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[Haspen]

022: Reforms and Reorganizations and Regency Again!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

SOON.

And by soon I mean not really; Austria, Holy Roman Emperor and Burgundy are all friends with Venice.

We might have to postpone this indefinitely, just like with region of Naples.



The hero of the War with Japan has passed away!

May he rest in peace.



I'm sure Persia is boiling in anger at this.

No worries; Emperor Andronikos has plans for future conquests.

After all, the ancient Roman Empire did have province of 'Mesopotamia' amongst its territories.



Meanwhile, Castille is again in dire straits, the Army enforcing order in the colonies.

One of our Themas will be landing at Alicante, and then will help the underage King Enrique VIII remain on the throne.



And there we go, we can sponsor Baroque Music!

Romanos Phoucas and Thema Makedonikon have put down 3 pretenders and two angry masses of Portuguese nationalists so far.

They're now on the more to Pyrhenees to deal with some Catalan rebels, too.



We gain access to Grain Depot; we will build it in Larissa, as its in centre of our Empire and produces grain.



King-Emperor Andronikos VII has also plans to further reorganize the imperial bureaucracy. We will abandon our old Ideas:

National Bank will replace Quest of the New World.

And, because we have many Missionaries, we can abandon Divine Supremacy. As we control colonies and centres of trade, a National Trade Policy is in order.



In midst of the reforms, the old Andronikos dies and Ioannes XIV ascends to the throne.

His heir is broadly skilled and learned Michael.



Emperor Ioannes positively replies to Ethiopian calls to arms. We will help them regain Massawa!

Who knows, we might grab a province or two as well.



In midst of the war, Michael falls ill and perishes. His replacement, young Konstantinos, is not as good.

However, he already shows a skill of administrator and ruler.

Meanwhile, we continue to reorganize the administration; days after Michael's death, a National Trade Policy is introduced into Byzantine economy.



We should've learned from our past mistakes, alas!

After crushing Moroccans at battle of Fez, Emperor Ioannes XIV dies during the early stage of the siege.

Regency council now rules Byzantium and everyone prays for young Konstantinos Kantakouzenos to not fall to illness or injury whilst still young.

[Haspen]

023: The Western Model

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Well then, I guess-

Oh wait, they come from Novgorod, so there's no Tsar to fear!

They have so many claims to retake from us, its better we get on their good side.



The war dragged on for a long while before Ethiopians and Moroccans agreed on a peace.



A loan we had to take during the preivous war is repaid.



Less than a year until Konstantinos reaches adulthood and this regent dares raise against him.

To the salt mines with him!



Even Castille has recovered from the dumps and Enrique VII sits on the throne.



And finally, Konstantinos XV ascends onto the throne of Byzantium!

His cousin Zoe seems to be our heir.

Konstantinos first order of priority will be finish the modernization of the nation and adopt Western military schematics.



And finally, we modernize the Army!

An icon to Virgin Mary is commissioned to help us recover and weather the instability and reactionaries that might show up.

We finish expanding our Themas with infantry, and a new war of conquest will be waged against Hedjaz.



Saves us over eight ducats monthly!

That's slightly under a 100 per year.



The war against Hedjaz draws in Persia, so we call upon our vassals, Castille and Georgia to come over and help.



The main Persian army has been defeated.

Our capture of Hedjaz lands is proceeding just as smoothly!



Hedjaz is annexed, but Emperor Konstantinos wants more.

The peace with Persia will come only when they agree to transfer Basra, a great city of spices, into Byzantine ownership!

We also go after Sultanate of Makassar to take control of them and their trade.



Shortly after introduction of Zoe into the court, terrible news arrive from Fars!

Emperor Konstantinos has been killed during the siege. Zoe is now Empress of Byzantium, and she swore to continue the war.

Courtiers doubt her skill, and are further unsure of the future for there's no Kantakouzenos heir to replace her in need be.



She accepts the hand of one of the sons of Duke George I Kotromanic of Wallachia.

Andreas is the fruit of that particular martial union.

While the dynasty is scheduled to end, the continuation of Byzantine monarchy is not.



Basra is ours! Persians have been soundly defeated and Makassar now pays handsome tribute to us as a vassal.

Empress Zoe is praised for her victory, but her work has only begun.



Castille calls for aid, and we shall answer!

FOR GOD AND CASTILLE!

...Now that sounds a little weird, heh.

