Spaniards of the South - an RMG AAR

[unmerged(603871)]

Hi all. This will be my first AAR, in which I play Castille in a scenario created by the Random Map Generator tool. I only have the vaguest idea of what the world in the Terra Incognita is like because I peeked at it while deciding what nation to choose from, and I'll be cropping the minimap from screenshots so that readers won't know what's coming either. Hopefully exploring these new lands will be an actual adventure!

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Capítulo Uno: Un Mundo Nuevo y Extraño

Capítulo Dos: Las Obras de Dios son Inescrutables

Capítulo Tres: La Sangre y la Pérdida

Capítulo Cuatro: La Guerra Falsa

Capítulo Cinco: Déjame En Paz, Déjà Vu De Guerra​

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Capítulo Uno: Un Mundo Nuevo y Extraño​

The largest landmass known to the Castilians in 1399 is the vast Ghearmailt, which runs from North to South. The climate ranges from frigid tundra and forests in the far northern lands of Norway and Sweden, and the southern realms of Castille and Britanny, to the rolling sand dunes in the deserts of France, the jungles of Germany and Muscowy, and the steppes of England.

Castille is the largest country occupying the land to the south. There are only two other powers in the region. Galicia is a small polity to the southeast of Castille, and Britanny is a larger kingdom to the west. Since Galicia is tiny, Britanny is the closest threat to Castille, and the only one which can reach it by land. To the east lay vast tracts of unclaimed territory, which are sparsely populated by Madagascans.

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Britanny also holds provinces which are rightfully Castille's …

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While centralization is tempting, I decide to go with free trade …

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My longterm goal is to colonize the lands to the east, and explore these strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations, and to boldly go where no Castilian has gone before. Hence I'll be picking NIs that give me colonists and increase colonial growth. QftNW is also a no-brainer. I start out with these coastal provinces, since they seem to have a high base tax rate, and if I manage to get the whole coastline it should prevent other powers from colonizing further inland (though of course I can't do anything about Galicia except hope they're too poor to afford colonists).

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It seems that I have enough provinces already to form an Empire, although I won't do that yet because of the stability hit. I also have the mission to improve relations with Portugal, which involves a royal marriage.

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Speaking of missions, it seems that my neighbour to the south has a mission to get a royal marriage with me. Why not? They also wanted an alliance, which I did as well.

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The colonist I sent to South Wutsege is successful, but at 1 colonist per year, it will take a long time to colonize these lands. I need more.

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Some good news. This CoT is pretty lucrative, so assuming I keep my merchants there I can make a lot of dosh.

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I manage to get some decent advisors, though I would have preferred ones that improved my compete chance and colonial growth.

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Well, I could do with an heir …

Now for a quick look at what's happening on the mainland. It seems that Aragon is being eaten alive by an alliance of Portugal and Connacht. Apparently Portugal wants to reclaim that large province it occupies.

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I'm not sure I understand this event, but more Papal Influence is always nice. The alternative was to kill off my heir, which I didn't want since he isn't that bad as far as skills go.

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While I wasn't looking, Aragon peaced out with Connacht, handing over a province which the latter had a core on. Things aren't looking too good for Aragon …

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Meanwhile in Castille, perhaps that extra Papal influence paid off? I'm now at +2 stability, and +3 isn't far away.

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While I'm dominating trade in Finnmark, another CoT opens right in my backyard!

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The house of Castille cares not for the petty intrigues of foreign nations:

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Then I notice that Aragon has a new CoT on its coastline. Coastal Centres of Trade give out extra colonists which I sorely need, and now that Aragon has concluded its war with Portugal, it is low on troops and high on war exhaustion. Furthermore I have a Violated Sphere CB, which may not reduce infamy on province annexations, but does prevent a stabhit from DOWing them.

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What could go wrong?

