G7....War declared

May 1716 turn has arrived, but has yet to provide the clarity hoped for.

1. As is traditional in G7 writeups, there are no Russian shipping losses reported this turn.  The Tsar’s Our Ships Sank trophy was once again won by Spain by a large margin with over 70 ships lost.  There were various naval engagements worldwide reported.  In the Mediterranean a French fleet appeared off Ceuta which prevented the Spanish fleet at Gibraltar from leaving the area.  We are not told of the state of the Spanish ships, although clearly some are very badly damaged since one which was being repaired in Gibraltar caught fire.  This could have been a missed opportunity by France to finish off the Spanish, but strategically they have continued to deny Spain control of the Straits rendering last month’s action against Red Division strategically ineffective.  Ceuta remains in English hands.  England’s 5th Light Cruiser Squadron was busy sinking Spanish transports, but having run out of powder/shot found itself at a disadvantage when Spanish cruisers intervened.  They put up a good fight, shooting the Spanish Commander dead, but regrettably lost 2 liners to the Spanish.  In the West Indies French cruisers also engaged the Spanish although this time their lighter corvettes failed to make much impact on Spanish frigates.  This is not through any fault of the French who appear to have used the appropriate tactics.

2. Following her pre-emptive strikes against the Royal Navy last month, Spain now appears to be launching scouting raids inside France with light cavalry being noted on the French side of the Pyrenees and the Flanders border.  Will this provoke a response next month or are French defences against incursion not as robust as Spain’s standing orders when French forces crossed Flanders a few years ago?  Not to be outdone, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Whitaker’s English fleet has appeared off Buenos Aires and noted new defences under construction.

3. In the Hague, the Swedish-Kalmar envoy met 2 Dutch clergy and tried to launch into an anti-Catholic rant.  I did find this rather amusing, particularly since they did so in Latin.  There is not really any dispute that (as one of the contributors claimed) “make the heart good, and good will issue forth”, but they were unable to explain (or rather accept) that the good that issues forth is a deed (or work), which far from contradicting the Catholic position, confirms it.

4. Prussia has launched an attack on Poland (or as King Frederick of Prussia describes it, a purely technical exercise in “the redrawing of territorial boundaries of Eastern Europe”), which he claims is with the consent of Emperor Joseph.   His attempt to explain his action to the Trade Commissioners in London was met with a somewhat frosty reception, especially given England’s trade with Poland.  It is clear that the Prussian ambassador was not very comfortable with this discussion, but he did his duty and credit to him for at least having the guts to explain what he is doing and attempting to mend diplomatic fences.  A similar attempt in France met with failure.   In Riga, a Kalmar fleet has landed a significant force “to support Russian and Prussian allies” presumably against Poland.  There is more to this story in point 5, below.

5. After a brief, and perhaps rather pointless, meeting with Prince Max of Bavaria, Emperor Joseph and his party went to Rome where he was publicly confirmed as Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope.  It should be noted that Emperor Joseph was obliged to confess his sins before this occurred, no doubt there was plenty for him to confess following his appalling treatment of the English countesses who have met with King Louis to describe their ordeal.  The rest of his visit did not go quite as expected either, for the Flag Bearer of the HRE, Sergio Lucca and other Papal officials, were horrified at the prospects of Austria attacking Poland.  This may be one of the few times in recent memory when the Papacy agrees with King James.  Clearly Rome does not believe the reports of Polish attacks on religious minorities (denied by a statement from Warsaw), and can see this whole expedition for what it is: a simple land grab to chip bits off Poland and give Polish lands to protestant Prussia, orthodox Russia, and buy off Austria with lands in southern Poland.   Worse, Emperor Joseph announced that he wished to replace the current King of Poland with the former one, Augustus of Saxony, whose religious status is somewhat fluid.  From the outside it would appear as though Poland will be broken up and good Catholics who only a few years ago saved Vienna from the Ottomans, will be placed under protestant rule.  Quite how Joseph can justify breaking his coronation oath the same month he was crowned is a mystery to me.  No wonder the Pope isn’t very pleased.  To further irritate the Holy Sea he also asked for the Pope to condemn France for her seizure of Genoa, despite the fact that the Papacy had previously agreed to leave this matter to the Papal auditor (who I last understood was waiting for a Spanish ship to take him to wherever Spain wants him to start auditing - it was Spain who agreed to this and since Spain can guide the auditor and only show him what he wants him to see, it is rather odd that Spain has not used this mechanism to 'prove' her innocence? Unless, of course, Spain is finally realising that Martel has been behind more than he thought and the auditor might actually find evidence of Spain's guilt?)  Finally, Spain tried to present for Papal approval a copy of an outdated treaty with England which had previously been rejected several times on the grounds that it would break existing English commitments – that propaganda attempt also fell flat on its face since the replacement English ambassador to Rome seems to have disappeared down the same rabbit warren as the Papal auditor.  

6. A second really useful map of winds in the Eastern Hemisphere has appeared.  Along with last month’s map, these are a most welcome addition to the Agema maps and will certainly help plan trade journeys and expeditions.

So it looks like G7 will have 2 or 3 major wars going on simultaneously: Spain’s war against England, Spain’s war against France, Austria/KalmarUnion/Prussia/Russia against Poland.  It will soon be easier to describe who is at peace.  Whether any of these conflicts run the distance or the parties can be persuaded to settle may ultimately depend on what the Pope decides.  Will he excommunicate Austria, Spain, France and/or England?  Or just refuse to back any of them until all the wars fail and they come begging to him to sort peace out.   Who knows, but G7 looks as though it is going to get very complicated very quickly.

Ref Papa Clement summary of the May 1716 Gloiri du Roi can I just clarify:-

1) The Russian Judges have been looking into seperate awards for the Czars Ships sunk prize - after complaints that ships taken as prizes are not really sunk. Looking at possible seperate awards 1) Spain won award for most ships lost - mostly merchant ships taken as prizes 2) Spain also won the Russian Gold Standard Award for ships actually sunk - 3 of its Navy liners sunk by English naval gunfire off Sicily 3) In terms of actual warships lost the winner was the French who lost 9 corvettes to the Persian 7th fleet along with two Spanish prizes the French had taken earlier.

2) Ref the waters off the south of Spain. Spanish Naval high command have been looking for months and months at two sometimes three English Naval Division acting in a very annoying (from a Spanish point of view) fashion outside some of their main Naval bases......in fact all the way through winter and the English attack on Ceuta. While Spanish Naval command thinks BAIT to lure them out into a French or Anglo-French TRAP. But after months and months of scouting they were unable to locate the TRAP and finally ventued out too exchange a few broadsides in April.

Oddly still no sign of the the TRAP so this month the Spanish left their badly damaged ships with repair yards (one almost got blown up probably by a English Agent) and went for a 2nd pass with their battle worthy ships. I had the four Santa Sofia Class 120 gunners go from SL #0 to SL #6 in one month do people not care about how much gold leaf Spanish repair yards are billing the Treasury for!!

And oh boy did the trap come down.......199 French Warships!!! And missed when the Spanish first fleet retired behind its defences. It is not known what the Jolly Jack Tars of the Royal Navy think about spending all winter being used as bait for a French trap and then finally when the French show up they are late and miss the target. Veteran captains who were probably cedets in the 1680's are probably thinking its Sole Bay all over again.

3) French troops have not crossed the Spanish frontier and nither have Spanish troops crossed the French frontier. Scouting formations on either side seem to be keeping a very close watch in case clashes at sea actually cause a proper war. But its not started yet

4) Ref the anti-Catholic rant in the Hague and Military moves in the Baltic........I am very vague on this but basically ever since England turned Jacobite and nailed its colours to the French mast. The UDP, Prussia and the Kulmar Union of Sweden-Denmark seem to be having a contest over who is the leading Protestant Power now England is not really one thing or the other.

England being a Protestant majority country outside of the Roman Communion, but with a King/Head of English Church who hates the doctrine of Calvin does not bother to replace Protestant Bishops so he can pocket their revenue and who is moving the Church of England into line with Catholic forms of worship and dogmana. Sort of Catholic but with the Pope replaced by the King of England, a position just about everyone dislikes with exception of the French who seem to just view it as a very extreme Gallacian Church position.

Currently the Prussians seem to be making a bid for leadership of the Protestant world by trying to grab control of the Protestant bits of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. While the Swedes also seem to be joining in to keep in with the Czar and probably make sure their Protestant allies?/rivals? do not gain a march on them.

The fact that the Kulmar Union is host to Princess Anna Stuart of England and Scotland who is married to George of Denmark and who is Queen of England in Protestant eyes may be another reason for pro-Protestant anti Catholic rants and well as being a motive to break up the multi-faith Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

5) The Holy Roman Emperor and his ally and relation the Elector of Bavaria have agreed to link the Rhine and Danube rivers and want the Papacy to apply diplomatic pressure to France to withdraw from Genoa and free the Doge of Genoa. But sadly the Papacy along with the Emperor himself seem somewhat distracted by the Problems of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

It would seem that most Catholic's do not believe that the current King of Poland has turned into Louis XIV, torn up the religious toleration part of the Polish Constitution and started to oppress the Polish Orthodox and Protestants. Mostly because 200+ Squadrons of Othodox Polish Cossacks and the Scots-German Danzig would have made a lot more fuss. But it would seem that the Emperor is now thinking that just to be on the safe side he should look to restore Augustus the Strong his Elector of Saxony to the Polish throne.

No doubt the Emperor and the Pope rather wish they could call in support from the two most powerfull Catholic Kings in Europe in this situation. But Louis XIV and Charles III of Spain are otherwise occupied. For which James Stuart and his blasted Parrot get most of the blame.

6) Perhaps under a bit of pressure from Rome to do his best for the Catholic Cause in the British Isles and elsewhere...........King Charles of Spain agreed to all of the terms demanded by England including banning the HWIC, Ceuta as a English Naval base, £50m to fund the recovery of the English American Colonies and Catholic Schools etc, etc. But it seems the Jacobite Government in England has stayed loyal to their Bourbon Master and have thrown their own Treaty back into Charles face with death threats against the whole Hapsburg Family and every Spanish Noble who stays loyal to their annointed King. They are also looking to find traitors willing to revolt against his most Catholic Majesty and seem to want a Republic ??

It is not known what the Irish and other Catholics in the British Isles think about their missing schools or merchants about the non recovery of the American colonies. But it does seem that James now wants them to spend their blood and lives to make France and Louis XIV the greatest power in Europe.

I agree with Papa Clement that it looks like G7 is about to get very bloody. But surely the Emperor should be more inclinded to support his own family against the French than get fully involved in a War in Poland? And why should the Pope excommunicate the King of France, King of Spain or the Emperor? None of them have done anything to harm the Church and he can hardly excommunicate the King of England who is not even in the Roman Catholic Communion but is head of his own Church.

People I am feeling really sorry for are the Poles who just seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Anyone fancy leading the Winged Hussars on what is probably going to be their last charge?