[Haspen]

024: A Murder Most Foul

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Monasticism becomes the movement of Orthodox clergy in Byzantium, thanks to patronage of Empress Zoe.

Meanwhile, her administration adopts the Gold Standard, helping curb inflation by making sure the money is of quality gold.



Our campaign against Russia is going quite well!

It only took some ping-ponging around the steppes to bleed their manpower a bit.

Meanwhile, our minting practices allow us to earn 11 ducats monthly. We will be rich!



And to emphasize on that, Empress Zoe commissions art in Rococco Style.

Marble cherubims, decorated interiors and golden tableware everywhere. Simply sublime~

It doesn't go unnoticed by many that on one hand, Zoe promotes ascetic devotion to Christ, and on the other, lavish and opulent lifestyle of the rich.



*Byzantine_expletives_1houredition.mp3*

We were going to do SO MUCH in the coming years!

Conquests! Diplomacy! Now we must suffer, what, twelve years of regency until young Andreas comes to power?

If he survives that long and we won't have a takeover by some other dynasty. Curse them all!!



We had to commission a Statue to help boost our Legitimacy, as we have few marriages and war exhaustion also saps the people's belief in our divine rule.

Curse those Auvergenians twice again!



This war is going on for way too long, so General Monomakos was sent to capture Savoyard capital.



The war continues and we've found out hard way that our troops are too small and too inadequate for fighting against Western Europeans.

Gustavian Infantry will replaced Saxon Infantry and each Thema will be reinforced with seven thousand soldiers.



War with Savoy ended, and Castille calls us into a new one, against resurgent Tripolitania.

We have a core on their capital - if we're fast enough, we can annex them from under Castillean nose!



Or not.

Maybe next time we will have better luck.

[Haspen]

025: Om Nom Nom Nom

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All those years of regency, and thus peace, have made our recruits soft and weak.

Away with them! We will get new ones for the incoming wars that will be led by Emperor Andreas.



Persia is long past its height in terms of military power, but they have enough money to buy themselves mercenaries.

We will thus help Georgia against the Persian mooks.



Aha, Emperor Andreas is of age! He has nominated his cousin Manuel as his successor.

While most of our troops are fighting Persia (and Kazan Khanate, which has reappeared again), others have been sent to Rome, Joannina and Sirt.



The war in Persia rages on, and this is the 'biggest' battle Persians could afford.

After ping-ponging their troop back and forth, they're annihilated at Azerbaijan.



A new Royal Palace will be built in Constantinople, in Rococco style.

Apparently Emperor Andreas thinks of the ancient Imperial palace as 'dull'.



The war with Persia was finally over and Georgia has retaken Mazandaran province.

Now it is time to fight our own war!



One war has been won, Tunis is ours! Now for Tripolitania!

...At least as soon as truce is over, that being 1st January 1748.



After fighting on their side so many times, subsiding and donating to them...

Ethiopians decided that one guarantee is worth more than friendship with us.

They shall be punished.



Another victory declared, this time over Tripolitania! Byzantine Empire continues to grow!

And then, whilst still at war with us, Ethiopia calls for aid because the Japanese have attacked.

Emperor Andreas I has laughed their emissary off and took few days of celebratory vacation.



See? I've told you, we can become friends with the Russians!

Emperor Andreas believes this alliance will help us very soon.



Well this has escalated rapidly.

Russia and Castille, however, are at our side! We will capture Venezia, beat Tuscany into submission, and then demand peace.

At least this is the plan we've got at the moment.



Burgundy and their friends joined the war, and the amount of troops they can put up is scary.

Still, Emperor Andreas believes our plan will be succesful.

Excepting the fact that now its Burgundians who are in charge of the war. Oops.



Venice is ours!

And so its centre of trade!

Now, how do we conclude this war without losing horribly?



Apparently, you bribe Burgundians with a core they had on Roussillon. 'Best trade deal in history of trade deals, maybe ever', says Emperor Andreas I.

The situation amongst allies must've been tense after the controvesional treaty was accepted, because there has been insults and warnings sent amongst Hesse, Burgundy and Savoy.

Meanwhile, we've consoled Juan IV of Castille with some money and he said 'no problem bruh'. What a nice guy!



Iraq on other hand has been sending warnings and also 'spies from unknown nation' popped up lately.

I mean, you can't send out spies when you're annexed, right?



