The Taming of the North - An Alternative Scandinavian AAR

[Manstein16]

There is a point in every CK veteran's life at which it becomes all too apparent that the game is disturbingly easy to beat if one follows the traditional divide and conquer path. Call it the mid-life crisis for CK gamers. At this point some players move on to other (usually Paradox) games while others embark on quests to subjugate the known world or eradicate Islam in the name of the Pope. I attempted to lead a small, backwards country (Scotland) through 900 years of history (CK-EU2-Ricky-HoI2). After overcoming the initial step of bringing the English to their knees, Scotland gathered enough momentum that I had no choice but to further my conquests - it was that or speed through another 200 years of educating children and arranging marriages. After all, you can only develop your infrastructure so much when conquering technologically superior foes. And so I have decided to put that AAR on hold an embark on an entirely different type of mission - transforming the frozen wastelands of the North into a cultural and industrial superpower. I have long been fascinated by the abilities of a small but elite nation to not only defeat their much larger neighbors but even project their power over them (the Spartans at Thermopylae is but one example; the ability of the British Raj to administer an entire subcontinent with one government official per million civilians is yet another). And so rather than focus on rapid expansion and becoming another Russia or China, I intend to focus on developing infrastructure and technology to the max over a span of 900 years, with HoI2 being the testing grounds for my experiment.

The subject in this experiment? Sweden. Even a united Scandinavia suffers from severe deficits in manpower and, in the later games, resources (I have united Scandinavia numerous times in Ricky only to witness my #2 superpower that has colonized Africa reduced to producing a mere 60 ICs upon conversion to HoI2). My goal? To unite Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway early on and then focus on turning the product into a maritime power based on commerce and industry. And to prevent the inevitable boredom that arises from having outstripped one's scientific discoveries but refraining from conquests, I shall be starting in 1187 rather than 1066.

So, for the house rules:

- Never grab claims
- Never allow reputation to fall below respectable
- Never purposely go into bankruptcy (and thus prevent the practice of setting up kingdoms halfway around the world, given the massive transportation costs in CK)
- If, for some reason, another kingdom or large duchy is inherited outside of Scandinavia proper, that realm shall be spun off to a vassal (the exception to this rule being the setting up of small trading/refueling posts - think Gibralter and Malta)

Game will be played on hard/aggressive using the combination of mods used in "Anyone for an MP Game?" (can't remember the combo off the top of my head, but I do know that BOPACK is one).

As for the AAR, I am hoping to write from a more personal view than I have in the past. Blame it on the stifling of my creative instinct by two years of reading casebooks and writing legal briefs. This means that updates will be few and far between when I find time for them, but I hope to improve the overall quality as a result. And so, without any further ado, I present my next grand experiment.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

Bad too hear about you abandoning the Scotland game, it was played very well (obviously too well for you taste )

The crisis you are talking about is well known too me. I now haven't played CK for a while, because I vowed not to play it until i finish my Dalmatia AAR. But when I do play eventualy, it will be with severe restictions on grabing claims and expansion in general and I will concetrate more on the characters and creating stories about them.

Anyway, seems like an interesting project you have here, I'll be following closely!

 

[EvilSanta]

Sounds interesting. Except your nation choice.

 

[unmerged(48100)]

I somehow feel sorry for your Scotland AAR, I really liked it. Though I totally understand your choice not to do much conquest. It tends to get boring after a while. However, what do you mean with no grabbing of claims? That you can't claim a title or that you can't take it by a war?

 

[Manstein16]

Bad too hear about you abandoning the Scotland game

Not to worry, I'm not abandoning it, just putting it on hold for a bit. Even on the highest speeds my rather obsolete computer was chugging along at a rate of 10 years per hour and I had just reached the 13th century. At best I would have to put in 20 more hours before reaching the conversion point. At this current point in the game I couldn't expand any further without defeating the purpose of the AAR and my infrastructure production had outstripped the tech tree, so I was faced with the prospect of 20 hours of choosing educations and arranging marriages. This was a daunting prospect, to say the least So, rather then completely abandoning it to its fate, I've decided to spread it out over a length of time rather then submit myself to 20 straight hours of wedding planning. I still aspire to see much of the world covered in Scots blue by the end of Ricky Just not as soon as I had originally thought.

