Louis Auguste: An E:TW 1.5 AAR

[LightSpectra]

[The goal of this AAR is to play realistically, both politically and militarily, based on early 18th century Europe. That is, I will only use tactics that commanders of the era used; and even though the gameplay lacks the complexity of European politics, I will still attempt to emulate to the best of my ability how France would have acted in the era. I will also not reload my games if something non-glitchy goes wrong; you're seeing the real deal, here.]

March, 1700. His Majesty King Louis has appointed me to be prime minister of the Kingdom. My initial act was to re-shuffle the government, for my grand plans for France will require a studious cabinet.

After a meeting with the Contrôleur général des finances, I have concluded that France should begin a process of economic reform before any military ventures be abound. His Majesty's diplomats have begun to engage in trade agreements, and I have engineered a reduction in the taxes on the nobility; in addition, we have begun to modernize our factories and improve our road system to foster fiscal growth.

Finally, let us observe the military and political situation of the Kingdom. To the south, we are flanked by our temporarily allied yet declining Kingdom of Spain. In Italy and the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Habsburgs will vie with the Kingdom for influence as Spain's control over these provinces becomes untenable. I have authorized an alliance with the Imperial Rhineland states to flank the Dutch, and as a buffer against British Hanover. We must be particularly cautious around our recently acquired provinces of Strasbourg and Franche-Comté, for the Empire might desire to reclaim them.

Spoiler :

To the North are the Kingdom's fiercest enemies, the British and the Dutch, whose sea power currently dominates the channel. We are still at an uneasy peace following the end of the Guerre de la Ligue d'Augsbourg, though should the Dutch attempt to unify the Low Countries by a war with Spain, surely Britain and the Kingdom will be involved. Perhaps later the Kingdom should purchase the Spanish Netherlands, for their military position against the Dutch is invaluable. Might a new war against the Anglo-Dutch coalition break out, it would be unwise to engage in a full naval war, given the risk and insufficiency of our power in the channel; lest our admirals discover an opportune moment to strike, we will mainly engage the war by land.

Spoiler :

In the New World, France is flanked by both hostile Indians and the colonial British; and our Louisiane territories are against the Cherokee Indians. We must be careful to maintain maritime control over Amérique, lest we lose our precious mines and fur trade. If the Kingdom's finances improve, we may perhaps be able to subdue the Iroquis Indians and gain a military advantage over the British.

And with that, we must obey the virtue of patience.

 

[Dachs]

The virtue of patience is a luxury in a game where Carlos II doesn't die for ten to twenty years after start date.

Will be following this closely!

 

[LightSpectra]

October, 1700. I have begun construction of Académie de Versailles, to attract scholars to France and increase our economic growth and scientific research. However, my plans for economic consolidation of the Kingdom may have to be halted, for disturbing news has been delivered to my office this morning.

For now, neither France nor Britain has entered the conflict; though it may be necessary that we do so for the protection of the Spanish Netherlands. The Kingdom's Nord Armée is nearby at Artois, should it have to be dispatched to aid their position in Flanders.

The current military situation in Northwestern Europe:

Spoiler :

And, a week later, another war in Europe broke out:

Poland has been in a state of decline recently, though they may be useful in checking Habsburg expansionism. His Majesty has authorized me to channel 1,000 ducats to them in their cause against the Austro-Polish War. Aid will continue to be sent to the Polish, lest a war with Britain be assured with the Kingdom -- in which case, it is obvious that we should focus all of our finances to counter their threat.

April, 1701. No movements have been made yet in the Dutch War. An increase in the Kingdom's standing navy and army have been initiated, should the British decide to come to the aid of the Netherlands in this war. Funding for Poland-Lithuania continues. Our road improvements project of continental France should be completed by the end of the summer, however Franche-Comté's roads will remain as they were while the diplomatic situation remains tense.

November, 1701.

