G7....War declared

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref the March turn in G7 from a Spanish point of view:-

1) Only Spanish force in the West Indies with anywhere close to 30 French prizes made it back to Harbour with zero storm damage put 3,300 French sailors into goal and flogged the ships/cargo which was not sugar.  Assume when paper reported escape of Spanish prizes this was correct and the misprinted was saying the captors were Spanish.

- Think the French corsairs in G7 use of cutters and small craft have increased the number of prizes taken but also means they are short on prize crews and likely to suffer storm damage.

So this months winner of the Czars I sink ships award is France.  Though with 90+ Russian Trade Convoys wiped out this probably rates a honourable mention - Do Russian carts float?

I can only go on what is in the newspaper, so if there are misprints?

It is an interesting point about the use of cutters to take prizes.  However, I suspect that if caught in a storm all of the crew have a vested interest in staying afloat rather than sinking.  What it is more likely to impact is the number of ships which can be taken as prizes in a single turn.  An EiM would probably require a larger prize crew than a liner (and be harder for a cutter to take given its armament), so perhaps this is why only corvettes or frigates tend to take EiM?

I don't think the Tsar originally envisaged carts (or barges?) as being within the scope of the prize, but I am prepared to accept his ruling on this.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
2) Hard to rate the London Peace Conference a success of any type when the Poles have yet to say a word, the Russians (and effectively) the Swedes have stormed out saying the hosts are biased and the Emperor is represented by a goat who eat the presented documents.  If this is a success I would hate to see a diplomatic failure.

The peace conference was merely a preliminary exercise to see if the parties were ready to talk.  Hopefully over the next few months we will be able to clear up who is fighting who and why, what they hope to gain and the price they are prepared to pay.  The arrival of an Austrian ambassador this month should help clarify things.  It is, however, significant that we have seen a baffling reversal of positions in terms of maintaining peace in the Baltic.  Formerly it was Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Poland who all went to great lengths to keep war out of the Baltic, against England's requirement to finish off HWIC.  England respected their wishes.  Now, however, it is England who is trying to keep the peace in the Baltic and protect the interests of her merchants and of other neutrals, but Russia and Sweden have other ideas.  Poland did not ask to be invaded, and now Prussia has realised that she will lose far more than she stands to gain, that's 2 out of the 4 nations which are in favour of peace in the Baltic, without counting England (representing all the neutral nations who just want trade restored).

England has already made 2 things very clear:

(1) She has no territorial ambitions in Poland
(2) She is not going to fight Poland's war for her - I am primarily there to protect English trade interests and keep the port of Danzig open.

Poland has asked that I assist in defending the western approaches to Poland which places me at war with Prussia and Austria. What happens should Russia and Sweden attempt to join up with Austrian troops could be a complication, but that hasn't happened yet.

Otherwise keeping open Poland's only port (Danzig) for all neutral nations is a perfectly honourable objective. Indeed in other games the same players have gone to great lengths to establish a charter to protect neutral shipping and ensure their trade is not interrupted by war. I don't know whether this has worked or not in those games, but it is somewhat hypocritical if now in G7, having blundered into a poorly thought out attack on Poland, they disapply these principles when inconvenient to themselves.

You want to see what a diplomatic failure is ... open your eyes!

Stuart Bailey wrote:
3) Part of the Republic of St George and the whole of Savoy may be occupied by the French Army but they both have governments in exile and forces still in the field or at sea.  Some of the forces taking a stand against the brutal and unwarranted invasion of the Holy Roman Empire and Genoa may be small small in size but not in valour and is the Spanish Army small?  Is the Austrian Army small?  United the forces of Spain, Hapsburg lands outside the HRE, Genoa and the Holy Roman Empire actually outnumber the French.  And this without not counting the fact that France is also still at war with Persia.

No one doubts the size and ability of the G7 French but this war is just getting warmed up.

The Genoese 'government in exile' is a faction set up by Spain, sponsored by Spain, entirely dependent upon Spain for her revenue, orders and existence; it does not make it in any way legitimate nor change the fact that Genoa is now part of France.  As a political excuse to fight France I suppose it has some use for Spain, although I don't think either needs an excuse - they just like fighting each other.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
4) Just like the English crusade against Persia to free French sailors their own King clearly does not care about.  Though I do find it odd that a mostly Protestant Power who's King is the Head of the Church of England (outside the Roman Catholic Communion) has made the effort to get a Papal blessing.  And has then attempted to seek the aide of the Ottoman Empire which is historically the major power taking Christian slaves.

Though if King James thinks Spain is waging a Propaganda campaign against his Crusade against Persia he is clearly not reading it correctly.  Spain is perfectly happy to waive the Royal Navy bon voyage as it sails off too the Red Sea etc.  Spanish propaganda was 100% aimed at the wars of Louis XIV against fellow Catholic powers which has crippled the ability of the major Catholic Powers including France, Spain and Austria to play a wider role.

France for instance is one of Poland's oldest allies - but in the Commonwealth time of crisis France is silent and 100% focused on the theft of lands from the Empire and his own niece.  And ruining Hapsburg marriage policy!

We will see what the Ottomans say after they have considered their position, but given the situation it was a fairly obvious next move for me to make.  Historically you may be correct, but in game terms the Ottomans have been very quiet, partly because of the generally positive relations England has with them, and their realisation that if they attacked English merchants then the Royal Navy would blow them out of the water.  In game by far the most successful attacks on Christian merchant shipping appear to have come from Persia (either directly through his war with France or indirectly through the pirate King Ramina).

Spain can still support the crusade as other nations have done by contributing financially to the cost.  So far contributions are well over 7 figures, and with a Papal blessing, this is proving a very popular enterprise.  It was a major mistake for Persia to engage in 'accidental' piracy against English shipping; now Persia is preying on English shipping openly.  Unlike France, England is reacting to this, although the extent of that reaction will still depend upon how Persia replies to in-game letters.

It is a valid point about France's old alliance with Poland.  I think the difficulty, which I share, is that Russia has in the past been a good friend to both England and France, as (to a lesser extent in respect of England) has Sweden.  When allies are at war with each other it is hard to chart a middle path so the most honourable way through is to try to get both sides to see sense and engage diplomatically rather than through war.  This is the thrust of England's approach - I still hope to remain friends with Prussia, Poland, Sweden and Russia.  And to see them all just losing thousands of men to attrition losses, weakening their positions longer term (and their economies, which will ultimately depress my trade revenues), is hard.  England's main contribution to date has been to provide humanitarian supplies to the people of Danzig and ensure that the port is kept open for merchants.  Not one shot has been fired against Prussia, Sweden or Russia.  All the parties should understand through game letters what England is doing and why.  France, as you rightly point out, is somewhat distracted by her war against the Hapsburgs, but I'm sure that if King Louis was able to write he would support England's stance.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
5) Ref the closure of the Rhine to French Trade - this was ordered by the Emperor following a vote in the Diet.  Think the Bishop of L-C has already been compensated for his loss of tax and needs to take this matter up with the Emperor and the Diet.

Clearly the Archbishop of Liege-Cologne is unhappy, so either the compensation is not enough or he doesn't want to see his EH drop through the floor and there to be riots in his city.

To say I am annoyed by the recent posting by the person who goes by the name of "Papa" is to put it mildly,

He said "after all it is easy to be brave and boast of your sponsor's military strength, urging them on to use that power, when you're not paying their real world game turn fees".  

The idea that I am saying and doing things that are increasing the game costs for other players I find incredibly offensive, particularly other players I am in a team position with, and also on a personal level I have had to drop out of games due to costs so I can eat properly and pay the electricity bill.  The idea that I would then do something that would increase someone else's costs is quite disgusting.    As a team position we discuss our actions in advance, and the issue of how we do things could increase player costs is a regular issue.  I wish to assure all other players that the snide comment made by "Papa" has no truth to it.  

I will also apologise to other players in advance as we all know Papa will now post a response that makes "War and Peace" look short

I play these games for fun and relaxation from the stresses of the real world, to be bluntly honest right now I am not sure I can carry on playing G7, I am so frustrated at this attitude I can no longer see this game as "fun"

Papa Clement wrote:

The Genoese 'government in exile' is a faction set up by Spain, sponsored by Spain, entirely dependent upon Spain for her revenue, orders and existence; it does not make it in any way legitimate nor change the fact that Genoa is now part of France.  As a political excuse to fight France I suppose it has some use for Spain, although I don't think either needs an excuse - they just like fighting each other.

