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Albania vs. The World

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Too bad you lost Chiefnople, (I love that name!) but I agree that if you have to go war with the Ottomans, you might as well try to take as many rich lands as you can, plus any Christian (Catholic or Orthodox) ones that you can get. Besides, if you are worried about BB ratings, and they attacked you, take a whole lot then release these territories as vassal states. If you don't need them, use them to reduce your BB rating and to weaken your enemy.

Vassalizing the Ottomans can be fun and will give you some money, but they will quickly break the agreement and DoW you at their earliest opportunity.

I've seen Portugal use ToT to take African and S.American TPs and even small colonies, but they usually won't fight for them, so if you have a navy that can drop off 1000 men in your colonies, they should be fine, if you want to go that route.

Listen to what ws2_32 says about Iberia and Spanish lands in the New World. That's probably a better target than Africa.

I've learned that it's better to have alliance partners subject to lots of attacks so you can get into wars that way, and sieze territory in a defensive war, rather than DoWing all the time. The BB points really do add up, and it takes a long time to see them diminish.

Good luck!
 
PE: Interesting… I think I should experiment with that, because I always have the feeling MY EU2 is always acting weird :)

ws2_32: Glad you like the story. Sometimes when I write I fall into thoughts that perhaps I should write the story so that it would have some logic, but then I think, naah! :) Funny though that I was considering something like writing from another country’s point of view. Like the Ottomans: “My sultan, the Albanians have attacked Benin! – Huh? What are those sick people thinking this time?”. I considered what you said about Spain, and you can read my thoughts at the bottom of this installment.

Daniel: Thanx for the support. You know how I like disaster AARs, and I have the feeling this one is going to be something like that too :) Also I’m looking forward to your Serbian AAR. I actually live in Serbia (though I’m Hungarian), so if you’ll need some info you’ll know where to look :)

Heagarty: Vassalising the Ottomans can be fun? I actually thought it was agonizing :) My zero-support for the Muslims made several captured provinces rebel back to the Ottomans, and I had to capture them again. I could not have support for the Muslims, because I have Catholic and Orthodox elements in my kingdom too. You can’t imagine how much I’m looking forward to the Reformation
 
Mini-Update

The Death of Skanderbeg and the Alteration of the GP
Thou shall not bear false witness against thee neighbor - one of the 10 commandments.

What happened in the following months after Skanderbeg's return is what gave Skanderbeg the title of "uncle". It has become apparent that the king is not treating the famous general properly, but the crowds did not complain, as new troops were raised each month, and the defense force completely recovered from the past wars. A few months later, however, the loot from Portugal has arrived, bringing lots of candy and sugar. This was something new to the Albanian children, who were used to peeled tree husk. Uncle Skanderbeg's popularity reached unknown heights.

The chief showed up at the walls of his wooden castle again, with angry peasants besieging it again. He decided he would not order a breakout, but instead talk to the crowd.
"My good people, why are you angry?"
"Booo!"
"My good people, could you form one opinion so that I would understand your needs?"
"Booo!"
"No use... Captain, order your troops to attack"

And attack they did, and the peasants were chased away. Those captured were sent to trading posts in Copetonas and San Matias, to experience new dangers and adventures.
It was a mistake, however, to send peasants to trade with savages, as they all sent their goods to Tago, instead of Albania or Thrace, and thus not helping the Albanian economy one bit. The king had to do something, and he also had to get rid of Skanderbeg. So he invited the general to dinner.
"My dear Skanderbeg, my good friend! How are you today?"
"Glad to be serving the Empire, my king"
"Yes, yes, sit down, and let's have a friendly conversation. I know we have disagreed a couple of times in the past, but let's put that all behind us"
"I agree, my king."
"Right, of course you do... Now eat your mushroom soup"
"Mmmm, I've never tried mushroom before. My mother always warned me they are poisonous, so I did not dare"
"Ah yes, mothers. Little guardian angels of their children"
"You're not having any soup, chief?"
"I'm not hungry"
"Well, I wouldn't want my king to be bored while I eat, so I'd like to tell about something I was thinking about"
"Thinking, huh? That's interesting, you can tell me about it after you've tried the soup"
"All right... *sssrc* Well, near our African colonies there's this country.. *sssrc* called Benin *sssrc* and I think we could use it to advance our trade"
"Spit out that soup, you fool!", yelled the chief, and Skanderbeg spited it out, "I mean, don't talk while you're eating"
"I'm sorry, chief", said Skanderbeg, as he looked down on his plate. It looked disgusting now.
"You don't have to eat that, my dear Skanderbeg. I will order another dish. Now tell me about your plan"

The plan was surprisingly ingenious. The Albanians would conquer the Ivorian trade center, and thus take over the trade from the Portuguese. Another good side was that Skanderbeg would go far, far away, and with some luck he would get a poisonous dart in his back. The chief chuckled, and immediately he entered the time traveling.

He showed up at a funeral. He recognized Skanderbeg's head in the coffin, after which it was closed and put down to the earth. Well, obviously the cannibals finally got to him. The advisor next to him pushed him with his elbow, signaling that he should hold a speech now. He waited for a minute for his memory to return, and then he coughed a bit and began.
"Uncle Skanderbeg was an honest soldier. He devoted his life to the Empire, and nothing else. That is why the entire Empire thinks of him with love. I knew him personally. He always did as I asked him to. When I told him to wage war against Portugal, he did. When I told him to crush the dozens of rebellions that have plagued us, he did not complain. When I told him about my plan to conquer Benin, he immediately agreed with me. That is how I imagine the soldier of the future - a silent tool of the Empire. I expect you all follow his example"

The teary crowd split a few minutes later, and the king walked with his advisor.
"What did you think about my speech, advisor?"
"I'm sorry chief, I was so depressed I didn't hear you"
"WHAT? And do you think the rest of the crowd heard me?"
"I don't know.. * snif * I just don't know... *cries* "

"Well, hopefully they did", though the king. After Ivoria was taken from Benin, the GP had to be changed. It was useless to continue fighting the Ottomans, and all efforts had to be put on Africa. It would be difficult to convince people to fight Benin again, if they think of it as the place where Skanderbeg died.

But what did he care? His opponent was dead, and he could rule his empire the way he wanted.
"The first thing I'm gonna do is enserf the last remaining freeholders!"
 
