The Last Stand - AARs

[BurningEGO]

Relations of the most Serene Republic of Venice

Relations (from a scale of -100 to 100).

Spain: (-100) Spain has been greedy since the start of the game, and the fact that each new monarch was a bigger bastard than the previous one didnt help things either. It started all with the "first spanish monarch" taking pieces of Italy. It continued with the "second spanish monarch" annexing Naples and Spain being a stubborn mule by refusing countless stability hits. It didnt stop with the "third spanish monarch" either, with his insults, and overall gaming atitude. And it didnt seem to end with the "fourth spanish monarch" as well - this one just demanded an Indian COT! All in all, Venice's biggest worry is definetely Spain, at least for now.

Portugal: (-20) Portugal was always thought to have potential to be an ally of Venice, but sadly, Portugal chose to side with others instead of Venice. I dont really got any problems with them, apart from the fact that they stole Zanzibar, accepted the French proposal for the partition of the chinese COTs instead of ours, and even refused to stop Spanish Cheapness in regards with Bragadin. In my eyes, it seems they are the ones with problems with Venice, and not the other way around...

Ottoman Empire: (+70) The Ottoman Empire was always friendly with Venice. They helped us to keep the Spaniards out of mainland Italy. They shared their maps with us. Amongst many other things of no interest to the mundane player. The only thing that annoyed us thus far was the fact that we were dragged once into one of their fights against Russian, Austrian and Polish troops.

France: (+60) I had some past problems with the french, but i had bigger ones with Spain, and since they never did anything to hurt me directly, stayed out of Italy and helped me regain provinces back from Spain, i have no reasons to hate them for.

England: (+40) They havent put their nose into my affairs with Spain, at least directly, have no colonial disputes with us either, and basically no problem with Venice, so if they arent a direct enemy, they are friendly.

Russia: (-10) I had to fight against the Poles and Russians in order to honour my defensive alliance with the Turks, in the first Crimean War, and although that was a long time ago, there are still many tales being told in Venice to the youngsters of how general EGO fended off attacks from great generals like Tarnowski or Glinski. Apart from that, the buggers refuse to share their maps with me.

Poland: (-10) I had to fight against the Poles and Russians in order to honour my defensive alliance with the Turks, in the first Crimean War, and although that was a long time ago, there are still many tales being told in Venice to the youngsters of how general EGO fended off attacks from great generals like Tarnowski or Glinski. Apart from that, the buggers refuse to grant me MA without asking a ridiculous amount of cash.

Sweden: (0) I am absolutely neutral with Scandinavia. They havent messed with me, i havent messed with them. Apart from ocasional non-agression pacts being signed, nothing else took place.

Bradenburg: (+10) Although i spoke with them a couple of times already, I have absolutely no trouble with them, but i basically have nothing to get from aiding them against either the Poles or Sweden. I wish "The Emperor" the best, but i really cant do anything to help him.

Austria: (+30) Mhh. Austria. Well, they were kind enough in the past with me by signing a defensive pact against France. They signed plenty of non-agression pacts with me. They kept out of my wars. Relatively speaking, they seem to be my friends. Despite of that little border war we had, and the fact that the Italian-Austrian border has become heavily fortified of late (medium fort in Kaernten, mmhh?), i have no problems with them.

Holland: (-50) Apart from Spain, Holland is the only one who seems interested in beating Venice. It certainly didnt look like that while "the previous dutch monarch" was playing it, but i am fairly sure it will now. Venice will have to make preparations for the incoming onslaught from the heathen Dutch.

Reward: Deflation.

 

[Aladar]

Holland: (-50) Apart from Spain, Holland is the only one who seems interested in beating Venice. It certainly didnt look like that while Slargos was playing it, but i am fairly sure it will now. Venice will have to make preparations for the incoming onslaught from the heathen Dutch.

Strange how the relations to me are already in the negative as the dutch with the new ruler has had no dealings with the Doge, nor claimed any of it's provinses/colonies/CoT's, or made any suchs threats/promised.

All former rulings of the Spanish has been well documented and in the end not disputed.

 

[BurningEGO]

Silence speaks for itself (as do the fact you are friendly/napped with all of yours neighbours while you are getting Maurice, one of the strongest leaders of the time).

 

[Ampoliros]

EGO, I´d appreciate it if you didn´t refer to the player names of people. If you need to lambast.....vent it on the 'King of Spain' etc.....that is ingame figures and not RL-nicknames.

 

[BurningEGO]

Real Life Nicknames? Are you called Ampoliros in real life? I feel sorry for you.

 

[Ampoliros]

Real Life Nicknames? Are you called Ampoliros in real life? I feel sorry for you.

Silence....or I´ll have to send down some crack niggaz with pliers and an attitude.

Like "Zed" in Pulp Fiction......I do hope you get the picture.

 

[Mats_SX]

Relations of Austria as of 1583

Brandenburg - Allies

The Emperor in the North was Austria's main competitor for hegemony over all Germans in the world since history began, but after tensions in Meissen and the concurrent war over Saxony, a lasting peace has been set up. In recent years relations has gone up significantly, as interests of Austria and Brandenburg in Poland as well as the world as a whole have been shared. Laying religious dispute aside, the German realms are brothers not only in word, but as a unity.​

England - Decent

The King of England has been an isolationist of great magnitude, always seeking to avoid conflict wherever possible. The One Hundred Years Peace with France has allowed the latter to rise to power freely across the seas, and using unrighteous influence over the Dutch people, something the English only recently have started to recognize. English operations against Portugal are of little concern in Wien, but by pity they are seen as indecent acts from England's side. Promises of English interests in Austria have kept the diplomacy live however, and real co-operation in the future may well make sure to bind the nations together.​