Both the Genoese and the Savoy Governments in exile are exactly the same as the Jacobites during their exile in France and no one apart from England, Scots, UDP etc ever says they are not a legitimate cause to back.

Currently Spain has the full fleet of Genoa and about half the Army of Savoy fighting for the noble cause to liberate Genoa (one of Spain oldest allies) and Savoy inc the prince engaged to the Heiress of Austria my characters neice!

The perfidious French and their fake lemon juice have a) Invaded two historic allies of Spain b) Spain is honour bound by treaty to defend Savoy and if that was not enough they have c) cut the Spanish Road and d) Ruined Hapsburg wedding plans. Which really leaves Spain and Austria with no option but to fight or watch their honour go into free fall.

Its great for the first time even Richard has to admitt one of my characters is on the side of the good and honourable - he normally likes to print them up in shades of grey if not in a totally black hat.

Not sure if France aware of Spains mutual defence treaty with Savoy or even the wedding engagement and historic links going back to Andrea Doria and Spinola. But I am 100% sure the French can read a map and the attacks in Italy are aimed at cutting the Spanish road and openning up route to Milan and the soft underbelly of Austria which does not involve fighting across the Rhine and through the defiles of the Black Forest.

Also 100% sure the French were perfectly aware that they were slapping the House of Austria with across both cheeks and throwing the glove at their feet.

Good news is that both sides know exactly who started this war and what the war 's objectives are and no one is trying to spoil things with "peace talks" or other stuff which spoils a perfectly good war game. This is true "Last Argument of Kings stuff".

Jason2 wrote:To say I am annoyed by the recent posting by the person who goes by the name of "Papa" is to put it mildly,

He said "after all it is easy to be brave and boast of your sponsor's military strength, urging them on to use that power, when you're not paying their real world game turn fees".  

The idea that I am saying and doing things that are increasing the game costs for other players I find incredibly offensive, particularly other players I am in a team position with, and also on a personal level I have had to drop out of games due to costs so I can eat properly and pay the electricity bill.  The idea that I would then do something that would increase someone else's costs is quite disgusting.    As a team position we discuss our actions in advance, and the issue of how we do things could increase player costs is a regular issue.  I wish to assure all other players that the snide comment made by "Papa" has no truth to it.  

I will also apologise to other players in advance as we all know Papa will now post a response that makes "War and Peace" look short

I play these games for fun and relaxation from the stresses of the real world, to be bluntly honest right now I am not sure I can carry on playing G7, I am so frustrated at this attitude I can no longer see this game as "fun"

As you well know Jason2, I have had nothing to do with RDE(Singapore) for many game years; I have not threatened you; and at your request I have not written to you.   And as far as I know no other player has threatened Singapore.  So why did you make the comments you did in the newspaper?  Are you denying that you had England in mind when you made them?  If so then perhaps you can clarify next turn.  If you decide to drop G7 to concentrate on other games until your personal financial position improves then good luck to you, we all go through tricky patches.  But please do not attempt to blame me for any decision you make.

Stuart Bailey wrote:

Papa Clement wrote:

The Genoese 'government in exile' is a faction set up by Spain, sponsored by Spain, entirely dependent upon Spain for her revenue, orders and existence; it does not make it in any way legitimate nor change the fact that Genoa is now part of France.  As a political excuse to fight France I suppose it has some use for Spain, although I don't think either needs an excuse - they just like fighting each other.

Both the Genoese and the Savoy Governments in exile are exactly the same as the Jacobites during their exile in France and no one apart from England, Scots, UDP etc ever says they are not a legitimate cause to back.

Currently Spain has the full fleet of Genoa and about half the Army of Savoy fighting for the noble cause to liberate Genoa (one of Spain oldest allies) and Savoy inc the prince engaged to the Heiress of Austria my characters neice!  

The perfidious French and their fake lemon juice have a) Invaded two historic allies of Spain b) Spain is honour bound by treaty to defend Savoy and if that was not enough they have c) cut the Spanish Road and d) Ruined Hapsburg wedding plans.  Which really leaves Spain and Austria with no option but to fight or watch their honour go into free fall.  

Its great for the first time even Richard has to admitt one of my characters is on the side of the good and honourable - he normally likes to print them up in shades of grey if not in a totally black hat.

Not sure if France aware of Spains mutual defence treaty with Savoy or even the wedding engagement and historic links going back to Andrea Doria and Spinola.  But I am 100% sure the French can read a map and the attacks in Italy are aimed at cutting the Spanish road and opening up route to Milan and the soft underbelly of Austria which does not involve fighting across the Rhine and through the defiles of the Black Forest.

Also 100% sure the French were perfectly aware that they were slapping the House of Austria with across both cheeks and throwing the glove at their feet.

Good news is that both sides know exactly who started this war and what the war 's objectives are and no one is trying to spoil things with "peace talks" or other stuff which spoils a perfectly good war game.  This is true "Last Argument of Kings stuff".

The Jacobites were not only an original player position in the game, but also active under at least 2 different players in G7.  The same can be said of HWIC.  But both of these examples are nothing like Stuart offering protection to part of the Genoese navy and taking onto his asset list a few characters to keep them alive as exiles, and a few Savoyard units which were already in Spanish pay.  If Stuart wishes to place these units under the command of this faction and treat it separately as he would a 'Savoyard brigade' then fine, but to try and pretend that he is sponsoring an independent position which will one day free Genoa/Savoy from the French is fantasy.  If there is anyone reading this who would like to play the Genoese/Savoyard governments in exile and Richard will allow them to form a separate position, then I will be quite happy to concede that I was wrong.  But until that happens this is just a player-generated excuse for war.  I'm not against what Stuart has done if that is what he wants to do, but he really shouldn't expect me to consider them as anything other than what they are: a Spanish faction, not an independent position.

In Rome is Burning a character who I believe may be linked to Jason 2 seems to be going on a moral crusade to restore Roman Republican Virtue.

After reading a couple of accounts of the C18 Russian Court I am starting to think this must be attempt to play from the "other side of the hill".

Interestly in G7 we are now at 1717. Histotically this was the year of the fall of Mary Hamilton lady in waiting to the Empress and with Avdotya Chernysheva one of Peter the Great two main mistresses. As well as Peter seems she was also sharing the favours of Avdotya with one Ivan Mikhailovich Orlov who she declined to testify (even under torture) against even while admitting various other crimes. Think this Orlov clearly has balls of steel to seduce not one nut two of Peters mistresses and clearly needs a appointment to say Siberia or North America.

Seems that Peter turned down requests for clemency for Mary from both his wife and his other Mistress but did arrange for Mary to have execution by Sword rather than axe and after her execution kissed her and gave a lecture on anatomy to the Crowd. Not sure many players really bring out who mad and generally terrifying Peter the Great was. At times he makes Nero look really sane and normal.

As for the still alive Duke of Courland in 1717 he should strictly speaking be dead after marrying Peters neice in Moscow and dieing very shortly after due to flu or the effects of drinking too much. Anna Ivannova then ruled Courland as Regent for her dead husband - no children by him so strictly speaking new Duke should have been elected but no one wanted to disagree with Peter who said his neice was regent.

Helped by several lovers Anna was Regent of Courland from 1710 to 1730 when she became Empress of Russia at which point the bribed Estates General of Courland elected a new Duke who just happened to be Anna lover and favourite who at least was a local. On Anna death he was sent to Siberia (after a Pardon) - another Department East character with his loyal and long suffering wife. But later was restored to Courland.

After all that bed hopping and criminal activity at the Russian court is it any wonder that the Noble Censor in Rome is Burning is on a mission from Jupiter to enforce morality and civic virtue.

Just so players are aware, and before anyone tries to misuse any announcements in-game to promote their own agendas, following recent attitudes towards me in G7 I have dropped out as it is no longer fun and more like completing a tax return, except one where you don't have to worry about the attitude of HMRC to your declarations but other people doing their own declarations every month. The fun is gone and I can't be bothered with the nonsense any more.

I have also given up on G9 and G10, they are nearly as bad. I've had enough of being accused of playing the games in the wrong way, of bullying other players (I am sorry but given the abuse I have got in games for, for example, supporting the Spanish player in G10 and the way they play the game to then be accused of bullying!), etc. I can better use the money I am wasting on the games to have a life. I feel sorry for Richard as he has done an excellent job of being GM but some of you have forced me out.

