17th century

[Rodion Romanovich]

17th century

This is a multiple players alternate history, where the decisions are made primarily by posting here, but also to some extent by PM. The first turn the players will also need to do research about their factions, if needed with each others' assistance. The outcome of actions is decided at the end of each chapter/turn. Rules and more details about the system is listed at the bottom of this post.




PROLOGUE

The year is 1609. After the defeat of the Armada and the de facto independence of the Netherlands, Spain is no longer the major power in Europe. England has through diplomacy and warfare successfully prevented many invasions and with it's colonies and fleet become a power of considerable importance after a century of internal problems. The newly independent Netherlands have developed very effective trade and is a flourishing nation with an untraditional power structure, open-mindedness to trade and an effective fleet, but with limited offensive capabilities. The Holy roman empire is comparatively stable, even though many external threats are in the process of building up. Russia has gone from being a number of smaller principalities occupied by mongols to, under the leadership of Muscovy, become a large empire intent on expanding further west. The Ottoman empire might be expanding well inland, but their naval domination has been limited since the battle of Lepanto many decades earlier.

It is a time when many nations are about equal in power, but also a time of instability where the strategies of the leaders could have huge consequences and make one nation insignificant, while another becomes an empire.

Map of 1600 AD: http://www.euratlas.com/big/big1600.htm

Tasks for this turn:
1. first choose a faction to play as (examples: Denmark, England, France, HRE, Netherlands, Ottoman empire, Papacy, Poland, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Sweden). After choosing faction, make a post in this thread to reserve that faction. The first who posts that he wants a certain faction gets that faction.

2. make some research about your faction. This information will be available to all players, and is later to be used to plan your strategies. The knowledge about what happened after 1609 is supposed to be used to better understand the present situation in 1609, not to be abused as hindsight - I'll deliberately lay out the story in a way that prevents hindsight that couldn't have been known at the time from having any effect (after the first chapters it'll become clear what I mean by this). Things to research:
a. name of your leader, and of the living heirs of your leader
b. your current alliances in 1609. Look at which alliances were broken in the coming 50 years and why, to try and find information about the nature and strength of the alliances at this time
c. current pacts/leagues (with pact I mean a bunch of nations all in alliance with each others, the pacts must also be public whereas alliances can be of a more secret character)
d. current wars that your nation is engaged in
e. regions that historically rebelled against your nation during the period 1609 to around 1648, and why. Did any of the rebellions happen at critical times during wars with outside nations, or did the rebellions for other reasons have greater effect than their military strength alone would imply?
f. a list of the major military campaigns, crucial economical conflicts and other major events during the period 1609 to around 1648 for your nation
g. in 1609, how is your army organized? how many men are available through conscription? how many men constitute a standing army? what equipment and training have they got? how is the quality of the artillery? and how did these things change in the coming 50 years?
h. how well is your nation doing economically? are you in debt or is the economy flourishing? which are the key strategic locations that gives you income? tax, trade routes/tolls, farming or industries?
i. which countries are your major trading partners at this time and what products do they buy/sell from/to you?
j. how centralized is rule? what is your role as leader? military defender of your people? reformer? if your rule isn't centralized, is local unhappiness most directed towards you or the local rulers?
k. what is your leader's religion? what is the stance of different religions in your nation - acceptance, tolerance, non-tolerance or persecution?
l. what's the social situation for farmers, workers etc.? are they in a position to rebel over their social situations?
m. are there any provinces of your nation that are eager to break off and form an own country? i.e. Portugal for Spain etc.


PLAYERS

Here the players commanding the nations will be listed for reference when during play you need to contact them by PM for diplomatic deals.
Brandenburg - Warluster (previously: Csar, King of Atlantis)
Denmark - played by me (previously: Orb) (Christian IV)
England - King Kurt (James I)
France - Franconius (Louis XIII)
HRE and Austria - Bopa the Magyar (Ferdinand von Böhmen)
Netherlands - Kagemusha
Ottoman empire - Randarkmaan
Papacy - played by me
Poland - Marshal Murat (Sigismund III Vasa)
Russia - IrishArmenian (Vasili IV)
Spain - SwordsMaster (Philippe III)
Sweden - Destroyer of Hope (Gustav II Adolph)
Transylvania - played by me (previously: Silver Rusher) (Gabor Béthlen)
Venice - Ignoramus


RULES/INFO ABOUT HOW THE INTERACTIVE WORKS

- Your objectives: the objective is to achieve as much as possible in all these fields: conquest of provinces, conquest of strategic positions, strengthening the economy and controlling trade, having an appearance of strength and determination to outside threats by successfully defending and counter-attacking aggressors, have a good diplomatic rumor, and help spread whatever religion you choose. All these factors will be added together and the factions which achieved most in all these aspects will be winners by the end of the game.

- First turn - in the prologue turn you'll not make any decisions but only do research about your faction.

