Jak's Game Guide: An EU4 Tutorial

[jak7139]

CHAPTER TWENTY: Whacking the Mikmaq & Settling Our New Home
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(June 1493-August 1497)​

With our war over and done with, we seize some more Crownland, bringing us to 27%. We also fight the 3,000 Particularists who rose up in protest. Annoyingly, one of their stacks is in Mann. I send a few cogs back from the New World to handle it.

Out in eastern Europe, Muscovy finishes off Novgorod and takes all of Danish Finland. And now it’s time for our next war.

​

In August we go against Mikmaq in modern-day New Brunswick. They are allied to Pequot (Rhode Island) and Penobscot (Maine).

Sklaer’s force immediately takes out Pequot’s army and leaves behind a 1k stack. Then, he moves north and leaves another 3k men to siege Penobscot. The rest of our forces (6k) chase down the combined Mikmaq-Penobscot army. We besiege Mikmaq while the enemy watches helplessly from Nova Scotia.

While our sieges progress, Castille annexes Arawak. Mikmaq’s fortress falls first in October 1493. Sklaer’s 6,000 (4-2-0) force moves in against the enemy army. We win and they run away to the island to the north (which I’ve just learned in real life is fittingly called Cape Breton). We chase down their army afterwards and stackwipe it.

​

We receive enough Splendor in January to pick up another Age bonus. I decide to pick up the one for free War Taxes to help our economy. Normally, these taxes would cost 2 mil points per month. The discounts to our army and navy, while nice, are not worth that much. But for now, while they’re free, we’ll use them.

​

That May, we start catching up on diplo tech. we take tech 6 which gives us the ability to build a dock and steal maps. We still don't have the money for buildings yet, but stealing maps could prove useful if we get a large enough Spy Network (though we then lose out on the Prestige from exploring the area ourselves). During this, Penobscot’s province also falls.

Now, I look at the peacedeal screen. I want to annex Penobscot (they won’t accept currently) but our Aggressive Expansion score has started to build up among other nations. This isn’t a problem yet, but it could get out of hand quickly. Regardless, we go ahead with our annexation.

​

November comes around and I’ve finally decided on our next idea group. I was debating between something in the admin category (economy and expansion) or in the military one (defense and army quality). We’re 11 years ahead on both technologies, so that’s why I’m comparing those 2 categories. In the end, I double down on our colonization efforts. We choose the Expansion Idea Group.

Expansion is like Exploration in that it focuses on colonizing. It’s different in that it also has some trade stuff in there (like an extra Merchant) and an extra diplomat. And the Policy it has when paired with Exploration will be helpful for our colonial ambitions.

We even have enough points to unlock the first slot. But now that we have a second colonist, where do we send him? We have range for anything in the Caribbean, but South America and Africa are still too far away. In the end, my logic is the same as what we used in Baye Blanche. Our expedition heads to Puerto Rico, currently called Boriken, a 10 Dev province and Trade Center.

​

This happy news is abruptly cut short when January rolls around. Vougay d’Elbene, a true Breton hero, breathes his last. He shall be remembered fondly. As a side note, I’ve always found it annoying that the pop-up for character deaths doesn’t say their age. But we hired Vougay in 1471 when he was presumably 20-30, and we had him for 24 years. So, he was probably in his late 40s or mid-50s.

​

While the last siege was finishing up, I decided to rename our new provinces to something more fitting. I’m also sorry to any of you that speak French, I’m just going off of Google Translate here. And, as I’m writing this, I realize that these should’ve all been translated to Breton, not French. If I remember, I’ll fix that whenever we catch up to gameplay.

• Wampanoag becomes “Nouveau Arvor”
• Maliseet becomes “les fort des trois rivers” (because the area/state is already called trois rivieres)
• Abenaki becomes “Sklaer’s Ennemi”

​

Pequot finally falls in October, and we begin peacing everyone out. That process finishes by January 1496. All three natives are annexed, and their treasuries seized. The game also automatically renames Pequot (Baye Notre-Dame) and Penobscot (Sainte Anne). Mikmaq doesn’t get a new name, but we still start coring it.

