EU4 - Strive for Pskov!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello all! Yes, it’s time. It’s time for me to brush off some EU4 loving and head back for another dynasty. Whom am I taking? What will I do? Part of that depends on whom I have played in the past! I have dynasties as various nations:

EU2-4


Wallachia – First dynasty, lost, Orthodox
Wallachia – Second dynasty, lost, Orthodox
Wallachia – Third dynasty, lost, Orthodox
Trebizond – Fourth Dynasty, won, Orthodox
Oldenburg – Fifth Dynasty, won, Catholic/Protestant
Mataram – Sixth Dynasty, won. Still my favorite EU dynasty of all time, btw. United all Hindu nations from SE Asia. Created a love affair between me and the Indies that still lasts to this day.
Granada – Seventh Dynasty, survived, Still my 3rd favorite dynasty of all time. Used events made for hypothetical resurgent Granada that included a new Crusade against the Muslims on Iberia and an attempt for another Reconquista.
Naxos – Eighth Dynasty, won, formed Italy, Catholic
Songhai – Ninth Dynasty, won, took over Africa for Islam
Bar – Tenth Dynasty, lost very quickly
Bar – Eleventh Dynasty, lost very quickly
Connaught – Twelfth dynasty, won, formed Ireland, Catholic
Utrecht - Thirteenth Dynasty, Catholic, lost
Lorraine – Fourteenth dynasty, won, took over HRE title, Catholic
Oman – Fifteenth dynasty, won, became Muslim Portugal
Kamchatka – Sixteenth dynasty, won, my 2nd favorite dynasty with the fun Pagan nation.
Mysore – Seventeenth dynasty, won, formed Bharat as the Muslim India.
Huyla – Eighteenth dynasty, won, my 4th favorite dynasty, formed Inca Empire
Kongo – Nineteenth dynasty, won, merged Africa into a mostly Catholic state


CK1-2:

Halsingland, First dynasty, won, formed Sweden
Salerno, Second dynasty, won, formed Italy, fought off Mongol Invasion
Sligo, Third dynasty, lost to bigger Irish powers
Glamorgan, fourth dynasty, lost to England
Suenik, fifth dynasty, lost
Suenik, sixth dynasty, lost
Suenik, seventh dynasty, lost
Lubek, eighth dynasty, won
Yegorlyk, ninth dynasty, won
Aragon – Tenth dynasty, won Reconquista


Now, there are a few different dynasties I’ve done.

So it’s time for my 20th dynasty. Going in, you’ll note that I’ve done dynasties in places like Africa, Asia, the Indies, Europe, and the Americas.

Not counting CK or ones I’ve lost:

Africa – 2, Songhai, Kongo
Asia – 4, Kamchatka, Mataram, Mysore, Oman, Trebizond
N. America – 0
S. America – 1, Huyla
Europe – 5, Naxos, Granada, Oldenburg, Lorraine, Connaught

Adding in CK wins:

Europe – 5
Asia – 1, Yegorlyk

I have not done some major sort of iconic options:



China

Japan

Russia

Ethiopia or another Christian nation on the East Africa area

N. Africa – Take a nation and capture European nations across the Great Sea.

N. America tribe. Take a tribe, unify some stuff, and then beat back those invading Colonial nations!

Middle East – I think taking a classically placed Muslim minor power and turning it into a dominant local power in Turkey or the Levant would be pretty cool.

[Coffee Warlord]

Japan would be an interesting one.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'd also have to say either Japan or China

(I'm unclear how fractured / whole "China" is at the start of play, so it could either be hella hard OR too easy)

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Coffee Warlord

Japan would be an interesting one.

Yeah, it begins splintered which is good. And they added a lot to make it feel real in various DLCS and updates

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'd also have to say either Japan or China

(I'm unclear how fractured / whole "China" is at the start of play, so it could either be hella hard OR too easy)

Yeah. In real life, I like China more than Japan, but the Japanese Challenge in EU4 feels better and more genuine.

[Abe Sargent]

Got it!

[Abe Sargent]

Now I know where I am going.

I am doing a Russian challenge. I want to take a lesser power, and fight off the local powers, like Lithuania, Muscovy, and the Great Horde and then form Russia. A few additional Russian states were recently added, both smaller powers. Additionally, we have had some new territories added here as well.

Now some recent additions to the game have added lots of new territories. We just had a ton of new provinces out down in the Middle East, and an entire expansion rooted down there in the Cradle of Civilization patch. But I have not run an Orthodox nation in EU since my Fourth dynasty in Trebizond, so I have only once had a successful run in EU with an Orthodox nation. I’ve had a few Catholic nations embrace Protestants early too.


It’s also been a while since I had a central Asian power as well either. Arguably, my only other CA nation was Trebizond as well, although I don’t really think of it as such. Yegorlyk in CK sort of resonates as that role for me.


So what I would love to do is to take a minor power in Russia, win and expand, and then grow into a major local power, become Russia, and then push from there against other major powers.

[Abe Sargent]

Now the big bad of the area is Muscovy. They are the big winners of the post-fall of the Kievan Russian nation. The Kievan Russia was a big alliance and federation of tribes that stretched from far north very far south that was around for centuries. It’s fall began around 50 years before it was finally ended in 1240 to the Mongols. After it fell, Novgorod grew into one of the major powers in the north, and Muscovy in the middle. Many other principalities, republics, and tribes populated the region.

Slowly but surely, Muscovy exerted it’s influence. It brought together many principalities, but not often through war. It would buy land. It would let people retire in wealth and luxury in the regional capital of the area while they continued to administer the land for them. They had marriages and alliances and wove people together. They warred and took lands from local tribes and former Mongols. They grew slowly but inexorably.

When the game begins in 1444, we are really at the beginning of the major expansion of Muscovy from multiple angles. By 1478, Novgorod itself was annexed fully by Muscovy despite being at the height of its power in 1444. They went to war with Novgorod in the late 60s, and then won the war decisively.

To help demonstrate the Muscovy might, two new vassals were added, small nations, in the Principality of Beloozero (officially annexed in 1487) and the Principality of Rostov (integrated in 1474). In order to help stave off the threat, more provinces were added to the Novgorod Republic, bringing it to 22.

An entire expansion was aimed here, and updated the map for Lithuania, as well as added in special rules for the type of republic we have here (Veche Republics) as well as new governments rules for the Tsardom and Principalities.


Veche Republic

This is a new republic form, which works like a merchant republic and have access to the Russian abilities as well. They are always duchy rank, and their bonus is +1 merchant. Novgorod and Pskov start as Veche Republics. It also gives +3 to states.


Principality

This is the new monarchy government form, which all Russian monarchies start with. It has access to the Russian abilities, and while they are locked to duchy rank, they have a bonus of -1 unrest and +5% Tax Modifier. It also gives +3 to states.


Tsardom

This government form is given when forming Russia, and is automatically empire rank. Besides giving +10 to amount of states and access to the Russian abilities, it gives the following bonuses. +20% Manpower, +0.1 Yearly Absolutism & -0.05 monthly autonomy.


The Russian abilities work like this. All actions have a bar to fill up before they can be used. Bar fill up from 0 - 100, increasing yearly by the ruler’s monarch point in the category, and a base +3. The actual bar can hold 150, so you don’t lose by not using it immediately.

The Administrative ability is called Reform Sudebnik, and reduces autonomy by 10% in all provinces you own.
The diplomatic ability is called Support Oprichnina, and reduces progress of all your rebel factions by 30% each.
The military ability is called Raise Streltsy, and reduces war exhaustion by 2, and raises 20% of your forcelimit as Streltsy Infantry in your capital.

So what is Streltsy units? Previously we had three categories of units, with regulars, mercenaries & banners. There are two more categories added, and one of those is the Streltsy.

Streltsy arrive at full strength, but low morale, and do not cost manpower nor gold at recruit, but otherwise works like a regular unit, if not for two distinct differences. First, the amount of streltsy compared to your force limit increases your stability costs, while each streltsy regiment provides +10% fire damage.


The other category is Cossacks, which is there for everyone that bought the “The Cossacks” expansion. Cossacks work like regulars, except they do +10% extra shock damage.

Cossacks are recruited as an estate interaction, where each province assigned to the Cossacks estate will give you 1 cavalry Cossack regiment.

