Swiss Banking Goes Medieval

[Nikolai II]

I wanted to try my hand at writing an AAR, and simultaneously test if it is harder to play at Very Hard/Normal. So I took an easy country, Switzerland, in IGC 2.3

It was late in 1491 when we finally got the support of the cantons to form all policies internal and external. We were now the Tagsatzung of Switzerland and by new years eve we should have our first legislative meeting. We decided to divide the posts after our interests and hobbies. We ended up with a general, an admiral, a bishop, a banker, a secretary (me) and a public relations expert.

1492

Jan 1st As the reports we had ordered in anticipation of our coming to power began to trickle in we began making our first decisions for the thirteen cantons of the union.
As our monthly income was lower than our expenses we had to cut expenses in half, so we voted to cut army and navy spending by half. Then the bishop thought that we treated our good catholics too badly, and our four practicing moslems much to leniently, so we wrote a message telling people that they need no longer avoid pork products or respect ramadam. Finally we decided that the money we saved on maintenance of weapons should go towards equipping at least a quarter of the soldiers with arquebuses.

Jan 28th Osmans DoW Mamelukes. Our admiral states that he needs increased naval funding, or he will be forced to replace his fishing --- naval skiff with a dinghy. We agree to set naval funding at 100%

May 1st We decide that alone is strong, and that one is France. We join their alliance and that of Savoy, Bretagne and the Papacy.

June 2nd Our general has whined constantly for four months now, so we finally cave in and let the banker take out a loan, probably partly funded from France, and set the moulds for some fourty guns.

Sept 1st And when our general gets something our admiral starts to whine. Now he wants a PORT of all things. The others seem to think it an excellent idea however. The general wants to use his army, and the banker says we need more money to pay the interests with. Our PR-guy says that we can probably incite the masses against the Lowlands. Since our victory against Charles the Bold of Burgundy we know that they are all sissies. So we promptly declare war on the Lowlands, which seems to be controlled by Spain, who supports them together with Milano and Napoli. To be able to march to the lowlands we call in our French allies who bring Bretagne and the Papacy along for the ride.
We then tell General Ned to set course for Flanders --- Flandres.

Oct 16th The people think we are knaves, and we agree that Ned is. It seems that he wanted to keep his shiny guns in mint condition, so they remain here in Bearn with us, while the army trudges along in France going north. We quickly send couriers ordering the army to wait in Nivernais while the guns take a short-cut.

Dec 1st Guns have arrived in Nivernais, army set forth again towards Flandres.

Dec 2nd France outs of our alliance for this war by taking 81 D:s in renumeration from Milano.

1493

Feb 20th Flandres has been under siege for 19 days when we up military funding to 100% when we recieve reports that troops were being raised in Luxembourg while our army passed it by in Artois.

Summer I was on an extended vacation, but in Mars 17th Denmark declared war on T.O. joined by Norway and Prussia respectively. Then in April 29th Russia declared war on their vassals the Kazan, and were joined by Ryazan and Crimea. Also our banker tells me that we halved military spending again in May 6th, because bancrupcy was drawing closer and the Spanish armies didn't.

July 20th A Spanish one-gun army is now besieging our offices, and the rest of Zürich as well. To bad that they have a two thousand knights and hordes of infantry as well. No matter, our walls are high, they shall surely fail.

Sept 4th We now control Flandres, and we split our army and send half to Artois and half to Zeeland, they arrive at Sept 24th and Oct 14th respectively, and begin sieging.

Nov 21st Hooray, our economy is saved, while we control Flanders we can take in contributions from it that have tripled our economic base. We can now give the army what money it needs to take care of equipment, and not a moment too soon. The spaniards are raising a new army in Artois, and it will be ready to march ere the year ends.

And here ends the script from the year 1493. Next installment will begin with 1494 and the continuation of the Swisso-Spanish war.
Is this too much detail? Too little? Comments?

