The year is 1453 AD, and Friedrich II has ruled Brandenburg for the past 13 years. Brandenburg is a typical medieval state, but the fall of Constantinople has triggered unknown forces across Europe...







Out of our four core provinces, only Brandenburg and Altmark are of real interest. Neumark and Ruppin are rather poor, though the former can provide some manpower for the military. Speaking of which, we have a grand total of two regiments of Latin Medieval Infantry.




Now we check the Court, and find it empty. Fortunately, we can hire up to three of the following advisers:

• Piero (artist 4, gives +12 stability/month, costs 10.8 gold + 0.4 monthly)
• Wilhelm Friedrich Schnittern (statesman 4, +12 Government investment/month, 12 gold + 0.4 monthly)
• August von Hohenlohe (statesman 3, +9 Gov't/month, 9 gold + 0.3 monthly).
• Christian Wilhelm Arnswald (theologian 3, missionary chance +6%, 9 gold + 0.3 monthly)
• Ernst Schach (army reformer 2, +6 Land investment/month, 6 gold + 0.2 monthly)

I can tell you right now that Friedrich II is not very interested in the theologian, as he'd be completely useless at this point of the game...


So, here are the initial choices you have:

• Who do we hire for the court? We have 50 gold to begin with, but that needs to last until January's taxes. Currently, our budget is fairly balanced.
• Who should we try to ally with? Mecklemburg and Saxony are tempting, but there's also Pommerania, Bohemia, or even Poland.
• We can also adjust one of our domestic policy sliders by one point.
  
• Should we expand our military? Knights can be expensive, but they are far more powerful than your average peasant infantry...

I´m for +Centralisation, and an alliance with Saxony!

I´m not qualified for the court question.

Ok, first update!


Friedrich II hires both statesmen, who promise to deliver National Ideas to improve our nation (more on that soon). The great Piero gets the third spot in Brandenburg's Court: Stability is a vital factor in this game, and we want to max it out as soon as possible.



Accordingly, we invest most of our meager monthly income in Stability. The rest goes to mint some money, as we just can't allow the treasury to go broke because of the Court's new expenses. Inflation could be a problem in the future, though...


 

On the diplomatic front, Friedrich suspects that Brandenburg's strategic position will force the neighbors to play nice. Sure enough, we get offers from Pommerania and Saxony as soon as the game begins, but before accepting any of them we send a diplomat to Mecklemburg, and secure their alliance. This allows us to have three allies instead of the usual two!

Of course, Friedrich is now praying that they don't drag Brandenburg into stupid wars against Austria, Poland or Bohemia. :haw:








Our advisors remind us that we also have Royal Marriages with Denmark (ok) and Mantua (?). We have good relations with most German states, including the current Holy Roman Emperor (Austria).




As the little red icon in the above picture indicates, we still haven't adjusted our domestic policies. We proceed to increase Centralization by one point, which costs us one point of Stability (this always happens when you change domestic policies). Piero has a lot of work ahead.

Research costs a bit more now, but we get increased revenue and security in exchange. A strong central administration will also help if we try to unify Germany.




I'm going to play a few years of game time, and post another update as soon as we can choose a National Idea (or shit hits the fan, whichever happens first). The plan is to vassalize Mecklemburg and Pommerania, a necessary step for annexation. Saxony is too strong for this at the moment...

Stay tuned!

Update time:

Some weird things happened these years. First, Austria played up its role as Holy Roman Emperor, guaranteeing just about everyone's independence (attacking a guaranteed country means you go to war against the protector too).




Second, the Ottomans get into a massive brouhaha in Asia Minor. Their backyard makes the Balkans look positively stable.




In 1454, we get to choose our first National Idea. After some thought, Friedrich II unleashes a Scientific Revolution in Brandenburg! It might not look as spectacular as some other National Ideas (Quest for the New World, I'm looking at you!), but it's a very good boost to research and we're going to need it: Brandenburg isn't exactly a merchant kingdom...






A couple years later, Anhalt becomes our first vassal. Soon enough, we vassalize Meckelmburg, Brunswick, Saxony, Pommerania, and Luneburg. All we need is to wait a decade, and annexation can begin...




We also get an invitation from a very special club:





(continued)

Not everyone is happy about the Hanseatic League, and Friedrich is forced to relax some laws:




Meanwhile, Sweden is slowly being erased from Scandinavia. Denmark is eating it from the south, while Finland declared its independence to the east. Sweden will be gone within two decades.




Baden becomes the Holy Roman Emperor for approximately 15 minutes. They do absolutely nothing productive with their new title:




This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...




In 1459, we get a tempting alliance offer. Poland is one of the big boys, and it has Lithuania under its thumb. An alliance with them can't be a bad idea, right?




Less than a year later, we are knee deep in a war against Bohemia and Silesia, courtesy of the warmongering king of Poland. We manage to get a small victory, but only after some really miserable battles.



(continued)

Brandenburg's efforts to vassalize its neighbors start to pay off. Though Mecklemburg refuses our first attempt, Friedrich II becomes the new Holy Roman Emperor!




