Beginning Strategy for Castile World Conquest + True Faith

[ElGranCapitan]

Holland is a better Capital than anything in Iberia, it's high dev and in argueably the best trade node. You shouldn't move your capital as Castile, that's true. You won't control enough of the British isles to make the English Channel really worthwhile early in the game and forming Spain moves the Capital back (thus wasting your adm). But you should move it as Spain. You can form Spain 20 years before the revolts start, so you don't need to move it while being Castile.

Delaying forming Spain is bad. Sure it costs you a bit of total force limit, but Aragon is always a paper tiger. They don't have good National ideas for combat, they rarely pick any idea groops (90% of the time they go Religious->Trade) and they seem to fall behind in mil tech sometimes. Forming Spain not only makes their troops as good as yours but it makes yours even better (with the splendor ability)

Annexing the Netherlands works, but it's quite a lot of AE in a place where you don't want it. First it's one route of expansion (France->England->Scandinavia->Russia) and second it annoys the HRE (especially the electors). So if you want to become emperor avoiding unnecessary wars there is helpful.

 

[Dominion]

Depends on how the Netherlands spawn and which nation you play.

As France I can have an OPM Netherlands spawn and annex them before anyone joins the rebellion, making the whole situation a non-factor.

Leaving that one aside for a moment, AE can be a valid point, but the earliest they can spawn is 1550. By that point in the game you're already done with England and Scandinavia.
Russia doesn't create AE with HRE members. That one can be removed from the list.
It's safe to avoid taking Denmark and eating its subjects instead in case they really spawn on Jan 1, 1550, but that's the only thing to be aware of.
London is the first thing you take after getting back your cores to make sure the maximum AE value is ticking down to prevent any actual coalition later on.
You're going to use the Estate advisor for improved relations for most of the game. He's dirt cheap and improved relations is something you want in any game that starts close to the HRE.
Electors are usually your allies so you only get half AE with them anyways. You won't lose them over bad relations from taking the Netherlands.

I feel like it's fallen under the table, but I was genuinely asking (and have been for years now) why people move there and there hasn't been a valid reason other than "prevent revolts".

You're going to collect in Sevilla, Champagne and the English Channel, and your capital is sitting in either of those in all of the examples mentioned, so you're not saving a merchant.
You aren't going to a different continent, which is usually the reason why you move your capital.
You don't need to move your capital into the HRE because you're the Emperor.

I see nothing you could probably gain out of it aside from a single province being reduced to 0 LA.
And that's not a good enough reason to invest several hundred admin points.

EDIT: Not even mentioning that you can just change culture in those provinces.

 

[Lordkaiser]

Only Spain gets the -20% shock damage received splendor bonus

What is this about btw? I cant see any Shock damage in the national ideas of neither castile nor spain.
EDIT: ah, i see. something with Mandates of Heaven. Ages.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

You can't annex them if they don't exist.

Yes, after the event kicks where they pop up.

Preventing the event where they appear out of thin air with your land is the reason people put their capital there in the first place.

NED declares independence is still a trash event BTW. I really don't like these events that bypass game rules in unique/contrived ways. It inherently carries a message like "NED was more important than Marathi etc" but also is ahistorical in that it completely ignores causal situations.

 

[Lordkaiser]

So just to be very certain and not ruin my WC attempt:

I can ignore Netherlands, not change anything about my capital, and just conquer them later without that ruining my WC, right?

 

[Dominion]

Once they're fully annexed, rebel events are gone. So: Yes

 

[Viperswhip]

You don't get the rebels if you've culture flipped and have your capital there, easy to do. Also, I don't tend to hit the incorporate Aragon button until around 1700 or so, because they are a reliable attack dog. And by the time my capital gets moved to Spain, I own 100% of Genoa and move my trade capital there anyway.

It doesn't matter if the Netherlands exist and you are Flemish and have your capital in Holland, you get no rebels. I tend to conquer Gelre and such when I pass the last HRE reform and just steal all the trade from Lubeck with 100 trade ships in the meantime and push it to the English Channel, which I control. All the new world stuff gets sent to Seville and on to Genoa.

 

[Dominion]

Yes, all of this makes sense.

But you're still investing 200 admin points and get the exact same effect from simply annexing them. Which doesn't cost a minimum of 200 points and doesn't require you to invest into culture flipping.

 

[trojan1234]

Yes, thats it.

Btw: Do I have to hit certain landmarks for WC?
Like "in 1530 you have to have eaten half of France and half of Ottomans, otherwise it is not possible to achieve a WC" ? Or any such marks?

I made rough calculation based on 1.21 :

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum...ame-conquest-mostly-wc.1032208/#post-23010593

Look at the last post, you will find spreadsheet file. Edit absolutism and your rcc(25 non emperor or 35 emperor). The table will calculate how many dev can be cored in the end game, and you can estimate all old world dev around 21k and see if you are on time or behind.

 

[Lordkaiser]

My PU Minor Aragon makes no claims on Tunis ever. Everything else yes, my rivals, nations I declare hostile, but not Tunis. They dont even like Tunis. Why could that be?

 

[Viperswhip]

My PU Minor Aragon makes no claims on Tunis ever. Everything else yes, my rivals, nations I declare hostile, but not Tunis. They dont even like Tunis. Why could that be?

PUs really suck at making claims because you are their King, unlike Vassals who get a ruler of whatever type. Militaristic rulers will claim everything around them, admins will make them on same cultures/religion sometimes, and diplos will almost never fabricate claims. PUs though, like I said, don't get that, so they seem to never make claims.