How I played

Sorry this last update is a bit dark, I'm a bit depressed right now so I think that influenced the story. Anyway, in real life the war with Portugal ended on June, 1463. I took my fleet, boarded Skanderbeg with 18k soldiers (mixed infantry and cavalry) and sent them to the coast of Benin. I had military access through Castile, so I stopped at the Canary Islands to reset the attrition level. When I arrived I had +2 attrition. It was August, 1464.
Benin of course had no troops, and when I declared war its ally, Dahomey abandoned him. This was great and unexpected. My expedition to Benin was something like a suicidal attempt which paid off. I landed and covered Ivoria, and then started besieging the capital. I was attacked 2-3 times, after which I captured the capital and got the maps of the surrounding area. Benin had more than 30.000 soldiers in the province below its capital. I sent Skanderbeg to besiege Ivoria, while a small 1200 army was looting the provinces. This turned out to have double advantages, as the 30k army started chasing my small army, while the large one was left alone. At one time my army was surrounded and annihilated, but I hastily detached another small army and continued this cat and mouse game. Finally, when Ivoria was captured, the huge army turned against Skanderbeg. And then suddenly Skanderbeg died. I though I was going to get it, but the stupid AI offered me Ivoria instead! And that was the only thing I wanted! I gladly accepted just seconds before the large army reached me, and now I have a trade center!

I played a couple more months, and noticed that my South American colonies are still sending their trade to Tago. Is this going to change soon? I don't have any explorers, and I've established trading posts in every other available province, so I don't really have the chance to expand before 1500.

Thanks for all the support and advises you’ve given me. The next update should be finished in about a week, and I will consider all options. I’m not sure I can go after Spain at the moment. I paid 300$ for military access, and that is a lot of money. I don’t think I can even support a large enough army to defeat Spain (Castile). Although Aragon IS my ally… But I would like you to consider the state of the economy: one horse costs 26 ducats. During full army support, and the treasury slider at half, at the end of the year I get 40-50 ducats, which means I can recruit two horses per year. Consider that I’ve lost about 7000 mixed soldiers in the war against Benin, and you’ll get that the war cost about 150$. The war lasted from 1464-1468, that is I lost more than my budget could take.
Now let’s take Castile. I would need about 50.000 cavalry to do something right, and hope El Gran Capitan doesn’t annihilate me. The cost would be 1300 ducats, which equals 26 years of my budget. But that is only when the treasury slider is at half length. When it’s 100% I get 120 ducats, and that would still mean 10 years, not counting the inflation rise. In 10 years Castile will turn to Spain, have Columbus and soon become a world power. I just don’t have time to take it out. That is, without bankruptcies.

And that is why I think I should continue my African campaign. That +5 BB points scares me, since I think the pre-BB wars have ended (I am not stronger than I was 10 years earlier, but still my neighbors don’t attack me). I think the pre-BB wars start at 20 points, while I have 18-19 I think.
Alexandria, Astrakhan, Isfahan etc? I don’t know, they all look unreachable right now. The reason why I did not reduce the Ottomans to Anatolia was because of its Muslim provinces. I curse myself right now for that, but it’s too late. The Ottomans expanded to the east, and have taken Georgia. Hmm.. I’ll post a picture about Europe. You can view it from here (112 Kb)
I will not play the game in the next two days, so if you have some good advice then let me hear it :)

p.s. --->
land=2, navy=1, infra=2, trade=2
Land3 will be reached in 20 years, the rest will happen a bit later...
 
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>I played a couple more months, and noticed that my South American colonies are still sending their trade to Tago. Is this going to change soon? I don't have any explorers, and I've established trading posts in every other available province, so I don't really have the chance to expand before 1500.

Trade is readjusted on January 1st every year. But, you have to gain a competitive level of trade tech. Otherwise, Tago will continue to draw trade away from your CoT. You don't have to have superior or even as good of trade tech as Portugal, but you must be at least close. The lower the trade tech advantage the less distance a CoT can draw trade away from another CoT. Genoa might also pose a problem if they gain another trade tech level.

You can still build trade posts up to level 6 trade posts to increase trade.

>I paid 300$ for military access, and that is a lot of money.

By all means, you must keep military access in Spain. You can keep military access in Spain and get into a war with Spain by declaring war on an ally of Spain. Be sure that the Spanish ally has positive relations with Spain and has substantially better relations with Spain than with you. That way Spain will be sure to honor the alliance.

>I would need about 50.000 cavalry to do something right, and hope El Gran Capitan doesn’t annihilate me. The cost would be 1300 ducats, which equals 26 years of my budget. ... In 10 years Castile will turn to Spain, have Columbus and soon become a world power.

DoW Portugal now. Take Oporto and The Azores. By 1510, there will be no nationalism in Oporto. You want to DoW Spain about 1510. By 1510, Spain has a CoT in Andalusia and has discovered at least one Mexican nation. In 1510, Spain is only just becoming powerful; they are still vulnerable for a short time. Having military access allows you to cover all of Spain's provinces before you DoW. Having Oporto allows you to build reinforcements with all the loot you receive during the Spanish war.

You need at least 50k cavalry to start the war against Spain. I think you would be better prepared with 60k cavalry to start. Keep in mind that you will need to build reinforcements. Also keep in mind that these are the numbers of cavalry that I would use to pull off a war against Spain.

Your tech and skill levels may differ so you may need a larger army, like 80k cavalry to be safe. You MUST take Oporto, otherwise reinforcements will be too late to arrive if you can even avoid the Spanish navy. Without Oporto, 80k cavalry is barely enough for me to begin a sucessful campaign against Spain in 1510 with only 4 manpower. Having military access through Spain to start is an advantage as you can prevent Spain from building reinforcements in various provinces. You can more quickly get all the provinces covered and you know where you must concentrate your forces.

If it takes 26 years to prepare for war... then that's about right to be ready in 1510. Actually, you may see an increase in income by looting Portugal and taking Oporto so you may afford quite a large number of cavalry by 1510, more than you currently anticipate.

>This turned out to have double advantages, as the 30k army started chasing my small army, while the large one was left alone. At one time my army was surrounded and annihilated, but I hastily detached another small army and continued this cat and mouse game.

Now you are learning some military manuevers. Don't just meet the enemy head on. Play cat and mouse. Gain control of provinces while your enemy is distracted elsewhere. Even 18k troops can work wonders against 30k troops when applied correctly. Keep in mind that you will likely have to do a bit of cat and mouse against Spain.

This is GREAT! You have a CoT. That is all you want in West Africa. There are some nice Muslim gold provinces and Timbuktu but that would increase your BB. Attrition is just so harsh in West Africa. Quit while your ahead. And you are ahead. You will turn this game around yet! Be patient, go for Oporto then Spain. Imagine it; you can have Andalusia, Toledo, maybe The Canary Islands if not a city yet, money, maps, future war in Mexico, tons of loot. Spain is where it is at. Stockpile your cavalry.
 
:)

This AAR is very funny, even if it is completely ridiculous.

Anyway, the chart is not real, of course. I hope I haven't offended anyone (any Albanians reading this?)
Click to expand...

Grrr... must destroy...

ah nevermind.

