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Tinto Flavour #20 - 23rd of May 2025

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

Today we will be taking a look at the content of Muscovy, and its ‘successor state’, Russia, after Grand Prince Ivan III ‘the Great’ proclaimed himself ‘Sovereign of All Russia’. This is a special TF, because it’s the first one in which we show the content for one of the seven ‘Tier 1’ counties, those that we consider the most important in the 1337-1836 period, and thus, that have the most content in the game.

Let’s start taking a look at it, as usual:

The Grand Principality of Muscovy stands at a crossroads of political maneuvering, and economic troubles under the Tatar Yoke, and an ongoing power struggle among East Slavic principalities, each vying for supremacy within the fragmented Rus' territories. The Tatar invasion continues to cast a long shadow over the region and Muscovy, like many other Rus' principalities, remains a tributary to the formidable Golden Horde.

Guiding Muscovy through these complexities is Grand Prince Ivan Rurikovich, a leader keenly aware of the delicate balance required for survival under Tatar dominion. He has skillfully managed the principality's affairs through diplomatic initiatives and strategic alliances and now seeks to consolidate power and enhance Muscovy's standing within the Yoke, with aspirations to unite the Rus' land under one banner.
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Country Selection.png

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

Muscovy1.png

Muscovy2.png

This is the starting diplomatic situation of Muscovy:
Personal Unions.png

Muscovy starts in a Personal Union with a bunch of principalities, including Novgorod, which is a Republic that elects its rulers among those of other countries.

Tatar Yoke.png

This is the current starting state of the Tatar Yoke, with Muscovy being entitled as the ‘Grand Prince of Vladimir’ - or, in other words, the ‘tribute collector’ for the Tatars. We won’t talk about this feature today, but in the Tinto Flavour devoted to the Golden Horde.​

These are some of the privileges that the Russian countries have available from the start:
Privilege Kormlenije.png

Privilege The Ryad.png

Priviliege Tysiatskii Office.png

Also, this starting Legal Code Policy:
Policy Russkaya Pravda.png

Here you have some of the advances available for Muscovy and Russia through the ages, as usual:
Advance Gatherers Tribute.png

Advance Pomestnoe.png

Advance Zasechnara.png

Advance Imperial Guard.png

And now let’s move into the narrative content. Muscovy has 109 Dynamic Historical Events available, while there are another 73 unlockable after having formed Russia, which makes for a total of 182 available DHEs - that’s what being a ‘Tier 1’ country means, in regards to content. Many of them will unlock very different types of other content assets, as you’ll see now:

Event Campaigns against Novgorod.png

This is an event that may trigger if Novgorod elects another ruler, as happened historically.

Kremlin.png

Kremlin2.png

If you build the Kremlin, there will be further events related to it.

Event Denga and Ruble.png


Event Prikazi.png

Reform Prikazi.png


Event Book of Census.png

Reform Razriadnyi.png


Event Sophia Komnenos.png

ReformByzantine Court Ceremonies.png

If Byzantium falls, and some other conditions are met, you might be able to marry a Greek princess, and proclaim your country as the ‘Third Rome’.​

If you expand your country, you might be able to form Russia at a certain point:
Form Russia.png

Russian Empire.png

Russian Empire2.png

The Russian Principalities account for approximately 460 locations, so you need to conquer some more from the Golden Horde to get to the 508 required. I forced it through the console to show it to you, but one of our QA testers made a recent run, and he was able to form it around 1500, OOC.​

When the Age of Reformation starts, there will be this advance available for the Russian countries:
Siberian Frontier1.png

That unlocks:
Pomor Outpost.png

Settle the Frontier.png

It’s also possible for a unique disaster to trigger, the Time of Troubles:
Time of Troubles1.png

Time of Troubles2.png

Time of Troubles3.png

Time of Troubles4.png

Time of Troubles5.png

Time of Troubles has many different events happening, on top of the DHEs:​

If you overcome it, there’s even more late-game content, of course:

Reform Collegium.png


Reform Nakaz.png


Reform Speransky.png


Event Bolshoi.png

Bolsoi Theater.png
​

… And much more, but that’s all for today! As today is Friday, this will be the schedule for next week:
  • Monday -> Tinto Flavour about Venice and Genoa
  • Tuesday -> Tinto Flavour about Serbia and Georgia
  • Wednesday -> Tinto Talks about the Orthodox and Miaphysite religions
  • Thursday -> Third ‘Behind the Scenes’ video!
  • Friday -> Tinto Flavour about the Roman Empire, AKA Byzantium
And also remember, you can wishlist Europa Universalis V now! Cheers!
 
