This is a little personal guide I'll be working on for fun, and will be building on over time. Seeing how others have been asking questions on Portugal, one of the more special additions within this mod, I feel like putting out info on the faction would help people using the mod.

I plan to cover multiple topics, and any comments on things I should talk about or add to this guide would be appreciated! I can't exactly write a whole guide in one go as I don't have unlimited time to myself, but I'll try to add a chunk every now and then.

Note: I no longer play with the Sandbox or 1.5x submod due to how they tend to lag my games. Although I can give insight into both, I'll stick to the base mod with the Ship Movement and the Church mod intended for use with Portugal. My info may not 100% be identical to hat you have, but for the most part it should still apply.

Below are a list of topics I intend to cover in this guide, and may add more should anyone gives me ideas. Eventually, I'll cover all of them and this guide will no longer be {WIP}, and instead be {COMPLETE}. Be free to suggest or correct me on more things as I work on this. Maybe I'll make guides for other clans as well if any care enough?

• The Clan Itself (basic info)
  
• Starting position
  
• Tech, Buildings, Units
  
• The Turn 1 rush
  
• Campaign and Conquest (subchapters per prefecture: Kyushu, Chugoku, Shikoku, etc)

Portugal here is not exactly a "clan" like the other playable clans in the mod. Rather, they are a colonial force. As their clan passive, "Foreign Invaders" suggests, they act as a invasion force, somewhat like a "crisis" for all the other Japanese clans to face (think to Crusader King's Sunset Invasion, albeit with more armor and gunpowder).

However, we're now in control. We are the crisis!

The clan passive Foreign Invaders gives the following:
+10 to Conversion Zeal. +15% to Income when looting, -20% Misfire chance for gunpowder units, and finally +20% to trade income (from tariffs only).

The looting income and misfire chance fit well into Portugal's theme of being gunpowder-based and invaders, but in the grand scheme of things they aren't too useful unless in specific cases. Looting provinces deprives you of wealth and buildings you can develop, therefore shooting yourself in the foot. Misfire chance is useful in rain, but otherwise situational.

What's really important is the buff to conversion and the trade income. You only need to hold a province for a while, building a church the moment you take it, before they become happy and loyal subjects, which you can develop into trading hubs that will skyrocket your economy. You're given good options, whether being mercantile and playing tall, or invading early and solidifying your position on the mainland.

To back this, their men are western, clad in armor and stats so high even their ranged troops (Tercios) can hold up in a melee. Their navy is also one of, if not the best in the game, surpassing the Otomo in effectiveness (sorry Mori). Defending both on land and on sea becomes easy, should you be capable of not overstretching yourself.

At the start of the game, you are presented with the small island of Goto, a 90% catholic island of 900 wealth with not much to go for it.

It has a basic Lv1 castle (Fort), a single building slot, barren soil, and a harbor that you can build up into a trade hub. It is imperative you find a way to expand as you will likely run out of food, which you start with (2) of.

Thankfully, you start with 21000 money, probably funds from Portugal, to develop the island and expand into Japan.

A little fun fact, your daimyo is Leonel De Sousa, a real person who was head of Macau. It should be noted however he only became "Governor" ( anachronistic, title didn't exist until 1623, he should be a Captain-Major) in 1558, which is 13 years after the game starts. Portugal leased Macau from China in 1557, so Lionel De Sousa shouldn't exactly be here, in contrast to the clan's description in the clan selection screen.

But hey, we aren't exactly here for historical accuracy now, aren't we? ;)

De Sousa doesn't have anything interesting of note. He's 30 years old, starts with 2 honor, has a nondescript wife and a son (aged 1), and a +1 morale modifier. What you can use him for is his bodyguard, who act like Mounted Carabineros (units will be covered in their dedicated section). You can use him like mounted gunners, harassing enemies quickly, should you micro him well. You can also recruit "Captains" (generals, but Portuguese) who do the same thing, and perhaps adopt them, if you so choose later in your game. Otherwise, nothing too fancy like other Daimyos with fleshed-out traits. I prefer to adopt the next general I get (should they be younger than De Sousa) and make them heir.

