Summer - 1460

Summer 1460 -
"It was luxuries like air conditioning that brought down the Roman Empire. With air-conditioning their windows were shut, they couldn't hear the barbarians coming."

The summer turn was interesting for Milan, bored of the fact that from the off I felt I had seen very little material aid from Naples I asked them what their plans were for the near future and the reply I received was one of great interest. They informed me that for several turns now that they had been in contact with the Ottomans and now believed they had prised them from the Pope's clutches and brought them to join me as allies. I was initially removed from the idea that this could be true, Naples had promised me many things over the campaign that for one reason or another they just never got around to doing, but a short enquiry with the Turks on whether they would join me seemed to validate the Idea, and it was now on Summer 1460 I felt that I finally had some allies and that victory was in reach.

Orders were postponed as the Turks and Naples wished to speak face to face before handing in orders, however I did manage to get my game in against the Papacy. I have to say though whilst in essence a very boring battle, with nothing but the wheeling of two lines for over four hours, it has been my favourite of the whole campaign. It meant so much to both myself, as it guarded the doors to the north and was also a large revenue boost, but also to the papacy, as it allowed him a foothold for his northern assault. We both clung on for dear life as the tables turned, sadly one of my line arcs was not so elegant and led to my general being stranded in a woods against greater numbers, though he managed to withdraw he took heavy casualties including the loss of the gun, which mean that Papal troops were now able to push that flank much harder and the battle soon ended with a crash of battle lines and my general lying in the mud soaked earth. The port of Genoa was lost, however with the gain of my allies, France was no longer as needed as before.

On the Saturday before orders were due to be handed in the umpire received a note that Venice had decided to drop from the campaign.  With already having exhausted the wealth of campaign players in the club our only two choices were to either collapse Venice as a state making their faction autonomous, which as I had many armies in the north would most likely lead Milan to victory as there was very little in opposition, or we call the campaign at this point, shake hands and call end of play. And to my heavyhearted agreement we chose the latter. I felt that if Venice left, victory would either be tainted with the cries of "you only won because he left" and the general mood of the other players seemed to want to call it an end, which is a real shame as I loved every minute of this campaign and am gutted that I couldn't finish my first campaign with a consummate victory after all the time and thought I had put into it.

Oh well - all good things come to an end.

So in short summary, I have loved being part of a campaign, it's a level of gaming I had only ever heard about and now I have taken part I would readily sign on to another, though perhaps not one quite so intense so soon. I have learnt a lot over the course of the last year, we now know who the campaign gamers are at my local club, who will stick a system to the end and fight like they mean it. I have learnt that you should never leave part of a plan to an ally and always make sure, even if they're not, that people think you're their friend as even a turns delay can cause you to get the upper hand. I have loved the mutual rivalry between myself and the papacy from day one, the Papal general has always been on the edge of things, almost the rival puppeteer if you will, and in hindsight this has really been a war over Genoa, which was fitting that the last battle to be fought was between he and I in that godforsaken port. I also want to comment on the Ottoman General, who though not widely covered in this blog played a brilliant game, taking the reins from a not-so-great general he has managed to ally with a great power and grow his faction until he was once again a threat on the board and for that he definitely deserves a round of applause.

In the post campaign chat, one of the players asked "Did anyone have any personal aims, other than winning of course", this is such a 'look I didn't really lose that badly' comment but thinking it over, No, not really. My personal aim was to win my first campaign and prove myself to the other players that I know what im doing, and I feel that whilst the campaign never really ended it did end with me out in front and other players flocking to my side, so all in all I feel I was fairly successful, I certainly know who I can and can't trust in future games, that's for sure!

For anyone interested, as I will soon make this open to those I was playing with, my final set of orders (Assuming I won both battles against the Venetians) as prepared on my phone were:

Army Milan to Cremona
Army Tyrolea to Milan
Army Carinthia to Trent
Army Austria to Carinthia
Army Savoy to Genoa
Army Pontremoli to Parma
(Build Army in Marseille)
Army Marseille to Provence

This will no doubt stem 'what-if' conversations however without a plague roll we can never really be sure of what would have happened next.

I had also invested time in discovering other players' assassination tokens, as I was considering the idea of having a go at the Pope, and learnt that:

5/7 Austria, 3/7 Milanese, 2/7 Turkish, 3/7 Neapolitan, 2/7 French, 2/7 Venetian, 2/7 Papal and 2/7 Florentine tokens had been removed from the game through destruction of powers, and my own tokens were Milan x2, Ottoman x3, Naples x1 and France x1.

