Jman47's World Tour! Stop 1- Portugal! (A MMP2 Production)

[Jman47]

JMAN47'S WORLD TOUR​

So Here I am again entering the world of AAR's. Having recently gotten back into EU, and specifically, MMP2, after a long hiatus without a decent computer, I soon again felt the desire to chronicle my adventures for others to see, much as any writer naturally desires. While my computer is still far from optimal, and my Internet connection is tethered through my smartphone (convenient yet unreliable) I bravely venture back into the labyrinth of MMP2. Actually I also have HT3 and DW, yet keep a separate install folder for IN so I can continue to play MMP2, and go to DW when I feel like a break is needed. Either way as the eventual release of MMTG looms closer, I realise my time with MMP2 is shortening, yet I have barely had the time to really try all the mechanics, and have yet to even play a game outside Europe. Therefore I felt a series of AAR's to rectify that would be a great way to stay interested and incorporate my desire to tell tales with my desire to play games. Anyway the World tour will take us through Europe, The Mideast, India, Asia, Japan, North Africa, Sub Sahara Africa, and Finally the New World, or at least as far as it gets until MMTG comes out. The style will be less storybook and more gameplay, and I will be trying to keep screens to a minimum, going for quality over quantity. On that note Photobucket wont let me crop my images how i want, so certain pics will have alot of useless backspace, until i figure it out I apologize for any annoyance it causes. Updates will vary from 1-5 a week depending on time, and each update will consist of a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 25 years, dependant on the amount of action in said update. The next Post will Start Our adventure with our First nation, Portugal! Enjoy!

 

[Jman47]

STOP 1 - PORTUGAL

So here we start as the humble nation of Portugal. A fitting start, Ubik, Magna Mundi's founder, is from Portugal. Portugal was the first to start the race to colonization with it's forays around Africa into India. Not to mention Portugal colonized Brazil, which is a modern day first in beautiful women!
Randy 22 year old man comments aside, Portugal is a fine nation to start with. Our advantages are that we are ahead of the game in colonization, already with a few small colonies, and well positioned to get more. We also Have only one European neighbor who is easy to please, so we can stay as removed from European Politics as we desire, and jump in at our own discretion. A strong navy with a good tradition gives us a solid wooden wall, and we have a CoT in our capitol. Finally all of the colonization routes are open to us, though practically sticking to 2 or 3 is the best option.
However not all is well. We currently Have a small foothold in North Africa, yet are currently poorly positioned to defend it. It also is non cored, and wrong religion! we have 2 colonies to upkeep, eating at our treasury, and Our King is Marginal at best. Luckily we have a good cabinet however, and start with both a strong admiral and general.

Obviously the first thing to do is define my goals for this Game. I will be taking a somewhat Historical opening playstyle, yet hopefully We wont become irrelevant as Portugal did in the long run this time around. Ill Break my goals down by century to make them easier to organize.

1453-1499
1. Finish growing my colonies I start with, and start the exploration to India, hopefully finishing with the conquest of Gao.
2. Deal with Morocco, taking Tangiers, Infi, and Sus (gold province!).
3. Colonize Rio De Oro to connect my west African possessions, and Fernando Po.
4. Defeat Swahili and Mutapa taking valuable gold silver and gem provinces.
5. Start the exploration to Brazil, colonize if reached.
6. Move sliders toward Market Economy, centralization.

1500-1599
1. Colonize Brazil
2. Colonize South Africa, Madagascar.
3. Take Inca exploration route if still available.
4. Providing above, begin to conquer Inca.
5. Conquer Ceylon, parts of Arabia.
6. Move sliders toward Free subjects, Aristocracy, tradition.
7. Try to convert wrong religion provinces.

1600-1699
1. Finish Incas if applicable
2. Colonize rest of south america/good parts of africa left.
3. Establish Foothold in east indies, china.
4. Continue Converting.
5. Move sliders toward quality, defensive. try to keep sliders within balanced policies.
6. Begin to establish dominance in the Mediterranean over Italy, North Africa Muslims, and the Ottomans by taking Key Islands and areas, then using diplomacy, espionage, and other forms of 'soft power' along with force, to gain and maintain dominance.

1700-1821
1. Colonize Pacific, Australia, Maintain and project trading power throughout the globe.
2. Maintain and Project power in the Mediterranean, end Berber Piracy for good.
3. Finish converting all wrong religion provinces, Stay Catholic the whole game. (Duh)
4. Hold onto colonial possessions against revolutions, at ALL costs.
5. Finish game first in income, First in trade income, with the largest Navy in the world.
6. Colonize/Conquer Los Angeles. (LA Pride!)

With my goals set, we can begin our journey. I start by setting my treasury and tech sliders. I mint 3 ducats a month making inflation rise at .1/year, and put the rest in stability. I also send 1 merchant to Lisboa, to hopefully make five, and set the priority to maximum.

