Lorraine Cooperative Game Thread

[Velociryx]

Quite true...and with the French/German provinces ALONE (to say nothing of if we add the Italian ones), we'll have the richest provinces in Europe under our control, and two CoT's (four if we nab the Italian ones). That's....unstoppable...

-=Vel=-

[ragou]

Have you stopped playing, or are you just taking a short break?

*Eagerly awaiting what the future will bring to Lorraine*

[Velociryx]

Will have the update soon! Was just....putting the wraps on Scotland so I have lots of writing material for that while waiting for us to reach a consensus along the way in our various decisions here....

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

A Bold, Unexpected Direction for Lorraine

Having become thoroughly disenchanted with the French alliance, and with the dream of a "United France," our Duke Charles plots a new course for the nation, marrying one of his numerous cousins, a woman of surpassing beauty named Marie, to a prominent English Lord (RM with England, relations to -101).

Another suitable mate is found for the Duke of Geldre (RM with Geldre, relations to +48)

In March, our national stability is restored (+3), and a personal gift is sent to the Duke of Brabant, improving relations markedly with the tiny Duchy on our border (relations to +137!)

April sees a continued flurry of diplomatic activity, with correspondence to both the Duke of Burgundy (-193), and to the English King (-81), with additional missives written to Burgundy's Duke over the next two months (which see relations slowly thaw to -177, and then to -157, respectively).

In July, the English King hears from us again (-79), and the Burgundians reject a proposed Royal Marriage offer (-163)

In August, War Taxes are raised in light of the ongoing war with Orleanais, and with only a single Diplomat remaining in our Diplomatic corp at the moment, we stand pat. (three more merchants sent to Flandres)

It pains us greatly to see, but in October, Orleanais is no more, having been devoured by the haughty ambitions of the French King. (relations with France are now +78).

1429
National stability is +3, and our treasury is brimming, with 184d! (2 points of War Exhaustion remaining)

Our alliance is strained further when Provence cancells their vassalization with France, and we hold our breath and brace for the French declaration of war against them....a declaration which does not come....thankfully!

February sees another letter to Burgundy, with this one having no impact on relations (-163), and a month later, we try again to gain the ear of that stubborn Duke (relations to -133).

Our diplomatic offensive continues with Burgundy in June and August, which sees relations thaw to -99, and on August 21st, the Duke Establishes an Internal Trade Ordinance in Artois (taxval in Artois, +1).

The rest of the year passes quietly.

1430
Slider Adjustment, Aristocracy -1 (which sees further improvement to our Trade Efficiency, 33%, 14% production effie).

Stability is +3 (dropping to +2 when we adjust the slider), and our treasury is richly appointed with 210d!

More merchants (2) are sent to Flandern this month, with two more sent in February and another two in March.

Mid-year, with five (5) Diplomats on hand, we renew our Diplomattic Offensive with Burgundy, with additional letters written in June and July, thawing relations to -69.


In mid-July, Austria, Baden, and Bavari square off against Milan, England, Burgundy, Navara, Geldre, and the Golden Horde....a potential dark tiding for us, as we have no wish to find ourselves in an alliance family that would put us in the thick of a two-front war! We hold our breath and pray that their war does not last long.

Burgundy devours Brabant in late month, and much of our hard work is undone, as relations with the Burgundians sour (-159).

The remainder of 1430 sees the diplomatic offensive with Burgundy kick into high gear, with a trio of gifts being sent to the Duke, ending in November, when those efforts have improved relations to -1. We can breath at least a bit easier now....

1431
January 26th is a dark day for our growing nation....Duke Charles the Bold, of Lothringen, the wily and resolute leader who shocked the world by standing up against the combined might of both England and Burgundy, died peacefully in his bed, and without and heir.

The nation mourns the loss of their beloved leader, and his cousin, a robust man (and an even better diplomat than Charles!) named Rene D'Anjou takes the throne of Lorraine. He assures the Council of Lords that his every intention is to follow in the footsteps of his fallen cousin, and as his first act as Duke, he sends a gift to the Burgundians, improving relations to +100!!

By February, our national stability is once again at +3, we lose market-share in Flandern and promptly send three more merchants there to try and regain it.