I will carry on with Rome for a while, as only just rejoined it, but not sure for how long

Jason, I am sure I will be the first of many but I am sorry to read of your departure from the games, but even more sorry to hear that you feel bullied in any way. The game does have a wargaming element, and we all want to do the best for our positions, which at times is at the expense of others. A degree of conflict is inevitable. Even allowing for that I feel I recognise the sentiments you are expressing. I think it is possible to play the game and succeed while still showing the utmost respect for other player positions and their choices.

I will miss you as a fellow player but more importantly as one of my close LGDR friends.

Jason, very sorry that you feel targeted, some players can be very enthusiastic and bombastic about the game. Hopefully they confine their behaviour to their ingame persona but I am sure it can spill over at times. I have had all kinds of snide remarks directed at me at times but I do not care as long it does not impact my game.

I will miss you, as I am certain mst other will as well.

Sorry to hear you're leaving all TGOK games Jason. I've found you to be one of the more fun players and I've enjoyed our game letters immensely. It's a game and if you're not enjoying it then it's understandable you're leaving.

It's a shame those who have driven you to feel this way haven't realised they're taking enjoyment of the game away from others. If players leave it means a game may not continue as while Richard's a great GM it's still a business.

Happy to talk if you want, but stay safe always,

Mark

Jason2 wrote:Just so players are aware, and before anyone tries to misuse any announcements in-game to promote their own agendas, following recent attitudes towards me in G7 I have dropped out as it is no longer fun and more like completing a tax return, except one where you don't have to worry about the attitude of HMRC to your declarations but other people doing their own declarations every month.  The fun is gone and I can't be bothered with the nonsense any more.

I have also given up on G9 and G10, they are nearly as bad.  I've had enough of being accused of playing the games in the wrong way, of bullying other players (I am sorry but given the abuse I have got in games for, for example, supporting the Spanish player in G10 and the way they play the game to then be accused of bullying!), etc. I can better use the money I am wasting on the games to have a life.  I feel sorry for Richard as he has done an excellent job of being GM but some of you have forced me out.

I will carry on with Rome for a while, as only just rejoined it, but not sure for how long

Think you will enjoy the Rome game even though a major part of it is to get up in the Senate insult your political rivals and barbarians in a witty and urbane manner.

OK you can also pay thugs to write nasty things all over their Villa's and Temples as well (and yes my character does spend 50,000 denerii a month on Cleaners). But generally because most of us only have a very vague idea about who is in which faction it does not seem that personal.

In that respect you might want to give scrabble for Empire a try. Its so totally over the top and made that its impossible to take things personally. Even if your bank gets robbed, your trains get blown up and your characters assassinated. You just get even probably by setting fire to their airship at 40,000 feet.

Think I have had two letters in Agema games which really annoyed me and I considered insulting and personal. Sent the first one back with "No" written across it. In game also sent the messenger back with his Turban and the message nailed too his head. The 2nd letter was harder to deal with since in theory the writer was on my side (Byzantine) in the crusade game Agema ran. So I had to ignore but I did send an assassin after the person who had called me stupid etc. Which seems suitable for the period.

April 1717 newspaper has now arrived, and with the start of the new campaigning season, there have been some interesting developments:

1. As is usual with G7 writeups we start with shipping losses.  No Russian ships have been sunk this month, but 80Spanish, 77English and 24French are casualties of either war, piracy or weather.  The winner of the Tsar’s Our Ships Sank trophy this month is … Spain.  There have also been several other naval engagements between cruisers of different sizes which show some interesting tactics.  The action in the Gulf of Lion is worth highlighting: 2 Spanish Frigatas (armed with 12pdrs) encountered a few French cutters (armed with 3pdr) and naturally engaged.  But they then found themselves surrounded by 100 cutters.  The 3pdrs were unable to make much impression on the much larger Frigatas, but the Spanish gunners were unable to decide which ships to target and tired themselves out by constantly having to reposition their guns to find something to fire at.  In the Alboran Sea, 24 Spanish Frigatas tried to attack 9 French cutters, and this time the French beached their ships and set fire to them rather than let them fall into Spanish hands.  In the Arabian Sea, 50 Persian cruisers chased 4 English escort frigates into Bombay.  This rather odd report states that the Persians easily outsailed the English and yet after the combat continued ‘for many days’, the English ships still made it to Bombay.  If this was accurate then I would have expected the Persians to have overhauled the English ships easily, and that they did not suggests perhaps that they are very small cruisers so we have the parallel to the Gulf of Lion action?

2. The new Austrian and Dutch ambassadors to England have been welcomed at a banquet hosted by Queen Catherine.  The Russian ambassador seems keen to manufacture an insult, although the Austrian ambassador (who has greater cause to feel insulted) was in much better humour and got on very well with Thomas Tenison, former Archbishop of Canterbury.  On first reading I did wonder whether Yuri Ushakov was just bored with being an ambassador and was looking for an excuse to go home.  That would be a shame because he had been a good ambassador until recently, and it would leave King James with a serious problem: which animal would replace him?  The animal which normally represents Russia is a bear, but I wouldn’t want to be accused of intimidating any of the other ambassadors.  The smallest bear is the Malayan Sun Bear which is about the size of a large dog, but it doesn’t seem to be a very interesting animal, mainly eating berries and bugs.  So perhaps another animal would be more appropriate?  Anyway, whether Russia takes part in the general diplomatic effort towards peace or not, following Prussia’s cessation of hostilities, England has graciously made peace with Prussia.  That’s all it takes – it really was not that difficult to do – and we have one more step towards returning the Baltic to a Sea safe for traders to operate in.

3. King James was not there to welcome the ambassadors personally because taking advantage of the lull in the peace talks, he had gone to Ireland to right historic wrongs and restore justice for the people of Ireland.  As is usual, the protestants misinterpreted what was said and protested most vehemently until they realised they were making a fuss about nothing.  Then when it came to the issue of land reform, “Commoners of all persuasions were over the moon with delight, the non-conformists as much as the Catholics!”  I had to read this a few times to fully appreciate that King James had actually done something popular for protestants and Catholics!  On the vote to dissolve the existence of the Irish Parliament there appears to be a standoff with the MPs voting in favour, but the Lords confused.  Hopefully this will be clarified next month otherwise half of the Parliament will have been closed and the other half will be meeting in the wrong place.  Overall, though, I don’t think there is any doubt about the loyalty of the people of Ireland to King James and the House of Stuart.

4. At Perpignan the Spanish artillery have now destroyed a barracks, but then a large French force finally appeared and the Spanish fled back across the river, over a pontoon bridge.  It does not say whether the Spanish left the pontoon bridge for the French when they fled or if they had time to take it with them.  It seems odd to me that the French did not engage them, but I’m sure King Louis knows what he’s doing.  There have been a few more skirmishes, with some Moldavians (in Spanish service) capturing a small French patrol.

5. In Bavaria the attempt of the Hapsburgs to marry off Princess Maria Josepha of Austria caused some amusement when the Spanish ambassador came along and suggested Prince Max marry the Infanta of Spain instead.  Wouldn’t be a problem if they all became Mormons, but I doubt that could happen in the game unless they waited until the mid-1800s.

6. In Polock, the Tsar sat on a stool and dreamed up more imaginary insults.  In Riga 6 fireships floundered, possibly blocking the harbour.  King Charles of Sweden is paying for a port to be built in Libau, Courland, in an attempt to win over the people he was recently at war with.  It is nice to see that he recognised they are not a defeated enemy.  Still quite ill, King Charles then spoke to his army which marched south to join up with some Russians.  So no fighting this month in or around Poland.

7. The situation is slightly more different in the Crusade against King Ramina and his Persian backers.  The Ottoman Sultan has agreed to allow England military access under generous conditions, which should be enough to allow England to invade Persia by land.  The Shah also made a series of excuses and demands in an attempt to persuade England to be more like France and not attack him when he attacks them.  These ‘most reasonable demands’ would simply mean that the piracy is allowed to continue and with Persia believed to be responsible for 76 lost English merchant ships this month (crewed by 11,400 English sailors who will end up as Persian slaves), does he really expect King James to follow King Louis’ example and do nothing to stop this?  It is the behaviour of a criminal who expects someone to condone his petty thievery otherwise he’ll steal even more.  And just to reinforce the point, Persian sailors then land on the French colony of St.Marie and start building a repair yard and 2 granaries.  What more is there to say?  If you act like a pirate, it would be really rather odd if people didn’t call you a pirate and treated you like one.

