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[Haspen]

022: The Many Conflicts of France

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Leopold III is so charismatic that people just want to be vassals of Lippe!



ITS MY OWN EVENT WHY FOR FU-

I mean, the vile Muscovy has assasinated Leopold III! At least, people of Lippe is sure of it!

Simon Ludwig has ascended to the throne of Lippe, and the Holy Roman Empire.



His heir is a very competent one, like woah.

Meanwhile, Simon Ludwig and the court of Lippe has decided to pursue the diplomatic insult and declare war against Muscovy!



Muscovy were forced to pay money for Leopold's funeral and their vast lands were pierced in three with release of Nizhny Novgorod.

France soon wants us to join its colonial war somewhere in India? Against Vijayanagar and Xin.

Sure thing, it always counts as honoring the treaty. What is Xin anyway-



Woah mama that's a lot of troops and ships they have. Well, like I said, it's French war.

...Maybe we should consider building a navy to transport our troops? What with Memel being on the other side of the Baltic.



Whaddaya know, we ain't alone thinking about a navy.

It is settled then - a transport fleet will be commissioned!



It seems that more and more of von Mecklenburgs pursue literary arts. That is good! I'm sure he will make a great poet.



Maybe he took someone's critique too hard?

On more serious side of this, Simon Ludwig does not have a heir, currently. Hopefully someone or something will fix that.



One war ends, another begins. Meanwhile we decide to better relations with this distant 'Xin' empire with access treaties and a gift.



France sure feels bloodthirsty nowadays. The war begins with invasion of Liege; remember they annexed Hainaut?

Karma, biotch.



Surprisingly - at least, for us - France is having trouble containing Aragonese forces.

We decided to lend them a hand; our forces decimated this stack of Aragon troops after Third Battle of Toulouse.



However, taxing people for war and those fake battle alerts have annoyed the population, and rebellious sentiment has grew in Lippe in recent years.

We recruit a 5-star high judge, Simon August Kassel, to deal with the growing discontent.



After years of uncertainty, finally, there's a heir to the throne of Lippe.

Sadly his stats are very mediocre except Administration.



Bavaria thought we would not notice this little popup describing how they have annexed the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg.

Our declaration of war will show them that we're not blind.



Their war took way too long.

Our own war against Bavaria is proceeding smoothly; their forces are in disarray, Wurzburg and Brandenburg are occupying their exclaves, while our forces are besieging Bavaria proper.



After many wars and many years, peace and stability returns to Lippe, while Bavarians forever lose any significance.

And then, on 5th March, France dissolves our century-long alliance amidst war against the Brittany, Milan and Burgundy. A sign of incoming trouble? Perhaps...

[Haspen]

023: GULES, A FESS ARGENT

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Simon Ludwig has decided that it is time to consolidate our realm, and stop having that many vassals.

First to be incorporated is Munster; an Elector-Bishopric. Their vote goes to Metz, a catholic Archbishopric at the moment, but Simon Ludwig will work on changing that.

Still, we have 4 votes and Bohemia, being Bohemia, votes perpetually for itself.



H-Hey now, Wurzburg, don't do that! We're down to 3 Electoral votes because of you! Why didn't you warn us when we were annexing Munster?

The next Electorship goes to Brandenburg, who fortunately, whilst Catholic, favors Bavaria over Austria. Currently, our succession to the throne of Holy Roman Empire is safe and sound.



France, consider what you're doing here. Not that we trade in Antwerp, but still.

Just for safety reasons, Simon Ludwig orders that a 4th Army is to be created.



The peaceful time for Lippe has lasted for five years before Simon Ludwig has died, rather prematurely, leaving his underage heir Simon VIII to lead the country and the Empire.

This was a perfect time for Brandenburg to decide that they would rather see Austria as the next Emperor. Fortunately we still have-



BOHEMIA YOU IDIOT!! Why did you had to eat Moravia?? I'm down to 2 votes because of you!



While we wait for the Council to get back to odd number of Electors, Simon VIII ascends to the throne. His heir Stephan is anything but a diplomat, unfortunately.

Wait, whom's Ferrara voting for again?



*PANICKED SCREECHING*

Religious Unity button! Where is the Religious Unity button!? I need to convert an Elector!!



I KEEP PUSHING THAT BUTTON BUT NOTHING'S HAPPENING!! Except loss of prestige.

Brandenburg, Holland and Metz are adamant about staying Catholic.

