Gaming 1836 - The Europa Universalis 4 Experiment (Hands-off) - Map & stats in second post - Final Map and Stats update - Timelapse video

As the game progresses, army size (while important) becomes less of a deciding factor and other mechanics come into play, like discipline, tech level differences, tech group, stats for your generals, etc.

For example for tech groups, anatolian countries have a military advantage over western countries until about military tech 14, muslims have an advantage over both until about tech mil tech 18 and western tech trumps all late game.

Idea groups will be super important too. Countries that are stacking military ideas like quality, offense, etc will have superior land armies over countries that have used their idea slots on exploration, expansion, etc. The latter techs are useful for fast expansion and to grow your econ, but provide little for your armies. It's a trade off.
 
Diary of Ex-Sultan of Morocco, Unwilling Islander, Day 52

St. Helena is a little more... green than I'm used to, but I suppose I'll adjust. Do palm trees grow in deserts? Asking for a friend. The nightlife here consists of sea turtles and the occasional cricket's chirp. I've resorted to arguing geopolitics with a parrot - he's isolationist, by the way. I miss the desert. There's only so much one can do with ocean sand. It's lonely here.
 
Diary of Ex-Sultan of Morocco, Unwilling Islander, Day 52

St. Helena is a little more... green than I'm used to, but I suppose I'll adjust. Do palm trees grow in deserts? Asking for a friend. The nightlife here consists of sea turtles and the occasional cricket's chirp. I've resorted to arguing geopolitics with a parrot - he's isolationist, by the way. I miss the desert. There's only so much one can do with ocean sand. It's lonely here.
:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
 
1602 Country Updates - part 2 (click to expand)

Let's begin the second part with someone who looked like they were in trouble, but have spectacularly rebounded: @Abizzz. They lost a war earlier to @adexkola (as you can tell by the green stripes, lost provinces), but after that they went very aggressive, particularly against poor @Dr. Dwayne (who is still hanging on). They have a really stupidly shaped country, but nobody's perfect. They're also one of the high profile Reformed countries, which could be interesting for a future Religious War in the Empire. Dutchess Leni de Abizzz has unimpressive stats but good traits: martial educator, well connected and architectural visionary. Prediction: they're going to continue expanding. If they can hang on to their allies they'll be successful, but if they lose @Eboue in particular they are going to get smacked down by @adexkola again.

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@altodevil was another of the mostly inactive countries, but lately he seems to have gained some confidence. Isn't it nice to see the kids grow up? In this case he grew all the way into @Welsh Wonder's territory. He's also got some nascent attempts at colonization in the Americas, which we might see more of in the next update. altodevil is currently gathering a coalition of countries with dumb shapes. His pretty competent King Angus de Abizzz (yes, de Abizzz) is both midas touched and a tactical genius. Prediction: he's going to continue squeezing Welsh Wonder out of Britain.

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@BD is our third country to pick the Exploration idea, and he's currently busy making his mark in Africa. In addition to the Cape colony he has established (no doubt to carry on into Asia), he's gradually conquering the African power of Kongo. And there is more to conquer after that. He's not really involving himself in any European conflicts, which is probably a good idea with his mostly peaceful idea set. Mathilda da Lencastre is a craven, but young Filipe BD is soon old enough to take the throne. Prediction: He's going to dominate Southern Africa and maybe even head to India once he's properly rounded the Horn.

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@Igor Drefljak is pretty much just historical Norway at this point. His German possessions were first to go, and his Danish possessions were taken from him by the @adexkola-led vultures. He's got a decent relationship with @BootsyCollins, who has even guaranteed his independence. Maybe with views to take Igor for himself later, one suspects. Igor is a bit behind in ideas, but has barely dipped his toe into the colonialism-water. If BootsyCollins turns on him he's not going to last for long, though he has a pretty good ally in @altodevil. Queen Ulfhildr is righteous, kind hearted and a free thinker. Pretty strong! Prediction: @BootsyCollins is going to make him one of the next 3-4 to leave us.

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@P-Nut is just happy to be here. He's not one for conquest or colonization yet, though as technology advances he'll find it easier to reach the New World. What he does have is a very solid set of ideas, and a very solid set of allies. King Enrico is strict, and has the militarist AI personality (the axe), so if I were him I would aim myself at @V.O. if brave, maybe Switzerland/Geneva if not. Prediction: he's going to attack Switzerland.

