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Edit: - I changed the tag line of this thread cos I wanted folks who browsed through here to know that this isn't an AAR per se....yeah, I'm outlining the major events in the game, but I think it'd be false for me to call it an AAR, or even a mini-AAR. Mostly, I consider this to be an open discussion forum on practical game strategies, using a live game as an example. Note too, that any discussions here may well influence the future direction of the game....if things come up in discussion, and we wanna try them out...perfect! 
I'm still very much enjoying my Lorraine game (which has spawned my AAR), but given the time it's taking to play out even a single year with that nation, I'm finding myself itching to give other nations a go as well....I tried Austria, and found it to be....eh...so so I guess....it's just that already being neck deep in a game with a nation in that part of Europe that begins landlocked, I was looking for a different "feel."
That's what prompted me to play Portugal, and ohhhh man@! That's where the goods are! I've only played to 1499, and already it's been far and away the most entertaining, most FUN game I've had yet! Awesome little country with a number of unique problems.
First, of course, is their location. Essentially, you're standing in the shadow of Spain, and the Spaniards, while they don't outright hate you, are none too fond.
Second, you have no tax base to speak of. Essentially, you can't HOPE to support a sustained colonization effort (even tho you get a nice number of annual colonists, and some good explorers), because you simply can't pay for it.
Third, you have some really WRETCHED trading posts in Africa...AND, the natives in most of them are hostile.
Fourth, as if Spain wasn't enough, there are 40,000 Moroccans who'd dearly love to have a go at you in Tangiers.
All in all, Portugal is a nation with a few problems.
Oh! And your "mighty" natural allies, The Hanseatic League and Pomerania....yeah....there's two countries you can count on in a pinch....considering that neither is a naval power to speak of, and they're both so durned far away.....
Needless to say, I was hooked from the start.
First thing I did in this game was pause it on January 1st, 1492, and stare at the map for about half an hour. Boring, I know, but I was trying to get into the game....I mean REALLLLY get into the game.
Learned some interesting stuff, too.
It's true, Portugal has a lot of punishing disadvantages, but as I stared, I found a lot of strength as well.
3 Colonists a year....that ain't bad, even if some of them go to waste in the early goings, as I build up the economy.
Even on hard settings (dynamic missions off this time, normal aggressiveness, Chaos Kills), the Portugese still start with 750 ducats....so they've got means, but the lack of a tax base worth mentioning forces you to spend that money in miserly fashion.
The causa belli with Morocco is nice, assuming I can ever get around to building an army to counter the Moroccan 40k. Interesting too, that it's balanced by not knowing all the Moroccan territories (some of them are terra incognita to me at game start), meaning that an early game rush against them is out....I gotta at least wait until I get my first explorer before I can even think about absorbing them.....
Also, they've (Portugal, I mean) got strong forts....meaning that if the army goes off to fight someplace, and the bad guys land to cause trouble, it'll take 'em a while to chew through the defenses....
Hmmm....Intriguing situation on the opener then. A hostile southern neighbor whom I can do nothing about. A semi-hostile eastern neighbor who I'm not big enough to do anything about, plenty of cash in hand, but almost none in tax revenues, big fleet (much bigger than I can afford, actually), small army.
Interesting.
After much contemplation, I saw what a two-edged sword my colonists were. I'd need 75d or so per colonist to set up shop in new world territories. Multiply that by seven (assuming a 100% success rate....riiiiight...like that's gonna happen), and I spend several hundred ducats on each newly founded city. Ain't gonna happen with my current tax base, but at first, it seems the only way I can GROW my tax base, given the strengh of my neighbors.....if I try to grow at their expense, it'll be a very short game!
But then....inspiration.
Italy is a seething mass of chaos.
Lossa little, warring states.
I'm a big fish compared to them....::evil grin::
So...On January 1st, 1492, we rally the rather impressive Portugese navy (21 Warships and 5 Transports), pick up every soldier I've got (20k in Portugal and 10k--sacrificial lambs?--in Tangiers....mostly I just wanted to get my guys the hell outta tangiers....that 40k army is worrisome....
And we head for the Italian Peninsula....
By August, we're in position, and so waste no time picking on one of the larger fish in that part of the sea....The Papal States (In my mind, I kept hearing these rumors that the Pope was about to decree that the treaty of Torsedillas was intended for France and Spain, and the Portuguese, in a blind rage, rushed to attack the Pope to make him reconsider...lol...or something).
In any case, the battle did not go well.
First, the Pope had aligned himself with Savoy and France, and both of them duly loaded guys on ships and began making for Tago and Porto.....bad but not unexpected, and I was relying on my stout forts to help out there.
In Italy itself, my first battle ended in a stinging defeat in Romagne, and my army fled to Emilia. I think that if the Papal army (which was only about a third the size of mine, btw), had persued immediately, they'd have crushed my game then and there.