- How to play - every turn, I'll list questions about the most relevant matters for the player to decide about. However, each turn it's also possible to decide about things that aren't listed under that turn. Examples of things that you can decide are listed here for reference during the game:
* thing made publicly in this thread:
a. declaring war
b. hiring mercenaries
c. propaganda - if your nation wants to use propaganda actions it's posted as a public proclamation in the public thread. This can also be a general call for, say "the Catholic cause" etc. but also actions for your own population. Normal actions that aren't explicit propaganda can also have propaganda effects.
d. choosing stance on religion, and the leader's religion - this will affect relations with the pope, relations with other countries, relations with local rulers etc.
* things made by sending a PM to me that turn (sometimes this information risks to leak out to the public forum):
e. reorganizing your army - this is made by PM, but info will leak out
f. diplomatic discussions - it'll always leak out that a meeting has taken place, but very seldom what was said during the meeting, unless the two parts wish to make an official proclamation as result of the meeting. Because some of the diplomatic correspondence can leak out, try to make the PMs with historical phrasing, and it's also a good reason to, even if you're planning on backstabbing, not expressing such things too explicitly in the PMs... The diplomatic discussion in a turn may only be carried out as a series of max 3 PMs, i.e. 1. offer, 2. counter-offer/accept/decline, 3. accept/decline/counter-offer to consider for next turn/suggest discussions continue next turn. The reason for this rule is to make the discussion fast enough to not delay chapters, but also to simulate some of the difficulties of diplomatic discussion and not make the diplomacy an overly effective tool. The PMs from the correspondence should be sent to me by PM each turn so I know which deals took place so I can determine the outcome of the turn.
g. choosing where to launch offensives and which tactics and key targets to use - you're allowed make very complex strategies with conditional plans and diversions etc. Just remember it must be logistically feasible within the length of the chapter. Also remember that pushing soldiers too hard can result in undisciplined behavior, mutiny and desertion etc.
h. starting war without formal declaration
i. determining what to do about rebels - you decide which and how many troops, what tactics they are to use etc. I'll ask more specific questions and give the suitable player options for how to act when a rebellion takes place
j. choosing whether to use your own leader in combat - using the leader in combat can boost morale, but also keeps him away from home which may be tempting to some rebels, and it also puts him at the risk of dying in action. If the leader has gone to the front, the other nations will know it before long through hints in the public thread (this thread).
* other decisions:
k. you can decide about almost anything you can think of that isn't very historically unlikely, say send away mercenaries without pay, choose whether to kill prisoners of war or not, etc. etc. Those decisions can be sent to me by PM. Bear in mind that every character affected by your decisions has some form of power which he can use against you.

- NOTE! My PM box is of limited size so please try to stuff all the decisions that need to be sent to me by PM into a single PM if possible.


CURRENT STATUS

chapter 12 in progress

[cegorach]

If anyone needs information about Poland PM me.

I dare say I know everything about this period of history

[Franconicus]

Very interesting! I have to re-read it, though

[Rodion Romanovich]

Thank you!

I'm already planning the first chapter, so I hope there'll be enough players. Three would be a bit too few, five to thirteen would be perfect.

[SwordsMaster]

I'll take Spain if thats ok. I dare say I know everything about Spain in this period.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Yes it's ok, since you were the first to wish to lead Spain your wish is granted

[SwordsMaster]

Yes it's ok, since you were the first to wish to lead Spain your wish is granted

Cool. I'll come back to you later with the relevant info. It will be a loong post

[Marshal Murat]

I'll take the Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Ok, I'm adding you to the player list above

[SwordsMaster]

The Spanish Habsburg Empire A decent overview

Ruler: Philippe III (Biography)

Heir: Philippe IV (succeeded in 1621)

Prime minister: Duke of Lerma (Biography)


Lerma, a financial wizard, succeeded in turning Spain’s account books around and made himself one of the richest men in Europe with a fortune of some 44 million thalers, Lerma’s personal success attracted enemies and well-founded allegations of corruption; in 1618, the king replaced him with Don Balthasar de Zúñiga. While the Duke of Lerma (and to a large extent Philip III) had been disinterested in the affairs of their ally, Austria, Zúñiga was a veteran ambassador to Vienna and believed that the key to restraining the resurgent French and eliminating the Dutch was a closer alliance with Habsburg Austria.


Army Organisation:

Wiki Tercio

Tercio



Economic & military situation

Faced with wars against England, France, and the Netherlands, each led by extraordinarily capable leaders, already-bankrupted Spain was outmatched. Struggling with continuing piracy against its shipping in the Atlantic and the disruption of its vital gold shipments from the New World, Spain was forced to admit bankruptcy again in 1596. The Spanish attempted to extricate themselves from the several conflicts they were involved in, first signing the Treaty of Vervins with France in 1598, recognizing Henry IV (since 1593 a Catholic) as king of France, and restoring many of the stipulations of the previous Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis. A treaty with England was agreed upon in 1604, following the accession of the more tractable Stuart King James I.

Peace with England and France implied that Spain could focus her energies on restoring her rule to the Dutch provinces. The Dutch, led by Maurice of Nassau, the son of William the Silent and perhaps the greatest strategist of his time, had succeeded in taking a number of border cities since 1590, including the fortress of Breda. Following the peace with England, the new Spanish commander Ambrosio Spinola pressed hard against the Dutch. Spinola, a general of abilities to match Maurice, was prevented from conquering the Netherlands only by Spain’s renewed bankruptcy in 1607. Faced with ruined finances, in 1609, the Twelve Years' Truce was signed between Spain and the United Provinces.




In 1618 Spain got involved into the european 30 years war, but by 1640, with the tensions generated by the war, Portugal and Catalunya rebelled. While the rebellion in Catalunya could be supressed, Portugal was lost to the Crown forever.


Political Goals:
The Habsburg political goals were several:

*Access to American (gold, silver, sugar) and Asian products (porcelain, spices, silk)
*Undermining the power of France and containing it in its eastern borders.
*Maintaining Catholic Habsburg hegemony in Germany, defending Catholicism against the Reformation
*Defending Europe against Islam, notably the Ottoman Empire.


