The Rain in Spain Falls Mainly on Castile

[coz1]

Apologies to My Fair Lady for cribbing the title of this AAR, especially as I have never actually seen the film and/or musical. I've seen a lot, but not that one. Sorry Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews (whom I love!) Yet the title seems to work as Castile is one of those nations to play that tend to dominate the Iberian Peninsula and as we know the history, forms Spain...eventually. You would think it is an easy country to play, but as I am forty years into a game...it is not. This is actually my second attempt as the first one went tits up around the 1490's. I did not plan on making an AAR out of it when started, but rather just wanted a leisurely EU4 game to while away the time. However, it became interesting to me. And I noticed that (if the librAARy is correct) there is really only one other Castile/Spain AAR out there after all of these years. Hmm.

Thus I give to you...40 years on (a habit)...Castile in the grand campaign in EUIV:

There is a lot of information on that map, but it gives you a picture of where we start. I can say that we are allied with Portugal and Navarre, with Navarre being a vassal. I figured that one out after the first game because Aragon tried to gobble them up. This time they are in my corner...such as they are. The other thing you might notice is the expansion of Portugal. I did help that process even if self serving.

Let's just say this...Portugal is avaricious. Eat, eat, eat. And if you ally with them early, you will be dragged into war often. The last game, I was drawn in and faced massive Moroccon armies over and over again. At one point, even the Mamluks. Thousands of angry muslims just thirsty for our blood. Perhaps not too different from today, but we are playing a game.

Of course, the first priority as Castile is to defeat and conquer the Moors in Granada. Done and done. This game caused me to do it twice and the events are interesting. It offers you a chance to expel them and convert all provinces to Catholic. Easier said than done, because then they revert back. To wit...

I had them Catholic for a minute but they have decided to be pushy. Just like a Moop.

No matter. I plan on converting them when I can afford it. Which leads to the next part.

I should offer a view of our claims in the area:

So a little history here...Portugal struck first to try and claim all of Tangiers. I went along this time...again...to see if I might get any crumbs. On the first try, no. But on the second war we gobbled up parts of Algeria and lands south of Marrakesh. I was happy with that as it gives us a southerly approach to Morocco. I should also suggest, I had a mind to try this again with yet another attempt. What if I started and tried to take out Morocco before Portugal got to them? Yet...to what end? I don't really need those territories as nice as they might be to have. They are of wrong religion and do not really bring in much coin at this early date.

Plus, I have a mind later to tackle the Portugal (and Aragon) situation. For right now, and especially after the first try, I really want to set things up for exploration. After all...we are Castile (and would be Spain.)

On that score, I must suggest to any first time player - admin points are sacrosanct! Castile starts at 0 stability (and will get a truly shite King after the first one. Zeros across the board!) The first play through, I used those admin points to get ahead in stability. It is unnecessary. Yes, it has a slight effect in production, taxation, et al. But not much. What it really effects is the inability to invest in ideas if you spend them too early. No matter what happens, DO NOT spend any admin points for anything other then getting to 5 administrative technology so you can begin investing in ideas. And for Castile, absolutely it should be exploration.

Quest for the new world because guess what? Portugal has a head start! It pissed me off just as it did the first time...they will get Finestre off the Canary Islands. It is a matter of months and I don't know how to counteract that. Oooh! I'm still mad about it! Just months before they staked their claim!

That said, I got some revenge...

Colonization is super hard at this early stage of the game. Distance is everything! I was able to (once I achieved Quest for the new world) send an explorer out and eventually a conquistador and started this colony in Cape Verde. It is my hope that this allows me a spring board to Africa. We shall see, but you might notice that I have moved beyond that goal. Namely...

Took me a while to get there, and even with another war with Morocco (thanks Portugal!) we've had a nice time surfing the waves in the new world. Takes some time, of course. And a bit of care making sure your fleet doesn't sink due to attrition. But once I hit on Barbados and was able to establish a colony...

I would say it is smooth sailing, but I cannot really afford my army, navy and colonies (plural.) I've a loan out right now and hope to cover it when it comes due.

