Print

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

[Haspen]

035: Southern Vinland Fever

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not the ideal location for a new National Focus but hey, money is money.

(here was image of king dying and Brittany inherited)

This was a thing I was so woefully unprepared that you don't even know.

Despite our relationship with Brittany being neutral at best, the nobles decided to pass it - and Breton colonies - to the British throne.

We're now facing a whole continent of rebellious, non-cored colonies.



First of all, continental, Catholic Brittany is released as vassal. As rebels start popping up in southern Vinland, we're creating two armies that will keep watch over the colonies.

I mean, we've got a centre of trade and whole blob of highly profitable colonies. We want to keep those, if possible, although random bits in Mexico, Southeast Asia and Africa will be sold away.



I have to say, some of these random bits are selling for hella monies.

Royal Army of British Isles is being ferried to Arequipo, where rebels are converging. Peruvian separatists meanwhile move onto Nazca and other provinces in Andes Mountains.



Colonials declared independence from Granada and our non-loyal Breton subjects down there decided to defect as well.

Curse them all! We seek peace with Chile soon enough, and they allow our merchants to control the trade centre at Patagonia Occidental. To try and mitigate further revolt problems, we hire a High Judge, Sydney Boscawen.



Peru is next, and we sign peace with them. They take mostly grain-producing provinces, so we can part with those.



Those are showing up there because we had to assist Castille in putting down Brazillian separatists; Brazil has cores on most of our eastern colonies in southern Vinland!

Our Royal Navy is back home, preparing to ferry new colonial forces to battle the Breton rebels.



Quebecois have rebelled against Scandinavia, and now own Epekwitk centre of trade. We will make sure our merchants maintain rule over the market there.

Meanwhile, we managed to supress all rebels in southern Vinland. No separatists or patriots remain on the loose there.

Our colonists and missionaries are working hard to convert them all to our culture and religion.



Apparently a 3/3/3 ruler invokes 'God have mercy on us all!' pop-up, huh? Always a first time to see anything with this game.

Considering that HRE is split in half in giant war between Bohemia and Austria, colonial nations are popping up right and left, and Xin China has conquered a quarter of Scandinavia, I think entire Europe is suffering from some sort of a curse.

I hope it has a time limit on it.

[Haspen]

036: The Pope Strikes Back

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If someone can explain to me, how Royal Navy, ordered to return to Britain, got 3 transports lost in Pacific before I've found them near Tahiti... I will be thankful.

Personally I bet the Pope is at fault for this. Or Catholics in general, yes.



King George IV has a crafty idea in mind; using fake reasons for war - namely Liberation - we will conquer little parts of India for profit and enlightenment!

Members of Parliament did point out that this will bump our infamy, but the King is undeterred.



Malwa and Gondwana (and Assam) join the war; the former two being on our hit list as well - Khandesh especially because of its centre of trade - we will turn the India red in one swift war!



We smash apart Khandeshi and Malwan armies and begin sieges of their provinces; meanwhile, Rajputana joins enemy's side.

Their three provinces will make a fine addition to our collection! We need to punch Assam for that, as Rajputs are their vassals.



Khandesh falls into our hands!

To placate the intellectuals opposed to these conquests, King George sponsors the Neoclassical artists and architects of Britain with the funds acquired for the war.



Little George Plantagenet dies despite best efforts of hired healers.

Continuing the Anglican tradition, George IV quickly divorces his wife and marries another woman, souring relationship with Brunswick.



The elusive King of Assam and his army are cornered in Naga and destroyed!

In meanwhile, we manage to subdue Gondwana. King George is already busy drafting a peace treaty.





Deva Bengal is rewarded for its loyalty and given one of provinces it considers cores. Nepal becomes independent and Rajputs are devassalized.

Which allows us to grab one of Rajputs' provinces, and quite some cash.

Finally, we humilitate Gondwana, also taking money and a province from them.

The British India is now a singular, connected domain! George IV returns home to celebrate his victories in India.



King George IV has been assasinated! By the Papal emissary, no less! It seems that the Catholic patriarchs have not forgotten - or forgiven, indeed - that Britain broke up with Catholics over two hundred fifty years ago. Sure picked the best moment for this, too.

All of Britain is now harboring deep hatred against the Pope, and efforts are being increased to root out the Breton Catholics out of southern Vinland in response to this.

Young Charles is only four years old by now, and a regency period begins, his tutors and protectors unsure of the dynasty's future. God be with Charles!

[Haspen]

037: The British Raj

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

How did this happen??



Anyway, back to Great Britain.

Paraguay declared independence from Castille, and that caused two of our ex-Breton colonies to defect.

