Pyotr Veliky
Father Russia
Opening my eyes to the rest of the world
When the war against Spain was almost over, Italy finally got its first conquistador: Garda. In February 1675, Garda, leading an army of 11,500 men, boards a fleet in the Ligurian Sea which 4 months later reaches the coast of Manhattan. There, he and his men are dropped off to discover new colonisable lands.
The first province Garda discovers is Catskill, to the north of Manhattan. Immediately, a colony is build there. I use my conquistador to discover the provinces that surround Manhattan, partly because these are very rich lands for colonization and partly because I want to create a tightly knit colonial empire that will be easier to defend. Upgrading colonies to cities will be tough for me, though, since I only receive 1.60 colonists a year; the price of going full Innovativeness. I might move this DP-slider to get more colonists, but I may also decide to just go for conquest in Europe instead of colonization of the New World. I dont really know yet
While I am discovering new provinces and building colonies, I also aggressively try to control some of the larger centres of trade. I am able to maintain a dominating presence and/or reasonably stable monopoly in various money making machines like Andalusia, Ile de France, Thrace, Gujarat, Isfahan and Santal. Im making money hand over fist now, with both my trade and infrastructure level at 7, almost 8.
However, money isnt the only thing on this planet. Conquest and glory are just as important. Trading pansies who forget about the art of war get squished and this is not the end I have in mind for Italy.
One of my goals for some time now has been annexing Venice, but this is somewhat more complicated than it seems. Apart from Veneto, Venice also consists of Kerala, a province in faraway India. I can not really touch the Venetians, unless I can take Kerala. However, I do not have the possibilities to reach that far: I dont have the maps to tell me where to go or the supply network to keep my navy from disintegrating due to attrition. What I need is a country willing to provide these things for me. Maps can be taken by capturing a nations capital, military access (= unrestricted use of a countrys provinces and ports to move armies and fleets around = RoP) can be obtained as part of a peace deal.
With other things to do, I have up to this point let the matter rest, but in April 1681 an event fires which puts me at war with Portugal. Not only does this country usually possess extensive knowledge of the African, Arabian, Indian and Southern Asian coasts (which would provide me with the knowledge needed to get to Kerala), but also a dense supply network consisting of colonies on these same coasts. The goals for this war, therefore, are clear: get the maps and gain military access.
Portugal really is no match for my Iberian armies. Quickly I move in and besiege their two provinces on the European mainland. In February 1682, with Algarve and Tago captured, the Portuguese offer Algarve and 148 ducats for peace, but thats not what I need. Instead, I offer them peace for Algarve (hey, I didnt want it, but now that I have it, why give it back?
), military access and 125 ducats. They accept.
With the knowledge and assistance gained from Portugal, I send a fleet to the east to check out the Venetian province of Kerala. The AI has the nasty tendency to build up large armies when at war, never disbanding them. Without a land connection to Kerala, this would mean storming the beaches faced by an überstack of enemy soldiers. Its doable, but requires a willingness to sacrifice a large amount of troops and bringing in more than sufficient numbers of your own, which might be a logistical problem given the size of my navy and the huge distance from my main supply bases in Europe.
All these reflections, however, vaporize in an instant when in January 1683 the espionage mission of my fleet reveals an undefended province. It has a small fortress and a supply limit of 18. Not really a problem. I send the fleet back home, where it picks up 20,000 men from Andalusia. I start spamming the Venetian CoT with merchants to get a free CB after they embargo me, but to my surprise the Venetians do nothing to interfere with my merchants. Usually, they embargo me for even looking at them the wrong way, but it seems like this time they understand whats going on. Why does the AS turn into an AI at exactly those moments when you dont need it?
Unlike in the Spanish case, I decide to not go to war without a CB. Before going over the Bad Boy threshold that will cause the BB-wars (= every nation with a capital on the same continent as you declares war on you) to fire, I would like to gain some strategic depth in Iberia and the Balkans and, if possible, link up my Iberian holdings with the Italian mainland. Venice is not needed for this. Therefore, I decide to bring the boys in India back home and focus on other endeavours for the time being.
Securing a viable empire in New Italy
My colonial empire has slowly, very slowly, been growing in the past years. I moved my Mercantilism-slider one step to the left to get to full Free Trade, netting me 0.2 extra colonists a year. My intention is to surround the English colonies with a halve circle beginning in Manhattan and ending in Roanoke. However, in the mid 80s this scheme looks shattered when the English start building a trading post in Catawba, to the west of Roanoke. It has now become impossible to link this province up with the rest of New Italy by non-violent means. I decide to wait for the winter of 87-88 to pass and then, on March 1 1688, declare war on England. They embargo my merchants, so the CB is taken care of. France declines to join the war and leaves the alliance it had with me. Im already such a bad boy that relations have deteriorated to such an extent that they dont even want to fight the English with me
The implications of this are for later contemplation, though, because now theres a war to fight with my goal being the provinces of Catawba, Powhatan and Megantic. Securing these provinces would cut the English off from the North American hinterland and create a land route from the Gulf of St. Lawrence all the way down to Roanoke.
With all English colonies except for Connecticut unfortified and no enemy troops present in the New World, I quickly take all English possessions on the North American coast, bypassing only Connecticut. On the other side of the Atlantic, I start a siege of Orania, an unlikely English province in North Africa. The siege is supported by virtually my entire Med fleet, which also stops English vessels from entering the Mediterranean.
I rake up the necessary war score with little difficulty. After some naval victories and the fall of Orania in February 1689, the English accept peace handing over Catawba, Powhatan (both low level trading posts), Megantic (a level 5 colony) and 25 ducats. I am now in full control of the vast American hinterland and can use it as I see fit.
