EEP Germany

[Twoflower]

I have started an attempt to do a complete rework of Germany in EEP some time ago, and judging by this ambition, not much has been accomplished since then. So I decided to give it some fresh dynamism and a bit more transparency and organisation by opening a new thread for Germany with a permanently modified first post listing everything important. So, here it goes; please feel free to post your suggestions and thoughts and to contribute to this thread. Everything in red needs to be discussed thoroughly and is possibly controversial:

related threads

Scandinavia
Old German thread
Austria

Countries covered:

Old:
Bavaria (BAY)
Brandenburg (BRA)
The Palatinat (PFA)
Saxony (SAC)
Mainz (MAI)
Cologne (KOL)
Hannover (HAN)
Holstein (SHL)
Oldenburg (OLD)
Pommern (POM)
Mecklenburg (MEC)
Magdeburg (MAG)
Münster (MUN)
Kleve (KLE)
Hessen (HES)
Würzburg (THU)
Strassburg (STR)
Baden (BAD)
Württemberg (WUR)

(Possible) New ones:
Hansa (HSA) (to be explained and discussed later)
Meißen (U16)
Hannover (HAN) renamed to Brunswick, since it was known as Brunswick for 300 years of EU2 and the Electorate of Hannover for only one century

Province setup:

- Ansbach is given to the Palatinate, representing the Upper Palatinate
- Population and taxvalue of Ansbach are reduced
- The new nation of Meißen is created in the province of Saxony
- Pommern is reduced to one province, Mecklenburg moved to Vorpommern and Mecklenburg province given to the Hansa
- tax value and population of Ansbach is reduced (because it doesn't include Nürnberg anymore)
- tax income, population and manpower of Bavaria and Kleve are reduced (they are increased by events I already scripted)
- Kleve produces clothes

Province capital changes:

- Holstein: Kiel
- Mecklenburg: Schwerin
- Ansbach: Sulzbach, the historical capital of the Upper Palatinate
- Baden: changed to Freiburg as it represents the Habsburg Stammlande and Vorlande in Southern Germany, the Breisgau and Sundgau; Baden is created as an independent country sometime in the 18th century when the Margraviate rose to prominence
- Anhalt: Wittenberg, the capital of the electorate of Saxony
- Kleve: Kleve, since Düsseldorf is in Berg, which was not always united with Kleve
- Cologne: Bonn, being the residence of the archbishop would maybe be the more correct capital, especially because the city of Köln became independent of the archbishop. This would look rather strange, though
- Hannover: Braunschweig
- (if the new setup in Northern Germany is adapted): Lübeck remains capital of Mecklenburg, capital of Vorpommern is renamed to Schwerin

CB shields:

- ALL countries inside the HRE except for the Habsburg ones get CBs only on their initial provinces. This includes the removal of the Palatinate' s shield on Mainz, of Hannover's on Oldenburg, of Denmark's on Holstein and of Brandenburg's on Magdeburg and is supposed to make ahistorical annexations less likely
- The Palatinate gets a shield on Ansbach
- Bavaria gets a shield or a permanent CB on Salzburg and Tyrol to represent its ancient claim on the provinces
- Brandenburg is granted its shield on Magdeburg either in the Peace of Westphalia or when it inherits it in 1680
- Braunschweig/Hannover gets a shield on Bremen if it participates in the Great Nordic War and the province is owned by Sweden
- the Hansa has shields on Bremen and Gotland

AI Files

- Bavaria gets an own ai with slightly below medium aggression, counterreform = yes and combat = { HAB PFA U10 }
- Brandenburg-Prussia's ai (Prussia.ai) is drastically changed; at the moment it has an aggression of 100 and ferocity = yes and is set to conquer the countries it is supposed to inherit, making Brandenburg one of the greatest warmongers in the game, which is obviously wrong and is a reason for its dissatisfying performance. I'd suggest an aggression between 30 and 40 and only HAB and POL on the combat list
- a common ai file is created for all bishoprics, i.e. Salzburg, Strassburg, Würzburg, Mainz, Cologne, Münster, Bremen and Magdeburg. It has a low aggression and converts to counterreformed.

