[SS 6.3 AAR] The Rise of Portugal (COMPLETED 7/24: EPILOGUE)

[Scottish King]

Hope the battle at Lyon goes well or all that has been accomplished so far will be compromised.

[ScubaSteveWA]

Been watching your Portugal campaign for a while now and just thought I'd say I'm enjoying it. The stories you add in the campaign seen to be just the right amount, must of the others I read on here tend to go a little over board... thats just my opinion though, I like it much more centered on the actual gameplay. Hope the battle at Lyon goes well!

[Hallow]

Just spent some time reading through your AAR and must say I'm extremely impressed. Greatly enjoyed reading it and hope you haven't quite burnt out on it yet. Keep up the good work!

[doddydad]

really hope this continues, but watch for the fatamids, if they attack this could become very interesting.

[TheBard]

Sorry that it has been a while since the last update. I've been traveling around quite a bit visiting the family, but I haven't forgotten about this. There are 2-3 more chapters coming before this is totally finished, so stay tuned. I'll try to get one up in the next couple days if possible.

[Diamond]

I find this AAR absolutely amazing!! I was reading it for about three hours last night. Great job! +rep

[TheBard]

Chapter 55: The Fall of Norway?

It is the year 1384. Fernando de Alvares, second cousin to King Nicolau, has his army set up to assault the Norwegian city of Lyon a hundred miles north of the recently taken Marseille. Before he can attack Lyon, Fernando and his army are attacked by two Norwegian armies, with the garrison also sallying forth.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Fernando sets up his army to defend against the three enemy armies. Nearly 200 Portuguese handgunners make up the first row, while hundreds of men-at-arms and foot knights stand behind them. With only about 100 cavalry, Fernando isn’t able to rely on numerically superior elite force to flank the enemy lines.

The first Norwegian army arrives, and the handgunners let loose two volleys before being set upon. The Norwegians waver, and the Portuguese infantry rush forward. Fernando commits his cavalry, and the first enemy army is soon crushed.

When the second Norwegian army arrives, Fernando’s cavalry are scattered and exhausted. The handgunners took a heavy toll from the first wave, but the infantry press on. The battle lasts more than three hours, but by the time the last small army is sent fleeing, Fernando’s forces have crushed the Norwegians and captured the castle of Lyon.



With the victory, the front on the Porto-Norse War is pushed several hundred miles to the north. After taking Marseille and Lyon, the Portuguese dig in and work to consolidate their gains.

In 1385, Costanca and Luis de Araujo have a daughter named Branca, and Portugal is flush with cash for the first time in decades. With an annual surplus of tens of thousands of florins, the Royal Treasury provides plenty of money for numerous construction projects across the kingdom.

King Nicolau and Queen Lyudmila have a daughter named Maria, and Lucia and Daniel Dinis have a daughter named Gabriela.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Then, Marseille is again besieged by Norwegians. Sancho clears out hundreds of enemies near Lyon, but soon comes upon a huge enemy force commanded by Halstan Lehtonen. Outnumbered by more than 300 soldiers, Sancho recklessly attacks.



The Portuguese conqueror rushes his men to take control of a small hill, and his bombards fire into the enemy as they emerge from the thick forests.



The nine Portuguese bombards devastate the Norwegians, killing nearly 20% of them before the opposing lines crash together. Hundreds of Portuguese cavalry curl around both Norwegian flanks, striking the Norwegian cavalry before they can properly form up.



The Portuguese mounted knights soon find themselves entrenched in fighting against Norwegian axemen and huskarls.



Dozens of knights are killed, but it frees Sancho to attack Halstan directly. The Portuguese general charges forward and he and his guards clash with Halstan’s cavalry. The two leaders face off for more than 20 minutes. Eventually, Sancho himself strikes the killing blow on Halstan, and the Norwegian army is crushed.



Though Sancho’s army loses several hundred men, it is a thrilling and momentous victory. With Sancho’s army nearby and most of the Norwegian forces cleared away, Portugal is almost sure to retain Lyon. The huge victory and Sancho’s presence also frightens the Norwegians at Marseille into lifting their siege and retreating to their Italian provinces.

Soon, Prince Filipe the Bastard comes of age in Toledo and moves to Toulouse for military training.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Illegitimate, Filipe is nevertheless likely to be the future king. After the succession crises that Portugal has faced over the past centuries, the people are desperate for stability. As such, they will almost certainly accept Filipe as their king after Nicolau dies.

