Challenge!: Survive as Navarre for 3 years without being vassilized

Ashantai said:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...Courting-glory-and-defeat-a-NavAARran-history.

I point you to that AAR.

Click to expand...

Read the start - still don't see how they prevented vassilization. Aragon will attack you regardless of whether you improve relations with them or not.

Yeah I do it like Guyfawkes says, but in a more complicated way because Aragon never ignores my seige of their provinces. They will send a few troops to wipe me out. I find I got to start a war with another country.

This is the way I do it:

Before the game starts I do the following actions:
1.) I start with 4 diplomats. I send 2 diplomats to make alliances with 4 province Bavaria and Luxembourg (who's in a personal union with 4 province Brandenburg). Probability is "Very likely".
2.) I use my 3rd diplomat to request military access from England.
3.) Use my first slider move to move one step towards "Defensive". I need all the help I can get!
4.) Move my 1 cog into the adjacent sea zone.
5.) Raise 1 mercenary (infantry) unit.
6.) Make my King a general. Pray for a general with at least 1 siege star. If I get 2 stars, I'm golden. I make him the leader of my 1 infantry unit.

Then, I start the game. I load my infantry into the cog and send him in the direction of Ireland. Usually England will immediately declare war on an Irish minor. I move my cog adjacent to that minor, declare war on it with my last diplomat (taking the Stability hit), and begin seiging it. If England doesn't declare on an Irish OPM, I chose a random Irish OPM and attack it. However, my chance of success in my overall strategy decreases dramatically if this happens because I got to waste precious time fighting the Irish OPM's army first.

Meanwhile, Aragon would have declared war on me. As soon as my mercenary is raised, I send him to the adjacent English province. This is essential to prevent Aragon and his allies from simply storming Navarre.

Now if I manage to win the seige of the Irish OPM before Aragon wins his seige of Navarre, I'm GUARANTEED to eventually get a favourable peace offer from Aragon. They usually just ask for all my money. Note: I don't peace out with the Irish minor until I get the peace offer from Aragon. Otherwise I just get annexed/vassilized immediately.

Like I said previously though, this still depends too much on luck. I want to know if anyone's got a better way.