The Lurid Livonians - An EU2 AAR

[Olav]

Hello! This is my first try on an AAR with EU2. I will play as Livonian Order in the grand campaign. I have never played with them before, so things can (hopefully!) get interesting

Settings:

Version: 1.09
Mod: AGCEEP 1.50 Deluxe with EGUFSM
Difficulty: Very Hard/Weakling


My plan will be to be the dominant power around the Baltic Sea. I will also try to capture all Scandinavian provinces. I will probably think of some more goals as I proceed in the game.

Of we go then!

Domestic Policies and Political Map​

Livonian Order starts as a vassal and in an alliance with the Teutonic Order. Knowing that the alliance of Poland and Lithuania will sooner or later go after the Teutonic Order, I cancel my vassalization with them. This gives me a drop in stability, but it is worth it in the long run. We still remain in alliance, though.

I build tax collectors in Livland and Estland (already got one i my capital province - Kurland). As for the domestic policies, I go for a offensive doctrine - I will use this slider until I get +1 shock value for my troops/ships. As for the budget, all the money goes to infrastructure.

After 5 months Poland DoW Teutonic Order. The Order asks for my help, but I dishonor. Instead, I move my troops to their border. When I got a diplomat, I asked Lithuania to join their alliance with Poland and Masovia. Fortunately, they accepted - so I automaticaly joined their war against Teutonic Order. I send all my troops to Memel, hoping to capture the province. While this was happening, Sweden declared war on Novgorod. They started besieging Ingermanland, which I have a core on.

Fortunately, there isn't so harsh winter in Memel, so my troops doesn't suffer any attrition. Polands and Lithuanias 60k troops have it a bit worse while they besiege Prussia in full winter. The siege of Memel is going slow, because I don't have any ships to blockade the port.

After many months both Prussia and Memel are captured by our alliance. Poland accepted the perfect peace offer from Teutonic Order - 138 ducats and Memel to me! I didn't lose a single man during the war! The other alliance members lost perhaps 40k troops to attrition! In the north Novgorod took a serious beating, handing over a handfull of provinces to the Kalmar union. To make things worse, Muscovy and its alliance declared war against them the same year.

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End of the first wars​

The next years were uneventfull for the Livonian Order. 6 galleys were built to have a small fleet which could blockade ports and transport troops. A taxcollectors office was built in Memel.

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Random rebel event in Kurland. Eat snow, filthy bastards! Muscowy annexes Pskov.​

In 1428, after forceannexing Pskov, Muscowy declares war on Denmark (and Sweden and Norway). This is good news for me, as I intend to capture Swedish provinces. Since I have casus belli against Sweden, I don't get so much BB for DoW'ing. I bring with my alliance partners, including Teutonic Order. Denmark and Norway joins Swedens side.

My army under control of Lt. Genereal Henning Scharpenberg is sent to Ingermanland to iniate a siege there. My glorious fleet is unfortunately to small to blockade, so it is only used to transport troops. An army with a good leader from Muscovy reaches Ingermanland before me. Therefore I split up Scharpenbergs army, and send it to Nyland. Just as my troops land, Muscovy agrees to a peaceproposal from Denmark. I quickly send Scharpenberg to Ingermanland to start sieging the province. Sweden interrupted the siege a couple of times, but their troops were repelled each time. After a harsh winter, Ingermanland was under Livonian control. After a while Sweden agreed to peace, giving me Ingermanland! Denmark and Norway gave up in 1432, giving the alliance 86 ducats.

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Another province added to the realm​

My army was reduced to 3000 cavalry after the last war, so a time with peace was necessary. 4 new galleys, a taxcollerctors office was built in Ingermanland and infantry was trained to join Scharpenbergs army. Not all were good though - I lost the trade center in Livland. After some waiting - two good events struck in 1438. First of all I got a new leader, Heinrich IV Vinke (poor stats though). Second, an event gave me casus belli against Denmark. It was time for war again!

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Oops! Yeah, right... As I said, time for war

Comments and suggestions are welcome!

 

[Dell19]

Interesting although theoretically taking Danzig would have been a good idea in the first war.