To be updated

[IrishArmenian]

Muscovy. I orijinally looked at the map and thought "I'm going to be Munster." though I was incorrect. Will get research soon.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Interesting choice! The difficult question is who you will actually play as during "The time of troubles", when Muscovy was essentially in a chaotic state of rivarly between different throne pretenders... You could choose between:
- the Romanovs, which didn't get power until in 1613
- Vasili IV who in 1609 was the official tsar but had little support
- False Dmitry II the second throne pretender to pretend to be the son (who was in reality murdered) of Ivan the terrible

Edit: I would recommend playing as the Romanovs, because the major power at this time is the Duma and the boyars, and the Romanovs are at this time fairly popular among the boyars, something that had part in their later acquisition of the Tsar title, a title which they also kept by remaining popular among the boyars - for example asking the Duma and the boyars for advice in many of the most controversial and difficult questions. If you play as the Romanovs, initially you don't have any nation to command directly, but you'll indirectly affect the fate of Muscovy by suggesting things benefitial for Muscovy to the Duma, until being able to defeat the other pretenders - especially the ones with foreign support - and gain the tsar title.

Playing as the other pretenders could be interesting and challenging, however. False Dmitry II has backup from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and was a very educated and interesting character who had much success initially, while Vasili IV around 1609 officially has the title of tsar and a fairly skilled and popular general in his cousin Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky, and perhaps a possbility of gaining more support from the boyars by making clever political decisions.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Small announcement: New players will still be allowed to join the interactive until I've posted the 3rd chapter.

[Marshal Murat]

King Sigismund III Vasa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigismund_III_Vasa
Heir Wladyslaw IV Vasa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82...5%82aw_IV_Vasa



Political/Military Climate
The current king, Sigismund III, is an interesting king. After a disputed election to the crown, he sought to rule both his lands in Sweden and Poland. However, this fell through, resulting in a series of wars between Poland and Sweden, the war currently in a lull. Poland also was interested in the civil wars of Muscovy, favoring Dimitriy II. In the south, the Polish forces raid the Crimean Tartars, while their vassal Cossacks raid the Black Sea ports. A peace with the Ottomans results in a split of Wallachia and Moldavia.

ARMY
THe amy of the Commonwealth or rather the Republic has quite unique structure and some unusual abilities and tactics.

Structure - first there were TWO armies - army of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy and the army of the Crown of Poland. Second was about two times bigger.
Both armies were commanded by two Hetman leaders - Grand Hetman and Field Hetman. Field Hetman was supposed to oversee smaller operations, but could comand larger forces. Grand Hetman was the highest commander unless the king himself was present still acted as very important advisor when it happened.

When both armies acted together the Grand Hetman of the Crown had the decisive opinion, if he was killed or captured Grand Hetman of Lithuania replaced him.

All four hetmans were nominated for life, acted as supreme judges in state of war for soldiers or civilians in the are where the war was fought.

THe army itself consisted of regular troops kept all the time in readiness - so called Quarter troops ( were maintained for the quarter of money from Royal property in the Republic) - they existed only in the Crown.
These were very small - about 3500 men, sometimes more or less and almost always were kept in Ukraine to defend the territory against constant Tatar raids.
During a war these men acted as veteran core for quickly rised larger regular army.

Next there are - supplement troops - rised to enlarge the cadre-like Quarter army - number of those soldiers was decided by the parliamnet ( Sejm) before every war or sometimes even campaign.
These forces could easily reach 25 000 men.

Royal Guard - kept at level of 1000-1200 men during the time of peace could be multiplied during war.
A sort of king's private army.

Ordinate force - certain rich noble families were allowed by Sejm to keep their lands under one rule of a senior noble in the sometimes very big clans.
In return they had to keep a number of soldiers for the defence of the state and support one fortress for the good of the country.
The force was around 1000-3000 men ( the larger number later from 1630s)

Private armies - it was allowed to keep soldiers in private armies if someone could afford that - it was generally believed these men would prevent the king from installing authoritarian rule and would fight for the defence of the state if required without the need to rise any taxes for them. Also it kept a number of experienced soldiers inside the country when there was no war happening.
These could reach in extreme cases even 8000-12 000 men ( Wisniowiecki family) and the soldiers themselves could be highly capable and trained force.
During a war the common practice was to give the soldiers (all or a part of them) under the command of the state which also meant they would be paid by the state treasury.
Probably all private armies of all magnates or clergy members were areoud 40 000 men at their maximum level.
Their quality varies so its availability - Ukraine is the easiest area to obtain them. Also it is a matter of political action to gain their support without a serious danger to the state - the soldiers can be used without Sejm's approval, but it is risky in longer terms policy.



District troops - that are forces rised as a sort of local militia - mostly second rate troops recruited in addition to the forces rised for the main army. However second rate doesn't mean weak - often these soldiers were quite, even highly experienced commanders led by olderly, yet fit and capable commanders. Areas under constant pressure like the Ukraine or eastern Lithuanian Grand Duchy had beter soldiers.

Town militias - larger towns were supposed to keep a kind of military police force which cold be used to even great effects in the defence of the city itself and/or sometimes even larger, but only local area. The biggest cities with larger militia units are Danzig, Thorn, Warsaw, Krakow, Lwow ( Lviv), Riga. Especially powerful is Danzig militia - capable and numerous reaching even 6000 men because Danzig is almost like citystate in its wide autonomy it could rise from its own treasury another 6000 men if the danger is really solid.

Wybraniecka infantry - peasant militia from Royal domains expected to fight for lack of feudal duties. It was around 2000 ment at that time and it was rather bad up to fairly good quality. The force was later used only for filed works like digging trenches or building other fortifications. It is quite numerous in Vistulas mouths - called Zulawy so might be better in local area.

Zaporozhian Cossacks - warlike and troublesome, yet very useful and cheap. A number of them is recruted in Registered cossack troops, the rest is only temporary paid and maintained.
It is under king's control who nominates cossack hetman to lead them - usually a respected member of their elders.
Potentially Cossack can mobilise even 60 000 men for the Republiks needs, but 40 000 is more reliable number. Especially useful against the Ottomans - the traditional enemies and quite a rich too which can add thousands of volunteers eager to plunder their coastal cities or a camp after a won battle. Even 80 000 or in extreme cases 100 000 can be mobilised, but this with a need to revise Cossack status. It was proposed to turn a part of them into nobles ( very eager, especially the elders) and the area into autonomic or even equal third part of the Commonwealth, but this would be possible after some notable achievements and very good propaganda with much local opposition from powerful magnates of Ukraine, still in longer terms it might be very useful.
Impossible under Zygmunt III ( Sigismund), but possible under Wladyslaw IV.