The regents are pondering whether to abandon these to Paraguay or fight for them, we will see how the uprising goes.



They had the ire to attack Ceara, so we decided to attack back.

Out of two provinces with english population, we take the one that produces gold.



These keep popping up; whilst normally they showed up in India or southern Vinland, here we have first of these in Ireland.

The Irish, long ago pacified, are now at 3% revolt risk! Army of Ireland will be moved there from Meath to pacify the population.



Although occassional rebels keep showing up, the recent years passed in relative peace.

Infrastructure is built, Breton colonial are being converted and national and patriotic sentiment is sizzling out.



And there we go! Charles ascends to the throne; his brother George is next in line, a greatly skilled child that one.

He immediately begins with pursuing a more narrowminded policy to boost our missionary efforts.



King Charles has been concentrating mostly on assimilation of Bretons in southern Vinland.

This requires colonists, so a stop was put upon the colonization of native lands west of Great Lakes in the north.



In India, militaristic policy pursued by King Charles leads to another war with Gondwana, and Gujarat, its only ally.

The goal is total conquest of these two.



A quarter of colonial tariffs is lost due to piracy, smuggling and corruption, due to lack of proper protection on the sea and near the ports.

Having pinpointed the problem, the Parliament has asked King Charles to order construction of some Threedeckers; a total of 16 will be built in Normandy, Caux and Calais shipyards.



Gujarat is annexed, and bumps infamy to high 20's.

It has dawned upon King Charles that these conquests also need sealane protection. Orders for Norman shipyards have been upped to 40 ships in total.



Out of nowhere, Khmer declares war upon Great Britain, dragging Xin into it.

Next day, Granada also declares war. Our navies will put pressure on their lands, and force them to sign white peace.



Its fleet destroyed and ports blockaded, Granada quickly surrenders to our demand for money.

Meanwhile, in the eastern seas, fighting against Xin and Khmer continues, many of their ships sunk during each encounter.



Once we control their seas, the Khmer, leader of enemy alliance, asks for white peace.

Not interested in gains in Indochina, King Charles graciously accepts their terms.



A new, powerful shock cavalry unit is at our disposal!

Occupation of Gondwana continues; we're waiting for our infamy to drop before annexation, for doing that will increase it by 12 points.



And it is done. Out of all Indian kingdoms and empires, only Rajput remains in northwest, and Maharastra, huddling in its city-state of Dadra.

This subcontinent full of wealth and wonder has been acclaimed as 'Jewel in the British Crown'.

Long live King Charles! Long live Great Britain!!

[Haspen]

038: Charles, George, and Socialism

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Henry Fairfax is best theologian we've ever had! In six previous months we even converted 8 different Breton (now English) colonies in Southern Vinland thanks to his influence.



How quaint; our long-term relationship with Bremen resulted with them becoming our vassal. As you can see, once our infamy dies out, we will receive their vote as Holy Roman Emperor.

King Charles is currently entertaining the idea of doing the same with Provence; whilst we haven't inter-married into their ruling family as often as with Bremen, they still value our friendship rather highly.

Who knows, maybe in the future.



Excuse me, what?

Haitian separatists, okay, but in northern Vinland? Y'all need compasses in your lives.

Unlike Canada, these two provinces produce highly prized cotton and sugar, so we won't be surrendering those as vassal state.



This time, the healers were on point and Prince George has survived the illness.

On the world stage, Xin and Khmer decided 'screw peace in Asia, we want land' and has been partitioning, in order, Malacca, Assam and Manchus so far.



Assimilation and Anglicization of colonial Bretons is nearly complete, and since early 1802, King Charles has restarted colonization process in lands west of Great Lakes.



Too much hassle to root them out.

Meanwhile, our infamy dropped low enough for King Charles to seriously prod Bremen and Provence to vote for us in Imperial Elections.



WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT COMPASSES??

We will get our two core provinces back.



Meanwhile, to punch Paraguay in the nose, we create a new centre of trade in Sao Vicente, to take profits from trade of coffee, cotton and tobacco.

(the trade value of Sao Vicente balances at about 750-800 ducats by August).



Two sieges and some naval blockades later, the despicable Haitians surrender the English-populated provinces to us.



As we lay siege to Provencal capital to relieve our friends from rebels, we get new infantry formation available.

We go for the rigid, high-morale and defensively oriented Square Infantry.



Charles is dead, long live George!

His relative, also named George, has equally good stats and is already an adult, too.



The social turbulences of early 19th century are catching up with Great Britain, too.

King George had to choose, and decided to, endorse the enlightened principles of Socialism. We can regain stability per being Supreme Governor of Anglican Church, but rebels is what we experience often.

Surely nothing bad will come from this decision.