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref Papa Clement summary of the May 1716 Gloiri du Roi can I just clarify:-

1) The Russian Judges have been looking into seperate awards for the Czars Ships sunk prize - after complaints that ships taken as prizes are not really sunk.  Looking at possible seperate awards 1) Spain won award for most ships lost - mostly merchant ships taken as prizes 2) Spain also won the Russian Gold Standard Award for ships actually sunk - 3 of its Navy liners sunk by English naval gunfire off Sicily 3) In terms of actual warships lost the winner was the French who lost 9 corvettes to the Persian 7th fleet along with two Spanish prizes the French had taken earlier.

I am sure if the Tsar wishes to split the prize he will do so.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
2) Ref the waters off the south of Spain.  Spanish Naval high command have been looking for months and months at two sometimes three English Naval Division acting in a very annoying (from a Spanish point of view) fashion outside some of their main Naval bases......in fact all the way through winter and the English attack on Ceuta.  While Spanish Naval command thinks BAIT to lure them out into a French or Anglo-French TRAP.  But after months and months of scouting they were unable to locate the TRAP and finally ventued out too exchange a few broadsides in April.

Oddly still no sign of the the TRAP so this month the Spanish left their badly damaged ships with repair yards (one almost got blown up probably by a English Agent) and went for a 2nd pass with their battle worthy ships.  I had the four Santa Sofia Class 120 gunners go from SL #0 to SL #6 in one month do people not care about how much gold leaf Spanish repair yards are billing the Treasury for!!

And oh boy did the trap come down.......199 French Warships!!! And missed when the Spanish first fleet retired behind its defences.  It is not known what the Jolly Jack Tars of the Royal Navy think about spending all winter being used as bait for a French trap and then finally when the French show up they are late and miss the target.  Veteran captains who were probably cedets in the 1680's are probably thinking its Sole Bay all over again.

3) French troops have not crossed the Spanish frontier and nither have Spanish troops crossed the French frontier.  Scouting formations on either side seem to be keeping a very close watch in case clashes at sea actually cause a proper war.  But its not started yet

A masterpiece of propaganda from Stuart which completely fails to fit the narrative in the newspaper.  If Spanish ships thought they were sailing into a trap then why venture out of port at all?  I can think of only 3 reasons in descending order of probability:

1. To attempt to hit a weakened Red Division off Ceuta again and repeat what they failed to do last month.
2. To move their fleet to a larger port (Cadiz?) where repairs could be carried out more quickly.
3. To continue the policy stated last month of preventing either reinforcements or supplies reaching Ceuta.

The first of these would have undoubtedly met tough resistance since the civilians would not have been in the way and the FC would be waiting for such an attack.  The second would make more sense depending on the state of Spanish ships - Gibraltar is a poor harbour being long and thin which makes the chain boom weak, and the town (according to the gazetteer) has a much smaller population than Cadiz.  Cadiz, it will be acknowledged, is a very tough target with a large natural harbour no doubt extensively fortified by Stuart.  If Stuart was really worried about a trap then he would surely not have risked any of these but stayed safely in Gibraltar.  In the end the appearance of a French fleet ensured none of these objectives could have been met.  I don't think Admiral Benbow is that disappointed that the Spanish were kept away from his ships by the French.

As for the incursions into French territory, the newspaper section is headed "French Frontiers" and I read it as though Spanish forces did make incursions into French territory in the south, but the presence of a French patrol in the north ensured a Moldavian/Spanish formation did not challenge the French directly.  If Spain uses the standard 10 squadrons per Dragoon Regiment, then it would appear that 30D/SC is a rather large force to be simply sent 'observing' the French near Courtrai.  No doubt France will respond next month.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
4) Ref the anti-Catholic rant in the Hague and Military moves in the Baltic........I am very vague on this but basically ever since England turned Jacobite and nailed its colours to the French mast.  The UDP, Prussia and the Kulmar Union of Sweden-Denmark seem to be having a contest over who is the leading Protestant Power now England is not really one thing or the other.  

England being a Protestant majority country outside of the Roman Communion, but with a King/Head of English Church who hates the doctrine of Calvin does not bother to replace Protestant Bishops so he can pocket their revenue and who is moving the Church of England into line with Catholic forms of worship and dogmana.  Sort of Catholic but with the Pope replaced by the King of England, a position just about everyone dislikes with exception of the French who seem to just view it as a very extreme Gallacian Church position.

Currently the Prussians seem to be making a bid for leadership of the Protestant world by trying to grab control of the Protestant bits of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  While the Swedes also seem to be joining in to keep in with the Czar and probably make sure their Protestant allies?/rivals? do not gain a march on them.

The fact that the Kulmar Union is host to Princess Anna Stuart of England and Scotland who is married to George of Denmark and who is Queen of England in Protestant eyes may be another reason for pro-Protestant anti Catholic rants and well as being a motive to break up the multi-faith Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  

I'm fairly sure that in the game Prince George of Denmark died some time ago.  It would be somewhat pointless to try to make her queen since she is 51 and unlikely to provide an heir.  If the Kalmar Union is adopting a more aggressive stance against England preparatory to an invasion then that would explain her involvement in any war against Poland and the lack of any correspondence for some time.  However, it is more likely that this is more Spanish wishful thinking, attempting to sow discord.  Any resulting war between England and the Kalmar Union would be a somewhat one-sided affair - the Swedish army may be very tough, but the Kalmar Union's battlefleet of 21SoL would be sunk long before any kind of invasion force reached England, and such losses (recruits) would be hard for them to replace.  It would also probably mean an end to the Kalmar Union with England looking to annex Denmark to gain control of the Baltic.  The geography would very much favour England with the result that Russia could not deploy her vast military to protect them.  I think we can safely say that the players have far more common sense than to try.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
5) The Holy Roman Emperor and his ally and relation the Elector of Bavaria have agreed to link the Rhine and Danube rivers and want the Papacy to apply diplomatic pressure to France to withdraw from Genoa and free the Doge of Genoa.  But sadly the Papacy along with the Emperor himself seem somewhat distracted by the Problems of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

It would seem that most Catholic's do not believe that the current King of Poland has turned into Louis XIV, torn up the religious toleration part of the Polish Constitution and started to oppress the Polish Orthodox and Protestants.  Mostly because 200+ Squadrons of Othodox Polish Cossacks and the Scots-German Danzig would have made a lot more fuss.  But it would seem that the Emperor is now thinking that just to be on the safe side he should look to restore Augustus the Strong his Elector of Saxony to the Polish throne.

No doubt the Emperor and the Pope rather wish they could call in support from the two most powerfull Catholic Kings in Europe in this situation.  But Louis XIV and Charles III of Spain are otherwise occupied.  For which James Stuart and his blasted Parrot get most of the blame.

Let us be quite clear, the parrot (Esmerelda) is owned by Lord Drummond, newly appointed ambassador to Versailles.  Any phrases Esmerelda may pick up could well represent the opinion of courtiers in France, but not necessarily the view of King James.  Esmerelda has a mind of her own and in the past has proved to be a much more accurate critic of Spanish actions than many players.

Stuart Bailey wrote:
6) Perhaps under a bit of pressure from Rome to do his best for the Catholic Cause in the British Isles and elsewhere...........King Charles of Spain agreed to all of the terms demanded by England including banning the HWIC, Ceuta as a English Naval base, £50m to fund the recovery of the English American Colonies and Catholic Schools etc, etc.  But it seems the Jacobite Government in England has stayed loyal to their Bourbon Master and have thrown their own Treaty back into Charles face with death threats against the whole Hapsburg Family and every Spanish Noble who stays loyal to their annointed King.   They are also looking to find traitors willing to revolt against his most Catholic Majesty and seem to want a Republic ??

It is not known what the Irish and other Catholics in the British Isles think about their missing schools or merchants about the non recovery of the American colonies.  But it does seem that James now wants them to spend their blood and lives to make France and Louis XIV the greatest power in Europe.

I agree with Papa Clement that it looks like G7 is about to get very bloody.  But surely the Emperor should be more inclinded to support his own family against the French than get fully involved in a War in Poland?  And why should the Pope excommunicate the King of France, King of Spain or the Emperor?  None of them have done anything to harm the Church and he can hardly excommunicate the King of England who is not even in the Roman Catholic Communion but is head of his own Church.

People I am feeling really sorry for are the Poles who just seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Anyone fancy leading the Winged Hussars on what is probably going to be their last charge?

To present, with great fanfare, a treaty which had previously been rejected at a location where he knew there was no resident English ambassador was not a serious proposition and Spain knows that.  If I wished, I am sure that I could publish a new treaty in the newspaper, signed by me, in which Spain ceases to exist and Galicia & Catalonia became independent republics, the Viceroyalties of Spanish America became independent, there would be a new King of an independent Naples, a republic in Flanders, etc, and that this was the result of 'negotiations' with Spain!  But it doesn't make it any more than a propaganda exercise, nor I am sure, would such a treaty be acceptable to Spain.  For this to happen the month after his pre-emptive strikes against the Royal Navy proves that Spain is not acting in good faith, as per my statement in the newspaper, and confirmed in game letters to Spain.  Last month Spain crossed a line and blew his credibility in (as previously discussed) stupid attacks at a time when England and most neutral observers were looking forward to peace.  Stuart must now decide whether there is anything he can do to recover from this or now England's defensive treaties have been triggered, he prefers to fight it out and watch the Hapsburgs be eliminated.  Will Austria call off the campaign against Poland to come to Spain's aid when the cause of the current conflict has been Spain's adoption of the pirate, Martel, and over 15 years of misrule in the parts of Spain he was given to govern.  If I was Austria (or Prussia, or Sweden or Russia) I would be rather annoyed with Spain for her unnecessary and spiteful attacks on the Royal Navy last month and putting herself in the firing line.  I suspect the Poland campaign took much organising and at least 4 players have spent a lot of time and real world money preparing themselves.  Anyone who thinks the Poland campaign will be short is likely deluding themselves.  Would I call it off or say to Spain "you brought this on yourself"?  Well that is their choice, but I doubt they will be very happy about Spain trying to bounce them into a war with England and her allies.  It is a bit like King Charles sailing his Spanish yacht into a rock, then when it sinks, asking his uncle Joseph and his chums to save him from drowning.  I think at the last count the Austrian navy comprises 1Frg and a few galleys.     Not really going worry Admiral Benbow too much.

Wondering if Jason Flower or anyone else can confirm if it is possible to catch that dread condition known as "Russian Naval Dice" even if not playing as Russia. Only:-

1) I was convinced to go down into deepest darkest Somerset (Flower country) for a Naval Wargames event. At said event my Athenean Galleys were ramned and sunk. Then my Paraguayan Iron Clad was ramned and sunk as against all the odds everything bounced off the Brazilians........later turned out they had picked up a very dodgy "Russian Dice" indeed with additional six etc.