It's either Ferrara, or we go to war to set some religious affiliations straight.



...Alright then.

[Haspen]

024: Of Lubeck and Austria

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Our fighting against Holland goes with minimal army maintenance, and brings Brunswick into the war, which we will annex!



One war later, we have 3 votes, tied with - out of all people - Holstein.

But because Mecklenburgs of Lippe are current Emperors, the throne will fall to them if a tie occurs. Electoral Crisis averted, although we need ot be more careful in the future.



Just as Stephan, heir to the throne of Lippe, becomes an adult, Simon VIII falls sick. Hopefully its only temporary.



Of course the RNG had to dash our hopes. Long live Stephan I von mecklenburg!

His first notion is to try again and pass Reichregiment, but the Diet once again denies the Mecklenburgs their progressivism.



Stephan I continues to prove that he is not a diplomat at all.



Fortunately he has an occassion to prove that Lippe is still an Emperor proper; Lubeck has been taken by Scandinavia.

If we retake it, not only we receive prestige and glory, but also control of the valuable centre of trade. To war!



They've called Austria and few others into the war, but Lippe will prevail!



While Scandinavia suffers under our steel boot, Austrians are a formidable foe.



Darnit! We run out of cash and had to take a huge loan.



Scandinavians give up Lubeck, and Prussia pulls out of the war.

However, Austrians reject our offers of white peace; therefore Emperor Stephan decided that they will be punished with fragmentization!



As years go by, sieges are won and Austrian friends abandon her one by one. And they're forced to accept the peace terms above.

Croatia, Serbia and Styria amount for 10 provinces, a half of Austrian possessions in Europe. That will teach them!



As we recover from the war, Stephan I performs his administrative duties, an appoints Nuremberg as a free city.



A new idea of Battlefield Commissions will help us get better generals... we can't rely on the Emperor's skills alone.



And so, the era of crusades, excommunication and religious superiority has come to an end.

Heretics can live without fear of oppression and the Pope loses most of influence amongst Catholics. And we, as an Emperor, can no longer demand that Princes convert to teachings of Luther, except by the way of sword.



The last shadow from the war with Scandinavia and Austria is thus pushed away.

Lippe remains strong and prosperous, just like in the old times!

[Haspen]

025: Organ Sounds of Dissappointment

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Oh, really? Emperor to the rescue!

Brandenburg even lets us lead the war against the Poles.



We crush the main Polish army and Stephan has decided that von Mecklenburgs of Lippe need a new spa city at the coast of Baltic.

Therefore, Danzig will be ours!



And it is, along with a great mountain of Polish money.

Like, Poles, where did you get all that money from?



Shortly afterwards, Duchy of Oldenburg is intergrated into Lippe.

Its western half of Friesland is then formed into a new vassal duchy (for we have no core on that land).



It was also time for Lippe to claim the title of Defender of Protestant Faith.

France had this title for decades but claimed it only because they had more money than us.



The amount of money we got from Poland allowed us to sponsor the South German Organ Tradition masters; let the heavy organ music play!

And finally, Memel becomes a Lippe core; we can add it to the territorial borders of Holy Roman Empire.



Gustavian infantry is the way to go at the moment.



Crown Prince of Lippe, Simon Philipp, dies of fever, and the second man in line, Simon August, is a dissappointment.



*deep breath*

Boi.

Why u doing dis.



WAIT WHAT!? ITS BEEN ONLY A MONTH.

RNG IT HAS BEEN ONLY A MONTH!

*screeching*



Play for us, maestro.

Lest I punch someone - Simon August probably.

[Haspen]

026: Age of Absolutism

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A fat load of ducats falls into our pockets just like that!



Oh no. Holland is voting for itself. We're at two votes only!

It's time we push someone into vassalization, and that will be Metz. To war!



Metz stands alone and besieged by rebels; the weakened city surrenders after two months and is forced to become our vassal and accept Lutheranism as their state religion.



Stephan I has decided that with the ideas of Absolutism spreading around, the old feudal system just does not cut it anymore.

As soon as stability of Lippe is restored somewhat, he will declare himself a monarch absolute!



A-ha! The greedy Austrians cannot keep their hands off Styria!

We will kick their arses and help them realize their mistake.



Battle of Lienz and subsequent Battle of Salzburg are the only significant battles in this conflict; after these, we have free hand to conquer Austrian lands and besiege Wien.



