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Tinto Flavour #16 - 9th of May 2025 - Brandenburg & Prussia

Hello and welcome one more week to Tinto Flavour, the happy Fridays in which we take a look at the content of the super secret Project Caesar Europa Universalis V!

Today we will be talking about Brandenburg, and the main tag that it can form, Prussia. Therefore, today is even more special for two reasons. The first is that this is the first country that we talk about in which the content for the base country and the formable is aligned, as it was the historical result; in this category we have a few more important countries, such as England/Great Britain or Castile/Spain, of which we’ll talk more about in future TFs. The second is because we considered Brandenburg/Prussia one of the relevant tags in the period, and thus, it has more baseline content than the previous one; so far, we’ve only taken a look previously to one tag of that category, the Timurids (and you may have noticed that it was a long and meaty TF).

Let’s start now taking a look at the content, then:

The Electorate of Brandenburg was established as the Northern March in the Slavic Wends' territory. The region features loamy uplands and depressions with rivers and lakes, pine trees and heat, and a soil which is predominantly dry and sandy, but suitable for agriculture, making it to be called 'the sandbox of the Holy Roman Empire'.\n\nIn 1157, after claiming these lands from Jaxa of Köpenick, Elector Albrecht ‘the Bear’ Askanier officially became [GetCountry('BRA').GetGovernment.GetRulerTitle]. Initially limited to Havelland and Zauche, he encouraged the #italic Ostsiedlung#!'s process towards the Neumark east of the Oder, gradually incorporating it into his possessions, and colonists coming from Flanders and the Rhineland were invited to settle, fortifying their towns in the process. After his death in 1170, the Askanier dynasty continued this expansion for over 150 years, acquiring neighboring regions like the Oder Lagoon and the Uckermark, which expanded their influence to the Baltic Sea, but also led to conflicts with Denmark. However, the last Askanier, Elector Heinrich II., died without a direct heir in 1320.

Now, the von Wittelsbach dynasty has arrived, but the lack of interest in ruling over these lands casts a shadow over the future of the Electorate of Brandenburg.
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Country Selection.png

As usual, consider all UI, 2D and 3D art WIP.​

The starting situation of Brandenburg:
Brandenburg2.png

Brandenburg1.png

Brandenburg3.png

We are not attached to just showing the flatmap mode anymore! Yay!​

It starts with a similar content setup to that of Saxony, which we showed some weeks ago:
Margraviate.jpg

Right to Inherit.jpg

Magdeburg Rights.jpg

Bergordnung.jpg

Here are some of the unique advances of both Brandenburg and Prussia:
Expansive Policies.png

Soldiers of Fortune.png

Found the Kammergericht.png

Geheimer Rat.png

Army Professionalism.png

The Goose Step.png

Brandenburg & Prussia might have some military-related advances, yeah… But take into account that this approx. half of the amount available, so there are non-military-related ones.​

Let’s now take a look at the narrative content, which is quite meaty. This is one of the first starting events for Brandenburg:
Succession Issues1.png

Succession Issues2.png

Succession Issues3.png

Slightly painful…​

As you see, there are around 30 events that may be triggered after this, of varied topics, that impact the governance of Brandenburg in the first decades of the game. One of the most interesting ones are those related to the ‘False Waldemar’ event chain:
False Waldemar.png

I don’t think you should trust a guy that looks that way…​

After the year 1500, if certain triggers are met, you might receive an event regarding this Teutonic Order, which may lead to the formation of Prussia:
Teutonic Order.png

Although you can also form it organically, by expanding into the area (although the Emperor may have a say in this, as historically happened):
Form Prussia.png

A Prussian Crown.png

Compromise.png

Electorate of Prussia.png

Preussen Blau.png

This is a lovely color, isn’t it?​

You may now figure that Prussia is a country with much more content in the late game, so I’m just going to show you some of it; but take into consideration that of the following events, the first one can trigger after 1530, the second after 1637, and the others in different dates after 1700:
Kreditwerk.png

Kreditwerk2.png


Pietism.png

Pietism2.png


Canton System.png

Canton System2.png


Kant.png


Clausewitz.png

Clausewitz2.png

Did you know that the Engine we use is named after him?​

And some other content that you might get in the last two ages, as well:
Soldier King of Prussia1.png

Prussian Monarchy.png


Sanssouci.png

And that’s all for today! It was an intense week! And the next one, even more, since we will start publishing a second Tinto Flavour on Tuesdays! Therefore, the schedule will be the following:
  • Monday -> Tinto Maps Feedback for Great Britain & Ireland
  • Tuesday -> Tinto Flavour about Vijayanagar and other ‘minor’ Indian countries
  • Wednesday -> Tinto Talks about Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism
  • Friday -> Tinto Flavour about Delhi
Cheers!
 