I really need those colonies to be self sustaining because I have a lot of other ideas. Ducats are tight (even with the gold I get out of La Mancha...that man is great!) And there is a whole world to discover! One step at a time, however. Each little inch of rain. Pressing ever forward. By George, I think she's got it...

This AAR is a lark, but it has been a fun game. Now...go vote!! I'll be back with more when something interesting happens.

 

[Nikolai]

Another @coz1 AAR! Amazing!

 

[Rensslaer]

I'm in on the ground floor! Excited to see how this goes.

I obviously missed that lesson about not adding stability. Is this a change from EU 3? The modifiers always change and so advice does too. Stability, in concept, was supposed to improve everything substantially.

Rensslaer

 

[HistoryDude]

I'm very interested in this AAR!

Could you demand ducats the next time you defeat an enemy of Portugal's? That could help make up the deficit.

Do you have a royal marriage with Aragon?

Who do you plan to attack in the New World first?

 

[coz1]

Fb-fb:

Another @coz1 AAR! Amazing!

Great to have you on board!

I'm in on the ground floor! Excited to see how this goes.

I obviously missed that lesson about not adding stability. Is this a change from EU 3? The modifiers always change and so advice does too. Stability, in concept, was supposed to improve everything substantially.

Rensslaer

I'm not sure it has changed too much. Yes, in theory higher stability will increase production, taxation, etc. However, it takes admin points to raise stability and you cannot afford to spend them when they are desperately needed to get to Quest for the new world in the ideas. Once you open that up, however, it takes diplo points to move through the idea group. Portugal clearly starts out ahead of Castile in exploration and I did not want to fall too far behind. Besides, you can live at 0 stability for a while unless a catastrophic event fires.

I'm very interested in this AAR!

Could you demand ducats the next time you defeat an enemy of Portugal's? That could help make up the deficit.

Do you have a royal marriage with Aragon?

Who do you plan to attack in the New World first?

Good questions. I actually did demand ducats in the last war with Morocco. I actually peaced out before the war was over because Portugal was just dicking about and I was ready to get to exploring. The deficit problem is entirely due to my colonial ventures. I've even disbanded a few infantry divisions to help with costs, but I don't want to allow my armies to get too small.

As to Aragon, I do not have a marriage with them. I'm not sure I need one as I played past this the last time and the event still fired to join Aragon into a PU. Not sure it makes sense, but I presume it will happen again. We'll see.

For who to attack in the new world, I'm not sure yet. It is still early stages and I want to get Barbados built into a full colony before deciding. Any suggestions? I've actually only played Castile/Spain one time before in any iteration of EU. Shocking, I know.

 

[coz1]

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Portugal?​

I don't know exactly why I chose to use Broadway musical references in this AAR, but it seems to work. Stick with me. I could have easily used Pink Floyd's Money as a guide here because that is what I need right now. And in that regard, I decided to use a little technique I've utilized a few times in the past playing EU4. I like to call it the Sale of Titles Ploy (TM).

In this ploy, we attempt to wet our beak by selling off some lands, but then pull the double switch on everyone by taking said crownland back. It nets us a nice little bundle of ducats in which we can pay off our loan and while we have some that are discontent, it won't last forever. They'll get over it for the betterment of Castile. And we need it because our King is an imbecile.

Told you!

Let this not color your impression of Enrique IV in my WOTR AAR. This is a different animal. And he is horrible. He's also 60 and does not seem to want to die. He does at least have an heir, which is always good. That said, it is not Isabella (soon to star in WOTR, by the way) though she may still show up. We'll see.

Let's look at a few other items as we keep going...

Again we can see the importance of points. I am low on diplo points because I've been using them to move through the exploration tree giving me more colonial range and colonists (still just one for now.) But I also want to get to workshops to help production and definitely level 7 in military tech so I can build some sweet, lovely cannon.

I'll need them because...Portugal.

But we get ahead of ourselves. A few notes about the rest of the world. France is at war with Austria. Burgundy is long gone by now.

