Playing EU2 with AGREEP installed.

Here is the start map:

http://img400.imageshack.us/img400/8724/ara1to0.jpg

The first important AGREEP change is to note that Catalan is a separate culture so I have less to gain from a successful war against Castille and good relations exist between the two nations. It remains to be seen whether those good relations will last and perhaps create a unified Spain or whether a different path will be chosen.

Aragon also starts with Italian as a culture because of their possessions in Sicily and general involvement so King Alfons V is likely to concentrate his early efforts on improving relations with the Italian minor nations in the hope of expanding the nation and to achieve this an alliance was immediately signed with the Papal States and Naples.

Looking north the hundred years war has kicked off and it offers the chance for the potential conquest of southern France although there may be a chance in the future to conquer southern France.

AAR's are back in business :goodjob:

Good luck Dell, any plans forming in your mind?

Intresting choice of nation. Looking forward to this AAR aswell. :)

The choice of an Italian alliance immediately blocked any chance of an alliance with Portugal and Castille who joined forces to fight Morocco and Tlemcen whilst Aragon troops were moved to Sardinia for a potential naval invasion. Additionally baliffs were upgraded in Sicily and Valencia.

With no Casus Belli there were no excuses for wars and thus Aragon remained at peace with gifts being issued towards Naples and a marriage arranged with the Dauphine. Perhaps those gifts to Naples influenced their choice of heir as they chose a path that would surely see their provences become rightfully part of Aragon in the future.

1420 saw a revolt over taxes in Valencia whilst Portugal gained Tangiers from their war against Morocco. The rebels were eventually defeated at the second attempt whilst Naples rejected a Vassalisation attempt. By 1422 the alliance was up for renewal and Alfons took the opportunity to grab control of the alliance. An opportunity for war also began to take shape with Venice, Athens and Tuscany declaring war against poor Siena which would present Alfons with the opportunity to 'liberate' Siena if an annexation occured.

As Aragonese troops moved into position for a potential attack, surprising information reached Alfons in Iberia, Siena had in fact defeated Tuscany and the victim was now the aggressor. The plan would have to be changed whilst elsewhere in Iberia, Castille declared war on Grenada. Unfortunately the rest of Europe did not see the annexation of Tuscany as an excuse for us to go with war with Siena however that did not stop Alfons who wished to expand his territory in Italy and saw it as an ideal opportunity to gain a sea port.

War was declared and our allies, the Papal States and Naples, joined our cause. Further troops were transported to Italy however the war was essentially won in the beginning of October as a joint force consisting of troops from Aragon and Naples defeated the main army of Siena and would allow the siege of Firenze to be maintained. Firenze fell before the end of the year and King Alfons led his amry south to take over the siege of Siena. After a year and a half Siena fell to a joint Alliance army and Siena soon accepted our generous peace offer to cede Firenze and become our vassals.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/2051/ara2mh7.jpg

Good luck Dell, any plans forming in your mind?

I'm currently planning to treat Aragon a bit like playing as Venice. You unite the areas that you have matching cultures and then attack the powerful neighbour which is Spain instead of Austria. Assuming that they don't declare war first. I believe I get some events to inherit Naples quite early on in the game which is an obvious reason to not attack them.

Unfortunately soon after our war ended, Siena was annexed by Venice. I had assumed incorrectly that their war had finished when of course it hadn't and we were still not given a casus belli after the annexation. The northern alliance of Italian minors now looks like a potential target for diplomatic conquest and I will try to get a number of them to join the Aragonese alliance. A baliff was promoted in Firenze.

As Alfons viewed a map of his kingdom it looked like it would be a long waiting game before Aragon could truely become a world power. An opportunity did then appear as relations with Navarra were positive and they were not in alliance. This was soon rectified and plans were made to vassalise Navarra in the near future. Before the end of 1425 Navarra had accepted our proposal and perhaps in ten years they will join Aragon permanently. Naples maintained their wish for independence by declining a similar proposal for vassalisation.

A gift to the state prompted the promotion of a baliff in Messina (Sicily) whilst a gift was presented to Modena to help build a strong relationship with another neighbour state in Italy. In 1428 Naples finally cracked on the fifth attempt and accepted to become our vassals which helped to cement Aragon's presence in southern Italy. 1433 still looms on the horizon as a chance to expand the alliance and perhaps invade Milan.

Domestically little changed over the next years other than the innovation slider being increased. Elsewhere the Dauphine claimed the French crown and looks set to win the hundred years war however Savo have gained four provences including Paris. February 1431 saw a rebellion in Firenze quickly put down by the local army and additionally advances in infrastructure and trade were made. 1432 saw another rebellion, this time in Messina after Alfons chose to protect the peasants from an over zealous aristocrat. Before the year was out the rebels were defeated and armies were moved north in case 1433 led to war being declared.

1433 started with Modena joining our alliance whilst an insult was sent to Milan to lower relations. Soon after Modena rejected a Vassalisation attempt and in a fit of anger Alfons declared war against Milan and Genoa. The armies were mobilised with Emilia and Milan besieged whilst Milan besieged Modena. This of course led to an opportunity where if Milan annexed Modena we would then be able to retake the provence and add it to our realm.

The war unfolds:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/5529/ara3tk0.jpg

As expected Milan annexed Modena however their attempt to break the siege in Milan (Lombardia) failed whilst Genoa began a small siege in Firenze. Emilia was the next provence to fall in the war which freed the army to besiege Modena. Alfons at this point was greatful for the years of peace that had allowed Aragon to build up a war chest of 450 ducats. Milan was the next provence to fall this time to the army under the command of the King. With the army now free they headed south to confront the Genoese in Firenze whilst reinforcements headed up from Sicily.

The Genoese army was quickly defeated and with Romagna (formerly Modena) soon to fall, King Alfons could see peace soon returning. At this point there seemed little to gain from a war against Genoa with Kerch still in their possession. A number of alliance armies were sent against Liguria (Genoa) including an Aragonese army which all failed however Romagna soon fell and Alfons accepted the peace treaty that Milan soon proposed:

http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/9156/ara4hr8.jpg

After the peace was signed, baliffs were promoted in the conquered territories whilst gifts were presented to Navarra and Naples to help then overlook our necessary aggression. Our war score has now reached 8 which is manageable although it is likely to lead to diplomatic annexations being the main route of expansion in the coming years.

Of course it may have been a little early to expect peace to return as Genoa had been the alliance leader and thus we still had a war to fight although the aim would be to secure peace as quickly as possible. February 1435 was not a good month for Aragon with the first invasion of Liguria being repulsed and Naples chose an heir from Provence which severely damaged relations however Naples remained our vassals and by June Liguria was under siege. From the east word came of the Hussite achievements in battle with the majority of Bohemia and Austria under their direct control and most of Hungary under their military control.

In 1436 Liguria fell to our troops however Genoa rejected our offers for peace and began a siege in our Iberian provinces which led to our fleet attempting a daring break out of Firenze where they were caught by the Genoese navy, however luck was on our side and the fleet was victorious. The victorious fleet helped to transport an army back to Iberia, defeating another Genoese fleet on the war and with the troops immediately engaging upon arrival in Catalonia. Finally after another defeat the Genoese accepted a peace treaty allowing military spending to be reduced.

March 1437 saw Navarra become part of Aragon on the second attempt and with Navarra no longer independent, Iberia was now split between just the three nations of Portugal, Aragon and Castile. Alfons was somewhat disappointed to note that the annexation had severely damaged relations with Castile which could one day lead to the first Iberian war. Annexing Naples became the next objective however both offers were rejected in 1438. 1439 saw the Innovation slider increased again, two more failed diplomatic annexation attempts of Naples and a war begin against Morea after Naples declared war.