As you can see, we've reached 61 level of Government technology, allowing us to take second-to-last of National Ideas.

We grab Seahawks for the heck of it, plus the fact that we can establish Fleet as our Wooden Wall, cutting down all ship construction times by 10%.



Truly, Mr.Ben here is a godsend.

The other option would give us prestige in place of stability, so the choice is obvious!



With acquisition of a statesman, we can pass government Reform Act, which in turn pushes us just enough towards innovativeness that we can go with Education Act as well.

Thank God we live in such enlightened times!

[Haspen]

039: Khmer Khmemery and Other Terrible Jokes

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Again? Alright, I believe Khmer needs to be knocked down a notch. The plan is to steal some provinces in Indochina.

We will first make sure that Xin Empire pulls away from the war, and that means b-l-o-c-k-a-d-e-s!



Bleh, the social classes are emerging from all this Socialism!

A slight slider move towards plutocracy won't hurt. Also, due to our Army maintenance being low and new upgrades being pushed just before start of the war, we lost the stack in Hainan.



We politely ask the Xin to stop with the fighting and they agree. How nice of them.

*cracks knuckles*

Hey Khmer! HERE COMES BRIIIIIITAAAIN~!



*knock knock*

Alyoooooo?? Is only your friendly neighbour Britain! Gib provinces, kthxbai!



These kinda battles happen rarely. Why?

Khmer transferred its main army to Brunei, and then its fleet was promptly destroyed. It stays there while we rampage through Khmer proper.



Aaaah, wonderful. And it's even one of the Spice provinces I was going to ask for in the peace treaty.



This spam of core province notifications can mean only one thing:

50 years have passed since inheritance of Breton Southern Vinland, woo!



Final idea. There are more modern and advanced ideas to choose from, but Commerce Practice will help our markets stay ours and foreign markets to bring profits to us.

Meanwhile, India Corps III boat their asses up to Brunei and decimate the Khmer army, led by their King no less, at province of Kutei.



The Khmer has been snapped in two thanks to Lan Na, and their days of greatness are totally over.

Taking Sukadane means we have entirety of the Isle of Brunei for ourselves.



As you can see, we need another India Corps, numbered the 6th, to better maintain control (and respond to rebels) in India.



After lotsa bri- I mean, gifts, and polite requests, Provence agrees to become British vassal.

With two votes on Electoral Council, and others variously split between Two Sicilies, Austria and Bohemia, we can probably throw a wrench into HRE workings one day.

Why? For the lulz of course!

...Meanwhile:



Across from Australia, some islanders are getting upset with Portuguese rule.

Go Kiwis, go! Become free range birbs!

[Haspen]

040: Something About Three Empires

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Rest in peace, Ben! While his successor Adolphus Cornwallis is equally skilled, he won't fire a 'great diplomat' event, for that's one per country.



Ahahahahahah.

*snort*

Haaaa-ahahahahah. That was fast.

King George V said 'meh' and will not lift a finger to do anything for this decrepit, dysfunctional, deadman of a institution.



The other option is to get us 4300-something ducats but, ehh. What would we ever do with all that money anyway?



Oh. Again? Sure. *click*



See Khmer? That's what happens if you poke wrong person. You lose land to us, then you lose land to rebels, and then you die horribly.

I mean, Xin just broke the alliance with you, it's not hard to imagine what's gonna happen in near future!



Oh boy, Europe's only now getting fun times.

Speaking of fun times - an old document was found that marks Jiangwen, across from Hainan, as a core of Great Britain.

King George sent orders for Royal Army, Royal Navy and India Corps. Secret, preparatory orders.



We invade in full force!

Through Lan Na, 2 India Corps will march into Sichuan valley.

Meanwhile, two amphibious landings will be made - on Macau, and at Jiangwen.

Royal Navy and India Company Fleets were fragmeneted and made to simultaneously blockade Xin ports.

In Siberia, the Siberian Force is baiting the Xin legions at the poorly protected Albazinsky province.

This way, we have 3-pronged attack, and safe way to siege and capture Jiangwen and Macau.



We win in Xichuan Banna; at Jiangwen, our superior numbers utterly annihilate over thirty-five thousand Xin soldiers.

Mecklenburg, in coalition with Lubeck and Portugal, declared war on us. They will be punished, in time.



Portugal is punished and forced to give Susquehanna, for which we have gained a core some decades ago.

War with Xin progresses smoothly. Blockades are doing disasters to their economy and war exhaustion, while their mighty stacks die en masse against our troopers.



If my calculations are correct and I didn't miss a victory, so far we've destroyed 7 stacks (not to mention smaller troops, and one-unit reinforcements), together worth approximately 260 thousand dead Xin.

