EU4 Dynasty - What is the Hardest Nation? With Athens! I manage to make it out!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello!

My goal today is to pick my favorite choices for the hardest nations to play in EU4, and the take the consensus or hardest ones and play as one!

:

The Top 5 Hardest Nations to Play as in Europa Universalis 4 - YouTube

The Social Streamers:

#5 – Granada

#4 – Dahomey

#3 – Athens

#2 – Mzab

#1 – Tripura


Top 10 Most Difficult Nations in EU4 (1444 Start) - YouTube

AlzaboHD

#10. Kharabakh


#9. Sarig Yogir


#8. Yas

#7. Ryukyu


#6. Mzab


#5. Odoyev


#4. Jaffna


#3. Perm


#2. Manipur


#1. Sukhothai


The Top Ten Impossible Starts! (EU4) - YouTube

Darkfireslide

#10. Saxe-Lauenburg


#9. Navarra


#8. Circassia


#7. Theodoro


#6. Mzab


#5. Jaisalmer


#4. Sarig Yogir


#3. Dahomey


#2. Albania or Athens


#1. Ryukyu

Top 10 Most Difficult Nations in Europa Universalis IV - YouTube

Adrian Gaming

#10. Mzab (And other local minors)


#9. One Provinces in Anatolia


#8. Hormuz


#7. Byzantium


#6. Albania


#5. Granada


#4. Jaffna


#3. Theodoro


#2. Trebizond


#1. Athens




A few trends:




Mzab, Athens, Theodoro


Why are each of these hard?


Mzab – Ibadi can’t royal marry with other Muslims to get royal marriages to help create and solidify alliances, inland, some of the poorest starting economic holdings in the game, have to go through regional powers like Tlemcen or Tunis to expand, if you do, it’s harder to core those provinces with your power.


Theodoro – One province minor at the tip of Crimea, and you’ll be taken out by Crimea, Genoa, or even the expansionistic Turks. You can’t go elsewhere as you are at the tipoff a peninsula


Athens – This has all of the problems of Byzantium, it’s a small barely recognizable part of its previous self. It’s in the way of the Ottomans. However, it doesn’t have the ability to wage just war on it’s neighbors with casus beli’s nor is it able to actually survive. It’s a vassal of Byzantium, so you have to both survive and win freedom – that’s a rough double ask as a one-province minor power in the way of a bigger nation.

My Personal Shout out to:

Navarra – One province minor adjacent to four major powers – England, France, Aragon and Castille and with the wrong culture. I think I can play these four off and survive, but there are no expansion opportunities here. But I could do colonial game like real-life Belgium or Netherlands who were locked by major players so they colonized instead.

Sukhothai – Currently a vassal of Ayuttahaya who is under the Ming nation. You have to both win independence and to survive the Ming war. Not easy You are also the wrong religion for the region as well.

Sarig Yogir – I never thought about it before, but a small clan nation next to Ming can’t be easy.


I could see myself doing any of those six.

I don’t think islands with no major land routes are that hard – like Ryukyu.


Now I have done smaller nations on this list (Trebizond, Granada) or close to it (Naxos).

[Abe Sargent]

Because it’s at or near the top of a lot of lists, let’s try Athens!

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s Athens.


To our north are holdings of the Turks. They don’t like us. They are a heavily expansionistic nation with the desire to take us out forthwith.

To our southwest is our father, Byzantium’s holding, and you can see Constantinople proper as well. These are the only holdings left of our liege.

We have a strait connection to the island of Negroponte to our north, and this is owned by Venice. To our south east is the island chain of Naxos, a vassal of Venice. So that means we are surrounded by Venice, their vassal, our liege, and the Turks.

Also in the Aegean Sea are the Genoan merchants near Anatolia.

We have fish as the trade good in Athens, with 11 development there. We are Catholic but our people are Orthodox. We are in Grasslands with a Natural Harbor that increases our local trade. I have 3000 troops and a solid 6 ship size navy.

Our ruler is a poor 2/2/0 out of 6 in each stat. That means we only get bonuses of +2/+2, and +0 to our three monarch points which are used for things like decisions and such.

[Abe Sargent]

Let’s get this thang started!

I send diplomats to curry favor with Venice and Genoa

November 19, 1444 – Our overlord Byzantium forces us to divert all trade to her and we lose any extra trade but our liberty desire spikes sharply.

Dec 22 – The Pirates of Fezan raid our coast and take off with booty

We are offered, and accept, a royal marriage from our liege, Byzantium

Jan 1, 1445 - Right now I am making around half a gold piece each month. This is coming from a reduced support of my military. I started losing money, and doing so was the only way to not lose money.

A quiet year passes as most nearby nations are building up their armies and alliances and such.

Jan 14, 1446 – We get our first event – Military Reform is Set Back I choose not to keep at it and lose stability, and instead lose some of our marshaled military power.

Our leader, Byzantium, allies with Serbia

My goal is to improve relations with the merchant republics and then try to get one or both to support our independence. I doubt Byzantium wants to have issues with Genoa and Venice right now.

12 October – The island nation of Corfu has created a claim against Athens.

[Abe Sargent]

Uh oh…




As you can see, on the 10th of January, 1447, the Turks have declared war on our liege. I jack up my military and naval maintenance.

[Abe Sargent]

I order 1000 troops assembled in Athens. It should take 2 months, I don’t see any Ottoman forces near us.


26 Feb – A large army of 17000 troops has disembarked onto Athens from the Aegean Sea

7 March – We are routed and our army is destroyed, they begin to siege us. I order my navy to flee.

21 March – Their navy chases mind down and forces battle in the Gulf of Satalia and destroys it a few days later.


24 March – Venice, not to be outdone by the Turks, declared war on Serbia. Byzantium, like a coward, breaks their alliance with Serbia even though Serbia is at war with the Ottomans for us.

4 June – A big army begins to besiege Constantinople


16 August – In case it matters later, Genoa has agreed to support our independence.

My next target is the Papal States to try and curry their favor.

22 Dec – Athens falls to the Turks.

22 Jan, 1448 – Constantinople falls to the Turks

1 May – Multiple holdings in Serbia have fallen.

11 July – I accept an offer for military access from Corfu

16 July - I send diplomats to curry favor with Hungary after we have maxed Venice.

4 Oct – One of the Greek provinces to our south fell to the Turks

2 Feb, 1449 – Another province falls and now the warscore it as 99% for our foes

We lose!




Well that sucked! There goes my reputation as this EU4 whisperer.

[Brian Swartz]

You normally finish these things quickly … but not THAT quickly.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Brian Swartz

You normally finish these things quickly … but not THAT quickly.

Yeah!

I might try again tomorrow! I wanted to see if i could get a campaign in before i dissapear off the face of the earth right around launch time for '76

Abe

[Abe Sargent]

Hmmmmmm....as a one-provicne Catholic in Orthodox lands, and under an Orthodox master, I thought that I could make nice with Catholics who might want to see us free.

Let's start with Genoa and a bigger nation like Hungary to make nice with at first.

[Abe Sargent]

Athens Take Two:

It's November 1444. We are looking to make Friends with Genoa and Hungary initially and try and secure a guaranteed independence from both. It was taking longer with Venice as they were "interested" in my land.


Fezzan raids us on Christmas day and we have been raided.

4 January, 1445 - I get a royal marriage offer from Byzantium, but this time I reject it.

13 May - It;s going to not be possible to bring Hungary in as an ally so I have recalled my diplomata and am sending it to Serbia to make nice in their court as Serbia and Byzantium are rivals.

25 August - We get Genoa to support our independence again. They are also rivals of Byzantium

I order this diplomat to Austria

15 Sept - Byzantium has allied with the mighty one province Theodoro.

2 December - After joining an alliance with France and Venice, Genoa is now at war with England.

[Abe Sargent]

Uh Oh again....



That's about a half year earlier than last time!

I order troops, yadda yadda.