Also, you'll note that Provence is doing quite well having had a fine lunch of Brittany. The Pope has some land in southern France, and we are doing everything we can to be friendly with the Holy Father. We were Papal Controller there for a while but then Denmark took it on the last election.

And I am still dealing with some revolting Moors and/or Muslims in our controlled land in North Africa and Granada. We deal with a couple of them with general ease even if it costs to recruit after the battles. But we remain firmly attended to colonization. In that regard, we look around and see where Portugal is right now. $20 ducats if you can guess, Wink. Yep, that's right...

They are doing their normal and typical exploration and colonies in what will become Brazil and we are fine with that. Stay down there and give us some breathing room as we continue in the Caribbean. Barbados is almost a full colony which will free up our funds well when done. Then we can finish off Cape Verde before we extend further.

Also, I decide it's time to annex our vassal Navarre...

It will cost some diplo points (which are badly needed) but it takes away any risk that Aragon might get in there and mess things up.

And we are well on our way in other avenues by 1487 because Barbados finally becomes a full colony and we can achieve another mission:

This of course solves our deficit problem (for now) and we can send our colonist back to Cape Verde to finish that off. Our conquistador dies on us in the process, but we recruit another and this one is named Alonso Ponce de Leon. Not sure if he'll find the fountain of youth, but I have some plans so hopefully he can stay youthful enough to carry them out.

And then...and then...Portugal strikes again! Dammit!

I'm telling you, they love to go to war. Likely because we have their back. Sure, they have a good military force and more than decent generals and admirals. But I doubt they would keep going to war with Morocco if it were not for us.

Here we go again...

It's 1488 and pork chops are raining from the desert sands. That is an in-artful metaphor/reference, but it is the truth. Truthful because we make mince meat of the small Moroccan armies at this late date.

A short review of the war - I send the Ejercito de Marrakech north from Agidar to siege Haha. That is taken with ease. Haha, indeed. My Ejercito de Granada moves south from Algiers to take the northern half of Marrakesh. Quick and decisive. Portugal messes about in Morocco proper (even though their stated aim was Marrakesh) and it leaves us free to take it all by 1489.

Like a dummy, I assume my good allies in Portugal will reward me for all of our efforts. But no. NO!! I hold claims on Haha and Abda in Marrakesh, but as I am looking again towards our colonial ventures in the Caribbean, I get word that Portugal has finally made peace. What did they get?

And what did we get? Bupkis!

Sons of bitches! I should have peaced out early again and taken what was owed. Instead, I am going to have to wait until 1504 when the peace treaty ends to take it and will have to return to Marrakesh with a diplomat to re-fabricate those claims.

Oooh, Portugal! Bastards!!

@Lord Durham wrote a very good AAR years ago in which Portugal featured in the film. I may need to write a musical (to stick with the theme) just to describe how much I hate them right now despite our +200 relations.

Assholes!!!

But it is 2024 (and 1490) now and the new year wants me to find my inner peace. So instead of ranting about it, I decide I'll just get back at them by taking as much as I can in the colonies. Oh, I'll get back to North Africa. But for now, my focus is on...

And more to that, my exploration...

You can have your North Africa, Portugal. For now. Yet for us? We'll take the rest of the world. To paraphrase Leonard Cohen, "First you take Manhattan and then you take Lisbon."

I've got a third colony going and the economy is back on track. My next goal is to hit the Renaissance so we can keep up with research. Not there yet, but getting closer every day...

Watch out, Portugal! I know I should be looking side eye to Aragon, but you are now on my naughty list! To quote yet another Broadway musical, "Anything you can do, I can do better."

 

[Lord Durham]

A Broadway musical. How delicious. Springtime for Lisbon? Nice work, Al. Cute touch with Man of La Mancha.

 

[coz1]

A Broadway musical. How delicious. Springtime for Lisbon? Nice work, Al. Cute touch with Man of La Mancha.

Dammit, Bruce! Now you've challenged me!

My idiot King trying to sing Lin-Manuel Miranda lyrics?? Oy! But...maybe. Give me a minute and some boredom.