New troop formation has been rolled out! Pity this didn't happen before War for Venezia, but oh well.

As you can see, we're siegeing Tlemcen as well. At five provinces, it should make a decent snac- I mean, addition to our Empire.



They own some provinces in Central Africa, for some reason, and therefore we had to bite off only this sizeable chunk for ourselves.

Now we just need to finish up with Iraq and force peace on Morocco.



*burp*

Ahh, nothing better than a delicious plate of conquests and loot, don't you agree?

Maybe next time we can eat even more?

[Haspen]

026: Quiet Before the Storm

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This event started popping up in past decades, but with doubled intensity lately too.

As we have the Grain Depot, we can safely cut production investments; both government and military are too important to even consider.



As our relation with Holy Roman Empire is deteriorating rapidly, Emperor Andreas believes we should expel Imperial officials from Venezia.

This in turn prevents the Hessian Emperor from trying to get it back.



A sanctioned war to eliminate Golden Horde tribals.

Smolensk Principality sided with them; they will be punished with vassalization.



I've forgot we had a core on Bogutjar. As Golden Horde has holdings in Siberia, we simply took the province.

Smolensk has been vassalized, and forced to renounce Catholicism in favor of Orthodoxy.



A new colony in Demak has allowed us to found Byzantine East India Company!

In turn that allows us to promote protectionism of our company stock.

Mercantilism, ho!



A-ha, it has begun.

The colonial nations of North and South America begin to appear and fight for their independence.

Fortunately for us, we have no holdings on these continents. We're safe from revolutionary, republican rebellions.



Emperor Andreas I, in his magnaminous wisdom, has decided to support the Enlightenment.

The republics of France and Switzerland have up to twenty or thirty levels total of technology more than us.

This situation must be reversed, and Byzantium has to become shining beacon of sciences!



See? Effects already!



TO WAR!



It seems that Persia lost all its strength.

After capturing just one province and defeating their army just once, they agreed to our demands.

Our borders expand but our Army doesn't, and a new Thema will be created.



But the time for peace and build-up is over! Smolensk, protectorate of Russia, has been attacked by Bohemian scum.

Russia, in turn, called for us to help fight the invasion. Emperor Andreas I will not back from a fight, even if it will be a long, grueling, difficult fight.

For Orthodox!!

[Haspen]

027: Seven Years' War

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The situation deteriorates rapidly and unexpectedly when Hesse starts a war for Rome!

As we become leaders in Russian-Bohemian war, we call in Castille to support us as well.

This means that Russia, Byzantium, Castille, Denmark, and half of Holy Roman Empire's states are embroiled in one or two conflicts at once.



We need to replace our Great Men; we cannot allow Salzburg and other republics to plant spies across our nation.

A Morale or Discipline instructor are also needed.



The first Byzantine-Bohemian fight is in the Balkans. Thanks to help from Stjepan and his Bosniak sharpshooters, we rout the enemy!

Another big stack awaits at Kalmykia. This one will be engaged by two of Byzantine Themas.



Praise be the God in Heavens!

We've formed Personal Union with Great Britain, a major maritime and colonial power!

They've been called into the war immediately, as their invicible navy can just sail up to Hessian mainlands and deploy landsings on their shores.



Hessian Emperor learns of the British entry into the war very fast, and even faster he asks for peace. We accept.

Bohemia, however, will be punished. How many centuries of overlordship did the Polish, Romanian and Lithuanian peoples had to endure?

We will set them free, you just see!



After the Battle of Kalmykia, we annihilate a Bohemian army at Kouban!

At least five more Bohemian stacks of 40k+ troops remain.



Battle of Bessarabia is another battle where two of our stacks can comfortably attack one Bohemian stack.



Similarily to Bessarabia, another such battle occurs at Vyazma.

Another Bohemian army lurks nearby, though, so we will have to be careful.



As the war rages in Balkans, with battles won in our favor, we barely manage to defeat Bohemian armies in Rus provinces.

Shortly before victory at Bryansk pictured here, Russians capitulate to Bohemia and give them the province of Smolensk.

However, Castille and Great Britain are still with us! We will continue our policy until Bohemian defeat!



Never! We will win or we shall die!!

The former might come closer to truth for the new Thema, commissioned by Emperor Andreas shortly before the war, will soon be complete.

We will send it to wage war in the Balkans immediately.



Exactly as we're starting to hit the rock bottom of manpower reserves.

