G7 - The War of the English Succession & the breaking of the Pirate Brotherhood

How about a wooden nose then all the rage in Berlin this year.Or maybe your more interested in a wodden ear, amazing what they make these days.

Kingmaker wrote:

J Flower wrote:Maybe you should start a collection, with a wooden leg or a hook  instead of a hand, see how much of you is left in the original state when you return to Europe.

I already have a large scar down my face across the eye that is missing ....

do you want to make me more unattractive?

Understand you can catch some really interesting and disfigureing diseases/parasites in West Africa.

But think your Character still has a fair way to go to match a friends character in a old C & S campaign who took a critical hit in the head with a mace. The good news was it was very minor as critical hits go ie a disfigureing wound loss 1D6 charisma.

The bad news was he had low charisma to start with and then roled a 6! We are talking "pigs cross the road to avoid levels"

GM's view was that the blow had destroyed the nose leaving a hole which dripped snot and puss and the average person thinks you are a leper.

All of which would not have been so bad but the character in question along with half the parties characters had just been charged with Heresy and said character was smashed in the face during a break out from the Bishops Jail which left two Knights of the Hospital and several of the Bishop's specialist staff dead. But quite a few respectable witnesses alive! If somewhat shaken by having seen some truely dodgy "black magic" and a full grown water troll in action.

Compared to those characters yours is having a easy ride...............not mixed up with any Vodoo Witch Doctors and planning to fall out with the Holy Inquestion are you?

not yet but who knows......  

March 1710 issue of Gloire du Roi has shown up and for non G7 players here are the highlights:

We have had a month of treaty and other rejections:

1) - The Jacobite proposed treaty of Edinburgh has been rejected by the Dutch Government & Grand Pensionary in no uncertain terms. Indeed after calling James a Bigot, Fairfax a torturer & Stark a butcher one wonders if the Grand Pensionary already has his Stadtholder marked down as a martyr. If William of Orange ever gets free of Jacobite captivity a few words may be said on the topic of putting up memorials to people before they have even had their head cut off!

- Louis XIV called the treaty of Edinburgh a "fair treaty and a generous offer" & much more generous than he would make to his enemies. Louis also recommended that other powers sign it promptly. It would seem that Louis who is getting on a bit has started to loss a few facilties only one power (The UDP) was asked to sign this treaty.

2) - Compared to the 100% rejection of the treaty of Edinburgh the Spanish effort to end the British Civil War "The Treaty of Glasgow" and get the Stadtholder & Prince Eugine of Savoy but of Jacobite dungeons meet with a more mixed result - Austria said yes, Russia said yes subject to some clarification, the Dutch said no & the Jacobites contemptuously rejected the latest Spanish terms as irrelevant and demanded that Spanish Forces follow the ordes of the Stadtholder and surrender.

- The Jacobite reply would seem to ignore two important facts - No one follows the orders of a POW & Hapsburg Troops do not follow the orders of the Dutch Stadtholder/King of Scots who is their ally not their commander.

3) In actual fact the capture of the Stadtholder/King of Scots seems more like the loss of a Knight than checkmate as the UDP seeems to be carrying on under the direction of the Grand Pensionary, Scotland seems to be carrying on under a regency Government and Parliament in Glasgow and in the Americas the Lord Protector is busy appointing English Exiles to posts like Governor of New York.

Basically it seems to be a case of "The King is not yet dead, long live the Orange Order."

If Good King William is done to death by his foes the only question for Scots, Americans & many English is do they try and find a Protestant King or go for a Republic on the Dutch Model.

4) This could well come down to who helps them the most. Currently the Grand Pensionary seems to be in the lead but that famous Protestant Hero "The Lion of the North" seems to have settled his war with Russia and is now looking for pasture new to display his talents and continue to score points over his mortal rival the Czar of all the Russia's.

- The Russians have finally agreed that their Diplomats did indeed give St Petersburg to the King of Sweden. Shortly to be re-named Charlesburg? or Karlsburg?

- But Count Erik Dahlberg Sweden's minister of trade is still complaining that the Russians have not removed all tarriffs on Swedish merchants.

