Jak's Game Guide: An EU4 Tutorial

[Hootieleece]

Good job with the micromanaging the loans, rebels, war exhaustion and almost coming out the other side unscathed. I would have given up and started playing Football Manager (less stressful) again.

Yes, I am rooting for the Dreux to maintain Brittany and somehow overcome France.

As for updates I am happy with whatever you prefer, but like the longer updates if you only update once a week.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

Ah come on! So close to a feudal American monarchy with no penalties to that due to being based there. Ditch Ireland and join the big boys in Boston!

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for this update. Good to see you working on getting past most of the wars and working toward peace with reconstruction.

I think that move with Mexico was excellent. That's certainly what the Spanish did: take advantage of Mexican resources. (I think, primarily silver mines.)

Author's Note: Another long, detailed chapter right here. Perhaps I could've split it into two parts. But then, I don't think either shorter update would've been "worth the wait" with the once-per-week schedule I'm posting at. With the rate-of-posting in mind, do you all generally prefer longer updates such as this one, or would you want shorter episodes?

As usual, I think whatever works for you is best. I did not find this too long, but perhaps that is due to your breezy and easy to understand style.

 

[Rensslaer]

Ha! I love the "lost transmission" from the League War. Good for you - you get to sit out the demolition derby of the decade and concentrate solely on your own interests. Interesting how it turned out, but you're right - Bohemia was in a bad spot, and couldn't be saved by her allies.

Trying to recall when Lithuania separated from Poland... If Poland had been defeated soundly, and had to release Lithuania, I would expect her to be smaller. Maybe it was an independence movement that I do not recall?

Love the increase of size of the gold fleets! Interesting that it's such a huge contribution to your total economy. When you say 10%ish was lost on the way -- that's pirates/privateers? I suppose I shall have to play a colonizing power next, with your AAR on speed-dial, to get used to all those mechanics. I enjoyed the EU III colonizing, so I'm sure with all the EU IV bells & whistles I'll enjoy this also.

Great work building your empires in Ireland and North America! Oh, yes, that would be frustrating being cut off from your intended expansion route by Spain. I'll have to watch for that province.

I absolutely had no idea about the Expand Infrastructure option! Actually, it rings a bell, but like many lesser-known options it's fallen from my memory. That's a great thing to know. I might see about using that in my game. I also was unaware that Developing a province also adds Institution Spread! Very good to know.

A French colony in Maine... So to me that says 1) that's my first target if we go back to war with France; 2) France is more likely to come into conflict with me/you because they're colonizing there, 3) I feel like there's a third reason this is important that I/we don't sense yet.

As to update length... Here's the stream-of-consciousness I experience when reading long updates... "Oh, awesome - a new update! Hmm... Seems kinda long. No problem. Hmm... I want to comment on that. Oh, and that. And, hmm... I should comment on that. Wait... I should have been taking notes. Yes, another thing to comment on. How many was that? Oh, and comment on this. Now what was I going to comment on again? There was this and that and.... Oh forget it I'll just have to read back over the whole thing as I write my comments."

I try to keep my updates, on average, around 12 screenshots and accompanying commentary. I've sometimes done as many as 15 but I try not to go that long. But I manage with reading longer updates. Out of the half dozen AARs I follow religiously half seem to have really long updates some or all the time.

Rensslaer

 

[diskoerekto]

On King Henri’s death, we lost a Stability. I don’t have enough admin points to boost it back to 0 right now, but it’ll be a priority. The cost is increased because of the Religious Turmoil Disaster. A consequence of the negative Stability and our high War Exhaustion, a plethora of revolts are hitting on our nation everywhere.

Some have already risen in Africa, now some appear in Bengkulu. And more are growing and firing all the time. Our manpower is stretched thin, and it will only grow thinner. We also only have one transport fleet, so can only deal with these far-flung colonial revolts one at a time.

sounds dire

No. There will be no peace. Not until it’s forced upon our enemies.

maybe even a small bite from scotland?

Later, again, another battle in Leinster. Another navy-forced wipe.

will the AI do this rinse repeat until they have zero army?

Author's Note: Another long, detailed chapter right here. Perhaps I could've split it into two parts. But then, I don't think either shorter update would've been "worth the wait" with the once-per-week schedule I'm posting at. With the rate-of-posting in mind, do you all generally prefer longer updates such as this one, or would you want shorter episodes?

go with your gut feeling

Here’s something you may not expect. A third war! Started by…us?

only way out is through, why not one more war while our troops are already there? good call.