2) In Scabble by ships have run aground and had their guns jam, nothing yet in Rome is Burning but that might be due to them not actually having left port yet.

3) Next in G7 I spend months looking for the back up force to Admiral Benbows 66 ships of which only 31 were line ships and most of the rest transports stationed on a lee shore and unable to enter harbour due too wrecks. I finally decide that it is isolated enough for a quick and heavy strike and following fireship attacks which damaged some of this ships, storms, periods be-calmed and general sea-time it was not really in a condition to avoid action and lead me me onto its support.

Intent was to send one line of 41 Lineships down Benbows port side and another 41 down his starboard as close as possible and then when parellel run alongside and try and board from both sides (report in Paper indicated that Marines had been landed). And while Benbows lineships were fully engaged on both sides my 9 Frigates were to get into the Transports. What could go wrong? What went wrong was that pesky "Russian Dice" indicated that an early shot took of by Admirals leg resulting in no order to board and both Spanish lines going down Benbows port side and his uncovered starboard guns shot my Frigates too bits!

Working on basis that if at first you do not get it exactly right. Spanish High Command decided Benbows 31 had sunk 9 Frigates and effectively put 8 Spanish Lineships out of action for months but had suffered from shooting of 82 Lineships at point blank range he was probably in a much worse state than our 73 lineships and 3 Frigates still in good condition. Plus as wind normally from the West we had the weather guage and forces further too the west could fight a dalaying action against any reinforcements from west.

So what type of sodding "Russian dice" decide that before my force with the weather guage crosses a small distance across the straits to hit again 199 French Warships from god knows where have beaten against the wind to save Admiral Benbow? What happened? Did we have a North East wind blowing a gale behind the French? Sounds very Russian too me.

4) And final proof that I seem to have caught something Russian.......The Spanish foreign office seems to be suddenly acting like that famous body who gave away St Petersburg to the Swedes and left a Swedes in control of route to their new Port on the Baltic. Resulting in Czar almost having to fight a 2nd war to correct errors.

In a couple of turns the Spanish foreign office gave away £1m but forgot to sign the blasted treaty. And then after handing over a treaty to the Pope and the English Embassy in Rome which included all of King James comments and concerns and saying this to both King James and in public what do they put in the Paper? Only the very original draft wording but with some additional clarifications added. Which quite frankly makes as much sence as the Russian Treaty with Sweden and the one with England which resulted in a Army intended for North America dumped in Scotland. Buggers also said Spain was going to get invaded by a French Army this month as well.

Oh Hum if my Navy and diplomatic service are turning all Czarist on me, hope this means I can trust the artillery and cavalry and the Tercio foot are about to get really bloody minded when the French finally cross the frontier.

Stuart Bailey wrote:In G7 I spend months looking for the back up force to Admiral Benbows 66 ships of which only 31 were line ships and most of the rest transports stationed on a lee shore and unable to enter harbour due too wrecks.  I finally decide that it is isolated enough for a quick and heavy strike and following fireship attacks which damaged some of this ships, storms, periods be-calmed and general sea-time it was not really in a condition to avoid action and lead me me onto its support.

Intent was to send one line of 41 Lineships down Benbows port side and another 41 down his starboard as close as possible and then when parellel run alongside and try and board from both sides (report in Paper indicated that Marines had been landed).  And while Benbows lineships were fully engaged on both sides my 9 Frigates were to get into the Transports.  What could go wrong?  What went wrong was that pesky "Russian Dice" indicated that an early shot took of by Admirals leg resulting in no order to board and both Spanish lines going down Benbows port side and his uncovered starboard guns shot my Frigates too bits!

Working on basis that if at first you do not get it exactly right.  Spanish High Command decided Benbows 31 had sunk 9 Frigates and effectively put 8 Spanish Lineships out of action for months but had suffered from shooting of 82 Lineships at point blank range he was probably in a much worse state than our 73 lineships and 3 Frigates still in good condition.  Plus as wind normally from the West we had the weather gauge and forces further too the west could fight a delaying action against any reinforcements from west.

So what type of sodding "Russian dice" decide that before my force with the weather guage crosses a small distance across the straits to hit again 199 French Warships from god knows where have beaten against the wind to save Admiral Benbow?  What happened?  Did we have a North East wind blowing a gale behind the French?  Sounds very Russian too me.

This engagement was discussed quite extensively last month.  I can see the logic, but ships are not like armies.  The plan could have destroyed the Spanish fleet very easily if:

1. Torrington's fleet which was delivering PoW back to Spain at Gibraltar, had joined the action.  Spain's 82SoL would than have been trapped between 2 English fleets like a sandwich and either blown closer to Benbow or each line getting mangled with the other while Torrington pushed them together.

2. If Benbow had not been operating at relatively reduced strength given the evacuation of Spanish civilians from Ceuta, which resulted in the FC remaining silent, despite being there to provide cover for Benbow.

The first Spanish line would therefore have been hit by FC/Benbow and badly damaged (as Stuart admits 8 Spanish Lineships were) so would have tried to regroup.  Would the second Spanish line have been able to engage at all?  Not once they'd seen Torrington so would have tried to put on sail to escape.  Net result would have probably been the loss of those 8 Spanish lineships, but the frigate attack on the transports may not have taken place either so I would not have sunk those cruisers.

Instead of thinking of Benbow's fleet as a moving target, it is perhaps more useful to think of them as an extension of the fortifications of Ceuta, so Stuart's plan was akin to assaulting a very heavily defended fortress from the sea.  Spain was always going to take heavy losses because whichever angle of approach was used she was going to be outgunned.

The idea of attacking both ends of the line might look fine on paper, but given the distances involved the best that could have happened was the ships on the end of the line would have been sunk.  The light cruisers were there specifically to protect the liners so should have been awake and been able to drive the Spanish frigates off without difficulty.

Stuart Bailey wrote:After handing over a treaty to the Pope and the English Embassy in Rome which included all of King James comments and concerns and saying this to both King James and in public what do they put in the Paper?  Only the very original draft wording but with some additional clarifications added.  Which quite frankly makes as much sence as the Russian Treaty with Sweden and the one with England which resulted in a Army intended for North America dumped in Scotland. Buggers also said Spain was going to get invaded by a French Army this month as well.

I must admit that this whole section of the newspaper made very little sense to me.  Why should Spain amend clause 8 to pay for the evacuation of the civilians from Ceuta if she retained control of the town in the peace (according to the published treaty).  There were only 2 conclusions - either Spain was dissembling again and the whole entry was a propaganda exercise in Rome (the view I was obliged to accept in my original writeup), or an old (and previously rejected) treaty had been published in error.  It now appears that it was published in error and I will have to wait until next month when presumably the correct version is sent in writing.  Do we have the 'war of the typing error' or is this G7's version of the Cuban Missile Crisis? One thing you can say about G7 is that it is never dull!

The newspaper for June 1716 has arrived, and for the benefit of non-players, here are the highlights:

1. As is customary in G7 writeups, there have been no Russian merchant shipping losses this month.  There have, however, been 55 Spanish and 21 French, although the comment attaching to 8 of these French losses is rather strange: “8 French, South China Sea, patrolling Chinese cruisers under Admiral Tang Guai report they saw these being taken by French-flagged cruisers”.  Is the Spanish navy resorting to using false French flags?  Pirates would not be going after French ships, but Spanish or Russian since Spain and Russia have by far the largest presence in Far East trade.  Persia would attack French ships openly, so it cannot be them.  English ships would not be attacking French allies.  There is no evidence against any Chinese province, and in any case China could simply close its ports to French trade rather than attack her ships.   So the finger is now pointing to Spain.

2. After testing the defences of Buenos Aires and disrupting Spanish trade, Admiral Whitaker was unimpressed by the Spanish response so decided the town was probably not worth attacking and sailed off.  Or has he?

3. Prussian dragoons attempted to take the Polish town of Danzig in a surprise raid only to find the defenders wouldn’t oblige.  This did inconvenience England’s new ambassador to Poland who has now found himself unable to leave for Warsaw.

4. In Rome, the Pope expressed his opposition to the Austrian wish to replace the King of Poland with a non-Catholic, suggesting Prince Max of Bavaria as an alternative.  Clearly Austria’s unwise moves against Poland have upset the church, for 10 priests delivered a cake in the shape of a goat for Emperor Joseph (nice touch that, crowning the king of goats, the creature of evil).  Regrettably Emperor Joseph had left Rome so his greedy ambassador Sinzendorf (who is distinguished by his diplomatic campaign to block English trade across the Holy Roman Empire) decided he would eat the cake himself.  In a curious twist the cake exploded, killing Sinzendorf and demolishing the Austrian embassy.  Jacobite Naval Intelligence is not quite sure what to make of this development.  Some believe King James would be quite pleased that an enemy of England has ceased to exist in such an imaginative way; others that he will be irritated for if Emperor Joseph was the real target then King James would have been denied the pleasure of dealing with him personally.  On more practical grounds, Jacobite Naval Intelligence is keen to find out who was responsible and offer them a job.  Despite their successes, Jacobite Naval Intelligence can clearly learn a lot from whoever was behind this.  It does seem a bit more Scabble than LGDR.  Will we see nuns flying over Vienna in balloons to drop grenades on the Hoffburg?  Or since it was announced that Emperor Joseph had left Rome last month, is this merely an expression of opposition to Austria’s Polish adventure, and not actually designed to kill anyone?  We may never know.  We can at least absolve Lord Torrington of involvement, since he died of a heart attack on board his flagship; and Blackbeard who was encountered in the Caribbean.  Normally Jacobite Naval Intelligence would consider Martel to be the obvious suspect, but this has far too much imagination for him.

5. King James spent the month at Warwick discussing the latest Spanish proposals with Parliament.  The general opinion of the Whigs and bishops was that Spain needs to clarify what they have agreed to.  The general opinion of the Tories was that England should fight on and thrash the Spaniards.  Support for peace with Spain seems almost non-existent which is not necessarily what King James expected.  Clearly the people of England are convinced of Martel’s guilt and that Spain should pay in blood for all her sneaky deeds.  We will have to wait until next turn to find out if Parliament gets the war it wants or King James signs the peace.  At least Sir Cedric Hardwyke supports King James – this former staunch Williamite and HWIC sympathiser who tried to stir up a puritan rebellion in their name, lost his estates and very nearly his head.  After repenting of his errors, he was re-employed and promised a bonus should he breed an improved sheep, which he now has.  