So it looks like we are in for an interesting few turns.

Ref Papa Clements account of G7 above can I just say:-

1) Six Fireships floundered in the Russian Port of Riga - now since they were flying Dutch Flags rather than Russian it is not 100% proof of long awaited Russian ship losses but they could have been.

2) Actually as these fireships were the only ship losses in the Baltic this must make the Baltic the most safe sea for any merchant ships by some way. So not really sure what the English are going to find to take about with the Austrian Envoy concerning how to make the Baltic safer for merchants? Lighthouses, Lifeboats or safest way to cook goat curry on board?

3) One reason for the Baltic being safe is that its becalmed, virtually everywhere else in April 1717 its still wintery which must have come as a nasty shock to various people like the French and the Swedes etc who left their winter camps and marched out into snow, wind and rainn rather than spring flowers and sunshine. Might have been partly down to spending the month skirmishing with the French but x2 of my units who were looking around for the start of the new campaign season picked up SL #2 in sodding April as well.

4) Interestingly as they marched south in Wintery weather the Swedes claim to be heading towards a link up with the Russians at Bialystock. In the paper but not reported by Papa the Russian Orthodox Church is busy setting up scores of Russian Orthodox Churches across the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from its bases in Vilnius, Mogizev, Pinsel, Gomel and Bialystock.

This would seem to conform that following his crushing victory at Minsk and he surrender or death of the whole Lithuanian Army and its leadership. That the Czar has taken over the whole of the Grand Duchy and if his troops are in Bialystock they have now covered over half the distance too Warsaw from Minsk. Just find it shocking how badly defended important places like Vilnus and Bialystock are and how Russian forces seem to be getting everywhere with no reporting on them. Unlike in the west were you can hardly move for all the patrols. Though I did note the Czar is a long way back from any danger in Polatsk which is almost back in Russia.

5) The French (ex Spanish) fortress of Perpignan has been under steady pressure for some time mostly from a bombardment by the Spanish 1st Army Siege Trayne in Fort Saint James. Marshall Tesse and a French Army of 93 Foot, 248 Cavalry and 81 Field Artillery finally moved south pushed a Spanish skirmish screen of 50D and some Light Infantry south and across the river Tet.

Normally the Tet is no more than a stream but it gets deeper and a lot wetter in winter which was why the Spanish lights used a bridge thrown over the river by their engineers to save getting wet and cold. Tesse can now just relieve Perpignan and put in a fresh garrison across its permenant bridges (buggers still standing) or he can cross the river and solve the problem by cutting the never ending supply of Spanish Mortar bombs being sent up from the south to Fort James.

Risk here is that it will probably bring about one of the largest battles seen in a Agema game and with a river filled with Mountain melt water and a dodgy bridge to his back the question for the gallant French Marshal is "Do you feel lucky punk?"

6) In Bavaria the many times married Elector is up too 7th on the honour table. After last month saying he had basically done more than any other German Prince against the French threat he also advised that he was looking for suitable brides for the Bavarian Crown Prince and got two offers for consideration - a Princess of Austria or the Infanta of Spain.

The Infanta is a bit on the young side so the Crown Prince would have to wait but on the other hand she probably rates the largest Dowy in Europe.

The Elector who's second wife (died in childbirth) was the sister of the HRE and the King of Spain. While wife number three is the sister of the current Queen of Spain so it seems that the Elector has a fondness for Hapsburg Dowries and was probably smiling over the propect of another rathen than amusement.

7) Ref the English Crusade against Persia and its allies in Africa. The Ottoman Sultan said the Crusaders could not use the Red Sea Canal but they could march across the Ottoman Empire to fight his Shia rival. Great sail round the Cape of Good Hope and then land on some tropical Island full off nasty tropical diseases or march across Eastern Anatolia with at least half the locals being Shia and informing the Shah of your every move. This Crusade is no doubt going to do wonders for English Knowledge of Tropical Medicine.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref Papa Clements account of G7 above can I just say:-

1) Six Fireships floundered in the Russian Port of Riga - now since they were flying Dutch Flags rather than Russian it is not 100% proof of long awaited Russian ship losses but they could have been.

I was a bit puzzled by the Dutch flags as well, but given game correspondence don't read much into it.  Probably safer to assume they were purchased from the Dutch at some point and then converted into fireships; someone forgot the rule that they automatically disband in April.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
3) One reason for the Baltic being safe is that its becalmed, virtually everywhere else in April 1717 its still wintery which must have come as a nasty shock to various people like the French and the Swedes etc who left their winter camps and marched out into snow, wind and rain rather than spring flowers and sunshine.  Might have been partly down to spending the month skirmishing with the French but x2 of my units who were looking around for the start of the new campaign season picked up SL #2 in sodding April as well.

4) Interestingly as they marched south in Wintery weather the Swedes claim to be heading towards a link up with the Russians at Bialystock.  In the paper but not reported by Papa the Russian Orthodox Church is busy setting up scores of Russian Orthodox Churches across the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from its bases in Vilnius, Mogizev, Pinsel, Gomel and Bialystock.

This would seem to conform that following his crushing victory at Minsk and he surrender or death of the whole Lithuanian Army and its leadership.  That the Czar has taken over the whole of the Grand Duchy and if his troops are in Bialystock they have now covered over half the distance too Warsaw from Minsk.  Just find it shocking how badly defended important places like Vilnus and Bialystock are and how Russian forces seem to be getting everywhere with no reporting on them.  Unlike in the west were you can hardly move for all the patrols.  Though I did note the Czar is a long way back from any danger in Polatsk which is almost back in Russia.

Only SL2 ... you're lucky!  It shouldn't be any real surprise, though, that the campaigning season in the north is shorter than that further south.  I read the Russian/Polish campaign very differently.  The towns occupied are tiny and that means recovering SL inside them will take much longer.  I don't remember how large the garrison of Minsk was, but I do recall that thousands of Russians died assaulting the town and many more from attrition afterwards, probably rendering that army unfit for further service in the 1717 campaigning season.  I would not call it a crushing victory.  With his previous experience playing Poland and in-game correspondence, Stuart may well know more about where Russian forces are than I can pick up from the newspaper, but it is worth remembering that as far as we are aware Poland is not an active position, so Russia is playing against Richard, which is always harder than against an active player.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
5) The French (ex Spanish) fortress of Perpignan has been under steady pressure for some time mostly from a bombardment by the Spanish 1st Army Siege Trayne in Fort Saint James.  Marshall Tesse and a French Army of 93 Foot, 248 Cavalry and 81 Field Artillery finally moved south pushed a Spanish skirmish screen of 50D and some Light Infantry south and across the river Tet.

Normally the Tet is no more than a stream but it gets deeper and a lot wetter in winter which was why the Spanish lights used a bridge thrown over the river by their engineers to save getting wet and cold.  Tesse can now just relieve Perpignan and put in a fresh garrison across its permanent bridges (buggers still standing) or he can cross the river and solve the problem by cutting the never ending supply of Spanish Mortar bombs being sent up from the south to Fort James.

Risk here is that it will probably bring about one of the largest battles seen in a Agema game and with a river filled with Mountain melt water and a dodgy bridge to his back the question for the gallant French Marshal is "Do you feel lucky punk?"

It was nice to see the French finally show up and it will be interesting to see what happens next month.  Is Ft.James on the other side of the river to Perpignan (in which case the French may need to cross it), or can they take it from where they are?  Strategically, though, the French do have some thinking to do.  Now Stuart has shown them how important Fr.James is, they might decide to capture it intact, position their own artillery in it, and a decent garrison, and use it as part of the defences of Perpignan.  Without the use of Ft.James, Stuart's forces would have had a much harder time attacking Perpignan, and if they want to have another go (with the French in possession of Ft.James) then this will be very costly indeed.  Compared to the last war when Spanish forces overran most of Southern France very quickly, this war seems to have become stuck at the border with (at the moment) France still in possession of Perpignan.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
7) Ref the English Crusade against Persia and its allies in Africa.  The Ottoman Sultan said the Crusaders could not use the Red Sea Canal but they could march across the Ottoman Empire to fight his Shia rival.  Great sail round the Cape of Good Hope and then land on some tropical Island full off nasty tropical diseases or march across Eastern Anatolia with at least half the locals being Shia and informing the Shah of your every move.  This Crusade is no doubt going to do wonders for English Knowledge of Tropical Medicine.    