Truly, the God himself is supporting our cause!



Bohemian allies flaked out or accepted nominal tributes to pull out of the war.

Their stacks are mostly gone, as is our manpower. From rapid movements and fierce battles, its down to sieges and waiting.



The war with Bohemia drags on; they lost their steam for sure, as they usually avoid battles like here, at Bessarabia.

Emperor Andreas remains unbroken and rejects any peace offer Bohemian king is sending him every two or three months.

Minor battles occur over the next two years, as we slowly lay siege to Bohemian provinces (and vice versa).



Across all of Byzantium, Emperor Andreas I Kotromanic is hailed as the greatest military leader of all time!

Bohemia has been humbled. Two provinces that were made cores by events during the war are taken. Transylvania is no longer theirs, and will be added to our herd of vassals.

We've won the war against Holy Roman Empire's military powerhouse, and its time to celebrate (and rest and recover our manpower)!

[Haspen]

028: Victories Left and Right

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Scots have taken arms against Great Britain and rose in revolution!

We will take our most intact stack and fetch it to the Isles to deal with the rebel scum.

Quartermaster of Byzantine Army says that we have about 115 thousand of troops to replenish.



Shortly after we deal with Scottish occupation of British lands, Russians annex Scotland in its entirety.

C'est la vie, Scots!



Do you know what this war means!? We can grab Calabria from Sicily!

Or just take entirety of the petty Kingdom for ourselves, and nobody shall stop us!



In the meanwhile, pesky Iraqi and Berber patriots pop up in Tunis and Basra way too often for our liking.

Fortunately, our Generals are fast enough to respond to the rebellions and crush their forces.



I wonder how bad is current Austrian situation if, after so many centuries of ownership of Corfu, the Greek people living there are revolting.

Could it be that we recover the final ancient core of Byzantium in few years?...



Calabria is ours, and so is quite a bunch of Sicillian ducats.

How do we get Apulia and Naples is still a mystery.



On behalf of Georgia, we go to war against Persia once more.

Also, our Themas replenished their numbers, and manpower reserves have begun to grow.



Some upstart Nomads have showed up.

Emperor Andreas I have decided to colonize Bersh and teach the Nomads the way of civilization.



Island of Corfu is part of Byzantium once again!

It's been several centuries since Austrians began to rule the island, but no more the German language is spoken on the isle!



And now France is bleeding its colonies, too!

Welcome to the world, New Zealand!



For Science!

...actually I can't believe how backwater-ish our Government is.



For, errr.

For classical appreciation of beauty, I guess?



Two years before expiration of the treaty with Bohemia, Transylvania agrees to become a Byzantine vassal.

They're no longer threatened to be annexed by Bohemia unless Bohemia defeats our whole Empire.



Scourge of the Arabs, Smacker of Bohemia, Conqueror of Venezia, the Great Emperor of Byzantium, Andreas I Kotromanic, after nearly forty years on the throne, have moved on to the house of God.

Manuel IV Kotromanic now sits on the throne of Byzantium, his young son the heir presumptive.

Also, Great Britain has been inherited in its entirety, giving us a whole archipelago of angry, non-cored Brits to contend with.



After only two weeks of consultation on the matter, Emperor Manuel IV decided to create Duchy of Great Britain.

Cornwall was sold to Wales, and Munster of Ireland will be sold to Kingdom of Connacht.

Suprisingly, that's about all of British possessions, as they've bled many colonies in past twenty years.

Two small settlements in middle of North America will be sold to Canada, which holds cores on these two colonies.



Oh, and the Azores are also ours.

We will keep that one. Its cute!



Expansion of existing Themas and creation of a new one is on schedule!

Our economy, even after we surpass our numerical army limits, can still dish out hundreds of ducats yearly.

That's why Emperor Manuel IV believes we can support an army way above the limits.

Byzantium strong!

[Haspen]

029: Religion and Governance

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Due to our recent governmental improvements, we can get this decision passed.

A centralization within the Church! We need a 5-star Theologian AND Statesman to pull it off, which will be tricky.

And as you can see, we have a bunch of provinces to convert first.



In midst of our army expansion, Georgia pulls us into a war against Shaybanid.

We will help just by the way of making sure Georgian heartlands won't get devastated.



Rajputana, an Indian kingdom, joins the war.

