect from the node where your main trade city is located, which, unless you decide to change it (in the upper left near the capital moving button), will also be your capital
Chapter 15: Colonies and the Wealth of Nations (1526-34)
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July 1526
Potestaat Anne Roorda awoke from a pleasant slumber on 7 July 1526 and dreams of Frisian freedom, wealth and glory. Nearing the end of his fourteenth year as leader of Friesland, he could survey all that had been achieved under him and his predecessors with some pride.
In the years of peace that had followed Friesland’s war of expansion in 1517, Roorda had become a well-liked figure in his own country, especially among the common folk. His cabinet of ministers was unchanged from the year before.
So too was both the Frisian network of allies and the regional coalition ranged against them. But no punitive war had been declared.
The economy was doing well enough, though army maintenance had been reduced to allow for the added expense of maintaining Friesland’s colony in the New World, to allow for a small monthly budget surplus.
The last year had seen the introduction of some important military reforms, bringing welcome upgrades to the cavalry and artillery arms of the Frisian Leger. And their military leadership remained largely devoted to exploration, on land and at sea.
Protestantism continued to consolidate its hold as a state religion in eastern Germany and Bohemia, but was spreading more slowly from its centre in Münster, where it was not yet the state religion. No further spread into Frisian territory had been recorded, though the rise of religious turmoil caused by it still approached.
Clevian separatists also threatened the peace in that province, so the whole Leger, though on a reduced peacetime readiness, was stationed there in case violence erupted.
The colony of Wicontiss continued to develop slowly but steadily. The explorer Reginhard Martena had been sent across with an escort of a regiment of infantry to start exploring the hinterland. Native nations often rose and fell near the colony, while others seemed to endure more strongly. None seemed to threaten the settlers as yet, who still had no garrison to defend them.
Aragon had burst into the list of leading nations, with both Portugal and Hungary considered legacy members’ of the Great Powers club. France was now entrenched as the top power in the world, well ahead of their nearest competitor.
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The Building of Friesland – 1444 to 1526
Roorda conducted a stock-take of major buildings throughout the country at this time. [ie I just discovered the ‘history’ tab on the city screen, very useful when you’re reconstructing an AAR from game saves!] Starting in the capital State of Frisia, Leeuwarden remained by far the most developed and built-up city in the Republic and a significant regional centre. It contained six major buildings, constructed from 1462 (its central marketplace) to the most recent, a shipyard completed in 1507.
The second Frisian city of Groningen was also well developed now, with five major buildings, the first being the town marketplace (pictured below), as it had been with Leeuwarden.
Oversticht, for quite a time the under-developed province of Frisia after its conquest in 1449, had finally seen a period of building in its capital Zwolle from 1497 to 1513, though it had fallen under heretical influence in 1519.
The capital of the fourth Frisian province of Geldern, Arnhem, was brought into the Republic in 1456. It already had a castle by the, with a major church added in 1503 – though this had not stopped the infiltration of Protestantism in 1519.
The second state of Frisia was Holland, where Amsterdam had been annexed in 1486. It already had its famed Dutch Polders and three major buildings by then and none had been added since.
The next Dutch addition to Friesland was the major centre of Utrecht, in 1464. Its church and cathedral had both been built in 1459, while a marketplace had been added by the Frisians in 1490.
Den Haag, with its major city ‘s-Gravenhage, had not been annexed into Friesland until 1508. A courthouse had been added by the Republic just a few years before in 1522, giving it five major buildings, including a cathedral finished back in 1453.
Middleburg in Zeeland rounded out the State of Holland, acquired by Friesland just nine years before, in 1517. No new buildings had been added to its two existing ones since.
Of the two ‘outlying’ provinces also occupied in 1517, Meppen - also a hotbed of Protestant dissent from the same year – had not had its two existing buildings added to.
And finally, Cleve and its main city Kleves had turned to Protestantism just before being annexed in 1517 and boasted three major buildings – and simmering local unrest against Frisian rule.
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The Danish War against Scotland begins - 1529
Friesland’s allies the Danes and their Kalmar Union allies Sweden, attacked Scotland in 1529 with the aim of conquering the Shetland Islands. Friesland was not called into the conflict, which by 1530 had seen just the one naval battle fought, which the Danes had one, apparently sinking two Scottish (or allied) ships.