 

[EmperorG]

First comment, I like the fact that exploring is now actually about discovering totally new lands, nice mod. Anyway that event Fear and Loathing is a 3 event long chain that fires when your leader has gone crazy, and leads to your kings death if they follow it compleatly (which you did not do, so the next event in the line won't fire). Also your game is probably broken if you have nodynasty as a dynasty, check if the other nations have the same dynasty, if they all do I would suggest restarting a new game.

 

[homy_dog34]

I am liking this AAR. Please continue!

 

[Toqoh]

Could you give a link to the mod page I can't find the most updated version. Thanks! Looking really good so far by the way!

 

[Dovahkiing]

For Castille and the Reconquista!
Of the whole world, it seems.
Subbed.

 

[loki100]

This looks interesting but I'm afraid you need to amend your first post. It exceeds the forum rules on the number of images in a single post (which is 20) so can you edit it down to that number and keep this in mind for future updates

 

[unmerged(603871)]

This looks interesting but I'm afraid you need to amend your first post. It exceeds the forum rules on the number of images in a single post (which is 20) so can you edit it down to that number and keep this in mind for future updates

Ah yes, sorry about that, I'll remove some of the less interesting images.

edit: done

Could you give a link to the mod page I can't find the most updated version. Thanks! Looking really good so far by the way!

Here you go: click

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Capítulo Dos: Las Obras de Dios son Inescrutables​

At the end of the first post, I was preparing for war against Aragon in order to capture their CoT. I noticed that they were guaranteed by Portugal. They had a sizeable army, so if I were to stand any chance against the coalition I would need more soldiers. I take out a loan and start recruiting troops.

Soon enough, my army triples in size. Meanwhile, I complete the mission to get a royal marriage with Portugal, and subsequently I receive the mission to fight against the “Moors”. It seems that God really does move in mysterious ways, since both these “Moors” and their land of “Granada” are unknown to the Castilians. All the more reason to invest into colonization and exploration in order to discover this undoubtedly evil civilization.

The Aragonese are getting suspicious of the military buildup across the water, and pre-emptively bar my merchants from their Centre of Trade. To make up for the lost income from West Barcelona, I decide to send my merchants to the Irish CoT of Cork to the west, where they are successful.

But then, tragedy strikes! I'm faced with the choice to let my king die, or take horrible penalties including a -3 stability hit, reduced legitimacy and increased infamy. I reluctantly let my king die, which sadly means that I can't declare war on Aragon due to the Regency council. That loan and the military buildup was all for nothing, so I end up slashing the maintenance budget and disbanding half of my troops.

It seems that the next few years will be marked by economic austerity as the state waits to pay off the useless loan. Still, further merchant expeditions to Ireland are funded, so that Castille ends up dominating their marketplaces.

Colonialism also remains largely unaffected by the budget cuts – the first settlement breaks even in April of 1406. The colonial companies are already looking to expand further across the north coast of Hispania (this being the name of the southern landmass), and so a new town is soon founded in Lower Bourbon.

Relations between Portugal and Castille quickly become as cold as the sea dividing them, despite the recent royal marriage, as Portugal sends insults and diplomatic warnings to the Castilian government. Tensions rise.

My prudent fiscal measures have paid off by the time the loan expires, as I still have a reasonable amount of gold in the treasury. Soon thereafter, I can choose my first National Idea – Colonial Ventures, which gives me an extra colonist each year. Castille is expanding.

Then I notice that someone else has a similar idea. Burgundy, no less. They seem to have planted a colony in the region I'm expanding into. It's odd because Burgundy is thousands of miles away, in another hemisphere. Castilian sailors are baffled at the news, and reason that the Burgundians must have exploited the strong southerly winds. However they managed to settle there, one thing is clear: their hold on the territory is very tenuous indeed, as they will find it difficult to send troops in order to defend it.

I decide to push for trade since I need QftNW as soon as possible, so I use my hoarded cultural tradition to get myself a 6-star trade tech guy.