When the war against Spain was almost over, Italy finally got its first conquistador: Garda. In February 1675, Garda, leading an army of 11,500 men, boards a fleet in the Ligurian Sea which 4 months later reaches the coast of Manhattan. There, he and his men are dropped off to discover new colonisable lands.
The first province Garda discovers is Catskill, to the north of Manhattan. Immediately, a colony is build there. I use my conquistador to discover the provinces that surround Manhattan, partly because these are very rich lands for colonization and partly because I want to create a tightly knit colonial empire that will be easier to defend. Upgrading colonies to cities will be tough for me, though, since I only receive 1.60 colonists a year; the price of going full Innovativeness. I might move this DP-slider to get more colonists, but I may also decide to just go for conquest in Europe instead of colonization of the New World. I dont really know yet
While I am discovering new provinces and building colonies, I also aggressively try to control some of the larger centres of trade. I am able to maintain a dominating presence and/or reasonably stable monopoly in various money making machines like Andalusia, Ile de France, Thrace, Gujarat, Isfahan and Santal. Im making money hand over fist now, with both my trade and infrastructure level at 7, almost 8.
However, money isnt the only thing on this planet. Conquest and glory are just as important. Trading pansies who forget about the art of war get squished and this is not the end I have in mind for Italy.
One of my goals for some time now has been annexing Venice, but this is somewhat more complicated than it seems. Apart from Veneto, Venice also consists of Kerala, a province in faraway India. I can not really touch the Venetians, unless I can take Kerala. However, I do not have the possibilities to reach that far: I dont have the maps to tell me where to go or the supply network to keep my navy from disintegrating due to attrition. What I need is a country willing to provide these things for me. Maps can be taken by capturing a nations capital, military access (= unrestricted use of a countrys provinces and ports to move armies and fleets around = RoP) can be obtained as part of a peace deal.
With other things to do, I have up to this point let the matter rest, but in April 1681 an event fires which puts me at war with Portugal. Not only does this country usually possess extensive knowledge of the African, Arabian, Indian and Southern Asian coasts (which would provide me with the knowledge needed to get to Kerala), but also a dense supply network consisting of colonies on these same coasts. The goals for this war, therefore, are clear: get the maps and gain military access.
Portugal really is no match for my Iberian armies. Quickly I move in and besiege their two provinces on the European mainland. In February 1682, with Algarve and Tago captured, the Portuguese offer Algarve and 148 ducats for peace, but thats not what I need. Instead, I offer them peace for Algarve (hey, I didnt want it, but now that I have it, why give it back?
), military access and 125 ducats. They accept.
With the knowledge and assistance gained from Portugal, I send a fleet to the east to check out the Venetian province of Kerala. The AI has the nasty tendency to build up large armies when at war, never disbanding them. Without a land connection to Kerala, this would mean storming the beaches faced by an überstack of enemy soldiers. Its doable, but requires a willingness to sacrifice a large amount of troops and bringing in more than sufficient numbers of your own, which might be a logistical problem given the size of my navy and the huge distance from my main supply bases in Europe.
All these reflections, however, vaporize in an instant when in January 1683 the espionage mission of my fleet reveals an undefended province. It has a small fortress and a supply limit of 18. Not really a problem. I send the fleet back home, where it picks up 20,000 men from Andalusia. I start spamming the Venetian CoT with merchants to get a free CB after they embargo me, but to my surprise the Venetians do nothing to interfere with my merchants. Usually, they embargo me for even looking at them the wrong way, but it seems like this time they understand whats going on. Why does the AS turn into an AI at exactly those moments when you dont need it?
Unlike in the Spanish case, I decide to not go to war without a CB. Before going over the Bad Boy threshold that will cause the BB-wars (= every nation with a capital on the same continent as you declares war on you) to fire, I would like to gain some strategic depth in Iberia and the Balkans and, if possible, link up my Iberian holdings with the Italian mainland. Venice is not needed for this. Therefore, I decide to bring the boys in India back home and focus on other endeavours for the time being.
Securing a viable empire in New Italy
My colonial empire has slowly, very slowly, been growing in the past years. I moved my Mercantilism-slider one step to the left to get to full Free Trade, netting me 0.2 extra colonists a year. My intention is to surround the English colonies with a halve circle beginning in Manhattan and ending in Roanoke. However, in the mid 80s this scheme looks shattered when the English start building a trading post in Catawba, to the west of Roanoke. It has now become impossible to link this province up with the rest of New Italy by non-violent means. I decide to wait for the winter of 87-88 to pass and then, on March 1 1688, declare war on England. They embargo my merchants, so the CB is taken care of. France declines to join the war and leaves the alliance it had with me. Im already such a bad boy that relations have deteriorated to such an extent that they dont even want to fight the English with me
The implications of this are for later contemplation, though, because now theres a war to fight with my goal being the provinces of Catawba, Powhatan and Megantic. Securing these provinces would cut the English off from the North American hinterland and create a land route from the Gulf of St. Lawrence all the way down to Roanoke.
With all English colonies except for Connecticut unfortified and no enemy troops present in the New World, I quickly take all English possessions on the North American coast, bypassing only Connecticut. On the other side of the Atlantic, I start a siege of Orania, an unlikely English province in North Africa. The siege is supported by virtually my entire Med fleet, which also stops English vessels from entering the Mediterranean.
I rake up the necessary war score with little difficulty. After some naval victories and the fall of Orania in February 1689, the English accept peace handing over Catawba, Powhatan (both low level trading posts), Megantic (a level 5 colony) and 25 ducats. I am now in full control of the vast American hinterland and can use it as I see fit.
Impressive 
