Didn't see that coming, for real? 
There is no way that Castille would have attacked their southern peaceful heather neighbours.
There is no way that Castille would have attacked their southern peaceful heather neighbours.
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@Enewald: I didn't expect them to attack while their entire army was made of 1000 infantry and Aragon had completely devastated their navy, but as the war began I actually realised they had recruited up to 9000 men practically overnight. Besides, they would rely on their Portuguese allies to do all the fighting anyway - those pesky little Spaniards.
@robin the red: Well, time to find out!
And so the war began. I hadn't realised that Castile and Portugal had signed an alliance and would now be fighting half of Christian Iberia at once. I was also disheartened to find out that Castile had somehow managed to recruit a proper army for themselves without my notice. This would also be my first war with Portugal and a nice insight into what future wars with them might be like.
First of all they have a rather small navy that I might be able to take on in the future after some shipbuilding efforts, which means I could safely spare some troops to stay in North Africa and siege Ceuta before shipping them back to Iberia.
Second, they are under a 0/0/3 regency. I first thought this to be to my advantage, but come to think of it their regency is still a model of good governance and military prowess compared to my buffoon of a monarch. They also happen to have two shock 3 leaders at their disposal. Since I had managed to accumulate some army tradition from the previous war I decided to go ahead and try my luck by hiring another general.
Well, that's an improvement to what I previously had at least.
Anyhow, the situation looks quite balanced between our two alliances, so I hope to be able to win this one off. Besides, my claim on Toledo is soon to be finished, giving a chance to grab the Castilian capital. All I need to do is to occupy it before...
No you little buggers, that's mine - mine! Go away, hush!
...
...
...
Well no time to weep over it.
The Portuguese are nice enough to clear out my rebels while I intercept the Spanish forces on their way to Badajoz and set them on a retreat.
Unfortunately that 2000 lost men really hurts with my non-existent manpower.
The population of Caceres is awe-inspired and immediately embraces Islam as I chase the retreating Spaniards towards Vizcaya in a hope to repeat my earlier success of the first war.
But it looks like they managed to march straight into some angry Basques on a roll.
Elsewhere the Great Eastern War finally comes to an end, with Crime snatching a nifty little prize from the Polish-Lithuanian alliance. A little later, France launches another campaign against England to ease them of the burden Normandy and Calais places on their rebel-infested isles.
Back in Spain I decided to sit tight and wait for Portugal to finish besieging Badajoz. When they were done I quickly moved in and instantly assaulted it.
The Portuguese were of the sound opinion that the bunch of angry Basques were a more pressing threat than me and set on a march up north. I on the other hand moved on to besiege Alentejo.
Not long after the Portuguese returned after having dealt with the Basques, though the province itself remained under rebel occupation. Soon there was a race of sieges between us.
Back in North Africa my idle peasants spot another enclave of dirty infidels. This time I'll rather take a loan than a piety hit.
After the Portuguese somehow managed to finish their siege before mine, they set off to north again to actually besiege Vizcaya because, you know, it makes perfect sense! it gave me plenty of time to do what I want and I quickly jumped in and commited another assault on Caceres.
And the merry people of Cadiz rise up in arms once more.
Luckily I was soon done with the siege and could move on to deal with them, while a small detach began besieging Algarve.
No, I am sorry my friend. I don't think you are of much help to your buddies.
At this point I realised that I couldn't take any provinces from Portugal and since I didn't want to grant Toledo to Granada, nor to take more rebel-infested inland provinces that I couldn't core for myself, I decided to go ahead and end the war short. At least the ensuing peace will give Morocco some time to replenish their manpower and get rid of the last remaining loan.
The war actually finished on 21st of December 1460, which means that this is the last update for Morocco and it is time for another election. A little summary and a list of new candidates will be up tomorrow. I'm eagerly awaiting whether we will have a 20-year extension for Morocco or moving on to something completely different!
@robin the red: Well, time to find out!
IX - A Taste of Portugal
And so the war began. I hadn't realised that Castile and Portugal had signed an alliance and would now be fighting half of Christian Iberia at once. I was also disheartened to find out that Castile had somehow managed to recruit a proper army for themselves without my notice. This would also be my first war with Portugal and a nice insight into what future wars with them might be like.