[Velociryx]

April - The German alliance, led by the Saxons, has beat the hell out of Austria's allies, snagging Ansbach from Bavaria, and Bern from Baden...way to go Saxony!!!

[Velociryx]

In July, we arrange a treaty of Military Access with the Burgundians, further binding them to us, and in August, it seems as if the whole of our Duchy is rejoicing in the abilities of Duke Rene D'Anjou!

[Velociryx]

The rest of 1431 passes in relative quiet, with the only significant activity being two more letters written to the King of England, assuring him that the recent change in leadership in Lorraine has done nothing to pull Lorraine from it's newfound diplomatic footing and desire to improve relations between England and Lorraine, and the message is getting through...relations have improved to -53...the English still do not like us much, and are still smarting from the upset defeat we handed them in our unfortunate war, but we are making solid progress.

1432
With no inflation, stability at +3, a treasury containing 148 ducats, and a monthly economy of 15.7, we are truly on our way!

A Gift to the English King dramatically improves relations (+13) in January, and in February, a new Center of Trade opens in Thrace! We rush all available merchants there (4), to take advantage of this new emerging market. In June, we send another, and by July, we have five (5) merchants in business in Thrace, making it our single most lucrative market!

[Velociryx]

By 1433, our Duke Rene pauses to review the net diplomatic impact his efforts have had to date, and the picture for Lorraine is looking bright indeed!

[Velociryx]

1433
Diplomatically, our only remaining trouble spots are with Baden and Brittany, and these will be the targets of future diplomatic efforts, but in this year, having spent the greater bulk of our treasury to improve our standing in English eyes, there is little we can do about our strained relations with those two nations, so....we pray that they will not choose NOW to move against us, and continue on our way.

May 25th, new land is claimed in Zeeland (pop +2000, tax value +1, manpower +1), and by December, the alliances of England and Austria make their peace.

1434
Primarily, our focus this year is on improving relations with Baden and sending merchants to Flandern.

On both counts, we meet with some success, finally establishing five (5) merchants in Flandres (giving us five in both Flandern and Thrace), and the flurry of letters sent to Duke Jakob I, of Baden, sees relations with that aggressive nation improve to -144.

1435
With significant market-share in two centers of trade, Lorraine now boasts the world's eleventh largest economy!

[Velociryx]

1435 - Continued
A very busy year, filled with all manner of tidings for us, both good and ill....

On the plus-side of the ledger, our manpower and maximum army size has increased dramatically (32k), and we raise three thousand Infantry in Lorraine, the beginnings of a wholly new regimental addition for our armies. A gift to Jakob of Baden is also sent (relations to -26).

On the minus side, France annexes the House of Burbon, growing stronger (relations with France fall to +6). We count some forty thousand men under arms in France. Dark tidings indeed....

Because of this, and thanks to our earlier exceptional year, we begin full minting of coin, in a drive to bulk up our military in light of our new support limits, and in June, we add a thousand infantry and a thousand horse to the Poitou Regiment, with another thousand cavalry added to Artois in July.

September sees another New Regiment formed in Flandern, six thousand infantry strong, and in November, we raise an additional 3k Infantry for the Lorraine Regiment, and another 1k Cavalry for Artois, keeping our weapon smiths and training camps busy through the whole of the year.

1436
National stability is +3, Treasury stands at 91d, and our economy is 17.5/month, with inflation creeping up to 0.8%.

Another gift to Jakob of Baden improves relations to +70, and a Royal Marriage is arranged with the Duke of Brittany (relations -68), and then....it happens.

January 2nd, France declares a war against Brittany, and the French King demands that we honor our alliance obligations, which would put us in a war with Brittany, Savoy, and Genoa. We are not overly concerned with Brittany or Genoa, but Savoy has some 37,000 men able to march on Comte at a moment's notice, and thence to Lorraine herself. This is a fight we do not need and do not want, and so, we refuse to support the war effort in any way. Fate and circumstance have decreed that it is time for Lorraine to chart a new course, whether we are fully ready or not!