Diplomacy
- the Wittelsbach countries, the Palatinate, Bavaria, Holland and Friesland are in an alliance, have mutual RMs and positive relations
- Strassburg and Baden are vassals of Tyrol or Habsburg, have positive relations with the Habsburgs and are added to their alliance
- The Hansa is allied with the Teutonic and Livonian Order
- Kleve has a RM and very good relations with Burgundy and Brabant and is part of Burgundy's alliance, but not at war with France
-I'm not sure about this and still look for good sources, but the relationship between Denmark ruled by Erik of Pommerania and the Duchy of Pommern should be represented in some way; an alliance, decent relations, RM or even vassalisation seem to be possibilities. Is there anybody more knowledgeable on this topic out there?
- to prevent early wars between them, Holstein could have +50 relation with Denmark, Sweden and Norway
- Meißen is allied with (electoral) Saxony

Events

I'll only list the most notable ones, others are of course desirable as well (and I have some)
- most major events in the Empire's history, such as the Hussite Wars, the Peasant Revolts, the Reformation, the Thirty Years War, the Wars of Austrian and Bavarian succession, the Napoleonic Era and the Congress of Vienna, badly need to be improved or included at all
- there should be some "imperial" events like the Concordat of Vienna or the Constitutio Criminalis Carolina
- if desired, I can repost all the events I have by now, which concern Württemberg, Kleve and Bavaria
- the Peace of Westphalia, the Napoleonic reforms and the Congress of Vienna could cause major changes of Germany's political structure, however, this would potentially be quite deterministic
- there will need to be quite sophisticated events for the two Saxonies since I want them to exchange tags in 1547 (then, Duke Moritz of Saxony forced Elector Johann Friedrich to give up his title and several territories). I want both countries to keep existing throughout the sequence if possible; so how can I manage the tag exchange? (I have already thought of letting one of the countries change to the PRU tag which will with certainty not be used in the 16th century for a few days, however I wonder if this will mess up stuff).
- as already mentioned, Baden needs to be set free in the 18th century to reflect the rise of the Margriaviate of Baden. Does anybody know an appropriate date for this?
- should there be any events to artificially protect the empire?
- Bavaria inherits the Palatinate in 1777
- Prussia inherits Münster (or gets a shield that makes them annex it) in 1795
- by the Napoleonic Reforms, tax income, manpower and population in all surviving german countries are increased, especially in the countries that benefitted most, Baden, Württemberg, Hessen and Bavaria, Bavaria inherits Würzburg and gets shields on Tyrol and Salzburg and Austria annexes Salzburg
- there is a certain chance of Austria and Bavaria exchanging territories by event in the late 18th century; Austria offers either the Austrian Netherlands and the Burgundian crown or Galicia and a new royal crown for Bavaria and Ansbach
- most bishoprics should get a lot of events vassalising them to the powers that controlled them at the time. Isaac Brock has already written such events for Münster that vassalise it mostly to Cologne, once to Kleve and break the vassalage again
- German art, science and culture events are almost completely missing in the game, not even Gutenberg, Goethe or Beethoven are in. This needs to be changed

 

[Sute]{h]

Quite a good startup you have here. As to the Danish shield on Holstein I agree and it is my suggestion when I have finished my scandinavian events that Denmark lose is when they are implemented. If they are implemented. Also I agree with the starting relations between Holstein and the Scandinavian countries and will also suggest that change at the same time.

As to data on Erik of Pommerania I can supply the following links:

Danish: http://www.spangshus.dk/dpi/erikafpommern.htm
German: http://www.ruegenwalde.com/greifen/eri-1/eri-1.htm
English: http://www.darlowo.com.pl/historia/eryk_en.htm
Polish: http://www.spangshus.dk/dpi/erykpomorski.htm

There is certainly basis for events. Something I'm considering making when I have finished with the Danish-Swedish relations. If someone doesn't beat me to it that is.

I would like the creation of the Hansa, but this would be a major alteration. It would require that one goes through every event written to see if it would affect that countrys relation with the Hansa. They were a major player in the world back then. Are you sure about giving them a shield one Gotland? I don't know the historical basis or anything, but if you do it could easily lead to a war with Denmark resulting in the force-vassalisation of the Hansa.

As to events I would like some that stresses the relative unity of the Holy Roman Empire. Currently one doesn't get the feeling that the countries in the HRE are in anyway related if one doesn't play Austria. Perhaps random events that improves ones relation with 10 or something? And random events that reduces ones relations with 10 if one is at war with another country in the HRE?