However, what do you mean with no grabbing of claims? That you can't claim a title or that you can't take it by a war?

I won't be claiming titles (with the exception of the rare usurping of a duchy if I have inherited enough county claims, a process I suspect will be rather long and arduous). In my Scotland game I fell into the trap of grabbing English/Irish claims, capturing them, and then negating my BB score by making the short hop down to Spain, conquering a few infidel counties, and giving them to vassals. Ultimately I found myself in charge of the entire modern UK, most of Spain, and much of France (as the Muslims had expanded up to the Channel). Thus the rules against pagan bashing outside of Scandinavia proper and claim grabbing.

Sounds interesting. Except your nation choice.

I originally began the experiment as the Duchy of Polotsk and managed to create both the Lithuanian and Finnish crowns. I soon discovered that, with the formation of the Kingdom of Rus, I was left with two alternatives: (1) be trounced by their infinite numbers, or (2) take the Rus crown for myself, upon which the whole purpose of the AAR would be defeated. Sorry...but don't worry, the Finns will still be incorporated into Grand Scandinavia

 

[unmerged(17581)]

Ah, yes, the mid-life crisis. An apt way of putting it. Hopefully this will be a good workaround for you.

 

[Manstein16]

Jon Knutsson Eriksaetten pulled his furs tightly around him in a futile effort to keep out the icy wind sweeping the hilltop that was his vantage point. Below him marched, nay, trotted his heavily armed men, half-moon battle axes strapped to their backs and all clad in furs like Jon. Underneath they wore boiled armor, disdaining the iron armor of their southern neighbors that they might be that much more limber in battle. A man in a suit of metal armor would fare poorly on a battleground covered in snow six hands deep in some places. Far off in the distance stood a wooden fort in the center of a small village. One day's hard march at most. The Angermanland fort would be easily breached by the battering rams and siege ladders that Jon's men would construct upon their arrival. Indeed, the ramparts would be manned only by old men and young boys, seeing as how the bulk of the Angermanland warriors had been slaughtered by the Swedes just a fortnight before.

Jon found it difficult to quell the boyish excitement that was threatening to spring up inside him. How long had he waited for this moment? At least since the day his father the king had instructed his marshal to instruct Jon in the ways of the warrior. It was the only fitting occupation for the king's eldest son, after all, no matter how disinclined the king himself was towards bloodshed. As a young boy Jon's martial ambitions had been awakened by his tutor's stories of the ancient warriors known as the Romans and how they had spread across the face of the world, conquering and civilizing as the went. They had never spread to the Northlands, however, although it was unknown whether this was due to the harsh clime or the harsh Germanic tribes across the Rhine. No matter. Jon still eagerly devoured the stories that had made their way north over the centuries. Above all did he relish the tale of how the Romans pushed the nefarious Greeks from their land and united the constantly-squabbling Italian cities under their rule, bringing all Italians together. E pluribus unum, the old tutor used to say. Out of many, one.

Now Jon was embarking on what he hoped to be the first step in his own campaign of unification. It had not been easy. His father, Knut Eriksson Eriksaetten, King of Sweden, was a gentle man, happier discussing ways of improving the lot of his subjects rather than increasing their number. Jon had excelled in his studies, proving a fearsome warrior and adept leader. Underneath the warlike facade lay a gift for numbers, however, and Jon also excelled at the administrative duties his father had given him as he matured. But Jon's true love was soldiering and it wasn't long before the old marshal who had trained Jon as a young man passed on and the king appointed his eldest son to fill the vacancy. When a raiding party from the pagan lands to the north raided a village under the King's protection, Jon had insisted that a punitive expedition be organized.

The old king. A kindly soul, but not given to talent.

And so it came that Jon was leading 2000 of the fiercest Swedish warriors into battle at the age of 18. Unknownst to his father, Jon had no intention of simply razing the fort and surrounding village. No, it was only proper that they be given the opportunity to swear fealty to the King, along with the pagan tribes even further north. Thus began Jon's conquest of the northern reaches in the year of our Lord one thousand and eighty-eight.