First of all they have a rather small navy that I might be able to take on in the future after some shipbuilding efforts, which means I could safely spare some troops to stay in North Africa and siege Ceuta before shipping them back to Iberia.
Second, they are under a 0/0/3 regency. I first thought this to be to my advantage, but come to think of it their regency is still a model of good governance and military prowess compared to my buffoon of a monarch. They also happen to have two shock 3 leaders at their disposal. Since I had managed to accumulate some army tradition from the previous war I decided to go ahead and try my luck by hiring another general.
Well, that's an improvement to what I previously had at least.
Anyhow, the situation looks quite balanced between our two alliances, so I hope to be able to win this one off. Besides, my claim on Toledo is soon to be finished, giving a chance to grab the Castilian capital. All I need to do is to occupy it before...
No you little buggers, that's mine - mine! Go away, hush!
...
...
...
Well no time to weep over it.
The Portuguese are nice enough to clear out my rebels while I intercept the Spanish forces on their way to Badajoz and set them on a retreat.
Unfortunately that 2000 lost men really hurts with my non-existent manpower.
The population of Caceres is awe-inspired and immediately embraces Islam as I chase the retreating Spaniards towards Vizcaya in a hope to repeat my earlier success of the first war.
But it looks like they managed to march straight into some angry Basques on a roll.
Elsewhere the Great Eastern War finally comes to an end, with Crime snatching a nifty little prize from the Polish-Lithuanian alliance. A little later, France launches another campaign against England to ease them of the burden Normandy and Calais places on their rebel-infested isles.
Back in Spain I decided to sit tight and wait for Portugal to finish besieging Badajoz. When they were done I quickly moved in and instantly assaulted it.
The Portuguese were of the sound opinion that the bunch of angry Basques were a more pressing threat than me and set on a march up north. I on the other hand moved on to besiege Alentejo.
Not long after the Portuguese returned after having dealt with the Basques, though the province itself remained under rebel occupation. Soon there was a race of sieges between us.
Back in North Africa my idle peasants spot another enclave of dirty infidels. This time I'll rather take a loan than a piety hit.
After the Portuguese somehow managed to finish their siege before mine, they set off to north again to actually besiege Vizcaya because, you know, it makes perfect sense! it gave me plenty of time to do what I want and I quickly jumped in and commited another assault on Caceres.
And the merry people of Cadiz rise up in arms once more.
Luckily I was soon done with the siege and could move on to deal with them, while a small detach began besieging Algarve.
No, I am sorry my friend. I don't think you are of much help to your buddies.
At this point I realised that I couldn't take any provinces from Portugal and since I didn't want to grant Toledo to Granada, nor to take more rebel-infested inland provinces that I couldn't core for myself, I decided to go ahead and end the war short. At least the ensuing peace will give Morocco some time to replenish their manpower and get rid of the last remaining loan.
The war actually finished on 21st of December 1460, which means that this is the last update for Morocco and it is time for another election. A little summary and a list of new candidates will be up tomorrow. I'm eagerly awaiting whether we will have a 20-year extension for Morocco or moving on to something completely different!
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Why not give Toledo to Granada? They core it for you, then you annex them via vassalization.
@Enewald: Because as I am playing different countries for only a short period of time, I would probably not have time to go through with that. Besides, since Granada has already grown too large for diplo-vassalization I would need to vassalize them through a series of war which I would rather avoid until Iberia is more or less free of Christians.
And so we are done with the first period of our first country. I decided I should write a little overview after each period, summarising what has happened during my time with the previous country, an overview of the present situation, as well as a little analysis of what is going on in the surrounding world. This gives new readers a chance to hop in and take part in new elections without the need to go through all the previous updates. It will also shine a light on the global balance of powers, giving each of you a chance to evaluate which country might be in the most interesting situation to be played as.
Above we have the final situation of Morocco on 2nd of January 1461. I unfortunately missed the 31st of December end date that I have set for myself, but I don't think those 2 days off our next candidate's period will be that much of a loss.
As you can see above, Castile has been rather heavily carved out, and I doubt they will ever recover to their former glory. Even if they were to win over an AI Morocco and finish off the reconquista, which I still see as perfectly viable for them, Aragon is pretty much guaranteed to dominate the Iberian peninsula from now on, as long as they don't run on a crash course with the BBB.
