YuiNES III
Update III
Years 1266-1268 A.D.
Domestic Events
The Kingdom of Sweden has made some headway in standardizing its currency after nearly a decade of expensive and intensive efforts. This increased government control in the economy has been greatly aided by the new military expenditure of the Swedish, all of course completely paid for in the new currency of the nation.
(Kingdom of Sweden; +10% Centralization, +400 Super-Florins Income)
A new religious movement has spawned in Castile, intensely anti-Jewish and Muslim. They have been supported by the influx of new cash to the clergy as a means of apology by the Castilian King. Some of the more unscrupulous clergymen have used their new funds to support these new Disciples of God, and their radical armed members. There are now groups within the Kingdom of Castile demanding the expulsion of all Mohammedans from their land and, in fact, all of Iberia herself. These radicals have found like cause with a similar group of Polish clergy and layfolk who managed to misappropriate funds intended for education and also have managed to siphon off some funds for a cathedral, currently under construction and being built in Warsaw, to finance expansion and recruitment for the Disciples of God.
(Kingdom of Castile; +1 Clergy Power and Loyalty, -1 Moors Loyalty Kingdom of Poland; +1 Clergy Loyalty)
Khan David, warlord of a faction in the Crimean Civil War, converted to Catholicism in 1266 in order to easier secure support from the Papacy in his effort to regain his fathers kingdom. Almost all of his officer corps followed his conversion and there is only a small handful of continuing holdouts to Nestorianism. Although this conversion has angered some of the Traditionalists among the Mongols, this is more than offset by the increased support coming in from the Teutonic Order and the Papacy. This was culminated in a way by the beginning of the building of a cathedral in the new capital of the new Crimean Khanate after the victory in the civil war in 1268.
(Davidians; -1 Muslim Loyalty; +400 Super-Florins to treasury)
The Hamidoglu have succeeded in recruiting more soldiers by preaching the current war as a jihad against further Greek encroachment into Anatolia and the oppression of the One True Faith. A handful of warlords on the border with the Osmanoglu have even lent their soldiers to the Hamidoglu in return for territory if the war is won.
(Hamidoglu; +5000 Levy Infantry)
In the Papal States attempts to conduct a census and eliminate the somewhat more egregiously corrupt tax officials failed outside of the larger metropolis because of the great amount of power still invested in the various regional magnates who have long simply allowed the Pope to rule over them, but not without a great deal of harassments. In Rome, Bologna, and Florence however the censuses and attempts to weed out corruption have met with some success and have increased revenues despite angering a great deal of people.
(The Papal States; +5% Centralization, +500 Super-Florins Income, -1 Interior Nobility Loyalty)
In the Marinid Caliphate a ruthless and mostly successful campaign to assassinate the bureaucrats and magnates who had been the originators of all the talk of secession went underway in these past few years. While in Algeria there is still some marginal resistance to the authority of the Caliph by a group of notable most opposition to Moroccan rule has gone underground.
(Marinid Caliphate; +1 Tunisian, Grenadian, and Tripolitanian Loyalty)
Diplomatic Events
The Swedish sold their foothold in Pomerania to the Polish in 1266 for a substantial sum. Although this has angered some of the Swedish soldierly who fought for this piece of land, no one else in Sweden really cared.
(Kingdom of Sweden; +2600 Super-Florins Treaty, -400 Super-Florins Income...Kingdom of Poland, +300 Super-Florins Income)
The former King of Connacht was successfully removed from Ireland by his former enemies, the Norwegians, in a sign of leniency and reconciliation after the war that raged across the British Isles. He has been made the administrator/lord of some minor estates in Norway under the largesse of King Magnus.
There has been a diplomatic crisis over the independence and rights of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. The Danish King sent an emissary demanding the return of the Dukes son and heir from Scotland. The Duke basically just told the Kings representative where he could shove these demands, and to add further insult shaved the head of the royal ambassador. Following this, the Danish King attempted to arrest the Duke, yet obviously this attempt failed, miserably, causing the imprisonment of the Danish lawmen. The Norwegians declared their support of the rightful and lawful reign of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his legal right to all of his domains. This has resulted in war between Norway-Scotland and Denmark, with the Danes taking first action by dispatching an occupation force intended to subdue the rebellious vassals of Schleswig and Holstein. Even the Swedes have now entered the war, proclaiming their upholding of a secret defense pact between them and the Danes.
