Preview Thread- staznesIV: Alvarez-Communeros 1711

Hola senors and senoritas! Its been awhile since I last slaughtered....I mean started an NES, but Ive been contemplating it for a good month or so. So I was surfing through the Alternate History idea thread, and found one particularly good one. Surprised and ecstatic that it had not yet been nesified, I asked das for the newest map for it and copied the whole history. If your not familiar with it, Ive posted both for your pleasure.

But the real dilemma has been with stats and a good ruleset. Stats I think Ill get das to help me atleast get started on them *like who should be powerful and whatnot*. I need input mainly on whether you would join, and a ruleset you would prefer. There seems to be a good set of NES's now, so I would probably wait to release this when some, ahem, die.

Alvarez-Communeros Timeline, as written by the master, das

As of 1520, Spain was a potential powerhouse of Europe, having joined the Hapsburgs and expanded hold to the Low Countries. It also controlled large parts of Italy and arguably was the strongest naval power in Western Mediterranean. It also controlled much of the West Indies, and Hernan Cortez already begun his expedition into Mexico. In our history, Spanish Empire was being built there. Slowly, it would be weakened from then on, but only in 19th century did that empire fully fall, and even then, Spain has survived as a nation, insignificant as it might be.

But in the year 1520, there was a chance for Spain being ruined altogether. It was, at that time, in a situation comparable - if not worse - then the one France was in in 1789. It had rising inflation, was rather overstretched and ruled by a foreigner who didn't even speak Spanish. And just as that foreigner, Charles I, departed to Germany to be crowned Charles V of the Holy Roman Empire, his chancellor demanded from the Cortes - regional parliaments of sorts - that they lend more money to the crown - despite failing to repay the previous loans. Through bribery, he persuaded a majority to vote for lending the money. Soon after word of this spred, angry mobs attacked the houses of delegates throughout Castille. Soon enough, the towns across Castille have formed a revolutionary government, headed by Juan de Padilla. Large parts of Spanish army in the region did not act, especially as the nobles weren't too happy with the king neither. After failing to get a more suitable candidate as a replacement king, some even proposed a republic (perhaps something like the United Provinces of Netherlands). Only after the more radical faction triumphed in the revolutionary Junta did the nobles act. Historically, they crushed the uprising.

But suppose the Communeros had, by some accident, gotten a brilliant general in their ranks who in our history, say, died young in the Italian Wars. Lets call him Martin de Alvarez. He manages to reorganize the Communeros forces after the loss of Tordesillas, reinforces Padilla when Charles returns with an army, and manages to avoid any crushing defeats. Charles V reconsolidates control over Aragon, but in Castille, a brutal guerrila campaign is being waged. Having utilized traditional Castillian nationalism, Alvarez bled the royal armies white and by 1524, marches triumphantly into Madrid. Charles V is forced to accept a humiliating peace treaty, abdicating as a king of Castille (but keeping Navarre, Aragon, lands in Italy and Low Countries). United Provinces of Castille are declared (much like Netherlands indeed - a confederation of cities and provinces surrounding them, with a parliament - Cortes of Castille - in Madrid), disturbing many nobles and kings around Europe. But they do not act against it, being more concerned with making sure that nothing similar happens in THEIR nation.

But that's not the only effect of Martin de Alvarez's survival (and existance in the first place). As of 1521, Cortez was in control of Mexico. However, the governor of Cuba looked to undermine Cortez, stating that he seeks to become a king all by himself. Charles V, risking the loss of a large part of Spain, couldn't care less, and the governor - Velasquez - decided to take care of this himself. Long story cut short, he was defeated by Cortez and his Tlaxcallan allies, and Cortez decided that the king has abandoned him. Thus, he undermined all hopes for a Spanish Empire across the ocean, crowning himself King of Mexico. His newfound empire consisted of a primarily native population with a Spanish/Hispannized ruling elite. Christianity spred well amongst the Aztecs with time, but there were no forced conversions. Essentially, it was just the Aztec Empire, but bigger, stronger, with a new dynasty and a new religion.