An Iroquis expedition has attacked one of our crucial farmlands in southern New France! I have instructed the Minister-General of Canada, Sieur Gaston Rousseau, to begin recruiting a milita force; though no offenses will be possible until at least this time next year. Still, this situation isn't as critical as it may appear; no battles have taken place in the Dutch War as of yet, so we may continue our policies of financial reform whilst the Franco-Iroquis War is orchestrated. I have ordered the général des finances of Strasbourg to begin road improvements in our German territories, whilst our newly recruited professional soldiers have departed to join the army at Artois. Finally, plans for a gold mine have been approved in our small colony in South America, which begin to ship precious metals to France for minting within two years.

And with that, we must obey the virtue of patience.

 

[aronnax]

Im watching to see if the random war mongering bug has been fixed yet.

I have half a mind to uninstall ETW. In the mean time, Im going to enjoy this.

 

[Dachs]

Ew, colonial wars. All seems to be going normally, though I'm surprised the Swedes haven't attacked/been attacked by the northern triple alliance.

 

[LightSpectra]

March, 1702. The Université de Bourgogne in Dijon has been founded by aristocrats for the interest of scientific research. Excellent news for the Kingdom. However, this is countered by our fur trade post in Ahmic, Canada being burned and invaded by the Iroquis expedition. Nevertheless, our army is ready to invade the Indian territory and hamper their offensives. While they outnumber the Armée du nouveau monde by three to one, they lack the advanced cannonry and tactics that His Majesty's military will use to subdue the Indians and expand our position in La nouvelle France.

August, 1702. With our treasury pulling in more revenues, I have decided to begin expanding our position in the New World. Our capital of Québec is being improved in terms of art patronage, roads, hospitals, schools and the military service to encourage immigration to our colony.

Finally, our army in Canada has departed to invade the Iroquis territory. Six months later, a letter with fantastic news arrived in Paris:

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

Spoiler :

His Majesty has sent a letter of congratulations and thanks to General Philippe de Vaudreuil for his fantastic victory over the Indians. The Governor-General of Québec has begun to fortify our newly acquired position in what is christened as New Artois.

In Paris, King Louis has inaugurated the opening of the Académie de Versailles. With that, and the finishing of the road improvements in Strasbourg, the financial reform of France is completed.

June, 1703. His Majesty has authorized me to expand our spice trade in our colony in South America, as well as lower taxes on the nobility in France to encourage more investments. Furthermore, more soldiers are being recruited in Canada to continue the advance against the Iroquis.

We will now investigate how we shall militarily counter Britain, the Netherlands and Austria.

Spoiler :

The Dutch are fully mobilized, and they do not appear to be able to make any moves against Flanders, so this war will likely be at a stalemate until British intervention happens.

Spoiler :

Now, the Austro-Polish War appears to be at a standstill, but while the Habsburgs are distracted with their war against Poland and Saxony, it may be in our interest to acquire Savoy, their ally. We are easily capable of expanding our army in Toulon. Further, the cabinet shall meet to discuss whether to cut off funding to Poland or not.

Finally, our naval projection is still far inferior to Britain's, and we are still devoting most of our military power Amérique to defeat the Iroquis, so beginning a war with them would be largely inadvisable. Therefore, gentlemen, what shall be the Kingdom's course of actions?

 

[Dachs]

Even with the Habsburgs distracted, war in Italy has the potential to push perfidious Albion even closer to war with us. We should keep up the Polish subsidy and the naval expansion, and continue to prosecute the Iroquois war until total victory.

Long/short/prestige/domination campaign?

 

[LightSpectra]

[Long campaign, though I'm not playing for "victory conditions" since this is from the point of view of France, not a player.]

The difficulty with naval expansion is that we can only build Sixth Rates until we acquire an improved port, which will take at least three years because the technology isn't researched yet; Britain likely can already produce Fourth Rates, making their navy essentially invincible lest they choose to split up their armadas for some reason.