As of March, our armies at least, are as ready as we can make them, and The Army of Lorraine stands at four (4) battle-ready regiments:

Lorraine: 6000 Infantry
Flandern: 6000 Infantry
Poitou: 5000 Infantry/ 2000 Horse
Artois (the backbone of the Army): 7498 Infantry and 4000 Horse

Totals: 24,498 Infantry, 6000 Horse = 30,498 (max of 31k)

[Velociryx]

In July, our stability (which had dropped when we refused to honor our alliance obligations) jumps back to +3, and Duke Rene promptly cancels our treaty of Military Access with France (stability goes back to +2).

In September, the Austrian alliance butts heads with the German Minors again, and by October, stability has once again risen to +3, and in a diplomatic snafu (hit the wrong button), we break our royal marriage ties with the Bavarians) (stability back to +2). Oops.

[Velociryx]

All Fool's Day, 1437

Duke Rene sat in the secret room behind his throne, consulting with his War Captains. "All is in readiness, then?"

"Everything is prepared, My Lord Duke." General Jaeger told him with a bow. This was a far different sort of operation than the slipshod, seat-of-their-pants operation that sparked Lorraine's rise to greatness. The armies were larger than anything Lorraine had ever fielded, and her commanders now had the advantage of both practical experience in battle and and a formal military education at the University of Paris. Things were very different indeed.

"Excellent...the regiments have their initial orders, and I want no deviation from them. We will attempt to make a stand at the gates of Paris, but nowhere else, unless we can see some tactical advantage for doing so....the leadership of the French Armies is terrifyingly efficient, and although I trust you, my noble War Captains, and your faith and heart, the men we shall soon face on the field of battle wrote many of the books on strategy that you studied from....these are dangerous, cunning men, and unless we can gain some notable defensive advantage, have a care not to get in a standup fight with them....the Army of Lorraine is more important than any man's pride....remember that."

"Yes My Lord Duke!" Came the quick, sure reply from all present.

"Very good....you have your orders....you know what our objectives are, and what we seek to accomplish with this action....make me proud....make the whole of Lorraine proud."

OoO

Lorraine formally joins the Alliance of England, and on that same day, All Fool's Day, 1437, declares war against France, while the bulk of her armies are mired in a siege against Savoy.

And so it begins....

[Velociryx]

With the military (understandably) on Full Alert, we spend one month minting coin (to get the pillage money), and this sees our treasury swell to 165d - after that, we push all our efforts into improving our stability, which plunged to zero (0), after our shocking declaration against France.

June 16th - Feeling inferior to the Armies of France, and being worried that the war leaders, Dunois and Richemont might push the whole of the French Army to Paris and grind us to dust, we hire a Mercenary Band (Gunther's) 5000/500 in Caux, and march them to Paris to increase our forces there.

Loan taken.

We also hire the Luzern Regiment (mercenaries) 8000/1500 in Caux and march these to Paris as well. Back to full minting of coin, as Lorraine's army swells well beyond it's supportable size.

In July, the French make an attack against our siege crew, and our confidence grows as we defeat them!

[Velociryx]

In early August, the Army of Richemont is shattered (reduced by some 50%) by 29k from Geldre marching through Champagne to Nivernais, where the dreaded General is stationed, en route to Orleanais. Overwhelmed by the men of Geldre, his army retreats across the Sein and seeks the safety of Orleanais....fortunately, it does not look like he will be attacking us any tme soon, but nor are we eager to cross the Seine from Paris and attack him.

In September, having recieved some reinforcements, Richemont *does* send an expeditionary force against us to test our strength, but does not lead the attack himself, remaining in Orleanais to rally the army and gather more reinforcements.

[Velociryx]

Lorraine wins the second battle of Paris, but by November, Richemont is ready to march, having swelled his army to nearly the size of our own....and, we hate to admit it, but even attacking cross-river, he can probably demolish us.

Nonetheless, with good progress on the siege of Paris, and the defensive advantage of the river, we are reluctant to turn tail and run....we must try to give a good accounting of ourselves here....try to dent the mighty army that stands in the way of us and victory.....

[Velociryx]

By December 2nd, 1437, we have failed completely in our task of standing up to Richemont, and our army is shattered, reduced to a scant 6222/3255 and fleeing back to Artois. The Army of Richemont is left with 18,558/3316....we barely even scratched him and lost countless thousands of soldiers to his wrath. A dark day indeed, for Lorraine....