5) Karl von Struve new Russian Envoy to Burma has been stripped naked in public and beaten with sticks "for his impudence and gross error of Judgement"...........the Czar may think his diplomatic corp has got off lightly following their errors of judgement at Warsaw.
True Russia has got its "Window on the West" in the ex-Polish lands of Livonia. But due to important river trade routes Riga is a port for Polish & Polish Ukraine Trade not Russian. Plus the road route between Moscow & Riga is still dominated by a Vasa Stronghold and Swedish Tax collectors.

6) Perhaps due to worry about what will happen if the Protestant Hero of the North lands in England King James marched in person though driving rain to lead reinforements to the wet and bedraggled blockaders of Hastings. While the Royal Navy through lead by the Lord High Admiral in person battled storms to also get to Hastings.

Turns out the Swedish Ships of Hastings were only a bunch of tourists looking for some winter sun in Sussex and sailed early in the month muttering about the crap quality of the weather on the English Riveria.

7) Elsewhere in England (well Bristol mostly) King James continues his crusade to break anything linked to the HWIC. Filling the goals with business men like Messrs Taylor, Parr, Purdy, Sweet & Trelawney plus hundreds of of ex-soldiers & 6,000 Beech Mill Land Pattern muskets. He has also got the French to help out but they seem to just arrest random English Merchants.

General feeling however is that King James is picking up the small fry of the HWIC. Its major players like Martell, Mattheson and their ilk "retired" to the America's, Africa or Spain years ago.

9) The HWIC faction in the Brotherhood basically seem to have either gone legit and turned away from smuggling for honest slave trading and membership of the Portobella Chamber of Commerce. Or they have got religion and joined the Orange Order.

Meanwhile their rivals like Stark, Henry and other cronies of Blackbeard and the sons of liberty faction have found Vodka and joined the Czar.

Well that was an interesting turn, sent out a lot of letters, bar one person which I think I missed...

nice to see Prussia got its taxes raised, no more scraping a living off of loans, meanwhile in britain the little spat over some spilt custard continues.

Meanwhile in Africa I am trying to find my way back to Europe having been recalled

Very childish I know, but in regard to Hastings - ha, in your face Jacobites. Apologies to everyone for that.

April 1710 Gloire du Roi has shown up and the good news is that its no longer raining! As commented on by both King James and the Count of Gerona the winter of 1709-1710 has been horrid. Get caught in the freezing rain and its 2 sickness levels even before the cossacks nick your regt goat. Some troops may need almost all of 1710 just to dry out!

Its still raining in India and the Pacific but for non players here are the other highlights from a rather damp G7:

1) Edinburgh......the plague seems to have almost ended apart from in Russian Regiments in the city. So French Jacobite the Marquis Pardaillan de Gondrin asked them to leave and take their diseases with them. Hopefully the end of the plague may mean that King William will live long enough to mount the gallows being built for him by the Jacobites.

Surely such a famous gentleman rates a axe rather than a common hanging??????

2) In Glasgow the Spanish got really upset about being summoned to surrender by a turncoat dragoon and Percival Keene got challenged to a daul. Oddly the first challenge did not come from a rested & elite swordsman from the ranks of the Spanish Cavalry or the Royal Regt of Castile but from a exhusted Spanish Major who had just marched back from Edinburgh in the rain & Keene dispatched his worn out challenger with ease. He then got the hell out of Dodge (well Glasgow) before anyone else challenged him.

SB characters interested in rapid promotions may wish to consider service with the Fife & Forfar Dragoons a Jacobite Scots unit lead by a English turncoat since they are now No 1 Target for a lot of very upset Spanish types. Doubt if they are that popular with Scots, Dutch, Americans etc.

