Chapter I – Anhalt
Johan chose for us Anhalt, an OPM in the HRE, wedged between the electors Saxony and Brandenburg and a hostile 2 province Magdeburg. Our country – a monarchy – is led by 54 year old, charismatic negotiator (+1 diplo rep) Georg I with stats, that leave a lot to be desired.
Our two rivals are westwards, the free city of Goslar and Magdeburg. And Brandenburg wants to subjugate us. Great. But Saxony is friendly to us and they are rivaled to Brandenburg and Magdeburg. They are the only possible Alliance on November 11th. But everyone else is indifferent to us. And that means many possible royal marriages inside the catholic HRE:
The Emperor? If you insist.
The average 2/3/4 Maria Carolina von Habsburg joins our court. Let’s hope this will strengthen our bond to the Emperor.
At the moment, they are not interested in any further commitment, despite the reputation of our count.
After picking up religious diplomats from the clergy our diplomatic reputation is 4. Luckily we also have a level one +1 dip rep advisor, but we can’t afford him for long. Other candidates for an early alliance are Poland, Hungary (since I don’t have the Emperor DLC they won’t be picked up by Austria), and the Iberians (-7 Aragon, -17 Castile reasons for a RM). Lithuania is at -5 reasons.
Bohemia and Burgundy are both rivaled to and by Austria. France (-52 reasons for a Royal Marriage) has too many vassals, England and Denmark often don’t do very well in the early game and might be more of a hindrance than protectors. So we opt for the Commonwealth:
Also, we have to stay at war or hope for our PU cycle to end:
The good thing as an OPM is, the lack of crownland for getting all the monarch point priviliges in the beginning, is neglectable. But so is our income. Nothing, a swift war can’t fix. At the 10th of December a little bug emerges.
Don’t mind, if I do. another Diplomat is great.
Besides allying someone powerful to protect, what’s the plan? We have generic missions, which will give us claims on all neighbouring provinces, once we’ve hired the free company. Since agressive expansion is high in the HRE, fabricating claims is 50% more expensive and we currently don’t have any path outside the HRE other than best CB an Irish minor. My first goals are annexing Magdeburg and humiliate Goslar for power protection. Ideally before they can secure a powerful alliance block. So much for the setup. Let's go!
11th of December:
Magdeburg did only ally Ansbach, who has a loyal personal union. Hopefully Goslar doesn’t have anyone strong.
I forgot that as a free city Austria will protect them. Maybe we can use a war against Brandenburg to have Goslar as a cobelligerent. But Brandenburg allied Lithuania and Denmark. Let’s hope for the succession event of Poland to break the Lithuanian alliance.
Well… so much for that. The only feasible expansion is into Magdeburg then. Let’s hope Florrynomics and the +10% morale advisor will carry us through this war. Saxony would join for promise of land, but I think I can take the three nations alone.
After sieging down Halle and moving the Free Company to regenerate morale quicker, the Magdeburgians attack. And without military access, their alliance doesn’t come to aid.
Lucky as I am, Georg I dies and since we’re at war, we’re not under Austria, but get a strictly better Austrian on the throne, Johann Ernst I. The downside is, I lost all my royal marriages and Poland is no longer willing to engage. Gladly, Austria is.
8 days later, the alliance of Ansbach and Bayreuth attacks in my capital. A grave mistake:
After those two battles, the war is easy to resolve. Even though Bayreuth and Magdeburg have a level 3 fort, Ansbach has not and can be peaced out without controlling Bayreuth.
Thanks to Roman’s Invasion I can again royal marry Poland, and thanks to my 20 year old ruler, the chances of holding it long enough to make an alliance are still alive. Through improving relations I also marry into Lithuanian’s family. Since the alliance blocks of Brandenburg, Saxony and Braunschweig are strong and I’m allied to Saxony, further expansion doesn’t seem possible at the moment. So no rush to end the war with Magdeburg.
September 1st 1447 Magdeburg falls. Thanks to low legitimacy (19) from the von Habsburg noble my reputation is in the gutter and none of my royal marriages seems to be willing to ally me after the war. But since I’m over the force limit (9/6) to siege down Magdeburg, I see no reasons to continue the war and annex Magdeburg.