For comparison, our manpower reserves lately didn't even budge.'



The chinese Emperor dead on battlefield, Xin regents running around on fire, their national stability at -2... we decide that Xin is crippled enough.

The treaty demands they part with most of their southern coast and ton of money; to add salt to the wound, we create a centre of trade at Hainan, to siphon money from local territories.

Bohemia declared war, by the way. They're big and King George is not particularily interested, so we will seek peace. Or we will punch them, then seek peace. Either works.

[Haspen]

041: A High Turnover Rate Up There

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

March a troop through entire Holy Roman Empire and plant it at Prague?

King George V believes this to be the best plan. Royal Army, fetched by Royal Navy, will strike their possessions in Crimea in the meanwhile.



We're reaching final levels of technologies, so we can afford taking such acts that slow down tech progress.

Meanwhile, Army of Normandy has been routed from Prague, and has been traversing through Austria to join forces with Royal Army that landed at Cherson.



Darned colonials are getting restless again. This time in Australia!

The Parliament is debating whether to release them like Canada - Australian provinces produce most grain and wool, with only one gold mine.

Decision on this will be postponed till we deal with Bohemia.



With sheer numbers, we've defeated Bohemians at Banat, then at Szolnok...



Haha!

While King Ruprecht fled to Prague, the entire stack of 54k Bohemians was annihilated at Somogy. The way to conquer Prague is clear!

And our fleets have been successful as well, as seen above.



Another great stack arrived to attack us at Prague. This time we win, and destroy them at the feet of Sudety mountains.



One King George dies, another ascends to the throne! Unfortunately, he lost the Emperorship, for Austria had one vote more than the Plantagenets of Great Britain.

George VI's adult heir, Edward, has good stats and ain't too old himself.



Sudety, Bohemia, Erz. Sudety, Erz, Bohemia, Sudety.

Our armies continue to fight with Bohemians on even ground; they have slightly higher morale, but we have slightly bigger numbers.



Though in the end, we are the ones victorious!

Release of Poland torn Bohemian lands in two, separating the Hungarian and Crimean plains from core Czech territories.

Tangiers is a prize; a port right at entrance onto Mediterranean, it will serve as a naval base in case we need to blockade entrance into that sea.



The ink on the peace treaty with Bohemia barely managed to dry off, and King George VI dies.

Edward ascends to the throne, and his own heir's stats aren't as impressive.



I think they're trying to break a buncha records here?

Long live King William!

Or so we hope.

[Haspen]

042: Rule Brittania! Brittania Rules the Waves!

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not one to be picky, William IV accepts the offer.

The newborn heir to British throne is named Henry, and has average stats.



Also, we have a core on Transkei, which is held by Castille.

As our prestige is rather low at the moment, its perfect time to recover a core and boost our prestige back to 100. Onwards!



After what the Pope pulled on us last time, there will be no leniency toward the Catholics.

Henry Hastings leads the army in Meath, but his rebellion is quickly crushed by Army of Ireland.



A diplomatic incident sparked a war with Nepal.

It is forced to pay money and submit to British overlordship as a result.



Not all is well with William; ministers and Parliament members are tasked with helping him rule Britain for the time being.

Meanwhile, the war with Castille has hit a snag; Transkei is occupied by Paraguay, who doesn't seem interested in leaving the province.



Somewhat controversionally, King William, after recovering from his bout of madness, ordered that Hainan is Anglicized and settled by English people.

A pretender in Transkei is besieging the province, the man not at all sponsored by British ducats.



After we seize Transkei, we also take Asturias from Castille at the peace table.

We do not hold it for long; King William immediately pawns it to Leon, which had a core on it, for almost 500 ducats.

Meanwhile, policy of settlement is revoked for Hainan, but all non-European centres of trade are to be Anglicanized to make them less prone to rebellions and have the cities grow faster.



A-ha! The Xin merchants have slipped in their mercantile vigilance.

While Jinan is firmly held by them, European merchants - British included - are now swarming the centres at Hanyang and Nanjing.



As all that can be colonized has been finally colonized, we do not need extra merchants from Colonial Ventures idea; we swap it for Grand Navy for this act.

It is a simple one that boosts all Tariffs income (colonial production) by 5%.



King William IV has decided that it is time to grant equality to subjects of Great Britain, be they in Asia or Oceania or Vinland.

Of course, this means Catholics (and others, for that matter) will also have to be tolerated, but only to a certain degree.



That was one of his last edicts; he died in his sleep, and now quite competent regents are watching over young Crown Prince Henry!

In few years' time, he will ascend to the throne of Britain.



And he will have something to do upon ascension, too!