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matfer13 said:
I think that Russia should be a tier 3(kingdom) formable for two reasons, one is that Bulgaria is a Kingdom in the game at the start despite many historians referring to it as the second Bulgarian Empire/Tsardom and second the Russian Empire(in a western European sense) was founded by Peter the Great in 1721, before that it was a Tsardom which could also be "translated" as an Empire but like I said before so does Bulgaria and I think there should be consistency.
Otherwise you could give Russia(if it has already been fromed by that point) the possibility to become an Empire when Constantinople fall and they proclaim themselves to be the third Rome through an event
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I would disagree with this. Tsardom should definitely be a Tier 4 formable alongside with HRE. Tsar is Slavic variant for Caesar title as well as Kaiser is a German variant. So, Russian Tsardom should be the same Tier as the unified HRE formable. Ivan the Terrible was officially crowned the Tsar and he was recognized by England, Denmark, Spain, Florence, Constantinople Patriarchate and the Kaiser Maximilian himself. The latter even offered to recognize Ivan as "the Emperor of the East" in exchange of supporting him against the Ottomans. This wide recognition also created a precedent that weakened Papal State's position as the sole and only entity that can grant a crown to any Christian monarch which made Pope to be really mad and antogonized towards newly created Tsardom. Then, Peter renamed Tsardom to Empire in a Western style. He didn't founded anything fundamentally new with this rename as the title was here before him.

As for Bulgaria... I don't wanna be rude (forgive me, fellow Bulgarians), but might makes right. Words that can't be backed with anything are no more than empty vibrations in the air. No doubt you can proclaim yourself "The greatest turbo destroyer of the world" but if only you and your grandma are recognize this title... you know, it's just a mere sounding nickname. So, the Second Bulgarian Tsardom was a regional power in decline at best during the XIV. I don't see any problem with it being a kingdom-tier formable as it was, well, on par with other kingdoms at best.
 
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Russia's transformation of much of the steppe into land that is culturally Russia is the biggest expansion of a culture in the time period in the Old World I think, is there content about this? What does it look like? To what extent is is assimilation vs colonization?

Does it ever make sense when conquering historical Russian borders to colonize over a landed tag?
 
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I think using "Principality of Moscow" or simply "Moscow" makes more sense, as I understand the term "Muscovy" is an alternative name for the Principality of Moscow, mainly used outside of Russia.

By the way, you already use "Tver" instead of "Principality of Tver" and "Ryazan" instead of "Principality of Ryazan." All of these principalities were named after their main cities, so using just "Moscow" seems consistent. Alternatively, you could use "Moskva."

I also suggest using "Knyaz" instead of "Prince"—since you already use "Tsar" instead of "King," using "Knyaz" could add some authentic flavor.

Historically, the monarchs were titled:

Before 1547: Grand Knyaz

1547–1721: Tsar

After 1721: Emperor

So, referring to Russia as an "empire" before 1721 feels incorrect. The proper term for 1547–1721 would be the Tsardom of Russia, or simply Russia, with the Russian Empire only beginning under Peter the Great in 1721. The term "empire" is closely tied to his reign and the transformative changes he initiated.

I also hope the art style will shift to something more Eastern European in the future—I noticed it might still be a work in progress.

Regarding terminology, I find that options like "Tatar-Mongol Yoke," "Mongol Yoke," "The Mongol Empire," or "Golden Horde" sound more historically accurate than simply "Tatar Yoke."

This may also be under development, but I didn’t see Grand Prince Semyon listed among the Russian monarchs.
Update: I was wrong about Simeon Ivanovich the Proud — thanks to @iliaplotnikov for the correction.

Lastly, I believe you’re using the trident of Yaroslav the Wise instead of the appropriate coat of arms for Moscow. It should likely be either the double-headed eagle or St. George slaying the dragon.
Update: The trident is used as the coat of arms of the Rurikid dynasty, not as the coat of arms of Moscow.
 
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Yuri the Long Arms said:
This may also be under development, but I didn’t see Grand Prince Semyon listed among the Russian monarchs.
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That's Simeon Ivanovich the Proud, the eldest son of Ivan Kalita. Semyon and Simeon are versions of the same name (equivalent to Simon), with the former being more common and latter usually used in a religious context (e.g. a person called Semyon would by baptized as Simeon). In Russian historiography this knyaz tends to be referred to as Simeon, so using this name might be more appropriate.
On the other hand, all the rulers called Ivan (common) / Ioann (church) are usually rendered as Ivan in modern historiography, so there is an inconsistency in this tradition.​
 
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I've been working through all of the tinto talks since the game was announced, and I have to say that I am extremely excited by what you've shown us. The game looks like my dream grand strategy game in a lot of ways!

Something that I've noticed in reading through the Tinto Flavours, though, is that there's a lot of questionable English in the text for the dynamic historical events. Most of these are minor things that don't need to be addressed, and I understand the challenge of writing a huge amount of text with a small multilingual team, but a fair number of them make me stop and think about what they mean and a couple have even been downright confusing to read. Are you going to be reviewing the text of these events before release?
 