Little could be gained from a war against Morea so the objective was to accept peace at the earliest opportunity and to avoid Naples gaining a province. Finally in 1441 the Papal States managed to begin a siege of Morea after numerous failed attempts. 1442 saw our claim to Naples reinstated who surprisingly took Morea in November. Due to Aragon controlling the alliance Naples could not annex Morea and instead peace was signed for 86 ducats. The return of peace also saw Naples finally join the Kingdom of Aragon. Their armies were disbanded to save on maintenance and gifts were sent to the Papal States and Portugal to help ease their minds over our expansion. Bailiffs were promoted in the two new provinces.

Aragon at the end of 1442:

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/816/ara5wp4.jpg

The annexation of Naples achieved the final aim of King Alfons when he first inherited the kingdom. Territories had been expanded as planned with significant gains in Italy and with room for future expansion. The deteriorating relations with Castile are likely to become a problem in the future and could dictate the future of the kingdom. In the north France has risen once again however Savoy still controls Paris which must surely weaken France for the time being. One day a war against France must surely occur in an attempt to acquire a land bridge between Iberia and Italy whilst France may wish to expand southwards.

Nice little empire you've carved out there.

A quick war against France now might be you're best bet while she's still not unified. Interesting to see Byzantine still alive, though I don't play with AGREEP. Is this common?

Nice writing style as well. It's just the way I like it - not short on facts, yet condensed enough to be an enjoyable read. Keep up the good work. Final question - how far ahead are you in the actual game?

Can Aragon create Spain?

Can Aragon create Spain?

Yes, both Aragon and Castile have the events to unify Spain under themselves.

A quick war against France now might be you're best bet while she's still not unified. Interesting to see Byzantine still alive, though I don't play with AGREEP. Is this common? Final question - how far ahead are you in the actual game?

I'm not massively keen on fighting France just yet since they probably have several leaders and I have a limited border with them so when they send their ridiculously large army it would be difficult to sneak round.

Byzantium stays alive in AGREEP since they start as vassals of the Ottomans and they pretty much wait for an event to take Byzantium. If another nation annexes Byzantium in the mean time then there is an event where the Ottomans request the provence or else they declare war. When Spain took the province in another game, they gave it to the Ottomans.

I'm not ahead at all. Keep on alt tabbing to add events as they happen.

I'm not ahead at all. Keep on alt tabbing to add events as they happen.

Pretty much how I do it. I have notepad for anything important and paint for pics on standby to alt-tab to.

Alfons V was clear in his mind that the previous military gains should act as a stepping stone for future expansion rather than becoming complacent. With a reasonably high war score Aragon would surely have to wait for a casus belli before fighting another war. Aside from Castile and the French alliance another potential target was Venice with two Italian provinces in easy reach and potentially unhelpful allies, however war would not be declared just yet.

A troublesome rebellion in Navarra occurred towards the end of 1443 and resisted a number of armies from Aragon during 1444 which also saw the royal marriage renewed with France – it helps to have powerful friends. Finally in April 1445 the rebellion was defeated. Little happened over the next few years a side from a number of minor events such as choosing to fight corruption. The end of 1447 saw a change to the situation as Provence was granted independence with the understanding that they would remain a vassal of France. Languedoc was a tempting target for Alfons to expand the kingdom in a quick war.

War was declared and soon Languedoc and Provence were under siege. Alfons decided to fight this war alone since Provence had no allies. April 1449 marked the end of the war with Aragon gaining Languedoc and increasing their bad boy rating to 12.4, which ensures that Aragon will live in peace for the foreseeable future. A bailiff was promoted in Languedoc whilst a rebellion in Romagna was put down. 1450 was marked by Savoy annexing Milan which changed the situation in Northern Italy whilst a rebellion occurred outside of Palma which was fortunately quickly crushed.

Savoy annexing Milan:

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/7706/ara6ku8.jpg

Dastardly Savoy!

1451 started with Calais defecting from Savoy to Burgundy and soon after we were informed that armies from Savoy were crossing the border from Lombardia. The Papal States remained our faithful allies whilst Switzerland joined the war on the side of Savoy. The obvious objective of the war would be to grab the two Italian provinces owned by Savoy. The opening moves of the war were made by Savoy however twice they unsuccessfully attacked Romagna whilst an army from Iberia set sail towards Piemonte.
The month of May would mark a famous victory for Aragon. An army led by the King himself with 9000 men was surprised by Savoy reinforcements in Lombardia. Their force outnumbered the King’s by 2 to 1 however luck favoured the righteous and the King’s army was victorious.

The joy was short lived as a Swiss army comprising 30000 troops appeared in the next month and Alfons was forced to retreat before his entire army was defeated. In this fluid war the next action would take place in Romagna as the large Swiss army was met by Alfons’s army and reinforcements. Once again the King led his army to a great victory with losses close to 2000 whilst inflicting ten times as many on the enemy.

Alfons attacks:

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/1487/ara7lu0.jpg

The Aragon troops could smell victory and chased the remaining enemy army into Milan where they were once again victorious. A contingent was left behind to maintain the siege whilst the King led the rest of the army towards Piemonte. Once again we were victorious and another siege began whilst the remaining army marched on to Savoy where a third siege began in an attempt to get the necessary war score. In April 1452 Piemonte fell and Savoy fell at the beginning of October. Lombardia finally fell in November however Savoy refused our initial generous peace offer. Alfons fearing that a greater war score was necessary decided to head north and besiege Franche-Comte.

A small army was quickly crushed in Franche-Comte and soon after Savoy offered an acceptable peace treaty which was accepted. Switzerland as the alliance leader accepted a white peace which Alfons was happy to offer due to Switzerland only controlling one province and the Aragon bad boy rating now reaching 13.5. The war against Savoy had been extremely successful with Aragon now controlling the majority of Italian provinces. Perhaps the only concern was of what would have happened if Alfons had not been there to lead the armies into battle.

Aragon:

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/2394/ara9ta8.jpg

Interestingly it seems that Austria has been annexed by Bohemia and Steiermark has taken over the crown.

The victories in northern Italy were apparently not enough to silence domestic problems back in Iberia. Conflict in Barcelona triggered an event where the King sided with the aristocracy to avoid an increase in inflation, however three rebellions occurred in Iberia as a result. The rebels in Gerona repelled a loyal army from Navarra whilst reinforcements were transported from Italy. This army led by the King successfully destroyed the rebels in Gerona and headed south to try and break the siege of Barcelona. As soon as the rebels saw the King’s banner they quickly collapsed and the capital was once again under Aragon control. The final rebels in Rousillion were defeated before the end of the year.

1454 saw royal marriages arranged with Tyrol and Austria to improve relations with both nations and to perhaps one day gain them both as allies rather than enemies in a potential war against Venice. 1456 saw relations improve with Foix through an event however they are vassals of France which would make any alliance unlikely. With money accumulating the construction of a Fine Arts Academy in Barcelona was ordered to help future stability. In April 1458 our military technology reached level three and early indications suggest that our Military is the most advanced in the known world. The year however would be remembered for a terrible event, the death of the King.

Joan II was crowned as the new King of Aragon however the will of Alfons left Naples to another relative and Naples once again became a Vassal of Aragon. One day Naples will be reincorporated. Somewhat worryingly France entered an alliance with Castile and Portugal leaving Aragon isolated in Iberia. Worse news arrived of French victories against Savoy and the impending fall of Paris. There was little the new King could do to stop the French victory as in 1460 Joan imprisoned his son. The result was civil war and Aragon would face the rebellion alone as Joan refused cede Rousillion to the French.

The rebels in Gerona were crushed at the second attempt and the rebellion in Catalonia was soon destroyed as well. Embarrassingly Valencia was taken by the rebels after a failed attack however Valencia was soon under siege and the remaining rebels in Sardinia eliminated. December 1460 marked another turn for the worse as Venice declared war and their allies joined the war against Aragon, Papal States and Naples. The early months of war did not go well. Rebellions in Gerona and Languedoc tied up troops in Aragon whilst large armies from Tyrol and Austria besieged Lombardia and Piemonte. The only good news was defeating an army belonging to Venice in Romagna however defeat followed in an attempted attack in Mantua.

