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

Jason wrote:That's interesting Stuart, from the news report I took it to mean the army was supposed to be landed in England, not Sweden or Scotland.  The problem with that of course is it doesn't explain why the Admiral ordered the General to take Stirling then...and if the army was supposed to be taken to England-why?  

To invade someone else...or does King James plan to use 'orrible furreigners to repress free-born Englishmen?

The impression I get is that King James has swapped the British American Colonies for Russian Gold & Troops and as a first objective for the hired help he wants them to take the throne of Scotland from King William.

Since King William has the support of the Kirk and the Scot's Parliament I think the plan is to use 'orrible furreigners to repress free-born Scots..................the plan to use them against free born Englishmen probably comes later.

Its a jolly good plan and the main Williamite backers - Anthonie Heinsius the Junior, Roger Martel etc are no doubt very rattled by the Czar sudden intervention.

It was lucky for them that in a no doubt Vodka induced haze the Czar did not bother to brief his lads about what they are doing and Russian Generals seem to be happy to ignore orders from English Admirals. Also to add a small added complication the Jacobite envoy calls Charles von Hapsburg a "BILLIARD CHEAT".

Why is it suddenly the fashion to insult Spanish Hapsburg's? In G9 the Queen Dowager gets called a Whore etc and all hell almost breaks out and now in G7 (on a lot less evidence) the King gets charged with shaveing his billiard balls.......the mark of a true cad.

Will the Primate of Iberia, the Queen & the Pope who tend to be the Spanish Peace Party and saved Portugal play the same role and calm down the outraged Hapsburg? Will he like the Queen Dowager accept a apology? Or will the Russians now have to face Spanish Troops as well as Dutch & Scots?

Oh well being the lackey of a French lackey probably makes a nice change from fighting Swedes. Broadens their military experience and is good for them:D


F

Hmmm, Russians fighting Spaniards in the Highlands! Might as well throw in Bavarians and Austrians.

March 1709 Gloire du Roi has shown up and its "Grim up North"........If you are a follower of William of Orange:

1) Clan MacDonald in the Western Isles have declared for the Stuarts.

2) A English fleet has blockaded the port of Leith.

3) Another English fleet has captured the city of Glasgow.

4) Russian troops working for the Jacobite cause have captured Stirling Castle.

5) And to gap it all King James of England has landed in the Gordon City of Aberdeen. Accompanied by someone who he seems to have made his Duke of Argyll.......something which must have really upset Clan Campbell (Protestants and mortal foe of Clan MacDonald and Jacobites) who believe their chief is the true Duke of Argyll.

The Question now is does King William and the Scots Govt accept offers of help from the Dutch & the Hapsburgs inc an offer of £200,000 from the envoy of Charles Hapsburg for a cannonade mission and fight or does King William run away to Holland and the Scots government accept Stuart Absolutism?

Oddly the Russians are claiming that the half Italian Frenchman James Stuart is actually a Scot.

Other things which seem to be happening are:

- Admiral Durrant and 25 English ships being handed over to the Russians, meanwhile the Swedes also seem to he in the ship hire market. Suspect that the Czar needs people who actually know which rope to pull while the Swedes need some extra numbers. Is the great Northern War now going to get more Naval?

- In between trying to buy cannonades from the Scots King Charles of Spain got really upset at being called a billiard cheat and sent Sir Robert Harley back to London. The belief is that Sir Robert wanted back to London and the insult was given with this objective in mind. He is probably lucky that Charles did not turn all "Ottoman" on him and send Sir Robert back to London with a billiard table nailed to his head and/or branded with a "S" for slander.

- Charles is probably in a good mood as his sister the Electoress of Bavaria is now with child. This will be the HRE sixth Grand Child.

- Back in the London to which Sir Robert is heading (minus a billiard table nailed to his head) the natives are upset about the Stuarts financial policy/fraud by its Irish leaders/Murder of the ex head of the now abolished Bank of England. But the HWIC does seem to be trying to get back into government good books and get the ban on its trade removed by offering details of its rather complex corporate structure. The HWIC it seems is English, but its HQ is on a French Colony and many of its leading directors inc Roger Martel AKA Rodrigo Martello are also involved with companies registered in Spain.

- The Jacobites "anti usury" policy has however won them the support of the Society of Jesus if not the city of London. But if you have the support of the Czar who needs the City? Parliament? etc.........one wonders if this is the reason Sir Robert Harley was in such a rush to get back to London that he risked throwing dire insults at a Hapsburg.