(+Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein -3000 Super-Florins Income Denmark)
England and Brittany have managed to come to an agreement upon an alliance, with full English support of all Breton forces and cash for this weaker kingdom. It is thought that perhaps the Bretons agreed to fight with the English because they were afraid that if the French were to triumph in this war, as it seems likely at the moment, that their independence would be comprised through the renewed power of the Capetians.
(Kingdom of Brittany; French Nobility -1 Power)
Military Events
In what is perhaps the opening moves of a bid for supremacy over all of Russia, the Duke of Moscow invaded the Principality of Tver recently, hoping that this ancient state has long ago passed its expiration date. Fortunately for the Muscovites the basis of this assumption has turned out to be basically true with their forces scoring two decisive victories over Tver, at Kalyazin and on the Penza River. These victories were largely won because of the inefficiency of the Tvers military structure and their lack of decent leadership. By the end of these three years the leaders of Tver were willing to make peace, yet were not terribly conciliatory, mostly because complete Muscovite conquest of their land seems to be out of the picture for now.
(Duchy of Moscow; -1500 Infantry, -200 Cavalry, -100 Knights, +12,000 Levy Infantry Principality of Tver; -1000 Infantry, -150 Knights, +9000 Levy Infantry)
The Venetians launched a number of raids on the North African coastline this year. Eventually they were driven off by the Marinid navy and improved coastline precautions.
(Marinids; -5 Galleys, -990 Super-Florins Treasury Venice; -3 Galleys, +500 Super-Florins Treasury)
The Byzantine attempt to reconquer Anatolia has met with some success after Eretnas betrayal of their former allies the Hamidoglu. Fortunately for the Hamidoglu their military brass had already planned for a defensive stance instead of any major offensives, and the Byzantine armies found it extremely difficult to advance eastward against the massed opposition of the Turks. This was because while the Byzantines had tactical and numerical superiority supply and morale became significant issues in the interior of Asia Minor. The Byzantines were able to make headway along the coastlines, owing to their nearly uncontested naval superiority. On the eastern theatre the forces of the Eretna beylik betrayed the Hamidoglu after agreeing to an alliance with them. The forces of Eretna were destroyed in almost all the battles they attempted to fight against the considerably stronger soldiery of the Hamidoglu. The Hamidoglu are nowhere near finished, and the tables seem to already be turning in at least the eastern theater as the initial surprise of the Eretna attack is gone. War weariness is effecting all sides, yet is worst for the Byzantines, who were expecting (or at least their people did) a quick victory.
(Byzantine Empire; -1 Constantinople and Greeks Loyalty, -3000 Infantry, -2000 Levy Infantry, -100 Knights, -100 Light Cavalry Hamidoglu; -2000 Infantry, -5000 Levy Infantry, -300 Light Cavalry Eretna; +7,000 Levy Infantry, -3000 Infantry, -500 Light Cavalry)
The Kingdom of Jerusalem made a quick withdrawal from Aqaba in return for a large payment of gold so that they could better focus on repelling the attack from Damascus. The two forces collided just outside of Safed in the northern part of the kingdom. The Damascene were repelled and the two sides managed to agree to a monumental peace treaty which better defined their border and promised independence for all the minor states inhabiting the Levant.
(Kingdom of Jerusalem; -2000 Infantry, -200 Knights, +2000 Super-Florins Treasury Damascus; -2000 Infantry, -500 Cavalry)
The Crimean Civil War finally ended after a half-decade of bloodshed in the region when the Davidians managed to exterminate the pesky Khanate of Agmescit to their south. This victory was achieved because of both the numericial superiority of the Davidians but also because of the influx of specie from the Pope, Poland, and the Teutonic Order. In 1267 after a series of military defeats the Khanate of Agmescit surrendered to the forces of the Davidian just as the massive Davidian siege train was beginning to invest Agmescit proper. The victory came rather more swiftly than most expected it to. This was probably because not only was the Khanate of Agmescit having a difficult time paying their troops, it was difficult to motivate men to fight hard in a losing war against the legitimate rulers of their own nation. Notably in order to avoid imprisonment or execution the vast majority of Mongols in the armies of the Khanate of Agmescit also decided to convert to Catholicism to appease the new monarch of this Crimean Khanate. There were a handful of hold-out lords who managed to continue fighting against the restoration of the Davidians almost through 1268, yet with the help of the remaining Venetian Fleets on the Black Sea these lords were captured and are slowly being tortured to death in the dark cells of the new capital at Kherson, after being paraded through that city on an inverse crucifix for 3 days without stop. The new Crimean Khanate is indisputably a revitalized nation that will perhaps become a new center of power in Eastern Europe.
