The proud pirate republic of Genoa would like to give an overview of our game at the grandest LAN of 2019 at Moszna Castle.
Background info:
We were four guys going together, who have known each other for years. We were lucky enough to get to play as Genoa – who we picked mainly due to the +20% morale in their national ideas. Our plan was to be a naval force to be reckoned with for the endgame. When the list of player nations was released, we found ourselves in the midst of a very crowded Europe. To go all in on navy, we would also love to become a pirate republic, and do an exodus to the Caribbean.
As for running around in the castle, we decided that we wanted uniforms and hats for roleplaying purposes. We were dressed in the same uniform, and therefore were quite recognizable to the other players. We believe that with all the running around in the castle, this was a bit of an advantage (as it made it less confusing for other players finding us).
DAY 1
Pre-game diplomacy:
Prior to the game starting, we had approximately one hour to start diplomacy with the other players. As Genoa we found ourselves in quite a precarious situation: We had two holdings in main land Italy, we held Corsica, as well as Scio off of the Ottoman coast, as well as three provinces neighbouring Crimea in the east. We were quite surrounded by other players: We were close to The Papal States, Milan, and Florence in Italy; Savoy and Provence in France; Switzerland in Southern Germany; Crimea neighbouring us in the Black Sea; and Serbia, Wallachia, Moldovia, Byzantium and The Knights in the Balkans/Anatolia. We found ourselves in quite a precarious situation, and for the one hour of diplomacy, we had two main objectives: Reach an agreement with Crimea concerning our eastern holdings and come to an agreement with the other Italian players.
We quickly met with His Holiness the Pope, as well as the Duke of Milan. Luckily, we all three agreed that Italy is simply too small for four nations. So, we forged an Italian Alliance, where we parted Italy three-ways: Genoa were to receive Lucca, and further down the road, Sicily; His Holiness would receive Florentine holdings as well as the other regions south of Milan; and Milan was to have the aid of The Papal Armies as well as the Genoese fleet in his conquest of Venice. The days of Florence were doomed.
We quickly mentioned to the Khan of Crimea that we would be very interested in talking to them, as soon as they had a moment.
Game start: November 11, 1444 through 1487
For Genoa, the first order of business was selling off Scio to the Ottomans. This served two purposes: We were getting the hell out of Anatolia, and we were able to field two heavy ships as well as a flagship right off the bat.
As Genoa we were in a position to make an alliance with AI France, which we made quite quickly. If nothing, they would serve as a deterrent for other players going into offensive wars with us.
Second order of business was the Florentine problem: Luckily our alliance with Milan and His Holiness held; no backstabbing was done. Quickly, a claim was forged on the Florentine, and they were attacked from three fronts. They were quickly dealt with, and Italy started to feel a little bit safer.
Simultaneously with our Italian wars, we reached out to the Khan of Crimea. The Doge of Genoa found that dealings with the Khan were surprisingly civil: We reached an understanding of us selling off our provinces to the Khan over a period of 40 years. This served both them and us well, as we would have no wars in Crimea, they would not have to pick a fight with the Holy Roman Empire, and we received a lump sum of cash.
The next 20 years or so consisted of The Italian Alliance consolidating their power in Italy. Through pure luck, Aragon lost their PU over Naples, which helped quite a bit with the warring. Unfortunately, His Holiness was a bit aggressive in his procuring of more Papal States, and a coalition of big strong AIs fired against our Italian Alliance. The Coalition consisted of Naples, Aragon and Venice. Fortunately, our big blue ally in the north helped greatly in dealing with mainland Aragon, and we were able to make a stand and even gain from the coalition.
By the end of the first day, approximately 1488-1490, the Doge of Genoa held the following provinces: Albenga, Genoa and Lucca in mainland Italy, as well as Corsica, Ibiza and all of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. Now, we felt like looking westwards, and were exploring the Atlantic. We even had a colony starting up in Tenerife and had moved our capital to Corsica.
