For God's Sake - A Castile AAR

[robou]

just waiting for France eh?

[comagoosie]

hurry up and convert the reform, so you don't have to waste your religious slider on it.

[PrawnStar]

Feedback time

Well nearly - it's looking quiet out there

stnylan Peace is good, you might have noticed I worry about war exhaustion quite a bit

Enewald Lithuania has done a lot of converting, there a couple of screenies a few updates back showing Catholic territories all the way to Kazan.

robou Yes, I'm waiting for France - if Paris goes Protestant I think they'll convert - whatever happens in the next war I'll keep grabbing Catholic provinces.

comagoosie Converting the Reformed is unfortunately a very very bad idea. There are three reformed provinces in the world at the moment and spread looks very unlikely - I own one, surround another and the final province is relatively isolated with only two borders one of those to an Orthodox nation.

If the number of Reformed provinces drops below three the Reformation event will refire and the Reformed faith respawn. The odds now favour that happening in Scandanavia an otherwise entirely Catholic area which has no possibility of the spread of Protestantism or the Reformed faith. This would create a whole new set of conversions to do which will waste missionaries.

I'm not actually wasting a slider on them - they are fully despised. Tyrone/Ulster is my most revolt prone province, I've built a courthouse to help with the revolt risk and send my army in Engand over on a regular basis to suppress revolts.

As always comments and questions are welcome.

[PrawnStar]

Update 35

06/02/1587 Conversion of Sandomierz fails

01/03/1587 A 3* Theologian dies and can only be replaced with a 1* Theologian

01/05/1587 Land 17

10/06/1587 Conversion of Rhodes fails

01/01/1588 Naval 17

18/01/1588 Chanchan converts

21/04/1588 Ottoman Empire declares WAR on Castile

21/04/1588 Crimea declares WAR on Castile in support of the Ottoman Empire

22/04/1588 Wallachia declares WAR on Castile in support of the Ottoman Empire

War exhaustion had declined to 5.57. There is a big strategic decision here; do I establish more borders with Persia? Currently my garrison in Rhodes is looking across the straits at Persian land but that's it.

01/06/1588 Chuquiabo converts

08/06/1588 Conversion of Sieradz fails

22/07/1588 Crimea accepts peace for 50 ducats. They are also allied to Venice, so that is a stab free route to DOWing the Venetians.

01/08/1588 Production 17

22/08/1588 Wallachia accepts annexation

Peace with the Ottoman Empire - 23/08/1588



Yes, that is a one province minor you are looking at. War exhaustion is back to 5.61, small war, not many dead.

16/10/1588 Conversion of Volhynia fails

29/01/1589 Barrois converts

01/04/1589 Trade 17

01/06/1589 Inca Empire declares WAR, war exhaustion is 4.90

15/06/1589 Conversion of Cyprus failed

09/07/1589 Inca Empire accepts annexation, war exhaustion is 4.82

02/10/1589 Anhalt converts

04/10/1589 Bavaria declares WAR on Castile, war exhaustion is 4.70

05/01/1589 Saxony declares WAR on Castile in support of Bavaria

Was that wise?



Very useful – both are Catholic but Saxony is nearly all Protestant provinces – except the capital!

20/11/1589 Bavaria accepts annexation

07/02/1590 Saxony accepts peace, war exhaustion is 4.74

No, it wasn’t!



10/02/1590 Conversion of Zeta fails

Expansion has its price - 01/05/1590



Isabel II, A/D/M 6/4/6 - 20/05/1590



Does this herald a new era of peace and prosperity? Unlikely! I like the 6 for Admin, helps a lot with the conversions. Despite his extensive conquests I wasn’t a great fan of the recently deceased Felipe I, admin 4 sucks.

Notice the colour of Mesoamerica, it has gone Teutonic. This is potentially a huge problem for the mission if they don’t start converting or start declaring war.

29/09/1590 Tarma converts

07/10/1590 Sieradz converts

01/01/1591 Land 18

05/02/1591 Conversion of Sirt fails

09/06/1591 Naxos converts

13/10/1591 Conversion of Cyprus fails

Persia Rampant!



The Ottomans have gone, the focus of the war effort will be ever more eastwards.

13/11/1591 WAR – we are despicably attacked, despite our peaceful intentions – well Isabel hasn’t attacked anyone…. yet

[Carinthium]

Perhaps the most efficent way to make quick gains would be to finish off the remnants of the Aztecs and others in the area?

Also, given that you have a front with Persia anyway, perhaps you should annex Venice at the first opportunity? It is a rich province.

In a war with Persia (which is probably unwise, but this is if) you can easily cut off Thrace by stationing a fleet in the Bosphorus, and it won't get attrition because you hold Erdine. You can also easily take Persia's Crimean province. (And perhaps secure a white peace that way)

Finally, I don't know the province names, but the file attached below shows a strategic zone. Holding ONE of the provinces in the strategic zone might (assuming they don't get military acess through Ak Konlyu) cut off all of Turkey from Persia.

[robou]

It is time to meet the bull head on, i think...

[comagoosie]

Glad to see the world trembling.