Of course, fittingly for the focus on this update, we have added three new interactions to the Cossacks estate.
Conscripting Elites: gain army tradition, lose loyalty
Supply Arms: lose MIL, gain loyalty and influence
Permit Self Governance: give autonomy to cossack lands, gain loyalty and influence


Orthodox changes?

Orthodox world at large: Metropolitans and Icons.


Patriarch Authority has been a game concept for Orthodox nations since time immemorial, or at least since release. While it's effects have been tweaked a little over the game's lifespan, sadly it has remained somewhat stale in that you wait for events to push it up or down. We've decided to revisit this mechanic to give it more life.


Patriarch Authority will still grant meaty bonuses to Unrest suppression, Missionary Strength and Manpower but it can now be spent to commission new Icons for your nation. Orthodox nations across the globe will be able to make a call against the long-lasting effects of high Patriarch Authority against a strong temporary bonus granted from commissioning an Icon.


Commissioning an Icon will cost 10 Patriarch Authority and will grant that icon's bonuses for your nation for 20 years. You can at any time switch your Icon out for another at a cost of a further 10 PA, or just wait for them to run their course.

Sources of Authority were, however, few and mercilessly random, so we have added a new State ability for followers of the Orthodox faith: Consecrate Metropolitan

In any well developed (30+) State where your religion is in all provinces and cultures are accepted, you can Consecrate a Metropolitan. This will permanently grant a reduction to Devastation at the cost of slightly increased State Maintenance, but when used will bestow +5 Patriarch Authority. Any Orthodox nation can do this, but it plays particularly well into the Tsardom's hands with their increased State limit, allowing them to have more Metropolitans and boost up their Patriarch Authority further.

[Abe Sargent]

Now there are three other major expansions for the game, in addition to this recent Third Rome, that will play heavily into changes in the game’s systems we’ll in and around Russia and with these merchant republics:

Res Publica – 3rd expansion, added many new options for Republics, and really fleshed them out independently, such as factions in the Republic to satisfy, updates to how leaders work, and so forth.

The Cossacks – 7th expansion, added many options and powers for Central Asian powers, including Horde Unity, razing, etc. Gave the tribal nations a lot of new options to help make them both more realistic, and different than simple European powers, as well as more challenging rivals.

Mare Nostrum – 8th expansion. Added many naval options, powers, and abilities. More espionage, pirate hunting, etc. The single most important addition in this change was the ability for a merchant republic to make a trade league with other nations, as long as they are one-province big.


With these additions, I was led to playing Novgorod, as the great anti-Muscovy. It’s wealthy but weak internally, with major issues militarily, and developed ports, but weaker inland holdings. It has a bigger navy than army.

[Abe Sargent]

Now, I’ve never played a republic, nor have I played a Russian nation. These feels like the perfect time to do both, with the nearby Orthodox nations being stronger, post-Cossacks, etc.


Let me show you how a Veche Republic works, because most of its rules are just Merchant republic with a few additions, like Russian options.


The Veche Republic was very different to other medieval republics. In places like Novorogod, the Veche is a ruling council that was elected and had seats for different classes of people, and represented all different sorts from laborers to merchants. This ruling council decided all legislative matters as well as judicial and heard, collectively, major cases from their home. There were some noble Princes in the Veche Republic who were elected to serve as the leader at any given point in time, and their job was to execute the edicts, both legislative and judicial, of the Veche. It’s a very compelling form of government, and the power of the Veche as the top of the ruling class is very interesting. Due to the collective ownership of the people here, profits were shared and invested in architecture. One of the major reasons Novgorod pushed against Muscovy when other’s liked joining the powers for prestige and power was the lack of wealth. They didn’t want their hard earned money to go enrichen some Duke, but instead to the local merchants and such, which were a huge part of Novgorod’s success.

Here are the rules for a VR.

• +1 Merchant
• Election cycle: 4 years.
• +3 Number of states
• Can construct a trade post for 50 ADM giving +10 trade power, in one owned province per trade node (except your primary node).
• Can lead a trade league and create trading cities.
• Without penalties, only 20 provinces can be states. For each state province over the limit republic loses -0.1 Republican tradition.
• Can't switch governments normally (but can become a dictatorship through event with low republican tradition)
• Fixed rank: Duchy
• No Royal Marriages
• Much harder to Dip-Annex
• Bonus goods production in non-owned provinces in a controlled trade node, equal to percentage of trade controlled (e.g., non-owned provinces produce 50% bonus goods if the republic control 100% of trade in the node).

(The term state refers to a holdings not with a Colonial power, or local territories, the world is divided into larger states with the provinces under them)

Republic mechanics:

Republics have republican tradition instead of legitimacy. In some republics the ruler rules for life, but in others there is an election cycle. When the cycle ends, you get an event in which you can select the ruler:
• Re-elect the current ruler. The country loses -2.5 republican tradition per election cycle year, but the ruler gains 1 of each skill. This is to represent the fear that the ruler is becoming entrenched and despotic, more like a monarchy.
• Administrative candidate (4/1/1)
• Diplomatic candidate (1/4/1)
• Military candidate (1/1/4)
If the ruler dies in office, a similar event occurs but without the possibility for re-election. Compared to a monarchy, one has much more control over who rules, and there is no stability loss when he/she dies (except if he is killed in combat and / or a lifetime dictator in Bureaucratic Despotism or Republican Dictatorship). However, a freshly elected ruler is usually not very good, and (except for Dutch Republics) one can't make royal marriages. Republican leaders can be used as Military leaders like their monarch counterparts. If their leader is killed in action, the republic suffers -1 stability.

All non-tribal republics have a small bonus that helps mitigate the penalty to non-accepted culture provinces. It’s not applied to cultures belonging to the same culture group. The bonus consists of:
+10% Local tax modifier
+10% Local manpower modifier
+5% Local sailors modifier
−0.5 Local unrest


Republican tradition

Republican tradition is the republican counterpart of how legitimate the ruling power is perceived by the general population. It's also a way to show how "true" the government holds up to republican ideals (i.e. if a country elects a new ruler in every election). This property ranges between 0 and 100.
New republics will start with 100 tradition, unless the nation in question was formerly a monarchy and enacted the Adopt Plutocratic Administration or Adopt Oligarchic Administration decision, in which case it will start with 50. Each year republican tradition increases by a base of +1. Various events can make a player choose between sacrificing tradition or suffering another negative consequence. Like legitimacy, republican tradition has linearly-scaling effects based on its level:

Variable 0% 50% 100%
National unrest 0 −1 −2
Stability cost modifier +200% +100% 0

Republican government with low tradition can collapse into despotism, with noble rebel factions becoming increasingly likely below 66 and 33 tradition. Below 40, the ruler may declare himself the ruler of a republican dictatorship (or, for revolutionary republics, a revolutionary empire). This is more likely to happen with lower tradition, and also happens immediately if the ruler is re-elected with tradition below 20. When the ruler of a republican dictatorship dies with republican tradition below 50, it becomes a monarchy, of the most advanced type permitted by admin tech (except Constitutional Monarchy). Republican tradition does not normally increase during a dictatorship, but if it's above 50 when the ruler dies, the government reverts to whatever type it was before the dictatorship.

Those are the interesting rules about running a Republic. So, note a few breaks here. No RMs, rougher dip-annex and dip-vassal and breaks on the size of the Republic and having one good ruler for a long time are all major breaks on what you can do moving forward.

[Abe Sargent]

However, Novgorod feels way too powerful. Taking over a 22 province power under the V. Republic feels like I am getting a major power that is already dialed in for a win. Just insert a spoon and stir. But there is another Veche Republic who is not in such a good place.


Pskov

2 provinces

Stuck between Novgorod, Lithuania, and the Livonian Order.

Vassal of Muscovy


Pskov was a Principality under the control of Kievan Russia. Then in 1230 it was moved to under the control of Novgorod, where it remained after the dissolution of Kievan Russia. It retained it’s rulership under Novgorod, and moved to the Veche Republic fully. It became more important, and won victory for Novgorod in a war against the Livonian Order in the Battle of Rakvere, and won it with distinction, helping to bring that war to a close in 1268, and won their virtual independence from Novgorod as a thanks and farewell, although not technically ratified until 1348 (not dissimilar to other European holdings, such as France). They kept the Novgorod method of rulership with them.