That being said, Morocco is far from having a secure and stable footing in Iberia, or even in North Africa. With hardly any manpower that will take many years to recover (it still needs to reinforce half of its army), Morocco can stand its ground but needs a lengthy period after each war to recuperate before it can defend itself against another foe.
Having a five-year truce with both Portugal and Castile will keep the two Christian kingdoms at bay for the time being, but Aragon is increasingly hostile on the diplomatic level, and keeps eyeing Moroccan and Granadan holdings in the south.
I would also like to point out a little mistake I made in the recent war - I suddenly realised I could have made a separate peace with Portugal, thus being able to actually take provinces from them instead of negotiating directly with Castile. I have no idea what caused such a silly blackout but what's done is done.
Before we move on to look at the current state of Morocco and the world let me quickly go through what has happened thus far.
- Morocco signs an alliance with Granada and ships 17000 men to Iberia in preparation for a future Castilian invasion.
- Castile declares war on Granada and is eventually defeated, leading to a devastating end after Aragon jumps in and declares war on Castile. As a result the country is cut to less than a half of its original size and the entire Castilian navy is sunk.
- Morocco has little luck in trying to stabilise its new gains in Southern Iberia with constant rebellions in majority of the provinces.
- Eventually Castile declares another war on Granada and Morocco, this time pulling in their Portuguese allies. The war is short-lived and ends in a petty defeat for Castile.
- Elsewhere in the world Qara Qoyunlu has nearly vanished from the map with their territory evenly divided between their neighbours.
- France regains the continental holdings of England apart from Calais and Normandy, and have now declared another war on the English.
- Crime and the Ottomans keep expanding westwards and northwards.
- There are three expanding powers worth to mention within the HRE, all located in the north; Friesland, Cologne and Lüneburg, while the south is still dominated by Austria.
Let's get back to Morocco and begin our overview from the economy. As you can see it is in a slightly better state than before the war, although the country can still be considered rather poor. Inflation is finally under control and 4.5% is low enough to be lived with. The country has one 22 ducat loan left that it is able to pay off right away from its treasury. All in all, the economy is now in stable and satisfactory condition.
An unfortunate setback for Morocco are the two landlocked provinces that cannot be cored in Spain. The country needs to form a quick link either through Toledo to existing holdings in the south, or to seize a bit of the Portuguese coastline to ease the burden. I have recently also been toying around with the idea of selling them to Granada and instead of having direct holdings in Iberia, focusing on nurturing Granada into an Iberian powerhouse. Stability has obviously become very costly due to overextension and decrease in religious unity.
On the bright side I am able to convert all of the Iberian provinces within a short time frame. My piety is also back in 75% and Morocco should attempt to keep it as high as possible in the current state of affairs.
Let's see what rest of the world looks like at this point. Things haven't really managed to heat up quite yet during the short 16-year period, but we can already see some obvious signs of emerging powers and future hotbeds of action.
As per usual, the dominating big players in Europe are France, Austria and the Ottomans. The next tier would include Denmark - which is soon done with annexing Holstein and is in the process of integrating Sweden and Norway, and is leading a successful war against the Teutonic Order, Muscowy in Russia, Aragon, Bohemia and surprisingly stable Hungary.
As I mentioned earlier, there are three powers in the north of Germany that keep constantly expanding at their neighbours expense; Lüneburg (the one with a province under rebel occupation), Cologne (the dark green 'snail' near Austrian Netherlands) that has cut through into the Netherlands and Friesland (the brownish blob between Denmark and Austrian Netherlands) that is currently winning a war against the Hansa for the fate of Bremen. There isn't much else to say at this point regarding Europe apart from what you can see with your own eyes.
Apart from Muscowy ravaging through Novgorod, Russia has been quite quiet for a good while now. Oirat Horde is on a westward expansion through Uzbek.
Meanwhile in the Middle-East and India we have the usual Timurid expansion to both directions, Qara Qoyunlu being almost wiped off the map, Golden Horde making a slight southward expansion and Hedjaz in a dominant position in the Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopia is leading a successful war against Adal, but just days before the end of my period as Morocco the Mamluks declared a war on them.
