I am at 110 out of the 300+ so far.

There are downsides yes. The most obvious is you do not control that land, and therefore do not get the direct benefit of ownership. The vassal may be hard to control, and if they become disloyal they may declare independence. All subject nations have a modifier called liberty desire. If it reaches 50% they become disloyal, and will not assist you in war nor pay their tithe. Your rivals will look to support the independence of your disloyal subjects, which can lead to a war you do not want. Disloyal subjects can not be integrated. There are a number of methods to reduce liberty desire, but sometimes it just doesn't work. It's quite complicated, and I tend to look to create vassals that are the same religion, but of course this isn't always possible.

Loyal vassals pay a small monthly tribute and their armed forces always help in your wars. Vassals also contribute to your own force limits. Personally I really enjoy this aspect of EU IV, creating, controlling and eventually integrating various subject nations through the run. Personal unions are another similar mechanic, but Muslim nations cannot have PUs.

I'm embarrassed to say I didn't know there are tutorials. What are those like?

Can you command vassal troops, or do they do their own thing when they come to assist?

There are 3 tutorials - basic, advanced, and tutorial campaign. I've done the basic one, and it was just that - basic. Map controls, moving units, transporting them across water, basic combat and land capturing, and building. So some basic mechanics and interfaces.

The topics for the advanced tutorial are interface, mapmodes, and trade.

The tutorial campaign is as Spain, and it includes the Reconquesta, Spanish Inquisition (I didn't expect that), and New World.

LOL good one, no one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition! Thanks for the info. Maybe you are nearing a new start?

You cannot command your vassals, but you can set them to certain 'mentalities' or whatever term EU IV uses. These are things like Defensive, Supportive, Siege, Aggressive and so on, giving them guidelines on how you would like them to behave. Paradox also added an objective button. When you click on any enemy province, you can assign one of your allies/subjects to make that province their priority and they will do it within reason and capability.

Yeah I that its a given that ill jump back in, just a question of when.

I managed to get my copy working. Probably was issues with Paradox's new launcher before as I set it the same at I have for Stellaris and it now works. Completed the tutorials again as well. Might give it a go and maybe even do a quick AAR.

You should be charging quite the toll for passage through those chokepoints...lol

None shall pass.

What's the old saying, sometimes you're the bug, and sometimes you're an unstoppable wave of camel archers?







I'm going to call time on the Mamluks in to Arabia run, as I've reached my goals. I could have tidied up the borders a bit and invaded Iberia for good measure. But I came for Arabian Coffee achievement and left with The Levant Turnabout, Absolutely and Live Long and Prosper. This run was a lot of fun. I like the government/religion combo for Mamluks, and even though it is clearly stated on the net that forming Arabia removes the unique Mamluks' government, it must have been changed as I kept it when switching tags and was very pleased with that.

I had designs on Iberia and India, but as the revolutions swept the world in the last half of the 18th century, I had to change it up and deal with those nations. I'd not seen anything like how insanely revolutionary EU IV became. I've dealt with it here and there, but this was a whole new level. Obviously big changes have been made for revolutionary mechanics. It's a pain in the ass frankly, but I bet it would be fun to go that route. For my second European run in a row there was no League War. Huge alliances formed on both sides, but I think tiny nations should be precluded from leading the Protestant League. I think they don't take proper account of their alliance and instead act like a tiny nation, and the war never kicks off, eventually ending in a stalemate with Catholic official. EU IV is better with a huge religious conflict in the middle of the game and I hope these two prove to be more exception than rule.

For idea groups I went Humanist, Defensive, Influence, Quantity, Innovative, Trade and Offensive. I did not take the last group before ending the run. Arabia is an interesting region. It's not rich, as it's mostly sand, but it is uniquely positioned to dominate the sea trade from Africa and the far east. I was making some serious ducats on the trade routes. Taking Ottomans out is key of course, and I faced a very strong Spain at the end because I didn't move in to the Barbary coast until halfway through the game, letting Spain gain a large foothold there. I had so many sectors to focus on though that North Africa had to wait.

