One Catholic and Apostolic Church ( Papal States with blob restriction)

[mackwolfe]

You're speeding towards unification faster than I had expected,

A bit too fast as it turns out. details in next chapter ( hint: it starts with the letters P and u and is not a personal union)

Also lucky you with that quite young 5/3/3 ruler, another blessed run it seems .

He had one flaw though. A bad trait giving -20% improved relation over time . He essentially cancels my Diplomat when it comes to AE dissipation .

 

[mackwolfe]

1510-1520: A misguided war

I ended the last chapter with the Italian peninsula south of the Po river unified under Roman control. ( It is eerie how my expansion mirrors that of ancient Rome, including forays into Albania, Sicily and Spain ) . But this rapid progress came at a steep price in manpower and aggressive expansion:

So I decide to take a break for a few years, while I improve relations with my northern neighbors, and work on diplo-vassalizing and annexing the north Italian OPMs I released previously ( Parma, Corsica, Modena, Mantua ) .

While waiting , news arrives of a second imperial reform, of Ottoman conquests in Syria and of Moroccan progress in Iberia.

I can't do anything about any of those things at this time, and they are all concerning . I am torn between helping Austria - they have been my most stalwart ally so far - , and the fear that a strong HRE may one day revoke the privilegia .

I continue waiting till 1515, when the truce with Aragon finally expires. Remember that Aragon is now free of Castile, as a result of the French-Castilian war . I decide to act before they join the coalition. I release Catalonia , and declare for their cores :

(DOW on Aragon+Portugal)
As a bonus, Aragon is allied to Portugal, who has lost most of its land to the Moors. This is an excellent opportunity to snag a colony in the Atlantic. A quick check on colonial range shows that I can actually reach Cape Verde islands from Sardinia. And so off to war we go.

I simultaneously fend off a weak Aragonese invasion of Italy and land a stack on the Portuguese capital at Porto. Once Porto falls, I separate peace Portugal:

In the peace, I feed Porto to my Catalonian vassal. But only Porto. This has the Douro estuary, and therefore has extra trade. I do not want to feed my vassal any land, lest they become disloyal. I will instead focus mostly on provinces with trade bonuses. Since I will not be integrating them, I have to be careful about letting them get too big.

And I take Cape Verde for myself. I decide to leave Arguin to the portuguese. This way they can continue to colonize in the New World . You see, unlike a normal run, where I would want to completely crush the Iberians, I think of the Iberians as future allies against the Muslim world. Remember that my aim is to spread the Catholic faith. So the more catholic nations there are , the better.

As for Aragon, I peace them out once Valencia falls:

Here I return two cores to Catalonia, and also feed Valencia to them ( the interface does not allow returning a core of capital - so I have to take full cost of AE from Valencia )
I do not give Catalonia any additional land , again to keep them loyal. This is explained better in the next screenshot:

Because I am limited to Italy only, my total Dev cannot support large vassals over the long term. And to get maximum benefit from trade in Genoa node, I really need my vassal to give me all their trade power . So like @Badesumofu said earlier, it is better to turn them into a March ( no tax income) but divert trade to 100%. I eventually intend to feed Catalonia Sevilla and Languedoc ( centers of trade ) . But probably cannot give them much else ( e.g Lisboa may be returned to Portugal). If anyone has any better ideas on how to maximize vassal usage here, let me know.


With the setup I plan above, I think I will be able to steer New World trade to Sevilla and Genoa successfully. Given that my manpower appears to have recovered after a short break, I decide to go with Exploration ideas when I unlock Admin tech 10 in 1518 :

Potential benefits from Exploration will be additional merchants from colonial nations, and from Trade Companies in Ivory Coast ( majority of provinces are colonies that I am allowed to core) and the Cape . And trade income to Sevilla and Genoa nodes.

I do not get to savor my new idea group , though. Out of the blue, Hungary declares Punitive War on us:

Oh Hungary, Why? for the love of God, why?

I am asking rhetorically of course. There is now way the AI can read my mind that I intend to only annex Italian states, and then help them against the Ottomans. All the AI sees is that I have been annexing catholic land all the time. And so, in a way reminiscent of actual history, we find the Christian world torn by internecine struggle while the Turkish Sultan smiles approvingly.

The balance of forces in the war is quite close. I have Austria, England and my vassals on my side. They have a motley crew of Italin and German minors along with Castile on their side.