(-Khanate of Agmescit Davidians=Crimean Khanate; -50 Cavalry, -400 Infantry,+1000 Levy Infantry Kingdom of Poland; -200 Infantry, -50 Knights)
Spotlight
The Great Northern War
As the fire of war has expanded across the northern expanses of Europe, it has come to earn the moniker the Great Northern War, for the many disparate nations involved in these battles. While the balance of power has tilted both ways across the past few years, it is beginning to become apparent that at the very least, the western theater is beginning to seem to signal ominous defeat for the English. It is that front that I will begin this analysis with.
All the remaining English holdout lords in the interior of the Emerald Isle were driven out, to varying degrees of savagery, in these past three years. To help with the final push to wipe out the Pale the Scots-Norwegians began recruiting a massive army of Ireland, many of them composed of soldiers whose loyalty to Ireland is not in question, yet it is very much so in regards to the new king of the Irish. This new army of the Irish is paid out of Scottish-Norwegian coffers and supervised by Norwegian officers. By sheer weight of numbers and the defections of several magnates who either were offered potential clemency on the Irish sides or just became so disgusted with the English monarchs they surrendered any soldiers and forts under their control and attempt to return to England to depose their ruler. Victory in Ireland for the allies was achieved thusly, yet no one knows if the unification and liberation of nearly all of Ireland will last, or if it will be the glorious new dawn for the Irish people that the new rulers promise.
(Kingdom of Ireland; -45,000 Levy Infantry, -300 Infantry Kingdom of Scotland-Norway; +8,000 Levy Infantry, , -500 Infantry, -50 Knights Kingdom of England; -24,000 Levy Infantry, -3000 Infantry, -250 Knights)
If we are to return to Britain proper the Scots and Norwegians staged a relief of nearly all forts either captured or currently invested by the English. The balance of forces on the border of Scotland and England is beginning to shift towards the coalition forces, as due to various other setbacks the English are forced to divert their forces to several fronts. Not the least of which is the recently discontented Wales, which has been agitated foremost by the new Army of Wales drawn up by the Norwegians. This army is composed of Welsh prisoners and defectors picked up by the Norwegians in Ireland. While the Welsh rebellions have been crushed with no exception by the overwhelming English forces it has, combined with the growing dissent of the lower nobility, succeeded in making quite a tumult of English internal politics. Separate from the King, anyone who was anybody in English power politics convened a council in Plymouth regarding what the various magnates course of action should be regarding the King and his stubborn refusal to end any of his both extremely costly and losing wars. While the conclusions of the council were that the King should be supported and only nudged in the direction of peace a group of malcontents convened their own new convention at Cornwall and decided that open rebellion against their treacherous and thoroughly mad king was the only logical conclusion. An alliance of barons has even gotten their own pretender to the throne, a cousin of the current king. This pretender Baldwin has quite a lot of work to do yet if he wishes to claim the throne though, as he is as now forced to simply flee from castle to castle from the English forces in what may have been an ill-thought attempt to grab the throne. No territories are truly his yet, but this is a fledgling rebellion. In the singular bright spot for the English on this front the Norwegian raids on their coastline have been mostly repulsed by the English fleet, but the few that managed to land successfully did do some damage.
(Kingdom of Norway-Scotland; -1,500 Levy Infantry, -50 Knights, -200 Infantry , -15 Levied Boats Kingdom of England; +1000 Levy Infantry, -2,000 Infantry, -400 Knights, -30 Levied Boats, -10% Centralization, +rebellions)
Due to the amount of English forces deployed off the coast of England proper between the French and the other coalition members the English Channel has basically become controlled by the alliance members against England preventing the reinforcement of English forces in Normandy and other places in France to an extent. In the south the French forces managed to force the surrender of the remaining English garrisons of the border castles but a large number of Englishmen managed to retreat into allied Navarre and due to (as of right now) French unwillingness to invade Navarre they have managed to continue conducting raids into French territory and kill any they see as collaborators with the alleged occupiers of the rightfully English Gascony. A not insignificant number of English nobles in Normandy have surrendered not so much because of the hopelessness of their cause but their disgust with King Edward. There havent been any massive battles as most of the English forces have adopted a perhaps misguided defensive poise forcing the French to make costly offensives. The Bretons also invaded into France but were generally repulsed.