- Finally in the West Indies like a Omen of Doom.........Blackbeard and his Ship the Revenge is back

April 1709 Gloire du Roi has shown up and for non players in G7 here are the highlights:

- The Great Northern War seems to have slowed down on land but at Sea the letters of Marque are now flying around from Sweden & Russia and its getting down right unhealthy for Merchants in the Baltic. Oddly the Czar seems to have lost faith in his very new, large and expensive fleet and after buying a English Fleet is now in the market for a Danish one.

- Chancellor Noblovsky of Poland seems to concerned by the effects of the GNW on Polish Economic Heath and has offered to host a peace conference in Warsaw.

- However while its a happy time for Privateers in the Baltic the Brotherhood seem to be having a quite time elsewhere. With only one English Trader (English English? Or HWIC English?) reported missing in the West Indies. Which could be the Dutch or it could be Blackbeard and his ship the Revenge. The return of Blackbeard has resulted in yet more mud slinging with King James demanding to know why Spanish Ships are not doing anything about the infamous English Pirate.

- King James campaign in Scotland seems to be going fairly well with Leith & Dundee taken by the English. The not such good news is that a Austrian Army has arrived in Rotterdam to support the old Hapsburg ally the King-Stadtholder William of Orange. Also the Scots have retaken Glasgow with the Jacobite Lord of the Isles and the Earl of Mar captured and the survivors of the English Marines driven back into the sea.

- Finally King Williams Lord Protector of the Americas seems to be offering a local truce to the Russians in the America's but its not very clear.

Gentlemen ,

I would ask you to put your best writting trousers on. I hope that I can soon be a part of G7. If all goes according to plan I should be able to take on the Russian position that has recently been vacated. I hope that you are prepared to give me a bit of slack to find my feet. I am looking foward to a new challenging position, among you.

Wishing you all a happy & prosperous new Year.

Jason. F

J Flower wrote:Gentlemen ,

I would ask you to put your best writting trousers on. I hope that I can soon be a part of G7. If all goes according to plan I should be able to take on the Russian position that has recently been vacated. I hope that you are prepared to give me a bit of slack to find my feet. I am looking foward to a new challenging position, among you.

Wishing you all a happy & prosperous new Year.

Jason. F

And in what way will Jason's Baltic Yacht Squadron (Russian model) differ from the Prussian Yacht Squadron?

What are the odds on:

a) It getting out of Port?
b) It getting out of the Baltic?

If I was running the Swedish Army I would be worried about this news, Swedish Foreign Office.....very, very worried, Swedish Navy

Stuart fear not, I have a cunning plan with regards to the Russian Boating Club, I have learnt a few lessons after the success of the Prussian yachting club, the orders to paint "L " & "R" on the oars was a great benefit.

Plus I have decided that one of the first research breakthroughs should be "Sails" I'm fairly confident that once said sails are fitted to the rowing boats then leaving port & finding the Balitc( Has it been discovered in G7) will only take a few months

J Flower wrote:Stuart fear not, I have a cunning plan with regards to the Russian Boating Club, I have learnt a few lessons after the success of the Prussian yachting club, the orders to paint "L " & "R" on the oars was a great benefit.

Plus I have decided that one of the first research breakthroughs should be "Sails" I'm fairly confident that once said sails are fitted to the rowing boats then leaving port & finding the Balitc( Has it been discovered in G7) will only take a few months

I have good news

In G7 the Russians have found the Baltic and after paying the Danes lots of money they have big boats with sails

The problem after that was finding crews who a) know which rope to pull to get the ship out of port and b) do not get sea sick when trying to fight blond Swedish Vikings in a slight swell.

The solution adopted by the Russian Navy Minister was to hire a bunch of foreign sailors. But how many ex(?) Pirates are now drinking the Czars Rum?

May 1709 Gloire du Roi issue has shown up.........and this seasons must visit destination is SCOTLAND !!! included in the visitors/would be visitors are:

1) King James of England who liked the place so much that he has got a turncoat Campbell and a bunch of minor Highland cattle thiefs to crown him King of Scotland in Scone.

2) King James first action was to declare the Kirk abolished and the restoration of Bishops as a half way point on returning Scotland to full communion with Rome.

3) Turning up to Protest about 1/2 above......or perhaps for a spot of fishing........a Dutch Army in Dunbar.

4) Disgraced French General Marquis de Pardaillan de Gondrin showed up on a busmans holiday to take over the Jacobite Siege of Edinburgh but got captured before he could do anything. Siege was also hampered by a lack of siege guns.

5) Jacobites seem to want the Russians to stop laying around on the beach at Stirling and do something (such as storm Glasgow, provide the missing artillery, etc?)...........General Elizarov said he was willing to leave his very nice bar when his lunch order & orders from Moscow arrived.