My immediate concern was to make sure that they do not knock out Austria. I quickly transport my army , still in Spain from the Aragonese war, to relieve the sieges of Dalmatia and Vienna. But my bigger fear was an opportunistic attack by the Ottoman-French alliance. And so it is with great relief that I read the Herald's announcement of war between Poland and Hungary:

(path of our army relieving Dalmatia and Wien, as Poland dogpiles Hungary)

Thank you Poland!. The best part about that news is that the AI must have determined we are the stronger side , and therefore the chance of me or Austria getting dogpiled is low .

After lifting the siege of Vienna, I head to the enemy capital and take it :

And then I proceed to occupy all of Hungary, in order to drive up their war exhaustion:

Despite occupying Hungary, the war is still far from over. I am now at -63 from a white peace and facing a -7 WS :

Unless someone suggests a better strategy, my plan is to finish the occupation of Hungary to prevent them from recruiting more troops, then move on and do the same to Bavaria and Milan. I don't think the coalition will manage to knock out either of my allies at this stage. Assuming, of course, that outside powers do not intervene.

EDIT: forgot to mention that one reason I took Exploration is that Coloniialism has not spawned yet, and I want to make sure it spawns near me , and not in Asia somewhere.

 

[stnylan]

A chance to snag Colonialism is certainly worth it. Quite an unfortunate war, but Austria is proving a very useful ally.

I can see ally management is going to be key ... I wonder if the relationship between the Papacy and the Emperor should follow more the Charlemagne/Ottonian model than the later models.

 

[Tom D.]

Maybe try occupying the small nations first, like Florence, Ferrara and hope you get enough warscore to get what you want?

 

[mackwolfe]

I can see ally management is going to be key ... I wonder if the relationship between the Papacy and the Emperor should follow more the Charlemagne/Ottonian model than the later models.

You bring up a great point. Having a strong Emperor to protect the Papacy is definitively something I can do in this run , since I do not plan to expand outside Italy into Europe.
EU4 makes that a bit difficult , because of how they have the rival system set up. It is likely anybody who grows large and neighbors Italy would eventually turn rival. SO the key is managing allies and rivals to avoid Italy getting attacked, while at the same time directing the energies of allies towards the Non-Christian world ( which is , for now, the Muslim world).

The irony of my run so far is that I - as the human player with the stated objective of spreading the faith - have done worse than the AI when it comes to containing the Muslim powers in Iberia and the Balkans .

 

[mackwolfe]

1520-1530: If you can't beat them, join them.

I left off fighting a coalition war led by Hungary. I was lucky enough that Poland declared on Hungary . And I had just occupied Hungary itself. But my run of good fortunes ran out quickly:

The dreaded intervention by the Ottoman-French block occurred. Turkey declares on the Papacy's main ally Austria. At least they did not attack me directly . This was dire news indeed. I really had no choice but to decline the CTA. But I could not just abandon my ally like that. ANd I wait on it for another month.

But then my hand is forced when my army suffers a stinging defeat at the hand of the coalition at Pest:

I had mis-estimated the number of allied stacks nearby, and I started the battle against a single Castilian stack , but then their reinforcements started to stream in and I had no choice but to withdraw.
I therefore decline the CTA. This is the second one I decline this run. Not a good pattern, as it limits my future alliance options.

And now I have to adjust my strategy to face the coalition . I withdraw the army to Italy and adopt a Fabian strategy. I will just defend the Peninsula, and leave the Hungarian plain to the enemy . I hire mercenary infantry to avoid completely draining my manpower . And I hire a new general and luck out with a 4 pip siege. This helps me quickly take the fort at Firenze , which gives me a defensible line of hills north of Rome:

(view of the war after I withdraw from Hungary into Italy )
On the good side, I am helped by Poland occupying Hungarian provinces in their war. And by Austria still fighting alongside me in my war. But coalition wars are a bear because of their -30 coalition malus to any peace and to the enemy war enthusiasm .

The next few months bring mixed news. Poland and Hungary make peace, which removes the largest source of Hungarian war exhaustion. But I manage to capture Milan and England is finally landing some serious numbers on the continent.

THe strategy of focusing on Italy pays off as I manage to take the mountain fort at Piedmont , and then stackwipe a Milanese force at Milan thanks to Austrian help:

It has been a while since I played in Europe, and I am finding a defensive position in the North Italian plain quite good when the enemy has to go around the Alps to reinforce and I have internal lines of communications . I definitively want to secure those border forts in the Alps one day.