Meanwhile, Emperor Manuel IV decides to enact Blasphemy Laws; their penalty to Stability will be exactly evened by Holy Synod's bonus.

Speaking of Holy Synod, the Theologian required has been procured.



I don't think Xin is doing well, if Korea and Manchu are punting them and rebels are popping left and right.



We gain another Idea slot!

With all crucial ones taken at the moment, we can take Bureaucracy.

With current Tax income, it will give us about twenty ducats more yearly.



Not so long afterwards, we establish the Holy Synod of Byzantium!

We can kick out the Theologian and replace him with someone more useful, it means.



Aha! Bohemians are going for a rematch, I see!

TO WAR!!

[Haspen]

030: Bohemia Rematch and Punting Austria

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First battle of the war and we win at Podolia!



Major battles are won left and right.

This feels very different from the previous war. Almost... calm.



There's lots of jumping around, but we destroy Bohemian stacks one by one.

At Somogy, third such 'stack' is destroyed completely. At least 3 more remain.



Emperor Manuel IV believes there could've been much more achieved from this war.

But, Bohemia requested peace from Georgia after losing 5 stacks.



Emboldened by the swift victory against Bohemia, our Emperor decides that we can take back the core of Treviso.

We've got it after conquest of Venice. If we act fast enough, Austria will have no choice but to capitulate to our demands!



All pieces set into place, the war is declared, which immediately brings Hesse and their friends Norway into the war.

Of course, Castille and Russia have something to say about it; their troops and navies prepare for war in Scandinavia and Germany!



We storm the walls of Austrian castles; unlike Bohemian fortresses, Austrian forts are level 2 mostly.

This war however is showing that our Navy is way too weak. Whether it be obsolete ships themselves or incompetence of our Admirals, something must be done about this.

After we recover Treviso, that's it.



Troops sent by Holy Roman Emperor are engaged at Karnten, and subsequently destroyed.

We fear no one! We're invicible!!



Castille calls for help - the alliance of France and Savoy have attacked them!

As we have troops right by Savoyard territory, we've decided to join in on the fighting.



Ah, and we were going to ask them for that province at the negotiation table!

It's mostly to deprive them of sea access, thus control of their colonies.

As we do not have core on Gorz, we will sell it to either Aquileia or Slovenia, who do have a core.



We grab for ourselves Treviso and Liguria, a centre of trade!

Essex belongs to Great Britain, while Wenden is a Russian core - both end in hands of their rightful owners.



Emperor Manuel decides that our colonists must not sit idle.

They will colonize the depths of African jungle.



Restructuration of the Navy will be done in two points.

First, we destroy all oar-powered vessels - galleys and such.

Next, we will commission 36 replacements in big and light warships.



Two years of diplomatic negotiations with Slovenia and they agree to become our vassals!

Now, all of the Southern Slavs are united under the leadership of Byzantine Empire.



That was the last of Manuel IV's accomplishments, however.

Past his prime when he has ascended, he gave Byzantium another long list of successes and victories.

Now his son, Ioannes XV, is the Emperor of Byzantium. His own son, little Theodoros, is the next in line, ensuring continuation of Kotromanic dynasty!

[Haspen]

031: Downfall of Bohemia

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Their spies have started to be quite successful as of late.

That bothers our Emperor so much that he hired an Inquisitor to get rid of them.

However, plans are also drawn to fight Bohemia again. Their disruptions must not go unpunished!



New artillery and our reinforced navy are nearly complete!

We attack in few months' time!



Blow the horns of war!

All our vassals and dear allies join the war - while even the Hessian Emperor turns his back at Bohemia!

Only Bohemian vassals, who will be liberated, stand alongside the Czech dynast and his armies.



First battle of the war is in Ruthenia. An incomplete Bohemian stack gets routed by one of our Themas.

Meanwhile, our other Themas, supplanted by our vassals' troops, bypass the heavily fortified (level 5 or even 6!) provinces like Carpathia or Szolnok.

The lands across from them have mostly level 2 or 3 fortifications, which means less time wasted on conquests.



Carelessness brought defeat to the Thema led by Emperor Ioannes XV himself!

Fortunately, he escaped unscathed. We will rebuild the Thema lost in the Balkan provinces.



The last two years saw both us and Bohemia avoid each other.

But they've signed a peace with Russia, and we can be sure they will come for us next.

A Quartermaster (reinforce speed) and Commandant (morale) are hired to help our Themas in the upcoming fights.