 

[Olav]

Yeah, when I had captured Memel, my next target would have been Danzig. But the alliance leader (Lithuania) made peace before I got there

Have you played with the LO before? I wonder if I should go after Muscovy or Sweden first. And I must be carefull so Poland and Lithuania doesn't get to big.

 

[Olav]

First war against Muscowy

The rotten swines in Muscowy declared war on me (1439), mostly because I own Ingermanland (which they have claim on). I call for help from my alliance, and they all agree to join the war. I split my army in two, and send one half to Kexholm (owned by Muscowy), and the other to Olonets (owned by Tver). Both these provinces have ugric culture, which happens to be my stateculture. Gaining these provinces will therefore be a nice addition to the Order. Since I'm fighting a defensive war, I won't get much BB points from gaining provinces from a peaceproposal.

The siege of both provinces proceed at a fast pace. I have only met small enemy armies, no big deal for my leaders. Poland and Lithuania is doing the main fighting around Moscow. So well that Poland conquers the only province of Ryazan, and therby annexed them. One surprising event happens to me during the war. Some years ago Lithuania went bankrupt, and they have struggled ever since with unstability. The outcome of the situation was most fortunate for me:

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Vinke siegeing Kexholm, Scharpenberg siegeing Olonets​

A baltic culture province for free (and no BB)! Thanks! However, this gives Lithuania a permanent casus belli against me. I will try to mantain good relations with them as long as I'm weaker than them. As for the war, the two provinces are captured before the end of the year. I quickly send my troops back to Ingermanland, to avoid further attrition. The next part of the plan was to siege Novgorod, but I never got that far. Lithuania accepted peace with Muscowy, giving me Kexholm and some ducats. Poland remain in the war, since they had a separate peace with Ryazan.

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Results after the first Muscowy war​

In 1443 Poland gets 43 ducats from Muscowy to end the war. Not much else is happening. My alliance finished a war against Crimea (which I never bothered to fight in), where Lithuania gained Jedisan from Crimea. My casus belli against Denmark expired, so I won't do any warfare against Scandinavia in the near future. Instead I have my attention focused at Muscowy and its allies, hoping for a good opportunity (for war) to rise. Meanwhile I promote the bailiffs in my new provinces, and train some infantry. In 1449 I lose the command of Scharpenberg. The same year I also reach the important level in the offensive doctrine - my leaders get +1 shock value. I also sent an insult to Sweden, hoping them to declare war on me. There is no need to insult Muscowy, since our relations are already at -200, and they have a permanent casus belli on me.

In 1452 Lithuania again DoW's Crimea. Knowing that Lithuania and Poland will steamroll them, I don't want to waste any troops on fighting. The war ends with two provinces to Lithuania and 156 ducats to the alliance. The next years was quiet for the Order. The money was rolling in (around 50 ducats in census taxes) and the reputation was again at honourable (0 BB). Since my neighbours hadn't declared war on me, I had to declare war on them. Waiting for a war when you have 0 BB is not good - your diplomats must have something to do! My targets was either Muscowy or the Scandinavian alliance. I had no casus belli vs any of them. DoW'ing will cost me 4 BB points, which is too much. However, it only cost 2 BB to DoW a nation you have +100 relations with! Since my relations vs Denmark was +116, it was clear where the next war was taking place.

Second Scandinavian war

The second Scandinavian war started on the 1st march 1455, with Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Oldenburg vs Livonian Order, Teutonic Order, Poland and Lithuania (as the aggressors). I sent my 17k army once again to Nyland, where my fleet was blockading the port. Around 1000 Swedish troops were waiting there, but they were easily defeated. The Scandinavians tried numerous times to beat my fleet of 14 galleys, but they were unsuccessfull every time. That shock bonus sure helps! One of defeated ships had maps which were stolen. This revealed Kola and northern Norway. The Danes were more successfull at land - they captured Kexholm before I had made any progress at the siege in Nyland. Nyland had a small fortress, which made things frustrating. When the winter came, I sent 14k of my troops onto my fleet to reduce attrition. The 3k troops remaining was still in Nyland to have the siege "on hold".