After the Milan victory, I look at peace options . THe recent success has helped make their demans less onerous ( previously they wanted me to release Catalonia and Venice out of Verona and Venezia). Now , I can get away with a lot less damage:

I stare at this screen for a long time, undecided whether to go on and fight, or take my losses and prepare to fight another day . On one hand, I had some recent successes, Italy was still free and my economay was running well with 2000 ducats in the treasury. But I could not count on England actually winning battles for me. Austria was not going to last much longer, and once they are out, I will be facing bad numerical odds. My manpower was low and I had to slacken recruitment once, wiping out all the Professionalism gains from the sack of Buda. So I swallow my pride and take this peace:

(peace deal ending the coalition war . My first real loss in a war in eu4 since many , many campaigns ago)

The peace is actually not that painful . Item by item, this was my thought process:
- having England give Normandie to France. Does not hurt me one bit. And is the beginning of a diplomatic realignment as you will see soon .
- giving Porto back to Portugal. This decreases Catalonia's Dev and improves their liberty desire . I can always retake it if need be
- releasing Ragusa . Honestly, I was starting to think they are a redundant vassal. I need only one vassal in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Knights will fill that role.
-ceding Avignon. This is one province I did not put any buildings in . I lose some trade power and tax income from it, but it removes a potential conflict source with France

And that's it. I do not lose a single Italian province. And I kept my crucial trade vassal Catalonia .

After the war, I am without the Austrian alliance and only allied to England. Relations with Austria are now bad, being neighbors and having a lot of AE with them . Since I also coveted their Italian provinces of Trent, Treviso and Friuli, it made sense to fully break with them. I check France's opinion now. They would ally me if it were not for England. So I go ahead , and do a diplomatic 180 degrees and break alliance with England, and ally France instead:

(the second Papal-France alliance is concluded)

By allying France, I ensure the Ottomans would not attack me directly . And I gain the potential help of the largest force in Christendom . Hopefully I can maintain that alliance for a long , long time and I hope they do not rival me if they run out of other valid rivals.

I next complete the break with Austria by declaring them rivals. They return the favor as soon as they finish the war with Ottomans:

In the war ( that I abandoned them in ) , they lose pretty much all of Croatia, getting the Turks almost to the edge of Italy. My Pope is doing a fine job helping the infidels

On the positive side, I have been filling up the Exploration idea group . I hired an explorer named Colombo and he discovered America. And I am rewarded by spawning Colonialism at his birthplace near Genoa:

I get a nice reward of 300 MP and should be able to adopt Colonialism before any of the major powers . This is the latest I have ever seen it spawn.

A year later, old pope Marcellus croaks at the ripe age of 80. Maybe senility explains all the carzy diplomatic decisions. The new Pope is a more average 3/2/3 but we are , finally, Curia controller:

ANd my first action is to excommunicate the Austrian HRE . I am hoping to isolate them so I can snatch the last remanining Italian provinces from them .

This gives me the Excommunication CB on them, which gives less AE. Unfortunately, they have renewed their Hungarian alliance , and so I cannot attack them yet. Maybe when Ottos attack Hungary, I will betray the Christians again?

IN the New World, I start my first colony at Curacao ( Caribbean Center of Trade ) , and follow it with another one at Managua ( also CoT) .

I have absolutely no competition in the New World from any Europeans . I plan to run one colony over limit , starting with Caribbean first and then moving to other areas (suggestions on best to follow Caribbean? )

I have also explored to the Cape and it is wide open:

After a hop in Fernando Po or St Helena, I should secure the Cape and get a trade company merchant.

Back in Europe, the Reformation has finally started :

This is also a very late date , thanks to my actions. I guess despite my best efforts , I could NOT delay it indefinitely . I am sure Paradox put events in there to make sure it happens, considering how crucial it is to the Ages system. Luckily it did not hit in North Italy . Only Frankfurt is converted for now, and as of 1530, there are no other centers of reformation yet.

On the Diplomatic front, I have allied Brandenburg as extra security and potential help. And I am following a few wars of interest in Europe, looking for a chance to intervene:

Lithuania, by the way, is now Orthodox and would not ally me

 

[Tom D.]