Lombardia was lost to Tyrol whilst fleets from Venice dominated the waves and landed troops in Valencia. Piemonte was lost soon after however finally our troops were victorious in Mantua. Further victories in Mantua and Venice did ease the torrent of defeats. Two attempts to break the siege of Valencia eventually succeeded in at least stopping the siege however the number of German minor states on Venice’s side is a severe problem. Finally Mantua fell to our troops allowing the army to besiege Lombardia whilst the Austrians began a siege in Romagna and the Venetians in Valencia were finally destroyed.

Northern Italy:

http://img274.imageshack.us/img274/1248/ara9zx2.jpg

Venice had now lost a province to Aragon and another to the Papal States so they eventually accepted peace and gave Mantua to ourselves and also allowed our ships to travel in relative peace. The war was by no means over with Saxony joining the fray and an army of 65 000 troops began a siege of Mantua. The army that had been besieging Venice moved east to besiege Steiermark whilst the army from Valencia unloaded and began a siege in Piemonte. Attacking Steiermark was apparently a clever move as the Austrian King panicked as he was forced to flee his capital and accepted a peace treaty to return to the status quo. Piemonte was once again free allowing the army to head north whilst the army in Steiermark headed northwest to besiege Tyrol. Joan realising that the war could drag on for some time offered a white peace to Tyrol who accepted as the alliance leader.

http://img282.imageshack.us/img282/1610/ara10fi5.jpg

After years of fighting the war had ended as a success. Aragon had gained a province in Italy when it had looked like defeat was imminent for much of the war. Joan had of course been brutally made aware of the large armies that one province minors can raise and if another war occurred we would need to be careful to avoid fighting a large alliance. The war was also an indication of what Joan could expect if our bad boy rating was allowed to continue rising.

Aragon was once again at peace and elsewhere the French alliance agreed peace with Savoy in exchange for a number of provinces including Paris. In the same year of 1464 the Ottomans finally captured Constantinople however neither country jumped at the chance to move their capitals. A month later and the French relocated to Paris. 1465 began with the Ottomans relocating their capital and a spree of royal weddings joining Aragon to Tyrol, Genoa and Hungary. 1466 saw our royal marriage with Portugal renewed whilst Provence annexed Savoy to Juan’s mild annoyance.

Relations with Castile have improved over recent years with relations now at +70 whilst relations with France have continued to deteriorate. Perhaps an alliance with Castile would not be a bad idea for the future. 1468 may have been the year where Aragon ensured its independence. A royal marriage would be arranged with Castile however the title of King of Sicily would not be granted. On New Years Eve Naples accepted our second annexation attempt and once again officially became part of Aragon.

Aragon:

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/3772/ara11wn4.jpg

Fernandes (Juan’s son) then crossed into Castile under disguise past Enrique’s guards eventually reaching Isabelle who had been destined to marry Alfons V of Portugal. A marriage has been arranged which may see the crowns of Castile and Aragon join together in the future. Juan was somewhat concerned that the kingdom that he had helped to expand could lose its independence however he could not stand in the way of his second son. The following years was a time of peace for Aragon with a brewery being built in 1472 in Firenze after an advance in technology.

Our alliance with the Papal States was renewed in 1473. The use of the alliance was becoming questionable however Aragon were the alliance leader. New members for the alliance would have to be found especially if it was to rival the western alliance of France, Castile and Portugal. Relations with Genoa were improved over the next year with the future objective to eventually diplomatically annex them.

1476 marked the second war against Venice. This time it was Aragon who declared war after a diplomatic insult. Juan chose the war this time as Venice no longer had the same number of allies and the province of Siena was a tempting target. Unfortunately Genoa honoured their alliance with Venice but without so many German minors the war should go much more smoothly. The plan collapsed after it was found that the Papal States had a leader who would grab the siege of Siena so a white peace was signed with Venice at the earliest opportunity. At the end of the war in 1477 Juan invited Wirtemberg to the alliance and attempts would be made in the future to improve relations with the German minor.

Wirtemberg rejected our proposals however this was overshadowed by the death of Juan and the coronation of the new King Fernandes.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/2663/ara12ju9.jpg

The crowns of Castile and Aragon would be united as one nation, Spain:

http://img326.imageshack.us/img326/7258/ara13jb7.jpg

It should be noted at this point that I wasn’t really planning on diplomatically creating Spain and had sort of been under the impression that there would have been a diplomatic option to maintain Castile and Aragon as separate entities after the initial wedding event that was several years before. This may lead me to lose interest in the future since it will probably turn into a colonisation game and it goes against the title of the thread. Should have really planned ahead and blocked the marriage.

Spain:

http://img350.imageshack.us/img350/5403/spa1tu8.jpg

Where to next? Try and unite the rest of Iberia and Italy or go to war with France?

A shame about the unification really. On the bright side your power base has increased and you no longer need to worry about a joint France-Castille attack.

Personally I was looking forward to you conquering the Western Mediterranean. I'd vote for that, and keep colonisation as a secondary objective. Can't let the New World be completely dominated by Portugal and England.

Interestingly I have a saved game from 1469. I think I must have been a little curious about what happens if I clicked yes about the wedding and started saving it under a different name. I might just replay the ten years and see what happens if I click no and keep Aragon independence. I want to dominate the western mediterranean on my own. ;)

Interestingly I have a saved game from 1469. I think I must have been a little curious about what happens if I clicked yes about the wedding and started saving it under a different name. I might just replay the ten years and see what happens if I click no and keep Aragon independence. I want to dominate the western mediterranean on my own. ;)

I was going to suggest that as well. Always feels good to fight your way as a lesser power.

A different path…

Juan seeing the inevitability of a wedding between Castile and Aragon blocked Fernandes attempts to reach Isabelle. The next years were relatively uneventful with relations being improved with Genoa for a potential alliance in the future. In 1473 our infrastructure improved and construction began on a brewery in Firenze. Later that year the alliance with the Papal States expired and Juan decided to accept Castile’s offer to join their alliance. Our Iberian possessions were now safe from attack.

In 1475 Burgundy annexed Lorraine and with that excuse we declared war bringing with us our alliance except for Portugal. The aim of the war was to attack Provence rather than Burgundy and secure southern France for Aragon. An initial invasion by Provence was halted in Piemonte however our counter attack was stopped in Savoy. Savoy fell before the end of 1476 and the war seemed to go smoothly. France had signed peace early on so Burgundy should survive and may have in fact chosen the event option where Charles never died. Castile accepted peace with Provence for Savoy when perhaps Juan’s real objective had been to force vassalise Provence as well. In 1477 a white peace was signed with Burgundy.

*And onto 1479* Strangely I got the message saying Aragon was about to be taken over by Spain however it didn’t happen. The message says that you shouldn’t be reading it so I assume it’s a bug that they have left in knowing that it doesn’t actually affect the game, unless events stop triggering for Aragon.

Fernandes arose to the throne of Aragon and was somewhat irritated that Isabelle had declared that Castille should be renamed to Spain. Once an alliance between the two crowns had been a distinct possibility but surely claiming the title of Spain was a little presumptuous. Perhaps now Iberia would never be united. In 4 years the alliance that Genoa belongs to will expire and Fernandes has started to consider leaving the alliance with Spain in an attempt to gain Genoa as vassals.

Aragon:

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/600/ara14ok8.jpg

Hehe, much better. Just put the unification post down to Fernandes having an awful dream. :p

France decided they could not be at peace with Burgundy whilst everyone else was at war and decided to declare war and Fernandes took the opportunity to leave the alliance and made plans to join the Venetian alliance. Perhaps we could one day diplomatically annex Genoa and Venice. We soon accepted an alliance proposal from our former enemies and joined them in their war against Morea. Once Morea has been defeated we will begin working on gaining Genoa and possibly Venice as vassals. 1481 was spent trying to entice Genoa however our proposals were all rejected. Elsewhere Burgundy was slowly being destroyed by the rest of Europe – a warning of how things can snowball.