Alas, lack of generals demanded that Stephan I takes control of fighting as well, and that caused his death at Salzburg.

Simon August already has a heir, the infant Armin, so hopefully there won't be much distress.



After several more years, Austria accepts our peace treaty, which further curbs their territorial powers.



Simon August decides that he will pursue his predecessor's dream, and declares himself Absolute Monarch of Lippe.

This damages his legitimacy and destabilizes the country, but with enough international marriages and an artist working at the court, we will fix that.

Being absolute and all, he believes that the Diet will finally pass the Reichreform. But no, the Diet is as stubborn as always.



The young absolutist on the throne also believes that Anhalt and Luneburg are being obstrusive in their independence and errant Catholicism.

That will be fixed with two short wars, says Simon August.



Attacking Luneburg gets us some unwanted attention... but nothing we can't win against!

Simon August does recruit a Commandant (+Discipline) and a Quartermaster (+Reinforce Speed) to help our armies a bit.



Brandenburg had the largest stack in the north and we defeated them with ease.



Luneburg is annexed and few days earlier, Wurttemberg had to fork over quite a few ducats for us to accept peace with them.



And Anhalt is annexed as well, fulfilling Simon August's imperialistic plans.

Archbishopric of Wurzburg is beaten soon afterwards, bringing us almost 500 ducats from their treasury!



Armies of Lippe keep beating up nearby enemies for money, until Castille decides to give up and offer white peace.



And so, the war comes to the true end.

We've got even more money out of it by beating up Styria, so we can afford something fancy... a Glorious Monument standing in Berg will do!

Of wait, we have so much cash we can afford a March. Let's build one in Sundgau, far in southeast, by France and Switzerland!

[Solymr]

PTW Lippe stronk ;v

[Haspen]

027: CHINA REVEALED

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Aha, now we've got another special building available. Grain Depot provides +20% to Max Army Limit and cuts Army Maintenance costs by 20%. If you have or want to have a big army that can be sustained by your economy, this is one of 2 'must-haves' in EU3.

The only caveat is that you must build it in a Grain-producing province; we have some, Kassel being close to our capital and thus in a safe spot.



Serbia asks for help, but as they failed to gather attention of anyone else but Carniola, we will simply send them some money to help their military.



Well what do you know, maybe Simon August isn't that bad of a monarch, if he managed to convince noblemen of Tyrol to accept his inheritance?

Aaah, that reminds me of the old, old days, when Lippe received Cleves due to inheritance laws. Marriage for the win!

The war against Transylvania ends a year later, with Serbia taking province of Banat from them.



Some months later our cartographers found the reason behind Polish riches; they own a chunk of Eastern Africa and even Arabian Peninsula; slaves and ivory earning them most of cash.

I have to say that I'm impressed with tenacity and boldness of the Poles... may they grow strong.



Simon August I comes and goes rather early, just as Armin became a legal adult. His own heir, Simon (he will be the 9th I believe?) has nice stats.

Tirol, a quite well developed kingdom on its own, has been inherited by Lippe, and its italian side, province of Trent, comes with an university. Score!



I keep forgetting I have to fix this error with this invalid string call...

Anyway - Augsburg, led by Kristoph Bollheim, has created a league of Free Cities; a highly diplomatic leader can prompt this event, which sends out alliance offers to all Free Imperial Cities in the Empire, except the creator's designated rivals.

Nevers, Regensburg, Ulm, St.Gallen and Sion all joined the League of Augsburg. Going to war against Augsburg can trigger all those little cities, who - theoretically speaking - can then try and call their bigger friends in.

A while later, we receive atlases of Eastern Asia and Indonesia, allowing us to-



Für die Liebe des allmächtigen Gottes.

Emperor Armin feels a bit uneasy right now, and has decided to take a break.

[Haspen]

028: Lippe Long and Prosper

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Finally, thanks to adjustments to the Treasury slider (and Grain Depot cutting down military maintenance), we're making a monthly profits now!

It might be 2 ducats per month, but you gotta remember back in 1400s we were losing several (up to 6-8) ducats per month.



And speaking of money - gifts to the state!

Let it rain!! *clink clink clink* As our current mission is to build a Weapons Manufactory in Nassau, we can now afford that building. It provides both income (even more in a province with Copper or Iron) and +5 to Weapons tech monthly.



It's time that Armin does some proper Emperoring and bullies Lithuania to return Istria to the members of Holy Roman Empire - for example Aquileia.



