Spain (Napoleon: Total War)

Spain is a major faction in Napoleon: Total War. It appears in the Europe Campaign and The Peninsular Campaign, and is playable in the latter.

Europe Campaign

General Information

Spain begins the Europe campaign in a very strong position. It controls four regions: Navarra, Catalonia, the Balearic Isles, and Spain itself. It borders France to the north, Portugal to the west, and British-held Gibraltar to the south. As it is allied with France and at peace with Portugal, Spain's only immediate concern is Gibraltar, which is very lightly guarded. Spain's starting armies are quite large, and it has one of the best starting fleets in the game, as well as one of the most powerful naval rosters. It also begins the game controlling more trade nodes than any other faction, and its potential for trade is excellent given how a majority of trade nodes are right next to its borders. Its proximity to so many trade nodes and its strong navy can make it difficult for its enemies to try to expand trade there. Spain rarely expands its trade potential, however. It is also hampered by its unremarkable army roster, which is about on par with that of most minor factions.

Spain's initial regions are wealthy, with vineyard resources and ports. The region of Spain itself has three port slots, a vineyard resource, a gold resource, and a commercial center, giving it the potential to be the richest region in the game.

While Spain is allied to France, it has severe historical grievances, making it an unreliable ally in the short term (a healthy trading relationship, honoring alliances, and gifts can remedy this). However, it holds no love for France's enemies either, and is unlikely to betray France for them. 

Great Britain requires Spain's home region as part of its victory conditions. When playing as France in single player, if Portugal and France declare hostilities, a mission is granted to France to annex Spain with a small reward in funds upon completion. While fighting Spain may prove profitable--it is a relatively weak faction militarily and it controls several trade nodes--it is one of France's largest allies, and invading it while France already has a long list of enemies to fight may prove difficult politically.

Diplomacy

Initial Diplomacy Map

An unpopular faction, Spain is friendly to only Bavaria, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and the Kingdom of Italy, while being neutral to hostile with the rest of the factions. Spain's A.I functions differently depending on what campaign is played. In France's Europe campaign, Spain is generally very passive on land, rarely to never sending its troops abroad. Its navy is more active, fighting hostile ships that are near it. It tends to build large armies, but as it rarely develops its lands or expands, it often plunges into bankruptcy if left to its own devices.

In the Campaigns of the Coalition, however, Spain is much more active, and sends troops through France to fight its (and France's) enemies. While Spanish troops are unremarkable in terms of quality, they make up for this in numbers and can be a deadly addition to France's already numerous and superior troops.

Below is a list of grievances/friendships other factions have with Spain initially. This list is exhaustive; factions that are not listed do not have friendships or grievances (they are neutral).

France	Ottoman Empire	Prussia	Wurttemberg	Bavaria	Hessen
-80	-60	+50	-80	-35	-80
Kingdom of Italy	Kingdom of Sardinia	Portugal	Sweden	Switzerland
-35	+90	-65	+170	-80

Below is a list of grievances/friendships other factions have with Spain if it or they emerge. This list is exhaustive; factions that are not listed do not have friendships or grievances (they are neutral).

Austria	France	Great Britain	Ottoman Empire	Russia	Wurttemberg	Batavian Republic
-120	-20	-65	-45	-100	-35	+35
Belgium	Britanny	Catalonia	Hessen	Hungary	Ireland	Kingdom of Naples
-35	-35	-35	-80	-35	-35	-120
Kingdom of Sicily	Papal Staes	Portugal	Switzerland	Westphalia
-120	-35	-35	-80	-35

The Peninsular Campaign

Description

Fernando I

Spain, once the conqueror of other nations, is now an unstable and fractured country. There is no valid central government, its king is a hated foreigner foisted on them by an invasion, and their oldest enemies are set to become their greatest allies.

Until recently Spain was allied with Bonaparte’s France and dreamt of sharing in the spoils of France’s new glorious empire. Napoleon, however, betrayed Spain’s trust, overthrowing the Spanish government and putting his own brother, Joseph, on the throne. Instead of the minor trouble Napoleon expected, he was faced with a revolt of such scale and ferocity that his army of occupation could not stop it. For the first time, France’s seemingly invincible armies were shaken, not by an enemy in the field, but by the Spanish people.

Up to now, with no universally recognised central government, Spain has been ruled by small juntas, and internal quarrels and a lack of organisation mean that the Spanish Army has had little leadership. The Spanish guerrilla bands, groups of freedom fighters using the tactics of brigands, may be Spain’s greatest assets, but their military strength is negligible, and more suited to raiding rather than open warfare. The correct use of these forces and a strategy that plays to any and all Spanish strengths may be the key to pushing back, and, ultimately, beating the French. Britain could be a valuable ally against the common enemy, but the British must always be watched carefully. Spain has not been fortunate in her allies, and the British are among the oldest of Spain’s enemies.

Spain, then, must look to build up her forces, while using her guerrilla bands to keep the French busy. At the same time, building an alliance with Britain, no matter how painful, is a necessary evil.

General Information

Spain begins the Peninsular Campaign with just two regions in the south of the peninsula. However, it has a few armies deep inside enemy territory. While its initial situation isn't great, it has great opportunities for expansion as its only enemy, France, is spread extremely thin militarily. Spain also gains funds from the British Crown from time to time. It is further aided militarily by its British and Portuguese allies. 

Spain's armies deep in French territory can help the cause by looting regions and killing small French forces as the French try to rally their forces. In the meantime, any successful rebellion caused by Spanish provocateurs, priests and guerrillos causes the rebel province to automatically join the Spanish cause. With these advantages Spain can bog down French efforts, allowing its armies to reclaim the peninsula.

Spain has the weakest military of the playable factions, with France and Great Britain having superior units in practically every category. It has some advantages, however: a vast majority of regions that have a successful rebellion automatically become Spanish regions, and the A.I of Great Britain and Portugal occasionally liberate regions they conquer from the French and give them to Spain. 

In singleplayer, Spain is the only faction that can build church schools: while these buildings conduct research more slowly than universities, they steadily convert the population of a region to anti-French sentiment. Unlike Great Britain or Portugal, Spain cannot liberate regions; the only way it can gain additional guerrilla units is training them. 

Military

In custom battles, Spain fields a cheaper, statistically inferior army in every category. Its guards are below average and only two regiments may be trained instead of the normal four. Due to the cheaper nature of its units, players controlling Spain generally has more flexibility in how to use their funds, allowing them to invest in some experience to level out the playing field in terms of troop quality. Spain also has cheap but inferior line infantry, light infantry, a mix of cavalry. Its heavy cavalry, Coraceros Espanoles, are limited to only two regiments.

With The Peninsular Campaign DLC, Spain gains access to a variety of guerrilla units: of the factions that make a presence in The Peninsular Campaign, Spain is the only faction that can bring units from the DLC into custom battles. These units have the ability to use guerrilla warfare, meaning that they can deploy nearly anywhere on a battlefield. This allows Spain to set up potentially devastating ambushes from unexpected locations: playing against a Spanish player means that any patch of trees or shrub could harbor dangerous guerrillas. This makes Spain an unpredictable opponent to play against. However, guerrilla units are more expensive to train than their conventional counterparts, but have far worse statistics across the board.

Spain has one of the most diverse navy rosters in Napoleon: Total War, boasting a variety of ships that rivals France and Great Britain. In addition, Spain can field the Santissima Trinidad, the costliest and most powerful ship in the game.