Muddling Through EU2 as England

Riel Hamard · Aug 16, 2024

Session 4 - 1429 to 1433 - The Burgandian Wars

Suddenly the world is on fire again. January 5, 1429 Burgandy DoW on Gelre, Friesen, and Oldenburg. We joined on the action and raised 10.000 Infantry to help. It was not a phony war, after all.

We also found that we had great relations with Savoy. We asked for military access and we got it and we were able to move our main stacks out of Dauphine and into the action. Getting these stacks to defend our isolated territories is another story.

We had a mix of victories and defeats. We captured Friesen on May 4, 1431, but Oldenburg was smart about the entire situation. They played the phony war and when it was all done, they offered a peace deal, worth 250g, signed May 9, 1431.

We probably should have stubbornly fought on for Vassalization and the gold bribe does not quite pay for all the troops we poured in to it. It was an expensive war in that way, but nothing is bruised except our egos.

DERP! We forgot to change to wartime pay. We stiffed our soldiers by accident. Maybe we will make up for it later. It looks like we have a net 28 months of back pay. That was also a long time to be at war with so little to show for it.

Burgandy was not done. August 5, 1431 they DoW Lorraine and al their allies. The Palantine Empire, Cologne, and later Strassburg. They show up with a surprising number of troops. We remembered wartime pay this time. December 15 we drove Cologne out of Zeeland and later we signed a peace worth 16g because we did not feel like fighting all those armies. On hindsight, we counted only 55 of them.

1432 was a relatively quiet year.

The Scotland Front:
August 1, 1429 Eire got its White Peace with France and Continental Allies. Later they reopened the war on Scotland and opened up sieges with their numerical advantage. This action might be making things quieter on the French Front.

The French Front:
France has 107k Troops and that idea is terrifying. All is quiet so far.
August 30, 1429 - Bourbonnais cancelled their Vassal Status. This was followed up with a Royal Marriage and they remain full members of their Anti-Angevin Alliance.
September 23, 1429 - Auvergne also cancelled their Vassal Status, with the same results as above.
September 26, 1430 - France annexed Orleans.
We have no news of what happened to Provence.
Apparently we are nearing the 10 year anniversary of the last truce we signed.

The End of the Kalmar Union:
The Kalmar Union ended somewhat early, as Sweden and Norway both cancelled their Vassal Status early in 1429. Sweden and Norway remain independent and are now allied with Denmark.

Other Events and Changes:
A picture is worth over 1000 words.

Nerdy Details:

7 Events where we left off, up to 1429
3 Events in this Session

December 23, 1430 - Noble Families Feud, -100g
December 20, 1431 - Reformation of the Army, +750g
October 27, 1432 - Internal Trade Ordinance, +1g to Midlands

With 10 Events leading up to 1433, we have:
-100g - Gold Balance
+750g - Invested in Land Technology
+1 Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
1.000 Population Losses in Cornwall and Lincoln.

Our Event RNG has been truly blessed!

The Virtue of Procrastination - Further, we took advantage of our October 27, 1432 Event to further centralize the Henry VI in '36 Administration. We are now at Centralization 0.

More Nerdy Details to follow.

Riel Hamard · Aug 16, 2024

End of Session 4 - Situation Report

1. The Archbishop of Canterbury - Missionary Report
RNGesus has truly blessed us. We held 7 Territories for 10 Years and have had 0 Revolts. It looks like the 3% Revolt Risk is per year and our average should have been 2.1 Revolts. Most likely, this is checked once per month and we have a 0.25% chance per territory. Now our Revolt Risk is reduced to 2% as the common people get more accustomed to our banners.

2. Our MIA MoFA - Diplomat Report
We have been accumulating Diplomats for a long time, but not attempting big exploits. Our biggest exploit was obtaining Military Access in Savoy so that we can send more troops to the Low Countries.

3. Merchant Report
This is a never ending battle. We struggle to keep 2 or 3 Merchants running in Flanders. Perhaps the Trade 2 Upgrade helped. Time will tell. After 14 years, our balance looks like this:
166g Invested
77.175g Profits
88.825g Net Investment

4. Colonist Report
Not much to report. Our lowest income Province is Dublin, earning 10.00g.
We calculated about 16.45g as a benchmark to keep up with technology investments.

5. Navy Report:
Still 34 Warships, 6 Transports

6. Army Report:

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419.
15.000 Infantry, 2.000 Cavalry we recruited for Henry's Hundred Year War.
29.806 Infantry, 4.910 Cavalry lost in the War.
41.194 Infantry, 9,090 Cavalry after Henry's Hundred Year War.

5.000 Infantry from Enthusiasm for the Army, Event 4.
15.000 Infantry, 5.000 Cavalry we recruited for Burgandy's Lowland War.
15.739 Infantry, 2.191 Cavalry lost in the War.
45.455 Infantry, 11.899 Cavalry after Burgandy's Lowland War.

10.000 Infantry, 5.000 Cavalry we recruited for Burgandy's Highland War.
4.027 Infantry, 0.736 Cavalry lost in the War.
51.428 Infantry, 16.163 Cavalry we currently have.

465g we sunk into the Burgandian Wars.
133g we received in Peace settlements.
191.961g is the net recruitment cost of our army gains.
140.039g is our net loss. These Wars were not profitable business.

7. Investment Report:

We have gained Trade Level 2.

Land Level 1 - 1419
Land Level 2 - 1429 costs 3908g
1286g Invested in 1429
+240g from the Henry VI Administration
+144g from the Freeloader Bonus
+750g from Reformation of the Army
2420g Current Investment

Naval Tech 1 - 1419
Naval Tech 2 - 1429 costs 3908g
1286g Invested in 1429
+240g from the Henry VI Administration
+144g from the Freeloader Bonus
1670g Current Investment

Stability Level 2
Stability Level 3 costs 334g
290g Invested in 1429
+18g from the Henry VI Administration
+15g from the Fine Arts Academy
323g Current Investment and the next month will bring us pennies short!
Hindsight says we should have invested in December, 1432 to collect the bonus Census Income.

Trade Tech 2 - 1425
Trade Tech 3 - 1475 costs 20967g
1026g Invested in 1429
+144g from the Henry VI Administration
+174g from the Freeloader Bonus
+1417.67g from Investments
-2371g for Trade Tech Level 2
390.67g Current Investment

Infrastructure Level 2 - 1425
Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450 costs 10076g
1466.842 Invested in 1429
+144g from the Henry VI Administration
+48g from the Freeloader Bonus
+481.133 from Investments
2139.975g Current Investment

8. Boring Budget Details

647.143g was our starting balance in 1429.
804.408g is our current balance.
2.9% is our current Inflation Level

Year	Average	4
Start		647.143
Income		2975.732
Expense		2819.468
Finish		2848.431
Adjustment		1.001

Income Breakdown	743.933	2975.732
Tax	270.0313	1080.125
Trade	7.7095	30.838
Production	97.9375	391.75
Manufactories	12	48
	0	0
Vassals	0	0
	0	0
Events	0	0
Peace	33.25	133
Census	235.9823	943.929
Tolls	87.0225	348.09
Tariffs	0	0

Expense Breakdown	704.867	2819.468
Army Maintenance	46.387	185.548
Fleet Maintenance	26.27925	105.117
Raising Armies	116.25	465
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Merchants	16.25	65
	0	0
	0	0
Trade and Infrastructure	474.7008	1898.803
Manufactories	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Events	25	100

List of Active Wars:

1. Makassar v Mataram
2. Korea v Manchu
3. Ottoman Empire v Teke and Karaman
4. Knights, Venice, Cyprus v Ottoman
5. Tver v Muscowy
6. Lenape v Iroquois
7. Horde, Sibir v Muscowy
8. Scotland v Eire
9. Atjeh, Ayutthaya v Malacca
10. Chagati Khanate v Tibet, Assam
11. Savoy, Genoa, Helvatia v Georgia
12. Novgorod v Tver

Europe's Most Wanted:

1. TIM 37.827
2. STE 6.725
3. CHG 6.425
4. VEN 6.253
5. CRO 5.900
6. SIE 5.725
7. DLH 5.588
8. TAU 5.400
9. ENG 5.333
10. BOH 5.329

I am pleased to announce that Canada is no longer on the Top Ten list.

Wraith11B · Aug 16, 2024

It's no wonder then why these kingdoms were going bankrupt with alacrity during the period. All of it is expensive, and war most of all.

Riel Hamard · Aug 17, 2024

England Campaign Session 5 Situation Report - January, 1439 - Henry VI Comes of Age

The Order of Reports will very slightly and I will take some notes to see if I can follow a pattern consistently and if we are still able to present a picture that makes sense to everybody.

1. The King's Herald - General Situation in 1439:

All six years of this Session were Peaceful. We have enjoyed 7 Years of Peace and Prosperity and Stability. We stand on top of the world with a grand total of 327.9 Victory Points.

King Henry VI rules our glorious realm. He just turned 18 years of age. Our Kings so far have been:
138.9 VP - King Henry V - 1419 Start of Game to August 31, 1422 - 7 Diplomacy, 9 Military, 5 Administration - 21 Points
189.0 VP - King Henry V - to Present Day January, 1439 - 7 Diplomacy, 5 Military, 3 Administration - 15 Points

Our Victory Score Breakdown:
88.0 Battles
78.7 Diplomacy - The Pen is almost as mighty as the Sword.
45.6 Economy
1.0 Establishments
114.7 Peace
-0.1 Rounding Error
327.9 Total

2. Religious and Domestic Policy:

Our current Religious Policy is:
+10 Catholic
-4 Orthodox
-5 Moslem - According to our data file

Our current Domestic Policy is:
+3 Aristocracy
0 Centralization
-3 Innovation
+1 Mercantalism
0 Offense
0 Land
+2 Quality
+2 Serfdom

Our next big Policy Change is October 27, 1442. In 1453, we will be making a major decision on how to navigate the Wars of the Roses

3. Army Report

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
40.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry we obtained from Events in previous Sessions
49.572 Infantry, 7.837 Cavalry we lost in previous Sessions
-------------------------
51.428 Infantry, 16.163 Cavalry we started this Session with
0.618 Infantry, 0.123 Cavalry we lost in the Wessex Peasant Rebellion of 1436
50.810 Infantry, 16.040 Cavalry we now have.