This is why keeping up with military technology is very important.

You keep up, or you die. Violently.



Aaah, we gain Nationalist thought emerges! It gives somewhat decent casus belli against all nations within your culture group, so you can grab them more easier if you want to create a national (Germany, Italy, Russia) blob.

As for the idea, you can see we're taking Regimental System. That plus Grain Depot in Kassel means our land forces' maintenance costs are slashed by 45%. If we traded in Salt enough, we would have 55% reduction, but alas, we're not a global trader.

Gotta have a flaw somewhere, you know?



Literary reputation of Lippe shines once more, as a ancient text is rediscovered! And it's first time I saw this pop up for me, and we almost passed our chance; this event has cut-off date of 1700 AD.

And of course it's a philosopher's treatrise. Free government investment is great!



We manage to bully Lithuania hard enough to give up Istria and few hundred ducats.

After a short while of thinking, Armin I decided that he recovered the land, then he is entitled to keep it! Aquileia can complain as much as they want, Istria is ours!

Also, you might notice that we have a valid civic decision availbale. That would be...



While forming Kingdom of Westphalia would give us a nice set of rewards, free coastal cores even, it would jump our monarchy from Absolute to the Administrative line.

As well change our fancy multi-square coat of arms into plain white-and-blue one, which is a no-no.

In january 1686, Armin I of Lippe decided that our military must grow, now that costs to maintain it has been drastically lowered. A fifth army will be created, and current units will be enlarged to 29.000 troops each (13 regiments infantry, 12 cavalry and 4 artillery).



Oh right, in EU3, when you complete a manufactory mission, you gain a free 4-star advisor.

The next mission asks for textile manufactory in Altmark, but I'm saving money for another building - Tax Assessor, which reduces inflation by -0.05 yearly. More money we can mint without inflation, the better!

Meanwhile, England and its Irish friends has been awfully quiet lately, I wonder what's up with-



THE INVASION HAS BEGUN RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!



...or maybe, just maybe, we're not destined to become Xin subjects, who knows!



Simon, heir to the throne, having almost died of measles - or whatever he has caught - reminded me that I have not saved in a long while.

Fortunately, he has lived through his fever, and continues to be a heir. Phew!

[Haspen]

029: Conquests and Liberations

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Armin I has noticed that something has passed forgotten by all his predecessors for almost two hundred years.



The city of Cologne is rightful core land of Lippe!

It has been decided that this must be rectified immediately, and that Trier will be taken as an extra so that we don't have to bother with finding a proper owner for it.

Upon declaration of war, Liege, Holstein, Wurzburg and few other minor Princes joined Cologne's side; we will deal with them, too.



Holstein has to give independence to Bremen and Verden, and Swiss money arrived in our treasury few weeks later.



Cologne is annexed in its entirety! We can now lay siege to its allies.



Meanwhile, Simon, heir to the throne, has penned an ode to the military power of Lippe. Very nice!



After two more years, the enemy alliance capitulated; Wurzburg, Ulm and Liege had to pay a tribute totalling 1475 ducats, and Wurzburg also had to restore Baden, losing half its territory.

All these victories, restorations and conversions have built up enough Imperial Authority for the Kings of Lippe to try and reform the Reichregiment - but the Diet once again says 'no'.

Armin I gets better after the amount of money Lippe has allows him to build Tax Assessor at Altmark and Admiralty at Mecklenburg.



While we weren't looking, Milan has blobbed, eating up some Italian Princes, and even capturing the Free Imperial City of Sion!

It's time to kick Milanese in the face and demand they restore independence of the little ones.



Milan is joined by Bavaria, Thuringia and Styria; minor powers that will be beaten up.

And this time, the Italians do not have a technological advantage; the fighting against them proceeds smoothly.



In a somewhat drastic and controversional move, Armin I decides to annex Thuringia instead of simply vassalizing it.



The amount of Catholic lands Lippe is acquiring also prompts Armin I to pass the Popery Act, to help convert them faster.



I can hear the spine of Milan breaking already. However, will all their provinces conquered, they have no choice but to accept our terms.

Armin, like several of his predecessors, decided that a new spa is needed, but this time somewhere warmer - like Verona.



Charm of von Mecklenburg family reaches even beyond the Empire; as far as into the Balkans!



To celebrate all those conquests and liberations, Armin I decides that a new palace is required - one that will show just how legitimate Lippe is as the Emperor of Romans.