For the last time now I sign off, with the final recoloured Machiavelli board labelled below, and no matter what any of them say - I think it's fairly clear who had the winning hand...

Yours,

Francesco Sforza
Duke of Milan
Good king of Provence
'He who put the 'France in France-sco'
Viper of the North
Devour Christian
Uniter of Europe
and last standing Northern power.


and finally the obligatory before and after pictures:

Spring - 1460

Spring 1460 - "Rage, rage against the dying of the light."


As presumed in my last update, war has come to northern Italy, having had time to think it over I have decided to work smart not hard and prepare a counter assault. Whilst Digging in may be a valid tactic, that worked well for the papal forces, I feel enemy recruitment centres are far enough away from me that if I can shift the front line further from my own lands all the better. Wanting to secure the Austrian income first and foremost I put in orders for two forces to be raised and to march to Tyrolea and Carinthia, whilst my army in Hungary moved to Austria, this collection of positions secures my border from any Venetian assault whilst also reclaims the entirety of Austrian home provinces. Venice, as assumed, moved from Carinthia (though not to Milan, which is interesting) to Tyrolea, leaving themselves with no retreat, and also failed their orders on their army in Fruilii, separating their assault and allowing me to secure Carinthia without battle. The Venetians also fled from famine-riddled Trent and assaulted Milan, where a newly raised force from Pavia had marched to intercept their attack.


Elsewhere I secured Savoy whilst also meeting a Papal landing party in Genoa. The Turks took two more venetian lands whilst the venetians themselves reclaimed Dalmatia. In my head I am trying to make sense of all this land trade between Turkish and Venetian forces, It seems Venice has given right of way to the Turks who appear to be racing up to Austria. However should the Turks claim the whole of Austria, surely the venetians see that they themselves will be the next target once I have retreated further to my own home provinces should this all unveil... I don't see the logic and conclude that Venice are more scared of the Papacy than the Milanese, I simply do not understand why when offered a place on the winning team they decide to join a coalition that will ultimately invade them.


I was also met with disappointment this turn as Naples, who have assured themselves to be my ally from the beginning, failed to do anything to intervene, more concerned about their own hides rather than proving themselves loyal, they even had the cheek to dress their inactivity up as "The best thing that I can do for you". Similarly to Venice I believe that the Neapolitan general is losing his strive to play and is simply too scared of the Papal general to join in, despite the Neapolitan's flawless track record on the field of battle. I realise this is a little harsh on a player who I'm sure has his own agenda, however Genoa is the gate to the north and his fleets could never have been more useful, I just feel that for all his agreement to be an ally, all he has really done to my knowledge is stay neutral.


So in all there are three battles to be fought this Spring, all involving me, which is nice for a change.
Venice Vs. Milan - "Battle for Tyrolea" (Venice has no retreat path)
Venice Vs. Milan - "Battle for Milan" (Milan may retreat to garrison if they wish)
Papacy Vs. Milan - "Battle for Genoa" (Both sides can retreat)


I have also deduced another Coup d'Man which if fully executed could win me the game much sooner than everyone thinks, so watch this space...

Autumn - 1459

Autumn 1459 - "The quality of the Roman army is built on the faults of its enemies" - Tacitus

Well, it appears that the cat is out of the bag. I may be leaping to conclusions but I believe this turn saw the dawn of the last war, I give myself three years, (nine turns) to either win or die trying. It appears most of the world has allied against me (or what's left of it, keep reading to find out) with one or two players who seem hesitant about lending a hand, when really they are the kingmakers and fail to see it, or fail to see it from a Milanese spyglass.

After the interesting turn of events with Austria last season I expected to find myself with a solid ally, someone with whom I could work with and balance the playing field a little, of course this was a ridiculous thing to assume given that I obviously failed to understand this particular man's thought-train. After the orders were placed last week, Austria decided that after losing some armies to plague, (Something I know better than others) due to poor dice rolls by the umpire, that they didn't want my friendship and concluded that in some way or form Milan had control of the Plague and had used it to trick him. Yep it's true, I stunted my own progression in the campaign for a cheap laugh with Austria, OH WAIT-.

He decided I was not his ally "for allies do not attack one another" and cancelled all chat. Bad move.
He then decided to not hand in orders, or talk to any other players to assure his safety. Worse move.
Army Austria to Hungary. As presumed Venice assaulted Austria's southern border denying me the yearly income, but I was happy with proving a point. Goodnight Austria - another power bites the dust.

