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

In all fairness, Lord Fong's statements are often pretty cutting...

March 1712 Gloire du Roi has shown up and the new era of peace, sweetness and light promised in in G7 seems to be getting of to a very slow start.  For non players in G7 here are the highlights.......or should that he the lowlights?

1) Count Monterrey Grand Chamberlain of Spain gets fed up waiting for the Ottoman Grand Vizier to stop saying he is going to do it and actually put a draft Hapsburg-Ottoman non aggression treaty on the table.  Plus the Spanish Envoy in Constantinople gave lots of nice gifts to Ottoman Pasha's & esp to the Sultan (no doubt trying to match English gifts to the Grand Vizier)

- Grand Vizier Farooq reply?..........to increase the tax rate on Spanish trade & the HWIC in Ottoman Anatolia to 50%, threaten to take the Head Quarters of the Spanish Viceroy of Africa (Oran) by force, say he is ending all diplomatic talks with the Hapsburg's and last but not least called the kind, friendly, genial, father of four & general good egg who is the King of Spain & Naples etc a conniving man of low standards who dissembles and twists what has what has clearly been stated.

Some Ottoman Lords and probably the Sultan are starting to wonder about the diplomatic ability of the GV and his employment of a Jacobite speach writer.  They hope the the jumped up Janissary who runs the once great office of Grand Vizier is a better military commander than he is a diplomat.  

2) On the subject of Oran the English Navy attacked the place (to show the Ottomans how its done?)........claiming that as they were attacking the HWIC (on the soil/waters of a Spanish colony) this is not a violation of the peace treaty.  This would seem to be equal to an English Protestant Govt in G10 attacking Jacobite exiles in Brest and French troops commanded by Berwick and then saying this is not aggression against France.  Spanish crown lawyers are wondering if the English version of the treaty says something different to the version they are reading?????

- The English attack smashed up various HWIC Cruisers in the Port of Oran but Admiral Whitaker Fleet is now under fire from the Port Citadel and his marine landing forces being roughly treated by the Spanish Foreign Legion.  When a Jacobite Officer attempted to speak to the Legion (motto Long Live Death) they just shot him dead, clearly not overly happy with being stabbed in the back and dodgy Jacobite legal claims.

3) To twist the knife in the bruised pride of the Royal House of Hapsburg the Elector of Saxony has said that due to the weakness of the Hapsburg Military..... Saxony, Prussia, Sweden and the other northern powers need to consider an alliance to ensure their future peace and security now the Emperor can no longer guarantee it on his own.  Seemingly in pursuit of this Northern (Protestant) Alliance the Dutch Stadtholder is meeting the Danes and Sweden and Prussia are offering to act as guarantors for the Treaty of Scotland and Protestant rights in the British Isles.

- Seems to me before they can act as guarantors some people are going to have to agree on what the treaty wording actually means!

- Also how common is the view held by the GV & the Elector of Saxony that the Royal House of Hapsburg has been so weakened by recent struggles that the Vulture's can start to rip bits (like Oran) off the corpse????  Or will they find that that they have attacked a Hydra?  

4) In India both the Moghuls and Maharatas have declined to provide recruits to help the French fight the Persians, but the good news for the French is that with their Fortress Guns knocked out and their Naval support sunk the heroic Duc de Albret and his Pondicherry Garrison fight on and continue to dispute the covered way with Major-General Qarachaqay Khan Persians.  

Elsewhere but in the same general area Persian Cruisers continue to take French Merchant ships and the Shah has purchased Port Sadras from the Dutch.  The Maharatas and their Austrian trained Military have expressed concern about Muslim Persian expansion on their East Coast.

It remains to be seen if the Shah is a better diplomat than the Ottoman Grand Vizier and if he can calm fears?  Or is he indeed planning a Jihad?

5) No news of French troops starting their withdraw from Spanish territory or returning Austrian POWs in large number but they are probably just waiting for better conditions.  Gen the Duc de Santa Cruz & his Spanish Army has marched into Liverpool and gathered Merchant shipping to take his troops home.  To avoid problems he paid double price for supplies from local merchants, who were able to restock and avoid local supply problems by buying grain etc shipped in from Spain at normal price (ie 50% extra profit to merchants 50% to James III robbing custom's men and their shocking levies on food imports).  Spanish troops are also reported to be heading out of France as the weather gets better but some of their coastal traffic heading up coast from Dunkirk got battered in storms.  On plus side Spanish Medical help and food supplies were able to help local authorities in the South end plague outbreaks and make sure towns have enough food before they left.

