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Gernikako Arbola: A Navarran AAR

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r6mile said:
our decision to invest in quality of troops rather than quantity.
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Less manpower? Bold move in your situation! I like that!!! :)

r6mile said:
our Queen Catalina is excommunicated by the Pope, following orders of France
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That, I don't like.

Show them what hell tastes like!
Code: 
  repeat until ( war is over )
  {
  Hire(mercs)
  Send(spies)
  if ( Not ( Enough money ) ) then
    { Take(loan) }
  }
 
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An interesting idea! I'll be cheering from the sideline!
 
I think that's the only way I could ever hope to even fight the French. My 4000-men army is laughable (my support limit is at the momeny 4.6, so I probably will build another regiment), and my allies are too far to even pose a threat to the French. Please Castille, an alliance or a guarantee, we've got +200 relations!!

What type of units do you think my 5-regiment army should be made of? Currently I have 4 Latin Knights regiments, but I just got the technology to recruit Condotta and Landsketchen Infantry, as well as Iron Artillery, so I'm thinking the only-cavalry focus might be a little outdated for me now.
 
1st of January, 1535. Pamplona​

To our surprise, Austria offered us an alliance, which we accepted with no hesitation. Finally we are allied with a major power, and the Holy Roman Emperor!
eu31ho3.jpg

In February 1521 our Queen Catalina died, and her son Enrique II succedeed her. He was not nearly as competent as his mother, but on the bright side this lifted the excommunication that our nation was suffering.
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We decided that two colonies in Africa were not enough, and colonized Sierra Leone, to the south of our colonies. It turned out to be a good slave producer, just like Arguin. The only problem is that it's separated from the rest of our colonies, but soon enough we will unite them taking on Songhai's coastal provinces. However, Sierra Leone seems to have adopted the Reformed belief; we sent missionaries that are still working on returning the settlers to the True Catholic faith. Using the remaining money from the loan that we took, we built fortifications in all our colonies. We were able to select a new national Idea, and we chose Colonial Ventures. If we aim to be an important colonizer, we must be able to send colonists more often.

The French colony of Rio de Oro was siezed by Portugal. An eventual war with France will only have to be fought on the European front.
eu35wd1.jpg

Another unsuccessful Basque rebellion also rose up in Vizcaya; in due time, the Basques will be united. Something unexpected happened. Our not-so-friendly French neighbours decided to Guarantee our independence! Of course, this doesn't prevent them from attacking us, but it's good news that they want to be friendly.
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However, in January 1534 our greatest of fears came true. Our Austrian allies got involved in a succession war with Hungary, with which France is allied. We can just hope that God is still on our side.
eu311mp5.jpg

We sent our small cavalry Army to siege Armagnac, but in just a matter of weeks the French attacked and annihilated them. Then they moved to Navarra and captured it. However, God did seem to be on our side! Hungary, the leader of the enemy alliance, decided to offer us a White Peace. We accepted right away.
eu312ii3.jpg

Now we have lost our army, but the Basques still remain free.

We have started to start building a fourth colony in the Grain Cost, just next to Sierra Leone, in the case that we will have to relocate our capital and establish a Basque homeland in West Africa.

It's now January 1535, and thanks to God, we are still free. But we fear for the future.

P.S: Now that I have to rebuild my army, what should it consist of, considering my current level of technology? At the moment, I have only one Lansketchen regiment in West Africa, and can build 4 more regiments to station in Europe.
 
Wow. Quite an update.
Your future may very well depend on how well Austria does in this war. Does it look like they might actually crush the French army?

I am not really sure the regiment you will choose to recruit will matter that much for now. You have few chances to expand military in Europe. So maybe you can save some money and recruit infantry rather than cavalry. Keep your money for trade and colonization!

With a little help from Austria, anything is possible. If they are able to rule the continent, you will be able to go on expanding Basque empire oversees!
Are you thinking about getting a foothold in the Americas or do you intend to strengthen your position in Africa first?

