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Ok, so so far we have people who want to play Korea, Holland, an OPM in the HRE, some North African/Middle Eastern Muslim, and one time "Not SE Asia".
Of those, the strongest is probably Holland with its insane sliders which make it possible to dominate european trade right from the start. However, defending against France/Burgundy in the beginning could be interesting, depending on how those countries act. Once you get colonisation going you should easily be able to become a superpower very fast.
Any other HRE OPM would mean a very political game with limited expansion because of the HRE mechanics, that could be pretty interesting, too. Especially without the overpowered trade of the hollanders. But there probably also are very long periods of inactivity forced by that.
As i said, i have not really played in Asia at all, so Korea could either be very interesting or very boring. They are surrounded by stronger powers with Ming, Manchu and Japan, and because of them not being of Western tech group they have more goals for the later parts of the game with the need to compete with western powers. However, being surrounded by stronger countries could just force you into a very passive game.
Fighting off the crusaders as a smaller Muslim country close to europe could be very interesting, too. But we just played our last game in the mediterranean, so being in a different region would be better in my opinion.
Those are my thoughts on those countries. I would probably prefer Korea or some HRE OPM among those, but maybe other think differently about this.
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I want to play!!! Sign me up etc!!!
I think playing a Russian principality could be good. Do our best not to get gobbled up by the GH in the early game, then form Russia and spread our way across Asia Or the Teutonic Order, always wanted to play them properly. Battle heathens, form Prussia and then onwards to glory! I'm not averse to Holland, though I do tend to play it a lot, very fun country!
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I`m fine with any country you guys choose - Holland was just a proposition
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On December 10 2011 09:36 Drolla wrote:Show nested quote +On December 09 2011 03:33 Monsen wrote: Drolla from Scotland- sounds like a good starting plan! Fight for the freedom of oppressed people all over the world! Keep the redcoats at bay, face the challenges of competing with the major trade leagues- help the smaller nations against the big bullies!
Braveheart II - The Rise of Drolla !
Don't worry if you're not that experienced a player as you have plenty of time to ask for advice during your turn and noone expects pro play anyway- last succesion game showed that very efficient, dominance oriented play leads to major boredom in the later stages of the game.
edit: Yeah, your AAR skills (and willingness) are way more important than your game expertise. Thank you, you've made me feel like a princess. <3 But still won't participate. 
Please tell me you're a guy- that'd be such a hilarious comment then
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So. Apparently, there are no more additional contributions, so i think we should get this thing started. From what i have gathered here, an OPM inside the HRE should be acceptable for most, since many people stated they want to play in Europe. Since this was first proposed by Bairemuth, he also has the honour of starting the game. So choose one citystate you like, and get playing. Please claim your spot here in the Thread.
I think we should go with the same settings like the last game, which were hard difficulty/normal aggression.
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yeah!
can`t wait for the 1st story
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Goodluck team, I have a bad feeling my reign will be a cataclysmic disaster :-).
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I did not expect to go first, but I will get on this asap. I should have my AAR up by late tonight.
Edit: Like really late .
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Good luck!
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Claiming my spot! I will play this later today.
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Archbishop Wilhelm II took over the tiny nation of Alsace in 1394. Wilhelm was quite the average ruler; he was far from extraordinary, but he was no fool, either. However, this acceptance of mediocrity caused stagnation within the country. For 5 years, Wilhelm was content with doing nothing except for maintaining a small amount of revenue through trade. An army was not needed, he thought, because the great kingdom of Bohemia would offer protection if needed – an assumption he safely made because Alsace is a loyal member of the Holy Roman Empire, and Bohemia its glorious ruler.
![[image loading]](http://i44.tinypic.com/2czpkky.jpg)
On October 14, 1399, Wilhelm woke from a haunting nightmare. Through this dream, he witnessed what would happen to his nation if this stagnation would continue: Burgundy would soon amass an invasion that would demolish Alsace within a matter of weeks. Wilhelm would be executed and his people enslaved. Wilhelm; however, came upon a glimmer of hope through his slumber. He realized that if he were to take action and declare war on his neighbor, Baden, his demise might be prolonged, and his people might be provided the opportunity to survive and the potential to flourish.
