The ulcer erupts -- a Spanish AAR

[Avindian]

Hello! This will be my first AAR for March of the Eagles. Before I begin, a special "thank you" to Vrael_1492, who more than any other forumite (including me) is responsible for this AAR.

I am, as far as experience goes, a complete n00b when it comes to this game. I've played precisely two years of a French campaign, so I'm not entirely certain what I'm doing. Still, that won't stop me from trying! My goal is to try to take on France, after an initial period of build up to deal with them. (Yes, this is partially revenge for my HOD beta AAR. ) Settings are on Very Easy, given my lack of skill at the game (thus far).

House rules:
1. No cheating.
2. No reloading (unless for technical reasons).
3. No save editing.
4. Spain cannot leave France's coalition until 1808, or unless game events trigger it (I don't actually know).
5. Unless Spain and France are in a war, Spain must leave the coalition no later than 1809.

Goals:
1. Absorb North Africa, as much as possible.
2. Absorb Portugal.
3. Try to meet all victory conditions (obviously).

The first update won't be for a while -- I've got a busy week ahead of me, and the Mega Campaign gets first priority. Probably looking at pre-pause stuff coming out Monday or Tuesday, with the first proper update late next week. I do eagerly look to forward to hearing some advice from more seasoned players!

 

[Avindian]

Table of Contents​

Prologue
Chapter 1: Let loose the dogs of war (January - June 1805)
Chapter 2: A Sicilian Holiday (June 1805 - December 1806)
Chapter 3: The PTA coalition is disbanding?! (December 1806 to July 1809)
Chapter 4: Banging your head against the wall for fun and profit (July 1809 to May 1814)
Chapter 5: What's that sticking out of your back, France? (May 1814-May 1816)

 

[aapkw9]

Sounds interesting. Glad I could follow this one early.

 

[Funnyman320]

Commenting to follow!

 

[Michaelangelo]

I'm finally early for once. I think France would look lovely in a nice shade of yellow, so I'm looking forward to how this AAR turns out.

 

[Avindian]

Sounds interesting. Glad I could follow this one early.

Commenting to follow!

I'm finally early for once. I think France would look lovely in a nice shade of yellow, so I'm looking forward to how this AAR turns out.

Thanks everyone for the comments!

 

[Belgiumruler]

yay, an Avindian AAR, subbed !!!

 

[Avindian]

yay, an Avindian AAR, subbed !!!

Great!

 

[Thoctar]

Sounds awesome, might be able to help me determine whether I want this game, will definitely be following!

 

[Avindian]

Sounds awesome, might be able to help me determine whether I want this game, will definitely be following!

Excellent!

 

[Sakura_F]

For Spain!

 

[Seelmeister]

Looking forward to this, haven't played with Spain yet so will be interesting to see how your game develops.

 

[Avindian]

For Spain!

Well, really against France, but that's good enough.

Looking forward to this, haven't played with Spain yet so will be interesting to see how your game develops.

One of the first reasons I chose Spain is that nobody has written an AAR about it, and they're supposed to be a major. That leads me to one of two conclusions.

1) I'm going to get beat really, really badly.
2) Everybody else who ever bought the game forgot Spain existed.

I really, really hope it's 2.

I've got tons of papers to grade (last time this semester, thank goodness), but I do hope to update sometime in the next day or three.

 

[unmerged(703992)]

Very much looking forward to this.
I think the difficulty rating Spain has is too high, certainly in single player. But then the coalition rules you have set yourself have notched it up a fair bit. Good luck

 

[jeeshadow]

While their are not any aars of spain, I do think their are some lets plays on youtube of it, so you might not be doomed.

 

[Avindian]

Very much looking forward to this.
I think the difficulty rating Spain has is too high, certainly in single player. But then the coalition rules you have set yourself have notched it up a fair bit. Good luck

Thanks -- sounds like I'll need it!

While their are not any aars of spain, I do think their are some lets plays on youtube of it, so you might not be doomed.

Good to know; I don't normally watch LPs (I'm a reader more than a watcher), but I might have to in this instance.

 

[Warlord Skorr]

There were a few early threads after the first MotE multiplayer live-stream speculating that Spain might be one of the easier major powers to win as. That might have scared away early AAR writers. Or the fact that Spain essentially starts out at the mercy of France as a coalition member might have put people off. No one likes having to start an AAR dependent on the whims of the AI, much less one that is easy if you get past the start.

To a United Iberia!

 

[Avindian]

There were a few early threads after the first MotE multiplayer live-stream speculating that Spain might be one of the easier major powers to win as. That might have scared away early AAR writers. Or the fact that Spain essentially starts out at the mercy of France as a coalition member might have put people off. No one likes having to start an AAR dependent on the whims of the AI, much less one that is easy if you get past the start.

To a United Iberia!

Indeed.

I'm working on screenshots for the pre-pause stuff now; I should have it up tonight!

 

[Avindian]

Prologue​

So, this is Spain, as of 1 January 1805.

My King, Carlos IV, is 3/5/4. If Carlos (and I) are to win this game, we must acquire our objectives, which are as follows:

The obvious weak targets are Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria, all of whom have objectives of mine. My plan, therefore, is to target them first (as Portugal is being guaranteed by the British). Here are the resources with which I am to do this:

I understand that the economy in MOTE is pretty straightforward, and that most of the buildings (apart from supply depots) aren't worth building. I have no ideas to start the game, but I do have 175 points, so after a few victories (or defeats), I'll need to give ideas some thought. Spain is not alone, at least at this point in the game.

So, at this point, I saved and quit so I could go to bed. Then, when I woke up the next morning, I was thinking to myself "I should move some armies around, maybe even appoint new generals, and start on diplomacy. That would be a good idea." So I reloaded, and found this:

And this:

Looks like my plans for a nice, leisurely conquest of North Africa are already up in smoke. Clausewitz was certainly right. At least their coalition is just Russia and the UK for now. Russia isn't likely to be too much of a threat, in any case. Well, armed with this knowledge, I begin concentrating my armies. The concentration points are in red; the early objectives in black.

I will almost certainly need more soldiers to win this war, so I recruit a bunch of guards. It's probably not the best strategy, but you're supposed to learn by doing, right?

Here is where they shall rally:

At this point, I'm thinking each update will cover six months to a year; maybe two years, if it's a boring year. Any advice would be extremely welcome at this point; my only experience with this game is playing as France, and I'm already thinking it will be very, very different than that.

 

[jeeshadow]

Good luck in your mission to get revenge on France.