Your starting military is, though small, incredibly effective.
On land, you have 2 Piqueros (Pikemen), 2 Espadachins (Swordsmen), and a Mosqueteiros (Musketeers). Incredibly busted against the early game garrisons, you can easily rush a castle and autoresolve by a landslide (Which I will cover in my segment on Turn 1 moves). All you really need to know is that the Piqueros can hold incredibly long due to their armor, and the Espadachins can cut down ashigaru like butter in a flank. Put the Mosqueteiros on an elevated hill, and you win. The only thing you have to make sure you do is make sure the Mosqueteiros don't die, as they will take much longer to recruit via tech and buildings than the other two troops (to be elaborated on my segment on tech).

For your navy, you are given essentially The Black Ship as your first (but not only) vessel. It will demolish any foolish Wako that decides to attack it or raid your trade lines (which happens frequently, as they spawn pretty much next to you). Don't be fooled by how the game shows them as having no canons (sword icon next to manpower count), it's a bug. If you manually fight naval battles it will let you use the canons. If you auto resolve, it treats the ship as if not having any canons and leads to you losing half your crew.
You are also given a Trade Caravel, an unarmed, lowly manned ship that acts as your trade ship. The difference is only manpower and the size of the ship. It will take a while until you build and research the right things to build proper fighting vessels (the Caravel and Galleon, essentially the Nanban Trade Ships of the Otomo), so as much as possible don't let your ships die.

Starting as an island, you have many clans you can visit. All of Japan (though mostly Kyushu) is open for you to explore.

To your north is the So clan of Tsushima Island, and to the far south of Kyushu is the Tanegashima clan of the Osumi Island. Both are isolated, possible trade node competitors, and are guaranteed to try and kill you if you leave them alone long enough (they may also lag your game if you dont kill them quickly, cramped islands suck). However, attacking them early means losing initiative in securing a foothold on Kyushu, quite dangerous knowing the amount of tough clans on the large island.

To your direct east are two clans: Matsuura and Ryuzoji. They both have Very Fertile soil and a merchant colony which you can use to increase trade or make experienced naval crews, the choice is yours.
Interestingly, Ryuzoji has a Same Religion +50 opinion modifier for any Christian nation, even despite being Buddhist. It's most likely hard coded from the Expanded Japan mod that was combined into UEFC, but it's consistently present. Should they have AI behaviors favorable to you (Defensive, Peaceful, Dependable, Steadfast,) you can possibly make them a worthy vassal/ temporary ally. Otherwise, put them on a hitlist, along with Matsuura.

To their border are the "neutral" clans of Shoni and Akizuki, as well as the Otomo alliance/ vassal coalition of Tachibana, Kamachi, and the Otomo themselves via a long, virtually impassable forest route.
Shoni has interesting interaction with Maatsuura and Ryuzoji, depending on how diplomatic/ decent of character they and the other 2 clans are, they can form a coalition or murder each other to death. Due to the mediocrity of their province, you can wait till they become Christian by letting them (maybe) build a Nanban Quarter (super long wait) and then vassalize them for a trustworthy ally, or just annex them. Look at their AI behavior and judge for yourself.

Akizuki is most likely to die within the 1st-3rd turn, due to their position being in-between all these clans, usually to Kamachi, though it can change hands multiple times.

Tachibana hates Shoni and has a Law Court building that buffs metsuke. They can spam quality metsuke and hamper your forces. If you decide to ally, vassalize, or annex Shoni, Tachibana will fight you eventually, regardless of AI behavior. They will also eventually backstab Otomo if Otomo grows weak (which is usually always).

Kamachi is across a river, south of Ryuzoji and Akizuki. They tend to kill Akizuki, and can go anywhere from there, but usually falls to other clans south of them such as Kikuchi, Aso, and Sagara. If they are not dependable/ stalwart allies of Otomo, they will backstab Otomo eventually, spliting their forces further in more directions and fall just like Akizuki. They tend to overextend and get eaten up.

Otomo will either focus on taking out their other neighbor, Kii, or send men through the forest route which will take eternity to arrive. Don't worry about Otomo intervention too much. Unless you attack Tachibana/ Kamachi before they backstab Otomo, they will love you for being Christian anyways <3 (remember to bribe them first, a few thousand will do. Afterwards, should you and they have common enemies, they usually send an alliance request).

More tips on the other clans of Kyushu will come in the segment on Campaign and Conquest (Kyushu).