Next I survey My forces. One 5000 man army consisting of 1000 horse and 4000 foot, sitting in my capitol. Aptly named Guarda Real, or Royal Guard. I leave them alone for now. My navy is much Larger, Consisting of 11 Big ships, 9 small ones, and 10 transports. I split them into 2 forces. The Armada Real, or Royal Armada, will consist of the big and small ships. The Armada Transporta will consist of my 10 transports. (I'm sure that's not how transport is said in Portuguese, but cut me slack I like a little flavor). I order them to Algarve for now, to arrive when I unpause.
Finally I make my first slider move, towards Market Economy, and get a great outcome!

In MM, This Surely won't Last​

And with that I end the Update. Next time around we will unpause, and hopefully get through until 1460!

 

[Urza]

Hi there. An excellent idea for an AAR (series), and I compliment your choice of MMP2. Looking much forward to see how you will fare.

Regarding Portugal, it so happens that I'm playing them in MMP2 at the moment as well. Your goals for the time until 1700 are very optimistic. Don't expect to reach all of them. Especially I would advise you to not go for Morocco early, as they will be very hard to defeat and the provinces (except Sus) would be almost worthless for you.

Good luck!

 

[poloport]

Me Gusta Portugal AARs

 

[Jman47]

Urza- Thank you! Ive actually played a bit of portugal as well, and defeating morocco requires both skill and a little luck. we shall see what happens soon enough.

PoloPort- Your in the right place then! Thanks for following

Update within 30 mins folks, stay tuned.

 

[Jman47]

Update 2
1453-1460​

The last moves I make before I unpause are to send RM offers to Castile and England, both of which are accepted. I also get my first mission, to Conquer Tangiers. This is why Morocco is an early target, If im gonna have to war with them, I might as well take any good provinces, and Sus being a gold province is very good. After the slew of usual MM game start events, the rest of the year goes pretty quietly. 5 merchants are in Lisboa, the colonies continue to grow, I send a RM offer to France which is accepted, and receive offers from Aragon and Navarra, both also accepted.
In 1454 I receive an unsuspected gift, an event which grows Arguin to a full colony, and sets relations with the natives at a very big positive.

not the actual event just the outcome. I also got the 'Major friendly native tribes' modifier.

With the Azores also growing, my upkeep is finished and my treasury gets a shot in the arm. To compensate I reduce minting to 2 ducats a month at .05/yr inflation. Arguin gets Ivory as a trade good, certainly nice, but I would have preferred gems....

At least It's still referred to as 'white gold'

In may the usual adviser fair happens, so I pick a 4 star MoM, and a Statesman as well. The 2% census tax increase is nice, and the MoM lets me ratchet minting back up to 2.5 ducats for the same inflation rate. Because of the good economy, I build 2 new transports (reasons will be explained later), and enact 2 decisions, Remember the Navigator and the Alfonsine Ordinance. While the second reduces my stab, I already had hit 2 from the slider change so I was fine.

Getting my Colony on!

Increased production at expense of the nobles, I approve.

Henry the Navigator also gets his great Advisor event, notching stability back up to +2

Nobles cant cry now

Overall 1454 is a productive year, but such things never last in MM, as we will soon witness. 1455 starts out rather productive, With me reaching gov 8 and my first NI! I choose colonial ventures in order to get the bonus to colonists, which I will surely need to Out-colonize my foes. My plan is to colonize Rio de Oro next, in order to have a second front for morocco to worry about in our eventual conflict. I also take the spice route decision, which gives me the naval provisioning idea, and lets me start working towards India. I waited until my First NI opened up before taking it so I could choose, rather than having Naval Provisioning chosen for me. Because the second slot that Naval Provisioning occupies technically isn’t open yet, I’m not sure if I get the benefits right away. Maybe a MM team member could clear this up for me?

Working towards India, bypassing the muslims.

After that the S--- hits the fan. First I get a Non-enforcement of the ordinances event, and have to choose between losing my only 60 ducats or a slider move to decentralization. I choose to pay, and am forced to start minting, however a revolt in Ceuta requires me to ratchet up army maintenance, forcing a loan. Afterwards I can stop minting trying to avoid the loan, but I did utter a few expletives after that one. Piracy also starts to kick in, with Ribajento and Algarve getting uncontrolled and limited province defenses to go with it. Also Im informed that the Aristocrat faction has become influential, yet is still neutral. FYI to those not accustomed to MM, the Aristocrats thrive on keeping your nation backwards to maintain their power, weaken them at all costs. Finally Castile turns down 3 alliance offers only to offer me one at the end of the year themselves. Sometimes the way of the AI baffles me.
Its clear that the next 5 years im going to have to tread carefully so I can pay off that loan, so they were rather uneventful for me. In 1456 I hit 3 Stability, and switched to Naval tech. The piracy in Ribajento becomes controlled again, and the Admiralty faction is content with me. The only other thing I do is send a colonist to Rio de Oro, who fails to start a colony.

