"Surpass the Arpads!"-County of Gemer

[Jestor]

February 27th, 1067: County of Gemer

A southern European placement meant nothing to Nature, who deigned to calmly and relentlessly overlay the Hungarian province of Gemer with a chilling blanket of snow.

Those inside the fort did not care, for they were merry with celebration. Marshal Tamas Balog, elder brother to Count Ince Balog, had just wed Eufrozyna Wlostowic, a courtier late of the Duchy of Silesia.

Tamas paused from the kissings of his blushing blonde bride to join his brother-liege in a drink before the crackling hearth.

"A fine girl you've found me, Ince! You plan to give her a court position, I hope?"

"Yes" answered fully-bearded Ince as he stared absently into the searing flames, "Her contacts in Poland will be useful for finding out information that we might not otherwise be able to obtain. Hence, she will be in charge of... intelligence gathering."

"Splendid!" Tamas crowed with a delighted grin as he clapped Ince on the shoulder, "You keep making wise decisions like that and we'll surpass those bastard Arpads yet!"

The Count frowned and removed his brother's hand, dropping his voice to a fierce whisper, "Hold your tongue... There are many who are loyal to the King and his family here. I will not have you giving him any reason to remove me from power. I am still young yet and he does not fully trust me, I am sure."

"True, true" replied the cheerful Marshal, "But we'll do it yet. We have one of the richest provinces in Hungary, you know. Only that bastard Laszlo Arpad is much richer than we are.. and of course the King himself."

"Indeed. Let us speak no more of this. Go and enjoy your bride. I must speak with the barons and the clergy to assure them that my recent changes in our realm's laws will not hurt them."

Tamas took this advice and he and Ince went their separate ways as their functions required of them that night.

***

The Balogs were indeed fortunate in Gemer, but they were not satisfied with just that county. Realizing that the time to strike was immediately while certain wealthy provinces he coveted were still weak, Ince claimed the rich but manless Russian county of Peremyshl for his own and declared war in April. The Principality of Kiev, Peremyshl's liege lord, and the King of Hungary joined in on the side of their vassals as expected, but the real surprise and turning point came when the King of Poland, manipulated by Eufrozyna's planted spies, declared war on Kiev as well.

Unfortunately, the King's regency council decided that a war, even one extremely winnable and indeed one that was going unquestionably the way of the Hungary-Poland alliance, would be too damaging and so they made peace with Kiev in July.

This enraged Ince even more and he vowed that as soon as as he had the power, he would break away and declare himself indepedent. Although he'd fought with the Russians, his real enemy was none other than the Arpads.

The happily married Marshal

His very useful and cunning Polish bride

The current hero of the story

 

[unmerged(60276)]

Well, you certainly wasted no time

Seems like you chose a fairly competent family, good luck with the AAR!

May it bring you your kingship finally!

 

[unmerged(8915)]

hooray! a gemer aar. i love gemer, and have spent a lot of time there! good luck!

 

[unmerged(48100)]

Too bad you couldn't get Peremyshl, but you'll get your chance. I'm sure about that.

 

[Sir Humphrey]

Lookin' fine. I hope it goes well...

 

[stnylan]

Another one - excellent. And with a desire to supplant the Arpads I see. Well, nothing wrong with that!

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

Watch out for the Cumans, Pechenegs and other nasty enemies

Good start, lets hope that the fate of Balogs will be better then that of the Meriadocs and the count of Kalmar Lan

 

[Jestor]

shuma: Thanks. Yeah, I like this family too and I hope they pan out, especially in besting the Arpads. I always avoid taking families like the de Normandies, the Arpads, the Jiminezs, the Capets, etc. It's all about beating those dynasties already in power

Ladislav: Awesome! I knew I wanted to go somewhere in Hungary, but I always have this weird quirk that in addition to the no famous families rule, they also have to be unmarried because I want to choose my own bride. If it's a county/dynasty I *really* want to play, I just edit the setup file or F12 her at scenario start. Don't think I've done that yet, but maybe I have.