Anyone, I'm not really Albanian, not much Shqiptare in me, mostly assorted Irish types, I'm an Aussie really. The silliest thing, which you may be able to incorporate, is that the Chief- who appeares to be Gjon Kastrioti- was the father of Skanderbeg, who was christened as Gjerg Kastrioti, before being sent as a hostage to the Ottomans, who called him Iskander Beg, or Lord Alexander, after Alexander the Great. Later he revolted against the Turks (1443), united the various clans and nobles of Albania, and led a feirce campaign against the Ottomans until his death in 1468. After his death the Ottomans took control slowly, until by 1478, they controlled everything.

Of course, Albania did not control a colonial empire then, so maybe you'll do better!
 
So the Chief is actually the father of Skanderbeg, but he doesn't know it - or he finds out too late! Wow, a great plot, I might include it in the next installment :)

Speaking of which, the story IS going to continue despite me having less and less time to play. There's no question what I will do next, but still, check it out in a few (2-3) days.

Unless the forum crashes down hard and all messages get deleted --> now that would get interesting :)
 
Originally posted by juszuf7

Unless the forum crashes down hard and all messages get deleted --> now that would get interesting :)
Click to expand...

That's why it's good to have your favorite ones downloaded into really long MS-Word documents! :p

Strangely, I couldn't get on these boards for the past few days, but I guess that was a common problem discussed elsewhere.

Looking forward to more updates...
 
:)

Sorry, I already wrote the first part of the story, but the writing is progressing really slowly (I've got a tough case of RL: job + swimming + girlfriend). I usually sit down in front of the computer, write half a page then go to sleep because I can't keep my eyes open.... Darnit, I haven't played EU2 for almost a week now! :(

But don't worry (be happy), the story will be finished sooner or later

Btw. I've read your story entirely, but I'm too tired to write a complete review of it :) I will do it, however, in one of these days...
 
I tried Albania once more. I fought simultaneous war with China and Castille. Looting Poland/Lithuania fueled my military expansion. Hungary was vassalized, Pest taken. Skanderberg conquered Mameluks, The Kaliphate, Timurid, Chigatai, China, Castille, then died half way through war with Aragon. Now at war with Austria for DoWing Hungary. I'll get Steiermark and vassalise Austria and burn up some troops conquering her new allies before settling down to peace to wait for discovery of the New World. And I was worried about Austria inheriting Hungary. What an empire I built. I think, I can get 70$ a month once I can get all the revolts down. BB will be 33 or 34 if I take Steiermark. I already had to fight off France over Napoli and the Ottomans wanted Alexandria. I fought them off simultaneously at a cost of 5% inflation. An exceptional year helped ease the inflation at 25% now. But with Catholic tech levels I'm not conerned much about inflation. 80K cavalry is ideal. I can support 34K.
 
Originally posted by ws2_32
I tried Albania once more. I fought simultaneous war with China and Castille. Looting Poland/Lithuania fueled my military expansion. Hungary was vassalized, Pest taken. Skanderberg conquered Mameluks, The Kaliphate, Timurid, Chigatai, China, Castille, then died half way through war with Aragon. Now at war with Austria for DoWing Hungary. I'll get Steiermark and vassalise Austria and burn up some troops conquering her new allies before settling down to peace to wait for discovery of the New World. And I was worried about Austria inheriting Hungary. What an empire I built. I think, I can get 70$ a month once I can get all the revolts down. BB will be 33 or 34 if I take Steiermark. I already had to fight off France over Napoli and the Ottomans wanted Alexandria. I fought them off simultaneously at a cost of 5% inflation. An exceptional year helped ease the inflation at 25% now. But with Catholic tech levels I'm not conerned much about inflation. 80K cavalry is ideal. I can support 34K.
Click to expand...

Wow! This is an amazing accmplishment. Albania warring with China is impressive, and it sounds like you took on the best Europe had to offer.

However, no matter how glorious your accomplishments, you did it free of one important obstacle: the military "guidance" of The Chief! :D

I love this guy! Can you get any better than this?

"My good people, why are you angry?"
"Booo!"
"My good people, could you form one opinion so that I would understand your needs?"
"Booo!"
"No use... Captain, order your troops to attack"
Click to expand...
 
Installment

Oh cool! I can finally post the next installment. I have not finished it yet, but I'm near to catch up where I left off with the game. The night is young, and so are we, so let's waste it on writing the story :)

I guess a lot of people aren't going to visit the AAR forum in the next couple of weeks because of playing HoI, but that won't spoil the mood for me. At least not now :)

ws2_32: I can't believe it! I just can't! :) I know you could probably present me with a map but I'm not sure if I would believe it even then! How did you manage to defeat Hungary? And get all the way to China? And have a 70$/month economy? This is incredible, I know you gave a lot of advices but it's not clear to me how you manage to use them... OK, enough of my amaizement! :) When you get to the end of the story and see how I played (if you're still reading that is :)) you'll see why am I amaized...

heagarty: That one you quoted was an instant product of my sick mind :) I find that people like stuff like that more than what I plan carefuly to write. For example, if I write a long plot then people usually don't notice it... Oh well :)
 
My Poor Attempt To Introduce A New Stereotype Character In Order To Prevent the Story Becoming Monotonous
- with appologies to sailors -

It was a dark and cloudy dawn at the shores of the capital Durres. A couple of navymen carried out a middle sized box from a ship that was covered with seaweed, and a few hundred poisonous darts. The navymen grumbled.
"Thank God we're finally going to get rid of this damned turkey!"
"I wish the captain allowed us to eat it when the crew was starving"
"I saw my good friend Jimmy die in front of me! His portion of food was given to this damned bird!"
"Well I hope the chief will do with it what I would do"
"Yeah, the chief is a good man"
One of the sailors yelled at the box, with anger and excitement.
"You hear that Polly!? You're gonna be dog food! Harharhaaar!!!"
From the box, a voice was heard.
"Polly sleeps with your mama! Polly sleeps with your mama! Qraa!"
"Let's dump the box into the ocean!"
"Don't be a fool, boy! The captain will skin you alive"
"Just like he did to Jimmy"
"Wait a minute, Jimmy starved to death"
"Oh, I was thinking about that other Jimmy"
"What other Jimmy?"
"You know, the guy without...."
"The leg?"
"Nah, that was Jimmy. I'm talking about the guy without...."
"The skin?"
"Qraa! Polly thinks sailors are gay! Qraa!"