They kept their ties to Novgorod while also cozying up to Muscovy to help ensure their survival, after they defeated the Teutonic Knights in a war that ended in 1380 and Lithuania began agitating for their removal from the map. In 1399, Pskov allowed themselves to become a vassal of Muscovy in order to keep themselves safe. They allowed Muscovy to appoint their rulers, which nonetheless still took order from the Veche. They would remain under the Moscow crown until 1510 when they were finally annexed by the burgeoning nation in its ongoing power-grab. Pskov was declared the personal territory of the Grand Prince of Muscovy, and just annexed without any chance to stop it.

A song written in 1510 commemorating the Story of the Taking of Pskov is considered one of the ten best epic works in the history of Russia, and it depicts Muscovy as they are depicted as leisurely pushing for it and moving things just a little bit at a time, and around 111 years later, it happened. The spider will gobble the fly however it wants to, and there is nothing the fly can do to prevent it.

So Pskov survives longer than Novgorod does, and it feels a bit like Trebizond to me, frankly. It was a successor state of the Eastern part of the Roman Empire in Turkey along the Black Sea, and it lasted for long after its parent was pertinent, until it was taken out in 1479 by the Turks, and even after the runt Byzantine Empire is finally snuffed out in 1453.

Now, in 1444, Novgorod is the big state and Pskov the runt, but that will switch. And what if some long-range person came in, and saw who Pskov was and what they could be, and wanted to turn them into a Neo Novgorod? Someone who cherished their independence enough to seek to wrest themselves from out under the Yoke of Moscow to a brighter day?




My Goals:

1. Remove the Muscovy Stranglehold on Pskov
2. Ensure long-term survival by early and immediate expansion
3. Create a Pskovian Trade League
4. Push to Become a Thalassocracy
5. Push Trade to the Point that my economy strengthens considerably
6. Establish Trading Posts, Cities and Expansion as needed
7. Build Smart Not Big – Create vassals as needed
8. Challenge the powers of the area, including Novgorod, Muscovy, and Lithuania to survive
9. Grow big enough to form Russia.

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s a picture!




Now there are some issues here. Note we are not next to water, well, not the Baltic Sea, I mean we are next to Lake Peipus. So we only have 3000 inf to begin the game.

Another issue you will note is that there are no small, nearby nations to try and gobble up. The Livonian Order, as the obvious example, is huge compared to me, and Riga is pretty far away, as are all of the other nations out there of small size that are inland and far, far, to the east. Being here on the edge is not easy.

[Abe Sargent]

So this is not going to be my normal start-fast dynasty where I can launch a war in a year or two, take some territory, and then use that to push forward, like I have from everything from Songhai taking Timbuktu to Yegorlyk or even Naxos. There are no expansion opportunities overseas, because I don’t have a port to launch troops from.

Pskov – Novgorodian Culture, Orthodox Religion

We have the Pskov Idea:

+1 Merchant, +15% Caravan Power

So that’s pretty good. We begin with four merchants, one more than Novgorod, and two more than most other non-Republics. That’s a good start on trade.

My provinces:

Pskov – Development level of 14, woods, northernmost holding and on the western shore of Lake Peipus. It has a level 2 castle for fortifications, 0.62 monthly support for our nation, as well as livestock trading good (we have five new trading goods added recently in the patch on Nov 16th – glass, gems, livestock, paper, and incense).


Ostrov – South of Pskov, 0.25 made here in the Woods here making Naval Supplies. The folks here are west of Novgorod, north of Lithuania, and east of the Livonian Order and rock a development of 6.



We have a liberty desire of 45%.

I make Admin Power my national focus, given that it helps in everything from stability to helping issue edicts of various sorts.

I take a mission to build our prestige.

With a 40% of the influence, the Aristocrats are in top influence, with Guilds and Merchants each at 30%.

I send out my four merchants out


Not expecting war anytime soon, I drop my army maintenance in half.

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1445 – There’s really no legitimate rival out there. Nothing that reaches out to me and speaks.

I order the merchant I sent to the trade depot in Kiev to begin, instead of maximizing trade, to work on building local communities. As a result, everyone who trades at Kiev will slowly, over time, see improved relations. Other options are to work on building my spy network or to maximize trade received. Kiev is the weakest of my options.

2 Feb – I turn off my fort maintenance, which will save us 1 gold a month, and that should give me about 1.5 gold monthly.

14 April – My first event occurs. Merchants Call for Increased Imports. My decision here will basically move my supported factions. I agree and my Merchants move +10 and guilds -10, and we get some nice trades bonuses for a few years.


The traders have gained the dominant position, and we get these bonuses: -5% taxes, +10% trade, -10% build cost for naval vessels. So right now, it’s not a good swap. After I build up my trades it will be though, which is nice.

1 May – As of right now, my trade is great. Here my current financial ledger:

Tax: 1.05
Trade: 1.98
Prod: 0.29



I have my Kiev merchant transferring trade to Novgorod, where my merchant is already taking 1.48 a month.

Now I normally would not do what I am about to do. This is how unusual it I, but I don’t have anything to spend a lot of money on right now, so I am going to invest in an Advisor.

I hire Semen Tsyplatov, a person who gives me a big bonus to stability improvement as well as giving me more admin investment, for the cost of 1 gold monthly. I’ll still be making 1.06 after that investment.


1 June – I raise my stability

6 Nov – Muscovy declares a conquer CB on Tver, and we are now at war with them.

[Abe Sargent]

In case you haven't studied much Eastern European history, Lake Peipus was the site of one of the most famous battles in military history in 1242 with Alexandr Nevsky beats the Teutonic and Livonian Orders on the frozen lake, known as the Battle of the Ice. It ended the Eastern crusades against the Orthodox Christians.

[Abe Sargent]

5 May, 1456 – I have not joined the war, I am not able. I get an event and choose disloyalty to Muscovy and our liberty desire raises 15, but it had dropped a bit so now its 55.

6 June – In a move I totally would have done myself, the adjacent Kazan declares war on Muscovy to help push against it while it’s occupied already.

1 Aug – I raise my stability to +2

12 Sept – Novgorod joins the battle and declares war on Muscovy. Wow. That’s different.

20 Oct - I get an event about minting new coinage, and I choose not, and lose Republican Tradition rather than choosing to and getting inflation.

22 Dec – My 3000 troops are routed by 16000 troops of Novgorod.

10 May, 1457 – I gain prestige from an event and now have +5.

16 July – I have fabricated a claim on the coastal province of Narwa from the Livonian Order.

[Abe Sargent]

10 May, 1457 – I gain prestige from an event and now have +5.

16 July – I have fabricated a claim on the coastal province of Narwa from the Livonian Order.

1 Feb, 1458 – I raise our stability to +3.

11 Nov – I choose an Administrative ruler with 4/1/1 in the new elections from the Guilds. They take over and we now have: -10% construction, -10% manpower, +10% production

Our chancellor has the Well Connected trait, and that gives us -20% maintenance costs for my advisors

I hire a DIP advisor.

19 Dec- Great Horde DOWs Muscovy

I would have done likewise. Four fronts now for Muscovy. Only Poland/Lithuania hasn’t taken a shot.

10 Nov, 1459 – As an update, all four wars are going poorly, save for the first one which went Muscovy’s way early, but they have equalized by recapturing sieged territory and is now even. Novgorod has captured a few provinces and won a battle against some vassals and us. They have three CBs vs us. I am still making a ton of cash without my army to maintain.

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1450 – The Renaissance begins. Our Liberty Desire has risen to 67.

1 Sept – I have been working behind the scenes to get Poland to guarantee our independence. We maxed our relations and they need a little more. So I have ordered some troops built, which should give us enough military strength to back.

9 Jan, 1451 – White Peace with Ryazan.

18 Jan – I take a mission to take Narva from the Livonian Order.

15 Mar – Poland is now guaranteeing our independence

Can I declare independence right now? It would be early to do so. But they are in a few different conflicts. This could be the right time.

I declare war, our stability drops, and I invest in raising it twice back to full.


Poland joins us. She is the upper sibling in the Poland-Lithuania marriage, so Lithuania joins our war as well.

I offer relations improvement with Novgorod.

This is basically going to be on our allies and the war exhaustion in Muscovy. I am growing my army to 6k and then giving my ruler the leadership and moving out to help. But hopefully we’ll win with war exhaustion and our Lithuanian/Polish ally. Our allies have around 60k in troops total moving toward the east towards Muscovy. That’s a lot of troops normally, especially now fighting for our independence.