(Kingdom of France; +3000 Levy Infantry, -1,500 Infantry, -300 Knights, --40 Levied Boats Kingdom of Brittany; +16,000 Levied Infantry, -500 Infantry, -50 Knights, +30 Levied Boats, -5 Galleys Kingdom of England; +2,000 Levy Infantry, -1000 Infantry, -50 Knights, -40 Levied Boats, -2 Galleys)
In the final front to be covered, Sweden has entered the war in a somewhat limited sense as they have rushed to defend their Danish allies. Well perhaps rushed isnt the correct word, for while the Swedish government blustered for some time about the rights of national sovereignty and how, unless the Norwegians immediately withdrew support for Schleswig-Holstein, it would be war, the Norwegians wasted no time in immediately invading into Sweden without a true declaration on either side. The Norwegians quickly sent a column into Sweden ravaging around their heartland and taking a heart amount of loot to boot. Thereafter Norwegian intelligence managed to surmise from captured messengers and rumor that the Swedes would attempt to strike southwards of the Vattern Lake. They did, and were essentially ignored by the Norwegian armies. The Norwegians struck north and raided around Stockholm and threatened to take Uppsala. Eventually they ignored Uppsala and progressed to now making threatening motions around Stockholm and have forced the movement of a number of the main Swedish Army northwards, away from their thrust into Norwegian territory. Meanwhile, in Denmark the Danes made serious headway into Schleswig-Holstein but also managed to seriously underestimate the power of the forces that could be levied by the rebellious duke. There have been calls across the Empire for the Danes to respect the sovereignty of their rebellious vassal, which have as of right now been ignored.
(Kingdom of Norway-Scotland; -2000 Levy Infantry, -100 Knights, -10 Levied Boats, +5000 Levy Cavalry, 2000 Super-Florins (Treasury)..Kingdom of Sweden; +24,000 Levy Infantry, -1000 Infantry, -200 Knights, +40 Levied Boats, -5 Cogs, -3000 Super-Florins (Income) Kingdom of Denmark; +15,000 Levy Infantry, -500 Infantry, -50 Knights, +30 Levied Boats +Duchy of Schleswig Holstein)
Whispers from the Orient
The Khan of the Ilkhanate passed away this year, leaving the succession up to his brother Matthew. Matthew is a much more conciliatory figure than his siblings and predecessors and is already making attempts to restore relations between the various disparate Mongol successor states. There have even been diplomats sent to the court of the Yuan and a small chapel for the worship of Nestorianism for visiting subjects of the Ilkhanate.
The Coromandel Empire has subdued all rebellions across Ceylon and has entered into a series of proxy conflicts with the Sultanate of Delhi to their north. Thus far the allies of Coromandel have largely experience the most success with the centuries long grip of the Delhi appears to be slipping across the subcontinent.
The last Mongolian hold-outs have finally given allegiance to Beijing after the massive Chinese armies crushed any remaining resistance in the hinterlands of their vast empire. After nearly seventy years of separation Mongolia has been reattached to the Yuan Empire. The Yuan Empire is now the largest Chinese kingdom ever, reaching from Japan to Nepal.
Final Notes & Diplomacy
I AM GOING TO TIDY THINGS UP MORE LATER
This is directed at a couple of you. If you want to have a chance at winning, or hell even having modest success is a NES you MUST include provisional plans in case of the most likely things (i.e. wars) that may occur to your nation. This is fundamental
I have not received orders for two consecutive turns from Kraznaya, Azale, and Karalysia. I hope Karalysia will be able to just create another DL or something so he can re-join, but as of right now everyone above is being NPCd. If any of the above simply are quitting it upsets me that no one can just say so, in order that I can be aware and make plans for their absence.
I am sorry about the tardiness of this update. Unfortunate real-life circumstances, combined with a little laziness forced the week-long delay. But its not as if this is uncommon by any stretch of the imagination.
This would be a great time to jump in for anyone still interested in playing. I remember Agent 89 wanted to rejoin, but perhaps he changed his mind.
As school is starting and I am playing football it will become difficult to try and pursue a one-update-a-week sort of deal. Thusly, I am now changing the schedule so that from today, the players will have ten days in which to send orders, and I give myself four days to hopefully complete the update on time. I apologize for the fact that this will slow down the pace of the NES but I find it to be necessary if we are to attempt any sort of regularity in updating.
From: Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein
To: Kingdom of Norway-Scotland
Hail friends! Please send aid, we are in desperate need. The perfidious Danes press upon us, and as a new nation we lack many of the resources to draw up the men we need.
From: The Kingdom of England
To: France
We propose a peace at borders ante bellum.