Don't worry Stuart ... I have invented tropical uniforms and have academies of tropical medicine.  Nobody said it was going to be an easy fight, but thanks to the Ottomans agreeing to military access I now have many potential supply points and avenues of approach on both land and sea.   It would have been nice if the Canal was open, but it would always have been high risk sending SoL through there since the Persians could have been waiting on the other side.

Ref Papa Clement comments think:-

1) The Russian player is experienced enough to know that when fighting Richards NPC's you a) Take no risks/shortcuts as these will all go wrong even if defenders have to suddenly find 100FC under the high alter and b) You do not allow your Generals etc to negotiate with NPC's otherwise you will get stitched up and the NPC's will march away scotch free and probably seem to vanish.

Thus when you have NPC foes like the Army of Lithuania were you want them you just grit your teeth take the pain and grind them down into unconditional surrender. Easier to take the pain if playing the Czar and getting around 50,000 new recruits every year, so assume Russia has just made up the damage to the one normal and one cavalry army at Minsk.

Its basically the Russian way of war in G7 they lost at least 50,000 fighting the Swedes on land and sea to take Riga. Historically various armies of 100,000 strong were wrecked taking the Crimea and it was all considered as worthwhile.

2) The historic part of Perpignan including the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Majorica is south of the river as is fort Saint James. But the city does control permenant bridges across the river to the north bank and well as the main north/south route into France and south to Gerona and Barca. Which is much the best route between France and Spain unless you are a huge fan of mountain views and Tour de France style rides which is why Louis XIV pinched this historic Spanish city in the first place and the Spanish would rather like it back.

After clearing Spanish skirmishers from the north bank the French could just re-supply Pergignan and replace troops worn down by Spanish bombardment. Or they could cross the river and look to drive away Spanish forces and capture Fort St James to relieve the pressure.

River Tet itself is not normally that much of a problem to cross esp in Summer when its not much more than a overgrown stream. So you not looking at a battle like Wagram or Aspin with the French Army looking to hold, reinforce and then break out of a Danube bridgehead. But may be something of a problem for artillery and if you have to retreat across it under close pursuit at very least you get wet and cold as its still snow melt water. Bit like some of the streams which caused problems for the French retreat at Blenhiem or Pavia.

Perfectly possible that this could be a Lodi for the French Army, that or Louis XIV thugs and bullies finally crumple before the flashing Toledo steel and we find out if the French can swim? Either way it could be a classic Agema battle. Much more tactical and interesting than the head down go and get killed blood fest of Minsk. Which was less a battle fit for gentlemen and more like a street brawl. Though the Czar will probably claim he was playing to the historic strengths of the Russian Army - the clubbed musket and willingness to get hit in the head.

3) Looking forward to the English-Persian war. Can confirm as a ex-Ottoman the eastern front is a sod. All mountains, deserts and anti social Persian horse archers. Carts are in short supply and camel drovers are not to be trusted with ones supplies.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref Papa Clement comments think:-

1) The Russian player is experienced enough to know that when fighting Richards NPC's you a) Take no risks/shortcuts as these will all go wrong even if defenders have to suddenly find 100FC under the high alter and b) You do not allow your Generals etc to negotiate with NPC's otherwise you will get stitched up and the NPC's will march away scotch free and probably seem to vanish.

Thus when you have NPC foes like the Army of Lithuania were you want them you just grit your teeth take the pain and grind them down into unconditional surrender.  Easier to take the pain if playing the Czar and getting around 50,000 new recruits every year, so assume Russia has just made up the damage to the one normal and one cavalry army at Minsk.

Its basically the Russian way of war in G7 they lost at least 50,000 fighting the Swedes on land and sea to take Riga.  Historically various armies of 100,000 strong were wrecked taking the Crimea and it was all considered as worthwhile.

It may be the Russian way, but it sounds terribly expensive to me and a waste of men, and as the war drags on even Russia would suffer from experienced and well trained troops being killed, then replacements being untrained and having to march a long way to the front.

If we assume the roughly historical proportions of an army of 50,000 men, to be 5,000 artillery, 15,000 cavalry, 30,000 infantry then in game terms that is about 50Art, 100H/D, 40F, which even at the cheapest would cost around £1.5M.  By the time you've added in special kit and weapons, elite or special units, nearer £2-2.5M, and upkeep around £1.5M.  Now that may well be a drop in the ocean given Russia's trade income in G7, but if you are wrecking 2 or 3 of these armies each campaigning year and all you are capturing are small towns, then the cost of the war soon reaches over £10M/year, but the territory conquered is not worth even a fraction of that in terms of additional tax revenue or recruits.  Lithuania doesn't have any special resources or products that Russia needs, nor is it a particular threat, so I'm really struggling to see why it is worth the huge cost of invading it.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
2) The historic part of Perpignan including the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Majorica is south of the river as is fort Saint James.  But the city does control permenant bridges across the river to the north bank and well as the main north/south route into France and south to Gerona and Barca.  Which is much the best route between France and Spain unless you are a huge fan of mountain views and Tour de France style rides which is why Louis XIV pinched this historic Spanish city in the first place and the Spanish would rather like it back.

After clearing Spanish skirmishers from the north bank the French could just re-supply Pergignan and replace troops worn down by Spanish bombardment.  Or they could cross the river and look to drive away Spanish forces and capture Fort St James to relieve the pressure.

River Tet itself is not normally that much of a problem to cross esp in Summer when its not much more than a overgrown stream.  So you not looking at a battle like Wagram or Aspin with the French Army looking to hold, reinforce and then break out of a Danube bridgehead.  But may be something of a problem for artillery and if you have to retreat across it under close pursuit at very least you get wet and cold as its still snow melt water.  Bit like some of the streams which caused problems for the French retreat at Blenhiem or Pavia.

Perfectly possible that this could be a Lodi for the French Army, that or Louis XIV thugs and bullies finally crumple before the flashing Toledo steel and we find out if the French can swim?  Either way it could be a classic Agema battle.  Much more tactical and interesting than the head down go and get killed blood fest of Minsk.  Which was less a battle fit for gentlemen and more like a street brawl.  Though the Czar will probably claim he was playing to the historic strengths of the Russian Army - the clubbed musket and willingness to get hit in the head.

Interesting.  So to progress further into France, Spain really does need to take Perpignan?

From what you've written it looks like the French would be wasting their time just replacing the garrison (for the new garrison to be shelled again).  So they really have to take Ft.James.  And yes, that would then be a very interesting battle.  The fort can't be that far from the town if you can fire mortars into the town from it, so the French should be able to clear the ground in front of them using their FC from Perpignan (even if your mortars keep firing on them when they do so).  If necessary the FC could also give covering fire if they have to withdraw.  So I guess it depends on whether French forces are stronger than the Spanish ones, and how well you want to defend the fort?

Stuart Bailey wrote:
3) Looking forward to the English-Persian war.  Can confirm as a ex-Ottoman the eastern front is a sod.  All mountains, deserts and anti social Persian horse archers.  Carts are in short supply and camel drovers are not to be trusted with ones supplies.    

I've been able to find an old Agema Ottoman map now - it will take time but there will be some routes through.  Since permission is not just Anatolia, but all the Ottoman Empire, there are now plenty of different approaches and supply routes, so I'm sure I'll work something out.

Ref Papa Clements latest comments:-

1) I suspect that what is costing the Czar of Russia lots of cash is not the cost of having to replace lost troops. But the cost of all of these Russian Orthodox Churches he is building and bribing all of these Lithuanian Nobles and Cossacks into a belief that they are not proud and equal members of the Commonwealth but "White Russ" and really keen on joining Holy Mother Russia and being ruled by its loveable and pious Czar rather than Warsaw and any random the Polish Nobles happen to elect. No one ever said Augustus the Strong was pious and as for the current one think the usual responce is "who he?".

