“This England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror”

Welcome to the 7th development diary for Europa Universalis IV,
where we talk about the dominant power by the end of the Europa Universalis time frame, the country formerly known as England.
England can be considered both as one of the easier nations to play, but also one of the more challenging nations. That´s a paradox, you say?
Well, it all depends on what you wish to accomplish and what kind of empire you want to create

The unique possibilities of England
What truly makes England unique to play is that the country has natural borders protecting it and that you can strengthen those borders dramatically with rather cheap investments. You can decide to let England get involved in the continent, from a safe position, or choose to isolate England and go overseas. The country also sits on a bloody nice position to control the trade from the Baltic and from North America. So the options are huge for you to take England in plenty of directions when creating your empire.

England’s Dynamic Historical Events
England is has one of the richest and best known histories. That may sound lovely for you guys, but it also means that we have had to work hard when it comes to decisions about historical events to include in Europa Universalis IV. The important countries in EU4 have a lot of events going on, so some of those major historical events have been turned into the starting points of large event chains that we call Dynamic Historical Events.

War of the Roses is an excellent example of Dynamic Historical Events. If England in the 15th century has a ruler without an heir, that means that there is a likelihood of a large event chain beginning. The player has to select who to back for the throne, York or Lancaster. This decision will throw the country into turmoil with various parts declaring for either the red or white rose, and you have to make sure to eliminate the very strong, rather resilient pretenders. What makes this interesting is that this event chain is not an event series that is guaranteed to come every time you play as England. It only occurs if all the necessary underlying factors are fulfilled. When it happens, you won't have planned for it to arrive on schedule, like many people did when they played Europa Universalis II, the last game in the series with a serious focus on historical events. We hope that this variation will gives you rather unique experiences when you play major powers.

The English Civil War will be another major event series that might encounter when you play as England, but we will not spoil it for you here yet.
England also has many smaller DHE, like The War of Captain Jenkin's Ear: if they are rivals with Spain, after 1700, then you can get a casus belli on Spain. Or an event like The Muscovy Trade Company, where if you discover the sea route to Archangelsk, and its owned by the Muscovites, then there is a likelihood of this historical event happening.

England’s Missions & Decisions
We have kept the historical missions that existed in Europa Universalis III and we are expanding them for Europa Universalis IV, so you'll still see missions to conquer Scotland and colonize North America. When it comes to decisions, England still manually have to rely on the Wooden Wall, and make Calais into a Staple Port.

England’s National Ideas
The traditions that England starts with is a small boost in naval morale and a 5% boost to their trading efficiency.
The trading efficiency boost is due to the fact that the economy of England to fund their participation in the Hundred Years War was their taxation of the very profitable wool trade.

The 7 National Ideas for England are:

2. Royal Navy : 25% higher naval force limit, and +10% more combat power for big ships.
3. Eltham Ordinance : +15% higher tax.
4. Secretaries of State : +1 diplomat
5. Navigation Acts : +10% trade income, and +10% more combat power for light ships.
6. Bill of Rights : -1 revolt risk.
7. Reform of Commission Buying : +10% discipline
8. Sick and Hurt Board : -50% Naval Attrition.

Reward: English Ambition
When England has gotten all seven of their National Ideas, they get the bonus of 'English Ambitions' which gives them a +100% on their embargo efficiency.

Here's a screenshot where I've cheated to show a little bit of the idea progress..



Welcome back next week, where we'll talk in detail about the enhancements we've done to the religious aspect of the game!

 

[Sleight of Hand]

Secondly, is anybody going to put forward a plausible alternative first NI for England or just gripe about the existing one?

It should be something reflecting England's relatively high centralization when compared to other European kingdoms, especially its neighbors. I'd give them a 10% tax bonus or something like that to start with, and then move their naval bonus to the second slot.

 

[Chamboozer]

Secondly, is anybody going to put forward a plausible alternative first NI for England or just gripe about the existing one?

English Longbowmen: +5% infantry combat power.