Deontolus said:
I've been working through all of the tinto talks since the game was announced, and I have to say that I am extremely excited by what you've shown us. The game looks like my dream grand strategy game in a lot of ways!

Something that I've noticed in reading through the Tinto Flavours, though, is that there's a lot of questionable English in the text for the dynamic historical events. Most of these are minor things that don't need to be addressed, and I understand the challenge of writing a huge amount of text with a small multilingual team, but a fair number of them make me stop and think about what they mean and a couple have even been downright confusing to read. Are you going to be reviewing the text of these events before release?
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Don't hesitate to make the necessary suggestions. Just be sure you're correct, a LOT of people have read them already...
 
By the way. there was no unique unit showed. right?

I would expect at least two: streltsy as in EU4, plus something like green coats/Petrine infantry for Russia. Cossacks also should be something avaliable from interaction with them as a state/estate/landless entity, possible for different states around them.
 
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Ratstranger said:
By the way. there was no unique unit showed. right?

I would expect at least two: streltsy as in EU4, plus something like green coats/Petrine infantry for Russia. Cossacks also should be something avaliable from interaction with them as a state/estate/landless entity, possible for different states around them.
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The cossacks are an interesting case. Perhaps each host should be represented as an army-based country? First the Don and Zaporoshian hosts spawn by themselves, and if you conquer or vassalize them you can both use their armies (as quasi-mercs?) and can spawn new hosts to colonize or settle newly conquered steppe land.

The streltsy should be linked to a special "building" (a streletskaya sloboda) that employs peasants and lets you raise them as a better levy. The same should apply to pushkari (except you raise them as artillery).

Given that Russia used nobility levies (pomestnoye voysko) all the way to the 17th century making streltsy/pushkari levies as well should be fine.
 
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anbory said:
As for Bulgaria... I don't wanna be rude (forgive me, fellow Bulgarians), but might makes right. Words that can't be backed with anything are no more than empty vibrations in the air. No doubt you can proclaim yourself "The greatest turbo destroyer of the world" but if only you and your grandma are recognize this title... you know, it's just a mere sounding nickname. So, the Second Bulgarian Tsardom was a regional power in decline at best during the XIV. I don't see any problem with it being a kingdom-tier formable as it was, well, on par with other kingdoms at best.
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Everything you said about Bulgaria also applies to Byzantium (which is an empire in-game), the only difference between the two being that the former doesn't have an army of redditors fanboying for it.
 
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A reminder that IRL politics/current events is off limits in the the game subforums.

Consider this a final warning.
 
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Kormlenije, The Ryad and The Tysiatskii Office should increase the likelihood of the Times of Trouble and/or lower Crown Power.

Hope there are things for (Russian) Orthodox Church events like Autocephaly and Schism of the Russian Church (razkol).

What about +10% Aristocratic Tax from the Census from selling the Dead Souls? :D
 
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"Preobrazhensky Semenovsky Imperial Guard" has no sense. These were two distinct guards regiments, not just some funny collection of letters. No one calls british guards somethig like Blues and Royals Coldstreams.
 
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Ashbey83 said:
"Preobrazhensky Semenovsky Imperial Guard" has no sense. These were two distinct guards regiments, not just some funny collection of letters. No one calls british guards somethig like Blues and Royals Coldstreams.
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Maybe i [and] is missing for something like: ''Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky of the Imperial Guard'', since they are both regiments in the Imperial Guard.....

No, they are just called redcoats :p
 
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onodera said:
The cossacks are an interesting case. Perhaps each host should be represented as an army-based country? First the Don and Zaporoshian hosts spawn by themselves, and if you conquer or vassalize them you can both use their armies (as quasi-mercs?) and can spawn new hosts to colonize or settle newly conquered steppe land.

The streltsy should be linked to a special "building" (a streletskaya sloboda) that employs peasants and lets you raise them as a better levy. The same should apply to pushkari (except you raise them as artillery).

Given that Russia used nobility levies (pomestnoye voysko) all the way to the 17th century making streltsy/pushkari levies as well should be fine.
Click to expand...
I think landless entity model like Iberian Holy Orders would work well. They could be tied with certain land, but not actually have it as a state.

You you hold this lend as non-Christian, they will cause you trouble, reducing control, income, launchring rebellions etc, until you spend a lot of efforts to eradicate them.
If you are Christian (bonus is Orthodox), you can negotiate with them to hire units, but they could also cause you some trouble.

Agreed on Streltsy levy, that would make sense. Petrine infantry/green coats should be regulars (arguably new order regiments under first Romanovs were the first regulars, but we could go with more famous example here).
 
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