The Pope chooses to call a Crusade against Antioch that year. King Nicolau is ambivalent. On the one hand, he needs to curry favor with the Church in order to retain the upper hand against Norway and keep other Christian kingdoms from joining in the Porto-Norse War. However, Filipe also has no reason to break his treaty with the Fatimids, who currently control Antioch.

In the end, Nicolau chooses not to join the Crusade, and he forbids any of his generals from joining in either. Still, the alliance with the Fatimids lasts only a short while longer, as England’s decision to join the Crusade forces Nicolau to choose between the two. He makes the easy decision to support England, Portugal’s longest ally. The alliance with the Fatimids ends, but the two kingdoms retain cordial relations for many years.

Sancho continues to clear away Norwegians from near Lyon, attacking Jesper Jarl in 1387. Sancho’s bombards kill Jesper and hundreds of others before the lines even clash. The bombards end the battle having killed more than 400 men.

Sancho looks out over the battlefield after the conclusion and shakes his head. Surely this is the future of warfare, where cannons of iron destroy armies in the blink of an eye.

Bento dies in Bordeaux after a military career spanning nearly six decades. Though he suffered the disappointment of being overshadowed by his older brothers, Gaspar and King Fernao, and eventually Geraldo, Bento’s final years were peaceful. He took control of the newly taken city of Bordeaux and governed it until his death in 1388.

In the meantime, reinforcements from Africa, Granada, and Valencia arrive near Barcelona. Guilherme takes command of half of them, while Francisco Costa takes command of the rest; both armies head north toward the Norwegian lines.

In 1389, Beatriz de Meneses marries Gaspar de Lopes, a young ambitious nobleman from near Seville.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Luisa and Costanca de Araujo have a daughter named Joana, and their son Pero comes of age that same year in al-Mahdiya.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Rather unassuming, Pero has a decent military mind, and begins his training in the African city, which borders the Fatimids. It will be his duty, someday, to maintain the distant border against the Muslim neighbors.

Fernando de Alvares takes over Clermont, and Sancho rests with his army in Lyon. Jorge Dias and Prince Filipe split up another newly arrived army of reinforcements from Africa and Granada with the intention to follow Guilherme and Francisco Costa into Norwegian territory.

In 1390, Geraldo Meira’s son, Vicente, comes of age in the city of Toulouse.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Like his distant cousin, Prince Filipe, Vicente is also illegitimate. However, unlike Filipe, Vicente is the product of an affair on the part of his mother. The aging Geraldo had long been unable to perform his marital duties, so Efphemera had taken several secret lovers. Geraldo knew the truth, but kept his wife’s secrets, and accepted Vicente as his own. Rumors about Vicente’s parentage swirled for his entire life, though few knew the real details.

Even at the tender age of 14, a lifetime of taunts and whispers has driven Vicente to scorn his father. Intelligent and quite dashing, Vicente quickly becomes the talk of the city. Girls fawn over the young nobleman, and many hardened veterans seek him out to serve under his command. The young man already has a reputation for being fair and just, a quality that will serve him well in the years to come.

Vicente has a new sister in 1391, though the citizenry know that she too, is not Geraldo’s own.

Meanwhile, Guilherme and Francisco each move toward Angers, while Jorge and Prince Filipe gather troops near Toulouse. By the winter of 1391, Guilherme has besieged Angers, and Francisco has besieged Rennes, both Norwegian towns north of Bordeaux.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Victory at both cities seems nearly certain, and Norway’s precipitous decline looks to continue. After two years of siege, Guilherme indeed takes Angers easily, and Francisco does the same at Rennes. With the capture of both cities, Portugal’s advance has continued to stun the Norwegians. Norway has now lost Bordeaux, Angers, Rennes, Marseille, Clermont, and Lyon in a little over two decades. Their entire western front has collapsed. Having now secured the entire Atlantic coast from Marrakesh in Africa to Rennes in France, Portugal has stabilized their northern flank and created a common border with their longtime ally England on both land and sea.

The elderly Geraldo dies in Toulouse soon after, and Fernando de Alvares dies in Clermont, as well. The loss of both governors is a blow. The 87-year-old Geraldo’s death comes as no real surprise, but Fernando was only 55. Rumors of Norwegian assassinations run rampant, but there is no proof. Fernando seems to have died of a heart ailment, but his personal chef is hanged by his men, who are certain that the man was a spy and assassin.