Personally I wouldn't make any NI give a bonus that large (rather 2.5% or so), but it seems to fit compared to what we've seen so far.

Or something relating to Parliament. Their second NI slot is named after something which according to wiki was 1526, so I'd place the naval one in the third slot.

 

[Palfouri]

I think some anti-sandbox people are confusing the difference between "initial condition" advantage and boons of nations and continuous, pervasive modifiers that constantly force you to make certain decisions over others. The point brought up about playing a plutocratic, naval Poland in end-game and having aristocratic/cavalry boons be unlocked thanks to a prefab national development path is what we worry about.

Can we please stop using the world "force" as if a +10% bonus to naval discipline compels you to obey it and build a navy to the detriment of your land forces?

There are no slider moves to force on you, no build restriction it imposes on you, there is nothing saying that because you have a bonus you must utilize it. What you're arguing is that players are so weak-willed that making one path more enticing than the other forces them to go that way even fi they want to do something else.

It's not forcing you to do anything, it's making it so that playing a way different than the way you want to play gives you nicer numbers and for some reason that bothers you deeply.

 

[Sardoniscorn]

In the spirit of the thing, may i suggest a NI: "Stiff Upper Lip: +10% British gumption"

Why not just cut the middle man and make it like Asterix in Britain, where national tropes run backward as well as forward causally, making it so the Brits "take tea breaks" even before they discover tea.

What i'm saying, if you want to play "national essences", there are plenty of games that allow you to do so. Paradox is unique, and many people REALLY LOVE this aspect of them, that they have been taking a more nuanced approach to history that goes beyond the "Dats not England, England needs longboews".

As I and many people see it, there is nothing essential about England, given the chaotic and wildcard nature of grand history that forces them to take any particular path. Yes, of course we can "just ignore it", but it defines a completely different philosophy to the game series that I, for one, would like to question and probe into.

 

[nOxr]

Secondly, is anybody going to put forward a plausible alternative first NI for England or just gripe about the existing one?

I think the 25% higher naval force limit in their first idea is sensible. It reflects their geographical situation. Of course, it would be ideal if they also could lose that bonus if their geographical situation changed dramatically.

 

[Tryggen]

Looking forward to it!

 

[Seli]

But.. that's simply not what it's simulating. Otherwise it would just be a bonus every coastal nation gets. England gets it whether or not they have a coastline. Literally the only thing it simulates is that England historically had a good navy. Except it's (probably) being given to England long before they historically achieved naval prominence.

And perhaps all largely coastal nations will have naval NI's, we simply do not know yet. Of course the type of coast and sea does matter as well, so I have to admit my 'all coastal nations' was too broad.

 

[No idea]

The Spanish Armada didn't sink by some fluke coincidence. It sank because the English fleet shot its ships full of holes, then forced them to flee north into the stormy waters of the North Atlantic. And an important point that often gets missed is that Spain in the 16th century had about three times the population of England and was much richer. The fact that England was not only able to meet them on equal terms at sea, but get the overall advantage, does suggest that there needs to be some special factors involved - such as national ideas representing an established naval tradition.


Again, though, a +10% big ship bonus doesn't suddenly make England the "dominant power"...

Er... No, the armada was bound for Flanders to take troops inorder to invade England. After the engagement the english fleet took refige in their ports becuase of bad weather, but the spanish leet could not do the same. Winds didnt let them to go the same way they had came, so they went north, trying to circumnavegate the brthish isles, which result in most of the fleet sinking due storms. Not becuae of "holes". The engagement was minor. But if you want to believe the epic tale... Well, i dont mind

 

[Werther]

... Not really convince yet. I am a great fan of Eu3 who had always disliked Eu2 for his determinism. I hope it will be not an Eu2², i want to be free in my games.

And if i understand Paradox philosophy, you just have one way of decision in each country. So my country is the only one who can have "Religious Wars", "Absolutism", "Revolution", and "Eating Frogs"...
And if i want to change the story, start in XVth century with France and make a protestant theocraty involve in trade which colonize South Africa, can i?