Interesting developments, that coalition war might be lost but you didn't lose much so that's not that much a "loss". Loved the diplomatic turn of 180 degrees, although I do wonder how long you'll be able to keep that French alliance due to the Ottomans. They're on your border, you already need one province from them and you want to cripple them because they're Sunni. I see tough decisions to be made in the future .

 

[mackwolfe]

Maybe try occupying the small nations first, like Florence, Ferrara and hope you get enough warscore to get what you want?

As you can see in the chapter, it became a hopeless fight after some time.
I probably annexed ITaly waay too fast. You were commenting earlier how much slower German unification was for you. I should have taken the same approach , or something in between. NOw I am limited in my diplomatic options because of the AE .

 

[mackwolfe]

I do wonder how long you'll be able to keep that French alliance due to the Ottomans. They're on your border, you already need one province from them and you want to cripple them because they're Sunni

I need to somehow break the French-Ottoman alliance permanently . ANd I need more allies to counter the Ottomans. Tentatively, I am planning something along the lines of :
accumulate favors with France and Brandenburg and maybe Lithuania if I can snag it .
start a war on someone and bring France along.
declare on Ottomans when France is tied up with me


or somehow convince France to help me fight the Ottomans ( eg. by declaring on Tunis and dragging France on my side )

THis is why I need ally slots, and getting rid of Ragusa was not such as bad thing.

 

[firezatswill9]

I would have let Austria peace out separately, so that the coalition'd have less WS on you from occupations. Occupied provinces are huge when it comes to WS, especially since Austria's capital was occupied. You probably could have gotten away with less losses, but that's all in the past.

Also, you 5/5/3 Pope's first trait wasn't the one that lowers AE, it's the trait that makes relations improve 20% slower.

 

[mackwolfe]

I would have let Austria peace out separately, so that the coalition'd have less WS on you from occupations

Good point. I think Wien accounted for about 6 WS . That was the only occupied province held by coalition ( the others were by Ottomans in other war, I think ) . But they also had another 12 points to on the ticking WS they can still earn, which would cancel it. Unless I win some battles.

Honestly i was hoping to lose some AE points from losing the war. I only got -6 ( I had screenshots of before and after ) .

Also, you 5/5/3 Pope's first trait wasn't the one that lowers AE, it's the trait that makes relations improve 20% slower.

Exactly. Having such a long reign with bad relations made my AE worse . Without that trait, my AE would be significantly less now. In other words, his -20% cancelled my Diplomat's +20 % BROT .

 

[stnylan]

In my current 1.24 game when I was playing out of Europe it was not until the 1550s that the Europeans colonised anywhere outwith of the top part of the West African coast. Castille and Portugal got on the losing side of several wars, delaying things.

I thought it was a one off, but reading this game it seems not.

 

[mackwolfe]

Castille and Portugal got on the losing side of several wars, delaying things.

I think that is the key. I remember looking at the dynamic idea group script , and only those two have a an almost certain chance of taking Exploration first. If they lose out to Morocco or France , it delays things.

Works in my favor here.

Any advice on how best to take advantage of the wide open New World? Go to Mexico ? Brazil ? Eastern USA? Spread out and take just the Centers of Trade ?

England is losing to France right now , so I may still not have competition for some time.

 

[stnylan]

Any advice on how best to take advantage of the wide open New World? Go to Mexico ? Brazil ? Eastern USA? Spread out and take just the Centers of Trade ?

Well in my run I was playing a CN in the Cape, and it just made it easier for me to monopolise the Spice trade - though I did take the opportunity to form colonial nations in Brazil and La Plata regions, and then up the Pacific coast. Though it amused me to see a Scottish West Indies and a Breton Colombia.

I guess in this run for you it depends on which best fits with your roleplay objectives. I suppose you could colonise a few lands here and there - not enough to form a colonial nation - and then, when the requisite tech comes around, create client states out of them, calling them each one new "Order" for each colonial region. Would be a long wait to be able to do that though.

 

[Badesumofu]

If you want a rich CN quickly, I'd colonise 5 provinces in Mexico (since you can't conquer and core) so a CN forms, and then conquer all the natives there. Use Influence Nation on the newly formed CN while it is cheap. It just occurs to me to try pausing the game the day your peace deals go through to see if you can transfer the conquered provinces to the CNs via the subject interaction (which reduces liberty desire). I usually pause the day of a peace deal that will auto-transfer provinces just to delete any worthless buildings that would get in the way of manufactory/workshop spam.