A couple of events fire which let me make some useful slider moves in exchange for stability. I judge them to be good tradeoffs.

Not much happens until my heir comes of age and my trade tech advances, both on the same day. What a nice birthday present for him.

Now that I can declare war again, I notice that I have two lovely opportunities for expansion. The first is a CB which lets me take some chunks out of Galicia, and the second is that poor Aragon is losing yet another war.

Stay tuned.

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Note: since I'm still finding my feet as an AAR writer I thought I'd change the writing style of this post to be more indepth and exciting. It feels as though the first two have been a little bland. Constructive criticism is much appreciated!

Capítulo Tres: La Sangre y la Pérdida​

In early december of 1415, Castille is preparing for war. Multiple envoys are sent to the court of Galicia, terminating the alliance and its various provisions such as military access. The Castilian army goes on high alert as it marches south to the Galician border. The King expects a swift victory, since Galicia is dwarfed by Castille, and its allies would probably not want to go to war in such frigid conditions to save a tiny backwater nation. Besides, two of them, Portugal and Aragon, are at war with each other anyway.

Early in the new year, Burgundy offers Castille an alliance; perhaps hoping that someone would protect their far-flung colony. Castille declines, since in the future it plans to capture the colony, and Burgundy is too far away to provide any meaningful help in wars around the Castilian Sea.

Unfortunately the bitter winter proves to work against the Castilians - communications prove difficult in the cold, and the final declaration of war against Galicia is pushed back until the 13th of April, 1416. Brittany, Portugal and Aragon all join in on the side of the Galicians. The first major conflict of the 15th century in Hispania begins.

Brittany initially makes quick gains in the west as their armies march into the undefended Castilian flank. The main Castilian army races west while a smaller force sieges Northern Galicia. However, the Castilians do not manage to arrive in time to fight the weakened Breton forces, and they manage to retreat back into their territory. Meanwhile, further south, the Bretons have captured more cities. Moreover, the Castilian army in Nueva Aragon is exposed, and Brittany seizes its opportunity by attacking with all of its forces. Outnumbered, Castille is defeated and retreats. Province after province fall like dominoes to the advancing Bretons.

Things are more bright on the Galician front. In early December of 1416, North Galicia falls to Castille. This frees up the troops needed to head off the Breton invasion, and the Castilians regroup. The 20,000 strong army exploits Brittany's complacency in splitting up their forces to siege cities, and achieves several victories.

Though Galicia and Brittany combined have managed to occupy around a third of Castille, their armies are on the retreat. Brittany sees the writing on the wall when their last major forces are crushed at the battle of Pressburg, and agrees to a peace deal with a token concession on Castille's part. The tide of the war is turning.

Castille moves to bring the war in Galicia to a close. The meagre Galician armies are destroyed and Castille lays siege to their cities. Further west, smaller divisions attempt to liberate the cities which fell to Galicia during the fighting with Brittany.

Just as things are starting to look up on the Galician front, there are a number of disturbing developments on the continent. Portugal peaces out with Aragon (itself worrying because now they have West Barcelona, the coastal CoT that Castille was eyeing) and then Tyrone honors their alliance with Portugal. The inhabitants of the northern Castilian peninsula are greeted with an invading Portuguese army laying siege to their cities.

The main Castilian army races north to confront the Portuguese menace, while a small force is left behind to siege the final Galician stronghold, unaware that the rest of Galicia proper has fallen. Evidently along the way, stories must have reached the Portuguese about the brutal battles that the Castilians waged against the Galicians and Bretons, as they are reduced to cowering at the prospect of the advancing army.

King Fernando himself sees the supreme importance of the coming engagement with the Portuguese. The entire fate of his kingdom hangs in the balance, and while he is not a military man by any means, the sight of their lord on the battlefield raises morale among the brave Castilian troops.

The troops gather at the land bridge while waiting for mercenary reinforcements to arrive, while the Portuguese wait just a few kilometres away. Finally, the King gives the order to charge, and inflict massive casualties on the enemy, despite being outnumbered almost 2:1 by the end.