I immediately begin coring the cheapest of the 2 provinces (Sainte Anne, 27 points), and leave BND alone. The reason for this is that our Colonial Nation in the Eastern America region will soon spawn. All you need to spawn a CN is to own 5 core provinces within the region. So far, we have:

• Baye Blanche (finished)
• Nouveau Arvor (finished)
• Sklaer’s Ennemi (finished)
• Sainte Anne (progressing)
• Penakuk (colonizing)
• Les fort des trois rivers (it's in the Canada region so doesn’t count. It will count whenever we create a Canadian subject. It's also uncapitalized because I wouldn't have enough space for the name).

So, we don’t need to core more beyond that. Our new subject will core the rest using their own points once they spawn.

In September 1496, I decide to start exploring again. We hire a new Explorer using the Estate decision and head to the Caribbean. Our new guy, Arthur de Beaumetz is especially good at fighting.

Speaking of the Caribbean, Portugal has continued to plant colony after colony over there, and…wait! Did you see that? They just placed another one! Castille has also expanded their Venezuelan colony by another province to the west of Orinoco Delta. It’s a good thing we got to Puerto Rico when we did.

​

With all this cash in our treasury (139 gold), I remember our Diet Agenda from the Clergy to build a church in Anjou. An alert at the top of our screen reminds us that there are only 3 years left to complete this task. We get started right away.

In December, Francois II continues to surpass his father as a monarch by gaining the Reformist trait. This helps us gain Reform Progress faster, meaning we’ll have earlier access to the different bonuses we can pick.

Spring sees us build 2 more infantry in Ireland to help with a rebellion. England also decides to enter their Golden Era. And we take the next diplo tech in May. This one boosts our range significantly, letting us reach down to Brazil and Africa. While checking that, I notice 2 English colonies in Brazil. Plus, 5 out of the 9 provinces on Hispaniola are already owned by Portugal. The world is filling up fast.

​

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

Could the colonial nation be called Nouveau Bretagne? Or whatever 'New Brittany' is in Breton?

Also, shouldn't Brittany have a huge technological advantage over the natives, making the coalition less of a threat?

 

[coz1]

Well, now we know where Portugal is.

Same as it ever was. Good job gobbling up as much as you have before the onslaught.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I'm going to play a small minor nation. No more big bad nations!

(Me: yeah!)

First step - conquer and colonise Ireland.

(Me: oh)

 

[Rensslaer]

Will this be a particular goal of yours, then, to conquer Cape Breton?

Great work expanding! Gosh, do you feel like you're competing against the giants in the colonization struggle? Or do you feel confident you can place your colonies and expand into native lands sufficiently to be in good shape against the Portugals and Spains and Englands (no French yet?)?

Rensslaer

 

[Midnite Duke]

Have you named any colonies for kings/queens? What does Eastern North America cover? How much will a native coalition affect your plans? Thanks

 

[Rensslaer]

Have you named any colonies for kings/queens?

Great idea @Midnite Duke!

Renss

 

[Cromwell]

I'm caught up!

 

[HistoryDude]

I suspect that Muscovy will form Russia soon...

When will the first colonial wars begin?

Congrats on expanding your colony. I can't wait to hear its name...

 

[diskoerekto]

Saw from the acas and finished reading now. Great thread!

There are supposed to be a lot of native nations in north America. For a small but aspiring colonial nation like you, is it a viable strategy to immediately do what you did in eastern north America and annex 5 opms to core them asap and turn into a colonial nation? I mean, will you go ahead and do the same thing immediately in Canada, Louisiana, California, Mexico and northwest America so that you'll be the tordesillas nation for all the regions? Sounds like a great strategy that's not bounded by number of colonists or economy to support multiple concurrent colonies. What factor would stop you? A land bridge is necessary for coring or colonial range?

 

[diskoerekto]

Lenape isn't connected to the coast which is why we can't core it. The next colony won't be sent near there because of other factors. We have other places we need to grab before Portugal or Castille steal them.