General Levy - the last resort in the defence. Every adult male of noble birth ( so from 1500 000 large largest world's nobility) is supposed to fight personally if required by the state. The maximium number is around 100 000 men in the whole state, but in reality it is maybe 60 000 men.
Some local areas are better suited for rising these soldiers - especially eastern Lithuania and Ukraine.
Generally bad quality force, but in great need and under much pressure and with some great leader they are capable of great deeds, especially in defence.

Now something about the types of the troops in the army.
Only a short summary.

Husaria - famous Winged Hussars - up to 10 000 men in most extreme cases and from all sources together.
For sure the best cavalry in the world, especially at that time. THe powerful mailed fist of the army, but agile and highly skilled in most complicated tactics. The highest elite of the army, but flexible - could fight even on foot if required or without armours, lances and wings as lighter, even shooting cavalry.
Were able to break through pikemen formations - as the only cavalry in the world.

Kozacy - lighter cavalry-supporting of the Husaria, less preferred at that time.

Reiters - two types - Cuirassiers from german speaking regions or abroad and local lighter cuirassiers - in reality Husaria without wings or lance using firearms so capable of caracol as well as shock tactics. Generally better equipped than in the West.

Lighter reiters - no armour etc like in the west, no differences.

Petyhorcy cavalry - unique for Lithuania - medium armoured, lance armed cavalry used as some sort of replacement for Husaria.

Tatars - Tatars lived also inside the Republic, some for many generations - especially in Lithuania. Very useful as scouts, to harass enemy or in pursuit.
Most of them served in Lithuanian army, but a number of them was also present in the royal guard - they considered the kings their 'white khans' - benefactors and rulers.

Economy
The Commonwealth raises grains and raw materials to export across Europe, providing food for thousands.

1648
A uprising occurs in the Ukraine, caused by Jewish purchase of lands and percieved religious persecution

Religion
The Commonwealth wasan exception to the religious intolerance of the era. Jewish communities in the cities, Catholics in the west, Russian orthodox in the east, and some pagans in the north.

cog, pm any thoughts
updating will occur!

[IrishArmenian]

I will go the Vasili IV. He was the son of Ivan the terribel and his brother was supposedly struck down by Ivan himself no? I will edit in me history soon, but football's on.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Actually he wasn't a son of Ivan the terrible, but just a leading boyar in Muscovy who took power by intrigue, the final step being to depose of an impostor pretending to be Ivan the terrible's son Dmitriy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasili_IV_of_Russia

Edit: the son that was struck down was called Ivan. Ivan the terrible also had a son called Dmitriy who was an infant by the time Ivan the terrible died, and he also had a son called Feodor, who was said to be mentally retarded and historically ended up a puppet of his protector Boris Godunov until Boris Godunov eventually ended up Tsar. Dmitriy, who might not have been mentally retarded and probably was intended to succeed Feodor after Feodor's death, died at young age, it's suspected that Boris Godunov had something to do with it. Despite much opposition to his rule, and conspiracies of various kinds, Boris remained Tsar until dying from natural causes, being succeeded by his own son Feodor, who became Feodor II. Feodor II was however less lucky than his father and ended up murdered by the boyars within his first and only year as Tsar, and in the following chaos an impostor pretending to be Ivan the terrible's son Dmitriy became tsar (because there were rumors around that Dmitriy was still alive). It was this False Dmitriy that Vassili IV killed to become tsar. In 1608 another impostor pretending to be Dmitriy, False Dmitriy II, appeared, but wasn't able to gain the title of Tsar from Vasili IV. For good reason the period has been called complex...

[Lord Winter]

I will take sweden

[Rodion Romanovich]

CHAPTER 1 - March 1st, 1609 AD

...this chapter will affect the events from March 1st to August 1st, 1609 AD

The Russian civil war is raging on. The position of Tsar Vasili IV is far from confirmed by the boyars, who in reality have the most influence at this time. The events from a few years back have also started to repeat themselves - a second impostor pretending to be heir of Ivan the terrible, Dmitriy, has appeared, having gathered an impressive army with Polish-Lithuanian support - almost 100,000 men with 7,000 Polish, 10,000 Ukrainian cossacks, some 15,000 fairly professional troops and around 50,000 levies of varying quality. He has successfully conquered several Russian cities near Moscow and established camp only 12 miles away from the city, in Tushino. While the war with Dmitriy unites some of the boyars against a common outer enemy, some boyars are openly suggesting that the only reason Vasili is allowed to remain in power is because there's no suitable replacement, and because his cousin Mikhail Skopin-Shuisky has been a successful general in the wars against Polish troops and this False Dmitriy II. Moscow has proved too well defended for him to be able to conquer, and Vasili has been further strengthened by an alliance with Sweden, resulting in some 6,000 troops assisting Russia in fighting the outer threats in return for Russia giving up land claims in Livonia. The fight against False Dmitriy II also has a social political perspective - Dmitriy has gained much of his support (including most of the 50,000 levies) by promising to take power and wealth from the boyars and redistribute it to the regular people. This somewhat reinforces the unity of the boyars and their support for Vasili.