Diamentina separates our provinces in Southern Vinland. Seizing it would unite them and provide a way to get back and forth without involving passage permissions with other countries.



Truly, Crown Prince Henry and his regents are loved by the country. Look at that cash~!



And finally he ascends to teh throne of Great Britain!

His cousin George has slightly better stats, and is to become a great diplomat.



A quick war with Haiti proves that King Henry IX is worth his word. Diamentina is taken and immediately a missionary is sent to convert its populace to the true Anglican rites.



Who knows what else the world holds for Henry? His empire is stable, prosperous.

And bloody hell, is it HUGE!

[Haspen]

001: Timur Timurid and Nomadic Super-Wars

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We're the Timurids; with Golden Horde, we're two most powerful nations in Central Asia. Because we're nomads, we go to war with every non-vassal neighbours roughly 5 years after a truce is called.

We have the mighty leader that is Timur Timurid (Tamerlane, as some might know him), and he is a beast. He is also incredibly old; his enthronement in 1370 obscures the birth date of somewhere near 1330.

He will die soon - and that means nationalists (in non-core lands, which we have by dozens) and pretenders will pop up aplenty amongst our lands.



Did I mention that nomads start at war with all neighbours at once? So we have 11 wars going on. Fortunately, Timur is a hyper-competent general with 6 Fire, 6 Melee and 6 Movement.

Honestly, the only pre-determined general better than him is... Napoleon if you start in the 1790s, who has 1 more star in Siege (out of 4 possible in that particular stat).

We have 3 big armies; two in far west, and another near Fars. Our chief enemies Mamluks, for their sheer numbers, and Ottomans. They are relatively small compared to us or even Mamluks, but they have high manpower and a tech advantage.

We need to stomp these two as soon as possible. Jalayirids own some of territories that we consider cores, so we can grab those.



Our long-term goal is this, however. We can vassalize non-nomads ONLY by beating them up and if they're 5 or less provinces in size.

We cannot ask for provinces in peace deals - instead, if we occupy a province for about 2 years, it automatically defects to us. That doesn't give a core, so rebels show up very soon.

This means that not only we have to beat up enemy armies, we need to occupy their lands, and, depending on what we need, either hold them for 2 years OR quickly secure peace.

Securing peace is rather easy - punt their armies or grab a province, and they will offer to concede defeat. Once I unpause, we will get all the pop-ups about fighting or our provinces getting sieged.



Our first two immediate things to do will be vassalizing Georgia (per mission) and obtaining cores from Jalayirids.

Georgia is no threat, having only five thousand troops. Jay's gonna be crushed soon enough.



Timur fights and wins against Ottomans in Sivas, but a bigger turkish stack looms nearby.

To deal with the pesky Indian states, we've created a new army.



See Ivan Timur, if you go to war and win, people are getting un-tired of war and are okay with more wars.

Genius!



First a comet brings our stability to negative, and now our heir dies.

There's no one to replace him.

Aren't we off to a good start?



Trebizond concedes defeat, Iraq-i-Arab defects to us, and then Georgia agrees to tribute treaty.

I'm starting to like this whole nomadic conqueror thing!



As Mamluks enter the fray, having fetched their forces from Africa, we coalesce into a giant blob and fight their blob.

It's Clash of the Blobs.

We win it, and then chase the Mamluks for a year, cutting down their broken stacks, troop by troop.



With our cores in Iraq recovered, we can now seek tribute frm Jalayirids.

Meanwhile, Persian revolt is in process of being crushed; Sind continues to conquer our provinces.



Whaddaya know, there's actually a herald informing you of an enemy nation building a settlement on your pristine nomadic plains!

If only it went other way too and I had a 'since-conquest-until-annexation' timer, too...  Khan Timur is considering letting Ottomans take Erserum and Van, for we have no cores there.



Just as Mahmud the Terrible (what do I need diplomacy for??) is born, I realize that we've run out of manpower.

I'm starting to dislike this whole nomadic conqueror thing.

[Haspen]

Well, I tried to take Timurids' game anywhere...

3 tries and 3 defeats because I was either torn apart, or torn apart and conquered.

So let's go and play as...

001: The Purple Remnant

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's all of Byzantium that's left on 14th October of 1399. The Byzantine capital itself, Constantinople, and our Morean holdings on the other end of Aegean Sea.

The gigantic light green blob you see all around us is the Ottomans. Not only they occupy most of of our claims (Balkans, Anatolia), they also have a chance to get a fancy mission that gives them bonuses if they kill us and conquer Constantinople.

Greece is predominantly occupied by Venice, with its vassals of Naxos and Corfu, whilst Achaea and Cyprus are both to some states in Western Europe. Epirus is independent, but Naples has claims on it, and will surely come knocking down on it soon.