This answers me quite a lot, but still there are so many nations concentrated in eastern half of north America, at least Canada and Louisiana should be a breeze

 

[jak7139]

Before I get into comment feedback and post the next chapter, I want to thank all of you for reading and commenting. And I also want to thank everyone who gave this AAR second place in the recent ACAs. Thank you all for reading and commenting! I hope you've enjoyed this so far and have learned useful EU4 info for your own campaigns.

Could the colonial nation be called Nouveau Bretagne? Or whatever 'New Brittany' is in Breton?

Have you named any colonies for kings/queens?

Great idea @Midnite Duke!

Congrats on expanding your colony. I can't wait to hear its name...

Nouveau Bretagne is a good name, but that's not it. But I might use it for a future CN.

I haven't named any colonies for our monarchs yet either, but that's something that I also like to do. Usually, I prefer naming stuff after the colonists or explorers first.

Also, shouldn't Brittany have a huge technological advantage over the natives, making the coalition less of a threat?

How much will a native coalition affect your plans?

Our tech advantage is a huge deterrent against the coalition. But I still want to be cautious. We'd win a native coalition war if it came to it, but it would slow us down. It's better to fight on our own terms rather than letting the natives come to us.

Well, now we know where Portugal is.

The Caribbean is Portugal's go-to spot. So, the location is not surprising. What is surprising is that it took them this long. A player Portugal can get there within the first decade or two of the game. I've seen the AI make it by 1480.

Same as it ever was. Good job gobbling up as much as you have before the onslaught.

The onslaught is coming. But that's for a future chapter...

Great work expanding! Gosh, do you feel like you're competing against the giants in the colonization struggle? Or do you feel confident you can place your colonies and expand into native lands sufficiently to be in good shape against the Portugals and Spains and Englands (no French yet?)?

We are in a race against the other major powers, especially in places like the Caribbean. But, we should get a good chunk of the land at least. North America and Canada are, so far, our playground. It's just us and the natives.

When will the first colonial wars begin?

We'll continue expanding against the natives as much as we can. If you mean, when is our first European-on-European colonial war, I haven't played far enough yet.

There are supposed to be a lot of native nations in north America. For a small but aspiring colonial nation like you, is it a viable strategy to immediately do what you did in eastern north America and annex 5 opms to core them asap and turn into a colonial nation? I mean, will you go ahead and do the same thing immediately in Canada, Louisiana, California, Mexico and northwest America so that you'll be the tordesillas nation for all the regions? Sounds like a great strategy that's not bounded by number of colonists or economy to support multiple concurrent colonies. What factor would stop you? A land bridge is necessary for coring or colonial range?

Yes, that is viable. I always try to do it everywhere I can. We can't see California or Alaska yet. We are limited by our number of diplomats, coring range (I don't think we'd be able to core anything on the West Coast, even if we owned it), and travel distances (an army fighting out west can't fight on the East Coast or be shipped to Europe should something happen).

I'm going to play a small minor nation. No more big bad nations!

(Me: yeah!)

First step - conquer and colonise Ireland.

(Me: oh)

Second step - conquer and colonize the New World

Third step - ???

Fourth step - Profit

Will this be a particular goal of yours, then, to conquer Cape Breton?

It's a goal, in general, to own all of Canada. But learning the area's real-life name will certainly be a motivation.

What does Eastern North America cover?

It covers the modern US-Canada border with Maine-New Brunswick, west to New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, then south to Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi. It's basically the borders of the US post-American Revolution including Florida and the territory west of the Appalachians.

I'm caught up!

Saw from the acas and finished reading now. Great thread!

Always glad to have more comments and readers. Welcome back and welcome aboard to you both!

 

[jak7139]

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Merchants & Colonial Nations
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(August 1497-June 1500)​

In August, we gain an extra Merchant from Expansion ideas. This also advances our Breton ideas, giving us extra Fort Defense (makes our forts take longer to siege).

​

An update on our current Merchant situation.

Our home/main node is in Bordeaux. You always automatically collect income in your home node, but assigning a Merchant there boosts the amount you collect.