 

[unmerged(59737)]

This looks really interesting. *subscribes*

 

[stnylan]

Some fairly stringent house rules there. This looks like it will be a very interesting read. Good first post, and great to see the focus on an ordinary courtier rather than the ruler.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

The old king. A kindly soul, but not given to talent.

What an understatement!

Well, off to a good start! Seems to me those two screenshots are of a very different date, no?

 

[Manstein16]

Sybille, most commonly known as Sybille of Nantes because of a lack of any other information regarding her background, was never to forget that day. It was a dreadful day that shook her to her core. French by birth but without any knowledge of her parents, Sybille had spent her early years in a convent but had been tutored at the French court when knowledge of her skill with numbers came to the attention of the King of France. She become a gifted and competent steward at the young age of 16. On the eve of her 17th birthday the King of France received word from the King of Sweden that his son was looking for a suitable wife. Sybille being the only unmarried woman under 30 on the French court at the time, it was arranged for her to marry the King of Sweden's heir and eldest son, Jon Knutsson Eriksaetten. While outwardly she received the news stoicly, replying that she was honored to be able to serve her liege, inwardly she was devastated. Taken from the home she knew and loved to be sent to the frozen wastelands inhabited by the descendants of the cruel Vikings seemed worse than a death sentence.

It did not take long for Sybille to discover that Jon Eriksaetten was not an easy man to be married to. He was not cruel or abusive but the domesticated life was not for him. He enjoyed nothing more than being on the campaign; indeed, he barely had time to impregnate his new wife before leaving to lead a punitive expedition that turned into an 18 month campaign to subjugate the Norrland tribes. Jon won great victories and garnered much honor but Sybille would have been willing to trade it all for some companionship. At long last Jon crushed the last pagan resistance to the north and the king, feeling that too much blood had been spilled already, ordered his son to return.

Jon wished to cross the Gulf of Bothnia and attack the Finnish tribes but the king was beginning to grow suspicious of his son's motives and refused to entertain the notion. And so Jon returned to Vastergoetland and enjoyed a few years of peace.

During this time it was whispered in the court and among the vassals that Jon was the proper man to lead the Swedes as he would bring them glory and honor, whereas King Knut simply brought them tedious peace. The king was made aware of these rumors and hastily ordered his dmense to mobilize that he might personally lead them against the Finns. His son the marshal urged him to reconsider, pointing out that the Danes were rumored to be searching for claims in the Swedish lands, but King Knut would hear not of it, convinced that his son was simply trying to hold him back. And so in May he set sail with his armies for the lands of the Finns with the intent to subjugate them all. No sooner had he crossed the Gulf then did the Danish king declare war on the Swedes and mobilize a massive invasion force.

Jon, acting in the king's absence, ordered the mobilization of the entire kingdom and rushed troops to Vastergoetland to slow the Danish army. It was futile. King Knut had taken the best Swedish warriors with him across the Gulf and the remaining troops were scattered throughout the land. Duke Magnus Bjaelbo was the first to arrive on the border between Vastergoetland and Skane and found himself vastly outnumbered. Nonetheless he swore to stand and fight until reinforcements arrived or he died, whichever came first. The Danes hurled themselves against the Swede shield wall continuously and began to force the Swedes back through sheer weight of numbers. Duke Magnus feared that all was lost when Jon arrived with a few thousand warriors. Together Jon and Magnus were able to hold the Danes back long enough for the rest of the vassals to arrive with their armies and a great victory was won against the Danes.

A truce was called and eventually a white peace was established between the two kingdoms before more blood could be shed. Word of the invasion was slow to reach King Knut and when it finally did he was wrapping up his campaign against the Finnish tribes, having successfully managed to unite most of Finland under his rule.

The Swedish lands are blue and outlined in black.

Upon his return to Vastergoetland King Knut learned of Jon and Duke Magnus's heroic defense and immediately felt ashamed for having put it in such a vulnerable position. In order to express both his shame and gratitude, King Knut warded Jon with the duchy over the newly aquired lands in Finland, thus securing Jon's position as his rightful heir.

With his lineage secure and the kingdom safely in the hands of his son, now Duke Jon of Finland, King Knute decided to embark on what would be his last war against the pagan tribes, this time against the Finnish tribes in the Baltic. He gathered together his warriors and set sail.

