I went ahead an bought the game. I have played many PDS Games. I am looking for a Smallish country that won't be in the immediate War to learn How to play.
Any Suggestions?
Any Suggestions?
-
We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
That was Prussia for me. Not too much going on, solid start, and you can pretty quickly start swallowing up all the little Germanic states to the west of you before getting involved in anything too nasty and before the other powers start guaranteeing their independence.
Prussia is a good start. You can attack several small nations to learn the battle mechanics.
I bought the game this morning, but then I had to go to work before I had time to play it. However I'm planning on playing the test game as Sweden (in most Paradox games it's a good country to learn how to play) and I was wondering is the same true in the March of the Eagles. Game starts before the Finnish war, so I should have time to build my strength, right?
Unless Russia attacks you. I still say Prussia is the best to learn from as you can attack some minor nations from the start and learn battle stuff.
I too started out as Sweden but found it frustrating as a starter nation more than anything. My second going (with Austria) has been much more of a pleasant one.
They lack the manpower and funds to do much of anything, and while you can learn from playing as them, it might be wiser to choose a nation that has more resources at it's disposal so you can learn more in your session.
However, if you do play as Sweden as I did, there are a few recommendations that I have for you to avoid frustrations.
First and foremost, learn to use your ledger to gauge enemy strengths and weaknesses. Same goes for the diplomacy screen to see who is at war with whom, and who is protecting the smaller nations that you have your eyes fixed upon. If an enemy's manpower and army size is depleted and they're already at war, then it could be time to strike.
See that navy of yours? At the very minimum, disband ALL of your ships of the line, maybe with the exception of one. If you're like me, you have to have a flagship....LOL. Later on in the game, when you have plenty of funds and are ready to mobilize, you can begin building a lot of frigates (2-3 dozen or so), which at a fraction of the cost of the more expensive line ships, can be used to defend transport fleets, blockade ports for fantastic income, and most import of all, cutoff vital enemy troop movement from Denmark to Sweden. In my short time playing as Sweden, France always seemed to have Denmark's back, but it was meaningless because their method of defending them was to send troops up through Denmark (200K+ stack), where I blocked them from entering. I also gave the UK access to my lands and ports, which made an enormous difference as they were often at war with Denmark and France, and would send fleets of first rate ships to help my move my troops into Danish territory.
I would also recommend disbanding most of your troops if you plan on waiting to attack to save on income and allow you some time to buildup some manpower. At the very least, I would disband your elite troops, as they're quite costly and you really don't need them if you plan to attack Denmark first.
Research the economics, so you can take out cheaper loans, and use those funds to begin building depots in each city. This will help increase manpower and give you a solid supply base to work with.
I also highly recommend sending diplomats to Russia and possibly even Prussia on a constant basis to avoid wars with them early on. If Russia attacks you early on, good luck with that. It cost prestige, which hurts, but the last thing that you need is Russia sending hundreds of thousands of troops into undefended Swedish territories.
IIRC, I gave Russia access to my lands, which helped avoid a war.
FWIW, I found that upgrading Swedish cities was simply too costly and not worth taking out loans for. That includes city developments, ports, and forts. The increase in tax revenue is barely noticeable, and you're left with loans that you'll never be able to payoff, which can hurt your prestige in the process.
Really the only thing that Sweden has going for it in this game are her ports. She has a lot of them which are good for building up fleets of frigates. I wouldn't, however, consider Sweden a safe country from enemy threat. Russia will always have it's eyes on Finland in this campaign, and they can buildup massive armies in a heartbeat. Whenever Russia ended her wars with France and it's coalition, I always broke out in a sweat. LOL
They lack the manpower and funds to do much of anything, and while you can learn from playing as them, it might be wiser to choose a nation that has more resources at it's disposal so you can learn more in your session.
However, if you do play as Sweden as I did, there are a few recommendations that I have for you to avoid frustrations.
First and foremost, learn to use your ledger to gauge enemy strengths and weaknesses. Same goes for the diplomacy screen to see who is at war with whom, and who is protecting the smaller nations that you have your eyes fixed upon. If an enemy's manpower and army size is depleted and they're already at war, then it could be time to strike.