3) In England

- Dr Crane is holding debates with Slavers
- King James has decided he needs a Parliament after all but it now seems the capital of England in Warwick not London since that is where the Parliament is to meet. James having turned the Palace of Westminter into a park filled with statues of dead Stuart's.
- The Irish Jacobite leader the Duke of Ormonde used said park to watch a concert with Russian Officers and plan a invasion of the UDP. Details are not public but the key point would seem to be how to land 30,000 seasick cossacks & 30,000 horses in a polder without drowning half of them.
- King James also upset some more undefeated Hapsburgs by demanding the surrender of Hastings. When they refused the Earl of Newcastle ordered his less wet troops to storm the Austrian position while being watched by King James himself from Castle Hill. The Hapsburg's shot the 1st Marine Regiment to bits in a matter of minutes and Newcastle decided even with a Royal Party expecting to see a victory he was not going to order any more of his men to advance and abandoned the attack. Oddly the Royal Navy then abandoned the Naval blockade and sailed away.

4) In France

- King Louis attempted to hire some Swiss but got the asking price wrong. Well the old boy is getting on a bit and things like the "Concorde of Bristol" & agreed prices seem to slip his mind these days.
- He does however recall old glory & Nicholas de Largilliere presented him with a nice painting of his capture of Cambrai.

General view is that the pro Jacobite Largilliere is urgeing Louis to forget his last defeat & have another go at the Hapsburgs as soon as the Treaty of Yorktown ends. A minority view is that it is unwise to remind the House of Austria just how much land (like Cambrai) Louis has taken from them in the last 50 years since they may want it back.

5) In Vienna the Austrians seemed less bothered by lost lands and more interested in new exchanges & that modern "marvel of the age" the improved & refined atmospheric engine.

- This seemed less like the work of the Emperor a "whats wrong with buckets" man. And more to do with the new generation of Imperial Princes like his sons, his son in law the Elector of Bavaria, Charles Vasa and Friedrich Whilhelm of Brandenburg.

6) Of the Princes mentioned above Charles Hapsburg or at least his wife spent lots of his money on publishing medical books, Friedrich William openned a couple more exchanges and got his nobles to agree to pay tax while Charles Vasa is still trying to get the Russians to leave Ingria - "look its lovely outside, hardly raining at all, off you go.........what do you mean where is the UDP and were is New England?"

7) The Czar held a garden party in Moscow. Weather was crap and as usual Peter had to put up with drunken Scots. First it was Highlanders urgeing him to free Scotland of English control. Now England has a Jacobite King its lowlanders urging him to free Scotland from English control.

The Pope is not speaking to the Czar.

9) But the Sultan & his Grand Vizier have given the Ok to Prince Alexandru to talk to the Russians......but only about trade. No doubt they want to avoid the Crimea being leased to the Czar.

10) In Russian leasehold of North America - l would like to offer a short, exact summary for readers. Best I can come up with is "Its a mess"

Stuart Bailey wrote:...Get caught in the freezing rain and its 2 sickness levels...

My experience of the game was with the 5th edition of the rules, so I'm yet to encounter sickness levels.
Just out of interest, using the quoted instance above, what effect would "Watch Coats" make in that situation?
I always wondered what benefit watch coats had, in game, that's all.

Obviously, except in the deluges of the rainy season, watch coats aren't high on the priority list of Rozwi

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:

Stuart Bailey wrote:...Get caught in the freezing rain and its 2 sickness levels...

My experience of the game was with the 5th edition of the rules, so I'm yet to encounter sickness levels.
Just out of interest, using the quoted instance above, what effect would "Watch Coats" make in that situation?
I always wondered what benefit watch coats had, in game, that's all.

Obviously, except in the deluges of the rainy season, watch coats aren't high on the priority list of Rozwi  

In latest version of rules it does seem that management of logistics is king.........drill, tactics and weapons are all well and good but it does seem that if your opponent has a lower sickness level than you or you are low on gun powder you are going to get a kicking.

It is assumed that that in some circumstances watch coats may help (probably not in southern Africa), ditto medical units. But the key factors in a units sickness level would seem to be shelter or lack off esp in winter, rest/repair, supply situation and being in combat. Units of mine which gained 2 sickness levels in a month had great coats but lacked shelter apart from tents/great coats and were out of supply for most of month. They also were involved in some minor skirmishing that month.

Key points under current rules are:

1) The importance of keeping your main armies in supply and cutting off supplies to the foe.