But that wasn't all yet for Charles V. Indeed, the Hapsburgs are not lucky in this timeline, for soon after they lost Castille (and West Indies, annexed by Cortez soon after) they quickly had to face Charles V's sworn enemy - Francis I. Charles V was eager to rebuild the Burgundian empire of his great grandfather, Charles the Bold, while Francis felt that he had a legitimate claim on Lombardy. Charles V decided to fight the French back, but his army was still damaged and he lost a very large manpower source. By the time of the arrival of what troops Charles COULD assemble, Pavia (in northern Italy) and its 6000-men garrison succumbed to the French siege (thus the French had by then full control over Lombardy and Genoa) and Francis' troops managed to intercept the Hapsburg army. Though the French cavalry was quickly rooted by Swiss mercenaries and arquebusier fire, the French infantry managed to crush the Hapsburg forces eventually, something that Francis attributed to his military genius. Soon after, French managed to raise more troops and pursue the Hapsburg forces all the way to Naples where they were defeated again. Charles V agreed to a peace treaty soon after, abandoning Lombardy and the Two Sicilies to France. The French forces were also occupying Catalonia, and Charles had to give France Franche Comte (territory in Burgundy) in exchange for keeping that one of his few remaining lands.

So that left Francis I Valois, Absolute Monarchy personified and the inventor of the key phrase "because it pleases me so", in charge of an increasingly powerful empire in Western Europe - something that disturbed greatly many people. Pope Clement VII was not one of them - like so often in our history, he switched sides and allied with Francis I. UPC (United Provinces of Castille), Portugal and England formed the Alliance of Lisbon to counter the French in the west. The Hapsburgs were often seen as a lost cause, and the UPC leadership really did not like Charles V. England did keep an alliance with the Hapsburgs (as did Venice and Poland-Lithuania), though Charles V's Burgundian ambitions, meanwhile, were utterly crushed... but that was not the last of his troubles. Far from it.

In 1526, just as the fighting was about to end in Italy, the Ottomans utterly crushed Hungary, keeping a large part of it and giving some of it to a vassal ruler in Transylvannia. Hapsburg Austrians tried to grab a piece of it, but the Ottomans knew that they were weakened, and so marched on to besiege Vienna. Only when Charles V returned, and an army of Christian German princes begun gathering, the Ottomans "agreed" to withdraw, taking all of Austrian-claimed territories in Hungary. Thus the Holy Roman Empire was really not in the shape to deal with Schmalkaldik League of Protestant North German princes, which with time begun to transform into a Protestant feudal commonwealth. Charles V's rule is commonly accepted by all historians of this world as disastrous, and it is believed that he had ruined a potential Hapsburg empire.

Much of Europe as of now does not know much about the New World, and, well, most people don't seem to care. Apart from, perhaps, Portugal... and England. And, though it isn't Europe, Mexico...

The rest of the 16th century in Europe passed with much religious strife and many inconclusive wars between Protestants and Catholics in Germany. Charles V's empire further deteriorated with the Dutch rebelling and grabbing all of Netherlands (ceding Artois to France in exchange for French support but soon wandering away from the French). Religious changes were pretty much like in real history, only with somehow stronger Huguenots in France. Francis I's victories left him without meaningful allies (well, maybe Denmark-Norway... but does it matter?). Valois dynasty is actually in a worse situation, as Francis I is even more confident in himself, while France is becoming overstretched.

One of the perhaps not-so-obvious (at first) profiters from the collapse of the Hapsburg Empire is Sigismund the Old of Poland-Lithuania. The Austrian defeat in Hungary allowed him to gain Bohemia, previously ruled by his nephew the king of Hungary and for a while claimed by Austria. And when the Ottomans besieged and took Vienna in 1579, Poland-Lithuania managed to defeat the Ottomans in Bohemia, thus taking much fame and glory... and a chance for a conquest of Hungary later on.

Charles V had to concentrate on Aragon from thereon. The obvious way to go from there was conquest of North Africa, and so the Aragonese started with conquest of Morocco and consolidation of the old Spanish forts on North African coast.

Dont post yet, more timeline to come.

Meanwhile, back in America.

16th Century is, as one might expect, rather calmer here. Mexican Empire expands greatly (to the extents of OTL's Viceroyalty of New Spain in the same time period minus Florida and half of Central America (meaning, ofcourse, the Guatemala-Panama area, not Mexico itself)). Sometimes in mid-16th century, there were three expeditions that tried to conquer the Incan Empire, but by then, Incan Empire already dealt with the civil war and with the European diseases brought by tribes from the north. With some luck, the first expedition was defeated, and the other two were even easier after Atahualpa got the grasp of beating up conquistadors. Note that Pizarro ITTL did not participate in any of these expeditions, instead becoming a trusted general of Hernan II who defeated a minor uprising in Cuba and expanded the empire further north. Mexico existed in nearly-complete isolation in regards to everybody else, with the possible exception of the Portuguese who were colonizing Brazil. That is, it was so until Simon I became Emperor and started sending embassies to the Incans and to Europe (where, at first, it was thought that those ambassadors came from Prester John - a fact that illustrates the ignorance in Europe in regards to the New World). Despite the growing Hispannic immigration into Mexico, the native peoples still had numerical superiority.