Polish leaders have just managed to defeat an internal rebellion which forced Polish operations in Sweden to be temporarily aborted, giving the Swedish king important time. Despite being defeated, the nobility who led the rebellion in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth has taken a quite dominant position in Polish politics. The Polish ruler has to pay much attention to the wishes of the nobility, which is currently intent on continuing their support to False Dmitriy II in the current Russian civil war. There's however also support for the idea of attacking Russia at this time of weakness. It could even give the Polish monarch a chance of putting a Polish friend on the Russian throne.

Meanwhile, in the religious conflicts in the Holy Roman Empire, the situation has severed. According to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555 AD, the religion of the people of the parts of the holy roman empire would be decided by the local rulers - "cuius regio, eius religio" - and by neither the individual citizens nor the holy roman emperor. In 1608 AD the inhabitants of the Protestant city Donauwörth dispersed a Catholic procession in their city, to which the Holy Roman Emperor, against the Augsburg treaty, responded with invading and occupying the city. The Protestant response was to form a Protestant Union, to which the Catholics this year have responded by forming a Catholic League, now making attempts of diplomatically approaching Poland, the Pope and Spain. The Catholic League makes an official statement calling for all true Catholics to join the League and fight the false and deceitful teachings of the protestants. In response to the unrest in the Holy Roman Empire, and to the increasing power of his brother Matthias, emperor Rudolf II, having direct power over Bohemia, Austria and the other Habsburg regions, gives protestants full rights to practise their religion in Bohemia, further confusing the situation and undermining the credibility of the Holy Roman Emperor and fuelling the protestant fighting spirit.

In the meantime, with French mediation, discussions for a twelve year truce between the the seven northernmost Netherlandic provinces and Spain is in the last stages of completion, with an agreement going to be reached during this year. This would confirm the de facto independence of the northern seven provinces of the Netherlands. Spain maintains control over the southern provinces. The Netherlands becomes a Republic with minimal centralization in all aspects except military, where the strong defensive pact remains. Holland becomes the most economically influential part of the Netherlandic republic, with the Dutch East India Company and a strong fleet in general.

With support from many religious fanatics, Spanish leadership expels a large amount of Christianized moors that have lived in Spain since the conquest of Granada. The decision has economical consequences, removing up to 500,000 of the citizens from the productive layers of the Spanish society. The decision however is also popular with many of the religious citizens of Spain, and somewhat removes unrest and impopularity after the defeat and bancruptcy caused by the war with the Netherlands. Many of the moors remain in Spain despite the expelling, and many of the expelled also return to the country in the very same year.


Decisions for chapter 1
the answers to the questions should be sent to me by PM, you only need to answer the questions for your own faction. Also remember that you can make decisions about other things than those I have mentioned below.

Poland:

1. should Poland officially declare war on Russia to intervene more actively in the war? Many boyars have expressed acceptance to the idea of a Polish Tsar in Władysław the crown prince of the current Polish leader, and this could be a great chance to extend Polish influence to the east. Most of the 7,000 Polish soldiers in Dmitriy II's army would in about two weeks become available for action and join the Polish army, a further 2,000 are ready within a week at the Polish eastern border, and another 7,000 would be available at the Polish eastern border within a month. A war with Russia could give good chances of extending Polish influence to the east, but could also quicken the process of Russia settling their internal affairs.
a. yes, declare war (choose whether to make a formal declaration or just attack without formal declaration)
b. no, just continue support to False Dmitriy II
c. no, and force the Polish nobles to end support to False Dmitriy II

2. if attacking, what should the diplomatical stance to Sweden, now ally of Russia, be? Should it be open war, or should only Swedish forces fighting together with Russian forces be fought in the upcoming war? If Russia is attacked, unless diplomatic promises of neutrality to Swedish troops are made, the attack on Russia will implicitly be interpreted by the Swedish as a Polish declaration of war on Sweden. Sweden and Poland is already in a state of moderate hostility but the chances of negotiating neutrality aren't zero, and a later truce will have greater chances of succeeding if Poland gives some promises to Swedish rulers and approach them diplomatically at this time.
a. declare war on Sweden explicitly
b. just attack Russia and don't bother about Sweden unless their forces are helping the Russians against Polish goals
c. try to maintain neutrality with Sweden, promising a share of conquered Russian land

3. if declaring war, what should the Polish initial strategy be?
a. the 2,000 men with 5 heavy guns should launch operations immediately with the element of surprise with them, with the 7,000 from Dmitriy II's army joining them within two weeks, then joined by the troops in b in about one month
b. no operations should be carried out until in a month, when some 7,000 more troops and 25 heavy guns would become available
c. the attack should wait a month, bringing all troops in b, but also hire a mixed mercenary force of some further 5,000 men

4. if declaring war, which should the first targets be?
a. try to hunt down and destroy enemy troops primarily, if the enemy main army retreats deep into it's homelands pursue it
b. try to hunt down and destroy enemy troops primarily, if the enemy main army retreats deep into it's homelands don't pursue it, but retreat home and wait
c. try to hunt down and destroy enemy troops primarily, if the enemy main army retreats deep into it's homelands lay siege on a city. Specify which city to besiege first: Smolensk, Moscow, Chernigov, Kiev, or Pskov
Useful map when choosing which city to siege first:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:R...Dymitriads.png
d. the enemy is weak and disorganized - a slow, systematic expansion city by city, fort by fort would allow the maintenance of stronger Polish supply lines throughout the war and guarantee that Poland takes the full advantage of the Russian weakening, rather than giving it away to other enemies of Russia. Specify which city to besiege first: Smolensk, Moscow, Chernigov, Kiev, or Pskov
e. as d, but emphasize on first isolating and destroying smaller Russian local garrisons and establishing Polish garrisoned forts and cities before advancing

