Iberian Primer

[Kaiser Kirk]

I am partially through the Iberian update 1923.5-1928.5
I have other tasks to do.
I have put the placeholders down in the design thread this time.

Iberia has some decent territories, and a chain of bases around the world.

Focusing on the history :

The original player of Iberia specified that the Muslim occupation was much shorter- and therefore there had been no 'Reconquista', no Inquisition, and that Spain + Portugal had been a unified state with a tolerance for multiple religions for centuries. As I recall, the desire was for Alfonso of Asturias to have kicked the Muslims out much much earlier.

History of Iberia
The three key concepts
1) Long history of peace and friendship with the Roman Empire
2) Never conquered the new world in the 1500s. Like the rest of the Player Nations, popular concepts in economics and improvements in weapons and medicine allowed expansion starting 1910.
3) The Muslim conquest was short and repelled in ~70 years.  A slow conquest of North Africa followed. No inquisition happened, and the 3 religions mix well.

Historically, the Umayyad Muslims invaded from North Africa in 710.
By 742 they had most of Spain. Asturias in NW Spain was one place not conquered.
Then there was a Berber revolt in Africa. Then in 755 the Abbasids contested the territory.
So it wasn't until 782 that the Umayyads consolidated control.

Much of the wealth and funding for all this came from the East- where the rich conquered lands of Byzantine and especially Persia were.

For the Muslim expansion to occur, that meant Parthia needed to fall...mostly...to finance it.

In Navalism, Parthia had defeated the Sassanian rebels in 224CE, and was somewhat stronger due to reorganization as a result. Still the 26 year war with Byzantine had exhausted both sides, and Parthia fell into a civil war 628-632. The Muslim conquest of Parthia (Persia) started in 633 as in the real world, and Parthia was reduced by 651 to fragments in Gilan, Transoxus and parts of Afghanistan. Tang Dynasty aid was sought and Parthian-Tang forces defeated the Muslims near Samarkand. The complete Parthian reconquest took nearly seventy years and both cemented the national identity and welded it to the royal family.

But all that meant when the Muslims invaded Iberia in 710, the funds and troops from the East were already fading away. So by 742-45 when the Berber revolt hits North Africa, Alfonso I can attack and drive the Umayadds ahead of him.   I don't recall if it was decided if Alfonso completely reconquered or just partially did. He died in 757.   If he didn't then when the Abbasid fraction causes further problems, the result is a complete reconquest of Iberia by 782 under Silo.   But as I recall it was supposed to be Alfonso.


The Americas
Here the Roman Trading colony on Cape Verde existed ~250-450CE, it  first traded with West Africa, and slowly  invented better sea-going vessels. Then stumbled over to Brazil, established secret trading routes and introduced knowledge of advanced metallurgy, and the various European plagues. As the Empire fell apart, the colony was forgotten and abandoned.  The natives have 1000 years to recover from the devastating effects of the diseases introduced, and capitalize on the knowledge learned from the limited Roman trade.

Later, the Kings of Mali rediscovered the Roman knowledge of both brazil and ocean going ships, and headed West in 1311, making contact with the Brazilian coast, working NW and contacting the Aztec and Maya. We're using this myth for this : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_voyage_of_the_predecessor_of_Mansa_Musa

This introduces many things, including updates to the various diseases and gunpowder.
But it means by 1492 when Columbus wanders over to find out who the Mali are trading with...the locals do not suddenly die in droves due to disease, and have firearms-albeit limited – almost as good as the Europeans. Much more India, than the historic Americas.

[Kaiser Kirk]

I should probably note that Iberia has a fairly easy strategic situation.

The Malta treaty in the Med gives a quiet backyard and peace with Rome and Byzantine.
While the public text does not make it a mutual defense treaty, some outsiders suspect that.
Iberian possessions are spread out across the globe, with the African possessions providing critical harbors to the rest.

The United Berber Non-Player-Character is primarily a land power, with a fairly small and generally old navy.

On the other hand, the Inca have made very clear they regard South America as theirs, to be claimed eventually.
They too have a small navy but decent land force.

For sea engagements, ship range, or 'fleet support' tonnage helps determine time on station.
Amphibious tech is crucial to how many troops you can put ashore and resupply, and how that occurs.
The Logistics tech gets used in overland combat.
Critically, when you need your own territories, your Land or Air Unit will need a deployment point with it to support.