I've composed a vague war plan should war break out with any of our three rivals:

(1) Anglo-Dutch: Though we're currently allied with the powerful Swedes, we cannot count on their naval assistance, so I would argue strictly for a land war. The Kingdom's army stationed at Artois will advance through Flanders, hopefully with Spanish assistance, and then dig in the port at Amsterdam to economically choke the Dutch and prevent any landings from Britain. Depending on the size of France's navy versus the Dutch, we may be able to engage their own in order to capture valuable ships-of-the-line, though the likely scenario is that we will have to keep our own force within our ports to prevent complete destruction, especially if the British begin to blockade the channel. If the Spanish have to evacuate the Low Countries, then France will proceed to annex Flanders and not return it to Spain; knowing their inability to finance a proper defense, it would be counter-intuitive to do so.

(2) Austria: Given that they have no navy and they would have to march through Bavaria and Württemberg to reach the Kingdom's border, it would seem that the valuable course of action would be simply to besiege the capital of Savoy, and then either annex them or establish them as a protectorate to remove the Austria threat. Possibly we should engage in an alliance with Poland-Lithuania, Bavaria, Venice or Prussia, or revive the Franco-Ottoman Alliance.

(3) Colonial war with Britain: Perhaps settle for peace with the Iroquis -- they will likely demand generous terms, but we cannot risk an expensive two-front war across the oceans. From that point on, we can either join up with Spanish Florida and attack from the south, attack from the north at Maine, dock at Louisiana and attack from the west, or a combination of the previous if our finances allow it. Almost all of our military power is currently concentrated from the north, so it is likely that we will have to project all of our soldiers just to hold that one front. If it is possible, we should provoke the Cherokee into attacking Britain to divert their resources.

 

[Maniacal]

So, if you're trying to play historically, are you going to lose every war?






This is going to be interesting.

 

[LightSpectra]

So, if you're trying to play historically, are you going to lose every war?

France only lost one war in the 18th century.

 

[Dachs]

The plans sound basically...sound. I'd advise reviving the Franco-Ottoman, Prussian, and Bavarian alliances out of the Austrian solutions; supporting Poland-Lithuania and Sweden might get sticky, as would Venice and the Ottomans.

 

[LightSpectra]

December, 1703. Paris received excellent news from the Gouverneur général du Québec: our war against the Indians goes fantastically well. Firstly, an invasion of lower Canada was repelled, and the pagan warlock that lead the Natives was slain in battle.

Spoiler :

Our second army that was advancing through the Iroquis territory has successfully captured a settlement, now christened New Toulon. We have sent missionaries there to calm the Indians, so that we can resume trade and commerce within this territory. But, as we now have complete control over the Ohio valley, and Canada has been militarized, a war with the British seems imminent.

Spoiler :

Now, for international diplomacy, we have encountered a few difficulties. Firstly, I have informed His Majesty that the Kingdom has broken its alliance with the Swedes, due to their provocation of the Holy Roman Empire. They have become a pariah among the nations, and it was necessary to preserve the Kingdom's own alliance with the Rhineland German states for when the Anglo-Dutch War breaks out.

Venice, Bavaria and Prussia have all declined offers for an alliance, fearing to provoke the Habsburgs. Understandable. We should not ally with the Poles, for that would immediately drag us into their war with the Austrians -- though our secret funds for their war effort has continued. Finally, our Ministère des Affaires étrangères has informed us that we cannot renew the Franco-Ottoman alliance until they do something about the Barbary States that continually enslave Christians. His Majesty would face excommunication should we indirectly support that abomination.

In other news, the contrôleur général des finances has submitted his financial report to the Kingdom.

Spoiler :

I asked him why it was so colorful, and he told me it was because his son likes to paint.

It would seem the international price of ivory is massive: perhaps we should consider establishing a colony in Morocco or in Algiers. Our trade agreement with the Swedes stand, though the amount of wars they are in has resulted in having to convert hundreds of their merchant vessels into warships, stunting their trade with the Kingdom. The Mughal Empire, on the other hand, is currently undergoing a massive war with the Marathas that is economically devastating them.