5. if declaring war, choose a stance to False Dmitriy II - if Dmitriy would be supported after Polish declaration of war, he would be in command of the operations, which would limit flexibility. Some of his troops also aren't of very high quality either, having joined because of his promises made for the poorer in Russian society. Finally if Dmitriy leads the war it would limit the possibilities of Polish gains in the conflict drastically, plus Dmitriy could also with his popularity among the regular people in Russia become a powerful future competitor if he gains the position of Tsar of Russia. On the other hand, supporting him would allow taking full advantage of the huge army he has gathered, which could be useful against the strong Russian army.
a. the Polish forces should enter the war as direct supporters of Dmitriy, it would mean amassing of a much larger force for operations
b. don't support Dmitriy any more, numbers are of little importance compared to the quality of the Polish Hussars and the prospects of acquiring the Russian Tsar title

6. should Poland join the Catholic League?
a. yes, it's always good to have more allies
b. no, there's no immediate benefit in doing so at this time, and it's always possible to join later


Russia:

1. how respond to the Polish nobles giving logistical support to Dmitriy?
a. defeat Dmitriy first, and care about the Polish later
b. make an official statement of warning and demand that Poland should end the support or face consequences
c. have diplomatic discussions with the Polish ruler and try to find out if he would accept some Russian land in exchange for ending his support to Dmitriy
d. declare war on Poland

2. choose a military strategy against False Dmitriy II. The Russian troops are not comparable to the 7,000 Polish troops in Dmitriy's army, and barely comparable to the 10,000 Cossacks he commands, but should be of higher quality than the remaining around 50,000 men.
a. Dmitriy has few bases and no real home country to fall back to, and therefore has problems with supplies. Keeping Moscow strongly enough defended, while letting time do the rest will be enough to counter the threat he poses
b. As a, but make as many raids as possible to damage the supplies of Dmitriy, while making no direct contact with his forces. This will give Russians limited casualties compared to battle, but be a slow way of defeating Dmitriy
c. Dmitriy must be faced in battle immediately before Poland joins the war and the two can cooperate to conquer Russia. Specify how many troops should be used for this battle and from where to take them: the main army which consists of some 35,000-45,000 troops and 100 guns under the command of Dmitry Shuisky, the garrison of Smolensk with around 5,000 men with 200 guns, the garrison of Moscow with 10,000 men and 200 guns, or from any other major city - Tver, Novgorod, Pskov with about 1,500 men and 10-50 guns each, or smaller city garrisons which will probably not be able to contribute with more than some 1,000 men. Not all these guns would be logistically possible to bring to a field battle, but some 30-80 could probably be brought, the number of guns would affect manouverability.
Useful map when choosing which cities to take troops from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:R...Dymitriads.png

3. defense against a possible Polish attack - decide which cities to reinforce and how to distribute the troops (see above question for current garrison strengths).
a. keep it as it is
b. change it - specify how

4. prepare defenses no matter what, or only prepare if the Polish make an official declaration of war
a. prepare no matter what
b. resdistribute troops according to no. 3 only after the Polish make an official declaration of war

5. internal rivalry with other throne pretenders
a. don't do anything
b. try to come on more friendly terms with the boyars by having the Duma assemble for discussing what to do in the war
c. organize heavily biased trials to get rid of the least loyal of the boyars
d. have spies try to kill the least loyal of the boyars
e. use propaganda, taking advantage of the uniting effect of the outer threats, to reinforce your position somewhat
f. make some close friends among some carefully chosen boyars by offering them land, ranks or similar


Spain:

1. the Spanish economy - what to do about the bankruptcy and debt after the wars with the Netherlands?
a. seek trade partners and slowly repay the debts
b. simply cancel all the debts, even if it limits popularity and credibility of the Spanish currency
c. launch trade embargos and economical warfare against your worst trade competitors. This could require diplomatical correspondence with nations involved
d. as c, but approach the catholic league and take advantage of the religious conflicts to form a strong trade embargo union to organize such economical warfare
e. pillage some of the Ottoman lands in the Mediterranean region, where your fleet is still unmatched and can insert and extract troops quickly. This however means drawing fleet resources away from current colonies

2. colonial competition - English and Dutch influence on the seas is increasing. What to do about the situation? The problem is that Spanish colonialists have gained impopularity in some areas, which the competitors, by initially trying to seem more tolerant, are successfully able to use to turn locals against the Spanish, instigate revolts etc., even if their own plans in no ways are more tolerant to the locals
a. do nothing, wait for better times or until the opponents take an action
b. something else, specify what

3. despite a twelve year truce being signed as we speak, hostility with the Netherlands most likely isn't over yet, and the southern Netherlandic provinces might very well rebel too eventually. Although formal peace with the Netherlands has been signed, economical and cold conflict could continue - from both sides. What should the strategy during the truce, and in preparation for the end of the truce, be?
a. just maintain a garrison in southern Netherlands and use it defensively if the Netherlands take any action
b. withdraw from southern Netherlands too. This will decrease the risk of Spanish forces being cut off and destroyed by the French expansionism threat
c. form a Spanish East India Company to compete with the Dutch counterpart. In order to do so, traffic to some colonies must be decreased somewhat to free up some fleet resources

4. what to do about the French attempts to increase their influence?
a. withdrawing from the southern Netherlands will deny the French a good chance of hitting isolated Spanish troops
b. use economical warfare and other methods to limit French influence in the short term, plot for HRE cooperation to attack France in the long term, when your own bancruptcy has been solved
c. do nothing

5. what to do about the papal support to enemies of Habsburgs? Ever since "Sacco di Roma", the pope has feared the power of the Habsburgs, and has periodically been supporting France in her rivalry with Spain
a. do nothing, wait for better times or until the opponents take an action
b. something else, specify what

6. should Spain join the Catholic League?
a. yes, it's always good to have more military allies
b. yes it's a good way of making the pope look bad supporting the French
c. no, there's no immediate benefit in doing so at this time, and it's always possible to join later


Sweden:

1. the alliance with Russia and war against False Dmitriy II. You currently have around 6,000 Swedish infantry under Jacob De la Gardie assisting the Russians according to a treaty which in return gives you Russian land. You also have some 3,000 acting as garrisons in the Estonia and Livonia regions. Furthermore you have some 50 guns available spread out over the region. The cooperation with Russian troops could be discussed over PM, some example offers:
a. without discussion follow the Russian commander and trust that his plans are acceptable
b. discuss plans with Russia with the threat of not taking part if the plans sound too risky
c. request to only help defending Russian cities or forts, but take no part in any field battles. The battle of Kircholm in 1605 has shown that the Swedish infantry is slow to transport and can take heavy casualties to the Polish winged hussars if routed or forced to retreat in open field battles. The Russian commander can suggest which cities to hold - Smolensk, Moscow, Chernigov, Kiev, Pskov, or smaller cities.

2. decide how many reinforcements from Sweden you would like to send, but remember that sending too many could leave Sweden vulnerable to Danish troops, revolts, or Polish invasion. The 6,000 men under Jacob De la Gardie are to assist the Russian Tsar Vasili according to the treaty, but it could be useful to send more men to reinforce the Swedish possessions in the Estonia and Livonia areas to defend against possible Polish attacks. Even if the Polish troops would have long and problematic supply routes if attempting to get to Estonia, it's not entirely impossible that they'll try that. It could however also be argued that any Polish attempt to approach the Swedish positions would have to go through conquering neutral land in the vicinity of Riga before being able to establish the necessary links to reach Swedish troops, giving some forewarning and enough time to reinforce later, when needed. It would take no more than a few months to assemble supplies, equipment and select a decent force to send.
a. send none at this time
b. send 1,000
c. send 3,000
d. send 10,000 and 30 guns

3. the Russian civil war - what to do if Tsar Vasili is in threat of being removed from power?
a. support Vasili against the boyars, after all it was Vasili who made the benefitial offer to give Sweden land in Livonia and Keksholm, while the other boyars seem to have opposed the idea, and a Vasili in power at the mercy of Sweden gives some very interesting possibilities for the future
b. as a, but use the 6,000 men under Jacob De la Gardie as Vasili's bodyguard and help hunting down and killing boyars trying to remove Vasili. Military assistance of this kind could decrease the chances of Vasili being removed, but at the risk of angering many boyars, which could be dangerous to Russo-Swedish relations if the boyars manage to remove Vasili and gain power
c. as a, but also declare war against Russia and take advantage of the situation to conquer areas near Novgorod, but also renew allegiance to Vasili personally, promising the end the conquest when Vasili's position as Tsar is confirmed by the boyars
d. support the boyars against Vasili, even if this means Russia might solve their internal problems more quickly and become a strong competitor likely to threaten Swedish possessions in Estonia and Livonia also in a short term perspective

edit: accidentally wrote increase instead of decrease

[SwordsMaster]

1. the Spanish economy - what to do about the bankruptcy and debt after the wars with the Netherlands?

A mixture of C and D: Approach THe Catholic League and as a condition of Spain joining the League ask for them paying off 60% of the debt, and establishment of trade embargos against the relevant nations.

Also include in the treaty with the Provinces several trade agreements, and the restrain the pirate activity on spanish convoys.

2. colonial competition - English and Dutch influence on the seas is increasing. What to do about the situation? The problem is that Spanish colonialists have gained impopularity in some areas, which the competitors, by initially trying to seem more tolerant, are successfully able to use to turn locals against the Spanish, instigate revolts etc., even if their own plans in no ways are more tolerant to the locals

Point out to the locals the oppressing governments on the rival colonies, and let a very select group of loyal natives take part in the administration of the colonies. Basically try to play the "tolerant" card against my enemies.

3. despite a twelve year truce being signed as we speak, hostility with the Netherlands most likely isn't over yet, and the southern Netherlandic provinces might very well rebel too eventually. Although formal peace with the Netherlands has been signed, economical and cold conflict could continue - from both sides. What should the strategy during the truce, and in preparation for the end of the truce, be?

c. form a Spanish East India Company to compete with the Dutch counterpart. In order to do so, traffic to some colonies must be decreased somewhat to free up some fleet resources

The fleet resources that should be given up are the portuguese African vessels, and part of the spanish Philippines fleet. The Portuguesse Far Eastern fleet will have to make do for these duties.

Also maintain a garrison force of some 12,000 men. That is more than the number of men in any one battle Spain had fought in the Netherlands ever.

4. what to do about the French attempts to increase their influence?

b. use economical warfare and other methods to limit French influence in the short term, plot for HRE cooperation to attack France in the long term, when your own bancruptcy has been solved

5. what to do about the papal support to enemies of Habsburgs? Ever since "Sacco di Roma", the pope has feared the power of the Habsburgs, and has periodically been supporting France in her rivalry with Spain

Let there be some troop movent in Naples and let the Pope intercept a letter from one of the commanders to the minister saying that the most unpaid spanish troops in Europe have just been stationed near Rome. Then send a letter to the pope asking for an amount of money equivalent to the maintenance of a Tercio. Basically let the pope fear us, and make him pay some cash while threatening him with another Saco.

6. should Spain join the Catholic League?

As said before only if the League can pay off a good portion of the Debt, or offer benefits similar in magnitude. In any case, the relations with the HRE should be strenghtened.

[Rodion Romanovich]

the idea was that the options should be sent by PM to me and remain secret until the next turn so as not to affect the decisions of other players. Anyway the decisions available on this particular turn for Spain weren't of a sort that would be damaging for leaking out, so it was ok this time...

One more point which I forgot to mention above, which may have caused the confusion - if you want to have diplomatic discussions with any faction that isn't played by any particular player, the diplomatic discussions can be carried out by sending PMs to me, with me acting as that nation if needed.