So left in the campaign we now have the Papacy, Venetians, Neapolitans, Turkish and Milanese. Orders went in for Autumn, Austria died, I raised an army in Marseille and marched to Provence, The Papacy spent money like crazy building an army and a fleet, moving the forces to coastal regions no doubt to head north via transport, I understand he will attempt to assault France to slow my progression however I am quite happy containing him over there as it will enable me to strike at his city-rich northern border. The Turkish also got moving, capturing three lands from Venice, who seemed to run to defend his poorer territory. I can't tell if he's running scared of the big powers and thinks there's a deal in it for him, or that he's just tired of war and doesn't mind if new middle eastern foods such as the Kebab permeate his culture. Naples started shifting fleets around to move to more aggressive positions, leaving Tunis un-sieged, and Venice also raised an army and now has three forces sitting in southern Austria on the border of Milan, note to self: Fix That...

Orders for Spring are going in soon and it'll be interesting to see what happens and how this all plays out. If worst comes to worst I'll just fight through it. I leave you with a quote from Churchill, and a link to the recoloured map for autumn.

" If you're going through hell, Keep going."

Summer - 1459

Summer- 1459 - Coughs and Sneezes


So it was on the afternoon of an enjoyable Sunday I sat down to meet the new Austrian general on the field of battle, he was motivated and up for getting the game going, which is a first - most other generals are either sombre or unwilling to fight. Just as the table sides were being generated I was met with the amusing question of "Do we really have to fight this?" "Yes, unless you want to retreat to your walls and grant me victory", having decided to waiver any peace terms in the previous turn I wasn't going to halt my advance now. He didn't want a practice game as per his previous form - and like clockwork his forces were ground into the dust with a result of 5-2 in my favour, his forces fled the field and holed up in the city of Austria. Elsewhere the other battle was fought, Venetian and Turk armies met - and produced one of the most extraordinary results I have ever witnessed in the DBA system, the game ended in a Turkish victory with a score of 8-5, the bloodbath only ending when a flying column of Turkish light horse butchered the Venetian camp followers and burnt the tents to the ground. The Venetian fleet retreated to the port of Ragusa and set to baring the gates.


Orders were handed in, I talked with Austria who was in a rush to leave as he had to catch a train home - this was beneficial to me as I convinced him to sue for peace, my terms being his disbandment in Genoa and reparations of 2 ducats for his cruel invasion of Milanese territory. I personally advised him on what his next move should be, whilst also arranging for our peace to seem unclear, by feinting an assault on the Austrian garrison.


Then Plague hit - wiping 6 forces off the map, more importantly it hit Austria, killing both my force and his garrison, Savoy, killing my advance to reclaim Genoa and finally Bologna killing off a Papal assault to take Modena from my control. Elsewhere I captured Austria with a follow up force and also reclaimed Pavia from Austrian control. The Papals set to siege Lucca, with the Turks also sieging Ragusa and having an army transported by the Neapolitan's fleet into Dalmatia. The Austrian army in Hungary moved south as per instruction and elsewhere Venice captured Croatia and also moved its armies north towards my border - I can only assume what that means but if it comes to war I feel that I will definitely have the stronger hand - Venice most likely having been convinced by my good ol' friend the Papal States who have become my main rival in recent turns. Elsewhere around the map most other armies stood still.


As always the recoloured map is below, an interesting observation is that I am yet to spill Italian blood on the field of battle, having fought Swiss, French and Austrian forces only - everyone else's aim may be to unite Italy, Milan has bigger dreams, I'll unite the whole of Europe!

Spring - 1459

1459 Spring - Love's Labour Lost


This turn saw only one battle to fight, the delay in Austrian leadership saw the turn put back a few weeks however this gave me time to think about the map and opportunities that could present themselves. One rather astounding one that I realised that, much like I had done to France, if Austria won their game, with the correct financial backing, they could capture all of the Florentine provinces in one fell swoop - no doubt irritating the papacy, granting me a shield for the south and also investing Austria in provinces that he would have to divert his income to. I shared the plan, he got the gist and seemed to want to execute it - I did stress how vital winning he game was and advised a few practice games before hand, which he decidedly chose to ignore and went headlong into the battle unprepared against the most practiced general of the game.


Surprise surprise, he lost - in fact he lost without inflicting any damage to the Papal forces... Anyway I can dream, and it's best not to dwell on what could have been.