The chief exited from his time-shifting parallell universe, and entered his throne room. Everything was quiet around him, which was weird, because he was kind of used to turning up in a room full of people. What was he doing in a dark room all alone? A servant came in.
"Sir, a couple of sailors are here to see you"
"Oh no, I've become gay!", thought the chief, and asked: "Um, what do they want?"
"Sir?"
The servant looked at him with a weird look. Like he was saying "You know what they are here for, you old prick. Shame on you, you're more than 80 years old and still look like you're 20, but you're acting like a 40 year old pervert"
The chief asked again: "Did they say what they want?"
"They said they brought you a present"
"From who?"
"Well you know..."
"No I don't know, servant! And you better start acting like a servant, and answer my every question clearly"
"Oh, well if that's how you think of me then fine!", said the servant. The chief noticed the servant's eyes became wet. "I quit!"

After the servant exited the room, the sailors came in, bringing in the box with them, cursing the box and the bird that was in it.
"Whoa whoa whoa, what's in the box, men?"
One of the sailors got the others quiet down, then stood straight and said:
"A present from His most exhaulted majesty, the chief of Dahomey!"
"The chief of what?"

At this moment the king remembered what he was "doing" in the past few months. Large sums of gold were sent to the chief of Dahomey, a county that bordered the province of Ivoria. After that a millitary access treaty was signed, and the 12.000 men army that was stationed in the African colony now had where to retreat in case of rebellion. The ruler of Dahomey was obviously so much fascinated with the gift that he sent a present of his own.
"All right, open the box and leave"
"Sir, if I may suggest something..."
"Speak out, soldier!"
"I'm not a soldier, chief. I am a crewman of a non-millitary trading ship, and I was recruited by the captain once when I was very drunk. That was when my life changed, for the worse. First our captain got this weird idea to go to Ivoria to trade some of our home-made mushrooms with the natives. It took us more than a year to get to that wreched place...."
"Has this story got a point?"
"Yes, chief. The trade center in Ivoria is covered with African traders, most of them trading slaves and elephant bones. God knows why would anyone want to buy elephant bones. Anyway, the captain went out with a couple of ambassadors to visit the king of Dahomey. The traders ran out of the ship excitedly, eager to trade the mushrooms. Me and the boys got a day off to visit the local sites, and I must say those dark women lost their mind when they saw us. I introduced myself to a young lady named Geisha, and after a few drinks we went to herplace...."
"I'm losing my patience!"
"Geisha told me that Skanderbeg visited the city a few days before his death"
"Yeah, so?"
"It was said that Skanderbeg looked like he was hopeless, and he visited the local holy man for an advice. The holy man told him that...."
"Qraa! Polly thinks this sucks!"
"What was that?", the chief got excited. "What's in that box?"
"It's a darn bird, chief. But let me finish the story"
"Ah, I'll die before you finish it! Open the box!"

From out of the box came a large African parrot, the size of a computer display. It was a huge bird with colored feather, large beak and a quite distinguishing fact that it had no tail.
"Qraa! Polly is free! Qraa!"
The bird tried to fly, but he obviously couldn't without a tail.
"Qraa! Genocidal sailors! Qraa!"
"What's the birds name?", asked the chief.
"It doesn't matter, it's a general pain in the..."
"Qraa! Polly sleeps with your mamma! Qraa!"
"See?"
"It has a sense of humor! Cool!"

Soon after the sailors left, Polly took over the position of chief advisor of the chief. On his recommendation the annoying sisters (!) of the chief were sent to the three countries of Europe that actually liked Albania: Wallachia, Ukraine and the Teutonic Order. In the meantime, a rebellion broke out in Ivoria over low-quality mushrooms,
and the imperial army, the victor of many battles and defender of the Empire lost the battle against a few peasants with sticks. The army started retreating back into the sea.
"Eeeew, this water is full of sea-weed! Captain, can't you do something?"
"OK men, listen here. We can retreat to the neighboring province owned by Dahomey. However, that province can support only one man out of seven"
"Aaargh, those rebels haven't seen the last of me"
Well actually they did, but the 8.000 men that survived the jungles of Dahomey successfully returned and defeated the rebels. Mushrooms were put back into the market, and the order was restored. During this time, the king of Albania was having fun with his new pet.

"So tell me Polly, is it true that parrots get to live up to 1000 years?"
"Qraa! Yeah sure, chief! Polly already has 600 years!"
"Wow, 600 years!"
"Qraa! Polly once lived under the Romans. My master was senator Casius"
"Wait a minute! The Romans were already extinc 600 years ago"
"Qraa! Polly wants a cracker"
"What's a cracker?"
"Qraa! Stupid chief!"
"You're telling me that crackers existed under the Romans?"
...
"What, you're not saying anything?"
A servant came in.
"Chief, you're talking to the parrot again?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well you know parrots can't think. They're just repeating words they've heard"
"Not true! Polly, tell him that he's wrong!"
"Qraa! Polly want a cracker!"
"Enough with those crackers! Tell this servant that you and I can communicate like two normal human beings, or I might lose the reputation amongs the people"
"Qraa!"
"Don't worry chief, I believe you that you can talk to the parrot", said the servant and rushed out of the room. The chief looked at the bird.
"Why did you do that Polly?"
"Qraa! No conquest no cookies, chief! No conquest, no cookies, chief! Qraa!"
"Oh my God!", said the chief as the words spoken by Polly were not spoken by Polly.


Aha, you think you're up to something?!
"You come from out of nowhere" - Faith No More

It was a pleasant nightfall at this time of November 19, 1468. The warm winds reminded of late August, and the beginning of autumn, not the beginning of winter. The ground was dry, rain has not fallen for more than a week now. It was popular view that a great storm would arrive, and make a radical change in the weather, and shift the warm weather from warm to terribly cold, and produce one of the coldest winters of the century.

The chief was standing in his room. Since there were no glasses on the windows (it's the medieval ages, people!), the storm was fealt more and more in the room too. The warm wind gave a sense of security to the chief. It was needed for him now, as he was standing in front of the parrot that spoke the mystical words that he heard in his dreams.
"Are you the old man?", asked the chief.
"The old man?", asked the parrot. His voice has changed to somewhat more human, but it could be better described as nothing of this word.
"I had a dream once, it's nonsense"
"Dreams have their meaning, chief"
"I dreamed an old man that told the same words you just said: "No conquest, no cookies""
"And what do you think that means, chief?"
"I don't know"
"You're not the smartest nut this side of the forrest aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"How old are you, chief?"
"I can't count, but I know almost everyone I knew as a child grew old and died, while I still remain young"
"And don't you find this strange?"
"I guess. So, are you the old man from my dreams?"
"YES"

Titles take more space so this way the story will look longer
"One minute's here, one minute's there, and then you wave good-bye" - Faith No More

"Oh, and now you entered the body of a parrot?"
"Yes"
"Don't you think that's weird?"
"Errr.. Look, enough of this bullshit! You have done terribly in your assignment to conquer the world. You have done nothing the way we calculated"
"You?"
"Yes, we, people from the future controlling the past"
"Oh"
"Yeah, as it stands now, in the year 24.039 the planet you know as Earth will become the place where the Galactic Federation empties its toilets into. To prevent this from happenning, a few esteemed scientists, lead by... Wait a minute, why am I telling this to you, an uneducated Albanian noble? Look, you need to conquer the world and this parrot will guide you to it. It will travel through time with you, it will not grow old, and when you go off course we'll contact you through it. Besides that, the parrot knows quite a few anecdotes, but don't believe in all of 'em"

After saying that, the surrounding got blured and the chief skipped the storm that already got strong in the meantime. He turned up, along with Polly, in the year 1472.
 