For his part, seeing crisis in other parts of France, Richemont takes his army and promptly marches it south, rather than follow us to Arras to finish us off.

Instead, he leaves Dunois in Paris with a small train of 1065 Cavalry, and departs, and our nation breathes a sigh of relief. We have two siege crews in the immediate vicinity that would not stand a chance of holding up under the kind of attack he could bring to bear against them, and this, more than anything, is what saved us. Richemont's need to be in the South of France to stem the tide of the armies of Savoy, Genoa, and England.

On December 17, we get our first big of Good news as Champagne falls to our forces! Makes the year end on a bit of a less-dark note than it otherwise would have.


1438
Stability +1, 219d in our treasury, and our monthly economly is 23.8 (war taxes in effect)

Raising the "Lorraine Emergency Reserve" 6000/4000 in Lorraine, in an attempt to put some additional troops in the field....after the shattering defeat at the hands of Richemont, we're feeling....very vulnerable....very exposed, and yet, we MUST continue!

The Lorraine Regiment (6k Infantry) in Champagne, marches to Nivernais to begin a siege there.

In March, a MASSIVE army from Geldre utterly destroys the army of Dunois in Paris (which had recently swelled to some 6k) before marching further south. Bless them! The battered Artois regiment returns to Paris to begin a new siege there!

April - The Lorraine Reserves are ready, and march to Nivernais, bound for Orleanais.

May - Lorraine Reserves re-route to Paris as a 16k army from France appears, bound for Orleanais, and no doubt, with the intention of driving us away from the French Capitol again.

May 17th, Berri is captured!

May 24th - Lorraine reserves arrives in Paris, swelling that force to 8744/6560. Morale is still shakey, but it will have to do!

June - Poitou Regiment to Limousin.

The English General, Northumberland fights a gallant delaying action in Orleanais against the 16k French army. Northumberland only has 3k at his disposal, but gives the French a good fight, killing some 5k Frenchmen before being slain himself....he will be remembered for the time he bought our forces....time purchased with blood.

July 17th, Picardie falls to our forces, and the Picardie regiment is RUSHED to Paris to help reinforce our siege there against an inevitable French attack.

On the 24th, the French inexplicably stop advancing toward Paris and stand down in Orleanais.

[Velociryx]

Nivernais is in hand in as of July 16th, and the siege of Paris has been reinforced to 14,744/6560, though this represents the greater bulk of our available forces. We lose this group, and our goose is cooked. We have no other forces that can even HOPE to stand up to Richemont and his (admittedly battered) army (still fearsome at some 11k strong).

Fortunately, in October, an army of Brittany containing some 16k troops ambushes the army of Richemont and utterly destroys it! They must have surely caught the famed and dreaded general completely unawares, because not a single French soldier remains alive, and the Army of Brittany took scant damage doing it.

Amazing....but suddenly, there ARE no more French armies. We won! Well...not yet, but it's all over but the waiting now! (military maint to 50%)

We try to sue for peace for Nivernais, Champagne, and Picardie, but a furious France will hear nothing of it.

Given that the south of France is crawling with rebels and allied forces, and we do not wish to risk attrition, our army skulks home, with some regiments lurking in Northern French territories to continue to pillage.

All we can do now is wait.

[Velociryx]

It is not until June, after the fall of Limousin, that we finally drag the French to the peace table and force them to acknowledge their defeat at our hands. We demand, and get the provinces we were after....Picardie, Champagne, Nivernais, and 25d from them.

VICTORY IS LORRAINE'S!!!!!

It was by hook or crook, and we had some true disasters to contend with, but the fates smiled on us as well, with Richemont's not being able to follow Lorraine's broken Artois Regiment to Arras to end them, and later, with Brittany's upset victory over Richemont....truly, this victory was not Lorraine's alone, although we ensured that we gained the lion's share of the spoils....

[Velociryx]

1439
Stability 0, National Treasury stands at 321d, and economy is surging along at 31.1 (wt and pillage income)

Feb, Stability increases to +1, Gifts to Brittany and Baden (+3 and +134 respectively)

March, Gift to Brittany (+23)

June - Accept formal surrender of France after the fall of Limousin. Stability to +2. Bailiffs promoted in our new territories!

