Jak's Game Guide: An EU4 Tutorial

[jak7139]

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Woe! Weep! War Has Come to Brittany
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(December 1519-June 1523)
Alternate Timeline, Not Canon

Spoiler: I Felt This Update Needed a Soundtrack

"El Pelea" from the OWB mod for HOI4

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It is December 9th, 1519. What we’ve longed feared has come to pass, Brittany is at war with France. Curse the Burgundian king for dying! Curse the traitorous Pope in Rome!

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Brittany, her colonies in the New World, plus Switzerland, Castille, Navarra, Aragon, and their colonies are at war with France, Naples, Geneva, Savoy, and Scotland. The sides are not as uneven as one might expect, but we’re still outnumbered. And a good chunk of our alliance’s forces are stuck across the Atlantic.

The first thing we do is order our trade fleet in Bordeaux to port before the French fleet snipes it. The second thing is to burn our Professionalism to help with our manpower stocks. The third thing is to take on debt, the Bourgeoisie loans plus a normal loan to pay back our existing 4% one (since our loan size has now increased from 121 to 192).

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Our army in Ireland (5-2-0) heads to Ulster to block any Scottish attempts to cross the strait. Our transports in West Africa move to Mexico to pick up as many of our boys as they can for the trip back to Europe. The Defensive Edict goes on in all our mainland provinces to slow the French down. We fill our forcelimit by building 5 more Irish infantry.

​

We unpause.

The French move over us like a horde. Nowhere is safe. The game, taking pity on us, gives us extra Fort Defense for the next 10 years. The Pope, vile collaborator he is, rivals us as well. At least he is honest and open about his deceit.

With Bro Naoned about to fall barely 6 months into the war, I order our trade fleet to the allied port of Cantabria. Some extra ships I had exploring also make their way from Cape Coast to the Canaries. June sees the entire Breton mainland lost. But we still fight on!

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The Iberians have taken Narbonnais, but now they twiddle their thumbs. With Brittany occupied, the French are free to turn their attention south. Our allies are woefully ill-prepared.

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In better news, we capture a lone French trade ship off the coast of Ireland after our fleet moves away from Cantabria. We also take the mission to build to our forcelimit, giving us extra morale.

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I build an extra infantry in Cape Coast with the hope that we might one day be able to ship it over. Our transports have just arrived in Mexico and are now on their way to Ireland. Colonial Mexico forms and I name it after, what a quick internet search tells me, is the patron Saint of Brittany, “le Refuge d’Anne.” The extra Merchant from its 10 provinces is sent to the Ivory Coast to Transfer Trade.

Our unit in Cape Coast moves west and occupies, then seizes, a French colony! They’ll learn we aren’t so toothless. I quickly put a colonist there to change its culture to Breton. Whydah also becomes a full-fledged city. That colonist is sent to Benguela near Kongo.

Switzerland, our faithful friend, is forced to surrender 2 provinces, reparations, and money to Savoy for peace. But Castille and Aragon have engaged a large French force in Burgos. They face none other than Louis XIII himself! Our allies win but take more casualties. The French have the most Discipline out of the participants. But the Castilians have the most Morale.

Such victories are short-lived. The French soon return in greater numbers as our transports arrive in the formerly Portuguese province of Algarve. Across the Mediterranean, the Ottomans beat the Mamluks again.

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Our force moves to engage a leaderless enemy stack on the mountains of Navarra. With Aragonese help, we win the day. Another battle a month later at Rosello goes poorly. Without allied support, we had no choice but to retreat when 50,000 French forces came out of the fog of war.

January 1523 sees a particularly low point. Burgos and Rosello have fallen, and our allies do nothing. The French are everywhere! In a desperate maneuver, I try transporting our Irish forces to Penn-ar-Bed as a distraction. But all 12 ships, and the 12,000 men aboard them, are caught and sunk and killed.

This is the last straw for me. I roll back the save, take out the 1% loans before they decrease in size, and make peace before the first blade is unsheathed.

The peace is not as bad as you might expect, only 3 provinces and some money. But make no mistake, France will return.

​

 

[Cromwell]

Oh dear... You will need to weld together a better group of alies to take that back... unless of course you are aiming to become a new world nation.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

The Pope's treachery will not be forgotten, if it were my game I'd probably convert to Protestant just to spite him.

 

[Rensslaer]

It's hard not to be abjectly discouraged when the French start marching around multiple stacks that are equivalent to the size of your own army - I've been there before.

