Settings:
1.08 IGC 1.7 (with an independent Ireland and Austrian Northern-Low Countries), Normal difficulty, Cowardly AI (changed to Furious in 1498)
1492
Finally! The Great King of Prussia has appointed me as his Chief Advisor! Unfortunately we have but a single weak province, and have to pay tribute to Poland-Lithuania. Furthermore, our alliance with the Teutonic Knights (who, with Poland, surrounds us in all directions). isn't dominated by the King of Prussia to our dismay. With our prospects for the expansion of our alliance nullified and our income essentially nothing, I have decided that Prussia must control the rich Polish trade center - Danzig by the end of the century. The preparations for war have commenced, with a total of 4,000 infantry recruited. In addition, we upgraded our baliff and sent away my extraordinarily ugly cousins to my fellow German princes, in addition to England and Hungary. Addressing the religious situation, I have decided to increase state uhh.. "requisitioning" of Moslem lands and decrease it for Orthodox lands. Infidels deserve no property! Anything I allow them to keep is charity. Thankfully, very few Islamic nobles live in my territory.
1493
My economist decieved me! Expecting 98 D annual income (hey, this is my first minor state GC...), I only recieved 13 D. I will have the bastard's head for his incompetence! This means that war will come to Poland - soon.
God bless the Turks, for the Heathens have declared war on Poland! Liberation shall come to Danzig as soon as Poland moves her massive armies from the West.
My program of 1492 continues.
1494
The War of Prussian Independence
The Ottomans have won of string of victories in the South, and Poland (and I) have decided to act on them. A declaration of war has been sent to the Polish ambassador - prudence has stopped me from burning his office to the ground outright. I wish I could've seen his face; my aides tell me that his jaw dropped straight to the floor. I asked for Teutonic assistance, and they happily agreed. Unfortunately my vassals got nervous, and I incurred a loss of stability.
The minimally fortified Danzig was the first target of my 14,000 foot soldier, 2,000 cavalry army. By the end of the year, the province is under my control. Poland has landed a massive 30,000-sized army into my capitol, constantly reinforced. Hopefully, General Winter shall take care of them. The Teutons are faring far better; they already control two Polish provinces. I sent a diplomat to Warsaw demanding Danzig, but he was laughed out of court. My next target is Western Prussia, sending my 11,000 men to that province.
1495
The siege was going well, but suddenly the Teutons accepted peace with Poland annexing 2 out of the 4 provinces they have captured. I should never have trusted them; they have far too much Slavic blood in them! In addition, the Turks dropped out of the war, keeping 3 Polish provinces. Eastern Prussia has held out, the Polish army whithering to essentially nothing, while the the collapse of Western Prussia finally came through. I sent Warsaw another diplomat demanding Danzig, but he was simply killed.
Retreating back to my capitol, I see a gigantic Polish army of 36,000 (with 1/3 of that cavalry) on the horizon coming from Lithuania (certainly not the correct province, but it sounds right...). Victory goes to the bold, I thought, and I attacked with my reinforced 14,000 man army. They not only win, but give the Poles a crushing defeat, killing half the army! I decided to hold out for the siege after the Poles refused another demand for the cessation of Danzig. Meanwhile, another Polish army has been sent to East Prussia.
1496
Breakthrough!!! "Peace will be completely on my terms," I told the Polish King personally. Demanding Danzig and Western Prussia, he had no choice but to accept the humiliation.
Our situation is still precarious, but certainly less so. We have one of the greatest trade centers in Eastern Europe. Confinement to the Polish border seems like a reality in the East - at least for now, so we decided to look towards the West.
Diplomatically, we decided we need a more powerful alliance, stability be damned! We broke our agreement with the Teutons, and demanded a new alliance with us at the head. They had no choice but to accept, in case a resurgent Poland wanted their territory back. In the Empire, we enlisted the aid of Bradenburg. After considering diplomatic annexation, their ambassadors told us they would never be subjagated to an equal power, territory-wise. Military annexations are the only solutions, for now; perhaps later we will be able to bring Berlin and the Knights into our fold.