At this point, the good Doge of Genoa consulted the Duke of Milan. The Doge of Genoa felt that he was no longer profiting enough of regular trade and was looking into being a bit more swashbuckling. Therefore, a deal with the Duke was struck: We were to grand our mainland provinces (Albenga, Genoa and Lucca) to Milan, reform our government to a Pirate Republic, and then buy back our provinces from Milan at the price of 200 ducats each. Unfortunately, we were unable to make this move during the first day, as the deal was struck three minutes before the end of game.
DAY 2: 1487 through 1602
Starting again after Day 1, the deal was struck, the move was planned, and the first order of business was becoming the 5th Pirate Republic of the game (the other four being Irish minors). The Duke of Milan kept his promises, and we reformed! YARR!!!
The Genoese colony in Tenerife quickly finished and we started looking westwards. But, trouble was on the horizon! Not too long after we established a colony in St. Lucia, we discovered a colony in St. Martin from Brittany! From our perspective, the Caribbean Sea was only big enough for one European power. No matter - we started expanding more rapidly in the new world. With three colonies going at the same time, we were making great progress! But, our economy was suffering.
Even our quest for booty through privateering was hampered; our Italian Alliance hindered us from privateering in Genoa and Venice. We were able to send our privateers to Constantinople – this served as a consolation price. Unfortunately, we were unable to reach Lübeck which at this point was the richest trade note in the game.
Fortunately, the ever-benevolent Duke of Milan and His Holiness were open to striking a deal! By selling off our mainland provinces, we procured a lucrative deal: We were to receive 5 ducats a month in subsidies for 50 years from both the Duke of Milan and His Holiness. Furthermore, the Duke of Milan gave us a good chunk of ducats to get us out of a loan spiral. Our continued expansion in the new world was secured! YARR!
In the new world – dealings with the Aztecs and exodus
We were setting up for relocating our capital to Cuba. Simultaneously, we were involved in some war alongside His Holiness, which had the filthy nation of Brittany on the opposing side. Brittany had made a colony in mainland Mexico, so the Genoese Pirate Captains approached Montezuma of the Aztecs. We agreed that Mexico and the Caribbean Seas were just big enough for the both of us; a "Keep Brittany out of Mexico"-deal was made. When we proposed that we would deploy troops in the colony of Brittany and burn it to the ground, the great Montezuma said: "Thanks! We'll send you a chunk of gold later, once we've reformed". As pirates, we were always looking for gold, and this seemed like a golden opportunity! Brittany was unhappy about this, as it set them back quite a while. (Brittany/Texas plan and reaction can be seen here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/505473058?t=05h09m42s - The Genoese pirates are mentioned at 5:12:50ish)
We further agreed with the Aztecs that we were allowed to grab a piece of Central America, in order to obtain enough development to make our move to the new world. Finally, in order to further spite Brittany, the Aztecs granted us a province which neighboured their own. This served two purposes: the Aztecs were able to reform off of us, and it further delayed the inevitable declaration of war from Brittany on the noble Aztecs.
Circa 1512, our move to the new world was performed! We set up our new capital in Cuba, while maintaining our foothold in Europe through Corsica, Sicily, Ibiza and Tenerife. Finally, the first two big steps of the Genoese game plan were reality. (Genoese plans can be seen here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/505473058?t=04h48m19s )
Business of the court
Unfortunately, it did not take long before new trouble was on the horizon! All pirate nations were summoned to court! We were accused of Oathbreaking! To our memory, we had violated no written agreements(?). Once in the court, first the Norwegian king got to present his side of the matter. Apparently, Norway had made an agreement with our pirate brothers in Ireland, to not raid their coasts for 50 years. The Irish, doing what pirates do, had raided the Norwegian coasts. When the Genoese Pirate Captains were allowed to present their side of the case, we plainly put it: "Genoa did nothing wrong! We have had no written agreements with Norway, and further, we had not raided the Norwegian coasts – we were simply not able to!" The Genoese Captain was excused. However, he was interested to see the outcome of the trial. Soon it became clear that the judges of the court were both generalizing and hateful: All pirates were found guilty of oath breaking! Therefore, the Jolly Roger was put on the board of wall breakers! Obviously, the Genoese Captain objected to this absurd judgement, but the judges would not budge. This simply could not stand! Therefore, the Genoese Captains approached His Holiness, who quickly dispatched a cardinal to the court along with a Genoese Captain. Even when confronted with the highest authority on Earth, the judges ruled that not even the voice of God could convince them to correct their absurd misjudgement. So, for 50 years, the Jolly Roger was displayed on the wall of oath breakers.