If the splitting up of the Commonwealth and Russian frontiers with an enlarged Prussia and Austria is actually worth the money and even a good long term move for anyone is a good and valid point. But its one of the things the C18 Czar is expected to have on his too do list. So far on Russian to do list in 1700 in G7 its been a) Explore Siberia and North America - double tick b) Take over Baltic provinces of the Swedish Empire to give Russia ports on a Baltic plus build a Baltic fleet - tick c) Split up Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and unite all of the Russ in Holy Mother Russia - a least a part tick d) Take over the North shore of the Black Sea and put a Imperial Dacha/Sun Towel on its best beach - no progress yet. But if Ottomans really annoy Persia who knows?

2) Spain can progress into France via the west coastal route or cross over via one of the Mountain passes - though refer to the Song of Roland as to why the later is not a good move.

Alternative would be to just blockade Perpignan and carry on north. Though I would have doubts about leaving a fortress with a garrison on that size to your rear is a good move. There is also the fact that Spain wants it back because its Spanish and only fairly recently stolen by King Louis XIV and most of its modern defences were built and designed by me in one of the two times I have recovered it. Oh and before anyone says its got a deffective design can I just point out that its design works much better if its defended against an attack from the north!

Its probably one of the interesting aspects of G7 that that the three major land powers are all at war at the same time. One Russia wants to re-draw the the map and political organization of the whole of Eastern Europe. The other two are bickering over who owns a small frontier province and a small fortress which other players probably need google maps to even find - oh and the kidnapped Italian bridegroom and the invasion of the Holy Roman Empire.

3) Speaking as a often times Ottoman player I would trust some of their maps about as far as I would trust Russian maps! Seem to recall the last time the English waged a campaign in Africa they invaded the wrong country and needed to be saved by the French. And that was at the nearest point of Africa too England.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref Papa Clements latest comments:-

1) I suspect that what is costing the Czar of Russia lots of cash is not the cost of having to replace lost troops.  But the cost of all of these Russian Orthodox Churches he is building and bribing all of these Lithuanian Nobles and Cossacks into a belief that they are not proud and equal members of the Commonwealth but "White Russ" and really keen on joining Holy Mother Russia and being ruled by its loveable and pious Czar rather than Warsaw and any random the Polish Nobles happen to elect.  No one ever said Augustus the Strong was pious and as for the current one think the usual response is "who he?".  If the splitting up of the Commonwealth and Russian frontiers with an enlarged Prussia and Austria is actually worth the money and even a good long term move for anyone is a good and valid point.  But its one of the things the C18 Czar is expected to have on his too do list.  So far on Russian to do list in 1700 in G7 its been:
a) Explore Siberia and North America - double tick
b) Take over Baltic provinces of the Swedish Empire to give Russia ports on a Baltic plus build a Baltic fleet - tick
c) Split up Polish Lithuanian Commonwealth and unite all of the Russ in Holy Mother Russia - a least a part tick
d) Take over the North shore of the Black Sea and put a Imperial Dacha/Sun Towel on its best beach - no progress yet.  But if Ottomans really annoy Persia who knows?

I don't doubt that Russia has made many achievements under 2 capable players in G7, but you have sort of made my point for me.  Attacking Lithuania might have made more sense if Russia had not already taken the Baltic States, but she has.  Admittedly it was some time ago in the game, but having achieved the Baltic fleet and the boost to trade, the next step would perhaps have been in the south.  Particularly when Russia has done so much to develop new towns across Siberia so she doesn't necessarily have the historic logistical problems of a push south.

There could be another objective on your list for a Russian player who likes a challenge: push across to China and fight the Dzungars.  That would be a real wargamer's war.

Stuart Bailey wrote:2)  Spain can progress into France via the west coastal route or cross over via one of the Mountain passes - though refer to the Song of Roland as to why the later is not a good move.  Alternative would be to just blockade Perpignan and carry on north.  Though I would have doubts about leaving a fortress with a garrison on that size to your rear is a good move.  There is also the fact that Spain wants it back because its Spanish and only fairly recently stolen by King Louis XIV and most of its modern defences were built and designed by me in one of the two times I have recovered it.  Oh and before anyone says its got a defective design can I just point out that its design works much better if its defended against an attack from the north!

If Perpignan's defences are designed to help you hold it from a French attack from the north, then it does beg the question why you didn't throw everything in to try and take the town very quickly before the French army arrived.  I don't know what size the garrison is, but you seem to have been shelling it for months, and surely with all the resources of Spain at your disposal you could have reduced it much earlier as you did in previous wars?  What made this time different?

Stuart Bailey wrote:
Its probably one of the interesting aspects of G7 that that the three major land powers are all at war at the same time.  One Russia wants to re-draw the the map and political organization of the whole of Eastern Europe.  The other two are bickering over who owns a small frontier province and a small fortress which other players probably need google maps to even find - oh and the kidnapped Italian bridegroom and the invasion of the Holy Roman Empire.  

I would also add in Austria as a major land power, even if it is taking a while to assemble the HRE forces.

Stuart Bailey wrote:3) Speaking as a often times Ottoman player I would trust some of their maps about as far as I would trust Russian maps!  Seem to recall the last time the English waged a campaign in Africa they invaded the wrong country and needed to be saved by the French.  And that was at the nearest point of Africa too England.

Saved by the French?  Hardly!  You still seem sore about a perfectly sound decision to land on the better quality beach, and cross in good order to meet Martel's Muppets.  Not my fault you let a pirate run such a strategically important town and neglect its defences.  It was a good campaign and strategically of great benefit to England, not to mention capturing over 400,000 tons of best quality Spanish grain.

Well, I must admit I am glad I had a look at the Forum.
I was wondering what was happening in Czarist Russia & why Lithuania was being Liberated by the Rus.
The Czar obviously needs to give his Minister of Defence a dressing down as apparently the last expenditure round included the upkeep of over 50,000(?) men who it seems have been killed in the Assault on Minsk. No one had told the Czar about these losses. The Czar had been informed that the assault had caused a slight rise in SL but nothing about mass casualties & the loss of over 60,000 men. Is a bit of a surprise.
The loss of those 70,000 would indeed have been a heavy blow to Czarist Russia & would certainly be problematic, most likely leading to an immediate stop of hostilities.

The List of things Russia needs to do was most helpful, Now the Czar has a better idea as to what he is expected to do. Although, obviously the loss of the 80,000 men in the attack on Lithuania may slow down the momentum of the reunification of the Rus.
However the Russian Admiralties Cartography, has a bit of a problem as well(possibly brought about by the loss of 90,000 men during the conquest of Courland). Courland was easy to find being just at the end of the garden. Dzungers? apparently is currently in the area marked "Here be Dragons" So a team of trainee Cartographers may need to be despatched to make notes for the Senior Cartographers to draw their Maps. This may have to be postponed until the end of the Game year, as it could well be after loosing 100,000 men in the Polish Ukraine that there are no recruits avaliable to train.

J Flower wrote:Well, I must admit I am glad I had a look at the Forum.
I was wondering what was happening in Czarist Russia & why Lithuania was being Liberated by the Rus.
The Czar obviously needs to give his Minister of Defence a dressing down as apparently the last expenditure round included the upkeep of over 50,000(?) men who it seems have been killed in the Assault on Minsk. No one had told the Czar about these losses. The Czar had been informed that the assault had caused a slight rise in SL but nothing about mass casualties & the loss of over 60,000 men. Is a bit of a surprise.
The loss of those 70,000 would indeed have been a heavy blow to Czarist Russia & would certainly be problematic, most likely leading to an immediate stop of hostilities.

The List of things Russia needs to do was most helpful, Now the Czar has a better idea as to what he is expected to do. Although, obviously the loss of the 80,000 men in the attack on Lithuania may slow down the momentum of the reunification of the Rus.
However the Russian Admiralties Cartography, has a bit of a problem as well(possibly brought about by the loss of 90,000 men during the conquest of Courland). Courland was easy to find being just at the end of the garden. Dzungers? apparently is currently in the area marked "Here be Dragons" So a team of trainee Cartographers may need to be despatched to make notes for the Senior Cartographers to draw their Maps. This may have to be postponed until the end of the Game year, as it could well be after loosing 100,000 men in the Polish Ukraine that there are no recruits avaliable to train.  