4. Great Generals RIP List:
1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435

5. Current Roster of Great Generals:

4. Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester - From 1419 Start
5. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - From 1419 Start
6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - From 1429
7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - From 1434
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - From 1435
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - From 1435

We still have an impressive roster of impressive leaders! It looks like Autocorrect betrayed my Canadian roots and we have a 1st and Only First Earl of Sudbury!

6. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports.

7. Boring Budget Details:

804.408g in the Treasury when we started.
1488.678g in the Treasury as at January, 1439.
2.9% is our current Inflation Level.

Maybe when watching the 1973 Disney Robin Hood scene with Robin Hood stealing all the gold from Prince John's Treasury, we are now putting Robin Hood contemporary with with young King Henry VI. King Henry V is dead and never coming back and he left behind an infant son and his brother John effectively in charge of the realm. Our story comes complete with a Peasant Revolt in Wessex 1436, just before King Henry VI comes of age and starts to rule in his own right. This story features the graceful exit of Prince John, son of King Henry IV and acting Regent. Wessex seems pretty far from Sherwood Forest, but our Treasury Balance seems to match the robbery scene in the 1973 film.

The incoming King Henry VI even got to give money to the poor - or at least give it to the Church and commission yet another Great Cathedral. Maybe that does not seem to help the poor - Well, it is a jobs program and King Henry started his reign in his own right with a jobs program.

Year	Average	6
Start		804.408
Income		4234.739
Expense		3550.474
Finish		7766.185
Adjustment		0.005

Income Breakdown	705.7898	4234.739
Tax	244.5472	1467.283
Trade	8.857833	53.147
Production	104.5603	627.362
Manufactories	12	72
	0	0
Vassals	0	0
	0	0
Events	0	0
Peace	0	0
Census	230.8833	1385.3
Tolls	104.9412	629.647
Tariffs	0	0

Expense Breakdown	591.7457	3550.474
Army Maintenance	46.706	280.236
Fleet Maintenance	23.8	142.8
Raising Armies	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Merchants	13	78
	0	0
	0	0
Trade and Infrastructure	474.9063	2849.438
Manufactories	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Events	33.33333	200

8. Investment Report:

The current year is 1439 and we are still working towards achieving 1429 Levels in Land and Naval Technology. That puts us 10 years behind. However, there is a 21 year window to 1450 and we are trying to take full advantage of it.

On the other side, it turns out when France annexed Savoy, our Freeloader Bonus has been reduced from 3g per month to 2g per month. This affects 3 Technologies and will therefore cost us 36g per year.

Land Level 1 - 1419
Land Level 2 - 1429 costs 3908g
2420g Invested in 1433
+360g from the Henry VI Administration
+214g from the Freeloader Bonus
+750g from Reformation of the Army
3744g Current Investment

Naval Level 1 - 1419
Naval Level 2 - 1429 costs 3908g
1670g Invested in 1433
+360g from the Henry VI Administration
+214g from the Freeloader Bonus
2224g Current Investment

Stability Level +3
323g Starting Investment
+228g from the Henry VI Administration
+135g from the Fine Arts Academy in London
-334g for Stability Level 2 to 3
-328g for Stability Level 1 to 2
24g Current Investment

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Level 3 - 1475 costs 20967g
390.67g Starting Investment
+216g from the Henry VI Administration
+214g from the Freeloader Bonus
820.67g Current Investment

Infrastructure Level 2 - 1425
Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450 costs 10076g
2139.975g Current Investment
+216g from the Henry VI Administration
+72g from the Freeloader Bonus
+2849.438g from Investments
5277.413g Current Investment

9. The Archbishop of Canterbury - The Missionary Report
We might be unhappy about the outcome of the Lollard Heresy. They were allowed to roam free and Henry V was not alive long enough to finish the War in France and deal with them. We now blame them for some of the bad things that happen.

In other news, King Henry VI has commissioned 2 Cathedrals!

10. Event List:
These 6 years featured a mix of events. We shall see how they affected the balance of events.

Where we left off in 1433, we had 10 Events.
-100g - Gold Balance
+750g - Invested in Land Technology
+1 Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
1.000 Population Losses in Cornwall and Lincoln.

11. November 8, 1433 - Wave of Obscurantism +3 Revolt Risk for 12 Months
We were at +3 stability through the entire event and it had absolutely no effect. In our books, if the Event is not a stab in the backside, then it is a net gain.

12. October 23, 1434 - Temporary Insanity of the Monarch -3 to Diplomacy, Military, and Administration for 12 Months
See above. If the Random Event is not a stab right where it hurts, then we are blessed with good RNG.

13. August 27, 1435 - Reformation of the Army +750 to Land Investment
Is this Screenshot or it did not happen? We got our second Reformation of the Army Event. As acting Regent of the Realm, Prince John loves his troops.

14. October 13, 1436 - Unhappiness Among the Peasantry -2 Stability, Revolt in Wessex
Prince John died on December 23, 1435, so our Robin Hood story above in the Boring Budget Details was not consistent with the Timeline. The Regency Council still had some time to go. So I suppose this one is on Prince Humphrey. We have Henry VI ruling in his own right on his 15th birthday or 16th?

With the double stab right where it hurts, stabbed in both sides of the backside, it looked like our luck finally ran out. We sent Naked John, 1st Earl of Sudbury to put down the rebellion.

15. January 5, 1438 - Excellent Minister +3 to Diplomacy, Military, and Administration for 12 Months
This effectively cancels the effects of Event 12 above. Actually it more than cancels, because we were investing in Stability when this happened, but not when Event 12 happened. So this gives us net +66g towards Stability.

16. December 20, 1438 - Commissioning of a Cathedral -200g, +1/2 Stability
We were at Stability +2 when this happened. So we only gained +1 in Stability.

With 16 Events in the first 20 Years leading up to 1439, we are at:
-300g - Gold Balance
+1500g - Invested in Land Technology
+66g - Invested in Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
1.000 Population Losses in Cornwall and Lincoln.
One Revolt, some Tax Revenue Lost, 0.618 Infantry and 0.123 Cavalry Lost

We still believe this is amazing RNG! From the distant past, I remember events that just sucked. It might be possible that because our Stability is at +3 and our Treasury is healthy, the bad events are not affecting us as much.

11. Our MIA MoFA - Diplomat's Report:

We scored one with Portugal!

Unfortunately, that ends our map exploits, but we have visibility of parts of Canada and South America. We can see half way around Africa. If we really have gold to burn, we can try to buy another map to trade with the Portuguese. It is more likely we will wait until Spain starts exploring the New World and try to trade with them.

We are miraculously at peace with all of our neighbors and have been enjoying Peace for a full 7 Years.

We are still allied with Burgandy, and that Alliance expired in December, 1441. They sided with the French in the signing of the Treaty of Arras and we have a grudge against them for that. Our Relations stand at -77 and are slowly stabilizing. If they get hotheaded and try to start another war, we are tempted to stab them in the back. A move like this might leave us friendless in this area.

Our worst enemies are the Continental Conspiracy, consisting of France (-200) Provence (-197) Bourbonnais (-200) Scotland (-196) and Navarra (+127). Auvergne (-145) left the Continental Conspiracy and is now a vassal of Bourbonnais having lost a war. The Continental Conspiracy is currently at war with Helvatia (+140). It is also at war with Genoa (+140) and Milan (+140). Maybe we do have friends in the area.

Scotland is also at war with Eire (-99) and appear to be winning. Belfast is under siege and Eire appears to have nobody left to fight. Maybe they will be able to get out of the war with a repayment of the previous war's winnings.

Brittany (-140) appears to have no friends. They are not in any alliance.

In spite of winning a war and 250g, we are on very good terms with the League of the Lowlands, consisting of Oldenburg (+125) Gelre (+145) Friesland (+125) and Munster (+140).

If we are thinking about stabbing Burgandy in the back, we might do well to align with the League of the Lowlands. The Highlands with Genoa (+140), Helvatia (+140), and Milan (+140) is also an option because of the current war with the Continental Conspiracy. We do not see it as good an option, because their interests will be in Italy and that is very far away from us. We can also join a 6-Duchy pact with Lorraine if we want to push our interests towards Germany, which is also far away.

12. The French Italian War of 1434:

It rhymes!

April 18, 1434 - Provence DoW on Savoy.
France is IN. Scotland is IN. Auvergne is OUT. Bourbonnais is OUT.
April 24, 1434 - Bourbonnais DoW on Auvergne while both were out of the Continental Conspiracy.
April 28, 1434 - Bourbonnais rejoined the Continental Conspiracy.

This put France, Scotland, Provence, and Bourbonnais at war with Savoy, Genoa, and Helvatia.
Bourbonnais is independently at war with Auvergne.

April 27, 1436 - In yet another brilliant move of AI Diplomacy, Provence paid 126g to ransom Marseilles from Genoa and take them out of the war. Lyonnais at the time was under control of the Swiss, but with Arthur on his way, this appeared to be a turning point in the war.

October 23, 1436 - Auvergne ceded Cevennes to Bourbonnais and became a vassal. We do not know how this affects the balance of power within France. It makes the Continental Conspiracy slightly stronger for the gain of a single province, albeit a poor province.

March 1, 1437 - Savoy ended the war with Provence by becoming a Vassal to Provence and ceding Torino.
June 4, 1437 - Milan joined the League of Lombard. We are not sure how much this will help.
December 27, 1437 - Navarra joined the Continental Conspiracy. It appears unlikely they will affect the balance of power, either.
November 8, 1438 - France annexed Savoy. Being a Vassal to Provence did not help them.

So the French appear to be winning the French Italian War of 1434. At the end of Henry's Hundred Year War, they were reduced to 3 Provinces. They picked up two rich provinces, Orleans and Savoy. We also checked out an economic comparison. They have 39 Trade Efficiency to our 37, 29 Production Efficiency to our 23. Most likely, this is due to 2 points of Aristocracy and 2 points of Serfdom and those changes occurred in the events of 1429 and 1438.

