The start of the game is going to be quiet as Portugal. I mentioned it in an earlier post, but don’t be thrown off by the “Then I just stared at my screen”. After an initial couple of actions as Portugal (like you described), staring at your screen is the expected state. Think of it as the “Press End Turn” stage at the start of Civ, where you’ve finished moving your warrior and you’re waiting for a Scout to build. I’d recommend sending a royal marriage and alliance over to Castile, but then prepare to settle in for a bit.
The thing you want to target is getting to Admin tech 5, which will unlock an Idea Group. The Idea you’ll likely want to start with is Exploration, that way you can start exploring the Atlantic and get ready for some colonization!
Click on your shield in the top left of the screen, this is your main menu. You’ll want to be on the first tab (looks like a crown). Here you can see your Court (king, heir, advisors, etc).
You’ll want to pick up an advisor. They’re all important for you right now for a few reasons:
- You want an Admin advisor so you can get to Admin tech 5 and unlock that Exploration idea group!
- You want a Diplo advisor because diplomatic tech improves navy and colonization ability, and you’ll need this resource to unlock each of the Exploration ideas. These ideas are what will allow you to hire explorers for your navy and conquistadors for your armies, as well as colonize empty provinces.
- You want a military advisor because your starting king is weak in this area, only having a military stat of 1. Your nation’s focus is also on Diplomatic right now (note the green checkmark), which gives a +2 to that stat but -1 to the others. That leaves you generating only 3 MIL points a month.
Morocco is going to be eyeballing you, especially if you fall behind on military techs, the first couple of which are extremely important. That’s another reason why the alliance with Castile will be useful, they can help you hold Cueta and keep others off your back.
The problem is, Portugal starts out poor as dirt, so affording all 3 advisors and maintaining your armies, fleets, and forts might not all be possible. You can mothball individual fleets, reduce the maintenance for your land army, or mothball individual forts. All of these can save you money. Your income and expenses can be reviewed on the Economy tab:
In all honesty, though, the starting situation for Portugal will likely be pretty quiet. It’s why it’s a good starter country, because Castile will have your back and you can take some time to familiarize yourself with the interface. Turn up the game speed to 3 or 4, the game will auto-pause whenever an event pops up that needs your attention. You are really in a holding pattern until you unlock Exploration and get the ability to recruit Explorers, at which point you can start surveying the ocean and finding colonies to settle!