In 1457 I send another colonist to Rio de Oro, who also fails. My admiral dies, leaving me without one for the time being. I also get the first event in the Spice route chain, giving me knowledge of Timbuktu. RM's are entered with Savoy, Milan, and Thurigna.

In 1458 I realize with 3 stability I am able to raise very high taxes, therefore I decide to on all of my mainland provinces. A revolt in Porto ensues, which is quickly and easily put down. Word comes from other nations in Europe that a feast of the Pheasant has been called, to reclaim Jerusalem from the muslims. For some reason they thought tiny little Portugal would like to go through all that effort, but free cores mean nothing to the man who is in no position to claim them so I pass.

A nice Idea, But logistically a nightmare

The renaissance spreads to Portugal, and being a good catholic (or rather just wanting the pope to know i still love him despite that whole 'pious delusions' Jerusalem business) I decide the church must come first, over secular humanism.

Nice bonuses to come in every province

During this year the renaissance would also spread to Algarve. The Azores and Beira Littoral get uncontrolled piracy and resulting limited provincial defenses, and the Admiralty faction goes from content back to neutral. Finally in diplomatic news Ceuta gets the tentative acquiescence event, moving me closer to a core, and Novgorod DoW's and quickly annexes Pskov.

In 1459, the Renaissance spreads to Madiera. I reach naval tech 8, and switch over to trade tech. Sadly my 4 star MoM dies, and I only cab get a 2 star one to replace him, which I suppose is better than nothing. In other parts of the world, the starting war between the Ottomans and Hungary is concluded, with the status quo being the outcome. Hungary had nearly half their country occupied, but I'm sure that high attrition and weakened armies led to a flatter warscore and a favorable peace for Hungary.

Hungry is starving, but Turkey is bigger. strength verses desperation.

Finally Tver declared war on Yaroslavl, only to find out the joke was on them as Muscovy quickly declared them, and proceeded to cleanly occupy and annex them. Muscovy is clearly positioning for an eventual epic bout with Novgorod.

Finally we reach the last year of our update, 1460. The Renaissance continues to spread, this year hitting the Azores. The loan I never wanted to take comes up this year, and I am happy to repay it and be done with it. The extra money in my treasury not going to interest payments is helpful, as Uncontrolled Piracy spreads to Porto, Atjento, and Lisboa. Porto and Atjento get limited defenses to compensate, yet having a CoT makes Lisboa more susceptible to pirates, meaning I opt for extended Provincial defenses. I also get an event for excellent naval supplies, reducing the cost of building ships. The Pope dies this year, and with England in firm control of the curia it seems unlikely the next pope will do little else than support them. However the pope who is elected is known to be a pious man, therefore god can be praised. Finally on December 31st, 1460 Henry the Navigator dies. A great advisor, he will be sorely missed, and we will truly remember him as the founder of our colonial efforts.

A fitting way to end the update, Portugal has just recovered from 5 years of economic uncertainty, Will we be able to get a colonist to actually succeed in Rio de Oro? Will the great quest to find a spice route around Africa succeed? Will they be able to without the brilliant leadership of Henry the Navigator?
Will the interests of certain factions to humiliate Morocco be fulfilled, or will other opinions prevail? Answers to follow in our next update!

 

[poloport]

Hmmm... Magna mundi is really hard, and it seems that it's catching up to you... Still, you've done good progress and seem to be on the right track. Kudos

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Luckily, you got hit by this - rather mild - crises in the times of peace. Had you been warring Morocco...
It's unclear to me what your NIs are now. A pic?

 

[Jman47]

Poloport- It would seem, but we may see different this next update....

gabor- war and debt is not fun, I live in the US I know.

These are my current NI's. Portugal starts with Superior Seamanship, Merchant Adventures, and excellent shipwrights. I chose Colonial Ventures as my NI when I hit gov 8, and Naval Provisioning comes free with the spice route decision, yet I am unsure if i get the benefits since the slot is technically not open.

Update within the next two hours folks, just have to finish typing it up.

 

[Jman47]

Update 3
1461-1469​

The first issue to deal with is how to replace Henry the Navigator after his death. The advisor pool is pretty thin, but I manage to scrounge up a 1 star MoM. However after that my King dies, and the new one is a significant improvement-

Not shown is a Personal charm modifier, which practically makes him have 8 Dip as well.

Royal marriages are signed with Castile and England, and my new ruler's 8 adm rating bumps us back up to competent government. I also recruit 1 new unit of men at arms, and send another colonist to Rio de Oro, with still no luck. Finally I get medium intensity pirate raids in algarve.

1462 is an uneventful year, another colonist fails to stick in Rio de Oro (thats 4 now) and RM's are signed with France, Savoy, Bavaria, and Hesse. Madiera gets uncontrolled Piracy and a limited defense plan, Porto gets controlled Piracy.