From memory there is something in the AI that makes the Iberians focus on African colonisation rather than American if they take some early hits in Europe. You'll probably have a free hand in the Americas now.

Caribbean, Mexico, Eastern USA, and Brazil are all high value colonisation targets. I'd go Mexico and Caribbean first in your case because of the way the trade flows.

As a general strategy for your run, it might be an idea to aim to pump up your income and use the money to go over force limit significantly. That will allow you larger vassals, and if you drill, you will be able to accrue professionalism pretty fast since that scales with the proportion of your FL that is drilling, and is not capped. So if you drill 150% of your FL, you will gain 1.5 professionalism per year - which would be enough to slacken every 3.3 years. That will generate a ton of manpower. Keep the mercs you have already hired because they will save more of your manpower - it costs professionalism to hire them, but not to reinforce them.

Maintaining that will be expensive but it will allow to punch well above your weight in the long term which you will need to do.

I guess in this run for you it depends on which best fits with your roleplay objectives. I suppose you could colonise a few lands here and there - not enough to form a colonial nation - and then, when the requisite tech comes around, create client states out of them, calling them each one new "Order" for each colonial region. Would be a long wait to be able to do that though.

Can't make Client States in the new world if your capital is in Europe. Client States require either a direct land connection to your capital, or being in the same continent as your capital.

No reason Mackwolfe couldn't rename his CNs when they do form, though. CNs are excellent at religion and culture converting too, so it kind of fits. Conquer Mexico and have the Central American Order convert them to Romagnian Catholics.

 

[mackwolfe]

. I suppose you could colonise a few lands here and there - not enough to form a colonial nation -

You gave me an idea here. Not exactly what you were going for, but I can actually get a 4 province state out of some colonial regions. Because I am not blobbing in Europe outside Italy, I will have extra state slots ( all of Italy is just 12 states - 13 if we count Tirol ) .

I think for colonial regions where I cannot steer trade to Genoa, this could be an option. CHesapeake and St Lawerence come to mind. I think a 4 province state in Chesapeake trade node ( Eastern USA) is worth more than the merchant I can get from having a large CN there.

, calling them each one new "Order" for each colonial region

Great suggestion. "Order of St ..... " would be the format. I can either use the Saint of the Day the CN is born , or go through the 12 disciples. But the first one will be "Order of St Nylan" . I checked and there is no St Nylan, but as the Pope I can beatify one.

 

[mackwolfe]

If you want a rich CN quickly, I'd colonise 5 provinces in Mexico (since you can't conquer and core) so a CN forms, and then conquer all the natives there. Use Influence Nation on the newly formed CN while it is cheap. It just occurs to me to try pausing the game the day your peace deals go through to see if you can transfer the conquered provinces to the CNs via the subject interaction

Good point about Mexico ( and I guess same applies to Colombia --> Musica -> Cuzco)
Since you got me thinking about this, another way would be to form a Caribbean CN first, and then feed it via the Yucatan strait into Mexico .

As a general strategy for your run, it might be an idea to aim to pump up your income and use the money to go over force limit significantly. That will allow you larger vassals, and if you drill, you will be able to accrue professionalism pretty fast since that scales with the proportion of your FL that is drilling, and is not capped. So if you drill 150% of your FL, you will gain 1.5 professionalism per year - which would be enough to slacken every 3.3 years. That will generate a ton of manpower. Keep the mercs you have already hired because they will save more of your manpower - it costs professionalism to hire them, but not to reinforce them.

Maintaining that will be expensive but it will allow to punch well above your weight in the long term which you will need to do.

I never thought of going over FL to accrue professionalism. neat idea. I better increase my income for that then .
I am glad now I took Exploration, because the Americas are likely going to be my biggest source of money going forward.

 

[parats]

Do not forget tariffs. I would go for carib > mexico > thirteen colonies. Carib/mexico can be steered to sevilla. Chesapeake would have to go over st lawrence/Bordeaux. For africa just aim the gold coast and cape for the extra merchants.

 

[mackwolfe]

Do not forget tariffs. I would go for carib > mexico > thirteen colonies. Carib/mexico can be steered to sevilla. Chesapeake would have to go over st lawrence/Bordeaux. For africa just aim the gold coast and cape for the extra merchants.