1 June – Lithuania just routed a Muscovy force

10 Dec – Sieges are ongoing and my 6k strong army is now out and taking outland holdings.

5 Jan, 1452 – We capture a minor province

4 May – Poland routs a Muscovy force

7 June – After more than a year, a siege of a major Muscovy holding falls to Poland/Pskov army, I move my army to bolster the adjacent siege of Moscow proper.

27 July – Moscow is in our hands.

I am the leader of this war. I only need a 23 warscore to win independence. We now have a 37%.

Can I go shopping?

Poland and Lithuania helped me win. Anything for them? Anything for me?

4 Aug – Tver took a province from Muscovy and forced them to cancel their subject Beloozero,

[Abe Sargent]

8 August -

We get:

Independence
War Reparations for 10 years
We free their vassal Yaroslavl



I move our troops back home, and then I will cut our army maintenance and fort maintenance costs to help bring my spending back up.

We are now in the Polish-Lithuanian alliance and within their hegemony. This was a huge win for them, they basically wrested two vassals free of their rival, and within a year.

[Abe Sargent]

16 Aug – Yaroslavl agrees to an alliance with us.

22 Aug – I have announced The Livonian Order as our rival. It’s the only major route of expansion, it’s only allied to Riga and the Teutonic Order. We are one of their enemies already.

20 Sept – Peace with the Great Horde and Muscovy

2 Nov – I get an event and choose to help the church and gain 5 Patriarch authority

15 Nov – I choose to change our leader in office and we keep the ADM one (4/1/1) and he’s
a lot younger as well.

18 Nov – Peace with a few folks here locally is declared

25 Nov – Tver’s ruler has died, the new ruler is in a Junior Partnership with Muscovy

26 Nov – Ryazan has declared war with Muscovy for a Succession War.

1 Dec – Our new ruler is also well-connected, and we get the -20% advisor costs as well. That’s good because I was about to fire one of them. Our margin of cash making, with both advisers, is the difference in that cash-making.

I make our new ruler a general and give them the Pskovian army

10 Feb, 1453 – Peace with Kazan and Muscovy, and the vassalage of Perm transfers to Kazan.

16 Aug – The Great Nation of Poland has started to influence me. This is an ability of Great nations, and some of the results are better tech and better relations over the next 10 years

[Abe Sargent]

4 Feb – 1454 – I get an event where I get some free DIP power. I spend it to increase one of my holdings a bit in production.

1 Jun – Novgorod is having major rebel issues, and right now 7 of their provinces are under rebel control. Too much war exhaustion?


3 Nov – I get a Guilds Cooperating event and we get prod and trade bonuses for a few years


3 Jan, 1455 – For no reason that I can tell, the Livonian Order has guaranteed our independence.

10 Jan – I have gained a claim on Dorpft, a Livonian holding.

30 Mar – Muscovy ceded four provinces to tribes.

1 Apr – Austria moved to great Power status

1 May, 1455 – Our first tech increase:


Admin 4 – I can now build temples

I order one built in Pskov, our capital

23 May – Peace with Ryazan. They lost two holdings to Muscovy.

7 Aug – With the heavy rebels, Muscovy have taken out the sieging army from Novgorod and are now back to square one.

[Abe Sargent]

Quick updated map?





You can see the loss and expansion of Muscovy, as well as the expansion of the Great Horde at the expense of M, and then the Nov rebs as well

We’re just sitting peacefully. I “won” a war by not really doing anything and just sitting on the sidelines. So what now brown cow? I am working on building up some spy networks in Nov, and my main target there would be Ingermanland, which is the coastal province north of Pskov.

[Abe Sargent]

11 Aug – Nov fabricated a claim on Ostrov, one of my holdings.

26 Nov – White Peace with Novgorod and Mus.

1 May, 1456 – Our truce with Novg/Tver etc is over

5 June – I get a Gift to the State of 50 ducats

1 Aug –

MIL TECH 4 – Pike Square, Bonus tactics and morale

18 Nov – I lose 10 Repub Trad but choose to keep my leader and he gets +1 to all stats

I have fabricated the claim on Ingermanland



1 Jan, 1457 –

DIP TECH 4 – More trade range, can build marketplaces

I order a marketplace in...Pskov. I order some DEV in our capital as well

11 Jan – The War of Succession ends with no change of land. Peace now lingers in East Slavia. For now.

27 June – After spending time building up our relations, Ryazan is now agreed to be our first Trade Partner in the Pskovian Trade Union!


I am currently making around 1.3 ducats a month.

[Abe Sargent]

5 Jun, 1458 – Our ruler dies and is replaced by a 58 year old 4/1/1 replacement

1 Jul – Our replacement is righteous and we gain Repub Trad regularly

15 Aug – I get an event that Pskovian Ideals are running rampant. Our people are known to uphold the typical codes of morality and honor, and even Pskovians abroad are appointed to positions of power and trusted. We net some prestige.


13 Dec – I get an interesting event. Basically, behind our backs, the guilds have pushed themselves to various places of power. Now they want to secure their places of power with bribes, and this comes from one of my advisors. Options? Lose my advisor and some of my creditability with the guilds, or gain some cash and corruption and guild loyalty. I choose the cash. I order a Temple in Ostrov and raises its dev some

15 April, 1459 – Poland declares war on the Teutonic Order for Kolm. I join our allies!


18 Aug – I have been leading the enemy forces on a wild goose chase all over Lithuania chasing my army and I have arrived at the Black Sea, while the main armies of Poland and Lithuania are out there doing something relevant.

22 Aug – We capture Narva from the LO.

29 Sept – We recapture a Lithuanian province from Livonia.

9 Jan, 1460 – I capture Dorpt from Livonia

18 Jan – I join the Polish army to break the large Livonian siege of Smolensk.

16 Feb – We defeat them, but it took too long and now the main Teutonic army of the main is about to arrive and protest our presence


26 Mar – After a long and bloody battle, the combined Polish/Pskvion forces (they have 13k, us 6k) we manage to win in Smolensk against the Teutonic army.

1 May – I join my small sieging army in Livonia with my main army

10 Aug – Two Livonian and two Teutonic provinces taken by allies

23 Oct – A 24k strong Polish combined army arrives to do more battle here

[Abe Sargent]

24 April – 1461 – A 456 day siege in Lettgallen is finished and we captured it. I head inland

2 May – I rout a small Livonian force

4 June – I take Wenden from Livonia

11 Aug – I dodge away from a large 15k strong Teutonic Army coming near me

22 Oct – They have retaken three provinces in Livonia from me and then moved on.

11 Nov – The Livonian capital falls to Poland

28 Dec – I recaptured all three and move to renew my siege.

14 Mar, 1462 – A combined forces army of 63k just routed the Livonian 10k army.

4 April – The Teutonic capital falls to Lithuania

23 May – An event pushes the Merchants back in power in our court.

6 June – We vote in a new ruler, another Bureaucrat (the 4/1/1)

This one is 38, and I could see us keeping him for a while


9 June – Poland rewards us! They negotiate terms with the Orders. The Teutonic Order loses three provinces to Poland. And we get two from the Livonian Order, the provinces of Narva and Uriev, which brings us to the sea.

We also got 39 favors from Poland for helping out

Both of these are Estonian and Catholic:

Narva – Coastal and Grasslands, 5 dev, I spend 25 ADM power to make it a core, 75% autonomy, grain growers, north of Lake Peipus, and next to our holdings in Uriev and Pskov, and then with 18.3% rebel feeling.

Uriev – West coast of Lake Peipus, next to Narva and Pskov, woods, dev 9, naval supplies, I spend 43 ADM power to core it up, 75% auto, 18.6% unrest as well.

My forcelimit is 9000k troops, so I leave my army at that.

We finished our mission to take Narva.

[Abe Sargent]

Now that the war is over...


ADMIN TECH 5 – Get a National Idea!

I kept my ADM power that I had assembled open in case I needed it for coring my new states, but we did both.

What Ideas do I like?

MIL – Quality – Don’t have big armies, so improve what I do have

DIP – TRADE – Duh

DIP – Diplomatic

I do TRADE IDEAS!

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jul – Our ruler is an architectural viceroy and we get -10% for building stuff.

