The Wargamer

INTRODUCTION

Just thought I would give you a brief AAR about a test game I was playing this morning using yesterday's latest beta. I started a game in 1453 as Castile; with the primary purpose being to test, a few things so I can close my last remaining bug reports. Most related to colonization and such, so Castile seems as good a choice as any.

As is my habit, I began the game by building up my military into three solid armies (2 at 4k and 1 main one at 6k...that's about all I can afford to maintain) positioned along my border with Granada. This involved recruiting in many of my provinces (I generally do not use mercenaries except for emergencies since I do not want to miss the tradition, and I hate paying double maintenance) and then marching them all into position. With somewhat limited cash, my preference is for infantry-heavy armies with a small portion of cavalry -- usually more than sufficient against Granada. During the year or so that it took to get that done, I expanded my trade into various local CoTs and invested heavily in government tech so I could get my first idea. When I got it (do not recall exact date) I picked the Quest for the New World so I could begin exploring westward and do my bug-report tests (normally I would not pick this until later).

Since Portugal owns the Azores out in the Atlantic, I arranged a royal marriage with them, and then later I convinced them to give me military access so my ships could use the island as a staging point for exploration (and can return there to repair attrition damage). I also RMed Aragon in the hopes that I might get lucky and inherit it which would also let me confirm that the creation of Spain historical event is still WAD (have not done that in a while, so thought it would be worth checking).

In December ‘53, I have all my forces in place and DOW Granada. The ensuing war is uneventful since I vastly out-number them and they have no allies to help them. I think it took me less than 18 months to bring them to their knees and capture all three provinces. As usual, I demanded Gibraltar and Almeria, which will make Granada an easy target for annexation later.

Therefore, all of that is fine...and while I am waiting for the sieges to finish, I am gradually exploring my way to the Caribbean. Anyway...I make peace with Granada, war exhaustion begins to recede, my troops continue to replenish some of their combat and attrition causalities, I spend a ton of cash (part of it war tribute) and am just about to send a colonist to Bermuda (my explorer happened to notice it in passing) when....

On Sept 18, 1454:

The War of Castilian Succession!

Oh! Crap! Yikes! I have to choose whether to side with Aragon or Portugal to determine my succession. Thinking that this is a different way to try for the creation of Spain, I side with Portugal since I figure I'll smack the AI around a bit, grab a bunch of Aragon's provinces, and be somewhat closer to being in position to satisfy the Spain formation trigger requirements.

Hmmm....I have virtually no tradition from the Granada war because I didn't fight many battles of note (Granada only had 3k compared to the 14k I attacked with...I didn't even bother converting my ruler into a general since I didn't need the leadership with those odds) and I only completed the 3 sieges. I also have somewhat less cash than I would like since I recently spent money on the explorer and I used the remaining cash for merchants and expanding my pre-existing colony in the Canaries.

Oh well...I use what little cash I have to recruit one general -- an okay 0/1/1/1 leader which isn't bad considering the 12% tradition and the era (and my DP settings). I also start marching my scattered military northwards to assemble in Toledo. There, I will merge them and then create two balanced armies...one to deal with the 4k (2kcav/2kinf/0art) Aragon army I can see in a border province, and the other to go and begin the long process of bringing Aragon to submission. It will move up the coast and kill stuff along the way.

There is nothing I can do naval wise right now, since I only have two combat-class vessels, and they are half a world away trying to discover America, etc. I cannot convert my ruler into a general, of course, because it is a succession war over my country (so I am currently the junior in a personal union with Portugal). I also have almost no money, and only a little reserve manpower since most of my manpower has been used to replenish losses from the Granada war.

I guess I should be okay, because I have a decent sized army that's mostly recovered, and he doesn't seem to have much...plus he hasn't been involved in a war yet that I've noticed so he probably doesn't have much of an army or any military tradition either.
That is all fine and good; until I see, the next Aragon army comes into view: a nasty 7k force consisting of something like six cavalry and 1k infantry...and lead by the king himself! Wow...Alfonso is taking the field and he is bringing pretty much his entire realm's army with him (I hope!). Hmm…he is heading towards my currently undefended capital of Madrid. Why exactly didn't I leave an army there? Oops. Hmm...do I vaguely recall that Alfonso has a decent military rating? I check his monarch stats via the diplomacy interface. Yikes! He is a mil 9 ruler...that might be bad because he is far more likely to be a kick-ass general. Ouch!
I guess I had better send a bigger army than originally intended...Unfortunately, my army is mostly infantry but I should be able to get to Madrid before he can, and he will have to attack me there. The terrain selection for the battle stands a very good chance of being hills, which would favor me, and he will have to cross a river so I will get that bonus. I create the 8k (roughly) army, from my semi-strength regiments and send it to Madrid (that'll be enough, right...and it will get some reinforcements at the end of the month as well, so it should eventually grow to about 10k); and then send a small 4k force to Valencia. The best laid plans and all...