You can collect in other nodes besides your home node, but that reduces your Trade Power (the amount of a node you control when compared to everyone else in the node) by 50%. But depending on the value of the node and your priorities in other nodes, this could still be very lucrative. So:

• Our current trade income is 4.52 ducats.
• We currently have a Merchant collecting in Bordeaux, earning 3.86 ducats.
• Our other Merchant is in the North Sea also collecting. They earn 0.65 ducats.
• Our new Merchant is sent to the next highest node where we have the most Trade Power (the Gulf of St. Lawrence). He is set to Transfer trade rather than collect because we want all the value in the GSL to flow into Bordeaux.
• Our new income, once our Merchant arrives, is 4.97.

The main problem we are facing with trade is that our control over Bordeaux is low. Most of the node is controlled by France, so they get most of the benefit of whatever flow we direct. If we Transfer 4 ducats from GSL to Bordeaux, but France controls 70% of Bordeaux, they get 70% of that money.

In September, Penakuk finishes (renamed by me to Nouveau Bretagne) and we send our colonist to Havanna (same deal as with Puerto Rico, it’s a high-Dev Trade Center). Austria also enacts an HRE reform. Some Pretenders rise up in Kildare, but we don’t assist our vassal. As long as those rebels aren’t Separatists, we don’t care.

​

The month after that, we’re able to pick a new Government Reform. Of the 4 choices we’re presented with, the only ones that stand out for our purposes are:

• Curtail Church Privileges: less Clergy influence (which is currently at 90% from an event), decreased amin tech cost, more Religious Unity.
• Maintain Balance of Power: an extra diplomat, and increased loyalty from all of the Estates.

Both would be nice, but with how much travel they’re having to do across the Atlantic, an extra diplomat is sorely needed. And we’re not done with our wars over there yet either. Our new diplomat is sent immediately to the Pope to ask for money (42 ducats).

Our church also finishes in Anjou, giving us an extra tax Dev in Anjou and some loyalty with the Clergy.

​

In November, we declare war against another native nation, the Cherokee and their allies. And in January, we finish coring Sainte Anne.

Over the next month-tick, our new subject spawns in. I decide to name them in honor of our fallen Explorer who served us so well. We can also specialize our colony in one of three areas. These areas give different effects to them and to us as the overlord (though the bonuses for us don’t take effect until the colony has at least 10 provinces). Each one will give us:

• Crown Colony: extra land forcelimit and manpower, a smaller amount of naval forcelimit and sailors, and an extra Merchant.
• Private Enterprise: a large amount of extra sailors and naval forcelimit, plus a Merchant.
• Self-Governing Colony: a small amount of forcelimit, manpower, and sailors, plus a Merchant.

Each of these different types also have unique interactions you can do with them in the Subjects’ Screen to further modify them and boost your own power. All CNs, regardless of type, get 1 free colonist. And you can switch their specialties to something else later if you want.

Of the three options, I make d’Elbene a self-governing colony. They’ll be able to grow their own nation faster, and will be more disloyal, but should be able to defend themselves easier from threats.

Because we’re the first Catholic nation with a CN in this region, the Pope signs a Treaty of Tordesillas. This means the Pope has legitimized our claim to this region, telling other Catholics to stay out. Because of this, our colonies in this region will grow faster and other Catholics’ colonies will grow slower. Those nations will also, if they violate the treaty, receive a large opinion malus with us and the Pope if they attempt anything.

Our uncored provinces in the region like Lenape (Philadelphie) and Pequot (Baye Notre-Dame) get automatically transferred over to d’Elbene’s control. Later on in May, we take advantage of our new CN. They’ve started building up their own army, so we can tell them to help with a siege.

We continue on. When December comes around, I do some more mil Development in our provinces to not reach the points-cap (we’re 7 years ahead on tech):

• Bro-Naoned: 12 (4/4/4) -> 17 (4/4/9)
• Pen-ar-Bed: 9 (2/3/4) -> 11 (2/3/6)
• Points Spent: 953 -> 675

We would’ve been fine spending even more, but I always like keeping a couple hundred points saved for any emergencies.