 

[Lord Durham]

Nikolai II posted:
Our PR-guy says that we can probably incite the masses against the Lowlands.

PR guys in 1492! LOL
You're doing just fine. Keep it up.

 

[Nikolai II]

Ok, Thx Lord Durham. I guess I'll just amble on and see how much I have time to post this fair night.

1494

Feb 24th We now control Hainaut, but this blissful message is darkened by the fact that the spaniards are knocking on our doorsteps. Many say that Zürich is half-way to falling under the occupation of the foul foes. Also Zeeland gets too much supplies from the sea, and the ground is too marchy for the guns to get into good positions, as the locals sally forth and destroy what bridgings we build. The siege has not progressed an inch in all this time.
We write an offer to Spain that they would recieve Hainaut, and we would keep Flandres as a port. They are not interested, answering more along the lines of "No."

Mar 24 Our army that took Hainaut immediately marched towards Artois, and proceeded to kick the foulness out of some three thousand cavalry flying spainish colors there. Time for another siege.

Mar 25 France declares war against Lorraine. France is joined by Bretagne, Scotland, Navarra and the Papacy. Lorraine is protected by Spain and Kurpfalz. We honor our alliance, and incidentally gain a free route back to Switzerland for our armies again. We order the army failing in Zeeland to march to Luxembourg and lay a siege there, closer to relieving us at home. Our public relation expert has sent away embassies to France, Savoie and Austria to better relations and ensure lives in peace and prosperity. If not for us under siege, then at least for his friends manning the embassies.

May 20 The army arriving in Luxembourg is ordered to stay there and try to gain some more leverage against the spainiards by siegeing it. At home we are preparing for the fall which we believe should occur within three months. A secret hidingplace is being prepared for us in a tavern. This will be most useful for us if the need really comes to be, and I have already moved my archives there.

Aug 26 Artois has fallen to us. Spain has a small army covering the plains, or swamps, on the Flemish countryside, but they are not many enough to even consider a siege there. We send the guns from Artois to help out the siege in Luxembourg, while the army itself is allowed a period of rest in Champagne, sampling the local wines. As for us at home, three months have passed, and we still believe that we can hold out for three more, even though the walls are breached and the populace in dire straits. (0 and -7 in the circles, and a breach)

Sep 1 Disaster strikes as we must take out a loan. None of us realized that when the Spaniards controlled the Flemish countryside, none of our gatherers of contributions would come back alive, and even less with any money! If our banker hadn't been on a vacation in sunny Palermo he could have warned us that we had to halve military funding again. When, or if, he comes back I intend to ask him how he managed to leave town under a siege, and where our communal beer-money disappeared to when he left.

Sep 5 With our new funds, and much of it unaccessible to us physically, we arrange for our six merchant companies to start trading in Genoa, and I manage to arrange for my sister to become the Duke of Bedfords concubine. Anything is better that home right now.

Sep 28 The Spanish troops have now moved to Artois and are besiegeing it. This means that we, somewhat belatedly, have gotten the solid Flemish tax-base back.

Oct 4 Four of our companies have now started trading in Genoa. The other two got into, literally, cut-throat competition with traders from Modena and the Osman Turks. Few survivors are reported.

Nov 20 France has proclaimed that Lorraine is an integral part of France, immediately under the French king, and that it's independance is no more. Now three more months later into the siege nothing much more has happened. We have run out of cats and dogs, and are mow moving on to rats, but we still think that we can hold out for another three months. ( 0 and -8 now, still breached, and still three months left. Wierd.)

Dec 7 It would seem that we failed to take Spanish fervosity into account. After sixteen straight months of siege the Spanish commander seems to have lost patience and ordered his troops to storm. I have been fighting for a few days now, but since the fighting now is over I can turn to my writing again, even though it is rather dark and stuffy here. The innkeeper, Renée, has hidden us in a secret chamber under the bed of his mother-in-law. And as this was not enough the commanders of the occupation forces have taken to his hostel as flies to a dung-heap. But we will persevere, and act like a secret army, and await liberation with pleasure.

