English Empire - Megacampaign (Part 1)

[chilldude74]

Greetings,
I will be starting a megacampaign, where I will play as Mercia to England to Great Britain, from CK2 to EU4 to Victoria 2 (maybe 3) to HOI4 and beyond. (Stellaris, anyone?}

• CK2(769 (nice) -1444)
• EU4(1444-1836)
• V2/3(1836-1936)
• HOI4(1936-1948) (this is when I finish my world conquest)

This will be a mostly gameplay focused AAR, with some roleplay from time to time.
Update: This AAR has been approved for mild interactivity by Qorten.

Questions and answers -

"Sir, why are you doing CK2? Ever heard of CK3?"
One, I don't have CK3 right now.
Two, Paradox had the bright idea to change the start date from 769 to 867 (Bastards!), and I don't want to lose campaign time for better graphics.

"You do know Mercia is really easy and you'll rule Britain in a hundred years, right?"
I'm not that good at the game. Deal with it.

"This is your first forum post, dude. You're just an idiot."
Actually, it's not. I posted under another account, but I lost it some time ago. Don't bother trying to find it.

"Are you ripping off an AAR called From England to America?"
Sort of, but I'm not going to change to America... Shh, don't tell anyone!

Chapters -
Setup and Prologue (below)
Chapter 0, Opening Moves, 769 - Page 1
Chapter 1, North Korea Time Part 1+2, 769-779 - Page 1
Chapter 2, The Waiting Game, 779-789 - Page 1
Chapter 3, All your base are belong to us, 789-800 - Page 2
Chapter 4, The Rise of Thingfrith, 800-810 - Page 2
Chapter 5, Act of Union Part 1, 810-815 - Page 3

SETUP AND PROLOGUE
For rules, I changed some things. Again, I'm not that good at this game.
- No demesne limit (I guess some time traveler introduced modern administration. This is why there's no achievements.)
- Ironman (no achievements though)
- No shattered retreat
- De jure drift faster (50 years)
- Other stuff that I can't be bothered explaining

This is Mercia in 769.

We are ruled by Petty King Offa, who will soon go down in history. We have several tributaries, specifically East Anglia, Essex, Kent, and Hwicce. Our realm has several dukes that we need to get rid of ASAP. Yes, this is a North Korea Mode AAR, what were you expecting. Our main rivals are Northumberland to the north and Wessex to the south, who we will beat up very soon, I promise. The tributaries will help with them and the pesky dukes, but we will need to conquer them eventually. We need 17 English provinces to unite England, and we only have 10, so that needs to be rectified. But first, we have some things to do. You can see that... NEXT TIME!

 

[Bullfilter]

Ok, amusing intro, I’m in for a look!

 

[HistoryDude]

I like megacampaigns! Also, I liked From England to America, so I'm following this. Do you plan to make any future segments interactive?

 

[Idhrendur]

Likewise, I like megacampaigns (as you might guess). I'll be seeing what you get up to.

 

[chilldude74]

I like megacampaigns! Also, I liked From England to America, so I'm following this. Do you plan to make any future segments interactive?

I might add interactivity at some point, not right now.

 

[Nikolai]

Mercia will rule supreme!

 

[chilldude74]

Hello,
This AAR is currently on hiatus due to North Korea.
We'll be back soon!

 

[Bullfilter]

That sounds pretty alarming! Hope to see you back soon.

 

[chilldude74]

Chapter 0 - Initial Moves
Warning - short and image-less.