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3000 infantry keeping the siege on hold in Nyland, while my main army is resting in the galleys​

The 20k army from Poland attacked the Swedes in Ingermanland, and lost!​

When spring arrived, the troops were unloaded and the siege progressed at full speed. The fortress fell before the year was over. The next year the Swedish provinces were full of troops from Poland, making it easier for me to do my business: Togheter with troops from Teutonic Order, we liberated Kexholm from the Danes. After that 1000 cavalry was sent to capture Karelia, Kola, Finmark and Nordland (neither of them had fortress).

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Nyland is captured. Waiting for Kexholm to be liberated.​

The Danes gave up in april 1457, giving me Kola and Karelia, and the alliance 416 ducats! I tried to get a separate peace with Sweden, securing Nyland, but they rejected my offer.

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Results after the second Scandinavian war​

But hey, I can't complain.

 

[Nuka-sama]

Looks good, keep it up

 

[Olav]

Thanks! I hope to update next week sometime, perhaps on thursday

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Looking good. Now to make your empire more aesthetic by expanding outwards instead of in a Chile shaped nation.

 

[Olav]

Fortunately, there isn't possible to expand further north now, so it's either east or west

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Well, you could always expand southward if you wanted to.

 

[Olav]

I have to leave my alliance and declare war on two of the strongest nations in Europe if expanding south, and I don't want to do that (yet)

 

[Hitti-Litti]

But it's only Poland what you have to beat!

Nice empire. Now we'll just wait that Muscowy declares war to us!

 

[Olav]

I'm sure Lithuania will join Polands side if I DoW Poland. I own Belarus, which they have a core on, so they will probably want it back as soon as possible.

 

[Stormbringer]

All those useless dirt-poor provinces in the north are going to kill you. I would focus on getting your hands on a couple of really rich provinces because otherwise you will be forever behind in tech.

 

[Olav]

Yeah, I've only got poor provinces from peacedeals until now. I hope to capture Novgorod and Danzig sometime in the near future. As for the swedish provinces, I'm surprised over how poor they are. I'll post some economic stats in the next update to show the situation.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

And the next update is when?

Those northern provinces are a strain to economy. In my present game as England Ottomans pwned Russia badly by reaching Vorones on war and acquiring it with many other provinces. After 50 years when they had a worse sultan Poland won them in war because they had more troops than Ottomans, which suffered economical crisis(In my game Poland is from Volga and Black Sea to Baltic Sea!).

 

[Olav]

Thanks! I hope to update next week sometime, perhaps on thursday

Intend to update tomorrow as planned . I'm busy with exams, so updating will be a bit slow towards christmas.

In the games I have played with AGCEEP, Poland usually gets big. Too big in my opinion. So I have to stop them too, in addition to Muscowy/Russia and Sweden, before it get too late.

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Yeah, I've only got poor provinces from peacedeals until now. I hope to capture Novgorod and Danzig sometime in the near future. As for the swedish provinces, I'm surprised over how poor they are. I'll post some economic stats in the next update to show the situation.

I think you should go after Danzig before Novgorod, since Danzig fits with the theme of a Baltic empire.

 

[Olav]

I agree, SuBI. However, if the opportunity arises, I will get Novgorod as fast as possible .

 

[Olav]

After the second Scandinavian war it was time for a peaceful decade. The two newly gained provinces were poor, but money was spent to get things going. The bailiff in Kola was promoted, and colonization of Karelia was started. Karelia was only a level 1 colony, while Kola had a population of around 1500.

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7 new galleys were built to reinforce my fleet. My goal is to have a bigger fleet than Sweden have. Their fleet consist of around 20 ships, mostly warships. Since neither of us have reached naval technology higher than level 2, warships doesn't have any benefits over galleys (AFAIK). When I reach level 9 in naval technology, then I might start building warships. As for the armies, they consist of around 2 infantry for every cavalry. Pure cavalry armies are not a priority here, since there is no provinces with plains in the area. At the moment the biggest army count around 10k men.

Diplomats with insults are sent to Sweden, hoping they will DoW me. Weakening them before they get to strong in military techs is important. As many times before, I really want Nyland. As the picture below shows, Nyland border the Åland Sea. Åland Sea is gives access to 3 Swedish provinces: Finland, Gästrikland and Svealand. This is why Nyland is so important, it gives me easy access to the main Swedish provinces. Capturing Nyland will be much easier now than the last war, because the fortress was damaged during the last siege. It is only minimal now. Meanwhile a fortress is built in Karelia after successfully colonizing it.