CSK: I know, I couldn't believe how swift the peace was, but I'm sure I'll get that county... either that or I'll rebel against King Salomon or whatever his name is. My liege is a weak Duke and the country of Hungary overall not exceptionally strong, so the opportunity is there.

Sir Humphrey: Thank you I hope for the same thing, but one never knows. This probably will be like my last AAR where I wander between styles as I keep trying to get away from the date/place/event format from my earlier AARs.

stnylan: I find that jealousy works quite well for a hook, especially for a small country like Hungary where it's easy to point to one family as being dominant.

Veldmaarschalk: Thanks Yeah I'm keeping an eye on those pagans. The nice thing is that even if they invade, I've got a decent buffer between me and them, so by the time they finally reached me, I'd have a good number of troops built up.

Just as a general note, I will be out of town tonight, all of Saturday, and most of Sunday and then I have a take-home midterm to write Sunday night. I'll try to squeeze an update in before I leave today, but I make no guarantees. Thanks for all the comments, guys!

 

[Jestor]

Quietly the years passed, with the county of Gemer growing richer and more powerful with each succeeding month. Maria Pallfy, the stewardess, completed her education with merchants in Venice and returned so apt a pupil that many called her one of the greatest financial minds of the age. Her stellar talents with money made the Gemer the indisputably richest county in Hungary, surpassing even the royal capital of Pressburg and the county of Bihar, both Arpad domains.

Count Ince at last married in January 1069 and his wife was Luitgard von Zahringen, daughter of the Dual Duke Berthold von Zahringen of Kartern and Verona. The fabulously wealthy von Zahringen lavished his only daughter with a dowry so impressive that two months after the wedding, the county of Gemer had enough funds to begin constructing a forestry. As might be expected from her background, the new Countess was also a wonder with finances, nearly the equal of Maria.

Later in that January, the Count of Pecs, Ipoly Guthkeled, who had been increasingly discontent with the Arpad rule himself, asked the Balogs for an alliance. Seeing the opportunity to have a friend should the expected civil war break out, Ince agreed at once and the two began preliminary exchanges over how to dethrone the Arpad dynasty.

Ince made his move quite abruptly in June. Sending out a proclamation that Pressburg should be belong to him, he declared war on King Saloman. The Kingdom of Poland, acting on the wiles of Eufrozyna's spies, declared war on Gemer in turn to cause the rest of the Hungarian kingdom to declare war on Poland and detract from the dispute arising between the Barogs and the Arpads.

The ploy worked to perfection and all of Hungary was up in arms against the Polish. A modest payment as thanks to the King of Poland was all that Ince needed to do to get Boleslaw to officially make peace with the Barogs, none any the wiser for the deceitful feint.

Chaos gained an even freer hand after the Duke of Slovakia, Ince's liege lord, declared independence and went to war against his Arpad relative.

Although Gemer fell in early January 1070, Ince forced to give up his claim on Pressburg, the middling amount of florins in the treasury, and undergo a devastating public humiliation, the greater war went much more successfully for Slovakia. With the aid of massive Polish troops, the Duke of Slovakia turned the tables on Saloman and looked well on his way to taking the crown.

The war continued to drag on and even two years later, in January 1072, there appeared no end in sight. There was a constant stalemate that looked as though it would never be broken.

Gemer stayed out of the war, repeatedly refusing to raise troops to aid Slovakia, for Ince Barog dreamed of independence from the Arpads, even as he silently went about rebuilding his county's treasury and army.

He had another crucial weapon in his next war.

The extraordinarily rich and militarily powerful Governor of Pisa now called him friend and ally.

I don't have time to get the screenshots up before I have to go, but they're pretty fascinating! I'll put the screenies in the next post, sometime next week.

 

[unmerged(48100)]

Now you managed to confuse me. You attacked Hungary, then Poland attacked you and then they were at war with Hungary? I don't understand that. At all.

