Europa Universalis IV - Why can't I wrap my head around it?

[Grim.Reaper]

Just starting to poke around with EU IV myself at the encouragement of some gaming buddies from an old clan I belonged to.
I did the tutorials but don't feel like I learned much. I did find this somewhat encouraging: http://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/116887
His advice is to just get stuck in and mess around with it, try things out to see what happens. Not my normal method but may be what it takes in this case lol.k

I also ran across these which go into more detail and thereby caused my eyes to glaze over:
http://www.eu4wiki.com/Beginner%27s_guide
http://guides.gamepressure.com/europauniversalisiv/guide.asp?ID=21613

Great article about getting started...that might be exactly what I needed to push me forward.

[Grim.Reaper]

Has anyone tried to play and remain neutral and just do trading/diplomacy without war?  Is that even possible?  If it is possible, do you still find it entertaining?  Part of me would like a chance to really just build up my world without having to constantly fight wars.  Guessing at some point that might become boring....

That's usually my play style as I find it a lot more interesting than warfare.  My last game as Spain I absorbed/converted quite a bit of the New World without firing a shot.  Of course, there is always one or two tribes that won't listen to reason and have to be put to the sword, but I only did that as a last resort.

Very good to hear..appreciate you sharing your experience.

[MetalDog]

I think for the majority of us, achieving goals, up to and including winning, is the be all end all in a game.  In EUIV especially, I have found that if you want to know what is going on, go in to a game with zero expectations and then follow what interests you.  Do that repeatedly, and your observations and experiences will eventually give you the knowledge you need.

[Gusington]

I have had the same exact issues with Paradox games, Grim. The most accessible for me has been CKII.

[jomni]

I have had the same exact issues with Paradox games, Grim. The most accessible for me has been CKII.

Odly. I can't get into CKII because "progress" is longer to develop than EUIV.
Results are less immediate and I was just aimlessly playing "marry my servants".

[bbmike]

I have had the same exact issues with Paradox games, Grim. The most accessible for me has been CKII.

Odly. I can't get into CKII because "progress" is longer to develop than EUIV.
Results are less immediate and I was just aimlessly playing "marry my servants".

CKII is the one Paradox game that I haven't been able to get into either. I"m not sure why and I'll eventually try it again.

[Grim.Reaper]

I have had the same exact issues with Paradox games, Grim. The most accessible for me has been CKII.

Odly. I can't get into CKII because "progress" is longer to develop than EUIV.
Results are less immediate and I was just aimlessly playing "marry my servants".

CKII is the one Paradox game that I haven't been able to get into either. I"m not sure why and I'll eventually try it again.

Funny thing for me too since I really like the material...I thought that one would click with me more but I got lost in all the terms and relationships....if I can figure out EU4, I'll eventually try CK2 again.

[JasonPratt]

I definitely found it a good idea to start with a small nation out on the fringe somewhere and practice with that. Thus my Ethiopia AAR for World War 1 in HOI2 Darkest Hour, linked in the sig. Or my Last Nestorian King AAR when the Charlemagne DLC for CK2 was released. (Two quite different versions of the same overall engine of course, kind of similar area of the world though.)

[Grim.Reaper]

I did end up buying all the expansions last night.....completed the tutorials so far.  Certainly going to give this another try and see if I can get somewhere this time:)  Thanks for all the useful information.

[Kushan]

Hey Grim,

If you, or anyone else here, have any questions feel free to pm here or on Steam and I'll do my best to answer them.

[Huw the Poo]

I hope nobody minds me necroing this thread; it seems the best place for random questions for EU4.

I'm playing my first game and have just researched my way to being able to build marketplaces.  The tooltip says a marketplace will increase trade power in the province by 50.  What kind of impact does that translate to?  Am I correct in thinking that increased trade power in a province means increased control over the trade node to which that province belongs, and thus extra income from collection or extra trade steered away, depending on what I have my merchant doing?

[sandman2575]

Am I correct in thinking that increased trade power in a province means increased control over the trade node to which that province belongs, and thus extra income from collection or extra trade steered away, depending on what I have my merchant doing?

Spot on, I believe. You ideally want to own as many provinces in a trade node as possible, and enhance trade power by building structures like markets in them or sending merchant ships to patrol the node -- as you probably already knew.

Of course, you want to steer trade toward a node you have a lot of power in, not away. You want to retain as much trade power in that node as possible (i.e. you don't want merchants of other powers siphoning off that power by steering it 'downstream' to a node the have more power in.)

[Huw the Poo]

Excellent.  Thanks sandman.

Very well!  The peasants shall have their marketplace!  Meanwhile I shall start looking into this embargo business...

[sandman2575]

which reminds me, I really need to get back into my Portugal campaign. (...I don't know how many Portugal campaigns I've started -- well over a dozen I'm sure -- and never gotten all that far in any of them. Portugal is the sweet spot for me -- not too powerful (unlike Castille or France), but a decent naval power with an ideal opportunity to colonize the New World...)

[Huw the Poo]

Yeah, Portugal seems to benefit from shitloads of coastal provinces and the potential early war with Morocco can win them a few more easily (he says, sagely, suddenly an expert on the game).

As Castille, which I think are a good choice for someone learning the game as they are definitely in a strong starting position, I've quickly come to regard Portugal as my main rival.  They're matching me at the Sevilla trade node and in army size.

Oh, which reminds me of my next questions:

1. I've reached military level 5 which has opened some new units.  Their benefits over the obsolete units are clear so I upgraded my armies straight away, and now I'm eyeing Aragon to the East where I have a couple of claims.  Is there any way I can tell what kind of military technology they have, or more specifically (and usefully), what kind of units comprise their armies?

2. I came alarmingly close to bankruptcy after a recent war and noticed that I was spending a lot of ducats on army upkeep, which seemed to diminish once the army was back at full strength.  My question is: does replenishing an army cost ducats as well as manpower?

On a related note, I am absolutely loving this game!  It's such a shame that my experience with CK2 put me off for so long.  EU4 doesn't just hit the sweet spot for me, it absolutely destroys it and sends it crying home to its mummy!  Just the perfect level of complexity, fantastic interface which manages to be intuitive and informative all at once, exciting, surprising, amusing...it's an awesome game, surely Paradox's magnum opus.