Iroquois is annexed. Kaskasia is annexed. Chalaghwatha is annexed.

momentum building

Our armies in North America have nothing better to do, so we declare on Miami.

that's the spirit

I know this is probably not the most exciting thing. But I promised it, so here it is. It’s also good for roleplay.

• d'Elbene:
  
  • Baye Blanche, capital of d’Elbene -> Bae Gwenn
  • Nouveau Arvor -> Nevez Arvor
  • Penakuk -> Nevez Bretagne
  • Sklaer’s Ennemi -> Sklaer’s Enebour
  • Sainte Anne -> Sant Anne
  • Baye Notre Dame -> Baye Hon Itron
• Henrika:
  
  • les fort des trois rivers -> Al Kastell a Teir Ster (name is now small enough to allow capitalization)
  • Trois Rivieres -> Teir Ster
• Greenland:
  
  • Vittresville -> Vittreker
• L’Espoir d’Anne -> Al Esperans a Anne

this was i think important, great job!

2 colonists are sent to Brazil. It has gold and no other Catholic has a CN yet (England lost their Papal sanction upon becoming Anglican), so why not.

are we back to being good enough with the pope so he grants us the ToT?

 

[jak7139]

That was a close one...

Good job with the micromanaging the loans, rebels, war exhaustion and almost coming out the other side unscathed. I would have given up and started playing Football Manager (less stressful) again.

We were just in the nick of time. It's tough managing so many fronts at once, but I have experience playing the game this way, so am not so bothered by it. Certainly the game has thrown many challenges at us. But there is light at the end of this tunnel, don't fret!

Yay, House de Dreux shall survive.

Yes, I am rooting for the Dreux to maintain Brittany and somehow overcome France.

I'm sure the King is happy to hear you say that. I am too!

Ah come on! So close to a feudal American monarchy with no penalties to that due to being based there. Ditch Ireland and join the big boys in Boston!

Moving to America is the common strategy when playing a small nation like Brittany. We don't have HRE protection like the Dutch, a solid mainland like Britain, Spain, or France, or lots of powerful allies like Portugal.

But for tutorial-AAR purposes, I wanted to show how CNs function. We don't get access to those by moving our capital to the New World. But yes, we'd be significantly more powerful if we owned all that land directly.

Thanks for this update. Good to see you working on getting past most of the wars and working toward peace with reconstruction.

I think that move with Mexico was excellent. That's certainly what the Spanish did: take advantage of Mexican resources. (I think, primarily silver mines.)

You're welcome!

I think you're right with the silver mines. Weren't Spanish/Mexican Dollars famous for their silver? I think I've heard something like that before.

Ha! I love the "lost transmission" from the League War. Good for you - you get to sit out the demolition derby of the decade and concentrate solely on your own interests. Interesting how it turned out, but you're right - Bohemia was in a bad spot, and couldn't be saved by her allies.

I thought "losing" Austria's call was the correct response. We probably wouldn't have lost anything given we're across the sea, but I was just too frustrated by all the other stuff we had to do. I didn't want to risk being pulled into something larger in Europe.

Trying to recall when Lithuania separated from Poland... If Poland had been defeated soundly, and had to release Lithuania, I would expect her to be smaller. Maybe it was an independence movement that I do not recall?

All the way back in Chapter 2, it was mentioned that Poland declined the union with Lithuania. Both have remained independent the whole game.

Love the increase of size of the gold fleets! Interesting that it's such a huge contribution to your total economy. When you say 10%ish was lost on the way -- that's pirates/privateers? I suppose I shall have to play a colonizing power next, with your AAR on speed-dial, to get used to all those mechanics. I enjoyed the EU III colonizing, so I'm sure with all the EU IV bells & whistles I'll enjoy this also.

Any privateers that are patrolling siphon off a chunk of the gold fleet's treasure. We could patrol to stop that, but my fleets are busy elsewhere and the lost revenue isn't a large enough amount to get me to care.

I'm sure if your colonizer run ever ends up being an AAR, I will be a loyal reader for all your questions.

Great work building your empires in Ireland and North America! Oh, yes, that would be frustrating being cut off from your intended expansion route by Spain. I'll have to watch for that province.

The borders of the province didn't look coastal, but of course AI Spain doesn't have eyes and knows automatically which provinces it can and can't reach. I could've checked the province using the Colonial Range mapmode (green provinces we can reach, red ones are unavailable) but it slipped my mind.