The pagan warriors proved no match for the superior weapons and tactics of the Swedes and the conquest was rapid. King Knut was not to live to see the end of it, however, as he died in his sleep during the siege of Revel.

Thus ended the reign of King Knut Eriksson of Sweden. The Pope ordered him beatified following his death in recognition of his campaigns against the pagans and the introduction of the One True Faith into those lands.

Alright folks, sorry for the relative brevity of this post and the complete lack of character development. I wrote it in a hurry earlier and just had time to post it now. Do not fear, however. Things got VERY interesting under the reign of King Jon and I will definitely have an interesting story to tell.

 

[stnylan]

Well, Sweden has its baltic Empire, and by the sounds of things King Jon is just the sort of chap Sweden needs to continue it.

 

[unmerged(60276)]

Alright folks, sorry for the relative brevity of this post and the complete lack of character development. I wrote it in a hurry earlier and just had time to post it now. Do not fear, however. Things got VERY interesting under the reign of King Jon and I will definitely have an interesting story to tell.

I think it was quite a good update. Good introduction of the French wife and her misgivings towards her new husband, and nice bit of describing how the old king got worried about his son being his better. I'm sure you'll put in more characterization and story line now that Jon is the main player. His father was just an introduction afterall

 

[yourworstnightm]

I'm glad the Baltic provinces are considered a part of Scandinavia proper. No real Scandinavian game without Baltic conquest.

 

[unmerged(48100)]

I must agree with Shuma here, Knut was just an introduction to the reign of Jon.

And at least he managed to get her pregnant before he went on campaign, not all manage to do that (hint: von Franken )

 

[Manstein16]

I'm glad the Baltic provinces are considered a part of Scandinavia proper. No real Scandinavian game without Baltic conquest.

Aye, apparently there are two duchies of Finland and the bigger of the two requires some Baltic provinces in order to create it. If the game was going to make part of the Baltic Scandinavia proper I wasn't about to stop it.

I have quite a bit more time later this afternoon and tomorrow so I'lll be sure to get something a little more descriptive up. Thanks for the comments!

 

[Manstein16]

The tall, Nordic-looking youth standing at the altar was perspiring heavily, notwithstanding the chilly air within the stone cathedral and the relatively thin white robe he was dressed in. Panicky thoughts raced through his head. He felt too young to be here. How was he supposed to act? Would he be acceptable? Better yet, would she be acceptable? Looking behind him, the youth darted a quick glance at the stalwart figure standing behind him, who returned the nervous look on his son's face with a reassuring smile. The youth felt a little better at this. After all, his father too had been in the same position once, and look at how his parents loved each other now. Hopefully he would be as lucky. And if not, well, his father told him that he was doing a great deed for his people. Surely any sacrifice would be worth such an honor. Clasping his clammy hands together, the youth proffered up a prayer to the heavens that his father would be right.

Sverker Eriksaetten was only 16 years old when the diocese bishop to his father, King Jon of Sweden, deemed that he had met his educational requirements and was prepared to enter the court of Sweden as a courier. This was a great honor, given that the standard student was not deemed fully educated until the age of 17 or 18. But Sverker was no ordinary student. He had inherited much of his father's martial nature while also being imbued with a strong sense of faith; indeed, he viewed himself as an apparatus for the Lord that could be reforged as a weapon when needed. Simply practicing his faith was not enough; he must live it and spread it, by fire when necessary. Fortunately the good Lord had blessed him with a strong ability to negotiate, meaning that Sverker would only feel inclined to resort to warfare when all talk had been exhausted. This was good, as peace had reigned across the Swedish lands for some time now.

King Jon at the time of his succession to the throne of Sweden.

The bringer of this peace, King Jon Knutsson Eriksaetten, was a powerful figure. He was loved by the majority of his people and those who didn't bear him such feelings feared him too much to say so outwardly. This fear was well-founded: King Jon's martial prowness had been forged in hostile forests of Lappland at a very young age and he was now considered to be one of the better generals of his time. Indeed, he had appointed as marshal his younger brother whose martial skills rivalled that of the king, the combination of which caused any potential foe to seriously consider the wisdom of warfare against these Swedes. The resulting peace had given the king much time to focus on improving his realm's finances and technology and infrastructure were already thriving only a few years into his reign.