Finally when 1463 rolls around a colonist finally succeeds in Rio de Oro. However right after that I get this event-

this does not bode well

I choose to move 1 step towards Aristocracy and get a Stab hit rather than going towards decentralization, and put my stability slider on max. Its going to take until 1467 to get max stability again, yeesh. Fortunately I get some good news, my explorers have managed to conquer cape Bojador, bringing me another step closer to India!

sadly the conquistador would only discover 1 province before dieing

The Renaissance spread to Beira Interior and Lisboa this year, and Arguin got uncontrolled piracy and limited defense measures, while Lisboa got rampant piracy, leading me to enact naval trade restrictions and a pirate hunter squad.

I’m sure you can tell by now that Piracy is becoming a major issue. One of the things I love about MM is how it forces you to really manage your state, and how that aspect doesn’t take a backseat to 'aggressive foreign policy' like in vanilla. At this point the piracy was starting to hurt a bit, and the Berber pirate raid effects were still dogging me, so I decided to take a calculated risk-

Oh no he DIDN'T!

By doing this I get a lump sum of much needed ducats, as well as some positive modifiers, and am much less likely (though not impervious) of being the victim of a Berber pirate attack. However if discovered Ill be up a creek without a paddle so to speak. Another thing I love about MM are decisions such as this, that really make you think, and have you running a cost-benefit analysis mental gymnastics in your head all game long.

Speaking of trouble 1464 brought plenty of it. As If wrangling pirates wasn’t enough, my aristocrats and clergy decide I'm doing a crappy job.

what do THEY know?

Later the same year they would both become furious, really hurting my income, and killing any ideas of religious conversion. And while the Berber pirate raid effects finally ended, I still had increases of piracy in Porto, a revolt to put down In Beira Interior, and my global piracy defenses were downgraded from adequate to inadequate. A land dispute in Arguin also led to a decline in native population.

If you don't use it you lose it...

I got my next slider move this year, opting to centralize to try and reduce the power of the grumbling Aristocracy, which likely only helped tip the scales to them becoming furious.

Take THAT! wait.....

The slider move also had the effect of killing my statesman, and a quick look through the adviser pool nets a 2-star MoM. I’m sure having 3 MoMs is a bit redundant, but there really isn’t anything more useful right now to pick up. Finally I do get a bit of good news-

Lets keep going....

The exploration to India is progressing nicely. I also reached production tech 8, yet my slider is still full on stability.

Remember the land dispute I briefly mentioned in 1464? well now in 1465, I get a new modifier in Arguin, from 'friendly major native tribes' to simply 'native tribes'. The dispute seems to have both decreased their welcoming attitude, however their numbers as well to offset it, making attacks from them still unlikely. With my yearly census tax, I decide it's time to get serious about the pirates, So I finally enact a limited national defense plan. This plan eats my naval forcelimits, yet links up all my existing provincial plans which will lead to a more cohesive defense from piracy. Combined with my clandestine support for the Berber pirates, this should manage to decrease piracy to levels where it doesn’t hurt as badly. Rio de Oro also managed to get the same integration event that Arguin did, giving me a bonus of 400 pop in the colony, and reducing native hostility. The increase in population led to me finding out what the province would produce, and the grand prize is- grain.

GRAIN!?!?

I have to admit I facepalmed when I saw that. As far as factional politics goes, the clergy calmed down a little and went back to disgruntled, and the commercial faction was content for all of 4 months before going neutral again, fickle traders. Speaking of politics, RM's were entered with Brunswick, Cleves, Wurrtenberg, Baden, and Thurigna. Finally Piracy hit rampant levels in Arguin, yet fortunatly I received the Adequate defenses modifier again, meaning things will hopefully calm down soon.

1466 saw us finally reach trade 8, with the slider still on stability. I got an offer to sponsor privateers but rejected it due to cost, and had to put down 2 revolts, a heretic one in Branganca, and a Berber one in Ceuta. The second required me to use my militarily inept monarch as a general, however he ended up getting 2 shock, and managed to put down the rebels without dieing, so he's a success in my book.
Finally my efforts against piracy started to bear fruit, as piracy became controlled in Atjento.

1467 saw the continued spread of the renaissance, to Branganca, Porto and Beira Littoral, which also got controlled piracy again. The piracy was also controlled in Algarve, yet rose to uncontrolled in Porto. My defenses are also notched up again to adequate, but with less negative modifiers. I reached land tech 8, but am still investing fully in stability, until the end of the year when I hit +3, then go back to investing in naval since all techs are even at 8. I get an event telling me native relations in Rio de Oro have been improved, leading to them having 0 hostility and the chance of an attack nil.I manage this year to recruit another Men at Arms, and the aristocrats finally calm down a bit to just being disgruntled, easing the burden on my tax rate. Remember how I told you I hated the aristocrat faction? They’re only happy if your nation is arse-backwards, and if their not, you get massive tax penalties.

Finally, due to my 'special' relationship with the Berber Pirates, I get an interesting offer-

Surely a good Idea?

Once again a demonstration of the brilliance of MM. Do I want the immediate ducats, with a penalty on several other factors for 5 years? Or do I want to turn them down? I choose once again to accept, I'm already kind of down the rabbit hole so to speak, and the modifiers wont hit me too hard, or will they?