I absolutely had no idea about the Expand Infrastructure option! Actually, it rings a bell, but like many lesser-known options it's fallen from my memory. That's a great thing to know. I might see about using that in my game. I also was unaware that Developing a province also adds Institution Spread! Very good to know.

Expand Infrastructure is a great tool! Be warned though, it can eat through your governing capacity if you aren't careful. Having a few key provinces is alright though.

And you can hover over the Development buttons on a province to see how much it will add to the Institution in the province, assuming there is to embrace. This strategy is a necessity for most non-Europeans in order to get Institutions (by focusing all Dev efforts on a "seed" province).

A French colony in Maine... So to me that says 1) that's my first target if we go back to war with France; 2) France is more likely to come into conflict with me/you because they're colonizing there, 3) I feel like there's a third reason this is important that I/we don't sense yet.

You're right that the Maine colony would be a great, easy wargoal to achieve ticking warscore. And yes, we will also hate each other more due to competing colonies (though we already hate each other anyway). Reason #3 could be that they'll have to split forces between two continents in the event of a war.

sounds dire

It is, but we're dealing with it as best we can.

maybe even a small bite from scotland?

That is coming up in the next few decade once this period of turmoil is over. Stay tuned!

will the AI do this rinse repeat until they have zero army?

Assuming they're confident enough in their ability to land and can't get access, yes. If we destroy enough of their army, they might calculate that they still need enough forces for home defense.

only way out is through, why not one more war while our troops are already there? good call.

Exactly. Onward and upward!

are we back to being good enough with the pope so he grants us the ToT?

Papal relations range from 0 to +10 (depends on whether we keep a diplomat there all the time or not). The debuffs from violating the treaty in the Caribbean earlier are slowly ticking down. If we don't do anything to anger him in the future, he should grant us the treaty.

I don't mind either way, whichever you prefer.

As for updates I am happy with whatever you prefer, but like the longer updates if you only update once a week.

As usual, I think whatever works for you is best. I did not find this too long, but perhaps that is due to your breezy and easy to understand style.

As to update length... Here's the stream-of-consciousness I experience when reading long updates... "Oh, awesome - a new update! Hmm... Seems kinda long. No problem. Hmm... I want to comment on that. Oh, and that. And, hmm... I should comment on that. Wait... I should have been taking notes. Yes, another thing to comment on. How many was that? Oh, and comment on this. Now what was I going to comment on again? There was this and that and.... Oh forget it I'll just have to read back over the whole thing as I write my comments."

I try to keep my updates, on average, around 12 screenshots and accompanying commentary. I've sometimes done as many as 15 but I try not to go that long. But I manage with reading longer updates. Out of the half dozen AARs I follow religiously half seem to have really long updates some or all the time.

go with your gut feeling

Glad to get all of your feedback on this!

I do think, looking back on this update, that I may have been worrying too much on the length. My instincts say the length is fine. I just didn't want to overwhelm everyone with new information. I think @Chac1 is right that my "eezy breezy" style helped with this. I've always tried to keep things simple and easy to understand. And I do try to keep a consistent amount of screenshots too, @Rensslaer. But this chapter had a lot of images and gameplay to sort through. We covered 8 years here, most chapters cover 3-5, though some have covered 1 year. We've had two other long chapters, one a 9 year, the other, 10 (Chs. 19 and 31)!

Tomorrow's update is a long one too, with more explanations of mechanics and our economic strategy to outgrow the English and French.

See you then!

 

[jak7139]

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Trade Company Investments, a New CN
|-|
(March 1571-June 1578)​

We start off with a look at North America. I’ve found something interesting.

Danish Canada, as they’ve done for a while now, continues expanding throughout Canada. Norway is here too but doesn’t have a CN yet. And now France has started a second colony. Their provinces are split however by Colonial Regions, 1 is in Canada and the other is in East Coast.

(The blue outline is the Eastern America CN region. France has one colony in Eastern America and one in Canada).​

I’m hopeful they’ll be able to finish 4 more and get their own CN, that way d’Elbene can just take it out in a 1v1. But remember France’s colonies grow slower because they are still Catholic and violating our Papal claim to this area. The Scandinavians, as Protestants, don’t suffer any consequences. Henrika and d’Elbene, being Papally recognized subjects, are also free from penalties. It’s a race between them all to see who’ll fill the area first.