Well, half of the world, you aren't to china yet

[PrawnStar]

Feedback time

Carinthium Aztecs, yes you did advise me to go and conquer them, I didn't (I attacked the Inca instead) and now they look to be an OPM in a sea of Teutonic Order provinces. The provinces are low war score so I might be able to get a lot in a couple of wars but I don't want to start those wars for stab reasons.

Venice has lost that province in the Crimea since that screenie so it is now an OPM - again it's just about Stab maangement on DOWing a same religion country - to regain +3 will cost me 190,000. That's over twenty years of full investment!

Persia - your plan is a good one but there are a couple of problems - firstly the Persians have access through Ak K secondly there may not be enough war score visible on that map to force a decent peace

I'd actually like to fight them across the straits at Istanbul/Edrine - as the defender I think it's a +2 bonus - this should make for a lovely killing zone.

robou The Bull head on - Mecklenburg has already been annexed, twice If you mean Persia it's possible but I'd really like to have killed off a couple more catholic nations first so I don't neeed so many troops in Western Europe.

comagoosie They're not trembling they're DOWing! Inconveniently for someone trying to reduce his war exhaustion LOL

[Enewald]

Hmm... more provinces again... and ottos gone, oh noes!

The Shah must be punished!

[stnylan]

A whole new heathen Empire to incorporate

[Duke of Wellington]

That certainly was not wise of Saxony. Quite a few failed conversions in amongst that lot. Hope that can be remedied soon.

[PrawnStar]

Feedback time

Enewald Yes more provinces, I feel like Homer Simpson thinking about beer

I can't punish Persia for killing the Ottos, that would be like punishing France for bitchslapping Burgundy

stnylan I'm definitely looking at a target rich environment

Duke of Wellington The conversions suck - it's mainly because I can't get the staff anymore - I've got a 2* & a 1* theologian only

Update shortly...

[PrawnStar]

Update 36

13/11/1591 The Teutonic Order declares WAR on Castile. War exhaustion is 3.12

14/11/1591 Finland declares WAR on Castile in support of the Teutonic Order

14/11/1591 Castile declares WAR on Burgundy

15/11/1591 Poland declares WAR on Castile in support of Burgundy

Once my war exhaustion starts rising in a war that shouldn’t be over I might as well take down a few more heretics (and everyone likes seeing Burgundy get beaten up – sorry merrick you chose the Dark Side). Burgundy is down to ten provinces, only one of which is still Catholic – that province, Calais, is the minimum requirement although I’ll probably go for 100points again. Poland will be peaced out as will Finland. The Teutonic Order has a real mix of religions (Catholics, Protestants, Reformed and Animist) so I’ll look for 100 points out of their 400point total.

24/11/1591 Norway declares WAR on Castile

01/12/1591 My 3* Theologian dies, there is no suitable replacement so a vacancy exists at court

01/01/1592 Gov’t 18

12/02/1592 Poland accepts White Peace

14/02/1592 The Mamluks declare WAR

15/02/1592 Kanem Bornu declares WAR in support of the Mamluks

Early summer and war progress is generally pleasing. Burgundian forts have mainly fell to assault, my forces are recovering before launching the next attack – at the moment I only have combinations of provinces that amount to either 90 or 102 war score.

The Teutonic order has lost most of its armies in Europe and the provinces are falling, uncovering Mexico is proving a slow task but the only opposition I’ve faced so far is single regiments of native spearmen.

Norway have lost a couple of ships and a small colony in the Mississippi delta – I may try for Iceland but since they are Catholic and going to stay that way it’s not a priority.

The Mamluks have trooped up, significantly. I’ve just stormed Alexandria, the plan is to use it as a base for intercepting passing armies, gaining war score and smashing up troops. I’m uncertain as to whether I want to go for a really big win over the Mamluks – it will require a lot of troops and a lot of time.

01/06/1592 Puno converts

Religion in South America



06/06/1592 Vorpommern converts

01/08/1592 Production 18

10/08/1592 Finland offers White Peace - accepted. The TO has a lot of troops in Mesoamerica and reducing the size of their alliance will make a profitable peace easier to achieve.

01/09/1592 Saxony converts to Protestant – result!

03/09/1592 Scotland declares WAR

03/09/1592 France declares WAR in support of Scotland

This doesn’t greatly complicate things – the troops fighting Burgundy will just switch to the new war in a few months time. If I get the chance I’ll seize the last couple of Scottish and French colonies but that does involve dodging the French fleets.

29/09/1592 Pfalz converts

Europe at war



The loss of Berber as an accepted culture comes as no real surprise, in fact I thought it would be lost before Portuguese or Andalucian. The map shows that while I sound as if I’m at war with a lot people there is no real problem. I am short of troops – the different theatres are so far apart that I can’t shuffle units from one front to another very easily. The silver lining to that fact is that the armies have generally recovered numbers and morale by the time they reach their new jump off point.

17/11/1592 Kanem Bornu offers White Peace - accepted

Peace with Burgundy – 19/12/1592



14/01/1593 Norway offers White Peace – accepted

06/02/1593 Sandomierz converts

Peace with the Teutonic Order – 11/02/1593




A 92 point peace deal with all gains taken in the Americas.