6. Spain, Prussia and Russia Department East have enjoyed good harvests, while France has a poor one.

7. King Charles of the Kalmar Union has announced that his army is now ‘on campaign’, presumably joining in the war against Poland.  There does seem to be a pattern emerging here: Lutheran Prussia and Lutheran Sweden allying to put Lutheran Frederick Augustus of Saxony on the throne of Poland? Russia’s statement is well written, but does not convince given that from a religious viewpoint the beneficiary is Lutheran not Orthodox.  Lutheran violence against Catholics was the inevitable result of the Reformation which Polish catholics will be determined to keep from their lands.  Unsurprisingly the Pope has sent an ambassador to Poland to organise Catholic resistance.  Combined with the cake incident, Jacobite Naval Intelligence is beginning to wonder if this ill-advised Polish expedition could spiral out of control very quickly. Until the English ambassador arrives, King James remains largely in ignorance of what the view from Poland is.  Will the Pope call a crusade in defence of Poland, in which case will Spain be obliged to declare war on Austria?  Will Austria abandon Prussia or risk excommunication?  England has long held that this could only end badly, but just how badly?

8. King John of Portugal, who historically was one of the most able rulers of the period, is keen to find a catholic bride, as is his Chancellor.

9. With the Spanish fleet still trapped in Gibraltar, there was nothing to stop an English convoy delivering reinforcements to Ceuta.  King James has officially recognised the contribution of Thomas Forster MP by giving him a knighthood.  Like Sir Cedric Hardwyke, Lord Peterborough also seems to be now strongly backing King James.  Once a staunch Williamite, he was thrown in the Tower of London by William in 1697; a veteran of the Tangier campaigns he turned down various offers of command from King James, but was the ideal choice for the Ceuta assault and has now been rewarded for his efforts by promotion to Lieutenant-General.

10. In another surprise Russian move, some Texas Dragoons are exploring St.Vincent.  There have been various troop movements from Russia Department West.

11. Some Persian missionaries in Kikuyu tribal lands were speared to death.  At least those who landed on the island of Merina were able to convince the local chieftains to help them look for some missing Frenchmen, for a price!

12. There is an updated map of the Caucasus States showing which provinces are vassals of Persia or the Ottomans, and which are independent.


This turn, therefore, could well be the quiet before the storm, but already there are some strange happenings.  After nearly 15 years of almost continual war, could we finally see peace between Spain and England?  Could they even become allies if the Pope calls a crusade to defend Poland?  Will Austria stand by her Swedish/Prussian/Russian allies given religious opposition and the risk of excommunication?  If so, will the invasion of Poland cause a Hapsburg civil war?  Few players, myself included, could have imagined we would be in this position 6 months ago, which just goes to prove that G7 continues to surprise.

Can I just say that Spain will sadly be unable to take part in any crusades while Louis XIV has:

a) A very large Army in Genoa pointed at Milan

b) A 199 warships off the south coast of Spain

c) Another large army pointed at Flanders

d) x2 large armies pointed at Spain.

While his English auxillaries threaten South America and colonies in Africa.

The line against Bourbon absolutism is still being held but I am starting to feel lonely with everyone elso focussed on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Anyone know anything about the War of the Polish Succession?

Campaigned their in past and its cold, its wet, the plunder is crap and the locals are down right anti-social. Still think sending 12 Dragoon Squadrons to do a job which foiled Gustavus Adolphus and a whole Army was ambitious but just think of the fun, games and screams if the Prussians had used a sabre on the English Minister for Propaganda.

I should really get round to changing Harley's job title!  During the 1706-13 war it was necessary to have a Minister for Propaganda to counter all the spin coming out of various Spanish-backed factions.  However, it looks like only part of the order to stand down the Propaganda department was carried out when he was sent to Sweden to be my ambassador to help them recover from their war with Russia. It is rather irritating that Sweden has forgotten this and at various times has sought to exclude England from the Baltic and is now joining in against Poland.  Does this make him a poor ambassador?  Possibly, but perhaps he will have greater success in Poland if he can escape the Prussians. Of course it is always possible that he ends up cut to pieces by Prussian sabres, but the Prussian ambassador was asking England to remain neutral only the month before - chopping up an ambassador would be a strange definition of neutrality!

In respect of Spanish paranoia, at the moment I have no more idea than anyone what is going on in France.  However if France has a number of armies within her own borders guarding against possible Spanish attacks, then that seems a sensible precaution to me.  As for the warships off the south coast of Spain, this also seems to be defensive given the Spanish attack on Red Division a few months ago. Of course it is relatively simple for a defensive force to go on the offensive, but given France has just suffered a harvest failure perhaps the odds of that have receded? So Stuart may need some different excuses to avoid helping Poland if the Pope calls for a crusade to save this Catholic outpost.

There does seem to have been a few Wars of the Polish Succession over the centuries and I'm not familiar with any of them ... yet!  But who knows, after over a decade of Anglo-Spanish conflict I'm sure other players will enjoy the diversion of something a bit different?

I know a little bit about the Polish War of Succession of the 1730s though most probably not much more than you'd find in a wiki article

Its got some interesting quirks in it. The Brits and Dutch keep out, despite the Austrians best efforts to get them involved...though Hanover honoured its imperial obligations to Austria when required. France tried to get Sweden and the Ottoman Empire involved but both declined...the French also tried not to annoy the Dutch and Brits so they wouldn't join in. Prussia supported the same Polish claimant as Austria but Austria didn't trust Prussia so half-expected them to change sides. At least by the Dutch and Brits keeping out meant it didn't turn into a colonial war as Spain backed the same side as France. Fighting takes place in Germany and Italy though. It's a bit of an East v West war, with Spain, France and Piedmont backing one claimant and Austria, Russia, Prussia, etc backing the other.

My own personal view is the main winners of the war were, well, not the Poles-ok their argument over who was their king got solved...but Austria lost Naples (but gained Parma...and maybe Tuscany?), the defeated Polish claimant got Lorraine as a consolation prize (and France got it when he died). Must admit can't remember what Spain got out of the war. I think you can argue it weakened Poland enough that the various partitions of the rest of the 18th C became possible so for Russia and Prussia, while there weren't any real immediate benefits, the war paid off in the long term.
Must admit the situation in G7 feels more like a partition rather than a succession war.

A fun fact when the First Partition of Poland occurred and the Poles asked for aid from the Western Powers, all basically went "who this?". One of the very few people in Western Europe who openly objected to the Partition was Edmund Burke (who didn't say that when good men do nothing quote, I prefer his "real" version). If the western powers do intervene to assist the Poles in G7, it will be good to think in one alternative reality Burke will be happy.

Very interesting, Jason2.  I deliberately haven't read up about Polish Succession since I was waiting for my ambassador to arrive and then give me a few names/opinions of what is happening from the Polish viewpoint.  Been caught out a few times substituting real history for game history so thought it might be best to get the game version first and then see where that leads me.  It may be that the Lutheran alliance have good in game reasons for their war; I don't know and am keeping an open mind.  But what I do find odd is that they are claiming religious justification for attacking.  Seems to me that they just looked at Polish lands on a map and decided they wanted to help themselves to various bits; then planned the military side, but forgot about religion.  Then, just to surprise everyone, the Pope stands up for Poland and all of a sudden they have potentially a major headache.  I agree that based on what we know so far it does seem more like a partition war than a succession war, but in that case why even advance the idea that they should change the King of Poland?  It is always a problem with coalitions that different partners want different things and have their own ideas of how best to achieve them; in this instance it seems to have led to a certain amount of confusion over why the war is being fought.  The more reasons you have, the more complicated it gets and ultimately the more you are likely to upset people who you would not normally think would be involved.

I am intrigued how this one will play out.  The Pope's involvement will certainly bring a headache for all Catholic nations.  If the Pope tells Austria to stop, will Prussia/Sweden then obey the Imperial instruction to leave Poland alone, or press ahead?  Will we see Spain and Austria on opposite sides as in real history?  And if Spain (and France/England) get involved, will it spread to the colonies?  There are so many permutations at this point it is difficult to see how it could develop, but I am reluctant to underestimate the Poles.  How many countries have been invaded/partitioned as often as they have and are still independent countries today?  Not very many.  So there is clearly something about the Polish national consciousness which should not be underestimated.

I've never much used history in the games...unless its to show me not what to do I grew up in a place where there was a large Polish community in the 80s, Free Poles who settled in the area where they had been based in WW2 and their kids and grand-kids, so picking up on Polish history was natural. as a result also have a lot of time for, and understanding of the strength of. the Polish identity (along with an appreciation of how many in Poland in times of difficulty, esp among the nobles. were happy to put personal benefit before the nation).

Will be interesting to see what happens next in G7...being part of Team Russia I of course have a certain view on what will happen. Keep wondering about the Ottomans, think they are active (based on the newspaper), will they take advantage of things in Poland?

Of course knowing how Glory games go, esp G7, I wouldn't put it pass Agema to throw a left ball in the works next turn.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Can I just say that Spain will sadly be unable to take part in any crusades while Louis XIV has:

a) A very large Army in Genoa pointed at Milan

b) A 199 warships off the south coast of Spain

c) Another large army pointed at Flanders

d) x2 large armies pointed at Spain.

While his English auxillaries threaten South America and colonies in Africa.  

The line against Bourbon absolutism is still being held but I am starting to feel lonely with everyone elso focussed on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  Anyone know anything about the War of the Polish Succession?

With some many French wanting to be close to you, how can you feel lonely? I mean, if anything you should be saying don't stand/sail so close to me

Jason2 wrote:I've never much used history in the games...unless its to show me not what to do  I grew up in a place where there was a large Polish community in the 80s, Free Poles who settled in the area where they had been based in WW2 and their kids and grand-kids, so picking up on Polish history was natural.  as a result also have a lot of time for, and understanding of the strength of. the Polish identity (along with an appreciation of how many in Poland in times of difficulty, esp among the nobles. were happy to put personal benefit before the nation).

I doubt nobles putting "personal benefit before the nation" is a particularly Polish characteristic.  

It is difficult to judge how the historic Poles would react compared to those I have known in my lifetime who tended to be ultra-Catholic and very pro-Papal.  This may have been because Pope St.John Paul 2 was Polish, so we have a couple of generations now whose faith was strengthened and whose identity is more Catholic than many other nations.  In the last century Polish Catholicism remained strong and we have the example of St.Maximilian Kolbe and others who were determined to keep Poland Catholic.  In the 1700s, I really don't know, but Poland has always seen itself as being a frontier province of the faith, determined to preserve its identity and maintain unity with Rome.  I would be very surprised if this tenacity was not reflected in the game.

Jason2 wrote:Will be interesting to see what happens next in G7...being part of Team Russia I of course have a certain view on what will happen.  Keep wondering about the Ottomans, think they are active (based on the newspaper), will they take advantage of things in Poland?  

The Ottomans are another wildcard - are they more likely to attack Russian territory or Austrian?  My guess is that they would push into Hungary rather than the Crimea, which would therefore make it a major problem for Austria.  I did warn things could get very messy very quickly ... if Austria stands by the Lutheran alliance and gets excommunicated, she could well face an Ottoman invasion and this time Poland would not be coming to save her.  Would Spain then stand by or try to hold off the Ottomans?  Who knows?  But with both Austria and Spain involved in a war with the Ottomans, that would seem to give France multiple targets to aim at.  Even Spain can't be everywhere at once, so would she pull troops from Spain or Italy to defend Hungary?  Unintended consequences of an ill-thought-out campaign?