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Look at @RedSky and his ridiculous colonial empire, forcing me to center the screenshot in the middle of the Atlantic. That blue-green colour you can see in America means it's part of one of his colonial nations. So far he's the only one other than @Organic Potatoes who has any. He's still allied to @Solius, but it seems like @AnotherLondonManc was dropped (or dropped him) at some point. In any case RedSky should be happy to see that he's well caught up with his ideas. It probably helps that King Alain Redsky is a 3-5-6 ruler, with the lawgiver and tactical genius traits. As you can tell by the map he has lots of claims on @Eboue, but he might want to ignore those and just keep building a colonial empire. Prediction: he's going to be the premier power in North America.

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@Samid looks sort of samey to what he looked like at the beginning, but he has actually expanded. He found a successful relationship with @BootsyCollins, which has so far been particularly effective at taking small chunks off @PSV and @Salt Bailly. He might also feel tempted to expand west into Germany, after @Dr. Dwayne has been beaten to within an inch of his life and is no longer a protector of Prussia (formerly Teutons). Margarita Kesgaila is a pretty poor regent, but the 4-4-6 Girdenis Samid is just a year or two from taking over. Prediction: he's going to continue nibbling on PSV and Salt Bailly, and maybe finish PSV completely.

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@SilentWitness still has his strip of European land after @Eboue came visiting, but at this point he's almost more of a West African nation. At least in pure size, though it bears remembering that he's put quite an effort into expanding the development of his home provinces. He's wisely allied @Solius, particularly given the fact that Solius is currently conquering his way down into West Africa. It would be best for SilentWitness to avoid any conflict there. If he does, he can build quite a nice empire. Queen Evertonia I is a conqueror, but also an embezzler. Which seems to scan. Prediction: If he can stay allied with @Solius and @altodevil he'll be safe against @Eboue. If the alliances break, he's done.

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Finally for the batch (and probably for tonight; sorry to the remainder!), we're rounding out our Italians with @VeevaVee. He's hit a bit of a wall as far as European conquest goes. Allying @hobbers was probably a wise decision, but that means if he wants to expand further he has to target @Andycoleno9. That might not be such a bad idea, particularly considering that trio of Italian provinces that Andy took from VeevaVee some years back. The one problem here is that Andy is allied to @P-Nut, one of the Italian triumvirs. King Francesco Theodoli is pretty competent, and is both incorruptible and a bold fighter. Prediction: if P-Nut stays allied to Andy, we're going to see another war between Italians. Hopefully VeevaVee brings some allies this time.​
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Very bold of you to predict a war from my country after doing sweet fa for
160 years.

I don't think we've taken a single province all game
 
Diary of Ex-Sultan of Morocco, Unwilling Islander, Day 52

St. Helena is a little more... green than I'm used to, but I suppose I'll adjust. Do palm trees grow in deserts? Asking for a friend. The nightlife here consists of sea turtles and the occasional cricket's chirp. I've resorted to arguing geopolitics with a parrot - he's isolationist, by the way. I miss the desert. There's only so much one can do with ocean sand. It's lonely here.

Anything we can ship over to you? Food, games, courtesans/whores of either sex?
 
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I do hope that one of the exploring nations will drop in on Shakesey when they're next in the South Atlantic.

I don't think he's coping well..
 
1602 Country Updates - part 3 (click to expand)


Let's start the final part of the update with a real aggressive one, @adexkola. He's grown quite a lot so far this game, particularly at the expense of @Igor Drefljak and possibly @Dr. Dwayne. He also took a bite out of @Abizzz, if I remember correctly. His only weakness might be that his allies aren't the strongest around, and particularly @KirkDuyt seems to be a target for bullying by the ever-more-French Eboue. adexkola already chose Offensive and Quantity ideas, so if he now picks Quality we know he's out for blood. Duke Alfred adexkola, who is a pretty decent 4/5/3 in stats, is well connected, an architectural visionary and malevolent. Prediction: He's going to keep attacking @Igor Drefljak, possibly chasing him all the way into Norway. The minor country of Wolgast is also a clear target.