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January 1530
Anne Roorda’s nearly sixteen successful years as Potestaat had ended in April 1528. His successor was the relatively young Popetet Van Uylenburgh, who by January 1530 presided over the same ministerial line up. Whose upkeep was reduced by way of Van Uylenburgh’s wide network of influential contacts.
Friesland remained at peace, its allies and opposing coalition still the same as it had been four years previously. Despite a bout of mild inflation that was now ebbing, the budget remained in balance as income grew to meet the increased cost of Frisian colonial ambitions – of which we shall learn more shortly.
The market-based economic theories later elucidated by Adam Smith many years in the future had been adopted, improving production efficiency and completing the wave of new economic ideas in Friesland, which also brought benefits for the cost of later development. Which was not a priority at that time but would be later.
Exploration was now being sold to the Frisian populace as presenting a ‘land of opportunity’ to be had in the New World, increasing the flow of settlers to the New World. In Friesland, despite the religious turmoil of the time, efforts to promote free debate and tolerance had also been made.
In administrative matters, the first new major nationwide policy had been adopted. The Public Welfare Act, enacted on 8 December 1526, sought to alleviate the plight of the poor, to help quell unrest promote national stability.
With growing religious turmoil and a crisis imminent, the government felt such a measure to be prudent.
The development of Friesland’s provinces and building projects in its cities remained largely static at this time. The intervening years had however seen the colony in Wicontiss grow (it was now considered more developed than Meppen in Germany) and new one begun nearby.
If I can dimly recall correctly, I think the new colony came about via an event that offered the choice of gaining it. Which of course I took, later learning the increased cost of having an ‘extra’ colony at the same time the old one was still not finished. But even so, this complemented the policy of expanding in ‘New Frisia’ as quickly as possible.
The natives of Sakimauchheening had applied to come under Frisian jurisdiction on 25 October 1528. The leader of the settlers would remain in Wicontiss but the new settlement had received a head-start in immigrants and already had 362 colonists less than two years after its settlement.
By that time, the ‘Great Power Club’ still recorded Portugal and Poland-Lithuania as members, but their positions were ‘under review’; in Poland’s case, largely due to it being behind in the adoption of modern institutions.
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December 1530
As the same year of 1530 was coming to an end, the Frisian government and key diplomatic arrangements remained unchanged and the economy remained on a similar track. But another advance in military technology had been made, with the introduction of the matchlock musket into the Frisian Leger.
The introduction of Viceroys would increase tariff income and ease the movement of Frisian envoys. But religious turmoil was reaching boiling point and rebels in Utrecht were upset that Friesland’s ruler was not of the Dutch culture! This kind of sentiment would contribute to a future drive towards the “Frisianisation” policy of successive Potestaats.
Also, with the spectre of religious turmoil approaching quickly, Friesland had enacted a series of religious acts that would increase the strength of missionary work (none of which had begun yet, due largely to the cost and other priorities), though at the cost in the Act of Uniformity of 1530 putting a dampener on the adoption of new institutions.
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July 1534
Three and a half years later, Potestaat Van Uylenburgh still dreamed the dream of Frisian Freedom. But Friesland had just been asked to join the unresolved Danish war against Scotland (a bitter rival of both nations for many years) and the Potestaat had seen no real option but to accede. However, so far Friesland had done little to actually intervene.
The Leger was still under a peacetime maintenance regime and the Navy patrolled in support of commerce as it usually did. A new Grand Captain had been appointed after the death of Brunhard Jousma, though less capable than his predecessor – due either to a better choice being unavailable, to cut costs, or both.
As had been predicted for years now, serious religious turmoil broke out in the Republic of Friesland from around February 1532. Within the next couple of years, the Potestaat had responded to this domestic disaster by following the general path of tolerance, though it was unclear what positive effect this may have.
It balanced the earlier introduction of the Religious Acts of 1530, which many hoped would be sufficient to boost later missionary work within the Protestant provinces and might forestall immediate religious uprisings – at a cost. The last few years had also seen events allow for the increased assimilation of natives in the colonies and improved military research.
A more detailed look at the Shetland War showed Denmark was now on top, having sent a large Danish-Swedish army to take Shetland, which had now been occupied. The main Frisian fleet (those three light ships not off exploring) had concentrated and continued to protect trade in the English Channel node.