And this is the end of 1494, and the time I had left to post in today, or tonight rather.
Will be continued...

 

[Rictus]

Good style. Very funny. I hope you give that banker what he deserves. But Palermo, safe and warm, nyet?

 

[unmerged(5790)]

Originally posted by Nikolai II
The innkeeper, Renée, has hidden us in a secret chamber under the bed of his mother-in-law. And as this was not enough the commanders of the occupation forces have taken to his hostel as flies to a dung-heap. But we will persevere, and act like a secret army, and await liberation with pleasure.[/B]

LMAO These were great TV series

 

[Nikolai II]

1495

Jan 21 We now control Luxembourg, and order both the army there and the one camping in Champagne to march to French Lorraine in preparation for the march to relieve us at home. Luckily the Spanish occupation is handled in a friendly but incompetent manner. They mostly seem to be hunting for a statue of a fallen madonna or marching around in a very loud manner.

Mar 30 Venice, assisted by its northern allies Pommern, Holstein and the Hansa coupled with Portugal, issue a formal declaration of war, breaking their non-agression treaty, against Ragusa. The outcome is in little doubt.
Closer to us, or farther away, Spain has been besieging Artois for eighteen days now.

Apr 14 Naples have acceded to a peace demand from the Papacy, paying 73D for peace. Spain has stormed Artois, and failed. HA! We immediately send another good offer for peace. We take Flandres as ours, returning Artois, Luxembourg and Hainaut to their control, and them returning Helvetia to our control. the reply is again short and succint. "FOOL!"

June 7 After six days of bombardment and storming, Spain has retaken Artois on their second attempt.

October We have been forced to scatter and hide for several months of boisterous celebration, by the Spanish occupation force, over the retaking of Artois. Meanwhile our army has finally dared to come down from the mountains where they have laid hidden for several months, considering whether to dare a siege. But when King d'Albret of Navarra himself has arrived to help break the siege our brave lads are there to help.
Meanwhile we have struck a non-aggression pact with Venice, as seing how it helped Ragusa. We also set up similar treaties with Modena, Bavaria and Cologne, who all humour the state about to fall.

Dec 21 Venice has annexed Ragusa, and our PR-officer, Kirchner, has annexed our Council. It seems that he has figured out that, as he is the one handling all the foreign policies and also the one who makes the people act in accordance with our decisions, he might as well make all the decisions himself. I will be retained as an historian, and the others will be kept as advisors, but having one firm voice in control will save a lot of time in quarreling and bickering that will hopefully be used for the good of the state instead.

1496

May 1 Using his newfound spare time our admiral has perfected a new design for rudders, trying it out in a bathtub. If all works out and we get a port this design will be useful in building slow and heavy ships, suited for transportation of goods and troops. The general and the bishop are less optimistic about our future as a great naval nation and greeted the invention with jeering and catcalls. We have arranged for the admirals daughter and the generals wife to be married away to noblemen in Georgia and Moldovia respectively. My humble self, as an archivist as well as an historian, has used the passing months to arrange by envoys the search for places to hide if we should loose the war. In this way I have managed to expand our knowledge of surrounding, and not so surrounding, lands considerably. We have traded our knowledge with Ryazan, expecting to learn about the cold north, but instead being treated to knowledge about a land called Sibir. Armed with this esoteric knowledge we sent emissaries to the Mamelukes, who at first would not agree to a trade but, who finally agreed that knowledge about more sunni heretics could indeed become useful someday. We then learned about Prester Johns kingdom in Ethiopia, who we educated about Europe and its christians. Then we exchanged knowledge with the might trading nation of Oman, learning about the east of Africa and the way to, but not into, India. This knowledge, though, supplemented what the Portuguese knew about the area, so much it did in fact, that they were willing to reveal the way around the cape of good hope in exchange for this information about the Indian coast.