In India the three expanding powers are Vijayanagar, Jaunupur and little Gujarat, but it is still too early to tell which one(s) might stand as the dominant ones in the future.
In tge Far East, Ming has been surprisingly calm, having only conguered a bit of Manchu and Korea, leaving its eastern and southern neighbours to do as they please. In Indochina, Ayutthaya is quickly developing into a regional powerhouse, with their Khmer vassals nearing an annexation.
That's all for now, I'll post up a list of future candidates later on today, perhaps between 18:00-20:00 GMT.
Morocco - A Summary
And so we are done with the first period of our first country. I decided I should write a little overview after each period, summarising what has happened during my time with the previous country, an overview of the present situation, as well as a little analysis of what is going on in the surrounding world. This gives new readers a chance to hop in and take part in new elections without the need to go through all the previous updates. It will also shine a light on the global balance of powers, giving each of you a chance to evaluate which country might be in the most interesting situation to be played as.
Above we have the final situation of Morocco on 2nd of January 1461. I unfortunately missed the 31st of December end date that I have set for myself, but I don't think those 2 days off our next candidate's period will be that much of a loss.
As you can see above, Castile has been rather heavily carved out, and I doubt they will ever recover to their former glory. Even if they were to win over an AI Morocco and finish off the reconquista, which I still see as perfectly viable for them, Aragon is pretty much guaranteed to dominate the Iberian peninsula from now on, as long as they don't run on a crash course with the BBB.
That being said, Morocco is far from having a secure and stable footing in Iberia, or even in North Africa. With hardly any manpower that will take many years to recover (it still needs to reinforce half of its army), Morocco can stand its ground but needs a lengthy period after each war to recuperate before it can defend itself against another foe.
Having a five-year truce with both Portugal and Castile will keep the two Christian kingdoms at bay for the time being, but Aragon is increasingly hostile on the diplomatic level, and keeps eyeing Moroccan and Granadan holdings in the south.
I would also like to point out a little mistake I made in the recent war - I suddenly realised I could have made a separate peace with Portugal, thus being able to actually take provinces from them instead of negotiating directly with Castile. I have no idea what caused such a silly blackout but what's done is done.
Before we move on to look at the current state of Morocco and the world let me quickly go through what has happened thus far.
- Morocco signs an alliance with Granada and ships 17000 men to Iberia in preparation for a future Castilian invasion.
- Castile declares war on Granada and is eventually defeated, leading to a devastating end after Aragon jumps in and declares war on Castile. As a result the country is cut to less than a half of its original size and the entire Castilian navy is sunk.
- Morocco has little luck in trying to stabilise its new gains in Southern Iberia with constant rebellions in majority of the provinces.
- Eventually Castile declares another war on Granada and Morocco, this time pulling in their Portuguese allies. The war is short-lived and ends in a petty defeat for Castile.
- Elsewhere in the world Qara Qoyunlu has nearly vanished from the map with their territory evenly divided between their neighbours.
- France regains the continental holdings of England apart from Calais and Normandy, and have now declared another war on the English.
- Crime and the Ottomans keep expanding westwards and northwards.
- There are three expanding powers worth to mention within the HRE, all located in the north; Friesland, Cologne and Lüneburg, while the south is still dominated by Austria.
Let's get back to Morocco and begin our overview from the economy. As you can see it is in a slightly better state than before the war, although the country can still be considered rather poor. Inflation is finally under control and 4.5% is low enough to be lived with. The country has one 22 ducat loan left that it is able to pay off right away from its treasury. All in all, the economy is now in stable and satisfactory condition.
An unfortunate setback for Morocco are the two landlocked provinces that cannot be cored in Spain. The country needs to form a quick link either through Toledo to existing holdings in the south, or to seize a bit of the Portuguese coastline to ease the burden. I have recently also been toying around with the idea of selling them to Granada and instead of having direct holdings in Iberia, focusing on nurturing Granada into an Iberian powerhouse. Stability has obviously become very costly due to overextension and decrease in religious unity.
On the bright side I am able to convert all of the Iberian provinces within a short time frame. My piety is also back in 75% and Morocco should attempt to keep it as high as possible in the current state of affairs.
Let's see what rest of the world looks like at this point. Things haven't really managed to heat up quite yet during the short 16-year period, but we can already see some obvious signs of emerging powers and future hotbeds of action.