Coincidentally, by this time the final exclave of Galician resistance is crushed, and the country of Galicia incorporated into Castille. There is little time for celebration however, as Portugal lands yet another army to besiege northern Castille. Exhausted from the recent battles, the Castilian garrison is routed swiftly. The King recognizes that there is a time to admit defeat, and cedes three provinces to the power-mad Portuguese.

The Galician war has lasted 5 years and claimed the lives of many thousands of Castilians. It has crippled the economy and caused civil unrest in both the colonies and the densely-populated urban areas. Gaining Galicia may have been a Pyrrhic victory, but it has removed a long-term threat to Castilian expansion into the uncharted wilderness. More importantly, the Castilian people under the iron boot of Portuguese subjugation are restless and long for the day when they are re-incorporated into their homeland.

 

[Crushric]

How high was your war exhaustion? Those rebels were spawning like mad. Maybe you should use your 4 spies to spam revolts in the territory Portugal took from you, since it doesn't look like they could hold it very well. Regardless, you haven't gotten much feedback, and that's a shame because of the premise of this AAR is really interesting. Far be it from me to tell you how to run an AAR, but perhaps you might find some ground with a hint of comedy? Something that tries to make fun of how silly your generated world is? Perhaps with a tinge of Monty Python-esque humor (but try to avoid the Inquisition; it's sort of been done to death). Something like: "Most of us think of cows as lazy, fat animals, slowly munching away on some grass while staring blankly at us with hard, murderous yet uncaring eyes." Sort of a surrealist touch-up to perfectly complement the surreal nature of your randomly generated world?

Whatever you do, I'm all for following you just because I'm extremely curious about this fun-looking world you've got going for you.

 

[unmerged(603871)]

How high was your war exhaustion? Those rebels were spawning like mad. Maybe you should use your 4 spies to spam revolts in the territory Portugal took from you, since it doesn't look like they could hold it very well. Regardless, you haven't gotten much feedback, and that's a shame because of the premise of this AAR is really interesting. Far be it from me to tell you how to run an AAR, but perhaps you might find some ground with a hint of comedy? Something that tries to make fun of how silly your generated world is? Perhaps with a tinge of Monty Python-esque humor (but try to avoid the Inquisition; it's sort of been done to death). Something like: "Most of us think of cows as lazy, fat animals, slowly munching away on some grass while staring blankly at us with hard, murderous yet uncaring eyes." Sort of a surrealist touch-up to perfectly complement the surreal nature of your randomly generated world?

Whatever you do, I'm all for following you just because I'm extremely curious about this fun-looking world you've got going for you.

Thanks for the feedback. I might slowly introduce some comedy but I also want to try to get some consistency in the writing style first. As for spamming spies, I don't think it's such a good idea because Portugal has a vast navy and army and can drop troops on that peninsula really quickly.

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Note: apologies for the short update. Very little happened in this interbellum/recovery period. The next one should be more meaty.

Capítulo Cuatro: La Guerra Falsa​

After the Galician war, Castille begins a slow and punctuated recovery. There are mass protests in every corner of the Kingdom, and the King's battered troops take years to finally quell them. In the process, the King himself dies fighting, and a Regency Council takes over for his 7 year old daughter, Juana. Because of the difficulty in collecting taxes in the midst of the unrest, the government resorts to debasing the currency in order to survive. Inflation rises, but compared to the rest of the country's problems it is relatively minor.

However, eventually the revolts and unrest are quelled, in part thanks to a number of concessions granted by the government to the populace. Restrictions on the movement of peasants are lifted, the powers of the aristocracy are curbed somewhat, and perhaps most importantly, the corruption endemic in the judiciary and tax collecting systems are combated with a reasonable degree of success. The men responsible for these reforms become minor celebrities on the international stage, as other countries seek to learn from the "Castilian Miracle", as the recovery would later be called.

