Hallo zusammen,
 
the good burghers of Frankfurt are revelling in the celebrations
surrounding the imperial coronation, hailed by pamphletists in the pay of
Mazarin as the restoration of Charlemagne's empire (and to be sure, the
Bourbon-controlled territories almost entirely match those under Charlemagne's
rule). Meanwhile the cardinal is busy coordinating an ambitious armaments
programme. Both wharves in Brittany and in Flanders have been furiously working
on state-of-the-art ships-of-the-line for the Sun-Emperor.
 
Alarmed by rumours of a possible French naval descent and planned royalist
risings, the Lord Protector has hastily scraped together a bunch of armed
merchantmen in the "capital of the West country" as the bulk of the
Commonwealth's forces remain engaged in Eastern affairs. Is it "1588" all over
again?
 
Down in Castile, bards are immortalising the long march of the valiant Army
of Flanders that recently surrendered to pursuing French regiments. And these
songs and tales evidently have resonated with Castile's youth as they've joined
the king's regiments in great numbers.
 
I'm curious what 1657 shall hold for us!
 
Spring 1657 prelims are due on Monday and the final deadline shall
follow on 21 April, 6 PM CET.
 
Liebe Grüsse,
 
Charles
 
----------
PLAYERS:
    AUSTRIA: Mike Hoffman <mrh(at)panix.com>
    DENMARK-NORWAY: Marc
Ellinger <mellinger(at)blitzbardgett.com> (eliminated Winter
1653)
    ENGLAND: Harvey Morris <hmtucaz(at)gmail.com>
    FRANCE: Nigel Phillips <nephilli99(at)hotmail.com>
    POLAND-LITHUANIA: Jorge
Saralegui <jmsaralegui(at)gmail.com>
    RUSSIA: Mikael Johansson <m_don_j(at)hotmail.com> (eliminated Winter 1650)
    SPAIN: Dirk Knemeyer <dirk(at)knemeyer.com>
    SWEDEN: Matthew Kelly
<kelly058(at)verizon.net> (joined Winter 1652)
    TURKEY: Aidan
Slattery <AiSlattery(at)aol.com>

PROCLAMATIONS:
    o CHRISTIAN HUYGENS INVENTS PENDULUM CLOCK
    o LORD PROTECTOR IMPROVISES ENGLISH NAVAL
DEFENCES
    o MAZARIN LAUNCHES FULL-SCALE ARMAMENTS
PROGRAMME
    o VAUNTED ARMY OF FLANDERS SURRENDERS NEAR
COPENHAGEN
    o CASTILIAN LEVIES HOPE TO DEFEND SPAIN'S
HEARTLAND

PRESS: None.
 
RETREATS:
 
England:
disband A Ingria
 
Spain:
disband A Copenhagen
 
Sweden:
F Greater Poland - Baltic
Sea
 
ADJUSTMENTS:
 
Austria:
Build A Trieste
 
England:
Build F Bristol
 
France:
Build F Brest
Build F Flanders
Build A
Marseilles
Build A Lorraine
 
Poland-Lithuania:
Remove A Samogitia
 
Spain:
Build A Madrid
 
SUPPLY CENTER OWNERSHIP
(Winter 1656):



 
Austria(6): Bavaria, Prague, Saxony, Trieste, Venice,
Vienna.
England(: Abo, Bristol, Christiania, Ireland, London,
Novgorod, Scotland, Stockholm.
France(14): Brest, Copenhagen, Flanders,
Holstein, Lorraine, Lower Saxony, Marseilles, Paris, Rhineland-Westphalia,
Savoy, Swabia, Switzerland, United Provinces, Tuscany.
Poland-Lithuania(:
Courland, Cracow, Moscow, Prussia, Riga, Vilna, Voronezh,
Warsaw.
Spain(: Algiers, Madrid, Morocco, Naples, Papal States,
Portugal, Seville, Tunis.
Sweden(3): Brandenburg, Mecklenburg,
Stettin.
Turkey(11): Belgrade, Candia, Constantinople, Crimea, Damascus,
Moldavia, Persia, Transylvania, Turkestan, Ukraine, Wallachia.

DEADLINE
SCHEDULE: (all orders are due NLT 6PM CET (i.e. GMT+1)...not local
time)
    o Spring 1657 Moves: 21 April
    o Summer 1657 Retreats: 23 April
    o Fall 1657 Moves: 28 April
    o Winter 1657 Retreats/Adjustments: 30 April
 
MAP: