Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Haspen]

008: Supremacy in the East, Colonies in the West

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Due to a mishap, 1st Fleet and Sir Braddock went to sleep with the fishes in Labrador Strait. Our sailors need to be more careful next time.



What's worse, the natives in Greenland has been restless for the last months. Two attacks in Vestbygden, and another just now in Eiriksfjord.

It's really annoying, if not those attacks the colonies would be self-sufficient by now!



Edward rises to the throne, and his first cousin George is his current heir.

This allows us to launch a war against Sweden - Orkney islands, a core of Britain, are held by them, and we want those!



The campaign was victorious and occured mostly on the seas; while Netherlands preoccupied Brittany, Swedish ally, the Royal British Navy defeated Swedes twice near Copenhagen, and then exerted pressure on their economy via naval blockades.

Finally, the Swedish Queen agreed to our modest demands.



At last! The colonies in Greenland reached over thousand population.



The Navigator that helped chart the western coasts has died, his replacement possessing half the skill he had.

Nevertheless, this will not stop our policy of colonization. A new explorer, Sir Middleton, was hired to steer 1st Fleet down the coast of Vinland.



In the meanwhile, Emperor Edward spends his time passing civic reforms; the Militia Act will strengthen the Army, while Dissolution Act will help calm people down in times of instability.



Civilization has been found in Vinland's south! Or, at least, something akin to a civilization, for the Shawnee are backward, tribal peoples.

However, a dispatch by Emperor Edward was sent to ask the Shawnee to let our ships dock at their coastal villages; and the natives agreed. Truly, they might be intelligent people after all!



We join the war on behalf of Netherlands, who wish to annex Brabant, a territory considered their core.

Emperor Edward does not want to involve our soldiers, and our Navy will be docked as well for none of Brabantian allies have access to the seas. Free war taxation, though!



Then, Portugal draws us into a Crusade against the Moroccans (and Ottomans, and Algiers).

Royal Navy will provide nautical support, for Ottomans are known to possess quite a few galleys in the Mediterranean.



Meanwhile, the British Crown has hired Sir Sebastian, from Castille, a 6-star Navigator.

This allows us to send settlers to the Vinland proper! A rush of colonists grants us extra volunteers to faster establish colonies in the New World.



Shortly after Netherlands concludes the war against Thuringia, the heir to the throne, George Howard, proves to be a literary genius. We will add his work to the cultural heritage of Britain.



Sir Middleton sends a report to Vestbygden; to south of Vinland there's plenty of islands.

As well as some sort of 'Aztec' people, who unfortunately weren't as nice as Shawnee and refused his ships to dock.



Apparently, a Protest against the Church has begun in Aachen.

Protestantism, if you will.

[Dorsidwarf]

I really enjoy these playthroughs as I’ve never been able t get into Europa Universalis myself.

[Haspen]

009: We Are Not Alone

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Another explorer dies! Rest in peace, Sir Middleton. We colonize Ungava and rename its future capital as Middleton in his memory.

We have moderately high naval tradition thanks to all the discoveries made by him, so we ought to have a high maneuver explorer next.



The Algerian crusade ends and Portugal snatched for herself Alexandria, the somewhat rich african centre of trade. Good for them.



Out of all places where Protestantism had to spread, it was Highlands. Along with Aachen and province of Bremen, these are, currently, the only Protestant regions in the world.



Just as we were to commemorate the fact that ruling dynasty of Hungary is Howardian, George Howard, heir to the throne of Britain, dies.

His replacement isn't bad at all, though, so the loss is less felt than it would be.



With inflation incurred by previous expenses gone, and colonists showing up is rare, Emperor Edward decides to abandon idea of National Bank.

Instead, Colonial Ventures will get us 1 Colonist yearly extra (to the 1.6 yearly total).



We love Sir Talbot already.

He will be sent to finish Middleton's work and chart the coasts of Gulf of Mexico as well as all those islands south of our colonies in Vinland.



Meanwhile, the reformist theology is further causing splits in the Christian church. Now some Russians in Novgorod made up another religion!

All those schisms with Papal States lead the court of Britain to debate national stance on this religion...



