EUIV: Tactics, Tips, Strategies, Questions....

[PanzersEast]

We have a release thread and since it has released and the other thread was getting long.... I thought I would start this thread and focus on the subject.

Currently playing as Portugal in 1444 and it is interesting to say the least.



PE

[sandman2575]

I opted for Portugal 1444 as well.  The few times I did try to make a go of EU3, I played Portugal.  Seems like a nice country to learn the ropes with -- not too big and powerful, not too small to be boring, decent navy and some head-start with colonization.

I played for only an hour or two -- got to 1450 or so.  Despite getting dragged into the Hundred Years War as England's ally, not a whole lot is going on.  Built a few ships to boost my trade routes.  Upped my National Stability to 3.   ....aaaaand a lot of waiting around...

[jomni]

I played Castile in 1444.  Tension between Navarra and Aragon is increasing so I decided to guarantee the Navarra so that I can get a free reason to fight Aragon and take his provinces.
Well the plan back fired.  I lost a lot of troops and quit the game.  I also built an army so large so early in the game that it ate up all my resources. :(  Oh well, lessons learned.

[Kushan]

My first game as England lasted about 5 minutes. second day of the game I got the Lollard heresy, -1 stability, then two days later I get another -1 stability event....Really wish I would have got a screenshot. Then France sends a death stack to southern France to meet my reinforcing army. Restart.....

Starting as England again. Going to see if I can get France to peace out, even if I lose Normandie and Caux. I can always retake them when I get things in order on my island. Doesn't help England starts with a 0-0-0 king.

I played Castile in 1444.  Tension between Navarra and Aragon is increasing so I decided to guarantee the Navarra so that I can get a free reason to fight Aragon and take his provinces.
Well the plan back fired.  I lost a lot of troops and quit the game.  I also built an army so large so early in the game that it ate up all my resources. :(  Oh well, lessons learned.

LOL have you seen the terrain in Aragon? Desert and desert mountains. Not the best terrain for an invasion.  :D

[Kushan]

Started a ironman game as Castile. trying to figure out what the hell happened to the last few hours. ???

I took a province from Aragon almost at the start. I dominated the land battle. I took out their main army then split mine into a few smaller siege armies with a larger roving army for reinforcing where needed. I lost all of my heavy ships due to not paying attention. I did some scouting before the war and only noticed a few heavy ships. After war was declared an giant Aragon fleet came out of the FOW and destroyed my fleet.

After my Castile war on Aragon I went for Grenada. Their land forces didn't pose any threat to me, neither did their Morocco allies. But losing my fleet to Aragon, prevented me from countering the Morocco blockade. I was able to take 2 of Grenada's provinces but couldn't get the last.

[jomni]

Kushan, that giant Aragon fleet appeared in my game as well.

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So far, all we are seeing are quick failures. Lol!

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My short-lived Aztec campaign went down the drain. 

I initially established good relationship with the Mayans so that we can pick on the Zapotec in between us. First war against the Zapotec was successful as I am able to take 3 provinces from them.
But those greedy Mayans started their own war to take the rest of the country.  In order not to be left out.  I attacked the Zapotec as well and annexed the rest of the remaining provinces. With the Zapotec out of the way, the Mayans waged war on me. While there was a stalemate, the Zapotec nationalists started revolting in large numbers and reestablished their nation. Preoccupied with the Zapotec rebellion, the Aztecs and Mayans then settled for a truce.  The Aztecs have to pay some money but no exchange of land.  My troop morale is so low they refuse to move and I don't know how to increase it.  The Mayans regained strength and finally captured Zapotec.  I decided to call it quits.  All this happened in a span of 40 years.

I just realized that having full 3 advisers is a money drain for the Aztecs.  I'll make sure I don't recruit them in my next round.

[Yskonyn]

My first game started as Burgundy with the plan to unite the Netherlands and reform to a dutch culture.
It lasted only for about an hour real time before my former Ally England backstabbed me, jumped into an alliance with Austria who had managed to form a big front in the East ready to trample all over me in the mean time.

My meager economy was unable to field a force big enough to resist and province by province went over to the Austrian onslaught. Then France, like a dog, came running for the third bone and declared war from the South.

End game.

I guess a high difficulty means just that! O_O :)

Next game I decided to take the advise from the game and start with a recommended starter nation.
1444, Castille.

First goal was to convert the culture in the North to something we accept. Which was pretty easy. Then our focus went to Granada. They have what it rightfully ours and I am not too interested in an alliance. I just want back what is mine...

Oh and can someone explain what the 'Steer Trade´option for the merchant does and how you should field him. I understand that the flow of trade from a hub cannot be changed? But what is the function of this 'Steer Trade' option then?

EDIT: I think I got it now; the hubs show where the possible routes go. 'Steer Trade' will use one of your Merchants to make sure more trade flows over the route to the hub that you control and are making money from.

