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Post by ironbite on Sept 23, 2011 16:39:18 GMT -5
Wow...such a change in the narrative in such a short time.
Ironbite-wonder who this will turn out
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 3, 2011 23:59:12 GMT -5
A bit late this time due to working over the weekend, plus being sick. Excuses! Also, somebody forgot to save last time. I'm not going to name any names, but he's very handsome. So the narrative goes back to the beginning of the year. The Faransa war still happens, just a little later. The unrest of recent years has exhausted the national treasury, and prompts another round of sold titles. The dilution of noble power continues; but there is a more subtle meaning here. Among the newly ennobled is a merchant named Jordi Ferrer. When Roderic Pinos dies nine months later, it is Ferrer who takes up the reins of power. Catalunya has quieted, the past few years peaceful and blessed with good harvests. Ferrer's strengths are administration and strategy, and he begins a reorganization and expansion of the army. No longer will the nation use a body of standing soldiers backed by a vast rabble of levies; now there will be standing soldiers backed by reservists who are drilled in arms but not called to use them until war breaks out. The standing army grows to 71,000 including a strategic reserve of footmen organized under Pau d'Espes. The Ferreran reforms are far from complete when Faransa attacks in September 1497. Magyaristan and Scotland come to Catalunya's aid, outnumbering Faransa's army more than two to one; Faransa is already facing unrest and dissent over another war. 85,000 Magyari soldiers begin moving immediately, leaving another 17,000 behind presumably as a reserve to for defense of the southern frontier. Even as Catalunya's the powerful eastern ally moves, 40,000 Faransa soldiers cross the border with another 50,000 coming. Auvergne is captured and seized before the end of September. The first three months of the war are a number of back and forth battles under Ferrer, Vilaplana, and Piquer. One incredible victory comes in November under Piquer, who annihilates thirteen thousand Faransan soldiers; but otherwise even victories are bloody and insignificant. In December, the strategic reserve, despite being incompletely trained and gathered, serve their purpose in Piedmont. Arriving in time to support the flagging left wing of Vilaplana's exhausted Army of Italy, they hold fast against repeated charges by the Faransan foe. In the course of the battle, they absorb three thousand casualties out of their five thousand, accounting for slightly more than half the Catalunyan losses in the fight. In the end, the Catalunyans are forced from the province, but retreat in good order instead of being overrun. The reserve is nearly destroyed, but nevertheless draws admiration from their fellow soldiers. One dubs them the Red Pikes, for most were covered from head to toe in blood by the battle's end. 1498 opens with wrangling over finances. Three months of war has brought the loss of a province, the deaths of ten thousand Catalunyans, and a new loan to carry. The noble council governing while Ferrer leads an army argues between raising taxes and simply minting new coin. A close vote split almost exactly on merchant and aristocrat lines favors the merchant faction, which opposes minting. The peasants, predictably, are unhappy with this further burden. At first it seems like the ensuing revolt is because of the taxes. Widespread rebellion is certainly not a novelty in Catalunya, particularly of late, and the depletion of the armies and disaster of a war provides enough grief and strife without adding financial burdens on top of it. Then, in February, a Faransan agent is caught in Barcelona - by an invalided member of the Red Pikes, no less - spreading money around and providing equipment for the rebellion. He is escorted to a very dismal cell outside the capital. Despite the capture of the agent, the rebellion goes on, bringing the total uprising to more than thirty thousand across the country. In March, Catalunya once again strained to the breaking point, an offer of peace comes from the new Doge of Faransa. Ferrer accepts, as it requires only that Catalunya recognize Faransan overlordship of Auvergne. Still, it is a bitter peace. Relations between Magyaristan and Catalunya collapse too, Magyari soldiers laughing about the feeble Catalunyan military. Beaten in six months by a foe with half the army? By April, Faransan culture has already supplanted Catalan, and Auvergne has a new master. Despite peace, Faransa agents remain active, and effective, in early 1499. June 1499: Georgia is resurgent, absorbing Trebizond and reclaiming her own provinces. The second great Jewish kingdom seems secure for now. In November 1499, Ignasi Vilaplana dies after leading the Army of Italy for 12 years. A new century dawns...
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Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 4, 2011 5:23:19 GMT -5
Damn, it looks like you really dropped the ball there. Maybe it's because you only recently remembered to turn the difficulty up but as I recall you were winning war after war with both a numerical and tech disadvantage and on multiple fronts. Now you're getting your ass handed to you by a hugely outnumbered single foe with many huge allies on your side. What gives?
