The Ottoman Empire The period covered by Baltic Empires saw the Ottoman Empire at the absolute height of its power. The steppes of southern Ukraine and Russia were controlled by the Tatars of the Crimean Khanate, who were vassals of the Ottoman Empire, while the southern border of the Poland-Lithuania was inhabited by semi-independent Cossacks […]
Foreign Intervention in Baltic Empires: Part Two Read Post »
Designer Blogs
The historical power struggles occurring during the period covered by Baltic Empires (1558-1721) did not happen in a vacuum, but were of great importance to the interest to major powers on the edges of the map of Baltic Empires: England, France, the Netherlands, the Habsburg-controlled Holy Roman Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Each of these
Foreign Intervention in Baltic Empires: Part One Read Post »
Designer Blogs
Below you will find Part Two in Brian Asklev’s “The Women of Baltic Empires” two-part article series. In the first part of this article he looked at Marie Louise Gonzaga and and Sophia Alekseyevna and you can read that here. -Rachel Queen Christina (1626-1689) Christina became Queen of Sweden as a young child, upon the
The Women of Baltic Empires: Part Two Read Post »
Designer Blogs
The period covered by Baltic Empires (1558-1721) was certainly not a high point for women in terms of power and influence. This unhappy fact means that the great majority of the historical characters represented in Baltic Empires as Dramatis Personae (DP) cards are men. This also means that those women who, against all odds, made
The Women of Baltic Empires: Part One Read Post »
Designer BlogsThis is the fifth and final article in the series presenting each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Denmark. Just like Poland-Lithuania, Denmark-Norway (or “Denmark” for short) starts near the height of their historical power, with a far-flung empire with possessions across the Baltic Sea, and a
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Denmark-Norway Read Post »
Designer BlogsThis is the fourth article in a series I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (or “Poland” for short).
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Poland Read Post »
Designer BlogsThis is the third article in a series I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Prussia, the clear underdog among the powers during this period (1558-1721), and certainly not the Prussia from later eras that wargamers may be more familiar with.
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Prussia Read Post »
Designer BlogsThis is the second article in a series where I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. This time I will cover Russia, the historical winner of the game that emerged from the period (1558-1721) as a major power in European affairs.
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Russia Read Post »
Designer BlogsThis is the first article in a series where I will present each of the five powers of Baltic Empires in turn. I am starting with Sweden as that is the power that will likely be most familiar to players of GMT´s other games set in the Baltic region during this period (1558-1721), such as
The Powers of Baltic Empires — Sweden Read Post »
Designer BlogsIn this article I will explain how warfare is handled in Baltic Empires, both in terms of how the battle mechanics themselves work (which is quite simple), but also the bigger economic aspects of warfare during the period (1558-1721) and how these are represented in the game. The Powers in Baltic Empires each have access
Warfare in Baltic Empires Read Post »
Designer Blogs