Europa Universalis IV announced

[Monoriu]

I plan on swatting them once they start colonizing. 

The *entire* new world belongs to Portugal.  NOBODY ELSE.   

[Caliga]

Scotland at times becomes a major force. Along with Britanny.

I've never seen that happen with Scotland.  Scotland is almost always swallowed by England early in my EU4 games, or reduced to a single province.

[Caliga]

I'm sure it is, but I'm too busy conquering Europe and Asia to worry about colonies. 

I've now got coastline on the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, and picked an idea group (Expansion).  I guess I should have picked the one that gives me explorers tho.

In EU4 currently, if you sail along the coast of TI, do you sometimes 'discover' it with a non-explorer's naval squadron?  I know that used to happen, at least.  If so I'll start patrolling the Indian Ocean I guess.

[crazy canuck]

Recent changes have made it harder to keep colonial nations loyal, I suspect an unenlarged metropolitan Portugal might have problems on this score as those nations develop.

Yeah, I had significant problems as Spain.  I am beginning to wonder whether playing a colonizer in the New World is worth the effort.

[Josephus]

Recent changes have made it harder to keep colonial nations loyal, I suspect an unenlarged metropolitan Portugal might have problems on this score as those nations develop.

Yeah, I had significant problems as Spain.  I am beginning to wonder whether playing a colonizer in the New World is worth the effort.

Short answer is no, I think. There is money to be made, and I'm not one of those who computes all the math, but I think, especially in later game, the risk/reward is very low.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Recent changes have made it harder to keep colonial nations loyal, I suspect an unenlarged metropolitan Portugal might have problems on this score as those nations develop.

Yeah, I had significant problems as Spain.  I am beginning to wonder whether playing a colonizer in the New World is worth the effort.

The main gain is getting the extra merchants IMO, that and painting the map in one's own colour of course. I never increase tariffs/taxes on colonial nations and sometimes reduce them from the base level.

[Josquius]

It's a shame there isn't a keep them incorporated or viceroyalty option; with some definite benefits for spinning to them off just to make sure it isn't an obvous choice.

[Eddie Teach]

Hey Mono, tell me a little more about your Portugal strategy.

I started ok, allied with England and Aragon, Castile was rivaled against France so no worries there. Aragon attacked them but decided not to call on me. That's good, I guess, be a waste of time to fight in Aragon's war anyway. I finish up my second claim and start a third one, then I jump in with England. I mostly held my army intact while England, Aragon and the opportunistic Moors rampage the country. I took 5 provinces, including all 3 I had claims on. Huge AE hit, but no worries. Not gonna fight any more for a while.

At that point I still have a full load of manpower(~20k) and a little money in the bank, so I'm able to ride out the rebellions.

Second war, Castile has allied with Burgundy and Tunis. Yuck. Austria and France won't return my calls, England is up to its eyeballs in debt, so I take a loan and ally with Brittany and Tlemcen(in addition to Aragon). Brittany and I defeat most of the Burgundian ships, Burgundy sieges Brittany and they peace out. Aragon sieges Tunis and they do too. Burgundy doesn't manage to get its killer stacks down to Iberia and I take another 4 provinces off Castile.

I ended up taking 3 loans and completely exhausting my manpower. My 12k troops can't handle a single uprising. Mercs require more loans and that is bad too.

So perhaps I've expanded too fast? But don't I want to kill off Castile before they can join Aragon? 

Year is in the 1460s I think.

[Eddie Teach]

Ok, so military focus + harsh treatment got me out of that jam. I'm just lagging in tech a bit.

Meanwhile, Morocco and Granada beat down Castile to take... the Canary Islands.  Dumbass Granada didn't siege either of the provinces next to it and Morocco didn't want them. (I think it's silly Morocco and Tlemcen both turned down Murcia, a coastal province that's adjacent by water to their own holdings.)

[Eddie Teach]

Strange things are afoot...

[crazy canuck]

Are you playing with lucky nations on?  Odd indeed for that to happen the the Ottomans early on.

[Eddie Teach]

On is default? I think so.

[Monoriu]

Hey Mono, tell me a little more about your Portugal strategy.