The civil war, diseases and the three Mexican expeditions have stimulated the Incan technologic advancement. It was, as of 16th century, very slow, extremelly so in social spheres. But it was happening. Incan Empire also established friendly relations with Portuguese merchants after determining that they did not want to conquer anything. This contact allowed Incans to get more horses, firearms and iron weapons before they finally learned to construct similar tools. Catholic missionaries in the Incan Empire had very modest results, but results nevertheless. In fact, a new version of Christianity - and a one potentially more popular - begun to emerge in the Incan Empire in the end of 16th century, and it, unsurprisingly, emphasized on loyalty (to the Emperor) and labor, virtues already crucial in the Incan society.

In North America, England was quickly becoming the dominant colonizing power. Ever since Cabot raised an English flag over Newfoundland in the last years of 15th century, new and new expeditions were being sent out. In 1537 Captain Francis Drake established the first major English colony at Drakestown (OTL Halifax). Soon after, England established some smaller colonies further south. France was too busy with having to fight off yet another anti-Valois coalition in Europe, and was too overstretched as it was to think about the New World, but in 1560s, Castille, Netherlands and Sweden soon sent their own expeditions to North America. Thus Castille established a colony in Florida (Nueva Toledo), Sweden - in Delaware (Christinaburg) and Netherlands - in Massachussets (Nieuw Antwerpen). Portugal also tried to colonize Florida, but eventually, their settlement proved unprofitable due to malaria and they sold it to Castille.

Thus, slowly, but surely, North America was being colonized throughout 16th century, though, apart from Mexico, most colonization was on the eastern coast. In South America, the Portuguese and the Incans pretty much divided the continent.

As year 1600 came, Europe has lived through many wars, and was waiting for more - perhaps for one or two great, bloody wars to culminate everything that gathered since the end of the 15th century.

So, lets look at Europe. Religious division is pretty much the same - but Huguenots are increasingly stronger in France, especially without the St. Bathomelew massacre and the (open) Religion Wars. England is alittle stronger, but is more distracted from Europe - it is, however, comitted to the Alliance of Lisbon. France is still ruled by the Valois dynasty, but in essence, there are two factions (Catholics and Huguenots) within the court in a cold civil war (intrigue, diplomacy, competition for military and civilian rank and titles and, ofcourse, "hunting accidents") over religion and control of the king, Henri III - a rather weak and corrupt old man (even weaker and easaier to influence then the OTL Henri III). France has no allies, with the possible exception of Sweden and Denmark-Norway (unfortunately, the two are often at war with each other). It DOES have a(n) (un)healthy amount of enemies.

United Provinces of Castille and United Provinces of Netherlands are getting along quite well despite religious differences. Netherlands - with capital in Antwerpen - is also a member of the Alliance of Lisbon ever since its independance was confirmed in 1579 (much earlier then in OTL - Charles VI, being a more reasonable monarch then the utterly insane Rudolph II, and given the circumstances of Hapsburg decline and loss of Vienna, realized that with his limited manpower, he could not hope to win the war in Netherlands).

Aragon, despite its loss of Italy, was recovering. Charles I (V) was suceeded by Philip II in Aragon. Philip II concentrated on North Africa as well, defeating the Ottoman Fleet at Malta in 1573 (local near-equivalent of the Battle at Lepanto, but not as crushing) and acquiring North Africa all the way east to Tunis (includingly). It was hard to keep order there, but somehow, Philip managed that, in part since the Ottomans did not really want to send troops into that desert, being preoccupied with the Polish forces in Hungary as they were. Further expansion was not attempted for now.

Holy Roman Empire was, by then, most predominantly Protestant (though the Schmalkaldik League was slowly deteriorating again) with the exception of the southwestern areas (Austria was temporarily Ottoman with a large Protestant minority slowly changing into a majority). The Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick IV of the Palatinate, is Protestant as well.