France - Tense

The Rhineland have been peaceful since ever, with Austrian and French interests stretching elsewhere, rather than towards hostilities. But following France's insatiable demands and wars on Spain, and the foul vassalization of the Independent Netherlands, Austria can not idly sit by, but must put pressure on the French, lest they get delusions of grandeur. Diplomatic talks over solving the Dutch issues was abruptly ended when the new Dutch monarch left the talks, having signed peace with France, neglecting the promised German aid. Tension across the Rhine has never been higher, especially since the territories controlled by France keep a German majority.​

Netherlands - Friendly

Austria likes the Netherlands, out of pity if not other reasons. Plans of intervention for the Dutch liberation was started in Wien, and proceeded to create a situation where the Netherlands could get their freedom from France, with the uncomfortable side-effect of leaving German interests empty, thus letting France slip out of an uneasy conflict, still with Dutch possessions at hand. New diplomacy will have to determine how the Dutch position towards Germany will become.​

Ottoman Empire - Dear friends

The Sultan has gone from a bitter foe to a dear friend in Wien. Following Austrian vassalization at the hands of Mehmed II, it was set in stone that retaliation would come, and it did, after the Ottoman-Venetian attack on Spain. A modest amount of territory was ceded to Austria in a peace thought by the Turks of as a major defeat, even as Poland were vassalized. Post-war talks and dealings soon settled matters however, and the Archduke has kept his extremely friendly attitude ever since, even as some tensions arose over the Croatia incident. But after Austro-Ottoman co-operation in Mali, relations are at an all-time high, where Constantinople is a favourite holiday destination for Germans all over Austria.​

Poland - Good

The Polish Kingdom has taken much unfair damage. Historically of uncertain allegiance, a pact soon erupted with Austria, when a Ottoman-Brandenburgian alliance threatened the two realms. As relations with these two were mended for Wien's part, the area of Silesia would become a point of great friction. Pressure from Austria soon had the stubborn Poles accept the ceding of Breslau. The Austrian part of the deal never came into effect, as war between Poland and Brandenburg never occured. Following the failure of Polish diplomacy, the whole region of Silesia was conquered, thus putting an end to any Austrian interests in Poland. Poland are considered friends in Wien, as long as they do not re-enter Germany.​

Portugal - Neutral

There is little to say in Austrian relations towards Portugal. Geography and politics have set the two realms on two distinctly different routes, thus with little to no chance of ever interfering with eachother. When the Austrian African Company was initiated, and exploration around Africa was funded, Portugal was kind enough to offer supply points to Austria, an act of kindness that will be remembered, albeit small in magnitude.​

Russia - Good

Russia is in a great geographical position for an ally of Austria, and after fighting the Ottomans together, there is little reason to not keep Russia close, but diplomatical contact has been scarce, as a result of Austrian foreign policy as well as the somewhat conservative Russian interests.​

Spain - Decent

Spain and Austria have not yet signed a deal nor engaged in any diplomatical talks of measurable magnitude, much as a result of French isolationism and chaos amongst the Spanish monarchs. Spain has been very rich, and they were aided in the Ottoman war, even as Austria had their own interests to serve too. Lacking diplomatical power, Spain were soon taken down from their golden throne during later years of repeated French and Venetian aggression, Austria are feeling increasingly pressured to intervene to preserve her own influence across her borders. Future interests in France may tie Spain and Austria together, but trust that Spain's interests will be shared in the future is low as of now.​

Sweden - Decent

As a counter-weight to Brandenburg, Sweden has aided Austria for a long time, but as the German realms grew together, Swedish ambassadors became a scarce sight in the Austrian court. Tension arose in Mali, when Sweden refused to recognize Austrian demands in the area, resulting in complete eviction of Swedish gold-mining following the Ottoman support of Austria's claims. With the Mali situation now settled, Sweden has nothing to fear from Austria anymore, and they will be looked upon with kind eyes as long as they stay out of Germany.​

Venice - Decent

Venice as an ally to the Turk? When the news came to Wien, it was not seen upon kindly. How could ever the Archduke support such an alliance? It soon was realized the Austria were at a loss and the Turk invaded Wien with Venice support. Following the later decades, as Austrian independence was bought by ceding the Milanese estate to Venice, relations were stabilized, but soon got troublesome again when Austria answered the Venetian-Ottoman attack on Spain with war. Not much fighting were conducted in Venetian soil however, and peace has been held up ever since. Venetian aggressiveness towards Spain is however something that bothers Austria, especially as it is done in allegiance with France, thus compromising Austrian influence in Europe. The flip-flopping diplomacy made from Venice is a detriment of relations, as Wien feels they are not trusted, but the situation is still calm, and will hopefully remain so.​

 

[unmerged(49695)]

The Ottoman Empire AAR 1558-1583

The Eternal State

At the start of the session, my objective was diplomacy - leading towards anexaton! In haste I sent diplomats to marroco and dulkadair with the objective of raising our mutual relations before suleyman died. I was successful and shortly after the former and latter nations were vassals of the Ottoman Empire. I was pleased with myself. At the same time worked on the diplomatic vassalizations, i carried out allot of conversions in the remaining non muslim provinces. With great haste to enjoy the final years of suleyman thousadns were spent attempting those conversions.

Meanwhile infra 5 was reached and promotion of mayors across the lands ^was ordered. I was dismayed at first with the huge number of provinces I had to promote mayors on, specially more since a great deal of them didnt even have bailifs to start with. But I persevered and the promotions were carried out. Later on, when negotiations with sweden failed, I allowed austria acess to ottoman lands, and austrian troops marched relentless towards mali, they soon mapped the entire area, and stood at attention awaiting for ottoman battle readiness to go up. The pre-war period was rather prosperous with trade being practised in small scale, some forts built here and there, with the only thing worth of note being the anexation of AKK, that is untill war broke out in 1566.