Keep it up. It's looking better already!
 
1st of July, 1559. Pamplona​

We the Basques are peaceful people, so while all of Europe is at war, we are peacefully expanding in Africa. We colonized four provinces in West Africa, and spend quite a bit of money maintaining them until they became self-sufficient, and then fortifying them in the case of a foreign attack.
Spain has formed, and France has expanded taking on Savoy and Genoa. Our neighbours are getting stronger.

eu316ag7.jpg


However, while we try to be friendly to everybody, the French don't seem to be returning the favour. They have once again excommunicated our ruler, but this time, like the previous, they did not decide to attack us. Just the opposite, a few years after the excommunication they asked us for military access, which protects us from a direct declaration of war by them. However, this doesn't mean that we could fight each other in a war involving other parties, so we must still be ready.

Two years after the excommunication, and tired of incapable rulers, we decided to switch to a Noble Republic. From now on, I will not be posting screenshots of every election, it would be too repetitive.

In 1551, the new Papal Controller, England, called a Holy Crusade against the heathens of Kongo. We declare war on them, but decide not to send troops, only blockade their only port of Loango. In only a few years, their war exhaustion shoots through the roof and we demand 625 ducats, as well as the release of the sovereign state of Loango, in exchange for peace. This money was extremely useful for colonising, but also for fortifying our new colonies and further fortifying our European provinces (Level 2). We later discover that releasing Loango was a mistake, as our blockading strategy would not work again.

eu37vd9.jpg


In 1554, it seemed that God turned back on us. The people of Navarra have converted to the heretic Reformed beliefs. We of course immediately sent a missionary to return them to the Holy Catholic faith.
eu39ye9.jpg

A few years later we obtained cores on our first two African colonies, Arguin and Trarza, allowing us to further expand from a closer port.

In the meanwhile, we decided it was time to establish a stronghold in America, so we hired some colonial advisors and were able to colonize a total of four provinces in America. The first two were Guyenne and Demerara, the other two originally belonged to other nations (England and Lorraine), but they left their colonies to rot so we were able to colonise them. A core was gained in Tucujulandia due to an event while it belonged to Lorraine, so we gained a free core! These colonies are very profitable, especially Demerara, which produces Gold.
eu314qs5.jpg


We now can support 6 regiments, and our army consisits of only Tercio Infantry, 5 regiments in Navarra and 1 in West Africa. As soon as we can support it, we will send another one to the Americas.

We now have monopolies on the most profitable centres of trade in Europe. And while now we are only the 5th richest nation in the world (France and Spain 1st and 2nd highest respectively), our income has never been higher. The land of the Basques keeps expanding, and the threat of an attack from Europe is diminished. We shall enjoy our prosperity!

P.S: By the way, I wanted to switch to Noble Republic from the beginning, I was just waiting for the right technology. But then I discovered that I did hadvethe right technology already, I just had to switch to Despotic Monarchy first.

eu31no2.jpg


If you haven't noticed, I'm trying to make my updates more concise, so I'm ignoring some screenshots that are not really relevant or necessary, and summarizing what happens.
 
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Excellent job! I'm really pleased to see a successful Navarra, the colonial strategy is proving to be very good, just pray to God that France doesn't decide to get rid of you before you are a major threat :p
 
Well I have a small transport navy composed of 5 transport ships and 2 galleys, and one barque per colony (in order to enjoy full tariffs), which I have grouped into patrols of 4 barques each, one in West Africa, and one in South America. I might make the patrols smaller (2 barques each) and send the rest of the barques to the main navy, I'm not sure.
About 85% of my income still comes from trade (I have like 7 monopolies), 5% comes from tariff, and 5% from Gold (produced in Demerara, the richest of my colonies).

The next colony will be an island between Africa and America, can't remember what it's called, I think it's St. Helena.
 