Orders were sent in, I initiated my counter assault on Austrian lands after their refusal to withdraw from the port of Genoa, and also sailed my fleet from the Eastern gulf of Lyon to the port of Savoy, where I intend to lay siege and secure my coast line. My army in Turin (Which is amusingly the longest surviving army having never been disbanded since the beginning of the campaign, and also having started under Papal ownership) finally captured the city and cut off any direct line of Austrian retreat back to Tyrolea from Genoa.


Elsewhere, Austria raised two armies and held everywhere else (they lost a total of three provinces last turn and five this turn), Venice joined me in my division of Austrian lands capturing Carniola, but losing the upper Adriatic to the Papal states, they also met a Turkish army on the border of Albania. The Turks continued their reclamation of their home provinces, shipping an army from Otranto into Durazzo and marching north with the other. Naples has interestingly put ships to sea this turn, although he is so unpredictable in his orders I cannot begin to assume his movements.


In total there's two battles to be fought, I fight the Austrians in Austria and the Venetians fight the Turk on the Albanian border. No armies were lost to famine and plague shall be resolved after the battles but before the summer orders are resolved.
The newly recoloured map is shown below:

Autumn - 1458

Autumn 1458 -

With two battles to fight against the new, new, new Austrian leader I got a few games of practice DBA in before heading down to the club, and honestly there's not much you can learn when you're playing your ideal force, lessons learnt from fighting mercenary cavalry armies have taught me to avoid their pike and rough terrain but otherwise as long as I use common sense I should be fine.

Arriving at the club I found that the Austrian leader was a no show, so a stand-in general was elected. The umpire gave him a few games where he reportedly won, I wasn't too worried as DBA can sometimes swing in such ways with 6/1 results and the like. I set up the board as I was defending and decided which list to use, a nice balance between mounted (heavy and light) and rock hard infantry such as a general pike stand, and a third of crossbow. The Enemy general made his way over to the table where he informed me Austria would be throwing both games. Now I want you to see that whilst not upset over the result, I do feel rather robbed - the turn has been delayed on end so I can fight these two battles and when it came to it - the enemy surrendered... This meant my force assaulting the province of Turin succeeded and drove the Austrian army back into garrison the city, whilst my Milanese garrison that had converted to an army successfully drove the Austrians from the province of Milan, causing him to retreat to Tyrolea.

Handing my orders in, I elected for my fleet in Corsica to put to sea and move to the Eastern Gulf of Lyon, in a movement to ensure I can recapture Genoa from the invading Austrian forces in the coming year of 1459. If nothing else it pins his army in place and reduces the damage it can cause. I ordered my army in Turin to begin a siege on the Austrian garrison whilst also deciding for Milan to hold - whilst I could press my advantage now I'd risk being exposed to counter assault, the army is much more use where it is; as it commands my eastern border. Due to Austrian indecision all my orders went through and were executed as planned.


Elsewhere the Papacy moved from the newly captured Florence to assault Pistoia, whilst its second force moved and captured Pisa. The Papal states managed to roll their debt with funding from the Turks and also interestingly borrowed the maximum income allowed - I feel that he plans to default on his loan in the future, else this seems a strange move. Naples managed to force their fleet into the lower Adriatic, whilst the Turks continued their trek up through Durazzo and into Herzegovina. Venice raised a force but failed to transport it to Carinthia due to Papal blockades, and their other fleet moved from the Lower Adriatic and captured the Port of Ragusa from Austria.
I'll also start putting up the odd recoloured map every now and again so to show the movement of the campaign, Milan is Green, Venice is Brown, Papacy is Gold, Turks are Pink and Naples is Blue. Originally France was yellow, and Florence beige however since their destruction they no longer feature on the map.

Prelude Before the Storm...

Short Summary


My name's Ryan, I'm 17 and have decided to write about my very first wargames campaign. It's based in the fifteenth century in Machiavellian Italy, I control the city state of Milan from a selection of: Milanese, Papal, Neapolitan, Turkish, Austrian, Venetian, Florentine and French forces. I'm the youngest player and the campaign is played on the boardgame map from Avalon Hill's 'Machiavelli' game with the battles being fought with the DBA rules set. I'm writing from 5 years in, which is 15 turns, each turn being handed in every other week, with the admission of five weeks of abstinence the campaign had now been running for 35 weeks and is still at full throttle.


Summer 1458 -


The world is in turmoil, I write from now, five years into the campaign, where so much has changed. I remember back in Spring 1453 when I still felt that being the youngest, it was only a matter of time before my dishevelled exit. However my viewpoint has quickly changed as the seasons flitted by and empires rose and fell.
Before we continue let me give a quick overview of what has already taken place so far...


