Why Castile is the Perfect Beginner Nation

Not sure where to start your EU5 journey? Castile is universally recommended as the best beginner nation—and for good reason. Here's why.

1. Geographic Isolation = Breathing Room

Castile's location on the Iberian Peninsula provides natural protection from the chaotic European politics happening to the north. You're separated from France by the Pyrenees and Navarre, giving you time to learn the game's systems without immediately getting dragged into devastating wars.

This isolation means you can make mistakes—and you will make mistakes as a beginner—without those mistakes spiraling into a game-ending disaster. Forgot to manage your stability? Lost a war to Granada? You have time to recover.

2. Clear Expansion Targets

One of the hardest things for new players is knowing who to attack and when. Castile removes this confusion by providing obvious, logical expansion targets:

Granada: Your first target. Smaller, weaker, and you have a Religious War CB ready to go.
Morocco: Join Tlemcen's war against Morocco to secure the Gibraltar strait—critical for maritime presence.
Navarre: Small buffer state that France will take if you don't. Easy diplomatic vassalization or quick conquest.
Portugal: Eventually becomes your personal union partner through an event, but can be shrunk beforehand for faster integration.
Aragon: Your rival on the eastern coast. Either conquer them early or wait for the Iberian Wedding event.

These targets create a natural learning curve: start with Granada (easy), move to Navarre (medium), then tackle Aragon (challenging). By the time you're facing complex wars, you've already learned the basics.

3. Strong Starting Economy

Castile starts with solid income from three markets (Burgos, Sevilla, and partial access to Lisbon) and good tax base provinces. This economic cushion means you can afford to make suboptimal economic decisions early on without crippling your nation.

You have enough starting ducats (1,300) to immediately invest in marketplaces (100% profit buildings) across your provinces, kickstarting exponential growth. The forgiving economy lets you experiment with building priorities and trade routes without punishment.

4. Multiple Strategic Paths

Castile doesn't force you into one playstyle. You have meaningful choices:

Aggressive Iberian Unification: Attack Aragon early before France destroys them.
Patient Event Strategy: Wait for the Iberian Wedding to grant Aragon peacefully (risky, as France often intervenes).
Colonial Focus: Rush exploration in the 1420s and dominate the New World before Portugal and France.
Vassal Swarm Meta: Create multiple small vassals to automate integration and conversion.

These options let you learn strategic decision-making—arguably the most important skill in EU5. Do you take the safe route or the aggressive route? What are the trade-offs? Castile teaches you to think strategically, not just follow a script.

5. Tutorial for Core EU5 Systems

Playing Castile exposes you to nearly every critical EU5 mechanic:

Crown Power: Start at low crown power and learn how to optimize it through king-as-general and legitimacy.
Control System: Experience low-control provinces and learn to fix them with roads and stability.
Parliament: Use Parliament to pass laws cheaply instead of spending 100 stability.
Personal Unions: The Portugal PU event teaches you how PUs work and the 5-law integration process.
Black Death: Survive a major crisis event and learn crisis management.
Colonial Mechanics: Transition to exploration and colonization in the mid-game.

By the time you finish a Castile campaign, you've touched every major system in the game. You're no longer a beginner—you're ready for more complex nations.

Ready to Start?

If you're convinced, check out our full Castile guide for a comprehensive walkthrough of opening moves, expansion priorities, economic optimization, and late-game domination strategies. It's designed specifically for version 1.0.8 and based on actual gameplay testing.

Welcome to EU5. Castile is waiting.