Provence has been annexed by France which seems to push Aragon ever closer to war however due to their alliance with Spain we will wait. We accepted a white peace with Theadoras as it was a war that we were never going to fight due to the long distances involved whilst a refinery was ordered in Naples. In 1490 royal marriages were renewed with Genoa, Tyrol and Hungary.

An opportunity arose in 1491 which Fernandes decided to take advantage of. France was no longer allied with Spain and additionally they had diplomatically annexed Brittany which gave us a casus belli against them. France and their allies were also at war with Burgundy so war was declared and Genoa, Venice, the Papal States and Austria joined our side. Unfortunately Athens is the alliance leader so they could accept an unfortunate peace treaty.

In the opening moves of the war Aragon besieged a number of French provinces (Provence, Dauphine, Gascogne and Poitou) Foix whilst the French allied armies were tied up besieging Burgundy. Dauphine soon fell whilst Venice moved troops north to defend Zeeland. The Dauphine army moved west to begin a siege of Guyenne. Early in 1493 Gascogne fell to our army in the province and soon after Athens accepted a generous peace offer from the French which saw Aragon gain Gascogne and Dauphine.

http://img307.imageshack.us/img307/9223/ara15iz9.jpg

Finally Fernandes could travel from Iberia to Italy without having to sail or enter another country. Aragon had perhaps also shown for the first time that they are a European power after defeating France. France may claim they were distracted in the north and that may be true as during the two years of fighting Aragon troops never fought a large French army in the field. Our war score remains below 10.

In the months that followed a royal marriage was arranged with Portugal whilst rebels in Romagna were defeated. In the north Burgundy were reduced to one province when once they had controlled the entire low lands. At the end of 1493 Venice finally annexed Theodoros and then immediately declared war on the Ottomans bringing Aragon into another unwanted war. A diplomatic move improved relations with France and Fernandes took the opportunity to enter a royal marriage since war against France was no longer a priority. In the north Brittany and Oldenberg declared independence from France and Brittany gained two provinces which should give them independence for some time.

At the end of 1496 peace returned to Aragon after Athens accepted peace with the Ottomans and paid them 200 ducats which was seen as a good deal after the Ottomans had taken Kerch from Venice (They signed a separate peace with Genoa which gained the two provinces in Crimea which Genoa had previously controlled). Genoa rejected several vassal treaties before the end of 1497 when Athens declared war on Albania. Once again Aragon took a policy of avoidance.

As the 15th century drew to a close Aragon could be proud at the progress they had made as a nation. Their three Kings have led them to numerous victories and gained many territories especially in Italy where we are now the dominant force. Technologically our military is unrivalled (just about) with a technology level of 5 whilst financially we have over 1000 ducats in the bank and inflation of 9.7%. Additionally we have built two refineries, and gained a third in Sicily, and a fine arts academy. Elsewhere in Europe Germany is dominated by the Palinate, Brandenburg and Bohemia whilst the Southern Baltic coast is almost entirely controlled by the Teutonic Order. Who knows what the future will hold?

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7629/ara16ed5.jpg

I see my home province has been swallowed by the English :(

Fantastic work against the French though, and I'm most glad you have a land connection with Italy at last. Being the perfectionist I am regarding borders I request you take Provence though. And that dark red nation (?) in north-west Italy and Corsica.

Here's to three more centuries of Aragonese greatness! :beer:

England are doing well in this game although I'm not playing with the patch that adds the land bridge between Calais and Dover. That generally ensures that the French advance across the channel and take southern England.

Provence will have to wait until the next war against France and I may wait until I am the alliance leader as I hate having huge border clashes only for my alliance leader to give any slight gains away. I like neat borders as well however the AI doesn't. I would quite like to get Siena as well and take Marche from the Papal States however I am in an alliance with both of them. The dark red nation would be Genoa who I am trying unsuccessfully to diplomatically annex.

I completely agree about that. I very rarely join alliances, unless I can see a genuine advantage and if I can rebuild the alliance under my command when it expires.

England-France land bridge....*shudders*

Sometimes I run out waiting for alliances to expire especially if they keep on declaring war every 9 years so that it gets extended. There is a use if you want a powerful alliance partner or are trying to encourage a period of peace.

I think this is my third game (Milan and Venice the other times) where I've ended up attacking southern France and each game the invasion has occurred earlier. I've even stopped waiting for the wars of religion.

I have a question: There are two versinos of this map apparently, what colour are you on them? i can't tell which one you are exactly...

He's the dark grey based mostly in eastern spain.

The two versions of the map: There's a political view, which shows the size of all nations, and the standard map, which shows the terrain/armies etc.

Yeah there are several map views. Usually the game is played with the terrain view which is good for war screenshots however the political view is better to show the overall size of nations.

I am the grey nation however not just in eastern spain. :p

The new century began with Aragon still at war with Albania. 1501 saw the royal marriage with Spain renewed whilst a rebellion in Provence was destroyed. A new trade centre appeared in Andalusia which would surely bring new riches to Iberia. Once the war with Albania ended, Fernandes was informed that Aragon once again had a casus belli against France. This time he felt that it would be best to choose peace as the kingdom was now connected. Fernandes once again focused his attention on gaining Genoa as vassals and finally on the third attempt in 1502 they accepted.

1504 was marked by another military advance, Aragon could now build artillery. Several units of artillery were built to support the larger Aragon armies. In 1506 the royal marriage with Venice was renewed and our military technology advanced further. Several military commanders felt that we should test our military in the near future however no target initially presented itself. 1506 would end in sadness as Fernandes II died and the new king, Enric I was crowned. Before the year was out we once again found ourselves at war with the Ottomans – perhaps a chance to test the military.

Enric I took heed of his advisors and knew there was little to gain from a military venture against the Ottomans and thus only sent a small force of 15000 troops which unloaded in Athens to help guard against any potential counter attack. The league of Cambrai was proposed by the Pope to stop Venice however Enric was insulted that the proposal stated Venice as too powerful in Italy. As a result the treaty was ignored. The war against the Ottomans did not progress well with our fleet in the east totally destroyed. In response a siege of Macedonia was ordered however the Aragon army soon retreated once the Papal States took over the siege. Seeing nothing to be gained from the war, the troops were brought home to Apulia whilst replacement ships were ordered.

Comte Vilamari commanded the western fleet which had returned the Aragon army to Italy. A similar sized Ottoman fleet was spotted heading towards Venice and Comte decided to seek revenge for the previous naval defeat. The navies met off the coast of Venice and the Aragon navy was victorious. The defeated Ottomans were pursued and several further victories were gained and Ottoman maps were stolen. The war ended in 1509 with the Papal States gaining Macedonia. Peace would not last for long as Genoa declared war against Tunisia. Enric felt that this time it may be useful to gain a province to help further secure our interests in the West. An army from Genoa reached Kabylia first which ended any chance Aragon had of gaining the province.

1513 saw a royal marriage arranged with the Teutonic Order who was becoming a major power in the north. More importantly though Genoa accepted our annexation proposal and became part of our ever expanding Kingdom. Only Venice and the Papal States now stood in the way of a united Italy under Aragon. Surely Aragon was also the richest nation with enough ducats to fund many wars. Enric would now have to make a choice of alliances for Aragon. Should we remain allied with our Italian neighbours or should the seeds of war and conquest be set in motion.

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1514 showed that Aragon was not the only nation who used diplomatic means to expand their kingdoms. France annexed Lorraine whilst the Palinate annexed Wirtemburg which also had the side effect of creating a rather large border between the two nations. A great palace was built to show our wealth to the rest of the world. Rebels in Provence successfully took the province however France responded before they could achieve independence.