The wrong doings of the court only served to further the Genoese Pirates of the Caribbean's desire to help our brethren in Ireland. Several times, we had been approached by the Irish pirates for help in wars against the British and Norwegians. Sadly, we had been unable to assist them. But now that we had our foothold in the Caribbean secured, and our economy was in the green, we were able to lend them a hand. We went and gave the Irish pirates a load of booty, getting them out of a loan spiral. This might have marked the beginning of the International Pirate Confederacy (IPC)! And soon, an unexpected ally would be looking to join the IPC…
(One of the judges were interviewed on this foul business on the stream: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/505473058?t=04h00m20s - Judgement against Genoa is mentioned at: 04:04:15)
Diplomacy in the Americas
Things were tense in the new world. Brittany had formed a colony in Mexico and had been fighting with the Aztecs. The Incas were also on the rise in Peru. Through the help of Genoa, the Aztecs had been able to reform! The simple ways of Montezuma were done with, and they saw the advantages of the Genoese piratey ways, and therefore reformed into yet another pirate republic. The IPC grew yet another member! (A quote from DDRJake when we told them that the Aztecs became a pirate republic through reformation: "That is not working as intended, and I have no intentions of fixing it!"
To relieve tensions in the new world, all leaders of the new world gathered in a room to talk it out. With a strong Europe, it was clear that infighting in the Americas would be the downfall of all of us. A meeting was set, including representatives of Brittany, the Aztecs, Genoa and the Incas. Brittany informed us that they intended to form Texas. Seeing as there were no other colonizing nations with a foothold in the Americas, we could all agree that we had plenty of room to expand in, as long as we could agree on who would get what.
At the end of the meeting, we agreed on that everyone in the new world would keep their current possessions. Furthermore, we agreed on a partition: the Incas would get most of South America: Peru, South Peru, La Plata and the southern haft of Brazil; the Aztecs would get Central America, Mexico, California and Cascadia; Texas would get Rio Grande, the Great Plains, Hudson Bay and everything east of this in North America; Genoa would get the Caribbean, Columbia and the northern part of Brazil. And thus, the Pax Americana was formed!
However, soon the Sardinia-Piedmont were in trouble. They had colonized a few coastal provinces in Southern Brazil and were quickly losing their holdings in Europe. They were basically being sent into exile. The Pax Americana met once again and agreed that the Americas were in fact large enough for yet another country. The Pax now consisted of Genoa, the Aztecs, the Incas, Texas and Sardinia-Piedmont.
European wars
His Holiness was aggressively fighting the reformation. Suddenly, the Genoese Pirate Captains found ourselves in a war with Spain, England and the Dutch. Unfortunately, His Holiness might have underestimated the strength of the heretics, and the war in mainland Europe was not going well. From the perspective of the Genoese Pirates, however, the war ended up being fantastic. The Genoese fleet quickly sunk the entirety of the Dutch navy and captured a sizeable number of heavy ships from the Spanish! We all laughed when the Genoese captain sitting at the computer yelled out, "People have been building ships, when they should have been building a navy!". Genoa were the first to complete Naval Ideas and were established as the sole naval superpower for the foreseeable future! As an added bonus, Genoa was able to seize quite a few colonies from the Spanish, further securing out Caribbean holdings!
Pirates being pirates (the rest of Day 2)
Not soon after establishing our position as a naval force, one of our captains went rogue. Even though we were devout Catholics and His Holiness had declared that the earth was flat, one captain got drunk on rum, and circumvented the globe! Down to one ship, he barely made it round the world – unfortunately forcing the remaining captains of Genoa to profusely apologize to the pope for proving that the world is round.