Look at all those coasts and islands! Sir Talbot is performing hero's work, discovering all the future colonies of Britain.

Unfortunately he made two more discoviers - Castillean and Portuguese ships are scouting the New World, too. Although no colonies were seen, we can assume our southern neighbours will be planting their flags on the virgin soil very soon.



Why, by all means! We will support such endeavour. This will help us get Beothuk and Taqamkuk gain self-sufficiency much faster.

After a short consideration, Emperor Edward decides to accept alliance with Sweden; the animosity over Orkney Islands is truly over, and Swedes, with their big army and fleet could help us against whatever threat rises against us.

Few weeks afterwards, we receive news that Prostestant faith has spread to Western Isles. The Scots seem to be actively trying to meddle with our prosperous rule even after annexation.



Turns out, the southern Vinland is not as empty as we've thought. Sir Talbot believes their colonies must've been created at least a decade ago, if not more, to reach such an extent.

Very troubling, especially that Emperor Edward had plans on colonizing the southern islands. Mayhaps we will still be able to claim some of them, but for that we need a core port in Greenland - or Vinland - first.



Just as Scots in Ayshire convert to Protestantism and the Welsh in Gwynned accept reformist teachings of Calvin, the Pope hosts a council in Reval, Sweden.

The great amount of conversions in England force Emperor Edward's hand, it seems. Accept the Protestant faith, or invite Counter-Reformists over to deal with the heresies?

Maybe seek a third option of some sort? A happy communion between Catholicism and the Protestant faiths, if that's even possible?



Still, we have development in mind, not reform.

And now that we have access to some reliable cannons, we ought to introduce them into the British Armies - will help deal with rebels faster.

[Haspen]

010: Religious Mayhem on the Horizon

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As we develop our colonies - with new one in Labrador, for example - we are interrupted with either Nationalist uprisings, or news of conversion.

This one's especially dangerous, for it has happened near the central Britain.



Sir Talbot has grown bored and proposed to the crown a new voyage - around Africa, to reach other side of Arabia, and the lands beyond.

With most of the eastern coasts of Vinland, and the continent south of it, charted, Emperor Edward saw no reason to stop Sir Talbot from conducting his trip.



Half a year later, Sir Talbot's expedition brings fruit; a strategic location of Cape has been discovered, the local natives docile and small in numbers.

We must colonize the area first, for it makes perfect supply port for the ships sailing in either direction, east or west.



Conversions in the mainland, or rather, risks of revolt those conversions bring, has forced Emperor Edward to hire a high judge to help maintain the dissent.



Netherlands calls for help; Gelre lost friendship of Austria recently, and thus had to maintain closer ties with some weak states in the HRE, and Netherlands still have a core on Gelre's territory.

Royal Navy is there to help, if any naval help will be needed, but the British Army won't intervene unless necessary. We're on tight budget, and I will feel safer if we have troops on the Isles to deal with any revolts that might happen.



Extra taxation for the war was instead spent on creation of several more colonies in continental Vinland.

See how lovely is the deep red coloration on the coasts? Simply sublime.



Emperor Edward V has died, and his heir is unfortunately few months away from ascension. The court is sure that no crises will arise, however.

As you can see in background, Sir Talbot, free of religious or feudal worries of Britain and Europe, is cruising on the seas of muslims. He has successfully negotiated with Mamluks to be allowed to dock at their ports for resupply and repair.



You see, young Edward VI has always despised the passive approach of his father to the concerns of Reformation, as well as late Emperor's fixation on Vinland alone, so these two things shall change.

Bill of Rights will appease the grumbling masses, while colonization of island of Puerto Rico should begin a new age of British colonization, especially that Portuguese sailors speak of rich, valuable plant 'tobacco' as well as prime conditions to cultivate sugar and Arabian coffee on the isles.

What does Vinland get us in the meanwhile? Fur and naval supplies, decent, but not greatest of trade goods.



Sir Talbot brings much more great news - he has discovered the 'true' India, with their elephants, spices and tea.

Although Indians are not much enthusiastic about meeting us, the small Sultanate of Sind has allowed Talbot's ships to dock from time to time.



See? Just one colony and we already have British Coffee. Hurrah!