From the incessant rebellions, the government has gathered copious intelligence on the risk factors for a revolt starting, and from these data sprung the policies mentioned above. Certain clandestine branches of the government quickly recognize that these could be reverse-engineered and used to cause revolts. They seize the opportunity to provoke rebellion among the occupied territories on the northern peninsula, but however high tensions flare they eventually succumb to the overwhelming application of Portuguese firepower.

These tactics are more successful when applied further east. The farflung Burgundian colony had been a thorn in Castille's side for years, but the low population meant that the colonists could not mount a serious attack against an organized assault by the natives, backed by Castille. Within months the colony is repurposed as a Castilian outpost, and then later as a fully fledged town.

Indeed, the Eastern frontier seems to be where Castille's success is coming from. The colonies are steadily expanding into uncharted territory. Even better, the natives in the coastal regions prove to have particularly strong lungs and are brilliant swimmers, and as such they are put to work by the colonists to get one of the most valuable foodstuffs in the world - fish. A particular expedition is generally composed of a team of 9 swimmers, all armed with pikes or spears. They all swim out to sea and collectively locate a likely spot for herds of fish to swim by. Once one notices an oncoming herd, a mimed signal is given to lie in wait for the ambush, often under the silt or between reeds. The most crucial part of the operation is performed by one person (the "Primer" to the Castilians), who must spear the Alpha or "Queen" fish, before it has time to rally the Worker, or "Drone" fish in defense. Once the Queen is killed, the herd of Drone fish is without order or direction, as they have no central node to coordinate the electrical signals they use to communicate. At this point, the other members of the party rise from the silt. The first six form a spherical perimeter around the mass of disordered fish, and corral them, much as a sheepdog herds sheep. The two remaining people work together to spear the fish and collect them in a large bag, respectively. The timing of the operation is critical as it must be organized around the oxygen capacity of the human lung. Of course, this means that fish are a prized commodity indeed, which brings Castille immediate wealth and prestige, and contributes greatly to the economic recovery.

Castille is not alone in this part of the world however. The colonies on the furthest periphery find that they are on the westernmost frontier of a hitherto unknown civilization known as the "Mamluks". An embassy is hastily sent to their capital of Cairo and among the things they learn something of immense interest to the Castilian government - the Mamluks had recently concluded a war with a state known as Granada, the subject of the previous King's experience of the Divine, the one he was instructed to conquer. Furthermore it seems that this new civilization is far more advanced than the Castilians with regard to technology and weapons. The mission reports that the current Castilian army would be no match for the soldiers they encountered on the way to Cairo. If that were not fearsome enough, later reports indicate that these Mamluks practice some bastardized, warped version of the True Faith known as "Sunni Islam". Concerns grow over the nearby missionary activity.

By January of 1433, Juana I of Sandoval has come of age and ended the Regency period. Also around this time, Castille finally emerges from all the problems of the Galician war. Castille looks to be entering a new era of prosperity and expansion, but the first test of Juana's resolve is cut short prematurely. On the continent, a coalition of Irish minors is at war with the Greek state of Morea. Castille enters this war through its ally Connacht, but the war ends too quickly for Castille to make any gains. However, some important innovations are made to the military from the things learned, despite the relative paucity of combat. Though almost untested, military leaders are confident that the new Men-at-Arms will be effective in the upcoming wars to retake the occupied lands in the North. This will be the real test of the young Queen's leadership.

 

[Crushric]

Damn lucky of you, getting all those events. Must have really helped. And sorry that your patriots didn't work, but at least you kicked Burgundy from your hegemony, eh? Also, the part about the fish – I chuckled softly to myself; I was expecting you to go into detail about how the Castillian trout is the most dangerous of all animals, and compare them to the Jurassic Park velociraptors, though. In fact, perhaps if you eveer win a naval battle of the coast of Castille, it will all be thanks to the wrath of Castillian fish who just hate non-Spaniards, eh?
A question, though: Is it possible to form Spain in your random world? (Also, do you speak Spanish, or are you just using Google for your Spanish?