At the moment I am viewing the Russian involvement as slightly different to the Lutheran alliance, probably because at least the Tsar has the courtesy to write to me in game, so I have some idea of  what he is trying to do.  The Lutheran alliance is just a wall of silence (or if you add in Austria, outright hostility), so it is the old problem that if you neglect diplomacy, players will form their own judgement from the newspaper and act to protect their interests, whether that is in line with what the Lutheran alliance's objectives and motivation may be or not.  The only solution is for them to engage with others.  Of course Austria starts at a serious disadvantage with England given their determination to be hostile towards England.  Prussia and Sweden still have some credibility, but they too have damaged their reputation by their actions and lack of correspondence.  It isn't rocket science, just common sense.

Jason2 wrote:Of course knowing how Glory games go, esp G7, I wouldn't put it pass Agema to throw a left ball in the works next turn.

I think Agema is already throwing plenty of confusion into the mix, which after all helps make a good game.  There is something on my lists this turn which I did not mention in my writeup and I still have to work out how to deal with  - not quite what I was expecting, but I think I've found a way to deal with it.

Jason2 wrote:

Stuart Bailey wrote:Can I just say that Spain will sadly be unable to take part in any crusades while Louis XIV has:

a) A very large Army in Genoa pointed at Milan

b) A 199 warships off the south coast of Spain

c) Another large army pointed at Flanders

d) x2 large armies pointed at Spain.

While his English auxillaries threaten South America and colonies in Africa.  

The line against Bourbon absolutism is still being held but I am starting to feel lonely with everyone elso focussed on the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  Anyone know anything about the War of the Polish Succession?

With some many French wanting to be close to you, how can you feel lonely?   I mean, if anything you should be saying don't stand/sail so close to me

Spain started G7 with its War of the League of Augsburg allies broadly intact apart from Sweden diverted by the Russians and Prussia which was trying to do deals with the French to take itself and most of the north German protestant areas out of the Holy Roman Empire and put them under control of Berlin.  

However, since start of G7 this mighty alliance to block French aggression has declined even further.  Spain has been abandoned by England/Scotland which have gone all Jacobite and pro-French.  The UDP & Genoa have been crushed by the French Army with Genoa under occupation and UDP pretty much out of action.

Which leaves Spain abandoned by all of its League of Augsburg allies apart from Austria (now ruled by the King of Spain older brother) and Bavaria (Queen of Spain sister is married to the Elector who used to be married to the King of Spain & the Emperor's sister before her sad death in child birth).
And now both of these last two allies are being diverted by events in the East and may be taking their eye off the dire threat of France.

Call me paranoid if you wish..........but you can be paranoid and right !!  As for theory that the French threat is in some way less due to a poor harvest.  Spain can have a poor harvest and early in game this was a disaster, these days it just puts a small dent in the stores.  Same will almost certainly apply to France.  Thus while others go swanning off after the bright lights of Warsaw the brave Tercio's remain lonely and abandoned but loyally keeping watch on the Rhine, Po, head waters of the Danube etc.  Sometimes the Spanish propaganda department is just over come by the nobility of it all.

Ref the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth it starts G7 in 1700 as one of the few multi-faith states in Europe with religious toleration built into its constitution.  Not convinced that this has changed in any way but I suspect if the Russians look hard enough they can probably find a member of the Othodox Church who is feeling "oppressed" by his Catholic Landlord or the Landlords Jewish land agents.

Added to the religious mix are Muslims which give the Sultan and the Khan of the Golden horde motive to join in.  Unitarians who follow the Orthodox rite but accept the religious authority of the Pope rather than Patriarchs of Constantinople or Moscow.  And a lot of Protestants mostly in Courland and in the North such as Danzig which is mostly a German city with a lot of Scots.

The Commowealth historic allies were France, Saxony and Austria and its historic foes and rivals were Russia, Sweden and the Ottomans but in 1700 at very start of G7 the talk was of a alliance with Russia v Sweden agreed by the Czar and Augustus the Strong Elector of Saxony and King of Poland in a huge drinking contest.  Augustus never actually gave the Czar any support in his long war with Sweden for which he may still hold a grudge.  And at some stage early in G7 he stops being King of Poland and gets replaced by a local Polish King.

Perhaps if Sir Robert Harley ever gets out of Danzig without being sabred by Prussian Cavalry he can find out exactly what happened?  Did the Poles get rid of Augustus due to his dodgy drinking partners in some illegal manner (as the Emperor seems to think) or did he just resign the somewhat hollow crown on finding out was a nightmare job being the King of Poland is in later versions of Glori (compared to say G1, G2 etc).

Guess if the Poles want to make a dent in their self imposed diplomatic isolation they could do worse than have the current local resign and elect that  Papal favourite the Elector of Bavaria instead (just because his brother is a Cardinal-Bishop).  But it would probably cause some terrible rows in the Reichstag between Bavarians and Prussians.

On subject of the King in Prussia..........does his sister and nephew still rule the Courland part of the Commonwealth?  So is he now attacking fellow Protestants or seeking to save them from "oppression"?  But "oppression" by who?  Swedish Army in Riga would seem to be posed to attack the lands of the King in Prussia sister and nephew or are they just helping to save fellow Protestants?  Its all very baffling.  Life is so much easier in the west were you have the noble and heroic forces of Spain the heirs of the Cid, Parma, Spinola etc holding the line against the evil of Louis XIV.

Do not see it as much of an issue in G7 but historially the Maritime powers of France, England and the UDP imported a lot of Naval stores like tar, hemp, timber, copper etc and grain from the Baltic (France & England had other sources like North America but lot more expensive and often lower quality while the Dutch relied massively on Baltic Trade) and were very against any one power gaining a Monopoly position.  This resulted in Anglo-Dutch fleets saving Danes from being invaded by Swedes and then French, English and Dutch diplomatic support (with Naval back up) to make sure Sweden survived the Great Northern War.

Perhaps now Louis XIV is getting on a bit he may get religion and try to do things to please the Pope and French Catholic Tax payers rather than attacking harmless and Catholic Spain

I fully understand that this board is literally a sounding board for ideas and sharing perceptions of what is happening and what could happen but in the case of the Kalmar Union, to date that perception has been way off the mark ! I am glad Papa Clement has kind of recognised that his views are based on what he sees and reads (from his perspective) and may not in fact be completely accurate.

I am confident in the actions I am taking, in the sense of their justification (which to date have NOT been mentioned at all) and that my desired outcome is being currently being blown out of all proportion.

It is human nature to "fear the worst" and I get that.

I fully accept the charge of "wall of silence" when it comes to some in-game correspondence and need to address that.

count-de-monet wrote:I fully understand that this board is literally a sounding board for ideas and sharing perceptions of what is happening and what could happen but in the case of the Kalmar Union, to date that perception has been way off the mark !  I am glad Papa Clement has kind of recognised that his views are based on what he sees and reads (from his perspective) and may not in fact be completely accurate.

That is always the case with comments and observations.

count-de-monet wrote:I am confident in the actions I am taking, in the sense of their justification (which to date have NOT been mentioned at all) and that my desired outcome is being currently being blown out of all proportion.

It is human nature to "fear the worst" and I get that.

I fully accept the charge of "wall of silence" when it comes to some in-game correspondence and need to address that.

It is surprising how quickly apparently insignificant actions or omissions change the narrative.  Since I started doing regular turn writeups (from the English viewpoint) and Stuart has presented an alternative (Spanish) viewpoint, there is some balance which is refreshing and hopefully enables potential players to see the dynamics of the game.  Comments and observations are not necessarily criticisms of either individual players or their own game objectives, but symptomatic of a failure to either credibly explain their plans within the game or engage with others.  We all have our own playing styles which have different strengths and weaknesses, but if a player chooses to ignore diplomacy they will find they cause themselves far more problems than they can imagine.

I happen to think that the growth of 'team' positions has encouraged this - members of the same team may be subject to 'groupthink' and forget how their actions may be misinterpreted.  Do they nominate one spokesman and leave it to him to write to everyone (even when this may be out of date), or do they retain their independence in correspondence?   In G7 'team Russia' tends to leave everything to the Tsar which works to an extent, but has clearly fallen down now Russia is allied to the Lutheran countries.  In G10 the 'maritime powers' demonstrated much more freedom of action and could not agree how to handle the Papacy when it was played by me.  So there are different approaches being taken in different games even when the same players are involved in each team position.

As Count-de-Monet recognises - and credit to him for having the courage to do so - some players may think that long periods of 'silence' (as a deliberate policy) is a way to avoid getting involved or secret plans leaking out, but very often it leads to a reaction which could have been avoided.  To engage in 'silence' due to a personal dislike of the player concerned (or because you might not want to meet their concerns) is even more dangerous: it is a delusion - refusing to engage because you don't want to be told someone objects to what you want to do, so 'silence' becomes a way to avoid changing plans or finding an alternative way to achieve your objectives.  It is not a case of other players 'fearing the worst' so much as them protecting their own strategic interests given the lack of assurances received from other players.  This is especially the case when one or more 'allies' end up doing things which could be considered hostile.

In G7 we have 2 contrasting approaches which demonstrate this rather well:

1. England and Austria.  The innocent act of sending 2 countesses on a grand tour, calling in to paint a picture in Vienna as a present (an attempt to mend relations through the embassy given letters were ignored), was misinterpreted by Austria to be an attempt to spy on defences which could more easily be examined from a ship!  As a result, Austria totally over-reacted, arrested the countesses, found no evidence of any intelligence gathering, subjected them to humiliating treatment to distract from an Austrian spy (who was caught noting down defences in Dublin), then having realised he had made a mistake, the goat-fancying Emperor fixed a secret trial (at which the defence was unable to speak), convicted the countesses, then threw them out of Austria.  The countesses had no opportunity to engage in any spying so the only charge that could be brought was of being 'potential spies' - and that by its very nature applies to anyone; it was just pure blind prejudice against England and an insult to the English nobility. The order was given to declare war on Austria as a result, but it seems that it never reached Vienna due to action off Ceuta.  Meanwhile after 18 months of no correspondence or apology, nothing has been done to improve relations; those who have allied themselves with Austria (and remain silent) are inevitably going to suffer diplomatic penalties in their relations with England.  This is not a question of 'fearing the worst', but simply following the trend of increasing hostility from one nation to another.

2. England and Spain.  Despite being at war almost continually for a decade, both sides have continued to write regularly and where there have been misunderstandings (or errors), we have worked together to overcome them.  As a result there remains mutual respect between Stuart and I.  We were even able to detect that the wrong treaty was published in the newspaper and not over-react.  