We start as Petty King Offa Iceling of Mercia with 66 gold, 33 prestige, 15 piety, and 5 annoying popups demanding our attention. Create Lancaster, Ambition, Character Focus, Designated Regent, and Idle Council Members. We need to deal with this.
We can't create Lancaster right now because we need more gold, so we'll come back later. 200 gold, which might take a while because I have a lot of wars planned...
Pick an Ambition... OK. We have one to Become King of England, which will help with conquest (claim on England and reduced cost to create England and all), so we'll go ahead and pick that.
Character Focus. We'll pick Hunting, increasing Martial and Health. Martial helps us with war (good), while we wish Mr. Offa good health because if he dies, we lose our tributaries, severely harming our military strength.
Now, our glorious regent. We choose Queen Cynethryth (great name) as she has decent all-around stats (12/4/8/3/5) and is queen, removing conflicts of interest with conquest/hostility.
Finally, this "court" thing. Our Chancellor will fabricate a claim on Wessex, since gaining it will allow us access to the English Channel and weaken our rival Wessex who holds it (no surprise). Marshal will train troops in the capital Leicester. Steward and Court Chaplain will research tech in Leicester. Our Spymaster will study Byzantine technology in Constantinople.
We also start with stupid Gavelkind which divides titles among children on death, so that will immediately be changed to Primogeniture, and we will try to pass Large City Levies (glorious failure is soon to follow).
Our first steps are now to wait for 50 prestige to try to revoke a title, start a civil war, win, and then revoke titles from the imprisoned (a bit gamey, I know), then work on going to war with our neighbors Wessex and Northumbria to weaken them before our league of tributaries collapses upon Offa's death.
And now we will unpause... NEXT TIME!

 

[Bullfilter]

Glad to see neither Kim Jong-un or, even more terrifying, the Pink Kimono Lady managed to vaporise you over the last week.

we wish Mr. Offa good health because if he dies, we lose our tributaries

when you lose your tributaries, the river of troops dries up.

Our Spymaster will study Byzantine technology in Constantinople.

Always a sound choice.

stupid Gavelkind

Very. Dunce’s hat in the corner for him, in line with modern teaching practices

immediately be changed to Primogeniture

You can do that? In a 769 start? Not years of getting things to the right level my own (very limited) ck2 experience is playing the tribal Rurikids in the 867 start and it takes years to get to primo

 

[HistoryDude]

Changing to primogeniture is good. Maybe it was easier because of how small Mercia is?

Your main foe in England is probably Wessex, although Northumbria also exists. One of your bigger long-term threats is going to be the Vikings...

 

[chilldude74]

Chapter 1 - North Korea Time (Part 1)
Mercia's issues are sorted out for now, with 39-year-old Offa and his horribly named son Ecgfrith's reigns sure to be long and prosperous. UNPAUSE! Let's see what happens.

Aaaand now we're getting asked to buy something for our wife. Keeping the gold is a NO because we lose prestige, which we need for our plan, so I'll just get the bracelet for 5 gold. It's not like I have money issues... (foreshadowing?) Anyways, June 769(still nice) has started, and we still need 14 prestige. ETA for civil war is August 770. Unpause.
1 December 769(insert joke here). Wife gives me a hunting dog, +1 health and diplomacy. Hey, I'm not complaining. (Oh, it's called Hunter.)(You can see the whole third-person thing got tiring very quickly.)
It is now January 770, the year is no longer nice. Large City Levies still going on, 6/16. Will probably improve when I begin revocations. Prestige is 44/50, inching closer.
30 April 770, prestige at 48, but what's this? Hunting dog growing up? +10 Prestige? It's time. Time for WAR.

Mr. Offa decides to take Derby from Earl Wigheard. He has been informed by the gods (a story for later) that the Earl won't accept. He does it anyway, tributaries by his side.

Meanwhile, in Wigheard's castle...
"Sir, Offa wants Derby."
"No! That's my land! Petty kings can't just do whatever they want!"
"Sir, that would be a very bad idea."
"Shut up!"
...That argument went on for a while.
On May 5, 770...
Derby sends a very... angered letter. We are... no longer their liege lord!
Derby wants war? They're gonna get war. And lose. TO THE LEVIES!
Time to get to business to defeat the Mercian Revolt. Our 4 tributaries are called to arms. Levies are raised and ordered to Leicester. Suddenly...
Oh dear. My other vassals aren't mad enough to join. Maybe next time.
Derby attacks my smaller army in Warwick, so the rest of the army marches there. Will they make it? Nevermind, movement canceled. Phew! In other news. Large City Levies is finally passed. My grand army unites and marches to Derby, tributaries following along.