As mentioned previously, we were getting tighter with our pirate brethren in Ireland. They were in a tight spot, only existing in Ireland. At this point, we had plenty of island to go around. At some point we were gifted Crete by His Holiness, which we then sold off to Munster. Munster were quick to take advantage of this and were able to raid and privateer large parts of the Mediterranean coasts.
Nearing the end of Day 2, a written contract was formed between Tyrone, Munster, Genoa and the Aztecs, stating that "Pirates are awesome!"
Diplomacy in the bar, after the game ended
After the game stopped on Day 2, all members of the Pax Americana held a meeting. The entirety of the Pax was very interested in aiding the Irish pirates, and that a Sunset Invasion was the plan. We all agreed that building up and preparing for war was the first order of business of Day 3, and that we would launch the Sunset Invasion as soon as lunch ended. It was agreed that the Genoese navy would take care of the naval battles and protect the transport of all other new worlders. Ireland would be the beach head in Europe.
This marked the formation of the TATO (Total Atlantic Treaty Organization)!
However, the plans of TATO were soon to be disrupted….
DAY 3: 1602 through 1717 - end of game
Preparation of a Sunset Invasion, turned TATO Defensive War
All of the Pax Americana were gearing up for war. The Genoese pirates were building up an even larger fleet, paid for by Aztec gold and Incan silver. Everything was going well, until we heard that the Spanish were aware of our plans. This was not ideal – even though the Spanish \snort** Armada was nowhere near the mighty fleet of Genoa, they had plenty of ground troops that could help prevent the invasion.
However, the Norwegians had other plans! Suddenly Norway declared war on Tyrone! Our bound honour as pirates dictated that Genoa and Aztecs came to the defence of our brethren in Ireland! Fortunately, the rest of the Pax Americana honoured the call! Much to our surprise, we were joined by the Spanish! The battle was on! The two sides were: The Evil Europeans, consisting of Norway, the English, the Dutch and the Italians; opposed by the Noble TATO pact of Tyrone, Munster, Aztecs, Incas, Texas, Sardinia-Piedmont, Genoa and Spain.
Unfortunately, our timetable was moved up several hours and the Genoese fleet was out of position. Without too much trouble the Norwegians and English were able to land in Ireland! Disaster!! The Genoese pirates were supposed to keep the enemy out of Ireland.
This war was one of the tensest moments in the entire game! Our navy arrived in the Irish Sea too late, and the fort in Ulaidh had already been captured! Troops of the Aztecs and Incas landed in Ireland in order to help defend the rest of the island, while Texas were taking care of Norwegian colonies in Canada. A large battle between the Irish, Incas, and Aztecs, and English and Norwegians commenced in southern Ireland. Unfortunately, TATO suffered a defeat, the army was split in two. The main part of the army retreated towards Tir Eoghain! Disaster was surely to ensure. The English and Norwegian troops were in pursuit, hoping to get a stack-wipe! Just as the main army was about to be crushed, the Texan Marine Expeditionary Force landed in Tir Eoghain, securing the first win for TATO of the war! The English and Norwegian were on the run, back across the strait!! One could hear screams of joy, *"YAARRR"*s and *"YEEEHAWW"*s throughout the castle! But! The fort in Ulaidh had to be recaptured, otherwise the Norwegians and English troops could just stride back across the Irish Sea! An assault was made! The TATO armies were fighting the defenders of the fort, the morale was falling – meanwhile, the English and Norwegian troops were on the march back across the strait – Just two days before the enemy would arrive to mob up the low-morale TATO army, the fort fell! Ireland was secure!! (These battles can be seen here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/505919478?t=01h25m51s)
While the battle in Ireland was won, our newly found friends in Spain were battling back and forth with the Italians. Soon, the forces of the new world landed in mainland Europe, and starting winning battles. The Italians, English and Dutch bowed out of the war unscathed, and only the Norwegians remained. Holdings were secured for all participants in the war, Genoa securing Hjaltland as a harbor for pirating of the North Sea!
Peace was upon the pirates for a while.. A five year truce with the vile English was secured, but it would not be long until a new war was to be had...