Instead I alternated wars in to eastern Africa, taking a large portion of that coast for trade reasons (Zanzibar) and knocking Ethiopia out. I also came up against Spain here too. And also east toward India, stopping short, but taking huge swaths of land, mostly by releasing, feeding and later integrating vassals. This was all Sunni and Shia, so vassals work well here. And of course the conquest of Ottomans, continuing on over the Bosporus and into the Balkans. This was more strategic than anything, as denying this land to the Christian rivals is important, and it's good defensive terrain, guarding the approaches to my trade centers. The Wallachian lands are fertile farmland and those were a nice addition economically, and for manpower boost.

I made it a point to take the big islands in the Med, Cyprus, Crete, Sicily and Sardinia, as I like to use those places for my naval bases. This was a great run, pretty unique in a lot of ways, and especially compared to my normal picks. I had failed once for Arabian Coffee a few years ago when I tried an early Ottomans appeasement strategy. I had hoped I could bide my time and let the Christians take the Ottos down a peg, and I could slide in to the vacuum. It didn't work as they shrugged off their early wars and then turned their attention on me. And because I had expanded little in order to not upset them, I lacked the force limit and manpower needed to take them on.

In this run, I took it to them early and often, at every favorable chance. I moved to block their eastern expansion, forcing them to look at targets nearer central Europe, which kept them off balance as they fought wars on both fronts. By setting the tempo and dictating when truces were made, it allowed me to redeploy my standing armies to each front in turn so that I could bring sufficient combat weight to bear and ensure I had the advantage. Sitting back and reacting to Ottomans could work, but being aggressive early seems far better, provided you can win the first few wars.

Yup, that's the way I heard it!




So did you wind up with the Arabian Coffee achievement?

Yes I did get Arabian Coffee. I wasn't very clear. But yes, I got it and those others.

Levant Turnabout requires you to start as Mamluks, reach 100% army professionalism, and have Ottomans not exist.

Live Long and Prosper requires 30 prosperous states and a ruler at least 70 years of age

Absolutely requires reaching 100 absolutism

Arabian Coffee requires forming Arabia and being the world's leading coffee producer. Arabia produced 49% of the world's coffee supply at the end.

Now to decide which nation to play next. I'm leaning toward going for the Uncommonwealth achievement, which requires you to start as Lithuania and form the Commonwealth (PLC). I think I'll get a Restoration of Union CB at some point so it might not be too hard. Then again, that's a nasty region and lots of bad vibes. Sounds fun

Jump right in! Both feet!!

It did not go well, which I will touch on a little later when I get the chance. In the meantime, I thought this was a cool shot, as I've revisited my suspended Inca run to try and bring it over the line for Sun God.

Is this a beautiful Americas or what? And look what Ottomans have done while I've been in South America.

Otto has been busy for sure.
So you have all of South America - nicely done! Does that give you the achievement, or is there something else you need to do?

Nearly so. There are two islands I have to get, Falklands and South Georgia. These are held by Portugal, not a colonial nation. Portugal is allied to both Spain and England, which is insane and never happens after they become colonial since they are competing.

So if I declare war, then it becomes defensive for Portugal, and those nations will answer, along with all of their CNs. All that North America, plus England, Portugal and Spain would come after me, which is what led to the lost war that cost me so much 30 years earlier. I've done well to recover all the lost land, rebuild my shattered army and recover my economy and manpower.

So I need to hope that either Portugal declares on me, which might mean some allies decline and the war goal favors me, wait until they are all in a hard war somewhere else (not likely at this stage) or hope their CNs become rebellious, which is possible. Two lousy, mostly worthless islands is all I need. I have 88 years left.