And now that Polly has became a full member of the story, let's continue it, shall we

"Qraa! Polly can travel through time!"
The room was full of people. It was a celebration about a few cantonments being established. The man that was standing next to the chief, a skinny, short man looked at the chief.
"Quite a spirited chap, isn't he?"
"Err, yeah. Polly, stop speaking nonsense"
"Qraa! Polly sleeps with your mama!"
"Polly! Another word and I'll make soup out of you!"
"Genocidal chief! Genocidal chief! Qraa!"

The short man, named Schulz, turned out to be the foreign advisor of the chief, born in Holstein, who was in search of adventures and turned up at the court of Albania. He proved his skills immediately as he sought intrigues amongst European rulers. So it happenned that the people of Cologne declared their independence from Burgundy. The Burgundian king sought to kill Cologne as soon as possible, and asked his sole ally, Castile to join the fun. The Castilian king, however, has decided to dishonor his alliance, and instead join Aragon, Naples and Albania.
"So after finally convincing the guards that I was who I presented myself", Schulz was telling his story, "I was finally allowed into the courtroom of the Castilian king. At my surprise, the seat was taken by non other than a monkey"
"Now, you must not say things like that about our ally, Schulz!", said the chief.
"No, I mean it. A monkey, an animal was sitting on the throne. I turned to my attendant for an explanation, who said that I was looking at the ruler of Castile
'So, what does he do all day?', I asked.
'Oh, his majesty can do great tricks! Enrique IV, do the flaming monkey!'
At this moment, the monkey took a jar..."
The chief interrupted: "You're joking with me"
"Nah"
"I exchanged a few letters with Enrique. How can a monkey write?"
"Well, chief, the same way you can"
"I can't"
"Exactly"
"Qraa! Chief is stupid! Qraa!"
"Oh, and like you can write, huh Polly?"
"Qraa! Polly's former master, senator Casius was a very educated man. He had 10.000 slaves writing his thoughts each and every day"
"That doesn't make sense, Polly"
"Not to illiterates like you, chief! Qraa!"

The chief turned to the advisor.
"Now I see why the sailors that brought it to me ripped his tail off. Continue your story, advisor"
"With pleasure. The monkey took a jar from the table next to him, and turned it over his head. Obviously it was expecting something to leak from it, but when that didn't happen, the monkey became furious and started jumping around the room. Guards rushed in, and they've found a note in the jarrow, which said 'See ya later, suckers. Signed: Portugal' When hearing this, Enrique immediately ordered his royal marriage with Portugal broken, and war declared on the country"
"Did you put that note into the jarrow, Schulz?", asked the chief.
"Your highness, I'm shocked!"
"Oh, right, I should have figured you're not so clever"
"OK, if you must know, I DID put that note there"
"Sure you did"
"I DID! I swear!"
"Don't swear in my courtroom! This is a decent place, go and swear at the town square if you must"
"Your majesty, I was the one who put the note in the jar. You said you want a war with Portugal, so I have provided it for you. Now the nobles will feel we have to honour our alliance and help Castile, and they won't make unrest"
"Qraa! Liar liar! Qraa!"
"Shut up Polly!", yelled the advisor.
"Don't talk to the bird"

The chief got into time shifting along with his bird. Where he turned up was unfamiliar to him. The air was hot, and the scenery was desert-like. A couple of men were standing around him.
"Qraa! Polly doesn't like time traveling"
"What is this place, Polly?"
"Qraa! It looks like my former masters, senator Casius' rope farm"
"Wait a minute! Wasn't Casius living in Ivoria?"
"So?"
"This place looks like a desert, and Ivoria is a jungle"
"Qraa! Who told you that?"
"Well I have heard reports...."
"Qraa! Polly saw it with his own eyes! Do you believe Polly's two eyes or the reports?"
"Ah, nevermind!", said the chief as his memory returned. The place he turned up was Portugal, or more precisely, the province of Granada. The chief decided to go and see his troops in action, so he sailed to Granada, evading the Portuguese fleets in the Mediterranean. Most of the enemy fleets were busy anyway with Aragonite and Castilian ships to fight, so it was not so dangerous.

"Okay Polly, check out how I will now pretend I care about my troops. You there, major!"
"Yes, chief!"
"Casualty report, now!"
"Yes, chief! We have lost about 2000 men in the past 8 months. Our allies losses are between 10 and 20 thousands. Almost every one of them starved to death"
"Well, who can blame them when their leaders send to provinces with low supplies"
"Qraa! And who can blame them they put themselves under the leadership of you, chief!"
"What are you trying to say? That it is my fault a few thousand men died?"
"No chief! But I can't realize how can someone be so stupid! They die in their thousands, and in the end it will be you who will get control of the province"
"Don't comment on our allies strategy! The situation is like this in every other Portuguese province, so it can't be that bad"


Another War

While the year 1472, and the beginning of 1473 was filled with images of dead Aragonese and Castilians, another story was developing in the background. The "Neverending War" between Ragusa and Ak Koyunlu has ended, with both players signing a white peace treaty. The people of Ragusa, enraged because victory hasn't been archieved, and that their markers were flooded with Albanian mushrooms, broke out in revolt and requested attendance at the Ragusan king. The problem was that, unfortunately, Ragusa was a republic, and since there was no one person to throw their anger at, they decided to declare war on the neighboring Albania.

The war went on quite fast. A few tens of thousands of Ragusan soldiers crossed the border, defeated the 317 Albanians defending Bulgaria and laid siege to the fortress there. The chief received the news shortly after the capture of Algarve from Portugal in 1475.
"Chief, we don't know what to do! There are 540 ducats in the treasury, but we can't really decide what to do with it"
"Ah, yes! That is why I am the king, and you're but a loyal servant"
"Qraa! Chief is full of it!"
"Don't tarnish my authority, you beast! Now tell me, did you try to sign a status quo with Ragusa?"
"What status?"
"Status quo! That means white peace you imbecile!"
"Qraa! Actually it means..."
"Silence!"
"My former master, senator Casius..."
"Shut up, Polly!", said the chief and turned to the messenger again: "Look, did the Ragusans ask for anything in return for peace?"
"Yeah, they said they want Bulgaria, but we answered it's our national territory, so we can't give it to them"
"And what did they do?"
"Captured the capital city"
"Oh"
"Yeah, that's why I'm here right now. They looted the royal castle, and now I have no place to live"
"OK, tell them we accept their peace prosposal and give up on Bulgaria. Hell, it only connects Rumelia to the rest of the Empire, we can do without it, eh?!"
"Yes chief!"
"Also take Polly with you. He's distracting me from the millitary operations, and is generally a pain in the ass"
"Thank you, chief"
"Qraa! Genocidal chief! Qraa!"