Update III
Years 1266-1268 A.D.
Domestic Events
The Kingdom of Sweden has made some headway in standardizing its currency after nearly a decade of expensive and intensive efforts. This increased government control in the economy has been greatly aided by the new military expenditure of the Swedish, all of course completely paid for in the new currency of the nation.
(Kingdom of Sweden; +10% Centralization, +400 Super-Florins Income)
A new religious movement has spawned in Castile, intensely anti-Jewish and Muslim. They have been supported by the influx of new cash to the clergy as a means of apology by the Castilian King. Some of the more unscrupulous clergymen have used their new funds to support these new Disciples of God, and their radical armed members. There are now groups within the Kingdom of Castile demanding the expulsion of all Mohammedans from their land and, in fact, all of Iberia herself. These radicals have found like cause with a similar group of Polish clergy and layfolk who managed to misappropriate funds intended for education and also have managed to siphon off some funds for a cathedral, currently under construction and being built in Warsaw, to finance expansion and recruitment for the Disciples of God.
(Kingdom of Castile; +1 Clergy Power and Loyalty, -1 Moors Loyalty Kingdom of Poland; +1 Clergy Loyalty)
Khan David, warlord of a faction in the Crimean Civil War, converted to Catholicism in 1266 in order to easier secure support from the Papacy in his effort to regain his fathers kingdom. Almost all of his officer corps followed his conversion and there is only a small handful of continuing holdouts to Nestorianism. Although this conversion has angered some of the Traditionalists among the Mongols, this is more than offset by the increased support coming in from the Teutonic Order and the Papacy. This was culminated in a way by the beginning of the building of a cathedral in the new capital of the new Crimean Khanate after the victory in the civil war in 1268.
(Davidians; -1 Muslim Loyalty; +400 Super-Florins to treasury)
The Hamidoglu have succeeded in recruiting more soldiers by preaching the current war as a jihad against further Greek encroachment into Anatolia and the oppression of the One True Faith. A handful of warlords on the border with the Osmanoglu have even lent their soldiers to the Hamidoglu in return for territory if the war is won.
(Hamidoglu; +5000 Levy Infantry)
In the Papal States attempts to conduct a census and eliminate the somewhat more egregiously corrupt tax officials failed outside of the larger metropolis because of the great amount of power still invested in the various regional magnates who have long simply allowed the Pope to rule over them, but not without a great deal of harassments. In Rome, Bologna, and Florence however the censuses and attempts to weed out corruption have met with some success and have increased revenues despite angering a great deal of people.
(The Papal States; +5% Centralization, +500 Super-Florins Income, -1 Interior Nobility Loyalty)
In the Marinid Caliphate a ruthless and mostly successful campaign to assassinate the bureaucrats and magnates who had been the originators of all the talk of secession went underway in these past few years. While in Algeria there is still some marginal resistance to the authority of the Caliph by a group of notable most opposition to Moroccan rule has gone underground.
(Marinid Caliphate; +1 Tunisian, Grenadian, and Tripolitanian Loyalty)
Diplomatic Events
The Swedish sold their foothold in Pomerania to the Polish in 1266 for a substantial sum. Although this has angered some of the Swedish soldierly who fought for this piece of land, no one else in Sweden really cared.
(Kingdom of Sweden; +2600 Super-Florins Treaty, -400 Super-Florins Income...Kingdom of Poland, +300 Super-Florins Income)
The former King of Connacht was successfully removed from Ireland by his former enemies, the Norwegians, in a sign of leniency and reconciliation after the war that raged across the British Isles. He has been made the administrator/lord of some minor estates in Norway under the largesse of King Magnus.
There has been a diplomatic crisis over the independence and rights of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein. The Danish King sent an emissary demanding the return of the Dukes son and heir from Scotland. The Duke basically just told the Kings representative where he could shove these demands, and to add further insult shaved the head of the royal ambassador. Following this, the Danish King attempted to arrest the Duke, yet obviously this attempt failed, miserably, causing the imprisonment of the Danish lawmen. The Norwegians declared their support of the rightful and lawful reign of the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and his legal right to all of his domains. This has resulted in war between Norway-Scotland and Denmark, with the Danes taking first action by dispatching an occupation force intended to subdue the rebellious vassals of Schleswig and Holstein. Even the Swedes have now entered the war, proclaiming their upholding of a secret defense pact between them and the Danes.