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 4, 2011 23:22:00 GMT -5
I was disappointed in how the war went, particularly since I knew it was coming. I even had two extra months this time, as well as nine thousand more soldiers. So there was some bungling right from the start. Plus my armies were fighting at about half morale from the start, since it takes three months to recover from reduced military expenditure. Then I sent the Army of Spain to capture the Faransan capital, which succeeded only in killing four thousand of my own men and destroying the army's morale. So, yeah, I dropped the ball. The only event that I was happy to see was the performance of the Red Pikes, who served exactly their purpose as a strategic reserve in keeping the Army of Italy together. The destruction of that army would have cost about 250 ducats, or two years' income, plus a decent chunk of prestige and war exhaustion.
The war was still winnable, though. In six months or a year, the weight of Magyari numbers would have told against Faransa, and many of the enemy armies were as badly depleted as my own. After that astounding victory in Rouergue, the odds were fairly even; the problem is that then Magyaristan would have won the war, making them more powerful and me and Faransa much weaker. This would especially be true if the rebels had had another six months to finish their sieges and move on, since Aragonese nationalists would've given Aragon a core and increased revolt risk in those provinces by ten percent for thirty years, wrecking the economy. There was some threat that Ruma would declare war, or that Magyaristan would peace out and then declare war on me, too. Basically, Faransa had a puncher's chance, and they took it. By the time the war had reached that point, I could either let Faransa win a small victory, or Magyaristan win a big one.
And Magyaristan scares me way more than Faransa.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 4, 2011 23:28:07 GMT -5
I guess the main thing is you know what went wrong and as such you should be better prepared next time. Just as long as you put Fraransa back in their place in the near future, it should all work out.
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 14, 2011 17:54:35 GMT -5
1500 starts with a war against Magyaristan already underway, which is joined by a second war from Scotland with the avowed goal of pushing Judaism off the island. The six thousand men of the English Brigade march in to Lincoln led by Pau d'Espes. A powerful Skandistani fleet of 31 galleys and a handful of other ships passes through the Channel. While their probable destination is the Magyari coasts as the two nations are also at war, Skandistan and Catalunya do not have a peaceable history. In the open ocean Catalunya's carracks will have the edge, but in the Mediterranean it is less clear who would emerge the victor of a general battle. The Scottish army in March. Their 26000 men gives them a four to one advantage in theater; a detachment of eight thousand men from the Army of the West, led by Jaume Piquer, is prepared to reinforce the island. The 1st Detachment lands in Gloucestershire in late May, heavily defeating a Scottish army. Piquer pursues. A comet is spotted on July 4, 1500, a date that will definitely never have any other kind of historical significance whatsoever. The peasants believe it to be an omen, and while Jordi Ferrer does his best to act otherwise, he cannot hide his similar superstition from his government. Meanwhile in Britain, D'Espes and Piquer have joined their armies and march to relieve London. Scotland's resources are larger than expected; armies of mercenaries continue to emerge from the north. Magyaristan makes an offer of peace in September without a fight. The probable cause: their war against Ruma and Skandistan is going poorly. The second battle of Gloucestershire in November is the last joint battle between d'Espes and Piquer, and another victory. Ferrer continues his reform of the army, creating a standard of national drills and reorganizing provincial militias into larger units explicitly loyal to the crown, rather than to individuals or regions. Not everyone is thrilled by this change, but the morale of the soldiers does improve. March 1501's Battle of Lothian marks the first defeat against Scotland, the depleted and exhausted army following Piquer bested in part by the appearance of field cannons, a technology unknown in Catalunya. Angry regionalists find a Nice place to revolt in May. The rest of the Army of the West takes the Scottish capital in June 1501 after a bloody siege marked by several failed assaults. Peace is settled later that month, providing a generous windfall for Catalunya. Another victor was the Knights, who seized Leinster from Scotland. During the war, a center of trade emerges in the city of Roma and quickly becomes the most prosperous in Europe. Perhaps because of this, or perhaps as a result of this, Ruma seems to have all but won her war against Magyaristan. This could represent a change in the balance of power between the Muslim alliances, and the rise of Ruman hegemony. If so, this is a problematic shift. Magyaristan, at least, did not share a direct border with Catalunya. The contents of Scotland's treasury bring Catalunya out of debt in December. The economy in March 1502. The last few years have been good indeed, and the economy has grown by more than fifty ducats monthly, about 35%, since 1496. Inflation remains a serious problem, however. Jaume Piquer, a hero of the early days of the Republic, dies that same month. He is given a state funeral with honor. To fill the vacancy, Esteve de la Riba, a man connected to the old royal de Luna family through his mother, is given command of the Army of the West. His outstanding familiarity with cavalry, both as a breeder of horses and a captain in the recent wars, make him a strong choice. His grasp of siege warfare and the new mobile cannons point to his limitations. A rare year of peace and Ferrer's turning of his attention back to administrative, not military, matters benefits the nation. The peasants are content, or at least quiet, and there is even accord and cooperation in the capital. Pau d'Espes dies in October after ten years of service. No one is immediately appointed to his place, and his funeral so soon after Piquer's is a more somber event. It is even more widely attended, the d'Espes name being perhaps the most famous in the nation. Ferrer declares the formation of a national bank in February 1503 and the dramatic scaling back of government support of new colonies to fund it. The age of an unclaimed Europe as a "land of opportunity" is past, he says, and the focus must now be on domestic concerns. Many both in the government and outside it are outraged, and talk of rebellion spreads quickly among the provinces. Faransa picks its moment well. In March, Catalunya still reeling from the recent events and its army weakened by its loss of leadership, war is declared. The specific goal is said to be the reclamation of Savoie, where Faransa exerts claims that are little more than convenient fictions, but the larger goal of destroying Catalunya is obvious enough. It is clear that the brief respite is over for the country.