Also I know this isn't popular around here, but I would like some kind of unification events. If Austria manages to own the entire south Germany or Brandenburg manages to conquer the north I would like to see some events that reflects a likely outcome. Just as it is possible of England to get shields on France if they defeat them. Of course this would lead to major unrest and the like... btw. I don't suggest the use of new tags. I would simply use the existing having a country turn into either Austria or Brandenburg.

 

[Arilou]

Sute: Denmark is supposed to have Chilly relations with the Hansa (at best) anyway, so I see no problem.

But Magdeburg going counterreformed? The same city conquered and burned by Tilly?

 

[unmerged(6159)]

Originally posted by Twoflower

Hannover (HAN) renamed to Braunschweig, since it was known as Braunschweig for 300 years of EU2 and the Electorate of Hannover for only one century

As was discussed in the Hanover thread a heck of a long time ago the BEST name would be Calenberg. I personally prefer "Brunswick-Calenberg", but then I am in the radical localization camp - I prefer everything to be in English in an English version, everything in German in a German version. I knwo this is not a majority position, so my second choice is "Braunschweig-Calenberg"

Pommern is reduced to one province, Mecklenburg moved to Vorpommern and Mecklenburg province given to the Hansa

I really dislike this as I've pointed out several times before

Province capital changes:
Baden: changed to Freiburg as it represents the Habsburg Stammlande and Vorlande in Southern Germany, the Breisgau and Sundgau; Baden is created as an independent country sometime in the 18th century when the Margraviate rose to prominence

I had thought that it was going to be Freiburg until the 16th century. I'd like to have the Margraves of Baden-Durlach who were prominent generals in the Thirty Years War and against the Turks/Spanish Sucession

Kleve: Kleve, since Düsseldorf is in Berg, which was not always united with Kleve

Random thought - couldn't we just call Cleves Berg? It was a somewhat bigger state.

Cologne: Bonn, being the residence of the archbishop would maybe be the more correct capital, especially because the city of Köln became independent of the archbishop. This would look rather strange, though

Yeah I think it's too mcuh detail to put it in Bonn.

Hannover: Braunschweig
Could be Calenberg, but I'd agree that Brunswick is probably best

- Bavaria gets a shield or a permanent CB on Salzburg and Tyrol to represent its ancient claim on the provinces

Weren't you planning to give them one on Ansbach also? To stimulate Wittelsbach rivalries?

Brandenburg is granted its shield on Magdeburg either in the Peace of Westphalia or when it inherits it in 1680

I'd suggest that they could get the shield with the secularization. Not sure of that, but the electors had their on it from then.

Braunschweig/Hannover gets a shield on Bremen if it participates in the Great Nordic War and the province is owned by Sweden

This seems to tight of a restriction to me. Sweden will rarely own it. It does mean you're moving away from the Oldenburg as part of Hanover model that is left over from EU. I agree with that.

- a common ai file is created for all bishoprics, i.e. Salzburg, Strassburg, Würzburg, Mainz, Cologne, Münster, Bremen and Magdeburg. It has a low aggression and converts to counterreformed.

As noted the problem here will be With the secularizations-we can't change the AI at that point. I'd limit it to those bishoprics that actually survived the reformation. Many of them actually resisted the Tridentine reforms and were late to becoem 'counter reformed', but that is also probably too much detail.

- the Wittelsbach countries, the Palatinate, Bavaria, Holland and Friesland are in an alliance, have mutual RMs and positive relations

Will this work with the Freisland events?

to prevent early wars between them, Holstein could have +50 relation with Denmark, Sweden and Norway

good

- Prussia inherits Münster (or gets a shield that makes them annex it) in 1795
- by the Napoleonic Reforms, tax income, manpower and population in all surviving german countries are increased, especially in the countries that benefitted most, Baden, Württemberg, Hessen and Bavaria, Bavaria inherits Würzburg and gets shields on Tyrol and Salzburg and Austria annexes Salzburg

nice

- German art, science and culture events are almost completely missing in the game, not even Gutenberg, Goethe or Beethoven are in. This needs to be changed

Well, in defense of Paradox, the last two are very late in the game. Gutenberg is the most outrageous oversight left. I mean if that isn't the seminal event of the 15th century I don't know what is. (I don't care what you say about Constantinople. The Byzantine Empire was sleepwalking and it's survival or destruction wasn't that key).

 

[Archeolooginspe]

- there is a certain chance of Austria and Bavaria exchanging territories by event in the late 18th century; Austria offers either the Austrian Netherlands and the Burgundian crown or Galicia and a new royal crown for Bavaria and Ansbach

Hi I've made these events a long time ago, I don't know if you have them already? Otherwise I'll repost them.

