Empire: Total War 07 Austria - No Commentary

The history of Austria is one of warfare against invaders from the east, and the infidel Turks in particular. Originally, the Duchy was the eastern marches of the Holy Roman Empire (the Ostmark), and the defensive importance of Austria to rest of Europe is immense. For nearly 250 years the Ottoman Turks have hurdled themselves against the bastion of Austria, reaching the gates of Vienna on more then one occasion. The last time was in 1683. Austrian bravery has kept them at bay, every time.

After the bloodletting of the last century – the Thirty Years War – within the Holy Roman Empire, Austria is a leading power among “the Germanies”. Leopold I, the ruling Hapsburg, has brought peace and prosperity, and maintained a first-class military machine (in particular, the Austrians have mastered the tactics of using light, irregular troops). This gives the Austrians the potential to become a truly great power, either within the borders of the old Empire, to the south in Italy, or to the east. This latter scheme requires the Turks to be persuaded – at sword point – that their destiny lies outside of Europe. The Austrians also have much to be proud of in the arts, music and culture.

Beyond the immediate borders, there are other matters for the Hapsburgs to consider. The Spanish branch of the family is now close to extinction, as Charles II has failed to produce an heir, among his other problems. Perhaps Spain should remain a part of Hapsburg domains, but this might lead to confrontation with France. And then, of course, there are the pan-Slavic, Christian Orthodox ambitions of the Russian Tsar to consider...

Processor: i5 3470
Motherboard: MSI H61M-E23 (B3)
GPU: ASUS GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Expedition 4GB
RAM: 8GB HP DDR3 1600MHz
Power supply: Corsair CX430
HDD: Seagate 250GB + Toshiba 100GB
Monitor: Samsung S22B350H

Recorded with: OBS