Madmonkey24 said:
I played a game as Navarra once... and my failure was documented for all to see. Good luck!
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That's pretty much what happened to me each time I tried Navarra! And the Knights are probably a lot easier since I have had a lot of success with them actually. You need to mint like crazy to get a few income but Navarra is a whole different thing: you can manage a wealthy economy but you are stuck between Aragon, Castille and France and they all want you terminated...
I am actually quite impressed by the achievements of Navarra so far. r6mile, now that I have seen how well you did, I think I am gonna give it another try and start with two provinces instead of one. Whatever happens next, it's already amazing you got that far.
 
Hehe thanks. The key is not how many men you can recruit, because whatever you do they will be no match for the French, Castilian, or Aragonese armies. You have to establish friendly relations with them; the best thing is to grant them military access (the AI never cancels it). Also, make strong alliances where you can; I was lucky to get an alliance offer from Austria. I must say though that in this game, because of the start date, I only had to deal with Castille and France, seeing as Aragon is a Castilian vassal, so it's one less country that can screw you over.
If you really want to expand in Europe, Ireland is a good target; small, weak, and isolated, the Irish minors are an easy prey if you have strong allies. I was too late and the English conquered it all first, but you might get luckier.

Otherwise, just do what you would do with any small nation: trade. Navarra starts strongly oriented towards Free Trade, so it's a little bit easier. Mint a little bit (Navarra is strongly centralized, so you get a 0.04 inflation reduction), take loans if you must, and colonise; it's the only way you will be able to expand (my inflation is about 5 right now). Also, it will make it harder if attacked to get annexed. And in the worst case scenario, you can relocate your capital there.

A piece of advice: trade efficiency and competitieness is not really something to worry about given you're Free Trade, so the only trading National Idea I would take is "Merchant Adventures"; with cheaper merchants (about 1 ducat! each), it's a lot easier to get started.

P.S: Luck helped me in this game though; I almost got conquered twice.
 
A good trick with Navarra (starting in 1399) is to make sure Aragon has the "vassalise Navarra" mission at the start and then let them roll over you in a few days. They won't annex you directly due to the mission and you get protection from annexes and direct war declarations from other nations. Then you can trade and colonise, move your capital to America ASAP, and then break the vassal relationship when you're safely overseas. The change to non-overseas income in 3.1 will make this even more effective!

Still, it's nice to see a more traditional approach to this unique country ;)
 
Rabid said:
A good trick with Navarra (starting in 1399) is to make sure Aragon has the "vassalise Navarra" mission at the start and then let them roll over you in a few days. They won't annex you directly due to the mission and you get protection from annexes and direct war declarations from other nations. Then you can trade and colonise, move your capital to America ASAP, and then break the vassal relationship when you're safely overseas. The change to non-overseas income in 3.1 will make this even more effective!

Still, it's nice to see a more traditional approach to this unique country ;)
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Yes, I recently played as Navarra from 1399 and allowed Aragon to vassalize me. However, I didn't try the colonial strategy at first. Instead, Aragon was beset by rebels (I forget why), and I took the opportunity to break the vassalage around 1415 or so. Then I beefed up the army, declared war on Granada, marched through Castile, and after a very long war conquered & vassalized it. By the 1500s I could diplo-annex it. After that it was on to North Africa. The National Conscripts idea was essential to getting the manpower needed for these wars. The massive trade income Navarra gets allows you to avoid war taxes & the consequent war exhaustion. I avoided all alliances because I didn't want to be dragged into wars against bigger powers. Either strategy is risky, though.
 
Your colonies will certainly be your life-line in a dangerous Europe.

The Crown of France will step all over your little nation! I hope not, very well done so far with such a minor state: Navarre will rule the America's! and possibly Iberia?
 
Keep building up that overseas empire, and deny the European powers as much american land as possible. Then when your navy and army are grand, march on spain and release the basque motherland!

Askatasun hil arte! (Liberty until death)
 
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