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gkbba said:
fair enough, didnt know that. as an Austrian, I was taught, their army quality was the main reason for them taking the german lead. but this also may just reflect badly on the austrian forces.
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It was neither quality or quantity, their spikey helmets gave all of their enemies a morale debuff
 
Sirbab said:
Prussia having space marines is largely fabricated. Early on like in the 30 years war they were a quantity focused nation if anything, as their ability to raise a crap ton of men was their claim to fame. (granted, this is loose memories and I'm not citing a book on this)
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Brandenburg was largely irrelevant during the 30 years war, constantly getting ravaged by both sides and relying largely on mercenaries. Only in the last four years before the Peace of Westphalia, Fredrick William, the "Great Elector" came to power and started building a standing army, helped by French subsidies (who wanted to counterbalance the influence of the Austrian Habsburgs).

On the quantity vs. quality dichotomy, it depends. The Prussian army was admittedly very large for a rather small country - it was at times the fourth or even third largest army in Europe, eating up most of the state budget. That said, the greatest Prussian successes in battle and war at that time were against said larger armies, with the Prussians often heavily outnumbered and still winning somehow. For example, Fredrick the Great's most famous military success might be the battles of Rossbach and Leuthen were he first defeated a French Army twice the size of his own, then two weeks later, another Austrian army also twice his size.

So they arguably weren't focused on "quantity" the way Austria or Russia were, who could just throw more bodies at a military problem.
 
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Doldenberg said:
Brandenburg was largely irrelevant during the 30 years war, constantly getting ravaged by both sides and relying largely on mercenaries. Only in the last four years before the Peace of Westphalia, Fredrick William, the "Great Elector" came to power and started building a standing army, helped by French subsidies (who wanted to counterbalance the influence of the Austrian Habsburgs).

On the quantity vs. quality dichotomy, it depends. The Prussian army was admittedly very large for a rather small country - it was at times the fourth or even third largest army in Europe, eating up most of the state budget. That said, the greatest Prussian successes in battle and war at that time were against said larger armies, with the Prussians often heavily outnumbered and still winning somehow. For example, Fredrick the Great's most famous military success might be the battles of Rossbach and Leuthen were he first defeated a French Army twice the size of his own, then two weeks later, another Austrian army also twice his size.

So they arguably weren't focused on "quantity" the way Austria or Russia were, who could just throw more bodies at a military problem.
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Thanks for elaborating and correcting me :)
 
Pavía said:
Since we don't use the system 'Admin Tech = 10/20/etc' as EU4, the only way to gatelocking this effectively would be to add an 'Is Age of Absolutism' requisite, which we think would feel arbitrary and opposite to dynamic content. But we're open to suggestions on how to improve the immersion about this, as usual.
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Requirement -> must be Hohenzollern or after some X/Y event decision or date that makes you either have Hohenzollern or keep your current ruler house. This would delay the Prussia forming rush for a few years. It would also be awesome if you could spawn Friederich the Great somehow
 
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I feel like EU 5 feels a lot more flexible, I know that reading EU 4 tips about Brandenburg or Teutons it is very much "...if you lose this, restart the game..." And I hope EU 5 is a bit more forgiving in this way
 
Sirbab said:
Prussia having space marines is largely fabricated. Early on like in the 30 years war they were a quantity focused nation if anything, as their ability to raise a crap ton of men was their claim to fame. (granted, this is loose memories and I'm not citing a book on this)
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Not true at all- Prussia was known for having a highly effective army- specifically disciplined infantry
Prussia did not exist during the 30 Years War- Brandenburg did (they were competent, but nothing too special, considering their small size and relative poverty).
 
DerGrößteRitter said:
Not true at all- Prussia was known for having a highly effective army- specifically disciplined infantry
Prussia did not exist during the 30 Years War- Brandenburg did (they were competent, but nothing too special, considering their small size and relative poverty).
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The thing is, Prussia had a quality army until 1701, when it ceased to be Brandenburg and became the Kingdom of Prussia. Before that, and for much of the game, the lands of Brandenburg were nothing more than a sandbox, and its greatest achievement was hiring mercenaries and later, recruiting widely within its territories. So, since the game starts in 1337, Brandenburg isn't even half as powerful as Prussia would be. This doesn't even take into account that it's in a personal union with Bavaria, and that Brandenburg is the junior partner, so much of its wealth goes to the Emperor of HRE.
 
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