Battle is being won easily, and my wife is pregnant. (Take that out of context.) 5 prestige (yay). I hope it's a son, I only have one so far.
Battle won, lost a commander. Replaced with the mayor of Cambridge. Offa falls ill (NOOOOOO!!!!) and the rest of the war was rather boring. Luckily, Offa's illness went away.
3 November, 770. War is over, Wigheard is in my dungeon. A success in that I won, but a failure in that I didn't achieve my goal. I can try again soon, I have 31 prestige. Still no claim on Wessex. (And no, Derby wasn't taken.)

My daughter needs a guardian, I choose myself. That's what I'll do for any child (either me or my wife) for the rest of the campaign unless I say so.
771 has begun, half of Northumbria is revolting! Good news, but I can't really take advantage of it right now.
Still 771. A daughter is born, named Helga. Not much more to say.
771 as a whole is uneventful. We do get tech from the spymaster which is nice.

It is now 772. Prestige at 48, almost time for war.
1 February 772, prestige is at 50. I am an idiot and wait until 7 Feb to pause. I now send a request to revoke Lindsey, which will be rejected. Please join the revolt, other vassals... Please.
16 Feb, the war begins. Allies called, levies raised and ordered to Leicester. Our Marshal is revolting, so there's a new Marshal (and Commander by extension).
1 March 772, other vassals have not joined. I'll have to attack the vassals one by one. I am not looking forward to this.

The war is uneventful, what with the tributary armies. The king falls ill again... then it passes. Is the game messing with me? Tech advances in all 3 categories.
Lindsey surrenders on December 13th, imprisoned but no titles. Prestige is at 30 so soon I can start revoking, or go after Worcester and Oxford. Decisions, decisions. Still waiting on that claim. (Wait, I have a non-aggression pact with Oxford... NOOOOO!!!)
773, Pictland wants a betrothal with my daughter. Accept... was that a mistake? We'll see.
14 April, 773. I realize I'm very dumb and could have made Lancaster ages ago, getting 200 PRESTIGE! Oh well, no time like the present.

Even better, I get a de jure claim on the Northumbrian county of Amounderness. It's time for WAR! For real this time. The revolt is gone, but it hopefully weakened them. After that, I'll have plenty of Prestige for revocations. You can see that in Part 2! (The chapters will be short, deal with it.)(I had images, but the they made the spam filter angry... guess this AAR will be text-based.)

 

[Midnite Duke]

There is nothing wrong with text-based humor in an AAR. Two suggestions: 1) put a link to your AAR in your signature. 2) comment on other AARs. Your first two commenters have several AARs in different genres that you could follow. People follow your signature from another AAR to your AAR. This is a sinister plan crafted by Loki. Good Luck and thank you for sharing your talent with us.

 

[HistoryDude]

Mercia has experienced a revolt, but it looks fine. Let's hope that the success can continue against Northumbria!

 

[chilldude74]

Chapter 1 continued - North Korea Mode (Part 2)
Mercia on April 14, 773 is the same as it was at the start of the campaign, but with 2 imprisoned dukes and a claim on Northumbria. Will I press that claim now? No, I'd rather have at least one other claim to take more land. But we have 235 prestige, so it's time to do the revoke! But wait, Oxford has a Non-Aggression Pact and breaking it would cost 200 prestige and give a 2-year truce, so not viable at the moment. The earl can't declare war on me for now (and is my brother-in-law. Small world, huh?) so it's time to go after the other free duke, my spymaster. The Earl of Worcester. I go to revoke the titles of the prisoners, but revoking titles of prisoners doesn't cost prestige, so... oops? Anyway, my demesne is finally growing. I also get my unsuccessful Chancellor out of Wessex and send it to Northumbrian Leeds, hoping to take it and Amounderness in a future war. To the unpause button! As it turns out, my spymaster is in Constantinople, so it'll take 17 days to get his rejection. Then... on May 1... he rejects, and war begins.

