EU4: Castile vs. Spain Ideas (Comparison)
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Castile and Spain’s differences can be summed up in two words — colonialism and imperialism.
Castile has the advantage in colonialism, which matters in the early game. Whereas Spain is more competent at imperialism with its stronger military ideas.
A normal Castile-Spain game generally goes like this:
- Castile settles and grows colonies in key areas across the world.
- Spain conquers the natives in both the Old World and the New.
Spain vs. Castile: Quick Comparison
| Castile | Idea Level | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| +15% Morale of armies +25% Marines force limit |
Tradition | +15% Morale of armies +1 Artillery fire |
| -1% Yearly army tradition decay | 1st | +2 Yearly papal influence |
| +1 Missionary +2% Missionary strength |
2nd | Can fabricate claims on overseas provinces +1 Colonist |
| +10% Production efficiency | 3rd | +25% Naval force limit modifier |
| Can fabricate claims on overseas provinces +1 Colonist |
4th | +10% Heavy ship combat ability +1 Naval leader maneuver |
| +1 Diplomatic reputation +33% Chance of new heir |
5th | +15% Global tariffs -33% Envoy travel time |
| +10% Institution spread | 6th | +1 Possible diplomatic policy |
| -0.05 Monthly autonomy change | 7th | +1 Yearly prestige |
| +25 Global settler increase | Ambition | +5% Discipline |
Notable Details and Application
| Field | Castile | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| Expansion | You get an extra colonist and your colonies grow faster. You can recruit marines, which don’t take attrition damage from sea travel. Your extra missionary and missionary strength speeds up the conversion of heathens and heretics. This results in better stability in your frontiers. |
The -33% envoy travel time lets your colonists and diplomats reach their destinations faster. This matters in the late game, when your empire has grown vast and unwieldy. Better army quality means you’re geared for expansion by war rather than by peace. |
| Military | They start with marines and +15% army morale. However, their army tradition decay modifier isn’t really that useful. |
You lose the ability to recruit marines in exchange for a bigger and better navy. Note: You’ll keep the marines that you’ve already recruited. Your +5% discipline means your armies can deal more damage while receiving less. This adds to your increased artillery fire damage and your existing +15% army morale. |
| Economy | Your production efficiency boosts the income of provinces that you directly control. This is useful when exploiting India and Asia. -0.05 monthly autonomy maximizes your income from newly annexed provinces. |
Higher tariffs increase your income from your colonial subjects in the Americas and Australia. |
