How To Form the Two Sicilies as Naples in EU4
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To form the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, you must have Neapolitan or Sicilian as your primary culture. Only Naples meets this prerequisite at the 1444 start date. They’re also historically and mechanically destined to unite the Two Sicilies.
This is because in 1444, Naples already has most of the requirements for forming the Two Sicilies, which are:
- Admin Tech 10
- Not a subject nation (other than as a tributary)
- Own at least 10 Neapolitan or Sicilian provinces in the Italy region, including:
- Napoli
- Palermo
Note: End-game nations can never form the Two Sicilies, even if they later gain Neapolitan/Sicilian as a primary culture.
Gaining Independence and Palermo
As Naples, you begin the game as a subject of Aragon in a Personal Union (PU).
You’ll need to get out of it, since you need to be independent to form the Two Sicilies.
Aragon also owns the island of Sicily, which is also a requirement. To deal with these, you have two easy options:
- Wait for the “Neapolitan Succession” event
- Fight an independence war against Aragon
Aragon will get the event within 2 months after their ruler dies. 95% of the time, that results in them letting you go in peace.
You simply have to wait for their 48-year-old king to bid adieu.
This may take a few months or over 5 years, depending on your luck.
However, this option isn’t recommended. It means that getting Sicily will take much longer.
It’s better to declare an independence war on Aragon.
You can annex Sicily from them when you win. It’s also quite easy to pull off, since there are many who’d support your independence.
The catch is that Naples and Aragon have a truce until April 1447. Until then, declaring independence or asking for support are both disabled.
If the “Neapolitan Succession” triggers early, you can simply restart your playthrough. It happens near the start date, so it’s not a big deal. In fact, you won’t lose any progress at all since being a subject limits your gameplay in the first place.
Basic Preparations
While waiting for the truce to end, you should prepare for your war against Aragon. These are the basic things you do before unpausing – some of which includes:
- Identifying which nations have set Aragon as their rival
- Recruiting infantry units or a mercenary company to hit your land force limit
- Building galleys until you hit your naval force limit
- Granting these estate privileges:
| Estate | Privilege | Effects and Modifiers |
|---|---|---|
| Clergy | Religious Diplomats | +25 Opinion with all Catholic nations |
| Clergy | Religious State | +1 Monthly administrative power |
| Clergy | Monopoly on Wine | +1 Mercantilism 65.22 Ducats No production income from Wine |
| Nobility | Primacy of the Nobility | +1 Monthly military power |
| Nobility | Monopoly on Livestock | +1 Mercantilism 19.43 Ducats No production income from Livestock |
| Burghers | Land of Commerce | +1 Monthly diplomatic power |
| Burghers | Patronage of the Arts | +20 Prestige +0.5 Yearly prestige -5% Monthly tax income |
| Burghers | Monopoly on Paper | +1 Mercantilism 14.33 Ducats No production income from Paper |
Tip: After granting these privileges, be sure to seize land to regain 5% crownland.
Seeking Support
Your primary concern will be to find supporters for your independence.
They’ll join your fight as your allies when you declare war on Aragon. Aragon’s enemies are usually willing to support your independence. Each is also strong enough to fight Aragon on equal terms.
But who these nations are will vary in every playthrough.
To check who they are, right-click on Aragon to open their Diplomacy view. You’ll find their coat-of-arms displayed on where it says “Enemies”. Hover over those enemies to view their names if you’re unfamiliar with their emblems.
As soon as it’s April 1447, open the Diplomacy view for any of these nations.
Under the Alliance actions, press the “Ask to Support Independence” button. That will get them onboard for your war.
Tip: Try to get Castile if they’re available, as their armada can keep the Aragonese navy busy. In theory, England’s better at that. But their AI is unreliable in ferrying troops from Britain to mainland Europe.
You can also ask for extra support from Aragon’s other enemies as well. More allies is always welcome, and they can help you win faster. This is especially true if Aragon’s got strong allies of their own.
Just know that your supporters expect to gain land from the war, especially if you’re annexing Sicily.
Since you’ll be the war leader, you get to decide the peace terms.
If you don’t award provinces to your supporters, they’ll lose trust in you. This loss is proportional to their war participation.
Consider that if you’re planning to rely on them in the future. That’s because you’ll continue to be allies when you’ve gained independence.
Allies with low trust aren’t as likely to join your wars. They may even break off your alliance.
If that matters to you, then give them some of Aragon’s provinces to appease them. If you don’t need their alliance later on, then you can take as much of Aragon’s lands for yourself.
War Against Aragon
I. Invading Sicily
When you’re satisfied with your supporting cast, go ahead and declare war on Aragon. Set Messina as your war goal.
Your allies can do most of the heavy fighting.
They’ll take care of besieging the Aragonese mainland.
Meanwhile, your own army should focus on occupying all of Sicily.
Your biggest obstacle in this is the Aragonese navy.
Their ships can sometimes block the crossing between Messina and Calabria. It’s a direct path that connects your provinces to Sicily. It’s also the safest way to the island, as a naval landing would risk interception from Aragon.
In most cases, a couple of enemy trade ships are the cause of the blockage.
You can order your fleet to destroy those. But if it’s the main Aragon armada, you’ll have to wait until they go away.
They usually won’t stay long if there are dangers lurking nearby, such as the Castilians.
So keep watching the strait. When you see the Aragonese heading out, move your army across and into Messina. There is a fort in that province, which means occupying it will take some time.
As soon as it falls, spread your soldiers out to gain control of the island.
II. Isolating Aragon
During your invasion of Sicily, keep checking on the state of the war in other places. If you see an Aragonese ally unable to continue fighting, peace them out.
A white peace is fine, as long as it removes them from the war.
III. Suing for Peace
Eventually, you’ll amass enough war score to demand for your independence.
But it’s better to wait until you can squeeze every peace offer value from the peace deal. You can annex Sicily, Sardinia, and two Balearic Islands with a 100 peace offer value.
Looking to the Future
With Sicily in your hands, you only have to wait for Admin Tech 10 to form the Two Sicilies.
You’ll get it around 1531, which is still almost a century away.
In the meantime, you can focus on growing your nation.
The Neapolitan missions give you expansion opportunities throughout the Mediterranean. You’ll also get four permanent modifiers from them. These missions are shared by Naples and the Two Sicilies. So your progress won’t be affected once you switch to the latter.
After you’ve united the Two Sicilies, the next step that you could do is to form Italy.
Historically, the Two Sicilies was a predecessor of a unified Italian nation. But it was annexed by Sardinia-Piedmont, who went on to rule as the Kingdom of Italy.
In your hands, perhaps the Two Sicilies can get that glory instead.