(I fixed the image issue. Huzzah!)
My tributaries are called in, and the spymaster role is filled by the Bishop of Burton, who is sent to study technology in Constantinople. An unfortunate circle pops up - Two bishopries are about to be taken from me, both with heir Inwaer, from GLORIOUS HOUSE LOWBORN (Seriously, the best royal house.) So, I plot to kill Inwaer (it will fail because House Lowborn is overpowered) and wait and see. Now I raise my levies, order them to Leicester, and get ready to fight. The war is uneventful.

3 September, 773. My wife is pregnant again. I think I already have enough children, but I'll take the free Prestige.

29 October, 773. I finally stop Offa from leading armies. He's too important to die.

3 April, 774. Offa's second son Thingfrith (named after Offa's long-dead father) is born. Also, it's been 5 years since the start of the campaign. I might end this chapter at 10. Oh, and a daughter named /Elflaeda. (best way I can put that, screw Anglo-Saxon names)

19 April, 774. The earl of Worcester, like every French person ever, surrenders. I immediately revoke his titles.
Now, I reach a decision point. Do I attack Northumbria now, or wait for the arrival of Sir Claim On Leeds? After thinking, and thinking, I decide... to wait for the claim. The one on Amounderness ain't expiring anytime soon. Also, Wessex is invading Surrey. I am now officially worried. The moment the claim on Leeds finishes, I must go after Wessex. Also, Oxford still has a NAP. Luckily, it expires when the earl dies. The guy is 54 years old, it can't be that long... right? I also took a moment to look at the Iceling Family Tree on Ancestry.com (a euphenism for CK2, yes) and several people in Offa's dungeon are his distant cousins. Welcome to glorious CK2! Also, I can appoint bishop successors, so the plot to kill Inwaer is canceled (told you it will fail because House Lowborn is overpowered), there are no more succession issues, and the circle goes away. Unpause again!

9 September 774. Child trait event, more free Prestige. At this point Prestige isn't really a worry, but I'll take it.

5 January, 775. Wessex annexed Surrey. Oh no... Are they going after Sussex next?

22 June, 775. Merchant caravan has arrived. Still no claim on Leeds. Let them in! Merchant now tells me about this "Hindustan". Maybe someday, I'll conquer it. And now I have a eunuch.

10 August 775. Mayors want me to lower city taxes! Money is not really a concern, so I reluctantly accept.

1 January 776. My first son, future King of Mercia, is of legal age. He is married off to the Queen Mother of West Francia, giving us a Non-Aggression Pact with the most powerful king in Europe (and prestige). Nice. The game also wants me to give him land, to which I say SHUT THAT MOUTH OF YOURS! Still waiting on the claim, I'm getting rather annoyed... And now the Queen Mother of West Francia is in MY court. Makes you feel good, doesn't it? Oh, I forgot... They have a 40-year age gap. Ah well, anything for prestige.

1 July 776. What is this, White Stag? I must send people to find out!
Map of the world. (And yes, I have 400 prestige. Revoking Oxford won't be an issue when the time comes.)(Ignore the date.)

Due to tragic events involving me forgetting to save, this part of the AAR was sent into the shadow realm. Not much happened, luckily. White Stag stuff went on, positive effects, then on 4 January 777 I failed to find it. I also discovered I get -0.4 prestige for each unlanded son. That must be why the game is screaming and crying. But this is NORTH KOREA! I don't care! On 1 January 777, my first daughter came of age and was married to her betrothed. More importantly, I ran out of patience, sent my spymaster to fabricate a claim on Wessex, and declared war on Northumbria for Amounderness. It was time. Time for WAR! I raised levies and called tributaries. AI is gonna take over the worl- no, Mr. Essex AI was a moron and marched right into Northumbria's army. I went there to battle and accidentally saved him, oh well. The battles were easy, a revolt popped up in north Northumbria (good, good) and they claimed Deira and changed their name and color... War still going on as of 1 August 777, which is when I fixed the issue. Oh, and some Irish dude joined Deira, but I'm not worried.
Current situation: (Note the red thing up top.)(ignore the date)