It's a long, loooong road from here to undo the damage and restore the Imperial Purple Blob, but its doable.

First step is to...



Start reconquering the areas held by the little Turkish guys. Candar, Karazan, Dulkadir, Ramazan.

Pretty sure I saw Ottomans get 'Vassalize Dulkadir' mission and they're bordering Timurids, so our light-green doomfriends will be occupied for a while.



As our (re)conquest of Candar continues, advisors across the Eastern world become available; we hire a Lithuanian Master of Mint and a Wallachian Master Recruiter, supplanted by true Byzantine statesman.

Trebizond in the meanwhile gets vassalized by Timurids; I'm not sure if that gives Timurids that automatic war trigger against us when we seize Candar...



Byzantine noblemen be blessed! 100 ducats this early in the game is truly a treasure trove.



So far, so good! The other bonus of holding Turkish provinces is that we can recruit their units who come with 2 or even 3 'pips' more than Eastern European units of Byzantium.

Our next target will be Ramazan Sheikhdom; they have only one province, and border our prospective next target, the Karaman.



Constantinople gets its own Metropolitan, a modded modifier that helps with keeping big cities less prone to revolts. It cuts their tax income a little bit, though.



*teeth_grinding_noises.wav*

I can beat up Karaman OR Ramazan alone, but not both at once. We retreat for now, to build more cogs and recruit more Muslim cavalry.



Emperor Manuel scores a diplomatic victory!

Georgia, while squished between nomadic hordes and the Ottomans, has just enough troops and ships to help us beat the Turkish minors.



An interesting situation has developed - Morocco has decided to punt Ramazan, leaving us only Karaman's forces to contend with.

We will fight them for those 3 juicy provinces, then! Just to be on safe side, we will call in Georgians for help, too.



Ha ha! Our plan was successful! Only Najd and Yemen, two distant sultanates (on the wrong side of Arabia to boot) replied to Karaman's call for help.

Georgians turned their backs on us, but that's alright. We can handle Karaman by ourselves, now.



From 2 to 7 provinces in five years, that's some good strategy, right?



After some negotiations, we obtain two allies; landlocked Wallachia, and the somewhat maritime Kingdom of Naples.



If not for Naples, we would be very much dead, for Morocco has Ottomans (or had, I haven't seen them join the war) as allies.



AWWW FUCK.



Neapolitean marines are besieging Ottoman provinces, Serbia and Wallachia are duking it out, whilst the dreaded Ottoman Army is nowhere to be seen.

And I had to take a loan for this war. The only saving grace is the fact that its Morocco who's the war's leader. If we manage to force them to sign peace, Ottomans will have to follow their lead.



HELL YEAH.

If it only weren't sacriledgeous, I would smooch the Sultan.



Just why!?

Fortunately for us, the Mamelukan fleet is at the Red Sea.



I've bribed Serbians into white peace, but Bosnians are very stubborn. We must save our capital from them!



Giving nobles of Byzantium way too much priviledges is a risky scheme, but the only one we can afford now.

They sprung up in Thrace, ready to maul the Moroccans into bloody pulp.



Finally, Morocco decides to send a request for money.

We're still at war with Tlemcen, but we can handle that.



At long last, the Berbers of Tlemcen send an offer that we can afford, thanks to some events and whatnots.

Our Prestige is abyssmal, our Army non-existant, and loans and revolt risks loom over the Empire. May Christ save us all!

[Haspen]

002: Always a Bigger Fish

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

As we try to recover from the terrible wars that cost us nearly anything, Morean peasants rise in revolt.

Shortly afterwards we obtain a National Idea slot. We will take Military Drill, for Muslim units are technologically advanced, and we must counter-act this in any possible way.



Morea can wait; we cannot let Turkish nationalists seize any of our provinces.

Fortunately, Manuel has assembled a troop of five thousand muslim soldiers by now.



We bounced the Turkish rebels off onto Ottoman territory, and then Manuel swiftly dealt with Morean peasants.

I'm gonna report that, Italians (including Genoese and the Pope) are extremely busy fighting for their lives against Georgia, because obviously its remote Christians you gotta subdue rather than the local Muslim menace.

Typical Italians.



More and more Turkish nationalist rebels, whom we bounce off onto Ottoman lands.

By now, the Ottomans have about 10k troops left; its mostly their vassals, Serbia and Bosnia, who do most fighting.

I'm not sure what's going on with Ottoman-Timurid war, but its been ongoing for twenty years now.

As much as we could try and blockade the straits to stomp across Balkans with our Wallachian allies, the Ottoman Navy, 30+ ships strong, would quickly deal with our galleys and cogs.