Awesome to see you stop by, sir.

 

[Nikolai]

Now all I can see and hear is the Hitler Rap.

 

[Rensslaer]

Despite the dizzying, Cozzian pace you are setting, I am keeping up.

Portugal is definitely an unworthy and ungrateful ally. But are you concerned about France? Looks like it's the opposite of your WOTR France.

Great work @coz1!

Rensslaer

 

[HistoryDude]

Portugal sucks here. I wonder if you could get a royal marriage and trigger a war of succession to conquer them with a just cause...

Did England conquer Provence sometime during this chapter?

For who to attack in the new world, I'm not sure yet. It is still early stages and I want to get Barbados built into a full colony before deciding. Any suggestions? I've actually only played Castile/Spain one time before in any iteration of EU. Shocking, I know.

I haven't played Castile or Spain, but I have played as a colonizer. My strategy there was to conquer the coasts first, so, when other countries start to colonize, they're blocked from entering America at all. I'm not done with that game, so we'll see how much I managed to block off that way. Maybe you could try something similar? Block access to the other Europeans and then conquer the native nations later?

 

[coz1]

Fb-fb:

Now all I can see and hear is the Hitler Rap.

Despite the dizzying, Cozzian pace you are setting, I am keeping up.

Portugal is definitely an unworthy and ungrateful ally. But are you concerned about France? Looks like it's the opposite of your WOTR France.

Great work @coz1!

Rensslaer

At present, I am not worried about France but that could change in a hot minute. I've tried to keep both England and France relatively friendly during this early potion of the game as I focused on North Africa and the new world.

Portugal sucks here. I wonder if you could get a royal marriage and trigger a war of succession to conquer them with a just cause...

Did England conquer Provence sometime during this chapter?

No, Provence is still there. You just cannot see them too well in that last screen.

And I've been married to Portugal since the start. So far, no war of succession.

I haven't played Castile or Spain, but I have played as a colonizer. My strategy there was to conquer the coasts first, so, when other countries start to colonize, they're blocked from entering America at all. I'm not done with that game, so we'll see how much I managed to block off that way. Maybe you could try something similar? Block access to the other Europeans and then conquer the native nations later?

I see. That is, of course, a good strategy as far as developing colonies is concerned. There are a lot of islands, however, and it is rather easy to get "behind enemy lines" as it were. I will discuss more my goals in the next section when I get around to writing it up, but I have focused in the Caribbean. Of course, there is also a lot of juicy gold in some of those natives lands. That is where the conquering comes in.

 

[coz1]

It is the Dawning of the Age of Discovery...​

Well, actually it is nearing the end as the Renaissance is nearly upon us. Yet we as Castile alongside our arch-nemesis/besties Portugal have really taken charge of navigating those far away lands in which dragons there be. I may not account for their exploits, but we have been busy since last updated. It is now 1493 and though we lost our two early carrack exploring navy trying to get up the eastern seaboard to Nova Scotia...or whatever it is to be called in this world...the intrepid conquistador Alonso Ponce de Leon was able to land in...shall we call it Flo Rida (wait, wrong musical reference)...and did what he does best. March around and say to mildly curious natives, "Hey...you've been discovered!"

"Dunno...we've been here the whole time, mate. Not sure about that hat either."

Incidentally, there is a story to be told about the lost voyage of the Volante that sank in the hazardous waters of the Bahama Banks, but King Enrique "the Idiot" was uninterested in the bard that tried to tell the tale and so all we have are these maps...

In a journey that might make Hunter S. Thompson proud, our guy Ponce de Leon walked all the way from Florida to Mexico sampling the wares of Panama City, Mobile, New Orleans, Galveston and ending in Chichimeca after a perilous journey crossing the Rio Grande. He was surprised by the amount of folks going the other way, but...well...he was not there to run for office.

