How the fuck do I win at this game if you're not one of the major powers?
>play as Castile
>rape
>play as Portugal
>rape
>play as England
>rape
>play as Ottomans
>rape
>play as almost any other country
>GET RAPED IN ALL HOLES AND THEN KILLED BEFORE THE 16TH CENTURY
GIT
GUD
If you are not westernized or muslim = You are shit, Or huge countries just tend to buttfuck you in Europe.
Try:
-Playing as native american tribe and conquer as much as you can so you survive when europs arrive and buttfuck you and then westernize yourself to stand a chance
-Play Japan and conquer glorious east Asia after uniting yourself
Forming Russia is also kinda okay i guess.
Just savescum like the rest of us.
I want to play as an African country. I noticed they added a bunch of African shit in the recent patch.
I don't want to get raped like the OP. What do?
>>334854897
Show New World
>>334854897
Welcome to the real world.
This is a time when a handful of European nations conquered and utterly dominated the entire globe. England alone has invaded 90% of the Earth's nations, and won most of the time. I really don't know what you expect from a game set in this time period, but assrape, colonization, and conquest probably should have been it. Even if it wasn't, the name "Europa Universalis" should have clued you in.
>>334856450
pathetic white male detected
>>334854897
It is rather easy to succeed as a small piece of shit country. All you have to do is ally the country with the biggest dick near you and take advantage of other countries misfortunes.
The key to playing a small country in Europe is to ally either France or Austria depending on if you plan on attacking into the empire/are in the empire. Just have claims up and ready on your neighbors so you can pounce at any moment. Really after the first 20 years you are already in a situation where you cannot lose unless you go full retard. Just got done doing a Knights -> Jerusalem campaign, all I had to do was ally Venice and wait for the Ottomans to declare on the Mamluks (which they ALWAYS do considering their missions) and sweep in with or without Venice, however Venice usually rivals mamluks so you should be alright. After that it is easy to expand into anywhere that isn't the Ottomans.
>>334856292
Play Kongo or Kuba. Those are pretty good if you want to get HUGE early on because your neighbors are just shit.
And here as well: Westernize and make that your focus.
>>334854897
play vijayanagar
take over india
form bharat
win
>>334856959
Forgot to mention on my Jerusalem campaign that I also required to have an alliance with Poland/Lithuania in order to not get ass blasted by the Ottoscum
>>334854897
You don't.
EU4's mana system and RNG chance cards will never make it viable for someone to win as a minor nation.
Just play Victoria 2 or Crusader Kings 2.
some opm's are actually god damn powerful
you wouldn't guess it but the nation of Ternate is actually in a fantastic position to start dominating entire SE asia
>>334856959
How do you war the HRE minor states without Austria summoning 500k troops?
>>334856292
Kongo and Kilwa are rather strong and good for newer players in Africa should they want to give it a try. Kilwa is in an easier position considering they are in a better tech group than their inner African neighbors and quick access to all those delicious gold provinces in Mutapa.
Also having a higher military technology advantage is ESSENTIAL to doing well as any country. The tech ups that give you the biggest advantage are the ones that give you military tactics, the first of which is at Mil tech 4. A 10k army will beat up to a 16k army if you are tech 4 and the enemy is tech 3 and not taking any penalties. Usually you will be prioritizing your military technology over everything else unless you are trying to do an idea group.
If I'm a pagan and I westernize, should I also convert to Christianity? Would I get more benefits that way?
>>334854897
How much of a scrub you have to be to suck at EU? It's one of the easiest/casualized games they made.
This kills the /gsg/
>>334857415
If you are inside of the empire all you need is to have a claim and they shouldn't join in unless its a free city republic or allied to them. If you are outside of the empire you really just have to ally France and anyone else who is rivaled to Austria. But even at that point it could still be troublesome since attacking into the empire automatically makes Austria a co-belligerent so a great time to attack would be when Austria's allies are held up by something else. France usually can 1v1 Austria pretty easily if they aren't distracted.
>>334854897
>Set yourself a goal
>Achieve that goal
Congrats, you just won.