![[image loading]](http://i41.tinypic.com/10rveav.jpg)
Without hesitation, Wilhelm II declared war on the nation of Baden. Wilhelm’s confidence was extreme, but it was quickly flattened as an army began marching directly towards Alsace’s capital: Elsass. The army was only 1,000 strong, which Wilhelm could match in numbers; however, it was reported that 2,000 mercenaries would also be reinforcing Baden’s general, Bernhard I von Baden, within a couple of weeks. Wilhelm attempted to recruit his own mercenaries, but would only be able to field 1,000 more by the time of the attack.
The Battle of Elsass: The battle began quite small: 1,000 against 1,000. Wilhelm’s mercenaries arrived first, giving him a 2:1 advantage in numbers, but within a few days, Bernhard’s 2,000 mercenaries arrived and the tilt of the advantage switched once again. Luckily, Wilhelm was able to locate an additional regiment of mercenaries and the numbers of each side were equal. Bernhard had more mercenaries on the way, but before they could arrive, his men’s morale had hit rock bottom and they were forced to retreat. Wilhelm attempted to chase the army, but was met with the late arriving mercenary reinforcements that had to be dealt with. These mercenaries were also forced to retreat to Breisgau, where they would be chased down and annihilated.
![[image loading]](http://i39.tinypic.com/34rrc.jpg)
For the next few months, Wilhelm was forced to deal with several regiments of mercenaries, but no battle was as crucial as the Battle of Elsass. Eventually, Bernhard’s army would regather its composure and march towards Elsass again, while Wilhelm’s army lay siege on the province of Breisgau. Wilhelm had this instinctive desire to destroy Bernhard once and for all; and therefore, marched towards Elsass to meet in the Second Battle of Elsass. Bernhard was no match as he was outnumbered 2:1, thus retreated to Breisgau. Wilhelm would follow and would finally put an end to Bernhard and his army.
![[image loading]](http://i42.tinypic.com/1ryfwo.jpg)
During these battles, there was a cascade of declarations of war upon the great nation of Alsace. Bohemia was the first as it ruled the Holy Roman Empire, thus naturally offered protection. Luckily, no sight of Bohemian armies or the other parties of the war had been seen yet. By the time the Baden army had been annihilated, there were 7 nations at war with Alsace.
![[image loading]](http://i43.tinypic.com/mmdkao.jpg)
Wilhelm was extremely nervous. Had he made a mistake by declaring war on a neighbor without reason? He began to feel as if the decision was literally all or nothing. If Milan or Bohemia marched a 10,000+ strong army towards Alsace, then his nation’s survival would surely come to an end. However, proclaiming it all or nothing was a serious oversight because he clearly did not have much to gain at all. Thus, it was more “little or nothing.” At most, he was going to take over a province or two, and at worst, he would be dead and his nation no more. Wilhelm knew there was no turning back and thus continued with his operation. He successfully laid siege on Breisgau and then proceeded to Baden for similar success. This was no easy process; however, as the sieges took a year and a half together.
![[image loading]](http://i43.tinypic.com/30bgxet.jpg)
Wilhelm now had a decision to make: either force Baden to cede one of their two provinces, or force vassalisation upon Baden. He chose the latter because the thought of another war in 5 years to complete the process seemed unbearable. In addition, he would likely be able to force a diplo-annex within 10 years.
![[image loading]](http://i42.tinypic.com/4jrxnn.jpg)
Now that peace was settled with Baden, Wilhelm would move his attention to the nations that remained at war with his country. He offered all of them white peace, but they would not accept. In addition, he even offered to concede defeat despite his clear victory, but again they declined. Wilhelm took great offense to this because of the great amount of success that his nation had over the past couple of years.
![[image loading]](http://i44.tinypic.com/saxj4o.jpg)
In response to the insult, Wilhelm offered an alliance to The Palatinate (which was accepted), and marched his newly named “Royal Army” to the city-state, Ulm. The battle of Ulm was quick and easy with the newly found confidence and perseverance of Wilhelm II. Ulm’s army of 3,000 quickly retreated and left Wilhelm to lay siege upon Ulm’s capital.
![[image loading]](http://i43.tinypic.com/2i6jn28.jpg)
Despite this success, Wilhelm had no desire to continue this war because of the potential threats of Milan and Bohemia. Once again, Wilhelm offered to concede defeat to Bohemia, and this time Bohemia decided to accept the agreement, and thus Alsace was finally at peace. Wilhelm quickly dismissed his mercenaries and returned home. It was time to focus on paying off the loans required for war and to address the impending inflation situation.