The Uncommonwealth run I started as Lithuania needs some comments. I began by setting up alliances with Poland and Brandenburg. I had a difficult time deciding on the first course of action. Many possible targets for the first move -- Livonian Order, Teutonic Order, Muscovy, Crimea and more. Which way to go? Getting sea access and Baltic coast land has to be a priority. Early on, before you've earned any favors, your allies are very unlikely to join offensive wars. So I'd be on my own, which meant attacks on either of the Orders nations would see me fighting three or four nations alone. That would be imprudent.

So I concocted a plan to stage for an invasion of Novgorod. I would wait until Muscovy attacked them, then pounce immediately, getting my armies to occupy the Novgorod region of Novgorod, gaining me sea access and a top trade province. But the real motivation behind this plan was that if I could take the province of Novgorod, I could prevent Russia from forming, since that is a required province. Blocking Russia from forming would have long term implications and make it far easier for my Lithuania to grow to the dominant power in the region.

And it worked to perfection. I ended up getting five provinces, sea access, a trade center and denied Novgorod to Muscovy to prevent Russia. Brilliant plan and execution given my limitations at the start. To make such a grab before any allies would help was fantastic. I peaced out and began coring the new lands.

Immediately after this, ally Poland declared war on Teutonic Order. That is also land I must get, but I reasoned that eventually I will get Poland in a union, and whatever they grabbed now would become mine later, so I answered their call to arms. And this is where it all fell apart. Poland played like it was his first day on the job, forcing me to chase enemy stacks all over, chewing up my manpower. We had warscore to 70 which is good enough, just peace out Poland! But no, they kept allowing tiny enemy stacks to flip their provinces and then Muscovy declared on me, obviously unhappy I had taken Novgorod in such an underhanded manner.

With my manpower in the tank after two wars back to back, and on my own since Poland refused my call to arms! Bastages! and rebels popping up every other week, it was all over but the crying. I mean I could have recovered. A single defeat isn't enough to knock me down for long (see the Inca run), but I was so bent out of shape over Poland's horrible performance and backstab, that I called time and will revisit it later.

Poland really screwed you over I guess. Too bad because is sounds like you had a pretty good start going.

How do you decide what your first actions are going to be? I'm going to start at Ottoman's soon. Truthfully, I fired up the game and realized I didn't have much time to get into it at that moment, but looking through the alerts I wasn't sure what I should deal with and what I should leave alone. Not to mention what my general plan of attack might be.

That's a great question, and no easy answer. If we deal with specifics (which nation you're playing, who has rivaled you, who you have rivaled) I can give detailed advice. Starting dispositions are randomized so a restart may flip the nations that love or hate you.

For me though there is only one opening move for Ottomans, and that is declaring on Byzantium for Constantinople. You want that, which will become your capital through event. In my view, that's the best opening salvo.

And yeah, Poland screwed me over big-time. I won't forget

And from there....

So many options. You'll want to expand in every direction. You may get an event that allows you to claim Crimea as a march.

Choose the option to make Constantinople your capital, it's a free core. Move your trade port here if the game does not.

Set your rivals and allies. I always take a long time here, checking each nation to see who they are allied to, and who they are rivaled to. It takes a week or so for this to fill out, so don't rush in to it. The downside is that a nation you may want as an ally might fill their dip rel slots You could prevent an alliance you want by setting one of their allies to a rival first. It's well worth spending the time going through them all.

Check all of the small nations you border, like Kamaran and Candar. Do they like you, friendly with green heart? Consider making one or more a vassal that you can feed territory to. Set the map to diplomatic mode and then click that nation to see if they have any cores they do not own. Reconquest is the best CB available early on and can make expansion easier. Feed those cores to your vassal.

Have a look at the mission tree and the rewards for each. Try to complete the ones that give permanent claims. It's easier early on to go east, uniting those lands, but it;s fluid and you need to take it as it comes. Get at least one claim on any nation you may want to attack. Having the claim in your quiver means that you will have a CB for opportunistic strikes. If that nation finds itself losing a war, you can jump in and take advantage. Kick 'em when they're down.

