Brandenburg

Primary culture
Capital province
Government
State religion
Technology group

- −15% Construction cost
- −20% Cost to fabricate claims
- +10% Infantry combat ability
- +10% National tax modifier
- −10% Stability cost modifier
- +10% Morale of armies
- +1 Diplomatic reputation
- +0.10 Imperial authority modifier
- −2 National unrest
- +5% Nobility loyalty equilibrium
- +5% Burghers loyalty equilibrium
- −25% State maintenance

In many ways Friedrich II, 'the Iron', has proven to be his father's son, resuming the policies intended to crush the power of local potentates and greedy burghers. He has also sent out feelers to the Teutonic Order for the reclamation of Neumark, a land originally part of Brandenburg, but pawned by his predecessors.
The difficulty in asserting state power is amply demonstrated by the Kalmar Union kingdoms of Denmark,
Sweden and
Norway, where a king attempting to achieve similar goals was recently deposed and replaced by a Bavarian Wittelsbach. If Brandenburg is to be made a durable state it must also remain united, avoiding squabbles like those among the Wettin heirs in Electoral
Saxony to the south.



Contents
Missions[edit]
- Main article: Prussian missions
Brandenburg shares many of its missions with Prussia.
Events[edit]
- Main article: Brandenburg-Prussian events
Decisions[edit]
Form Kingdom of Prussia
Potential requirements
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Allow
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Effects
The country:
If
One random owned province with Pomeranian, Saxon or Prussian culture: One random owned province with Saxon or Pomeranian culture that is not the capital:
Change the capital's culture to Prussian |
Form German Nation
Potential requirements
If the country is AI-controlled then it:
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Allow
The country:
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Effects
The country:
If the country does not have custom ideas
The emperor of the HRE:
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Strategy[edit]