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 17, 2011 3:05:15 GMT -5
While Catalunyan armies, short of leadership, fewer in number and seriously inferior in technology to their enemies, spend two months maneuvering before the first battle is joined, word comes that Oman is plunged into a war of a somewhat different sort. While it lies at the ends of the earth, Oman has joined Faransa in war before; this rebellion promises to keep such aid to a minimum. The first battle of the war is all to Catalunya, whose overwhelming numbers more than make up for the Faransa technological superiority. Too, Ferrer is perhaps the finest general on either side, and his competence puts more bite in Catalunyan steel. More good news arrives in June on the economic front. The extra money is welcome indeed, as war is expensive. Lombardia falls in July 1503, a painful loss as the province is a rich one. The real drawback of the Catalunyan strategy becomes obvious: by massing forces, their frontage becomes very small even as their power grows. The far borders are vulnerable. The armies spread out to reinforce and refit. June and July have been hard months. However hard for Catalunya, they have been far harder for Faransa. Catalunyan dead amount to perhaps twenty thousand; Faransan, about fifty thousand. Like Scotland, Faransa's advantage lies in its access to mercenary forces, with the distinction that Faransa' resources are far greater. Madrid comes under siege in August, the work of an agent provocateur of unknown origin. There are simply no soldiers free to relieve the city. The garrison is on its own. On 17 October, Ruma forces peace on Morocco and Magyaristan. Having bested two of her rivals, can there be any doubt that greedy Ruman eyes turn toward distracted Catalunya? Al-Alemand complicates matters by declaring war at the end of the month. A few days later, Oman honors its alliance with Al-Alemand and declares war as well. Whether or not Oman is in any shape to fight, it is a disheartening turn of events. In December, the first loss of the war against Faransa. The army largely put to a rout, the Army of Spain flees deeper into Faransa territory, and is destroyed. Meanwhile, Ferrer, backed by the discipline and reputation of the Red Pikes, rallies the Army of Italy and extracts both forces from Faransan land. Catalunyan reserves, more than fifty thousand strong at the start of the war, have fallen to just thirty thousand. The sword of Damocles drops at the end of 1503. As with Madrid, there are simply no soldiers to spare for the Ruman front. A major showdown looms in January 1504 as the exhausted Army of Italy and Red Pikes march to support the Army of the West under Esteve de la Riba. The Pikes under Ferrer arrive first, some eight miles to the west of the main battle, and with their six thousand manage to delay the incoming Faransan 3rd Army of twelve thousand mercenaries for two days. The Army of Italy joins with the West, and annihilates the Faransan force; then, as the Pikes fake a rout, manage to inflict heavy casualties on the mercenaries. While the Red Pikes suffer heavily, the Faransans suffer even more. As one Red Pikes captain puts it, "we would rather die than fail." February brings grave news from Venezia, where the large fleet of carracks and galleys set to defend the lagoon is heavily defeated by the Faransan navy. With only a handful of ships left in the area, the lagoon's garrison of six thousand men could conceivably face the whole Ruman army. Andreu de Mur, a Ferrer's second in command of the Red Pikes, is promoted to general for his work. Like de la Riba, he is most familiar with cavalry, but he is quickly learning the use of cannon and even the hand-arquebus which has begun to make an appearance on the field. The month after the Venezian Disaster, Llull redeems the name of the Catalunyan navy and inflicts massive losses on the Ruman fleet. One lesson of the battle: carracks will beat galleys, even in the inland