[Abe Sargent]

17 Sept - An army of 14k Turks arrives in Athens

23 Sept - Our army is routed.

15 Nov - More forces arrive in Athens.

4 Sept, 1457 - Serbia agrees to support our independence.

I declare independence. Our stability drops to -3. We are at war against Theodoro and Byzantium but not the the Turks.

The Ottomans break off their siege of us.

I spend some ADM and increase my stability to -2.

I order some troops assembled

7 Sept - Constantinople falls in siege.

27 Oct - I grant the Ottomans military access.

4 Nov - A Serbian army arrives in Greece and is besieging Byzantium's holdings on my behalf.

12 Jan, 1448 - We get an "Improvements in Admin Tech" event and gain some ADM tech.

6 April - My troops are finished in Athens.

1 May - I invest more power to raise our stability to -1.

8 Oct - I raise war taxes

I have moved my 4k strong to Morea to help Serbia with the siege here.

1 June, 1449 - Byzantium comes to peace with Serbia, but is still at war with us, Genoa and the Turks


3 August - I accept a royal marriage offer from Serbia

14 Nov - We capture the southern province of Morea and it's fort from Byzantium!

I now have a warscore of 29% against them.

Gaining independence is 23%. I can also get 80 in cash.

GOT IT!




I will be getting my independence, and taking Morea and some cash on the way out. The Turks hold Achaeia in Greece and Constantinople, so I cannot demand those, and while I would want Achaeia, I cannot get it right now, and it;s better to take Morea right now in peace before the Turks are able ot win their war and annex Byzantium.

[Abe Sargent]

Well that worked!

[Abe Sargent]

Morea – Highlands, fort, I order a core in Morea, Orthodox Greek people here work the wine trade with 9 development. They currently have a 50% autonomy, make 0.09 cash for us monthly, and have 17.4% revolt risk, and I’ll leave my 4k army here for now. I put the castle into mothballs to save myself it’s upkeep.

I boost my stability to 0.

I am currently making almost 1 gold a month after I cut my naval maintenance again. With rebel risks and the nearby Ottomans, I keep my army folks going at the current level.

The Ottomans have claims on Morea and Athens too, by the by,

Now let’s take a look at what’s next.

We emerged with:

2 allies in Serbia and Genoa

4k in army

All 6 of my vessels


Morea

Peace with the Turks for five years.


I don’t think that Venice is going to want to take us yet as we border the Turks, so I am hoping to keep them as friendlies.

Potential future targets of expansion could be Rhodes or Cyprus.

2 December – The Ottomans have annexed Byzantium

13 January, 1450 – We get an event and we spend 10 ADM to make nice with a conflict between two houses.

1 Mar – The Ottomans declared war on Candar

11 Apr _ I send my diplomat from Venice to Rhodes to begin to build up a spy network there.

1 Jan, 1551 – Our ruler has gained the Careful trait. He gets a bonus of -10% aggressive expansion impact on folks


1 July – I fabricate a claim on Rhodes. This will let us go to war with The Knights there for 25 years for the land there.

1 Dec – We have invested our diplomatic power into Tech Level 4 – among some minor trade benefits, I can now build marketplaces.


18 May, 1552 – Morea is now one of the core provinces of our nation

5 Oct – Our truce with the Ottomans has concluded but they will need to break their military access to our lands before they can attack us.

17 Oct – Peace with Genoa/Venice/France and England.

9 Feb, 1553 – We find and oust the Ottomans whom were building a spy network in our nation.

16 Mar – After annexing Candar, The Ottomans declare war on Dulkadir.

3 June – With two allies now loving us more than 150 in relations, I choose to complete my mission for “Trustworthy Allies” and I get bonus diplomatic reputation for the next 25 years.

7 Aug – I send my diplomat in Genoa to build a spy network in Cyprus

5 Jan, 1454 – The Ottomans cancel their military access with us.

17 Jan – I get an event and I choose to fun a education for the poor mission in Morea and my clergy and such relations improve, but my nobility aren’t happy.

4 Feb – Venice has embraced the Renaissance which gives them some bonuses. As we are next to them, we should speed up the spread of this institution within our domain.

30 June – Dulkadir is annexed by the Ottomans

[Abe Sargent]

Oh oh....





Well, I survived the first war. How about the next?

[Abe Sargent]

Can my allies help? They have joined our call, and it’s Serbia, Athens and Genoa against the warmongering Turks.

24 October – I take Ballibadra, the former Greek province of Byzantium that connected Morea and Athens. It doesn’t have any forts, so it wasn’t hard.

12 Dec – They arrive in Athens with a 12k army of be-sieging ness.


7 Mar, 1455 – They rout me in Ballibadra

11 June – Ballabadra returns to Ottoman hands

17 August – Another army of 17k forces arrives in Morea

5 Nov – Athens falls.

15 Nov – Our navy is destroyed at sea

1 Dec – The capital of Serbia falls.

1 Aug, 1456 – Morea falls

7 Oct – Every Serbian province is under the control of the Ottomans.

5 Dec – Venice announces that they are now rivals of the Ottomans


7 Jan, 1457 – The Ottomans negotiate peace with the Serbians and take four of their holdings. We are still at war.

3 Dec – A rebellion strikes in Morea as 8000 rebels begin to besiege the province which is still under Ottoman control.






Well at least that game lasted longer!

Ah well. I thought i might have gotten out of that one! Silly Turks.

[Abe Sargent]

I just tried a 3rd game where I tried to make nice with teh Ottomans, and even with enough time to max relations, we aren't able to get them to support us, and then they attacked and took us out in 47.

[Abe Sargent]

GOT IT!

[Abe Sargent]

This is try #5



Here and let me zoom in.

See how I am about to get the Turks to support my independence?

Here's what I did:

1. I destroyed my fleet
2. I ordered a bunch of men built, not via mercenaries, past my forcelimit of 4000 troops. I went to 6000 troops in a few months
3. I immediately got the support of Genoa on the first few days.
4. Byzantium allied with Serbia -sucks
5. The Ottoman's first war is not against us, but against Albania.
6. I use this time to maximize my relations with them.
7. Normally they would not ally with me, the balance was -57 against and +54 for, but this time, I had a bigger army right after increasing my army count to 8000, which I the same size as the Byzantium army. I am losing money badly, but I am losing money now at a fast clip.

So in 1450, I declare my independence against Byzantium.

[Abe Sargent]

War for Independence

Byzantium and Serbia

Vs

Genoa, Ottomans, Athens

I raise war taxes to help pay for my army

I order my army into Greece. I suspect that my allies can handle the main army and their capital.

I boost my stability twice

7 Nov – We capture Achaea.
11 Dec – Byzantiums main army is crushed and routed.

1 Jan, 1451 – My ruler is now Kind-Hearted – this slows our war exhaustion

9 Jan – The Ottomans send us war subsidies in cash

2 Mar Stability to 0

17 May – Two main Serbian provinces have fallen and they have lost a battle against the Turks.

14 November – Constantinople falls to the Turks

17 Nov – The Byzantine navy is destroyed after it lost its harbor and was force dto flee into the jaws of the Turks

21 Dec – We capture Morea

12 Jan, 1452 –

Ready for peace?




We get Morea and Achaia and the Turks take the capital, and we split some gold.

Sounds good to me!

I disband 2000 of our troops to afford my new army.

You’ve seen Morea before, here is…


Achaea – Highlands, Greek, Orthodox, Wine makers with 9 development, 50% autonomy, makes us 0.10 ducats monthly, and we have 14.4% rebellion issues. I order the two new holdings to begin working on becoming a key part of the Athenian patrimony.


I am now making around 0.75 cash monthly

[Abe Sargent]

Alright!

Now that we’ve gotten past the Turks, sort of, what’s next?

I think the Turks are pretty happy right now as our ally and they got Byzantium from a war we declared.

10 March – Wallachia was annexed by Hungary


1 September – Dip Tech 4 again

4 Feb, 1453 – The Ottomans use their Great Power ability to influence and to influence us. This increases our tech gains, our finances, and relationship.