Ragusa got what they wanted, and a few days after peace was concluded they declared war on the Ottomans. The frustrated people just couldn't get rid of their anger in one war, so they had to fight another one. This kind of suicidal warmongering would eventually lead them to becoming vassals of Venice, but that is another story.

The ship that was carrying Polly home came under attack in the meantime, and the crew had to abandon ship. The survivors landed in the Knight's province of Antalya, on the south of Asia Minor. When they got themselves together and counted the survivors, a large horde of cavalrymen approached them, all dressed in black and red. The captain of the ship came out to greet them.
"Hail! We are the survivors of the Imperial ship of Flying Scotsman. We know we're tresspassing, but..."
"Silence!", a large bearded man sitting on top of a horse roared: "We don't care who you are! Put down your weapons and surrended yourself, or you'll get slaughtered right on this spot!"
"But you are the Knights, how can you do this to fellow Catholics?"
"Knights? Ha ha ha! We're the Rebel Scum! And you are now our slaves!"
"Qraa! Genocidal rebels! Qraa!"

The huge man looked at the direction where the voice was coming from, and saw Polly sitting on a stick. The sight of a giant parrot made the rebel shiver.
"What.. What the hell is that?"
"Huh? That's Polly..."
"Polly the Undying Parrot!", the large man jumped from his horse and bowed to the ground. The rest of the horsemen did the same.
"Forgive us Polly, we meant no disrespect!"
"Qraa! You're lucky my former master, senator Casius isn't here, otherwise..."
"No, please don't tell lord Casius about our insolence! We'll do whatever you say"

And so it happenned that Polly joined the province of Antalya with the Empire. Officially it was described as "the freedom loving people joining their true Homeland", but that was far from truth. The legacy of senator Casius in this part of the world was still alive, even though nobody believed Polly before that such a man ever existed.
Anyway, joining Albania was a pretty dumb carrier move for the people of Antalya, since they happenned to be Muslims, while Albanian policies were set to exterminate their religion. It did not last long before the people decided: "Polly or Polly not, we can't stand it no more!" and rebelled again.

Antalya was lost to the Empire. And soon after also was the neighboring Smyrna. The rebels were encourraged by this so much that they marched on further into Anatolia, and after meeting no resistance they captured that Ottoman province. The capital in Thrace followed soon after
 
Speaking of rebellion....

The chief was observing the “imperial” army, a group of 1500 men marching in front of the other allied armies. The Albanians were happy because they’ve lost so few man, and got control of every Portuguese provinces; the allies were pissed off, but there was nothing they could do. The soldiers were singing the new hit song that has became popular in the recent years.

--- (Status Quo: In The Army Now) ---

A vacation in the foreign land
Uncle Chief does the best he can
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

Now you remember what the draft man said
Nothing to do all day but stay in bed
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

You'll be a hero of the local tribe
Nobody knows that you did not fight
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

Smiling faces on the Albanians
They managed to screw the alliance
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

Arrows flyin' over your head
If you wanna free meal get out of bed
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

Shots ring out in the dead of night
The sergeant drunk again and calls: "Stand up and fight!"
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

You've got your orders to loot the villages
And if there’s trouble just call the Castilians
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now
You're on holiday now
Oh oh you're on holiday now

Night is falling and you just can't see
Is this illusion or reality
You're very drunk now
Oh oh you're very drunk, very drunk now
You're in the army now
Oh oh you're in the army now

Oh oh you're in the army, in the Albanian army now

“That is so beautiful”, said the chief as he shed a drop of tear from his eyes, and turned to Schulz, “Did you hear that? They called me uncle Chief?”
“Great”
“You’re not thrilled?”
“Chief, it was you and I who wrote that song two years ago, and you insisted the ‘uncle’ part to be in it!”
“Well I’m sorry if I can’t remember anything!”
“Speaking of which: how old are you anyway, chief?”

Their conversation was interrupted by a messenger, galloping in on his horse.
“Chief! The heathens in Granada have revolted!”
Schulz immediately commented: “I told you your propaganda message sucked”
“No it didn’t suck! The people of Granada are just too spoiled and can’t handle a few years of looting and terror!”
“Well the other provinces did not revolt!”
“Yeah, they’re real men”
“Half of which are women”
“Whatever. Let’s deal with the situation first. You, messenger, my solution to the problem is: let’s do nothing about it, and leave it to the allies to solve it! Haha, after saying something this smart I have to get a drink!”, said the chief and left for the bar. The messenger asked Schulz what was the message the chief sent to the people of Granada.
“Prepare for extermination”
“Why would anyone say something like that?! He outha’ knew that it would upset the locals!”
“Yeah, but the chief is currently in this ‘I’m a dark overlord’ kind of phase, and he thinks it’s funny to scare people around...”
“Gees...”
“Yeah”
“So, you think I should tell him about this noble requesting aid?”
“Some noble is in trouble and requests the aide of the king?”
“Yeah, do you want to hear the story?”
“Tell me. As for the decision, I think it’s better if you just tell the guy he’s denied help. It’s a lot better than being lanced, which I think the chief would do now that he’s in his phase”

The story faded into the past as the chief traveled into the future. In the future, he was sitting at a table, with Polly on his shoulders, and Schulz next to him. The rest of the folks were unknown to the chief, so he had to wait until his memory returned. In the meantime, a tall man was standing on the opposite side, and speaking some unknown language.
“Well, this is obviously a peace negotiation with Portugal”, thought the chief, and he was right. When the tall man finished his speech, the man next to him, a translator, started speaking. Most of the speech was the usual rubbish about the need for eternal peace and complaints about the gardens ruined while looting the capital. Then the story got a little bit boring, as the translator started quoting the Bible, Thomas Aquinas, Aristotle, Julius Caesar, Santa Claus and the rest of the circus. The chief remembered what he was doing in the past few years, then he played a bit with his pocket knife, then quit because Schulz pushed him to keep attention, then he looked jealously at Polly who was sound asleep, and finally, when he couldn’t hold it, he farted large.