I consider the second of these approaches to be more successful.  Clearly the problem is not with my playing style.  Perhaps the lesson is that all players should pay more attention to how they are seen by others.  If they are happy with the impression given then that is their choice; if they are not then they have the power to change it.  Either way there are consequences.  This should not be a particular surprise given it is how 'inactive' nations also respond according to the rules.  Worth thinking about.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Call me paranoid if you wish..........but you can be paranoid and right !!  

The game is full of coincidences.

Stuart Bailey wrote:As for theory that the French threat is in some way less due to a poor harvest.  Spain can have a poor harvest and early in game this was a disaster, these days it just puts a small dent in the stores.  Same will almost certainly apply to France.  Thus while others go swanning off after the bright lights of Warsaw the brave Tercio's remain lonely and abandoned but loyally keeping watch on the Rhine, Po, head waters of the Danube etc.  Sometimes the Spanish propaganda department is just over come by the nobility of it all.

Spain's grain reserves are legendary since you have done much over a long period to improve the yields in America; even if Spain had a serious famine for a decade you would still have enough to supply the world with grain and not notice.   I very much doubt France is in that position.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Ref the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth it starts G7 in 1700 as one of the few multi-faith states in Europe with religious toleration built into its constitution.  Not convinced that this has changed in any way but I suspect if the Russians look hard enough they can probably find a member of the Orthodox Church who is feeling "oppressed" by his Catholic Landlord or the Landlords Jewish land agents.

Added to the religious mix are Muslims which give the Sultan and the Khan of the Golden horde motive to join in.  Unitarians who follow the Orthodox rite but accept the religious authority of the Pope rather than Patriarchs of Constantinople or Moscow.  And a lot of Protestants mostly in Courland and in the North such as Danzig which is mostly a German city with a lot of Scots.

A very useful point ... (Catholic) Scottish minority in Danzig needing protection from rampaging Lutheran fanatics.

Stuart Bailey wrote:The Commonwealth historic allies were France, Saxony and Austria and its historic foes and rivals were Russia, Sweden and the Ottomans but in 1700 at very start of G7 the talk was of a alliance with Russia v Sweden agreed by the Czar and Augustus the Strong Elector of Saxony and King of Poland in a huge drinking contest.  Augustus never actually gave the Czar any support in his long war with Sweden for which he may still hold a grudge.  And at some stage early in G7 he stops being King of Poland and gets replaced by a local Polish King.

Perhaps if Sir Robert Harley ever gets out of Danzig without being sabred by Prussian Cavalry he can find out exactly what happened?  Did the Poles get rid of Augustus due to his dodgy drinking partners in some illegal manner (as the Emperor seems to think) or did he just resign the somewhat hollow crown on finding out was a nightmare job being the King of Poland is in later versions of Glori (compared to say G1, G2 etc).

Guess if the Poles want to make a dent in their self imposed diplomatic isolation they could do worse than have the current local resign and elect that  Papal favourite the Elector of Bavaria instead (just because his brother is a Cardinal-Bishop).  But it would probably cause some terrible rows in the Reichstag between Bavarians and Prussians.

On subject of the King in Prussia..........does his sister and nephew still rule the Courland part of the Commonwealth?  So is he now attacking fellow Protestants or seeking to save them from "oppression"?  But "oppression" by who?  Swedish Army in Riga would seem to be posed to attack the lands of the King in Prussia sister and nephew or are they just helping to save fellow Protestants?  Its all very baffling.

All good observations ... I can't begin to answer them until my ambassador is able to investigate.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Life is so much easier in the west were you have the noble and heroic forces of Spain the heirs of the Cid, Parma, Spinola etc holding the line against the evil of Louis XIV.

It is tough on all of us - for 15 years, Spain's policy was to support the Hapsburgs against the Bourbons and Stuarts, now it could be all change?  Just like the end of the cold war - things were much easier when you knew who your enemies were.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Do not see it as much of an issue in G7 but historically the Maritime powers of France, England and the UDP imported a lot of Naval stores like tar, hemp, timber, copper etc and grain from the Baltic (France & England had other sources like North America but lot more expensive and often lower quality while the Dutch relied massively on Baltic Trade) and were very against any one power gaining a Monopoly position.  This resulted in Anglo-Dutch fleets saving Danes from being invaded by Swedes and then French, English and Dutch diplomatic support (with Naval back up) to make sure Sweden survived the Great Northern War.

Baltic trade is a key concern for England, as was mentioned in May's newspaper.

Stuart Bailey wrote:Perhaps now Louis XIV is getting on a bit he may get religion and try to do things to please the Pope and French Catholic Tax payers rather than attacking harmless and Catholic Spain

Harmless Spain?  

Ref the possibility of a newly active Ottoman and how this could influence events in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  While everyone views things in their own way and their approach may differ a lot is going to depend on which of the various Ottoman positions are active.

Wearing my Rumelian Hat (white silk Turban set with gems) if Rumelia is active it tends to be concerned about Venice and the mess all these Venetian bases make of the map of Rumelia.  Followed by its frontier with Austria inc Hungary and Spain in Naples just a short hope across the Adriatic.  In G7 this problem is complicated by Spain being ruled by the younger brother of the Holy Roman Emperor and 4th in line for the Crown of Hungary.

A stab into Hungary and/or Austria is always a temptation when the Emperor is otherwise busy but in G7 it has the added problem that such an attack is going to bring a Spanish declaration of war.  As for Venice well its burnt its bridges with Madrid but seems to have ok relations with France and the Pope who may be able to twist Hapsburg arms and others to help the Doge.

If however the active Ottoman is based in Anatolia and controls the Sultan then Hungary, Venice etc are on the other side of the Balkans and you land border is with Persia and Russia.  In G7 Persia and its Shia missionary mission's spreading across Africa and Anatolia etc is a major concern.  So too is the growth of Russian power and while it may be tempting to give the Poles and Cossacks a hand to keep out of the clutches of the Czar.  Think the question here is has the Czar already grown too strong to stop and its better not too annoy him????  Rather than risk Russian beach towels and holiday homes all round the Black Sea.

Problems, Problems truely a Grand Viziers lot is not a happy one.

Thanks Stuart, found that insight into the Ottoman game view really useful. I have never played an Ottoman position (Persia is the closest I got), a regret in some ways but one that I suspect I'll have to live with

While I agree with Papa that Polish nobles putting personal interests before national ones is hardly unique to Poland, I ended up earlier in the year listening to a few podcasts on the history of the Ukraine, as well as the Commonwealth and Poland. A particularity good one was a BBC Radio 3-parter in a series called "The Invention of..." that looked at the history and development of a number of nations. What it explained was one of the strengths of the Polish Commonwealth, its democratic nature through the Sejim, crippled it as the idea that everything voted on needed unanimity became standard. Only took one Sejim member to object and even the most sensible measures failed. Prussia and Russia took advantage of this by bribing sejim members to block anything that made the Commonwealth stronger...and often succeeded. Interestingly towards the end of the Commonwealth some efforts were made to reintroduce majority voting, with some success but too little too late I guess.
Not sure how strictly this historical model works in the game. Such underhand tactics used by the historical Prussia and Russia might be something some players would try...though I should stress that Team Russia in G7 is made up of such an honourable, cuddly bunch they would never consider doing such a thing...

Talking of underhand acts...isn't blowing up an ambassador with an explosive goat an act of war (if you work out who sent the goat)?

count-de-monet wrote:I fully understand that this board is literally a sounding board for ideas and sharing perceptions of what is happening and what could happen but in the case of the Kalmar Union, to date that perception has been way off the mark !  I am glad Papa Clement has kind of recognised that his views are based on what he sees and reads (from his perspective) and may not in fact be completely accurate.

I am confident in the actions I am taking, in the sense of their justification (which to date have NOT been mentioned at all) and that my desired outcome is being currently being blown out of all proportion.

It is human nature to "fear the worst" and I get that.

I fully accept the charge of "wall of silence" when it comes to some in-game correspondence and need to address that.

Must admit would be interesting to get a Kalmar writeup on the turns sometimes, a different take on things I'm sure

I would do a Russia East one but it would be "lots of unimportant non-Russian things took place west of St Thome, but nothing worth reporting on...in the meantime, contact was made with an island with a population of 500, a trade deal has been signed"

Jason2 wrote:Must admit would be interesting to get a Kalmar writeup on the turns sometimes, a different take on things I'm sure

I agree.

It would also be nice to have an article for the newspaper so that players know who the ruler of the Kalmar Union is, what the correct form of address to the ruler of the Kalmar Union is, where its capital is (to send ambassadors), major trading centres, what currency they are using and what the exchange rate is, etc.  You know, the kind of things that most players can pick up from the newspaper or the history books, but which is not so readily available when you make a new country!  I had one ambassador in Denmark and one in Sweden - obvious duplication now the Kalmar Union is established, so as an act of goodwill I sent one to Poland.  Of course I may now have an ambassador in the wrong place, because nobody can tell me what the capital of the Kalmar Union is!

I appreciate there have been lengthy sections in the newspaper of discussions between Denmark and Sweden when the Kalmar Union was being formed, and this no doubt took up a great deal of player time, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who would appreciate a summary of what had finally been decided so that now the Kalmar Union is up and running players know how to deal with it without giving offence.  After all the confusion over king in/of/on Prussia, is there a King (or Emperor) of the Kalmar Union, or is it some kind of noble republic with a parliament holding the real power?  It is a significant achievement for the player to create the Kalmar Union and it is always good for the game when something like this happens, but what does the Kalmar Union stand for and how to engage with it?  These are questions to be clarified in game rather than on the forum.

Jason2 wrote:Thanks Stuart, found that insight into the Ottoman game view really useful.  I have never played an Ottoman position (Persia is the closest I got), a regret in some ways but one that I suspect I'll have to live with

While I agree with Papa that Polish nobles putting personal interests before national ones is hardly unique to Poland, I ended up earlier in the year listening to a few podcasts on the history of the Ukraine, as well as the Commonwealth and Poland.  A particularity good one was a BBC Radio 3-parter in a series called "The Invention of..." that looked at the history and development of a number of nations.  What it explained was one of the strengths of the Polish Commonwealth, its democratic nature through the Sejim, crippled it as the idea that everything voted on needed unanimity became standard.  Only took one Sejim member to object and even the most sensible measures failed.  Prussia and Russia took advantage of this by bribing sejim members to block anything that made the Commonwealth stronger...and often succeeded.  Interestingly towards the end of the Commonwealth some efforts were made to reintroduce majority voting, with some success but too little too late I guess.
Not sure how strictly this historical model works in the game.  Such underhand tactics used by the historical Prussia and Russia might be something some players would try...though I should stress that Team Russia in G7 is made up of such an honourable, cuddly bunch they would never consider doing such a thing...

While I wouldn't trust anything that comes from the BBC, perhaps having played Poland, Stuart can enlighten us as to the mechanics of Polish politics in game?  Centralising Poland might indeed be a natural impulse for a player and run into many problems, but a king who is committed to defending the rights of the nobles would surely go down well in Poland?