13. La Reconquista
October 4, 1434 - Castile annexed Granada
May 30, 1437 - Portugal annexed Fez

La Reconquista got completed very early. It looks like Portugal and Castile are expanding into Northern Africa, claiming Tangiers, Oran, and Fez. These appear to be moderate on the wealth scale, but the cultural and religious differences will take some time to work out.

14. List of Active Wars

1. Makassar v Mataram
2. Lenape v Iroquois
3. Scotland v Eire - Belfast is currently under siege
4. League of Lombard v Georgia - Georgia has captured Kaffa and Kerch and it seems unlikely Genoa can reclaim them.
5. Candar, Ak Koyunlu, Dul Kadar v Qara Koyulu
6. Portugal v Algiers and Tunisia
7. Mysore Vijayanagara and Bengal
8. Continental Conspiracy v Helvatia
9. Genoa, Milan v Continental Conspiracy
10. Chagato Khanate v Timurid Emirate
11. Teke, Karaman v Candar, Dulkadr, Ak Koyunlu
12. Muscowy v Novgorod, Georgia
13. Denmark, Sweden, Norway v Novgorod and Georgia

Wraith11B · Aug 17, 2024

Looks good! Might you have to "rescue" Eire from her predicament?

Riel Hamard · Aug 17, 2024

Wraith11B said:
Looks good! Might you have to "rescue" Eire from her predicament?

The situation worked itself out.

For the reporting of the last session, I do apologize. This is nominally an AAR, After-Action Report and not an AIR, After-Inaction Report. I promise - The next Session is full of action!

VILenin · Aug 17, 2024

An expensive business indeed! Inflation doesn't seem too bad, holding steady at 2.9%. I dimly remember inflation having the real potential to snowball out of control if not managed, but I don't remember how you reduced it in EU2.

RNG has certainly been on your side. Not just the lack of revolts, but the +1 stab event is quite nice as well.

Riel Hamard · Aug 17, 2024

England Campaign Session 6 AAR - January, 1445 - RIP France

This Session is best described as near chronological action. Here is the 1439 Action:

January 3, 1439 - The Verdict comes down on Gilles de Rais. Guilty! This leaves them with two very good Land Commanders and one very good Siege Commander. It is too bad the AI is not very good at using them - and we will exploit this flaw as well as we know how.

January 7, 1439 - Burgandy DoW on Gelre. The League of the Lowlands, Oldenburg, Friesland, and Munster joined in on the side of Gelre. Burgandy activated their Alliance with their trustworthy Ally England and we... stabbed them in the back. Strangely, it did not affect Relations much, but it does give them a grudge and CB for a short while. We did not look up how long. Phil le Bon is on his own for this war.

Our Stability dropped to +2 as a result.

February 21, 1439 marked the Council of Florence and the Union of the Churches. Byzantium is now Catholic.

March 3, 1439 - We are single and looking for love and Aragon dropped us an Alliance Invitation. We are also picky, because if we are getting involved in a war, then we will get involved in a war where we can fight and Aragon might get involved in Iberia, Italy, or Africa, all of which are outside our sphere of interest.

March 30, 1439 - Just like that, Eire got out of the war with Scotland, by paying 33g. This seems a lot less than what they won in the previous war, so maybe they are ahead.

July 20, 1439 - Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick died. The Wikipedia Article shows him as dying on 30 April, 1439 and it looks like the game randomly selects a day in 1439. In our Timeline, he is the reason we have such a solid hold on Dauphine.

July 21, 1439 - Hungary Annexed Milan. I will check if there is a long continuous line from Hungary to Milan, but we doubt it. Most likely Milan will rebel and declare independence. If I understand the mechanics correctly, it's about 78% probability of a revolt at some time.

August 16, 1439 - In a sudden turn of events in the Lowlands, Mecklenburg and a long list of Allies DoW on Gelre. The League of the Lowlands broke up, leaving Gelre on its own. Burgandy joined with Mecklenburg, Pommern, Bremen, Holstein, Prussia, Teutonic Order, and a couple more. Against this mass, Gelre is on their own.

October 16, 1439 - In a reversal of the Kalmar Union, Denmark became a Vassal of Sweden.

We entered 1440 with a BB Reputation Count of 4.283. 1440 brought us a new leader.
Warwick. It looks like Henry de Beauchamp succeeded Richard to become the 14th Earl of Warwick and 1st Duke of Warwick, but looks like he died in 1446 at the age of 21, leaving behind a 2yo daughter Anne who died at the age of 5 in 1449. His sister Anne married the Warwick the game must be referring to, the Kingmaker. Now we know why the name already sounds familiar.
Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury. Until we can figure out how to resolve this, he has a special talent to teleport all over the map of Europe and conduct our military campaigns.

Here is the 1440 Action:

My notes have a whole lot of nothing. When all else fails, we can still check the History Log. Maybe we should have called this 1440 Inaction. Finally.

October 1, 1440 - In two Peace Treaties, Helvatia disappeared from the European Map. Hungary won Schwyz and France annexed Helvatia. In Henry's War with France, we reduced them to 3 Provinces, Paris, Lyons, and Guyenne. They acquired Orleans, and Savoy, and now Bearn.

October 26, 1440 - Aragon DoW France and the Continental Conspiracy held. Aragon is on its own in the war. Maybe they had confidence in a quick victory, because France spent a lot of resources in their last war.

November 15, 1440 - Event 17, Agricultural Revolution in Kent +1 Manpower. This appeared to do little. It is not a stab.

November 29, 1440 - Holstein annexed Gelre

December 2, 1440 - Georgia won their war against Genoa, claiming Kaffa as their prize. We will check if Genoa still has a claim in the Black Sea area.

The year 1441 began with a grand announcement that we finally entered the 15th Century of Land Technology, specifically Land Level 2. If we wish to expand a Fortress, it will cost us a base 250g, plus 2.9% Inflation, for a grand total of 257g.
Our BB Reputation is 4.133.

There is action in this year, starting from the very beginning!

January 27, 1441 - Aragon extended us another Invitation to join their Alliance and their War with the Continental Conspiracy. This time we accepted and that puts us at war with France, Scotland, Provence, Bourbonnais, and Navarra. Unfortunately, since Aragon is the Aggressor in this war, we are also the Aggressors. Also unfortunate is Aragon is leading this Alliance and that gives them power to end a war as the Leader of the Alliance. Also unfortunate is we had to break our RM with Navarra and such is the consequence of our widespread diplomatic relations.

Stability +1 with 288 / 326 Invested.

We counted our Troops and compared it to our Support Limits and built it right up. 10.000 Infantry in Yorkshire and 7.000 Infantry in Lancashire, because we know we will need these reinforcements to break a Scottish Siege on Northumberland. We also assigned Richard Neville of Warwick to make sure that happens. Finally, we remembered Wartime Danger Pay, 4.0 for the Navy, 9.3 for the Army.

February 15, 1441 - We might have mentioned that France was divided into 3 Isles de France. One is Paris and Orleans. Another is Guyenne. Finally, there is Lyons, Savoy, and Bearn. They need troops over there to deal with possible rebels. Aragon is attacking Guyenne from the south. They left 2.000 Infantry to defend Paris and Richard of York crushed them and began a siege.

March 12, 1441 - The Scottish also began their siege on Northumberland, but this was not to last very long.
March 18, 1441 - Orleans was defended by some Rebel Scum and Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury, crushed them.

May, 1441 - Stability +2
Our first attempt to break the siege of Northumberland failed. In the second round, they rolled a 10 and we took the better part of valor way out of the fight. As can be seen in the picture, we took full advantage of the 20% Attrition hit that showed up unconditionally to quickly weaken them. It's automatically over 4.000 Infantry they are losing in a single day, compared to the base damage we are showing a 139.

July 1, 1441 - We got our first French Nationalism Revolt, in Maine. This is over 18 years following our Peace Treaty of 1423 and we consider this a very good run. We have 10 years at 3% per province, 8 years at 2%, a total of 46%. We acquired 7 Provinces in that war and by now expect 3.22 Revolts. So far we have had 1. When we moved our troops off the islands (Champagne, Dauphine) we were not sure what we were going to do in the event of a revolt, but we were lucky. In this case, Naked John was right there to crush the Maine Event Revolt.

My notes will also betray if a war is going badly and how badly a war is going. My notes say 2.000 Infantry in York and we are 5 months into this war and recruiting troops as we lose them to keep our numbers us and also to push numbers into the Scotland front.

July 1, 1441 - Here is the final struggle between Naked John Talbot of Shrewsbury and Arthur (Richemont) of Brittany.

The fate of Paris is also at stake in this battle. However, in the event of a bad roll, we could retreat to Paris for a rematch over there. Arthur is Shock 5 and Naked John is Shock 4, but has an advantage because he somehow has a Cavalry Advantage and a River Advantage. The first round we had a decision to make. We believe we rolled a 1+1 to claim 20% damage and Arthur rolled a 6 to claim 2x damage. We decided to tough it out and see what the next roll brought, because the fate of Paris was at stake. Arthur did a non-roll for July 11, a 3 for 40% damage, then a 5 on July 16 for 100% damage. These are all better than being on the receiving end of 9 or 10 and we stopped recording after this.

July 20, 1441 - Naked John Talbot defeated Arthur of Brittany at the Siege of Orleans. This seemed Ironic, but here I found the Wikipedia article.

At night on 22–23 December 1439, following a surprise flank attack on their camp, he dispersed the 6000-strong army of the Constable Richemont, and on 7 July 1440 he retook Harfleur. In 1441, he pursued the French army four times over the Seine and Oise rivers in an unavailing attempt to bring it to battle.

....

Taken hostage at Rouen in 1449 he promised never to wear armour against the French King again. He was true to the letter of his word, but continued to command English forces against the French without personally fighting. In England, he was widely renowned as the best general King Henry VI had.

July 26, 1441 - Strassbourg DoW on France. This might have been an opportunity DoW. It might have been because annexing Helvatia put France in a very vulnerable situation.

August 10, 1441 - Richard Neville of Warwick finally relieved the Scottish Siege of Northumberland and can start planning a counterattack.
It looks like we recruited 4.000 Infantry in Northumberland and 2.000 Cavalry in Lancashire.