"Dead Mens Pays" the reporting a unit which actually had only 550 men as having its full strength of say 700 men and collecting the pay for all of them and pocketing the 150 spare was common almost standard practice in C18 Armies. The British in their usual style almost had it as a standard system with the spare cash being used by commanders like Marlborough to fund int, transport and supply costs not otherwise paid by the Government (plus a commission to himself).

In Austria/Russia etc where many Regiments were normally raised by Nobles from their own estates the spare men are probably still working on said Nobles Estate or building a nice Dacha for the Mayor who counted them all and stamped the paper work.

This was all pretty standard and the only person who seems to have had serious objections to the practice was as per usual - Louis XIV of France.
Who so little trusted the paperwork and word of honour of his Officers - who were gentlemen and not used to having their word doubted - that he actually sent military inspectors to check the numbers being paid for existed. Meaning Regiments either had to borrow men from other regiments to back up numbers or bribe the Inspector. Either way an additional cost they had to cover with extra "dead pays".

This practice of "Dead Mens Pays" may partly explain why so many C18 battles seem to have reported as total blood baths or seem to have seen huge numbers desert after the battle.

Believe 10-20% of a unit cost being "Dead mens pays" is about normal. If 50,000 is higher than that the Czar is clearly being ripped off and should shout at his Minister of War.

In game this practice is sort of accounted for (pun intended even though its bad) by units with high sickness levels being considered to be at reduced strength and fighting power. But you still get billed as if they are at full Strength - Agema taking a very C18 Officer Corp view that your Majesty is much too busy and important to be troubled by reduced bills and changes to paper work.i

May 1717 Glori du Roi has shown up and for none G7 players here are the highlights:-

1) As is traditional with G7 - No Russian Naval losses to report. In a fairly close contest for the Czars "we sink ships award" this months winner was England with 86 losses followed by France with 68. Spain was in third with 33 and Persia was a distant fourth with a poor score of 7. Only one of these losses was not a merchant liner with a French corvette forced to surrender to a Spanish Great Frigate which interesting proved a faster vessel than the corvette.

2) In other Naval news the English Port of Calcutta has joined Hadiboh in being under Persian blockade which is stopping various English Squadrons from putting to sea. A fact which no doubt contributed to the English Victory in this months "we sink ships award". The English Naval Corvette HMS Success did however manage to save merchant ships it was escorting in the West Indies from a hostile looking approach from by a Squadron of 2 Frigates and 3 sloops.

This suspect Squadron was flying a Spanish Flag but the Spanish Navy is known to dislike sloops and is also highly unlikely to have ships called the Cherry, Nettle or Anemone. Guess which false flag to fly as a pirate is a bit of a problem with so many likely to get you attacked on sight.

3) In final Navy news King Charles of Spain has knighted the two captains who fought of French attacks at odds of 50-1 against. While the Polish Port of Danzig is now under a sort of weird blockade by the Kalmar Navy. Only while the Kalmar Navy is stopping and checking ships they are then letting them go on their way including x2 English flagged ships loaded with GUNPOWDER which they allowed to sail into Danzig. So quite what the point of this "Blockade" is remains a mystery unless the Kulmar Union just want to prove that they can blockade in the Baltic if they really want too.

4) King John V of Portugal has wed Lady Jane Douglas, Countess of Teviot who will in future be known as Queen Joana of Portugal. It should be noted that the Crown Prince of Portugal is engaged to the 2nd daughter of the Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor who is the neice of the King of Spain and the happy couple were presented with a Crystal Glass set by a Hapsburg Envoy as a wedding gift.

So his most Valiant Majesty would seem to be showing that in G7 one does not have to take sides. But it does help if you talk to everyone and have a active dynastic policy.

5) On subject of active dynastic policies. The Elector of Bavaria who has already married a Polish princess and two Hapsburgs himself is now trying to work out if his son and heir should wed the Hairess of Austria Maria Joseha von Hapsburg or her younger relation Donna Isabella von Hapsburg the Infanta of Spain.

The Court in Madrid seem to have given their blessing to the marriage of the Eebprinz Charles Albert to the Heiress of Austria. Which would put Charles Albert in pole position at the next Imperial Election. While to avoid any insult to Savoy concerning the broken engagement between the Crown Prince of Savoy and Maria Josepha his sister the Regent of Savoy has agreed the captive Prince can marry the Infanta instead if he ever gets out of French captivity. As the Infanta is only 14 this gives planty of time for the Crown Prince of Savoy to be freed.

6) Perhaps in preperation for this the Spanish authorities sent a Dutch gentleman to Paris to act as their commissionar for POWs and also purchased control of a captive French General from their on Moldovian mercenaries. General Denis des Ecures is currently in a Knights of St John Hospital in a bad way (SL #12) so could foil any exchange by dropping dead. There is also the question is will Louis XIV exchange a General for a Colonel who is also a Crown Prince so lower military rank but higher social rank than the French General?

7) In the actual Franco-Hapsburg war itself the only other news from the northern front was that Colonel Nicolas d'Usson has passed away in Calais due to strain. While on the Eastern front French forces have moved into Lorraine and occupied the town of Saarbrucken while Imperial troops continue to muster in Stuttgart etc.

Does the sudden advance into Lorraine mean that the French are now ready to go on the offensive and try and disrupt the Imperial build up?

On the western side of the southern front French Dragoon Patrols have been driven in. With the French Dragoons deciding not to contest matters with a Spanish screeening force of x10 Miquelets battalions backed by 77 Squadrons of Spanish Cavalry.

Meanwhile on the eastern side of the southern frontier and faced with another Spanish Screening force Marshal Tesse was doing his best impression of the "Grand Old Duke of York" since having marched his troops all the way to the river Tet from Narbonne he then marched them back again while being shoot at by both mounted and dismounted Miquelets all the way there and back.

In the absence of any action by Marshal Tesse to stop it the Spanish contined to rain down mortar bombs on Perpignan and have started digging siege works towards Perpignan.

9) In Eastern Europe the 6th Russian Army (Army of the Baltic) has marched into Lithuanian city of Mogizev while Polish Cossacks have been raiding Kalmar Union trade caravans. While claiming no interest in Danzig or Poland the Czar has been stressing that his only objective is protection of Russ people and Orthodoxy. This would seem to imply that he is keeping the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and splitting the Commonwealth, but what about the Ukraine? Mixed religious lands partly occupied by Russ people but part of the Kingdom of Poland?

10) Russian government sacked its current man in charge of the Lake Ladoga project and then had him horsewipped. It would seem that something has upset the Czar. Meanwhile in Copenhagen the Palace is suffering from a shortage of maids due to sickness but the Government has decided on a project to improve health care in the military of the Kulmar Union. Never go to sea and fight in places like the south of France and Italy in summer would be my advise

11) In Zafindramninia King Raminia has been warned by his Persian allies to be aware of English Crusaders. The Kings wise woman confirmed that "The Shah of Persia is a great and wise ruler who's warnings should be heeded".


Howe

Apologies to those who were expecting my usual writeup.  I've been away (real world) for a couple of weeks and only returned today, so this and probably the next turn look like being rather short.  Thankfully Stuart has stepped in to keep you all informed.

I was wondering what 5 Spanish-flagged ships were doing attacking English merchants, but I'm sure things will be clarified in game.

Always nice to win something, and I think this is the first time England has won the Tsar's trophy?

June 1711 turn has now arrived, and here is a brief summary of events from the viewpoint of England:

1. Shipping losses: in what may be a surprise, 1 Russian ship was lost this month.  Not enough, however, to win the Tsar’s Our ships Sank prize, which this month has been won by England with 126 lost; French losses numbered 67, and Persia lost 1.  I should add that I’m not entirely convinced by these numbers since they do not tally with what is on my asset list.

2. In Ireland, King James has attempted to meet the concerns of Irish nobles over the new voting arrangements.  The response appears to have been mixed with some scepticism that Irish nobles will be able to agree anything if left to their own devices.  The cynical readers among you may think King James has achieved another diplomatic masterstroke by allowing the Irish to indulge in their favourite hobby of despising each other, but either way it seems that the vast majority of the population approve of the changes.  Msr.Josiah McMurdo (who lives in Cadiz) is far from happy, venting his frustration in a typical Spanish way.

