Granada Advice pls

[unmerged(4444)]

Forum Search - "You do not have permission to access this page."

Is the forum search feature down? Whenever I click "search" or try to use the mini-search field at the bottom of the forum page, I am told "You do not have permission to access this page." I'm back playing my favorite game after a long computerless hiatus, and I wanted to search for threads offering advice on playing Granada (I keep getting my butt handed to me as that country). Can anyone help with either problem?
Thanks
Phil

 

[Jayavarman]

Read the announcement that has been at the top of the forum for two months...

 

[unmerged(4444)]

Gah! Sorry about that, there are always so many stickies I've gotten in the (bad) habit of ignoring them... So since search really is down, can you give me any Granada advice?
Phil

 

[Alexandru H.]

You have iberic culture, thus the conquest of the iberian states is in order...you also have latin tech (excellent) and a pretty nice starting position...I say, take Castille ASAP and Aragon...then settle in and wait for Portugal's exploration frenzy, until you can steal some good maps and play the colonization game

 

[Jayavarman]

How about loading up on loans and trying to strike quick against the Spaniards? or perhaps buying them off? Then again, bribery is only temporary.

 

[Castellon]

Title changed to reflect new topic.

 

[unmerged(4444)]

Of course I need to conquer Iberia, but it's easier said than done... I can beat Castille, Portugal, or Aragon by themselves (with some luck), but they inevitably ally against me and I can't take on more than one at once... the money just isn't there, and I always end up in a death-spiral of bankruptcy and (re)conquest... Even if i manage to avoid bankruptcy, the interest from the loans I'm forced to take out doom me to lag in tech, and once my enemies reach land 2 it's all over for me. I even bumped the difficulty down to "hard" but still no luck. I'm thinking my only hope is to take Toledo from Castille asap... maybe that will give me enough income to actually keep an army AND invest in tech.
Phil

 

[Garbon]

I've always found it useful to smash down Castile in the first war (taking many provinces in the peace deal). It requires a bit of maneuvering (like making sure your troops don't fight theirs head on), but so worth it as it saves you the headache later on.

 

[unmerged(18239)]

Indeed, dont fight them when they are strong, just move out and besiege yourself while they wear themselves down then turn around and smash them apart when they are battered and tired.

Another nice trick: when you see their troops assaulting your cities (later on in the game, tech 5) jjust crash in on them and you almost certainly win.

Learn to use the edit button, kurtbrian

 

[unmerged(4444)]

Ok, I'm getting really frustrated here. I had a much easier time with Byzantium for crying out loud. I've managed to win the first war with Castille ONCE out of more than a dozen restarts, and even then the effort ruined my economy, allowing the perpetual alliance of Castille, Portugal, and Aragon to crush me with their higher tech in the next war. As for avoiding the Castillan armies, it just can't be done... they're EVERYWHERE, and forget about attacking into those mountain provs; even a tiny force can keep me penned in until the main army arrives to wipe me out. Maybe the "problem" is Daywalker's ai... it's just too darn smart. I'll give it a few more tries, then give up and play Poland or somesuch.
Phil

 

[unmerged(4444)]

Well, it seems it was the AI after all. I tried again with standard AI and had a MUCH MUCH easier time of it, managing to take Murcia, Toledo, and Andalusia in peace on the first try, all with only one loan and less than 1% inflation. The major difference seemed to be that the Daywalker's Castille plowed most of its cash into troops while at war (just like a human) and actually seemed to mind that I was siegeing his provinces--in stark contrast with the stock AI Castille, which accumulated large amounts of cash (which he offered me every month) while only building a few troops here and there (proving the AI didn't simply fall asleep) and seldom bothering to try to break seiges. It really made a huge difference in terms of difficulty. Kudos to Daywaker for making an AI that can actually pose a challenge to a human player.
Phil