July 19 Spain has annexed Navarra which led to quick turncoats in the army assisting our siege, that went very well thank you, to remove their former king and proceed with tryimg to lift the siege, i.e. kicking our behinds. Luckily they failed, but enough of them retreated into the fortress to make us have to start the siege all over again.

Oct 8 Spanish troops have marched into Luxembourg and immetiately proceed to storm the fortifications. When they fail at first time, they loose heart and march away.

Dec 12 In a newsflash completely unrelated to what is happening nearer to home, the Osmans have forced the Mamelukes to secede Samaria and Sinai to them.

1497

Mar 1 The pope has agreed to divide the world between Spain and Portugal, making all our knowledge about India useless. More importantly Milano has made peace with us and Bretagne, citing the lack of aggression on our part as reason. Humiliating, but it removes one direction that was threatening before.

Apr 27 Gloria Mundi and Praise the Lord! After nearly two years of siege our brave boys have liberated Helvetia from the clutches of the evil Spanish Overlord. We quickly work to strike a peace in this old war, seeing as the Spaniards now have found the troops needed to start the liberation of Luxembourg.

Jun 1 Success! We have made peace in our personal war with Spain, recieveing Flandres and Hainaut in return for returning Luxembourg to them, and finally ending this war.
We quickly stand down the army to half funding, and send it away to Franche-Comte to seige it, now as parties in the Franco-Spanish war.
We also stop trying to equip our soldiers with arquebuses and start saving money for repayment of the loans we took during the war.

Jul 1 Our first loan is due to repayment. As we have not yet netted enough to do so, we take out a third loan to repay the first one with. In the process we strengthen our ties with Milano, one of the main benefactors of this new loan. For my minor part in the success of our endeavours I am made baron in Hainaut, while we begin reforming it into a cantonate system. Flandres is accorded the same treatment, but meanwhile it is under close supervision of our banker, as it is our monetary powerhouse. Spain is besieging Hainaut, and we besiege Franche-Comte.

Sep 5 Crimea declares war upon the Golden Horde. Each party recieves assistance, Crimea by Russia and the Horde by Astrakhan. We will later notice that the Russo-Kazan war has ended, leading to the failure of Russia assisting Crimea in this war. The outcome of this war thus lies in the balance of fate, or chance.

1498

Feb 27 France and Spain has agreed to settle their final differences around the table of insults, and that is all that exchanges hands, as the war ends. The leadership in Württemberg seem to think that we are in some way to praise for the end of this war, at least they send us a note of praise.

May 1 The last of the wars that we started in our chase of a harbour has now ended, as Spain and the Papacy have settled their differences. As the pope did not dare to attack Spain out of fear of its armies, and Spain did not dare to attack the Papacy in fear of god. Peace and extortion now rules the days in our thriving little land. After almost six years of war, and more than three and a half year of foreign occupation we can finally turn ourselves towards the rebuilding of our shattered economy and the repayments of loans.

1499

Feb 26 Genoa, assisted by the Knights who say St.John have declared war upon Naples, and by extension also their allies Spain and Persia. We have suppressed a rebellion in Hainaut with the some six thousand loyalists we have conscripted there.

Sep 8 The Golden Horde has struck a peace with Crimea, recieving Lugansk and Kouban as repayment for the dastardly attack.
We have repaid our second loan, and do now only have one outstanding, although at a somewhat bad interest. Also rumor has it that there is war in the farthest east. Some country named Yappon has been in a state of war with a country named Tjosan since late March this year.

Nov 29 I now live under the assumption that the first Russo-Kazan war ended in 1494, as they have now started the second one. Let us see if they settle for more than money this time. Kazan still fights alone, while Russia brings along their allies Pskov, Ryazan and Crimea.

And thus ends the year of 1499 and all of our wars. To be able to post more years I have to play another few hours. I must say it takes more time to post it, than it takes to play it, but it is easier to briefly abandon to do other things of importance. It would seem as I have some years of peace and calm ahead of me, as I have played halfway into the year 1500 and I haven't got anything noted for that period, except for another uprising in Hainaut, not dated though, soI guess I'll be ignoring that one.