Austria, followed by Bradenburg and then some ruskies to help the mix dived on Poland with such fervour that it resembles my taste for that german guy in algarve who sold this most wonderfull german sausage. I watched the situation with worry, fearing that poland would fall and with it all my neighbours would get stronger in the process. As such the ottoman armies were positioned against russia, and I even considered breaking the nap with him, but Poland peaced Austria and bradenburg, and in the process now had hope of holding against the russians. As such I sent money to hal in hopes that he could avert defeat or manage for a WP - and a WP he got.

At this time Spain offered to sell its North African Provinces, I accepted gladly. After a few years the deal was completed, and Ottoman attention turned towards the remaining foreign power in muslim lands: Portugal. I sent a generous offer to buy the provinces Portugal still held, but portugal bluntly refused! I do not know how Portugal expected to hold the provinces, but god knows what reason crossed Portugals ruler at the the time. As such the reserve cavalry army was embarked in the Ottoman fleet, and a few months after the fleet stood at the mouth of the Tejo. War was declared, the provinces in question sieged and mainland invaded. Portugal accepted its fate and gave the provs, but not accepting the deal deprived them of the ottoman cash.

I then went on to solve the Mali question. Austria issued the dow on Sweden and invaded together with what troops I had. The war was rather difficult because i had my main armies somewhere else, and was just recruiting troops in the area to fight the swedes. The tide turned and when it seemed sweden was on the brink of defeat, despite bringing reinforcements from sweden proper, the Dutch join in and bring some 40k troops to the fight. I was appalled - what could holland possibly have to gain for fighting in swedens name? Anyways, in spite of the offensive being stalled for a while, fresh troops were brought in both by austria and the OE, and the attack resumed. The final touch was when the Ottoman fleet arrived near the coast of Mali, smashing the swedish transport fleet and cutting supply/reinforcement lifeline. From then on Sweden was doomed, and it quickly accepted a stabhit giving the 2 gold provs to the alliance.

After the conclusion of the war, I provided funds to allow Poland to rebuild its military with the intention of compensating for lost lands in the west with lands in east. As such I saw the it as the time to make PJL taste his own medicine and have my revenge for the attack he carried out on me with 2 other powers in the past. I however, seeing the amount of troops in Astrahakhan was huge chose to adopt a passive role awaiting for him to move the troops out, but he never did, ending up with Poland having to win the war in the fields on her part, albeit with Ottoman funds. In the end an ottoman assault on the Volga precipitated the fall of russian resistance and 2 provinces were gained for poland, with me asking for nothing for the OE.

After that peace returned to the Empire, Marroco and dulkadair were diplo-anexed, a random Goods manu popped up, and had 2 exceptional years. All hail the mighty OE.


AAR reward: BB reddduction

 

[unmerged(49695)]

Foreign Diplomacy of the Ottoman Empire as of 1583

Spain: Spain is looked with suspicion, even tho we concluded business in the past, we still remember the unrightfully occupation of Algeirs and Tunes but we look forward to putting it behinds our backs.

Portugal:the OE has no business with Portugal, apart from trade. With the acquisition of the holdings portugal had gained in Algeirs, We consider the relations stabilized

Venice: Venice is a most trusted ally. OE Owes venice an eternal debt of gratitude for their help in the first crimean war, and we look forward to expanding our relations

France:France is a good ally. We share common interests and look forward for cooperating in the future.

England: We have no business whatsoever with England, only trade goes between the 2, and they are known among young ottomans as the white pale guys who sell trinkets in India.

Russia:the OEs relation with russia are complicated. They assaulted the OE in a gang and paid dearly for it. They also took some lands that we consider rightfully ours, but negoations are still in progress

Poland: Poland started badly by attacking the OE in a gang, but poland paid for it by being vassals of the OE for 30 years, and we consider the debt repaid. As of now good relations exist, and we look forward to further cooperation

Sweden:Sweden recently conducted a war with the OE over Mali. In spite of warnings to say away, only the sound of cannons and firearms changed their mind. We look forward to improving our relations with them.

Bradenburg: Bradenburg is a friend, unfortunatly they are far away and as such we cant conclude much diplomacy, but we look forward to having more relations with the Emperor of the HRE

Austria: Austria is a friend, and despite turbolent relations in the past, we look foward for a bright future together. However their wish harm the french concerns us and might put our relations in peril

Holland: The ottoman empire considers relations with Holland deteriorating due to the fact that without any sort of Causus-Bellis they attacked the OE and its allies
Reward: BB reduction.

 

[admiral drake]

to many friends, to few enemys if you ask me in central europe

 

[Mats_SX]

to many friends, to few enemys if you ask me in central europe

I'm doing my best. I've waged war on all my neighbours at least once this far.

 

[Mats_SX]

Austrian AAR 1583-1605

The French war - prelude

During the early years of the 1580s, the Austrian intent had been to put diplomatic pressure on France, in order to force the latter to give back to Netherlands at least one Dutch estate, as well as letting the Free Republic away from the French yoke. To show the French that this was a serious request, an additional point was added to the list, this being the border province of Elsass. The letter sent to the French King looked thus as such:

Dear Henry, King of France, I, the Archduke of Austria, protector of Germany, send you this letter to show my support of the Free Republic of the Netherlands, whose people You have in oppression and shackles, ever since their creation. Therefore this list of demands is placed upon You to fulfil, lest more drastic methods will have to follow, regrettably:

• The vassalization of the Netherlands by France shall cease, and all French officials shall leave the United Provinces immediately and with no exceptions.
• The province of Brabant, including its capital city of Brussels, shall be ceded to the Netherlands, with immediate effect. All French Catholics will receive the opportunity to move to estates in France, the rest of the population will stay and receive government from purely Dutch officials.
• The borderlands centered around the Elsass estate will be given to Austria, allowing the German majority in the area to be governed by German officials, and allowing the German population in all regions West of the Rhine to move into this area, to receive their rightful ruler.