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Åland Sea (selected)​

In 1465 infrastructure level 3 is reached. Land technology is now priority. I hope to reach LT level 5 as fast as possible, so assaulting during a siege is possible.

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Infrastructure level 3 reached in 1465​

In 1468 Lithuania DoW's Crimea again. Everybody in the alliance joins the war. As usual, I will only watch. In the east, Muscowy had annexed Tver, giving them 2 provinces (Tver and Olonets). Seeing an opportunity when the war against Crimea started (which is in a alliance with the Ottomans!), Muscowy declared war on me again.

The second war against Muscowy

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Notice the rebel army in Novgorod​

Even if the Livonian Order was rebuilding after the last war, it had a medium sized army (16k). Lithuania and Masovia went for Pskov, while I went for Olonets. The Livonian army was waiting in Estland, so it was a short way to the Muscowian provinces. Poland and Teutonic Order were busy around the Black Sea, fighting Crimea and the Ottomans. The Ottomans were too strong, so Lithuania bought them out of the war with 40 ducats, and giving them Jedisan. In Muscowy, as usual, the Livonian troops met little resistance. The siege of Olonets went fast; it fell within a year.

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Novgorod in trouble​

Muscowy had managed to capture Welika from Lithuania, while Pskov was captured by Masovia. The Lithuanian army then went for Novgorod, who had joined the war on Muscowys side. That was perhaps not the wisest move by Novgorod, since their army was wiped out by a rebel army a year earlier. Lithuania captured the province of Novgorod, and annexed them shortly after. Poland was tired of fighting in Crimea, so they went for peace. That was just in time, because Bohemia declared war on them! Their alliance consisted of Bohemia, Brandenburg, Pomerania and Kabul lol. Meanwhile I got military access from Lithuania, and decided to go for Moscow.

The main Livonian army fighting recruits in Tula. The war against Brandenburg lasted only a year​

However, Lithuania was satisfied with their new province (with a CoT), so they went for peace. Lithuania accepted peace for only 14 ducats - no Olonets for me . I tried to get Olonets from Muscowy in a separate peace, but they refused.

Even if I'm in Europes perhaps strongest alliance, it can be frustrating some times too. Not being the alliance leader make warmongering much harder. I could have fought Muscowy myself without support, but their armies is 3 times larger than mine. They got strong leaders too, which makes it almost suicide to meet them in battle. So all in all, I should be satisfied with the result. As for the alliance members, I have very good relations with all of them. Around 1460 I gave Teutonic Order a Letter of Introduction, increasing our relations to +190. I offered them to become my vassals, but they refused. I wasn't surprised, since they had a much bigger army than me (and probably better economy as well).

The Ledger is a useful tool (but I seldom use it). Some statistics after the war is shown below:

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The most surprising about the Orders losses is the few men fallen in combat. Rebel armies have been my worst enemy during the game. . The only reason I haven't lost more, must have something to do with my alliance . Lithuania is the punching bag for Muscowy, while Poland and Teutonic Order keep the Scandinavians at bay in the west. As for the economic statistics, I'm surprised over how poor Sweden is. They have almost twice as many provinces than me, yet they have less income than me. Good. The Teutonic Order has only two provinces, but they are richer than me. That's because they own a center of trade (Danzig). Ahh, I hope they will become my vassals soon. By the way, I had an inflation event, giving me 1% inflation.

 

[Olav]

The second war against Muscowy didn't go so well for Livonian Order. Even if the loss of men was minimal, not gaining new provinces isn't good. Since the Order have been passive the last years, BB isn't very high. Therefore, a plan is formed: relations with Norway is good, over +100. After the snow has melted, a declaration of war will be sent to Norway. Hopefully, Sweden and Denmark will join Norway, while Poland, Lithuania and Teutonic Order will join me. To avoid the problem of not being alliance leader, I will get a separate peace as soon as possible with Norway. Getting the unfortified provinces of Finmark and Nordland will be first priority, while the rest of my army will siege Nyland. Norway will hopefully accept peace after I've counquered their northern provinces. Then I can fight as long as I wish vs Denmark and Sweden. After Nyland is captured, I will look at sitation. If there is little/no activity around Gotland, I will try to siege that province. Well, enough talk! Lets see how the plan worked in action.

