This didn't go as planned - I started as Ireland and stuck with it but didn't have time to do a proper AAR. I'll grab some screenshots and summaries soon (I'm currently in the year 1906 as Ireland).
CK2 Start - 769: Dublin, Ireland (This is the earliest screenshot I have from my saves - ~800 and France is united/the muslim world has fractured a tad).
CK2 Major Events: I united Ireland, became a republic, and decided I wouldn't expand too much in CK2 (figured that would make for a more fun EU4/Vicky II/HOI4 experience). I ended up taking the Canary Islands and Iceland to ensure Atlantic supremacy. I spent most of the game toying with the Republic Mechanics and fighting for the stability of Christian Europe via Crusades or Jihad Defense. I took Spain in a Crusade and released it once it was strong enough, Portugal ended up splitting off later on. Syria is probably the strongest nation in the game at the end of my CK2 play through. The Byzantine Empire disappeared early on (taken over by the Avars) and was replaced by the Constantinople Empire. The Swiss Band controls Northern Germany, and the Teutonic Order controls a sizeable portion of Finland.
CK2 End - 1444:
EU4 Start (shows conversion results) - 1444:
EU4 Major Events: I went into EU4 wanting to colonize the major islands in the Atlantic and play the trade game/equalizer. It became clear after a few years that Scotland was going to wreck me if I didn't take them out first, so I decided to alter my strategy and take over the British Isles. During one of my early wars with Scotland, I made a critical mistake and let my ally at the time (Spain) get wrecked by Burgundy while I took care of Scotland - this resulted in a massive Central European Nation. To make matters worse, they ended up allying with some of the other major players around them, so I couldn't play diplomacy and take them down properly. I needed more manpower to hold my own against them, so I went heavy on the colonization. I'm posting a culture map as well because Spain was primarily Irish (due to my CK2 Crusade to release them). By 1821, Syria was still a massive empire in Central Asia, Burgundy controlled most of Central/Western Europe + Northern Spain, Mali became a power in their own right in West Africa, Egypt controlled most of Mediterranean Africa, and Sicily controlled most of the Aegean. Spain suffered many defeats on the Iberian Peninsula, but still controlled a large colonial empire in South America. Constantinople lost a lot of their historical lands, but managed to take advantage of the power vacuum in Eastern Europe to keep stay relevant. Surprisingly, the Swiss Band and Teutonic Order are still going strong by the end of EU4. California was controlled by the Deccan Empire/India, with most of Oceania colonized by various Asian nations.
EU4 End Map- 1822:
Culture Map (Spain was mainly Irish from my Crusade in EU4, which had some interesting effects):
Victoria 2 Start - 1836:
Victoria 2 Major Events: With my great defensive positioning, I focused early on Industrialization, took a lead, and never looked back. I lost to Communist rebels probably 20 years in, and that helped a lot with spamming factories (They lost later on though - I'm a democracy going into HOI4). My goal this play through was to contain Burgundy, and I did so fairly effectively (controlling the seas + dumping massive amounts of troops into Dunkirk worked like a charm). I returned a lot of their Spanish lands back to Spain early on, then I returned a lot of Aquitaine's lands - unfortunately Burgundy ended up adding Aquitaine to their Sphere of Influence. I didn't think I could keep winning against them due to the makeup of our allies (at the time they had Mali/Aquitaine, I had Spain, and we shared Sicily as a mutual ally, so it leaned in their favor-it did not help that two of my most powerful colonial nations in the West Indies and Irish States of America gained Great Power Status and no longer were my puppets). I attacked them in desperation to create balance in Europe, and won/released the North German Federation - I swiftly attacked the Swiss Band and Bohemia liberating the North German Federation in order to make them stronger/able to withstand Burgundy on their Western Front. While this proved successful, Burgundy had an A+ diplomatic game, and maintained alliances with Mali and a resurgent Constantinople. An event fired around 1900 in which Irish Rebels rose up in Spain and South America, calling for a unification of our kingdoms - I accepted and Spain + all of our colonies were folded into the United Kingdom. Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough to win the First Great War in 1929 (UK/Sicily/West Indies/NSF/Aquitaine v. Burgundy/Mali/Burgundian Mexico/Ajuuran(Central Africa)/Constantinople). Syria is still strong as hell, India is a force to be reckoned with, Burgundy is no longer OP (but still a threat), and Constantinople managed to make a resurgence and is a major player now. I'm pissed because Vicky ends 1/1/1936, and I just secured an alliance with Syria (they had the strongest army/I was going to get revenge for the first Great War -- Germany/Sicily couldn't hold up against two fronts).
Victoria 2 End - 1936 (I am red now):
HOI4 soon I guess (going to learn on the fly, I've only done the tutorial lol)