2) The importance of regular "rest/repair".......but note if you get hit while resting you are going to be at major disadvantage.

3) Always keeping some fresh troops.

Think the new rules are designed round the great sieges of the period like "Lille" etc. In that a long siege is probably going to do nasty things to the SL of any troops in siege lines and they are probably going to need a re-supply convoy if approach and siege lasts longer than three months.

This gives defender with a relief force a couple of options a) to wait and then attack when he hopes besieges have gained a lot of sickness levels b) attack supply convoys.

This means that compared to earlier versions were Army A "Besieged" City. You now need to consider Army B to cover siege and perhaps supply freash troops for a final push and Supply Convoy C timed to arrive a couple of months after start of siege.

If you use one big army and "Besiege" you run risk of a battle like Vienna or Narva were just as you are about to win your SL 3/4 troops get hit by a fresh relief Army.

Basically compared to earlier version of rules campaigns seem slower as forces need to rest. Also force organization has to be set up with specific jobs in mind. As well as armies made up of Inf/Art/Cav I favour a couple of independent Dragoon Regts who's basically escort grain/gunpowder around. And raiding parties of light cavalry/light Infantry.

Other players seem to like seperate siege trains allowing cavalry and infantry to move quicker and so spend more time in shelter/resting.

Thank you for taking the time to explain all that. Very much appreciated.

no G7 turn yet?

Oddly enough, arrived in my in-box just after I'd seen your question... Lots going on, as you no doubt by now know.

Yup mine too and brace your self ....... I am enroute to Europe....

The Jacobites might have gone a step too far this time. Killing King William and Prince Eugene whilst captive is a potenial game changer.

The Jacobites... a step too far..? No, surely not?

I foresee bad things, you do not lop off or even hang such nobles without repercussions.... 


Its not on and only those dammed Ottomans would do such a thing and they are not civilized.....  

It's going to be fun watching King James arguing that this was a justified deed...

Let's hope he doesn't get captured by his enemies, otherwise he might end up going the same way

Ransom is the way for nobles other wise you are just a commoner I suspect some ones honor may take a dive soon...... 

On current form, he might end up the first player with a negative honour score

Basileus wrote:The Jacobites might have gone a step too far this time. Killing King William and Prince Eugene whilst captive is a potenial game changer.

Interesting. I picked up this game for a bit as HWIC, thinking I might shift my loyalties to James, but his behavior was just too much, and I didn't feel it right to the position to do that, so I dropped again.

This action certainly does give carte blanche to attempts to assassinate him, I think. Going to get even uglier...

Jason wrote:On current form, he might end up the first player with a negative honour score

Since the Jacobites started the game as one of the three semi, potential or actual "pirate" positions along with the HWIC & Blackbeard/sons of liberty perhaps they still gain honour points for cutting off noble heads? Smashing trade rivals and fixing votes by vote rigging and the like?

Think the Jacobites can explain away the killing of King William and John Churchill (to their own hardcore support) as revenge for the Murder of King James II............thats three English leaders killed since 1700......ouch!

More of a problem is the murder of Lord George Murray (for what? defending his country?) and the execution of Prince Eugene on trumped up charges.

I think this going to lead to what is known in Scotland as "a killing time"

May 1710 Gloire du Roi as shown up and for non G7 players here are the highlights:

1) "Oh my God they have killed Kenny".............as already mentioned in prior posts the Jacobites executed/murdered (take your pick) William of Orange.....Stadtholder of the UDP, King of Scotland etc. Lord George Murray Scotlands first minister and Prince Eugene of Savoy a close relative of the ruler of Savoy, best man at the King of Spain's wedding and the Catholic/Hapsburg hero who saved Europe from the Turks at Zenta.

- At least the Jacobites were nice enough to use a axe rather than hanging the King.

- The Spanish envoy to Scotland and a couple of ladies seem to have been mixed up in a failed attempt to rescue Prince Eugene which may be considered as not suitable conduct for a envoy but in the circumstances provided the Duke of Parma can get back to Spain his head is not likely to end up next King William.