 

[Twoflower]

I have them, we cooperated on this, do you remember? I did a bit of correction (just of the script itself to make it work and bug-free) and included them in my testing. If you don't mind, I will submit your events with my german modifications when I've got something ready.

 

[Archeolooginspe]

I remember, I just asked for the submission. Further it's okay with me.

 

[Twoflower]

Re: Re: EEP Germany

Originally posted by Isaac Brock
As was discussed in the Hanover thread a heck of a long time ago the BEST name would be Calenberg. I personally prefer "Brunswick-Calenberg", but then I am in the radical localization camp - I prefer everything to be in English in an English version, everything in German in a German version. I knwo this is not a majority position, so my second choice is "Braunschweig-Calenberg"

IIRC, the predominant country was not always Braunschweig/Brunswick (of course we can adapt English names since we're doing an english language mod, it's just that I am more accustomed to the german ones and tend to use them when I pay no attention) -Calenberg; Brunswick-Lüneburg was the main branch for most of the time, and the names changed many times. What about simply calling it Brunswick to avoid this kind of argument?

I really dislike this as I've pointed out several times before

I accept this, seeing the mass of possible problems about this; that's why I of course marked it red and still have some doubts if I really like it myself, just wanted to bring it up to see what people think about it. The benefit would be a much better representation of the Hansa which was certainly more than some trade pacts.

I had thought that it was going to be Freiburg until the 16th century. I'd like to have the Margraves of Baden-Durlach who were prominent generals in the Thirty Years War and against the Turks/Spanish Sucession

Baden represents the Breisgau and Sundgau, where Freiburg is the main city until a date that has to be determined yet. Couldn't the margraves who participated in wars be military leaders for the powers they supported instead? Successful military leaders are no sufficient reason to make a country independent, otherwise Anhalt would have to be in, as well, and AFAIK the margraviate still was no real power in the 17th century, mainly because it was divided into two branches. Thinking about the last point, maybe the best date to make Baden independent would be 1771 when the two margraviates of Baden were united again.

Random thought - couldn't we just call Cleves Berg? It was a somewhat bigger state.

No. First because Kleve was much more powerful, second because Kleve inherited Berg in 1511 and third because I already wrote so many events for Kleve that I don't want to see rendered useless. Also, remember that Kleve owned Mark and Ravensberg as well, which makes it only gradually smaller than Berg, and that the existance of Kleve with a correct setup would strengthen Burgundy (as its supposed to be an ally and to become a vassal). If we were to rename it to Berg, it would also have to be inherited by the Palatinate or remain an independent country, severely weakening Brandenburg-Prussia, which is not desirable at all.

Yeah I think it's too mcuh detail to put it in Bonn.

Agree, it was again just a possibility I wanted to mention

Weren't you planning to give them one on Ansbach also? To stimulate Wittelsbach rivalries?

Yes, I obviously forgot that.

I'd suggest that they could get the shield with the secularization. Not sure of that, but the electors had their on it from then.

Why should they get it then? It did not remain under Hohenzollern administration for long after the secularisation and passed to some side branch of Brunswick (could be completely wrong on that, anyway it was definitely not a Hohenzoller). The most sensible reason for the Peace of Westphalia in which Brandenburg was declared heir to the archbishopric.

This seems to tight of a restriction to me. Sweden will rarely own it. It does mean you're moving away from the Oldenburg as part of Hanover model that is left over from EU. I agree with that.

But Hannover could only claim it because it was owned by Sweden. If Bremen is still independent, granting a shield would not make much sense. I agree, though, that the second shield for Hannover is quite important and should therefore be given out nevertheless.

As noted the problem here will be With the secularizations-we can't change the AI at that point. I'd limit it to those bishoprics that actually survived the reformation. Many of them actually resisted the Tridentine reforms and were late to becoem 'counter reformed', but that is also probably too much detail.

However, the counterreform entry will only affect the bishoprics that remain catholic, anyway, and this will only depend on their province religion. Since I would like to include a chance for some bishoprics to go either way (Würzburg, Cologne, Strassburg and Münster had a chance to go protestant), this would probably be to invariable.

Will this work with the Freisland events?

Friesland already is in an alliance with the County of Holland in the EEP, so it would actually not change much.