 

[stnylan]

Creating hell for the Arpads by the look of it.

 

[Manstein16]

It's a threeway slaughterfest.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

Now you managed to confuse me. You attacked Hungary, then Poland attacked you and then they were at war with Hungary? I don't understand that. At all.

Gemer is a vassal of Slovakia, vassal of Hungary. And it declares war on Hungary. Poland being an ally of Hungary, it declares war on those who attacked Hungary, the county of Gemer. But Hungary considers Gemer to be a part of their realm, and as Poland declares war on Gemer, Hungary declares war on Poland in defense of the vassal of their vassal. Or something like that.

Simply brilliant!

 

[unmerged(48100)]

Considering that you go independent once you attack your liege (or the liege of your liege in that case) I wonder how this should work. Or I'm missing something. Or he is allied to some Polish Count that attacked Hungary and took Poland with him. Whatever it was, it seems to be a smart move.

I still think you should get a Polish vassal though.

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

An update that causes confusion and discussion is always a good update

But your characters may need to learn so respect for the high and mighty, you always seem to attack enemies more powerful they you

 

[unmerged(60841)]

Glad to see another AAR from you. Hopefully you have better luck in this one!

 

[Jestor]

Wow, so many replies! Sorry I haven't answered sooner--I was at an All-Greek retreat for the weekend (this case meaning fraternities and sororities, not Byzantines )

CSK: Shuma's post highlights what happened. It was quite possibly the coolest thing I'd ever seen in CK. I'd also like to clarify that when I attacked the King, I didn't go indy. Apparently you have to go to war against your direct liege to go indy, as the Duke of Slovakia did when he declared war against Salomon himself. I also can't get a vassal because I'm a count myself.

stnylan: And the war is *still* ongoing, that's the beauty of it. Though granted, if Poland wasn't continuing to fight for the good guys, Slovakia would've been re-integrated into Hungary by now.

Manstein16: More or less. Although by now it's settled down now into two sides: The loyalist royalists in the Kingdom of Hungary versus the freedom fighter Duchy of Slovakia and the Kingdom of Poland. Hungary has a ton of troops, but so does Poland, so they keep going back and forth.

Shuma: That's exactly what happened. Superb grasp of the situation! If I had cookies, I'd give one to you. Although I like to explain it in terms of the Spymistress having influence in the Polish royal court. I'm amazed myself at just how well the ploy turned out. If the war keeps going, I may eventually be able to rebel against the Duke of Slovakia and thus go indy, which would rock. No more Arpad lords!

Veldmaarschalk: That's only because as a lowly count, just about everyone is more powerful than me. Though I'd like to point out that Iacopo from Orsini in one of my shorter AARs stuck with the enemies that he knew he could take down with Papal assistance. And I'd done the same thing as an opening move with Gemer in this game, but the bastards made peace right away.

JimboIX: Thank you It is pretty amazing how much luck plays a role in these Paradox games, and I like that. It means that skill isn't necessarily enough to wint out and adds lots of replay value.

 

[Jestor]

A brief pictorial catchup

The outbreak of war. Notice the declarations at the bottom of the screen

The wife. My current Stewardess is at 14, just for a point of comparison

Daughter. Possible future Stewardess, more likely marriage bait.

My liege. May I get enough prestige someday to claim a territory and break away from him. He's been awfully smart about not letting my loyalty drop below 20%, the bastard.

Yon rich and powerful ally. A pity he isn't closer.

The screenshot's slightly dated. Bihar is now the capital of Slovakia, but the war is still ongoing and that's the important thing.

 

[Jestor]

Luitgard died on January 13th, 1072 in childbirth. Both she and the infant perished. Ince did not grieve, for he held little love for his wife, unlike Tamas and Eufrozyna who were inseparable and already had a son and two daughters.

Finding no one to his liking on the immediate marriage scene, Ince instead worked on continuing to plot with conspirators unhappy with the Duke of Slovakia's rule, particularly his ineptitude in the current war. Although an opportunity arose in February to declare independence, the Gemer Count was unable to take advantage, for he was still reviled throughout the land for his humiliating defeat at King Saloman's hands.