Cultivation of coffee must've had a stimulating effect on the populace, because suddenly everyone wants to go to the colonies.

Of course we accept the masses, and send them promptly to the Caribbean island of Cuba.



String of good news continues, for there is finally a heir to the throne of Britain, infant Octavius.

Provinces north and west of London continue converting to Protestant (rarely, Reformed) faith, prompting Edward VI to seek a compromisal solution right now.

Although his father faced the same problem, he did nothing, and Edward VI decided it is time to intervene.



Obtaining some wriggling room at the expense of breaking ties with certain influential man living far, far away from Great Britain will be the first step.



This, however, was NOT step number two.

Oh dear.

[Haspen]

I really enjoy these playthroughs as I’ve never been able t get into Europa Universalis myself.

Thanks!

And I'm glad to know that at least three people read these

[Haspen]

011: Sugar Tale of Japan and Excommunication

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sir Talbot continues his journey east and has brought us knowledge of the Indonesian islands, along with the Port of Malacca, a place fabled amongst Muslim traders as the richest in the world.

Meanwhile, our soldiers here in Britain are fighting against Scottish and Welsh nationalists, incited by religious chaos in the country (the Irish on the other hand are suspiciously docile).



Emperor Edward VI is doing all he can to undo the damage the religious instability has brought.

He has decided to back his edict with actual spending, but to ensure we do not fall into the red and have to take a loan, maintenance of colonies and the navy has been reduced.



Another war we join purely to raise taxes amongst the peasants. Hopefully they will never catch on.

Current situation forces us to hire an Artist (to help with low stability) and another Judge (the previous one died recently).



The other option would give us better relations with the Papal States; the one we take has that juicy, delicious +1 to Stability which we need so much.



Our trading technology is finally catching up with rest of Europe; and we can monopolize Antwerpen as a result. More profits for us!



This sweet pop-up was somewhat dulled by the news that at Havana and Innu, two of our colonies, natives attacked British settlers, killing over two hundred.

Those are only temporary setbacks, however. (and later we learn that entirety of Cuba is gonna produce sugar)



Despite our best efforts, rebels keep popping up. First Ayshire and Highlands, then Yorkshire and now Munster, in Ireland.



In other news: Inside Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian dominance has been shattered; their wanton annexation of Bavaria and nearby provinces caused them to become unpopular shortly before death of Austrian emperor, and the crown has returned to Bohemia after a century.

Our high popularity with Elector of Saxony is only because House of Howard has been marrying into Electorate's ruling family for the past thirty years, starting right after ascension of Edward IV, to help legitimize his rule.



Sir Talbot lives and is doing very well on hiis continuing quest to discover brave new lands and new civilizations.

On home front, the amount of armed rebellions has been smaller as of late. Our high stability, Bill of Rights and work of our High Judge are definitely helping.



And the great explorer does it again! Spurned by tales he heard from Thai sailors, Sir Talbot realized that fabled China - or Xin - is just northwards.

Even better, he has discovered the Japanese Archipelago and became first person from Europe to make an audience with Emperor of Japan. Both these great nations agreed to let him dock at their ports.



Unfortunately, not everything is well in the colonies, too.

Natives at Innu are growing restless, and we had to defend the settlement against them. We must also direct more colonists to help the colony grow beyond thousand persons.



Aaand the obvious happened although it took a while. Finally, the rulers of Great Britain have been excommunicated.

We will be buttering him up with money in a short while. After all, we're still seeking a compromise here, not severing of ties.

[Haspen]

012: The Church of Great Britain, or REBELS EVERYWHERE

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Well this is certainly new. For the first time ever, rebels has appeared outside British Isles or France.

Emperor Edward has called for creation of a colonial force along with transport fleet which will maintain order in our overseas territories.



As the Royal Navy is fetching soldiers to Gascogne to deal with Protestant rebels, Emperor Edward decides that it is time to stop being so pompous.

He is now a King, of the progressive administrative monarchy. More magistrates and faster policy changes are the main reasons, here.



Everyone shall remember Sir Talbot as the great explorer of West and the East, no doubt about that.

As people mourn his passing, King Edward decreed that the capital of Puerto Rico will therefore be renamed 'Talbot' in memory of the brave explorer.