And gosh how terrifying and discouraging to lose most of your army at sea! Reminds me of trying to invade the US in V1 with no navy to speak of. <shudders>

Thank you for the "dream sequence" that turned out not to be. Looking forward to continuation...

Rensslaer

 

[diskoerekto]

That was a bloodbath, and I don't know how in the future we'll overcome France.

Also, Spanish forces winning the battle but losing the war is why I prefer against morale pips if total number of pips are equal

 

[Bullfilter]

Things are looking up! King Henri scoffs, perhaps he was wrong about that chill after all. After all…I mean… … … oh no…

He was feeling the breeze of the falling hammer. In my Frisian run, this is what I’ve been most afraid of since it started. I count not having been curb-stomped by France in the last 300 game years as a miraculous boon!

I reloaded my save to right when France declared and immediately sought peace.

Completely understandable in a tutorial run. And the surrender is no bed of roses either for the motherland.

I wasn't sure if reloading a save would be a controversial move or not.

Nah, all good.

In a desperate maneuver, I try transporting our Irish forces to Penn-ar-Bed as a distraction. But all 12 ships, and the 12,000 men aboard them, are caught and sunk and killed.

I was about to comment that was very desperate sending an unescorted fleet full of troops on a raid and that losing the lot was a war-killer …

This is the last straw for me. I roll back the save, take out the 1% loans before they decrease in size, and make peace before the first blade is unsheathed.

… and you quickly reached the same conclusion. Not sure what the future will hold now - a basically expat empire where the homeland is sacrificed to French expansionism?

The stuff in the previous chapter about vassalisation was very instructive, btw.

 

[jak7139]

Oh dear... You will need to weld together a better group of alies to take that back... unless of course you are aiming to become a new world nation.

The ship on migrating to the New World has already sailed. We would have needed to move our capital there much earlier before any of our CNs spawned. In hindsight that probably would've been a better strategy, but I wanted to show off CNs and TCs so kept our capital in Europe.

(To those who don't know, having your capital in the New World prevents CNs from spawning there. So by moving our capital over there, we can own all the land directly).

That was a bloodbath, and I don't know how in the future we'll overcome France.

We will need lots of time to rebuild and grow. We're not doomed, just significantly wounded.

Not sure what the future will hold now - a basically expat empire where the homeland is sacrificed to French expansionism?

You've got it exactly! Mainland Brittany is not long for this world. But Ireland remains, and the rest of the globe awaits!

The Pope's treachery will not be forgotten, if it were my game I'd probably convert to Protestant just to spite him.

A large part of me wanted to convert for RP reasons (and also to show off the Reformation since I think everyone has the gist of the Catholic mechanics). But in the end, I didn't for two reasons:

One, it will be harder to maintain our alliance with Castille if we are a heretic.

Two, we will lose out on any Treaties of Tordesillas we've gained. So other Catholics will move into our already claimed territories without any repercussions.

It's hard not to be abjectly discouraged when the French start marching around multiple stacks that are equivalent to the size of your own army - I've been there before.

And gosh how terrifying and discouraging to lose most of your army at sea! Reminds me of trying to invade the US in V1 with no navy to speak of. <shudders>

It was very discouraging. Especially since the Iberian AI never acted decisively, meaning I needed to carry the entire war. We were unfortunately nowhere near ready to face the French.

Thank you for the "dream sequence" that turned out not to be. Looking forward to continuation...

Nah, all good.

Glad this ATL event was well received.

Completely understandable in a tutorial run. And the surrender is no bed of roses either for the motherland.

Yes, this war has hurt us a lot. Surrendering instantly at least means we haven't wasted any time/money in fighting it. But we now know (if we didn't suspect before) that France views us as easy prey.

Also, Spanish forces winning the battle but losing the war is why I prefer against morale pips if total number of pips are equal

A good idea. Although in this case I would've loved the Iberians to do anything to help. I'm not sure how well this carried over in the chapter, but my allies basically sat in their territory the entire time and waited for France to attack. A terrible strategy when France outnumbers them so completely.

He was feeling the breeze of the falling hammer. In my Frisian run, this is what I’ve been most afraid of since it started. I count not having been curb-stomped by France in the last 300 game years as a miraculous boon!

Not having any war declared on you means you're doing something right. Sometimes France is confident/strong enough to attack directly into the HRE/Benelux. It's good that you've avoided their wrath.

The stuff in the previous chapter about vassalisation was very instructive, btw.

Thanks! I know it was a lot of info to process. But I think it's better to have this chapter exist as a reference for all the interactions you can do, and not constantly write, "Then we allied Ashanti, and then we guaranteed Ashanti, and then we sent a gift to Ashanti, etc."