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@Andycoleno9 was talking about Hungary all game, and finally he seems to have slain his white whale. His army is pretty small for a country his size, which might be an issue should he ever find himself in a big war with other players. Which is not unlikely, considering he has chosen to ally himself with three small countries who could drag him into trouble at any moment. He's got some claims down in Italy, but I'm not sure picking another fight with @VeevaVee is such a good idea. Worked last time, though. Duke Matthias is quite strong, and is both an architectural visionary and a bold fighter. Maybe picking fights is a good idea after all. Prediction: One of his small friends is going to get him into big trouble. Probably Prussia, although they might be about to be conquered.

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Ah yes, the OG of EU4 victims. @Crackers knows all about being target of a malicious alliance of neighbours. I've lost count, but they must have attacked him at least four or five times at this point. Now he finds himself stuck on the Azores, his only remaining province. It also seems like perhaps @Solius and @BD are content for him to stay there, because they both actually have pretty good relations with Crackers now. I guess it really was nothing persojnal. In any case, King Paolo Crackers is a bit meh, but his traits are fierce negotiator, charismatic negotiator and conqueror. Well... Prediction: As long as he doesn't ally anyone he'll probably be fine. If he ever finds himself in a war, it's over.

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Next up is @Dr. Dwayne, another one who has suffered at the hands of his enemies. He was actually doing quite well, but all it takes is one big war and you're sore all over. As of right now he's only got two provinces remaining, and he has perhaps unwisely allied the small country of Dithmarschen. It's unclear just how he's supposed to bounce back from the current situation, but he's furiously improving @Samid's opinion of him, so maybe he has a plan. Unfortunately Count Martin Dr. Dwayne is a bit of a dunce. He's also industrious and an obsessive perfectionist. Prediction: He's the next to go.

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We've come to @Eboue, definitely the person who most frequently checks this thread for progress updates. To be fair, there has been quite a lot of progress to stay up to date on. After finishing with all the minor countries in France at the start, he's now taken big bites out of both @Welsh Wonder, @SilentWitness and @KirkDuyt. He's currently got a bunch of claims going on @RedSky, but RedSky is famously well-allied, so I doubt there's anything going on there. Eboue has a pretty strong set of allies, and is currently attempting to colonize the most enticing part of the New World: Newfoundland. Queen Etiennette Eboue is pretty bad, and infertile, but at least she's also tolerant and righteous. Prediction: he's going to make life quite hard for @SilentWitness.

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@KirkDuyt has something to avenge, being one of the countries most bullied by @Eboue. He's grown quite small, though that doesn't necessarily mean he's weak. He's also got a fierce set of allies in @adexkola and @Solius. Maybe Solius will help someone else conquer something for once? Probably not. Despite everything KirkDuyt is still in a pretty good position, as long as he can just avoid being fully conquered by the French bully. He's currently attempting to colonize both Panama and Guyana. Dutch Jesus I is decent, and is an intricate webweaver. Prediction: He's going to try to get his core provinces back, kicking off a big European war with Eboue.

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"No possible rivals" says the game, as if @Shakesey hadn't been humiliated enough. Though to be fair, it's probably not easy to find suitable rivals when your whole empire is contained on the island of St. Helena. The island which is most famous for being the only place remote enough to keep Napoleon from getting back to France to raise another five armies. The good news is that nobody actually wants to take St. Helena from him, and he doesn't have any allies who can drag him into stupid wars. Sultan Aheyyad I al-Shabani is okay, I guess, and also an entrepreneur and tolerant. Prediction: he's going to outlive Dr. Dwayne, Crackers, PSV and Welsh Wonder.

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@Tiber is not having the most exciting time so far. Being hobbled to hobbers means he's unlikely to get into any trouble, but it also means he's in a bit of a bubble. He currently has no avenue for expansion. This was made doubly obvious when his overlord start expanding to Tiber's east, right into prime expansion territory. There is no chance that he could get inherited (taken by hobbers completely), but if he wants something to happen he's going to have to get out of the personal union somehow. Unfortunately he seems pretty content in his position, with an 11% "liberty desire". It needs to be 50% for him to actually do anything about it. Prediction: he's going to stay in the personal union for at least another update, unless the Reformation and possible Religious War in the Empire shakes things up.