September 17, 1441 - Humphrey of Gloucester captured Paris.
October 28, 1441 - Event 18, Unhappiness Among the Peasantry for a -2 Stab and a Rebellion on Gascogne.
November 4, 1441 - Naked John won at Tours and started a siege.

November 9, 1441 - Baden DoW on France. We mentioned the Strassbourg DoW above.
December 21, 1441 - Henry Percy of Northumberland and Humphrey of Gloucester captured Orleans.

1442 BB Reputation Clock now ticks 3.983. Here is the action:

January 2, 1442 Naked John crushed the Rebel Scum at Gascogne

January 21, 1442 - In a jerk move, we carefully watched the siege of Guyenne by Aragon, then sent somebody in to claim credit for. We forgot to even name who claimed the credit. I think it was Richard of York. Capturing Orleans and York now gives us a chain of land.

June 19, 1442 - Henry Percy captured Tours and collected our prize.
June 21, 1442 - Peace with Bourbonnais and we won 113g.

August 10, 1442 - Aragon the Matchmaker has been adding allies. Maybe it helps when we appear to be winning. This time the Pope joined our Alliance. I still have not named our Alliance.

August 30, 1442 - Warwick captured Edinburgh.

September 21, 1442 - Event 19, Foreign Drill Instructor. For 250g, we gain +1 Offense and +1 Quality. The alternative is to lose 1 Victory Point. In that way, it is a non event, but we are in a position we can afford to roleplay, so we hired his services. For roleplay, hmm... where was he from? Which of our allies?

December 16, 1442 - Salisbury captured Lyons.

1443 brings us yet another (Wars of the Roses) General:
John Neville, younger brother of Richard, 1st Marquess of Montague
There are so many for us to track!

Our BB Reputation Clock now reads 3.833. According to this, we have 25 years to run. We can also claim a natural size of 24 Current size - 3 Reputation = 21 Territories. There is more action in 1443 and here it is:

January 28, 1443 - France lost Bearn to Strassburg. They are down to 5 Provinces and 3 Isles de France.

February 25, 1443 - Richard of York captured Savoie and this ends or War with France. We get 65g and 4 new Provinces: Orleans, Guyenne, Lyons, and Savoie. What AI France was supposed to do was buy their way out of the war with Aragon, since they were the Alliance Ringleader. First, it gets them out of the war and they can regroup. Second, with no Provinces going to Aragon, they have no motivation in the negotiation and can therefore shortchange England of a total victory. Perhaps Aragon wanted to continue the war with Navarre.

November, 1443 - France, reduced to a single Isle de France, is the first in Europe to reach Land Level 3 and we get to claim an extra Freeloader Bonus as a result. Otherwise, Land 3 compared to Land 2 is not a big difference.

December 20, 1443 - Event 20, New Land Claimed in Poitou +2500 Population, +1 Manpower, +1 Tax Value. This is a nice event, much better than a Stab.

1444 Our BB Reputation Clock now reads 11.683. We looking at 77 years to clean up our Reputation and it is very likely we are done with expansion until the end of the Century. If anything, we can try to add 3 more Provinces to get our count over 30 to qualify for the Bigger Boy Events.

July 1, 1444 - We got a French Nationalism Revolt in Orleans. We have Infantry covering Orleans, but no Cavalry, so we recruited 5.000 Cavalry to help deal with it.

August 16, 1444 - RIP France. Burgandy Annexed France. They might have been resisting the inevitable for a long time.

September 29, 1444 - Event 21, Unprovoked Revolt in Languedoc. This is also a non event, better than a Stab.

October 1, 1444 - Stability +1. Stability now costs 433 and it looks like 40 months to gain a level with no investments. We will be at least 6.5 years trying to hit Stability +3. Given such a long cycle, we are likely to invest into Stability when it goes negative and so far in this game, it has not. We are also finally seeing an investment result from our Fine Arts Academy / British Museum.

This brings us to 1445. France is gone for now, but Burgandy is looking strong. I checked for a Crown of France event for Burgandy, but surprisingly they do not have one. The Crown of France is an event where a French Minor can claim the Crown of France if they control Isle de France and France does not exist, therefore becoming France.

Burgandy is currently an Ally, but might be a danger. They have very rich Provinces and 2 Centers of Trade. They also have a Succession Event and we do not know what happens when Austria inherits and there is no France to inherit the French half. That might make Austria extra powerful. There are also succession events in Provence and Brittany. These all happen before the end of the Century.

We will also have the Wars of the Roses keeping up busy. With France no longer in existence, we might have to rename this.

Our BB Reputation clock now reads 11.533.

Riel Hamard · Aug 18, 2024

Session 6 - January, 1445 Situation Report

1. The King's Herald - Situation Report
We stand on top of the world with 387.7 VP.

2. Religious and Domestic Policy

Religious Policy is unchanged at +10 Catholic, -4 Orthodox, -5 Moslem
Domestic Policy is:
+3 Aristrocracy
0 Centralization
-3 Innovation
+1 Mercantalism
+1 Offensive
0 Land
+3 Quality
+2 Serfdom

3. Army Report

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
40.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry we obtained in previous Sessions.
50.190 Infantry, 7.960 Cavalry we lost in previous Sessions
50.810 Infantry, 16.040 Cavalry

23.000 Infantry, 7.000 Cavalry we recruited for the End of the Hundred Years War
14.490 Infantry, 2.525 Cavalry we lost at the End of the Hundred Years War
59.320 Infantry, 20.515 Cavalry we now have.

4. Great Generals RIP List:

1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435
4. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - Died July 20, 1439 (30 April is the Wikipedia date)

5. Current Roster of Great Generals:

5. Humphrey of Lancaster, Duke of Gloucester - From 1419 Start
6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - From 1429
7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - From 1434
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - From 1435
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - From 1435
10. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury - From 1440 and I cannot resolve the conflict with 7. 5th and 6th Earl? Father and son?
11. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague - From 1443

6. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports.

7. Boring Budget Details:

1488.678g in the Treasury when we started in 1439.
1420.336g in the Treasury as at January, 1445.
2.9% is our current Inflation Level.

Year	Average	6
Start	248.113	1488.678
Income	3.15239	4692.893
Expense	1.014564	4761.241
Finish	1.903404	9062.567
Adjustment		0.006

Income Breakdown	782.1488	4692.893
Tax	284.2063	1705.238
Trade	5.651667	33.91
Production	111.5437	669.262
Manufactories	0	0
	0	0
Vassals	0	0
	0	0
Events	0	0
Peace	29.66667	178
Census	213.3998	1280.399
Tolls	111.0557	666.334
Tariffs	14.625	87.75

Expense Breakdown	793.5402	4761.241
Army Maintenance	72.06917	432.415
Fleet Maintenance	33.0555	198.333
Raising Armies	64.33333	386
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Merchants	9.333333	56
	0	0
	0	0
Trade and Infrastructure	539.0822	3234.493
Manufactories	34	204
	0	0
	0	0
Events	41.66667	250

804.408g in the Treasury when we started.
1488.678g in the Treasury as at January, 1439.
2.9% is our current Inflation Level.

So our Treasury is down a little bit because of the war and our Inflation is still holding steady.

8. Investment Report:

Land Level 2 - 1429 - We finally got into the 15th Century
Land Level 3 - 1450 costs 8814g
3744g Invested in 1439
+360g from the Henry VI Administration
+112g from the Freeloader Bonus
-3908g from achieving Land 2
308g invested in 1444

Naval Level 1 - 1419
Naval Level 2 - 1429 costs 4070g
2244g Invested in 1439
+360g from the Henry VI Administration
+144g from the Freeloader Bonus
2748g invested in 1444

Stability Level +1
Stability Cost 433g
24g Invested in 1439
432g from the Henry VI Administration
360g from the Fine Arts Academy
-21g from War Weariness
-326g from Stability Level
-433g from Stability Level 1
36g invested in 1444

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Level 3 - 1475 costs 21834g
820.67g Invested in 1439
216g from the Henry VI Administration
144g rom the Freeloader Bonus
1180.67g Invested in 1444

Infrastructure Level 2 - 1425
Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450 costs 10485
5277.413g Invested in 1439
216g from the Henry VI Administration
72g from the Freeloader Bonus
3234.493g from Investments
8799.906g Invested in 1444

9. Event List:

We left off with 16 Events up to 1439.
-300g - Gold Balance
+1500g - Invested in Land Technology
+66g - Invested in Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
1.000 Population Losses in Cornwall and Lincoln.
One Revolt, some Tax Revenue Lost, 0.618 Infantry and 0.123 Cavalry Lost

17. November 15, 1439 Agricultural Revolution in Kent, +1 Manpower
18. October 28, 1441 Unhappiness Among the Peasantry, -2 Stability, Revolt in Gascogne
19. September 21, 1442, Foreign Drill Instructor, -250g, +1 Quality, +1 Offense
20, December 20, 1443, New Land Claimed in Poitou, +2500 Population, +1 MP, +1 Tax Value
21. September 29, 1444, Unprovoked Revolt in Languedoc

Our total for 24 Events is:
-550g - Gold Balance
+1500g - Invested in Land Technology
+66g - Invested in Stability
-2 Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
+500 Net Population Gain
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
2 Revolts
+1 Quality
+1 Offense

Riel Hamard · Aug 18, 2024

England Campaign Sessions 7 and 8 - January 1453 - Eve of the Wars of the Roses

8 Session Count
2 Mulligan Count
10 Total Sessions

Our second Mulligan occurred in 1450, because I am still not quite fully familiar with Alliance, Wars, and broken Royal Marriages. So....
Somebody invites us to Alliance and they are at war. One opponent we have RM with. We lose 1 Stability.
We join the Alliance and we have a good time. Then they have us join another war where we have 6 opponents with RM. We lose 6 Stability.
Apparently it works exactly they way it was described in the Game Manual, but we have to see it in action to believe it.
We grabbed the 1450 Autosave and called it Session 8.

Since this is an After-Inaction Report, we will follow the Situation Report Format above.

1. The King's Herald - Situation Report:
At 553, we are no longer on top of the world. The Timurid Emirates sit on top of the world with 778 Victory Points. This might actually be a good thing.