Prince Filipe has quickly gained a reputation for military skill. At the age of 21, he is named Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

He and his elite soldiers head north to defend Angers and Rennes, which are both under assault from a renewed Norwegian offensive.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It will be up to the young Prince to head the defenses. If Portugal is to consolidate their new lands and further press the Norwegians, Filipe must hold the line. If he fails, Portugal will lose all that Filipe’s father and uncles have fought so hard far.

[Scottish King]

I hear the death knell now for Norway. I hope Portugal's luck holds out.

[Diamond]

You MUST continue writing these! They're fantastic, your whole general style is alluring. You're a fantastic English professor ;D
I've been reading this for days. Great job!

[dezikeizer]

Great updates as always, and impressive progress. Hopefully Norway will be permanently broken soon. +rep.

[teccarphi]

Wow... Been reading for te past several weeks, s=and I'm amazed. Congrats!

Hope you can push Norway back to their frozen tundra of a home.

[TheBard]

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! This AAR is pretty close to winding down. I have maybe 1-2 chapters left. I've been dealing with some real world stuff over the last few days, so it may be a little while longer until I can finish this off.

I hope the end is worth the wait, and I appreciate everyone who has read and posted over the last 10 months (!).

[TheBard]

Chapter 56: Peace at Last

In 1395, Henrique de Araujo comes of age in al-Mahdiya. Though he is an unassuming 14-year-old, he and his descendants will control Africa for centuries.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Vicente Meira mirrors his cousin Filipe’s fast rise to power, being named Grandmaster of the Knights of Santiago at age 19, besting Filipe’s ascension to Grandmaster of the Knights Hospitaller by a full two years.


Filipe and his army arrive near the newly taken city of Rennes, where they encounter an army commanded by Prince Gellir, heir to the Norwegian throne. The two armies face off in what will be known as the Battle of Princes.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

As the armies slowly approach one another, a few Norwegian mounted knights charge forward recklessly.






The Portuguese foot knights make quick work of the headstrong Norwegians.

In the meantime, Filipe sends his mounted knights up both flanks, where they encounter enemy cavalry still forming up. The right flank Portuguese knights charge directly into the rear of their Norwegian counterparts.






As his knights are cut to pieces on both flanks, an increasingly desperate Prince Gellir charges into the side of a unit of urban militia.






The Norwegian Prince and his men make a devastating charge, decimating the Portuguese infantry. Soon, though, the Portuguese cavalry return from destroying their Norwegian counterparts, and set upon Prince Gellir. The Prince is surrounded by enemy knights, and swiftly killed.


With his death, the Norwegian forces soon crumble and are destroyed.

Filipe’s victory costs him nearly half his army, but it is well worth the sacrifice. Prince Gellir is killed, and Rennes is free of Norwegian forces.


That same year, Guilherme and Jorge Dias join forces to attack the Norwegian king, Haflidhi outside of Angers.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The forces are roughly even, though Haflidhi commands a force that is far larger than either of the Portuguese generals’.



As the battle begins, both Norwegian armies move quickly toward Guilherme, hoping to destroy his army before Jorge Dias’ army can arrive.







Guilherme’s bombards and grand bombards fire several volleys at the charging enemy, but Norwegian mounted knights soon crash through the Portuguese lines.






Guilherme’s men dig in, bracing for a full-on assault. His infantry are whittled down, and Guilherme decides to suddenly commit all of his cavalry to the fight. Guilherme and his own guards cut down Harald of Jyllinge, one of King Haflidhi’s cousins.


Just as Guilherme’s exhausted army is about to break, Jorge Dias’ army arrives, crashing into King Haflidhi’s flanks. Jorge’s men wash over the Norwegians in waves, and King Haflidhi is killed by Portuguese foot knights.

The Norwegian armies are nearly wiped out.

Though no one knew it at the time, it would be one of the the last major battles of the Porto-Norse War. Guilherme and Prince Filipe each head east, clearing out smaller Norwegian armies, and Sancho destroys a Norwegian army east of Lyon using only his bombards. But Norwegian resistance in western Francia is effectively ended with the deaths of Prince Gellir and King Haflidhi.


Guilherme is severely wounded fighting a small Norwegian army soon afterwards, and the 42-year-old general is forced to retire from the battlefield. He heads to Rennes, handing over control of his army to Jorge Dias.


Having suffered dozens of defeats over the past few decades, and the recent deaths of their King and Prince, the Kingdom of Norway sues for peace in 1396.

King Nicolau ponders the offer for nearly a week. He despises the hated Norwegians, but he is content with the new borders and has no real interest in pushing farther into Norwegian territory. In the end, he accepts, and the Porto-Norse War ends. After almost a hundred years of fierce and devastating war, the two Christian kingdoms sign an uneasy peace treaty.