[IrishArmenian]

I always get that whole heir of Ivan the Terribel mixed up. I'll have to remeber that. Also, is there a way to make the map bigger, I cannot read the names to well.

[Rodion Romanovich]

yes, just click on the map once to get it over the entire window, then if you use Internet Explorer put the mouse over the bottom left corner until a little button appears, then click it.

[Rodion Romanovich]

Small announcements:
- Franconius has just joined as France , and will join the game next turn. So France will be "AI controlled" this chapter, but start being controlled by Franc from the next chapter and on
- It'll still be possible for more players to join until the third chapter has been posted

[Franconicus]

HENRICUS QUARTUS D(EI) G(RATIA) REX FRANCORUM ET NAVARRAE

May I introduce myself? My name is Henry IV le Grand, born as Henri de Bourbon in December 1553 in Pau, Navarra. Since 1589 I am King of France and Navarra. My subjects in the Gascongne call me “lo nòstre bon rei Enric”, the French "le bon roi". This gives you indication about my capacity and the reverence of my peoples.

I was raised at Navarro in a very countrified ambience. Then, Navarro was the shelter and center for Protestants, which we call Huguenots. Although I was baptized Roman Catholic, my education was Protestant.

The country had had a hard time. My predecessors created a modern realm, with a strong centralized government. The administration lay in the hands of catholic clergy and was very effective. However, Protestantism came together with Humanism and shook the fundament of this order. The former King Francois I. had been in conflict with the Habsburg Karl V., who ruled the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. In Italy there were open hostilities between France and Habsburg. If Francois would have tolerated the Huguenots, the Pope would have supported Karl and Karl would have been able to invade France. Therefore, due to political reasons, Francois had to oppress the Huguenots.

The Kings that came after him did the same. However, the Habsburg Empire decayed. Karl V. could not control the Reformation any longer and the Augsburg concept „Cuius regio, eius religio“ created the schism of Germany. Henry II. did not accept this concept for France. The religious wars began.

In 1570 I married Margarete de Valois, the sister of three French kings. This wedding became the frame of the Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy. I was arrested and forced to become Catholic.

In 1576 I could escape to Navarro and return to Protestantism. I became the leader of the Huguenots. In 1589 before he died, King Henry III., appointed me as his heir. However, the condition was that I would become Catholic, again.

«Paris vaut bien une messe.» After long fighting I finally converted at Saint-Denis in 1593. In February 1595 I was crowned at Notre-Dame de Chartres.

Obviously God had chosen me to give my country peace, justice and wealth. From the very beginning I had to fight my enemies. I repelled an invasion from Spain and I survived plots of radical Catholics.

After all this struggling I managed to give peace to my country. I banished the Jesuits. I made reconciliation with Phillip II, King of Spain; I regained control of the Bretagne and the Provence. In the Edict of Nantes Huguenots received equal rights (although Catholicism was still state religion). France had peace again.

Peace was not my goal; it was only a step on the way to bring wealth to my subjects. Si Dieu me prête vie, je ferai qu’il n’y aura point de laboureur en mon royaume qui n’ait les moyens d’avoir le dimanche une poule dans son pot! The Duke of Sully, Maximilien de Béthune, became Minister of Finance and France made an economic and financial boom. National dept is gone; we built harbors and channels, and encouraged agriculture.

So here we are today! France is a strong country, unified under a strong government, with a good economy and excellent finance. The religious confusion is over. We live in peace with our neighbors. However, we see that the confusion in the Habsburg countries is still going on and we could be roped in again. We are not worried. We are prepared!

Additionally there are still some Catholic scatterbrains, who think that murdering will save their souls. We know how to deal with them!

[King Kurt]

Sorry to join a bit late - been on holiday - is England still available? - I assume so from the list above. Will start looking and reading.

[Franconicus]

I knew you would! Welcome on board!

[Rodion Romanovich]

Nice, this is a very good amount of players and now most of the major players of the time are commanded by a player.

A small announcement to clarify how the diplomatic discussions are supposed to work:
1. sending PM to the player that commands the nation you want to discuss with. A maximum exchange of 3 PMs are allowed in a turn, to not delay turns too much AND simulate difficulties of reaching an agreement. The actual discussion does not need to take place through me. If no player commands the faction, you send the PMs to me, with me acting as that nation during the discussions.
2. however after the diplomatic discussion for the turn has been completed, send a PM to me containing a copy of all the messages from the discussion so I know which agreements were reached
3. all diplomatic discussions remain secret unless you wish to make an official statement (which you can do by a post in this thread), or somehow information is leaked from the discussions. False rumors about what the discussions truly were about may also circulate in the story however...

@King Kurt: I've entered you on the player list You will not be able to make any decisions in the first chapter, but from chapter 2 and onwards England will be led by your decisions.

@all: I'm currently awaiting the decisions from Poland and Sweden before making chapter 2. As for the prologue research task results for Russia, Sweden and England, those can be posted at any time, but preferably during the first few chapters of the story. Not all info is necessary to find, but the more info you find the better you'll probably know how to lead your nation, and the info could also be valuable to the other players when deciding upon alliances etc.

[Incongruous]

Would I be able to take the Holy Roman Empire and Austria?

[Rodion Romanovich]

@Bopa the Magyar: ok, I'll add you to the player list. As with the others who have joined after chapter 1 begun, you will start controlling your faction from the second chapter and on.

edit: At this time (1609), Emperor Rudolph was a bit of a loner and had lost much of his power, which was in reality held by Matthias who was shortly afterwards elected Holy Roman Emperor, so unless you mind it I'll let you be playing as Matthias rather than Rudolph.

[Franconicus]

Could you add the names of the Kings to your list please?