It is one of the puzzles that Poland has an elected monarchy which would, as Jason2 observes, bring the possibility that nobles could be induced to back a certain path provided they were given certain safeguards.  Unless you have the resources to fight a potentially endless war, it is worth exploring diplomatic options before fighting.  I can't comment on the extent to which this may have happened in G7 (another question my ambassador might be able to answer if he arrives).  The Tsar has used his considerable diplomatic skill to sort out some of the American nutters, so after that it should be easy to deal with Polish nobles.  Of course it may be harder for Prussia given he has already sent troops to Danzig, and probably impossible for Austria given their betrayal of those who had saved Vienna from the Ottomans.  So it may be too late for diplomacy.

Being attacked by 4 nations simultaneously may well help unify the Polish nobility and support for their King, in which case will each aggressor simply drop out and make peace with Poland if they are able to negotiate an offer, or will they keep fighting until all of them have their aims?  If I was Poland then I would divide and rule, play for time, keep the Pope on side and let him do the work of rallying Catholic allies.  This would give the Lutheran Alliance a double problem of having to satisfy both Poland and the Papacy.  It would be hard enough to deal with 1 inactive nation, let alone 2, and given the players involved seem to have little time for diplomacy, it would expose their weakest aspect rather than their strongest.  Over time more and more resources would be sucked into Poland, weakening the Lutheran Alliance and leaving them vulnerable to an attack.  At some point, possibly after reports of atrocities committed against Catholics during the war, someone will snap and ally with Poland to start knocking the aggressors out.  Poland has a limited campaigning season due to the weather; it is a larger country (on the Agema map) than modern day Germany, with a large number of towns.  If the Pope calls on them to defend the faith and not negotiate with Lutherans or Orthodox, then they will have to conquer Poland to force a settlement.  And that will take years, even for a nation as powerful as (cuddly?) Russia.

For the benefit of players who have not yet exposed themselves to the joy/ screaming frustration of playing part of the Rzeczpospolita (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) or fancy an invasion of the place. In game the Commonwealth is split into the following positions:-

1) The Polish Ukraine - used to be part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania now legally part of the Kingdom of Poland but de-facto and in game its run by the Hetmen of the Zaporozhian Cossacks who can muster at least 200 Squadrons of Light Cavalry, Infantry and some boats. Their basic job which they have not have to do much in G7 is stop Ottoman/Tartar raid's into the Commonwealth but they do have a past history of revolts and calling in the Czar or the Sultan whenever the Poles started to get a bit heavy handed (For heavy handed read try and do anything other than give gifts to the Hetman and the host).

Currently in G7 the Czar seems to be trying to buy the support or at least the neatrality of the Zaporozhians with very large sums of cash. May work, May not work as the Zaporozhians really like a weak Polish King as overlord, they might not be so keen on a very strong Czar as he may want them to actually do things in future.

Mostly Orthodox but split between Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox and even those who follow Orthodox rites but accept spiritual authority of Pope. The Zaporozhia are not exactly bothered by Religion. Agema might as well flip a coin Heads = Follow Highest bidder, tails = Freedom !!

2) The Kingdom of Poland - Army lead by a Royal Hetman and best part of it is 30 Squadrons of Winged Hussars (Elite Lancers) but some German style Infantry and Artillery plus a lot of medium and light Cavalry. At least 50-70% of field Army will be Cavalry.

- If King of Poland is a native Pole he will be a great Lord from this area (Think Polish version of Ottoman Anatolia). Iskander Kruppa in G2 used his horse archers to lure a Polish King and the Hussars into a charge and a pursuit which ended withe the Hussars on blown horses being ambushed and the Kings Head on a Rumelian War Lance. But if forces are outscouted and a Field Army/Siege Trayne type force is caught in the open or on the march with sickness levels etc you can probably kiss them good bye. I wonder if the Prussian Cavalry outside of Danzig is acting as bait?

- The Kingdom is mostly Catholic with some Jews and Protestants etc

3)- Danzig can be part of the Polish position or played as a small "City State" type position. Historically well fortified with its own garrison Army. Mostly a German Protestant city with a oddly large Population of Scots (also not Catholic). Danzig however is the great commercial port of the Kingdom of Poland and almost certainly does not want to be cut off from its economic hinterland or swap its current local government for rule by Berlin or Stockholm and has past form standing off Swedish attacks.

- With ready access to trade with advanced states like England, France and esp the UDP and north German ports forces defending Danzig not huge but well equiped. Very little Naval power as historically the relied on allies.

- Historically a threat to Danzig and the Polish Grain trade was a direct threat to starve the UDP and most likely objectors would be the Dutch Navy. In G7 feel the Anglo-Scots more likely to scream about threats to their trade and poor Scots subjects of King James trying to earn an honest crust. Spain and France also likely to moan a bit if stray artillery fire hits their trade missions and merchants. What are odds that any stray mortar bomb just happens to land on someone trade mission?

4) Polish Navy along with some German type troops in the Duchy of Courland. Enough troops to defend strongholds in sieges but not enough to face King Charles and his dreaded Swedes in the open. Naval units likely to go commerce raiding and try and keep supply lines open.

In 1700 the ruler was the Dowager Duchess of Courland acting as regent for her young son. Guess that he is now old enough to be close to his majority. Unless things have changed Dowager Duchess is the sister of the King in Prussia and the Duke is his Nephew. Courland postly protestant.

Basically its a pretty easy military campaign but Nottingham based papers are likely to really put the boot (into honour) of wicked Uncles and Swedish Viking types attacking a poor Widow and her son.

5) The Grand Duchy of Lithuania is a poorer and more backward version of the Kingdom of Poland. Nobles like the Radziwill mostly Catholic but population mostly Orthodox something the Czar is likely to play on. Less Elite Cavalry, foot and artillery but more light horse than Royal Poland including some who are Muslim.

Basically nothing wrong with the military options of the Commonwealth. Its problem is a) Getting the Diets to agree to fight and b) Getting them to agree to raise the money. Basically in game the King of Poland can raise a very large and impressive Army if he can pay for it and getting the Polish nobles to agree to pay tax is viritually impossible in normal circumstances.

It should probably be noted that the the Army lead by King Sobieski to save Vienna from the Turks was not paid for by the Polish Diets. It was partly the Kings own money but mostly paid for by Church Crusade Grants both direct from Rome but also from the Polish Church - which took a Papal Legate giving the most green or green lights to the Polish Bishops and the King having to promise that this was a one off.

Do wonder if with their beloved Commonwealth under mortal threat from outside and a Papal Legate on route if the Polish Nobles and Bishops may actually be willing to abandon some of their most cherished principals and actually pay some tax

If this is case some people are going to end up in brutal cavalry fights with some really annoyed Polish Noble cavalry......they get really mean on the subject of tax and them having to pay it.

Flipping heck offer £27m to buy back the English colonies from Russia and save all of those nice Catholic's in Maryland from Orthodoxy and another £23m to fund Catholic schools in the British Isles and the America's on a 99% certain bet that the English will never accept Spanish gold to "brain wash" their kids on the benefits of the counter reformation.  And missing out on their new schools for the joy of paying in blood and taxes to help Louis XIX and his wars of aggression would really upset the Irish, Scots Catholics etc......Owen Rowe O'Neil all set to go home with some friends, a load of top of the range Spanish muskets and several large chest's of silver.

However it seems I may have misjudged the bet slightly.  Faced with prospect of 2% tax or 20% tax for next decade to fight Spain the English parliament decided that kids being educated in a Catholic school is better than not being educated at all.  Think all the Protestant Bishops in the House of Lords are now dead, sleeping or senile.  And they agreed to take my money and terms to end various outstanding issues.

Guess the good news is that while King Charles the Good of Spain is now £50m and a fortress poorer he has gained lots of brownie points with the Catholic Church and the Pope for saving Catholic lives and funding the counter reformation and the probably very slow generational recovery of England and the America's for the true faith via kindness and education and the odd strap of a Christain Brother if the little darlings do not learn quickly enough.

Might even have gained Spain and its colonies a bit of peace and quite and a rest from Piracy and raid's with France following the Jacobite lead.  Unfortunately that may have been a slight mis-judgement as well !!!!  As the bloody handed French have decided to follow up their conquest of Genoa on the basis of some dodgy paperwork and some so say missing money from the French Treasury with a invasion of Savoy basically because the Duke of Savoy is a "FRIEND OF THE HAPSBURGS" !!!!!!!

Poor Duke of Savoy (member of Holy Roman Empire) signs a treaty with his nearest neigbour (The Duke of Milan....another Prince of the HRE and also King of Spain etc) and also has his son engaged to a good Catholic girl.....the eldest daughter and hairess of the Holy Roman Emperor (and neice of the King of Spain, plus related by marriage to the Elector of Bavaria).  Which means the eldest son and hair of the Duke of Savoy is likely to be elected Holy Roman Emperor and found the new Royal House of Hapsburg-Savoy.  And for the hidious crime of joining in with Hapsburg marriage policy in G7 he is about to be invaded by Louis XIV!  Is anyone safe from this manic warlord?

Looks like the King of Spain and his plan to use any period of peace to plough up large parts of North and South America plus tempt the King of Portugal to marry a Hapsburg may have hit a slight bump.  How the hell can I convince King John V that he really, really wants to marry a Hapsburg princess if as soon as the wedding bans are called you get a Bourbon battle fleet outside Lisbon screaming "I object".

Meanwhile the King of Spain elder brother is reported to be be having the news read to him while laying down with a head ache brought on by trying to look two ways at once.  Too the North East he is trying to protect the Catholic parts of the Commonwealth while the Czar, the King of Sweden and the King in Prussia try to break up the Commonwealth and annex the non Catholic bits.  While too the South West his inlaws and the Holy Roman Empire itself is being invaded by the dastardly French.  What is the poor chap going to do........and he still does not know who blew up his Embassy in Rome.

On the bright side for the sadly picked on and almost overwelmed servants of the House of Hapsburg like the treasurer of Spain things could be worse........the Harvest surplus across the whole Spanish Empire was over 200m tons so at least the war horses are well fed.  And at least we are not part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.  If a Hapsburg was a marry a nice Catholic Pole would the French attack the Commonwealth as well?
And who was the bright spark (probably with origins in Nottingham) who when Spanish Royal Advisors were asked about possible marriage partners produced various members of the Polish Nobility?

A Sobieski heir of the hero who saved Vienna and Europe from the Turks at Vienna as Queen of Spain does have its attractions.  Pity Sobieski married a French lady so any heirs are partly French.  Madrid still interested in hearing from nice Catholic German, Italian and Portugese families who are not scared of Louis XIV.

As Stuart notes in his previous post, July 1716’s newspaper has arrived with a few surprises.