I start another minor war against the last independent Mexican native, Otomi. Al Esparans a Anne has enough troops on their own to deal with it.

After that, we finish coring our recently annexed lands from Huron. These cores, combined with our Natchitoches land, make 5 cores in the Louisiana Colonial Region. I rename our new CN to Nevez Breizh, New Brittany, and turn it into a Crown Colony.

​

Our CN also has enough provinces to give us a merchant.

I try transferring from Mississippi River to Ohio, bumping up our income by about a ducat.

I also move our Ohio merchant (transferring to Chesapeake Bay) to Rio Grande (transferring to Mississippi) since all the Ohioan trade is already moving east thanks to our subjects.

​

And I move our merchant from Chesapeake Bay (transferring to GSL) to Amazonas (transferring to Caribbean).

​

Once all the changes are sorted out, our trade income is 11.39. Before it was 10.31. It will continue to grow as rebellious provinces are unoccupied, North America is conquered, and our subjects grow.

A sign of our increasing power is that Desmond is assigned a Cardinal. This is the first one we’ve had since we lost the mainland. The Papal Controller right now is our ally, Spain. It’s good to have friends in high places.

We actually have enough Papal Influence right now to pick 2 bonuses. I go for manpower recovery and less inflation. As mentioned previously, we’re completely out of manpower. Our inflation also isn’t looking healthy at 13.91%, a combination of gold fleets from Mexico, the mine in Matsolo, and the loans we repaid in the last part.

​

We end our war with Creek. They’re cut off from the coast and more of inland Georgia is taken. All the land goes to d’Elbene. Chickasaw, a separate participant in our war against Chiaha, is peaced out for all their land east of the Mississippi river.

(A look at North America post-war).​

Back in Europe, a scripted peacedeal let’s the Ottomans vassalize the rest of the Mamluks for free.

​

Another native ally cedes 1 province to Nevez Breizh. Chiaha gives most of their land to d’Elbene. We’ll be back for the rest eventually, it’s just annoying having to chase down armies for a complete victory.

Whenever you annex a nation that still has armies, those armies automatically become rebels to you. This changes the AI behavior for those armies, causing them to stop running away and instead siege their cores. However, rebels also receive your tech levels automatically. With our manpower issues, I’d much rather not fight anyone on an equal footing right now, even if it’s just rebels.

We have enough rebels to deal with in the rest of our empire anyway.

I ask Spain for some manpower and money which they happily provide. Otomi cedes all their land to Al Esperans a Anne.

We pay around 500 ducats to embrace the Printing Press Institution. The institution itself doesn’t give a large bonus, just less Stability cost. But all our techs are now cheaper because of our modern ideals.

Admin and diplo tech 14 are picked up right away. We don’t have quite enough points for the mil one at first, but grab it a year later. Now we need to decide what our next Idea Group is going to be. I’ll think on it.

(Various buildings unlocked and a better cavalry unit).​

King Richard sires a son during this time. The game wants another Francois, I go with Jean instead for variety.

​

Our colony at Xhosa is done. It’s time to look for a new region and CN. I hear Australia is nice. Wadjuk on the southwestern coast, a Trade Center, is chosen.

After I send our colonist away, I notice a European presence, finally, in the East Indies. It’s not Spain though, but England.

​

Kendari finishes, I send that colonist to Eora on Australia’s east coast. Our Wadjuk colonist returns empty-handed after a native tribe migrates into the province. We send him instead to Tharawal just south of Eora. But another native migrates into Eora, however Wadjuk is free again. Maybe this time it’ll work.

Er…No. I guess not. How about Badtjala? Off we go! No…

Fine, Gorontalo on Sulawesi. There. All good.

Ambon finishes. We head to Poso also on Sulawesi. Simple. Easy. No migrations to cancel our colonists.

(Tharawal is the only colony established in Australia at this time. All the rest were cancelled because of native migrations).​

Here’s how our income currently sits. We’re at 37.42 gross with most of that coming from trade (now at 12.82). With our armies turned off, we’re making a healthy profit. But our armies can’t rest forever. We need to grow.

(Highlighted in red is our War Exhaustion. It's slowly being bought down, along with our inflation).​

Aside from growing through wars of conquest, how else can we achieve this? Through buildings and TC Investments.

In preparation, I take a Mission giving 3 Dev in our capital and cheaper construction costs in the whole State. And I complete another one giving that same bonus across our whole nation. Then I complete the one below that for an extra 10 ducats a year for the next 25 years.