 

[Nikolai II]

Originally posted by Rictus
Good style. Very funny. I hope you give that banker what he deserves. But Palermo, safe and warm, nyet?

We were considering to punish him, but then we though he had gotten his just rewards when he had to swim through the sewers to rejoin us when his vacation ended in late september. This was not improved by the fact that diarreas were running rampant during that week which made it quite hard to discern his beautiful suntan. Palermo is a warm and friendly town on the north side of Spanish Sicily. Quite a safe distance from any fighting it was, yes.

 

[Nikolai II]

Originally posted by zmeiat joro


LMAO These were great TV series

I felt that they were fitting the situation quite well, and they were very, very funny. Or maybe just very funny... naah you're right, they were great

edit:Italicised the reply to make it more obvious that it was an OOC one.

 

[Nikolai II]

I have been without internet connection at home for a week, until now, so I haven't been able to post updates. Now I have a connection, but only through a laptop, which might lead to lousy spelling as the keys are not as attentive as on a normal keyboard.

1500

June 18 While I have been in Hainaut fighting their second spring rebellion, Kirchner has arranged a student exchange program with Ethiopia, for some reason. He has not been seen much anyway, mostly immersing himself in some tomes stolen from a library in Flandres.

Aug 1 Nary more than a month ago, Austria declared war on Venice, citing the need for a port, as we did. Austria was followed into the war by Hungary, Bohemia, Baden, Württemberg and Kurpfalz, while Venice is defended by the Hansa, Holstein and Pommerania.

Nov 21 Kazan has managed to get peace from Russia by paying tribute again. 144 flocks of cattle, more precicely. Meanwhile Kirchner has gone away to Ethiopia within his own student exchange program.

1501

Mar 6 Venice has seceded Mantua to Austria in exchange for peace. Truly it is a price in itself, but it has no port of usable size. Strange indeed are the minds of the Austrians.

Sep 22 France has declared war upon England and their wile brethren, the Teutonic Order, Sweden and Prussia. We join our erstwhile allies together with Bretagne, Scotland and the Papacy.
Also, obviously, some savages called Dai Viet lost 117 fields of rice and the province of Tanh Noah to some other savages called the Ayutthya.

Oct 14 Something strange has occurred. Kirchner returned a month ago with some 'loaned' books from Ethiopia. Now their allies Georgia have declared war on the Papal States? Ethiopia have joined in this war, while the French alliance stand united behind the pope.

Dec 25 France has stormed and taken Calais. We are still discussing how large our involvement in this war should be, if any.

1502

Mar 13 We are told that Holstein has broken it's vassalage with Denmark, and are celebrating their newfound opportunities for foreign policies by entering a mutual co-prosperity pact with us, initiated by us. Upon closer inspection it seems that Sweden also has broken free from vassalage sometime previously.

Jul 25 Ned is re-knaved by unilateral decision. When doing a survey in Hainaut I got plenty of complaints about the decade of continous warfare. It seems like we have not made peace with Naples, and that we and Bretagne have been at war for a long time now.
We quickly settle a peace of the white kind. The same kind of peace that was forced upon Joppen and Khorea after three straight years of cold war, only four months ago.

August 3 We manage to repay our third loan, and are now completely out of debt. We celebrate by forcing some agricultral reforms upon the giddy populace of Helvetia.

1503

This year has been a very busy year, but only with internal policies of little historical interest. Examples include an increased cess-pool tax from 2 shillings to 2½ shillings per annum and a Flemish tax upon people who have several capital letters in their name, doubled if the name reads the same whether it is read right way or backwards.
January saw the Mamelukes declare war on the Hafsides, and August saw Hessen, with Cleves, declare war upon Hannover.
On a lighter note, february saw arquebuses in the army hit the expected third of the infantry. We can now claim we have infantry with firepower.