4 Jul – I take a mission to make nice with Novgorod.

23 Aug – I got a diplomatic insult from Livonia, and that came with some DIP power and such

30 Aug – I invest some MIL to increase the DEV levels of two of my holdings in Pskov and Ostrov

1 Mar, 1463 – IDEA #1 – Shrewd Trade Practices - +20% Global Trade Power

13 July – Novgorod declares war against Muscovy

5 Nov – We finish our mission to make nice with Novgorod. Next?

Convert Narva to Orthodox

23 Nov – I fabricate a claim on Reval, a Livonian holding

30 Nov – We join an alliance with Ryazan

1 April, 1464 – About a year into the war, Muscovy has around 10 Novgorod holdings, to their 2 in Muscovy territory

If I wanted to, I could declare war on Novgorod and try to take Ingermanland.

13 June – I declare war for Ingermanland, and then send my army over

24 July – Ingermanland is ours

22 Sept – Kholm is next

7 Nov – I spend some MIL to handle rebels as I am not in the country

[Abe Sargent]

1 Mar, 1465 – They lose a battle to Muscovy.

12 April – Uriel and Narva are now cores. I send a missionary to Narva

22 May – The Siege of Luki is concluded and we are the victors.

3 Aug – I begin a siege of Novgorod proper

I built 2k more inf to help siege their capital

31 Mar, 1466 – We win a major battle in Novgorod and our leader gains the Glory Seeker trait

24 Apr – I fabricate a claim on Wenden in Livonia

8 June – I keep my leader in the elections

7 Aug – I get an event and I choose to lose some ducats over some stability

1 Dec – My manpower is almost wiped, and dropped below 3k

15 Dec - I put down more rebels with MIL power

21 Jan, 1467 – After a siege of a year and a half, we capture Novgorod. That will basically let us name what we want, I have a 69% warscore

The three holdings I took that are next to me – Ingermanland, Luki, Kholm are all mine with a 26% warscore. I could add in Novgorod proper, and then some financial concessions. But that gets me a whole of badboy and would likely piss off everyone because of how powerful that land is. How about this?

Ingermanland
Luki
Kholm
Neva
War Reparations
They renounce all claims on Pskov
Some gold


That’ll do it. Heavy BB, but not as bad.

[Abe Sargent]

Alright, here’s a map



I zoomed in so you could see our latest acquisitions

[Abe Sargent]

All of these are Orthodox and three out of four are Novgorodian. All have 75% autonomy, and 15.6 unrest.


Ingermanland – Coastal, Fur Trade is good in this Woods, 8 development, directly east of Narva and north east of Pskov.



Kholm – Naval Supplies, Woods, 7 development, directly east of Pskov, north of Luki, south of Ingermanland. It’s next to Muscovy



Luki – Naval Supplies, Woods, has a level 2 fort, 4 dev, directly east of Ostrov, south east of Pskov.



Neva – Coastal, Development 11, Fur Trade, Grasslands, Marketplace. Now this is the best holding I took. It gets bonus trade here from the Neva Estuary. Karelian culture. Adjacent to Sweden, and up the coast from Ingermanland.


My ADM power drops to 619 after I invest in cores for these four holdings


Now, don’t forget that in this take I can’t be some war-mongering dope with a merchant republic. I have limits. Right now, I have 8 holdings, which is not bad. I drop my fort maintenance for Pskov and Luki.


Right now I am losing a little money each money, but I suspect the war reparations from Novgorod should help.

I turn my two Estonian province holdings into states.

I choose Novgorod and Riga as my new rivals, now that I am big enough for that to matter.

New nations that I am now next to include Muscovy, Sweden,

[Abe Sargent]

9 Feb – Novgorod and Muscovy are now at peace. Novgorod lost, and had to give up some cash, war preparations, etc. No exchange of land.

1 Nov –

ADMIN TECH 6 – We can build Workshops and Farm Estates

9 Aug, 1468 – I fabricate a claim on the capital of Livonian Order - Liefland

1 Sept – Ingermanland now a core. It’s revolting drops to 8.8% and we have a 0.12 gold made here now monthly.

11 Oct – I am close to getting my next MIL Tech so I don’t want to spend it needlessly. I am about to let a rebellion happen instead

1 Dec – Neva, Kholm, and Luki now cores.


8 Jan, 1469 – 8000 rebellion in Narva, Catholics rebelling against us. I had my army here, as the Missionary here causes that to spike

22 Jan – We win in Narva

20 June – I get an event of a foreign quarter of folks from Muscovy in one of our provinces, and they have been flourishing. Two choices – 1 encourage it, some minor economic benefit in that province, +50 relation boost with Muscovy. Or push our own instead, better economic benefits and then the obvious -50 with the big bad. I do the first with no disadvantages for me.


I promote South Karelia to a state. This is the region of Ingermanland and Neva. This increases my production for those two holdings to 0.30 and 0.23 in reverse order.

16 Nov – Novgorod announces us as a rival.

2 Dec – The Livonian Order announces us as a rival

15 Dec – I send a gift to Ryazan

30 Dec –

MIL TECH 5 – New Eastern Militia available, bonuses to shock and width.
We update our forces

[Abe Sargent]

27 Feb, 1470 – Kazan took five provinces from Great Horde

11 Mar – I declare a guarantee on Ryazan

1 Apr – I get the next Idea in Trades – Free Trade – We get +1 Merchant

Did you know that?

Muscovy views us as natural allies and is very friendly?

Do I still need Yaroslavl as an ally? Not near us, small, two province, army of 4k. Nah. I break that alliance. It was one of my first, but now we’ve grown past it.


I spend some of my Russian Power to Reform Sudebnik. This will cut autonomy safely in my various holdings.

10 June – I keep our leader. He gets +1/+1/+1. We lose some Repub Trad

So I try to vassalize Ryazan to see what happens. We get a -10 to vassalization as a Republic. We don’t have enough strength anyway.

12 June - After making nice with them, we ally with Odoyev

15 June – Ryazan is forced to become a tributary state of Kazan. This breaks the Trade league.

1 July – With our new Trader we are making, monthly:

3.84 Trade
1.15 Prod
3.41 Tax


With my armies at 50% maintenance, I make 2.88 monthly. With my armies at 100%, it’s just 0.25 I make. We’re almost there, by the way. I am trying to get to 400 gold...


14 July – Muscovy DOWs Great Horde. Not a bad plan

10 Dec – I max relations with Odoyev

2 Jan, 1471 – I build a Farm Estate in Pskov. This is a manufactory that will increase my value here a lot with the Livestock trade good here.

I dissolve my alliance with Ryazan

14 Jan – Odoyev joins our Trade League!!!

27 Jan – We take a claim against the capital of Novgorod, Novgorod.

16 Mar – Muscovy took a holding from Great Horde in peace

7 Sept – Claim fabricated on Pskov by Livonian Order

I order some ships built

8 Jan, 1472 – I fabricate a claim on the Nov province of Ladoga.


2 June – Our ruler gains Midas Touched and we get bonus tax income

11 July – Two Barques are finished and I order them to protect trade and head out. I order two more.

24 Nov – We have converted Narva. Our mission is complete. I send our next Missionary to Uriev

Next mission – Build a Proper Fleet

[Abe Sargent]

2 June, 1473 – Our artist dies. Our new advisor is +1 prestige. I also hire a MIL adviser. We are currently at +2.14 cash monthly with all three advisers now hired.

14 July – I now have five Barques and send them out more

16 Nov – I get a fun event. Our leader’s son is corrupt and been found out. The trial is occurring. Bribe and cajole folks? Or lose some prestige and gain Repub Trad to let the trial find him responsible. I choose that one

27 May, 1474 – War declared by Muscovy vs Beloozero. This will also include Novgorod as their ally.

10 June – I keep my guy and reelect him again. He’s 6/4/4. Lots of investment in tech right now!

1 July – Our badboy had faded


2 Aug – I invest some tech in Pskov to raise it’s dev levels 3x

2 Sept – Riga is no longer a valid rival.

1 Jan, 1475 – Do I want to invest in the next Idea? Yes!

Trade Adventures - +25% Trade Range

We unlock Pskovian Idea #2 – Veche of Pskov. We get +1 adviser.

1 Feb – We get one more adviser in each of the three areas, and we’ll get an extra option each time. So my MIL adviser saved me some cash because I was over my land forcelimit and paying more to upkeep them. So I want to keep him. Anyone else I like?

I reform the Subdenik again to slash auto by -10% in 6 of my holdings

1 Mar – I embrace the Renaissance. This cuts our tech penalty, and we get -5% construction and dev costs.

This gets me past the place to get another tech.

