Spanish (Crowns of Castille and Aragon)

by **peugeot407** Thu 24 Apr 2014 - 6:07

The Conquest Civilisation

Historical Information
The Spanish civilisation in Knights and Barbarians represents the various culturally European kingdoms of what is now Spain, which evolved from Charlemagne's Marca Hispanica, and through conquest and diplomatic unions eventually came to rule almost the entirety of Iberia. Although the four dominant kingdoms of Leon, Castille, Navarre and Aragon regularly fought each other, they were united in their desire to drive the Moors from the Iberian peninsula and across the Strait of Gibraltar. Alliances were signed between these kingdoms with clockwork regularity, but true unions also occured; Castille and Leon entered a personal union in the 11th century, and would become united as a single realm two centuries later. Nearing the end of the Middle Ages, Aragon would be united in personal union with Castille and Leon as well, under the Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella. Well into the Renaissance, Emperor Charles V would take Spain's glory even further, as he succeeded in more than one way in making Spain the most powerful country in Europe, and quite possibly the world, at the time.

The Spanish AI personality in K&B, King Alfonso the Brave, was arguably one of the finest monarchs to ever grace the Castillian and Leonese crowns. Having inherited both kingdoms from his father Ferdinand the Great, he proceeded to conquer vast swathes of land south of his original borders, and eventually he took the city of Toledo, the Spanish Home City in K&B, which had been the capital of the old Visigothic Kingdom of Spain. With this conquest, Alfonso managed to turn the initially sceptic Spanish people fully in favour of the "Reconquista", an idea that would continue to dominate Spanish history for centuries after Alfonso's death. This Reconquista was to continue until 1492, a true golden year for Spain; the last Moorish stronghold in Iberia was conquered, thus completing the Reconquista's primary objective, and a Genoese explorer in Spanish service, Christopher Columbus, would be the first European to set foot in the Caribbean, seemlessly providing Spaniards with new frontiers onto which to unleash their now ingrained desire for conquest.

After the Middle Ages, Spain would continue to be a veritable great power in Europe; its eventual Habsburg rulers would unite Spain first with Burgundy, then with the Holy Roman Empire and eventually Portugal. Spain also colonised vast lands in the Americas and conquered the Phillipines and several port cities in Africa, thus birthing the first truly worldwide empire in the history of mankind. Eventually, Spain's extensive holdings would not stand the test of time; France reconquered Burgundy, the union with Portugal was only short-lived, and the Habsburg lines of Spain and Austria soon diverged. Spain also lost half of its holdings in the Low Countries during the Eighty Years' War, and its possessions in Southern Italy would eventually become the independent Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. A particularly critical blow was dealt when, two centuries later, Napoleon invaded Spain and installed a puppet ruler, causing Spain to lose grip of its colonies, particularly those in the Americas; all except Cuba would declare their independence. Once-mighty Spain had to give way to the ambitions of France and Britain, and would come to lose even its last colonies during the latter half of the 19th century. Today's Spain occupies roughly the same borders as it did at the end of the Middle Ages, and while its position as a world power is long gone, its legacy as a proud European empire lives on; the Castillian language is now spoken by nearly half a billion people worldwide, and partly thanks to the work of Spanish missionaries, hundreds of millions of modern non-Europeans identify themselves as Catholics...

Gameplay Information
Civilisation set
The Spanish are part of the Crusading civset, which means they have the Chapter House and can gather the resource of Papal Favour, as well as having the Officer age-up system, and access to the Headquarters and its Pilgrimage technologies, called "Reconquest" for the Spanish. These Reconquest techs benefit a different part of the civilisation for all three civs in the Crusading civset, for the Spanish this is their buildings. The Headquarters auto-produces Pikemen, Almughavars or Jinetes.

Religions
The Spanish have a choice of the following three religions:

Catholicism (main religion): + Priests have more hitpoints, - Priests move more slowly.
Waldensian Faith (reformed religion): + villager units have more hitpoints, villager units move more quickly, - Priests have less hitpoints, Priests move more slowly.
Judaism (outside religion): + villagers gather coin slightly faster, - Priests have fewer hitpoints, Priests move more slowly.

Knightly Orders
The Spanish can choose any of these four Knightly Orders in the Chapter House:

Hospitallier Order: Focus on healing, gives the Chapter House a healing aura.
Order of Santiago: Focus on conquest, gives the player the ability to call a ceasefire.
Order of Montesa: Focus on fortification, gives the Chapter House a significant increase in hitpoints.
Order of Calatrava: Focus on villagers, gives the Chapter House an aura that benefits nearby resource gathering.

