Castille: The European Bystander

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Hello all,

I'm venturing into a Castillian AAR! As Castille is a pretty standard country and probably wouldn't be too interesting on it's own, I've decided to play it a bit differently and give myself some unique goals.

Settings:

• DW 5.1
• Difficulty - Very Hard
• AI Aggressiveness - High
• Lucky Nations - Disabled
• Everything else is normal

House Rules and Personal Goals:

• No restarts. If I get into trouble, I have to find a way out of it.
• Permanent Alliance with Portugal. Let them handle American colonization while I protect their mainland holdings.
• Unite Spain ASAP
• No other conquering in Europe! Spain only.
• Have a minuscule role in European affairs. Let the continent play out on its own.
• Be a good Catholic. Convert all provinces and don't attack other Catholics. Except for Aragon.
• Set up naval stations all the way to India.... then conquer it.

Yep, I plan on sowing as much destruction as possible in Asia. My first priority will be to conquer India, and then (depending on my progression) have a final war with Ming/Manchu. My only ally, if feasible, shall be Portugal, who I will protect like a brother.

 

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Chapter One: 10 Years in 10 Minutes



First things first. Let's get our friend Portugal in an alliance that will hopefully span many centuries, and let's declare war on Granada, who will bring in their North African friends.

And a few months later...

Poor Granada. After an alliance victory in Tangiers, Morocco agrees to a white peace.



Two gifts arrived on the same day. I took Military Drill as my first National Idea; QFTNW will be my second.

Five years later... (I don't suppose we need details here)

Unfortunately the next mission I got was for North African conquest, so I cancelled that and got one much more aligned with my goals! Perfect.

Castille prefers the missionary position.




Now unfortunately during this time period, Navarra was called into a war against the French and they were annexed. This will be problematic in the future. It looks like Navarra will be the last province I acquire in Iberia.

It's time to take Aragon down a peg. Sadly their relationship with the Pope prevented Excommunication, so I must take the stability hit.

Aragon scarcely put up a better fight than Granada, and soon the country was painted Yellow (with a splotch of turqouise).

Aragon's peace offer and the current state of affairs in Iberia in 1409:

I apologize for being so swift here, but I didn't think the first decade merited much description because the scenarios are pretty common. I will get much more in depth as time advances and we plunge further into the heart of my goals.

 

[Sethanon]

You've set up some interesting goals there! I wonder in how much trouble Portugal is gonna drag u!

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

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Chapter Two: Rocky Road Friendship



The last land grab left me with a moderate sized BB, so the next ten years or so are spent doing a little infrastructure improvements while I burn the infamy. I build a few churches and an ever-important embassy, to help lose BB faster. This puts me at around -1.15 infamy loss.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. Soon my infamy evaporated and I had no more excuses not to continue my Iberian expansion (other than, you know, general good will and honor). To my annoyance I noticed Portugal had guaranteed Aragon. I wasn't worried though - they were busy helping England in a war against the Frence (surprise). Plus, Castille and Portugal are like pancakes and syrup. Cookies and cream. Peaches and herb. They just go together. I knew Portugal would have my back no matter wh-

Awh c'mon!




So much for our alliance, huh? Not to worry though; I could manage fighting a war with two fronts. However, Aragon was determined to make matters difficult.

I don't know how they got involved in an Irish war, but it means I now have to take that province in order to get the war score I need.




I stayed diligent on the Western front however, and after taking several provinces from my good Portuguese pals we were able to come to an agreement. Best part? I finally was able to break apart their alliance with England! I don't need my partner cheating on me behind my back, sticking his troops into foreign territory all the time.

After Portugal bowed out and I took Tyrone, Aragon bent the knee. I am now just one war away from annexation!

And,

The boys are back in town!









**Interesting to note: Apparently, everyone expects the Spanish Inquisition. In thirty years of constant missionary pressure both Gibraltar and Granada are still defiantly Sunni.

 

[Memento Mori]

Nice ideas for rules, kind of reminds me of my own current ones:

- Do not take any European provinces outside Iberia (Broken because of backstabbing, heretic and generally unpleasant Bearn, but that does not count )
- Do not take land in the Americas (Broken again because of heretic Brittish, but only in a temporary manner)
- Balkanise & vassalise Western Europe (currently on hold, waiting for Mega Mecklemburg to form Germany, for teh AI epicness)
- Never take QFTNW, and leave spread of discoveries at 200 years
- Conquer everything (African & Asian) from Gibraltar to the Pacific!

 

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Chapter Three: The Beast Lurks




All of Castille was in a state of giant, communal ecstacy, brought on by news of the victory over Aragon and the renewal of friendship with the Portuguese. Everyone was happy, and looking forward to a time of peace and prosperity. This humble authAAR himself was preparing for yet another time period of BB burning. However, two great surprises could be found in the tarot cards, and were great boons to Castille.
First, less than a year after the ceasefire, a major minting event happened that instantly took Castille's stability from +1 to +3.

This was a pleasant surprise, as I could go back to researching Government and Naval tech instead of stability. The good times weren't over yet though, because less than a year after that, another event triggered!

This was a godsend. In one moment it shaved off nearly six full years of infamy burning. This put me in a good position to possible annex Aragon as soon as the truce wore off. My infamy at that time would be around 4.
I prepared my armies for the quick Aragonese strike; I intended the war to last barely a month. I readied my diplomat for the declaration of war and...

Raaaaghhh! Portugal again! Sneaking little bastard! After all I've done for him! Whatever. A bit of recklessness took hold of me then and I sent that declaration anyway. This time though, Portugal did not honor the call! I was so proud; it was like watching a child's first independent steps. Or maybe it was more like seeing a dog who's been scared into a stupor because it's master beat it too much - I'm not sure - but I digress. I suppose the little teal country learned its lesson after the last war. It was only five years ago after all.




In 1436, Barcelona finally fell without a single casus belli used in the wars with Aragon. Not a very efficient way of doing things, but the job was done. All that's left to do is celebrate, wait for Spain cores, and get QFTNW!

Wait a moment, what's that little box behind the victory square? Let me pull it into the open and have a look at it.

Ah, right.

 

[PrawnStar]

Looks interesting but to stop France being a pain you might have to dabble in European affairs a little - force release and surrender cores should do the trick