In Italy, France now controls Milan, Liguria (Genoa), Two Sicilies (Kingdom of Naples and Sicily) and Florence. The current Pope is opposed to the French, as is Venice.

Ottoman Empire, as of now, is being slowly beaten back out of Hungary by the brand-new jugernaut of Eastern Europe - the Jagiellon Empire, AKA Poland-Lithuania-Bohemia-Austria-Hungary. Or Rech Pospolitaya. It had a series of succesful kings, such as Sigismund the Old and Stephen (Istvan) Bathory. It waged succesful wars against Turks, Russians and Protestants (albeit against the latter, the only obvious success was the conquest of the remaining Teutonic Order lands). Although Stephen's ambitions of conquering Muscovy weren't fulfilled and his later successors abandoned it until a better time, nevertheless, the Jagiellons were still powerful and their eastern borders were quite secure. They quickly became the new defenders of Catholic Faith.

Indeed, all this was heading to one bloody religious war, to be fought throughout Europe much unlike the regional Medieval conflicts. From Muscovy to Portugal, armies were preparing for war. A loose anti-French coalition was collapsing over religious reasons, yet all were sure that the next war would be against France. So it seemed - that is, until in 1603, Henri III finally died and a civil war broke out in France. The War of French Succession has begun.

As soon as the civil war between Henri of Navarre's Huguenots and Louis of Guise's Catholics, the anti-French coalition collapsed, and different sides begun to support the two factions. Soon enough, actual intervention begun into French territory. Heavy fighting also spred, with time, to Germany, Poland, Italy, Castille and even Russia, Scandinavia and North America.

Not all the supporters of different factions were supporting them because of religion - first off, Huguenots were supported by the whole of Lisbon Alliance, including UPC and Portugal. The Lisbon Alliance was NOT interested in a strong France, but it felt that a civil war will weaken it, and a strong France friendly to the Alliance is better then a strong France hostile to it. Other supporters of the Huguenot France were the Denmark-Norway and the Schmalkaldic League, which, pretty much, was all of the Protestant Princes of Germany. At a slightly later point on, Russia got involved on the Lisbon Alliance side as well (OOC note - Time of Troubles is cancelled - Otrepyev gets no Polish support as Polish nobles have better things to do, like fight Turks. Boris Godunov dies much later then in OTL - probably as butterfly effect, but also there is much less stress when you don't know that there is a huge rebel/Polish army marching towards your capital).

Guise-supporters are pretty much obvious - Aragon, Jagiellon Empire, Bavaria (chief Catholic German power), other minor Catholics, Venice, the Papal States and the not-as-obvious Sweden for which it was an excuse for another war with Denmark-Norway.

Though there were less nations on the Catholic side, it was soon proved by the Polish forces that the chances were still pretty equal. The Guise Catholics were also somehow stronger then the Huguenots, even if marginally.

At that point, Jagiellon armies were fighting an on-and-off war with the Turks, and were on the defensive there, so they did not need many troops on that theater.

Very quickly, the Polish forces used this situation to annex their vassal in East Prussia on the account of planned treachery. Soon after, Polish forces also crushed a pre-emptive attack by Protestant princes at Warta and marched into Bradenburg.

In France the Huguenot powerbase was definitely the southwest, though Normandy at that point also was on their side, reinforced. If a bit reluctantly, the Italians supported the Catholics, as did Occitania (southeast) and the main area (north, minus Normandy, Brittany and Artois). In France, indeed, the fighting was perhaps the most severe - Schmalkaldic League, Lisbon Alliance, German Catholic, Venetian and even Papal forces were fighting throughout it, looting and pillaging as they went. The war hung in the balance there, as Henri was a more capable commander then the numerically-superior Louis.

War was also fought in Italy, on the western Russian border (Stephan lived longer in Poland and gained Smolensk ahead of time), on the sea and even in North America where a Dutch expedition in 1609 almost succeeded in taking Christinaburg.

As said before, one of the opening moves of the war was in Germany, as Polish forces, deciding to take out the major Protestant princes one by one, crossed the Oder after the victory at Warta. The Polish forces, led by Valdemar Bathory, plunged into Brandenburg, and by 1605, they held Berlin, Magdeburg and Dresden (though their control of the countryside was minimal). Attempts to advance to Mecklenburg and link up with Sweden failed due to the determined defense there, assisted by Dutch, Danish and English forces. However, they did link up with German Catholics and soon threatened the Palatinate. Unfortunately, Louis failed to commit enough forces to break through at Rhine and lost the Battle at Disentis against the Palatinate of Pfalz. That came just in time with another major defeat in 1607, when Henri seized Rennes, linking up with Duc d'Bretagne - another Huguenot and Henri's brother (in OTL, he did not exist). Only the succesful occupation of Normandy in late 1608 somehow relieve the Catholic position. At that point, Venetian, German, Castillean and Papal forces were already fighting throughout Italy and France in series of skirmishes. In Spain, the Castilleans led by Fernando Malingi fought back the Aragonese offensive at Murcia.