You can also see that our colonist has expanded yet again. The colony in Canimar was popping right along, so why not move next door and get in some Havana Nights? Of course, this does mean that we now have two colonies going at once which as we've seen does cause an extra cost to us. Our healthy dose of ducats dwindles rather fast by November of the next year, however we are rather more excited by this news:

While to the naked eye, these stats for Enrique V are not impressive, anything higher than zero is good. The heir Felipe does not look terribly exciting but at least he is not a total idiot like his grandfather. Anyway, Hank is 48 and Phil is 25 so they may be with us for awhile. Thankfully we have some decent advisors...

They all serve their purpose, especially the missionary strength and colonial range. Both have been put to great use as Granada is about halfway converted back to Catholic once more and we've sped up our colonial efforts. I am hoarding my points, all of them. I could choose to use diplo points to move to the next level of exploration, but I want to get to Basic Financial Instruments (lvl 5) and our penalty for not embracing the Renaissance is weighing heavily.

At any rate, Ponce de Leon keeps Partying in the USA and finally lands at LAX with his dreams and a cardigan...

Well not quite, but he does discover the Pacific Ocean and marches back south and finally gets allowance from Chichimeca for military access. By 1497, he's seen all he need see (and drank all he could drink) and with a great headache took ship to the south of our colonies that we might call Cuba. These lands we might call Honduras...

In the process, we finally reach lvl 6 of admin tech and can now build workshops. Ducats are tight but we put at least one down back home. Then Havana becomes self sustaining in 1498. Finally we are back in black and to our surprise are informed of the Birth of Colonialism.

We celebrate by doing a dance we like to call the Columbian Exchange...or perhaps the Honduran Rag...because that is where we head next...

We are just about done converting the heathens back home in Iberia and can save some ducats there. But the coin is still rather tight with support for colonists and trying to fully support both the army and navy. Also, we decide to build a marketplace in Havana as it holds a natural port and the center of trade in the area is not too far away (in the Jamaican Channel.) We plan to go there next when we can afford it because I want that land before anyone else can get to it. Of course, Mobile always turns out to be good as well.

I'll say also that I've made some claims on Cocomes should I wish to use them, but they have a few allies. What I would really like is of course the Aztecs and my former friends Chichimeca because of all of that sweet, sweet gold (inflation be damned) because that could be well used.

And of course, things are still happening back home. Namely I am finally starting to re-fabricate claims on Marrakesh and Aragon is having a rather large problem...

Moroccan separatists have caused a bit of a dust up in Africa and they also went to war with Tuscany and a soupcon of France. Hmmm. Now, you might think I could take advantage of this, but Aragon is allied with England, Naples and Venice. Due to my tight budget, I cannot really afford a large continental army. Thus, I have to sit back and watch. One does have to make a choice and I chose to explore early on. I hope it will benefit me later on.

I have also caused what I like to call the flaw in the Sale of Titles Ploy (TM). You have to be careful how you use it. I tried it again and it dropped me below where I need to be with crownland. Now there is a fix for this. However it requires a healthy dose of admin, diplo and military points in strategic places. While it drops me under where I would like to be, I was already able to get past lvl 4 in diplomacy and lvl 6 of military tech. Using these points does also help spread the Renaissance so it could turn out fine in the end.

Doing the above does get me back to at least 30% in crownland by 1502 which gets rid of any penalties and besides, I am trying to weave a fine line. This early in the game, you just cannot do it all. Portugal has tried but guess what? They are over 400 ducats in debt. That causes them to be unwilling to join me in the inevitable war with Morocco over Marrakesh (coming soonish after the peace treaty is done in 1504.) Fair enough. Guess what also? Aragon is also greatly in debt. Could be used to my benefit but I cannot do all things. You would think it effects England and France also but...

Looking forward it. Especially because I have other plans...

 

[Rensslaer]

@coz1

Dancing lightly around the Aztecs, I notice. You do seem to have focused very heavily on "the new thing" -- cryptocurrency... err, rather The New World, and I bet that's going to pay off in the long run.

And France looks busy with England and Aragon. Not a happy thing, though, to see French soldiers in Iberia.

And those look to be some really good bonuses for Colonialism in those events.

Looking forward to more!