Castille has managed to inherit the throne of Naples with ascension of King Juan; they now own half of Italy. Very troubling.

Shortly afterwards, a revolt occurs in Talbot, capital of Puerto Rico! We need to get the colonial force going, and soon.



Finally, after many, many years of debate, King Edward VI has found the third, golden option - Church of Great Britain!

With him as the Supreme Governor of this new state Church, we can offer the people of Britain a happy compromise between both Catholic orthodoxy as well as reforms of Protestant and Reformed faiths!

Although this will bring us instability for a while longer, we now have a goal, a unity in mind, which we can pursue without hesitation!

Unfortunately this causes our allies to renounce the treaties, and we can be sure that the Pope will find his way to intervene in an attempt to bring us back into the fold. But we will stand strong and united!



As Protestant zealotry in Scotland is dying off, our missionary efforts will begin there.

Please do not ask about revolt risk in the country at the moment, the double-digit values are scary enough for myself.



With British Ruler as Supreme Governor, we can use their influence to raise stability, push sliders toward Mercantilism, and even marry local noblewomen at will to get us a heir in quite reliable way.

The stability cost increase is more of a 'cooldown' than anything.



And the faith itself has some fairly powerful bonuses, outweighed by the high Stability costs per province and the fact that having a Church of our own will get us no friends and many enemies in Europe.

Strap yourselves bois, the hard part of the game has just begun.



ISN'T IT FUN!?

Royal Navy should be able to deal with them, and our Armies shouldn't be that bad either. Hopefully?



The attempted naval invasion of Britain by the Dutch has been repelled.



After Dutch Army landed in Norfolk and their Navy split into two, Royal British Navy ambushed both parts and defeated them, causing the panicked Dutch government to sue for peace.

King Edward VI is not suicidal enough to push any demands and hastily accepted.



And finally, someone outside England has embraced true faith. First step on the long, long road to religious unity.

We also decide to pass Test Act, and while it will make heretics hate us more, it will get has 0.5 missionary yearly. Considering the amount of provinces we have, we need those holy men.



Edward VI has to personally lead armies on rebel-whacking tour across British Isles.

By the God, there's SO MANY REBELS EVERY MONTH YOU WOULDN'T BELIEVE. British Isles, Normandy, then Gascogne - SUDDENLY! Rebels in Scotland! Rebels in Puerto Rico! Even more rebels in Scotland!



Gah! We ran out of money when I wasn't looking!

Oh well, one loan shouldn't kill us, and might only help us in the long run.



Just as the rebellions were getting tidied up and new ones became infrequent, Edward VI, the reformer and first Supreme Governor, has died.

Hopefully the reign of his successor Octavius will see the end of the abhorrent religious instability plaguing Britain for the past decade or so.



I've forgot about the events. I totally forgot I've made events for Anglican faith and instability it brings.

The other option was -1 to Stability and spawning of MORE REBELS, so we will have to swallow the loss of prestige this time.

Maybe this was a mistake. Maybe we should've smooched the Papal posterior and live in relative peace and prosperity, but no, we've chosen the path of 'Having front seats during a Live Disaster Feed', that is our life now, guys!

[Haspen]

013: Desperate Giveaways

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Octavius dies after just two or so years on the throne, leaving little Maximillian in the hands of his regents.

Thank god they're rather hypercompetent, otherwise our situation would've taken a turn to worse.



State economy is abhorrent mess at the moment; inflation, loan interest, missionary and military expenses.

We're minting like crazy, and even with no investments into technologies we're still near-top levels of infrastructure.



We have no other option here, unfortunately, but few weeks earlier our Stability finally got out the red!

What's even better is that the missionaries are slowly completing their work; most of Scotland, for example, follows Anglican doctrine.

And our economy has, because of that, healed; we're no longer in danger of bankruptcy, and are earning 10 ducats yearly.



May he live long and prosper, and see the end of the religious chaos in Britain!

Just in time, too, for just few weeks later Maximillian can exert his authority as Supreme Governor. Of course we take the free Stability increase.



After we have to fight corruption at expense of 1 Stability point, Anne, heiress to the throne of Britain, is born.