28 May – I fabricate a claim for Rhodes

15 June, 1454 – Our new Greek holdings are now patrimonies. Our income from them is now 0.20 in each of them and we are getting around 1.43 cash per month.

1 Jan, 1455 – Our heir is now well advised.

16 Feb – Ottoman war against Candar, I join them

1 March, 1456 – In this edition of the game you can reform your government as you build up enough reform points. I choose to curtail noble privileges, which increases my tax base but decrease their influence

1 May – MIL 4 – Our infantry improve in power

14 August – Venice declares war on Serbia

18 October – Candar falls

15 Jan, 1457 – Naxos claims Athens

1 Feb – Admin tech rises to 4 and I can build churches

11 Feb – We get a small rebellion of 5k in Morea.

20 March – I defeat the rebellion.


26 March – Venice claims Athens

9 September - As Athens is a coastal center of trade, I invest 200 cash to improve it. It increases our institution spread (like Renaissance), as well as our cash and other such goodies!

[Abe Sargent]

1 February, 1458 – We enter into a Royal Marriage with Naples

11 Feb – We gain an event – The Pope has made a Saint one of the ancestors of our ruler, and we gain some stability.

14 Feb – Corfu claims Achaea


It’s clear that Venice is getting ready to war with us. I order a spy network built with them

Venice is currently in two wars:

Venice, her two vassals of Corfu and Naxos, vs

Bosnia and Serbia

France, Brittany and Aragon

They currently do not have an ally, and we have two. But, we don’t have a casus belli.

So I need one first, like Negroponte

I put a focus on my ADMIN tech which increases it’s development. I hire a ADM advisor which increases my tech development too. I need to get to tech 5 so I can unlock my first Group of Ideas.

1 Jan, 1459 – I send a Missionary to Morea to convert it to Catholicism

21 Sept – I fabricate a claim on Negroponte

12 Jan, 1460 – Raids from Tunis hit my provinces

1 Mar – I order a church in Athens

13 Dec – I fabricate a claim on Naxos

2 Jan, 1461 – I fulfill my Trustworthy Allies mission and reap the rewards for this dynasty

1 Feb – Serbia announces us as their rival, and I do likewise.

1 July – We gain another DIP Tech – 5 increases and enhances trade

We are western so we accumulate tech and spend it without any problems

I order some ships built now that I am making money

1 Dec – We embrace the institution of Renaissance – We get better building and production values, and we lose the penalty for having not embraced it after it appears in 1450.

I offer to share it with the Ottomans, and they agree, and their own increase will spread, and we get some serious cash from them as well. (About 4 gold/mth from them)

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1462 – I fabricate a claim on Corfu

Venice is losing their war with France and most of her holdings on the mainland are currently controlled by France.

14 Aug – The Ottomans declared war on Dulkadir

7 Feb,1463 – Venice loses their war.

1 Aug – I fabricate a claim on Crete

I order 2k more troops made

16 Mar, 1464 – I send a nasty insult to Venice

1 Nov – Admin Tech 5

Group of Idea Time!!!

Thoughts


Go Military in order to help secure my place in reality? I have enough MIL power that I can get an Idea right now in the military group. Maybe quality or quantity. Trade Ideas? Exploration is funny! Econ? Religious? Humanist?

I have narrowed it to Qual or Quan for protection, Trade for cash, Religious to help a lot with dealing with Muslim and Orthodox folks and to bring them around to the proper Catholic way of thinking, and if I wanted to be funny, Expansion, so I can load up my fleet with an Explorer and find America.

Pumping my troops isn’t going to help against the Turks they have too many.

I hold off making a decision for now

[Abe Sargent]

31 Jan, 1564 – They decide to continue and influence us, so more power gain is coming

4 Feb – The Ottomans annex Dulkadir without calling us for aid.

1 Apr – We capture a spy from Corfu and oust him.

22 April – The Ottomans declare war against the Mamluks and we agree to join their call for our Aid. They send us war subsidies.

3 May – Venice annexes most of Bosnia

14 Oct – We get an event and I choose to exchange some cash for stability increase.

In case you care, here is my navy:

4 transports
2 Early Carracks (the big ships)
2 Barques
2 Galleys


1 Jan, 1565 – Our ruler is now a navigator, which increases our naval proficiency in battle

7 Feb - I have an event and I choose to gain a bunch of DIP power at the cost of some corruption.

Because it’s funny, I take the Exploration Ideas Group, and then grab the first one, and I now have Colonists.

I choose native suppression policy

In this game there is a new mechanic where you can send colonists to your own holdings to increase them. I am sending my settlers to my capital of Athens to encourage growth there.

This will slowly increase my tax base, productions, and military investment there in my capital.

7 Apr – I arrive in the Mamluks rear of Banghazi on their far flank with Fezzan.

7 May – We capture it

5 July – We capture Darnah, next to Banghazi

23 Aug – We capture Bardiya, next is the fortress of Tarrana which will require a siege

8 Sept – Venice declares war on Cyprus. Their ally the Knights have chosen to join against Venice

I declare war against the Knights.

19 Sept – Tarrana is ours

Venice has annexed Corfu and Naxos

1 Dec – Morea converts – next is Achaea


1 April, 1566 = The Turks embrace the Renaissance and the cash we were getting to help them get there is now gone.

[Abe Sargent]

20 May - Here let me show you the current map, the war with the Mamluks, and also what I am thinking and where to expand right now as Venice is at war with Knights/Cyprus

This is the map right now, and you can see our army and navy off the coast to it’s west, as the Turks are taking their stuff in the levante and have just captured their capital. With a 99% warscore, I suspect they’ll call it here soon.

I order 4000 troops in Athens.

Now I want to move into nearby Greek provinces in the Aegean Sea as well as move int the Mediterranean. Right now, Venice is at war with The Knights and Cyprus, and neither have been assaulted. Neither have been sieged yet, and they have their armies over on Naxos and Negroponte and have captured them. As you can see, the nearby islands of Corfu, Naxos, as well as others are now Venetian, as well as their big land presence in Bohemia. I want to cut them off now, as they are tired from over-expansion, before they get too big for my three-province nation to handle.


I have two options:

1. Wait until Venice hits the armies of the two island nations, and then declare war on them, and move into Cyprus and Rhodes prior to Venice, and then siege them and take them off the map. Use the additional firepower and economic muscle for a later war with Venice for things like Corfu, Crete, Naxos, and Negroponte
2. Attack Venice right now while they are weak. They just lost a naval engagement against Cyprus in the Aegean. Attack them, blitz the nearby nations of Crete and such, and do so while the Turks are finishing up the battle with the Mamluks. Then I can focus on this war as they finish on their big one.


Which makes sense right now? By the by, I have a good economy due to around 8 or 9 cash a month for the Ottomans due to war subsides and the money I was getting for helping them embrace the Renaissance. Now that the latter is over, my current cash is dropping around 1.5 cash monthly, but I have such big reserves that I’ll be fine.

[thehitcat]

I know nothing about this game but it looks cool, so take this with a grain of salt but I think you use Venice to do your dirty work (Option 1) and take Cyprus and Rhodes out. Then with the added economic muscle you go after Crete Corfu and the others later on.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by thehitcat

I know nothing about this game but it looks cool, so take this with a grain of salt but I think you use Venice to do your dirty work (Option 1) and take Cyprus and Rhodes out. Then with the added economic muscle you go after Crete Corfu and the others later on.

I hear ya! Thanks for writing and responded!



I suspect that having the Turks as muh ally will allow me to okay harder an push harder.

Abe

[Abe Sargent]

1 June, 1467 – I pause on declaring war on Venice until they have loaded their big army into a mostly-transport in the Med that my big fleet is next to.

8 June – I declare war for Corfu.

19 June – I defeat the fleet in the Gulf of Bomba. But it retreats to Crete.

24 June – The Ottomans and Mamluks come to peace, they took three provinces, and then some cash and such and we got some favors.