- Execution was arranged by Hamish MacGregor who seems to have defied a threat to wipe out him and his clan to the 7th degree. Will be interesting to see what Price goes on the head of Hamish.....more or less than Blackbeard after the sack of Havanna.

2) King William's head was sent to his loyal subjects in Glasgow. The English Reserve Fleet also tried to force its way up the river Clyde to Glasgow but failed when its lead ship was sunk by the underwater defences. Amongst the casualties was the First Lord of the Admiralty John Egerton 3rd Earl of Bridgewater.

3) Prince Eugene head was sent to the Austrian forces in Hastings who sent the month fireing heated shot into the English Camp. They set fire to a lot of tents and a few Jacobite Soldiers but used up a lot of gunpowder. With the improved weather 900 civilians and the town watch/fire service took the opportunity to leave Hastings before another English attempt to storm the town.

Oddly King James himself spent time mixing with the rif raff of Hastings and singing Sea Shanties. Suitable activity for a Pirate Leader? But suitable for a King?

4) The Jacobites have ripped up the Concorde of Bristol signed by King James II & Louis XIV of France. They have also abolished the HWIC by act of King James III new Parliament which now operates under a fairly unique voting structure in that only votes against a motion are counted all other votes will be assumed to be in favour even if the member is absent.

5) Final news from England is that a Swedish fleet has made landfall at Berwick and disembarked a Dutch Field Army on English soil.

In other news:

6) The Elector of Brandenburg seems to be busy shorting out the finances of Prussia inc visit's to the Bank of Amsterdam by his minister of trade.

7) The HRE is happy the Berlin is now playing a positive role in the Empire & Austro -Prussian relations are now better.

Louis XIV gave alms to the poor and also ordered a large tapestry showing the Battle of Rocroi. The old boys memory is still playing tricks as he now thinks Rocroi was one when the first victory of his reign rather than the last victory in the prior reign. Its also odd that Louis is boasting the memory of the victor at Rocroi the Prince of Conde who later lead the Fonde revolt against Louis XiV.

9) A Russian army has showed up at New York.

10) To honour the terms of the peace of Warsaw the Russian have removed all tarriffs on Swedish Traders but in a move which will probably annoy the King of Sweden they also seem to have forced the civilian population of St Petersburg to leave their city and sent them to Siberia! At least the weather is nice for this people people as they start the long walk to Siberia.

11) King Charles XII of Sweden has demanded a apology from King James over a attempt to attack the Swedish Fleet which was only sight seeing in the Channel. Since said fleet has just landed a Dutch Army in England King Charles is probably going to have a long wait for his apology!

12) Moldavia has removed all tarriffs on Russian and Wallachian trade. It would seem that the Moldavian Govt hopes that its even after Warsaw its not all sweetness and light in the Baltic and the Russians may still wish to use the southern route for their trade.

13) In Rome Sierre D'Espaenar did his best to codify what conflicting parties semi agree on as the basis for future talks etc. Pity the Head of the Jesuits well meaning attempts have been thrown in the waste basket with the heads of King William, Lord George Murray and the Hero of Christain Europe:(



5)

Stuart Bailey wrote:

Jason wrote:On current form, he might end up the first player with a negative honour score

Since the Jacobites started the game as one of the three semi, potential or actual "pirate" positions along with the HWIC & Blackbeard/sons of liberty perhaps they still gain honour points for cutting off noble heads?  Smashing trade rivals and fixing votes by vote rigging and the like?

Think the Jacobites can explain away the killing of King William and John Churchill (to their own hardcore support) as revenge for the Murder of King James II............thats three English leaders killed since 1700......ouch!

More of a problem is the murder of Lord George Murray (for what? defending his country?) and the execution of Prince Eugene on trumped up charges.

I think this going to lead to what is known in Scotland as "a killing time"

Must be honest, had forgotten the origin of the Jacobites. Though as a ruler of a kingdom like England, getting your honour through 'dishonourable' acts might make life...interesting...for the common folk of the realm.

I wonder if James' line on Murray will be that he was in fact the rightful king of Scotland all along so Murray was a foul rebel against his rightful rule.

Wel you can't afford for those pesky ginger haired scots getting out of line.