 

[Sute]{h]

Re: Re: Re: EEP Germany

Originally posted by Twoflower
But Hannover could only claim it because it was owned by Sweden. If Bremen is still independent, granting a shield would not make much sense. I agree, though, that the second shield for Hannover is quite important and should therefore be given out nevertheless.

Couldn't we simply grant the shield to Hannover if Bremen ceases to exist. That would suspend disbeleif as Hannover would properly have claimed Bremen regradless of who subjugated it, but wouldn't have done so if Bremen kept their independence.

 

[Twoflower]

Sounds like the most acceptable solution, so what about this event:

[COLOR=dark-blue]
#The electorate of Hannover
event = {
      id = 48040
      trigger = { NOT = { exists = BRE } }
      random = no
      country = HAN
      name = "The Electorate of Hannover"
      desc = "During his reign in the Calenberg part of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Ernst August conducted an ambitious and determined policy, intending to rise to the ranks of the most powerful imperial princes. Since 1662 he was Prince Bishop of osnabrück and eventually he managed to inherit all possessions of the Lüneburg branch of Braunschweig, which secured a solid territorial base for his country that was further expanded by his successor's acquisition of the old archbishopric of Bremen. He maintained a strong standing army, conducted centralistic reforms and managed to introduce primogeniture, finally securing the country's unity. By successfully supporting him against the Ottomans and promising to always vote for the Habsburg candidate in imperial elections, he convinced Emperor Leopold to grant the electoral dignity to the house of Brunswick-Lüneburg that became thereafter known as the Electorate of Hannover."
      style = 3
      
      date = { day = 1 month = january year = 1692 }
      offset = 100
      
      action_a = {
               name = "Great"
               command = { type = vp value = 50 }
               command = { type = population which = -2 value = 10000 }
               command = { type = provincetax which = -2 value = 3 }
               command = { type = provincemanpower which = -2 value = 2 }
               command = { type = domestic which = centralisation value = 2 }
               command = { type = relation which = HAB value = 200 }
               command = { type = addcore which = 336 }
                 }
}
#The electorate of Hannover
event = {
      id = 48041
      trigger = { exists = BRE }
      random = no
      country = HAN
      name = "The Electorate of Hannover"
      desc = "During his reign in the Calenberg part of Braunschweig-Lüneburg, Ernst August conducted an ambitious and determined policy, intending to rise to the ranks of the most powerful imperial princes. Since 1662 he was Prince Bishop of osnabrück and eventually he managed to inherit all possessions of the Lüneburg branch of Braunschweig, which secured a solid territorial base for his country. He maintained a strong standing army, conducted centralistic reforms and managed to introduce primogeniture, finally securing the country's unity. By successfully supporting him against the Ottomans and promising to always vote for the Habsburg candidate in imperial elections, he convinced Emperor Leopold to grant the electoral dignity to the house of Brunswick-Lüneburg that became thereafter known as the Electorate of Hannover."
      style = 3
      
      date = { day = 1 month = january year = 1692 }
      offset = 100
      
      action_a = {
               name = "Great"
               command = { type = vp value = 50 }
               command = { type = population which = -2 value = 10000 }
               command = { type = provincetax which = -2 value = 3 }
               command = { type = provincemanpower which = -2 value = 2 }
               command = { type = domestic which = centralisation value = 2 }
               command = { type = relation which = HAB value = 200 }
                 }
}
[/COLOR]

 

[unmerged(6159)]

Nice solution. I'd check that the event names and text work with the existing 'Electorate of Hanover' events. Or have you already done that?

On Magdeburg I still think that Brandenburg was looking to get their hands on it after secularization. One purpose of cores is to get better AI behaviour. Still your solution (1648) is pretty good too.

I initially argued for "Brunswick" in the Hanover thread. However suo's position is that
1) Brunswick-Calenberg is not a real name anyway.
2) The state that became Hanover is Calenberg
3) All the events and monarchs are for Calenberg, not Brunswick-Lüneberg.

I'd also point out that this change means that we will have the Brunswick Sucession in England which is liable to confuse a lot of users.

As you can tell I can't make up my mind about the name issue!