2. Religious and Domestic Policy:
With our Realm in Chaos, we have been unable to implement any manual changes to our Domestic Policy. It is currently:

+3 Aristocracy
0 Centralization - We have managed to keep it here for now.
-3 Innovation
+2 Mercantilism
+1 Offense
0 Land
+3 Quality
+2 Serfdom

3. Army Report:

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
63.000 Infantry, 19.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry we obtained in previous Sessions.
64.680 Infantry, 10.485 Cavalry we lost in previous Sessions
59.320 Infantry, 20.515 Cavalry

5.000 Infantry we recruited this Session
1.457 Infantry, 0.235 Cavalry lost in the Session 7/8 Combo
62.863 Infantry, 20.280 Cavalry we currently have

4. Great Generals RIP List:

1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435
4. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - Died July 20, 1439 (30 April is the Wikipedia date)
5. September 28, 1447 - Humphrey of Lancaster - This is all of the sons of Henry IV.

5. Current Roster of Great Generals:

6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - From 1429
7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - From 1434
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - From 1435
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - From 1435
10. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury - From 1440 and I cannot resolve the conflict with 7. 5th and 6th Earl? Father and son?
11. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague - From 1443

6. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports.

7. Boring Budget Details:

We spent a lot of cash. We unloaded our entire Treasury.
1420.336g in the Treasury when we started 1445.
931.406g in the Treasury as at January, 1453.
2.9% is still our current Inflation Level.

Year	Average	8
Start		1420.336
Income	811.1453	6489.162
Expense	871.8866	6975.093
Finish	1017.482	8139.852
Adjustment	-0.37487	-2.999

Income Breakdown	811.1453	6489.162
Tax	272.6653	2181.322
Trade	1.20675	9.654
Production	134.8421	1078.737
Manufactories	21	168
	0	0
Vassals	0	0
	0	0
Events	0	0
Peace	0	0
Census	254.9686	2039.749
Tolls	126.4625	1011.7
Tariffs	0	0

Expense Breakdown	871.8866	6975.093
Army Maintenance	57.5395	460.316
Fleet Maintenance	23.8	190.4
Raising Armies	6.875	55
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
	0	0
Merchants	6	48
	0	0
	0	0
Trade and Infrastructure	552.6721	4421.377
Manufactories	225	1800
	0	0
	0	0
Events	0	0

8. Investment Report:

Land Technology 2 - 1429
Land Technology 3 - 1450 costs 8814g
Current Investment 789g
We are no longer receiving a Freeloader Bonus due to a combination of our size and number of Realms remaining.
We see nobody with Land Technology 3 yet.

Naval Technology 1 - 1419
Naval Technology 2 - 1429 costs 4070g
Current Investment 425g
We collect a Freeloader Bonus of 2g for being behind one technology level.

Stability Level -1
Stability costs 425g
Current Investment 164g

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Leve 3 - 1475 costs 21834g
Current Investment 1984.67g

Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450
Infrastructure Level 3 - 1495 costs 20223g
Current Investment 3017.278g

9. Event List

Our total for 21 Events is up to 1445 is:
-550g - Gold Balance
+1500g - Invested in Land Technology
+66g - Invested in Stability
-2 Stability
+1 Diplomat
Some minor shifts in Relations
+500 Net Population Gain
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
2 Revolts
+1 Quality
+1 Offense

22. January 12, 1446 - Cities Demand Old Rights - Our options were Centralization -1 or Stability -2. We went with the double Stab right off the bat. This was just the beginning of this streak.
23. November 22, 1446 - Unprovoked Revolt in Nivernais - This is better than a double stab.
24. December 28, 1447 - Temporary Insanity of the Monarch - This is still better than a double stab.
25. February 8, 1449 - Diplomatic Insult -75 with Kleves - This is still better than a double stab.
26. September 26, 1450 - Plague in Bristol and Picardy -1 stab
27. May 11, 1451 - Diplomatic Insult -75 with Hannover
28. April 26, 1452 - Foreign Trade Competition Rises - We went with Mercantilism +1 and forget what the alternative was. If it was Mercantilism -1 and -300 to Trade Investment, then we might have done well to take that instead.

This mess takes us to:
28 Events
-550g - Gold Balance
+1564g Invested in Land Technology
-36g Invested in Naval Technology
-6g Invested in Stability
-36g Invested in Trade Technology
-36g Invested in Infrastructure
-5 Stability
+1 Diplomats
Some minor shifts in Relations. Some major shifts in Relations.
-1500 Net Population Loss
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
3 Revolts
+1 Mercantilism
+1 Quality
+1 Offense

We took some hits, but we are still here. We dropped out of our Alliance when Aragon DoW on Genoa and Modena, because a single stab is better than a double stab and we had no interest in the area they were attacking. The drawback is it was a nice big alliance.

The big decision we have coming up is - what to do with the Wars of the Roses events.

Added 10. Europe's Most Wanted List:

1. TIM 39.798
2. HUN 22.137
3. SWE 17.271
4. CHG 13.85
5. QAR 13.362
6. POL 10.515
7. ENG 10.408
8. PFA 10.125

Perhaps a list like this and an absence of a political map will still give some idea what the world looks like. We are probably overdue for a map anyway.

Wraith11B · Aug 18, 2024

Perhaps the conflict is from the game giving them their full titles but not reflective of when they acquired them?

Riel Hamard · Aug 18, 2024

Wraith11B said:
Perhaps the conflict is from the game giving them their full titles but not reflective of when they acquired them?

Actually, I have been trying to find out who these people were. The leaders we have had so far as they are presented in the game, are:

Henry V	0	1413	31 Aug 1422	5	6	5	1
Clarence	5	1419	1421	5	3	2	0
Bedford	0	1419	1435	5	4	3	1
Beauchamp	5	1419	1439	3	4	4	0
Gloucester	5	1419	1447	2	3	1	0
Talbot	1	1429	1453	5	6	4	1
Salisbury	5	1434	1460	3	3	3	0
York	1	1435	1460	3	2	4	0
Northumberland	4	1435	1461	3	4	2	0
Warwick	1	1440	1471	5	5	4	0
Montague	10	1443	1471	2	3	2	0
Somerset	10	1445	1464	2	3	2	0

Source:

England (Europa Universalis II)

England is a country in Europa Universalis II. In normal games their provinces are coloured red, in fantasia games, they are coloured light orange.. If England ceases to exist it can be recreatedby revolt or releasing a vassal at any point in the game. England has no fixed culture or religion...

europauniversalis.fandom.com

Wikipedia has been my resource and I used it to try to line up death dates. It looks like the game gives a ridiculous number of generals in honor of the Wars of the Roses. The conflict I was describing appears to be a father / son combination, Richard Neville.

Tenth on the list of is Warwick who died in 1471. This appears to coincide with Richard Neville the 16th Earl of Warwick, apparently the son of:
Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury, who died in 1460.

Wraith11B · Aug 18, 2024

Interesting!

Riel Hamard · Aug 18, 2024

England Campaign Session 9 Report - January, 1458 - The 1456 War for French Independence

We started with a deviation from the Value of Procrastination RP, because the Wars of the Roses were coming up and we started the year 1453 and we were already at -1 Stability and wanted to see -3 Stability. So we pushed Aristocracy from +3 to +4. Then we found out the Wars of the Roses do not start until 1455. This mistake costs us about 2 years of trade and production penalties for very little gain. We might modify this RP and allow ourselves to make DP Changes in 1453, 1463, 1473, and 1483 to go along with the massive social changes.

We got our -3 Stability by immediately rolling a Plague event. Aren't those clouds pretty?

September 19, 1453 Naked John died. September 29, 1453 was the Plague of Wessex and Normandie. Maybe we can tie those events together, because I thought Naked John died trying to defend Gascogne and lost, marking the end of the Hundred Years War.

Finally on January 2, 1455, the Wars of the Roses started. We went with the Alternating Policy Changes and a historical outcome. In this Timeline, we still control much of France, and there is no political entity claiming to be France.

We thought with Stab -2, the triple Stab would take us to -3 and give us two automatic revolts, but it did not. Our Revolt Risks appear to be:
5% in Wales because of Culture Differences and the event +4%.
4% in 10 Provinces in England
2% in 4 French Provinces due to Nationalism
1% in London, because the FAA appears to be helping
1% in Dublin, from the Culture Difference
55% total is what I count per year we spend at -3 Stability. We plan to just... muddle through this as usual.
With 3 years of this, we should be at 1.65, maybe a little bit less because we have spent some time at -2 Stability - and we have not had any action from the Wars of the Roses.

March 1, 1456 - France came back from the dead, complete with Constable Arthur of Brittany.

September 28, 1456 - Not only are they holding no grudges against us (aside from us occupying all their land) they invited us to fight Burgandy for them. We carefully checked Burgandy for Alliances and they were strangely out of all Alliances. They were on their own. So we joined the war.

Unfortunately, we are the Aggressors again in this war.

March 16, 1457 - Richard Neville of Salisbury captured Bourgogne
July 16, 1457 - We captured Paris
August 25, 1457 - France accepted peace with Burgandy and we got to keep Paris.

The game legitimately crashed in April, 1458 and perhaps was telling us to make this a separate AAR.

Riel Hamard · Aug 18, 2024

England Campaign Session 9 Situation Report - January 1458 - The Wars of the Roses began

9 Session Count
2 Mulligans
1CTD

1. The King's Herald - Current Score:

Here are the Top 7 on the Victory Scores:
759 - Timurid Emirates at Number 1
605 - England is Second
299 - Austria is Third
245 - China is Fourth
240 - Portugal is Fifth
218 - The Palantine Empire is Sixth with is an amazing surprise
209 - Delhi is Seventh which might also be a surprise

Our big achievement for this 5-Year Session was acquiring Paris. Complete with a Center of Trade, it is an amazingly wealthy Province. We did not succeed in acquiring Flanders.

We are 3/30 Years into the Wars of the Roses.