Perhaps one of the most crucial events in the war came in 1609, when Boris Godunov decided that the time was ripe. In the days of Ivan IV, Russia was in very good diplomatic relations with England, and Godunov intended to exploit it in the future. He was aware that Poland was fighting a two-front war in Germany and Hungary. Besides, he did some army reforms - though Russian army still was rather... primitive, it was better then in Livonian War. And, finally, Godunov worked on establishing contact with potential Cossack rebels. The latter did not suceed in raising a rebellion, but the possibility of it remained. Nevertheless, the undergarrisoned Polish eastern border was attacked by streletz troops, whose numbers overwhelmed the garrisons with shocking ease. Sweden, oddly, was not attacked and thus it managed to rapidly seize Pskov, cutting off the offensive into Livonia from Russia. However, the Muscovites seized Riga, Smolensk and even Kiev. Polish forces managed to stop the Russian westward attempt at capturing Minsk only in mid-1610, but there was no time to launch a counter-offensive. Godunov proceeded to personally retake Pskov after encircling and crushing the Swedish forces (despite suffering huge casualties, he could afford it) at Izborsk, 1611. Soon after, Russia made separate peace in Lublin with Poland and Sweden, keeping (out of their gains) Estonia (rest of Livonia remained Polish due to a succesful Polish counter-offensive there), Ingernia (OTL St. Petersburg region) and lands east of Dnepr, including Kiev and Smolensk (but excluding Minsk). For Godunov, that was a very important achievement, if only because Russia now regained access to the Baltic Sea, enabling its fur trade to rise again. Some doubt that it was a part of the French Succession War, but it most definitely had an effect on it.

With this distraction, the Polish offensive against rebels in Bohemia and German princes on the Rhine was cancelled. Newly-crowned Valdemar decided that time for peace has come in 1614, after Paris fell to the Huguenot forces. The following Treaty of Rome brought an end to a very bloody war which ravaged France and Germany alike.

The results were largely inconclusive in some areas. Bavaria was now the only Catholic German power of any significance, but it managed to annex some smaller principalities, so the hopes for an unified Protestant Germany came too early. Holy Roman Empire still "existed", but it was even more nominal then before. Aragon and Castille returned to pre-war borders, with Phillip II still brooding over the failure of reunification of Spain and the Castillians still wary over the hated Hapsburgs in Aragon.

What the treaty did achieve was the general calming down in Europe and decrease of religious tensions. It also broke French power for many years to come. French possessions in Italy were now an independant Kingdom of Italy (how ever loose and unstable), headed by Louis I Guise. Huguenot faction triumphed in the rest of France, and Henri IV (more rash and more Protestant then in the real world, but still a capable politician) established the Bourbon dynasty. Both France and Italy were now looking with interest at North America, but Italy would have some problems getting there - Lisbon Alliance holds the Straits of Gibraltar pretty well, as Portugal controls Tangiers and Castille controls Gibraltar itself.

dont post yet, this thing is like a novel!

17th Century after the war was far from being peaceful.