1504

As boring as last year, only more so. August saw England retaking Calais after a long siege and several failed stormings. November saw Georgia and Ethiopia accept the return of Kirchners loaned books and in exchange offering excuses for calling the Pope a 'big fat pig'.
Hostilities have been called off, amazingly 36 months after they began.


Next year is a little more active, and will take somewhat longer to write up, so I'll quit here for the evening.
BTW, all references to student exchanges, embassies, marriages, non-aggression treaties etc are just plain vanilla royal marriages in the EU1 engine. In case anyone doubted my sanity.

 

[unmerged(5224)]

Fabulous, most enjoyable AAR I've read in a long time. Just the right tone of whimsy.

 

[Nikolai II]

I was going to wait until next weekend, what with having even less spare time than usual, and EU2 to boot, but with praise as this and the proof that people might still take interest I'll try to write up another year.
Working nights this week, and on a laptop, so if I have even more typos than usual, just bear with me please.

1505

First quarter We finally realize that if noone else is allowed to trade in a center of trade, then we would get all profits incurred in that center of trade. We quickly commission traders for Flandres, but we loose our monopoly as fast.

May 30 Hannover pays 160 D in indemnities to Cleves, their war has boiled down to Hessen vs. Hannover. We raise a small army in Helvetia, of some 9,000 Swiss pikes. Confusion ensues when a third are ordered to replace pikes with arquebuses, but few willing to undertake the increased drill requiered can be found.

June 18 For some reason Kirchner wants a new war with Spain, so badly that he sends envoys to try to strike a separate peace treaty with the britons. While they are away some eleven thousand swedish infantry with twenty guns have landed and started to siege Flandres. Unsurprisingly under the circumstances, England does not accept.

Oct 13 Our economy, as usual, cannot take the strain of not recieving the taxes of Flandres, and our army in Hainaut is ordered to move, and conscription of three thousand infantry begins there to replace awaited casualties. Poland, meanwhile, has forked up some 51 D to Russia, in exchange for peace.

Nov 12 Our troops, having arrived slightly later than a Sewdish reinforcement of some five thousand cavalry have been, general Neds quote, handed their asses in a sling. We decide that the army needs to be reorganized technologically again, and also that it is pointless to increase our price index for the small amounts of loose change we can make when we do not have Flanders as our economic motor.

Dec 1 Hooray, Flemish liberators, some fourty-nine thousand of them have sprung forth to vanquish the Swedish occupation force. But, what now, reports are coming in that they are not fighting, rebels have instead started an own siege of Flandres while Swedish forces are enjoying a quiet smoke and laughing about the shape of some amusing carrots. Oh, we are now told that the war Ended yesterday, Nov 30, with England seceding Calais to France.

Dec 6 Kirchner must have taken ill, instead of putting down the rebellion and resuming business as usual, he states that the admiral has convinced him that we need a shipyard to become a naval power, and that he has declared war upon Spain to help ourselves to their. I am not convinced. This is too sudden, but we are thrust into this and we have to climb out again before there is time to question the leadership. France, Bretagne and the Papacy join us in our war against Spain, Naples, Modena, Cologne and Persia. The Scottish curs dishonor our alliance, although I guess they could not lend any support beyond moral, anyhow.

1506

Jan 2 Completely ignoring the rebellion in Flandres, our army in Hainaut marches for Cologne. The main army in Helvetia sets its sights upon the iberian peninsula.

Jan 19 Well, I have to admit that the Spainards have more cohones than I credited them for. Sitting here in my cozy study, drinking some mulled wine, I can look out over the snow-ridden fields and see the Spanish tents where their infantry is sleeping, or freezing to death, while besieging us again. I just hope I will not have to move in with that horrible old lady again. Having to hide under her bed again is not a prospect i relish.
I hear that the Spanish too realize that they are going to loose some men in this endeavour, as they seem to be recruiting heavily in Franche Comte.

