The game started with France at war against Prussia and Austria running. I got Prussia to surrender, but was forced to surrender to Austria (who I was then forced to give up Picardy to, along with a running reparations payment of 25% of my income for a year.
After this round of conflict had been settled, I went to cleaning up the Italian Penninsula a bit by seizing Naples and Piedmont after Genoa asked for protectorate status. I also declared war on, and occupied Baden and Wüttemberg.
With that accomplished, after licking my wounds, in November of 1794 I declared war against Austria again and launched a two pronged attack (see map below). One through Venetia and one through Wüttemberg into Austria (trying not to alienate Bavaria by violating neutrality). The Austrians circled north through Wurzburg with their main attack and quickly outflanked and cut off my advance in the north. Paris, guarded by only two divisions of militia, lay open to them.
I pushed ahead on Vienna from the south and immediately sent every spare militia unit I could to Paris and drew my northern army of around 130,000 back to Baden.
With the arrival of 7 divisions or so of militia in the Isle de Paris, the Austrian generals seemed to reconsider the headlong advance on my capitol and the main Austrian army settled in Lorraine and began to siege Strasbourg, which I had thankfully prepared for just such an event with extra walls and guns. I let them batter themselves against these walls while my army in Baden held them in check and my Army of Italy sieged and occupied Vienna. Within two months it was over, and Austria was forced to capitulate to me due to internal unrest. With the ensuing 12,500 point peace treaty, I virtually expelled them from the Italian Penninsula, forced them to cede Tyrolia and Picardy, and forced the liberation of Flanders. I also received almost 30% of their income for a year and a 300 crown payment.
With a full army in central Germany, I was ready to try the same with Prussia.
It would not go as well.
In the mean time, Prussia had started to grow its influence in Germany and had gained Bavaria as a protectorate. Things were getting complicated. I immediately shifted my armies into Wurttemberg and began a rapid advance north through neutral states including Wurzburg, Thuringia, and Brunswick, declaring war along the way so that I could gain control of more "allies" within Germany. Within a month, I was at Saxony's doorstep, and marched in without any permission. Two or three serious engagements with Prussia's forces followed, with me taking losses for foraging as well. But Berlin was taken and the provence occupied. Skirmishes and battles ran from Berlin to Westphalia for two months. But unrest was growing at home. Complaints about battle losses and higher taxes did not sit well with the French people. Suddenly, rebellion and unrest at home forced the Army to relinquish its tenuous grip on Prussia as the government in Paris was forced to surrender to the Prussians!
However, in spite of my fears the treaty was not a harsh one. I was required to declare war on their allies for one year. In the event, that enemy turned out to be Russia, and while I received news of battles raging from Poland to Moscow, I sat back and did little. With my only contribution being a small one at sea per chance.
After the war with Prussia, I received news of a Prussian-Austrian-Spanish alliance which did not sit well with me. And with increasing reports of Spanish troops from an outraged Spanish monarchy crossing my border with increasing regularity, I decided to act and prepared for a new invasion of Austria-Hungary after several months spent occupying a few remaining states in Germany and Italy. A diplomat was put on full duty in Madrid. Those not in Madrid were sent to Vienna with orders for propoganda and to press for peace.
Having been at war with Russia and Prussia for much of the previous years, Austria was in no position to deal with my invasion. And a force of around 260,000, consisting of the French and their German and Italian (ahem) allies marched slowly but surely on Vienna from Thuringia. This easily sealed the fate of the Austrian Empire as I stripped her of Corinthia, Carniola, and Trent.
By now, all of Europe was alarmed at my rise. And Brandenburg had grown from a back water Elector to a serious power to be contended with, in the mean time also gaining the Netherlands (and their fleets!) as a protectorate! And as I watched the news from the battles in Russia and Moscow unfold, I marched to her doorstep again. This time, however, I moved into Saxony, and while in her midst, launched a surprise attack on her and swarmed into Prussia. In the same turn, I was informed that she had lost the war to Russia. So, after three to four months of struggle, the matter was decided and Prussia, once the shooting star of Europe was trampled under foot and stripped of virtually all of her western territories and protectorates.
Only Britain had more glory points than I did now. And by just 50 points or so. In the last turns of the game, I scrambled into the Netherlands and mopped up the newly "liberated" Bavarian provences west of the Rhine.
And when the final score came up, I had lost to Britain by less than 10 points.
Lots of finger pointing ensued. What if we hadn't have launched a surprise attack on Saxony? What if we had done a better job of monitoring our experience upgrades? What if we wouldn't have raised taxes in the first war against Prussia and thereby perhaps push our people over the edge and into a destabilizing rebellion?
Anyhow. It was a great game. My first real full game with Crown of Glory: Emperor's Edition. I had spent 18 hours straight playing and when I got around to turning off my computer, I realized it was already 11 AM.
It's been a long time since I have had this much fun playing anything.
Thanks WCS.
Attached map: November, 1794. Circles represent conquered minors and squares represent protectorates.