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Damn lucky of you, getting all those events. Must have really helped. And sorry that your patriots didn't work, but at least you kicked Burgundy from your hegemony, eh? Also, the part about the fish – I chuckled softly to myself; I was expecting you to go into detail about how the Castillian trout is the most dangerous of all animals, and compare them to the Jurassic Park velociraptors, though. In fact, perhaps if you eveer win a naval battle of the coast of Castille, it will all be thanks to the wrath of Castillian fish who just hate non-Spaniards, eh?

Don't worry, the ever-opportunistic Castilian military is busy training the fish for this exact purpose.

A question, though: Is it possible to form Spain in your random world?

I'm not sure but I doubt it. I think the "Form Spain" event is dependent on owning certain provinces, but the province IDs are going to be completely different in this random world.

(Also, do you speak Spanish, or are you just using Google for your Spanish?

I can speak Spanish but I had to resort to Google for a few phrases for which I didn't know the proper translations (e.g. chapter 2 is meant to mean "God moves in mysterious ways" but the idiom doesn't translate exactly. The Spanish version translates into English literally as "The works of God are inscrutable").

 

[Crushric]

Ah, I was just curious about your Spanish. (I speak both Spanish and German, but my first is English.) Just something was rather peculiar about your title. "La/Una Obra" refers to a completed production, comparable to the "fruits of one's labors", if you will. But, hey, no se ganó Zamora en una hora, o sea, no es un gran problema. If you need a phrase whenever dealing with the in-game Muslims, might I recommend: ¿Hay moros en la costa? Literally: Are there Moors on the coast? But it's the English equivalent to "Is the coast clear?"

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Ah, I was just curious about your Spanish. (I speak both Spanish and German, but my first is English.) Just something was rather peculiar about your title. "La/Una Obra" refers to a completed production, comparable to the "fruits of one's labors", if you will. But, hey, no se ganó Zamora en una hora, o sea, no es un gran problema. If you need a phrase whenever dealing with the in-game Muslims, might I recommend: ¿Hay moros en la costa? Literally: Are there Moors on the coast? But it's the English equivalent to "Is the coast clear?"

Thanks for the idea. Do you know of a more accurate translation for "God moves in mysterious ways?" The sites that I got it from were all religious so perhaps it sounds weird because it's some kind of archaic biblical usage.

 

[Crushric]

Yours works well enough, just that its Spanish meaning is a bit different than what it'd be in English (being that it implies the productions of God are mysterious, slightly different than English but understandable nonetheless). For future references, I recommend staying away from phrases in most any language, as they rarely translate well.
Other phrases: Moro viejo, mal cristiano. Old Moor, bad Christian (Spanish version of "You can't teach an old dog new tricks"). Dios es bueno... y mata, God is good... and he kills (meaning: Beware of so-called "virtuous" people). Here's a favorite of mine: El amor es ciego ... hay que usar las manos, Love is blind – you have to use your hands. I'm sure the AAR will have use of a few of these, somewhere along the grand campaign to 1821. Let's cheer on Castille to the end of it all!

 

[unmerged(603871)]

Capítulo Cinco: Déjame En Paz, Déjà Vu De Guerra​

It is December of 1435, and Castille is preparing for war. The existing 14,000-strong army is sent to the Breton border, while 18 new regiments are recruited from the populous provinces along the coast and surrounding el Lago de Salamanca, near the capital. This new army is also sent to the border, further north.

At around this time, some blithering buffoon appeared in the Queen's court, raving about complacency in the military and the lack of a strong navy. He even had the impropriety to refer to the Queen with male pronouns and the gall to question the success with which the country had conquered its neighbours. Evidently he was blind, as he could not see the grand armies just outside the capital, marching west towards Brittany. Indeed, the fact of his blindness was confirmed by the court's Chief Torturer. Later he was found hanging from a tree by his neck.