Right now, our diplomatic priorities are to Saxony (-37) and Brittany (+23)....the LAST thing we need is to get jumped by some other alliance before we've fully recovered from the war with France....besides, we have a loan to pay off, and only five years to prepare for the NEXT war with France...and there WILL BE a next war with France...one way, or the other...

Condition of the Army
Poitou Regiment: 5000/2000 (no losses)
Picardie Regiment 6000 (no losses)
Lorraine Regiment: 5076 (924 Infantry Lost)
Artois Regiment: 2744/2560 (lost 4754/1440)

Other Losses (mercenaries hired)
Gunther's Band: 5000/500
Luzern Regiment: 8000/1500

Total losses in the war with France: 18,678/2940 = 21,618

We shall use the Lorraine Emergency Reserve force (6k/4k) raised toward the war's end to flesh out and rebuild our standard regiments, thusly:

1k Infantry to Lorraine
5k Infantry to Artios
2k Cavalry to Lorraine
2k Cavalry to Artois

Such that, by October, the four (4) regiments that make up the Army of Lorraine, are:

Poitou: 5000/2000 (no change in operational strength)

Picardie (currently in Flandern): 6000 (no change in operational strength)

Artois: 7744/4560 (slightly above their old combat strength) - Still the hardest hitting regiment we have, and the backbone of the army

Lorraine: 6076/2000 (slight increase in infantry, but more significantly, the addition of the cavalry gives this regiment some hitting power)

Force totals: 24,820/8560 = 33,380 (max of 32k).

November, Royal Marriage to Saxony

[Velociryx]

1440
Standing armies comparison

[Velociryx]

Time to adjust our government sliders:

Current trade effie 33%
Current prod effie 14%

[Velociryx]

Important Diplomatic Relations

Allies
England (+103)
Burgundy (+30)
Geldre (+78)
Navarra (+26)
Milan (+98)

Bordering Neighbors and other Important Folks
Munster, Kleves, and Colongne +117
Pfalz +116
Lux +66
Baden, Austria +125
Saxony -23
Savoy +90
France -198
Brittany +23

So....some immediate, pressing questions:

We've got a slider adjustment to make....what'll it be?

The armies took a pounding, but are already fully rebuilt, and we're currently standardizing the Tax systems of our new acquisitions. Futhther, WITH these new acquisitions, we erase the "no land connection" penalty with all of our provinces but Poitou, which will see an additional ~10% increase to our overall economy.

Relations with our neighbors and other nations of strategic import are (generally) good, and we've got good relations with three of our alliance members.

Only have one (1) point of War Exhaustion, and 2.2% inflation (still less than the 3% we had when we finished with the war against England and Burgundy).

The only downside I can see is that we've got our loan coming due in two year's time, which may (and probably will) necessitate the minting of coin to raise money to operate and pay for the loan, though I'd recommend not doing so till after all pillage damage is recovered from and we've got our TC's in place in our new provinces (if we're going to do it, we migth as well maximize our gains).

And then...five year's time to prepare for when a p*ssed off France hits us back...or, if they won't do it, we can go at them again....thoughts?

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

Notes on the Military

I'm taking a bit of a different approach now, with regards to reporting casualties....rather than meticulously reporting casualties for each battle, I've decided to take more of a "top-down" approach, and chart the progress of each of our Regiments, and to that end, I'm going to make sure that these regiments are permanent (ie - make sure that the "Artois Regiment" always REMAINS the Artois Regiment.

Further, if readers here would like to take the role of the "Commanding Officer" of a particular regiment, just let me know which one you want, and you'll be duly assigned it's care, feeding, and handling....please feel free, if you opt to participate in this way, to cajole and badger me CONSTANTLY to gain more troops for your regiment and/or demand the requisition of more materials (ie - if you take, say, the Picardie Regiment....right now, it's purely a smother-and-siege outfit...no cavalry, so no real offensive punch, given our current tech level....so of course, if you'd like to see your regiment outfitted and configured differently, start badgering me about the need for 3k Cavalry to "see to the security needs" of the region you're defending in times of peace, and/or to launch offensive campaigns in times of war.