(+Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein -3000 Super-Florins Income Denmark)
England and Brittany have managed to come to an agreement upon an alliance, with full English support of all Breton forces and cash for this weaker kingdom. It is thought that perhaps the Bretons agreed to fight with the English because they were afraid that if the French were to triumph in this war, as it seems likely at the moment, that their independence would be comprised through the renewed power of the Capetians.
(Kingdom of Brittany; French Nobility -1 Power)
Military Events
In what is perhaps the opening moves of a bid for supremacy over all of Russia, the Duke of Moscow invaded the Principality of Tver recently, hoping that this ancient state has long ago passed its expiration date. Fortunately for the Muscovites the basis of this assumption has turned out to be basically true with their forces scoring two decisive victories over Tver, at Kalyazin and on the Penza River. These victories were largely won because of the inefficiency of the Tvers military structure and their lack of decent leadership. By the end of these three years the leaders of Tver were willing to make peace, yet were not terribly conciliatory, mostly because complete Muscovite conquest of their land seems to be out of the picture for now.
(Duchy of Moscow; -1500 Infantry, -200 Cavalry, -100 Knights, +12,000 Levy Infantry Principality of Tver; -1000 Infantry, -150 Knights, +9000 Levy Infantry)
The Venetians launched a number of raids on the North African coastline this year. Eventually they were driven off by the Marinid navy and improved coastline precautions.
(Marinids; -5 Galleys, -990 Super-Florins Treasury Venice; -3 Galleys, +500 Super-Florins Treasury)
The Byzantine attempt to reconquer Anatolia has met with some success after Eretnas betrayal of their former allies the Hamidoglu. Fortunately for the Hamidoglu their military brass had already planned for a defensive stance instead of any major offensives, and the Byzantine armies found it extremely difficult to advance eastward against the massed opposition of the Turks. This was because while the Byzantines had tactical and numerical superiority supply and morale became significant issues in the interior of Asia Minor. The Byzantines were able to make headway along the coastlines, owing to their nearly uncontested naval superiority. On the eastern theatre the forces of the Eretna beylik betrayed the Hamidoglu after agreeing to an alliance with them. The forces of Eretna were destroyed in almost all the battles they attempted to fight against the considerably stronger soldiery of the Hamidoglu. The Hamidoglu are nowhere near finished, and the tables seem to already be turning in at least the eastern theater as the initial surprise of the Eretna attack is gone. War weariness is effecting all sides, yet is worst for the Byzantines, who were expecting (or at least their people did) a quick victory.
(Byzantine Empire; -1 Constantinople and Greeks Loyalty, -3000 Infantry, -2000 Levy Infantry, -100 Knights, -100 Light Cavalry Hamidoglu; -2000 Infantry, -5000 Levy Infantry, -300 Light Cavalry Eretna; +7,000 Levy Infantry, -3000 Infantry, -500 Light Cavalry)
The Kingdom of Jerusalem made a quick withdrawal from Aqaba in return for a large payment of gold so that they could better focus on repelling the attack from Damascus. The two forces collided just outside of Safed in the northern part of the kingdom. The Damascene were repelled and the two sides managed to agree to a monumental peace treaty which better defined their border and promised independence for all the minor states inhabiting the Levant.
(Kingdom of Jerusalem; -2000 Infantry, -200 Knights, +2000 Super-Florins Treasury Damascus; -2000 Infantry, -500 Cavalry)
The Crimean Civil War finally ended after a half-decade of bloodshed in the region when the Davidians managed to exterminate the pesky Khanate of Agmescit to their south. This victory was achieved because of both the numericial superiority of the Davidians but also because of the influx of specie from the Pope, Poland, and the Teutonic Order. In 1267 after a series of military defeats the Khanate of Agmescit surrendered to the forces of the Davidian just as the massive Davidian siege train was beginning to invest Agmescit proper. The victory came rather more swiftly than most expected it to. This was probably because not only was the Khanate of Agmescit having a difficult time paying their troops, it was difficult to motivate men to fight hard in a losing war against the legitimate rulers of their own nation. Notably in order to avoid imprisonment or execution the vast majority of Mongols in the armies of the Khanate of Agmescit also decided to convert to Catholicism to appease the new monarch of this Crimean Khanate. There were a handful of hold-out lords who managed to continue fighting against the restoration of the Davidians almost through 1268, yet with the help of the remaining Venetian Fleets on the Black Sea these lords were captured and are slowly being tortured to death in the dark cells of the new capital at Kherson, after being paraded through that city on an inverse crucifix for 3 days without stop. The new Crimean Khanate is indisputably a revitalized nation that will perhaps become a new center of power in Eastern Europe.