1 August 777. The AAR continues, easy battle in Leeds. Warscore is 66%... everything is according to plan. I have like 600 prestige.
6 August 777. Victory vs Deira in Leeds, time to fight Irish dude.
2 September 777. Blew Irish dude to smithereens in Leicester, time to siege Amounderness and end the war.
6 November 777. Siege going well, and we have a new ruler, Offa Iceling "the Careless". (Psst.. it's the same guy with a new title. Don't tell anyone.)
12 November 777. Why is Deira running away... Oh, they're scared of Mercia and went to fight the rebels. Makes sense.
7 December 777. Lindisfarne declared independence and got off the sinking ship called Deira. Smart move.
25 December 777. Amounderness partially occupied, warscore 79%, Deira still holding out. I promised the boys they'd be home by Christmas... I guess now they'll be home by Easter 778.
1 January 778. My daughter /Elfflaed came of age. No marraige issues...?
19 February 778. Amounderness fully occupied, warscore 97%. Deira refuses to surrender. Now I'm telling the soldiers they'll be home by July 4th, and they're wondering what July 4th is. The army marches to Cumberland, then to Teviotdale, to hunt the Deiran army.
13 March 778. Deiran army has been located, moving from Lothian to Dunbar. Time to blow it to smithereens.
27 March 778. After a final battle in Dunbar, Deira surrenders. I guess the soldiers made it home by Easter after all.

Now, I wait, for either the Earl of Oxford to die or for me to get a claim on Wessex.

17 June 778. Westmoreland fabricated a claim on me. Yes, the OPM vassal of Deira. If they try using it, I wish them luck. They'll need it.

24 June 778. Westmoreland used it's claim. The sheer nerve... (Clarification: No war, just a pressed claim. Mercia is still at "peace".)

1 January 779. It has been 10 years since the campaign began. My daughter /Ethelburh has come of age, and I'm still waiting for the claim on Wessex. Seems like a good place to end. King Offa "the Careless" is now 49, but hopefully he still has some life left. Each chapter will be 10 years, at least for now. This one was split in two because the beginning is most important, but that will be the exception rather than the rule. I'll see you next time!

 

[HistoryDude]

Wessex will be a threat, but Mercia is doing well. Why is Deira still so big?

Good job allying with West Francia! That should aid your unification of England!

 

[Midnite Duke]

Thanks for giving me another look at Anglo-Saxon history as told by Offa.

 

[chilldude74]

Wessex will be a threat, but Mercia is doing well. Why is Deira still so big?

Good job allying with West Francia! That should aid your unification of England!

I only took one province from Deira. I was fabricating a claim on another, but gave up waiting and started fabricating a claim on Wessex instead.

 

[chilldude74]

Chapter 2 - The Waiting Game
We begin in 781. "Where did 2 years go?" you may ask. Well, I screwed up the save again and sent that part of the AAR into the shadow realm. I'll give you a quick recap though.
On 1 January, 779, I broke the NAP with Oxford with the result of a 2 year truce. I waited and waited for the claim on Wessex, but I still don't have it as of 1 June 781. On 1 January 781, the truce expired and I revoked Bedford with no issue. However, the earl refused to give up Oxford, so war followed. Deira went from the frying pan to the fire, as Pictland and Strathclyde invaded them, with Pictland getting a province. Then, most of Pictland revolted, with no clear winner in sight. This is the situation on 1 June 781:

1 June 781. The Marshal offers 100 mil tech points for 12 gold. I have over 1000 gold, so I accept. Time for more tech! I upgrade 5 techs, and in a suprising move reject a betrothal of my daughter to the heir of the Scottish Revolt (against Pictland). I'm just not sure if they'll win. I somehow haven't called in tributaries or raised levies, so I do that, and order the levies to Warwick. UNPAUSE!
22 June 781. Someone is plotting to kill Offa (probably the king of Deira) so Offa goes into hiding. I also appoint a new commander, and order the armies to attack the rebels in Worcester. In Offa's place, his wife Cynethryth becomes Regent of Mercia.
1 July 781. For some odd reason, now Bavaria wants to betrothe my daughter. Unfortunately, it's not matrilineal, so I refuse. (I would describe the war as... uneventful. I have about ten times their troops.)
10 September 781. The Avars have fallen, and the nation is now known as Pannonia. Hmm...
22 September 781. Oxford falls, and the revolt surrenders. I immediately revoke the County of Oxford, and now...
ALL COUNTIES OF MERCIA ARE NOW MY DEMESNE!
Long Live North Korea!

I then immediately release my brother-in-law. He's probably suffered enough already.
1 January 782. Deira peaced out Strathclyde, but is otherwise dead as a dodo. Still waiting on the Wessex claim... at this rate I might appoint a new Chancellor. Cenraed, Mayor of Boston, actually has a higher skill than my current one, so I appoint him and fire the old one. He is immediately ordered to get a claim on Wessex, and already my chances at success have improved.
29 March 782. Turns out my courtier Bernd is behind the plot to kill Offa, so I locked him away in jail. The plot to kill Offa has been stopped, and I take him out of hiding. Cynethryth is no longer regent.
17 May 782. I replace my Spymaster with a better one by his request, and order him back to Constantinople.
1 July 782. I get 15 free Prestige. This is all the entertainment I get other than Deira still getting rekt. Also, Pictland has been reunited.
1 September 782. I marry off my daughters, because apparently I missed that earlier.
1 January 783. Pictland invaded Deira again over Rhinns.
1 July 783. West Francia seems troubled, as Middle Francia revolts against them.
1 October 783. Lindisfarne has been retaken by Deira. The revolt is still going on.
5 November 783. Offa's hunting dog died.
1 January 784. We have reached the 5 year mark. Still waiting on the Wessex claim.
27 April 784. Germanic holy site Irminsul has been destroyed.
14 August 784. Pictland has defeated Deira.

2 July 785. The chancellor isn't working, so I try a different plan. I sent a gift to the Pope, then asked him to excommunicate Wessex. This allows me to invade them, but I can't take land. It will weaken them and force a succession, though. So, on 16 July 785, Mercia invaded Wessex. Tributaries are called, and levies are raised and ordered to Oxford.
27 August 785. During a big battle in Oxford, the excommunicated King of Wessex died and the war ended inconclusively. Oh well, at least there's no truce. I then initiated a vote for Low Centralization, which passed in 786.
5 November 786. After nearly ten years, the revolt against Deira was defeated. Deira is now whole again... but for how long?
4 August 787. My son and heir Ecgfrith has been in hiding for a while, as I tried to stop a plot to kill him by my son-in-law. I send a small sum of gold, which convinces him to stop the plot. His wife died while he was in hiding, so he was remarried to the King of Asturias' sister. With the chaos in West Francia, I'm not too disappointed by the end of the NAP with them. Also, Pictland is invading Dal Riata.
1 January 789. (Yes, the years were that uneventful.) It has been twenty years since I took control of Mercia. Most of it has been waiting for the claim on Wessex, which I STILL DON'T HAVE! At this point, Offa is 59 and about to die, and if I don't beat Wessex now I might never beat them. Before the new Chancellor, the chance was 7.61%. After, it became 8.96%. Can someone calculate how unlucky I am? Also, any pointers on how to speed up the claim would be appreciated. For now, I will leave you with a map of the chaotic world: (Also note how rich and famous Offa is. Maybe try not to note the green number in the corner.)

See you next time!

 

[Midnite Duke]

Tibet Big. Thanks for the Wessex update.