They held their ground tho, so we besieged and took Emilia in about three months. (no cannon, btw....didn't have the tech for it....just infantry and cav....right at 26,000 all told, after the first defeat...and of course, attrition was nibbling constantly....::sigh:.
Emilia in hand, we marched back to Romagne, and in a battle that lasted the better part of a month, we smote the Papal army most heinously, reducing them to 300-odd men, and sending them running to Rome.
Didn't take long to knock out minimally fortified Romagne, and thence to Rome herself.
I didn't want to annex them outright, however....just wanted to grab a foothold.....I had another annexation target in my mind.....
Anyway, while I was playing brazen gunboat diplomacy in Italy, Spain got off to a fast and furious start, annexing both Granada and Navarra while I was still prepping for my attack....at least I could feel safer about making a landgrab, since Spain was clearly the Bad Boy so far....
Took the better part of the year to get Rome's defenses to fall, so I waited till January, then sued for peace, demanding everything but Rome herself, and some coin....I was running low by this time, having spent money to promote bailiffs in all seven of my territories (and, I sent out one colonist to raise a lvl 6 colony up to a proper city).
Wound up getting a nice 236d from the Pope....sweet....
(war wrapped up early 1495, and by the way, the 28,000 men (Savoy and France mixed force) still hadn't made much headway against my fortresses!).
Then....I sat back and started saving cash, sending the fleet back to Tangiers with an eye toward cutting their maintenance in half and trying to stop gushing so much money each month.
But....fortune favors the bold, and long before I could call myself ready, an opportunity arose which I could not ignore.
France and Spain decide to go head to head in 1496. I'm not ready, but what the Hell....if I get crushed, I get crushed....but if I can pull off a victory here....
Spain's allies are relatively few in numbere, including only Milan and Naples, while the French alliance has grown, and now includes Lorrain, Helvetia, Papal States (which is in no shape to help the French cause, courtesy of yours truly), and Savoy.
Off they go....lossa marching, lossa troop movement.
I borrowed 400d and raised a wampum big (20k) army in Tago, including a few cannon. Also bulked up the Army of Italy with some cannon and a handful of infantry (got it back up to 18k...it had dwindled to 12k during the course of the war with the Papal States).
As soon as the new troops had respectable morale, I declared war on Naples and proceeded to march that direction.
Of course, Spain rallied in support of her ally, but there were no Spanish armies in my immediate vicinity, so we marched into the soft underbelly of Spain...Estramaduras, a province with NO fortification at all! No combat needed to capture the territory! 1,000 cav are dispatched to take this territory, while the rest of the army marches on Spain's rich CoT in Andalusia....
Naples was actually pretty easy. King Ferdinand is a good fighter, but he just didn't have enough troops. He beat me twice, forcing me to retreat, but each battle, he lost more troops than I did, and as of the third battle, his army was just in pieces.
After sweeping aside the Naples resistance, it was a pretty straightforward siege.
In Andalusia, however, things were taking forever! The medium-sized fort there proved to be a daunting barrier, and the siege took nearly two years to complete. During that time, many Spanish troops were raised all around us, but all marched north....apparently the French were giving them a good fight, and they left us mired in our siege.
Finally though, we met with success, and captured the province!
Attempted to sue for peace, offering to give back poorly-defended Estramaduras, but it was a no-go, so we moved to Gibralter (minimally fortified).
That siege went pretty quickly, and we were helped by the arrival of a pair of Conquistadores, who brought with them an extra thousand guys each.
Spain sent a token (6k) force against my army in an effort to break the siege, but we sent them packing, and soon had Gibralter under our belts as well.
Again, Spain refused to give up Andalusia.
Knowing I had to do something drastic to get their attention, I attacked Toledo....Spain's gold-bearing province. Small fortress, so it took a bit longer, and it fell with some 38,000 angry Spaniards en route to teach my army a lesson in humility, but finally, with Toledo in hand, the Spaniards agreed to peace in exchange for Andalusia, and the Portugese army in Spain retires to Tago, dreaming of Spanish gold (but that'll have to come later!).
Once the peace with Spain was secured, we simply demanded the annexation of Naples, and got it.
So....near the end of 1499, we've got a strong presence (4 territories) in Italy, we've managed to get two CoT's under our control --and more importantly, Toledo's gold is now within easy striking distance!, AND we have two Conquistadores.
I think that one of these will be assigned to Africa to go looking for Moroccan provinces, and the other will be assigned to Vasco De Gama's fleet and sent looking for New World territories to lay claim to....now that our tax base is firmed up some, we can actually begin to think in terms of sending out a colonist or two.