With my promise of land, I can call the Turks into our war anytime, but I want to see if I want take out the Venetians on my own.

With my victory, I am leaving behind some military vessels to keep their big army in Crete with their transport vessels in the harbor, while I move my army up.

1 Aug – They defeat the Knight’s navy and I move my navy to chase them down.

27 Aug – We defeat their navy again. They loaded up their army from Crete and I try to chase it down at sea.


19 Sept – I defeat their navy at sea, and crush a few transports in doing so. Having Early Carracks against a navy without them is great at winning.

29 Sept – Their transport navy is destroyed by us, and thus one army falls away.

4 Oct – I arrive at Crete with an army

6 Nov – Crete falls to us.

29 Nov – I arrive in Corfu.

1 April, 1468 – I have lost a pair of ships in some more minor skirmishes, so I order my fleet to berth for a bit.

4 Aug – The fort of Corfu falls to us.

22 Sept – I take Kosovo

12 Oct – I take Durazzo


4 Jan, 1469 – I capture their stronghold of Zeta. I have a big enough war score for Crete and Corfu. I want Naxos and Negroponte more than those two dorks, or in addition to them. I can’t get them if Rhodes and Cyprus have them.

23 Mar – I grab Raska from them

11 May – Viaski falls to us

1 June – Peace comes to The Knights and Cyprus, who both have won naval battles and captured provinces. They get some war reparations and cash. Venice gave up her core on Cyprus. I split my armies up

28 June - A big Venetian army is moving my way – around 17k strong, from their Italian provinces, I need to call it. They were probably building it up after their last wars and just finished assembling it.

8 July – We take Negroponte

12 July – We take Naxos


13 July – Peace with the Venetians

We get:

Naxos, Negroponte, Corfu, Crete – Whom we took and had claims on, and 303 gold


I put cores on Naxos, Corfu and Negroponte for fewer than 100 ADM power. Crete is a lot more.

I invest in new Military Tech. I could’ve last year, but I wanted to wait for a bit.

I get better infantry and upgraded abilities

I spend some cash to upgrade my infantry

I complete the Expand Athens mission.

[Abe Sargent]

Here’s my current state:






As you can see, my cash jumped up, and I have some ships on the way to being built, I am almost at enough DIP power to get my 2nd expansion idea, I have 12 troops, and we finished our mission, with the noted benefits, as well as showing you my best new acquisition, Crete. You can see it’s Greek Catholic too, Highlands, 14 development, fishing, etc It has a church and marketplace.

My others:

Naxos – Straight connected to Athens, and Negroponte – Greek, Orthodox, Coastline, 6 dev, 0.02 made here monthly, 75% autonomy, and 9.8% revoltrisk. The people here mostly work the wine trade.


Corfu – Corfu has a land connection to Yannya with the Turks, and is coastline, Fish, Greek and Orthodox, 10 development, makes us 0.08 off 10% unrest and 75% autonomy. It has a level 2 fortress which I mothball.


Negroponte – This small island chain off the north of Athens and next to Athens and Naxos via straights, the 9 development, fish, Greek Catholics make us 0.06 monthly off 75% autonomy and 7.8% unrest. It has a church and marketplace

These aren’t expensive or major right now. But take Morea or Achaea as a good example – they are making 0.29 each for me right now monthly. That’s not with any investment in their infrastructure yet.





There were a few reasons why I was okay declaring war against a much bigger country:

1. My navy’s two Early Carracks and some other vessels beat theirs. Naval supremacy in battles for islands and in the Med is very important to winning a war
2. They had just expanded and kept expanding, and were very overstretched and hadn’t had time to consolidate many gains
3. The mighty Venice had just lost to Cyprus. I was able to jump them at Sea and force one of their main navies to shore and keep it off the grid.
4. If I didn’t check Venice know, I’m not sure when I could have
5. I knew that if I was wrong, and I wasn’t able to make it work, I could bring my Turk Allies in to finish the job and promise them land.
6. I don’t care if Venice blobs deep in land, but Greece is mine. I am ATHENS!!!

[Abe Sargent]

1 Oct – Are you ready? We get exploration idea #2, which is Quest for the New World. I put an Explorer in charge of my navy and send it out


Before I head out I need to get some help. I begin to make nice with Portugal.

17 Nov – Venice announces us as their rival.

5 Jan, 1570 – The Holy Roman Emperor has passed and a new one electe.

19 March – We enter into a Royal Marriage with Portgual.

20 April =Portugal agrees to give us fleet basing rights

We now pay them monthly to let us use their ports as a place to rest and use as bases for exploration.

30 May – Our explorer, Alexandros Tocco have arrived and landed in Madeira

1 March, 1571 – The Ottomans have entered a Golden Era

I need more ships to explore, so I order some more light ships

1 July - I send a Missionary to my capital to convert it after I pull back the colonists here

16 July – My four new additions are all now core parts of my demesne,

26 Jan, 1572 – Achaea has converted to the proper faith – next is Naxos

15 June – I begin to explore the West African Sea

13 Sept – Our ruler has passed


Our new ruler:

Francisco I – 2/3/1 military, with Well Advised, 32 years old


I order our stability raised after it fell.

We have a new and strong heir, 4 yeas old

We renew our marital ties with Portugal

[Abe Sargent]

12 March, 1473 More raiding by Tunis on our coast


2 April – I spend 50 MIL power to put down Greek rebels

21 July – We finished exploring some seas, I Set out again for the West African coast

1 Jan, 1474 – Because I have been invested in DIP Ideas and not tech, I am behind others in the Western group and am able to purchase the next idea:

DIP 6 – I can build docks, and I get better colonial range and such. I would expect DIP 7 to follow soon,.

I hire a DIP Tech advisor who increases ,y colonial range by 20%

5 Feb – I fabricate a claim on Zeta in the Venician land

3 May - next exploration finished. Next target? Caribbean Sea.

9 May – I accept a military access request from Hungary


10 Dec – I spend another 50 to brutally repress the rebels.

1 March, 1475 – I fabricate a claim on Durazzo under the control of venice

I don’t believe that a renewed Athens that was anti-Venice wouldn’t head out and mobilize

In real life, the monopoly Venice had on trade in this area encouraged many nations to set out and explore other options to secure routes for spices and other goods. Sailing out and exploring for a renewed Athens, who has always been a thalassocracy makes a ton of sense.

(That’s a term and concept coined by the Greeks!)

15 Nov – I get a bonus DIP power from an event after I choose to invest in the navy rather than the army. The bonus gets me over the hump, but I am not putting it into DIP TECH 7, but instead my 3rd Idea:

Overseas Exploration – I get +50% colonial range.

I also get my first Athenian National Idea:


Dominus Athenium – We get +1 legitimacy annually

[Abe Sargent]

25 Aug, 1576 – Naxos converts

1 Oct – I order a level three coastal depot in Athens. This increases my max number of builds, trade, etc massively

I was saving for this rather than spending my gold on churches and such for muh nation. Expect to see me build up instead now.

I hand Naxos to my clergy

1 July, 1577 –

ADMIN TECH 6

I can build workshops, and farm estates

20 Oct – While my Caribbean explorations are ongoing, I order two transports built, they have arrived at the Azores, and I am sending them out with 2000 cavalry and a Conquistador to explore some lands in the Caribbean area


7 Nov – My next Government Reform is:

Centralized Bureaucracy, which reduces autonomy more quickly

28 Dec – We land on Dominica and I begin to explore elsewhere.

I send colonists to the nasty African coast area of Arguin. This will be my colonial base to cross the ocean later.

1 February, 1578 – I purchase a church in Morea.

1 March – I can choose an Age of Discovery Event. Until the next era, I go with Higher Developed Colonies. Any colonies I create with get +1 taxes, dev, and mil.