1453 - Keep your 'Friends' close...

I am Francesco Sforza, beloved of the people (slightly from the wrong year, as Francesco became duke of Milan in 1460 but by the time I noticed we were already half way through, and I had already changed from calling myself Giovanni who was an illegitimate grandson of Francesco's, but that's what you get for using Wikipedia...). The game began in a flurry of messages back and forth all written in pompous diplomatical prose which really added to the sense that this would be a great campaign. The first player to contact me was the Pope, thrilled to be seen as a man worth talking to I grasped the chance with both hands and was carried away in a topical and enjoyable discussion of future days to come - then I realised I'd gone to far - Failing to read the rules early on nearly had me giving advantages away that were my right, the one under discussion was the port of Genoa; a great financial asset that secured my lower border with the French and also gave me the ability to convert armies to fleets if necessary. I quickly felt I was being overshadowed by a Venetian/Papal partnership and withdrew, vowing to take Genoa as my own. Feeling I needed an alliance I could lean on I joined conversation with the other northern powers of Venice, Imperialist (Austria) and France where we devised a great plan to divide Italy into four sections each supporting one another. How naïve I now seem...


1454 - The Rot sets in...


With many powers failing to put in orders, nothing much happened in spring, summer saw more action with independent states being quickly snatched up, and the Papal states managed to get to Genoa before me, plague had eradicated my army on route and had limited my militaristic resources. Florence seemed to be allied with the good Pope capturing Piombino and Genoa's geographic neighbour Savoy. The first battle of the campaign saw an ill-fated fleet of Papal soldiers massacred as they attempted to storm the beaches at Bari - defeated by the Neapolitan defence they attempted to withdraw but their escape was cut off by an inconvenient Venetian fleet wiping their forces, an interesting gambit but one that hadn't paid off. France failed to enter orders for both Spring and Summer though did manage to get some in for Autumn, cracks began to show in this northern alliance as communication lines ran dry.


1455 - Let loose the Hounds of War


Yet again several powers failed to hand in orders, a phenomenon I am still yet to understand, Naples surprised us all by building a horde of fleets using borrowed money, Florence raised a new army as did I, whilst I also lay siege to Genoa's eastern neighbour Modena. Finally too far irritated with France I took it upon myself and gave them a set of orders that I had written myself which they duly handed in, I performed a graceful move by bribing the Papal force in Genoa and using it to capture the port for myself (Gaining the title 'Viper in the North' from the Papal Ruler), whilst I also had the French liberate Savoy from the Florentines. Austria, Papal, Naples and Turk built further forces in summer - has war finally come to Italy? Florence launched an attack at my army that sieged Modena and drove them from the field - the Florentine ruler then aptly died (dropped from the campaign and went back to Uni) and was replaced by a another general of my own age - he seems quite an impressionable person, one that I can perhaps taint from the Papal puppeteers?


1456 - Et Tu Brutus?


This turn stunned me, by far the most aggressive and has shaped the world since, I led an admirable conversation with the new ruler of Florence, one that left him wishing to be both mine and the Papal state's ally, with the Papacy and Milanese at each others throats this could never happen and with neither of us trusting him he was beset by us both, I captured Modena back, massacring his forces whilst the Papal states attacked the cities of Florence and Pisa, whilst also lending monies to the Turks in the east. Amusingly, both Venice and Austria had announced that the Turks had been their enemy from the beginning so took offence by this money lending, also calling on the opportunistic Neapolitans, I convinced them to begin a three way assault on Papal territory in response to 'recent warmongering' without involving myself, This way I look like a good guy and the Pope will be brought down a peg or two. The Pope is simply stated to have said "I will relish digging the Pope out of this Hole". As France have had such a poor hand from the start and have also not put in orders for most of the campaign I duly decided to secure my western border whilst eyes were elsewhere, Milanese forces entered Swiss from Turin and then promptly cut off Avignon I also felt it was necessary to utilise the moment and heal any wound left over Genoa, assuring the Papacy that I shall not advance past Lucca. Florence fell from grace, Papal armies manoeuvred to cut off the last Florentine provinces and thus wiped the nation form the campaign, it'd be a note to say that whilst the Florentine general took it badly and I haven't seen him at the club for a while, the Papacy executed the assault well, considering they were at war with four of seven powers. The battles in Papal and Florentine lands continued to rage with the Papacy attempting to control all Florentine states simultaneously so to control their income, but also to abstain from their own collapse under the banded aggression of the other three powers.