2. The King's Herald - Domestic Policy:

These past five years have brought massive change.
+5 Aristocracy
-1 Centralization
-3 Innovation
+2 Mercantilism
+2 Offensive
-1 Land
+4 Quality - If we would pay our troops and build some tech, we might have the best land forces in Europe!
+3 Serfdom

3. The King's Herald - Europe's Most Wanted

There is quite a bit going on with this list as well!
39.269 TIM still holds top spot
37.254 HUN launched themselves into second!
20.904 SWE is in distant third, but still seen as bad guys.
14.475 CHG in fourth and we should look up who they are.
13.416 BUR is in fifth and they have us beat in spite of ENG stealing Paris.
13.390 POL is in sixth
11.987 QAR is in seventh
11.616 ENG is in eighth
10.760 DAN is in ninth place

Looking at the Victory Scores and Most Wanted list might give some idea who is perceived as winning.

4. Army Report - Current Forces:

6.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
68.000 Infantry, 19.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry we obtained in previous Sessions.
66.137 Infantry, 10.720 Cavalry we lost in previous Sessions
62.863 Infantry, 20.280 Cavalry at the start of this Session

0.000 Infantry, 6.000 Cavalry we recruited for the War for French Independence
1.054 Infantry, 0.184 Cavalry we lost in the War for French Independence
61.809 Infantry, 26.096 Cavalry we now have.

5. Army Report - RIP List:

1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435
4. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - Died July 20, 1439 (30 April is the Wikipedia date)
5. September 28, 1447 - Humphrey of Lancaster - This is all of the sons of Henry IV.
6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - Died September 17, 1453

6. Army Report - Roster of Generals

7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - 3430 From 1434
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - 3340 From 1435
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - 3520 From 1435
10. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury - 5640 From 1440 - Son of 7 above
11. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague - 2420 From 1443 - Younger brother of 10 above
12. John Clifford, 9th Baron of Clifford - 2430 From 1455
13. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset - 2420 From 1455

I added numbers for their stats. The first number is surprisingly most important, maneuver. It seems to get us out of bad situations and takes advantage of great situations. The second number is Fire and that stat is completely useless right now. The third number is Shock and the fourth number is Siege. Based on this list, it appears number 10 Warwick the Kingmaker is our General. 5640 means he has 5 Maneuver and 4 Shock. He is very good, but not quite Henry V or France's Arthur of Brittany, Richemont.

7. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports.

8. Boring Budget Details:

931.406 we started in 1453
4006.63 incomes
-3681.396 expenses
-0.996 adjustment
1255.644g is our current Treasury

Production Income appears to be down substantially. With the acquisition of Paris, we will start collecting Tariffs.
Expenses are pretty consistent. We had one event where we spent 250g. We also spent 51g for a Tax Collector in Paris.

9. Investment Report:

This is an Investment Report, so we can look at a couple of our big Investments.
977g we invested in 1426 in a Fine Arts Academy (The British Museum) in London
358g we collected from nearly 30 years of general income
1290g was invested into Stability and keeping us afloat - This appears to be 21.5 years out of 32 years
51.5g is our average per year over 30 years
5.27% return so far
FAA is usually considered the weakest of the investments, because at +3 we are no longer investing into Stability. It appears so far out of 30 years the FAA has been up, we have been enjoying +3 Stability for 8.5 of those years.

1800g we invested in 1448 in 2 Refineries.
192g we collected from, 24g for 8 years
960g was invested into Trade, 120g for 8 years
115.2g per year is our average return so far
6.4% is our average return on investment
We can see this is already stronger than the FAA.

Land Technology 2 - 1429
Land Technology 3 - 1450 costs 9065g
Current Investment 1185g
Some Countries have achieved Land Technology 3 and we are once again collecting a Freeloader Bonus of 2g per month.

Naval Technology 1 - 1419
Naval Technology 2 - 1429 costs 4185g
Current Investment 3912g
Some Countries have achieved Naval Technology 3 and we are claiming a Freeloader Bonus of 2g per month.

Stability Level -2
Stability Level costs 380g - This number will fluctuate based on our BB Reputation
Current Investment 21g

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Level 3 - 1475 costs 22455g
Current Investment 2884.67g
Venice and Genoa are the Countries with Trade Level 3.

Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450
Infrastructure Level 4 - 1495 costs 20798g
Current Investment 6055.373g
We are cutting edge and therefore providing Freeloader Bonuses for all of Western Europe.

We will be about 30 years walking some kind of limbo. 1485 will bring us from -3 Innovation to 0, and -1 Centralization to +5. Our Tech multiplier will go from 1.11 to 0.90, a whopping 21 point shift. As an example, Trade will go from 22455 to 18207 - a difference of 4248g.

324 Months to go in the Wars of the Roses.
Land 1185g + 324(5 MIL + 2 Freeloader) = 3453g out of 7350
Naval 2268g out of 7350
Trade 2884g + 324(3 ADM + 2 Freeloader) = 1904 out of 18207
Infrastructure 6055g + 324(3 ADM) = 7027 out of 16863

We count a total of 35118g diffference. Our budget shows an average of 585g per year invested. This is 15795, so we should be able to execute the limbo just fine. We will achieve Naval 2 before 1485 and will be...
Land 2
Naval 2
Trade 2
Infrastructure 3

Our military will be stuck in the Middle Ages.

10. Event List

We left off at 28 Events:
-550g - Gold Balance
+1564g Invested in Land Technology
-36g Invested in Naval Technology
-6g Invested in Stability
-36g Invested in Trade Technology
-36g Invested in Infrastructure
-5 Stability
+1 Diplomats
Some minor shifts in Relations. Some major shifts in Relations.
-1500 Net Population Loss
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
3 Revolts
+1 Mercantilism
+1 Quality
+1 Offense

29. September 29, 1453 - Plague in Wessex and Normandie - 1 Stability and -2x1000 Population
30. September 27, 1454 - Diplomatic Insult -50 to Brittany
31. September 18, 1455 - Foreign Drill Instructor -250g, +1 Offense, +1 Quality
32. July 25, 1456 - Scandal at the Court -4 Diplomacy, -100 Hannover
It looks like the Events missed us in 1457.

With 32 Events in 39 Years so far, this leaves us with:
-800- Gold Balance
+1564g Invested in Land Technology
-36g Invested in Naval Technology
-6g Invested in Stability
-36g Invested in Trade Technology
-36g Invested in Infrastructure
-6 Stability
+1 Diplomats
Some minor shifts in Relations. Some major shifts in Relations.
-3500 Net Population Loss
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
3 Revolts
+1 Mercantilism
+2 Quality
+2 Offense

Riel Hamard · Aug 19, 2024

England Campaign Session 10 - January, 1462 - Edward of York Seizes the Throne, becoming Edward IV

On March 5, 1461 Edward seized the throne of England and became Edward IV. The Wikipedia Article says 28 June, 1461.

1. The King's Herald - Current Score
The Top 7 looks like this:

769 Timurid Empire in First Place
632 England in Second Place
297 Austria in Third Place
263 The Emperor Palentine in Fourth Place
252 Delhi in Fifth Place
246 Portugal in Sixth Place
243 Poland in Seventh Place

Which ones here are the surprises?

2. The King's Herald - Europe's Most Wanted
The list crowns a new Champion, but we still made the list.

39.354 HUN Hungary in First Place
38.669 TIM Timurid Empire in Second Place - and they hold top spot in the Victory Score to show for it.
20.604 SWE Sweden in distant Third Place
15.687 QAR Qara Koyunlu is in Fourth Place
14.515 POL Poland is in Fifth Place
14.175 CHG is in Sixth Place - Our world map does not go that far down the Silk Road.
13.269 DLH Delhi is in Seventh Place - and they have Fifth Place Victory to show for it.
12.700 PFA The Emperor Palentine is in Eighth Place and they have Fourth Place Victory to show for it.
12.519 BUR Burgandy is in Ninth Place
10.883 ENG England is in Tenth Place - We still made the list.

With Edward IV and Aristocracy +5, we get a whopping 9 Diplomacy points. We will be wiping our record clean within 50 years if we can hang on to 9 Diplomacy. We won't. It looks like we have about 20 years of Edward, with an interruption from Henry. After the Wars of the Roses, we will have Henry VI who also has 7 Diplomacy, but our Aristocracy is likely to get wiped all the way to 0 and we will have no bonus. Our Aristocracy Policy Push just before the War gives us about 30 years of +1 Diplomacy and wipes out 0.75 Reputation.

3. Army Report - Current Forces

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
68.000 Infantry, 25.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry we obtained in previous Sessions.
67.191 Infantry, 10.904 Cavalry we lost in Previous Sessions
61.809 Infantry, 26.096 Cavalry at the start of this Session

0.000 Infantry, 5.000 Cavalry from Events
1.591 Infantry, 0.318 Cavalry we lost at Orleans
60.218 Infantry, 30.778 Cavalry we now have

It's an impressive looking force. Edward is going to wipe out 4.5 worth of our Reputation. We wonder if anybody is going to come get us. We have Impressive Generals, Impressive Troops, an Amazing Number of Cavalry, and a load of cash.

4. Army Report - RIP List

The End of the Hundred Years War
1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435
4. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - Died July 20, 1439 (30 April is the Wikipedia date)
5. Humphrey of Lancaster - Died September 28, 1447 and this is all the sons of Henry IV.
6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - Died September 17, 1453

Start of the Wars of the Roses
7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - Died October 22, 1460
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - Died November 24, 1460
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - Died August 18, 1461
10. John Clifford, 9th Baron of Clifford - Died November 30, 1461

It is, of course, very strange to have lost so many Wars of the Roses Generals. We are 7 years into the war and have yet to see a single battle, notwithstanding the fact we have been hanging out with Stability ranging from -1 to -3 the entire time.

5. Army Report - Roster of Generals

11. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, 6th Earl of Salisbury - 5640 From 1440 - Son of 7 above
12. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague - 2420 From 1443 - Younger brother of 10 above
13. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset - 2420 From 1455
14. Edward IV - 4330 from 1460

Looking at the numbers, it appears we really have two leaders. The other two are 2 Shock and 2 Maneuver and no different compared to our default commanders.

6. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports.