Further, IN times of war, feel free to make all manner of recommendations and such about where and how your unit is deployed....do you want to see your regiment engage in a smothering campaign, spread out over a wide front to shut down enemy recruitment, or, would you be a strong advocate for keeping your guys together and highly concentrated for a massive strike against enemy troops.....it's that sort of thing that can add a certain "spark" to the game as it develops, and personally, I'll get into it quite a bunch myself....

-=Vel=-

EDIT: One of the main reasons I'm doing the casualty reports this way, is so that we can get some sense for the historical performance of each unit. Thus, already we see that the Picardie and Poitou regiments have the reputation for being incredibly lucky (no combat or attrition losses during the entire war), the Artois Regiment has the reputation for being the "backbone of the army" but also has an ignoble defeat at the hands of Richemont on it's record.

In fact, if someone would care to join me, and chronicle some accounting of the performance of each unit as we go...that'd be tops too!

Also...should any regiment ever be utterly destroyed, we shall discuss on a case-by-case basis whether or not to re-create that unit, or permanently close the books on it (too unlucky a regiment to re-create...having been wholly destroyed, the troops would be uncomfortable serving in it), and form a new regiment with a new name.
-V.

[Velociryx]

Analysis of our performance in this war

We had a generally good record of staying out of the way of the big French armies--the only exception being Ile de France, but I knew going into the fight that it was absolutely essential that we take the French capitol in order to force them to the peace table.

Our allies truly won this fight for us, however.

When we attacked, nearly every available French soldier was in Savoy, suffering significant attrition damage. The 5k troops in Orleanais were nothing more than raw recruits, and I knew they posed no significant threat to us as we began this fight. Nonetheless, I had not counted on Richemont's drive toward Paris to smash us, nor the speed with which that guy can move....truly an inspirational leader...his troops were *hauling a$$* around the map!, but in that, he was constantly delayed and hamstrung, first by 18k Burgundians in Lyonnais, then again in Nivernais when 29k from Geldre gave him a royal pasting, and finally, by the gallantly fought delaying action that cost the English their talented leader, Northumberland. A multi-national effort if ever there was one.

Our nearest brush with disaster was our defeat at the hands of Richemont in Paris, *despite the fact* that his army had taken a beating at the hands of our allies before he got to us. Quite simply, he handed us our butts, and I was pretty well convinced when we lost that battle so completely, that we were done for.

But, our allies were causing *serious* trouble in southern France, and he, being in command of the only significant French force left, had little choice but to head south and try and stem the tide, which gave us time and space to rebuild and renew our siege in Paris.

Again though, while we were in the process of rebuilding and recovering our shaken morale, the men of Geldre saved the day, smashing into Ile de France with their enormous army just after a French event gave Dunois an added boost of 5k cavalry in Paris....that fledgling army could have seriously threatened our sieges and been all but impossible for the battered Artois regiment to oust from that province, but for Geldre, with some 25k marauding through various points in France, it was no problem, and they brushed them aside like gnats, and then, politely got out of our way and let us take up our second siege of Paris.

When Richemont returned to Orleanais, it looked like it was going to be the same thing all over again.

The timely completion of the Picardie siege allowed us to add an additional 6k Infantry to our troops in Ile de France, but having faced Richemont earlier and lost so spectacularly, even outnumbering him some 2:1 and having the benefits of the river as a defensive bulwark, I was not looking forward to the battle.

Fortunately, we were spared from having to worry about it when the men of Brittany (not even an ally, but embroiled in war with a common foe) simply swept Richemont from the field....I only wish it had been Lorraine's forces that had handled French leadership so effectively.

Nonetheless, with the only significant French army utterly destroyed, it was a simple matter at that point to wait the sieges out and sue for peace, connecting our kingdom, save for Poitou, and growing stronger. Good stuff, that!

-=Vel=-

[Velociryx]

So...good readers....a new course of action is needed.

We have fulfilled the goals of Project Machievelli, joined forces with the English and Burgundians against France, and we have demolished French power. Their country is currently in sad condition, with rebels and/or enemy forces holding much of France.

The question then, is what's next? Brittany has a good shot at snagging Orleanais, which is *extremely* strategically important to us, and if they do, we could jump Brittany, use our cash to buy a quick, separate peace with Savoy to simplify our defense (not worrying overly much about Genoa, unless they give us something to worry about), and ransack Brittany, taking both Maine and Orleasais (again, this assumes they GET Orleanais...if they get Vendee, then they're a much less attractive target, IMO).