(-Khanate of Agmescit Davidians=Crimean Khanate; -50 Cavalry, -400 Infantry,+1000 Levy Infantry Kingdom of Poland; -200 Infantry, -50 Knights)
Spotlight
The Great Northern War
As the fire of war has expanded across the northern expanses of Europe, it has come to earn the moniker the Great Northern War, for the many disparate nations involved in these battles. While the balance of power has tilted both ways across the past few years, it is beginning to become apparent that at the very least, the western theater is beginning to seem to signal ominous defeat for the English. It is that front that I will begin this analysis with.
All the remaining English holdout lords in the interior of the Emerald Isle were driven out, to varying degrees of savagery, in these past three years. To help with the final push to wipe out the Pale the Scots-Norwegians began recruiting a massive army of Ireland, many of them composed of soldiers whose loyalty to Ireland is not in question, yet it is very much so in regards to the new king of the Irish. This new army of the Irish is paid out of Scottish-Norwegian coffers and supervised by Norwegian officers. By sheer weight of numbers and the defections of several magnates who either were offered potential clemency on the Irish sides or just became so disgusted with the English monarchs they surrendered any soldiers and forts under their control and attempt to return to England to depose their ruler. Victory in Ireland for the allies was achieved thusly, yet no one knows if the unification and liberation of nearly all of Ireland will last, or if it will be the glorious new dawn for the Irish people that the new rulers promise.
(Kingdom of Ireland; -45,000 Levy Infantry, -300 Infantry Kingdom of Scotland-Norway; +8,000 Levy Infantry, , -500 Infantry, -50 Knights Kingdom of England; -24,000 Levy Infantry, -3000 Infantry, -250 Knights)
If we are to return to Britain proper the Scots and Norwegians staged a relief of nearly all forts either captured or currently invested by the English. The balance of forces on the border of Scotland and England is beginning to shift towards the coalition forces, as due to various other setbacks the English are forced to divert their forces to several fronts. Not the least of which is the recently discontented Wales, which has been agitated foremost by the new Army of Wales drawn up by the Norwegians. This army is composed of Welsh prisoners and defectors picked up by the Norwegians in Ireland. While the Welsh rebellions have been crushed with no exception by the overwhelming English forces it has, combined with the growing dissent of the lower nobility, succeeded in making quite a tumult of English internal politics. Separate from the King, anyone who was anybody in English power politics convened a council in Plymouth regarding what the various magnates course of action should be regarding the King and his stubborn refusal to end any of his both extremely costly and losing wars. While the conclusions of the council were that the King should be supported and only nudged in the direction of peace a group of malcontents convened their own new convention at Cornwall and decided that open rebellion against their treacherous and thoroughly mad king was the only logical conclusion. An alliance of barons has even gotten their own pretender to the throne, a cousin of the current king. This pretender Baldwin has quite a lot of work to do yet if he wishes to claim the throne though, as he is as now forced to simply flee from castle to castle from the English forces in what may have been an ill-thought attempt to grab the throne. No territories are truly his yet, but this is a fledgling rebellion. In the singular bright spot for the English on this front the Norwegian raids on their coastline have been mostly repulsed by the English fleet, but the few that managed to land successfully did do some damage.
(Kingdom of Norway-Scotland; -1,500 Levy Infantry, -50 Knights, -200 Infantry , -15 Levied Boats Kingdom of England; +1000 Levy Infantry, -2,000 Infantry, -400 Knights, -30 Levied Boats, -10% Centralization, +rebellions)
Due to the amount of English forces deployed off the coast of England proper between the French and the other coalition members the English Channel has basically become controlled by the alliance members against England preventing the reinforcement of English forces in Normandy and other places in France to an extent. In the south the French forces managed to force the surrender of the remaining English garrisons of the border castles but a large number of Englishmen managed to retreat into allied Navarre and due to (as of right now) French unwillingness to invade Navarre they have managed to continue conducting raids into French territory and kill any they see as collaborators with the alleged occupiers of the rightfully English Gascony. A not insignificant number of English nobles in Normandy have surrendered not so much because of the hopelessness of their cause but their disgust with King Edward. There havent been any massive battles as most of the English forces have adopted a perhaps misguided defensive poise forcing the French to make costly offensives. The Bretons also invaded into France but were generally repulsed.
