Tips for a new person?

[Jagwires777]

I just got the game and i am confused. Anyone have any tips or maybe an easy nation to start out as?

thanks

[Fabolous]

For a new player, I'd advise you start with a powerful nation first, and I highly encourage France. Powerful, strong economy without trade, can go in pretty much any direction the player wants. Can trade, colonize, conquer, pretty much anything, all with realitively equal effectivenss.

Some jarring things I remember from first loading up... ah, money. When you first start a campaign, you'll be losing money monthly and this is okay. Live of yearly income. And there are no province improvements to build at the beginning.

I strongly recommend keeping the guidebook handy. It explains alot of things, sometimes when playing at the start I had no idea what something meant. With the manual, you can pause and look up what the hell is happening.



Also, I recommend playing online mutliplayer with some people from the community around here once you have the basics. Get a game going with an experienced player next to you, and watch their effective tatics and reap the benefits of their power right next to you, and take advantage of the aid that player can provide. MP really helped my game out, and I already thought I "knew" everything.

[Jagwires777]

thanks for the info

[William the Bastard]

If you have any problems or questions just post them on this thread. This section gets checked daily by most of the hardcore EUIII MP players.

Best advice I can give is to not necessarily go to war with the nation you want to take territory from. Declare war on their allies if it means one less nation is going to be against you.

Always try and get a Casus Belli if possible. "Royal Marriage" and then "Claim Throne" is a cheap and effective trick. You will still lose a stability point for the royal marriage but it is one less.

You will find that taking territory can be a slow process. Sometimes multiple wars are necessary to defeat and claim territory. Which brings us onto another irritating but brilliant feature "Bad Boy Points".

In my manual I misread the section on BB's and only learned about them later on. Basically where it says in red "You have a tarnished reputation" or other things that escape me atm hover the moue over the script and a number will appear. Keep this low as much as possible or every nation will dec war on you. Not a good situation if you have just fought a long campaign. BB wars can be fun though only not as a beginner.

Most of all persevere and you will learn how to play. Learn from your losses and most of all enjoy it.

[Noble Savage]

I'm glad I found this thread WtB. Now I can read the tips and lose with some sort of dignity now

[William the Bastard]

I'm glad I found this thread WtB. Now I can read the tips and lose with some sort of dignity now

I like the idea of this thread. Anyone who has any questions or needs help can just ask for it. Brilliant.

[John I Tzimisces]

You have to demand terms if the country you've occupied is more than a single province. This is done primarily to slow both unrealistic AI and player conquest of the entire planet. Since you occupy the whole country, you can sieze 3 of their 4 provinces and make them a vassal if you want...though if you do that, you're better off diplomatically annexing them: aka, if someone has been your vassal for 10 years, and has relations over 190, you can demand they be annexed.

[Arakorn]

...you can demand they be annexed.

Can you demand, or only ask?

[Seleucus I Nicator]

I played as Poland first. It is a formidable faction, not too easy or too hard for a beginner.

As for BB wars, damn they are fun! I'm not partipiculary good at EU, but I really enjoyed when I was Austria and got thrown into a tough war with Venice, Bavaria, Bohemia, France, Saxony, Schweiz, the Ottomans, Mecklenburg and various other small states. It was early on, and I lost like half of my territorial gains from years of conquest.

[Jagwires777]

ok i got put into a union with another country and they have control. Is there anything i can do to get out of cause it seems like while im in this union all i can do is sit there?
Also does it benefit me in anyway to be in a union and why was i put in it in the 1st place?

[Kanaric]

no way to get out until their monarch dies. Its one of the disadvantages of a royal marriage.

the good thing about it though is that when your out you allied with them plus have 200 relations. They are ripe for vassalization and diplo annexation.

[William the Bastard]

They are ripe for vassalization and diplo annexation.

Don't forget the ten year wait between these two!

Diplo-Annexation I find is the best way of making your nation larger. However find the key time to do it. If they have a large army or fleet this will disappear if the annex is successful. An example of waiting is my campaign as Brandenburg.

After a very bloody war with Mecklenburg I had just enough war score to vassalise them. then after allying with them they became a fantastic ally for defending my provinces as I carved my way onwards.

To do the final Diplo-Annex it is best to have a small Bad Boy rating (reputation). This will make it more likely to succeed.

[Jagwires777]

is there anyway to check how long a nation has been your vassel? or how long you have a truce with some one for?

[William the Bastard]

is there anyway to check how long a nation has been your vassal? or how long you have a truce with some one for?

It may be somewhere in the ledger. I am not really sure where though (or if the info is even there). Truces last 5 years (IIRC) and after 10 years you can diplo-annex.

[Arakorn]

Isn't it 2 years for a truce? (not sure...)

[Holocaust]

5 I think it is.

[RusskiSoldat]

How do you diplo annex a nation (the entire process)?

[William the Bastard]

How do you diplo annex a nation (the entire process)?

Diplomatic Annexation.

If you need any more info just ask.

[Arakorn]

Meh, I've had Navarra as a vassal now for over 10 years (as Castille). Our relations are 200 but it just says 'maybe' and they reject it everytime. How can I annex them?

And another thing. I have very good relations with Aragon, but because of the stupid 2-ally-limit, I can't get an alliance with them. Is it possible to diplo-annex them, claiming their throne and forcing them as your vassal? How much will our relations detoriate and will they ever accept to be annexed (keeping in mind that they have alot more provinces than Navarra!)

[Spart]

Meh, I've had Navarra as a vassal now for over 10 years (as Castille). Our relations are 200 but it just says 'maybe' and they reject it everytime. How can I annex them?

And another thing. I have very good relations with Aragon, but because of the stupid 2-ally-limit, I can't get an alliance with them. Is it possible to diplo-annex them, claiming their throne and forcing them as your vassal? How much will our relations detoriate and will they ever accept to be annexed (keeping in mind that they have alot more provinces than Navarra!)

Wait. That's the best advice I can give. After 15 or 20 years it starts to be a lot easier. High prestige and low BB helps too, as said in the link above. It took me 50 years to annex Scotland as England, smaller countries naturally give up a little faster.

As for Aragon, you can't really do much diplomatically if they don't want to ally. Otherwise you could offer vassalisation. That, of course, is always quite unlikely and takes time. The easiest way is to start a war (claim throne, send a few insults, or you might have a boundary dispute) and force vassalisation, in addition to demanding some provinces. After 10 years they have a crappy 1 province nation and they'll accept annexation pretty fast.