Soon enough, Saxony becomes part of our nation. All these good news are too much for Friedrich's heart, unfortunately, so his brutish son climbs to the throne:






The new Emperor begins by crushing a few rebels. No Order 66 is required.






The Court gets a facelift too.




A new order, for a new Empire...

Meanwhile, something is cooking in Eurasia. Muscowy is doing its best to become Russia.




Mecklemburg finally caves in, and Saxons welcome their Pommeranian brothers into the nation:






Europe as of 1477:




Breaking news! Morocco inherits... sand:




If you can't beat them, ally with them!




We get to control the Vatican for a grand 13 days, until England bribes our cardinals and becomes the new power behind the Curia:





Our merchants' efforts are going nowhere, so we change the Court yet again. This time, it will be well worth the money invested:




Jean-Antoine de Chevigny will provide the necessary cover to invade Bremen without losing any stability, a feat that enables us to get our first port outside the Baltic Sea!




In 1486, Joachim II takes the throne. After his father's turbulent reign, the new king wants stability and long term projects like building Workshops.




Our trade expert Jerzy Sterner triggers a nice little event, that drops Inflation to zero.




This is Brandenburg as of 1488:





So, what next? England created the first colonies in America, but we can't get there because of our Colonial Range. We'd need a port closer to the Atlantic for this. Perhaps we could vassalize what remains of Brittany? France seems busy enough kicking the shit out of Burgundy...

WOW!

I don´t know how this relates to EUII, but if you pulled that off in EUII, you´d be one of the world´s best players!

Kudos to Jong!

That looks awesome, Jong!

Now they need to make an Asia Universalis, so that your avatar can become... well, your avatar :cool:

I like the little messages they give. "... they reject our proposal of annexation. They are clearly led by fools."

It's so European

Now you make me want to play my copy of Victoria...

Quote from: SettembriniWOW!

I don´t know how this relates to EUII, but if you pulled that off in EUII, you´d be one of the world´s best players!

Kudos to Jong!

I have to admit that I got lucky with the initial alliances. The one-province minors try to ally themselves with a bigger nation for protection... and that is the first step towards vassalage and diplomatic annexation. Brunswick, Lüneburg, and Anhalt joined Brandenburg that way.

Republics and theocracies are harder, though: You need military annexation if you play a monarchy.

Brandenburg's biggest weaknesses at this point are a lack of colonies (not enough Colonial Range!), a rather weak economy (few merchants survive), and some very powerful neighbours. France, in particular, is insanely powerful.

New update!

I've played an additional 60 years, most of which went by without affecting us. Here's a summary:

First, the Papal States have respawned in what used to be a theocratic state in Germany. That's right: If someone destroys the Vatican, it comes back like a plague!




Next, we received fascinating news about a New World:




Scotland joined our vassals. It's nice to have extra income, but now we need to keep an eye on the English. A war against them could be disastrous.




The Reformation! When you are the HRE, you know this might not end well...




Europe as of 1516. Notice how France is growing...




This is the Empire as of 1517:





We begin construction of a tiny navy, the first steps to explore the New World:








Cyprus is now Brandenburg's summer resort:




Johann VI rises to the throne! His first years will include a bitter war with Burgundy, courtesy of our alliance with France. We lose thousands of brave soldiers defending the fatherland, and things look grim for a year or so, but luck is with us.

The French keep pushing forward and Burgundy's Stability rating is at an all time low. When we finally occupy a province (Osnabrück), we sue for peace and manage to keep control of it! France takes a few provinces too, making an eunuch out of Burgundy.




This is a biggie. We take advantage of an event (Prepare to Join the Empire, for Poland) that boosts our relations, and convince Poland to become our vassal. NICE.






A short war with Brittany lets us play a very dirty trick. First, our spies "obtain" documents proving that part of Brittany rightfully belonged to Brandenburg (!), thus giving us a core. We conquer and keep the province, so now we have a much, much better colonial range... enough to reach Bermuda!








Finally, the 1540s bring what we've been waiting for so long... Germany!




There are Germans outside our country, which gives us a lot of possibilities...




Europe as of 1546. France is the strongest country in the world. Massive armies, strong economy, and rather weak neighbors. Yes, even us: Our population can't even compare.




I leave you with a choice of infantry, and a big question: Where to, now?

What, no interest?

You should ally with the weakest against the strongest. That is, with everyone against the French.

I'm trying to absorb the weakest German states, in order to strengthen our military and fend off any French war against them (a conflict that the minor states would surely lose).

Ideally, we'll be able to take on the French with English, Dane, and Polish allies.

I'm more cautious. I'd want to keep the minor German states between me and the French going. That way, when I war against the French, if I think I can't win, I can just sell out my minor allies and walk away. Of course, if you conquer them first you can always give up territory for peace, but it makes it more likely you'll lose, since your warring against the minors weakens them.

So me + minors is stronger than me + weakened absorbed minors.

Of course, the latter has the advantage of better co-ordination, since in these games you can't tell your allies where to march to, and wars get a bit messy. But still...