Tips as Spain

[indika_tates]

The burgundian inheritance is a poisoned event for Spain. When I play as Spain I focus on colonization and trade and the English channel is a problematic region for some reasons:

1) Reformation hit the lowlands badly. Around 1550 prepare for massive dutch revolts and an eventual independence war.
2) You have two fronts to fight France and this is not good.
3) The Genoese node is as good if not better than the English one and you control 80% of TP if you inherited Naples.

If you are aiming for the achievements (HRE) it's good. But if you want to ignore Europe and focus on colonization&trade, liberate Burgundy as a vassal and break vassalization when the truce ends. If you have strong allies and you feel safe enable scutage on Burgundy. If you get the inheritance early the state limit prevent you from forming states there if you also hold Iberia.

 

[CoolSpin]

But if you want to ignore Europe and focus on colonization&trade, liberate Burgundy as a vassal and break vassalization when the truce ends. If you have strong allies and you feel safe enable scutage on Burgundy. If you get the inheritance early the state limit prevent you from forming states there if you also hold Iberia.

Yes, I've seen castles problems if they get BI.

My goals would be break France up, take everything that would be France into yellow, become emperor, and colonize, and eat england, if catholic, keep as vassal to colonize, vassalize portugal, add to hre, get all reforms passed, kill ottomans and Russia, via Scotland get Norway to yellow, if they still are in union, then take Denmark and Sweden, let a smaller portugal get berber lands (HCC), and the world is my oyster as the song goes.


You mean if I get BI, I should release Burgundy, this dont make sense since France is split and I got good relations with released nations, so I can get access. And the Dutch revolt just culture change, and as emperor i can take all Dutch stuff and culture convert?

 

[schondetta]

I can gurantee that world power web of alliances won't last very long. Eventually youll get ruler trait to conflict with another and it will all shatter. Particularly the Otto Russian Poland area

 

[Ninaran]

As Spain you have +30% Morale, +5% Discipline, a nice mountain border for forts and, if you're lucky, two PUs before France gets their +20% Morale.

Use that and the alliance you get with Austria due to mutual rivalry to crush the French asap.

 

[ElGranCapitan]

As Spain you have +30% Morale, +5% Discipline, a nice mountain border for forts and, if you're lucky, two PUs before France gets their +20% Morale.

Use that and the alliance you get with Austria due to mutual rivalry to crush the French asap.

Or, if France isn't a rival, you can ally them, kill the Trastamaras to get Valois kings. In the Age of Reformation you have a super military allowing you to beat France and PU them. That play, I think, is even stronger then the "kill France and PU Austria" strategy

 

[Incompetent]

The burgundian inheritance is a poisoned event for Spain. When I play as Spain I focus on colonization and trade and the English channel is a problematic region for some reasons:

1) Reformation hit the lowlands badly. Around 1550 prepare for massive dutch revolts and an eventual independence war.
2) You have two fronts to fight France and this is not good.
3) The Genoese node is as good if not better than the English one and you control 80% of TP if you inherited Naples.

I agree that as Spain you may as well focus on the Genoa node, and the low countries become less of a priority for trade purposes. It's certainly not a disaster if you miss out on the BI. But it's still good land that will bring a decent chunk of income, and in terms of fighting France, getting the burgundian inheritance yourself rather than letting France get it (or letting a weak emperor get it, only to lose it to France) means the France you have to fight is significantly weaker, which is definitely a good thing. Simply having a base in that part of Europe also gives you more diplomatic options (as a lot of AI decisions are based on distance).

As for the Dutch revolts, if you don't want to fight it out, you can just accept all demands (causes 100% autonomy, which sounds bad, but later you can reduce it again for some quick Absolutism!) or even release Netherlands as a vassal I think. (Another option is culture-converting the land, although it's not recommended as it's rather inefficient in terms of mana.)