>>334857540
depends
first of catholicism is fairly bad for non european nations given that if your provinces are outside of the european mainland you CANNOT gain bishops
secondly with the new corruption mechanic the initial conversion will leave your country in a piss poor shape, if you're not already at 3 stability and have over 20 provinces you're at a very real risk of imploding, especially if a neighbor pounces you. You will already be dealing with virtual constant rebellions, each having a bigger army than you can muster but you'll also be losing 40 to 80% of your income to fighting corruption
>>334857540
Pagan religions don't give you any good events or have any good modifiers (pagan as in Shamanist/Fetishist/Animist). Christianity will automatically make you have better relations with Europeans due to religion, and swapping to protestant or reformed gives great benefits. Not to mention converting pagan religions is easy as shit as pretty much any of standard religions.
However I would say the best religion in the game is Sunni.
>>334854897
Is this a mod? it looks prettier than my game, I guess it's a transparent political map mod or something like that.
>>334854897
Fuck you OP. Have some win.Also, WE
![8FD9E04B053E34ADBD774A260802769CA9440B65[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/SHGQIGW.jpg "8FD9E04B053E34ADBD774A260802769CA9440B65[1].jpg")
Wrapping up my very first game soon, after learning the basics.
Who should I play next time?
I only have vanilla, no DLCs.
>>334858416
Byzantium
>>334858652
Isn't that like the hardest scenario?
Honestly, I've never seen the appeal of playing the powerful countries. The most powerful one I've ever started with was the Timurids. All the others are small countries and one-province minors.
Out of England, France, Spain, or Portugal, which one should I try?
>>334858169
the conversion through westernization mechanic does have one massive benefit
it allows you to keep the pagan decisions active and some of them are very powerful especially ontop of an actual good religion
ALWAYS get the Religious Sacrifices decision: free -20% cost for stability increases is great and so is the +1 prestige per year
Encourage Divination is a bit of a toss up but generally +5% stability cost is worth -1 unrest (especially given the aformentioned -20% cost)
Animism and Totemism have free +2 missionary strength decisions, these are no-brainers as well
Tengri can choose between +2 tolerance for heathens and +2 missionary strength. The increased tolerance for heathens combined with humanism can easily get you to the +3 tolerance cap for heathens which renders any religious differences moot
>>334854897
Become a vassal for a major country so people are less likely to attack you. Use that to create a base. Then gain independence with the help of another country.
See here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljptbZFClE8
>>334858789
Fuck off.
>>334854897
>when France and Austria become allies
>>334858416
Try Brandenburg, form Prussia then Germany
still western, still powerful, but you can actually fuck up unlike with france
>>334859208
how about the historical french/ottoman alliance?
>>334854897
>not forming super Germany out of Brandenburg aand assraping europe
Twirl your moustache some more, faggot
>tfw still over a month left until Hearts of Iron 4
>tfw no Vicky III
Its meant to be hard. If you play a tiny state in bumfuck nowhere with big neighbours then expect them to fucking take advantage of that. Make alliances, pounce at opportunities, fund rebels, take 20 loans and hire merceneries in a desperate war.
Or in short, git gud.
>>334859237
Seconding this.
Went from playing only super powers to a brandenburg->prussia->germany game and it was the most fun I've had.
>>334858932
Really the most fun I have in playing EU4 is the first 100 years as a small country. Early in the game you are actually vulnerable and weak, prone to constant threats. But after around 50 years you really can't lose if you have expanded healthily.
All of those countries you listed are pretty easy mode, but France is certainly the strongest out of them. England would be the weakest since Portugal and Spain usually end up in an alliance and just colonize the world in their spare time. They might end up being the most fun since France should by all means beat you in initial war for taking back their cores unless you have strong allies. You are also under threat of Burgundy or Denmark randomly attacking you, and you have a more limited choice in allies considering all the strong powers usually rival you. But England did get a development buff this last expansion, along with Ireland having a lot more development for you to gobble up. However even if you lose your mainland European provinces you could still just go full afk colonize mode and do very well with your navy shield.
>>334859507
>tfw atleast two years until BlackICE for Hoi4
>>334856570
butthurt negroid colony fodder detected
>>334859208
In a Savoy game I had France get a PU over Austria in the first 3 years.
>playing as spain
>allied with sweden, austria, and portugal
>decide to invade france. they have no allies
>lose many battles but still slowly chipping away at france's manpower
>still lose the war since france's manpower never ever fucken reaches 0
Why the fuck is France so fucken hard to beat
>>334859237
>>334859237
>>334859485
Excellent, I'm doing it.
>>334859963
lucky nation
>>334859963
Elan.
>>334859507
>tfw no Vicky III
This seems easier to understand than CK2.