Thank you all for your comments! Next chapter coming in a bit.

 

[jak7139]

CHAPTER THIRTY: Tariffs (again) & Development Strategy
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(December 1519-July 1523)
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We have a truce with France until May 1530. That’s a few months less than 11 years for us to grow, regroup, and become stronger. Do you think we can do it?

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I start by repaying our normal loan, leaving us with just the 5 we got from the Estates. Next, once Barbados finishes, I colonize Benguela just like in that other timeline.

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The Protestant Reformation is off to an okay start. Bohemia, Mantua, Ferrara, and Denmark have all embraced it. Most of Sweden has it, but they haven’t taken the final step.

With no war in Europe to distract us, we continue to attack the different nations in Mexico. This time, we’re at war with Zapotec, Totonac, Yokotan, Tzotzil, and Aztec.

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With the loss of Development and manpower from Bro Wened and Bro Raozhon, I decide to spend some points in Ireland to help with our future prospects. Dublin, Midlands, Desmond, and Cork all get some attention:

• Dublin: 3/3/7 -> 3/7/10
• Midlands: 2/2/5 -> 2/3/5
• Desmond: 2/1/1 -> 2/3/5
• Cork: 3/3/1 -> 3/10/6
• Points Spent: 716 -> 75 (diplo), 516 -> 7 (mil)

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I haven’t mentioned yet why I’m focusing on bringing provinces up to 10, then 20 Development, or why I’m Developing manpower and production, but not tax.

The reason for the 10 and 20 milestones is simple: they unlock new building slots.

As for tax…I’m not saying Base Tax is bad. It certainly has its uses. But Base Manpower is great for giving you a large forcelimit and manpower pool and Base Production is much more valuable economically.

Tax is a great source of income early game, but quickly falls off as trade and production grow much faster. If I were really being optimal here, my admin points would be spent on a button “Expand Infrastructure” in each of my provinces. Aside from decreases to Dev cost and other bonuses, it also lets your provinces have 2 manufactories instead of 1. I know we haven’t built any yet, but they’re worth it. Trust me.

I would also, for optimal play, decrease my Base Tax and focus exclusively on Base Production or Manpower, but we’re not at that stage yet. I usually don’t care this much anyway (any dev is good dev), but the war with France has left me shaken. I need to squeeze every bit of power out of Ireland that I can.

Here’s another divergence from the other timeline. I name our Mexico CN “L’espoir d’Anne” instead of “le Refuge d’Anne.” Anne’s Hope instead of Anne’s Shelter. And yes, I know, these should’ve been Breton names instead. I promise we’ll get there. Our subject is a Crown Colony because of a special interaction we can do with all that, hopefully not cursed, Aztec gold.

The Merchant we get goes to the Ivory Coast, same as before.

A year and 2 days from our peace with France, Naples declares on Milan. France helps their ally pick on the smaller Italian power.

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I remember to assign Benguela to a TC to solidify our control over the node. If we can’t beat France militarily, we’ll just have to beat them economically.

As our truce with Iroquois ends, we take admin tech 9. Even though our army is still in Mexico, I declare on the Iroquois anyway. We’ll be over there soon enough.

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We insult the English to stay above 50 Power Projection, and Whydah finishes, giving us a complete border with Benin. Calabar is next on our list of places to place bases. I set up a Spy Network in Benin and turn on the special trade policy (Chapter 2) to help it grow.

Scotland rivals us, Naples grows at Milan’s expense, and the Ottomans make peace with their Egyptian rivals.

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We turn Calabar into a TC because it is a Trade Center, and you should basically always turn Trade Centers into TCs to play to their strengths. The only time you wouldn’t do this is if you are comfortably above the 50% threshold for a Merchant. Remember, every province you turn into a TC is a province that misses out on the goods produced modifier from the node (Chapter 25).

Savoy dogpiles on Milan in May. Their downfall is certain. I shift our monarch point focus from admin to diplo in anticipation of out next Idea Group. Although a military Idea is certainly tempting after the war with France, I want this campaign to demonstrate something.

Army quality is great. But EU4’s AI, despite many attempts and improvements over the years, is still very predictable. It’s so predictable in fact, that in singleplayer you don’t ever need to take a military Idea Group. Those slots can be better used on admin or diplo Idea Groups to outscale the AI before they ever become a threat.