7. Boring Budget Details:

1244.644g we started this Session with
3466.303g income
2934.721 expense - What kind of government is this running a surplus?
0.004 adustment
1787.23g is our current Treasury Balance

1286g is what another Fine Arts Academy will cost. However, it will only earn 6g, plus a 60g investment into Stability, a 5.13% maximum return
1234g is what another Refinery will cost. This will earn 12g, plus a 60g investment into Trade, a 5.83% maximum return.
It looks like the FAA also reduces stability costs and the refinery increases trade efficiency.

Our first choice might be to build in Champagne. Our second choice in Guyenne. Guyenne still has 2% Revolt Risk and puts all of our Refineries together right on the border with Aragon.

8. Investment Report:

Land Technology 2 - 1429
Land Technology 3 - 1450 costs 9065g
Current Investment 1541g
We are gaining 7g from Edward IV and 2g from Freeloader.
We expect to be at 4025g at the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Naval Technology 2 - 1429
Naval Technology 3 - 1450 costs 9065g
Current Investment 145g
We expect to be at 2625g at the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Some Countries being at Level 3 means they have done this 21 years of research. Our Land Technology has worked through 3.5 of those years and we are at least 17.5 years behind. We are basically 21 years behind in Naval Technology.

Stability Level -1
Stability Cost 375g - and this will get better with Edward's Diplomacy
Current Investment 212g
We are gaining 10g from Edward IV and 5g from the Fine Arts Academy.
Our Stability Cycle is 24 Months

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Level 3 - 1475 costs 22455g
Current Investment 6105g
We are gaining 5g from Edward IV, 10g from our Refineries, and 2g from Freeloader.
We expect to be at 10797g at the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450
Infrastructure Level 4 - 1495 costs 20798g
Current Investment 6219g
We are gaining 5g from Edward IV and we are providing Freeloader Bonuses for everybody else in Europe.
We expect to be at 7599g at the end of the Wars of the Roses.

Our investments tend to be approximately 600g per year. This will add 13800g. If we balance them between Trade and Infrastructure, they will be at 16098g each and almost ready for a level.

9. Event List

33. September 16, 1458 - Noble Families Feud -100g buys us out of trouble.
34. July 28, 1459 - Scandal at the Court -25 Aragon and they are a bit mad at us. This is better than a Dip hit.
35. June 3, 1461 - Enthusiasm for the Army - 5.000 Cavalry

We have now played 43 years and are in 1462 with 35 Events:
-900- Gold Balance
5.000 Infantry
5.000 Cavalry
+1564g Invested in Land Technology
-36g Invested in Naval Technology
-6g Invested in Stability
-36g Invested in Trade Technology
-36g Invested in Infrastructure
-6 Stability
+1 Diplomats
Some minor shifts in Relations. Some major shifts in Relations.
-3500 Net Population Loss
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
3 Revolts
+1 Mercantilism
+2 Quality
+2 Offense

10. Discussion on Technology Cost and Province Income:

Our Tech Costs appear to be:

Land and Naval:
21 x 148.5 x 2.545 x 1.11 x 1.029 = 9065
Trade:
50 x 154.5 x 2.545 x 1.11 x 1.029 = 22455
Infrastructure:
45 x 159.0 x 2.545 x 1.11 x 1.029 = 20798

2.545 is our size multiplier penalty. 1.11 is our domestic policy, Innovation -3, Centralization -1. 1.029 is our inflation level. We are multiplying these with the number of years and the cost per year. Looking at the cost per year, they total 148.5+148.5+154.5+159.0 = 610.5 per year.

Adding a Province will increase this by:
0.025 x 610.5 x 1.11 x 1.029 = 17.43
17.43 is what our Provinces have to earn to break even from a tech point of view.

A quick lazy point of view we draw a line at 17 and we get the following:
16 - Lincoln, Bristol, Picardie, Caux, Nivernais, Vendee
15 - Northumberland, Kent
14 - Cornwall, Wessex, Normandie
13 - Wales
9 - Dublin
Paris will make up for the shortfall and then quite a bit. If we need to manage Reputation, then we might look at making some Vassals.

We are 7/30 Years into the Wars of the Roses. Who imagined this to be so boring?
We have 23 Years to go.

Should we be investing more Stability because we are so big? 14 months of investment would be about 700g and will take us to Stability +2. Most likely we will have not much of a War of the Roses to worry about and we might gain 55g in tax income for 4 years to show for it, about 220g.

We also suspended our Value of Procrastination RP for the Wars of the Roses to reflect instability and rapidly changing policy. We are due for a DP change in one more year. What should we push?
Aristocracy is already maxed.
Centralization will be maxed in 1485.
Innovation is at -3 and we should make a decision with it. It should go to 0 in 1485.
The other sliders are not very important to us right now. I am almost tempted to just leave them alone for now.

Added: I forgot to show a political map of Europe. Here it is.

Riel Hamard · Aug 20, 2024

England Campaign Session 11 AIR - January, 1472 - Edward's Diplomatic Exploits

Just in case, AIR means After Inaction Report - because we just played 10 Years and there was no action. We should soon take an opportunity to look around the world and give a better idea of what is going on. Depending on how quickly we run out of time, we might get only a little bit of a teaser.

Edward IV has Diplomacy 7. With Aristocracy +5, we get a full +2 Bonus to Diplomacy for a grand total of 9. We erase BB Reputation at an astonishing 0.225 per year - or often quite close to it. I just worked it out to 2.225, from 10.883 to 8.658. Most likely we are off the list of Europe's Most Wanted. It also helps with our Stability costs, which is a boon, because we spent a lot of time in complete crisis.

Edward started to work on France. We started with +41 Relations and we sent a bunch of Letters of Introduction and got it up to a full 200. It looks like it took about 11 tries and we will keep this as a reference for when we start making moves on our next target. We finally vassalized France on January 1, 1463.

January 1, 1463 - We took the opportunity presented to us to push the Domestic Policy - This time one point towards Innovation and we are now at Innovation -2. We will be gaining about 3 Innovation in 1485 and this will put us at +1. We also looked ahead at events in the 16th Century and a lot of them revolve around England having Innovation +1. Looking at our Policies, we might have room to push Innovation for the rest of this War.

April 1, 1468 - Edward was busy running diplomatic missions in far-away places. It took us a couple years or so, at about 14g per Letter and maybe another 12 tries, and we got to exchange maps with Delhi. We now have some visibility of Southeast Asia!

October 4, 1470 - Edward is out. Henry is in. We are stuck with Henry VI as King for about six months.

June 1, 1471 - We traded maps with Portugal and have a visible path all the way around Africa to India and we have some visibility in the New World and possible new Diplomatic Contacts in North America. We have an idea of what to do next!

List of Events:

Event 36 - October 16, 1462 - Saint Performs Miracle +1 to Stability and this brought us to 0 Stability.
Event 37 - December 24, 1463 - Enthusiasm for the Army - Another 5.000 Cavalry.
Event 38 - January 25, 1465 - Commission Cathedral 3 -200g and +2 to Stability and we were Stability +3 at the end of the month.
Event 39 - February 6, 1466 - Plague hits Cornwall and Caux -1 Stability and 2x1000 Population hits.
Event 40 - December 20, 1466 - Fortification Efforts in Calais - and Calais now has a Level 2 Fort for what it is worth.
Event 41 - September 17, 1467 - Petition for Redress... Accepted! -3 Stability, +1 Centralization
Event 42 - July 8, 1469 - Grant Export Licenses to Brittany -50g and we saved ourselves a Stab.
Event 43 - May 20, 1470 - Cities Demand Old Rights... Denied -2 Stability
Event 44 - August 27, 1471 - Another Petition for Redress... Accepted! -3 Stability, +1 Centralization

From this mixed bag of events, we went from +3 Stability to -3 Stability and most of it was self-inflicted in the name of fighting for a Centralized Government.
-250g
-2.000 Population
+2 Stability
5.000 Cavalry
+1 Fort
-8 Stability, Self-Inflicted
+2 Centralization we do not need. We will see where end up in 1485.

This is supposed to be an After-Action Report - Here is the list of our dealings with the Rebels:

March 20, 1463 marked the Succession of Luxembourg and they became a part of Burgandy, soon to be a part of Austria... unless we take swift action to prevent it. This will be a subject of later discussion.

April 11, 1463 - There were Rebels in Aragon who caught us by surprise and crossed the border into Languedoc. It was obvious they were after our Brewery. We sent our Infantry after them in and infantry versus infantry battle and we lost in the worst possible way. Our troops retreated the 1.5 month trip to Dauphine. Not only were they rolling great in land battles, they were rolling great in siege. They had us down to -7 in about 3 months and we are not sure how that was possible. They must have rolled consecutively, -3, -3, -2 and started off with a very lucky roll. We tried to send King Edward to save the situation, but our Infantry was finally able to save the day - and the Brewery. Cheers to them!

October 1, 1464 - Yorkshire Revolt, crushed by Warwick the Kingmaker. Maybe I should look up again which side Warwick is on so we can make up the story.

May 19, 1470 - Lithuania annexed the Teutonic Order

RIP List:

November 12, 1464 - RIP Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset
January 29, 1471 - RIP John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague
July 2, 1471 - RIP Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick

With this, we are down to a single leader.

Technology Changes:
Siena reached Land Technology 4, 1465. We are at Land Technology 2, 1429. We are a full 36 years behind in Land Technology.
Europe's Naval Technology Level is still 3, 1450. We are at Naval Technology 2, 1429, between 21 and 36 years behind.
Venice and Genoa both have Trade Level 4, 1500. We are at Trade Level 2, 1425. This puts us a full 75 years behind in Trade.
We are still collecting no Freeloader Bonus for Infrastructure at Level 3.

Here is our visibility on Southeast Asia:

Here is our visibility on North America:

Discussion - What to do with the Burgandy Succession Event

The options we see are:
1. Allow the Historical Outcome to occur.
2. Try to Annex France before the Event can Trigger.
3. Try to Exploit the Event.