>>334859237
>playing brandenburg->germany campaign
>somehow in the mid 1700s France becomes a junior partner in a union despite being extremely powerful
>wait 50 years to annex option
>time for annexation goes beyond the length of the game
>tfw I could've used our combined power to remove kebab in those 50 years
>tfw i'll never have an empire spanning from the bottom of Granada to the most western reaches of eastern Europe
>>334859921
my current game features the eastern triple monarchy of the commonwealth, greater sweden and the russian empire
its as stable as it is monstrously powerful especially given sweden is colonizing the new world and russia is steadily gobbling up siberia
>Portugal
>major power
t. Alberto Barbosa
How nerfed is Muscovy/Russia in the past few updates?
>>334860225
EU4 is certainly the easiest of the /gsg/ games to get into, however CK2 is a close second.
>>334860478
I've actually seen AI russia stand up to the polish space marines so not that much
novgorod has been nerfed into the ground though
>>334860478
In the games I've played it seems like Lithuania/Poland/Livonian Order always crushes Russia.
>>334854897
You need to get better, really. You can do a lot with non-major powers.
>>334860234
France would just have joined you in any war, like a vassel. No need to annex to remove kebab together.
>>334860478
Moscovy actually got buffed in the form of Novgorod getting buffed which means you are stronger after eating them since unless Poland goes full retard and doesn't take the union over Lithuania, Novgorod has 0 allies.
>>334858416
Is it possible to paint the whole map or are other countries needed for functional economies or something?
>>334860712
No, you can just conquer the entire world.
>>334860712
I have never done it myself since I get bored with my games around the 1700 mark, but it can be done. Especially as a strong starting country like the Ottomans.
A really good youtuber/streamer has done it as Ryukyu, a shit country South of Japan and to the East of China that has no possible way to expand without no CBing anybody.
>>334860712
there's a few arbitrary limits in place, you could in theory paint the whole map but a lot depends on how much mana you have
>>334860982
The best to do it as would be the Ottomans since they have cheap as fuck and quick coring.
I've never dabbled in the EU stuff. Only ever tried CK 2 and it was very difficult uniting Russia. Is it possible in EU?
I've only ever played Darkest Hour HOI and HoI II substaintially. Playing 1939 Russia and fighting back the Germans on difficult settings is real fun. Otherwise there's not a whole lot going on.
>>334861298
uniting russia is piss easy as muscovy, yes
>>334854897
>How the fuck do I win at this game if you're not one of the major powers?
Strategies that help me as OPM's:
1. Develop your provinces. You can catch up on tech thanks to your neighbors. A mil focus helps you keep up in mil tech.
2. Don't hire advisors. Save up your money instead to hire mercs and pay for their maintenance when you go over force limits.
3. Don't take a lot of land in wars. Steal money, break alliances, and force reparations to avoid AE.
4. Get claims on everything you want to take. Less time coring and less admin points spent helps a lot.
5. Use the ledger. Keep an eye on who has low manpower and who is in debt. Attack nations when they're weak.
6. Take diplomatic/influence ideas first. OPMs aren't fit to colonize or fight navally, so invest everything in that to gain buddies early on and keep them.
I have not played with the new patch that has corruption and the new espionage system so I can't say how they'll affect my strategies, however I have conquered a lot as OPMs in the HRE, Greece, India, and Mesoamerica, and Africa using these tactics. Navarra, Anatolian Minors, and some other countries may not go as well because they're locked between such powerful neighbors.
>>334861448
Alright, difficulty aside, is it fun? Are there any scripted events/scenarios/triggers?
>>334861739
Russia is considered a Tier 1 nation by Paradox so they have a lot of events to keep them busy. There are also mods with a focus on Russia that add even more stuff.
How come revolutionaries are so OPÖ
>>334861298
Uniting Russia is easy. The largest obstacle to a successful Russia is Poland/PLC who have some of the best military boosts in the game.
I can understand the Ottomans, but why the fuck do Poland and France have literal superhuman soldiers?
I want to get this game just to play as Japan. A friend told me this wasn't a good idea without getting more experience with the game first and suggested I start as a European country. How true is this?
>>334861849
*OP?
If I have zero manpower, how can a rebellion appear with ~20k troops?
I mean, if your manpower represents able-bodied, combat age males, and you have 0 available, where are the rebels getting their troops?
Byzantium is fucking shit.
>spend my campaign as Poland trying to get rid of the Ottomans before they devour Byzanz
>make alliances with everyone and manage to completely eradicate them
>a bit later Byzantium gets conquered by some shitty minor muslim neighbor anyways
What a disgrace.