What's this OwO

Ottomans, OTTOMANS, I know you hate me, but pls, keep the black death raiders away from our borders.



Oh.

That's actually a bit dangerous.

I hope Ottomans pay tribute to the Timurids to stop the expansion of the REDS. Or at least concede defeat? Come on Ottomans, you're down to 10k soldiers, you're risking a lot.



Haha, what is prestige amirite?

We bleed so much Prestige from un-taken core lands that 10 points is nothing.



Peasants are getting less rowdy, our Army is rebuilding, and our economy has recovered from the plunge.

I ask that you just ignore the red stripes across the border. We don't about the red stripes around here. It's better this way.

Wait, where did the Ottoman Navy go?



They've scuttled it.

They've scuttled the fleet to save money.

All of it.

Bruh.

[Haspen]

003: The Great War of AAAAAAAHH and the Good Rebel Boys

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

okay

lets

do this



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH



AAAAAH!?



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAAHHH!



AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH



AARRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!



WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!?



YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!



YAHAHAHHAAAAAAH!!

(we vassalize Bosnia right away)



WE'VE WON THE WAR!



Greek Patriots and Orthodox Zealots are now rampaging against their Ottoman overlords in Greece!

They will convert said provinces to us upon victory!



Who are the good boys!?

They are the good boys!!



Hahaha, they went for Venetian holdings in Greece!

I'm not sure whether they will actually succeed; Venice has lots of money, manpower and mercenary troops at her disposal.

No matter.



For I'm fine with this.

Very, very muchly fine.

*starts chanting hymns for glory of Χριστός*

[Haspen]

004: The War for Greece

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

While Imperial Court is doing its best to foster amicable relationships with Italians (Naples are now allies with us!), Emperor Manuel has some rebel-purging to do.

Its either Bulgarians or Sunni zealots nowadays.



Those Bulgarians are starting to get on my nerves.

Fortunately for us, our Muslim subjects got their hands on new infantry formations - Azab - meaning we can get them too from Bithynia.



Dangit Morocco, I'm busy recovering!

Fortunately, both Wallachia and Naples stand by our side; Neapolitean fleet and Wallachian soldiers will greatly help in this conflict.



Pretty sure that this particular troop was led by some Yarinid guy.

Did we kill Sultan of Morocco in battle??



Apparently, we did!

Not that much, mind you, as seems he had adult heir at the ready.

Still, serves them right for Jihading us.



Compared to previous wars, this one isn't that bad.

Morocco has problems coordinating troops and its transport fleet prohibits large landings. We will try to crush their armies and then demand Adana during peace negotiations.



Yes, good, Moroccan allies are flaking out...



...aaaand another Emperor dies!

Both his successor and the successor's prospective heir have very decent stats.



Ioannes IX didn't want the core in Antalya to expire, but that has drawn half of Muslim nations - and Venice, for some reason - into the conflict.

Morocco's white peace is therefore quickly accepted, and all efforts are directed against Mamluks, Ottomans and Venice.



Mentese is annexed and another province is taken from the Ottomans.

Meanwhile, Naples, Bosnia and our own Byzantine troops are besieging Venetian holdings in Greece; Athens and Bursa are already occupied!



Evading Venetian fleet is an intense piece of work, but we managed to fetch our troops through Anatolia and Greece.

All but Crete and Rhodes are now under our control, but Venice is stubbornly refusing to come to negotiation table.

No worries; their war exhaustion is piling up, so all we need to do is wait a bit.



I think Tripoli got them wrestled out from Moroccans; too bad we have a core on Adana!

(its annexed six months later)



Ah goddammit!

Golden Horde has hacked its way through the Ottomans, and now declared war against us!



Wars with Golden Horde and Venice (and Mamluks) continue on.

However, we seem to have everything under control for now. Especially after we've saved up money (thanks for Austrian subsidies) to become Defender of Faith.

That bonus morale and war exhaustion reduction sure is handy~!



The Horde's troops were destroyed, and we're free to (re)civilize Sivas province.

Meanwhile, Venice, despite being at brink of collapse, refuses to yield to our demands.



On Friday, 29th May 1453, Venice finally relents, returning Athens, Naxos, Bursa, Janina and Albania to us.

Crete was freed by someone else, whilst Mamluks begged for white peace and where given it. Rhodes is currently undergoing a rebellion by some Greek Patriots, too.

Soon, the Empire will be fully restored!

[Haspen]

005: All the Little Things

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We begin this series of events by attacking Trebizon with intenton of annexation, which might not happen - they're vassals of Golden Horde.

The reason for war is simple - we have a core. Trebizond also have an unfortunate distinction of having national colour very similar to Venice, and all things Venetian must perish.