The declaration of war against Norway is on hold until Lithuania is finished with the war against Crimea. It keeps going until 1472, when Crimea signs peace by giving us 142 ducats. Checking the warexhaustion (3%), I decide to wait until it's gone. Finally, in april 1474, the time has come. Just before I pressed the button to DoW, I saw that Norway wasn't in an alliance. Since I don't want poor Norwegian provinces yet, I don't DoW them. Sweden is my main target at the moment. They have entered an alliance with Bremen and Mecklenburg, with the latter as the alliance leader. Realations with Mecklenburg is at +125, so I DoW them. Sweden and Bremen joins the war, while I decide I'm strong enough to fight them alone.

The third war against Sweden

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Nyland is sieged once again​

I follow the usual steps: My main army is sent to Nyland, while my ships blockade the port. Sweden answers quick by sending an army with a leader (Sven Sture d.ä. or something) to siege Ingermanland. However, they count only 2000 men, so I decide to take them out. The fight didn't last very long, my troops were too demoralized to fight to the bitter end. The Swedes lost more men than the Livonian army though, so a new attack is planned. While the winter is doing its work in Ingermanland, the Livonian army is sent from Estland onto the ships waiting in the Gulf of Finland. They are unloaded at the end of march, while there is still snow in Ingermanland. Due to high attrition and meeting a big army, the outnumbered Swedes are annihilated

Nyland is again sieged with 18k men. The Swedes didn't give up after losing Sven, so they send a new army to Ingermanland with 13k men. The two sieges are progressing at the same pace, but Nyland is captured first, right before the winter arrives.

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After many months in hard conditions, the Swedes didn't manage to capture Ingermanland. To make the situation worse, I send my army to fight them. The Swedes retreat to Kexholm, while I started sieging Savolaks (1479). My money started running out, and warexhaustion caused some rebels, so I wanted peace quickly. The Swedes kept refusing my offer of keeping Nyland, so the war continued. After two years of random sieging (was never successful of capturing new provinces) and small skirmishes, the Swedes decided to send their fleet against mine. That wasn't very clever by them, since I won each time they tried to attack me. The warscore increased for each won battle.

Seeing the Livonian success in Sweden, Lithuania thought it was time to go to war again. They chose Russia (Muscowy became Russia some time ago). Even if I still was in a long war vs Sweden, I accepted to honor the alliance. Fortunately, after many attempts, Sweden accepted my peaceproposal to cede me Nyland.

The 24k in Nyland is a Swedish army. I got peace right before it was recaptured​

The "war" against Mecklenburg and Bremen still continued though. In Russia, not surprisingly, I went for Olonets. Masovia and Teutonic Order also thought of that, and sent a 20k army there. Due to the high attrition, I retreated to Novgorod, trying to liberate it (it was captured by Russia some months earlier). During the siege, I got a new leader, Walther II von Plettenberg (4,4,3,0)! I quickly sent him to Olonets, stealing the almost finished siege from Teutonic Order. Ah, I love moments like that Olonets was in my hands in june 1484. The same month the war against Mecklenburg and Bremen was over; a white peace was signed. A peace with Russia will be most welcome too. I have over 10% warexhaustion, and I've lost Kurland to rebels. I have only 30 ducats in the treasury, and my army counts 5000 men. In the end of 1485 Russia agreed to give our alliance 84 ducats. Still no Olonets for me . I thought the peace would solve the problems at home, but it turns out that we're still in war with the rest of Russias alliance, with Moldova as leader. Lithuania must have seen my troubles, so they accepted 200 ducats in peace some months later. The bailiff is promoted in Nyland, while my army is liberating provinces captured by rebels.

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My alliance is helping me liberating provinces from rebels. Lithuania is getting bigger​

With the first steps of permanent foothold in Sweden, it will be easier to fight them. The current situation in Europe is shown below.

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