Glory to Lippe! Now and Forever!

[Haspen]

030: Educating the Bohemian Fools (Please Pray for France)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Several years pass and Armin, with concern, notices that his infamy counter does not go down - instead, it goes up.

But then we get another Idea slot, perfect moment to implement Cabinet; now our Infamy goes down by 0.90 per year. In a decade, the currently acrued reputation will be gone.



Oh dear, that's a rather large rebel stack. Fortunately, the Danziger garrison deals with them well enough that they retreat to Warmia (where the Poles annihilate them).



Emperor Armin tries to distract the rebellious and detractory thought with a fancy new university at Westfalen, capital of Lippe.



Aaaand then he dies. Long live Simon IX! His heir, Alexander, is a very competent young adult.

Croatia has been inherited by Lippe, but holding these poor Balkan provinces would be tedious. We will sell them to Serbians, who have a core claim in the region and are of the same national group.



A free core via event? Don't mind if I do!



The war we declare triggers a chain of alliance, and Brandenburg, England and Bohemia now assail our lands. We will beat them off after we're done with our primary goal!



This very annoying event has the tendency to pop up very often after 1650 when you have at least 2 ports but not Quest for the New World or Colonial Ventures - aka if you don't colonize/explore.

Fortunately, this late at tech tree, we can afford any slowing of Production tech; it won't yield any new buildings anyways.

At the war front, Brandenburg and Bohemia have an annoying tendency to conquer our provinces before we can. Its but a small inconvenience.



Battle of Nuremberg ends in Lippe victory, and the beaten stack is chased by Simon IX and his Army to Regensburg where he destroys them.



Unfortunately, while besieging Prague itself, Simon IX got himself killed. Oops!

Alexander I von Mecklenburg ascends to the throne immediately, and his newborn son Simon is there to ascertain the dynastic continuation.



All those rapid successions and certain events dropkick our stability into negative numbers first time since probably forever.

Despite being an Emperor, the size of our lands make it somewhat difficult to recover stability swiftly, so the man on the picture above will help us with that.



Lippe so OP even its fledgling fleet is kicking arse. Although that was only about a fifth of English navy, Alexander is quite proud of his sailors anyway.



The literary reputation of Lippe continues, and that's because University of Armin I is completed, allowing us to pass these two edicts.

School Establishment increases efficiency, Education Act lowers tech costs and boosts prestige gained each year.



And finally, we enforce harsh demands on Bohemia, emphasizing release of Moravia, for whom royals of Lippe have a certain weak spot.

Also, Serbs, who were valiantly tying up English galleons and regiments in the Balkans, has been rewarded with English coastal possessions. The English are infuriated, we believe. That will show them!



France, in the meanwhile, has fallen on some rough times. C'est la vie, friends!

Shouldn't have broken the alliance with us. We will pray for your good luck, though!

[Haspen]

031: The Great War

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Once again, there seem to be a problem with how much infamy we lose each year. Danzig became a core so its local Embassy was closed, so we will need a new one in Verona.



Phew! It seems that Ulm world conquest was stopped by Ulm itself, which helps us as well.



Serbia has been attacked by the vile Hungarians! While they have not send a call to arms, we decide to get involved anyways.

Our ambassadors warns us that 'something very bad will happen because of this silly thing in the Balkans' but what does he know. We're Lippe, just and honorable!



The war has drawn in Poland, Lithuania and Castille too. As you can see, the eastern armies are easily stomped over.



The pompous music of Baroque will help our victories feel much more epic than before.



As Castille calls in their new friends, Scandinavia and Denmark, into the war, Milan decides it is the best moment to go to war against us as well, dragging in Liege and Bavaria and Aachen as well.

Unfortunately for them, the Army stationed in Verona is more than ready to teach them a lesson.



Ah, unfortunate; the new units were made available in middle of the war.

While Caroline Infantry would give us several pips worth of offensive strength, a drop in morale due to a switch could prove disasterous. We will have to wait.



Battle of Liguria ends in eradication of Castillean and Polish forces in Italy, allowing us the aforementioned switch.

Meanwhile, our Armies in Poland and Lithuania are battling the northerners, dealing with minor stacks.



One by one, our enemies are beaten up for money or political shenanigans.

An expeditionary force into Iberia discovers that Castille has ignored its own fortifications REAL hard - some of their core lands having fort level 1, the ones everyone starts with!



Their forces? Forget their forces - their land forces are terrible as well. And this is the feared-over Castille we're fighting? Pah!