This isn’t to say I don’t take any military Ideas. And that’s not to say you shouldn’t either. But you don’t have to, even to beat massive powers like France or the Ottomans. We’ll see if I’ve successfully convinced you of this by the end of the campaign.

Another Mexico-focused war is declared as we slowly grow our new subject. By July 1523, I’ve finally babied Ashanti enough that they become our vassal. They’re not very useful for wars because of their lack of tech. but they pay us a nice amount (0.28).

(Referencing the earlier Mexico screenshot, we're at war with the red and purple nations to Zapotec's west)​

And this is a perfect moment to demonstrate why tariffs are terrible. I briefly mentioned in Chapter 24 why I never increase tariffs, but this case with Ashanti adds more fuel to my argument. Let’s compare 2 of our subjects.

Ashanti has one province with 5 Development. They pay us 0.23 ducats a month (the number has changed slightly).

Iles de Beaumetz has over 10 times the amount of Development (79) with their 7 provinces. But they’re only paying us 0.32 per month.

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Yes, that amount is higher than Ashanti’s, but the point is that Ashanti pays us almost as much for no increased Liberty Desire and they’re significantly poorer than our colonies.

With deals like that, why would I ever increase tariffs on a CN? Especially when the CN is likely to revolt because of it. It’s just not worth it.

L’espoir d’Anne (232 Dev), for reference, is paying 0.26. But they are significantly overextended from all the land we’ve been feeding them, decreasing the amount. Henrika and d’Elbene pay us a pitiful 0.02 and 0.01 respectively but that’s because Iroquois is occupying most of them while we’re busy in Mexico.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

We insult the English to stay above 50 Power Projection

Nothing about Henry VIII falling into the Thames this time?

 

[jak7139]

Nothing about Henry VIII falling into the Thames this time?

Quick Reply: here you go, an image that didn't make the cut.

 

[Bullfilter]

We have a truce with France until May 1530. That’s a few months less than 11 years for us to grow, regroup, and become stronger. Do you think we can do it?

Hmm, I think you might grow and recover, sure, but also be able to keep them from taking more of Brittany, let alone take some back and hold it as France will have cored them? I have my doubts but would like to see it.

I decide to spend some points in Ireland to help with our future prospects

We insult the English to stay above 50 Power Projection

Scotland rivals us

After having just invested heavily in Ireland I was wondering how vulnerable it might be to England in TTL. Then you insult the English and are rivalled by Scotland! Does that mean you don’t really fear them at all?

This isn’t to say I don’t take any military Ideas. And that’s not to say you shouldn’t either. But you don’t have to, even to beat massive powers like France or the Ottomans. We’ll see if I’ve successfully convinced you of this by the end of the campaign.

This sounds interesting, will look forward to seeing how that strategy takes shape.

 

[Rensslaer]

@jak7139 wow. It's hard to imagine. You kinda said outright that you have no hope of defending your homeland against France. I don't disagree. But that's a hard place to get to.

Glad you invested so heavily in Ireland, before and recently. Also your overseas colonies in America and Africa are good bets, if only because the AI doesn't seem very good at waging anti colonial wars.

It seems you need a different power to prey upon in order to grow strong enough to rival France. Do you agree? So you have such a target?

Continues to be gripping drama!

Rensslaer

 

[diskoerekto]

We turn Calabar into a TC because it is a Trade Center, and you should basically always turn Trade Centers into TCs to play to their strengths. The only time you wouldn’t do this is if you are comfortably above the 50% threshold for a Merchant. Remember, every province you turn into a TC is a province that misses out on the goods produced modifier from the node (Chapter 25).

I'm a bit confused, you mean to say we should turn to TC most possible provinces, or only until a point? What is the 50% threshold I must've forgotten it.

 

[jak7139]

I'm a bit confused, you mean to say we should turn to TC most possible provinces, or only until a point? What is the 50% threshold I must've forgotten it.

I'll reply to this now because it's very important to understand TCs in general, and specifically for this AAR, we'll need to TC different places in Africa and Asia to eventually match our rivals (mainly France) economically.

All this info can also be found in Chapter 25 or in more detail on the wiki.

You can assign any province outside of your capital region to a TC (we are in the Western Europe region).

The different TC regions correspond to the different trade nodes (the Ivory Coast node matches its TC region for example).

A province assigned to a TC mainly gets some buffs to its trade power and naval forcelimit and doesn't give much tax, manpower, and land forcelimit. The trade power is the most important part here. The higher a province's TP, the more it contributes to your share of the trade node (the game refers to this as Provincial Trade Power).