Second war for British Isles
For the second war for the British Isles, the English had abandoned their previous flag, and were now flying the French flag (the blue one with fleur de lis, not the all-white one). Spain joined our endeavours once again - but this time the old world fought back! Only through having access through Andalusia, and placing Geonese pirates in the English Channel, Irish Sea and at Gibraltar, did we hold off the European forces. All of the British Isles were sieged down, and all of Spain was sieged down. Even though the war was taking a severe toll on both the Spanish and the French, neither side would bow down. The Spanish had their entire army sitting in Andalusia, while all of Iberia was under occupation - surviving only due to massive subsidies in the form of Aztec gold, Inca silver and Genoese booty. Eventually, France went bankrupt due to the occupation of the British Isles and continuous fighting. After more years than either side of the war desired, a peace treaty was signed. The new world was to receive Wales, and Italy and Spain were to wage a new war against each other with no intervention from the rest of the world. The casualties were counted; between 2 and 3 millions souls were lost, for the TATO to gain just Wales! WALES!!!
Once again, we found ourselves in a peace treaty. This time, with a promise of not involving Spain any further - the Iberian Peninsula had seen enough of war for the time being.
In the years between the wars, the Dutch approached the Genoese pirate captains. The Dutch economy was suffering from a series of wars in the name of the English/French. The Genoese pirates agreed to buying their provinces in the Ivory Coast from them, at the price of 3200 ducats. Further, the International Pirate Confederacy agreed to not raid the Dutch coasts or privateer in the English channel - even though this would have hurt the French, it was decided to lay off of the Dutch, because they were very friendly chaps.
Before long, a small hiccup in communication occurred - a Dutch diplomat was sent to Genoa, to ask the pirates of Tyrone to not privateer in the English Channel. Matters were quickly resolved, with Genoa acting as a middle-man in piracy business, and the pirates of Tyrone moved their privateers elsewhere (most likely somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea).
Third war for British Isles
Not long after the truces were up - once again, the war for the British Isles was on! This time, however, the French were ready! They had the main body of their army on the British Isles, and were quite insisting with their Elan! Unfortunately, at this point the Swiss were involved, and through trickery they hired condottieri, who landed in the new world! The Swiss had hired neutral fleets from Deccan, and were able to bypass the Genoese blockades unscathed. This was the first time ever, that the Genoese Pirates had to defend their own soil. The high court for once ruled in favor of the pirates, and disallowed third party transport (no hard feelings from Genoa, guys). Nonetheless, Deccan forces had made a beachhead in Brazil, and transferred control to Switzerland and Italy. The Europeans quickly hired mercenaries in the new world - but they did not last long. No one should dare fight the Aztecs or Texans on their own continent. They were pushed back into the sea!
Unfortunately, this trick had allowed the French to siege Wales, and now the Swiss and Italians were also hiring mercenaries on the British Isles. The Swiss had seized occupation of coastal provinces in Wales, and the Genoese pirates managed to raid the coasts of Switzerland! This seemed an impossible task, seeing as Switzerland had no coasts - but nothing is impossible to a determined pirate! The Dutch were in the war on the opposing side, but due to our agreements between the wars, the Dutch held back their forces and merely pretended to help the French, Italians and Swiss. Finally, after some long and hard fighting, the French, Swiss, and Italians were pushed back into the English Channel, and more clay on the British Isles was secured for Texas.
War of the Worlds (aka War of the Memes)
Eventually, all hell broke loose. The Eastern and Western parts of the world were at war - with TATO participating on the European side of things. Honestly, Genoese troops never saw any action - but along with the Irish and Norwegian fleets, the Genoese pirates sunk the fleets of Australia and Malaya, the two only navies able to compete against the Genoese fleet. However, the greatest naval nations of the world, being Norway, Munster and Genoa, soon withdrew themselves from the war - they had business to settle...
Golden age of Piracy!! (Piracy business/funny moments in general on Day 3)
Even though the International Pirate Confederacy feel that the Golden Age of Piracy has been around for very long – it was not until 1650 that it arrived in-game. Once the age began, the Genoese pirates started having historically famous pirates as our leaders! These require no republican tradition to re-elect, and we were swimming in monarch points.