Shall these demands not be fulfilled by the year of our Lord 1585, I, the Archduke of Austria, shall have to take action against Your person, and my allies will stand ready at Your borders to aid My quest.

I trust to Your senses,
Sincerely, Rudolf II, Archduke of Austria​

The Archduke of Austria, Rudolf II​

This deal would however not be considered by the French. But instead, France signed a deal with the Netherlands on their own, allowing these freedom for peace and promises of non-interventionism in the case of war in France.

This decision by the United Provinces was not seen upon kindly by the Austrian court. Suddenly all base of war with France had been swept away by the benefactor from this very war. How the reasoning had been conducted by the otherwise valiant Maurice of Nassau, the Archduke could not understand. But war with France had to be conducted, all preparations had already been made. Economical support had been ensured, military support had been ensured, the diplomatical atmosphere could not have been more ideal. The only way was war, and it would come.​

The French war

Initially, the war was supposed to be conducted on three fronts, but it would end up to only one. In Mexico only France had success, and it quickly became an uneventful area of the war. Spain had launched a heavy invasion under Farnese early and won a lot of battles, soon chasing the French army north towards Champagne. By that time, the Austrian offensive had reached Lorraine and could align with the Spanish forces. Elsass was under Austrian control, and so was Pfaltz and Trier and Lorraine were under siege. Brandenburg had occupied Köln and then withdrawn their forces. Following the victory in Champagned, the French army was chased around the area for a longer while, receiving reinforcements along the way, through mercenaries mostly. Despite winning every battle, the Spanish-Austrian army was worn away while the French kept being strong, eventually amassing a last stand of 60.000 men in Bretagne, with the allied forces mustering not even half that nearby. When a disastrous miscommunication occurred between Austrian and Spanish commanders, the Spanish troops were sent away to face the French army alone, resulting in the death of the awesome Spanish general, Alessandro Farnese.

This was a turning point. The French King Henry IV led his troops towards the Rhine, beating Austrian forces at two occasions before being thwarted in Pfaltz, where the French King was killed. The war now entered a more stable period, where the Austrian forces together with Brandenburg would slowly and steadily eat into the French lands west of the Rhine, winning more battles than losing. In the South the Spanish had been pushed out of France and kept a status quo at the border, with the occasional skirmish into Languedoc. But then the Ottoman Empire entered the war on the French side, landing armies in Southern France and putting an effective end to the Spanish efforts there. The bulk of the fighting were thus concluded along the Rhine.

The province of Elsass, which would belong to Austria after the long war​

With Austrian occupation of many heavily fortified provinces, the dominance in the war was always on their side. After many years of attempts to expel the Germans from the Rhineland forests, France eventually succumbed to her internal unrest, and the whole war ended in Elsass being the seceded to Austria.​

The French war - Aftermath

The Austrian army was shattered and the people were tired of warfare. The treasury gaped empty, but at least the economy was stable enough to allow immediate reinforcement of the most critical positions of military. In an attempt to please the people, the Archduke issued another Crusade against the Swiss, quickly overrunning the Alps and occupying it. Yet again the Swiss were forced back to the Catholic faith, this time with the new reforms as decided by the Pope in the decree of Trent.

After this painless operation Austria resided in peace. All income was invested into fortifying the whole realm, making it fit for eventual invasion, and ensuring safety from all directions. The army was reinforced to maximum standing size and the last heathens were put out. Come the 17th Century, Austria was again a strong nation, ready for new operations.​

---

Deflation

 

[HALNY (HAL)]

Poland 1419-1819​

We will not abandon the land whence our folk come.
We will not allow our language be buried.
We are the Polish nation, the Polish people,
From the royal line of Piast.
We will not allow the foe to Germanize us.

So help us God!
So help us God!

To the last drop of blood in our veins
We will defend our Spirit
Until unto dust and ash
Falls the Teutonic whirlwind.
Every doorsill will be our fortress.

So help us God!
So help us God!

The German will not spit in our face
Nor Germanize our children,
Our host will rise up in arms,
Our spirit will lead the way.
We'll go forth when sounds the golden horn.

So help us God!
So help us God!

We won't let Poland's name be crushed
We won't go, living, to the grave.
In our Homeland's name and her honor
We lift our heads proudly,
His forefathers' land the grandson will regain.

So help us God!
So help us God!

+1000 000 cash please

 

[Dago]

Brandeburg 1583-1605

Heart of Europe

Johann Georg King of Brandenburg and Emperor of HRE:


Johann Georg cries...and his heart is full of pain...
The Illuminate Emperor cant be happy of the actual situation in Europe. Seeing germans and dutchs slaves of France bring a lot of sufference in the heart of the Emperor.
France is mighty...France is also friend and respected by the Emperor...
Great efforts of diplomacy were conducted at the court of France, but everything was useless.
France didnt want to listen! France couldnt understand the german and dutch tears.
The war seemed the only way to solve the issues. And the war is the thing most hated by the Emperor aka Peacemaker.
On 20th June 1585 , with a suffered decision, Brandenburg joined the war on the same side as Spain, Münster, Kleves and Austria in their war agaist France.
In beginning Brandeburg wasnt really ready, because colonial efforts were very expensive.
Also the program to upgrade the officers in the Empire had many costs, like the decision to build a weapon manufactory to get a better Army.
But if Emperor desires a thing, God desires that thing is achieved by Emperor.
France is really mighty, and after 2 years also Ottoman Empire joined the war agaist us and our allies.
So the Emperor Johann Georg decided to go personally on the battlefields and the reluctant France was forced to accept the very generous deal of Alsace in german hands.

