This 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 Commonwealth at the start of the game’s period (1558-1721) are at the top of their power (as was the case with Prussia, the game is guilty of tweaking history for a little design-for-effect and starts with the union of Poland and Lithuania already in effect, even though this technically didn’t happen until 1569). Poland-Lithuania had a strong and numerous nobility that was determined to maintain their liberties, democratic traditions, and institutions. This meant that attempts at centralization in the form of royal control and anything but the smallest standing army was fiercely opposed. Even on campaigns their king never had complete control of the army, as the most important decisions required a vote among the participating nobles. The strong nobility and their equestrian traditions also meant that Poland´s armies were based on cavalry to a far higher degree than any of the other powers, and their winged hussars were THE legendary cavalry of the period, whose skill and dash won victory after victory against numerically superior enemies.

These unique traits are represented in the game in a number of ways. The cost of units as well as their upkeep is far higher for Poland than for the other powers. Poland´s force pool is small in general and contains especially few Infantry and Fortress units, but their Cavalry units are superior to anything in the open field. The strong democratic traditions and opposition to centralized power is shown in the game by Poland´s extremely high cost to impose Royal Control. The lands of Catholic Poland are the most religiously diverse in the game, as the Commonwealth contains both Protestant and Orthodox Provinces within its borders, and any production in those will be even more expensive.

The Polish nobility´s check on their kings and aversion to expensive foreign adventures for the glory of the monarch is also represented by Poland having a lower loan limit than any other power in the game, and shown directly in Poland´s National Ambition and the conditions to unlock their slots for Dramatis Persona cards.

The goals of the Polish nobility and their elected kings were mainly defensive in nature and concerned with maintaining the position and property of their class. If the player (the king) steers away from this path and either fails to protect the Lithuanian magnates (by losing control of Vilna), or is seen as an oppressor of liberty (by imposing Royal Control anywhere in the Commonwealth), they will find themself locked in internal power struggles, represented by not being able to recruit many Dramatis Persona to their Court. These defensive goals are also represented by their National Ambition in the game simply being the protection of the Commonwealth, which does however include recapturing Smolensk, recently lost to the Russians.

Poland is the largest power in Baltic Empires in terms of provinces, and tied with Russia for being the richest at the start of the game. In addition to this you are the only power that starts the game already in control of a Trade Center (Danzig), and are even adjacent to another that is scarcely defended at all (Riga), AND on top of this you start out as Hegemon on both the Mercantile and Production tracks.  Your National Ambition seems far more manageable than the other powers’ and everyone will fear meeting your cavalry in the field. As the Polish player you may therefore be excused for thinking you just got lucky when player roles were distributed, and that victory is more or less a sure thing.

You will quickly discover that all is not as easy as it seems, however. Your income consists mainly of a single type of Goods, grain, which makes you highly dependent on maritime trade (as described in the article on economics in Baltic Empires, production costs must be paid in sets of different goods). Your realm has a huge potential for economic growth if the international situation allows you to invest in Cities and Workshops instead of expensive units. This, however, will require a lot of diplomatic skill and luck to achieve, and if (or more often, when) war threatens you will see that is not really helpful to be richer than the others during the Income phase if all the things you need cost more for you in the Production phase…

 As you can see on the map above, your National Ambitions have a lot of overlap with Russia´s, while a quick win by getting Riga and building a Customs House is even more problematic, as that province is within everybody´s sight and reach. The boon of already controlling one of the 3 Trade Centers in the game can also prove to be a cause for concern, as the Danish and Swedish navies allow them to launch sudden expeditions against Danzig. As described in the previous article on Prussia, the safety of your western borders might be secured by your vassal, but this situation will only last as long as Prussia wants it to, so they are essentially a sleeping knife in your back, and on top of this your southeastern lands are wide open to raids from the Ottomans and Tartars.  Playing Poland is thus not for the defensive-minded player who doesn’t see problems and dangers, but instead sees chances to win glory at every corner of the compass.

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Previous Articles:

Victory Conditions in Baltic Empires

The Sequence of Play in Baltic Empires

Economics in Baltic Empires

Dramatis Personae Cards in Baltic Empires

Warfare in Baltic Empires

The Powers of Baltic Empires — Sweden

The Powers of Baltic Empires — Russia

The Powers of Baltic Empires — Prussia