Note orders from Moscow may have been delayed by a) Lack of wind in Baltic b) The Czars vodka hangover or c) The Czar getting over hangover and trying to work out why he needs a 2nd war when he has a perfectly good one in the Baltic.

6) Sadly delayed from joining in the fun in Scotland........William of Orange Austrian Allies.......80 English Warships on the Mass River is playing hell with getting a ferry to the Highland Games!

7) Other visitors to Scotland are "Spanish Dominicans" some of whom who got hung for the murder of a Austrian Diplomat. Since members of Spanish Clerical Orders do not normally go around murdering Hapsburg Diplomats the general view is that they probably were not who they claimed to be and its a Jacobite Plot to annoy the hell out of Charles Von Hapsburg King of Spain etc.

In the not such popular 1709 destination - The Baltic

The Jacobite loving Danish Minister Count Leuenbach was also doing his best to annoy Charles Hapsburg and the Danish Navy is now protecting Russian Shipping from the Spanish. Since its Swedish Flagged Ships doing the damage the cry of "Fat lot of use that is" has gone up. But bets are being taken on when the nice friendly second son of the Holy Roman Emperor finally cracks and ruins his attempt to be as honourable and nice as the Hopsdar of Moldavia by some act of extreme violence such as hanging Leuenbach from the burning ramparts of Copenhagen.

9) The Swedes have agreed to the Poles offer to host peace talks in Warsaw to bring the long running GNW to an end.

Apart from events in Scotland & the Baltic not a lot else happening:

10) France & Spain doing things with Trade Missions, Hunting Pirates and other "internal" & "colonial" stuff. Price on the infamous English Pirate Blackbeard now up to £60,000.

11) In the America's people having rows in the Street ref Russian Orthodoxy and "benefits" of Russian rule.

12) Oddly no one has made case for major benefit of Russian rule - ie its not rule by James Stuart - back in England James is argueing with his Parliament again in fact he has abolished large chunks of it (seats with less than 50 votors).....without compensation!!!! And is threatening to do away with any MP who does not vote him tax's to fight the Dutch, Scots, Hapsburgs etc, etc, etc. While getting his tame Archbishop to preach at Whig MP's and their votors.

A new Election has been called only a few months after last one and it will be interesting to see if the votors back the Jacobite loyalist "Kings Friends" or the opposition Tories & Whig's in the Commons.

1

Game 7 seems to be heating up again for another full blown conflict but this time in Scotland. All it needs now is for the Moldavians to turn up again to go on the pillage. Unfortunately the French are bared by treaty obligations from turning up.

First turn has tipped up, Initial thoughts are, - "Oh Bugger"

Seems I need to initially create a diplomatic corps.

Seems the Czar was so interested in Drinking Vodka that he forgot to put it into circulation as a trade good, Stuart you lied about the Russian rowing club, Firstly they need to find a tree to make a boat, then see if they can find the Baltic.

Will the whiskey supply in Scotland last, or will the extra distilling lead to a grain shortage & famine, maybe we can all agree to go to Ireland next year to take samples there.

J Flower wrote:First turn has tipped up, Initial thoughts are, - "Oh Bugger"

Seems I need to initially create a diplomatic corps.

Seems the Czar was so interested in Drinking Vodka that he forgot to put it into circulation as a trade good, Stuart you lied about the Russian rowing club, Firstly they need to find a tree to make a boat, then see if they can find the Baltic.

Will the whiskey supply in Scotland last, or will the extra distilling lead to a grain shortage & famine, maybe we can all agree to go to Ireland next year to take samples there.

Since the English & Austrians drink beer, the Spanish drink wine and the Dutch drink gin looks like its a bring your own party in Scotland

The Swedes sunk about a third of the Russian rowing club and the Czar was making up for the loss by recruiting English & Pirates (or English Pirates according to some)...............so whats happened to the Russian Rowing Club?

Oh No.............Blackbeard has pinched it

Put it this way the Russian rowing club is in such a good state that it had to turn to that famously reknowned Naval nation "Prussia" to build it's Royal yacht, maybe with retro engineering they can discover the secret & build their own, the only problem is that it will destroy the yacht & it is the only ship with sails that they have.

Maybe a fleet of Gunboats is the answer for the Imperial Navy.

Am also looking into the feasability of building a pipeline to Scotland to pump Vodka direct to the troops, I couldn't find any references in the rule books has anyone else tried this in other games, please let me know if it worked!

I read in the Glori du Roi that the Swedes had sunk 25 Russian Line Ships but the Czar used to have lots more than 25 ships with sails.....so what have you done with the rest? Broken them up for Vodka Barrels?