Enric was prone to rash acts and in 1517 Aragon found themselves at war with Austria after an insult was received. Austria was vassals of Venice and a suspicious Enric decided to avoid involving the rest of the alliance in the war. The initial actions of the war saw Aragon armies march towards Genoa whilst Austrian forces began a siege of Milan. This was seen as a fortunate move to the Aragon generals as they preferred to fight the Austrians in home territory rather than in mountainous Tyrol.

Early war:
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Mantua was soon also under siege by Austria however Aragon would be able to launch the counter offensive in the near future. In March 1518 the siege in Milan was broken however the Austrians retreated quickly and suffered few casualties. Mantua disastrously fell to the Austrians however the Aragon army under the command of Ramon de Cardona defeated the Austrian army before it could retreat. Aragon troops pushed on into Tyrol where the fighting was tougher however they emerged victorious and continued onwards towards Steiermark whilst reserve forces moved to begin sieges in Tyrol and Mantua.

Victory in Steiermark was to prove costly as the army became outnumbered. Reinforcements were sent from Tyrol whilst new trainees were ordered to begin a siege in Tyrol. Steiermark successfully held off an Austrian counter offensive whilst once again outnumbered and further good news was received with the fall of Tyrol to an assault by the Aragon army. Peace was soon signed in April 1519 with Aragon gaining Tyrol and 28 ducats. The gold from Tyrol would be a valuable addition to Aragon.

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The peace only lasted until August when Athens declared war against Tlemcen and Morocco. Perhaps this time Aragon would gain territory in North Africa. Savoy revolted with news of another war however troops had already landed in Orania and more troops were on the way. This second army landed in Al Djaziar and both armies began assaults. Both assaults were successful and the armies moved inland to meet the large Tlemcen army and to begin sieges of the remaining two Tlemcen provinces. The Tlemcen army was defeated in Aures and an assault began whilst the other army from Aragon assaulted Atlas. Both assaults were again successful and Tlemcen had no choice but to hand over three of the captured provinces for peace. Finally Aragon had established a presence in North Africa. Additionally we gained new maps that revealed nations in the south such as Benin.

By 1522 Morocco had ceased to exist after ceding two provinces to Spain, another to the Papal States and eventually being annexed by Denmark which would be the same fate for Tlemcen. North West Africa was now dominated by European nations. The campaign in Africa would be the last for Enric who died in July. Alfons VI rose to the throne and declared that he wished to continue the expansion of Aragon although there was a hint that he would rather capture productive Christian provinces than Muslim provinces that would be unlikely to accept his rule.

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/4383/ara20qp7.jpg

Enric was prone to rash acts and in 1517 Aragon found themselves at war with Austria after an insult was received

Interesting way of putting it. Was this an event? Or did you just decide to wage war with the cassus belli? If it's the latter, are you playing each leader to a certain personality each time they come around, or was it just a spur of the moment thing?

Great updates as ever, I'm gonna take a peek at your other AAR's later this weekend.

Part of the game mechanics allows you to issue insults which can give the other country a casus belli. Austria sent an insult and we got a casus belli so I decided to use it. There also seems to be a random event which is similar but the insult just damages relations. According to the stats Enric was meant to be a pretty poor King so I thought it was suitable that he would act quickly without planning, forcing his generals to save the day.

The Russian AAR got boring after a while although I have once taken a Russian game further and colonised all the way to China, whom I fought a successful war against. I seem to recall that the Venice game ended after I started a new game and accidentally lost the save.

Very nice on playing the game according to ruler qualities.

I don't think I've ever recieved an actual diplomatic insult except through random event though.

Aragon’s war score was back above 10 after the recent spate of wars which was likely to prevent wars in the near future. 1524 was notable as the Teutonic Order became Prussia which lost them two provinces to Poland and the Livonian Order reappeared. They still have a large number of provinces and will perhaps be able to regain their territory. In 1426 a new Refinery was ordered in Valencia. The end of the year saw Austria inherit Bohemia and suddenly quadruple in size. Alfons was not happy at this development. Twice rebellions in Aures were quickly crushed by the local army.

Legal Counsels were promoted around the country as our infrastructure reached level 4 to increase tax income and reduce the risk of revolts. 1534 saw our alliance with Venice finally come to an end. Spain rejected our offer so instead we once again created an alliance with the Papal States. The end of the alliance with Venice would surely mean war in the future between our two nations.

By 1536 Alfons had waited long enough. Austria, Venice and Sweden were now at war with Russia and Alfons decided to act by declaring war, Siena being the primary objective. Siena was soon captured however the offensive into Austria did not go well with our army defeated and Tyrol placed under siege. Venetian fleets were twice defeated and Istria was placed under siege by the army that had been thoroughly defeated in the invasion of Austria. In North Africa Kabylia was placed under siege. Austria gained a somewhat pyrrhic victory in Mantua however it was embarrassing for an army of 40 000 Aragonese troops to be forced to retreat, however amends were made when the siege of Tyrol was broken.


http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/5508/ara21wf7.jpg

A second victory was gained in Mantua whilst Kabylia fell to our troops. Venice was placed under siege and repelled a joint assault from Austria and Venice. The siege in Istria was completed successfully and the army returned to Austria and began a siege in Krain and somehow the army managed to defeat an Austrian army three times as big in the mountains. Peace was accepted with Austria for 50 ducats after they threatened to retake Istria and Sweden had begun unloading troops in our territory. In September 1539 Venice offered the peace that Alfons wanted. Aragon gained Istria, Siena and Kabylia gaining another Italian province, a sea port next to Venice and another Mediterranean port in Africa.

Our reputation is now rather bad. 1542 saw a rebellion in Istria crushed. The following year another revolt was crushed in Siena. The conquest of Italy was now almost complete and did pose a dilemma for the future as the Italian population now vastly out numbered the number of Catalans. 1546 saw the beginning of a familiar war against the Ottomans after the Papal States declared war. Alfons decided to not make the mistake of his father and would only engage the Ottomans at sea. That policy was soon abandoned as the Ottomans had won a siege in Albania. We would try to retake the province and return it to Poland.

After a string of naval victories our troops landed in Albania and were victorious. A siege began whilst the rest of the army marched north to defeat the remaining Ottomans in Kosovo. In July 1548 Albania was liberated and our forces returned to Italy. An attempt was made to exchange maps with Portugal however they refused even with perfect relations. Finally Aragon returned to peace after the Papal States agreed to pay the Ottomans 200 ducats.

*As a game point I’ve never understood why the AI trades such small amounts of money for peace given that if I wanted to I could comfortably gain 400 ducats a year.

http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6716/ara22zd4.jpg

I don't think I've ever recieved an actual diplomatic insult except through random event though.

I've made the assumption that if you get a casus belli afterwards then it is a genuine insult although I may be mistaken.

I'd trust your word more than mine, it's been a long time since I've played EU2, though it is one of the few games I have permanently installed on my computer.

Peace would be enjoyed by Aragon after the war with the Ottomans drew to a close. Our armies were once again briefly used in 1556 when a rebel army crossed into our borders in North Africa. In the same year a cathedral was commissioned to improve stability. In 1557 a casus belli was gained against Venice however Alfons initially felt that Aragon did not have enough to gain from the war to warrant the casualties. A major rebellion in Siena diverted his attention and it would take the rest of the year to finally defeat the rebellion and in that same month, Austria declared war on Hungary.

This changed everything as Venice joined Austria in their war and the opportunity for a two front war was too great to miss. War was soon declared whilst new armies were trained. It was now no longer simply a war for territory, it was also to save Hungary from the rising might of Austria. The early action saw Dalmatia besieged and small Venetian raiding bands defeated in the area whilst military access was secured with Hungary. Our first invasion of Venice was repelled however an Austrian army was forced to defeat in Tyrol.