And, since our back-to-back wars did little to endear us to either France or Spain, I think I shall have to spend some coin to gain the favor of the French King, offering myself and my services as the Scourge of Spain.....hmmm...yes, and perhaps even gain French assistance in the quest for Toledo's gold....I like it!
-=Vel=-
I'm still very much enjoying my Lorraine game (which has spawned my AAR), but given the time it's taking to play out even a single year with that nation, I'm finding myself itching to give other nations a go as well....I tried Austria, and found it to be....eh...so so I guess....it's just that already being neck deep in a game with a nation in that part of Europe that begins landlocked, I was looking for a different "feel."
That's what prompted me to play Portugal, and ohhhh man@! That's where the goods are! I've only played to 1499, and already it's been far and away the most entertaining, most FUN game I've had yet! Awesome little country with a number of unique problems.
First, of course, is their location. Essentially, you're standing in the shadow of Spain, and the Spaniards, while they don't outright hate you, are none too fond.
Second, you have no tax base to speak of. Essentially, you can't HOPE to support a sustained colonization effort (even tho you get a nice number of annual colonists, and some good explorers), because you simply can't pay for it.
Third, you have some really WRETCHED trading posts in Africa...AND, the natives in most of them are hostile.
Fourth, as if Spain wasn't enough, there are 40,000 Moroccans who'd dearly love to have a go at you in Tangiers.
All in all, Portugal is a nation with a few problems.
Oh! And your "mighty" natural allies, The Hanseatic League and Pomerania....yeah....there's two countries you can count on in a pinch....considering that neither is a naval power to speak of, and they're both so durned far away.....
Needless to say, I was hooked from the start.
First thing I did in this game was pause it on January 1st, 1492, and stare at the map for about half an hour. Boring, I know, but I was trying to get into the game....I mean REALLLLY get into the game.
Learned some interesting stuff, too.
It's true, Portugal has a lot of punishing disadvantages, but as I stared, I found a lot of strength as well.
3 Colonists a year....that ain't bad, even if some of them go to waste in the early goings, as I build up the economy.
Even on hard settings (dynamic missions off this time, normal aggressiveness, Chaos Kills), the Portugese still start with 750 ducats....so they've got means, but the lack of a tax base worth mentioning forces you to spend that money in miserly fashion.
The causa belli with Morocco is nice, assuming I can ever get around to building an army to counter the Moroccan 40k. Interesting too, that it's balanced by not knowing all the Moroccan territories (some of them are terra incognita to me at game start), meaning that an early game rush against them is out....I gotta at least wait until I get my first explorer before I can even think about absorbing them.....
Also, they've (Portugal, I mean) got strong forts....meaning that if the army goes off to fight someplace, and the bad guys land to cause trouble, it'll take 'em a while to chew through the defenses....
Hmmm....Intriguing situation on the opener then. A hostile southern neighbor whom I can do nothing about. A semi-hostile eastern neighbor who I'm not big enough to do anything about, plenty of cash in hand, but almost none in tax revenues, big fleet (much bigger than I can afford, actually), small army.
Interesting.
After much contemplation, I saw what a two-edged sword my colonists were. I'd need 75d or so per colonist to set up shop in new world territories. Multiply that by seven (assuming a 100% success rate....riiiiight...like that's gonna happen), and I spend several hundred ducats on each newly founded city. Ain't gonna happen with my current tax base, but at first, it seems the only way I can GROW my tax base, given the strengh of my neighbors.....if I try to grow at their expense, it'll be a very short game!
But then....inspiration.
Italy is a seething mass of chaos.
Lossa little, warring states.
I'm a big fish compared to them....::evil grin::
So...On January 1st, 1492, we rally the rather impressive Portugese navy (21 Warships and 5 Transports), pick up every soldier I've got (20k in Portugal and 10k--sacrificial lambs?--in Tangiers....mostly I just wanted to get my guys the hell outta tangiers....that 40k army is worrisome....
And we head for the Italian Peninsula....
By August, we're in position, and so waste no time picking on one of the larger fish in that part of the sea....The Papal States (In my mind, I kept hearing these rumors that the Pope was about to decree that the treaty of Torsedillas was intended for France and Spain, and the Portuguese, in a blind rage, rushed to attack the Pope to make him reconsider...lol...or something).
In any case, the battle did not go well.
First, the Pope had aligned himself with Savoy and France, and both of them duly loaded guys on ships and began making for Tago and Porto.....bad but not unexpected, and I was relying on my stout forts to help out there.
In Italy itself, my first battle ended in a stinging defeat in Romagne, and my army fled to Emilia. I think that if the Papal army (which was only about a third the size of mine, btw), had persued immediately, they'd have crushed my game then and there.