I was needing like 1200 for my next ADM tech, but I had around 1060. The next level drops to 856, so I go ahead and do it!

ADM TECH 7 – Renaissance Thought...another IDEA!


For getting this ahead of time, I get some bonuses to trade and production for 15 years

What do I want? Not another DIP tech. I can’t afford both. Has to be ADM or MIL.

MIL – Plutocratic? 3 in you get another Merchant. Quality or Naval?

ADM – Expansion? The 1st one is just a dopey colonist, not of value, but the rest are +1 merchant, +1 dip relations, bonus trade income, etc.

I do Expansion

12 June – I now have 8 Barques and 1 Early Caravel

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1476 –

Expansion IDEA – I get some colonists. Nowhere to send them. I get 12 ADM power monthly right now. Tons of power here

What is going to be my native policy? Native Trading

6 May - We finish the navy building challenge. I added another Early Caravel and 2 Galleys.

I take a mission to make nice with Denmark

With my full navy, I still am making almost 4 gold monthly after payments. I have my navy out protecting trade n Novgorod and that drives up my trade results nicely.

1 Aug – I order a Workshop in Pskov

11 Sept – I maxed relations with Poland

17 Sept – Muscovy captures the Novgorod capital in their ongoing war.

23 Oct – Peace with Muscovy and Novgorod. Novgorod totally lost. Beloozero is annexed, and four Nov holdings head to Muscovy

1 Jan, 1477 – I jack up my army maintenance. I order some troops built and another General created.

3 Mar – Lithuania embraces the Renaissance. I hire two units of Streltsky with my Russian ability,

9 June – Our truce with the Orders ends. I DOW the Livonian Order for their capital. We are now at war with Liga, Novgorod, Livonian Order and Teutonic Order.

[Abe Sargent]

12 July – We arrive and begin a siege in Livonia

14 July – We begin the siege of Novgorod

16 July – We win a battle in the Gulf of Finland against Livonia and capture two ships

5 Aug – We capture a minor province.

22 Oct – An army 11k strong from Livonia is besieging our capital

15 Nov – We beat Novgorod’s army in Neva

22 Nov – Brandenburg, at war with a lot of the same people we are, requests military access, and I grant it. Take them down and out.

21 Jan, 1478 – Uriev converts.

19 Mar – Poland brings their allies into the war.

13 June – We keep our leader

18 June – After sending out some cavalry from my sieging army in Novgorod, I hit a few troops in their territory and capture it.

3 July – We get our mission successful after making nice with Denmark. Next mission is naval race vs Novgorod

18 Aug – I get a great Jewish trader immigrated to my area. I hire him to be my new DIP adviser at 50% off due to the event

25 Aug – 10000 Novgorod forces are sieging us in Luki

17 Sept – After 445 days, we capture the Livonian capital

5 Nov – Novgorod falls to us

18 Nov – I rout the Riga army in their capital.

We have a strong warscore with our victories in Novgorod and Livonia. Right now we are at 52 warscore. Can I go shopping?

I can’t take Novgorod land without getting double badboy and war cost. Have to keep on going. I just want their capital. Don’t have enough for both.

25 Dec – We capture a minor holding

30 Dec – We defeat another Rigan army

9 Jan, 1479 – Another minor heads to us

I offer to negotiate with just Novgorod.

10 Jan – I take Novgorod province, get a ton of cash, hundreds of ducats and War Reparations. Now we have just the folks on my eastern flank. I order my Novgorod army to assemble and head to Pskov to relieve that siege


I order a core made here

5 March – We oust their army and win the battle of Pskov, relieving the siege of our capital. That’s their last hope, really

I don’t want most of Livonian territory right now. I mean, if I was a warmonger, then sure. Let’s maximize it. But just their capital and revel interest me. The rest is low developed and low trade goods.


4 April – I capture another Livonian holding

11 April –

I take:

Liefland
Reval
They release Estonia as a free country (Osel goes free)
They give up their cores on our stuff
War Reparations
128 ducats


That’s basically the end of Livonia as a threat I hope. I thought about continuing the war, capturing Riga, and then vassalizing them separately. But this is fine.

[Abe Sargent]

I have gone ahead and invested in some cores for the good provinces we took. I gained a ton of cash in my victories, and I have two sets of War Reps coming. My second army has a few mercs in it I will want to slowly replace. I still have some good manpower,



Estonia joins our Trade League

MIL TECH 6 – Lots of combat bonuses, can build new cavalry and barracks


Pernov – Former capital of the Livonian Order, Catholic and Latvian. 15 dev, woods, coastal, livestock. 23.2% unrest, 75% autonomy, east of Uriev and Narva, south of our new holding in Reval.


Reval – Coastal, woods, corner of the territory, north of Pernov, west of Narva, strait to the west where Osel is as the capital of Estonia. Grain farmers, Catholic, Estonia, level 2 fort, 14 dev, 20.8% unrest, and 50% autonomy.


Novgorod – Novgorod and Orthodox people work the fur trade. It’s an inland center of trade with 23 development. The woods here have a level 2 castle, church and marketplace. 40% autonomy, 15.1% unrest, already making 0.56 monthly here under duress. Home of a trading center. Next to three Novgorod holdings, Muscovy. Novgorod is very important as it’s one of the two cities that has to be in your possession to form Russia, the other being Moskva. Then you have to have one of each of these pairs – Tver or Yaroslavl, Ryazan or Smolensk, Vladimir or Nizhky Novgorod.

I Support Oprachna, a Russian ability to lower rebellion factions by a bunch.

Taking Novgorod was huge.

I order some more ships built, and then a Farm Estate in Narva, and slowly swap out my mercs. I’m out of naval manpower (sailors) so the ships may have to wait for a while.

[Abe Sargent]

1 May - I cannot choose the Livonian order as my rival anymore. Next? I choose the Teutonic Order instead. I choose not to do Sweden or Muscovy

23 May – Estonia is now our ally. They announce the LO as their rival

7 June – I choose to get our iron from Muscovy in an event, and we get bonus DIP power and relations with Muscovy

9 June – We enter into an alliance with Muscovy. I don’t want to deal with an angry neighbor yet

1 Dec – I choose not to increase my next Trade Idea as we are nearing the next Trade Tech.


13 June, 1480 – One of our holdings is fabricated a claim by Livonia

20 July – Novgorod now a core.

1 Oct

DIP TECH 5 - +20 trade range, +5% trade efficiency

Expansion Idea #2 – +1 Merchant

18 Oct – I accept offers of military access for Denmark and two others warring with other powers.

The addition of this merchant in Kazan steering trade to Novgorod is big.

17 Mar, 1481 – We win the naval race vs Novgorod after a few transports I ordered arrive

I begin sending my troops out to do military drills, which drops their current morale massively for a few months while it rebuilds, but increases our Military tradition.

I take a mission to increase my trade revenue

I Reform the Subdenik and cut autonomy again

15 May – I order a Workshop in Novgorod.

16 Dec – We get a fun event:

Byzantine Refugees

Byzantium has fallen to the Turks. The last bastion of the Roman Empire, Byzantium, is gone. Byzantine refugees flee. We have a few choices. I invite them, and we gain prestige, get cheaper tech costs for 20 years, but lose some MIL power in the meantime while we try to reframe our knowledge with theirs

[Abe Sargent]

2 Feb, 1482 – White Peace between Poland and her Teutonic Order war.

1 Mar – I give access to Poland

8 June- I keep our ruler, and he is now a perfect 6/6/6

21 June – Pernov is now a core. I send a Missionary

19 Oct – Reval now a core.

2 Feb, 1483 – I invest 100 MIL in some harsh treatment to drop rebels

11 Sept –

Expansion #3 – Faster Colonists, improved colonial speed

We also get this Pskovian Idea:


Legacy of Daumantas, +5% army recruit speed

12 Oct – Sweden announce us as a rival, so I do the same. They have a weaker navy and army than me.

1 Feb, 1484 –

TRADE Idea #4 - +10 trade efficiency

1 April –

MIL TECH 7 – We can now build artillery.

I mothball my forts. My cash-per-month rate is around 4.9 cash

[Abe Sargent]

14 Dec – My Splendor is high enough to purchase an ability. Here I’ll show you this new mechanic...



The game is divided into four Eras. We begin in the Era of Discovery. We have a number of things that, if we do, can get us splendor points. This is one of the main reasons I upped my DEV in Pskov over time as you may have noticed.