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Our main armies had now amassed on the border and the initial plan was for the force to be split into three. The first army would attack Venice from Mantua whenever possible whilst the second army would head to Tyrol as a guard against a counter attack. Finally the army in Tyrol would advance into Salzburg and perhaps the reserve army would follow. A revolt in Romagna immediately broke the plan with the reserve being split with half now moving south to deal with the revolt. Austrian reinforcements were not enough to defeat our advance into Austria and a siege began.

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Disastrous news reached the King that our superior numbers and technologically advanced army had not been enough to win victory in Venice and thus a further attack was ordered. Dalmatia fell to our army to match the loss of Istria to Venetian troops. Finally a military victory was gained in Tyrol and the victorious army moved east into Steiermark where the plan was to split the army and continue towards Vienna. Meanwhile our navy failed at the third attempt to defeat the Venetian navy. Alfons knew that he would have to rely on his land troops to win this war.

Twice our army was victorious in Steiermark and the siege began whilst half the army marched onwards as planned. It was at this point that the King’s advisors decided to divert his attention by asking whether Aragon should focus on the Mediterranean or begin colonisation. The King was furious that this proposal was brought to his attention during the middle of an intense war and made his feelings known, however a choice had to be made and an explorer would be useful so the proposal was accepted. Several rebellions occurred in the island provinces at this news which was another unwelcome distraction that our North African armies would have to deal with.

Salzburg was successfully taken and seeing that the attack on Austria was going to fail, the army was ordered to advance and save the day. Elsewhere ships were commandeered for the exploration of the Atlantic where the military access gained with Portugal would surely be advantageous. Miraculously the army in Austria successfully won the battle with only 1000 survivors from the attack. The reinforcements could not arrive quicker and would be necessary for the siege to begin. Austria, Istria and Krain were soon placed under siege as the tide turned in our favour.

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/3746/ara25sc7.jpg

Whilst our explorer set sail to explore the coast of Africa another army was sent to halt a Venetian siege in Tyrol and Bosnia was placed under siege. Venice had clearly become desperate with regular peace offering which also revealed that Hellas had been taken by the Papal States. The buoyant mood was damaged by the failure to stop the siege in Tyrol. A second attempt would be launched as soon as possible. With the war going badly for Venice and Austria they negotiated peace with Hungary however we wished to limit the likelihood of a future war.

In Sicily, Messina fell to the rebels however Alfons was confident that the army stationed nearby would eventually be successful. In December of 1560 Steiermark fell to our troops and the army was sent to Oldenberg whilst the winter in Tyrol must have made the Austro-Venetian army wish they were back at home. At the turn of the year Austria realised their position was hopeless and offered Steiermark and Salzberg for peace. The deal was accepted by Alfons who felt that further fighting would perhaps be too costly and was happy to know that his Kingdom would now surround Venice.

Before the end of January, Istria was liberated and our armies headed south to besiege Ragusa. It was only a matter of time before Venice capitulated and handed over their two Christian provinces of Bosnia and Dalmatia which bordered Istria. Bosnia fell in May and the waiting game began. In July the Portugese colony in Senegal was discovered which would provide a place for our explorers to re-supply in their explorations in to the West. Finally in November of 1561, the rebels in Sardinia were defeated. Alfons would die before peace could be signed, with Francesc I ascending to the throne.

Almost his first act as King was to be informed of the discovery of Portugese colonies in Brazil. Our exploration would continue west to discover new lands to make our own. In the same year the wars of religion would begin in France as the Huguenots declared independence in Southern France – perhaps this would be of benefit to Aragon. In July Messina was liberated and we gained a Casus Belli against France however Francesc wished to wait for the end of the Venetian war before starting a new costly war. A rebellion in Al Djazair was crushed in November whilst a trading post was established in Africa. Peace with Venice remained elusive.

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March marked the end of the siege in Ragusa and the discovery of Trinidad and Tobago – a colonisation attempt began. The colonisation attempt was successful in March 1563 and became our first colony. The war with Venice dragged on for another year as Ionia was placed under siege and our constant requests for peace were rejected. A rebellion in Salzburg was defeated however two further rebellions in Gascogne and Ragusa were an indication of war weariness increasing. An attempt was made to defeat the Venetian navy so that we could once again invade Venice (The capital province) however our navy was no match and it seemed that Venice could not be invaded. August 1564 saw Barbados colonised however peace remained elusive and another rebellion occurred in Apulia. Finally in September peace was signed with Venice. We would gain the two provinces that we wanted however we now had a very bad reputation which would perhaps force Francesc to concentrate on colonisation rather than conquest.

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That rebellion in southern France went remarkably well, and a good thing for Aragon. Is that Brandenburg in northern Germany? It seems that it's very easy to see lots of large nations in Europe with the mod, rather in the vanilla game where they remin fragmented.

Good work though. Slowly but surely restoring the Western Roman Empire, in a way :p

France has a scripted war of religion where the Huegunots appear in the south and a northern Christian nation appears in northern France. As a human player you can avoid the events and even if France does split they are reunited in a few years. It is a great opportunity though to gain southern France especially as their capital is in Vendee so the south is relatively undefended. If a human player already owns what I do then the Huegunots seem to gain Franche Comte which they don't normally gain.

Brandenberg also has more events so that it is more likely that they will appear. Additionally AGREEP slightly weakens France and significantly weakens Austria so that you don't get the vanilla situation where central Europe is entirely split between France and Austria. Hinterpommern and the province to the south are actually owned by Prussia so Brandenberg isn't quite as large as it may look.

I'm half considering manually editing the save file to move the capital to northern Italy as I sort of feel that would be more realistic. Barcelona isn't my largest city and moving the capital would make it more centralised. It would be nice if EU2 coped better with these situations when a nation consists of two different languages. It would be really cool if there were random events that would allow the capital to be moved to a more densely populated area or the side of the country that has begun to dominate the Kingdom.

The years of full military spending had severely cut into the stockpile of ducats however we were still in profit. In 1565 the final war rebellions were defeated whilst our colony in Trinidad and Tobago was twice expanded and Curacao was successfully colonised. October would be remembered as Holland declared independence gaining several Dutch provinces including Flanders. The following month saw the French Catholics declare independence from the French which perhaps indicated time was running out if we wished to wage war against the Huguenots.

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In 1566 we were the first nation to discover Panama and perhaps it would be our next target for colonisation after Guadeloupe which was successfully colonised in January of 1567. In July 1568 our stability increased and it was taken as a sign to declare war against the Huguenots. The war was likely to be a challenge as Bavaria, the Palatinate and Saxony joined the war on their side. Our armies marched north into Guyenne, Lyon and Franche Comte with only the Guyenne advance failing. To the east Tyrol and Salzburg were placed under siege by Bavaria.

Languedoc was placed under siege by the Huguenots causing our reserve army to be called into action. Lyon was the first province to fall freeing our army to move south and attack the Huguenot army in Languedoc whilst our reserve army returned to watching the siege in Tyrol. Our army from Lyon was unfortunately defeated and thus our reserve army once again marched west where it defeated a Palatinate army in Piemonte. Languedoc fell to the Huguenots whilst Tyrol fell to Bavaria however Languedoc was soon under siege again by our troops and so was Guyenne. At the end of 1569, Franche Comte was captured.

Saxony began an assault in Steiermark with 30000 troops whilst we began a siege in Limousin. At this point our plan was to destroy the Huguenots and then move east to recapture whatever we had lost by that point. Steiermark was lost in May and the Palatinate besieged Savoy. Good news occurred in June as the main Huguenot army was decimated in Gascogne and freed our main army to head east towards Tyrol. Languedoc was recaptured whilst Steiermark was placed under siege by a small Aragon army. Suddenly the tide of war had seemed to turn in our favour.