See that navy of yours? At the very minimum, disband ALL of your ships of the line, maybe with the exception of one. If you're like me, you have to have a flagship....LOL. Later on in the game, when you have plenty of funds and are ready to mobilize, you can begin building a lot of frigates (2-3 dozen or so), which at a fraction of the cost of the more expensive line ships, can be used to defend transport fleets, blockade ports for fantastic income, and most import of all, cutoff vital enemy troop movement from Denmark to Sweden. In my short time playing as Sweden, France always seemed to have Denmark's back, but it was meaningless because their method of defending them was to send troops up through Denmark (200K+ stack), where I blocked them from entering. I also gave the UK access to my lands and ports, which made an enormous difference as they were often at war with Denmark and France, and would send fleets of first rate ships to help my move my troops into Danish territory.
I would also recommend disbanding most of your troops if you plan on waiting to attack to save on income and allow you some time to buildup some manpower. At the very least, I would disband your elite troops, as they're quite costly and you really don't need them if you plan to attack Denmark first.
Research the economics, so you can take out cheaper loans, and use those funds to begin building depots in each city. This will help increase manpower and give you a solid supply base to work with.
I also highly recommend sending diplomats to Russia and possibly even Prussia on a constant basis to avoid wars with them early on. If Russia attacks you early on, good luck with that. It cost prestige, which hurts, but the last thing that you need is Russia sending hundreds of thousands of troops into undefended Swedish territories.
IIRC, I gave Russia access to my lands, which helped avoid a war.
FWIW, I found that upgrading Swedish cities was simply too costly and not worth taking out loans for. That includes city developments, ports, and forts. The increase in tax revenue is barely noticeable, and you're left with loans that you'll never be able to payoff, which can hurt your prestige in the process.
Really the only thing that Sweden has going for it in this game are her ports. She has a lot of them which are good for building up fleets of frigates. I wouldn't, however, consider Sweden a safe country from enemy threat. Russia will always have it's eyes on Finland in this campaign, and they can buildup massive armies in a heartbeat. Whenever Russia ended her wars with France and it's coalition, I always broke out in a sweat. LOL
In case anyone wonders, Russia eventually did declare war on me.
Still at war with Spain after raiding many French and Dutch ports, I felt the need for a southern port to raid Spanish ports for easy income after peace was made with the other countries. At least that's what I felt I needed given that ships lose their moral/health being that far away from friendly ports. So I loaded up the transport ships with a couple of decent size armies, declared war on Morroco upon entering their sea zones, and saw my armies utterly defeated because of the landing delay bug that killed the supply. Thanks to Paradox and a little greed on my part, Russia saw an open opportunity to take Finnish lands. LOL
I can't help but wonder if giving Russia a guarantee would have made any difference. Probably not, but you never know.
Still at war with Spain after raiding many French and Dutch ports, I felt the need for a southern port to raid Spanish ports for easy income after peace was made with the other countries. At least that's what I felt I needed given that ships lose their moral/health being that far away from friendly ports. So I loaded up the transport ships with a couple of decent size armies, declared war on Morroco upon entering their sea zones, and saw my armies utterly defeated because of the landing delay bug that killed the supply. Thanks to Paradox and a little greed on my part, Russia saw an open opportunity to take Finnish lands. LOL
I can't help but wonder if giving Russia a guarantee would have made any difference. Probably not, but you never know.
"Starter" country would depend. If you're playing single-player, just pick any great power, or even a decent-sized minor power. None of them are particularly more or less complicated. You might want to choose a Continental power for your first game just to keep things simple, so you can focus entirely on land combat without worrying much about naval combat.
If you're playing MP, figure out who the best other player in the game is. Pick a country that is a natural ally of his country, and try to get that player to give you advice.
If you're playing MP, figure out who the best other player in the game is. Pick a country that is a natural ally of his country, and try to get that player to give you advice.
After losing to French coalition and non-allied Prussia as Sweden, I decided to play as Egypt. Which is kind of pointless, because I can't get any points no matter what I do. However I did relatively well. I conquered Tripolitania, Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Persia. Ottomans wen't down with surprisingly little effort thanks to Austria who kept them busy in Europe, while I defeated them in Asia. After the first 10 years the major coalitions haven't achieved anything and situation in Europe is pretty much the same as it was in 1805.