When you get 800 splendor points, you can spend them on an ability. If you have three goals, you can move to a Golden Age. Each of these abilities are really cool.

I can allow the Edict Feudal DE Jure State Law, which will give you -5% unrest

Feudal De Jure Law Allow Edict “Feudal De Jure Law” ( −5 Unrest).

Justified Wars −10% Aggressive expansion impact
Transfer Subject Transfer subject peace treaty at half cost, and allow fabricating claims bordering existing claims.
Improved Wartaxes −100% War taxes cost
Cavalry Armies +20% Cavalry to infantry ratio
Higher Developed Colonies Gain +1 base tax, +1 base production, and +1 base manpower in a colony when it becomes a city.
Adaptative Combat Terrain Gain +1 combat bonus in provinces with the same terrain type as the capital.

The ones I like the most, in a normal dynasty, would be Justified Wars or Higher Developed Colonists.

I do really think that the Adaptive Combat Terrain and Transfer Subject strike me as really good right now as well. These bonuses last until the start of the next age.

I do justified wars

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1585 – By now I am making 6 gold monthly

11 May – We arrest a spy from Novgorod

10 Nov – I fabricate a claim on Riga

3 April, 1586 –

Expansion IDEA – Organized Recruitment, -10% recruitment time

9 June – I keep our leader

1 Aug –

DIP TECH 6 – I can build docks

3 Dec – I order a Church in Neva

13 Dec – I spend some MIL to put down rebellions

1 Mar, 1587 – I fabricate claim on Novgorod holding.

25 April – After another loss, the Great Horde is almost extinct

1 Aug – I order a workshop in Narva.

6 Nov – Novgorod no longer considers us a rival

16 Nov – I spend some MIL to drop another potential rebellion

8 Dec – I order Docks in Ingermanland

[Abe Sargent]

24 Feb. 1588 – Frankfurt agrees to join our Trade League after I made nice with gifts and other goods. They have wealthy Paper industry.

Our badboy appears to be gone

We are get 7.98 gold/month these days, by the by

1 April – I consecrate the Metropolitan of Pskov

I select the Icon of St. Nicholas which will give me better relations and badboy costs

I Consecrate a Metropolitan in Novgorod

19 June - Poland declares war on Teutonic Order. I accept it.

I jack up maintenance

8 Oct – I help the Lithuanians win a battle against Livonia.

5 Nov – Muscovy embraces the Renaissance

2 Dec – Two minor Livonian holdings are ours

29 Dec –

NEW Expansion Idea - +1 Diplomatic Relations.

Pskovian Idea

Balt Mercenaries, -20% merc maintenance

I order 2k more Streltsky

20 Jan, 1589 – We win a battle in the Gulf of Riga and defeat a Livonian Navy

22 July – We capture the Livonian capital

15 Aug – Our ruler passes. We elect another 4/1/1 gentleman.

28 Aug – Poland wins against the Livonian Order with a 100% warscore. They give us two provinces from the Livonian Order as a thanks for us fighting for them. The main war continues

I order cores

1 Sept – My new ruler is well-connected and we get -20% for advisers


26 Sept – We take a holding in the Teutonic Order

1 Oct – We finish our trade mission and get bonus trade for a few years.

28 Dec – We defeat their force in Danzig and begin a siege

10 Jan, 1590 – We take Danzig

14 Feb – We have a Diplomatic Faux Pas event and our reputation drops for the next decade

1 Mar – Peace with the Teutonic Order. Poland took three provinces, and the Order is mostly finished.

I have been making nice with another one-province for my Trade League

9 March – Luneberg brings its tasty Salt to our Trade League



All of our new provinces are Latvian and Catholic, are undergoing cores, are Woods, have 7 DEV, 40% autonomy and have Livestock.


Wenden – South of Pernov and Uriev, inland, and has a 16% unrest right now.


Latgalia – South of Wenden, has level 2 fort, 12.7% unrest, south of Pskov, west of Ostrov.

[Abe Sargent]

1 June – I mothball my forts

1 Sept – I spend 100 MIL on dropping more rebellions

26 Dec –

TRADE IDEA #5 – Overseas Merchants - +1 Merchant!

14 May, 1591 – I fabricate two claims on Novgorod and Livonia

My trade income is 18.02.

I turn Latgalia into a Trading City. They join my Trade League

I take a mission to increase my relations with Latgalia

30 Oct – Kazan took 4 holdings from Uzbek

30 Dec – I order a Farm Estate in Reval

3 Mar, 1592 –

EXPANSION TECH #5 – Improved Shipyards, -10% ship build time


20 Apr – Truce with Novgorod ends.

7 May – I fabricate a claim on the other Livonian holding

[Abe Sargent]

12 May – I declare war on Novgorod

Novgorod is entrenched in two wars, might as well make it a third. I did not call on Poland. Livonian Order joins Nov.

1 June – I get an event we get a major gift from Lubeck and I accept, and I get some ducats and good relations.

25 June – Minor naval victory

8 July – I take a Nov minor holding

21 July – Then a Livonian

28 Jul – Two more Novg holdings are mine

20 Aug – Another follows

22 Sept – One more

3 Nov – Another

3 Jan, 1593 – I finish our mission to make nice with our Trade City.

18 Feb – After cracking it open early in the siege, I assault the capital of Novgorod and capture it

11 April – I capture the capital of the Livonian Order



25 April – The Livonian Order becomes my vassal, gives up their cores, and then removes Estonia as a rival.

1 May – I have a mission to make nice with Denmark

15 May – Wenden is now a core

12 June – I have a peace offer from Novgorod. I decline.

I have a few options here with my 86 warscore:

1. Remove Novgorod mostly from the map. Take the three remaining provinces around the lake Ladoga, as well as Tikhvin and Vyshny Volochnyk. That would get me three Furs, 1 trading post, 1 iron, and 1 naval supplies. It would remove Novgorod from the area
2. Go slow. Grab just Tikhvin and Ladoga, two decent provinces next to each other, humiliate them, take some economic punishment, such as war reps. The combination of cash, humiliations, and two decent holdings is not a bad addition.
3. Go full death. Maximize what I can, and take holdings with the goal of taking every valuable holding I can. I can get 7 separate holdings including their new capital, I could let go some of those into Trade Citys, like the 3 DEV White Karelia with its Salt to help me get that.


Humiliating a rival does get me the ability to go with a Golden Age, so let’s ensure that I can do that. Financial recompense is not necessary so...


I get:

Humiliation
the three remaining provinces around the lake Ladoga
Tikhvin
White Karelia


I release White Karelia as a Trade City

I invest in the making of cores

I reform my Subdenik to drop autonomy



I’ll be showing you a map in a bit with the 50 Year Review, so you can get that then.

[Abe Sargent]

All of these are Orthodox and have cores ordered and 9.3% rebellion.

Tikhvin – Iron Mines, Woods, 13 dev, east of Novgorod province, Church here as well, Novgorodian culture. Next to Russia, Novgorod the nation, east of Ladoga province.

Ladoga – Fur trade. East shore of Lake Ladoga, between all of our stuff – Olonets, Tikhvin, Novgorod the province, and Neva. There is a church here. Novgorod culture and 40% autonomy. 12 dev, Forest


Olonets – Northeast shore of Lake Ladoga, Fur Trade, south of White Karelia, west of Novgorod the nation, north of Ladoga, Tikkhvin. This Forest province has a Trading Post in it and thus gets bonus trade. 9 development, Karelian people, 75% autonomy.


Priozersk – On the west shore of Lake Ladoga, and north of our holdings of Neva, east of Sweden, west of Olonets, and south of White Karelia. 5 development, Forest, Karelian culture, 9.4% autonomy, 75% autonomy, ,(Karelian is a partly accepted culture vs the ones we take from the Livonian Order west.


