IMPERIALISM II

The story of the imperialistic Spanish - page 3

WAR!

Things weren't going exactly as I had hoped in the new world. Sweden made inroad in the Aztec and Pueblo territories thereby stopping my conquests and killing off a potential trading tribe. In the end, Sweden also managed to annoy other great powers. Perhaps they did the no-no thing of invading overseas possesions of another great power? In any case Holland, declared war on Sweden. Then I was asked to declare war on Sweden. I accepted, expecting my other ally, France, to join aswell. That they did. In the end Sweden was at war with 3 other nations and none of them chickened out. WOW!

The view of the world seen from Sweden in 1656. Black areas belong to nations they are at war with (note: map has been truncated).

	Beating the .... out of the swedish A welcome opportunity it was to have a war with Sweden. All the territories in the new world that I had wanted suddenly became "leagal" targets. However the war against other great powers in the new world is very complicated. Take a territory here and loose one there. Pay at least 500$ for each attack. A big number of troop movements and attacks each turn. I had too little army to cover all of the common borders if I were to have any striking power left. Consequently it took a long time, but eventually I managed to overcome their possesions in the new world.
	Fighting the great powers is somewhat different. Better equipment and sometimes forts. The guys with the blue markers are being taught a lesson here by my cossacks (light cavalry)

	They have had enough... Very soon, Sweden began asking for peace. I rejected each time untill finally in 1704 I had conquered all the Swedish territories in the new world. After that, I planned to take a couple of years investing in industry and research. Waging war - at least on the offensive - is expensive.
		The humble swedes ask for peace in 1704 and since I have little more to conquer - except Sweden itself, which is more difficult - I accepted. Other powers had by then long ago made peace with Sweden. As can be seen by the yellow areas, the spanish empire was delightfully expanded during the war. Notice, that the minor nation of Italy has joined England. That was NOT part of the plan!

	...or have they? Peace is a fragile situation. France declared war on Sweden in about 1725. For what reason? I don't know and in Imp II you don't have to have a reason; the other great powers are simply "evil". You can however research "propaganda", which reduces the penalty for breaking non-agression pacts and declaring war. Most probably, the french declared war simply to exploit that the swedish were weak. As an ally of France I was offered the chance to declare war once agin. Allthough somewhat earlier than expected, I accepted. I didn't want a dissolved alliance with France - which had a large navy - anyway. Then another unforseen event happened. France invaded Scotland. Did I have to care? Not really, except that it would be a pitty to let them get away with all the scottish provinces just like that. So my navy on the way to make a beachhead in Sweden, payed a visit at Edinburgh to grab at least a piece of Scotland. I have nothing against the scottish. Really! Well perhaps just this: they don't wear cilts...

	At left invading Edinburgh (truncated). Not much they have to put up with. My heavy artillery has been upgraded and a general is supervising things from the rear. At right invasion of a swedish province (southern Norway) after the initial beachhead was secured. Notice the arrows on the map; the red one is my invasion of southern Norway, the green one is reinforcements from Spain.

..and from then on it was just a question about time before the swedes would be finished as a great power. Or was it? After the first few battles had been fairly easy, suddenly they had a force of a considerable size and more modern equipment than my army. Attacks on central Norway failed, I lost expensive, experienced units. What a nasty surprise - it was not over!