At the same time, Francois has developed an interest in philosophy and science. I’ve had this event fire many times in many playthroughs, but I’ve never seen it do anything. Maybe this time will be different.

​

Another year passes, and we end up in December 1499. Our colony has enough points now to hire a general to lead their forces in battle. Seeing that, I also decide to see who their colonial governor is, just for narrative purposes.

Now, this is probably just a coincidence, but I found it strange. The governor’s name is Loïc de Bouëtiez. And if you remember, we have a general named Loïc de Beaudiez. It’s weird their names are so similar. Could they be distant relatives? We’ll never know...

​

Our game passes the 1500-mark. A great milestone for us. Naples sees it as a time to attack Florence. Florence is also at war with the Ottomans because of their alliance with Genoa. Castille attacks Tunis. And Milan goes against Genoa in April.

​

Our colonist in Havanna discovers a curious habit by the natives. The inhabitants roll up a plant called “Toe-back-oh” and smoke it. Our settlers say the drug is of high quality and will surely make us rich. Duke Francois scoffs. These “Cuban cigars” will surely never catch on.

​

The Neapolitan war against Florence ends up having consequences for us in June. The Pope, seeing all the action on the Italian peninsula, decides to take on Florence as well. They’ve called us in to help. We accept of course, our alliance is far too valuable. But all our troops are either in North America or Ireland. We’ve got nothing on the mainland.

But the Pope has his own allies too, so the Florentines and Provençals should be too distracted to bother us, right? What do you think?

​

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

• Crown Colony: extra land forcelimit and manpower, a smaller amount of naval forcelimit and sailors, and an extra Merchant.
• Private Enterprise: a large amount of extra sailors and naval forcelimit, plus a Merchant.
• Self-Governing Colony: a small amount of forcelimit, manpower, and sailors, plus a Merchant.

Which is best?

Who's in the new world, just about to reach it, and can compete with you?

 

[diskoerekto]

You can collect in other nodes besides your home node, but that reduces your Trade Power (the amount of a node you control when compared to everyone else in the node) by 50%. But depending on the value of the node and your priorities in other nodes, this could still be very lucrative. So:

so it's only the trade power in that specific node? in a hypothetical scenario which you own all the provinces tied to that node, would that mean this penalty is moot since nobody controls anything else in that node?

Nouveau Bretagne

at one point you should translate them all from French to Breton

we send our colonist to Havanna (same deal as with Puerto Rico, it’s a high-Dev Trade Center).

so are we running a race with Portugal over who'll core 5 colonies in the Carribean first?

But the Pope has his own allies too, so the Florentines and Provençals should be too distracted to bother us, right? What do you think?

from what I've learned from filcat of course they'll go crazy on your capital

 

[Midnite Duke]

Provence/Lorraine will head for you because you are the Player per @filcat. Did you not take property from Provence? Where is Portugal in the Caribbean if you got Havana and Puerto Rico? What is the best Caribbean besides Havana and Puerto Rico? Thanks

 

[diskoerekto]

What is the best Caribbean besides Havana and Puerto Rico?

I am in no way an experienced player but the wiki says the following:

• Barahonas (Coastal Center of Trade)
• Boriken (Coastal Center of Trade)
• Curacao (Coastal Center of Trade)
• Havana (Coastal Center of Trade)
• Jamaica (Coastal Center of Trade)
• Les Cayes (Coastal Center of Trade)

 

[Hootieleece]

Brittany should try and colonize Jamaica and Curaucao. Because they are Islands and no borders with other colonial powers.

 

[Rensslaer]

Excellent work with gaining colonial nations! I'm sure it will be interesting to see how they work. In my game Spain seems to have twelve of them, or something, and they always fill the screen anytime a colonial war starts.

Hmmm.... You'd think they wouldn't bother you, but I think @filcat and @diskoerekto are correct. Murphy will find you!

Rensslaer

 

[Rensslaer]

Brittany should try and colonize Jamaica and Curaucao. Because they are Islands and no borders with other colonial powers.

Then again... Islands can be curses, too. I remember the nightmare I had in EU III when I acquired Crete as an early conquest. Islands can be harder to defend.

Rensslaer