Emperor moves his troops for the final struggle


Victory of Lorraine 15/05/1591


Victory of Luxemburg 15/04/1592


After the performances of the Emperor, the war was going to end, and France accepter the offer on 19th december 1592 : Elsass at Austria

Sieg Heil !

Emperor was in power to ask more, but he didnt. Because war makes him suffer, mostly if agaist the old french friends. But Emperor couldnt leave subjugated dutch and german people.
And then was the peace.

But the illuminate Reign of Johann Georg unfortunatly had to end with his death.
On 9th January 1598 Joachim Friedrich rose to the throne in Brandenburg and was the new Emperor of HRE.


Here relationships of the new Emperor Joachim Friedrich with rest of world :
Austria +200 : No doubts, the old alliance will be kept and followed. They are with us the HRE
England +170 : Joachim Friedrich is a man of honor, and he waits his allies be the same. But i guess Emperor will be satisfied always more. For Emperor part, what say? Brandeburg speaks only by facts
Russia +120 : Probably the Zar should have been more careful about massive growth of Poland.. and his response has been clearly retarded...anyway a Zar vassall of Poland should worry and fear everybody has care of balance....Emperor, if Zar calls, will be ready to listen
France +110 : Our strike on them hasnt been safe, and neither convenience if we see just at the Emperor. But probably has been right. Pity they see the Emperor like a monster, and not like a merciful honorable that asked only for Alsace when could ask far more.
Ottoman Empire +100 : For a reason or another, lately they end always to help those that fight us. But Emperor will forgive their mistakes.
Neatherland +100 : We have helped them, i wonder if Emperor calls how many come...
Spain +80 : They have been our allies, and who knows they could need us again, in future...anyway some gold sometimes could help a lot to enforce these relationships
Venice +70 : I feel that for some reasons me and them will cooperate in future, maybe agaist some enemy in common..
Sweden 0 : Emperor dont wanna anything by Sweden...Sweden wanna Holstein by Emperor....until will be like this, not sure our relationships will ever more above than 0....with big sufference for the Emperor
Poland -100 : They dont wanna Prussia born...

Reward : Deflation

 

[Ampoliros]

The Pillars of Power (1583-1603)​

The Conclusion of the 2nd Anglo-Portuguese War​

By 1583 manouvre warfare in southern Africa had grinded to a halt. The stalwart Portuguese, grimly determined to hold on what they deemed their 'core possession', enlisted every capable man and sent him to the frontlines which - for now - roughly followed the Orange river. English expeditionary forces controlled the Cape area west of the Orange River and were regularly challenged by portuguese sorties, smaller detachments trying to trickle into the english lines.

In reaction to this unrewarding state of affairs the english high command decided to broaden the scope of war with the aim of ultimately forcing the Portuguese to yield due to strategic loss of their scattered possessions in Asia and America. In Africa itself simply holding onto the already occupied provinces would suffice and, hence, a defensive formation was set up.
Navalwise, however, there were intense engagements in this theatre of war. Portugal sent roughly 220 galleys to South Africa which prompted England to send 200 of its own. Subsequently, after heavy fighting the portuguese fleet was sunk.

Meanwhile in Gujarat the most bloodthirsty cutthroats that could be found in the city´s grimy, diseased taverns were enlisted and - after having been instructed in the art of amphibious landings by Sir Walter Raleigh - loaded onto the ships of 1st fleet (about 150 warships commanded by Admiral Frobisher) which subsequently set sail for Ayuthaya (a wealthy portuguese centre of trade due east). The following invasion of Ayuthaya was an all out unproblematic affair with the smallish portuguese defense forces easily being defeated by the sweaty, hairy gurkhas of Raleigh´s army who were so enthusiastic about the prospect of profoundly sacking this prosperous metropolis that they assaulted and conquered the city in a mere week.

Parallel to this asian offensive and unbeknownst of Portugal, the 2nd fleet was formed in London and the most capable Admiral Cavendish placed in command of it. 30.000 men were also mobilized and embarked on Cavendish´s task force which soon after set sail for Brazil. The subsequent brazilean campaign was likewise a complete success. Portugal had only few colonies in Brazil with which it could raise troops. More importantly, the few colonies they had were garrisoned only lightly and even Rio de Janeiro, Portugal´s american trading hub and most important holding in the area, had a mere 3000 men for its defense. In no time at all these forces were routed, Rio de Janeiro conquered and the english flag hoisted.

England now having about 90% warscore meant that the war, effectively, was won. We commenced sending peace offers at this point, which were at first rejected by Portugal (who´s stability consequently suffered as demoralization and war exhaustion spread throughout the country). In order to expedite matters Raleigh´s Maniacs were again loaded onto the 1st fleet and transported back to the south african theatre. There, they effectively opened up a second front and launched a two pronged assault on the portuguese forces in the Drakensberg mountains east of the Orange river. Having heard rumors of the crazed frenzy of the sack of Ayuthaya at the hands of Raleigh´s men the portuguese forces crumbled and fled in panic. Also, at this point it became evident that Portugal had essentially been reduced to anarchy with revolts whacking it everywhere - severly impeding any remaining ability to wage war. Grudgingly and furious, Portugal nonetheless now yielded. Peace was signed and England rejoiced in glory and celebrated Sir Walter Raleigh, the lion of Africa.

Sir Walter Raleigh - the Lion of Africa


3rd Anglo-Portuguese War​

A few years later a final attack on Portugal was launched, aimed at gaining the remaining provinces in Africa neccessary for the construction of a decent holding there. Again Rio de Janeiro and Ayuthaya trade centres were assaulted and thoroughly sacked. Having no interest in enduring the same kind of intense pain twice, Portugal wisely consented and peace was agreed upon swiftly.