I would however point out that Vodka & Sailing/Water spots do not mix. When the Czar attempted to combine them he almost drowned!

Ok, so I need a deep sea diving mission to review the Russian Navy.

The Czar made the mistake of trying to dilute his vodka with water, if he had taken it pure & not contaminated it then he would have been alright.

There is no truth in the rumour that the Russian army is attempting to buy up all the Kilts from the LIDIL chain of Supermarkets.

However the Russian Navy is looking to buy a large number of little yellow rubber ducks, soley for training purposes.

It may well be that the before mentioned piratal crews that had joined Russian service have now returned to hunting down Spanish treasure Galleons, no doubt the sunnier climes appealled to them.

The declaration of free trade in the America's has finished the era of Spanish Treasure Galleon's.

The Silver is now spread across payments to hundred's of different merchants.......some of whom are probably close business partners of ex Russian Captains.

My guess it that the missing crews/ships have either gone back to playing "Politics" in the British Isles/America's or have accepted the Swedish Letters of Marque.

Working for someone who knows how to sail no doubt appeals.

For non players in G7 here are the highlights from the June 1709 Gloire du Roi.

As per usual events are dominated by the attempts of the English Jacobite King James to do a Edward I and conquer Scotland which is still loyal to King William even though King William was deposed by the English Parliamentary Leaders (under pressure from a French Army eating out Englands green & pleasant land).

The good news for the Jacobites:

1) The English have taken Glasgow after heavy street fighting and freed the Jacobite Donald MacDonald and the Earl of Mar plus 25 "Spanish Dominican Priests" (The Spanish Envoy has disowned them and said they are nothing to do with Spain).

2) They also launched a successful night attack with ladders to knock out some of the Scots fortress cannon defending Edinburgh.

3) King James has arrived in Perth were he has delared Religious toleration in Scotland.............since King William has also done the same some time back it seems the Religion in now a non issue. Probably because most of King James English Troops & Navy are Protestant while the House of Orange has had Catholic Allies for the last 30 plus years in their wars against the the French & the Jacobites.

4) King James has also pardoned the infamous bandit's of Clan MacGregor and knighted that infamous French Pirate & Son of Liberty Jean Henri (now known as Sir John Henry)...............probably aiming to upset the Campbells & the Spanish.

The not such good news for the Jacobites:

5) The White Division of the English Fleet arrived at Dunbar to contest the landing of troops from the Dutch Fleet..........too late.........the Dutch Army now seems to be safe on shore and the Dutch Fleet has gone.

6) Probably going back to the UDP to pick up some of King William's Austrian Allies who have now arrived in Rotterdam & Amsterdam.

7) Either because he is annoyed by the pardon for Rob Roy MacGregor or because he head of a clan famous for ending up on the winning side the Duke of Argyle "John of the Battles" Chief of Clan Campbell has deserted King James & gone over to the Williamites.

The Duke of Norfolk seems to be having a few problems explaining to the House of Lords why he wrote and signed a treaty with Spain which forbids action against home countries and colonies and on the high sea's but allows both the English & Spanish to honour treaty obligations and send help to allies and fight against each other in Scotland, UDP, France, Austria etc without the treaty being broken.

This no doubts annoys English Military Planners who want the Royal Navy to stop any reinforcements to the Scots at sea rather than fighting them in Scotland.

In a desperate clutching at straws approach the Duke of Norfolk has now declared that England now extends 50 miles out to Sea and any Spanish Ships in this zone will be attacked. This would seem to imply that Spanish ships could be attacked while trading in French Ports or sat in their own Flanders Ports will be attacked. How this would not break the treaty is not explained.

In other news:

9) The Russians have declared that they will be sending a delegation to Warsaw to attend peace talks with the Swedes.

10) The Jesuits have been buying up sickly slaves in Accra.

11) Sir John Henry (or Jean Henri) who now seems to be the Czars Viceroy in the ex English (now Russian) America's is offering no tax's, street lights & sewers if the colonials will only stop following Williams Man in New York (Sir Richard Coote) and say nice things about the Czar and stop using Tar & Feathers on him.

12) A all out Propaganda attack has been launched in King Carlos of Spain via posters and pamphlets in Ireland, France, Portugal, Austria, Milan & the Papal States which suggests he will burn in hell for being allied to a heretic and is not really trying to catch Blackbeard. The posters from the "Catholics of Scotland" ( so no violation of the Anglo-Spanish treaty honest Gov ?????????) demand that the Pope Clement place Spain & Austria under Interdict.

Since King James is allied to Heretic Russians, King Louis of France was allied to Heretic Prussians and Saxons one wonders if the Pope will have anyone left not under Interdict if he follows this logic.