​

The Bourgeoisie loans are taken. I also bring Ormond up to 20 Dev (3/7/10).

Who’s ready to go on construction spree?

Starting off, we build 4 Workshops, one of which is in Cork, and a Manufactory in Ormond. The buildings will give us more income directly, but I take care not to neglect the Trade Centers, upgrading the ones in Gabu and Cape Coast. Improving these strengthens our control of the Ivory Coast, letting us push more money out of that node and towards the Caribbean. A good chunk of that money will eventually end up in our home node, the North Sea.

Using 412 of our remaining 538 gold, I build a Trade Company Investment (TCI).

Back in Chapter 25, I mentioned that TCs get access to special, expensive buildings. What we’ve just built here is one of those, a Broker’s Office. TCIs are built and completed instantly.

​

There are 2 broad categories of TCIs, Area Based and Region Based.

AB ones can be built in every Area with a TC present. They provide bonuses to the provinces and TCs within their specific Area. You can have every type of this investment in an Area, no need to pick and choose between bonuses. They have 2 tiers, costing 200 ducats each (or the full 400 if you decide to go straight to the second tier).

RB ones can only be built once per region. You must pick one type of bonus. They cost 1,000 ducats and give benefits to the region and your entire nation.

All TCIs are also generally grouped by what bonuses they provide: defense, trade, production, tax, or manpower.

Here’s that explanation put into a nice table. If you want to know the specific bonuses each one provides, you can check the wiki:

(This table was actually too large for the forum's own table feature, so here's a screenshot from Word).​

So, in the Area of Kongolese Coast we have at least one province in a TC, letting us construct TCIs.

The Broker’s Exchange (a tier 2 upgrade) gives extra production income from all our TCs in the Area and extra Goods Produced from every province in that Area, even those not assigned to a TC.

Our income is 41.19 already. How much more might it grow before the century is out?

(A look at our economy and merchants after the TCI was purchased and the month ticked over. The increased Goods Produced from the TCI meant more money overall in Ivory Coast, leading to more money in places further along the chain like Caribbean and GSL. And of course this means more money eventually in the North Sea).​

Finally, I take out a few loans and get started on a Manufactory in Dublin. I figure it’s best to get started on those early, but I also don’t want to take out too much debt. A few extra loans won’t hurt though as long as our income continues to grow.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

The game doesn't quite simulate how far away and kinda worthless Australia is at this time. Europeans explore the entire world at breakneck pace in EUIV.

 

[diskoerekto]

I’m hopeful they’ll be able to finish 4 more and get their own CN, that way d’Elbene can just take it out in a 1v1. But remember France’s colonies grow slower because they are still Catholic and violating our Papal claim to this area. The Scandinavians, as Protestants, don’t suffer any consequences. Henrika and d’Elbene, being Papally recognized subjects, are also free from penalties. It’s a race between them all to see who’ll fill the area first.

so we take them and have multiple CNs in one region, which bring a merchant each?

Our income is 41.19 already. How much more might it grow before the century is out?

if we don't get beaten by france or england, we'll get to around 70 i guess?

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

Just caught up with this AAR; I love how informative and readable it is. (I started my first EU4 run in forever today too, so I guess you inspired me.)

 

[Chac1]

Thanks for the new chapter. Quite the economics lesson here, especially when considering your colonial investment. This looks prudent to bring down the factors that will prevent you from going to war again.

The question remains: will you ever be strong enough to take back the homelands?

 

[mackwolfe]

This is something I actually haven't thought of before. I might have to test this, but don't have time right now.

Unless Paradox changed things, your general survives and is back in your capital but not commanding any troops.

 

[Rensslaer]

I read this the other day but didn't have time to comment. Love the economy building period. Always good to flex economic muscles while taking a breather from conquest.

Rensslaer

 

[Bullfilter]

On chapter 40:

do you all generally prefer longer updates such as this one, or would you want shorter episodes?

Don’t mind either way - whatever fits the natural stop points at the time. I didn’t find this one too long.

Here’s Austria with a Call-to-Arms. It’s the League War!

Uh oh.

Sorry…Austria…you’re breaking up…going through a tunnel…

*Click!*

Mischief managed

What if those fleets were…larger? Yes, we can do that. Yes, we could’ve benefited from it this whole time. All it takes is 100 gold up front, some admin power, and the click of a button.

Oh, that’s interesting

One other thing. I’m sure it’s nothing.