(image lost to overwrite mishap)

As our control over Black Sea strengthens, so does our infleunce over its trade.

From now onwards, every coastal province (plus some provinces along the Danube river) we own shall get a bonus to local trade income.



Greek rebels in Kaffa have overtaken Genoese garrison, but swore allegiance to Trebizond, and not Emperor Ioannes!

That means we will recover two cores in single go, yay us!



Oh, would you look at it! Even with Trebizond being a vassal, we can annex it in its entirety.

Must be some nomadic overlord exclusion principle or something.



This happens when you're not Western technology country and have high enough relations with your neighbour, who is at least 1 Land technology level above.

I always consider this a boon rather than a penalty - Prestige is easy to gain and even easier to lose.



Our conflict with Golden Horde has taken onto new stage - Crimea.

Napels is losing its holdings here and we must step on some nomads to wrangle a concession of defeat from them.



The Greek rebels on Rhodes, however, properly switch over to us.

Venice can't do anything about that at the moment. We disband the rebel troops and relocate their commander due to their relationship with Bohemia.

Just to be on the safe side, you know?



Emperor Ioannes IX has also started the campaign of forced conversion of Anatolian turks; the populace of Kastamon converted after only two months, very nice.

In domestic affairs, Michael, heir of Ioannes IX, is introduced into the Byzantine court. Abkhazia, former province of Georgia, is being colonized by Greek colonists.



Capture of Abkhazia brings us to conflict with Qara Koyunlu.

Just like Golden Horde or Timurids, they're Steppe Nomads, but much smaller in size and ferocity. They are quite stubborn, and even after 3 years, they refuse to pay tribute.



The war with Qara Koyunlu is concluded on favorable terms, and Emperor Ioannes IX decides to implement some religious edicts.

While raising revolt risk is potentially dangerous, that +4% conversion chance is a great boon to our missionary effort.



A very sad hunting accident takes away the life of Michael.

Then we learn that this is potentially disasterous risk, for Ioannes IX has no other heirs.

The Palaiologos dynasty is in grave danger!

[Haspen]

006: The Constantine Restoration

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Fortunately for the Palaiologos royal family, little Konstantinos is born not long after Michael's demise.

Ioannes has decided to remain in the imperial palace while preparations are made to raise a 3rd Thema, because relations are breaking apart between local Muslim states, giving us perfect opportunity to defeat and annex Ottomans once and for all!



Those preparations need to be postponed; unfortunately, Golden Horde is at our borders again.

Emperor Ioannes hopes they can be beaten off quickly.



Alas, the victorious Ioannes IX is dead! Regents now take care of the imperial affairs and the little Konstantinos.



War with the Golden Horde (and Qara Koyunlu) ends, as expected, fast.

We're currently waiting for Konstantinos to grow up. Meanwhile, Bulgarians, Sunni zealots, Noblemen and Turkish patriots pop up every so often to keep our armies ready for fighting.



Both rebels and the nomads keep us company for years before Konstantinos XI finally rises to the throne of Byzantium.

Immediately the generals are notified and our troops converge on the borders of Ottoman provinces, which suffer a civil war thanks to a turkish pretender to their throne.



Meanwhile, Hungary seem to be kicking Bohemian arse so well that the ancient Principality of Nitra reappears on the map.

Go Hungarians! Keep the vile pretenders of Rome away!



Konstantinos got himself a new vassal, and by the way of diplomacy, too!

Unfortunately the attack on Ottomans had to be postponed, because while our current Emperor was growing up, the Muslims 'got it together', as to speak.



Succession problem has been resolved. A minor noblewoman became Konstantinos' wife, as we had to swallow a bitter pill of prestige penalty.



As years go by, Konstantinos seems to concentrate on internal matters of the Byzantine Empire.

Infrastructure - marketplaces and armories - are built, and Orthodox missionaries are sent to once again preach words of God upon Anatolian peoples.



As it turns out, however, its the Muslims who throw war into hands of Konstantinos.

Too bad we have Naples, Achaea, Serbia and Bosnia at our side.

Soon enough, we will teach Morocco and Ottomans a lesson!



At last, at long last - the Ottomans are no more!

This allows us to reestablish the old system of Thema.



No longer there's Yazgod or Sivas or other such names on the Anatolian maps.

Instead, we have Cilicia, Sebasteion, Seleukia - all of the old, good, Byzantine names! As a gameplay bonus this decision boosts our Manpower reserves by +25% maximum. Yay!

Shortly afterwards, as our navy sails to Berber shores, Sultan of Morocco sues for a white peace - Emperor Konstantinos XI of the Byzantine Empire accepts.