In Spanish political theory most of these places are still part of Spain but under French occupation for last 30 years so they still need to be looked after.

6) Sadly for people expecting the generous and sporting action shown by Santa Cruz etc to lead to a new fluffy G7 the temptation to land one final blow before peace is signed (and to be fair help out the abandoned Scots) and they have to give back all that lovely Hapsburg Artillery & foot proved to much for the Dutch HQ in Scotland.

Leading a Huge Column of "Dutch" Troops (Dutch in this case tends to mean under orders of Dutch HQ in Scotland and in past has included Scots, English, American, Prussians, Swedes, French Protestant, Spanish, Austrians & other Germans etc, etc) Veldmaarschalk Van Nassau-Ouwerkerk positioned his mostly Mercenary Spanish Artillery to bombard Dunbarton and lead his Orange Horde in a wild attack on Stuart 4th Army.  In an action which shows the Dutch Army is clearly going "native" in Scotland reports do not even indicate even a volley being fired before they closed with cold steel and engaged the "resting" Stuart Soldiers in a wild fight in the Streets of Dumbarton.  A fight which turned into a mass rout of 4th Army.

Accounts in the Paper do not make it clear but from earlier papers I suspect 4th Army were badly outnumbered, I also suspect being attacked while "resting" and having to hurridly form up may give a further disadvanatge (no accounts of attackers being hit by defenders fire as they closed).  Finally the "Dutch" have probably been resting in Glasgow and getting back 2 #SL per month while Jacobites have been fighting raid's since main fight last summer so I suspect the "Dutch" to have been in better condition than their foes.

7) The good news for the poor people of Dunbarton is that the Orange Order did not celebrate its Victory over the Finian Foe by going on a rampage and sacking the town.  Either it was too early or they were distracted by a greater prize......the pride of the English Navy "repairing" using the Dunbarton Yards to Repair and helpless.

I think many people would say that only so many ships can use a shipyard/repair yard at any one time and only a percentage of Ships crew (say a watch or a third) would be on shore at any one time so some if not the majority of ships should be able to cut their cables and sail out of the debarcle but minus a lot of sailors/officers left on shore along with lost sails and anchors.  

Sadly in this hard core game if you are caught using repair yards in a port when said port gets stormed by the Orange Order it seems that your ships are caught with their yards and rigging down, sails on deck being stitched, Admiral, Captains etc with the breeches down in the local knocking shop or passed out in the bar and in no fit state to lead a heroic escape down river before battle mad Scots come bounding up your gang plank to claim your ship for the Republic and start painting it Orange and re-naming it RSS Banockburn.

The sole English Lineship avoiding the Disaster was the good ship Britannia which was on the Clyde plus 28 Cruisers making their way to Dumbarton from Ireland which this ship was able to warn.

Basically it seems that the Dutch-Scots HQ in Scotland has won the greatest victory of the War after most people thought the war was basically over.  Which leaves most Diplomatic types thinking bugger "this is a bigger mess than the Treaty of Warsaw" & how the hell are the Dutch going to get their prizes (which under the treaty they can keep......minus Crews which need to be freed with £2 passage money) home when most of them can not get into Dutch Harbours without help.  

9) At the Hague the Jesuit Envoy has finally handed over a copy of the Papal Bull awaited by Dutch Govt Lawyers so they can consider the Peace Treaty put forward by Louis XIV.  The Ball says that in the Opinion of the Pope James Stuart is the rightful Catholic King of England, Ireland & Scotland.  It is therefore of Importance to Royalist Catholic's in England, Scotland & Ireland and non at all to Protestants and Republicans in these countries.

10)  At Versailles Elmo Putnam was asking for an extension of the treaty acceptance date so his Government could check what the  awaited Papal Bull said.  While King Louis was rewarding his commanders with Palaces and the like.  Clearly the King and most Diplomats like Putnam think the War is over..........pity no one told Vice-Admiral Whitaker or the Dutch HQ in Scotland!