3. Thanks to the efforts of the Duke of Ormonde in London there may also have been some clarification about the reason Austrian troops are in Krakov.  Austria seems to think there is an issue over who is the Grand Duke of Krakov and the lands of the Duchy of Krakov.  Austria expects the Grand Duke to be Catholic, from a well-regarded house, and who has the financial and military backing of the Hapsburgs.  I am not entirely sure how these conditions could be fulfilled unless the Duchy of Krakov is effectively an Austrian satellite, which presumably it is not currently under whoever the Duke is.  However, perhaps the King of Poland can clarify next month?

4. Austria has formally agreed with Spain to make War on the French until Savoy is liberated from French occupation and the House of Savoy restored.  The Spanish Hapsburgs are trying to hold up their side of this deal by attacking French ships with mixed results, and marching more of their armies into France, while calling the French cowards and getting somewhat impatient by the lack of progress at Perpignan.  They did attempt to drive trenches forward, but found their engineers were shot to pieces by French artillery and the defenders of Perpignan in a rather ebullient mood.  Meanwhile French armies have marched into Nancy in the Duchy of Lorraine.  And another French army is at Dijon, presumably to prepare for an attack from Austria.  I will admit to having lost track of what is going on where in this war, but no doubt Stuart will provide his own version.

5. Following the attempt to poison Princess Anne in Copenhagen, the rather anti-Kalmar faction has been at it again, this time burning down the palace and an academy of arts nearby.  Those missing (presumed dead) include King Frederick IV in Denmark, Queen Louise, Crown Prince Christian and various others.  Indeed, few escaped.  Meanwhile somewhere in Lithuania, King Charles of Sweden is sick, but thankfully recovering on the march and sharing the hardships of his troops.

6. At Vilnius, Russian forces have shown up, but the Polish forces therein refuse to negotiate.  There was more positive news for Russia in that she has annexed the cities of Minsk, Vitebsk and Mogizev, although holding them down by force will take rather a lot of troops.

7. A belated wedding present has been given to King John of Portugal by the Earl of Tyrone and the Duke of St.Albans … my apologies to the player for Portugal since this order was delayed the turn it was ordered.  Such things happen from time to time.

8. In Zafindramninia the pirate King Raminia has denied he is a pirate, claiming to have no ships, and that he cannot fly or swim.  Jacobite Naval Intelligence, with characteristic thoroughness, considers him to be deranged and highly dangerous.  After all, with the crusade declared against him, he has likely burnt his ships and has withdrawn inland to hide from the Royal Navy.  Far from clearing Persia from involvement his statement, if believed, implicates Persia further, since Persia certainly does have ships (another 90SoL appearing off Socotra) and Ramina was hunting French crews on Madagascar.

9. The bad news for Persia comes from Ormuz where it appears their 4th Fleet is now resting.  They have assessed the English ships they have encountered and concluded they “had a high rate of fire, higher than their own, and their crews seemed well versed in what to do and sail in a good manner, while their morale seems to be as high as their efficiency, with great confidence being placed in their officers and their King.”  This is the view of prisoners, who if anything could be expected to be somewhat annoyed at being in gaol.  It really does bring a lump to the throat, such pride in their training, the quality of their ships, their officers and King James himself.  If only the rest of the world was as enlightened as the British sailor?  Clearly the Persian navy is now at a psychological disadvantage – they know they can’t win against the Royal Navy, and really don’t want to die proving it.

10. Bumper harvests have been enjoyed by England, Austria, Prussia, Russia Dept West (as was), and Persia, which is most welcome.  Poor harvests have afflicted Spain and Russia (which since both of these countries have huge grain reserves probably doesn’t make any difference to them).


Finally, there are 2 new rules:

Lightly Laden
If carrying 600 people and/or animals or less, a ship can be classed as being ‘lightly laden’, in which case no SL will be suffered by these due to simply being embarked.  For this to apply the status ‘lightly laden’ must be ordered by the player each time an order is issued, as required (it cannot be a standing order).  If cannot be used if using ships other than L or EiM.  Ships in other circumstances, or where ‘lightly laden’ is not stipulated, use the existing rules and may if appropriate be referred to as ‘fully laden’ or ‘heavily laden’ vessels.

Supply Patrols
A single supply patrol can only supply 1 army formation per game turn.  The grain used must come from the depot being used by that supply patrol.  To allow players to adjust to these changes, they will not come into force until the following dates:
G7 Dec-1717
G8 Aug-1713
G9 Aug-1711
G10 Sep-1707

Thanks to Papa for his view of events this turn.

One clarification needed.
It is Austria's view the Dutchy of Krakow is a vacant title, hence the effort to install a Hapsburg favourite. If there is already a Grand Duke, then Austria has been misinformed and something was lost in translation!

Can I just say that

1) Spain did not call the French cowards, we were very polite to the heroic and abandoned garrison of Perpaignon and their commander. I actually called Marshal Tesse a coward after her marched 100,000 men to within five or six miles of the beseiged city and then he marched them back again! When I and an outnumbered Spainish Army was all set to fight.

Oh I also said some harsh words about Louis XIV and his strange habit of attacking his neices! First he attacks Savoy who's Duchess is his neice now he invades Lorraine who Duchess is also his neice. Think if Louis XIV neices and their husbands are not safe from the rabid French War machine with its total lack of respect for Dynastic ties, fellow Catholics and indeed decades of French Diplomacy then who the hell is?

Liberation of Savoy and now Lorraine is really the job of the Holy Roman Emperor. But as I am playing a character who is both a Prince of the HRE and the younger brother of the Emperor. It would now seem a point of honour for Charles von Hapsburg and every Prince of the HRE to rally round the Imperial battle standards of the Royal House of Austria and help save the HRE. Pity Josef seems to be getting less than whole hearted support from other HRE Princes. With the two strongest in military terms after the Hapsburgs diverted by events in Poland.

Fact that the French seem to be going out of their way to wreck carefully considered and worked out Hapsburg Wedding Policy is also a slight niggle with Madrid and Vienna.

2) Speaking as someone who has won the Czars we sink ships trophy more than most unless you have loads of Navy ships assigned too helping trade in an area the vast majority of merchant ship losses do not show up on your sheet.

Actual immediate result of a lost ship is a £4,000 reduction in your end of year trade income from the area of the loss so last months loss of 126 ships by last months we sink ships award will be a £504,000 reduction in end of year trade revenue.

If such losses continue for a long time is that other possible effect which may differ with positions is that a positions economic health may suffer a reduction as shipping and insurance costs go up due to the losses and industries are starved of raw materials. Though I have noted that the economic health of traditional trade powers like Venice, England and UDP seem to suffer more from this than basically farming positions.

It is also possible that Blockades do more damage to Economic health than privateering and a lot will depend on which port is being blockaded and how many Ports a position has. So Venice seems to be very sensitive to Venice being blockaded since its generally the positions only main Port. Such Blockades also hurt a positions income from customs duty (tax on foreigners).

Spains income from customs duty in G7 is so flipping low (think we have an honesty box at end of pier and someone has thrown a shipping net over it) that its hard to imagine Madrid will even notice this but some positions which relied a lot on transit incomes/customs duties could be hit hard. Played a small Rhineland position once and over a 1/3 of positions income came from this source so a blockade of the Rhine would be really bad news.

The other question I think the Court of Public Opinion is still out on is does Mercantilism or "Colbertism" as practiced with much dedication by the Shah of Persia help your trade and economic health? As Persia has taken out trade rivals and gained lots of really cheap ships and cargo. Not 100% sure but while the Shah may have wiped out one rival (France) in the Indian trade zone is Persia actually doing better as a trade power because of this? As opposed to just being above France on the trade table?

My personal opinion is a no, but by waging a decade long Jihad against unbelievers like the French and now the English the Shah has been able to position himself as a Ghazi and push himself right up the honour table. Plus as an added bonus gain thousands if not tens of thousands of extra recruits from Africa, Central Asia, Eastern Shia parts of the Ottoman Empire all keen to fight in his Jihad and gain loot and glory under the banners of the great Ghazi hero.

Dont knock this plan as Richard can be quite kind to Islamic players playing the Ghazi card. Suspect its because it tends to generate loads of column inches from outraged of Warsaw, Vennia, Venice, Tunbridge Wells etc

3) Ref the rules changes have always used 1 supply patrol per Army but may now have to either move some barges or grain so they are in same place. I sware that with Cowards like Tesse and multi layer fortress defences this game is more and more about logistics and engineering and less and less about dashing cavalry charges and flashing blades.