This leads to new desires in Saxony: my only ally wants to annex me:
I am clutching at straws and ally Brunswick. They are the only ones that want an alliance. Since they are allied to Saxony, they might deter them. Still there’s Brandenburg with a domineering attitude and the looming danger of Austria demanding unlawful territory. And of course, a personal union under a major, again.
After suspenseful years of coring my conquered lands I get finally some good news: for the first time in my HRE playthroughs Austria didn’t demand unlawful territory and Poland switched to friendly. And so did Brandenburg.
Who needs diplo tech anyway.
1450 and the Renaissance arrives. We’re making money despite of the Fort in Magdeburg and the Free Company, we have 4 alliances and 4 further royal marriages (who could resist allying Burgundy to have a shot at the inheritance?) and a solid bank (thanks to selling titles). But the expansion routes are slim. Only Saxony to the south, our trecharous ally, is a realistic option. Because a no cb on one of Goslar’s allies would bring in Austria, just like a dow on Goslar itself.
After defeating separatist rebels the hopes of an alliance with the Kaiser dwindle when Poland rivals Austria. Since Saxony is the only feasible expansion path, no further strong alliances seem near and the truce lasts until February 1453 our heir Leopold gets disinherited.
While taking military tech 4 in 1451 I notice the +15% from Renaissance, even though the Renaissance triggered just one year before. A trip to the wiki shows that they changed the tech penalty of institutions. According to the wiki this changed in December 2021. My hiatus from EU4 seems to have been
longer than expected. But I don’t want to fall behind in military tech. And since Saxony (and Thuringia as PU) have a 0 military point monarch, I might get to use the tech advantage in the future.
In February 1453 we rival Brunswick and break our alliance. March 1st we declare on Saxony for the conquest of Leipzig and call in Brandenburg and Würzburg. Biggest AE is -7 and we are the only ones with mil tech 4, so I hope for easier expansion than I thought.
In winter of 1454 Brandenburg reaches military tech 4, chases the armies of the opposing coalition alone, and beats them before our reinforcements arrive. We manage to capture the Fort of Brunswick and peace them out for war reps and humiliation.
1455 is here and the war isn't concluded. Let’s see, if we can continue:
Johan’s dice (just like the system straight up copied from CatKnight):
Length of reign: 11 years
Roll to continue: 3
Continue (need 9+)? No
Summary (inspired by stolen from Sfan):
Start:
Development: 1 province, 6 development
Income: 1,43 (+0,20)
Army: 3/1/0 (force limit 6)
End:
Development: 3 provinces, 23 development
Income: 2,84 (-1,47, it’s surely fine
⍨)
Army: 9/0/0 (force limit 8)
We leave Anhalt after the first dice roll in the midst of a war, but from my perspective winnable. Brandenburg is on medium war enthusiasm, everyone else on high. Let’s see, if the AI can grow without angering Austria too much and if it will snatch one or two more alliances. After the humiliation of Brunswick power projection is at 58, so more mana and fullfilled age objective. I’m happy with the expansion even though the diplomatic situation seems unstable without an alliance with Lithuania or Austria. Also the disinheritance brought back the looming PU, but I hope, that the 28 year old ruler will live until a new heir is born. There’s currently no hope to become Emperor with a legitimacy of 16, but if the AI manages their AE and doesn’t succumb to rebels or loses this war, I’m optimistic, it can thrive in the Empire.
This is Europe in January 1455. France seems like a good contender and the fate of Burgundy will be of great impact, since they were the only two majors who expanded meaningfully (sorry Hungary, sorry Wallachia).
Let’s see, which nation Johan has in mind for us:
Livonia doesn’t exist. Reroll please. León also doesn’t. Choctaw was annexed in 1446. Malaya isn’t formed yet.
284: Aq Qoyunlu – The White Sheep
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know, if you want to see the failed rolls for the new tag to chose or if you would change the odds of the dice roll.