Venice is one of the biggest threats early, since they have a good navy. Make sure you have the galley strength to at least match them on the seas. Mamluks is another, who are more or less equal at the start. Getting an early win against them will pay off. Jerusalem grants an additional missionary.

Try to ally a Christian rival of Hungary/Austria. Poland, Bohemia, Lithuania and that sort. This will help a lot when you fight to the north. France makes a good ally for Ottomans, Iberian nations too, since their navies are strong.

Alternate wars on each front to keep the AE down and prevent coalitions. Try to deny Cyprus to Mamluks who will try to vassalize at minimum. QQ is the biggest early threat to the east. Keep an eye on them, and if you can complete the mission to get these permanent claim start taking their lands.

If it were me I would be looking at these short-term goals

-- Take Constantinople
-- Annex or release vassals in the Levant, with the goals of Jerusalem and Alexandria
-- Unite asia minor/Anatolia, securing the eastern border
-- Move in to the Balkans to gain some buffer from Constantinople. Annex or vassalize what remains of Athens/Byz. I tend to shy away from vassals of a different religion.
-- Take the Crimea march option. This is optional, but I did it in my recent Ottos run and found it was a good thing. It does take up a dip rel slot, so do as you please. Marches are complicated to integrate, so consider the option carefully if the event fires for you. I simply kept Crimea as a march and fed them territory. They make a good attack dog.

Religion. The religion is cool. You have a sliding piety scale that takes your nation toward Legalism or Mysticism, with scaling benefits the farther you go toward each extreme. Up to you which way to go, and you can mix it up depending on your needs at the time. This will move depending on your actions, and events. Check your decisions after each new king takes the throne. There are several good bonuses available here depending on your leader's stats.

Both are useful, but for me I tend to go toward Mysticism, since money isn't usually an issue for Ottomans. I find the missionary strength really helpful, and army morale gives you a nice edge. On the flip side tax income is always nice and tech cost reduction too. No wrong decision here. It resets upon ruler death.

There are three ways to make a vassal. First, diplomatically, where you ally them and get relations to 190. Make sure there is a green check mark on the vassalize option. If a nation has 100 dev they cannot be made a vassal. Second, by force, which means you choose vassal in the peace deal. And the third is to release territory you've taken. It's worthwhile to click the button below the section in the diplomacy screen that shows your relations with all other nations. This will show you which vassals you can release. It will show which provinces they get (you can feed them more), and if you click the crest it will show which religion they will be.

So let's say you attack Mamluks and take a bunch of provinces around Syria. Click that button and it will show which nations can be released as a vassal. Release them and then feed them the other provinces you took in the war. Pay close attention to which provinces they get. You don't want to hand over your cores!

Some of these things may be DLC-locked. Which expansions do you own?

Whew!! Quite the laundry list!! I'll have to go through it slowly. I will use this though, be sure of that.

I own: Mandate of Heaven, Rights of Man, Mare Nostrum, Common Sense, El Dorado, Art of War, Res Publica, Wealth of Nations, & Conquest of Paradise. I've got a few others which I'm not sure of but might just be eye candy - Women in History, American Dream, Call to Arms, Purple Phoenix. No idea how I wound up with some of those, maybe freebies or bundled with other DLC I wanted.
v

I'm pretty bad at knowing which DLC enables which features. It's a problem and that's why I just have them all lol.

But I would recommend Cradle of Civilization for any runs in that region.

Here is the awesome run-down of the DLC that Strategy Gamer did

I posted it before, but worth another one

https://www.strategygamer.com/articles/europa-universalis-iv-dlc-buying-guide/

I read that - I have all the "Essential" ones except Emperor.
Since we are in the midst of a Steam Sale, maybe I'll just go ahead and pick up Cradle of Civilization....