Europa Universalis 4 Thread 2: Comet Sighted!

[ObadiahtheSlim]

This game is not available in India. Bring it in India please.

Not even off Steam?

[Flickerdart]

So, uh...I made a claim for the throne of Japan, because Portugal was getting uppity and I wanted some more manpower. They had an uncertain succession and I had a royal marriage so I thought why not.

Except now they hate me, they broke off the alliance, and the massive Manchu blob also made the claim. Any advice for fighting a superior enemy?

[tonberrian]

So, uh...I made a claim for the throne of Japan, because Portugal was getting uppity and I wanted some more manpower. They had an uncertain succession and I had a royal marriage so I thought why not.

Except now they hate me, they broke off the alliance, and the massive Manchu blob also made the claim. Any advice for fighting a superior enemy?

Make sure to take the defensive. Attacking armies will get penalties for all sorts of terrains, while defenders will not.

What tech level and type are you and Manchu?

[Flickerdart]

Make sure to take the defensive. Attacking armies will get penalties for all sorts of terrains, while defenders will not.

What tech level and type are you and Manchu?

Thankfully we have a very narrow shared border - there's still some Ming, Zhao, and various other rump states left over. So it should be pretty easy to park my guys there and wait until they come. Unless they arrive by sea, I guess. My navy isn't very good.

I don't remember what tech levels we have, but I'm Chinese and they're Steppe Nomad (I think) so I should have a bit of an edge there.

[Narkis]

I'm not sure how the geography over there looks like, but try to lure them into a mountain if at all possible. Defenders in mountains can hold off vastly superior forces, and inflict massive casualties on them. And make sure you have a decent general in command!

[Leecros]

So in my latest game, I decided that as Brandenburg, I would attempt race the Protestant Reformation and Form Germany before things started getting shaken up...Or at least gather up the Cores needed to form it, as the 10 admin tech requirement would be rather difficult to do unless you managed to delay the Reformation by 20-30 years.
I almost got! At the end of the day, the only piece of land that wasn't either directly mine or my vassal was Nürnburg and it was to be my next target. I probably would have made it too, if it weren't for those meddling HREmperors. The unlawful territory penalty that hits every member of the HRE when the Emperor comes calling really put a strain on my alliance with Austria, who was not emperor, but all but necessary for my early expansions. There was a few times where I had so much Aggressive Expansion that if i had lost my alliance with Austria, I would have been hit by a nasty punitive war. I threw a screenshot at the end of the post. It's 30 years after the Reformation started, but I haven't really done much expansion since. After I failed in my mission, I decided to go after the HREmperor title myself and try for both forming Germany and unifying the HRE. So i spent a good deal of time just sitting and waiting for relations to improve. I think i'll probably have Denmark, Poland, and most of Germany(especially after i get those claims from forming Germany) under my control in the next 60-70 years, because I am the Emperor now. I don't have to worry about him yelling at me and causing relation hits with everyone i know and love(To subjugate)

[Flickerdart]

Started a new Huron game. I don't have CoP so I just sort of waffled about beating up neighbours until France dropped by. Now I'm successfully Westernized (although Catholic) and slowly catching up...if only my manpower would recover faster!

[Grif]

Definitely not regretting leaving France as a "final boss" sort of deal in my Castile game. Turns out once colonial interests collide, you don't really want the BBB as your friend anymore.

Took several 100k vs 100k battles with France on one side and me and Austria (and Mantua, who got fairly large somehow) to whittle down their absolutely enormous manpower.

[Closet_Skeleton]

Anyone interested in an EUIV succession game?

Maybe with a republic so we can actually vote for people from the forum to lead our country. With savegame editing we could even put our names in.

[OrcusMcP]

Sure, I could be interested in some EU4 action.

[Guancyto]

The problem with an EU4 succession game is that (I think) everyone needs to have the same checksum.

And, well, does anybody still play this game unmodded?

[AgentPaper]

The problem with an EU4 succession game is that (I think) everyone needs to have the same checksum.

And, well, does anybody still play this game unmodded?

I used to play it modded, but I haven't in quite a long while. The only mod really big enough to be worth losing Ironman is MEIOU & Taxes, and that's a bloated mess, so...

Personally, I'd be more interested in a multiplayer game than succession.

[Narkis]

I'd be interested in either a succession, or a multiplayer game. I doubt mods would be a problem, iirc Paradox stats were that something like 5% of the people use a mod at all.

[Vauron]

I'd be interested in either multiplayer or succession. In a succession game I could be slotted in after someone has a really good run as I'd likely flail ineffectively before being choked by rebels.

[Grif]

And, well, does anybody still play this game unmodded?

*raises hand*

(Except for a small minimod I made myself to include EU3 songs.)

[Flickerdart]

So, in my Huron game I've finally come into conflict with England. France is on my side but they're not helping much, and I have yet to win a victory against the English despite having Westernized and acquired horses and cannon. I'm about 8 levels of tech behind, but I'm throwing triple to quadruple numbers at the Redcoats without accomplishing anything. It seems that the simple effort of marching is depleting the morale of my troops, making them quickly crumble...what do I do?