 

[Jazumir]

I am also of the opinion, that each mechanic that makes contries specific (e.g. unique ideas & DHEs) should be seperate options at game start. I mean balance-wise, these unique ideas for majors are the equivalent to III´s ´lucky nations´, right? This is an option in III, and should also be in IV, to please both, the sandboxy types and the historical types. Personally i could be both, depending on my mood: I might play one game with all country specific features on in one week, and another game with all of them off, the next. For giggles, you may also consider a ´random´ option, where DHEs and unqiue ideas are spread randomly (where conditions allow) among the major countries, so that france could have a war of the roses...

 

[grommile]

Thus, if the Burgundian Capets were to seize power from the Valois, the "War of the Lillies" could occur. Similarly if the Scots were to suffer this, then a "War of the Lions" could occur.

*cough* The ducal house of Burgundy at the start of the EU time frame was a cadet line of Valois, not merely of Capet.

 

[WeissRaben]

... Not really convince yet. I am a great fan of Eu3 who had always disliked Eu2 for his determinism. I hope it will be not an Eu2², i want to be free in my games.

And if i understand Paradox philosophy, you just have one way of decision in each country. So my country is the only one who can have "Religious Wars", "Absolutism", "Revolution", and "Eating Frogs"...
And if i want to change the story, start in XVth century with France and make a protestant theocraty involve in trade which colonize South Africa, can i?

You can, but you will always have the traditions of an absolutist kingdom heavily concentrated on Land.

 

[Svip]

I am also of the opinion, that each mechanic that makes contries specific (e.g. unique ideas & DHEs) should be seperate options at game start. I mean balance-wise, these unique ideas for majors are the equivalent to III´s ´lucky nations´, right? This is an option in III, and should also be in IV, to please both, the sandboxy types and the historical types. Personally i could be both, depending on my mood: I might play one game with all country specific features on in one week, and another game with all of them off, the next. For giggles, you may also consider a ´random´ option, where DHEs and unqiue ideas are spread randomly (where conditions allow) among the major countries, so that france could have a war of the roses...

And replace it with what? Sure, no DHEs means none of that, but the game might become a bit bland in its place. But what would you replace unique ideas with? A random set of ideas for each nation? That sounds like you'd be restarting a lot of games then.

 

[unmerged(63836)]

And replace it with what? Sure, no DHEs means none of that, but the game might become a bit bland in its place. But what would you replace unique ideas with? A random set of ideas for each nation? That sounds like you'd be restarting a lot of games then.

Several ideas that you would start with, simulating initial, unique condition of a country and past history up to 1444. After that it should an open book, not partially pre-written book.

 

[Svip]

Several ideas that you would start with, simulating initial, unique condition of a country and past history up to 1444. After that it should an open book, not partially pre-written book.

So a whole new set of ideas for each country should be written for when the player flicks a switch? (I am asking what he would replace the unique ideas with, when a tick is ticked, not what he would fundamentally replace it with.)

That seems like an awful amount of work. And just sounds like unique modifiers. Supposedly, ideas are things you look forward to, not have.

 

[No idea]

... Not really convince yet. I am a great fan of Eu3 who had always disliked Eu2 for his determinism. I hope it will be not an Eu2², i want to be free in my games.

And if i understand Paradox philosophy, you just have one way of decision in each country. So my country is the only one who can have "Religious Wars", "Absolutism", "Revolution", and "Eating Frogs"...
And if i want to change the story, start in XVth century with France and make a protestant theocraty involve in trade which colonize South Africa, can i?

I am not sure why you mean by having one way of decision, but you can get up to eight, iirc, SET of ideas, or group of ideas, as they called them. Each set, or group, of ideas, has seven locked ideas. On top of that, all countries have a et of national ideas. This set of national ideas is sometimes unique for a country, like the example given for England, however, if you dont want, you dont have to get it, and concentrate on being a land power, for example.