Milan was beaten up and forced to accept teachings of Luther, as well as renounce claims to the most of northern Italy. This should silence them for a long while.



Finally, the last one surrenders. We decide that Castille must be broken apart, and thus their core lands are separated into the Kingdom of Leon.

In retrospect, the short war to punish Hungary took much more time, money, fighting, sieges and peace treaties than any war before.

Alexander I von Mecklenburg has taken to calling it 'The Great War', for there was no other like it before.



To celebrate the magnaminous victory of Lippe against its enemies, Alexander I decides to sponsor a new architectural style.

A pompous, disgustingly lavish, absurdly decorated style - Rococo. May the palaces of Lippe shine with gold and marble every day from now on!

[Haspen]

032: Alexander's Diary

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Dear Diary,



The peaceful years following The Great War allow us, Alexander I von Mecklenburg, to turn to family and God in heaven.

Simon has been introduced to the court, while colleges, and then cathedrals, are planned in the theological centres of Lippe - Cologne, Trier and Altmark.



But not only religion should soothe the spirits of war-weary peasants!

Baroque music, full of uplifting tones and loud chords, will help as well.



Just look at it!

Lippe is so strong, so glorious and so prosperous, that people accept the honour of being our vassals when we simply ask them to do so!



And the third school, the school of sciences, will be promoted thorough Lippe as well.

To be honest, we're leading only in Government technologies, with everything else 5-7 levels behind. We ought to change that.



And what is the better proof of our literary prowess than this?

Once again, the youngling from von Mecklenburg dynasty is hailed as a literary genius.



A much awaited upgrade of cavalry troops coincides nicely with expiration of truce with Scandinavia, which is good.

Why? They hold Kurland, a territory considered a part of Holy Roman Empire. And of course, since times of first Lippe Emperors, we need to recover that.



Lithuania, England and Austria are called in by the Scandinavians, but that won't help them. For our armies are the strongest!



Scandinavians are putting up a respectable amount of resistance, but Battle of Stockholm ends in their defeat despite home advantage and greater numbers.

Elsewhere, Austria is being beaten up by our armies, and Denmark pulls out of war soon enough, followed by Prussia.



Victory against Austrians make them insignificant, once again, per treaty I enforce upon their king.

After that, we decide to settle for peace with leader of the alliance, Lithuania, for 300 ducats.



And our vassals, so loyal to us, that they are happily accepting demands to become part of Lippe, and we even gain cores on their territories!

Such are the civilized, peaceful, progressive ways of our nation. Glory to us!

[Haspen]

033: All the Litte Wars & Simon the Sick

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Leon decides to take some land in Iberia; they succeed in annexing Galicia, which was their core to begin with. Our involvement was limited to sending some war subsidies and blocking Pope's ports in Italy.



In this war, we did even less; blocking of Gibraltar against ships from Indies was more than enough.

Free war taxes, though!



Though this is rather perplexing to see.

Rajput fleet carried soldiers all the way to Kurland. We will sink that fleet, and our soldiers will crush the Hindus.



Meanwhile, we decide to switch an Idea; having few Cathedrals gives Lippe about 0.20 missionaries yearly; this positive amount lets us drop Divine Supremacy, and instead pick Espionage.

Sending few spies to bribe defenders does wonders in this era of lvl4 forts staffed with thousands of soldiers. Really cuts down on waiting times, you know?



After long and prosperous reign, Alexander passes away. Glory to Simon X, King of Lippe, Emperor of Romans!

While the new Emperor might be lacking in skill, his current successor definitely isn't. If anything, that Diplomatic '3' might be of slight worry.



A tropical fever (India is at fault for this!) has claimed Leopold's life, and currently, the royal family of Lippe has no heir.

Simon decides that it is the best moment to insult the court and destabilize the nation. Silly Simon!



Our worries, both in terms of skill and the heir itself, have dissipated with birth of Simon, son of Simon!



Blue Coat is the best choice. Beefy and offensive in its ratings.

Few days later, Simon X gets real sick, and we have to ask the nobles to help us with the administration.



León's at it again. Go forth, Leonese soldiers, and have fun!

Simon X decides to follow the recent policy of semi-involvement by Lippe and sends the fleet to blockade enemy ports rather than waste soldiers' lives on taking them.



First bickering with nobles, then a sickness, and now this?

I guess we shouldn't get too attached to Simon X, just in case.