Over the next two years, there were many glorious celebrations and festivals in honor of the great Wilhelm II. He achieved what he desired and his fear of defeat had slowly crept out of his mind. On March 3, 1404 Wilhelm II suddenly died. The day was truly sad as the great warrior and leader had perished, but not by his enemies, which was his only desire, and thus he likely left the world a happy man. In his place, Louis Constantine I took over, who had displayed signs of great diplomacy, and the people were optimistic of his future rule.
![[image loading]](http://i41.tinypic.com/2m637md.jpg)
Just before Wilhelm’s death, the treacherous nation, The Palatinate, had disbanded our alliance. To Constantine’s amusement, they were completely annihilated by Bavaria on May 11, 1407. However, this eventually brought about mixed emotions because now there was a great sense of fear for the nation of Alsace. Bavaria now has a natural border to the north, Burgundy is waging war on our neighbors, Loraine, to the east, and the behemoths Bohemia and Austria are within reach of our west. If it were possible to die of fear alone, then Constantine’s cause of death would be claustrophobia.
![[image loading]](http://i43.tinypic.com/9psugn.jpg)
Constantine was slowly fixing the nation’s economy by reducing inflation and paying off loans; the Nobles seemed to take interest in this. They donated 73 ducats to the nation of Alsace, which doubled the treasury. This money would be put to use immediately. Constantine decided that he needed an advisor to help in diplomacy, since it was time to diplo-annex the puny nation of Baden. Though such a notion seemed highly unlikely, Baden realized its irrelevance and accepted the request. As a result, Alsace’s size grew threefold, and now Constantine began to salivate at the thought of new potential conquering.
![[image loading]](http://i44.tinypic.com/6oocgj.jpg)
Constantine, though, was not quite as reckless as the late Wilhelm II. He knew he had to wait for the absolute perfect moment to strike down a new foe. Burgundy had been fighting Austria over the past 10 years in a complete stalemate. At least thirty thousand men on each side would constantly throw themselves at each other, such superior forces that Alsace could never withstand; thus, the Burgundy-Austria war was better than any ally with any nation. In addition, Constantine’s threat to the north, Bavaria, was also at war with Austria. Despite the fact that Württemberg had many threatening allys, the likelihood of them caring about two puny nations waging war on each other was slim. Constantine became confident of his assumptions and declared war on Württemberg.
![[image loading]](http://i44.tinypic.com/2j3gms7.jpg)
Constantine considered himself an extraordinary field general, which many assumed was simple overconfidence, but his doubters were soon proved otherwise, as he eradicated Württemberg’s entire army of 4,000 men in a single battle. Despite this success, there was still a huge amount of fear lingering in Constantine’s mind. He knew that he had to take over Württemberg before any ally, such as Austria, would intervene. Thus, he took a leap of faith, and assaulted the capital city. In just 29 days, the city fell to Constantine’s control and thus he marched south hoping to have similar success. God was clearly on Constantine’s side because Konstanz fell with just as much ease. Constantine followed the idea of Wilhelm and demanded that Württemberg become our vassal.
![[image loading]](http://i42.tinypic.com/bg8ocy.jpg)
Like Wilhelm, Constantine had trouble making peace with the remaining nations that were at war with Alsace. Hesse led the alliance of 7 nations that included Austria and Bavaria. Constantine regrouped his army and found Hesse’s army defending the province of Ansbach. He commanded his army of roughly 8,000 towards the puny army of 7,000 that was commanded by the Hessian general, Phillip. Phillip was no match for the experienced Constantine and ran like cowards to the province of Franken. Constantine pursued and annihilated Phillip’s army.
![[image loading]](http://i40.tinypic.com/w1z412.jpg)
Despite Hesse’s embarrassing defeat, they still refused our peace offer. It was clear that Constantine would have to march on their capital to prove their inferiority. Constantine’s army, however, was exhausted and reinforcements were coming in very slowly. Therefore, it was quite unwise to blindly assault the city, and thus, Constantine laid siege on Hessen for 262 days until it finally surrendered. Hesse finally realized it had no business warring a great nation such as Alsace and accepted peace.
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This marks the end of my reign. Below I will post how our nation looks now along with a full view of Europe itself. Constantine looks forward to continued success!