Aren't they persistent, huh?

We will kick their butts once more.



Raising army maintenance unfortunately drove us under the zero just near the end of the year.

Hopefully kicking Dutch ass will get us some prestige, money, hopefully both.



*deep breath*

Boi.



As Burgundians are currently the ones in control of Calais, that will be their problem to fix, ha ha ha.



We've dealt enough damage to cause Netherlands to renounce their claims to Antwerpen and give us money.

Now to deal with Burgundians, which will be much trickier; they have plenty of troops and allies on their side.



We decide to concede the war, giving Burgundy Picardy as well as losing some prestige to have them accept our terms.



An event bumped our stability up, and the stability slider also happened.

King Maximillian decided to part with the provinces in southwestern france, selling them away to help our economy regain stability. We're currently overminting simply to deal with the expenses.

PS: We sell them for a total of 340 ducats, just in time to repay a loan.



The situation in the country is on a somewhat good track... whilst colonies and continental possessions in Normandy remain non-Anglican, the Isles are mostly converted. King Maximillian is even considering if holding onto the Paris is worth it, for it could fetch a big price if sold away...

Then our Theologian had to raise an issue. We had him removed, and hired a new guy in his place. Instability continues, and the end of it is nowhere to be seen.

[Haspen]

014: Stability Returns to Britain

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Suddenly and out of nowhere, Maximillian has decided to die. Bloody hell!

His heiress, Anne, is currently 8 years old, and the regents watching over her are exceptional administrators but not much else.



As marriages are far and rare for Britain these days, we had to commission a statue to keep the legitimacy high.

Meanwhile, an option appeared to Dissolve the Monasteries, getting us higher tax income as well as hard cash right away, so naturally we will be doing that.



Good events with good timing are rare, cherish them!

Also, minting has been drastically reduced as we now earn enough money to support our economy and military, and we even had money to become Defender of Faith, boosting our prestige and morale of armies.



And going with Maximillian's original plan, once Paris falls into British hands, we sell it away. Champagne buys the province Ile-de-France for a whooping 600 ducats.

A large island of 3 provinces in the Caribbean has also been colonized, we must get back to colonization game as soon as possible.



Les Cayes, and before it, Barahonas colony, begun producing cotton; few days later an influential merchant dies and we take the money he left us in the will, almost 280 ducats. Very nice!

As you can see in the background, we've hired an explorer and sent the Explorer Squadron to do some exploring; discovering places earns prestige, and that's always a good thing to have.



The most important military advancement occurs - we gain access to gun infantry. We will go with Tercio Infantry.

Meanwhile, several of our colonial lands in Vinland have cored; we can reach as far as the tip of southern continent!



Queen Anne finally ascends to the throne of Great Britain! Even Stability rose to the maximum of +3, unseen at such a number for the last thirty years or so!

We will commemorate this with colonization of islands of St.Barthelemy and St.Thomas, just eastwards from Puerto Rico.



His exploring was as glorious as it was short. As you can see, we will be naming the capital of St.Barthelemy after him.



Pity this event have not popped up earlier; especially that the other option lowers revolt risk by 1 point for 10 years.

Oh well, we will take what we're given! It will help convert the remaining Catholic and Reformed holdouts (Scottish Protestantism has been fully eliminated by now).



Yes! YES! Finally some progress, and the doctrinal confusion (along with its intolerance and higher stability costs) is gone!

Long live Good Queen Anne!

Long live Great Britain!

[Haspen]

015: Good Queen Anne

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As the time passes interrupted with our missionaries finishing their work (more often) or rebels showing up (less often), we get first colony that produces Tobacco.



Because Queen Anne cannot use her authority as Supreme Governor to have a consort, and thus a heir, she has to wait a bit.

Fortunately, we now have George; with average stats, but we will take him. Hopefully he breaks the curse of previous boys named George, who all died before becoming Kings of Britain.



Look at that lovely dark lavender Anglican shade! We're almost done with Europe, but we will probably leaving Antwerpen alone for some time due to high conversion costs.

We've also begun converting colonies, starting with Greenland.