After the war a massive celebration was performed in South Africa and a gigantic statue of Sir Walter Raleigh errected in New London, the cape colony´s designated capital. As one of her final acts as Queen, Elisabeth I. ratified the decree of Westminster whereby all of Southern Africa (stretching from Kaoko in the West to the Rufiji river in the East) is to be considered an english sphere of influence.

Finally, in consequence of her loss in power and income Portugal has become ever more dependant on Spain whose vassal it now is. As for England: At this stage we hope to purchase the remaining southern african provinces from Spain peacefully. We will have to see...

AAR-Reward: 0.5 Deflation

 

[BurningEGO]

Republic of Venice 1583-1605

Date: A few days before Monday, 22 of March. Venice was to be found still at war versus Spain. I had been asked to peace them. Although the plan was to make Spain grow some WE to make them a vulnerable target for their enemies, with or without WE, i saw little possibitilies of beating them since other people would have aided them, obviously. So i spoke with Slargos... But... He demanded an Indian COT just like that! Yep... Anyway, he seemed to change ideas quickly, and granted me the white peace. Funnily, after all the years Venice and Spain were at war, the best Spain could do to invade Venice was to muster about 20 warships and a shitload of transports to unload some men (30.000?) into India. I actually laughed when i saw that in the save. I would have loved to have sank that fleet.

Anyway, a white peace is signed as said before. After that, not much took place. I did continue teching infra 5 - i needed it badly. I also sent - another - conquistador into mongolia to explore Siberia. PJL had neglected Siberia for a lot of time, and i knew it was possible to colonize Siberia by starting colonies around its Lakes. I had this planned even before the session i missed. But when i reach Siberia, Russia is already colonizing 1 out of the 3 colonizable provinces, most likely alarmed by the fact the poles sacked their capital. I declare war and i burn his trading posts down and colonize what i can. PJL didnt seem to like it... but well, he had had more than 70 years to colonize that shit. Problem is, that thanks to my little war of TP-burning HAL manages to colonize the eastern coast of Siberia.

During the war with Russia, some other important things took place. OEconimical-wise rofl i kept sending merchants everywhere, and despite having one of the worst TEs in the game, coupled with extremely bad administrative monarchs, i am doing fairly good. I seriously wonder sometimes what is, Sweden, for example, doing, with 12 merchants per year and so low trading income (with their kickassing admin i would have gotten even more trading income than England!). If it werent for all the COTs i owned, i wouldnt even have gotten 12 merchants per year. In fact, when i had low stability, i didnt even have 10 merchants a year! Now, protestant countries like Holland and Sweden got their life facilitated by far. Regardless of who is neglecting trade and who is not, i also reached infra 5 around 1590. A lot of coins were minted to quickly build governors everywhere, and since i was at it, i decided to build legal judges as well. These filthy bastards will pay themselves in no time. I did rebuild my fleet and kept sending colonists pretty much everywhere i could, but apart from that, little more was done (the investments did pay themselves out since i received 1 exceptional year).

In Europe, during this period, things were nasty, too. Spain had declared war on France, despite of their WE due to their previous war with me. Austria and surprisingly, Bradenburg, joined the fray on Spain's side. Funnily, Bradenburg's vassals, too. I had a truce with Spain so i couldnt join to defend France against Spain as i had told them i would. So, Spain basically manages to go on a killing spree all the way into Bretagne, but then, BAM. God, how the hell i laughed when i saw that. Farnese was GONE in a second. Although i would say this was basically Austria's fault, for not reinforcing the Spanish forces. After that, CG joins, kicks the crap outa the Spanish fleet, kicks Spain out of France and even manages to defend Mexico from Spain. And since i was only joining the war in order to fight Spain, i decided not to since the OE was already doing what i was suposed to do. I had a nap with Austria and as much as i would have liked to, i couldnt have aided Drake against them.

I did, however, get pissed at how the things were made. Spain caused a lot of harm to France before getting beaten in Bretagne, and i bet they also managed to deplete most of France's manpower pool. Austria on the other hand, kept doing nothing (apart from beating a France that had to rely upon Mercenaries to strenghten its army). But in the end, they receive a province with 6.0 (or was it 5.0?) manpower, which will be very hard to reconquer for France, while Slargos receives nothing. Hell, i even bet Austria didnt even say a "Thank you, Spain". Austria had already a lot of manpower, and they surely didnt need more. Currently, i would even dare say that Austria is the strongest land power at the moment. A lot of funding, coupled with contemplacency and pure stupidity from some of its neighbours can do wonders i would say.

AAr reward: Deflation

 

[BurningEGO]

Relations of the most Serene Republic of Venice

Relations (from a scale of -100 to 100).

Spain: (-10) Spain is far from being the worst problem of Venice for now. As far as they dont mess with us, we wont mess with them. But since Venice holds some Spanish cores, some level of distrust will still exist, at least until something more solid happens between our two nations. If it actually happens, that is.

Ottoman Empire: (+80) The Ottoman Empire was always friendly with Venice. They helped us to keep the Spaniards out of mainland Italy. They shared their maps with us. Amongst many other things of no interest to the mundane player. The only thing that annoyed us thus far was the fact that we were dragged once into one of their fights against Russian, Austrian and Polish troops.

France: (+70) France went as far as not signing a non-agression pact with Austria simply to protect Venice. Relations went up, even if marginally.

England: (+40) Relations with them could have gone up as well but since the English monarch continues their policy of funding nations that indirectly or directly hurt Venice, putting Venice into a dificult position, it didnt.

Russia: (-20) Venice just recently got out of a fight against the Russians - nothing really important, but since we currently own the middle part of Siberia (and possibly will own more), some level of distrust will continue existing.