1 June – We lose our claim on Rhodes, I order more spys there to begin to work on another claim

14 Sept – Our explorer finished their Caribbean Sea mission. I send them to the Caribbean Coast next

11 Dec - I cancel our naval basing out of Portugal and gain some cash in doing so,now that I can base out of the horrible colony of Arguin

[Abe Sargent]

15 April, 1579 – I get a Native Assimilation event in Arguin and our pop thee increases

1 July – My level 1 advisor for ADM tech has passed. I hire a Treasurer who increases my taxes by 10%

This will actually increase my money made by a tiny bit

4 Sept – I grant military access to Brandenburg

1 March, 1480 – I fabricate a claim on Rhodes


1 April – I order a Workshop in Achaea

15 May – Another Native Assimilation in Arguin strikes

2 June – Arguin will be a livestock-trading province

21 June – Our expedition is finished. Next is the South Atlantic

5 July – I land my 2000 cavalry in Arguin to protect against an uprising

1 Oct – I have had a lucky year as most of the months we’ve had growth in Arguin. (In each month there is a chance that you get free people if you have colonists there, in addition to the guaranteed growth that happens annually)

2 Mar, 1481 – Native rising in Arguin

9 Mar – Defeated

1 April – Our truce with Venice ends

1 June – The pope passed and a new one was elected

1 Jan, 1481 –

DIP Tech 7 – I get some bonus range and such

1 May –

MIL Tech 6

I can build barracks and my infantry are better

18 June – The Pope has excommunicated Austria

1 Sept – Our leader gains Well Connected and that decreases our advisor costs by -20% monthly

A native uprising hits Arguin and I put it down a few days later


17 Nov – I fabricate a claim on Cyprus

26 December – Our expedition finishes. Next? Atlantic south America

[Abe Sargent]

11 Jan, 1482 – Portugal has offered me an alliance. Do I want it? Sure thing

20 Feb – Uh oh! Our ruler passes.

Our heir –

Bartolomeo – 14 years old, 2/4/5, he is too young to rule and we are under a regency


I reboost our stability back t o +3

1 July – I accept a Royal Marriage offer from Portugal

1 Dec – Rebellion put down by spending some MIL power

11 Jan 1483 – Native assimilation in Arguin

15 Sept – Our son is now of age!

He gains:

The Bold Fighter trait, and he is very strong as a general.

A consort – Francesca from Achaea

A new heir Antoinio, who is strong at 4/2/5

He is a good leader. I give him my local army in Athens to work with

19 Nov – Cyprus accepts our Royal Marriage offer after I was making nice with them’

1 January 1484 – Arguin, on the coast of Africa, is our first province. As a colony, it reached the key 1000 people.




Arguin – 6 development, Coastal Desert, Arid (reductions to building and such), Tuareg, Sunni,

I send these colonists to Barbados! Portugal is in St. Martin

1 April – My conquistador passes

22 June – Brandenburg cancelled their access

1 Dec - I order a Workshop in Crete

[Abe Sargent]

1 August, 1485 –

Idea #4 – Global Settler Increase by 20

1 Oct –

Here me show you the explored map thus far



Let me try and zoom in a little for you. On the left is Arguin o the coast in the middle of the desert. As you can see, a little, I don’t currently see any other Europeans here other than Portugal build in St. Martin and us in Barbados. But I don’t have the coast of S. America or anywhere in the north surveyed yet

20 Jan, 1486 – My explorer finishes. I send him to West African Sea

1 May - Our explorer passes.

1 July – After returning home to it’s launching spot in Arguin, I send another Explorer – Anastasias out for a mission

1 Dec – Native uprising in Barbados, handled by the 2000 cavalry here!

[Abe Sargent]

1 Feb, 1487 – Tobacco will be the primary crop of Barbados.

13 March – Tunis raided muh coasts

27 April – My mission finished - next up is West African Coast

25 July – I get ADMIN TECH 7

I can get another Idea Group


I take Naval Ideas:

I invest immediately

Naval Idea #1 – I get better naval shock by far when fighting

I order two Early Carracks

1 Aug – Portugal has entered a Golden Age

1 Sept – I can get another Age of Discovery bonus.

I choose Justified Wars which drops my issues with massive expanding

You can choose a Golden Age once in the game, when you have at least three missions done for an era, and I have three – Embraced Renaissance, found America, have holdings on two continents. I can do it any time! It lasts 50 yeas and comes with a ton of bonuses, but I’ll wait

15 Oct – Mission finished! Next is the South Atlantic Coast in Africa

1 Nov – Natives in Barbados some up

15 Nov – Put down again

22 Nov – I get an influenza outbreak in Pontenegro and I order them to be quarantined for a decade.


14 Jan, 1488 – I get an event that give me a bonus to conversion for 5 years

10 April – Native Assimilation event

16 May – Mission over – Next is back to America!

12 July – FINALLY

After a long conversion campaign, our capital is now fully Catholic


I order up a Workshop here

1 November –

Barbados is now a full city!


Barbados – 13 development, coastal, Tuscan, Catholic, 0.30 made here after I make the Lesser Antilles a state and core it. Tobacco farmers here.

I send the colonists here to St. Vincent and I send my troops over as well to follow

[Abe Sargent]

3 May, 1489 – Tunis raids Crete

15 May – Serbia announces Venice as a rival

3 Oct – Workshop in Morea

1 Feb, 1490 – Native uprising….put down!

11 March – The Ottomans no longer consider Austria a rival and instead announce England as their new hate band. Austria does the same and now announces Poland as their rival

1 April – New Idea – I get Colonial Tariffs from Exploration #5

I begin to build a spy network in Genoa

18 June – I break the Genoan alliance. They never helped me out, and have never called on me to help them out. So very little has happened, and I have Portugal and the Turks as allies. They feel superfluous at this point

16 September – Cyprus agrees to be our ally.

6 Dec – Mission in N. America finishes. I split my navy and send part back to the Mediterranean

South American Coast is next

1 Jan, 1491 – The Mamluks are no longer rivals with Venice

1 June –

Naval Idea #2 – Improved Rams and I get better combat

I also got the next Athenian idea:

Athenian Openness - +1 Accepted Cultures

1 Sept – Native uprising, put down


1 Nov – St Vincent is going to be good at growing Coffee

6 Nov – Mission finishes. Next? American East Coast

[Abe Sargent]

1 April, 1492 – I have fabricated a claim on Scio from Genoa

20 May – I have added some more ships to my fleet in the Med.

10 June – I get a Native Assimilation event for another 100 folks join the cause.

15 Nov – Venice enters a big war against Aragon, the Papal States, Castille and Milan

15 Jan, 1593 – Another native uprising defeated

1 July – I get an event that sets up a colonial company in St Lucia next to St. Vincent. Hundreds of colonists arrive – I order my men over – there’s a strait that connects them

[Abe Sargent]

They are losing their war. Time to attack Venice.

My war goal is to take Zeta

I use my favors with the Ottomans in helping them to bring them into the war!

2 July – Our Explorer finishes his mission and I order him over to help with our new war


The Knights, Lucca join them


10 August – I put down natives in St. Lucia

1 Sept – Our colony in St. Vincent finishes! I move my colonists to St. Lucia and we’ll look at them laters

My leader gained industrious


19 Sept – I get an event that increases my taxbase in Achaea



13 Oct – I take Kosovo

18 Oct – We drive away the soldiers in Rhodes and begin a siege

1 Nov – I defeat Venice in the Gulf of Venice

1 Dec – The Ottomans win a major battle in Bosnia.


4 Dec – Raska falls to me

10 Feb, 1594 – Rhodes falls to me

1 Mar – All of Venetian Bosnia and such is under Turk or our control.

I get exploration idea 6, another colonist, and order them to Martinique – I will kill the local natives before heading over

1 April – Cotton is the primary produce of st. Lucia

3 April I rout a Venician army in Istria

1 June – Today is a big day. I combined my forces, I defeated their entire navy and captured 10 ships in the Gulf of Venice, and my leader gained a bunch of knowledge.