Most provinces don't give very much TP unless they are estuaries or trade centers. So assigning a TC to those provinces plays to their strengths better.

If your TC has 50% or more control of the provincial TP in its node/region, you gain an extra merchant.

All non-TC provinces in a TC region benefit from increased goods produced (basically extra production income). This extra income does not apply to provinces that are TC'd.

So to get the most income from your TCs, you want both the merchant and as much goods produced as possible.

 

[diskoerekto]

I'll reply to this now because it's very important to understand TCs in general, and specifically for this AAR, we'll need to TC different places in Africa and Asia to eventually match our rivals (mainly France) economically.

All this info can also be found in Chapter 25 or in more detail on the wiki.

You can assign any province outside of your capital region to a TC (we are in the Western Europe region).

The different TC regions correspond to the different trade nodes (the Ivory Coast node matches its TC region for example).

A province assigned to a TC mainly gets some buffs to its trade power and naval forcelimit and doesn't give much tax, manpower, and land forcelimit. The trade power is the most important part here. The higher a province's TP, the more it contributes to your share of the trade node (the game refers to this as Provincial Trade Power).

Most provinces don't give very much TP unless they are estuaries or trade centers. So assigning a TC to those provinces plays to their strengths better.

If your TC has 50% or more control of the provincial TP in its node/region, you gain an extra merchant.

All non-TC provinces in a TC region benefit from increased goods produced (basically extra production income). This extra income does not apply to provinces that are TC'd.

So to get the most income from your TCs, you want both the merchant and as much goods produced as possible.

The trade power buffs, are they additive or multiplicative? I mean, for provinces that have no tp whatsoever, does it still make sense of is it good for only special provinces with an estuary etc?

 

[jak7139]

The trade power buffs, are they additive or multiplicative? I mean, for provinces that have no tp whatsoever, does it still make sense of is it good for only special provinces with an estuary etc?

Assigning a province gives +100% to its existing TP. That's why only estuaries/centers are useful.

TCs do have special, expensive, unique "buildings" (in quotes because they don't function like normal buildings). They're more like upgrades. One of these upgrades costs at tier one, 200 ducats (400 ducats at tier two). It gives a flat +2 (or 4) TP. Combined with this, and any normal trade buildings you construct, TCs will have a massive amount of trade power compared to your other provinces.

The only time I would assign non-estuary provinces to a TC is to get the extra merchant. Sometimes the node just doesn't have enough trade centers to make the main strategy work.

 

[VILenin]

I'm still not fully caught up, but I wanted to drop a comment anyway and let you know how informative and entertaining I'm finding your AAR! There's a ton of helpful information and breakdown for new players and I'll definitely be coming back and revisiting sections if/when I decide to give EU4 a serious try.

 

[Hootieleece]

Paying off the French is probably the way to go if you want to play until the end of the timeline.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Now, I’m out of screenshots, but this chapter feels a little short. To make up for it, here are some nice-looking maps of our burgeoning empire.

See you all later and thanks for reading!

What a good empire. Basically monopoly on north America and eventually the Atlantic.

Strange how there's a Celtic America, then a Latin/Celtic America, and then the Anglos come in at the bottom in the south.

Looking at this, it might be best to move so the capital and homeland is along the East Coast. Much safer, definitely going to have a larger population one day, and much richer too. Means you can avoid France altogether.

In April, we annex Attignawantan. And in June, the Pope proclaims that Columbia is Castille’s domain with a Treaty of Tordesillas. I try to annex Attigneenongnahac in one of our peace deals, but the game says I can’t reach it. So, I settle for money, reps, and Trade Power instead. Shortly thereafter, they are invaded by Huron. In September we sign our final peacdeal with Iroquois, taking the eastern half of their country. We’ll be back for the rest later.

Everyone is OTL obsessed with the gold and silver of Latin and south America. Good for Bretons using future knowledge to grab the entirety of north America for themselves on the cheap.

In December, England is proclaimed by the Pope to be the rightful ruler of Brazil. At least this will keep the Castilians and Portuguese from expanding there. It may even be a thorn in their side.

I've seen this a lot in various EUIV AARs. Why does England always seem to get Brazil, and why do they not go to North America and the Caribbean like OTL?

Yes (the game calls these regions subcontinents). So since we are in Western Europe, we can only create TCs in other subcontinents. But we could also move our capital to change that. A screenshot of the subcontinent boundaries:

Yeah...having read on until the last update, I'd definitely think about moving. Ireland isn't any safer, so going American Celtic seems the best way forwards.