This benefited trade income from that zone, which underpinned a healthy budget surplus, with colonial costs having decreased due to progress in Wicontiss.
Advances in administrative research now permitted textile manufactories to be built, though none had yet been commenced.
More of Africa’s coastline had been explored and the Frisian fleet was now passing Portuguese Brazil again, endeavouring to map the coast further to the south.
By this time, Wicontiss was being rapidly improved, with a church completed after it became a fully fledged colony in 1531 and it reaching official city status on 1 May 1534. Sakimauchheening now had approaching 600 settlers (aided by the colonial boom then in progress), while the chief Frisian colonist, Ernst Casimir Wynja, had assembled another venture aiming to settle Raritan, to the east.
The Chesapeake Bay trade zone was currently dominated by Friesland, though no income was being collected from it as yet. Frisian land and sea explorers had filled in more of the map of North America’s interior and the Gulf of Mexico coastline.
Of note in the Great Power Game, Muscovy was now known as the Russian Tsardom, an empire ruled by Tsar Vasiliy IV Rurkovich and now ranked third among the powers of the world. Hungary and Portugal were right back in the forefront of the great nations, while Austria (after a brief appearance), Poland-Lithuania and Qara Qoyunlu seemed to be fading in influence.
Of interest, it seemed Friesland’s recent expansion into America had noticeably boosted its standing among other nations.
Kalmar seems to be expanding into old Norse territories... I wonder if they'll start colonizing soon? I also wonder how long the Kalmar Union itself will last... its collapse could harm Friesland.
I think that the Protestants might rise up soon...
Kalmar seems to be expanding into old Norse territories... I wonder if they'll start colonizing soon? I also wonder how long the Kalmar Union itself will last... its collapse could harm Friesland.
Yes, the English haven't been doing too well. We will see if their position gets better or worse - or both - as time goes on. Well observed re QQ and also Ottoman intentions and directions. We'll be sure to keep an occasional eye out there as things more forward.
there are some problems overall, but things are going great! about the new colonial trade node, I think you reroute from there as well instead of collecting but I'm sure somebody who really knows the game will reply to that.
The economy was thriving, with trade on the up again, army maintenance reduced during the period of peace, inflation defeated, the national debt paid off and a monthly surplus being banked.
But in future years, the Frisian government would not take much advantage of the legislature [Note: an omission on my part – I just wasn’t familiar with it and never got around to using the Diet. Maybe I will when I catch the AAR up to gameplay again.]
It is IMO worth it to interact with the estates since they give some nice bonuses. Although, EU4 doesn't punish you for just ignoring the mechanic if that's your preferred playstyle.
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Chapter 12:
A new carrack, Friesland’s first heavy ship, the Grut Fryslân, had been built to help lend its large fleet of light ships and serve as the de facto flagship of the Frisian Navy.
Developing the provinces is again a luxury, only to be considered if the monarch points are about to hit the limit (999 when up-to-date with institutions, with nought-corruption).
Interesting. Never thought of it like that. I guess it also helps that republics (Genoa, Venice, Netherlands) start in rich areas and so can afford more advisors for more monarch points.
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Chapter 13:
As many had expected, this had been devoted to turning Friesland into one of Europe’s explorer nations. Already, a quest for the New World had been launched with new colonial ventures being the next objective.
But at home, it was time to force the issue with Holland, Cleve and Münster. With the principal objective of Zeeland and extant claims on Cleve and Meppen, Friesland’s dominance could be converted into an expansive settlement. [Note: without screen captures of the actual agreements made at the time, I can’t recall whether by this stage I’d discovered being able to pump up the settlements with reparations and such, though I did eventually.]
Judging by the screen, a lot of countries will be angry at this. You get extra AE against nations who aren't made a co-belligerent in a war. Those provinces might also cost more (not sure). So Meppen and Cleve are costing more than they normally would. Cleve is also a capital which also affects things I think.
There's a page in the ledger that also lists any possible provinces you can reach if you don't want to look around the map all the time. Called "Possible Colonies" or something like that.
Question: this is the first time I’ve noticed the ‘Resistance to Reformation’ icon. Is it possible to deliberately raise the value via actions, ideas etc?