They held their ground tho, so we besieged and took Emilia in about three months. (no cannon, btw....didn't have the tech for it....just infantry and cav....right at 26,000 all told, after the first defeat...and of course, attrition was nibbling constantly....::sigh:
.Emilia in hand, we marched back to Romagne, and in a battle that lasted the better part of a month, we smote the Papal army most heinously, reducing them to 300-odd men, and sending them running to Rome.
Didn't take long to knock out minimally fortified Romagne, and thence to Rome herself.
I didn't want to annex them outright, however....just wanted to grab a foothold.....I had another annexation target in my mind.....
Anyway, while I was playing brazen gunboat diplomacy in Italy, Spain got off to a fast and furious start, annexing both Granada and Navarra while I was still prepping for my attack....at least I could feel safer about making a landgrab, since Spain was clearly the Bad Boy so far....
Took the better part of the year to get Rome's defenses to fall, so I waited till January, then sued for peace, demanding everything but Rome herself, and some coin....I was running low by this time, having spent money to promote bailiffs in all seven of my territories (and, I sent out one colonist to raise a lvl 6 colony up to a proper city).
Wound up getting a nice 236d from the Pope....sweet....
(war wrapped up early 1495, and by the way, the 28,000 men (Savoy and France mixed force) still hadn't made much headway against my fortresses!).
Then....I sat back and started saving cash, sending the fleet back to Tangiers with an eye toward cutting their maintenance in half and trying to stop gushing so much money each month.
But....fortune favors the bold, and long before I could call myself ready, an opportunity arose which I could not ignore.
France and Spain decide to go head to head in 1496. I'm not ready, but what the Hell....if I get crushed, I get crushed....but if I can pull off a victory here....
Spain's allies are relatively few in numbere, including only Milan and Naples, while the French alliance has grown, and now includes Lorrain, Helvetia, Papal States (which is in no shape to help the French cause, courtesy of yours truly), and Savoy.
Off they go....lossa marching, lossa troop movement.
I borrowed 400d and raised a wampum big (20k) army in Tago, including a few cannon. Also bulked up the Army of Italy with some cannon and a handful of infantry (got it back up to 18k...it had dwindled to 12k during the course of the war with the Papal States).
As soon as the new troops had respectable morale, I declared war on Naples and proceeded to march that direction.
Of course, Spain rallied in support of her ally, but there were no Spanish armies in my immediate vicinity, so we marched into the soft underbelly of Spain...Estramaduras, a province with NO fortification at all! No combat needed to capture the territory! 1,000 cav are dispatched to take this territory, while the rest of the army marches on Spain's rich CoT in Andalusia....
Naples was actually pretty easy. King Ferdinand is a good fighter, but he just didn't have enough troops. He beat me twice, forcing me to retreat, but each battle, he lost more troops than I did, and as of the third battle, his army was just in pieces.
After sweeping aside the Naples resistance, it was a pretty straightforward siege.
In Andalusia, however, things were taking forever! The medium-sized fort there proved to be a daunting barrier, and the siege took nearly two years to complete. During that time, many Spanish troops were raised all around us, but all marched north....apparently the French were giving them a good fight, and they left us mired in our siege.
Finally though, we met with success, and captured the province!
Attempted to sue for peace, offering to give back poorly-defended Estramaduras, but it was a no-go, so we moved to Gibralter (minimally fortified).
That siege went pretty quickly, and we were helped by the arrival of a pair of Conquistadores, who brought with them an extra thousand guys each.
Spain sent a token (6k) force against my army in an effort to break the siege, but we sent them packing, and soon had Gibralter under our belts as well.
Again, Spain refused to give up Andalusia.
Knowing I had to do something drastic to get their attention, I attacked Toledo....Spain's gold-bearing province. Small fortress, so it took a bit longer, and it fell with some 38,000 angry Spaniards en route to teach my army a lesson in humility, but finally, with Toledo in hand, the Spaniards agreed to peace in exchange for Andalusia, and the Portugese army in Spain retires to Tago, dreaming of Spanish gold (but that'll have to come later!).
Once the peace with Spain was secured, we simply demanded the annexation of Naples, and got it.
So....near the end of 1499, we've got a strong presence (4 territories) in Italy, we've managed to get two CoT's under our control --and more importantly, Toledo's gold is now within easy striking distance!, AND we have two Conquistadores.
I think that one of these will be assigned to Africa to go looking for Moroccan provinces, and the other will be assigned to Vasco De Gama's fleet and sent looking for New World territories to lay claim to....now that our tax base is firmed up some, we can actually begin to think in terms of sending out a colonist or two.
And, since our back-to-back wars did little to endear us to either France or Spain, I think I shall have to spend some coin to gain the favor of the French King, offering myself and my services as the Scourge of Spain.....hmmm...yes, and perhaps even gain French assistance in the quest for Toledo's gold....I like it!
-=Vel=-
. And Keren always has a state of the art fortress
. But twice now Ive been whooped
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