I thik it is a good compromise between eu III sandbox nature and EU II railroaded one. It gives the player freedom, and makes ai countries more prone to become what they became. So no more Papal north america and more GB becoming a naval power.

 

[unmerged(63836)]

Supposedly, ideas are things you look forward to, not have.

Yeah, but 'coolness factor' of waiting for new unique idea every three 'levels' is just one positive. Negatives, such as getting ideas that makes no sense in context, or are totally opposite to what players' strategy is, outweigh this coolness factor IMO. Getting 'Bill of Rights' as absolutist England, or ideas based around PLC for totally different Poland, would make game less fun by destroying immersion, suspension of disbelief and plausibility. It would be one 'WTF?' moment after another, unless I play only historically. DHEs at least have triggers - National Ideas not.

 

[Styrbiorn]

English Longbowmen: +5% infantry combat power.

Personally I wouldn't make any NI give a bonus that large (rather 2.5% or so), but it seems to fit compared to what we've seen so far.

Or something relating to Parliament. Their second NI slot is named after something which according to wiki was 1526, so I'd place the naval one in the third slot.

Good longbows might seem to make sense but there is a big problem with that: the national traditions known so far all last through the whole game. Having good longbows will be useless once musketeers replace them in the 16th century. Another issue is gameplay: does it make more sense to give England a land or naval bonus if you want to steer it towards being a naval power (as I guess is the aim, at least from the AI perspective)? The big ships bonus makes sense to me, as it would be historically supported through most of the game timeframe. The English were, as already stated, experimenting with larger and more powerful big ships already in the 15th century. Whether or not galleys are more efficient than big ships early game is a completely different issue.

 

[Closet Skeleton]

The Spanish Armada didn't sink by some fluke coincidence. It sank because the English fleet shot its ships full of holes, then forced them to flee north into the stormy waters of the North Atlantic.

The English fleet relied on fire ships because they didn't have enough war ships. They didn't exactly win by shooting anything.

It should be something reflecting England's relatively high centralization when compared to other European kingdoms, especially its neighbors. I'd give them a 10% tax bonus or something like that to start with, and then move their naval bonus to the second slot.

No tax bonus for England. England had no tax system at all outside of limited duration collections. Taxation in England was controlled entirely by Parliament and only granted in times of war, which almost never happened because Parliament refused to pay for it. To be completely realistic England shouldn't even have a national budget. Income tax wasn't implemented until 1799. Before that the government had to rely on highly inefficient and bizarre systems like window tax. In the Tudor period the Kings were expected to live purely off their estates and never bother the nobles that really controlled everything by starting wars.

Centralisation was pretty much entirely forced on England under absolutist Scottish Kings, which only led to a civil war. Not that the Scottish were any better, since their Kings had only a nominal authority over 70% of their realm.

England's foreign conquests were entirely the work of publicly owned and funded companies and ambitious generals acting without orders. So a realistic England is basically impossible in a 'control a country and expand' style game.

EU's per province tax system is pretty much nonsense in general. Most of France's taxes came pretty much directly from Paris for example.

Unfortunately the designers don't seem to be caring about history at all, giving England a 15% tax boost and naming it after a completely failed reform that didn't really have anything to do with taxes. Unless everyone else gets a much bigger equivalent tax boost, in which case I'm wrong and complaining about nothing.

English Longbowmen: +5% infantry combat power.

No bonus based on something that only applies to the first decade of the game.

 

[Seli]

Yeah, but 'coolness factor' of waiting for new unique idea every three 'levels' is just one positive. Negatives, such as getting ideas that makes no sense in context, or are totally opposite to what players' strategy is, outweigh this coolness factor IMO. Getting 'Bill of Rights' as absolutist England, or ideas based around PLC for totally different Poland, would make game less fun by destroying immersion, suspension of disbelief and plausibility. It would be one 'WTF?' moment after another, unless I play only historically. DHEs at least have triggers - National Ideas not.

But an absolutist England is nigh impossible, going by a historical development going back centuries already at the start of the game. And this is a characteristic of the nation that makes sense to express in an NI.