King Jon still relished his childhood dream of uniting the Scandinavian people and imbued in his son Sverker the same desire. King Jon had known early on that Sverker was his rightful heir and this had allowed him to make plans for an effortless and seamless transition when he died, allowing the dream of a united Scandinavia to continue without interruption. Almost constant warfare between the kingdoms of Denmark and Norway had weakened the two considerably in relation to Sweden. For every gold piece the two embittered foes spent on warfare, King Jon spent a gold piece on improving his realm. If he could put enough distance in the technological and economic races between his kingdom and that of his foes, it would only be a matter of time before they were ultimately absorded by their more powerful neighbor. The peoples of Rus were too fractured to pose a threat to the western realm of the kingdom and the Holy Roman Empire was busy fighting itself and the Italians alternatively. This left only one potential stumbling block to King Jon's pursuit: Norway's ally, England.

William the Conqueror had quickly consolidated his conquest of the English throne and most of the English dukes had fallen in step with him. Their combined might represented a powerful entity to be reckoned with, as the unfortunate Danes learned whenever they attempted to invade their weak neighbor Norway. King Jon realized that he and his immediate successors would stand no chance against the powerful English and, unless Norway could be absored diplomatically, an unfriendly England would go far in preventing a united Scandinavia. And so he laid the groundwork for a peaceful coup d'etat that would grant him more recognition throughout Europe than all of his conquests of the pagans before had.

King Jon's wife, Queen Sybille, had used her many connections from her early life in France to arrange for an alliance to be established between her husband and the King of France. King Jon had realized early on that if war with England came, the only method of preventing the landing of English troops on Swedish soil was be ensuring that they were tied down defending English lands in Brittany.

This was only a precautionary measure, however. War with England would result in much devastation of Swedish lands in the worst case scenario and the draining of King Jon's treasury in the best case scenario. Neither scenario was in the interest of Sweden if unification could be achieved peacefully. A quick study of England's royal family revealed a simple and relatively bloodless method through which England's neutrality could be ensured.

At some point in the last century King William's descendants had lost the throne to the Angevin family. While powerful, the Angevins suffered the curse of high male mortality with hearts frequently stopping after only a few decades of beating. This had been the case recently, bringing a child of only eight years by the name of Reginald to the throne. Furthermore, Reginald had been the only male his father had produced; the boy king had no fewer than five sisters. To make matters even more interesting, the English kingdom allowed for the line of succession to be traced through female members of the family in the event that there were no male offspring to inherit the crown.

And so King Jon sent an emissary to England to propose a strengthening of the bonds between the two kingdoms through the marriage of the two families. The English regent, threatened by the French to the south, also desired peace and arranged for the marriage of King Reginald's eldest sister to the eldest son of King Jon, Sverker. This is how it came that young Sverker found himself standing at the alter, waiting for the young Englishwoman whom he had never met and yet was supposed to spend the rest of his life with, at the age of sixteen.

Ok, time to get to class. I'm hoping to have time to finish the update this afternoon. Things get very interesting from here on out; the situation is already quite unique and the computer decided to throw in a few events I had never seen before to really mix things up. Love, murder, sex, sodomy...you name it. Wasn't really expecting the computer to throw the last one in but hey, sometimes you just have to roll with the punches.

 

[unmerged(48100)]

And again we find a young boy on an altar with a woman he never saw before... Really smart method of assuring peace. Do you plan to inherit England? In your position I would not, after all you want an interesting game.

 

[Manstein16]

And again we find a young boy on an altar with a woman he never saw before... Really smart method of assuring peace. Do you plan to inherit England? In your position I would not, after all you want an interesting game.

Inherit? Yes. Control? No. The minute I get the crown (assuming I do) I'll be giving it to a family member. This will be a good way of propagating the dynasty without expanding my borders correspondingly.

 

[unmerged(48100)]

Ah, very good way to prevent high expansion. But better give it to a far family member or you'll end up with the crown in some years as they die out (happens to me all the time).