Originally asked about tabbing out of the EU-3 loading screen here, but it quickly became all about Portugal, which I am trying to play well. Got all the DLCs and trying to build a colonial empire.
My problem is Castille, they keep DOWing me in my playthroughs, usually rather late, though recently, before 1450. They often give no Casus Belli, we have Royal Marriage and I even grant them Military Access, yet once the relationship sours, they DOW me, I saw them drop from +3 to -3 stability. Any idea why? Or any idea how I keep my relationship high with them? Though I am not sure if they didn't DOW me once anyway...
I must confess, I kept my army very small, need all the money I can get for early colonial expansion to get as much as I can before other powers appear on the scene.
Other then that:
- I mint as much as I can without getting inflation, usually getting a Master of the Mint to get more money. As I said, I need all the cash I can to expand my colony. Though I guess I should forsake the Mint-Master until I really need him once colonialism is in full swing and at the start, rely on what centralization allows me to mint?
- Sliders, I open up with centralization, since you start with a decent general, but then I go Free Market, to boost my compete change. I guess I should expand my army at least such that I can handle the revolt from centralization?
- Ideas are National Trade Policy - Quest for the New World - Colonial Ventures - Patron of the Arts. Could I do better?
- Merchants, I do not send any merchants until I got National Trade Policy and at least two moves to Free Market. Otherwise, they just loose to the competition to fast. Once the above criteria are met, I try and if the merchants manage to stick, I quickly get five merchants in all worthwhile markets.
- I use an exploit to keep my Lisbon CoT running until the colonies boost its value enough to be stable.
- Army wise, I use 4 inf, 2 cav, later I would add 2 art. Small enough to be ferried around my colonies if needed, theoretically, for a big war, I would merge several of these into a bigger blob to fight the enemies main army if I can win, though so far, I didn't amass enough troops for that.
- Advisors, as said, I used to go for a Mint-Maser, but wonder if I should skip him until later. Other then that, I use surplus Magistrates to boost Cultural tradition to 100 (using also Tapestry and Heir introduction) to hire advisors for trade and government research early on. Later, I try to get one for extra trade efficiency, though these guys are only level 3 or 4 due to my lacking naval tradition.
- I skip West Africa, doesn't seem worth it. Instead, I take the Atlantic islands and go for the Caribbean and Brazil. The later has more historic flair, but the former seems more profitable. I will probably focus to grab as much as I can of it, though I am considering also going for South Africa - Indian Ocean - South East Asia.
Any advice would be appreciated.
My problem is Castille, they keep DOWing me in my playthroughs, usually rather late, though recently, before 1450. They often give no Casus Belli, we have Royal Marriage and I even grant them Military Access, yet once the relationship sours, they DOW me, I saw them drop from +3 to -3 stability. Any idea why? Or any idea how I keep my relationship high with them? Though I am not sure if they didn't DOW me once anyway...
I must confess, I kept my army very small, need all the money I can get for early colonial expansion to get as much as I can before other powers appear on the scene.
Other then that:
- I mint as much as I can without getting inflation, usually getting a Master of the Mint to get more money. As I said, I need all the cash I can to expand my colony. Though I guess I should forsake the Mint-Master until I really need him once colonialism is in full swing and at the start, rely on what centralization allows me to mint?
- Sliders, I open up with centralization, since you start with a decent general, but then I go Free Market, to boost my compete change. I guess I should expand my army at least such that I can handle the revolt from centralization?
- Ideas are National Trade Policy - Quest for the New World - Colonial Ventures - Patron of the Arts. Could I do better?
- Merchants, I do not send any merchants until I got National Trade Policy and at least two moves to Free Market. Otherwise, they just loose to the competition to fast. Once the above criteria are met, I try and if the merchants manage to stick, I quickly get five merchants in all worthwhile markets.
- I use an exploit to keep my Lisbon CoT running until the colonies boost its value enough to be stable.
- Army wise, I use 4 inf, 2 cav, later I would add 2 art. Small enough to be ferried around my colonies if needed, theoretically, for a big war, I would merge several of these into a bigger blob to fight the enemies main army if I can win, though so far, I didn't amass enough troops for that.
- Advisors, as said, I used to go for a Mint-Maser, but wonder if I should skip him until later. Other then that, I use surplus Magistrates to boost Cultural tradition to 100 (using also Tapestry and Heir introduction) to hire advisors for trade and government research early on. Later, I try to get one for extra trade efficiency, though these guys are only level 3 or 4 due to my lacking naval tradition.
- I skip West Africa, doesn't seem worth it. Instead, I take the Atlantic islands and go for the Caribbean and Brazil. The later has more historic flair, but the former seems more profitable. I will probably focus to grab as much as I can of it, though I am considering also going for South Africa - Indian Ocean - South East Asia.
Any advice would be appreciated.