Rute Antao marries Duarte dos Anjos in 1396, and Prince Filipe marries the English princess Constance the Affectionate in 1397.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Filipe’s marriage to Constance further cements an alliance that is already more than 200 years old, stretching back into the mid-1100s. Already the oldest and strongest alliance in the world, England and Portugal will remain friends for centuries more.



Things remain calm in Portuguese lands, as the Norwegians dig in and build up their own defenses. In the meantime, the English begin sending exploration fleets down the west coast of Africa. Stymied by the Norwegians on the continental mainland, the English are desperate for new trade routes and new opportunities for resources. The Portuguese are too preoccupied with the war against Norway to be interested in any ocean exploration, and since they control the mouth of the Mediterranean, no other European kingdoms can explore Africa’s coast, either. For years, the English will have no competitors as they scour all of Africa’s western, and eventually eastern, coasts.


Daniel and Lucia Dinis have a son in 1400, named Martinho, and Queen Lyudmila and King Nicolau’s daughter Maria comes of age.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Illegitimate, headstrong, and unattractive, the King has doubts as to whether his daughter will ever marry. It seems certain that she will end her life in a convent.


Francisca Meira, the late Geraldo’s daughter, on the other hand, marries Manuel de Portugal, a very distant relative of the former de Portugal kings.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Manuel is a decent man, and an excellent governor. It is a smart match for Francisca, and she will eventually find herself thrust to the upper echelons of power in Africa.


Prince Filipe and Princess Constance have a son named Bernardo in 1402, thereby ensuring the continued succession through the Brito line for at least 5 generations. The stability of the successions and the end to war with Norway is welcome to Portugal’s citizens.

Maria the Gorgon marries her distant cousin, Vicente Meira in 1402, as well. Both illegitimate, the match works well. Vicente eventually becomes a trusted advisor to Filipe, and he and Maria have several children who marry into the upper echelons of foreign royal families.


In the meantime, everyone settles in at the Rennes-Angers-Clermont-Lyon-Marseille line. With large armies and castles defending the newly conquered regions, the Kingdom of Portugal has created a nearly impregnable front.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Scottish King]

Glad to see another update! Good to see that the war has ended with Portugal still intact. This is a great AAR and I still enjoy reading it!!! + rep

[Caracaos]

Such a magnificent AAR. The constant war against the Norwegians never seemed like it would end, but now... well, a watchful peace. If it isn't too much trouble, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on a few points:

'The greedy' epithet, is that SS specific or a vanilla trait?
Is this the first time the norwegians offered a peace treaty, or had they been spamming diplo attempts for a while?
And, this is what I find most interesting, you seem to have a much better use of gunpowder units than the AI. Does Norway lack adequate gunpowder units, or does SS gimp the gunpowder ai?

And, of course, much love for writing such an awesome AAR! +rep

[teccarphi]

Again, wonderful chapter! +rep

[TheBard]

Chapter 57: Epilogue


By the early 1400s, Europe and western Asia was dominated by five main kingdoms: Portugal, Norway, the Fatimids, Novgorod, and the Timurids.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Portugal and Norway would have small skirmishes and pseudo-wars for centuries more, but neither could gain any real momentum. The English, having taken Bruges in the late 1300s, fought several massive wars against the Norwegians throughout the fifteenth and sixteen centuries. By 1600, the English had taken a large chunk of Norway’s western regions, including Caen, Paris, Rheims, Metz, and Dijon.

With further expansion eastward blocked by Norway, England spent hundreds of millions of pounds attempting to establish trade routes to India. Born in Norwegian territory and rebuffed by the late Portuguese King Filipe’s great-grandson, King Marcio II, the Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus turned to England for support. In 1492, Columbus “discovered” North America and established several colonies for the English. The English would create a huge empire in South America, where they would enslave millions of Native Americans, forcing them to work the silver and gold mines. By 1650, England was the richest nation in the world.

Portugal and England have remained allies to the present, constituting the world’s longest-lasting current alliance. The two kingdoms signed several treaties divvying up North and South America, with the North being given to Portugal.

Portugal’s African colonies were quasi-independent by the mid-1400s, with true independence established with the Treaty of Gibraltar in 1511, when the region officially became “Marrakecio.” A blend of Portuguese, Aragonese, Muslim, and African cultures, it remains one of the most diverse regions in all the Mediterranean.