They end up hurting me just a bit, as I am now over my naval forcelimit, while having only built 2 ships so far this entire game. Also Modena, that insignificant little Italian minor, gets attacked twice in 1468 and blames me for it. Well poo on them is all I say, they mean nothing anyway.
In the ongoing battle against Pirates, this year Piracy is controlled in Lisboa and decreased in Arguin, yet goes to rampant levels in Porto, if not one than the other I suppose? I also hear that the peasants are obstructing the use of new agriculture techniques, so I force them to innovate.

Fools, this will make their miserable lives easier!

First the nobles, now their peasants, at least I have the traders and navy on my side, right? Turns out I'll need that navy because not too far after this happens-

NOW I've done it

France is the aggressor, so I have no problem stepping in, since it wont cause any stab loss. By the end of the year they are 100% blockaded by me and England, and with them occupying the only Mainland English province they border, the stalemate is on! I raise war taxes in December, and also manage to recruit a unit of Armored Knights. Finally I get more good exploration news-

Halfway there, livin' on a Prayer?

I no longer have a navigator, so perhaps a hiring fair will soon be in order. After all, 3 MoM's IS a little gamey right? Even if I got them the normal way and they aren’t all 6-star skill? It just doesn’t seem the MM spirit!

I use my wartaxes from 1468 to build Chartered Markets in Algarve in 1469. I also manage to enter RM's with Milan and Urbino, and Piracy becomes Nil in Lisboa. 1469 sees nothing else of real note happen, as the French-English war is still a dead stall. Around the world, Novgorod and Muscovy have already clashed, leading to a Muscovy victory that split Novgorod in 3 parts. The ottomans are official into the 'eating Egypt' part of their game, and in the HRE Austria as Emperor managed to push through a proposal for a Reich Court.

I think this is a fitting end to our update, as many important things have been established here. This update almost exclusively revolved around state management, and I do hope it wasn’t too boring. As you can clearly see, MM provides dynamic gameplay around managing your state. as seen by my continuing issues with piracy, and the multitude of options with which I could decrease it, as well as use it to my advantage. The factions are also giving me trouble, and dealing with the Aristocracy will certainly be a continuing issue going forward. Besides my major long term game goals, I think dealing with piracy and reigning in the power of the aristocrats will be other goals to pursue, and suggestions are welcome on both. I think I have yet to mention that I love feedback, suggestions, and constructive criticism on my gameplay, as well as the way I am structuring this AAR. If there is something in game you think I can be doing better, feel free to speak up, and the same if you have a suggestion for how I write this AAR. While I enjoy writing it, it is more important you enjoy reading it, so feel free to contribute your thoughts. I won't implement everybody's suggestions, but I love to hear them all and will give them all due thought and respectful consideration. Until next time, For Portugal!

 

[poloport]

Yarrr, ye be pirating away??

 

[Oxea]

Subscribed!

I myself am still playing through my Portugal game and I'm interested to see how this AAR pans out from an MMP2 perspective.

 

[Jman47]

Poloport- The Piracy is getting under control, but still has a place in this next update.

Oxea- Thank you! Are you playing DW? Portugal is much different in MM than in vanilla. For one- It doesn't colonize the entirety of north America!

Update 4
1470-1482​

Okay so remember how I said I would try to keep this AAR from becoming picture heavy? Well jokes on me as there are simply too many things going on that could use pics for me to keep them down. While I don't take pictures of everything (if I did each update would require 50+ pics) I find myself with enough of them to tell the story, but more than what I would preferred upon starting this project. However this is good for you, my reader, for 2 reasons. Firstly you get more yummy pics to digest, and as a reader myself I know I love me a few pictures. Secondly however it forces me to alternate my writing style. I feel that breaking things down by each year was a bit too blocky, and it certainly took a lot out of me to chronicle it like that, yet it seemed a bit stale and dry for my tastes, and I’m sure a few others as well. So this update I am going to experiment with a new style where I use the pics as a jumping off point into what was going on in-game. It may not happen chronologically, but I feel will be more fun to digest and easier to both read, and write. So with that said shall we begin?

Ok so to start out we got a couple cores this time around.

Everybody loves cores

Rio de Oro had grown to a full colony in 1471, and cored rather quickly 3 years later. Arguin cored in 1470, almost right when I started playing. Also to note was that the culture of both provinces became the Portuguese colonial culture 'Angolan'.

Rio de Oro got this too.

Finally I ended up building provincial forts in Rio de Oro, since it bordered Morocco and I was planning on some fighting going down soon.
So I’m sure you remember from last update that little war with France? Well I got an event for an offer of help from the Berber pirates, yet I decided against it since it would affect Provence, not France. I ended up wriggling out of this pointless and endless conflict by offering to give up my core on the Canaries, which I never planned to take anyway.

thanks but no thanks

Speaking of conflict I got dragged into 2 more wars this time around before I said enough.