>>334861924
Japan mechanics are currently broken in EU4.
>>334861924
It's an iffy idea. Japan is more fun in EU4 than in EU3, but still kinda gay.
>>334862339
They're not broken just not very good
>>334862281
Mercenaries.
>>334862339
How did they fuck it up this time?
>>334861920
The French army during this time period is widely recognised as one of the best.
The status of the Polish army is disputed by a lot of EU4 players.
>>334861924
It's doable if you have experience with grand strategy but I agree that prior Western Tech experience would be extremely useful.
>>334861920
No idea about Poland but France was pretty strong in the middle ages.
>>334861924
Very true. At the map screen where you can pick and choose any country on the globe, there is a select few that are recommended by paradox for beginners Nearly all are European. I suggest Castile first.
>>334862339
>My Japan got conquered by some fucking Mongol neighbor
>>334861924
>I want to get this game just to play as Japan. A friend told me this wasn't a good idea without getting more experience with the game first and suggested I start as a European country. How true is this?
If you want to play as Japan, I recommend Victoria II. Playing as Japan in that time period is far more interesting and rewarding. However, Victoria II has a much higher learning curve so if you don't want to invest a lot of time learning it, I suggest waiting until Japan gets a dlc focused on making it more fun to play as.
>>334861495
Developing your provinces should really only be done if you are swimming in monarch points. Developing is expensive and doesn't give you a gigantic boost over everyone else, but it is still a nice thing to do. Just don't let it put you behind in tech or ideas.
Hiring advisers is actually a good thing and I would encourage you to do so if you have the economy. Even if you are poor I would recommend to anyone who is able, even if it gives you barely an income, to take a military adviser to give you extra mil points that go a LONG way.
You can still take a lot of land in wars but yes watch out for coalitions. A good tip is that people of different regions/religions don't give near as much of a shit if you full annex someone who isn't their religion or in their region.
Diplomatic ideas are good to take, but influence is just bad.
Whats the dumbest thing that happened in your maps
>>334862570
>CR2 is getting a japanese expansion next
The game is already bloated as fuck and running like shit - Why does Paradox keep adding shit instead of fixing it or just making Crusader Kings 3?
>>334862570
Behold.
>>334861920
France was historically powerful and it shows in the game, Poland is just really a sheer manpower grind. Poland and Lithuania have a huge combined force limit and manpower cap so they throw big stacks at you over and over again after you beat them back as opposed to France's big stack just raping you.
>>334862729
Because casuals play it, and I guess Japan has some interesting stuff on the time period.
>>334862527
>Castile
Not unless the devs have nerfed subject liberty desire (for PUs). Having Aragon+Naples in PU really fucks Castile up these days.
>>334862281
Magic
>>334862729
>CR2 is getting a japanese expansion next
Seriously?
>>334862729
>a japanese expansion next
what, this sounds like shitposting to me
>>334854897
What mods should I play with
>>334863065
>>334863087
Check their dev blog.
>here is a hint for our next expansion topic
>bonsai.jpg
>EU: Rome will never have a proper, fleshed out remake
>you will never establish a Parthian Empire from the Indus to the Tiber
Just break my heart, senpai.
>>334863321
Probably an Aprils fool, because clostest tuesday to the first of April. If they added Japan, they had to add in (parts of China) as well, doubt they are gonna do that.
>>334863391
I would prefer Victoria 3 first. But definitely a new Rome game second.
>>334863526
Honestly a Chinese addition would be pretty fucking awesome if they just have it localized to China and have it set from 150ad-400ad. The fall of the Han and Three Kingdoms period would make a fantastic location for CK2 based game play.
>trying to play Nepal and form Bharat
4 or 5 strong regional powers, who all ally with each other leaving almost no opening to slip a knife into. Why does EVERY country in India have 5 alliances? Holy fuck.
>>334860187
>wanting Vicky III from modern Paradox
>>334864165
>not forming Tibet instead
Buddhist pride worldwide
>>334864165
Nepal is the Indian Prussia of super soldiers. Just rival who you are going to expand into and ally the rest. Juanpur is always against Bengal and Delhi, so you could try allying Bengal and Delhi to eat into Juanpur and continue further South.
>>334864265
gsg get out
>>334864265
I don't even care anymore senpai, I just need my fix of Pickelhauben.
>>334854897
Just like real life