[Grif]

So, in my Huron game I've finally come into conflict with England. France is on my side but they're not helping much, and I have yet to win a victory against the English despite having Westernized and acquired horses and cannon. I'm about 8 levels of tech behind, but I'm throwing triple to quadruple numbers at the Redcoats without accomplishing anything. It seems that the simple effort of marching is depleting the morale of my troops, making them quickly crumble...what do I do?

Defend in mountains? I'm not sure of the geography of North America ingame, but there should be places where you can force crossings?

Barring that, I'd just play a defensive war and just unsiege any province they manage to take. (Also, you might want to pick up military ideas if you haven't done so already. Defensive is a very good complement to low tech nations.)

[VonFenris]

I'd also be in for some multiplayer action!

[Flickerdart]

Defend in mountains? I'm not sure of the geography of North America ingame, but there should be places where you can force crossings?

Barring that, I'd just play a defensive war and just unsiege any province they manage to take. (Also, you might want to pick up military ideas if you haven't done so already. Defensive is a very good complement to low tech nations.)

They win when I'm defending, too. It's weird.

I do have a military idea, but it's Quantity (I was tired of having no manpower available, it's really helped a lot).

[Closet_Skeleton]

Mods aren't a problem, since everyone can download them for free unlike DLC.

[Murmaider]

So, in my Huron game I've finally come into conflict with England. France is on my side but they're not helping much, and I have yet to win a victory against the English despite having Westernized and acquired horses and cannon. I'm about 8 levels of tech behind, but I'm throwing triple to quadruple numbers at the Redcoats without accomplishing anything. It seems that the simple effort of marching is depleting the morale of my troops, making them quickly crumble...what do I do?

Eight levels of tech? Military tech or just tech in general? If it is the former, there is no way you're going to win a single battle no matter the numbers. If it is the latter then some additional information could be helpful.

What's your combat width? Using less infantry than your combat width, or not having enough in the second line to resupply the first line may cause you to have artillery in the first line.

How do your generals compare to those of Great Great Britain? with 1.6 generals matter much more than they used to and lucky nations like GB have usually really strong ones.

How do your other stats compare? As far as I can remember GB has +5% discipline right off the bat.

Some other pointers: Quantity is arguably the worst military idea group. Even aristocratic is better most of the time. I'd take Offensive, which has both manpower and land forcelimit modifiers.

Also, even after westernization you may tech faster but you no longer gain western units like you used to.

[OrcusMcP]

Some other pointers: Quantity is arguably the worst military idea group. Even aristocratic is better most of the time. I'd take Offensive, which has both manpower and land forcelimit modifiers.

Quantity isn't bad, but if you're taking it to offset manpower issues then you're using it wrong. It's not usually a good first military idea to take, but that's a different story.

THe military ideas should be enhancing your military situation, not making up for your lackings. DO you have national ideas that boost discipline? Make your troops even more beastly with Quality! Lots of land and manpower? Take Quantity to give yourself almost infinite troops for no money! Small country with not much forcelimit/manpower? Take Offensive so that your (likely only) army is lead by the best possible general! Trying to deal with advanced enemies who really want your land? Take Defensive to bleed them white!

[Murmaider]

Sure, Quantity is not bad, it's just the worst military idea. I would probably pick it over Espionage and... I don't know, Exploration as Austria?

[Guancyto]

I dunno, Espionage got a lot better just by virtue of being a Diplomatic idea group now instead of an Administrative one...

Oh, and rebels getting hilariously stupid in the last patch.

[OrcusMcP]

Sure, Quantity is not bad, it's just the worst military idea. I would probably pick it over Espionage and... I don't know, Exploration as Austria?

Eh, I think they all have their place. Espionage is really powerful if you have Ottomans/Russia/France/Ming/Other-powerful-country as an angry neighbor. Giving a bunch of revolts, ruining alliances and knowing troop placements can be a very useful precursor to war with major powers.

On the Succession Game front, if people are interested in it, we should start figuring out who to play.

Very important decisions to make:
-Mods? Do we want to use MEIOU & Taxes? Something else? Vanilla?
-Expansions? Looks like there'll be a mini-expansion coming out soon, should we wait for it? Only use specific ones?

Country choices:
-Western country? If so, should be something smaller to add challenge.
-Muslim country? Steppe Nomads? Fight the backwardness inevitable conquests from Europe!
-India? SOme new stuff went into India in the latest patch/expansion, could be neat!
-New World? East Asia?
-Any other cool ideas?

[OrcusMcP]

Oh, and rebels getting hilariously stupid in the last patch.

I might be in the minority, but I actually like the strong rebels. I much prefer them being an actual threat you have to worry about and negotiate around rather than just mosquitos you have to swat occasionally.

[Guancyto]

Sorry, I wasn't trying to complain.

I was just saying that Espionage Ideas are in a much better place right now, as Support Rebels has gotten a lot stronger with the substantial increase to rebel strength.

Also they give spy offense now it's kind of funny that they didn't do that before.

[Grif]

For the succession game, I only have one suggestion.

Ulm.

[OrcusMcP]

Oh! Oh! Idea!

Play the Hansa.

Tagline: Contiguous provinces are for chumps.

Only own provinces that are centers of trade/estuaries, no owned province can be adjacent to another owned province.

[Flickerdart]

Speaking of the Hansa, is it possible to get anywhere as Novgorod? It seems like Muscovy declares war on you pretty much immediately, and they have way more soldiers than you.