15 June – Bosnia falls back to Venice

1 Aug – Admin Tech #8 – courthouses

18 August- Venice loses 4 provinces and the 1st war. I move in to retake their stuff in Italy prime

2 Sept -I annex Rhodes

18 Sept – I take Frioli

10 Dec – More have fallen

12 Jan, 1595 – We have a 56 warscore. Time to push more? Or just take some fun stuff?

I keep pushing. This is my big war. I just want one province of theirs

And we all know what it is.

I white peace Siena, then Lucca

9 July – I get an event and I spend some cash to get 200 colonists in St Lucia

18 Aug – My truce with Genoa ends

19 Aug – I wage war on Genoa for Scio. They are in a bad war too.

14 Nov – My siege of the fortress in Treviso falls, this clears my way to Venice

26 Dec – I rout their army

12 Feb, 1496 – I capture Verona

I have a 96% warscore, but they still aren’t doing what I want/need them to do

15 April – I decline a peace offer

10 May – I take Scio with a small army.

22 August – I take Corsica

12 Nov – More Genoans fall

11 Dec – Rhodes is now a core

25 Dec – I take Scio from Genoa in peace, with War Reparations.

8 Jan, 1497 – Venice falls to us

[Abe Sargent]

I have a 100% warscore with the big bad – peace time!


I can take a lot of stuff. I can take Venezia and the land holding that gets to it – Treviso

Taking Treviso too is too much and pushes too many people into a potential anti-Athens push. Instead I do:

Venezia
Istria
War Reparations
410 gold
They give up their claim on Crete





Here we are!

Time to finish this war.

I order cores

Now I spend some time doing a few things;

Naval Ideas #3 – better naval morale and fire when fighting

I also get:

Athenian Pragmatism - +1 Dip Reputation

We’ll look at my new holdings and do the 50 year review a few years too late in a few moments

I finish my Build Buildings mission and get bonus taxes for the next 25 years and some extra ADM power

[Abe Sargent]

The 53 Year in Review!



Let’s begin with our province overview:

Assume that all European holdings are Greek and Catholic and all colonial ones are Tuscan and Catholic unless otherwise mentioned.

I won’t be giving you the geography and such anymore for older holdings as well.


Athens - Our capital. 2.22 cash now made here from the 29 development that occurred here. Home of a World Class Port that’s the coastal training center at it’s best, as well as a workshop and church. The folks here work the fish trade more than any others,


Achaea – This is now at 12 development, and 0.84 cash monthly with a Workshop present, Wine is the province trade good

Morea – This is now at level 12 with a Workshop and Church to have joined it’s level 2 fortress. The folks here make 1.04 cash monthly in Wine as well.

Negroponte – 10 development, Church and Marketplace, fishing trade, 0.55 in cash

Naxos – Wine is made and manufactured here, 9 dev, workshop, 0.58 produced.

Crete – 1.33 made here off 17 dev, with a marketplace workshop, church, and from the first trade.

Corfu – level 2 fortress, workshop, 9 dev, Orthodox, fishing, 0.25 made here. I have not elevated this to a state and use up one of my states, as the rest of the region is under the control of the Turks. You cannot missionary-ize something not a core


New:

Rhodes – 11 development, coastal islands, 0.66 made here, already cored, fish trade, with a church, workshop and level 2 fortress

Scio – 5 development, coastline, off the coast off Turkey, has a straight connection to Sugla on the mainland, wine is made here and Genoa gave it a Farm Estate with a marketplace. 0.43 made here with 6.1% unrest and 40% autonomy.


Venezia – 31 development, Venetian culture, the glass trade is primary here with a level 2 coastal center of trade, with a core ongoing, making us 0.39/monthly with 75% autonomy and just 4.1% unrest. It features a marketplace, church, workshop, courthouse and shipyard. Land crossing to Treviso.


Istria – This coastal province is next to Krain, Gorz, and LIka, under the control of Austria and Hungary. Croatian culture in the woods. It has a level one natural harbor, salt, a marketplace, workshop, and church, making us 0.11 monthly from 10 development, 75% autonomy and 10.% unrest.



Colonial:

Arguin – African, Muslim, Tuareg, Livestock, 6 dev, 0.05 made here. This just unlocked the rest of the world for me colonially.


Barbados – 13 development, Tobacco, Coastline, 0.92 made here monthly. I should start developing this with a Workshop and Church soon.

St. Vincent – 13 dev, Coffee, coastline, 0.91 monthly. See above – has a strait to St. Lucia.


St. Lucia, and Martinique are colonies currently growing


Portugal is now in Brazil

I withdraw my colonists in St. lucia and send them to Jamaica.

St. Lucia is so close to being done that I might as well get that started.

I currently have 32 ships after my war with Venice where I captured some and lost others. I need to invest into some more smaller ships. I have 6 Early Carracks, 8 light ships and 5 galleys plus transports. I have the 3rd largest navy I know of after the Ottomans and English

I have just 14k troops with 6k of those cavalry.

Athens and Venezia are in the 10 most developed holdings we know of.

I will be doing a thassalacracy and trying to grab the best colonies in the world n divergent places quickly. I don’t need a 4 development holding next to my 10 dev one when I can get a 10 development one in Africa.

My next major targets are:

Havana
Rio de Janeiro
Massachusetts
Chesapeake
Benguela


I want to leapfrog Portugal on Hispaniola and take Cuba.

Now that my naval forcelimit has increased, my salary for my ships has as well.

The current trade price of all goods:

5.0 – Gems
4.5 – Copper
4.0 – Dyes, Silk, Cocoa, Ivory
3.5 – Paper
3.0 – Glass, Tobacco, Sugar, Cotton, Spices, Chinaware, Salt, Iron, Cloth
2.5 – Incense, Fish, Wool, Wine, Grain,
2.0 – Tropical Wood, Naval Supplies, Livestock, Slaves, Fur


This represents the current demand not the real cost.

Allies – Cyprus, Portugal, Ottomans

Great Powers of the World in Order from 1-8

Ming
Ottomans
Poland
Muscovy
France
Castile
England
Denmark

There we are

[Abe Sargent]

18 March – I send out our exploration fleet

12 April – I get an event as flocks of refugees from Byzantium have reached us and we get some power in ADM, DIP, and -10% tech costs for the next 10 years

1 June – I cannot have Serbia as my rival anymore and I choose Tunis

1 July – Morocco announces us as their new rival

8 Aug – More raids by Tunis

1 Sept –

St. Lucia – 14 development, Tuscan Catholics, coastline, Cotton, they send us 0.99 monthly.

1 December – Martinique will be a good place for some sugar.

1 Jan, 1498 – Our Explorer has passed.

15 April – I have sent out another explorer from Barbados

22 Aug – I get an event that increases my naval maintenance for 5 years by 10% - this hurts


1 Sept – My peace treaty with Siena and Lucca finished

17 Sept – Venezia is now a core

I get a mission completed (expand) and I get -25% state maintenance for 25 years along with other major benefits

I am now getting 1.44 cash monthly from Venezia.

1 Oct – My heir gains a trait that gives him -5% tech cost

1 Nov – My Explorer heads out again

I choose to drop my unrest by 5% with my new Age of Discovery ability

24 Dec – I made Corfu a state with the intent of converting it and it just finished, so I can drop the use of this state (You have a limited number) but my current Corfu cash – 1.04 is too much and I can drop it later. I am keeping it for now. Baby needs the extra cash after the naval maintenance issue above, this increases my monthly surplus to about 4.78 – I did the same for Arguin.



1 Jan, 1499 – I get a native assimilation in Jamaica

1 Feb - Sugar in Jamaica as well

Here let me show you the breakdown:



As you can see, I am making a ton of cash ( I was saving up to upgrade Venice to level 3 coastal trade center, which I should do soon)

I also went ahead and gave you Corfu zoomed in as well as over the Caribbean so you can get a quick little update for my colonial adventures elsewhere . You can see my fleet exploring the coast of the nearby continent on their journey

1 March – I lose my claim to Durazzo. Actually let’s begin to build up a spy network in Athens for their stuff


I go ahead and spend that 1000 in Venice to upgrade the coastal network here

16 March – I send forth another expedition from Barbados

24 March – Scio is now a core: We are now getting 0.48 cash

3 May – I send a gift of 50 cash to Cyprus

I have maxed relations with them. My hope is to vassalize them soon.