As per usual, the dominating big players in Europe are France, Austria and the Ottomans. The next tier would include Denmark - which is soon done with annexing Holstein and is in the process of integrating Sweden and Norway, and is leading a successful war against the Teutonic Order, Muscowy in Russia, Aragon, Bohemia and surprisingly stable Hungary.
As I mentioned earlier, there are three powers in the north of Germany that keep constantly expanding at their neighbours expense; Lüneburg (the one with a province under rebel occupation), Cologne (the dark green 'snail' near Austrian Netherlands) that has cut through into the Netherlands and Friesland (the brownish blob between Denmark and Austrian Netherlands) that is currently winning a war against the Hansa for the fate of Bremen. There isn't much else to say at this point regarding Europe apart from what you can see with your own eyes.
Apart from Muscowy ravaging through Novgorod, Russia has been quite quiet for a good while now. Oirat Horde is on a westward expansion through Uzbek.
Meanwhile in the Middle-East and India we have the usual Timurid expansion to both directions, Qara Qoyunlu being almost wiped off the map, Golden Horde making a slight southward expansion and Hedjaz in a dominant position in the Arabian Peninsula. Ethiopia is leading a successful war against Adal, but just days before the end of my period as Morocco the Mamluks declared a war on them.
In India the three expanding powers are Vijayanagar, Jaunupur and little Gujarat, but it is still too early to tell which one(s) might stand as the dominant ones in the future.
In tge Far East, Ming has been surprisingly calm, having only conguered a bit of Manchu and Korea, leaving its eastern and southern neighbours to do as they please. In Indochina, Ayutthaya is quickly developing into a regional powerhouse, with their Khmer vassals nearing an annexation.
That's all for now, I'll post up a list of future candidates later on today, perhaps between 18:00-20:00 GMT.
Thanks for your vote, but the election hasn't started yet. I'll count your vote in anyway, though.
Just wanted to pop in and announce that the election will begin early tomorrow instead, I couldn't make it in time today and now it is too late already. Apologies.
Regarding the situation in Iberia, if the Iberian Wedding event fires, Aragon will end up as the lesser partner in a PU under Castile, even if Castile only has one province left, and Aragon has everything else on the Iberian Peninsula. The event can fire anytime after 1450, if the countries are ruled by monarchs of opposite genders, and they are not actively at war.
@Jorlem: Thanks, I'll need to keep that in mind.
It is time for the second elections. Voting will end tomorrow at 13:00 GMT (14:00 BST)! You are allowed to vote for one candidate, please read the general rules on voting in the first post. Let the best candidate win!
It is time for the second elections. Voting will end tomorrow at 13:00 GMT (14:00 BST)! You are allowed to vote for one candidate, please read the general rules on voting in the first post. Let the best candidate win!
Second Elections
List of Candidates:
Morocco
Avignon
Scotland
Friesland
Oman
Nogai
Hungary
Baluchistan
Avignon
Scotland
Friesland
Oman
Nogai
Hungary
Baluchistan
Continue Morocco
Avignon
Scotland
Friesland
Oman
Nogai
Hungary
Baluchistan
+ The game started off quite well and Morocco is in a nice position to soon affect the world at large.
+ I played them quite cautiously while I am now in a position to wreak havoc across the region.
+ Morocco is far from stable and sustainable enough for the AI to survive for long.
+ Their first period only lasted for 16 years.
- Morocco is strong enough to last as a regional power.
- Low manpower and constant rebellions might stagnate any potential plans of expansion.
+ I played them quite cautiously while I am now in a position to wreak havoc across the region.
+ Morocco is far from stable and sustainable enough for the AI to survive for long.
+ Their first period only lasted for 16 years.
- Morocco is strong enough to last as a regional power.
- Low manpower and constant rebellions might stagnate any potential plans of expansion.
Avignon
+ Languedoc revolted to Avignon, giving them a once in a lifetime opportunity to expand into a regional power.
+ I already did a short test-run as them and their position is very viable for survival and expansion.
+ Lots of space to expand.
+ Good relations with France and Austria.
+ I like their colour.
- Surrounded by behemoths.
- Territory falls within French ambitions.
- Low in resources.