In the Thirty Years War Baden-Durlach was a leader of the League army for a while. I suppose that could put him in leaders.pfa. However, the state of Baden-Durlach was one of premier second rank states in the union, and fought on after most of the union members had been conquered (Palatinate) or made their peace with the emperor (Hesse-Cassel). Now they did this because they figured the emperor would hand their lands over to Catholic Baden-Baden. Which of course he did in the end. But still Baden played a reasonably significant role in the early 1620's although it was desperately weak. I'd prefer to have it in the game by then.

edit: should I submit my Münster events or were you planning to do so?

 

[Twoflower]

Calenberg was only a side branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg.

 

[unmerged(6159)]

monarchs.han is Calenberg Dukes. Ernst Ausgust (elector of Hanover) was from Calenberg branch. eep_han.txt is all for Calenberg. If we're going to make it the Lüneburg branch the events leaders and monarchs will have to be changed. Same argument as Cleves really.

 

[Twoflower]

NO, because the "Calenberg" branch is identical to Brunswick-Lüneburg, being the main sub branch of B-L. There will be no difference because we are talking about the SAME country. Brunswick-Lüneburg or even better just Brunswick would make more sense as a name because Brunswick-Lüneburg-Calenberg (this is the complete name) is the subbranch of a subbranch that lasted under this name shorter than Brunswick-Lüneburg or Brunswick itself. Look at this list of the Welfs. Of course, it is in German, but you will notice that only one Welf is listed as Duke of Calenberg; his successor, Ernst August, was of Calenberg as well, but as soon as he had united the Brunswick-Lüneburg territories, he again styled himself Duke and later Elector of Brunswick-Lüneburg. If we were to call HAN Brunswick-Calenberg, we would as well have to rename Bavaria-Munich, Baden-Durlach and Hessen-Kassel.

 

[unmerged(6159)]

Monarchs

Twoflower, I checked out that page. Here is the list of Hanover monarchs (i.e., monarchs.han) that don't appear (presumably because they are monarchs of Calenberg):

Wilhelm der Siegreiche
Friedrich II Turbulentus
Erich I
Elisabeth
Erich II
Julius
Heinrich Julius
Friedrich Ulrich

I think that's a pretty extensive list.

The original discussion about the name and monarchs is here

 

[Twoflower]

Ok, so I was obviously wrong, but including these Calenberg monarchs and events doesn't make much sense, because:
- Calenberg was inherited by Brunswick-Lüneburg in 1634, not the other way round
- among the "Dukes of Calenberg" suo has as monarchs several actually styled themselves Dukes of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel or simply of Brunswick. Georg of Brunswick-Lüneburg who inherited Brunswick-Wölfenbüttel (including Calenberg) in 1634 and whose line made Calenberg important called himself Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Calenberg
- Brunswick-Lüneburg was the main branch

Including the Calenberg monarchs is like having the Dukes of Bavaria-Landshut for Bavaria until 1505 or the Landgraves of Hessen-Darmstadt for Hessen
Kleve is an entirely different case since Berg would be the weaker and less important country, Kleve was the country that ended up inheriting everything and the change would have logical implications that I despise (the Palatinate would inherit Berg and, to even out the balance, Ansbach would have to be independent or given to Brandenburg).

 

[unmerged(6159)]

Fair enough. The original (Paradox) monarchs were indeed the Lüneburg ones. But we ought to try to keep monarchs/leaders/events consistent with the country name.

You're right about the Palatine/Bavarian inheritance for Berg - that wouldn't be good.

 

[Twoflower]

I would love to include Berg as its my home region and had a quite fascinating history, however, that would only be possible with one more province in the West, which we will not see unless one of the Gods of this game decided to bless us with it
Nevertheless, I wonder if I should make some fantasy events and monarchs for Geldre if it chooses to be inherited by Jülich-Berg in its first event in 1423, letting it represent the united duchies of Berg, Jülich and Geldre.

 

[Sikker]

I am impressed with the hoards of knowledge presented in this thread ... however I am lost and bewildered at the amount changes suggested.
Is it a good idea to change so much? It is (or so it seems) a TOTAL AND COMPLETE rework of Germany ... my main concern is playability, and so many changes may disrupt it ...

Well, I don't know ... it is MASSIVE ...

 

[Twoflower]

Germany is not working that well in EU2, so playability cannot really be an argument against implententing changes (if these don't obviously change to the worse). Considering that we're talking about an area with a massive number of countries, of which many really don't seem to have received much attention from Paradox, the number of changes suggested by now is not that big. Many of these are more cosmetic ones (like renaming capitals or countries) that will not affect game balance at all. But what changes exactly seem to drastic for you?