In the Americas, with time, Denmark-Norway, France and even Italy (having barely negotiated a deal with the Lisbon Alliance) too expanded there, constructing colonies on the eastern coast. Most widespread, by the end of the century, were Dutch (in OTL Virginia and Louisiana, and the first colony in Massachussets surrounded by the English), English (OTL New Brunswick to Delaware) and French (Newfoundland, most of Georgia and Carolinas though in the latter there also was a temporary Italian colony (later annexed by France)) colonies. Castille consolidated Florida, . Mexicans expanded further and further north, towards Columbia and Mississippi. Ferdinand I the Great in 1633 declared the stop of expansion in that direction, as Mexico needed to digest what it bit off. That was a potential source of trouble. Native Americans, most notably Iroquois, Seminole and Huron confederations, were hindering European advance, in part thanks to different European factions providing them with weaponry, sometimes turned against them. Mexico treated Native Americans very humanely in comparsion with other factions (the Dutch were quite friendly towards natives as well, being more keen on trade then on conquest), because that, well, Mexico consisted of other natives for the most part. Yes, there was considerable Spanish (and other European) immigration to Mexico time to time, but Native Americans were already quite established there. There was a large metis (as in half-European, not half-French) population as the Spanish elite slowly but surely begun to mix with the native peoples. Hernan IV (ruled 1637-1655), for example, was less then 3/4 Spanish. Throughout the reign of Hernan IV, Mexico was in a state of limited war with the Incans, mostly consisting of naval engagements in the Pacific Ocean. The war was, nominally, fought over southernmost Central America, colonized by Mexicans though earlier claimed by Incans. Eventually, Central America was recognized to be Mexican, in exchange for Mexicans surrendering the Galapagos islands to the Incans. Portuguese Brazil was rather backwater, though it did occasionaly get more immigrants as it provided numerous luxury resources for Europe. It coexisted peacefully with the Incans. America was, thus, alot more peaceful then Europe, for now.

In Europe itself, several powers were either liberalizing, either doing the opposite and establishing a stronger absolute monarchy. England, for one thing, was liberalizing with a series of weak-willed kings losing more and more power to the Parliament. Without Charles I, England had no civil war. Scotland is still independant, and Ireland is divided between England (south) and Scotland (north). Irish Catholics are highly resistant to both, though Scottish and English settlement in their respected territories is increasing, causing some of the Irish to leave for the colonies, such as the town of Arda Fein (OTL Philadelphia). France was slowly liberalizing as well, but Henri IV and his successors still held significant power. Overall, France was also centralizing and rebuilding. Netherlands too attempted centralization, with only limited success. Poland was another power with minor liberalization. Meanwhile, absolute monarchy was fortifying in Aragon, Bavaria and Sweden, and, ofcourse, in Russia where the Godunov dynasty was still predominant and intended to somehow modernize Russia, with moderate success. Schmalkaldik League fell apart at last, but there were several rising Protestant powers - Mecklenburg, Hannover and, ofcourse, the Palatinate of Rhine.

And, ofcourse, in Europe there were many wars. To list a few:
- Third Italian War (Louis II of Italy tried to unite all of Italy, at first scoring numerous successes but eventually was defeated by Venetian and Papal forces at Ravenna 1641 and had to abandon most gains apart from a few minor principalities).
- Fourth Italian War (Louis II tried to unite Italy again, but was defeated early on by France to whom he lost Corsica and Venice to whom he lost Lombardy, causing the move of capital to Naples and further worsening of the stability of his kingdom).
- The First Northern War or the Five Years War (Sweden attempted to make some gains at the expense of Denmark-Norway, but eventually, had to confront the Lisbon Alliance, now joined by Denmark-Norway, and lost, restoring status quo).
- Third German War of Religion (or Second, if one does not count French Succession War) (Bavaria manages to unify virtually all of Catholic Germany, but fails to seize Rhine).
- Great Ottoman War (it still dragged on, and on, and on until the Ottomans signed peace with Aragon and the Jagiellons, conceding Hungary, Wallachia and Moldovia to the latter but getting a guarantee of Danube as the northern Ottoman border).
- Eight Years War or Minsk War (a series of inconclusive fighting between Russia and Poland, without any real gains for either side apart from Russia improving its relations further with the Cossacks, who now rebelled here and there against the Poles).

Elsewhere, Portugal was still the main power in the Indian Ocean, though France and Netherlands tried to change that, with only limited success. Portugal still had a growing colony on the Cape, controlled very large chunks of India (including Ceylon), as well as several treaty ports in China. The Portuguese also temporarily controlled Kyushu island which they gained after an otherwise failed attempt to conquer Japan, but eventually, had to concede it. France and Netherlands too jumped in into colonization of India, and acquired favorable trade with smaller Indonesian and Indochinese states. Later on, the same smaller states became targets for colonial expansion.

European politics were often based on one big power on which everybody else teams up. They teamed up on France, but now, France was much weaker. As of 1691, there was (apart from the much more compact Ottoman Empire which stopped conquests and was now rebuilding and preparing for the next round of warfare) just one obvious candidate - the Jagiellon Empire. Stretching from Danube to the Baltic Sea, it, despite the mixed success in border wars with Russia, was seen as a powerhouse. Thus, a coalition of the German protestant princes, Russia, Sweden, Bavaria and, eventually, France was formed. By 1691, there were already several provocations of the Jagiellons as Mikhail I Godunov wanted to start a war.