sea. The same day, a squadron bound for England encounters a larger Faransan flotilla off the northwestern coast of Catalunya. Although the ships are damaged, all escape. An overview of the war in May 1504. Faransa forces are now almost totally mercenary, and outnumbered three to two. The people of Faransa are beginning to clamor for peace, exhausted after a year of death without end. Although Catalunyans are less outraged, they too are beginning to grow unhappy. Further, Madrid remains under siege by rebels, Rumans have crossed the border in the east, and Catalunyan reserves are below seventeen thousand. Andreu gets in trouble in Bourgougne, the very place where a defeat in 1503 spelled the annihilation of the Army of Spain. His problem? Treating the regulars like they were Red Pikes. Although they inflict enormous casualties, they simply cannot hold their positions after weeks of marching and insufficient foraging. Elsewhere, the island of Madeira, off the west coast of Morocco, is claimed from Ruma in July by a small detachment. The Rumans have another nearby colony that will also be seized. The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel appears when Sameland declares war on the increasingly exhausted Faransa a few days later. Ferrer suggests peace, while in the east Ruman soldiers successfully finish their siege of Parma. Although it is a clear defeat, Faransa accepts. Gold floods the Catalunyan treasury, almost empty after the past 15 months. It will be needed to rebuild the lost regiments from the war, and to face Ruma.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 17, 2011 19:24:03 GMT -5
A thought just occurred to me: Are the Muslim European nations in the Muslim tech group or are they Western? Because if it's the former, things'll likely turn into a cakewalk once you enter the mid to late game.
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 17, 2011 23:15:06 GMT -5
They're actually in a unique tech group called the "Middle Eastern" (I think), which has 100% tech speed but different units than Western. This particular scenario (although possibly not in this version, I don't know) also introduces two American tech groups, with 75% and 100% speed. As a result, the meso-Americans will be a threat and the North Americans a bit less of one.
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Post by Art Vandelay on Oct 18, 2011 7:24:33 GMT -5
Oh, that sounds fancy. I wonder if that means it's possible to turn the Aztecs or Mayans into a global power (without having to westernise) in this mod? If so, that would be awesome.
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Post by ironbite on Oct 18, 2011 10:50:14 GMT -5
Still think you need to conquer somebody as a buffer between you and the rest of the morons who keep declaring war on you
Ironbite-these Ruma fellas seem to want to volunteer
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 27, 2011 0:09:17 GMT -5
I would love to conquer Ruma quite thoroughly, but sadly that is not in the cards. The main reason is that their army technology is increasingly superior to mine, but it's also relevant that I can't seem to ever just fight one war at a time. There just aren't enough people in the manpower pool to sustain conquest if I'm having to fight a second big land war at the same time. One solution might be to colonize America somewhere and move my capital there, but for the moment I think Fortress Catalunya is in decent shape. Oh, that sounds fancy. I wonder if that means it's possible to turn the Aztecs or Mayans into a global power (without having to westernise) in this mod? If so, that would be awesome. Totally possible. Would be a little bit tricky - you still need to reform your government, I think, because the starting government has a tech penalty, but that isn't too tricky. My brother and I are playing a game as North American Indian tribes. We're consolidating our territory, but before long we will go and, uh, "colonize" the Europeans.