Militaristically, we embarked on an extremely agressive policy. We took 3 loans (I already had a couple out), with the heated objections of the King. "That idiot," I thought! Fortunately, the nobility favors me, and I am able to push my policy through. My insidious plan involves declaring war on Pommerenia (sp?), bringing her allies - Hensa, Venice, and Holstein - into the war. With our supremely powerful army, we will run through the Henseatic League and Pommerenia, with the help of my allies. We will annex the Henseactic League, with her rich trade center, and take one of the provinces from Pommerenia, thereby ending Venice and Holstein's wrath. Hopefully, I will win Prussia this war before she is afflicted with bankruptcy, and/or Poland gets any funny ideas...
1497
The Great North-German War
A state gift was sent to Bradenburg, insuring their participation in the war. Our diplomats attemped vassalazation, and succeeded! The troop build-up completed in August, with 20,000 men, 4,000 cavalry, and 80 cannon. A declaration of war is sent to Pommerenia, with our respective allies joining the struggle. Pommerenia's army invaded Madendburg (owned by Bradenburg), thankfully, and we blitzed through the Western territory with ease. The Teutons and Brandenburg seiged their capitol territory.
1498
More troops are raised. Prussia suffered from bankruptcy this year, but nonetheless, the generals continued the blitzkrieg through Hensa, culminating with her annexation. We then invaded Holstein and took her money. Finally, we demanded Western Pommerenia to end the The Great North-German War. Much to my surprise, the war went almost exactly to plan.
I was able to vassalize the Teutons this year. In addition, I forged more Royal Marriages among the German states and England.
I also changed the agressiveness setting from coward to furious (max).
1499, 1500
Did nothing but manage research and arrange royal marriages with the King's blasted relatives (I feel like a ****ing matchmaker!
)
1501 - 1511 (I'm lazy
)
The 10 Years War
This was a tedious war involving Poland declaring war on me. I was able to wrest Posen and Tula (Tula went to the Teutons) away from her after many grueling battles. Meanwhile, Pommerenia declared war on me (with her allies coming along for the ride - Venice and Holstein), and later Sweden (with Scotland and Denmark) declared war on me. After beating off the Danish agression around 1508, I dealt with Pommerenia & Holstein (they wouldn't accept a white peace until I conquered their respective provinces, and my low rank generals kept on being undermined by the high ranked Teutons). Before I finished the siege in Pommerenia, Poland declared war on me again (and she finally accepted a white peace)! This time, I was able to take two provinces during the treaty negotiations - Polensia and the unfortified province East of it (quite a suprise, since Poland was about to recapture 1/3 provinces, and she only had to walk into another one). Of course, I've been having lots of war fatigue rebellions during this entire period.
Afterwards, we diplo-annexed the Teutons (along with the 4 Polish provinces she captured). When I save up enough money, Bradenburg will be next
.
Peripheral Activities
Note "Peripheral" = "stuff I'm not paying attention to"
Denmark, Russia, and the Ottomans have become the dominant bad boys (after myself, of course
). Denmark has diplomatically annexed Sweden and Holstein, and conquered the two West-Irish provinces. Turkey has conquered 4 Mameluke territories and 3 Polish provinces. Russia annexed the Golden Horde (who conquered large portions of Astrakhan).
Summary:
After 19 years, Prussia has become one of the most powerful nations in Eastern Europe. Alone, she can probably defeat any individual power in the region (besides Turkey - with whom Prussia now has a border with - of course); diplomatically, she is isolated and prime for attack. Her income is at 150 (and that's before the Teutonic annexation, the final Polish peace treaty, and the final collapse of the anti-war rebellion), controls 3 COTs, and ~17 provinces. In addition, she has managed to escape the wrath of the most powerful European powerbloc - Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and Wurtemburg. Inflation is still hovering around 30%...
VP:
1. Prussia
2. Turkey
3. Spain
4. Denmark
5. Bradenburg (my ally)
The Teutons used to be #5 before they were annexed.
BB:
Prussia - 21
Denmark - 14
Russia - 11
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Any suggestions on my next steps? Perhaps a Danish or Austrian alliance would be useful...
. Pictures will be up soon on my crappy website 