![[image loading]](http://i41.tinypic.com/u4uo9.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i41.tinypic.com/v7e2du.jpg)
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Thats an amazing AAR thank you. Im quite scared of going into this game now, with all the super powers surrounding us. I will really need a miracle!
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Interesting. Not even a monarchy, so no PUs, that should make expanding very hard, especially with unlawful territory on anything not cored meaning we can never really have more then 2-3 noncored provinces at once. Nice AAR.
Also, Portugal stole Granada, and the pope expanded.
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france hasnt expanded at all, things are looking bad for the blue blob with burgundy already approaching equal size. tirumids seem to be winning? in asia and castille has already taken half of north africa ;D. the only crazy thing is sweden appears to of warred denmark and absolutely destroyed them, gg no re.
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Damn fine job.
My only complaint is that you didn't trade nearly enough as you should have for your size, but nonetheless, a damn fine start.
P.S. -- Just press "y" to show your allies and vassals and shit. Much simpler than outlining everything.
On December 13 2011 21:21 Bourneq wrote: Thats an amazing AAR thank you. Im quite scared of going into this game now, with all the super powers surrounding us. I will really need a miracle!
As I just said, I think trading is the key right now. Start bribing people to vote for you for Emperor, trade a SHIT TON to get massive dosh incomes. You could easily break 1k gold in your turn alone if you do it right. Was great expansion at first, but too much early on in the HRE as an OPM will fuck you over later on hardcore, especially with unlawful territory.
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Wow really impressive and GREAT AAR thats what i was hoping of
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On December 14 2011 00:28 Fruscainte wrote:Damn fine job. My only complaint is that you didn't trade nearly enough as you should have for your size, but nonetheless, a damn fine start. P.S. -- Just press "y" to show your allies and vassals and shit. Much simpler than outlining everything. Show nested quote +On December 13 2011 21:21 Bourneq wrote: Thats an amazing AAR thank you. Im quite scared of going into this game now, with all the super powers surrounding us. I will really need a miracle! As I just said, I think trading is the key right now. Start bribing people to vote for you for Emperor, trade a SHIT TON to get massive dosh incomes. You could easily break 1k gold in your turn alone if you do it right. Was great expansion at first, but too much early on in the HRE as an OPM will fuck you over later on hardcore, especially with unlawful territory.
Yeah early on I simply couldn't afford to trade because of the need for an army, but after the initial war I could have definitely focused on it more and used more than just two CoTs. I wanted to expand quickly so that we'd have a chance against the blobs that are surrounding us. Alsace is probably one of the hardest countries to play because it is a theocracy, not to mention its ridiculous postition amongst super powers. However, I have faith in our TL crew to keep it strong . I agree, the focus should be getting votes to become Emperor. The next 40 years will be critical. If we can be successful through those years, then I don't think Alsace would have too much trouble after that.
Also, outlining it took about 30 seconds and I like that more than hitting "y."
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On December 14 2011 07:47 Bairemuth wrote:Show nested quote +On December 14 2011 00:28 Fruscainte wrote:Damn fine job. My only complaint is that you didn't trade nearly enough as you should have for your size, but nonetheless, a damn fine start. P.S. -- Just press "y" to show your allies and vassals and shit. Much simpler than outlining everything. On December 13 2011 21:21 Bourneq wrote: Thats an amazing AAR thank you. Im quite scared of going into this game now, with all the super powers surrounding us. I will really need a miracle! As I just said, I think trading is the key right now. Start bribing people to vote for you for Emperor, trade a SHIT TON to get massive dosh incomes. You could easily break 1k gold in your turn alone if you do it right. Was great expansion at first, but too much early on in the HRE as an OPM will fuck you over later on hardcore, especially with unlawful territory. Yeah early on I simply couldn't afford to trade because of the need for an army, but after the initial war I could have definitely focused on it more and used more than just two CoTs. I wanted to expand quickly so that we'd have a chance against the blobs that are surrounding us. Alsace is probably one of the hardest countries to play because it is a theocracy, not to mention its ridiculous postition amongst super powers. However, I have faith in our TL crew to keep it strong  . I agree, the focus should be getting votes to become Emperor. The next 40 years will be critical. If we can be successful through those years, then I don't think Alsace would have too much trouble after that. Also, outlining it took about 30 seconds and I like that more than hitting "y."
Meh, I prefer just pressing the button and having it clearly color coated for you in-game than having it like that. Just my opinion though, no huge deal honestly.
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