11) While the French & Austrians celebrate Victory with Grand Royal largess, paintings and music & the Dutch & English seem to still be fighting.  In Madrid Constable Velasquez and the Spanish Defence Ministry has set up a commission to review the leasons of the last war.
Order your copy from Escorial publishing and all good book shops.

Ouch. Painful lesson on ships in port. I wouldn't have thought it would be that bad, and might well have fallen afoul of that myself.

Deacon wrote:
Ouch. Painful lesson on ships in port. I wouldn't have thought it would be that bad, and might well have fallen afoul of that myself.

Key point seems to have been not that the English Fleet were in a port when it was stormed...... but that they were in a repair yard and "repairing" when it happened.

Earlier in same war the French Navy was in Calais when it was taken by the Spanish. On this occassion the main French fleet got away to Sea apart from some laid up ships and a French supply/reinforcement convoy and their Escorts which sailed into Calais after the port had fallen and were taken captive.

Calais was after a siege and the French Navy had orders to put to sea, a closer event to the recent one was when the Spanish stormed Glasgow and their Swiss Merc's attempted to storm active English Naval Ships in port. In this case the boarding attempt was foiled due to ships pulling up their gangplanks. Some English Lineships were damaged by having grenadoes thrown onto them but the Swiss were then forced back by a storm of naval gunfire which wrecked most of the Glasgow water front.

Not sure if Ships are equally exposed to danger if under "repair" orders or if the "repair in X repair yard" is the real danger. But players may like to keep it in mind or if really parnoid start building floating repair ships.

Oddly in G7 we now seem to have had a re-run of the 3rd Anglo-Dutch Naval War with the English gaining their political objectives due to events in Europe but suffering a Naval Humiliation as a result of a Dutch raid on their anchorage. Perhaps worse since in the Medway Raid they only lost Ships rather than Admirals and Crews.

If Admiral Benbow was taken with his fleet will he in future be known as "Old Breaches Down" Benbow? After being taken captive enjoying a visit to the ships "heads"? No evidence of this at all but hell this is G7 never a game to allow the truth to get in the way of a good yarn
( comments like "yes thats because you are playing in it" from bigger sellers of pure propaganda called Jason than me are not needed!).

Wonder if the Russians could get the Captured Ships at Dumbarton for a knock down price, after all, they are now second hand, slightly tarnished, in need of repair, & ready to sink at a moments notice so basically would fit right in to Russian navy strategy without anyone noticing.

If Russia would offer the Grand Pensionary of UDP a herd of goats & a life's supply of Vodka then he surely would be happy to do a deal.....

J Flower wrote:Wonder if the Russians could get the Captured Ships at Dumbarton for a knock down price, after all, they are now second hand, slightly tarnished, in need of repair, & ready to sink at a moments notice so basically would fit right in to Russian navy strategy without anyone noticing.

If Russia would offer the Grand Pensionary of UDP  a herd of goats & a life's supply of Vodka then he  surely would be happy to do a deal.....

If the Grand Pensionary signed the treaty of Scotland after the battle but before the end March 1712 he has to pay a lot of English Soldiers and Sailors £2 each passage money. Plus his own men would probably like prize money like they get in the Dutch Navy! The Scots, English, Spanish, French, Swiss, German & other noble heroic adventurers/Merc scum (depending on your view point) will probably want a cut as well.

Faced with these type of bills and a load of prizes which do not fit into Dutch harbours I guess the Stadtholder can pass ships to Scots or Dutch colonial Naval forces (but may struggle to find crews), break them up for the timber and metal or try and flog them off to interested parties looking to expand their fleets with "Top quality ships, recently modernized and refurbish, only one careful owner.......dont worry about the stains on the decks.......bit of scrubbing and will soon be good as new."

On the basis that the Russians have already bought a colony with disputed land ownership, paid over the top for a whole batch of colonies populated by Pirates, Smugglers and exiled Religious Fanatics who hate Orthodoxy & Icons which the vendor had no control over at all and paid for a boat trip to New England which ended up in Scotland. I am sure Dutch Ship Brokers will be delighted to stitch up the Russian Navy sorry I mean entertain the requests of their most noble Russian clients.

The thought does occur that if the Grand Pensionary has not signed the treaty before 23:59 on the last day of March 1712 we are into clause VIII territory and the Russian Navy could end up buying ships with rival ownership claims & the Czar could end up being branded as a buyer of "stolen ships"...............Oh by God, they legal bills could alone could cost more that buying a brand new 120 Gunner with all mod cons and a state cabin from a Spanish Yard for instance.

April 1712 Gloire du Roi has shown up and for non players in G7 here are the highlights:

1) Despite some extreme provocation in March 1712 such as the attacks on Oran and Dumbarton the peace between the House of Hapsburg and the Franco-Jacobites would seem to be holding with King Louis XIV confirming that his forces will be out of Hapsburg territory & all POW's returned by July 1712. While Spanish forces seem to be withdrawing from France with Polite bows for the Mayor, Balls for the locals, flags flying and drums beating.

2) Withdraws from the British Isles do not seem to be going as smoothly since Santa Cruz and his Army sailed from Liverpool and spent the month being storm tossed and sea sick in the Irish sea while no one is willing to take a charater to move the Ayr Garrison. Something about wirlpools, sea monsters and the west coast of scotland being a war zone! The Russians have also said they are getting out of the British Isles but are probably not getting on any ships before mid summer and dead calm sea's! Its dangerous out there as was proved by the drawning of Captain Haddock of the Britannia and the crews of eight English Cruisers in the waters of the Clyde.

3) The Dutch would still seem to be refusing to sign the treaty of Scotland until King James confirms that they can withdraw with all of the formations in Dutch Service which are known to include Mercenary Regiments made up of French, Spanish, English, Scots, Swiss, Swedes and German troops (both Austrian and Prussians) without being attacked.

- The treaty wording says "All signatories to this treaty promise to withdraw all troops, including mercenaries, to their home country within six months of this treaty being signed" and some people have weirdly attempted to read this as being by the Nationality of the Signatory rather than meaning troops in the service of the signatory. But this would produce some vary funny results.......How is Louis XIV going order French Mercenaries in Dutch service back to France? They do not follow his orders and all hate him for sending them into exile in the first place.

- It would also mean that when French, English, Austrian & Spanish troops in Dutch service attacked Dumbarton in March the Kings of Franch, England, Spain and the Empire all broke the treaty! The only people not to have broken the treaty being the Dutch Troops since the Stadtholder is not a signatory.

4) The Dutch refusal to sign the treaty until James withdraws his threats and allow's their whole force a free withdraw would now seem to put the UDP and England into clause 8 territory "If a signatory fails to sign by March 1712, they must make a seperate bilateral peace with their opponent"

Turning from Anglo-Dutch disagreements about what a French Treaty actually means to other events of note these include:

5) King James & Queen Catherine who are both Catholic have finally had a semi-Anglican Coronation in London. Its unclear if this means that King James may convert or hopes to convert the Anglican Church to communion with Rome. He certainly avoid making the Coronation Oath to uphold the supremacy of the Church of England.

5) In a stunning feat of arms the French Garrison of Pondicherry continue to hold out! While Louis XIV goes to the Opera and tries to issue "explanations" of his treaty which are about ten times longer than the original treaty and contain's more logical holes than a Swiss Cheese the Shah would seem to be going in for a total replacement of the attacking forces.

6) The Spanish tried to make a formal objection to Lord Godolphin about the "Pirate" Whitaker and the attack on Oran but Lord G snubbed and insulted Gabriel del Montosa on the grounds that she is the Envoy from Spanish Flanders not Spain (or the Spanish Viceroy of Africa) and totally ignored the fact that Gabriel has been acting for Spain & Austria since Louis XIV threw out all the other Hapsburg envoys for annoying him. With his North African post full of sunk ships, threatened by jumped up Janissary Grand Vizier's and his envoy snubbed reports from Spanish Court Reporters put the ever kindly and loveable Charles Von Hapsburg in a rather bad mood.

- Currently only Spanish reply to last months events were to increase tax rates on Anatolia to 50% and move trade missions to nicer and more friendly parts of the Ottoman Empire but its possible that Charles has been taking advise on the Janissary Corp and Janissary Grand Viziers from Rumelian Greek Advisors.