Casualties of these big melee massacres are no longer counted in hundreds, but in thousands.

Truly we've reached a new level of battlefield ferocity here.



Yep, it's the war of sieges and cold, angry glaring from across the borders.

We're certainly making inroads into Bohemia, and will soon begin attack on their heartlands.



Finally, we receive that boost to damage we've needed so badly!

This emboldens Emperor Ioannes XV to have some Themas run after and fight the Bohemian stacks!



Onwards, to Prague!

Meanwhile, our Imperial Navy is busy fetching other Themas from the outskirts of Byzantium.

One of our armies will be landed in Ostpreussen, to which access we were given by Burgundians (a polite bribe does wonders!)



With Prague in our hands and bigger morale amongst our soldiers, Bohemians have become desperate.

They throw small stacks and rush to recover occupied lands with depleted armies, leading only to more Bohemian casualties.

Emperor Ioannes XV will not back out from the war until a total victory is reached.



At the city of Ratibor, the Byzantine Emperor and King of Bohemia meet at the field!

And in the closing days of fighting, we receive a notification that Viktorin IV has been killed!!

This is major blow to the Bohemians, an a cause for celebration to us.



The last of Bohemian armies, led by the fearsome and and near invicible Miroslav Liberec, is annihilated at Kiev!

Shortly afterwards, we switch Scientific Revolution for Espionage, to boost our spies and their efficiency.



St.Michael did his work, and he is to be praised.

Now it's time for St.Nicholas (and a level 5 Ambassador) to make us look the best once we're at the table with Bohemian regents.



In completely unrelated news, we're making inroads into Upper Nile!

The natives here are completely bonkers, but with national focus on Dar Ja'al, we can take the lands rather fast.

The provinces themselves produce either Grain or Slaves, and the more of the latter, the better.



Lithuanians and Ukrainians rejoice as they're now living independently for first time in centuries.

The eastern provinces of Bohemians will soon seize the opportunity and rebel, in hopes of joining their Russian brethren.

Bohemia is broken, and will never, EVER, get back from this. And even if they do - we will be ready!!

[Haspen]

032: Adventures in Italy

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Didn't know that Castille is doing so badly it has gotten nationalist rebels.

Eh, Ragusa is of no real importance. It can stay.



Somewhat late, we gain the last upgrades to our Western model military.

We had upgrades during the recent war with Bohemia, and we've rolled them up between battles, to ensure our disorganized Armies won't get pulverized.



Kingdom of Two Sicilies is but a name nowadays. They've just moved their Capital overseas, probably to South America where they still have some of their colonies intact.

Perfect opportunity for us to retake ancient Byzantine holdings!



The old forts in Apulia are easily taken by storming them.

Naples however is much better protected. We will pass the time by chasing down Sicillian armies and stomping over Milan, their vassal (and only ally).



In middle of our little war, Socialist thought emerges amongst the Byzantine upper classes.

Emperor Ioannes XV is personally insulted by this movement. Endorsement would make stabilization of Byzantium harder, and we cannot allow that.

Socialism, therefore, will be repressed!



The Emperor is dead, long live the Emperor!

Theodoros IV has the unfortunate distinction of not having a heir at the ready, but I'm sure this will be fixed.



It took a year, but we have a heir to the Byzantine throne! His stats are exactly average.

As predicted earlier, the separated Bohemian provinces are now ridden with Russian patriots. Serves them right!

The war drags on - the citizens of Naples, despite being under siege and their ports blockaded, stubbornly refuse to surrender.



I've added this event all the way back when we were reconquering Syria and friends, but it triggered only now?

We're extremely unlucky, it seems.



We take Cremona purely because we had just enough of war score to do so.

The game immediately tasks us with conquest of Sicily and Malta, the latter still owned by The Knights (Hospitallier, I believe).

Two more wars it is!



"We're being warned by whom?"

"Emperor of Japan, sir."

Leaves one to wonder just what is our reputation if someone from the other side of the world decides to warn us.



On one hand, Sicily got The Knights involved, meaning we can annex them in single conflict.

On other hand, Hessian Emperor got himself and his vassals involved as well.

This might take a while.



We might be underestimating the Hessians; they've rolled out nearly 100k troops into this war, including 50k Army currently besieging Liguria.

Then they won Battle of Tuscany, forcing us to retreat and converge two Themas at Romagna to deter their further attack.