The final straw came in early 1691.

After the early death of Sigismund IV in a hunting accident (a REAL accident. Probably.), the Lithuanian nobles, feeling themselves to be NOT profiting from the Polish rule (technically, Jagiellon Empire was a confederation of several kingdoms under one king but with different laws in different areas, but the king was Polish), as Lithuania lost many lands in the east, and so, the Lithuanians have rebelled. At first, the rebellion was going well, but by the end of the year, the rebel armies were utterly crushed by king Valdemar II at Kovno. Deseperate, the nobles asked, for German protestant, and, reluctantly, Russian help, promising both some Polish lands (Livonia and Curland were an enclave of the Kingdom of Poland, and was offered to Russia. Polish (East) Pommerania and East Prussia were offered to German princes). The anti-Jagiellon coalition has entered the war, save for the still-neutral France.

As it turned out, Lithuanian nobles soon surrendered anyway, and Kingdom of Lithuania - what was left of it - was formally incorporated into Kingdom of Poland. By then, the Twenty Years (or the Lithuanian) War has begun.

The Jagiellons wielded a very large army, outnumbered only by the Russians, and the Jagiellon forces were amongst the best trained in the world. Their commanders ranged from "downright incompetent" - like Valdemar II, Arpen Belash and Manecrias - to "brilliant" - like Krapiwecki and Zigrin. They also adopted a military doctrine (after the French Succession War) rather similar to that of the Hussites, involving the use of infantry, cavalry and artillery as a single tactical body and, later on, the use of mobile artillery battaries and of divisions and army groups in military organization. Marshall Krapiwecki is, for these reasons, considered the father of modern warfare.

Nevertheless, the Jagiellons were not in a very good situation from the start. German princes have, by then, all raised proffesional and strong armies, and managed to surprisingly quickly agree to establish a chain of command with Friedrich von Hagenau, a competent tactician and acknowledged strategician from the Palatinate in charge. Though the Germans, even if bolstered by the Bavarians, would've been outnumbered seriously by the Polish forces, a large amount of the Jagiellon troops were in the east to counter the Russians. Russian army, though it had bad leadership and rather lacking in discipline and organization, was VERY huge. It also included the highly mobile Cossacks to bolster the "military elite" - the streltsy, who under Mikhail I were highly reformed and were now very loyal and relatively well organized (as compared to the rest of the Russian troops). Swedish army was almost as modern as the Jagiellon one, adopting the Jagiellon military doctrine later during the war. Swedish army was, training-wise and discipline-wise, the best army in the coalition, followed closely by France. French military had decent leadership, and as it joined into the war later, its forces were quite fresh.

Immediately in 1691, the streltsy have launched four offensives into Polish territory. Unfortunately, the crucial attack at Minsk was commanded by Korenin who panicked upon hearing of Lithuanian defeat, stopped the offensive, was cut off from his supply lines and surrendered to a smaller force without much of a fight. The momentum was lost and Russian attacks boged down, except in Livonia and Courland where they were coordinated with the Sweden and overran most of this territory after the Battle at Venta. The Polish proceeded to launch a counteroffensive in Ukraine, but it bogged down due to problems with supplies, until Krapiwecki personally took command and seized Kiev. But the offensive was really unable to proceed further along, and so Krapiwecki was recalled to the western theater.

Against the Germans, Jagiellon army had, thanks to Arpen Belash mishandeling the offensive in Bradenburg and Saxony, suffered a humiliating defeat at Jena (1696). This invasion helped further increase the rising tide of German nationalism, and its defeat assisted the German unity even more. However, the united German counterattack, though bolstered by the Swedes, was crushed by Krapiwecki at Leszno (1697). On the sea, Admiral Zigrin produced a miraculous victory over the Swedes at Gdansk, thanks to the Polish use of fireships.