7) The Czar seems to be trying to sale the Advantages of Russian North America as a place to settle. Has anyone pointed out to would be settlers that its full of Pirates, Savages & Protestants. While if you are a Protestant its possible that King James could buy the lease back at some stage!

Prince Ferenc Rakoczi and his court in exile has been turfed out of the Kiev Kremlin so it can be rebuilt. Will he now leave for Hungary to lead the Revolution? Or head south to join the Grand Vizier of the Ottomans?

9) In Stockholm King Charles of Sweden has closed down all the Embassies, called the Riksdag into session, freed some Russian left over Prisioners and is now looking for a wife. Ideally the Lady needs to be Protestant or willing to convert.

Since most people believed King Charles was engaged to the Elector of Brandenburg's sister have the Prussians been snubbed????

May 1712 Glori du Roi has shown up and for non G7 players here are the highlights:

1) Fighting continued in Scotland....mostly via Naval Bombardments. With the Dutch pounding Leith to great effect again, while the English bombarded Newport Glasgow again and lost one lineship on the defences. The English also sailed up the river Leven to bombarded their own Captive Fleet at Dumbarton. With no less than 35 Lineships from the English Heavy Division blasting the prizes at point blank. Oddly no ships were sunk or blew up but huge amounts of damage was caused & Commodore Sir Stafford Fairborne was killed by "friendly" fire as the grand Flagship of the English Navy the "Royal Sovereign" was repeatedly raked by ships of her own Navy.

- The Dutch seem to have offered 15 gineas a man bounty to English Sailors willing to change sides. This offer was turned down to a man but its not clear if this was before James III attempted to kill them and slaughtered their commander and shipmates. If it was after the attack assume English Navy Crews are now too scared of James to risk "deserting".

2) On shore at Dumbarton the Garrison of the Castle has followed the town and surrendered. No details given concerning as what surrendered.

3) Dumbarton is now under observation by English Cavalry and large numbers of hired merchantships under English Naval Escort have shown up on the Clyde so it seems the Jacobites are getting ready to attack.

4) The Scots Navy fighting with the Dutch set free the French Prizes it captured last month and at Versailles the Dutch Envoy asked to sign the Treaty of Scotland......only to be told you have failed, you are too late, I am France and you can stop trying to waste my time and prepare to DIE you nasty bunch of Dutch, English, Scots, French exiles, rebels, traitors, Heretics and Persians etc, etc

Ok he these are not Louis XIV exact words which covered two pages of the Glore du Roi but but its the generally understood Franco-Jacobite position. It seems that due to a delayed messenger the Jacobites & their French Masters now have 2.5 years to do Glencoe in reverse on a much bigger scale.

Louis XIV position was most clearly spelt out when he made Godolphin the former English Prime Minister a French Marquess and gave him a Parrot which sums up French Policy "James is King" ...."Louis shines"....."Dutch no honour" & "Spain back pirate." Think this is what is known as giving the bird to your foes.

- Looks like the Hapsburg & Russian phases of the war are over(Both Russian & Hapsburg forces contine to withdraw this month in line with their treaty obligations) and King Louis & King James have their Protestant foes exactly were they want them. But a couple of concerns remain: a) How do you invade the UDP if you have promised not to touch Flanders....by Sea or via the Empire? b) Its a long way to India/Persia c) The Hydra of the House of Austria is wounded but many of its heads are still in working order.....was it really wise to stab it in the back, give it the bird then turn your back on it to fight in Scots Mountains, Dutch polder and baking heat of India and Persia?

5) Lots of Scots and Hungarians want to leave for a new life in the America's.

6) King Charles of Sweden has drawn up a new more constitutional form of Monarchy. Is he thinking of making a late bid for the Scots Crown which according to the Scots Parliament is still not filled. Oddly though he seems to have given three seats to Livonia which I was sure was now Russian.

7) While sorting out his new Government Structure King Charles was not in Berlin were is dinner was getting cold.

The Pasha of Rumelia no doubt under pressure from the Janissary corp who support the Ottoman Grand Vizier increased tax on the Spanish & HWIC to 50%. The Grand Vizier continues to abuse the Hapsburgs which no doubt goes down well with his base support but has not yet sailed for Oran as he threatened to do.