One more detail: this is up to emperor-dlc. After that, curing for favours is added as a mechanic, but having no idea what that is, since jumped off the ship before those
Favors are useful depending on what you use them for. Breaking alliances, demanding core provinces, and installing your dynasty on other countries' thrones (not relevant here because of being a republic) are the three biggest ones in my view.
I tried getting port rights (playing out currently in the AAR with Portugal) to see if that would allow me to base colonial expeditions from further forward but (fair enough) that didn't seem to make any difference.
You can't convert them yet either because they recently changed religion. You can see when it expires by looking at the province modifiers in the bottom right (same place that shows whether it is an estuary/trade center).
This is the one I always pick because I hate having to send tiny garrisons everywhere. It's much easier to keep all of the army together in Europe for home defense and to build a separate army for colonial conquests (or send the home army over if you've nothing going on).
Actually, this alliance with Denmark might do the opposite. You can force your allies to break their alliances with other nations by using your favors.
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Chapter 15:
If I can dimly recall correctly, I think the new colony came about via an event that offered the choice of gaining it. Which of course I took, later learning the increased cost of having an ‘extra’ colony at the same time the old one was still not finished. But even so, this complemented the policy of expanding in ‘New Frisia’ as quickly as possible.
You do. Trade is always automatically pushed away based on the arrows that branch off the node. Sending a merchant there to do it just gives you an extra boost (this can be especially lucrative if you set up a massive chain of merchants each pushing trade into each other and eventually into you).
there are some problems overall, but things are going great! about the new colonial trade node, I think you reroute from there as well instead of collecting but I'm sure somebody who really knows the game will reply to that.
Re trade, yes, I can see that now, but didn't know at the time, so I'm still collecting <shrugs>. You'll see what happens with it (Chesapeake Bay) in the next chapter.
Chapter 11:
The benefits of starting in an end node. Hopefully Friesland continues to dominate.
It is IMO worth it to interact with the estates since they give some nice bonuses. Although, EU4 doesn't punish you for just ignoring the mechanic if that's your preferred playstyle.
Chapter 12:
Quite the aggressive snake by France into the HRE. Hopefully you aren't called to defend them against a coalition.
Did you actually build a flagship in game terms? Or is this just a bit of rp? If yes to the first question, do you remember what bonuses you gave it?
Agreed.
Interesting. Never thought of it like that. I guess it also helps that republics (Genoa, Venice, Netherlands) start in rich areas and so can afford more advisors for more monarch points.
Even against a coalition, France is so OP in this run that, while atm I can't hope to contest them, they should be more than enough for almost all potential coalition adversaries. Th first carrack was a de factor flagship for the fleet that is otherwise currently all light ships, designed principally for trade protect. A real flagship (attributes described later) was built some while after that, but it was just a caravel.
Chapter 13:
May Friesland's explorers find many new lands! For the glory of the Republic!
Judging by the screen, a lot of countries will be angry at this. You get extra AE against nations who aren't made a co-belligerent in a war. Those provinces might also cost more (not sure). So Meppen and Cleve are costing more than they normally would. Cleve is also a capital which also affects things I think.
There's a page in the ledger that also lists any possible provinces you can reach if you don't want to look around the map all the time. Called "Possible Colonies" or something like that.
Ther is a state edict that can be unlocked during the Age of Reformation that does so to individual provinces. Other than that, not sure.
Favors are useful depending on what you use them for. Breaking alliances, demanding core provinces, and installing your dynasty on other countries' thrones (not relevant here because of being a republic) are the three biggest ones in my view.
The explorers do keep pretty busy, but then need to wait for the next range expansion to get further ... that, or establishing some forward bases to operate from . Yes, we angered plenty, but relied on the Big Blue Brother to scare them off from attacking, while we then went all colonial.
We get to grips properly with the reformation a bit later, and you'll see which line Friesland eventually takes as that initial religious turmoil spreads within the Republic (more on that in Ch 16).
Here I mainly wanted favours for making allies declare war, but may get to use them for other stuff in the later game, now I'm forewarned.
Chapter 14
You can't convert them yet either because they recently changed religion. You can see when it expires by looking at the province modifiers in the bottom right (same place that shows whether it is an estuary/trade center).
This is the one I always pick because I hate having to send tiny garrisons everywhere. It's much easier to keep all of the army together in Europe for home defense and to build a separate army for colonial conquests (or send the home army over if you've nothing going on).