 

[Sfan]

I'd say it's useful to the war vs France, simply because if you keep the forts France will spend 2 years with half their army trying to siege the Lowlands. Don't park troops, let them conquer it. That makes it a one front war for you and a two front war for France.

 

[boaster]

Why are so many intent on breaking up France, why not do this? Conquer the isles and win the war for the French throne. Next goal emperor? I guess technically I'm not Spain anymore though.

 

[Virupaksha]

Beauty as Spain is that with the colonist in the national ideas you can dominate the new world without exploration or expansion.

Problem is the lack of monarch points early on from your ruler and heir.

Fabricate and declare on Portugal at game start. Take Pale from England in a separate peace. Take enough of Portugal that second war you can vassal them. Need either France or Aragon as an ally to achieve this easily. France is better as the lengthy truce created between them and England prevents them blobbing.

Then build up navy so thubaqt can be taken while annexing Granada.

Then Ulster into Scotland to open up core fabrication against Denmark.

Then mamluks from thubaqt heading towards india. As for all western European nations taking Egypt before ottomans do is a priority.

IW should have fired by this time. Vassal Portugal once they have 2-3 colonies.

Admin, influence, humanist first three ideas. No need for exploration as castile, vassal Portugal does the colonisation for you. cheaper to subsidise them than to colonise yourself and the AI is so bad at colonisation you can outstrip them anyway just from the one colonist from national ideas.

 

[Sfan]

Humanist and not Religious? Don't you plan on using Religious to go on the Ottomans or India/Malacca asap?

 

[holyvigil]

Beauty as Spain is that with the colonist in the national ideas you can dominate the new world without exploration or expansion.

Problem is the lack of monarch points early on from your ruler and heir.

Fabricate and declare on Portugal at game start. Take Pale from England in a separate peace. Take enough of Portugal that second war you can vassal them. Need either France or Aragon as an ally to achieve this easily. France is better as the lengthy truce created between them and England prevents them blobbing.

Then build up navy so thubaqt can be taken while annexing Granada.

Then Ulster into Scotland to open up core fabrication against Denmark.

Then mamluks from thubaqt heading towards india. As for all western European nations taking Egypt before ottomans do is a priority.

IW should have fired by this time. Vassal Portugal once they have 2-3 colonies.

Admin, influence, humanist first three ideas. No need for exploration as castile, vassal Portugal does the colonisation for you. cheaper to subsidise them than to colonise yourself and the AI is so bad at colonisation you can outstrip them anyway just from the one colonist from national ideas.

Have to agree with Sfan. As Spain if I'm doing a serious WC attempt I go religious first. Rush to Egypt to cut off Ottomans then everyone else once the Otto blob have been dealt with.
Although I hear no cbing Byzantium is the best way to deal with the Ottomans and thus the quickest way to WC nowadays.

 

[CoolSpin]

Should you vassalise Tlemcen? Or just take it all, then release, or just core it?

 

[Virupaksha]

Humanist and not Religious? Don't you plan on using Religious to go on the Ottomans or India/Malacca asap?

Haven't tried it with religious but to get deus vult requires 9 admin ideas (assuming adaptability is prioritised) and Egypt should be done by that time anyway.

Truth is I struggle to finish humanist so wouldn't be confident of getting deus vult in a timescale where it would be useful.

 

[Virupaksha]

Should you vassalise Tlemcen? Or just take it all, then release, or just core it?

Ignore tlemcen. Increased berber coring costs for land that has little value.

 

[Sfan]

Feed it to Aragon, when you annex Aragon by forming Spain you skip the ICC. Just respect the province limit.

 

[ElGranCapitan]

Feed it to Aragon, when you annex Aragon by forming Spain you skip the ICC. Just respect the province limit.

Aragon gives you full cores, so I would use it to core land that i actually plan to state and just ignore Maghreb until max Absolutism

Feeding Aragon parts of Italy post shadow kingdom is a better idea imho

 

[Sfan]

Because you have the time to make states