Poland: (-50) The doge is mostly displeased with the Poles due to their continuously stupid and agressive behaviour. But they will soon learn that displeasing the Doge isnt a good thing.

Sweden: (+10) I am absolutely neutral with Scandinavia. They havent messed with me, i havent messed with them. Apart from ocasional non-agression pacts being signed, nothing else took place. But maybe something else could be signed with them? Who knows.

Bradenburg: (+10) Relations remain unchanged even if the doge dislike the fact that they continue being an austrian lapdog. The "Emperor" might keep calling himself an "Emperor", but he should also mention he has no Empire to rule over and is instead doing the bidding of Austria for basically no gains to Bradenburg itself.

Austria: (-80) Relations took an abysmal hit when the Duke of Austria refused a non-agression pact with Venice. It got worse, after they revealed to others private conversations we had (they were PRIVATE for a reason!). And the fact that they used French Mexico as a cheap excuse for war in order to get Alsace, instead of delivering Mexico to Spain, made things even worse.

Holland: (-10) The doge will personally be keeping an eye on the development of Holland. Given the increase of the Venetian fleet, the Doge has nothing to worry from them, or at least, not from them alone. And as long as they abstain from breaking future italian monopolies, i doubt there will be any problem with the Dutch, as long as it concerns the Doge.


IMPORTANT SIDE NOTE:

Rulers across Europe keep yapping that the current build up of Venetian Relations with the world is making the game boring, this and that, but instead of being hypocrites they should look around. They keep saying that the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire is the Doge's bootlicker, but even if that were the truth, Bradenburg is the Duke of Austria's personal laptop and possibly bitch (the OE and Venice fight wars BENEFICIAL FOR BOTH, while Bradenburg and Austria fight wars BENEFICIAL FOR AUSTRIA). But it isnt only the Austrian-Bradenburg Alliance that is responsible for the current diplomatic build up - English bribes (bribes used to convince countries to attack others) also have a say on this matter.


Reward: Deflation.

 

[admiral drake]

Current diplomatic relations of france

Sweden: +50, we consider the swedish to be good friends of france, we have many common foes and few common disputes, combined with the fact that sweden seems eager to cooperate with france aswell as the refusal of the bribeattempt from england makes sweden a trusted friend of the king

Brandenburg: -40 once trusted by the king of france, this trust has taken a serious beating when the north germans invaded france alongside the spanish & austrian armys last week, france will remember this unprovoked attack from bb

Ottoman Empire: +100 trusted friends and allys of the french, they aided us when france was in dire need and so will france guard ottoman empire during his times of the troubles better known as beys

venice: +80 we had our differences in the passed but our cooperation vs spain over mexico aswell as the financial aid provided last week will be remembert by the king of france as we now trust the venicians (altho greedy bastards) as good friends of france


England: -30 france does not trust england at all, for decades we are aware of english involvement in french foreign policy, the spys of england are everywhere and his funds to it seems, as he has been caught funding the gang vs france aswell as offering a bribe to attack me this week for sweden, we consider that a valid casus belli should france get attacked by a country funded by england during the nap


Austria : -100 austria are treacherous dogs that stole elsas away from france, a strategic important town they only managed to capture thanks to the aid of his many allys, we will not forget or forgive the gang they mad us endure for quiete a while

Spain: +10 after many wars with spain we finaly managed to come to a settlement with the death of the old king of portugal to devide his realm in exchange for the witdrawal from mexico by the french emperor, we hope this will lead to a more peaceful future between the 2nations

Portugal: -20 the portuguese have always been a issue for the king of france, on side we didn't wan't to ruine the realm on the other he overextended himself into boundarys he cannot defend and thus wil eventualy invite more agressive people into the orient
france has claim to both his asian and brazilian holdings with the death of the old king, and we will not hesitate to conquer those regions

Netherlands: +30 the king of france looks kindly upon this minor realm on the northeast-border of france
we had our differences in the passed but since a new stadholder took place(rumor hes spanish tho) we have enjoyed much better relations and relative peace

Russia: -20 the king of france knows little about russia, we have received no diplomat since 1453 and have little intrest in the area xept for the part where russia once dowed the ottoman empire alongside many others, and dowing a ally of france is not apreciated by the king

Poland: +30 the king of france never did receive much from poland, and we know little about them, we did do not apreciate there passed wars in the passed but they seem to be on better terms with the ottomans recently and thus we will greet the polish the same our allys would do


deflation

 

[admiral drake]

Aar France 1583-1605

war on the horizon

in 1583 france was expecting that a war would break out eventually with austria+spain
we knew we would be on the defencive and badly outnumbert but we had no idea how bad it would turn out to be
between 83 and 85 the french build major several major forts along the rhine &aswell as the spanish border to ensure we would atleast force the austrians to siege & take there time invading france should a invasion come and we where right to prepare as we barely managed to finish those forts when austria declared war on us alongside spain & to our horror brandenburg to,


with half of the french army stil in mexico, henry was facing impossible odds yet despite this he did not give in or falter and quickly took action
henrys first move was to slay asmany sieging armys as possible to inflict casualties and gain ws upon the enemy aswell as lure farnese in the plains where henry had a vast cavalry army under his command and might have a change to slay this great general
at first we france had quite some succes, winning several batles vs the spanish & austrians when farnese moved to champagne, henry tought he had a change to destroy him there and then but failed to take in account the large cavalry army from austria moving in to aid the spainish general at the batle.
the result was disastrous, the french army suffert heavy casualties and was routed north-west, henry quickly started to recruit troops in brittany and surroundings with a aim to witdraw there and force farnese back, and such he did
henry witdrew batle after batle till he finaly reached brittany, with the remains of his army closely chased by farnese and the spanish
fortunatly france had atleast 30k reinforcements in brittany already and was prepared to make his finaly stand, when henry arrived a miracle happend that turned the entire war again...
farnese was to eager and chased henry into batle without his supporttroops from austria, and thus at his vital error was his last 1, farnese was surrounded and executed by french forces