We begin colonization of Bermuda, a lone island in middle of Atlantic Ocean. While not exactly a rich place, it is valuable strategically as a resupply port for navies.

Plans are also drawn to begin colonization of Cape in South Africa.



Bah! The other option is to add 3 more points to our already big inflation.



We ourselves however hire a better Master of the Mint after accumulating enough cultural tradition.

Minting has been further reduced, and whilst our yearly profits now linger about 90 ducats, we're finally, FINALLY, reducing inflation.



After several years of trying, we have a colony in the Cape at last.



Too late for this, Pope! If it was done earlier, I *might* have considered conversion, but now? With our Church firmly established, with few colonies remaining unconverted?

Good Queen Anne has people's support, and she will endure excommunication if need be.



An explorer from Middleton family has discovered a new continent, named 'Australia' by the British cartographers.

It's quite large, quite far, and quite barren; deserts dominate the landscape. Sir Middleton is wondering whether there will be any fertile grounds at all.



God bless Sir David Raleigh! His work brought us the stability we need, and boosts our inflation reduction to boot.



The reign of Good Queen Anne is bringing even more good events!

We will be spending this money on upgrading our military infrastructure, for we have a big empire and so little armed forces.



Crown Prince George is old enough to be eligible for introduction to the court!

This brings us prestige, legitimacy and even cultural tradition.



Good Queen Anne decides to address a very important issue of Great Britain - stability recovery. For that, it is now mandatory to attend church serives on Sunday.

With that implemented, Queen Anne also decides that we've explored enough of the World already (Sir Middleton has been sent to explore some more of Australia and Northeast Asia), and the Quest for it can be replaced with Press Gangs.

It will cut our naval expenses by half; that's right, cheaper shipbuilding AND cheaper maintenance.



Finally, as Anglicanism spreads and other religions lose ground in Britain, peace and stability returns truly to our glorious nation! Hurrah!

[Haspen]

016: The British India Company Has Arrived!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Recently, Queen Anne raised an important question at the Parliament of Great Britain; what do we have to earn in meddling in Europe?

Nothing.

What do we get if we take our forces east?



An entire subcontinent worth of spices, cotton and tea.

Royal Navy will transport newly created India Army to fight against Ceylon, taking the rich island for ourselves.

Later, we might consider moving inland, or capture more rich lands in the Indochina.



We're poised to strike, and strike we will!



We annex Ceylon in its entirety, getting ourselves some Spices as well as extra Sugar.

Meanwhile, Explorer Squadron has been called to rejoin Royal Navy after almost a hundred years of autonomous function.



This in turn allows us to create British India Trade Company, based in Lancashire.

With this much of a boost into trade and competitiveness of our merchants, our economy will get a boost in turn.

Which will be very much useful as we had to take a loan during the war, oops.



Oh huh, Holy Roman Empire actually got a reform passed, especially under the Bohemians?

Impressive. Not of our concern, however, for Queen Anne is already planning an attack against Malacca, the rich centre of trade in Indochina.

First, however, we will need to create a separate Indian Fleet to ferry troops in the far east; having Royal Navy away from Europe during last fight against Ceylon made some people at the court worry about us being defenseless in case of an European war.



Preparations for the conquest of Malacca are suddenly marred by death of Crown Prince George - truly cursed name, this! - who had a hunting accident.

As there's no one to replace him as heir to the throne of Britain, the future of Howard dynasty is endangered.



Bah! How dare they rise against Good Queen Anne?

We will crush their little revolt!



We begin conquest of Aceh, or rather Malacca; maybe some nearby provinces as well, because the centre of trade is not as rich as we thought.

After cursory research amongst traders and seafarers, it seems that both Makassar and the Xin recently created two new CoTs, greatly cutting into Malaccan profits and influence... oh well!



And so, British India Company now owns 5 provinces, including a Centre of Trade.

Money and prestige await us!



What's this OwO?

Turns out the competition to Malacca is at the island of Brunei, just across the straits.

Hmmmm...



Rejoice! We have a heir to the throne of Great Britain, William Howard!

It's nephew of Queen Anne, from her sister's marriage, nonetheless, he is as Howard and he is of legitimate birth. Hurrah!



We couldn't help ourselves. After all - better us than other Europeans!