9) Lord Fong has appointed a new Landscape Painter and is looking at flood defences and trade etc while in Lima the Viceroy of Peru has a new Opera House and hopes to lure the great American Nightingale "Maria Calvos" down from San Francisco to sing in Lima. Reading accounts like this can make you understand why so many people wish to leave Scotland and get as far away from the Ottomans as possible.

10) Paper also contained a long statement from the Dutch asking for peace, free withdraw from Scotland and the Body of King William (rejected out of hand by Louis XIV see above) plus another long letter from Charles of Spain which confirmed his position on troop withdraws namely that he and everyone else is responsible for troops including mercenaries on own Army list and no others. Charles also confirmed that in reply to James III concerns an attack on mercanaries in the service of a state is an attack on that state and not their county of origin and in his own brutally cheerful maner said anyone who has signed on with King James or the Stadtholder just has to man up and expert people to shoot at them.

11) Spanish Marine Underwriters having paid out for losses suffered in the "Pirate" attack on Oran attempted to sue the English Admiralty for damages. In a decision which ignores 1000 years of English Common and Contract law the Court ruled that the Treaty of Scotland has moral authority but no legal authority unless its signed by the Dutch so Spanish Underwriters can not reclaim their costs.

- One would have thought that: "offer plus acceptance = contract" between the contracting parties and that third parties who decline the offer are not involved with the contract. Bit according to the political placemen on the English Bench this is not the case.

The fact you can take the mess that is G7 and (almost) make it make sense is quite a miracle!

any one seen the turn yet?

I received a e-mail remainder last Tuesday to get the turn in ASAP so it should be right around the corner.

Hopefully it will be a nice way to start the new week

Jason wrote:Hopefully it will be a nice way to start the new week

Unless you are Persian, Dutch, Scots or want a England not run by Jacobite followers of the divine right of Kings in which case you can expect a somewhat worrying start to the week as you wait to see what nasty things the French are going to do to you.

Stuart Bailey wrote:

Jason wrote:Hopefully it will be a nice way to start the new week

Unless you are Persian, Dutch, Scots or want a England not run by Jacobite followers of the divine right of Kings in which case you can expect a somewhat worrying start to the week as you wait to see what nasty things the French are going to do to you.

Oh picky, picky, picky

turn out made 2 mentions in the paper!

It maybe time for von Decken to get a Naval command! Worried now? .......You should be the Might of the Russian navy is about to reassert itself upon the Seven Seas.( hopefully above rather than under the waves)

Fear the Russian navy mortal....

Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL Russian battle fleet!

Jason wrote:Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL Russian battle fleet!

Kingmaker wrote:turn out made 2 mentions in the paper!

Nice one. Only managed the odd mention, periodically, myself, so I'll have to try harder.

What were the mentions about? The day job? Or a society appearance?

Jason wrote:Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL Russian battle fleet!

Carefull study of Russian Navy losses have shown that:

1) Cutting holes in the side of the ship for cannon contribute to many losses.....esp if people forget to close them in high sea's. So gun ports need to be done away with.

2) Heavy lumps of metal which can break free as a result of high sea's are a danger to the crew and can cause ships to turn over. So cannon need to be done away with.

3) Large masts and sails can make a ship top heavy and if turned into the wind at the wrong angle can cause a ship to turn over. Plus crew members tend to fall from the rigging when under the influence of Vodka. So Masts and sails also need to be done away with.

Basically since the Russian's sink four ships for every one lost in action it is perfectly logical to give priority to health and safty rather than combat effect.

Jason wrote:The fact you can take the mess that is G7 and (almost) make it make sense is quite a miracle!

G7 is best understood in terms of the Character and belief's of its leading rulers:

1) King James Stuart - firm believer in the divine right of Kings & in the "power of the wil" over things like facts. A dominant will and a willingness to knock down Parliament, abolish the Bank of England and use Irish, Russian & French troops to slaughter anyone who disagree's with him has cowed internal opposition like the HWIC in England. But attempts to take Scotland have so far cost half the English Navy & about a third of the English Army. But in James view he has won a total and complete Victory because no one can stand against his might French Ally.

Can the power of pure Jacobite will-power continue to win & drag Louis XIV into doing all its fighting?