Another year and month passed and the war looked to be concluding in favor of King Saloman, as the Polish had by and large settled into a neutral role. Fearing absorption into the Kingdom of Hungary once more, Ince decided the time was right to strike out for more territory and so he declared war on the tiny Tribe of Kexholm.

Before he set out for the north, Ince married Adelaide von Rheinfelden, daughter of the Duke of Swabia due to Eufrozyna's skillful manipulations. She became with child on their wedding night, for she was far lovelier than his plump first wife and the Count's passions were high.

The journey turned out expensive, long, and dangerous. Rebels attacked the Gemer army twice along the way and even after the Kexholm army had been defeated and the province looked about to fall, the pagans rebuilt their fort with a swiftness that stunned the Hungarians and the siege had to begin anew.

In March 1074, the Kingdom of Poland made peace with the Kingdom of Hungary and it was universally felt that absorption of Slovakia back into the kingdom could not be far behind.

The long campaign made Ince quite lonely and restless and so while he was sieging Kexholm, he took as concubine a pretty Finnish pagan girl, whom he bore a son with in July 1074, two days before Kexholm surrendered.

Eager to acquire as much territory as possible before Slovakia became a part of Hungary again, Ince declared war on the Tribe of Satakunta and set out posthaste for the territory.

The battle dragged on well into 1075 and Ince received word in March that Mihaly, the diocese bishop, had died. He sent home an old soldier who'd proven his valour on campaign with instructions that the brilliant veteran be named Marshal, his brother Tamas the diocese bishop.

Vencel Drugeth, the soldier, was not the only one to gain acclaim during the northern wars. Ince himself brilliantly fought against Satakuntian hordes who time and time again rose up in numbers as many as two and three to one advantage over the Hungarians and time and time again, Ince beat them down, growing in prestige and skill for it.

A son, Istvan, was born to him during the siege of Satakunta. By this time his wife Adelaide had joined him and she forgave Ince the indiscretion with the concubine. During their making up, she again conceived.

In May, unexpected aid arrived. 970 Christian knights from the County of Oprava, led by a man named Sebastian the Bold, marched into the province and pledged their support to the devout Hungarian count against the pagan infidels. They said they had heard word of Ince's great feats and they wished to aid him in his time of trouble.

The count was only too happy to accept their fealty and the siege pressed on with renewed vigour.

Shock came in April 1075, when Istvan's grandfather Rudolph passed away. Unbeknowst to Ince, Istvan was first in the line of succession and thus became the new Duke of Swabia, a powerful position of three territories with many vassals.

An even more stunning event happened in June. The pagan forces rose up in mass again and killed Sebastian. Without their brave leader, the remaining pilgrims scattered and Ince was left to fight on with his 245 troops. Making matters even worse, the pagans managed to completely rebuild their fortifications in the ensuing chaos.

Disgusted with the war and frantic to return home to investigate the possibility of abdication, Ince made peace and went back to Gemer.

The new wife, who's extremely fecund

My unimpressive bastard

Kexholm, next to the lake in the east, is outlined in green

Look! Neat text pointing out the Duchy of Swabia's personal territory!

It'd technically be cheating if I edited the save game file to have Ince abdicate in favor of Istvan, but it's oh so damned tempting and it'd make sense in terms of the story too. I've never, ever had this kind of thing happen in CK before. I admit I'm completely preplexed as to what to do. I didn't even think to look at the succession laws. What should I do? Any thoughts?

Edit: Slovakia is still independent from Hungary, in case that has any bearing.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

Lol! Another stroke of genius! Having your son inherit a big fat german duchy without even planning it!

If I were you, I'd just play it out to the end with Ince. Hopefully the kid will manage to keep things going smoothly in Swabia. Get some more heirs, and if Istvan dies through illness or accident.. oh well...

p.s. when you do get some cookies, remember me!