Brandenburg is a duchy located in the German region. In 1444, it borders Mecklenburg and
Stettin and
Wolgast to the north,
Teutonic Order and
Poland to the east,
Lüneburg to the west,
Bohemia and
Saxony to the south,
Brunswick to the west, and three OPMs. Brandenburg starts as an Elector of the HRE, eight provinces that total 65 development, and a chance for an event that allows to buy Neumark and drambug from the Teutonic Order for 100 Ducats, if Brandenburg has less than 3 loans. It starts in a good position to form either
Prussia or
Germany.
Playing Brandenburg can be challenging during the first 20 to 30 years after a 1444 start. It is quite luck-dependent, and requires good allies to grow in this early period. Depending on the intended strategy, consider restarting the game if Poland starts as a rival. There are a few missions for Brandenburg which give claims on neighboring provinces. Even if these missions let Brandenburg expand rapidly, aggressive expansion may accumulate quickly, eventually leading to a coalition if not managed correctly.
One way to start with Brandenburg is to ally Austria,
Hesse, and
Mecklenburg. Brandenburg should then attack
Stettin. It is important to secure control over Stettin's capital, as it has a level 2 fort on it for later use. In most cases, Stettin will have a few allies in the HRE. However, they occasionally ally with stronger countries such as
Poland. Brandenburg and its three recommended allies will have no navy whatsoever, so land warfare must be the primary focus instead. Assuming that Stettin does not have any strong allies and Brandenburg sues for peace out before 1446, getting a stronger ally, like
Bohemia, can be accomplished quickly by building up to force limit and improving relations. Then with your new claimed land you should focus on getting the coast of
wolgast. Wolgast will have will most likely not be friendly towards you so they will either ally
Teutonic Order or
Poland, in this case, core Stettin and try and get the union over
Ansbach as they will provide you troops in the upcoming wars with Poland or the Teutonic Order.
Another way to expand which doesn't involve running into problems with aggressive expansion is to move eastwards after subjugating Wolgast and attacking the monastic Teutonic and Livonian Orders.
One thing is very likely to happen: Poland will attack the Teutonic Order. If this happens around 1448, Brandenburg should wait for their war with Wolgast to end before securing an alliance with Poland. Once the alliance is secured, Brandenburg must declare war on the Teutonic Order. Don’t attack the Order until Pomerania becomes Brandenburg's vassal. The player should attack the Teutonic Order the moment the peace is signed with Pomerania in order for Brandenburg to seize provinces from the Teutons before Poland annexes them.
By the time the war against the Teutonic Order is over, Brandenburg can raise an army with around 20 units and build enough ships to create a decent fleet. A period of peace should present itself until a second war with the Teutonic Order is waged, or until most of your aggressive expansion has ticked away.
At this point, Brandenburg should have a very low aggressive expansion rating in central Europe, which opens options to change allies. Austria is a good choice, and Denmark, if not a rival, is another. Brandenburg should then be in a good position to attack the Livonian Order, and either seize their territory or make them a vassal.
From now on the strategy is completely up to the player since the situation varies from game to game. However, it is recommended to finish expanding into Novgorod, and then slowly expanding into the German region in order to be able to form either Germany or Prussia.
Alternative opening[edit]
An alternative strategy the player can attempt is to conquer fast. Its possible to vassalise Saxony right at the start as in most cases,
Saxony doesn’t get strong allies (if they do, restart the game) and it's possible to win a quick war. Like in the first strategy, it's important to always ally with
Poland. The aggressive expansion for vassalising
Saxony is huge, but not enough that that a coalition war could be started against Brandenburg. After that, the player is recommended to lay low since high AE doesn't allow anymore expansion for a while. About 10 years of peace is recommended to get the AE down. Sometimes, with a newer patch, Brandenburg gets the opportunity to buy Neumark from the
Teutonic Order for 100 ducats, which the player should accept.
In the 10 years the player sits back and waits for AE to go down, it is recommended to prepare for war with Wolgast and attack around 1448/50. Attack, vassalise and make sure Stolp becomes a Brandenburg province, so there is a connection to
Teutonic Order.
At this point, the player can follow the first strategy on this page and expand towards the east, and into Denmark to the north. Its possible to get to number 7/8 of the Great Powers by 1500. It is strongly recommended the player focus on Admin Points. It is possible Brandenburg will get behind in technology, but with strong allies, Brandenburg can gain a ton of provinces with high development, and into the Great Powers for the extra 1/1/1 Points each month.
Using the mission tree[edit]
Begin by allying two of Poland,
Saxony,
Bohemia,
Austria or
Denmark. Claim the
Ansbach throne for an easy subjugation CB, with no aggressive expansion. Royal marry and guarantee
Anhalt for a chance at a second personal union. Rival tiny HRE nations on the last day of November, to not give them the incentive to ally strong nations. For this reason do not rival
Pomerania. When 12 Dec rolls around, declare humiliate wars on
Lüneburg,
Mecklenburg and so on. You should easily win, taking "Show Strength" in the peace deal for 300 monarch points and power projection. Peace out all participants individually for war reps, ducats, trade power and prestige. Save up the monarch points for tech. When the Renaissance spawns, develop Saxon provinces to 10 and Berlin to 20, hastening the institution.
During this time, fabricate a claim on Neumark. By 1448, be prepared to attack the Teutonic Order. If Poland declare war on the Teutons before the Neumark event fires, immediately declare war and occupy the province. Either way, once Neumark is yours, take the mission reward for permanent claims on Pomerania. Your aggressive expansion should be near zero, allowing you to annex Pomerania in a single war. This should cause you to eclipse your tiny rivals, allowing you to choose new rivals for a second round of farming.
Once your aggressive expansion has decayed a bit, use the permanent claims to declare war on the Teutons. Prioritise Konigsberg (to form Prussia) and Memel (to border the
Livonian Order). Poland-Lithuania requires Danzig and Marienburg to form the
Commonwealth. If Poland chose a Jagiellon and you want the Commonwealth in a personal union under you, sell Poland the provinces after completing the mission.
The Livonian Order are a decent subject if they have lost land. Check you can vassalize them for under 100% warscore, then use their reconquest CB (usually against Denmark). Riga is Prussian so take it for yourself. Now established, you could play a tall Brandenburg-Prussia, become the Emperor, or expand into the remnants of
Novgorod, Denmark, Bohemia or the HRE. If
Lithuania explodes (usually due to Poland choosing a local noble, or badly losing a war), expand into Lithuania before
Russia grows too strong.
General notes[edit]
- As money is a big issue for Brandenburg in the early years, to be able to get at least a small profit while at the same time maintaining a sizable army, it is recommended to raise the tax in Berlin to 9 and raise the tax in some other provinces by 2 or 3, as this lets Brandenburg earn a few extra gold per month, making it possible to have 1 or 2 Advisors.
- Building a church in the capital province and in other high administrative development provinces is also recommended.
- To increase trade income, it is a good idea to go for Hamburg, Lubeck, and to expand into Denmark (While at the same time managing their aggressive expansion), to get a good presence in the Lubeck trade node. Focusing too much on trade however may hurt Brandenburg's ability to have a strong fleet, as the focus would be on light ships, making the potential wars against Denmark significantly harder.
- It may also be a good idea to ally Austria to avoid unlawful territory requests
- If going for the route of conquest, dismantling the HRE when the emperor is weak would make expanding within Germany easy. When the time comes, France, Poland, Sweden and other powerful neighbors will be helpless against the Prussian military.
- At the start of the campaign, if you want to have a navy after the conquest of a sea province, it is advised to build galleys, as the Baltic sea is inland, giving the galley damage boost. They are also really cheap, which suits early game Brandenburg's needs
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