Splendid isolation - an English AAR

Splendid isolation - an English AAR

This will be a gameplay (as opposed to story) focussed PBM. I’ve never gotten beyond about 20 (largely peaceful) turns of ETW, so it will also represent a learning experience for me. Now that the game seems to be a relatively finished state (1.5 patch), I want to invest some time playing it. This AAR is partly to motivate me to stick at it and also, given the widespread criticism of ETW, to document the state of the game.

I will start posting screenshots, but those of the opening turns have been lost due to FRAPS failing to work for some reason.

Settings: Normal/normal. Long campaign. Prestige victory.

House rules:
1 - Naval transport: one land unit per ship
2 - Infantry recruitment: one line infantry unit per town or settlement recruitment slot.
3 - Avoid taking major factions’ capitals and initiating declarations of war.

Long term objectives:
1 - Europe: honour alliances, but avoid occupying territory on the continent and maintain a balance of power, preventing any one rival becoming too strong.
2 - The Americas: succeed with 13 colony mission and conquer most of N. America.
3 - India: become the pre-eminent power.

Prelude to War, 1700-1703


Continental Affairs: War broke out between our allies, the United Provinces, and both France and Spain. Although Holland did not request our entry into the war, sympathy for their cause was high - in part because we had fought on their side against pirates in the Caribbean in 1700. Allowing Holland to be conquered by France or Spain would not only remove a valued ally, but would also strengthen our natural rivals. Within the government, entry into the war was hotly debated: specifically landing an expeditionary force in Holland to prevent her being overrun. While her conquest would be a blow, the pragmatic arguments against entry seemed overwhelming - every aspect of the country (military, naval, financial) was unprepared for the global war it would spark. As a compromise, it was agreed to request military access to Holland and to intervene if that request was granted. Somewhat to the surprise of opponents of intervention in the Cabinet, Holland readily agreed. Consequently, General John Churchill landed in Holland with two regiments of line infantry and two of milita. (This small force constituted all the infantry in Britain.) We did not formally declare war on France or Spain, but the expeditionary force took position outside Rotterdam, hoping to peacefully obstruct passage of the Rhine by an invading army.


The Americas: Fearing it being overrun by the Huron, Rupert’s Landing was reinforced by General Henri de Massue’s forces, formerly in Ireland, and military infrastructure was hastily developed. Fortunately, no sign was seen of the Hurons.

Instead, the blow came elsewhere, as the Iroquois declared war on the 13 Colonies and quickly overran Boston. Forces in the Carribbean were rapidly mustered under the command of General Kevin McDowell and landed to lay siege to Boston in 1702. The siege was ended unexpectedly when separatist forces among the colonists expelled both the Iroquois and McDowell’s army from Boston, declaring a United States of America. Under the terms of a local agreement with the Americans, McDowell’s men were transported to Rupert’s Landing.

Separated by French lands from the 13 Colonies, McDowell’s men were left far from the action when the Americans moved to attack loyalist Albany in 1703. England declared war on the side of their protectorate and hastened to muster naval transports for McDowell’s army. But no sooner had the necessary ships been gathered than France declared war on the 13 colonies.


The Admiralty: Naval forces in the Americas were preoccupied with transporting McDowell’s army from the Caribbean to Boston, although by 1703 were en route to try to secure trade routes in Brazil.

The home flotilla of four vessels was sent to escort merchantmen to Ivory Coast, initially enjoying some success against three pirate ships. However, the discovery of a seven ship strong pirate fleet led to a decision to move on to Madagascar and perhaps the East Indies until sufficient naval reinforcements could be provided to defeat the pirates.


The Treasury: Taxes on the middle classes were lowered one notch, to encourage population growth. All hopes for economic success were placed on the construction of a merchant marine. However, due to the failure to secure safe trade spots, the Kingdom’s net income fell from 7500 to 5000 gold in 1704.


Diplomacy: Over time, trade agreements were reached with the Maratha Confederacy, the Ottoman Empire, Prussia, Russia and the Italian States.

In 1702, we declared war on Sweden when it attacked our ally Hanover. However, action to support our ally was deemed impractical.

In 1704, our ally Austria entered a state of war with Prussia, the state emerging as the dominant one in Europe. Austria did not request our aid and while obstructing the rise of Prussia may well become the main challenge for England this century, the concurrent outbreak of war with France meant it would have to be a challenge postponed for a later date.


Research: Both Oxford and Cork were converted to Schools, although the latter came at the cost of increasing unrest in already rebellious Ireland. Cambridge focussed on early enlightenment technologies, although the early death of Sir Isaac Newton slowed progress on utiliarianism. Oxford focussed on military technologies (plug bayonet) and Cork on industrial ones (farming).


Immediate challenges: England was now challenged on all fronts. Economically, she was falling into poverty. The key to financial recovery lay in securing global trade routes, but this would require defeating formidable pirate fleets. In Europe, the outbreak of war with France left Churchill’s tiny expeditionary force outside Rotterdam extraordinarily vulnerable. In the Americas, Britain’s 13 colonies were rapidly being dismembered - first by Iroquois, then rebel colonists and now the French. The only forces in the region were far away in Rupert’s landing. With a general election looming, surely the voters were unlikely to look favourably on such a dismal performance?

Nice start ... if you find time, please do update this.