Hoo Boy

The war with savoy ended with me peacing out for 25 ducats, being unable to wp with only a blockade, and after almost losing my main army in a siege on Nice. Speaking of which I eventually grew my army to 18000 this update, 12000 infantry and 6000 Cavalry. They were split between The Guarda Real, which is 8k/4k, and the Terco de Africa, which is 4k/2k. The original build I made with 2 cogs was to accommodate the Guarda Real with 12 divisions, since it brought me up to 12 cogs in my Armada Transporta fleet.
The war with Granada was much less dangerous, I tried to siege Gibraltar with the idea of taking it for myself, but Castile had a core and took it from under me in a peace deal, before I could even occupy it. Castile wasn’t finished however.

Seriously Castile WTF?

This time I dishonored unwilling to take a 5 stab hit. Morocco got dragged into this one as well however, more on that later. I Also got a call from England when Burgundy DoW'd them, but I dishonored as well. These acts killed my prestige but saved me from more WE, plus going to -2 stability. I ended up re-entering an alliance with Castile. However there was another reason for my refusal to continually enter the AI's pointless conflicts.

I hope Its worth it.

I decided to move my slider towards land to get balanced policies, and I paid dearly for that prize. WE climbed to 11 from this event. Besides the effects you see here, It also seems to have the hidden effect of upsetting all of the factions, because the Aristocrats and Clergy went to furious, and the Monarchists and Commercials went to disgruntled. All of these affects together killed my economy for a couple years till things calmed down, leading me to make a few more risky decisions to keep myself afloat, including-

A major risk

I had finally gotten the piracy problem under control, so this message didn't sit well with me. I immediately started another clandestine support plan for the Berber pirates to both fill my coffers and hopefully mitigate whatever increase in piracy was being alluded to. I almost never take the decision to support the pirates more than once unless I have good security measures in place (which I don’t), so this shows just how much I was hurting at this particular moment. Generally this is one of my weaknesses as a player, when things go haywire I react before I think.

Considering at this point I was praying to God for some help, I suppose religion could be touched on a bit. We had a pope die this time around, and the new one ended up being endorsed by Denmark.

We also had the beginning event for a church council, yet nothing else came of it this time around.

Finally I got a free slider move towards Tradition, thanks to this event.

In order to mitigate the increased RR from my high WE, I ended up hiring a High Judge as and adviser, and eventually got a Jewish Merchant as well. The Judge was useful keeping my RR down, however the real help came from an event likely triggered by my Jewish Merchant-

Apparently I'm now well connected

I gladly decided to lax the laws a bit since it provided the best benefits. Historically Jews were a very useful minority that often escaped persecution in even the most intolerant places of the world due to their great affect on the local economy. Sadly my next king wouldn’t see these benefits, despite being a great leader it appears he is also Hitler's great x50 Grandfather.

So much for the Jewish Merchant

Finally I got one more great event-

Swiss mercenaries to make Swiss cheese from my enemies!

I get a unit of MAA immediately for cheaper than it would have cost to recruit them? Yes Please! This brings my forces to a grand total of 13000 Infantry and 6000 Cavalry at update's end. I should Also mention I reached tech 9 in all fields this time around, and the next land tech brings Pikeman.

So your probably wondering If I am getting anywhere close to any of my goals. Well, we are getting closer, but aren’t where I'd like to be. I ended up losing the Jewish merchant due to the Anti-Judaism of the king, and replaced him with a knight commander of St. John. However I could really use a Navigator, as I still haven’t been able to get past the cape of good hope. To get one I would likely need a hiring fair, which would require +25 Prestige. That is a long way off due to my dishonored calls to arms. I think I was at -24 come the end of 1482. There is really only one immediate way to increase Prestige, and you guessed it, successful warmongering. Here is where events come to my favor for once.

After the second war with Granada (that I refused to join.) Castile took Almeria but wasn’t finished. Remember how I mentioned Morocco got dragged into that conflict? Yep, Castile has begun an invasion of Morocco, distracting them and making it the perfect chance for a dog-pile. Currently they are besieging Infi, and are being bounced by Morocco's only doomstack between Tangiers and Mellila. They also have most of Morocco already blockaded, meaning their WE is likely climbing fast.
I spent the remainder of 1482 preparing for war, as the time has come to take Tangiers and Sus, boosting my economy and my prestige and hopefully getting the ball rolling for greater things to come. Will my plan work? We'll find out next update!

 

[Oxea]

Yeah I've got the vanilla version, specifically EU3: Chronicles which in saying that, am unable to get both MMP2 or MMU because they're both not compatible with my game (so my friend says) which really sucks, was really keen on getting it after I finished my first game on vanilla which happens to be the Portugal one.

Aside from that, great update, MMP2 looks really good!

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Great read! I play Portugal whenever I feel like a more relaxed, colonial game. If I may comment and suggest...

I find Colonial Ventures an overkill, I'd've taken a NI helping battle your adm needs, especially as these are likely to rise as soon as you humble Marocco and get down to serious colonising.