We must wage our actions and words carefully, lest-



Oh.

Back to scheduled conquering, everyone!



I dislike Stability hits quite much, but the other option would spawn rebels in Greece and Anatolia, and I don't wanna deal with that.



Truly, there's LOTS of rebel thought around Europe, if Danzig, of all the possible states, emerges!

Meanwhile, we slowly besiege Sicillian and Tuscan holdings.



Malta and Sicily have been annexed, and Emperor Theodoros IV decided to grab some provinces from Tuscany.

Now, Italy Peninsula looks much, much better in terms of coloration, don't you agree?

[Haspen]

033: Once More Unto Prague

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

There will be lots of conversions in Italy!

Fortunately, our influx of Missionaries is above two per year, we can manage this.



Bah! The healers failed, and our heir, Konstantinos, is no more!



BAH I SAY!



Emperor Theodoros IV decides to distract himself from death of his son by constructing Universities and expanding our Themas once more.

More artillery and more cannon fo- I mean infantry is always a good thing, especially during sieges.



Goddamn natives! They've burned Kordofan colony for 2nd time already.



Phew, we've got a replacement. And Andronikos has quite good stats, too!

And in the background, you can see that we broke Austria a bit too much.

It's full of rebels!



This way we have no need for St.Nicholas or Embassy building.

It will greatly help cut down our current Infamy as well.

Few days later, Andronikos is also hailed as Porphyrogennetos, giving us legitimacy and prestige. Yay!



Poor Brazil.



Emperor Theodoros IV gets a bit tense with all those rebels and revolutions.

He decides that to bring peace to Byzantium, the people must be kept on a tighter leash than before.

A national program of repressions will do just that; we don't worry about our economy as we still earn lots of money per year.



The Nubian tribe of Funj needs to be civilized, for even the Haasa bedouins are actually a kingdom.

Byzantium will civilize Funj well!

...well we would, if Haasan troops didn't get back to Suakin province scant few days before Thema Thessalonikes did. Oh well!



They're small, yes, and most importantly they stand between our provinces of Venezia and Treviso, and the lands of Slovenia, our vassal.



Really guys?

Because of a single one-province state? Come on!

I guess Tuscany likes to pick up a fight with us way too much. Another vassal to the herd, anyone?



The fools are thinking we would not answer the call of help of Lithuania??

Time to beat Bohemia once again!

After we vassalize Aquileia and go to peace with rest of Holy Roman Empire.



Battles rage in Bohemian Hungary and we will soon have to deal with shortages of supplies deep in Bohemian territory or in Russian wilderness.

This idea will make our armies, even when combined, impervious to such things.



Of course I'm not going to decentralize

Our war with Bohemia drags on, per usual, and Lithuania had to give up some territories.

But Emperor Theodoros IV has a plan how to get them back to their old owners.



The largest battle of the war occurs at Ersekujvar, and we had to retreat!



A bold plan by Pelagios Akropolites sees our Themas chase the Bohemian armies all the way to Erz.

There, even bigger battle than Ersekujvar occurs, and we win!



Their armies are broken apart, so we begin siege of their heartlands.



Took way too long to subjugate Aquileia.

They've been converted and vassalized, while Nice also had to turn to Orthodox faith.



I bet that our Emperor died of boredom.



Andronikos ascends to the throne and his sister Helen is the next heir.

Emperor Andronikos VIII's first act will be to seek peace with Bohemia.



And peace is signed! Bohemia is torn in two thanks to Andronikos' skill at diplomacy.

Mayhaps this will curb their expansionist tendencies.

[Haspen]

034: Farewell to Constantinople

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First time we've got Kordofan to host more than 400 colonists.

Celebration time!



WHAT FOOD SHORTAGES we have dozens of grain and fish producing provinces!!

And what the heck is that rebel army size, Iesos Xristos!

The other option demands we spend over 5000 ducats to buy the grain, which ain't happening.



Where are all those rebels coming from!?

Is this rebel pollen season or something?



Would you believe that Mr.Phouskarnaki here was only this much from calling a retreat?

We destroy the rebels, and then we destroy the natives of Kordofan, we've wasted too much time with that land.



I'VE SAID NO!



Cowards, all of them!



aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Socialists did it! Helene, whom we just introduced to the court at age of 15, has no heir at the moment.

She has terrible stats though.