This happened just when the translator was explaining the idea of Thomas Aquinas why philosophy was the servant of theology, and caused the Portuguese to think their counterparts don’t respect the philosophy of the Catholic Church.
“My God, senhor! Is that what you think of a saint?”
“What saint?”
“Disgusting! You, senhor, are an undereducated ignoramus, a declassified bipedal, an audacious listener!”
“Huh?”
“I’d spit in your countenance if it was not below my dignity!”
The chief turned to Schulz, asking “What the hell is he talking about?” When Schulz showed he has no clue, the chief stood up.
“Look, moron! I want Oporto and Algarve! Now give it to me or I’ll tell Isabel y Fernando of Spain that you treated me bad!”

The peace deal was signed after that, and the war finally ended in 1479. During this time Albania gathered a lot of money from looting and trade tariffs taken from Portugal. Seeing that everything was going perfect, the king ordered a new army to be built to recover Smyrna and Antalya from rebel control.
“Ah yes, now I can go on a vacation”
“Qraa! Chief, you already spent ten years on the shores of Portugal”, Polly objected.
“Yeah, and I became so tired from watching the waves I need another ten years in the mountains”
“Qraa! You should better concentrate on world conquest!”
“Tell you what: YOU concentrate on world conquest, and I’m going to keep some sheep, just like my ancestors did!”
“Now you remembered your ancestors! And you haven’t been watching sheep for 60 years!”
“Doesn’t mean I forgot how it’s done”

And the king stepped outside his palace, and headed towards the hills. Somewhere in those wild forests live the members of his clan, and they should probably accept him back.
Word of the king abdicating quickly spread, and soon legends were being made.
“You know, Cathie, I heard he went to marry a nice girl and live his life in peace”
“Now where did you hear such nonsense, Marry? That man would never marry a common girl! He’s nobility, he needs someone with noble blood”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Cathie! Even nobles can fall in love”
“You’re not thinking again about that nutcase Qeku, aren’t you?”
“He’s not a nutcase!”
“Well he was eating with his legs!”
“It didn’t stop that beautiful girl falling in love with him”
“Marry, I think it was obvious she married him for his money!”
“Did not!”
“Girls, what are you fighting about?”, the priest interrupted.
“Hello father! We heard that the king is abdicating”
“Ah, yes! I bet he’s going to live a holy life in some monastery...”

The legends that surrounded the chief’s brief abdication fascinated the people of Hellas so much they decided to convert to Catholicism. This was good news for Polly, now running the country, because he had to face some Unhappy peasants.
“Boooo!”
“Captain, ask them what they want”
“People, what is it you want?”
“We want to know if there is a ruler of the country”
“Sure there is!”, the captain answered.
“Well we want to see him then, or we’ll go and start fires everywhere”
“This castle is made out of stone, friend”
“Then we’ll put the gates on fire!”
“Yeah! Booo!”, the crowd cheered. The captain turned to Polly: “Maybe you should talk to the people?”

Polly stepped out on the side of the wall.
“Qraa! My people, I am your current ruler!”
“Aaaah! A talking monster! We’re ruled by monsters”
The parrot turned to the captain: “They figured it out only now? What did they think the chief was?”
“Emperor of the world, Polly”
“Hah! My former master, senator Casius was a bigger hot shot than the chief will ever be!”

In the meantime, the crowd assembled again, and started throwing rocks.
“We want the chief back!”
“Captain, get rid of these people. We need colonists in Fernando Po anyway”

The bloodshead that followed scared the people of Anatolia, a province part of the Ottoman Empire.
“Oh no, they’re gonna kill us all!”
“What can we do about it?”
“Let’s join their realm before it’s too late!”

And so they did. And just like the people of Antalya, the people of Anatolia did not realize either that it’s not good being Muslim in Albania, but when they realized it was too late. Polly, on the other hand, was impressed by the amount of people willing to die in that province, as 8000 new men could be recruited from Anatolia alone. This increased the total manpower to 12.000. The scribes wrote down what Polly said when he heard the news: “I’m impressed! Qraa!”

The End of Summer Vacation
“We don’t want amenity, we want war” - Mao Ce-tung

Years have passed. Polly finished a lot of economic programs, lowered the inflation, built up the army, supressed a dozens of revolts in Anatolia, Antalya, Oporto and Ivoria. Schulz planted the seed of revolt in Bulgaria, which soon after declared its independence from Ragusa. He was very unhappy, however, when he saw Spain annex Aragon in 1490, and he decided to go back to Hannover. He desired peace, just like the chief did.

Speaking of which, nobody knew where the chief went 20 years ago. Some thought he died of old age, while other told stories about seeing him, walking in disguise among the common folk. The women thought it was romantic, the men thought it was wise, while the old folks remembered seeing the chief walking the streets even before he abdicated. More precisely, he was walking towards the bordels when he was drunk, but that is besides the point.

And because noone was expecting him, it was totally unexpected when he showed up at the castle one afternoon in 1492. The chief ignored the crowd, and went straight for the throne room, where he found Polly.
“Qraa! Chief, you’re back! How was your holliday!”
“It was crap! I skipped most of the time because of time traveling, and I want to speak to the old man from my dreams!”
“What am I, a walky-talky? Qraa!”
“The old man from the future told me I can communicate with him through you! I want to tell him I had enough of this nonsense, and that I want to live a normal life!”
...
“Qraa! Nothing happenned”
“Well can’t you make something happen?”
“I’m not a walky-talky, chief!”
“Damn it!”

It was not clear what had to be done. The chief could not return to his normal life, so perhaps it would be better if he did conquer the world. Maybe the people from the future will then leave him alone. While he was thinking at his table, a crowd came in his room.
“Whow! Look at him, he IS alive!”
“Yeah I am alive, what’s so funny about that?”
“Nothing chief, oh, may I call you chief?”
“That’s my name”
“Actually it’s your title, chief”
“Whatever. What do you want?”
“We are Muslims from Anatolia and we came here to see if it’s true what they say about you. That you are eternal”
“Yes I am, so what?”
“Then it means all our beliefs are wrong!”, the man shouted, and then started to cry. “My world is falling appart!”
“Of course they are wrong, stupid! There is only one Church, and that is the Catholic Church!”
“I though they were saying that only to repress us Muslims”, the man was wiping his tears, “But now I see it better! Thank you, chief”

And the people of Anatolia converted to the One True Faith.
 
How I played?

Just as I started playing I started bribing Dahomey for military access. I considered that sooner or later the rebels in Ivoria are going to defeat my 12.000 cavalry there, and it would be a shame for that army to disappear. So after I've got the military access, a rebellion broke out, my army lost the battle and withdrew to Dahomey. Sure that the province had a supply limit of only 2, but at least the army wasn't destroyed. I went back and defeated the rebels. This happened a few more times along the game...