Feb 1 It seems that Cologne was not prepared to be on the recieving end of some ass-kicking. Their army is away to the south, and the supplies of the city is away with the army. (Siege began as 0 vs 0, instead of more expected 0 vs 2 or 3)
Our army pauses briefly in Guyenne to kick some Spanish behinds as to help our French allies. Their main forces are now storming Artois.

June Spring break is over for me. Reports have arrived that an army from Bretagne has arrived in Cologne, allegedly to help with the siege. Local commanders claim that the bretons are commandeering what food was left, leaving little or none for our boys. They are ordered to march up the bretons to the trenches closest to the city and then sound the horns for assault, either to take some losses and stop starving, or hopefull to take Cologne. They do the latter. We quickly scribe a peace treaty with Cologne, demanding the modest sum of 750 D in reparations. They happily agree, and send us 750 D, but as we did not specify value they have quickly devalued their currency by moving to copper-based coinage. In Swiss gelden the money is worth about 20 D, but the peace is struck, for this time.
Oh, yes, and Flandres has reeblled again, I don't know how many those peasants are now, but we commission five thousand more infantry in Hainaut to meet the victorious Cologne army when it returns.

Sep 19 Our Spanish expeditionary force have reached Estremaduras, taking this unfortified province. Outriders report that Andalusia is defended by heavy forces though, so the army turns for Madrid. At least this is what Kirchner reports, having followed the army to 'command closer to the rank and file'.
Meanwhile the rebels in Flandres are surprised to find that our army has returned, and they are mowed down as wheat by the guns of our army, quickly retreating to the countryside. The army is ordered to move to Orleanais in anticipation of further orders, and to prevent them from being stuck in the lowlands if France decides to out of the war.
I have now ascertained that el Gran Capitan has again taken command of the siege of Helvetia, this time not with one gun, but with eighty . And that he only commands fourteen thousand infantry helps little when he also commands eleven thousand cavalry.

Oct 16 We have now put Castile under siege, as a reply to the Spainsh siege of Helvetia, but we are ten months after, and our boys are not as skilled in the art of siege as el Gran Capitan. The end of neither siege is in sight, though.

Dec 11 Having realized that not recieving any taxes from Estremaduras might mean something, the Spainards have retaken it with a token force, putting our troops in Castile out of supply. Our boys in Orleanais complain that the vintage there is no good this year, and they promptly relocate to Bourgogne and their heady red wines.
P.S. In the 27th of december Russia declared war upon Kazan. Russia was joined by Crimea, Pskov and Ryazan while Kazan is assisted by the Golden Horde.

Well, I had time for two years at least, but further updates will probably have to wait until the weekend at least.

 

[Lethke]

Really funny stuff here...
Keep up the good work.

 

[Nikolai II]

1507

Feb 21 Our sieges are quite lopsided in speed, it seems. Happily for us, they are also lopsided in climate, as our boys are in the chilly mountains around Madrid, and their boys are in the frigid wastes around our backyard. The besiegers have lost three thousand each of footmen and riders the last month alone, and have turned to eating their horses. They are now down to four thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry, cavalrymen being richer and more well-fed. They have also lost twenty guns to the cold weather, when the barrel can no longer sustain the pressures of firing. The army camping in Bourgogne has been ordered to take advantage of the starvation by relieving us. On another note our ally France now holds Artois, Luxembourg and Roussillon. Oh yes, the Osmans now have been granted Aleppo, Lebanon and Judea from the Mamelukes, and now hold the entire eastern mediterranean coast.

Mar 29 One cheer for ourselves. The siege has not lifted, but the firing has lessened greatly in intensity, and no new approches ar dug. The besieging force is now too small to improve the siege of our capital. Meanwhile our boys are slowly whittling away the patience and courage of the defenders of their capital. We manage to ask our relief force to hold up and wait, hoping for assistance from our erstwhile allies France or Burgundy. And Modena just paid 206 D to the Papacy to end the war between them.