Alliance with England can prove dangerous. Even when I remember to insult Scotland and Irish minors (to minimise the stab losses), England is a rather troublesome/useless ally, dragging into unwanted continental wars, and while at war you stop receivineg your colonisation (+0.? colonist) modifier. Castile, as soon as Granada is down (btw, I guess the second Castile's attack on Granada might've been scripted), is more reliable.

Supporting piracy may turn risky too. But from my experience it seems that even if 'Big Mess' makes you lose Castile/Spain as an ally, they're likely to be your best buddy soon.

Grain in Rio de Oro... Well, you wanted this prov for it's strategic value, didn't you?

High taxes in European provs is a good idea imo, but you'll have to station a force there to police the area (or/and give millitary access to your ally Castile). I'm still not sure if Marocco's worth the trouble. (Once while playing Portugal I got 'Italian ambitions' mission and I guaranteed Navarre... Aragon duly dowed Navarre and I got juicy (instantly cored) Sicily from them.)

 

[Jman47]

Wow, Ive come dangerously close to falling off the first page, I guess that means its time for an update!

REPLIES

Oxea- Thanks for your support! I may be able to help you get MMP2, ill pm you with details, as to keep this thread AAR specific.

Gabor- Great post! I love having another experienced MM player to gab with. (gab, get it LOL). I agree Colonial ventures may have been a bit of a boneheaded move. I was debating between it and Bureaucracy, and should have chosen the later, but chose the former for roleplaying reasons. this may be a gameplay AAR but I am far from a 'game maximizer' who seeks to make every decision based on a science of 'the perfect game'. The alliance with England is done, and I will not be renewing it. Castile has calmed down and will remain an ally with any luck, the second DOW was certainly by event due to there being no stab hit on their end. That is the risk with supporting Piracy, however I have ended up safe so far. Rio was a strategic move rather than an economic one, but c'mon, GRAIN?!?! even strategic provinces can have SOME economic value. An instantly cored Sicily would be nice this game, but I have never gotten the Italian ambition mission in MMP2. however in my vanilla games Sicily is always my target as an Iberian power for that particular mission, considering how it makes power projection across the Mediterranean easier. speaking of which that is one of my later goals, so sicily will likely play some role in this AAR eventually, no matter it's owner. (unless it stays with Spain).

AAR NEWS
Ok so a couple notes before I start the update. Firstly I think the world has yet to find a slower internet source than Photobucket.com. uploads take atrocious amounts of time and at least on my computer picures in this thread take forever to load. It may be the same for all of you, Im not sure but let me know if it is an issue. I am open to suggestions on other pic hosting sites if anybody has any, feel free to suggest. Secondly the quarterly AwAARds are in swing, so over the course of the month if you feel so inclined give me some props. I'm not one to ask/beg for votes, and I will be submitting my own ballot within a week or so, but if you feel Im worthy do check it out. I have seen many other AARs i could name as worthy, and my ballot will reflect that. Anyway without further ado i provide you with the update, and the end to my shameless advertising/rambling!

Update 5
1483-1488​

When we last left off it was the start of the year 1483, and war with Morocco was prepared. I promised war this update and believe me, this was a war worthy of delivering. So why don’t we start with a picture of my victim (AHHEMMM... Target), and an outline of my strategy.

The target

I have two armies. The 4/8/0 (cav/inf/art) 12k Guarda Real (abbreviated henceforth as GR) sits in Ceuta, and the 2/4/0 6k Terco de Africa (abbreviated henceforth as TDA) sits in Rio de Oro (henceforth known as Rio). I have two generals. My king, who is 1/0/3/0 (fire/shock/man/seige) leads the larger GR due to maneuver reducing attrition from the large army, and my general who is 0/1/0/1, sits in the southern TDA due to having a point of seige and sus having a lvl 3 fort. My original plan is to siege and take Ceuta and Sus quicky, let Castile do the rest, and take the two provinces I want. Things will not turn out so simple.
On Feb 9th 1483 I send my DoW, Tunisia jumps in and this is the overview-

The first thing I notice is the WE. Blockades are definitely having an effect on Morocco, and it originally looks like this will be a cakewalk. But MM always finds a way to surprise, and the first battle of the war is not promising.

The good news is it raised Morocco's WE another 3 whole points, and took a good chunk from their army. WE affects replenishment, so this is good news. Over 1484 however things go south. Firstly that original loss leads to Ceuta being under siege, and Castile takes Infi, triggering the infamous North African Mass Recruitment events. Morocco instantly gets 20-30k free troops, jumping their war capacity 50 points, and scaring Castile into a WP. At this point I’m in this alone, outnumbered by 20k easy, and by mid 1484, Ceuta and Rio are both under siege, with both of my armies stuck back in Portugal replenishing. It is at this low point that I get this event, which is great but a bit untimely.