Although I did not think that the 2nd war against Portugal would go so smooth, it actually did. I scrapped together the resources, built some 20.000 infantry and sent them to the Castilian-Portuguese border. I was thinking that 20.000 men aren't going to be enough, not without Skanderbeg, and then something interesting has happened.

Cologne declared its independence from somebody who was an ally with Castile. When war was declared on Cologne, Castile dishonored its alliance and joined mine. My armies were still standing on the Portuguese border, and I was considering if I should declare war or not, and that 2 stab hit would hurt me, and the BB points too - when suddenly Castile declared war on Portugal. OK, I don't get too excited over a game too often, but this time I was screaming "yahoo" :)

I split the 20.000 army to cover each province. It turned out that most of the Portuguese provinces had Small forts, and I could not besiege either of them. And then the 20.000 Castilian, 20.000 Aragonite etc. armies turned up, and they helped me capture all their provinces. Portugal was offering a peace deal, but I refused and looted them for another 5-6 years. I heard people saying that allies are no good for anything. If anything, that is totally not true! I had about 5000 men left on the peninsula, when suddenly a 15.000 rebel army popped up in Granada (Muslim). I was thinking, tough luck, when suddenly one of my allies comes and defeats them. This happened another 2-3 times.

Finally, when I had +4 war exhaustion on my Balkans' provinces I quit the war, gaining Oporto and Algarve. I had 450 ducats, my trade increased from 1.2 to 8.5 in the budget window (because of the Ivoria trade center). Look at the Income graph to see that, during the war, I also gained Portugal's trade tariffs, which were meant significant revenue.

Somewhere during this time Ragusa declared war on me. I had 2000 men defending that part of the world, so I handed Bulgaria over to them.

At this moment I started becoming very lucky. Antalya, a Muslim province defected to me from the Knights. First I let them take the province, then to take Smyrna, and finally the rebels went to Thrace to besiege the Ottoman capital. Well, I sent some 6000 soldiers to retrieve the provinces. A year later another rebellion - repeat. This was actually quite good, cause the Ottoman AI became confused, and it allowed the rebels to take their capital, Anatolia, and I've seen a few more provinces that they've lost. Also they were pushed back to Georgia.

The year was 1490 I think, and Aragon was a long standing vassal of Spain. And while I was collecting ducats for the Great War, the thing I feared of happened - Spain annexed Aragon (without the event). This was kind of good too, because Aragon did not get its chance to annex Naples, so I might try my luck and vassalize them myself?

At this moment another unexpected thing happened - Anatolia, the Muslim province with a conscription center defected to me. This increased my manpower from 4000 to 11.000! AND to finish the story while it's nice, an unexpected event converted Anatolia to Catholic!!!!!

Oh, and Bulgaria (liberated by my rebels from Antalya) declared their independence from Ragusa :)

I had 999 ducats, and a rebellion broke out in Antalya, so I quit the game. Quit while you're ahead! :)

So that was the game anyway. Talk about luck! :)

The reason why I quit the game was not only because I was very lucky, but also because I'm not sure if I should continue with the plan to have war against Spain. They now have all those islands, and they are considerably strong right now. Also, Spain managed to force-annex Navarre in 1489. So what do you think, is this still the right way? Or should I stand by my powerful ally? I think my strong alliance was one reason why I was attacked only by Ragusa, and not the Ottomans or any other strong country. Perhaps I should continue pillaging Portugal, taking her colonies and in the end, its capital? With the maps I could have wars in AFRICA, although I know it's a lot poorer than America. But still, Spain is my ALLY! They're not even going to take my colonies using the Treaty of Tordeillas, at least that is my experience. If you're allied with Spain, they won't take your colonies.

The relations between our two countries are +100. I could arrange a royal marriage now, but that would mean I'm not going to fight them. So, should I find another way, or should I continue preparing for war against Spain?

Also, check out the statistics, and especially look at my trade tech. Trade 3 will be discovered in 1718!!! :(

-----------------
And now, here are some STATISTICS:
Year: 1492, January
Stability: +3
Provinces: Albania, Rumelia, Thessaloniki, Hellas, Morea, Anatolia, Smyrna, Antalya, Oporto, Algavre, Ivoria
Trading posts: most of what Portugal owed in South America, and also a few in Africa, Madagascar and Indonesia.

------- Budget:
What tech,price, when will it be discovered
Land 13.286 1548
Naval 13.286 1607
Trade 33.064 1718 (!!!)
Infra 15.816 1584

Stability: 486 d/points
+26 budget (when on full slider)
+12 monarch
+6 religion
Stability is recovered in 10 months this way.

Treasury: +3.6 (with 0.20 inflation)

Inflation: 86%

------- Army:
Manpower: 14
Army support: 47.000
Total army: 22.537 (inf) and 3994 (cav)
Navy: 5 transport ships
Conscripition centres: Anatolia

-------- Technology
Land: 2
Naval: 2
Trade: 2
Infra: 2

-------- Religion
Catholic provinces: Albania, Morea, Anatolia, Oporto, Algavre
Orthodox provinces: Hellas, Thessaloniki, Smyrna, Rumelia
Muslim provinces: Antalya
Pagan provinces: Ivoria

The Catholics and the Orthodox are tolerated equally, the Muslims are not tolerated at all.

Pictures
Budget - http://www.icarusindie.com/juszuf7/albania/income_1492.jpg
Spain (1481) - http://www.icarusindie.com/juszuf7/albania/spain_1481.jpg
 
Juszuf,

Impressive, but my main piece of advice doesn't concern Spain. You have such large investments needed for trade improvements because of your inflation. I would concentrate all research on infrastructure until you reach level 5, or you'll have serious problems keeping up in tech later on. Being an Orthodox tech nation shouldn't be a problem, but inflation isn't a good thing to have in the long term.

As for Castille, its difficult to advise you what to do without knowing what their land tech is and what your BB is. If you can expand further before attacking them via a CB from them taking a separate peace or dishonouring your alliance, then I would have thought you should do it. If they are nearly at the the ramp in land tech from level 4 to level 11, then you should probably attack very soon, or hold off until you are much stronger.

Good luck, whichever path you go for.
 
Spain is at tech 4-5 I think, and my BB points are around 20, although I didn't check (but I didn't conquer anything either)

So I should probably not attack Spain? I was thinking - the Spanish will not take my colonies if I'm their ally. I could easily eliminate the Portuguese, take their colonies and the CoT in Tago, then I could colonize for another 100 years (expensive)... I guess infra5 would be reached around 1650? I would still need around 100 provinces where I would put the governors... OK, I can take out the American nations if I get lucky and get an explorer. After conquering them, I could attack the Africans, and take them out too. I know about the coast of China, so those two CoTs are within my reach too. And then I guess i would be strong enough for the BB wars...

Well, I will start the game this evening. If someone has a better proposal them tell me until then, otherwise wait and see how I played
 
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