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Last up for the update, it's @V.O.. I realize called him "not the strongest around" earlier when discussing him as an ally to @adexkola, and that probably wasn't completely fair of me. He's done almost no conquering, but he's got a pretty good set of provinces, and his army is both decently sized and of rather high quality. I still think being allied to Switzerland is a bad idea, as opposed to just conquering Switzerland, but he's also got the aforementioned @adexkola. His best bet is probably find himself at war with someone of the smaller countries to his north, like Bohemia or Saxony. Duke Bruno Glazer is a quite strong monarch, but he's also greedy, siphoning money from his holdings. fecker. Prediction: V.O is going to be heavily involved in any future Religious War, and probably not together with the heretic adexkola.

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@Eboue I heard @adexkola is a trust fund baby, venture capitalist and short seller with a side hustle as a lobbyist. We should definitely ally against him to get my bite back.
 
Dear god. Shakesey doesn't even have exploration ideas to get himself off the island either? :lol:

edit: he has +1 colonist as a tradition, but I'm not sure if he'd have the range without exploration ideas.
 
Oh shit the War of the Protestant League (basically the Thirty Years War) broke out. It's technically of a fight over whether the Emperor is a Protestant or a Catholic, but it's mostly just a way for everyone to get together and have a big war. That it's not really about religion is easily seen by how many Catholic countries are fighting each other.

In the following screenshot you can see who is on. All the red countries are on one side, all the green are on the other. @BD being blue here means they're allied to RedSky (who I have selected), but have not chosen a side. Also that means @V.O. and @adexkola are not in it (because they were in a war already), but @Andycoleno9 is in it (I think because he was allied to the leader of the Protestant League.

Oh yeah, and the leader of the Protestand League is the tiny country of Opole, which seems like it's a bad idea.

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We're having a great war and none of my large neighbors are joining? Missed opportunity :(
 
(This doesn't show all the participants, it's not big enough)

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You guys are divided as follows (with your actual religions in parentheses)

Protestant League: @Eboue (Catholic), @Abizzz (Reformed), @hobbers (Orthodox), @altodevil (Catholic), @P-Nut (Catholic), @Andycoleno9 (Protestant), @Tiber (Orthodox)

Catholic League: @KirkDuyt (Catholic), @Samid (Catholic), @Organic Potatoes (Catholic), @Solius (Catholic), @Walrus (Sunni), @VeevaVee (Catholic), @RedSky (Catholic), @Igor Drefljak (Catholic)
 
Not having any ports doesn't protect me from having them blocked it seems. Hope the Catholics have their troops in the colonies.
 
Oh shit the War of the Protestant League (basically the Thirty Years War) broke out. It's technically of a fight over whether the Emperor is a Protestant or a Catholic, but it's mostly just a way for everyone to get together and have a big war. That it's not really about religion is easily seen by how many Catholic countries are fighting each other.

In the following screenshot you can see who is on. All the red countries are on one side, all the green are on the other. @BD being blue here means they're allied to RedSky (who I have selected), but have not chosen a side. Also that means @V.O. and @adexkola are not in it (because they were in a war already), but @Andycoleno9 is in it (I think because he was allied to the leader of the Protestant League.

Oh yeah, and the leader of the Protestand League is the tiny country of Opole, which seems like it's a bad idea.

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Ah, so my lads only did something to make sure they wouldn't have to partake in the actual interesting thing that was happening. Fair enough.
 
Oh shit the War of the Protestant League (basically the Thirty Years War) broke out. It's technically of a fight over whether the Emperor is a Protestant or a Catholic, but it's mostly just a way for everyone to get together and have a big war. That it's not really about religion is easily seen by how many Catholic countries are fighting each other.

In the following screenshot you can see who is on. All the red countries are on one side, all the green are on the other. @BD being blue here means they're allied to RedSky (who I have selected), but have not chosen a side. Also that means @V.O. and @adexkola are not in it (because they were in a war already), but @Andycoleno9 is in it (I think because he was allied to the leader of the Protestant League.

Oh yeah, and the leader of the Protestand League is the tiny country of Opole, which seems like it's a bad idea.

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I guess I didn't get the memo
 
I'm sorry, you can't just drop the beginning of the holy league wars then piss off for 3 days. Nuh-uh.