Burgandy controls a total of 10 Territories. We believe 3 will go to France:
Bourgogne, Artois, and Franche Comte
7 Territories will go to Austria:
Luxembourg, Brabant, Flandern, Zeeland, Holland, Friezen, Piemonte

Austria currently controls 5 Territories:
Austria, Ostmarch, Salzburg, Steiermark, Tiron

Option 1, assuming Historical Outcome occurs - France goes from 2 Provinces, to 5. Annexing them will cost us 5.0 Reputation.
England +5BB, 34 Territories
Austria 12 Territtores

Option 2 - Burgandy stays
England +2BB, 31 Territories
Burgandy - 10 Territories
Austria - 5 Territories

Option 3 - Attempt and Exploit. We believe it is +2.0 for DoW and +2.5 for the Territories.
England +4.5BB, 39 Territories
France - 2 Territories
Austria - 5 Territories

ADDED - I just checked the Event File and found an "atwar = no" and take that to mean Burgandy must not be at war and therefore the exploit is not possible.

Provence Succession - It appears we missed on that.
Brittany Succession - We will probably miss on that, but it is not important.

Next Discussion - Next Diplomatic Exploit:

Most likely, this will be gaining more visibility of North America. Their CoT might be pretty empty and then our gamble might pay. Visibility on the New World might get us a jump over Castile / Spain.

Here is another look at the pretty clouds over our Capital City:

TheButterflyComposer · Aug 20, 2024

So how's England doing on the map?

Riel Hamard · Aug 21, 2024

TheButterflyComposer said:
So how's England doing on the map?

Here is a map of our territory.

17 Territories England started with in 1419.
9 - We gained all 9 Territories France started with.
2 - In the North, we have Orleans and Le Mans.
1 - In the South, we also have Savoie.
29 Territories we now control.

France is resurrected and now controls Limoges and Clermont. They are our Vassal of 9 Years and our Ally.
There are 10 more Territories with French Culture we can attempt to capture:
Aragon - Rousillon if we really want conflict with Aragon.
Provence
Lorraine - is now controlled by the Emperor Palentine.
Burgandy - Bourgogne, Franche Compte, Artois
France - Limousin and Auvergne
Bourbonnais - Tours and Cevennes

If we are collecting Gaelic culture some time, there are 11 Territories.
4 - Ireland, 4 - Scotland, 3 - Brittany; and they all look the same as original.

In Iberia:
Aragon - has swallowed up Navarre.
Castile - has swallowed up Granada and control Tangiers and Oran in Northern Africa.
Portugal - now controls Fez.

Hungary has 2-3 Territories in Italy. I count 11-12 Territories total. One more. It looks like they also have Cologne.
Byzantium still exists. They are a vassal of the Ottoman Empire.
The Palpatine Empire controls 4 Territories including Lorraine.

Sweden, Norway, and Denmark still exist.
Novgorod still exists. They control 3 Territories.
We can see 5 Territories controlled by Muscowy.

Genoa appears to be reduced to a single Province with a rich CoT. Venice appears to have 2 Territories, plus 3 Islands.

Delhi appears to control 16 Territories.

England in 1472 according to the game should be sorting out the Wars of the Roses with still 13 years to go. So relative to the OTL, England is very powerful on this map. Compared to how the game is supposed to be played, maybe not so much.

Riel Hamard · Aug 21, 2024

Session 11 Situation Report - January, 1472

1. The King's Herald - Top Scores:

719 - England has climbed into First Place!
554 - Timurid Empire has slipped into Second place, in both Standing and Score.
345 - The Empire Palpatine has climbed into Third Place.
342 - Austria has switched places with the Palpatine Empire.
321 - Poland jumped from Seventh to Fifth Place.
286 - The Inca Empire is now in Sixth Place.
278 - China is now in Seventh Place.

2. The King's Herald - Europe's Most Wanted
England has fallen off the list of Villains.

42.112 - Hungary claims First
35.631 - Timurid Empire is Second
19.854 - Sweden is distant Third
16.010 - Denmark is Fourth
14.452 - THU Wurzburg - We are not sure how they got to Fifth on the list.
13.729 - QAR is Qara Koyunlu is in Sixth Place.
12.298 - Poland is Seventh
12.200 - CHG is Eighth - Kashgar?
11.500 - Castile is Ninth.
11.269 - Delhi is Tenth.

3. The King's Herald - List of Events:

Leading up to 1472, we have been playing 53 Years and had 44 Events. Here is the mixed Bag:
-1150g Gold Balance
5.000 Infantry
10.000 Cavalry
+1 Fort
+1564g Invested in Land Technology
-36g Invested in Naval Technology
-6g Invested in Stability
-36g Invested in Trade Technology
-36g Invested in Infrastructure
-4 Stability
+1 Diplomats
Some minor shifts in Relations. Some major shifts in Relations.
-5500 Net Population Loss
+2 Manpower
+1 Tax Value
3 Revolts
+1 Mercantilism
+2 Quality
+2 Offense
-8 Self-Inflicted Stability in Exchange for 3 Centralization we did not need. We will find out if it was worth it.

4. The King's Herald - List of Current Wars:

1. Makassar v Mataran
2. Qara Koyunlu v Delhi, Baluchistan
3. Knights, Cyprus v Hungary, Croatia
4. Novgorod, Georgia, Prussia v Golden Horde
5. Atjeh, China v Dia Viet, Tangu, Vientiane, Malacca
6. Transoxiana v Delhi, Gujarat, Baluchistan
7. Eire v Provence, Scotland
8. Palpatine, Kleves, Strassbourg, Saxony, Munster v Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Swabia
9. Candar, Ak Koyunlu v Uzbec, Qara Koyunlu, Crimea, Khazak, Nogai
10. Swabia v Hungary, Croatia
11. Kaliphate v Uzbec, Qara Koyunlu, Crimea, Khazak, Nogai
12. Moldavia, Serbia v Poland, Lithuania, Bohemia, Pommern, Poland
13. Mameluk v Algiers, Tunisia
14. Ethiopia v Oman
15. Araka v Tangu, Vientiane, Malacca

5. Army Report - Current Forces:

56.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we started with in 1419
68.000 Infantry, 25.000 Cavalry we recruited in previous Sessions
5.000 Infantry, 5.000 Cavalry we obtained in previous Sessions.
68.782 Infantry, 11.222 Cavalry we lost in Previous Sessions
60.218 Infantry, 30.778 Cavalry at the start of this Session

0.000 Infantry, 12.000 Cavalry we recruited in this Session
0.000 Infantry, 5.000 Cavalry we obtained from Events
1.940 Infantry, 0.029 Cavalry we lost this Session, mostly defending the Distillery at Montpellier
58.278 Infantry, 47.749 Cavalry we now have.

6. Army Report - RIP List:

The End of the Hundred Years War
1. Thomas of Lancaster, Duke of Clarence - Died March 9, 1421
2. King Henry V - Died August 31, 1422
3. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford - Died December 23, 1435
4. Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick - Died July 20, 1439 (30 April is the Wikipedia date)
5. Humphrey of Lancaster - Died September 28, 1447 and this is all the sons of Henry IV.
6. Naked John Talbot, 1st Earl of Sudbury - Died September 17, 1453

Middle of the Wars of the Roses
7. Richard Neville, 5th Earl of Salisbury - Died October 22, 1460
8. Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York - Died November 24, 1460
9. Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland - Died August 18, 1461
10. John Clifford, 9th Baron of Clifford - Died November 30, 1461
11. Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of Somerset - Died November 12, 1464
12. John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montague - Died January 29, 1471
13. Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick - Died July 2, 1471

7. Army Report - Current Roster of Generals
We have only one, but he is actually pretty good.
14. Edward IV - 4330 from 1460

8. Navy Report:
We still have 34 Warships and 6 Transports. We might lose quite a few if we decide to sail to North America!

9. Boring Budget Details - Treasury Report:

We played out 10 Years from 1462 to 1472.
1787.23g our Treasury started
9180.501g our Income
8530.375g our Expenses
-0.650g Adjustment
2436.71g our Current Treasury Balance

Our Merchant Adventure still cannot turn a profit.
72.000g we invested the past ten years.
41.696g we returned
30.304g is our net position.
At -3 Stability, our current Merchants will not survive long.

10. Investment Report:

Land Technology 2 - 1429
Land Technology 3 - 1450 costs 8359g
Current Investment 2621g
Siena currently has Level and is giving us a Freeloader Bonus of 3.

Naval Technology 2 - 1429
Naval Technology 3 - 1450 costs 8359g
Current Investment 1213g
We get a Freeloader Bonus of 1.

Current Stability -3
Stability costs 382g
Current Investment 284g

Trade Level 2 - 1425
Trade Level 3 - 1475 costs 20708g
Current Investment 11506.155g
Venice and Genoa both have Trade Level 4 giving us a Freeloader Bonus of 3.

Infrastructure Level 3 - 1450
Infrastructure Level 4 - 1495 costs 19180g
Current Investment 10073.257g

We are trying to walk a limbo and not gain any Technology Levels until 1485, when we will have large changes to Centralization, Innovation and Technology Multipliers.

Regarding Burgandy Succession Event - I lean towards letting Austria benefit and we can pick up France later for 5.0BB Reputation. An alternative is to Annex France and avoid the event, but Burgandy still holds 3 French provinces. Another alternative is to fight Burgandy for a bunch of Provinces, but that is expensive in terms of Reputation. Burgandy has moved from Ally to Enemy and the Event will very likely get rid of an Enemy.

Regarding Diplomatic Exploits:
It looks like we spent 110.361g to Vassalize France and maximize Relations and they appear to be stable now.
It appears we have already recovered 65.816g in Tribute and this appears to be an amazing investment. We should be doing this much more often!
As a contrast, we invested about 300g to get our maps and visibility on China in the East and Lenape in the West.
Hindsight says we should have placed a lot more effort in keeping Brittany as a Vassal.
We are more likely to attempt to gain a partial map of North America.
If Bourbonnais is not in any kind of Alliance and France is not attacking it, we should actually try to Vassalize them and we should have done this a very long time ago.

I am very excited about playing the next Session, but it is too late at night now.

Muddling Through EU2 as England

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

Call Kenny Loggins, you're in the DANGER ZONE...

First Lieutenant

Call Kenny Loggins, you're in the DANGER ZONE...

First Lieutenant

Revolutionary Leader

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

Call Kenny Loggins, you're in the DANGER ZONE...

First Lieutenant

Call Kenny Loggins, you're in the DANGER ZONE...

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant

The Dark Lord Kelebek

First Lieutenant

First Lieutenant