November, 1537
You didn't miss much by us not seeing your message, we quit around 6.
In this statement, METY displays the fine art of understatement, for, though Billy didn't miss a whole lot, Spain was embroiled in a foolhardy crusade against Tripoli, and more significantly, the technologically superior Ottoman army. Which might not have been a big deal, except Spain refused to make peace, as that would have been dishonouable as Defender of the Faith.
This war is actually quite relevant to the summary. Spain had a warscore of around -40, war exhasution of 17, stability of -3, and appears to have been out of manpower, or at least struggling to reinforce their mainland armies (though the standing armies numbered around 80K in mainland Spain). All of North Africa was occupied by the Ottoman Empire, and Ottoman armies were beginning to invade Spanish France as well. Though the Spanish Navy had proven supreme, the Ottoman armies were easily defeating Spanish armies twice their size, due to superior technology.
Rebels were beginning to revolt across Spain, forcing Spain to send troops away from the borders (where the Ottoman troops had their positions in neutral English territory - Spain had military access there as well, but refused to attack). Though the Ottoman invasion of Spain proper was currently proceeding with caution (Perigord was being assaulted, but there were few other assaults), once more Ottoman armies arrived, the outcome was a foregone conclusion.
It was as we ended this session that the Ottoman envoys realized that Spain would now make peace (which they would not a few months before), likely due to the combination of having been stabhit to -3, and the rebels throughout the country, including some besieging Madrid. With the support of Austrian diplomatic personnel, the Ottomans propsed a deal whereby Spain would release Tunisia, Creek, and Guyenne, pay 150 ducats, and revoke a single core. This deal was acceptable to the defeated AI (and in accordance with the current warscore), and the Ottoman and Austrian envoys argue that it is in Spain's best interests to accept it.
At the present, even with peace, Spain would have plenty to deal with, with 15% revolt risk throughout Spain, 15% in Spanish Algeria, and 30% in Spanish Morocco (the latter of two not having any armies to help with the situation). Presumably the situation in the New World is similar. The economy has also slipped into a depression thanks to the war.
On the Ottoman side, war exhaustion is a shade below 10, the Navy was lost, 30 new regiments were raised, and military funding has been at the maximum for over 5 years. As this represents a considerable cost to the Empire, the Ottomans would consider a White Peace to be patently unfair in relation to the considerable effort expended.
With that detailed examination of the war concluded, the maps are as follows:
Outside of the Spanish Crusade against Tripoli, highlights of the session included:
Austria spent a good deal of time restoring personal unions over and over again. Reports are that there were seven restorations of their personal union with Denmark - Austria would restore it, have their king die, lose it, and restore it again, over and over again. Nevertheless, Austria's persistence eventually paid off, and both Denmark and Sweden were incorporated into Austria proper late in the turn. Austria was also active on the colonial front, claiming several islands, most notably Cuba.
Burgundy spent much of this session in what appears to have been two separate regencies, the present being quite an awful regency (3/3/3). Nevertheless, between the regencies, Burgundy was able to add a few provinces near Malacca to their realm. Burgundy has also become the most advanced of the large nations.
Castille formed Spain this session, and had a relatively calm turn until their decision to invade the halls of Tripoli (which they did occupy, for slightly over a year). The story of that war has already been explained.
England's focus switched from colonization to conquest this turn, and they began by expanding their territory in west-central Africa. Later, they tried to invade India, but Vijayanagar's army proved too strong for their expeditionary force. Nevertheless, they managed to keep the one territory they took from Deccan. Makassar was also taken by England this turn, and thus the English East Indies were tentatively established. At home, England is currently beset by much religious unrest, and though they remain Catholic, Catholicism appears to be a minority, at least in England's European territories.
Prior to the war with Spain, the Ottoman focus this session was first on reaching Land Tech 18, which they did before any significant power in Europe, and thereafter on restoring some semblance of stability, which had plummetted to -3 thanks to a series of unfortunate events. Ottoman expansion slowed considerably this session in an attempt to end overextension, and that effort was partially successful, though Overextension is currently plaguing the Ottomans once more. What new territories the Ottomans did take this session were primarily in or around Afghanistan.
Mazovia met defeat for the first time this session, losing some land to Hungary. Nevertheless, they maintain at least 8 provinces.
The biggest news outside of Europe was that the King of Vijayanagar became the senior partner in a personal union with Ming. With the majority of both China and India under his rule, the possibility of a gigantic power is certainly on the horizon. At the present, Ming is severely hamstrung by rebels, but if they are ever inherited, the already-respectable Vijayanagar would become a true power, even with their inferior tech group.