I don't think I've ever seen Genoa keep their Crimean holdings. Usually gets eaten by Ottomans or PLC.
Do you remember why you chose that province in particular over somewhere in Canada or New England?
Actually, this alliance with Denmark might do the opposite. You can force your allies to break their alliances with other nations by using your favors.
The missionaries do eventually get to work, but I'll not spoil to say what they try to convert to.
Given the dangers at home and the plan for a large and dispersed colonial empire, collaboration seemed like the right choice for me as well. I think it worked fairly well, iirc.
We''l see how long Genoa can hang onto those holdings in the Crimea: I can't remember now (and wasn't really paying attention at the time), so it will be interesting to see. I'm starting to get better at reconstructing some events etc from the save games and various history buttons I've been discovering, so will be trying to relate some of these more interesting or significant side stories as we go along.
Canada already had France getting into it, and my idea here was to try to gain a big presence on the American East Coast, including some provinces (like this one) with trade posts or estuaries. And it was at the limit of my reach at that time, so thought I'd stake a claim there before others did. Nothing too much more scientific than that.
I didn't know about the favours for alliance braking at the time, but Denmark then was one of the best-performing Great Powers and quite nearby, so really I wanted them on my side if possible, also as a little bit of a counter-balance for France (or in case they fell over), from memory.
Chapter 15:
There's also an auto-explore button if you want to do that.
Since you're hemmed in at home and have nothing really to spend the money on this was, in my view the right decision.
You do. Trade is always automatically pushed away based on the arrows that branch off the node. Sending a merchant there to do it just gives you an extra boost (this can be especially lucrative if you set up a massive chain of merchants each pushing trade into each other and eventually into you).
In an event that was missed in the previous update but that registered with Frisian statesmen in 1540, Galicia-Volhynia had broken away from Poland and been reinstated as a sovereign Principality back at the end of 1529. It remained independent in 1540 under its Kniaz, Yaroslav III Gorchakov. Hungary guaranteed its independence and had truces with Poland and the Ottomans until 1545.
And the long Danish War against Scotland, in which Friesland had been a rather passive ally of the Danes, had finally ended on 2 September 1538. Shetland had been annexed by Denmark, plus Sutherland and Ørkenoerne in a blow to the Scots.
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July 1540
Popetet Van Uylenburgh remained in charge of the Frisian Dream in July 1540, more than 12 years into a very successful term, in which he had more recently demonstrated excellent entrepreneurial skills. A Dutch artist, Johan Poszt, was now his leading consultant on administrative matters.
Scotland had turned south after their loss to Denmark, invading England in 1539. By July 1540, they had overrun all of northern England and seemed to be well on top.
Ignoring this conflict, the bulk of Friesland’s light ships were again protecting trade in the English Channel node, after returning from a series of battles in the first year of the religious war Friesland had found itself dragged into in Germany, through its alliance with Brunswick. A war to “purge heresy” in Verden was well on its way to being won. Oldenburg had been defeated and annexed by Brunswick in a separate peace just four days earlier.
Although it had the largest army in the allied group, the Leger had stayed out of the fighting. But the Frisian Navy had been heavily involved, sinking or capturing nine Verdner ships during five naval battles against them and Oldenburg (whose own likely losses were no longer recorded at the Frisian Admiralty).
The Frisian Navy had won a series of victories during 1539-40, losing no ships but having some damaged and other captured prizes that needed subsequent repair.
A mix of Frisian and captured barques, one caravel and one flute were currently being repaired in Friesland, where the ‘Holland’ transport fleet had all been upgraded from cogs to flutes.
Frisian explorers had mapped much of the eastern American hinterland by this time, adding to the knowledge of its mariners.
And the colony in New Frisia had expanded further, with the establishment of a settlement in Unami on 30 October 1534 after the Lenape tribe had occupied Raritan before the colonist Ernst Casimir Wynja could arrive. Since February 1535 its population was being augmented by the Dutch minority expelled from Amsterdam.
A market place had been completed in Wicontiss in August 1536 and a castle was now almost finished there as it was developed as the de facto capital of the New Frisian venture. And the settlement in Sakimauchheening had almost reached the level that would allow a new city to be formed there.