We will even let them keep their faiths intact, as long as they get us money! Tis we pledge!

[Haspen]

017: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Of course, the moment our Stability gets near zero, something brings it to zero.

We don't have much need to colonial growth or missionaries, so we might as well go Innovative now.



Our colonial possessions in the Carribbean are finally coring. In few years, we be getting St.Thomas and St.Barthelemy.



Unfortunately, the other option lowers our stability, and we cannot let that happen at the moment.

Catholic traitors will get to remain in the Parliament for a while longer.



As you can see, we've been slowly crawling across the shores of Hudson's Bay, and now we have exclusive access to Vinland soil.



The game finds the way to drop our Stability into the red, because the other option is decentralization.

Fortunately for us, the stability slider is nearly filled, and soon we can use our authority to Strengthen the Nation as well.



Great sadness permeates every corner of the British domains! Queen Anne, ruling prosperously since 1558, has passed away. With her passing, Excommunication is soon ended, its negative impact gone.

Her current heir to the throne, young William, will be tended by the regency council, which unfortunately is below average. Hopefully all will be well during this period.



The regency progresses rather smoothly, except very occassional revolt in the Indochina or Ceylon.

We even manage to find time - and empty lot - to colonize some more of Caribbean.



Despite the court having sent for best medicus in the Isles, illness has struck down William Howard, heir to the throne of Britain and the last legitimate male of the Howard dynasty.

The interregnum begins for who knows how long, and some local noblemen took this opportunity to rebel in Cornwall. The army needs to defeat a stack of 15 regiments while Regents of Britain debate who - and most importantly, when - should ascend to the throne.

God be with Great Britain!

[Haspen]

018: The Stanleys

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fortunately, the nobles' revolt was driven from Cornwall, bounced off Gloucestershire and then finally defeated at Wessex.



Ah, finally! First modifier from trade, and its Tobacco, too.



Finally, the Regents of Great Britain has decided that George of House Stanley should ascend to the throne; his roots to Lancasters were traced back to late 14th century!

He immediatelly passes two important edicts; Oath of Supremacy will strengthen legitimacy (at the cost of angry heretics) while Judiciary Act will help lower risk of rebellions.



He gets himself an heiress, named Anne, no doubt in memory of the deceased Queen.

The girl sure takes after her father! King George I Stanley has also decided to start the programme of colonization of deeper parts of Canada, to deny other nations access to furs and naval supplies.



Suprisingly, however, British merchants were able to take a lion share of the markets at Epekwitk, a Swedish colony and centre of trade for Vinland.

Similaringly high chances to succeed are projected for Nanjing in China and Mexico in, well, Mexico. Whilst the second one is landlocked, let's see if we cannot persuade Chinese Emperor to grant British India Company access to the Chinese markets and goods.



George I believes that inflation, whilst at 6.4%, is under control and slowly being reduced, and it is time to squeeze extra cash from the colonies.

Few weeks later, the colonial possession at Cape becomes British core, allowing us to settle in Africa if we will; a bit later, our reach will extend to the Indochina!



Speaking of the eastern lands, The British India Company has requested authorization of moving into 'Indian mainland'.

Targets are Travanacore ports from Madras to Malabar, 3 of them producing Spices, and Madurai producing Naval Supplies. King George had decided to go with the Company's plan.

After all, the peoples of South and Southeast Asia are far from Europe, backwards technologically and rich in money, whilst docile after their nationalist urges pass. What's not to like about them, really!



Meanwhile, in the Isles, construction of a weapons manufactory begins at Norfolk; it will give bonus to Land technology as well as extra income.



Aha! Ambassadors from British India Company has managed to persuade Emperor of China to let our merchants in. We will try setting just few merchants in Nanjing and Jinan, rather than obtain monopolies.

Our mercantilistic policies unfortunately do not favor adventures in foreign centres of trade.



Unfortunately Malabar is capital of Travanacore, so we decide to switch for Kongu to get our three Spice-producing provinces.



The citizens of Antwerpen are getting uppity again.... Catholics. Always stirring up trouble. Oh well, some sword and fire approach never failed us!