I have not played a colonial game for a while . What is a realistic tarriff rate goal? Is the Economic-Exploration policy worth it at some point? (+25% Global Tarriffs for one ADM per month)

 

[mackwolfe]

1530-1540: Fighting Infidels At Last

The last decade was an inflection point in the campaign. Land expansion in Europe hit a coalition wall, but exploration opened a new avenue for growth. With a truce with everyone bordering me , nothing much happens in the next 4 years. I let my manpower recover and let colonialism spread in Italy. But I plan for later wars, and collect as many CB's as I can. One that would be useful is Jolof, off the coast of Cape Verde:

I also take the time to develop Manpower . Thanks to the finisher from Economic ideas that @Tom D. alerted me to early in the thread, I am able to stack discounts and develop on the cheap:

(exceptionally cheap Development cost in Lucca, thanks to Burghers estate loyalty, Cloth in the province, State Edit and Economic Ideas)
Developing solves my Manpower shortage and increases my force limits ( plus I built a few regimental camps) . The larger army allows me to snag an alliance with Orthodox Lithuania . One day I hope to have enough favors with them to attack Ottomans.

The target date I was waiting for was October 1534, when the truce with Milan runs out. But in December 1533, they get an alliance with France. That cancels my plan of extending the frontier from the Po river to the Alps:

(MIlan allying France, France almost kicking England out of Europe, Orthodox Lithuania allying us)
Meanwhile 2 more centers of reformation spawn. All are in the Rhine valley. This is going to lead to a very compact Reformation, and the Emperor will not pass any more reforms. I kind of like the distribution, as long as they do not convert France.

In October 1534, the truces with the coalition members expire. It does not form back, as most have positive relations now ( I have been a good boy the last 10 years, a rarity for me) . And this allows me to declare on tiny Ferrare who is living as a completely surrounded enclave in Firenze:

I quickly stackwipe him and then send a stack to his ally Salzburg.
BUt then I get a Call to Arms from France, who is attakcing Castile. I agree of course. And I actually decide to fight and curry favor with France:

(Papacy taking on the Swiss to earn Participation Score)

Meanwhile, I annex the city of Firenze and establish a clean border roughly along the Po river. Only Milan and the Austrian provinces in Veneto are what is left to unify Italy:

(Map of border after annexing Ferrara )
In the screenshot, I drew several lines for potential borders of "Italy". I was deliberately vague in my introductory post and did not define "Italy" exactly. THe most restrictive definition is "Italy Region in eu4" . This is the green line. Problem with this is it does not include the Mountain alpine passes north of Milan and Verona. The minimum defense line to include mountains is the yellow line . Next is the "Italian Culture" in eu4. That would add Trent , Wallis and Savoie . Finally there is the "what I like to have " line, which adds Tyrol and its gold mine. I think a fair compromise is the yellow line, giving me Trent and Waldstatte for a defensible border, and giving up Savoie and Wallis .

In any case, I still need to annex Milan. And here I thought abotu declaring on them , since France is tied up with me in the Castilian war. But I worried that France would finish the Castile war soon, and then join Milan in a defensive war against me . So I pass this opportunity, and instead transport the troops to Iberia where I land in Sevilla, and march on Toledo:

After Toledo falls, I had the choise of separate peacing Castile and taking Sevilla. But I decided to continue the war an earn favors instead:

(earning 24 favors instead of taking Sevilla. Good deal or bad deal? )

I don't enjoy acting in this servile manner towards France, but I think it is in my strategic interest to nurture the alliance . As long as France stays Catholic and does not rival us, I have no objection to them growing as a Super Power. Kind of like the Charlemagne model that stnylan alluded to earlier.

The loss of territory by Castile makes then an invalid rival for me and this immediately improves my relations with them in the positive.

And I take this opportunity to finally start rolling back the Infidels. I declare on Morocco via Jolof:

The war is very much shaped by the fact that Aragon refuses access to both sides, and this meant the only way from Catalonia to Morocco is to go via Southern France and Castile.

Thanks for stacking cannons and +4 siege pip general , I manage to take Evora, Lisboa and even Ceuta by the time the Moroccans take Valencia .

I take advantage of the fact that their army is far away ( and blocked from crossing the strait of Gibraltar by my navy), by sieging the mountain fort at Fez and then heading south to their second fort . And this is the situation at the end of the decade. Below is the peace I want to have:

I am looking to feed Catalonia both the Sevilla and Tangiers centers of trade , and Ceuta for control of the Strait of Gibraltar. I think MOrocco will agree once I take their second fort, then head back and destroy their army in Iberia.