it is sayd the very moment farnese died, the french people cheered all acros the country and hope restored to fight on and the war turned quite a bit from that single defeat if you view the aftermath

a few months later spain, demoralized by the death of the great general witdrew back south alowing france to kick austrian/brandenburgers asses some along the rhine till he finaly died in a heroic batle near lorrain/france comte as his armys where victorious henry was shot in the chest, with his last sight he saw the austrian army routed and atleast he died a good death saving france from a fate far worse then eventually happend

with henry dead the austrians became alot tougher to beat and france had run out of manpower for some time now, we could not replace our fallen brothers and slowly started to loose ground again.......
fortunatly during this time the ottoman empire joined the war and secured the southern border vs the spanish thus atleast alowing us to fight austria/bb with some succes
in the end france could go on no further tho and had to surrender elsas

when the war was over we finaly realized howbad france his condition was, we had no manpower left, barely any troops left, huge war exaustion and rebels in mexico/california, indonesia & even in france itself, it took us many years to rebuild this effort and even to day we stil face the nasty inflation gained from that single devestating war

fortunatly for france things look promising for a peaceful session, we hope france can finaly recover a bit so turene can take command of a fully rested & prepared france

deflation








deflation (work in progress)

 

[unmerged(49695)]

The Ottoman Empire AAR 1583-1605

The Eternal State

The session started rather peacefully. Many were the things to do in my mind, and little time to do them. I started off by trading. In order for the empire to become stronger and manage to live with the high serfdom and low narrowmindness, trade is needed to complement the techspeed. As such I tried during the whole session to get monopolies in my cots to get higher trade efficiency and get 5 merchants in many non-OE cots as possible. Later on, the duchy of athens, as a last holdout of eastern roman culture had been allowed to enjoy prolongued independence from the Empire. However when they sent a diplomatic insult, the legacy that Romulo had started with the foundation of Rome was ended with the de jure anexation of the Duchy.

War in France

On infamous day 13 of June, 1585 the axis powers of Viena, Berlin and Madrid, with the alliance led by the spaniards declared war on the Empire of France. Vast hordes of Spanish, Austrian and Bradenburguese, with Farnese as the supreme commander of the combined Armies. They rampaged trough french lands like ottomans rampaged trought shongais villages. Farnese was an able commander but communications between Spanish And Austrian High Commands were abysmally, in such a way that I dare to compare it to the disasters of Austerlitz and Waterloo. The result was the death of Farnese in a magnificent cavalry charge agaisnt french lines. An hero for the habsburgs.
As result of his death Spanish armies withered, but did not disband. The Spanish King made sure that the lines were held. Meanwhile in Constantinople the decision was taken to help the French and lead an holy war against the Imperial Axis.

On the 13th of May, 1587 the following summon was issued in all Mosques across the Empire:

O muslims. Know that our Empire is at war with the mortal enemies of Islam: the governments of Madrid, Vienna and Berlin. The commander of the Faithful summons you to the Jihad. (adapted from the original Ottoman call to war of world war I)

The Empire was at war.

Immediatly Troops that had amassed in Northen Africa were landed in Provence. The Ottoman Imperial navy joined by the French Armada offered battle near the coast of Provence, a battle that saw Spanish fortunes sank to the bottom of the Sea. The Ottoman Imperial Army successfully fought it was across the mountains of the French border with Italy, followed by more battles in Lyon that saw the complete expulsion of the Spaniards from central France. As follow up and with newly arrived reinforcements, offensive actions were taken up into southern France. Briefly after the Spanish were on the retreat and towns occupied by the Spanish resieged back to French control, and their garrisons executed for the acts of brutallity they commited against the local population.

Meanwhile the French sovereign pressed the Ottoman High Command to escalate hostilities with the Spanish, and so they did. An army was loaded into the Warships and an invasion of Spain proper was launched while the Ottoman Army Group Pirineus held the front in southern France. The target of the invasion was Andaluzia, once part of the mighty Al-Andaluz. A fair complement of troops was landed there, intent in putting the province of Andalusia under siege. Unfortunatly, the commanders of the Armies there were pressured to assault the fort despite lacking sufficient means to succeed. Subsequently the assault failed, and a relief force was sent by the spanish to lift the siege.

Defeated ottoman troops were regrouping in Marroco when dire news came from mexico: the spanish offensive there was very close to annihalating the french forces! A quick force was assembled and shiped to the area, ensuring that mexico was defended and the Spanish defeated.
Unfortunatly the winds of war took the wrong course and the French Army was not able to resist the Combined austro-bradenburguese army. Despite OE being sieging provinces in the north, and a renewed invasion of Andalusia were being carried out France ended up peacing the enemies giving up Alsace (Franco-prussian war anyone?).

After quelling a few revolts in mexico and france, the Ottoman troops returned home to their families. As far as the Empire was concerned, the Jihad was successfull in stopping the spread of Spain into French lands, and securing France as ally for ages to come.

The years following the war were rather peacefull with the ascencion to the Throne of Meh.Med III. This peace was broken when the new Sultan, ancious to prove its worth to the world as a great Sultan concentrated armies in Persias border and lunched a massive invasion of their kingdom. Ottoman troops swiftly assaulted forts from baku to india and Persian power crumbled. As a result their King was made vassal of the Sultan. The dirty uzbeks(ah the uzbeks, anybody read Duke of Wellingtons Golden Horde AAR?) entered the war on Persias side and as such suffered the same fate as Persia.

After that peace returned to the Empire, and had 1 exceptional years. All hail the mighty OE.


AAR reward: deflation