May 18 Disaster strikes again, as our resumed relief expedition is crushed in sight of this very place where these words are written. France, instead of opting to help us, makes peace with Spain in exchange for 250 D, Artois and Luxembourg. The only benefit with this is that the only place Spain could send reinforcements to el Gran Capitan is by raising them in Franche-Compte. Our last eight thousand ragged survivors of the relief effort march down the mountains to prevent such an occurence with a counter-siege.

July 25 Worries from the north are reported, as our economy once more is punished when Spain now besieges Flandres. Rumblings in the south were reported already early last month when Oman, with the Turks and Algiers, declared war upon Aden.

Sep 25 Another war begins, and two ends, when Sweden declares war upon Denmark, Sweden assisted by the Teutonic Order, Prussia and England. Denmark fights alone. Then Genoa was forced to pay 77 D to Spain in exchange for peace, and finally Russia has finally annexed Kazan. All this in the space of last week.

Dec 17 Success, finally. Castille now flies the red flag with the white cross, and our forces march towards Toledo, except for a cavalry squadron ordered to re-retake Estremaduras

1508

Feb 10 The changes of the fortunes of war can be felt in the wind. Our cavalry squadron has taken Estremaduras and is now riding towards likewise unfortified Murcia. Toledo is under siege as the guardians of Andalusia still are plentiful and still refuse to budge. Then today a pompous embassador from Modena came here, slightly muddy from dodging the besiegers, and stated that Modena would be happy to offer peace for the paltry amount of all our cash.
We kindly refused the offer, but suggested that a honorable peace might suffice, which it did. After this it is cutomary with a banquet, which in this case consisted of stale bread, mouldy cheese and wine that tastes of vinegar. When he left, with a suitably bad impression to encourage the poor devils still doing the siege out there, we broke out the vintages and celebrated our brains out.

May 25 Kirchner has sent an extatic letter, Toledo has fallen, and even though Estremaduras again has been lost to the Spaniards, and a force supposed to relieve Toledo has been sighted, he has obviously spent much time sampling the ores, looking for the purest gold. Strange though, I didn't have him pegged as a man driven by simple greed for gold, this just shows how wrong you can be about people, I guess.

June 9 Our boys have defeated the Spanish relief force. Kirchner is sending the troops against the Andalusians, while he remains behind commandeering some books and maps from the royal and noble libraries in Madrid, while we still control the city.

July 25 Disaster is no word strong enough for what has happened in Andalusia. Our siege train with all guns in it got delayed by the narrow mountain passes, leaving our boys to fight it out in the open, with no artilley support. Four thousand of twenty made it back to Toledo, bringing the belated siege train with them.
Before the full extent of the disaster could be known in Madrid, Kirchner however managed to finagle out a peace demanding Toledo, Murcia and 140 D from Spain. We immediately order the recruitment of twenty thousand fresh infantrymen around our scattered possessions, to combat the ever-present unrest.

Dec 1 In the first meeting of the full council since the war began we decide, or rather suggest, that all taxes should go to improving our treasury and nowhere else. We also halve the military budget with the same thought in mind. While the general is upset about his funding, the admiral about not getting a shipyard, the bishop about having to learn the bible in a new way, and I just am a people person and follow what the majority feels, Kirchner still seems strangely content with the war. The goals stated when the war started was to take Andalusia and then Toledo or Estremaduras to have somewhere to raise or hide an army if the revolts would be too powerful. We now took Toledo and Murcia but Kirchners grin is still so wide that his head might fall off. I have to conclude that he just likes gold a lot.

Two more years, but the future that looked so bleak has decidedly improved, and our bad reputation encourages us to step more carefully in the immedate future, so next post should cover a longer period, if I still can decipher my notes that is.

 

[Lethke]

You cannot decipher your notes anymore? Or too busy playing EU2?

I enjoyed this one very much. I hope you will contineu.