However, its not only the Flemish; the Indians in Madras and the people of Brunei are restless, and the current forces stationed there can't fight them effectively, prompting King George to create 2nd India Army to watch the subcontinent whilst the original IA will take care of Indochina.



Our rapid economical progress is unfortunately marred with incidents of corruption and smuggling.

The other option is too costly, both in terms of ducats and stability.



Still doesn't stop us from expanding, like here, in South Africa, blanketing the near-empty provinces around Cape with British settlements.

Thanks to these colonies, a new, highly priced, and highly prized, commodity began to be traded by the ever-competitive British merchants: Slaves.



At the end of this update, have some delicious British pie charts!

Because as King George I Stanley understands it, everyone loves some good pie!

[Haspen]

019: Against the Orange Elephant

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This a sad day; even more that Princess Anne was nearly adult.

In few years' time, King George will be marrying a local noblewoman to secure himself a heir (or heiress).



Short time later, British India Company has another request - to war against the Kingdom of Gondwana, to obtain the highly profitable centre of trade at Bihar.

King George acquiesces, for while the Company's methods of conquering are rather ruthless, the British Empire needs any money it can get.



As the war enters its first phase, a boy is born into the Stanley dynasty!

Court astronomer is greatly disturbed by the child's birth, because he believes his skills will be 'less than mediocre'. He has been fired for this insult upon King's family.

Kingdom of Gondwana is putting up quite a fight, prompting both Corps of India to fight cooperatively on their soil.



Mascarene isles of Bourbon and Mauritius are settled by intrepid British settlers.

The war against Gondwana continues, and British India Company has failed to make any inroads, instead being stuck on besieging the coastal province of Bangala.



Cathedrals, glorious monuments - our nation is progressing!



The incompetence of British India Company's forces so far is infuriating King George, especially after the nationalists in Brunei managed to gain some land.

Royal Navy has been directed to the India after the Company's fleet suffered massive damage during an ill-timed voyage through the ocean.



At the worst possible moment, Catholics strike once more!

With Royal Navy out of the position and the Burgundians not even willing to hear our request for military access, we will have a bad time in Antwerpen.

King George is recalling the fleet while British India Company has been forced to sign peace with Gondwana immediately.



Whilst Bihar was out of the diplomats' reach, two provinces were taken from Kingdom of Gondwana.

Hopefully the British India Company has learned something and won't make the same mistakes.

Few years later, King George orders the Company to concentrate on something else:



Colonization of the Spice Islands!

[Haspen]

020: Sweet&Hot&Spicy

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Both Mauritius and Bourbon are now self-sufficient cities, and they're both producing sugar. Perfect!



Meanwhile, in southern Europe, a certain blob of salmon coloration has appeared.

I wonder how long they will last.



As you can see, all the little islands are being taken by the British Crown. With this, we ought to monopolize trade in spices and tea on European markets!



Our statesman is doing great!

We go with extra stability, so we can redirect our spending elsewhere.



Ah, finally, we have our own Chinaware, produced in British workshops and guildhouses.



That is good, and of course we take the money, as stability is high enough and our government research is being prioritized anyway.



Once again, we fight Gondwana for control of Bihar, but this time the Company forces are lead by competent leaders.

The forces defeated the Gondwana's troops at their capital, and their allies quickly asked for peace.



This is interesting... out of nowhere, Xin has declared war upon us!

Royal Navy and the British Company Fleet will work in tandem to destroy their fleets first.



At the coast of India, the Xin attempt to land in our Indian possessions, but the Colonial Fleet blocks their attempt just for Royal Navy to show up.

Together, they pulverize the Chinese navy, seizing ten galleys in the process.



Gondwana is beaten, and now we can move against Xin and Assam, their Burmese allies.



Unfortunately, King George I will not see the glorious end of the war against the Xin; instead, his successor george II will oversee it.

Everyone is looking up for Frederick William, who even in his early age is exhibiting skills of great monarch. May he live till ascension!



King George II, whilst keeping the state of war with Xin Empire, has decided to have the British indulge in something that hasn't been brought up in past decades - music!

Hopefully that will bring up the cultural tradition of Britannnia to the level comparable with that of Italian states or French kingdoms.