We were absolutely thrilled to finish off the game having Edward "Blackbeard" Teach as the ruler of the glorious Genoese Pirates of the Caribbean!!
Business opportunities were also presented from our Irish brethren. Apparently, both the Munster and Tyrone pirates had received payment from Nepal to not raid their cost. One thousand ducats each! Quickly, a Genoese captain was sent to Nepal to make a similar arrangements. Nepal was having a tough time due to other pirate demands, and offered only 500 ducats. The offer was accepted, and the Genoese pirates would not raid the Nepalese coasts. But! The vassal of Nepal, Hannover, offered a grand prize of 750 ducats, if we raided their overlord! The Genoese captains felt that this would break our deal struck not two minutes earlier - so we informed our Aztec brethren of the new business opportunity. If they raided the coasts of Nepal, is to this day unknown to Genoa. The Irish pirates were laughing loudly, and we enquired as to why - apparently, the pirates of Tyrone were not even within range of raiding the Nepalese coasts. They were paid to keep away nonetheless! YAR-HAR-HAR!
On the last day of the game, the International Pirate Confederacy once again found itself in the High Court - This time, the Aztecs had violated some non-raiding contract. This time, the judges ruled that only the Aztecs were to be shamed on the Wall of Oath Breakers. This would not stand! Consistency was required! Quickly, the Genoese experts on pirate law (well, guidelines) went to the court and demanded that all of the IPC were to be displayed on the Wall of Oathbreakers again! This time, the appeal was heard, and the Jolly Roger was once again hoisted on the Wall of Oathbreakers.
Naval supremacy (or, well, almost)
Nearing the end of the game, there had been plenty of big talk from other naval powers. The pirates of Munster even dared hand the Genoese Pirates a black spot! The Royal Fleet of Norway was also making big talk, saying that they could take on the pirates! The game was on!
We were challenged to a fleet battle with Munster! The battlefield was to be off the coast of Gibraltar, 20 heavies vs 20 heavies! No retreating! We had 1000 ducats on the line! – Munster had a glorious admiral leading their fleet, whereas even after rolling 20 new admirals, the Genoese Pirates were unable to recruit a admiral able to match the skills of the Irish.. Flagships were lined up, but the crafty Irish had lost their flagship a few times, and lined up with The Black Pearl 3. A heavy ship with three combat bonuses. The less skilled Genoese admiral had not foreseen this, and had brought his own flagship from 1444, which still only had two combat bonuses and a trade bonus. Unfortunately, the Genoese navy suffered a humiliating defeat against the entirety of the Munster fleet, and the Genoese had to grant Munster 1000 ducats of booty…
But! This was only the first of two naval battles seeking to prove naval dominance of the world! Norway was lying in wait, with another 100 heavies. The battlefield was once again off of the coast of Gibraltar. This time with no flagships, and with 100 vs 100! The Genoese Pirates redeemed themselves with a crushing victory over Norway, going into the battle with 100 heavies and coming out of it with 136. Even with the shaming defeat against Munster, Genoa took pride in the fact that they controlled 150 of the 333 the heavies in the world at the end of the game, while Munster, fielding the second largest navy, held a mere 33 heavies. Norway came in third with 32.
The Genoese Pirates of the Caribbean ended up being the Genoese Pirates of the World, as they had islands strewn out all over the world! They had holdings in the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, all of the Caribbean, in Panama, Mexico, the Amazonas, along the Ivory Coast, off the coast of Madagascar, the Indian Ocean, near Malaya, in the Java Sea, off the coast of Australia, near New Zealand, Hawaii, and the Ryukyu Islands! Not a coastline in the world was safe from Genoese pirates looking for booty! YARR!
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A big thank you to everyone we played with at Moszna Castle! It was a fantastic experience!
More info on the LAN can be found at: https://eu4lan.com/
The Genoese station on Day 2 - proudly flying the Genoese Jolly Roger
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