And with that, we must obey the virtue of patience.

 

[Dachs]

Making a move on Algiers could be beneficial. Last time around all we did was send bomb ketches, and that wasn't nearly as effective as it ought to have been. Just so long as it doesn't interfere with any further planning for wars against those irksome islanders.

Perhaps it might be the time to expand the rather mean concessions we have in the Indies, as well, if the Mughals are having problems.

 

[LightSpectra]

May, 1704. Firstly, our news for Amérique. The last remnants of the Native invasion of lower Canada has been wiped out, and our army proceeds to invade the last Iroquis settlement and besiege them. They have no forces left to reinforce, so it is only a matter until they either surrender or commit to a foolish breakout.

Spoiler :

Something of note is that it appears the British have evacuated Rupert's Land.

Spoiler :

Now, some northern Native tribe has declared war on France, putting our precious settlement of Newfoundland at risk. Our navy in North America has repositioned itself to prevent an invasion as such.

Spoiler :

But, it would seem that the Dutch have engaged in open piracy against the French right in the English Channel! This cannot go unpunished. Our dreaded Anglo-Dutch War has come.

December, 1704. I have informed His Majesty that the Kingdom's declaration of war against the Dutch has been finalized. Predictably, the British have come to their aid; but strangely, the Austrians have backed down, breaking their triple alliance. This was unexpected, but good news for us indeed.

Spoiler :

A force the Kingdom has been building in South America to take the Dutch settlement of Guyana has been dispatched. News of their success should arrive in Paris shortly.

Now, a British force consisting of Fourth Rate ships-of-the-line is nearby the Netherland's pirate force, so it would appear to be impossible to engage in any sort of naval battle. Thus, the Kingdom's ships in the Channel have retreated to our dockyard in Brittany.

Our army located in Artois, lead by the brilliant general Claude de Villars, has moved northward and occupied the primary port of the Netherlands. No plans of collaboration with Spain or the Rhineland German states has been made yet for a full invasion and occupation of Amsterdam, but news of this shall be forthcoming.

As for the situation in the New World: the British have concentrated all of their forces in New York. They have left Maine undefended, though until they commit their army in one direction, it would appear to be unwise to move away our forces in Arcadia. It seems likely that one large battle will happen, after which either them or us will have to evacuate one of our settlements. This is a highly risky game the Kingdom is in, and I pray that it may proceed well.

Spoiler :

Part two is forthcoming.

 

[LightSpectra]

June, 1706. The Dutch have attempted to drive the French army out of their port to prevent economic collapse. As they drew up their battle of line, our general Claude de Villars attempted the rarely used oblique order, whereby all of our cannons and cavalry immediately attacked their left flank. Their general panicked and fled, and their chain of command crumbled in a chaotic mess where almost their entire standing army was driven into a river.

Spoiler :

Not one to let a victory be for nothing, Villars then moved up his army to begin a massive siege of Amsterdam. Now it is impossible for us to hold the city, but it will cause a terrible mess within the Dutch government.

Spoiler :

Then, the Dutch began a blockade of northern France, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive the news that a Spanish fleet had driven them off less than a month later.

Meanwhile, in the New World, the Iroquis attempted a brave but folly breakout that resulted in the destruction of their army. Now they are no longer a threat to us, and British America is perfectly encircled by the French and Spanish. The captured Iroquis settlement has been christened New Toulouse.

Spoiler :

At the same time, the Dutch Guyana has been captured almost without a fight by the Kingdom's dispatch. This has firmly cemented the Kingdom's spice trade as well as leaving the Netherlands with only two islands in the Atlantic in their possession. All-in-all, this little war has been a catastrophe for the Dutch -- I expect their ambassador to come to His Majesty on his hands and knees, begging for peace.

Though, we still have the British left to engage. The command center in Québec has insisted on waiting for them to make the first move, to make sure that we leave none of our territories undefended. And with that, we must obey the virtue of patience.

