G7 - France vs. England

An odd question to throw open to general discussion, but a tremendous challenge and one I'll struggle to resist.

Trying to answer from your viewpoint is very difficult given I consider you have no right to rule England having betrayed your charge and allied yourself with heretics. One option would be to throw yourself on the mercy of King James, but I doubt that would work. A second option which should achieve the same result is for you to shoot yourself. Assuming neither of these options appeals, the obvious practical thing would be to stick very closely to UDP no matter what happens. Any hint of you changing sides again or even weakening on the path you have chosen would almost certainly lead to you meeting the same fate as King James the Martyr by anyone you trust to distance themselves from your actions. Ultimately this means doing whatever William (and UDP) wants, capitulating and effectively turning England into a UDP colony. Of course, how popular this course of action would be in the longer term is open to question as you would be betraying your country.

The best course of action may simply be to wait and see what other players allow you to do. Then you can be the opportunist and exploit those game lines to try and find a way to salvage something for yourself. I think you should recognise that by your action you have lost the initiative. You played what you thought were the strongest cards you had and now hold a very poor hand indeed; the best you can do is hope that others make mistakes and then with luck capitalise on them.

I thought I was unpopular in the game, but even my most vocal opponents would have to admit that I always behaved honourably. I could defend myself against anti-French propaganda by using historical/legal argument and from the evidence of my behaviour. My allies knew they could trust me. You don't have those options unless your allies give them to you. You can't defend what you have done as it is clear from the newspaper that your allies are revolted by your actions. And if they aren't then their nobles are, so if they try to remain supportive of you, their own honour and support within their own countries will suffer. That is a big ask to make of any ally, to sacrifice their own interests for you, particularly given the effect over multiple turns on their game experience.

If King James was NPC or played by an idiot then you might get away with apathy, but with Deacon against you I suspect he will be a very tough opponent who will make the most of all the opportunities he can create. When (not if) the Pope condemns your actions, that condemnation will make it very difficult for any Catholic country to support you. If they try then those who supported the church will be hit worst. Though it isn't what you or certain players have accepted yet, I consider the biggest risk is to Spain - led by a Cardinal, but supportive of the Hapsburgs. If Austria continues to support you (either directly or indirectly), can Spain continue to support Austria? I don't see how. It would create an open door for the church to ally with the Spanish Bourbons (and France) which would split Spain down the middle. Of course, Cardinal Portocarerro could resign from leading Spain, but I don't see how in conscience a Cardinal can disobey the Pope when to do so means supporting the murder of a Catholic martyr. Very rough on the Spanish Hapsburgs, but I guess you didn't think of the future when you murdered a Catholic King.

You've certainly opened the game up to lots of different possibilities and achieved more in 3 months than I did in 3 years

Not so. Spain is free to hate anyone it wants to. All I pointed out is that as a Cardinal, representing His Most Catholic Majesty, it is very hard for him to take a position opposing the Catholic Church. I don't think that is a very controversial statement! If, as I expect, the Pope is somewhat critical of Churchill it makes it hard for Spain to remain allied to those who support Churchill. Depending on the severity of the criticism it may also cause internal problems for any Catholic nation who intends to stay neutral.

Your comment seems to suggest that Spain is hostile to France which seems to ignore the fact that Spain remained at peace with France certainly until I left. Uncooperative and not one to miss a trick to cause trouble, but not hostile.

Jason - welcome to the game, I'm sure you'll enjoy getting thrown into the middle of this whichever nation you have decided to try.

I agree that some kind of an election seems necessary, but for some reason Churchill can't get near Parliament to call one. Could it be they don't trust him?

A military takeover of England as Stuart suggests would be one way to bypass political stalemate, and no doubt fun for commentators, but if I remember rightly the rule of the Major Generals turned the people so much against republicanism that they restored the House of Stuart. It would be rather ironic if Churchill chose the same path and ended up with the same results!

Who knows?

I guess he could play the raving lunatic card and kill everybody, in which case you're quite right, Deacon, he does have more options than I considered