I invest in a workshop for my three holdings in the Caribbean.

1 Sept – Next mission heads out for exploration

Mil Tech 7 – I can make artillery now

1 Oct – I get the final Exploration Idea - +25% naval forcelimit.

This finishes the idea and I can fabricate claims overseas.

[Abe Sargent]

1 Feb, 1500 – New pope elected after the last one passes

1 May - Istria is now a core – 0.34 monthly from it

We lost our claim on Zeta

1 June – I claim Treviso

3 June – The Ottomans declare war on the Mamluks and I agree to join them.

1 July –

Jamaica – 13 development, 0.26 made here, I have not state-made it. Coastline, Tuscan, Catholic, Sugar Farmers.

My next target is Benguela, south of Kongo on the African Coast.

8 July – Cyprus agrees to send us 30% of their trade from their nation

1 Aug –

Martinique – Sugar, 13 dev, 0.97 made here (this is a state with St. Vincent, Barbados, etc), coastline, Tuscan and Catholic and it has straits north to Dominica and south to St. Lucia.

My next colonial target is Havana



Big news.

We form a colonial nation here which acts as a vassal, but we get enhanced benefits as you can see. The Pope backs our claims in the Caribbean over Portugal and others, as you can see below in a Treaty of Tordesillas.

I name it the Athenian Caribbean

13 August – Whenever an event occurs that changes the economic demand of someone, there is a chance it will happen with any nation with that need. Today the “Empires need Paper” event occurs increasing their value on the market. I was the originator of this event!

The Ottomans send me some war subsides

I will use it to begin to work on another army for the use of fighting

Dec 28 – I arrive in Bangazi

WHOA!

Jan 1, 1501 - The next institution has arrived – Colonialism. Again, you get the various benefits of embracing the culture. And it begins with US. We started it! So I don’t have to worry about getting it

I gain a TON of MIL, ADM, and DIP Power as well as tons of prestige, reform points, and the place it started, Achaea, gets a permanent port bonus for the game.

11 Feb – Tunis raids us!

14 Feb – Another explorer mission heads out

26 Feb – Bangazi falls to us

14 May – I take Darnah

30 June – Bardiya falls to us

30 July -Morocco recaptured Bangazi and I order my larger and better forces to hit them

5 Aug – Hungary is undergoing a big civil war

20 Sept- I lose

26 Sept – I order another exploration expedition

12 Nov – Genoa announces us as their new rival

17 Nov – The Turks capture the Mamluks capital

1 Dec – A new government reform

I recruit my new leaders and recruits from the merchants and burghers, we reduce our advisor costs by -10% and get big bonuses from my burgher class


17 Dec -Arguin converts to Catholicism!

Next is to change the culture of it to Tuscan

[Abe Sargent]

18 Jan, 1502 – I fabricate a claim on Verona


17 March – I win a big battle in Ghazzah

30 May – I have finished every Atlantic holdings. Next is the Pacific coast of South America

1 June –

New DIP TECH 7 –

I can build shipyards, get better trade and naval morale

18 July - Another big battle in Jaffa ends my way

27 July – I capture Jaffa

16 Aug – My other army lands and the Mamluks are now dealing with proper Athenian muscle on two flanks in the coastal holdings.

7 Oct – The Ottomans take four provinces from Karaman in peace. We are still at war with the Mamluks though.

10 Nov – Three more holdings to the Turks from Ak Koyunlu

1 Dec - Coffee in Havana

13 Dec – I put down an uprising in Benguela

1 Jan, 1503 – Feh, just Fish in Benguela

1 March – Burgundy declared war on Venice, Brabant and Holland joined them

I lay claim on Friuli

7 April – Another explorer mission heads out.

1 June –

MIL TECH 8 – My cavalry are much better and I can build regimental camps.

1 July –

ADMIN TECH 9 – slight increase to my production stuff

27 July – I now control every province in North Africa that is Mamlukian

1 Aug – Our truce with Genoa expired

14 Sept – The Ottomans take peace for one more holdings, as well as War Reparations and more than 500 cash, some of which trickles down into our coffers


I order a minor claim on the Mamluks

2 Oct - I offer to help Bohemia with embracing Colonialism.

1 Nov – Native Assimilation in Havana

I order a Farm Estate I Achaea. This is a manufactory that will massively increase our wine production there, but also takes years to build.

1 Dec – Our explorer returns. Until my colonies have moved, I have explored everywhere I can from my current locations. Benguela will help a lot in this regard and I order the exploring fleet there to help.

[Abe Sargent]

15 Jan, 1504 – Tunis raids Rhodes

1 April – Rush of Colonists hits Benguela for 200

28 June – A new pope is elected

1 July – Castile enters a new Golden Age

24 Sept – I accept the decree from the Papal Decree to ban slavery.

22 Oct – The Protestant Reformation has begun in Brabant This triggers the end of the Age of Discovery, and it will end in 121 months as will benefits that end then as well.

1 Dec –

Havana – Savannah, Catholic, Tuscan, Coffee, 14 devl, heads to our local colonial nation.

Next target is Rio de Janeiro

I order a Church in Corfu

17 Dec – The Ottomans break their alliance with us.

I offer an alliance with Poland, who are a major rival/enemy to the Turks

I was willing to be the Turks ally for forever. Ah well.


1 Jan, 1505 – I accept a RM Offer from Poland

9 Jan – Rush of Colonists in Benguela

1 April –

Benguela – 14 dev, coastal, south of Kongo, Mbubtu and Fetishist, I order a missionary here, natural harbor, tropical. 0.66 made here for us monthly

Next target is Cape on South Africa

My next exploration mission is underway, this time in the Indian Ocean

19 April - I get a Gift to the State event and instead of tech, I put it into my treasury.

1 May - I call up Portugal

In this version of the game there are various options for exchanging land beyond the normal, such as demand it be turned over and such. We agree to purchase Puerto Rico for 300 cash. Expect that, slowly, we’ll buy other lands in the Caribbean now that they are not allowed here. Puerto Rico – 10 dev, sugar, coastline, Catholic, Portuguese, etc,. We don't keep it, it heads to my colonial nation.


24 May – I grab Dalmatia as a claim

[Abe Sargent]

1 March, 1506 – Cyprus agrees to become our vassal

I complete the “Acquire Subjects” mission and gain big dip bonuses.

1 April – We purchase St. Martin for 300 cash.


St. Martin – Fish, 10 dev, Catholic, Portuguese, etc


18 April – The Ottomans continue to warmonger out east

1 July – Naval Idea #4 – Better naval prestige and maintenance


14 Feb, 1507 – I convert Benguela and next is cultural change

3 Mar – Milan have declared us their rival

27 May – Our leader passes.

Our new one:

Antonio III, 4/2/5, Free Thinker

No heir or consort

I set about to find a new heir. I do with Bosnia, my 3rd RM – we get a great 6/5/6 consort

White peace with Venice after no battles really happened.

1 Oct – DIP TECH 9 - get new ships, better colonial range by 50,

22 Oct – Arguin is now Tuscan!

I get a mighty 0.39 from it!

17 Nov – We get a new heir who is 4/4/3

8 Dec – Mission finished, next exploration heads out!

11 Dec – Native Assimilation in Cape

1 Feb, 1508 – Cape is fish as well.

5 Sept – We get an event and someone donates three Carracks to the state!

15 Sept – Tunis raid on Crete

1 Oct – Sugar can be grown in Rio de Janeiro

I make a claim on the Ottomans – Yanya

1 Nov – I accept an alliance offer from Bohemia, who are big allies with Poland.

Bohemia just finished embracing Colonialism. I offer to shar with Portugal, and will be paid by them to basically purchase colonies from them. It’s a big circle of happy-ness.