Dominion, I will just cede to you, since I am not as familiar with the present patches and how this might have changed. I don't think you have to annex anyone since you just inherit it. If you are talking about Gelre and the other flemish/dutch countries, I am normally busy eating France and England at this time and I do not need the AE that comes from eating HRE provinces. I guess I could do it after I blob, I normally end up with 3 or 4 times the max army size of everyone else, if Ming explodes, so I easily ward off coalitions. You can take them, remove them from the HRE and then add them back when you become Emperor I suppose, but normally I leave the HRE alone until the reformation and protestants start showing up, and even then it's mostly just force converting the countries who spawned the center on their capital.

The culture flip is super easy to do, or at least I have found it so, but it does have an opportunity cost in terms of admin down the line v. the cost of coring these expensive provinces. If you wait until absolutism spawns you are likely to be swimming in rebels, and if you do it before, they are way more expensive than the culture flip and capital move, and also moving your capital changes your trade capital, which you absolutely want to do anyway. By the time you form Spain and get moved back, you will want your trade capital in Genoa anyway, so it's a bit of a wash and nothing that costs you anything.

Edit, I did realize I said I would cede to you and then typed a few paragraphs, anyway, I am done in this thread.

 

[Dominion]

My PU Minor Aragon makes no claims on Tunis ever. Everything else yes, my rivals, nations I declare hostile, but not Tunis. They dont even like Tunis. Why could that be?

Have you set them as provinces of interest?

And @Viperswhip there is nothing to concede. I'm honestly convinced I'm the guy eating straw while everyone else is eating steak here.

I can't see it, but I guess I never will. Apologies.

 

[Lordkaiser]

Have you set them as provinces of interest?

Yes, i have. They claim in France, they claim in Genoa, but they freakin' dont claim anything in Tunis.

 

[puddingkip]

The actual best start for Castile is restart until France doesn't rival you, declare into England asap and take Gascony and whatever other French land you can take + Pale. Attack one of the Irish minors allied to England to reset truce, then after 5 years attack England take the land needed to form England. Repeat until he is full annexed. Form England, take union on France mission. This has to be done before 1500 and England must have not had the "end of 100 years war" event, so basically should have had land in France until you annex him in last war. Might require you to fight France a bit, but you have time.

During truces you should eat Portugal, and try to force BI. Important you do this before the PU on France as it can't fire if France is a subject.

If you get coalitioned just release some of the Irish minors or Northumbria, Wales, Cornwall etc. But by 1500 you should have your start area, Portugal, England, Ireland and PU on Aragon, Naples and France.

Works on normal, not on Very Hard.

 

[ElGranCapitan]

My actual start varies a bit depending on who is friendly - one of Aragon, France, England and Burgundy is usually not a rival
Aragon is a restart
France ally them, attack England (cobelligerent Portugal), take CoT from portugal in a separate peace, give France Bordeaux, take Calais, release Gascony from Labourd only (so they can be diplo vassalized - if you take Bordeaux and Labourd France might break the Alliance, if you release Gascony with both cores they are too big. Make France happy (if they want more land give them anytthing except Normandy). From Calais fabricate on Burgundy and force the inheritance
England ally them, wait for the DoW from Burgundy on Provence that pulls France in. Declare on France, take Saintongue (or however that is spelled), poiteu (the fort nearby), one core of Gascony and them as much as AE permits (cut them in half ideally, they'll drown in rebels from the 2 wars)
Burgundy ally them, DoW France, same peace deal as above (except you can do the cutting in half by giving parts to Burgundy)
In the England or Burgundy case a France/Aragon alliance is a restart

Next steps are always ditch your ally, take Austria, force inheritance and conquer all of Gascony, get a Habsburg, make Electors love you, PU Austria to get elected, conquer Egypt (let Aragon fabricate on Tunis) before the Ottomans. Kill the ottomans with your huge army of spanish super soldiers

 

[Dominion]

Why are you giving Burgundy provinces?

 

[ElGranCapitan]

Cause I can call Austria against Burgundy with land promise so I can save my favors for trust (that's what I usually do with future PU subjects)

That -1000 modifier lasts for 30 years

 

[Lordkaiser]

release Gascony from Labourd only

You cant release Gascony from Labourd. I tried it in this run.

From Calais fabricate on Burgundy and force the inheritance

How do you force it?

make Electors love you, PU Austria to get elected,

In my case, the electors dont like Austria anymore. Dont know really why. They elect Brandenburg instead all the time. Will I still benefit from PUing them for being elected?

conquer Egypt (let Aragon fabricate on Tunis) before the Ottomans.

Theres my last question again.. Aragon doesnt make claims on Tunis. Dont know why.

 

[ElGranCapitan]

You cant release Gascony from Labourd. I tried it in this run.

You can, not "release as vassal" from the diplomacy tab..release in peace deal..That way they are independent, you diplo annex them after the Burgundy war when you are finished abusing France

How do you force it?

Go to war, fully occupy, wait

In my case, the electors dont like Austria anymore. Dont know really why. They elect Brandenburg instead all the time. Will I still benefit from PUing them for being elected?

No..the reason to get elected by PU is that the current Emperor gets a bonus based on his Imperial Authority on top of everything else. If you PU (or fully annex) the Emperor there is noone to reelect and thus noone with up to 50 extra reasons from having Imperial Authority. If your Emperor is Brandenburg you are out of luck

 

[Viperswhip]

You do get any province you give to Burgundy that's not in France itself when the Inheritance happens.