Around this time, one of Friesland’s two merchant syndicates switched its efforts from the unproductive Lübeck trade zone to the growing Chesapeake Bay. However, their knowledge of the finer points of inter-continental trade [ie. EU IV trade mechanisms ] meant they were not yet harvesting all they could from this investment, by sending goods forward to the English Channel rather than collecting directly.
There were now two light ships protecting this new trade enterprise, where a trading post in Wicontiss and the Delaware Estuary in Sakimauchheening boosted Friesland’s trade share in the zone.
Frisian administrative and military technology was now well ahead of the benchmark, while diplomatic advancements were catching up, though still a bit behind. But the latest advance to introduce the flute provided a welcome boost to Frisian trade and colonial expansion. And the defensive power of the Spanish-inspired tercio was adopted over the more offensively suited free shooter infantry formation.
Colonial expansion was also aided by the adoption of free colonies as Frisia looked to complete a third branch of new ideas.
The Frisian treasury and budget had recently taken some hits, sending it into a 60 gold debt and a small monthly deficit, with inflation having taken hold in the last year or two. The diversion of the main fleet from trade protection to naval engagements in the first year of the war against Verden had depressed income from the English Channel trade somewhat.
It was hoped the re-tasking of the fleet back to trade might quickly turn this around again. Also, the brief ‘double up’ of colonial ventures should be alleviated once Sakimauchheening and Unami, both now well progressed, matured into self-sufficient cities.
As noted above, military improvement had led to the adoption of the tercio formation by the Frisian Leger, the flute as the Navy’s most modern transport ship and, if ever built, improved war galley designs. Building and seizing of prizes had increased the Navy’s size to beyond its most administratively efficient size. The army still had room to grow.
It had also been possible to reform government administration in the last few years, with power being devolved to increase provincial autonomy and improve the range of advice available to the Potestaat.
Due to Friesland’s other governmental settings, neither consolidated power nor the bringing of more ‘New Men’ had been available paths, while the broadening of executive powers had been passed over as an option at this stage.
The Iberian peninsula was now a major presence in the Great Power leader board, while Ming China had suddenly dropped away, for reasons unknown in Europe at the time. Poland-Lithuania (perhaps partly due to the earlier loss of Galicia-Volhynia, mentioned previously) and Austria had dropped away in recent years.
Frisian explorers continued to expand Friesland’s knowledge of the wider world, both in the east of North America, but also along both coasts of the Southern Atlantic, as they reached the limits of their current sailing range.
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International and Religious Developments 1542-44
From July 1542, the Shahdom of Qara Qoyunlu became known once more as the Persian Empire. Little was known of their wider territories, but they maintained quite a large army and by September 1544 were winning a war of conquest against Kars. They also had a truce with the Ottomans until the end of 1549.
Scotland had comprehensively won their war with England, with large swathes of northern England and Wales being annexed by their Reformed (Protestant) Queen Mary Stuart on 25 July 1543.
And most recently, on 12 March 1544 much of southern Hungary was annexed into the Ottoman Empire after a devastating Hungarian defeat. This would clearly have a serious impact on Hungary’s standing as a European power.
The scene is the sortie of Count Nikola Šubić Zrinski, Ban (Viceroy) of Croatia, and his men, the heroic defenders of the castle of Szigetvár, against the besieging Turks [1566 in OTL], in which Zrinski lost his life.
At home amid the continuing religious turmoil, shocking news saw the capital province of Friesland and the city of Leeuwarden convert to the Reformed branch of Protestantism on 9 April 1544. But The leadership and majority of the clergy in the wider country remained Catholic, albeit now only around 60% of the populace adhered to the Old Faith.
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September 1544
Now into his 17th year as leader of Friesland, the all-round brilliant Potestaat Van Uylenburgh still presided over the nation’s fortunes. His focus was now on the development of diplomatic power, which had been lagging the other two disciplines in recent years as exploration ideas had been developed.
After a brief dip during the war with Verden, the economy had roared back into surplus, with trade volumes reaching record heights, helped by reduced colonial costs and despite maintaining an increased army and navy both at full maintenance levels and residual inflation.
The war with Verden had ended in August 1540, with Verden itself also annexed by Brunswick. Friesland had then been drawn into another short ‘Purge War’ against Magdeburg in 1543, ending in Brunswick’s annexation of Lüneburg in July 1544: another with for the Reformed Church.