So I no longer need a navigator, But I'm currently so busy fighting I can hardly care. However I do still have 2 advantages in this conflict- a full blockade, and dumb as nails AI. You see, the event that gives North Africa countries 30k+ troops is great at keeping the AI Castile and Portugal from overrunning them, but in the hands of a human It is easily overcome, due to the fact that Morocco, after expelling my troops from the continent, proceeds to park a 35k army in Rio to siege, and in a matter of months is whittled down by attrition to numbers that make Mantua look scary. Meanwhile my armies have greatly replenished in Portugal, leading to this series of events.

The army besieging Ceuta is defeated and eventually destroyed, and with no real forces left in the north, Tangiers is easily overrun, falling in 1485. Rio fell to Morocco's free doomstack, yet was liberated since said doomstack was so riddled by attrition it was cannon fodder for our armies. Eventually Rio was retaken, and Infi was besieged next. I should also mention that at this point Morroco was at -3 stability and had WE north of 20, making them nothing but a paper tiger, if even that at this point.
However all good things come at a price. After transferring my northern army south to besiege Sus, tragedy struck.

Damn

My new King certainly isn’t a slouch. The High ADM keeps AE in safe ranges, and his MIL makes him end up a decent general, pulling 1-2-1-1 general stats. To be fair I wasn’t too fond of our last King anyway, but he did a decent job for what he was meant to do.
During the war, undoubtedly due to my discoveries, I get a couple colonization/new world events.

The second one I misunderstood thinking Sweden and Castile had reached the new world and decided to appeal, only to realize Sweden was the papal controller, and the division was between me and Castile. Oops. Castile must already be in the new world somewhere, and I still haven’t gotten to India. We certainly are falling a bit behind schedule in this department.
Back to the war with Morocco, I got this event along the line-

I chose to hunt them due to not needing ducats nor the risk of being discovered. I also get more good news.

Closer to a Core

But then some bad news as well.

Untimely to say the least

I chose to make concessions considering any sort of converting is a century or so down the road, and less rebels are better considering both armies were busy besieging Infi and Sus. Oddly enough Morocco's remaining skeleton army came and finished them for me after whacking some of their own rebels, only to be unable to continue a siege due to having more important issues to deal with, namely-

The dogpile begins

At this point I knew the war was won and proceeded to tie up a few loose ends. I sent a portion of my navy to blockade Tunisia, and with them having joined against Algiers led to this-

Shortly after that another discovery event occurs, and I learn of the mystical Swahili and the coast of East Africa.

Finally in 1488, Infi and Sus fall within months of each other, and in November I am ready to talk peace.

I get every province I wanted, and none I don’t. Morocco is left with -3 stability, 25 WE, a war with Algiers they are doomed to lose, and with the loss of 2 of their best provinces, plus another mediocre one. They are no longer a legitimate threat to me, and what will hopefully be one of the more difficult wars to win this game has come to a completely successful outcome. The final two screens are of my new mission, and of a nice mopup event that will also trigger in my other 2 new provinces eventually.

and the bad mission streak begins

in the background Algiers continues to dominate.

With the end of the war also comes the end of this update. The next update will lead us into the new century, and after that will be a mini update concerning the state of the world 1500 years after the birth of Christ. Portugal is beginning to solidify her position among the great powers of the world and it would be a shame to miss, so stick around!

 

[St. Just]

Awesome AAR!

so you missed the division of the new world modifier? That's going to hurt a bit. Anway, I look forward to seeing what sort of crazyness the A.I.'s got up too.

 

[Urza]

Nicely pulled off, that war against Morocco. Sus is good and if you introduce very high taxes in the two Northern provinces (if you didn't already), you will even get some tax out of them. Although you will have to fear losing some AE once your ADM 8 ruler will have died.

How much are you trading?

 

[unmerged(90806)]

Well-played, exciting war. Persistence is the key. The spawns in North Africa help AI but you proved that for a player they're too clumsy a mechanic to be any hindrance. I wonder how Algiers will treat Morocco in the end.

You're extremely lucky with your 8ADM monarch. Pamper him and pray his reign will be long. I remember that even with 6ADM kings I quickly ended up with negative adm penalties.

I second Urza's interest in trade. Do your new holdings trade through Lisbon? How much is your trade affected by various modifiers? How much of your income do you get from trade. I remember that early on Portugal still relies heavily on taxes. And did you stop supporting piracy? (It takes a high DIP ruler to enact the decision, doesn't it?)

And one more question. don't you have problems with naval force limits? You didn't disband any ships and you took limited global measures, right? This could hurt.

Finally, are your new aquisitions colonies or not? (Once I played Knights and was surprised to learn that the game treated Castellon as colony!?)

 

[NACBEAST]

I would've gone for Brazil first myself, as Portugal is basically the only colonial power that can head to the east for a good long while, but that point has already passed us by a long mile.

Great work on beating up Morocco. While persistence is indeed the key when it comes to these AI type events, Lord knows they're terribly annoying and can even completely derail a war effort, even if it starts off on a strong footing.

Good luck and keep up the good work.