...like I was saying. Don't get too attached. A toddler is now King of Lippe and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, his regents taking care of the situation.

And we haven't been in this situation for over two centuries. Very, very inconvenient.

[Haspen]

034: The Dream of Germanic Unity

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First time in a while, we get a call for help. From Silesia, attacked by Hungary.

The Emperor - or rather his regents - decides to answer the call! The war, despite Scandinavian involvement, is resolved seven months later, when our forces decimate Hungarian troops and capture Pressburg and Pecs.



Continuing the old plan of consolidating and centralizing Lippe domain, Electorate of Saxony has been annexed.

The Electorate passes to Bar, a Protestant territory in far west of the Empire. A long-time considered a friend, it has decided to fervently back up Lippe in Imperial elections.



As the years go by, and we watch young Emperor Simon grow up, a certain blob is doing what a blob does.

Namely, giving us a casus belli for the near future.



And now we launch a series of wars, with Lippe Royal Orchestra playing suitably energetic piece in the background. For Simon XI is assured of Lippe superiority - over all of Germany. We were the strongest, the greatest, the most renowned ones for decades.

It is time to unite the broken, fragmented lands of Germania, under the leadership of the House von Mecklenburg!

First, as a warm-up, we go against Bohemia, to recover NiederOberlausitz, for which we have a core.



A month after this bloody battle, Bohemia forks over NiederOberlausitz and gives up its claim to Moravia.

Now, time to punish France for annexing Burgundy.



The corpses of Frenchmen pile up like mountains, in Burgundy and Netherlands.



Considering the description of this novel idea but also Lippe trading methods - please pardon our hypocrisy!

After we conquer aforementioned provinces and rebels rear their heads in southern France, we put forward these demands:



And they accept these demands without a hitch. Namur will be given away to our vassal, Duchy of Hainaut. Imperial Authority rises steadily, but if the Diet cannot accept Reichregiment, it will have to accept our supreme precedence as best candidate for the Elections.

Next, it's time to punish the evil menace that is Ulm - it has taken Konstanz from Wurttemberg and has annexed Nuremberg! Truly a vile behaviour, typical of Ulm.



And punished they are! In the meanwhile, Milan dared conquer Genoa, and that's bad.

(In middle of that war, Simon XI decides that Ulm must be annexed despite the truce. Ulm cannot conquer the world if Ulm does not exist *touches forehead, again*)



Milan is indeed punished, and our prestige and authority only grows higher.



It takes only few months after this battle to conquer and annex Brandenburg in its entirety.



All the requires provinces are taken; the stage is set for German Unification.

Already plans are drawn to let some states retain certain degree of autonomies; Kingdom of Baden, Freiestadte Frankfurt, Aachen and Memmingen, Republic of Salzburg, probably Kingdom of Holstein too, due to its size. As for Austrian domains... we will think about it later.

All of them, of course, would be the vassals in the great German Empire, for in Germany, there can be only one state leading them all.

At the moment, however, we wait - about two, maybe three generations tops.

[Haspen]

035: Years Be Passing By

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Of course we will help the Serbians.

Three years later, they annex Wallachia, take province of Nis from Bulgaria, and impose harsh treaty on Hungarians, curbing their claims and regional power.

Serbia strong! And all we had to do was punch some Hungarians in the meanwhile, easy-peasy.



However, the stacks of our enemies are growing larger whilst ours are under 30k men each.

Simon XI thus declared expansion of Lippe armies, each to include 2 additional regiments of infantry, cavalry and artillery.



We hire a 6-star Sheriff that showed up on Oberlausitz one day, and that allowed us to pass Mining Act.

As we're more of a producer than trader, this is a logical thing to implement. Gotta mine'em all!



Ottoman Republic has decided to share a border with us. Bad move, for Muslims are not tolerated within Germanian borders!



The Baroque is passing away and Simon XI has developed a taste for simpler architecture; the Neoclassicist style is now being prevalent in Lippe.

Meanwhile, we roll over Ottomans in Balkans, and Serbians are having a blast as well.



After a while, we decide to finish the war and demand Croatia (and money).

As our ally, Serbia, has a core on that territory, we sell it to them for a bargain price of 100 ducats.



We're now entering an era of rapid military development. Cavalry becomes beefy, infantry becomes sharpshooters.

Each new tech will bring new units, and the next upgrade is just 6 years away.



For Science!



For von Mecklenburgs!