(Kingdom of France; +3000 Levy Infantry, -1,500 Infantry, -300 Knights, --40 Levied Boats Kingdom of Brittany; +16,000 Levied Infantry, -500 Infantry, -50 Knights, +30 Levied Boats, -5 Galleys Kingdom of England; +2,000 Levy Infantry, -1000 Infantry, -50 Knights, -40 Levied Boats, -2 Galleys)
In the final front to be covered, Sweden has entered the war in a somewhat limited sense as they have rushed to defend their Danish allies. Well perhaps rushed isnt the correct word, for while the Swedish government blustered for some time about the rights of national sovereignty and how, unless the Norwegians immediately withdrew support for Schleswig-Holstein, it would be war, the Norwegians wasted no time in immediately invading into Sweden without a true declaration on either side. The Norwegians quickly sent a column into Sweden ravaging around their heartland and taking a heart amount of loot to boot. Thereafter Norwegian intelligence managed to surmise from captured messengers and rumor that the Swedes would attempt to strike southwards of the Vattern Lake. They did, and were essentially ignored by the Norwegian armies. The Norwegians struck north and raided around Stockholm and threatened to take Uppsala. Eventually they ignored Uppsala and progressed to now making threatening motions around Stockholm and have forced the movement of a number of the main Swedish Army northwards, away from their thrust into Norwegian territory. Meanwhile, in Denmark the Danes made serious headway into Schleswig-Holstein but also managed to seriously underestimate the power of the forces that could be levied by the rebellious duke. There have been calls across the Empire for the Danes to respect the sovereignty of their rebellious vassal, which have as of right now been ignored.
(Kingdom of Norway-Scotland; -2000 Levy Infantry, -100 Knights, -10 Levied Boats, +5000 Levy Cavalry, 2000 Super-Florins (Treasury)..Kingdom of Sweden; +24,000 Levy Infantry, -1000 Infantry, -200 Knights, +40 Levied Boats, -5 Cogs, -3000 Super-Florins (Income) Kingdom of Denmark; +15,000 Levy Infantry, -500 Infantry, -50 Knights, +30 Levied Boats +Duchy of Schleswig Holstein)
Whispers from the Orient
The Khan of the Ilkhanate passed away this year, leaving the succession up to his brother Matthew. Matthew is a much more conciliatory figure than his siblings and predecessors and is already making attempts to restore relations between the various disparate Mongol successor states. There have even been diplomats sent to the court of the Yuan and a small chapel for the worship of Nestorianism for visiting subjects of the Ilkhanate.
The Coromandel Empire has subdued all rebellions across Ceylon and has entered into a series of proxy conflicts with the Sultanate of Delhi to their north. Thus far the allies of Coromandel have largely experience the most success with the centuries long grip of the Delhi appears to be slipping across the subcontinent.
The last Mongolian hold-outs have finally given allegiance to Beijing after the massive Chinese armies crushed any remaining resistance in the hinterlands of their vast empire. After nearly seventy years of separation Mongolia has been reattached to the Yuan Empire. The Yuan Empire is now the largest Chinese kingdom ever, reaching from Japan to Nepal.
Final Notes & Diplomacy
I AM GOING TO TIDY THINGS UP MORE LATER
This is directed at a couple of you. If you want to have a chance at winning, or hell even having modest success is a NES you MUST include provisional plans in case of the most likely things (i.e. wars) that may occur to your nation. This is fundamental
I have not received orders for two consecutive turns from Kraznaya, Azale, and Karalysia. I hope Karalysia will be able to just create another DL or something so he can re-join, but as of right now everyone above is being NPCd. If any of the above simply are quitting it upsets me that no one can just say so, in order that I can be aware and make plans for their absence.
I am sorry about the tardiness of this update. Unfortunate real-life circumstances, combined with a little laziness forced the week-long delay. But its not as if this is uncommon by any stretch of the imagination.
This would be a great time to jump in for anyone still interested in playing. I remember Agent 89 wanted to rejoin, but perhaps he changed his mind.
As school is starting and I am playing football it will become difficult to try and pursue a one-update-a-week sort of deal. Thusly, I am now changing the schedule so that from today, the players will have ten days in which to send orders, and I give myself four days to hopefully complete the update on time. I apologize for the fact that this will slow down the pace of the NES but I find it to be necessary if we are to attempt any sort of regularity in updating.
From: Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein
To: Kingdom of Norway-Scotland
Hail friends! Please send aid, we are in desperate need. The perfidious Danes press upon us, and as a new nation we lack many of the resources to draw up the men we need.
From: The Kingdom of England
To: France
We propose a peace at borders ante bellum.