Bonuses
The bonuses of the Spanish serve to make them a defensive civilisation that can break out of its shell during the late game, when it is at its strongest. Earlier in the game, Spanish expansion is slow but sustainable, thanks to their decent economy and good defenses. Upon the invention of gunpowder, the Spanish become truly powerful, and start to make life genuinely difficult for their opponents.

The Spanish have the Fortin instead of the Tower, which is stronger and boasts a more powerful attack
This bonus provides the Spanish with their primary means of defence, a fortification that sits between an ordinary Tower and a Castle in terms of defensive power. Fortines are significantly harder to take down than Towers, and so buy the Spanish considerably more time when they are attacked. As the Fortin replaces the Tower, the Spanish also still have access to the Castle, which can be used to make already impressive Spanish defences even sturdier.
The Spanish train their Peasants from Houses
This bonus gives the Spanish a lot of potential economic freedom, as they can train Peasants wherever they please, and they can do so at multiple buildings simultaneously. While it takes a House longer to train an individual Peasant than it would another civilisation's Town Center, the Spanish can, if they manage to afford it, train as many Peasants at the same time as they have Houses on the map.
The Spanish have access to more gunpowder units than any other civilisation
This bonus gives the Spanish the late-game power that is crucial to their gameplay. Ordinary civilisations can research the Black Powder technology in Age V and get access to Hand Gunners, Bombards and Gun Carracks through it, but the Spanish also have a follow-up tech called Gun Technology, which gives them access to three more gunpowder units, the Arcabucero, Conquistador and Cannon.

Unit Roster
Infantry
- Man-at-Arms (Barracks, II)
- Pikeman (Barracks, II), unique to the Spanish. Much more powerful against cavalry than the Spearman it replaces, but less good versus infantry
- Halberdier (Barracks, III)
- Archer (Archery Range, II)
- Crossbowman (Archery Range, III)
- Almughavar (Archery Range, II), unique to the Spanish. Faster and stealthier than the Skirmisher it replaces, ideal for hit-and-run tactics
- Hand Gunner (Barracks, V), becomes available after researching Black Powder
- Arcabucero (Barracks, V), unique to the Spanish. Becomes available after researching Gun Technology
- Canon of the Holy Sepulchre (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Hospitallier Order
- Alférez (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Order of Montesa
- Converso (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Order of Montesa

Cavalry
- Caballero Villano (Stables, II), unique to the Spanish. More powerful than the Light Cavalry it replaces, a more all-round unit
- Knight (Stables, III)
- Jinete (Stables, III), unique to the Spanish. Faster than the Cavalry Archer it replaces, but with fewer hitpoints
- Conquistador (Stables, V), unique to the Spanish. Becomes available after researching Gun Technology
- Knight of Santiago (Chapter House, III), becomes available by picking the Order of Santiago
- War Cleric (Chapter House, III), becomes available by picking the Order of Calatrava

Artillery and Siege Units
- Sapper (Siege Workshop, II)
- Ballista (Siege Workshop, III)
- Catapult (Siege Workshop, III)
- Ram (Siege Camp, II)
- Mantlet (Siege Camp, II)
- Siege Tower (Siege Camp, III)
- Bombard (Siege Workshop, V), becomes available after researching Black Powder
- Cannon (Siege Workshop, V), unique to the Spanish. Becomes available after researching Gun Technology

Other Land Units
- Militia (Town Center, I)
- Lord (I)
- Peasant (Town Center, I)
- Farmer (Manor, I)
- Priest (Church, II)
- Bishop (Church, III), first has to be unlocked through the HC
- Dog (Manor, I)
- Hospitallier Surgeon (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Hospitallier Order
- Gastador (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Order of Santiago
- Cistercian Monk (Chapter House, II), becomes available by picking the Order of Calatrava

Ships
- Fishing Boat (Docks, I)
- Cog (Docks, II)
- Galley (Docks, III)
- Carrack (Docks, IV), becomes replaced by the Gun Carrack after researching Black Powder

by ACN45trooper Thu 24 Apr 2014 - 8:09

Wow! It looks great to play, and such an amazing introduction Robert did

by **peugeot407** Thu 24 Apr 2014 - 9:58

Thanks you on both accounts...

peugeot407

by **Hoop Thrower** Thu 24 Apr 2014 - 11:04

I'm glad to finally see the Spanish presentation, it's certainly goes on for longer than I expected, covering most of their history, I saw some details here and there, but I'd say it's pretty good.
That Gun Technology caught me by surprise, I wasn't expecting it, it makes me wonder as to what was the thought that gave to adding yet another layer to be able to use the Spanish UUs, well, I guess it's mostly due to how powerful they are, the Spanish are the civ with the most UUs, ain't they?
I still find the Caballero Villano name weird