The retreating Huguenot army was wiped out in Rousillion whilst an army from Languedoc marched north into Cevannes whilst won against a much smaller Huguenot army. September of 1570 saw a colony in Bahamas established, Guyenne fall to our troops and a siege begin in Cevannes. A month later and Limousin had fallen to our troops. The Huguenots had been defeated and offered Guyenne, Lyon and Franche Comte for peace and this was accepted. Our armies were now free to push back the German states. During this time Salzburg had been conquered by Bavaria

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In November our troops defeated the Palatinate army in Piemonte and continued east towards Tyrol. It would not be necessary though as peace would be arranged before the end of the year. The Palatinate accepted a white peace, perhaps because they knew the war had turned or perhaps because only their allies had gained any provinces. We were happy to return to peace with our war aim of gaining provinces in southern France successful. During the war our infrastructure level had increased and so a new peace time aim would be to promote mayors in all our provinces whilst we continued to colonise the new world.

July 1571 saw Holland become vassals of France which was odd since usually Holland is protestant. Perhaps in the future they will convert. Our explorers died in 1572 ending our period of exploration however they had discovered many provinces for us to colonise in the future. Trinidad and Tobago became our first city in the new world. From the north news came that France, Brandenburg and Holland were now at war with Huguenots, Bavaria, Palatinate and Saxony. Surely many lives would be lost in this war that involved so many nations. Elsewhere Roanoke was successfully colonised in North America. In 1574 a fort was built in Trinidad and Tobago to secure the islands against invaders.

The war in the north was odd to observe. The French conquered Luxemburg whilst losing two provinces to the Huguenots. Rebels seemed to be the biggest winner for time being and it seemed unlikely that provinces would be traded when peace was eventually signed. 1576 saw Enric II rise to the throne. Barbados became our second colony to become a city and in July of 1577 the war in the North finally came to an end as the Palatinate agreed to pay 136 ducats. 1578 saw a royal marriage arranged with Poland. Our funds were now being split between colonisation, upgrading our new cities and promoting mayors back in Europe.

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Very interesting read. I'm learning quite a bit by following Aragon's development!

Dell - or anyone i guess.

Whatcha reckon is the best way to get started in EUII, I have the game sitting next to me (not installed yet). So I'll fire it up, whats the first thing i should do? You keep mentioning this AGCEEP mod, which sounds pretty good and i do intend to download. Should i play Vanilla first or AGCEEP first?

Dell - or anyone i guess.

Whatcha reckon is the best way to get started in EUII, I have the game sitting next to me (not installed yet). So I'll fire it up, whats the first thing i should do? You keep mentioning this AGCEEP mod, which sounds pretty good and i do intend to download. Should i play Vanilla first or AGCEEP first?

First thing is to update the game to the latest version.

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/Downloads.asp (EU II update is at the bottom)

If you want more variety (And possibly more historicality) to the game, then install the AGCEEP mod.

http://perso.numericable.fr/~yodamaster/AGCEEP/introduction.htm

If you want to learn the game first though, you should test the vanilla version first. Trying some easy nation like England or France first is a good idea for a starter too :)

I find the Ottoman Empire a very good starter nation to play in vanilla EU2. :)

I find the Ottoman Empire a very good starter nation to play in vanilla EU2. :)

Yeah those are the three good starter nations. All big countries that don't necessarily rely heavily on events like Austria inheriting their neighbours and not dull dull dull like Castile.

Its probably worth playing Vanilla initially although AGCEEP is generally better. Playing as Portugal may be more fun in Vanilla as I don't believe they have quite as many events in vanilla.

An Austrian arrived in Enric’s court in 1580 begging him to support his claim to the crown of Austria. Enric considered the proposal for some time however there were few remaining Austrian provinces that would be beneficial to gain and people still remembered the price that was paid for victory in the last war. The pretender was sent on his way to beg another nation to support his claim. The chance for war had confirmed to Enric that the next war would be against a united France. Ever since the conquest of Languedoc it was inevitable that further wars would be fought as our two nations battled for supremacy. Enric would wait for France to be united before striking as he wished it to be a fair fight in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The wait would allow for more mayors to be promoted in our provinces and our colonies to be expanded. Bizarrely France annexed Holland who also controlled Brittany. This forced Enric to act earlier than he had planned. Brandenburg and Hannover were allies of France who should not pose a major threat in the south. Our war aim would be to finally conquer Provence and gain at least three other provinces. War was declared in 1583. Bourgogne, Poitou, Provence and Bearn were our initial targets. Three of those provinces were placed under siege whilst the Bourgogne met heavy French resistance. A first battle was won and then a second however reinforcements would now be required.

http://img479.imageshack.us/img479/6397/ara31zi2.jpg

Berri was placed under siege by our troops whilst an army from Brandenburg began a siege in Franche Comte - they would be left alone for now. In July reinforcements arrived in Bourgogne to begin a siege whilst a Papal army marched north to face the Brandenburg army. Brandenburg reinforcements arrived at the same time to increase the size of their army to 40 000 men. That force was twice the size of the Papal army however God smiled down on the Papal army and they were victorious with minimal casualties. Would the French army now crumble?

Apparently the French were stronger than we thought as they marched into Franche Comte as soon as the Papal army had left. The first fort to fall would be Berri in the middle of France, oddly the last province to be placed under siege by our troops. The freed army moved north towards Maine. The French alliance seemed intent on sending every man they had to lay siege to Franche Comte and as a result 8000 of their troops died in two months from starvation. In May Poitou fell to our troops. In July the French army reached Berri to begin a new siege after abandoning Franche Comte. At the end of the month Bourgogne and Bearn fell to our armies, which then moved north to begin new sieges.

A siege in Moubihan began whilst our eastern armies delayed their advance to wait for 60 000 Brandenburg troops to march across their path – heading towards Berri. In October sieges finally began in Nivernais and Lorraine whilst we conquered Maine and began another siege in Armor.

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Nearly 100 000 troops were now in Berri and surely the fort would soon fall back into French hands. Provence would fall next though at the end of November and our war objectives had finally been achieved. Now we just had to make the French realise that the war was over. Before the end of 1584 the war was over. France would hand over Bourgogne, Poitou, Bearn and Provence which matched our aim at the start of the war and finally removed the French from the Mediterranean. Our reputation was now extremely bad and 0.8 away from triggering the bad boy wars. In 1585 Guadeloupe became our third colony to reach city status which prompted a new period of exploration that ordered to set sail towards North America.

France was not long at peace as war broke out once again between their alliance and the Palatinate, Huguenots and Saxony. Several of our new French citizens commented that they were glad to be able to live in peace whilst their previous ruler became involved in another terrible war. The Swiss were less happy about having a new ruler and revolted. The French Catholics had joined our alliance after peace was signed and declared war against France. Enric saw no option but to honour the alliance and thus we suddenly found ourselves back at war with France which broke the peace agreement. Sieges began in Nivernais and Orleans however much of Franch had already fallen to the Huguenots.

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Armor was soon also under siege after our army defeated rebels in the province and after less than a month the province was ours. Auvergne, Britagne and Normandee were next to fall under siege after the French agreed peace with the Huguenots by ceding Maine and Berri. Nivernais soon fell and the siege of Paris began. In January of 1589, Bretagne was taken and the army moved south to Moubihan. Orleans fell next whilst the only visible French army fought the French Catholics in Champagne. Whether victorious or not the French then moved on to siege Lorraine which was still held by the Palatinate. In June Manhatten was colonised after it had been discovered in the previous year.

August would be a strange month. The French Catholics abandoned our alliance to become vassals of Spain whilst the Huguenots collapsed and were annexed by France. Suddenly a nation that had looked dead and buried had started to look dangerous again. Morbihan was captured and marched south towards Vendee which was now once again under French control, however the army was not large enough and thus headed instead to Berri. Auvergne fell in October and more importantly Paris soon fell afterwards where new maps were found. Limousin was the next province to be placed under siege as the Aragon armies continued their campaign. December 1589 would see the end of the war as France ceded Artois to the French Catholics and more importantly we gained Auvergne, Moubihan, Nivernais and Orleans. In five years Enric had led Aragon to capture much of France.