Norway’s empire splintered in the 1500s, with the regions of central Europe becoming no fewer than 7 independent nations, and the eastern (formerly Roman) areas rebelling and reconstituting themselves as “The Kingdom of Constantinople.” Today, only the northern regions of Scandinavia are still incorporated as “Norway.”

Novgorod, the northern Fatimid territories, and some of the Timurid territories merged over 500 years to become today’s Russia. Predominantly Muslim due to its Timurid and Fatimid roots, Russia is one of the world’s largest and most powerful countries.

The rest of the Fatimid Caliphate fell apart in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with dozens of new nations sprouting in the Middle East and Africa. With almost unfettered access to eastern Africa, the Fatimids’ Muslim successor nations fought devastating wars to prohibit the English from gaining control of the trade routes to China and India. After England turned its attention to the Americas, the Muslim nations ravaged all of central and eastern Africa, setting up dozens of colonies and extracting untold fortunes in natural resources.

In the 1960s, Pope Innocent XXI gave over Frankfurt to create New Judea. Restitution for thousands of years of persecution, New Judea became an enclave and safe haven for Jews. Though a poor substitute for their former homelands in the Middle East, New Judea prospered and is now one of the most economically successful nations in Europe. The failed Crusades of the twelfth century closed off any chance of Jerusalem remaining in either Christian or Jewish hands. For centuries, the Muslim successors to the Fatimids fought bloody wars with one another for control of Jerusalem, Mecca, and Medina.

The only nation in all of Europe, Africa, and west Asia to remain truly independent was Ireland. Having built up its defenses throughout the Middle Ages, Ireland was able to block both Portuguese and English attempts at colonization in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Ever since, they have remained officially neutral.

[TheBard]

[QUOTE=Caracaos;9979702]Such a magnificent AAR. The constant war against the Norwegians never seemed like it would end, but now... well, a watchful peace. If it isn't too much trouble, I was wondering if I could get your thoughts on a few points:

'The greedy' epithet, is that SS specific or a vanilla trait?

I'm not actually sure. I didn't play Vanilla very much before going to SS, so I can't say for sure. I do know that it occurs when the King gets "Greedy Ruler" as a trait and it hurts your entire kingdom because it hurts all your income and it makes your generals have negative traits for serving under a greedy ruler.

Is this the first time the norwegians offered a peace treaty, or had they been spamming diplo attempts for a while?

They offered a couple in the 1390s, but I wasn't ready yet. I had accepted a ceasefire with them once about 40 years back, but that was short-lived and we were soon back at war again. They didn't start offering until I took Anjers and Rennes.

And, this is what I find most interesting, you seem to have a much better use of gunpowder units than the AI. Does Norway lack adequate gunpowder units, or does SS gimp the gunpowder ai?

Norway has done a very good job getting handgunners, as they usually have just as many as I do. They haven't done as well getting bombards and grand bombards. Whether that is because they lack the money or the AI doesn't know how to make them (or doesn't know to create the right buildings), I'm not sure. It's possible they have bombards in other parts of their kindgom, but I don't think I've seen a single one in my wars against them.

And, of course, much love for writing such an awesome AAR! +rep

Thanks so much for the kind comments!

[TheBard]

Well, that's all for this AAR! I hope everyone enjoyed it. In some ways, I'm sorry to see it end; writing the AAR added so much to my playing as I felt like I really knew all the characters. I've been playing several different factions on 6.4, and it just isn't the same (though 6.4 is a big upgrade over 6.3, in my opinion).

On the other hand, it takes so much time and effort to make an AAR that I'm definitely glad it is over, especially now that I was having little trouble with Norway. That tipping point where you start to steamroll your neighbors is always my least favorite part of any campaign, and I rarely play past it.

I hope 300 years was enough for everyone, and I appreciate everyone who read or commented over the past 10 months (!).

I may be working on a new AAR in the future, so stay tuned. If I do, it will be with a faction very different from Portugal, so no western European nations. I may be tempted to play as the Moors or Fatimids, or perhaps Lithuania. I've been playing with the Crusader States for a while, and that has been interesting, but no pictures or notes for an AAR, so I'd have to start over.

I'd love to hear suggestions for a new one, though I don't know when or if I would be able to start.

[teccarphi]

My god.

Review: etc.

In short, I loved it. I really enjoyed the epilogue of what 'modern' Europe looks like.

Congrats on a great AAR. +rep as soon as I am allowed (must spread it around first).

My suggestion is either Fatamids, Turks, or Kazwhermen (or whatever) Empire. Maybe Novogrod? Still, great AAR, wonderful read, look forward to your next AAR, whatever it may be.