13) No reaction from Spain..........everyone too busy stuffing their faces at banquets???............but the wise money is on King Carlos being very upset by such slander and getting inventive with Toledo Steel.

The crazy that is game 7 makes me wonder how the world economy has developed. England is normally so important and I should imagine they're just a mess still, and france probably is too.

I think every game needs it's public enemy Number 1, usually it is a role fulfilled by France in G7 the new treaty rules have tied the hands of the main protagonists, Usually the Bourbons & Hapsburgs would be continually at war.

As luck would have it in G7 the Jacobites turned up in London, giving the Hapsburgs a new Enemy.

It could well be that as most of us are good old C.o.E Englismen we cannot abide the thought of Merry England becoming a Stalwart of the Catholic Faith.

I imagine the Jacobite position is one of the hardest to play in game, simply because it alienates many of the other players simply by it's very exsistence, it is an anomaly in history that simply didn't happen. We all know everyone fought the French so it happens in Game, we all know Silesia gets taken by Prussia historically so every Ausrtrian player is wary of it happening in game, we know the Catholics didn't get to rule in England so we don't condone it.

We all know the Russian navy should invest in life jackets & swimming rings so we do it.

Yes, I think the Jacobites is an almost untenable position unless you have gotten support from one of the big three catholics spain/france/austria.  You have a bit of money and literally nothing else. So you can riddle england with agents, stir up trouble in ireland, but that really isn't enough without somebody lending you an army and a navy...

I do like that in Game 8 the northwest passage seems to sort of exist, because I think one of the downsides of the game which you allude to is that everybody thinks they know what's what. As a consequence, we can get trapped by our own view of history. Our rulers in period didn't, so injecting a bit of doubt into the game improves it I think.

Deacon wrote:Yes, I think the Jacobites is an almost untenable position unless you have gotten support from one of the big three catholics spain/france/austria.  You have a bit of money and literally nothing else. So you can riddle england with agents, stir up trouble in ireland, but that really isn't enough without somebody lending you an army and a navy...

I do like that in Game 8 the northwest passage seems to sort of exist, because I think one of the downsides of the game which you allude to is that everybody thinks they know what's what. As a consequence, we can get trapped by our own view of history. Our rulers in period didn't, so injecting a bit of doubt into the game improves it I think.

Oddly in G7 the Jacobite Restoration in England was arranged by the then English govt player (Ok as part of a deal to get a pro Jacobite French Army out of England) while the actual "Jacobite" player was still in exile.

But considering the ability of England to full out with the French or the Spanish (esp if Spain is run by the Bourbons) I think its perfectly possible for a well played Jacobite to obtain support from elsewhere. I understand that historically Charles Vasa and the Czar also toyed with the concept of support for Jacobites.

So the Russians are doing the right thing to support the Jacobite cause? Thank you Stuart. It seems that I am doing the right thing afterall. Maybe I get to Burn Rome in this game afterall.

J Flower wrote:So the Russians are doing the right thing to support the Jacobite cause? Thank you Stuart. It seems that I am doing the right thing afterall. Maybe I get to Burn Rome in this game afterall.

Flipping heck.............Russian invaders in the Swedish Empire, Russian invaders in the American colonies, Russian invaders in Scotland, and now the Czar wants to invade Italy, burn Rome and convert everyone to Orthodoxy!

Darn, my cunning plan out in the open so soon in the Game.

Although I didn't invade the American colonies more of a smash & Grab sort of affair.

Scotland is not an invasion, the Russians are there merley because of the Salmon fishing & to look for Nessie, which they probably more likley to find than sorting out the war of the English Succession.

Still at least the Goat hasn't been mentioned at all yet.....I'm saving that for a certain special occasion.

I have also heard that the beaches in Spain are also a major holiday destination for many Russian tourists, Maybe the Kremlin Package tours company can get some special offer sorted out.

J Flower wrote:Darn, my cunning plan out in the open so soon in the Game.

Although I didn't invade the American colonies more of a smash & Grab sort of affair.

Scotland is not an invasion, the Russians are there merley because of the Salmon fishing & to look for Nessie, which they probably more likley to find than sorting out the war of the English Succession.

Still at least the Goat hasn't been mentioned at all yet.....I'm  saving that for a certain special occasion.

I have also heard that the beaches in Spain are also a major holiday destination for many Russian tourists, Maybe the Kremlin Package tours company can get some special offer sorted out.

Spanish holiday packages already sold to the Germans. Have Kremlin Tours ever considered Greece or the Black Sea Coast.

I am told the Taverna there do some nice goat dishes.