I also remember to scornfully insult England.

Good.

 

[jak7139]

Nothing about Henry VIII falling into the Thames this time?

No. But Henry will continue the legacy of his OTL counterpart in the next update.

Hmm, I think you might grow and recover, sure, but also be able to keep them from taking more of Brittany, let alone take some back and hold it as France will have cored them? I have my doubts but would like to see it.

We'll see. France has become one of our main rivals during this game. And our eentual reconquest and revenge has become a long term goal. It's helped keep things interesting.

After having just invested heavily in Ireland I was wondering how vulnerable it might be to England in TTL. Then you insult the English and are rivalled by Scotland! Does that mean you don’t really fear them at all?

Of our three geopolitical enemies (France, England, and Portugal), I fear France the most. They're the strongest both economically and militarily of the bunch. But once we lose the mainland, we also gain the advantage that OTL England had when losing the Hundred Years War, not having to defend continental holdings. It doesn't matter how many men our rivals have if our navy prevents them from landing.

Specifically for England and Portugal, our alliance with Castille is deterring both from attacking us. Portugal would of course suffer the most due to their proximity with Castille. And Castille's navy and army is more than a match for England's if you count their CNs.

It's less about not fearing an attack, and more about trusting in our Iberian alliance. But I had that same trust before with the Papal States and look where we are now.

This sounds interesting, will look forward to seeing how that strategy takes shape.

Playing with a limitation like this has kept the game interesting for sure.

@jak7139 wow. It's hard to imagine. You kinda said outright that you have no hope of defending your homeland against France. I don't disagree. But that's a hard place to get to.

It is a difficult pill to swallow. But better to admit it now and surrender than waste money and men we can't afford. It was a hard thing to do while playing, but in hindsight has given me a goal to strive towards and maintained my interest: revenge against France, someday.

Glad you invested so heavily in Ireland, before and recently. Also your overseas colonies in America and Africa are good bets, if only because the AI doesn't seem very good at waging anti colonial wars.

The AI has trouble with transports (as you know from your Vic2 game). The colonies are also very good for money, something we desperately need.

It seems you need a different power to prey upon in order to grow strong enough to rival France. Do you agree? So you have such a target?

I have many targets and options. But am not strong enough yet. I'll take the easy wars of expansion first.

Continues to be gripping drama!

Thanks! I figured the France fiasco would be entertaining.

I'm still not fully caught up, but I wanted to drop a comment anyway and let you know how informative and entertaining I'm finding your AAR! There's a ton of helpful information and breakdown for new players and I'll definitely be coming back and revisiting sections if/when I decide to give EU4 a serious try.

Thank you! Glad you're enjoying it and I hope it helps!

Paying off the French is probably the way to go if you want to play until the end of the timeline.

They can't reach us in Ireland at least. But the mainland is under constant threat.

What a good empire. Basically monopoly on north America and eventually the Atlantic.

Strange how there's a Celtic America, then a Latin/Celtic America, and then the Anglos come in at the bottom in the south.

Looking at this, it might be best to move so the capital and homeland is along the East Coast. Much safer, definitely going to have a larger population one day, and much richer too. Means you can avoid France altogether.

Moving the capital to the Americas as a smaller power is a tried and true strategy. But for us it is too late to try that. We needed to do it before our first CN was created. If I were playing normally I definitely would've done that. But for this tutorial I wanted to showcase CNs and so on. But yes, moving to the New World would've made us a lot stronger than where we're at now.

Everyone is OTL obsessed with the gold and silver of Latin and south America. Good for Bretons using future knowledge to grab the entirety of north America for themselves on the cheap.

The gold is actually better as far as EU4 is concerned. But from an in-universe/narrative perspective Brittany has gotten the better deal in the long run.

I've seen this a lot in various EUIV AARs. Why does England always seem to get Brazil, and why do they not go to North America and the Caribbean like OTL?

I think it has to do with England's range, as well as the priorities of Castille/Portugal. England's AI wants to get a jumping-off point to move further east around the Cape. They would prefer the Caribbean, but Portugal always grabs that, so the English AI (still Catholic early on) will never go against the Pope/Portugal. That leaves Brazil. Castille usually focuses on colonizing Argentina and Colombia first, as well as a few spots in Africa.

North America starts getting filled in later (with the Iberians going for Mexico, California, and Alaska) and everyone else taking the East Coast. England is usually not Catholic by this point, so doesn't worry about Papal sanctions.

Good.

The English rivalry isn't as big as the French one, but it's definitely burning.