+ I already did a short test-run as them and their position is very viable for survival and expansion.
+ Lots of space to expand.
+ Good relations with France and Austria.
+ I like their colour.
- Surrounded by behemoths.
- Territory falls within French ambitions.
- Low in resources.
Scotland
+ With England in yet another war against France, it would be an exceptional time to strike and take over the Isles.
+ In a perfect position to dominate the seas and for colonial expansion.
+ Pretty much an absoulte freedom to do as they please with Ireland and England.
- Quite isolated until England has been dealt with.
- Has recently been wrecked by rebels.
+ In a perfect position to dominate the seas and for colonial expansion.
+ Pretty much an absoulte freedom to do as they please with Ireland and England.
- Quite isolated until England has been dealt with.
- Has recently been wrecked by rebels.
Friesland
+ The AI has managed to expand Friesland into a regional power.
+ Lots of room to expand.
+ Can affect the current balance of powers between the great powers.
+ Possibility to form the Netherlands.
- AI is doing quite well as it is.
- Neighbouring a behemoth.
+ Lots of room to expand.
+ Can affect the current balance of powers between the great powers.
+ Possibility to form the Netherlands.
- AI is doing quite well as it is.
- Neighbouring a behemoth.
Oman
+ Interesting position with lots of space to expand, including to overseas.
+ Surrounded by equally powerful foes.
+ Special national ideas.
- Isolated from Europe.
- Takes some time to grow into full power and extent.
+ Surrounded by equally powerful foes.
+ Special national ideas.
- Isolated from Europe.
- Takes some time to grow into full power and extent.
Nogai
+ Most stable and 'pristine' of the hordes (hasn't expanded really, been to few wars thus far, secure position).
+ In a perfect place and time to began a massive expansion.
+ Good military monarch.
- Backwards.
- Most of the time would be spent swallowing other hordes.
+ In a perfect place and time to began a massive expansion.
+ Good military monarch.
- Backwards.
- Most of the time would be spent swallowing other hordes.
Hungary
+ Has remained surprisingly stable and powerful.
+ Powerful enough to take on serious foes.
- Little room to expand.
- Surrounded by behemoths.
+ Powerful enough to take on serious foes.
- Little room to expand.
- Surrounded by behemoths.
Baluchistan
+ Interesting position.
+ Lots of rich land in India up for grabs before it is time to take on the Timurids.
+ Potential to grow big.
- Neighbouring a behemoth.
- Backwards and isolated.
- Little influence in the world at large at this point.
+ Lots of rich land in India up for grabs before it is time to take on the Timurids.
+ Potential to grow big.
- Neighbouring a behemoth.
- Backwards and isolated.
- Little influence in the world at large at this point.
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Morroco looks promising, but I think that in next 20 years it would be quite stagnant. I'm voting for Hungary however. I have noticed it has became regional power in the overview from yesterday and I was hoping you would choose it on your list. There are lots of opportunities and I'm curious where can you take it.
I think the AAR has more appeal if you change the country.
I'm voting for Oman. In 20 years it should be very possible to build a country to last until the end of the game - with that position and with their national ideas they're in for their share of glory.
I'm voting for Oman. In 20 years it should be very possible to build a country to last until the end of the game - with that position and with their national ideas they're in for their share of glory.
Very nice concept. While the continuing Morocco would be interesting I'd like to see what it does on it's own even more.
Due to the rarity of the opportunity I vote for Avignon, I'd love to see you try and turn it into a Mediterranean superpower!
Due to the rarity of the opportunity I vote for Avignon, I'd love to see you try and turn it into a Mediterranean superpower!
My vote is for Oman. If you can absorb Yemen, Oman will basically be in a good position for the rest of the game, as they will be sitting on a vital trade node.
I thought I was going to vote for Morocco, because it doesn't look to me as if it's quite secure enough yet for the AI not to lose all of your gains fairly quickly. But then I saw Avignon, which is just too good an opportunity to pass up. Plus, it has a border with Aragon, so there's still a chance to see how things go and maybe influence things in Iberia a bit more. So I vote for Avignon.
Morocco. I think the AI will loose everything you gained as soon as you leave. They don't know how to deal with nationalist rebels and usually let them grab the land instead of giving them local autonomy, so Morocco will end up loosing everything they gained.