1 July – I can’t have Novgorod as my ally any more

We enter a GOLDEN AGE

This lasts for 50 years:

+10% morale of navies and armies
-10% Power costs
+10% goods produced
+5 maximum absolution




MIL TECH 8 – Regimental Camps can be built, bonuses to troops

[Abe Sargent]

16 Aug – We elect a new ruler from the 4/1/1 line. Our new one is 32, expect him to stay for a while

25 Aug – Odyvev is now a tributary of Kazan and no longer our ally or in our Trade League.

1 Sept – Our new ruler develops the Entrepreneur trait and we get more trade

3 Sept – I break my alliance with Muscovy. I had initially done this for survival. They looked highly on us as friends when we were both chumping on Novgorod, and I used their war vs Novgorod to get me these additional pieces. But I can’t be Russia without taking them down. The Poland-Lithuania alliance has done wonders by me. They helped me win my freedom, got my first set of land and coastal territory and more. They didn’t mind. They were looking to the Teutonic Order as places to expand, and me expanding into the Livonian Order’s territory was not a big deal. And none of us like Muscovy either, so that’s an obvious route of expansion in the future as well. I declare Muscovy as a rival







11 Nov – Novgorod gave two holdings to Sweden and another to Muscovy in peace

27 Nov – Sweden no longer considers me a rival

18 Dec – I pay off the Livonian Debts to help decrease their liberty desire

13 April, 1594 - I agree to Support the Florentine Arts in an event, and we spend some cash and gain some prestige.

10 Sept – Pernov converts! I send my Missionary to Wenden. I order culture changes in Narva and Uriev to Novgorod.

I order a Early Carrack built and two more transports

1 Oct – We lost one of our MIL advisers. I hire a level 1 guy to help the cause

7 Oct – This time when I get the even for Muscovy traders flourishing I choose to go with my own instead and, get better economic bonuses at the cost to losing relations with Muscovy

14 Oct – Ladoga and Tiskvin are cores

19 Oct – I concentrate a Metropolitan in South Karelia

[Abe Sargent]

50 YEAR REVIEW!!!


Let’s begin with the big pic zoomed out of the area. From here you can see the expansion of Kazan, Sweden, us, England and Brandenburg. Perm is under the control of Kazan.



You can also see my two armies, and navies and such. You see my heavy trade income at 21.15 monthly and my total income is 33.68, and we are getting 7.14 gold monthly extra coming our way. Alright, now let’s zoom in:





Here I have zoomed into my area. Here is Pskov zoomed in a bit. Both of my armies are drilling to increase our professionalism, which will have various benefits as our score rises.

[Abe Sargent]

We currently have 16 holdings, and have expanded more aggressively that I had initially expected. Poland-Lithuania have been great to get me my freedom early, and then some land quickly. I am looking at a few underperforming provinces to get rid of or let go.

Vassals – Livonian Order – Currently two provinces, I might give it a third

Trade Cities – White Karelia, Latgalia

Allies – Poland, Livonian Order technically, Estonia

Pskovian Trade League – Pskov, Estonia, White Karelia, Latgalia, Frankfurt, Luneberg

I expect to do something soon with Riga, the Archbishopric. I might force-vassalize it, although I expect I’ll force annex and then release so I can Orthodox that thing up, although the land isn’t that bad.

My naval forcelimit is 19 and I am working up to that. My land forcelimit is 24 and I am well past that, but as I am swimming in cash, it’s fine right now.

Because of our high Power Projection (97), we get another +1 in our three tech developments each month. Right now, as an example, with a 4/1/1 leader, my tech development monthly is 11/7/5. Not bad, right? And as my leader levels up ever four years, we’ll be looking good soon.

Ledger time:

We are the 4th richest country that we know of, behind the Ottomans, France, and England.

The Ottomans have 24 techs, we are pretty far back with just 21

With 11 Ideas, we lead the next higher, The Ottomans at 9, and then the next are 7 and 6.

Our 97 power projection is, by far, the best, after 57 for Brandenburg

We have the 11th highest score in the world

With 74, Catholic has the most nations in the world, then Sunni with 65. There are only 16 Orthodox.

Our top five provinces by...


Tax:

Pskov – 19.50
Novgorod – 13.44
Neva – 6.75
Ladoga – 6.49
Ostrov – 6.00


Production:

Pskov -13.77
Novgorod – 8.63
Narva – 8.48
Tikhvin – 3.99
Neva – 3.48

The #1 and #3 have manufactories, Narva is just a grain farming province.


Pskov is the 11th most developed province we know of. Novgorod is 18th best.

With 29000 in our army, we have the 6th biggest army we know of. France has 55k at the top. Muscovy is 27k, Poland 31k, and Lithuania 17k

When our current builds are finished, 19 ships will put us 15th in navies we know of.

We are 87.5% Orthodox, 61.7% Novgorod culture,


Top Five Trade Nodes by Value (We know of)

Genoa
English Channel
Lubeck
Novgorod
Wien


Current Value of All Trade Goods:

5.0

Gems

4.5

Copper

4.0

Dyes
Silk
Cocoa
Ivory

3.5

Paper

3.0

Glass
Iron
Tobacco
Sugar
Coffee
Cotton
China
Salt
Cloth


2.5

Incense
Fish
Grain
Wool
Wine


2.0

Livestock
Tropical Wood
Naval Supplies
Fur
Slaves
Tea


So as you can see, the stuff of the great north is not a major hit right now. I have nothing higher than 3.0 in my nation, and that’s my single Iron mine. We captured and released White Karelia with a 3.0 Salt, but that’s it. My Trade League includes Grain, Paper, Glass, Salt,


We are the world’s production leader in Furs with 17% of the trade

We dominate in trade, and have the most trade of any nation we know of by far, the Ottomans are 2nd.

We have more than twice the trade of traditional trade powers like Lubeck, Venice, Holland and Genoa

I have never had a nation do this well in trade before.

[Abe Sargent]

Now let me show you my Russia goal...





I need to take these four central provinces – Tver, Moskva, Ryazan, and Vladimir, and the land in the middle connecting them. Take that central holding, core it, and then with Novgorod already mine, I have all of the various requirements to form the nation.

It’s at least three wars away from starting to hit that area from Muscovy and Tver, but it’s a beginning.

Alright, next 50 years we go!

[Abe Sargent]

16 Dec – Olonets and Priozersk are now cores


7 Jan, 1495 – I spend some MIL to cut down the rebellion in Livonia

I order a marketplace in Olonets

I fabricate a claim on Muscovy’s Rzhev

20 Jan – Luneberg was annexed by Lubeck

2 May – We finish our mission to make nice with Denmark. Next? Free a province in Muscovy on the border that is frustrated in their management. I gain a claim on that province via that mission

12 June – Novgorod is now a tributary state under Kazan

15 Sept – Riga laid a claim on us

24 Oct – We catch a Swedish spy

I try to make nice with Nuremberg as my Luneberg replacement

1 Jan, 1496

IDEA – Expansion #7 – Competitive Merchants, +20% Global Trade Power

This finishes Expansion. I get a -25% state maintenance (the larger provinces that smaller holdings are in, such as South Karelia.)

Pskovian Idea – National Charter - -2% national unrest

A lot of stuff from one Idea!

7 Feb – I order a church in Pernov

16 May - I get an event and I choose to invest in some army professionalism and gain +2.5% from it

11 Aug – We get an event of the death of one of the wealthiest merchants in Pskov, who died without an heir who was a well known patron of the arts and religion. I choose to invest the money from him into the local province rather than just add cash to our treasury.

4 Oct – I fabricate a claim on my 4th Muscovy province and that is the most I can do.

14 Oct – Nuremberg brings that Paper riches to our Trade League. Their value rose last year due to their increased usage to store records from large nations, such as the Ottoman Empire

21 Oct – I have a ton of rebels, and not enough MIL to deal with them, plus I want to save it for techs and such. So I Support Oprichrina and lower rebellions across the board

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1497 – After the Farm Estate was finished in Reval, I order a Workshop here

11 Jan – I support the church’s Great Synod and gain 5 Patriarch Authority

12 Feb – I order a Farm Estate in Pernov

1 July – I end my army drilling and order some more troops built

23 July – Marketplace in Tikhvin

18 Aug – I keep my ruler in office and we are now 5/2/2


1 May, 1498 – I order a Workshop in Neva

30 May – Wenden converts! I give it to the Livonian order

I send a Missionary to Reval

I force the Livonian Order to convert to Orthodox

9 June –

Trade Idea #6 – Trade Manipulation, +25% Trade Steering

Remember that in our Golden Era, these Ideas are 10% off, so just 360 each


4 July –

Admin TECH #8 – +3 states, can build courthouse

This was just 388 with all of my bonuses


1 Aug – I have enough Splendor to purchase another ability with the Age of Discovery. I choose the ability to make claims next to claims and get 50% off transferring a subject