On the eve of war, a diplomat informs the Queen that Brittany is allied with several minor Irish states, and that a naval expedition should be planned. The Queen gives her assent, then suddenly remembers that the Crown of Castille has had claims on one of the Bretons' allies, Munster, for over a hundred years, but had never actually gotten round to invading the wretched place. Reasoning that it's best to kill two birds with one stone, the Queen declares war separately on Munster to properly unify the two realms.

And so, on the second of August 1436, war is declared. At first, intelligence indicated that the main Breton army would defend the more populous provinces in the north of the country, so the bulk of the Castilian troops were committed to that front. It soon becomes clear however, that the Bretons are attempting to flank the Castilian invasion by pushing further south. The northern army's infantry quickly fans out to siege the various undefended cities across the region while the cavalry division races south to reinforce the smaller army now waiting in the (rightfully Castilian) province of Pirineo. Once the armies are consolidated, they march further south to confront the enemy, outnumbering them almost two to one. However, winter has set in by this point, and the cold works to the Bretons' advantage. They manage to inflict severe casualties on the Castilian assault before being forced to retreat. After several months of bitter fighting across the frigid, sparsely-populated southern territories, the Breton army is finally defeated at the battle of East Morbihan, in September of 1437.

Meanwhile, the difficulties encountered in governing the occupied territories in Brittany have sparked calls for reform in the Castilian bureaucracy. In the process, taxes are raised and more power is transferred to the central government and away from the provinces, which in turn provoke several small revolts. By this point, Brittany recognizes that it has been defeated, and agrees to hand over the Castilian speaking regions along the border, and also to release the tiny polity of Wales. Male-voice choirs, blood-red dragons and fields of green are once more restored to the world.

With the war on the western front finished, attention now turns to the upcoming war in Ireland across the sea, but the expedition is delayed while the rebellions across the country are mopped up. This is made especially difficult by the rebels' insistence on deliberately occupying uncolonized territory and thus threatening the natives in the crossfire. Such "human-shield" tactics are, of course, illegal under several international human rights treaties, and so the Castilian military feels no qualms about slaughtering the rebels and their entire extended families.

Finally, in January of 1439, the Castilian navy sets sail for Ireland, and lands the troops in sympathetic Tyrone, who itself is at war with one of Munster's allies, Connacht. Soon, the Munsterite defenses are crushed at the battle of Kenmare, and it is just a matter of time until the country falls and becomes a possession of the Castilian Crown.

Everything was going according to plan, until a strange sense of déjà vu overcame Queen Juana. She recalled how her father had won against the Bretons during the acquisition of Galicia, and then the country had been humiliated when the Portuguese exploited their precarious position with an aggressive landgrab. Those who fail to learn from history ...

... are doomed to repeat it.

With half of the Castilian army stranded in Ireland and pinned down by the might of the Portuguese navy, the Queen can only watch as the Lusitanian hordes flow across the northern peninsula. Through hastily assembled mercenary reinforcements, the Castilians manage to repel some of the invaders, but against the seemingly limitless soldiers of Portugal, the already overstretched Castilians are forced to hand over yet more provinces to the growing Portuguese empire.

From the lessons learned from this series of conflicts it is clear that Castille must invest heavily into the navy in order to achieve dominance over the oceans, especially now that it has an overseas possession in Ireland. Further expansion into the uncharted east will be slowed considerably over the next few years, though perhaps this will lead to a boon in ocean navigation?

 

[Crushric]

Perhaps it might have been worth it to have given Portugal more provinces so as to force them over the infamy limit, and give their neighbors a chance to DOW them? Also, the heck was Wales doing there?

Edit: Oh, hey, look at that – now it's just like a regular EU3 game, what with Castille invading Ireland.

 

[FireBlaze]

This seems like one interesting AAR. Consider me subbed.