A new marketplace had been built in Geldern in December 1543 and by September 1544, the main Frisian Leger numbered 21 regiments and was poised in Zeeland – on the border with Flanders.
In New Frisia, Unami had beaten Sakimauchheening to full city-hood in June 1541, the latter following in January 1542. The castle in Wicontiss had been completed in February 1541 and an army of three regiments now guarded it, with another being recruited. The economy of Unami was also being rapidly rapidly built up, with a marketplace in 1542 and a church added the following year.
Ernst Casimir Wynja had then led a new venture to Nentego, establishing a new colony there in November 1542, where tobacco was the local crop. This time, minority Dutch settlers expelled from Den Haag were being shipped in to boost numbers.
This period also saw Friesland finish its development of exploration ideas, with colonial administration now seen as a respectable career for the best and brightest, expanding the acceptable size of the navy and boosting any treasure fleet income received [Note: I do recall those started to arrive at some point, but have no screenshots of them of course. They may explain some of the boosts to the treasury that started to come in.]
Frisian national ideas also saw development, with ‘Low Country Solidarity’ becoming an accepted part of the political landscape.
These new ideas also made it possible for a new policy to be implemented in the diplomatic and commercial sphere, with the Stamp Act of 1541 being passed to boost tariff incomes – should they be levied.
The Frisian Leger had expanded to 25 regiments; most kept back in the homeland, one still off exploring the American hinterland and three, as we have noted, forming a growing colonial army in Wicontiss.
And despite another light ship being added, the Navy now had further room to expand, thanks to the adoption of ideas of global empire.
In the Estates, their increased involvement in public schooling had increased their influence, while the worsening health conditions in the cities decreased that of the Burghers. This was as close as they had been in decades. Both Estates remained loyal enough to the government.
Aragon and Hungary (no doubt due to its recent heavy loss of land to the Ottomans) had been eclipsed by a booming Morocco and Bohemia as acknowledged Great Powers. The addition of more colonies seemed to be adding to Friesland’s reputation, though it remained well away from being seen as a major power.
Central Europe was becoming a little more polarised as Poland and Hungary waned, while Russia and the Ottomans became increasingly influential as they threatened from the east and south. France and Denmark and the Kalmar Union remained the dominant powers in the west and north. In Germany, Bohemia and Brunswick were the rising regional powers as the religious wars sparked by the Reformation continued.
In the wider world, Frisian explorers and merchants pushed the mapped boundaries of Friesland’s known world ever further. The small country now boasted one of the largest navies in the world and an extraordinary fifth place in world trading income.
Ming probably exploded. Ottos are huge! Bohemia going great and has Baltic ports. Is Austria still the Emperor and is Bohemia part of the HRE? Morocco having a very good game. Are they colonizing? Iberia needs to consolidate from three big realms to two or one. England is a disaster. If you get a chance, colonize Powhatan (my home). Thanks for the update.
In an event that was missed in the previous update but that registered with Frisian statesmen in 1540, Galicia-Volhynia had broken away from Poland and been reinstated as a sovereign Principality back at the end of 1529.
Looks like Hungary and the Ottomans attacked the PLC when they were still allies and released GV. Ottomans took most of the land and Hungary got nothing.
And the long Danish War against Scotland, in which Friesland had been a rather passive ally of the Danes, had finally ended on 2 September 1538. Shetland had been annexed by Denmark, plus Sutherland and Ørkenoerne in a blow to the Scots.
Scotland had comprehensively won their war with England, with large swathes of northern England and Wales being annexed by their Reformed (Protestant) Queen Mary Stuart on 25 July 1543.
Another reason to attack England and cement your hold over the Channel. England is usually an annoyance late game once they've united their island and built up a massive navy. But this weakened England gives you many opportunities, especially since HRE expansion is not likely at the moment.
The war with Verden had ended in August 1540, with Verden itself also annexed by Brunswick. Friesland had then been drawn into another short ‘Purge War’ against Magdeburg in 1543, ending in Brunswick’s annexation of Lüneburg in July 1544: another with for the Reformed Church.
[Note: I do recall those started to arrive at some point, but have no screenshots of them of course. They may explain some of the boosts to the treasury that started to come in.]
That is a large Bohemia. Also, Castille still hasn't conquered Granada yet 100 years into the game. This is starting to look like one of those games where you play outside of Europe and wonder what happened once the map is revealed to you.
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