Rensslaer

 

[HistoryDude]

At least France and England are distracted with each other and so can't challenge Castile's rule in the Americas...

I look forward to the creation of Castilian colonies on the mainland.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I never played EUIV except for the castile tutorial many years ago, recorded on the blogs section of this site which is now long gone.

I recall I turned Portugal into a colonial farm wherein they were reduced to a OPM in Iberia by me, and yet had all their bonuses for colonisation and exploration intact. So I kept them alive and occasionally dropped in to take all their colonies in Africa and America on the cheap. Very good strategy, utterly broke colonial mechanics, no idea whether it still works.

 

[Historywhiz]

I can’t remember if there’s a mission in the Castilian mission tree that grants you the opportunity to launch a Personal Union war on Portugal, but ultimately it probably won’t be necessary. Castile/Spain and Portugal almost always wind up having the same dynasty by 1600 due to their intermarriage and game RNG.

The fun bit is that often, thanks to the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, said inter-Iberian dynasty is also the dynasty ruling England…

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I can’t remember if there’s a mission in the Castilian mission tree that grants you the opportunity to launch a Personal Union war on Portugal, but ultimately it probably won’t be necessary. Castile/Spain and Portugal almost always wind up having the same dynasty by 1600 due to their intermarriage and game RNG.

The fun bit is that often, thanks to the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, said inter-Iberian dynasty is also the dynasty ruling England…

It did nearly happen OTL...

 

[coz1]

Fb-fb:

@coz1

Dancing lightly around the Aztecs, I notice. You do seem to have focused very heavily on "the new thing" -- cryptocurrency... err, rather The New World, and I bet that's going to pay off in the long run.

And France looks busy with England and Aragon. Not a happy thing, though, to see French soldiers in Iberia.

And those look to be some really good bonuses for Colonialism in those events.

Looking forward to more!

Rensslaer

True enough with the Aztecs. I wanted to get in idea of their strength before I ventured forth. And indeed, I did want to focus on exploration and colonization in this game. It's been awhile since I got to do that.

At least France and England are distracted with each other and so can't challenge Castile's rule in the Americas...

I look forward to the creation of Castilian colonies on the mainland.

They have given me some breathing room. For now. I can only hope this war holds England especially off for a bit longer before they start colonizing along the east coast.

I never played EUIV except for the castile tutorial many years ago, recorded on the blogs section of this site which is now long gone.

I recall I turned Portugal into a colonial farm wherein they were reduced to a OPM in Iberia by me, and yet had all their bonuses for colonisation and exploration intact. So I kept them alive and occasionally dropped in to take all their colonies in Africa and America on the cheap. Very good strategy, utterly broke colonial mechanics, no idea whether it still works.

They do start off especially strong I'm sure by design. I might try a game with them next just to see the difference.

I can’t remember if there’s a mission in the Castilian mission tree that grants you the opportunity to launch a Personal Union war on Portugal, but ultimately it probably won’t be necessary. Castile/Spain and Portugal almost always wind up having the same dynasty by 1600 due to their intermarriage and game RNG.

The fun bit is that often, thanks to the Anglo-Portuguese alliance, said inter-Iberian dynasty is also the dynasty ruling England…

I'll have to look at the mission tree. I've kind of been playing hoping to be surprised rather than attempting to hit this or that trigger. Might have missed an opportunity with Aragon, however. The last go round, I got the PU with them and have no idea how or why. Has not happened this play through.

It did nearly happen OTL...

True enough.

 

[jak7139]

But I doubt they would keep going to war with Morocco if it were not for us.

Very true. The AI only declares if it is for sure certain it can win/has backup.

Doing the above does get me back to at least 30% in crownland by 1502 which gets rid of any penalties and besides, I am trying to weave a fine line.

Estate privileges could also help with colonization and point-generation. But a few of them cost crownland.

Very good strategy, utterly broke colonial mechanics, no idea whether it still works.

A version of it probably still does. You have to vassalize or make Portugal a subject to keep those colonies in line, otherwise their colonies will break free if Portugal is too weak.