First the peasants, now the intelligentsia?

Fine then! We will censor ALL the things!

We have enough Fine Arts Academies built around Byzantium to counter that -4 cultural tradition per year.



Despite all the little obstacles in the recent year, stability reigns supreme in Byzantium.

Also, Queen Helene now has a son!



Despite not being the greatest diplomat around, Queen Helene does persuade Silesia (and later Mazovia and Nitra) to become Byzantine vassals.

Byzantium is currently a powerful state with multiple client states, pious Orthodox people, and vast amount of resources and wealth!



And may it last forever.

[Haspen]

We've been a German Minor, a colonial empire and restored the Pentarchy.

Time for something a bit different!

001: IN NOMINE DEI

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We're the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem! Or Prussia, but that's semantics

Invited by one of Polish dukes decades ago, we've been responsible for bringing the light of Christianity upon the pagans living in the dark.

Nowadays, however, the pagans are mostly Catholic, and we're kinda out of work at the moment.



To kill the time (and kill some infidels), we can exploit the schismatics of the East.

Subjugation of Pskov will wait a bit; first we need to create a proper army.



The Holy Roman Emperor himself is asking that we will become his allies!

Obviously, to protect our flank against the Polish and Lithuanians, we accept!

Meanwhile, treaties are signed with Pope Bonifacius IX. It's always good to be on the good side of the God, and his shepherds.



Pskov used its diplomatic skills to get some friends by the way of Tver and Ryazan.

Therefore, we ally with their common enemy - the Muscovy!



Tver and Ryazan join the war to protect Principality of Pskov, and Muscovy was unwilling to join the war.

No matter, we can call up Holy Roman Emperor, if only to get some scary numbers showing.



Most Holy Mother in Heavens!

We're recruiting Sir de Bazan immediately.



After the army of Knyaz John is destroyed, we return to besiege and capture his land.

He is forced to accept our overlordship as well as convert to Catholicism!



Right, the pagans of Samogitia know when to stir up trouble.

We leave some soldiers to besiege Tver territories, as we intend to demand money from them.

Probably will have to spend it on missionary work in Samogitia.



It will be good for our people to promote the Florentines.

And for our religious propaganda efforts, too!



The Bohemian Emperor is quite a hard worker, and has managed to centralize the Empire a bit just after we conclude the war.



As we contemplate the majesty of God, our officials need to keep our administration efficient.

Some extra law-making is overdue anyways!



Meanwhile, the south-east of our domains, everything exploded in many shades of green.

Lithuania also is no longer bound to Poland, which is suffering from rebels and legitimacy crises.

We've got to exploit this situation, but how...?



!*

[Haspen]

002: AVE MARIA

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Alas, the old Konrad von Jungingen has passed away to the house of God!

The Kapitel has elected Konrad V to lead the Order, against the war with Poles.



...On the other hand though, maybe let's not do that.



In the meanwhile, smugglers and other unsavory folk are running our ports.

We need to deal with them!



Aha! The vile Lithuanians of Samogitia finally accepted both the supremacy of the God and our customs.

And yes, the Golden Horde is currently rampanging through all those little Rus states.



it seems not all is well within Bohemian territories.



The God is trying the Order, but we shall prevail.

Meanwhile, Golden Horde continues to devour the Rus principalities province by province.



Polotsk becomes our ally.

Konrad V is infuriated by the fact that anywhere we want to expand, someone or something protects our enemies.



Good reason as any to collect some war taxes.

Maybe our fleet will see some use, too!



Our Army must become the bestest in the Catholic world.

This way, we do not have to fear the hordes!



Out of all people in the war, Brittany sailed to the Baltic and tried to invade Gotland.

We've sunk their ships with ease.



They want to take Osel from us.

We will send them to our Lord, the Father!



Our navy wins at the Baltic, and our brothers win at Gotland.



Danish King died during the war, and the Swedes declared independence.

They've swiftly accepted our peace treaty.

Meanwhile, Lubeck and Mecklenburg allowed our soldiers to pass through their territories.



The Battle of Holstein would go awry if not for Bohemian reinforcements!

Then, we chase the Danes to Schleswig, delivering another defeat unto them.



Deus Vult!

The Danes have been punished, and Bohemian Emperor will sure like that we liberated Holstein, a Prince of the Empire.

Now let's check what is the Golden Horde up to-



*little_girl_scream.mp3*