I started ok, allied with England and Aragon, Castile was rivaled against France so no worries there. Aragon attacked them but decided not to call on me. That's good, I guess, be a waste of time to fight in Aragon's war anyway. I finish up my second claim and start a third one, then I jump in with England. I mostly held my army intact while England, Aragon and the opportunistic Moors rampage the country. I took 5 provinces, including all 3 I had claims on. Huge AE hit, but no worries. Not gonna fight any more for a while.

At that point I still have a full load of manpower(~20k) and a little money in the bank, so I'm able to ride out the rebellions.

Second war, Castile has allied with Burgundy and Tunis. Yuck. Austria and France won't return my calls, England is up to its eyeballs in debt, so I take a loan and ally with Brittany and Tlemcen(in addition to Aragon). Brittany and I defeat most of the Burgundian ships, Burgundy sieges Brittany and they peace out. Aragon sieges Tunis and they do too. Burgundy doesn't manage to get its killer stacks down to Iberia and I take another 4 provinces off Castile.

I ended up taking 3 loans and completely exhausting my manpower. My 12k troops can't handle a single uprising. Mercs require more loans and that is bad too.

So perhaps I've expanded too fast? But don't I want to kill off Castile before they can join Aragon? 

Year is in the 1460s I think.

Here is what I do.  As a general rule, I expand as fast as I can.  I don't worry about AE until coalitions start forming against me. 

1440s, first war with Castile.  Must ally with at least Aragon to have any chance.  This is the most difficult war.  Castile and Aragon usually go after each other, and I join in after the battle has started, then I try to kill their main stack.  Sieges.  Peace.  I always demand Seville, the Canaries, the gold province, plus as many coastal provinces in the south as possible.

1450s.  Second war is against Morocco.  Get the Tangiers mission, which will reward you with 200 admin. points after you have cored the province.  In my games, Morocco is usually allied with Granada.  The way I do it is, first concentrate on Granada and ignore Morocco.  Fully annex Granada.  Then ship the army across the strait and get Tangiers.  Avoid the Morocco army if possible.  If not, fight it but try to concentrate on Tangiers.  Just getting it is enough.

Early 1460s.  Third war.  You should be able to fight Castile alone with all the above gains.

Fourth war is against Mali/Johof (the NW African coast), to get the estuary province as a first step toward a global trade empire. 

Manpower is a huge issue with Portugal.  You start with 17k troops (17k is the initial force limit.  You need to recruit a few regiments on the first day) and that number should be enough to fight off most early rebels.  Always fight with a single stack if possible.  It is very important to avoid unnecessary battles.  The most difficult part is the first war.  Castile and Aragon usually go after each other, and I only join in the main battle in the middle to make sure Aragon wins.  I mix in as many mercenaries regiments as my budget allows to save manpower.  That's a problem for the budget.  I save money by micro-managing the army and navy sliders.  As soon as I don't need to fight, I minimise maintanence. 

[Eddie Teach]

I found Ceuta a bit of a poison pill to start with; it was 50 years or so before I could get it worthwhile to convert(had cardinal in administration, bonus from quest to convert a Granadan province, and an act that required admin 6). Until then there was constant unrest. Between the Sunnis and Berber traditions making coring overpriced, North Africa is not that great a target.

That being said, I was prepared to start on Morocco after finishing Castile, but Aragon had allied them in spite of my rivalry. The only countries I could get claims on were those two, England and France. Given my poor manpower and smallish economy, I didn't like any of these options. So I just started colonizing and letting my economy grow, but time was getting away from me and it was turning into a boring game where I sat around watching my colonies grow.

I tried one last hurrah, put a claim on Poitou, the one French province I could, and went to war with them along with Aragon, England, and Brittany(I think Savoy reneged, not sure). I besieged Poitou, France took it back, then Brittany started besieging it. At that point, I quit. I suppose I could have taken the Med coastal provinces without the claim, but was just tired of that game. 

If I try Portugal again, I'll make sure to ask for La Mancha in the first war instead of the third.  Then perhaps I can afford a few mercs.

[Norgy]

Scotland at times becomes a major force. Along with Britanny.

I've never seen that happen with Scotland.  Scotland is almost always swallowed by England early in my EU4 games, or reduced to a single province.

I think it depends on how well England handles the early war(s) with France.
Britanny's survival I suggest would depend on allies.