1457 - The Western Front


The Umpire also noted the missing action of French powers so decided to replace their leader with a Historical wargamer, he seems friendly although I am vexed with their joining the campaign as I am so close to liberating the French income for myself. It was also on this turn that I noted the rise in Austrian power, their war on the Turks had gone well, and although they seemed to be a joint force with Venice they definitely had the better side of the deal, seeming to gain territory without battle whilst needing to maintain very few forces to defend them. Moving into Provence I was met with a French paid Swiss force which I managed to beat back into the sea. The war for Florence continued, with the Papal states floundering under the simple might of his numerous enemies - even losing his capital of Rome to Naples, and being forced to retreat into garrison of Florence. Pursuing war with France I bribed their army (I seem to be the only person using this ability with flair - I feel powers like Naples and Austria borrow too heavily for too little gain) and followed the French navy from the Gulf of Lyon back to Marseille, my command stand was unfortunately crushed under cannonade from French defence causing me to withdraw my assault, Papal armies fought back with renewed vigour taking the fight to his adversaries and sieging Rome whilst sallying forth in Florence. Naples defaulted on a loan causing their provinces to enter uproar, losing much income and hampering his strategical control.  The Summer of '57 was bad for me losing both armies guarding the eastern border to plague and having their constituent towns being overrun by armies from both Austria and Venice, a move I had not foreseen, however looking at the map the Venetian Austrian alliance had profited well and they had become a force to be reckoned with, I continued war with France capturing Sardinia, Saluzzo and Montferrat but also losing Provence. Raising forces in Milan and Pavia to deal with my aggressors from the East I also executed the finest move of the campaign, by bribing an army in Marseille and marching it to Provence, whilst marching forces from a victory against Austrian powers in Turin to Swiss, I wiped the French power from the game and also granted myself their full income, a jewel in this sea of war.


1458 - Phoenix from Flame


With two decisive battles to fight I was literally shaking with nerves as I fought my battles (this was also on the week of my Mock AS exams, so perhaps that had something to do with it) however by slaughtering Venetian forces outside the gates of Milan and forcing a close victory against Austria in Turin I held firm. Had I lost these, I would have lost my entire Milanese land, I would not have been knocked out as I controlled France but the insult from losing my own home territories would have been terrible. The Papal states also finally cleared his invaders away from his land, controlling all of his home provinces for the first time in 2 years, Austria still controlled Florence however this was an island in the midst of a resolute Papal resurgence. Then a very interesting thing happened, the Austrian leader (the undisputed strongest state in the game) stepped down. Due to a dislike of the DBA rules system he had resigned and passed the leadership to a rather competitive player who I know very little of. I then spent a week of attempting to gain contact to no avail, and promptly resumed war with him, Venice pulled off of my lands in an attempt to defend their own should an alliance with Austria turn sour - this was like a blast from the past, could this change mirror that of Florence's? Speaking of which, the new leader withdrew, after years of fighting, from Florence, and allowed Papal forces in - I don't know what they were offered in return however I fear that the Papal states will now soon control Florence's long sought income and return to their former glory.


And then out of the blue, the brand new, no scratches on his armour, Austrian Leader stepped down too. (He'd gained a promotion at work and now had to visit France every Sunday so would not be down to play).


1458 Autumn - All the world's a Stage


 And now we arrive at our current position, with the negligence of an Austrian leader, Papal Resurgence and Milanese Growth. Anything could happen so watch this space...


You may also wonder what Turk and Neapolitan forces have been doing, in summary not much. They've waged war on each other from very early on and have achieved very little, neither is competition for the greater powers and at the current time Naples is under assault and have lost a few home territories whilst Turk forces have finally regained access to their eastern home provinces in an attempt to reclaim them from Austria and Venice. The original Turkish leader had stepped down about 9 turns in as he felt he couldn't devote enough time, the new general who took over fought back with relinquished passion and has managed to do quite well for himself, much to Naples', Austria's and Venice's dismay.

The plain conference map with all of the province names is below, as is a recoloured version showing the original starting provinces of all the powers, the map has long changed from then but I thought it'd be interesting so you have a scope of how far some nations will progress over the next few weeks.



Yours,


Francesco Sforza
Duke of Milan
Good-King of Provence
He who put the 'France' in 'France-sco'
Devout Christian
Viper of the North.