28/05/1591 Peace with Scotland for 50 ducats after the last two Scottish colonies were seized, Vestbygden on Greenland and Antigua in the Caribbean.

09/06/1593 Conversion of Silistria fails

20/07/1593 Castile declares WAR on the Aztec Empire

21/07/1593 Maya declares WAR on Castile in support of the Aztecs

12/08/1593 Aztecs offer peace for 782 ducats – accepted!

11/10/1593 Conversion of Zeta fails

01/12/1593 Naval 18

12/02/1593 Cyprus converts

This made me laugh



Swahili (Green), an African tech group country so no ships has just declared war on Mutapa another African tech group country – but there is someone in the way LOL

Now the serious bit – the province in between is Persia, the land north of Swahili is Mamluks – all the way back to Cairo.

Peace with France - 21/05/1594



This is a 98 point peace deal – all four provinces are Catholic, Caux and Artois both border Protestant provinces so could convert possibly wasting missionaries down the line.

01/06/1594 Crimea declares WAR on Castile – this was handy, as I’d forgot I was going to DOW them.

16/06/1594 Crimea accepts annexation

Anybody know what ‘Blitzkreig’ is in Spanish? – I had a 13000 strong army on the frontier, nine days to march into action, 1 day to defeat the Crimean single regiment then 5 days to storm the level 1 fort. Total casualties 160.

19/09/1594 Conversion of Arequipa fails

09/10/1594 Cherson converts

01/01/1595 Trade 18

The war against the Mamluks drags on, currently they are rejecting a 62 point deal at 65% war score. A conquistador is mapping the interior provinces of the Sudan and Ethiopia. I don’t want to have to fight through this land too often as the attrition is huge. I *think* this is the worst attrition area in the whole game, 10% in every province every month even before spies and looting kick in, support limits are also very low.

02/01/1595 Saxony declares WAR on Castile

03/01/1595 Burgundy joins Saxony at WAR with Castile

Always check the diplomatic situation, Saxony is the alliance leader!

04/02/1595 Conversion of Breslau fails

05/06/1595 Conversion of Ruppin fails

Peace with the Mamluks - 16/10/1595



This wasn’t what I started looking for – I wanted Judea, but I’ll take 80 war score worth of those high attrition desert provinces. Future wars against the Mamluks will probably look at driving south into Ethiopia for territorial gains and using the high value Egyptian and Syrian provinces for war score.

19/11/1595 Peace with Burgundy, they cede Hainaut, Trier and Liege.

01/01/1596 Peace with Saxony, they cede Leipzig, war exhaustion is 5.16

Europe at peace

[Duke of Wellington]

Cyprus has seen the light apparently. Nice to see Burgundy getting finished off and encircled. Though they are one of my favourite nations to play I always enjoy seeing them swallowed when I'm not them.

[GooseyPasture]

You inspired me to do a Spanish AAR using Castille. I managed to diplo-annex Portugal and Aragon (who inherited Siciliy) quicker than you did and build a larger colonial empire. However, you turned down the oppurtunity to form Spain and from then on have continued down the path of world domination whilst I remained cautious. Having just diplo-annexed Burgundy and attempting to do the same with France, I have to salute the better player

[Fulcrumvale]

Cartographers must be catatonic given the cost of that much yellow dye…

[Carinthium]

Depending on your skill level, remaining cautious might have been the right idea.

[PrawnStar]

Feedback time

Duke of Wellington Burgundy - who doesn't like seeing them get kicked? Well merrick obviously but he's Borg so I don't know if that counts...

GooseyPasture Hello and thanks for commenting. Also, since this is your first post, welcome to the forums - this is probably the friendliest and most helpful web forum I've ever come across - hope you like it.

Diploannexation is rather powerful isn't it, if my in game goals had been different I'd probably have DV/DA'd all the Catholic majors. The drive to conquest is all about conversion fodder even if it doesn't seem that way at times from the emphasis. I've actually sent a lot of colonists, it's just that part of the game has been keeping a low profile - I must try and do a round up of the Empire and talk about colonisation soon.

Hopefully some parts of the AAR - espcially that bit about Austria - have been helpful. Do let me know how you get on, I'm glad to have inspired you to play Castile.

Fulcrumvale The Cartographers are fine but departmental budget meetings are painful - there'd be blood on the carpet but the Imperial Map Office can't afford a cleaning bill

Carinthium I'm doing my best

[GooseyPasture]

How did you manage to form alliances with England/Austria. I have had 200 relations with France and Austria for years yet they still refuse alliance offers. Apperently the chances are "impossible".
However, whilst I am actively persuing a diplo-annex policy with these nations I am also very busy with colonisation so theres still lots to do.
Mind you I have had excellent relations with france for years now so I am getting quite annoyed at their lack of enthusiasm to become a part of Casillian Spain!

[Carinthium]

PrawnStar, I was replying to GooeyPasture.

Anyway, Prawnstar (distingushing avoids confusion...), why not start up a "second front", so to speak, of west coast colonies? It would make the conversion of America more efficent...