Or, barring that, we could conserve our strength and build toward another war with France in five years' time...or wait even longer till we get the MP boost from our new territory acquisitions?

Plus...another upcoming slider adjustment....thoughts on any or all of the above?

-=Vel=-

[Nikolai]

I would consentrate on France after 5 years. In 1.07(or is it 1.07 beta? ), there is a lot less revolts because of new rules, so that preoblem isn't too big. BTW, if we go to war with France now, will we be able to link the possible new provinces to our others? That is very important IMO, since we then will be less dependant on other countries AND we get more cash. I always try to link our possessions ASAP.

For the DP sliders, I would like some more detailed info on what we have now before I recommend anything. But stab bonuses and economy is generally a good thing to do something with.

[Velociryx]

Good point and good plan...mostly, it depends on whether or not Brittany gets Orleanais from France then....cos if we're going to connect Poitou with the rest of our holdings, then the most direct way to do that is via Orleanais and Berri....so if Brittany snags Orleanais, then I'm guessin' that you'd be in favor of swatting them with an eye toward linking Poitou with Greater Lorraine and building a land bridge to our estates there (fight Brittany, gain Orleanais and possibly Maine), then hit France again when our truce expires and snag Berri at a minimum and we're linked up!

As to the slider adjustments and where we are now, the production and effie % are listed above (33% trade, 14% production), we're getting (from memory here) 3.2 merchants a year (could realistically maintain strong market presence in three CoT's). Morale of our troops sucks wind, and with inflation, our tech cost is a bit higher than baseline.

The morale problem isn't a big deal yet, and strong cav forces more than offset it. IMO, our three best contenders for a change at this point would be:

Aristoc -1 (gives us a 1% boost to both trade and production effie)

Centralization +1 (2% boost to production income, -2% cost to tech research) - makes us more prone to war exhaustion

or

Mercantilism -1 (move toward Free Markets gives us more merchants per year, which plays nicely with our relatively high Trade effie...of course, if we spend lots of time warring, and our stab is low, then we'll lose merchants as quick as we place them, and if we're planning on fighting France again soon....)

For a quick, shot in the arm boost to the military, we could go Quality +1, or Offense +1, but neither of those changes the economic equation...that's literally a short term injection to help us with the upcoming battles with France...not sure if it's the strongest move, but certainly a viable one.

-=Vel=-

[Nikolai]

What about the innovative slider? In the area we will be consentrating, there will be after a while two religions, but that is just enough for securing that we can tolereatet them all without too many problems. I don't remember all the affects, but it do change the speed of new inventions much!

Regarding wars: We can take provinces from France from two directions if Britanny doesn't take the "right" provinces. But I can support a war with Britanny by all means!

[Velociryx]

Yep...innovative would be a worthy choice as well (+5% higher stability costs, for a 5% reduction in technology). To that end, however, Centralization is *almost* as good (2% higher production effie for more money, and a 2% reduction in tech costs)...not *quite* the same as a flat 5% tech cost reduction, but....dunno...I could definitely see that as a possibility too!

As to Brittany...yes, definitely need to see what they manage to wrangle from the French in terms of their own war effort, and then make our plans for the NEXT French war after that. Definitely can't let up on them tho...one way or another, we need to declare against France as soon as, or not long after the truce expires. We're bigger than they now (by one province), but when they absorb Auvergne, they'll have a leg up on us again, but....the momentum has clearly shifted in our favor now! (oh! just thought of another side benefit...IF Brittany gets Orleanais, then all of France's provinces will lack a land connection with the French capitol, which will hurt them economically even more.

I do not envision ANY situation where France will weasel out of their war vs. Brittany without losing lands....what remains to be seen is how much and which ones (and how strong that makes Brittany's alliance)....even if Brittany gets both Vendee AND Orleanais tho, they'll not be nearly as strong as our English allies and the rest, so we can put a royal stopming on them!

-=Vel=-

[Kropotkin]

I've rad both of the cooperative games now. Interesting I'd say. It's good for you now to have England on you side. If those caps from the british isles would turn on you it could be though. Just look at the size of the english land forces...