To Valdemar II, it was clear that this was it - the ultimate test of strength of the Jagiellon Empire. German princes were attacking Austria and Bohemia, and so, Valdemar decided that he, being the tactical and strategic genius that he was, should be the one to take care of them. Unfortunately, he wasn't neither and managed to barely produce a pyrrhic victory at the White Mountain in Bohemia, and thus was unable to save Graz from the Bavarian siege, to which it succumbed in July 1700. It was then that the Russians attacked Kiev again. Krapiwecki defeated the Russians again, but it was clear to him that the Russians were learning from their mistakes. It was best to make peace then... However, Valdemar did not want to hear anything about that. He was sure that his offensive in Austria would drive out the Bavarians. It was then, however, that Leonard de Teille and his French army struck into Bohemia, boldly moving through Sudetenland to besiege Prague. Under the threat of losing his base of operations and primary supply line, Valdemar did not pull back and started the long and tedious siege of Graz, which did not fall until 1703. The popular Protestant rebellion in Bohemia threatened to ruin the Jagiellon Empire, but Valdemar suddenly got enough sound sense to order a large army, unfortunately led by Manecrias, a rather disloyal Lithuanian noble, to be sent to prevent Moravia's fall. Manecrias was supposed to prevent any offensives in that direction, to make the enemy move south instead, at more-or-less prepared Valdemar's forces. At first, this worked as the enemy did not attack Moravia and thus had to attack Austria, but soon after, Manecrias turned out to be a traitor who sold out the Jagiellons, disbanded his army and allowed the French in. Leonard then chose to launch diversionary attacks into Hungary and Austria, while the real offensive will head to Warsaw, which, as he thought, was undergarrisoned as the Polish forces were busy controlling the more rebellious regions and guarding the borders/frontlines.

Unfortunately, Warsaw DID have a garrison, though not very large. So as Leonard marched towards Warsaw and the scouts reported this to the garrison, preparations were made while Krapiwecki was trying to get a situation in Pommerania after which he could withdraw a few divisions from the theater. In 1707, a most spectacular maneuver warfare took place on the way to Warsaw. The Polish forces have cut off the French from Bohemia (which was soon reconquered anyway) and tried to outflank the foes, in order to surround them. However, Leonard skillfully escaped encirclement and started approaching Warsaw from the west. an attempt to intercept him failed, and so he tried to assault Warsaw. Unfortunately for him, Krapiwecki caught on to him and attacked his assaulting force. Nevertheless, Leonard managed to fight his way out of encirclement again, and withdrew into German Protestant territory in 1709.

By 1711, peace negotiations were already under way. According to them, Russia lost Estonia and the Kiev area to Jagiellon Poland. Bavaria managed to annex Tyrol from Jagiellon Austria. Poland's borders in the west remained the same. Though in this war, Jagiellon Empire emerged victorious, it was a very close-ran thing, and after Jena, the myth of Polish invincibility was shattered. And besides, the Coalition nations decided to sign the peace just to regroup... and later take their revenge.

If you read this all, I will give you a cookie. Dont post yet, map ahead

Da Map, circa 1711

Its labeled except for some African and Asian nations I havnt deciphered from the timeline. Das, this is where you come in again



Post now, fools

i really like this one, when/ if this comes up i have my eye on bavaria

I want China!! (surprise surprise)

my eye is on Venice, thie risnt a good NES out, and I just want some nesing action besides, i want to unite italy.

Viva la Mexico

I want Mexico, but I think the Iroquois and such should also be a nation.

BTW good backstory.

I might add the Iroquios and some more north american tribes like that, if you would rather play as them then Mexico.

what tech leval is all this exactley- napoleonic?

The backstory kicks ass.

I have my eye on Portugal, and the other on the Ottomans, I'll probably go for the former.

I want Japan....please?

Plexus said:

The backstory kicks ass.

I have my eye on Portugal, and the other on the Ottomans, I'll probably go for the former.

Click to expand...

If Plexus takes Portugal, I'll take the Ottomans. If he takes the Ottomans, I've got Portugal.

@Xen, its 1711 so its Middle Colonial-almost late colonial time period.

Azale said:

I might add the Iroquios and some more north american tribes like that, if you would rather play as them then Mexico.

Click to expand...

I'd rather have Mexico, but there's no real opposition in North America.

true, ill add some organized native american tribes along with the iroquois for some type of challenge to the mexican dominance

AWESOME! Ive been waiting for this since Das showed us the history..France or bavaria...hmm..

I think France!

what tech leval is all this exactley- napoleonic?

Click to expand...

Not Napoleonic - more like war of Spanish Succession, so bayonets just introduced, limited regiments of pikemen, etc.

nevermind..delete please.

It's idiotic stage of gun warfare. Line your guys up, face the other guy head on, fire, hope for a hit. Run across entire fields and charge headon into a volley of lead, etc.