[undercovergeek]

after looking at the game and its functions for 10 mins yesterday, this is the first time in a long time ive thought 'id better do the tutorials'

[Yskonyn]

Lol! I had that with 3 more than this one. :)
The current Clausewitz engine provides a ton of additional info if you keep hovering over stuff. Very helpful.

[tgb]

Some tips I picked up from extensive play of the demo and a bit of time as Castille yesterday:

1) All 3 schools of MP are important, but Admin is first among equals, since you can't open new slots for Idea Groups without moving up the Admin tech tree.  Also you need Admin for everything from improving Stability to creating Cores.

2) Advisers are a LOT more expensive than they were in III. When money is tight, see about getting by with only 1 or 2.  Depending on your Monarch's stats, it might make more sense to have 1 Lev. III adviser producing 3MPs/month than 3 Lev I.

3) Never reduce naval maintenance if you are at all relying on trade, as it will reduce your trade efficiency.

4) If you don't have an heir, Royal Marriages are the next best thing. Each marriage increases the chance of getting an heir by 5%

5) You now apparently have a limit to the number of diplomatic agreements you can have (that little 2/4 or whatever on the diplomacy screen).  I THINK it really is a limit to the number of countries, not the number of agreements, so if you have an alliance, a royal marriage, and are guaranteeing independence all with the same country, it only counts as 1. I don't know if that's a bug or WAD.

6) Similarly, in addition to force limits, you have a limit to the number of commanders you can field. Each commander above the limit costs 1 military MP/month. Converting your ruler or heir doesn't count, so if you're stuck with one with crappy stats, ship him off to battle and hope he doesn't make it home.

7) Harsh Treatment is VERY effective in dealing with rebellious provinces, but also very expensive (50 military MP).  Use as a last resort only.

[jomni]

2) Advisers are a LOT more expensive than they were in III. When money is tight, see about getting by with only 1 or 2.  Depending on your Monarch's stats, is might make more sense to have 1 Lev. III adviser producing 3MPs/month than 1 Lev I.

Yep. That's what sucked all the money from my 2nd game.

[JudgeDredd]

6) Similarly, in addition to force limits, you have a limit to the number of commanders you can field. Each commander above the limit costs 1 military MP/month. Converting your ruler or heir doesn't count, so if you're stuck with one with crappy stats, ship him off to battle and hope he doesn't make it home.

lol!  ;D

[Kushan]

Kushan, that giant Aragon fleet appeared in my game as well.

I really should have scouted more. I don't know for sure, but I think that fleet starts over in Sardinia or Sicily. Both either belong to Aragon or are Aragon vassal.s

2) Advisers are a LOT more expensive than they were in III. When money is tight, see about getting by with only 1 or 2.  Depending on your Monarch's stats, it might make more sense to have 1 Lev. III adviser producing 3MPs/month than 3 Lev I.

Remember to check the level of the adviser. The bonus each type of adviser is the same mo matter the level, but the amount of points each level provides does differ. So a -10 to inflation type adviser will always provide -10 to inflation no matter what his level is. But a level 1 of that same adviser will provide +1 to admin points while a level 3 will provide +3 admin points. The cost of recruiting and maintaining each adviser also goes up significantly per level. No reason to get a level 2 or 3 adviser at the start of the game no matter who you are playing. You just can't afford the upkeep even if you can afford the initial recruitment cost.

5) You now apparently have a limit to the number of diplomatic agreements you can have (that little 2/4 or whatever on the diplomacy screen).  I THINK it really is a limit to the number of countries, not the number of agreements, so if you have an alliance, a royal marriage, and are guaranteeing independence all with the same country, it only counts as 1. I don't know if that's a bug or WAD.

yea, I believe it is per country. You can have a royal marriage and alliance with Portugal and it should count for only 1 diplomatic agreement. I don't think it costs an agreement slot to simply have your diplomat increase opinion with the target country. But there is a cap on the countries opinion rating based on several factors; are they set as a rival to you, who are you allied with, etc.

Setting a country as a rival is a good way to increase an allies or potential allies opinion of you. I set Morocco as a rival to court Portuguese opinion and set Foix and Aragon to increase Navarre's.

It you don't know how to set a country as a rival, its on your countries diplomacy screen, right above your diplomatic arrangements (truces, alliances, etc.) on the right side

[PanzersEast]

There is a lot to EU IV than meets the eye.... I am still getting use to all the screen and options available to me and of course the trading.  I have started out as Castile then switched to Portugal.  Taking it slow now to learn as much of the mechanics as I can.


PE

[tgb]

Blockades - how do they work?


As Castille I'm trying to blockade the port at Gibralter. I hit the "Detach Blockade", and a ship does indeed detach, but then what? I can't find a way to actually get the ship to sail into the port.