[Abe Sargent]

12 Jan, 1509 – I send another exploration mission out!

28 Feb – Ottomans declare war against Wallachia

12 May – I claim Tirhala from the Turks

1 Dec – We purchase Maguana on Hispaniola for 300, Maguana – 5 dev, hills, coffee, Portuguese, Catholic, etc

24 Dec – Milan DOW’s Venice

1 Jan, 1510 – Our truce with the Turks has ended

NAVAL IDEA #5 – We get +25% bonus speed in sailor recruitment.

I get the next Athenian Idea:

Revive the Latin Greece – We get +1 prestige annually

1 Feb –

Cape – Fetishist, 18 development, Fishing trade, Xhosa, coastal trade network, Grasslands, 0.86 made here right now. I order a Missionary here.


Next target is Mauritius in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar.


15 Nov – Mission finished, more explorations ensue!

1 Dec – My colonial nation has finished bringing Dominica into their nation

1 Feb, 1511 –

Rio de Janeiro – Coastal jungle, sugar, 14 development, natural harbor, 1.04 made here, Tuscan and Catholic.

Next target is Chesapeake

3 March – The Ottomans declare war against Georgia, in the Black Sea, and their ally, Muscovy and Trebizond joins them. A big battle in the Caucasian mountains are likely to follow


16 April – the Mamluks and Ottomans are no longer rivals. The Ottomans are rivaled with Bohemia and


1 May – I claim Selanik from the Turks

[Abe Sargent]

16 July – Our truce with the Venetians has ended…

I declare war on Venice

My combined fleet is in the Gulf of Venice with a level 3 admiral and 6 carracks. I think I might win this.



9 Aug – I win the battle in the Gulf and lost a few ships but captured 8.


13 Aug – The Mamluks announce us as a rival

22 Aug. – I cross 17k troops to their capital, forts, and my war target of Treviso

The siege begins

9 Sept – Cape converts and next is cultural fun times

16 Sept – I arrive at Zeta and begin a a siege.

10 Dec – We capture Treviso

2 Feb, 1512 – Verona falls to us

9 Feb – One of my armies arrives at Dalmatia

4 April – Frioli is ours

1 July – I finish an event to make a Grand Navy and get naval bonuses all over for 25 years

I get a bonus settler event at Mauritius

1 Aug – Naval Tech 6 – I get +20% combat abilities for carracks


Mauritius is Sugar

6 Oct – Zeta falls

1 Dec – ADMIN TECH 10 – I can get another group of ideas

15 Dec – We take Dalmatia


I take their three Venetian holdings right by their former capital – Friuli, Verona, and Treviso

War Reparations and hundreds of cash.

And that’s it!




Here’s let’s take a look!

I zoomed in on my new three holdings so you can see them there all nice and pretty. You can also see that we are now a Great Power! We’ll come back to that laters.


All holdings are Venetian Catholic unless I tell you otherwise!

Friuli – 14 dev, hills, workshop, marketplace, church and farm estate here making wine. They have 0% unrest but 40% autonomy and make us 0.67 monthly


Treviso – To their west is Treviso, a strait connection to Venezia with a level 2 fort. Paper making in the hills here with marketplace, church, and workshop, 21 dev, and 0.89 cash.



Verona – To its west is Verona, farmlands, Grain, 24 development, natural harbor, farm estates, marketplace, courthouse, church, and workshop and makes us 0.99 monthly.


And there we are. They are already in a state with Venezia, so they were elevated and thus made perfect additions to my empire. I don’t care about any more Venice holdings and if I do war with them again it’s probably just to force-vassalize them.

[Abe Sargent]

I choose Milan as my new rival.


We take on the King title.

I purchase the final two colonies from Portugal in the area they aren’t allowed to be in. I offer to sell them Arguin, but they aren’t interested.

Barahonas – Hispaniola, 5 development, jungles, coffee

Magua – 4 dev, jungle, Hispaniola, tobacco,

These go to my colonial nation, who has already started a colony on the island to finish it out.

19 Jan – I get a Triangle Trade event and get a ton of cash and DIP development

1 Feb – Salt in Chesapeake

2 Feb – I dispatch another exploration mission into the Indian Ocean

3 June – I renew our marriage vows with Portugal

I claim another Greek holding from Turks

I grab Expansion Ideas

1 Jan, 1514

Mauritius – 15 Dev, Sugar, island, coastal, Tuscan, Catholic, they make 1.09 for us.

Next target is Ile de Bourbon, which is also here

12 Mar – I get an event which puts a free church in Mauritius

By the by, I make around 10 gold monthly (9.84)

18 April – Mauritius is the home of my next expedition

1 May – I get cores in my new holdings and they are now giving me 1.02, 1.39 and 1,41 in cash,


Just before the end of the Age of Exploration, I go ahead and enter my Golden Era!

15 May – Castile is in West Africa colonizing folks there. They have two colonies finished, another on the way and another started on the island of Fernando Po.


1 June – I order a church in Naxos

1 Sept –

Chesapeake – Marsh, 14 development, Salt growers by the local Catholic, Tuscan people, just 0.23 cash as I have not elevated Virginia to state-ness yet. This is the wealthy James Estuary.


Next colonial target is Massachusetts. I saw Denmark exploring the north area hard.

Actually, natives with the Lenape just moved there. How about Cartagena instead? Perfect location on the main land.

Hmmm… I do like the highly developed Androscoggin here in the area instead, to help be a base in the area for exploring and developing. But Cartagena for now.

I actually offer to sell Arguin to Castile but they aren’t interested either



1 November – We have entered the Era of Reformation. So long Discovery!


Major things you are rewarded for include:

Embracing Humanist or Religious Idea Groups
Converting another nation’s faith in war
Converting at least 10 provinces
Unifying culture

Stuff like that.

We have one done already and 8 provinces converted so we aren’t far away from another

11 Nov – Serbia brings in many Venetian provinces like Kosovo and Zetta

I finish a mission that couldn’t be done last Age –

Faith’s Bastion –

I get an Army of Righteousness buff for 15 years that makes my conversions and military morale massively better.

[Abe Sargent]

1 Jan, 1515 – I get an event for trading in Tobacco – we lead the world and now get much better spy defense

Our level 1 ADMIN advisor passes and I hire a new level 2 production one that jumps up my stuff. Heavily

1 Feb – Our truce with Morocco and the Mamluks expires

We get a Rush of Colonists event for Cartagena

12 April – Tunis can’t be my rival anymore so I snag the Turks

1 May – I order a Workshop in Scio and a Farm estate in Naxos

Naval Idea #7 – This finishes muh Naval ideas – I get much better naval morale, and I also get much better ship durability this Idea Group completed!

I choose to enact “Skilled Cartographers” which can only be done if I have both Naval and Exploration unlocked. It increases my naval proficiency heaviy abroad.

DIP TECH #10

I get War Galleys, Flutes, better trade and settler growth

I order 27 of my vessels to upgrade.

11 May - I have been making nice with Sofala in African, and I begin to Influence them s a Nation to increase them. I want to purchase a trading post from them, so I am making nice with them to enable that

1 June – I claim another Greek holdings from the Turks

5 July – I purchase Quelimane from Solfala


Now, this is not something I’ve done before as it’s new to the latest DLC so I wanted to try this mechanism before



Let’s look:




Here’s Quelimane pulled up, and as you can see, it has the wealthy ivory trade. There are also investments I can make it in too as well. East Africa is much more wealthy than west, and the coast is loaded with ivory, gems, gold, iron

Next I want to make nice with Kilwa and do the same, and pick up some land from them as well. This game mechanic is designed to demonstrate what happened in real life by a lot of colonial powers.

I have created a East African Trading Company, and Quelimane is now a part of that. I would expect nearby Angoche to be next, and Kilwa and Sofala are allies, marriage partners and such, so I am not expecting a lot of border strife. I order 2000 cavalry built here.

Remember I am also elevating Sofala, so they are getting updated tech, relations with me and finances beyond this one sale of a province. I elevate Kilwa now