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Post by MaybeNever on Oct 27, 2011 0:09:40 GMT -5
In August, Madrid falls at last after a year-long defense against the rebel army. It is a surprisingly orderly sack of the city; cases of rape and murder are punished severely. With the army still unavailable to retake the city, this discipline among the rebels spares many lives. The situation in the east in October 1504. A massive force of Rumans stretches from the coast to the Ruman border; but behind their lines, Catalunyan patriots struggle to reclaim the city. The Catalunyan soldiers in the area are sparse, numbering just 23,000 - the Red Pikes under Ferrer and the Army of Italy under De Mur. This will be enough superiority to relieve Liguria, or to defeat the enemy in detail, but a massed battle would be nothing short of a bloodbath. That bloodbath comes to pass late the next month. The rebels in Parma fall before the Ruman Fourth Army in short order, which then reinforces the First Army in Liguria. Almost nine thousand Catalunyans, about forty percent of the army, falls on the battlefield. De Mur retreats his army to recover, but the Rumans pursue. The defenders put up a Nice fight, but in the end are again forced from the field. Unlike in Liguria, the defense is far more spirited, and now the Rumans leave an army of dead on the field. This persuades the Rumans to await reinforcements, and the Army of Italy retreat to the relative safety of the trans-Pyrenees far behind the border. Ferrer moves to the Red Pikes to Avignon, where they can intercept incoming Ruman armies. March of 1505 marks the end of Ferrer's first term. After much debate in the capital, the noble council confirms him for a second, to expire 1513. A second mass battle comes in May. De Mur's headlong style is undeniably brave, but it is also foolish. Against a different enemy, or in a different time, it may have worked well. But the Rumans field newer, more advanced weapons, and organize their soldiers on the field in different ways than in the past. The results of Mantua are no different than one would expect, although the army escapes with light casualties compared to the last such battle. Catalunya's manpower is exhausted, its armies beaten, and its lands occupied. Ferrer asks for peace in early June, but the first offer of the Rumans is rejected. The final terms are a somewhat lighter form of the first offer, a minor diplomatic victory for a man who is no diplomat. With the Ruman peace concluded the war with Al-Alemand recedes into the background. A small squadron of Catalunyan ships is based out of London, regularly venturing out to sweep the seas clear of any vessels Al-Alemand wishes to send. In November, then again in May 1506, Al-Alemand demands outrageous peace terms. Ferrer has the messengers imprisoned for a week with only scraps of bread and water, then whipped and sent home. Although the treasury is not empty, Ferrer convenes the council in July 1506 to lay out a plan for a dramatic expansion of the army beyond the expansions done just a few years before. Twenty-two thousand soldiers would be raised, trained, and supplied indefinitely to help ward off attacks by Faransa or Ruma. He had found the men, he now only needed the money. The council agreed to help with only minimal grumbling: expansion was clearly necessary. Another Alemandi messenger brings the demands of the lunatic-king of Al-Alemand. Isolation, starvation, and whipping is again prescribed. The colonial holdings of Ruma, seized in the war, become self-sustaining in June. The islands give Catalunya prospective control of the sea lanes along the coast of Africa... wherever they might go. De facto peace over the previous year, and money pouring forth to expand the army, have created another boom economy. The taxes flow in to keep Catalunya's coffers brimming. Georgia is heavily defeated by Qara Koyunlu, stripping away two of her provinces and leaving one held by separatist rebels. When word arrives, there is some talk about sending soldiers to help defend and expand the other Georgian nation. There simply are not the soldiers to spare, yet. By mid-1509, going in to the sixth year of the damnable war, only Al-Alemand is suffering. A blockade of her ports has stifled trade and gradually outraged the merchants. Like in Catalunya, Al-Alemand's merchantry carries a great deal of power. An Alemandi peace envoy arrives in June. Ferrer reads the demands, more outrageous than ever, then has the guards lay hold of the messenger. He is about to have the man given the usual treatment, but at the last moment changes his mind and demands instead that the messenger tell him a joke. Jesters have been in short supply in Catalunya, he explains. The messenger thinks, but as usual in such cases no jokes spring to mind. After a few moments of silence, he stammers out, "1147 ducats." Ferrer eyes him. "1147 ducats?" "Yes lord... it is a joke, isn't it?" Ferrer can't help but laugh. The young man is given a handful of gold coins for himself and sent home to tell his master of Catalunya's rejection. Trouble from foreign agents arrives in August 1509, as a Scottish spy funds an uprising in Armagnac. The expanded army has no trouble putting it down. The same month, Faransa warns Catalunya to undertake no aggressive acts. The timing is curious at best, but it does its job and protects Scotland for the moment. Finally, in May 1510, a sensible peace offer from Al-Alemand arrives. It is accepted at once. Granada takes advantage of Faransa's warning in July just as Scotland had, but this time a Granadan ambassador is meeting with Prince Ferrer and few members of the council when word arrives. The courtier who delivers it fails to do so discreetly, and all present hear the news. Instead of raging, Ferrer, knowing the rebellion will be swiftly handled by the local soldiers, essays a small joke: "perhaps this will bring the men some excitement. I hear that they are usually Labourd." His calmness briefly raises the perception of Catalunya in her neighbors' eyes. Europe and the economy in 1511. The economy has mostly stagnated since 1502, but importantly it has not declined. Inflation has, however, while military maintenance has increased by more than 22%. Within 20 years, central Europe will probably be fully colonized. Eastern Europe will no doubt take rather longer.
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