Oddly at this point our war score is over 42 and thus the bad buy wars should have triggered but they haven’t. The game has been on Normal/Normal from the start. Although I’ve never actually been able to trigger them once my nation reached this sort of size.

http://img173.imageshack.us/img173/6261/ara34kz4.jpg

This map shows the gains made in our three recent wars in France

Lime Green are provinces gained against the Huguenots (1568-70)

Light Blue are provinces gained in the first stage of war against France (1582-84)

Yellow are provinces gained in the second stage of the war against France (1587-1589)

http://img325.imageshack.us/img325/5977/ara34bvg6.jpg

Are Sweden and France together or are they only a slightly different shade of blue?

They'll be a slightly different shade of blue. Sweden is a little lighter, I think.

Different countries, the colours get reused. Prussia actually holds most of Norway but you can't see it in the screenshot.

Enric surveyed the maps of his Kingdom and knew that there would never truly be peace in France until it was united under one rule. The capture of Orleans and Caux belonging to Spain meant that France was no longer connected to their remaining provinces in the west. Enric would not start a new war though, preferring to concentrate on upgrading the country’s infrastructure and continued exploration. Whilst doing so he observed the ongoing wars to the North which were tearing the lowlands apart with rebels controlling a number of provinces. He was pleased to note that Hungary had remained at peace with Austria since our rescue attempt.

Those revolts led to the Netherlands reappearing in 1593 although France did have some good news as they annexed the French Catholics. In 1594 the French gained Luxemburg from the Palatinate which perhaps meant that the French were not yet beaten. In 1595 we were the first nation to reach California as our explorers headed up the west coast whilst on the east coast Manhatten became a city. A string of rebellions in Firenze, Sicily and Dalmatia occurred as the people protested at our violent actions. Another rebellion occurred in Siena and a factory was burnt to the ground in Sicily – bad luck was not seen as the likely cause.

Sacremento was colonised in 1597. As the 16th century drew to a close Aragon began to find itself in a race with England to colonise the North American coast line. We had colonised Manhatten, Roanoke and Carolina whilst England colonised Delaware, Santee and many more provinces in the colder North. Holland was annexed through force by France however Aragon could not act to gain revenge as our stability was too low. Chesapeake was colonised in 1599 by Aragon and in December we renewed our alliance with the Papal States. Susquehanna was colonised in 1600 as we attempted to grab as much of North America as possible. Sevannah was colonised the following year.

*I would go to war again with France but stability now takes 50 years to rise normally so I pretty much have to wait for a stability event.

In 1602 a trade centre opened in distant Sacramento which would attract new settlers to the province. 1608 marked the end of our infrastructure upgrade in Europe. In 1612 Alfons VII rose to the throne as the colonisation of America continued. Two further provinces had been colonised and three colonies had reached city status. In September 1617 our stability increased and war was immediately declared on the Palatinate who had no allies and their military had a poor reputation of losing every war their fought.

Our initial assaults into Alsace, Baden, Schwyz and Wirtemberg were all successful however the Baden army was soon forced to retreat. The war was a disastrous failure. All four armies were pushed back in turn, however the Palatinate did not press their advantage preferring to use their home terrain as an advantage. Occasionally victories were gained with Schwyz being taken after an assault on the fort however casualties were high and Aragon had met much stronger resistance than expected. Numerous times our attempts to siege Alsace were thwarted. As a result taxes rose further to pay for reinforcements.

In November of 1619 we somehow managed to take the Palatinate capital, Phalz. Another failure occurred in Wirtemberg as our army was caught out by winter and a Palatinate army. In April 1621 we finally gained Wirtemberg after seeing our army in Alsace completely annihilated. Finally light could be seen at the end of the tunnel as the Palatinate’s army maintained a siege in Phalz allowing our armies to begin two new sieges. Baden and Wurzberg fell in 1622 and in May the Palatinate regained Phalz. In June our army in Alsace secured a much needed victory to force the Palatinate to return to Phalz. In October Alsace repelled a second invasion as our reinforcements arrived just in time.

In 1623 the Palatinate army was once again defeated in Alsace which was finally captured along with Saxony. In September the war would effectively be won. Every army of Aragon had amassed in Alsace totalling 30 000 troops and finally this army was able to crush the Palatinate army. Our army chased the fleeing troops into Phalz which was eventually captured. 1625 marked the end of the war as we gained Schwyz, Baden, Alscace, Wirtemberg and Wurzberg, however it felt like a defeat. The war had lasted eight years with taxes higher than usual and our military had largely been destroyed. We were not the masters of Europe as our technology and territory had seemed to suggest. So absorbed in the fighting, Alfons had failed to notice that Brandenburg had annexed Prussia and become a dangerous foe in the north.

It's sounding very, very ominous.

Can we get some screenies of the New World and Africa? I'm interested in how England is doing (curse them for taking Scotland) as well as getting a visualiation on Aragon holdings.

Wurzburg converted to the state religion in 1627. In the following years England fought a colonial war against Spain and Portugal in North America where several colonies were destroyed. We were able to colonise Talahassee and Seminole which had previously been Spanish colonies whilst Spain gained four colonies in the North from England in a peace deal. In June 1631 our stability increased and once again it signalled the beginning of war. This time it would be against France and Brandenburg where our troops would initially be hopelessly outnumbered.

Orleans and Wurzburg were both captured as our armies avoided direct conflict with France and their allies. The army that took Orleans had consisted of 130 000 men. Maine fell to our troops in August whilst the French captured Nivernais in November. In December Bretagne was captured and Orleans liberated. An Army from Hannover was destroyed at the third attempt in Maine and in the south Cevannes was besieged by the Papal States. In May Alsace fell to Brandenburg whilst we captured Armor and placed Paris under siege. In July Nivernais was recaptured and Paris was once more placed under siege after being forced to retreat. Champagne, Alsace and Artois were also placed under siege.

Berri was captured in November and the army then broke the French siege of Poitou and defeated an army from Brandenburg in the following month. Paris fell in February. The war ended in March as we accepted the French proposal, we would gain Bretagne, Normandee, Limousin, Maine and Berri. Alfons could now claim to control France. In 1639 we gained a new explorer and in 1640 we met the Iroquois. In 1644 our alliance expired and the Papal States chose to join a different alliance.

Looking back on our last two wars it was strange to note that against a much tougher alliance and beginning with few troops we were more successful than against a lone nation when we had several armies. The four factors that stand out was difficult terrain for large sieges against the Palatinate, the war being entirely defensive on their part, that the border was much wider with France allowing us to lay siege to several provinces whilst they concentrated elsewhere and that we raised taxes earlier in the war.

America: (Red crosses indicate a city)
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/2971/ara35at3.jpg

Aragon:
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7408/ara36qc1.jpg

Wow, you have a pretty large nation now.

:(

Why oh why do the AGREEP developers think it is a good idea to have a civil war event that occurs roughly every two years once your empire gets to a certain size? I can sort of understand why it should occasionally occur but the current rate is too high and makes the game unplayable.

The main events recently:

Civil war

War against Austria (Gained 5 provinces)

Civil war (Quits)

During this time I've reloaded about five times to miss civil war events. If I play this game again I will be deleting the event.

Well, IIRC a Civil War happens when you get too much BB, and to gain that you need to expand, it has nothing to do with size i think.

BTW, What to you think, we should group some players here from CFC and play MP? Or we could make a sort of Succesion Game, for example, one plays from 1419 to 1479, the next plays from 1479 to 1539 etc and make an AAR about it here?

Oh and, Great AAR Dell! :)

Ah okay that explains it better however I would rather have my neighbours declare war on me than civil wars that eat my armies and provinces. If I had known about that I would have been more careful about bad boy points however after a certain point all that is left is to conquer the world.

We could start an AAR I guess.