1. As is the custom with G7 writeups, we first check the shipping lists to identify any Russian shipping losses.  It will please the Tsar that there have been none this month, although thousands of Russian troops exploring St.Vincent have died from tropical illnesses.  There probably would have been some catastrophic losses to the Russian fleet had those troops made it back to their transports and spread disease through the fleet, so perhaps this is a narrow escape?  4 Spanish-flagged ships were reported lost in the English Channel and a Spanish frigate sunk after challenging an English frigate in the Aegean (an interesting engagement), and Spanish cruisers also took a beating at the hands of French cruisers in the Med.  But the winner of the Tsar’s Our Ships Sank trophy this month is France with a total of 41 lost, mainly off the African coast, presumably to Persian cruisers.

2. The second surprise this month is that France has declared war not on Spain or Austria, but Savoy.  The reasons given in the newspaper are “due to their ongoing support of Spain and the HWIC by allowing Spanish troops to march through Savoy, Spanish troops to garrison Savoy’s towns and the hiring of Savoyard troops to Spain.”  Jacobite Naval Intelligence cannot confirm if these charges are true, but if so it does seem rather odd behaviour for any country to hire its own army to a 3rd party and then accept that 3rd party using its own troops to garrison its towns.  Is Savoy under Spanish military occupation?  If so it could explain why Prince Victor was compelled to marry a Hapsburg under duress.

3. In Pskov, the Tsar has shared his musings on the mess that is being created with Poland and on prospects for an Anglo-Spanish peace.  He concluded that a crusade would be foolish and that “no way will King James sign peace with a Hapsburg.”  The next entry in the newspaper proved at least one of these conclusions to be wrong.

4. There have been some quite extraordinary events in the English Parliament with MPs unsure whether they were dreaming – it has taken a century, but King James would appear to be the first Stuart king who actually listens to them and for reasons explained at length in the newspaper, has signed the (corrected) peace treaty with Spain.  They then nearly caused structural damage to the castle by cheering and were in danger of bringing the edifice of Parliament down on their heads.  King James is reported to equally bewildered by this development.  Clearly he is doing something wrong – a Stuart king is not supposed to be popular or receive this kind of reception.  Still at least this means he can focus on the cricket season.  Will the Hon.Thomas Wentworth-Watson prove to be a demon bowler and very useful with the bat, or will the pressure get to him and the Royal team suffer a batting collapse?

5. The 4th surprise of the month was the publication of a tatty sea-stained document which was signed by the Governor of Jamaica in 1700 and recently arrived by mysterious messenger.  This document reads as follows “This secret document authorises Edward Teach (otherwise known as Blackbeard) and those under his command to undertake whatever activities he deems necessary to undermine the nefarious activities of Roderigo Martello and the HWIC.  In return, he and his men are pardoned for crimes committed before today (13th October 1700)”.  

Internal investigations (also published in the newspaper) have revealed that the official Crown records were destroyed in 1703 when the French captured Kingston, so neither the Admiralty nor English intelligence or various governments in London were aware of its existence.  Lord Tangiers explained that the intelligence service at this time was riddled with operatives of mixed loyalties including some who backed HWIC; consequently, early in King James’ reign English intelligence service was replaced by Jacobite Naval Intelligence, and it is confirmed that Blackbeard has never been a member of Jacobite Naval Intelligence.  The explanation is certainly thorough and does tie in with known historic events.  Jamaica was the HQ of HWIC and October 1700 was just after Blackbeard’s raid on Havana (which some believe was really conducted by HWIC).  It is very plausible that the governor of Jamaica sought to play one set of pirates off against the other and save his colony which at the time was probably only poorly defended.  The capture of Jamaica and the surrender of 2 large English fleets (representing 80% of the fleet at that time) was also the worst naval defeat England suffered in G7.  (The capture of the fleet under repair in Dumbarton when the Spanish/Dutch force broke the ceasefire was larger in terms of number of ships, but this was not something the enemy could exploit because most of those ships were destroyed or recaptured a month later and within a year the fleet was twice as strong).  Records were destroyed on Jamaica as French, HWIC and English factions all attempted to gain control and by the time it came back under English control the governor (who by 1703 wasn’t sure who was ruling Jamaica) had died.  Given King James’ hostility towards pirates and HWIC, it is unlikely that anyone will come forward to contradict this explanation so it is another piece in the jigsaw which may lead to Martel.

6. The 5th surprise of the month is on Ceuta where the Catholic Spanish bishop “admitted he had his doubts about the English, but it was as if a miracle had occurred with peace coming and a bright future ahead, so he has decided to set aside his animosity and asked fellow local Catholics to do the same.”  Jacobite Naval Intelligence is naturally suspicious of this conversion, but perhaps he has just realised that after years of neglect from Spain and Martel, Ceuta is now safe from Moroccan attacks and will be a key port on the English trading network.

7. Off Ndar (West Africa), the Persian 8th Fleet surprised 2 French Corvettes which retreated into the town.  Will we see Ndar becoming a Persian colony?  Persian missionaries have converted the populations of Jenne and Akwamufie to Shia Islam, so is this (rather than the defeat of the French) the longer term Persian plan?  750 French merchant sailors previously captured by Persian ships were rounded up in the vicinity of Merina by local warriors, but they escaped again after a large bounty had been paid.   For some reason the French do not like being pressed into slavery?

8. Queen Sophie of Sweden has ordered the release of 500,000 tons of grain to the Lutheran Church to support the poor and needy of the Kalmar Union.  There is some speculation as to whether the amount will be enough given a Kalmar force of 88F, 99H, 20FA has invaded the Duchy of Courland and may not return.  King Charles is reported as having a sense of urgency, possibly because next month is August which is rather late in the campaigning season to have to fight a siege.  Mittau (or Jelgava) is on the Lielupe River so I would expect it to be well supplied.  It is low lying and the surrounding land often floods which means it will be like digging through very sloppy mud or ice. Bad news for horses and even worse for men trying to scramble up any breach By the time materials have been gathered it could be September and digging entrenchments in frozen ground will be tough work.  They will only have one chance to storm any breach in October before the winter increases sickness levels. It may provide a humourous newspaper report if men try to storm a breach which is as slippy as an icerink; as for the horses, I'd hate to be responsible for shoes lost in the mud or legs ruined by trotting on ice.   In real history Mittau contained several citadels of the Knights Templar and with temperatures averaging well below zero from November to February, the Kalmar troops are going to need a lot of luck to save their army let alone take this city.

9. The 6th surprise of the month is the appearance in Lisbon of the Countesses of Tara and Teviot – clearly they left France just in time and are now continuing their grand tour in Portugal.  Chancellor Dioge de Mendonca Corte-Real, the Chancellor of Portugal, is reported to be fascinated by the Countess of Teviot.  At least these noble ladies have not been subjected to the same treatment they received in Austria, which is a relief to everyone.

10. In Madrid and Rome the Spanish continue to criticise the French while asking the Pope to witness the Treaty with England.  The Vicar-General of the Jesuits remains in hiding, which is probably a good idea given Rome seems to be an awfully dangerous place for those with Hapsburg sympathies.  The Earl of Kent, formerly ambassador to Austria and now pleased to have left the land of evil goat-worshippers, has arrived in Rome and communicated his disappointment that he missed the explosion last month, asking if “those imaginative individuals who demolished the Austrian embassy would be interested in working for Jacobite Naval Intelligence?”  There was some bemusement whether he was serious, but it will be interesting to see if anyone comes forward next month.  In a diplomatic statement he restated England’s support for Poland, specifically that “a King should not be imposed on Poland against the wishes of the Polish nobility, for under Poland’s elective monarchy the nobles of Poland choose their king and they are quite happy with the one they already have!”   It can hardly be a surprise that this places English policy at a slight variance to that of Spain, who seems quite happy to endorse another Hapsburg relative as the next King of Poland should Austria and the Lutheran alliance succeed in removing the current one.

There is an interesting contradiction here which may not be lost on some players. In G10 much of the opposition to the Papal peace ruling was based on the rejection of the idea that the Papacy had the authority (under the Bull Unam Sanctam 1302) to remove a sovereign prince from power. But in G7 Spain has explicitly supported the Pope's right to do this. Without seeking to enter a long discussion about this, there is no doubt that the Pope had the power to excommunicate any Catholic ruler on various grounds and it was unfortunately a regular occurrence during the Middle Ages. Unam Sanctam was not a development of Papal power, but simply an explicit statement of the consequences of the limits of Kingship (secular state vs spiritual authority) as that had been understood. It was never a matter of Catholic doctrine and those who asserted that it was were rightly criticized by those who became protestants. From the Reformation it certainly became an entrenched view that any protestant ruler of a formerly Catholic country was not the rightful ruler in the eyes of the Catholic church so in certain circumstances the Pope could sponsor their removal. In itself that is outside of Unam Sanctam. But where one Catholic country is seeking Papal approval to remove a duly appointed Catholic King from a Catholic country, that can only be legitimate if Unam Sanctam is accepted. This therefore brings quite a dilemma for both Austria and Spain (and in the fullness of time probably for England, France and Poland itself, among others). Some historians argue that Unam Sanctam caused the Western Schism, so any Pope would be reluctant to be pushed into opening that situation. As England I will have to think very carefully of the implications of this before it establishes a precedent in G7 that G10 found it could not live with. I can make the case from both sides, and have in both games. Does the elective nature of the Polish monarchy make a difference? So far I am minded to think it does, but whether I remain of that opinion or whether for political reasons I am happy to use Unam Sanctam to remove a Hapsburg is something that depends how this plays out. A very interesting dilemma for some players.

11. It is not clear whether the English ambassador to Poland has been permitted to leave Danzig, but Prussian dragoons are intercepting traders.  This may count as the 7th surprise of the month since Jacobite Naval Intelligence expected the dragoons to be scouts and a Prussian field army to be outside the gates this month.  Do we have an outbreak of common sense or is Prussia sitting back and seeing how the Kalmar Union’s army gets on in Courland?  Russia is trying slightly different tactics in Minsk, seeking to entice the Cossacks to join the Russians in some giant Cossack alliance.  Unlike Mittau, Minsk is on a hill and was ruled by Russia as late as 1660; it struggled under Polish rule as its economy deteriorated.  It is possible then that Russia may avoid a siege, especially if the defenders lack artillery.  In Moscow grain has also been gifted to the church for distribution to the poor.

12. Russian colonies continue to make progress.  In New Tver, Col.Gannibal is pleased with the progress of his trading ventures in Africa, although disappointed with the failure of his Texas settlement.  Meanwhile Prince Golitsyn has leased the island of St.Thome from the Maharatas for ten years.  


So overall a turn with 7 surprises and King Louis finally showing his hand.  There is plenty for Austria and the Lutheran Alliance to consider next turn.  Will we see the Pope call a crusade to save Poland or use Unam Sanctam to change rulers?  Will Austria realise his obsession with Poland has cost him Savoy?  Can there be another turn of 7 surprises?  Find out next month in the next exciting installment of LGDR7, the game which always surprises.