Portugal’s Bushido tech tree in UEFC is organized differently from the usual structure of other clans, reflecting its historical emphasis on gunpowder and naval power. The entire right side of the tree is dedicated to gun development rather than bows. Attack by Fire and Gunpowder Mastery are required for unlocking the production of Portugal’s naval units: the Caravel and Galleon, respectively. These ships are the best in the game, but their acquiring is time-intensive, so strategic patience is key. Avoid overextending your fleet early on.

Meanwhile, melee combat is consolidated on the left side of the tree, streamlining progression compared to other clans where swords and spears are split. This allows for more focused development of close-combat capabilities without diluting your tech path.

I personally recommend focusing on the right side of the tech tree first. The sooner you get good boats the better.

The Chi tech tree meanwhile is unchanged, other than Imperial farmsteads being called Castellan farmsteads. Not much to say other than that you're Christian.

Most Portuguese units, those with European armor, are classified as samurai, meaning they benefit from general traits and modifiers that boost samurai performance. This gives Portugal a powerful edge in early engagements, as its units are stronger than most opponents such as Ashigaru spam. Do note they are all also quite expensive and hard to replenish, so use them wisely.

Portugal's buildings work a bit differently than most clans. Their buildings have different names to reflect their western origins so it may be slightly confusing, especially with the added content of UEFC. I'll be solely using the names Portugal is given, not their equivalents for the Japanese for better clarity. What you only really need to know are the 4 "types" of buildings available.


Hybrid Recruitment Buildings are part of the new content introduced by UEFC. As the name suggests, they recruit multiple types of units, rather than the vanilla way of recruiting one type of unit in different flavors. They are expensive, recruit slower, and recruit less at a time, which seems like pure downsides, but there's the most important reason you'd use them:

THEY DON'T REQUIRE RESEARCH TO RECRUIT THEIR UNITS!
(Except Bestieros, you need their tech still for some reason but I won't complain)

This building type is essentially a short-term building. You don't need to go through hundreds of turns just to recruit Arquebusiers, Piqueros, etc via research.You just need to wait 2-5 or so turns to upgrade the building and then recruit units. Eventually of course, it becomes more economically viable to swap to the Specialized Recruitment Buildings as they are recruit more efficiently, and that some units are unavailable to the Hybrid Recruitment Buildings (ex: Mosquiteros, Grenadeiros, Siege Units).

This category includes the lines of:

> Soldier's Muster Field
-Piqueros, Alabardeiros, Bestieros, Espadachin
-Adds Ashigaru max
-Adds Recruitment Capacity (Very useful)

>Officer's School
-Arquebusiers, Lancieros, Rodeleros, Aventureios
-Adds Yari, Bow, Katana, Nodachi, Naginata max
-Will eventually eat up food should you keep upgrading
-1 to Yumi, Spear, Katana recruitment time

>Knight's Training Grounds
-Rodeleros, Carabineros, Mounted Carabineros, Cavaleros
-Adds Yari, Bow, Katana, Nodachi, Naginata max
-Bonus Bushido tech research rate

Specialized Recruitment Buildings are just the recruitment buildings from vanilla. However, as Portugal they've been renamed to have new equivalents. As stated before, This a more efficient option you can take later on when you acquire proper tech and resources to recruit at larger scales.

This category includes the lines of:

>Firing Range
-Bestieros,Mosquiteros
-Replaces Bow Recruitment
-Reduces Yumi Recruitment time in the province
-Adds Bow Unit max

>Siege Workshop
-Arquebusier, Granadeiros, Bombard, Naval Cannons, Portuguese Mortars, Culverin, Mounted Culverin
-Adds Artillery, Matchlock max
-Reduces Siege, Matchlock recruitment times

>Polearm Drill Yard
-Piqueros, Alabardeiros, Aventureios
-Replaces Yari Recruitment
-Adds Yari, Naginata max
-Reduces Spear Recruitment

>Swordsman's Drill Yard
-Espadachins, Rodeleros, Cavaleros a Pe
-Replaces Katana Recruitment
-Adds Katana. Nodachi max

>Stables
-Mounter Carabineros, Lancieros, Pistoleros, Cavaleros
-Adds Horse max
-Reduces Cavalry recruitment times

{WIP}

{WIP}