2) King Louis - has won a major Victory over the Austrian Army and had neatly agreed to end give the Austrians back their POW's in exchange for James getting Scotland. His ally however is busy writing whole new chapters into Louis XIV treaty which will rip the "Dutch" Army & Navy in two and give half to James.

If was looking so good for France but its now starting to look messy. And somewhere a clock is ticking!

3) King James Opponents some times known as the "Dutch" is actually a very mixed position inc bits of the old HWIC position, old Scots position, old Sons of Liberty as well as the UDP. With a few "lost" Hapsburg troops thrown into the mix.

- Player is now trying to work out if he is running things from a UDP prospective or if English Liberty & Scots Freedom matter as much as the profits of the Dutch East India Company? Basically is he a Hero (and possible corpse) or a Dutch Merchant? What he decides will totally shape the game for some time.

4) The Emperor Leopold - Has suffered a big military defeat in France, his right hand man & ally has been murdured by the Jacobites, his daughter passed away in Childbirth, the Economy is crap & the Russians, Ottomans & Hungarians are all playing up. But on the other hand its not 1683, he has reclaimed key lands from the French & Turks since that date and he now has two adult sons & five grandchildren. SO HE SHOULD CHEER UP!

5) 2nd Son of the Emperor - King Carlos III of Spain is currently trying to help his dear old Dad drag Austria or to be more exact Hungary into the C18 but is basically a man with a ticking clock and a polished rapier.

- The question is can anyone or anything distract him? Some think he can be distracted by a Heron Feather Phobia or even Venetophobia.

6) Charles of Sweden - dislikes the Treaty of Warsaw, not sure if he can trust the Russians. Would quite like to be a Protestant Hero.

7) Czar Peter of Russia - dislikes the Treaty of Warsaw, not sure if he trusts the Swedes. Would quite like a Summer Palace on the Black Sea and to be a Orthodox Hero.

The Grand Vizier - Enjoys winding up Carlos III of Spain, not sure how far he can go & how far he can trust Russains & Persians. Would quite like to reclaim Oran for the Empire......not sure why he thinks this but may be something to do with English Gold (which started life as either Russian or French Gold).

Game 7 sounds like the ideal game to parachute three new players in, give them Chinese/South Asian positions and offer something totally different into the mix. Or, allow the new players to ignore the Europeans and play LGDR in Asia in blessed isolation (ooh, that's twice I've used the smiley devil emoticon today)

Rozwi_Game10 wrote:Game 7 sounds like the ideal game to parachute three new players in, give them Chinese/South Asian positions and offer something totally different into the mix. Or, allow the new players to ignore the Europeans and play LGDR in Asia in blessed isolation (ooh, that's twice I've used the smiley devil emoticon today)

A cunning plan! If you ignore the Dutch, Spanish & Russians in the far East & English, French, Dutch, Danes, Persians etc etc in India.

Though it has to be said that even with the best efforts of the Russian diplomatic service non of these powers have picked a fight with the locals yet. Probably because they are too busy fighting each other.

Currently the main conflict in South Asia in G7 is France V Persia. 17 French Prizes taken at sea & Persian battle fleets sailing off the coasts of India numbering hundreds of Warships tend to rather spoil the peace, tranquility and blessed isolation.

Probably should have added the Shah of Persia to the list of people who's character best explains N7:

Shah Soltan Hussain of Persia - Man of Science & a Pious follower of the Shia form of Islam "On a mission from God?". Can get upset if people (like the French) call him a Turk or say he should do what his boss the Sultan says. Clearly not a believer in isolation since he has long enjoyed fruitful relationships with the Hapsburg's, Dutch, Moldavians and anyone willing to trade and share technical developments with Persia.

Persians are in many ways the top Economic & Military power in Asia but do seem to be having a few problems with the French Fortress of Pondicherry and its very determined Governor and French Garrison. But oddly the French seem more interested in saving Jacobites than saving their own men from the Shah.

Maybe an in-game, world-wide sudden outbreak of bubonic plague would settle matters. Give peace a chance. And tidy up a few loose ends. Just blame it on Cardinal Portocarrero (from game 10) as he seems to get the blame for everything else these days. The poor chap.

i'm starting to think the only way to have peace in G7 is for one side to completely and utterly wipe the other out, down to the last cat.