 

[LightSpectra]

1706-1708. Our dockyard has been modernized, allowing us to build Fourth Rate ships-of-the-line to compete with Britain's powerful navy. The creation of two have been initiated, which will put us on equal grounds with our fiercest enemy.

Spoiler :

In North America, the British successfully ambushed one of our armies, but were unable to achieve an encirclement and were beaten back from the field to New York.

It would appear that they have achieved the maximum number of troops possible for service in their North American colonies, putting us at a stalemate. Thus, the Governor-General of Québec has ordered the capture of Maine, thereby enclosing the British; we no longer have to station troops in Canada, as a far-northern offensive is no longer possible.

However, beyond this, the Kingdom can do nothing, short of a massive campaign to ship more troops to our colonies.

Meanwhile, in Europe, one of our spies has given us information of the Austro-Polish situation.

It would seem as if they're also currently in a statemate, due to the number of possible belligerents giving the Habsburgs little room to go on the offensive. Hence, reviving the Franco-Ottoman Alliance would seem fruitful: the Kingdom has signed a peace with the Barbary States, demanding that they no longer commit acts of piracy against the southern Mediterranean. After that, we dispatched an ambassador to Istanbul to offer the Sultan to join in an anti-Austrian coalition.

Now, regarding the Netherlands: His Majesty has offered a very generous Uti possidetis peace, but they have refused. Nevertheless, Amsterdam has surrendered to the army of Claude de Villars. Unable to hold the city, we have negotiated a transfer to our Spanish allies, restoring total Habsburg rule to the Low Countries for the first time in almost 150 years.

Spoiler :

His Majesty was so pleased with what I have done with the Kingdom that he has offered me the title Duc d'Aquitaine. Claude de Villars' destruction of the Dutch along with our successful campaigns against the Iroquis have turned the Franco-Spanish alliance into the undisputed masters of Europe.

Further, now that there is no threat to the Kingdom's northeastern sector, Claude de Villars' army is free for whatever we may do with it. Perhaps we could transport it to North America and finish off the British Empire; perhaps we could establish a colony in Algiers for the precious resource of ivory; perhaps we could use it to invade Ireland and restore Jacobite rule. I pray that this period of French hegemony may not be lost to foolish experiments and military ventures as the Spanish were prone to, so let us be careful with what we do.

 

[cardgame]

FWIW, I say Villars' army should be moved to the Americas to wrest the colonies from British control.

 

[Dachs]

Doing something like that, denuding the Continent of troops in favor of a headlong rush across the ocean, would be folly. The Emperor pulled this trick twenty years ago, and we paid the price for it with nine years of misery. Besides, the colonies can hardly support such a large army. And conquering the Protestant colonists seems like more trouble than it's worth...didn't we just kick these people out?

Anyway, congratulations are due for the long-overdue defeat of the faithless Calvinist republicans and the victories in North America. Have we managed to convince the Stuarts in France to try to rekindle their cause in Scotland and Ireland? Or are they waiting on our naval buildup?

 

[LightSpectra]

Britain will never accept a Catholic monarch again, especially one on the leash of the House of Bourbon. Frankly, the best we can hope to accomplish is liberate Ireland.

And I did not mean to imply that we would move the whole of 50,000-some troops to North America -- obviously we would keep at least half of that on the continent, should something revolutionary happen to Spain. But the English colonists would stand no chance against Villars, and permanently knocking out the only serious challenge to French naval power and our tobacco trade would be perfect.

I was thinking, however -- should the Ottomans agree to open an alliance with us, we could land Villars' army in the northern Balkans, then capture Carniola and give it to either Venice or the Turks for the administration. Permanently cutting off Austrian access to the sea would surely be crippling, and leave the Kingdom free to expand as we please on the continent.

 

[BurnEmDown]

Perhaps expanding to northern Italy by taking Savoy will benefit the French kingdom?
This will remove a potential threat and open a way to further expand in northern Italy should something unexpected happen to the Spanish holdings, or if an opportunity to take Genoa arrive?