There’s a French colony in Maine.

Damn. They’re like a cancer!

The League War ends, surprisingly enough, in Austrian victory.

Well that’s ok I suppose.

The England-Spain war ends in a loss for Spain.

But not this?

We end the update with a lot of money, not a lot of men, and plenty of rebels.

And a lot of stuff annexed in America. Does that bring about some indigestion later?

 

[jak7139]

The game doesn't quite simulate how far away and kinda worthless Australia is at this time. Europeans explore the entire world at breakneck pace in EUIV.

The rapid pace of colonization is something I really hope Paradox fixes in EU5.

Australia isn't great as far as colonies go, but we're running out of places elsewhere. The merchant we get from having a 10-province CN there will be worth it.

so we take them and have multiple CNs in one region, which bring a merchant each?

Having multiple CNs in a region is a finicky process. Annexing it outright (either through a direct war with France or a 1v1 with d'Elbene and France's CN) will just transfer everything to our existing subject.

We would need to annex the overlord completely to grab the CN as a separate subject. This type of mechanic is something that's already happened a few times in Mexico. That's how we gained those native vassals, by annexing their overlords. The land is auto-given to Al Esperans, but the subjects remain under us.

if we don't get beaten by france or england, we'll get to around 70 i guess?

Close, but lower than the actual which will be revealed in time.

Just caught up with this AAR; I love how informative and readable it is. (I started my first EU4 run in forever today too, so I guess you inspired me.)

Thanks! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so much to get inspired!

In a way, that's what this AAR is for.

Thanks for the new chapter. Quite the economics lesson here, especially when considering your colonial investment. This looks prudent to bring down the factors that will prevent you from going to war again.

The question remains: will you ever be strong enough to take back the homelands?

We have a lot of growing to do economically before we're ready to challenge the continent again. But it will come. I've had to stop playing the save to let this AAR catch up. I have a century more to cover before then.

I'll say this, our first continental holdings in a long time come from someone unexpected.

Unless Paradox changed things, your general survives and is back in your capital but not commanding any troops.

That's what I assumed. Thanks for chiming in!

I read this the other day but didn't have time to comment. Love the economy building period. Always good to flex economic muscles while taking a breather from conquest.

Economy is just as important as military. And because of it, our military will grow too.

On chapter 40:
Don’t mind either way - whatever fits the natural stop points at the time. I didn’t find this one too long.

Glad to get your input on this, thanks!

Uh oh.
Mischief managed

The Austrians had some pretty poor timing. I was just too busy elsewhere to even care about their war.

Oh, that’s interesting

EU4 has lots of little buttons like that. They're hidden away, but sometimes can have a big impact, like here.

Damn. They’re like a cancer!

They're everywhere!

The only solution is to outgrow them.

Well that’s ok I suppose.

The missionary strength we get from a Catholic-League victory is nice. Not major, but it can't hurt.

But not this?

A temporary setback for Spain, as you'll soon see.

And a lot of stuff annexed in America. Does that bring about some indigestion later?

Our colonies have to integrate everything. That's actually one of the reasons they've been attacked so much by Huron, Ojibwe, etc. Just constant revolts and a horrible economy with no core land means our CN's armies are small and weak. Now that we've actually dealt with threats over there, you can see that our subjects have started to build some medium-sized armies.

 

[Cora Giantkiller]

Thanks! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so much to get inspired!

In a way, that's what this AAR is for.

Then the Protestants of my Europe have your name to curse bitterly (along with Wittelsbach, their fiercest enemy).

 

[Bullfilter]

Our inflation also isn’t looking healthy at 13.91%, a combination of gold fleets from Mexico, the mine in Matsolo, and the loans we repaid in the last part.

That certainly is high. How bad an impediment is it in day to day terms?

Whenever you annex a nation that still has armies, those armies automatically become rebels to you. This changes the AI behavior for those armies, causing them to stop running away and instead siege their cores. However, rebels also receive your tech levels automatically.

Useful info.

I hear Australia is nice.

Of course. But the poor locals won’t appreciate it

Our Wadjuk colonist returns empty-handed after a native tribe migrates into the province. We send him instead to Tharawal just south of Eora. But another native migrates into Eora, however Wadjuk is free again. Maybe this time it’ll work.

Er…No. I guess not. How about Badtjala? Off we go! No…

Fine, Gorontalo on Sulawesi. There. All good.

Kept you hopping around there. Would having an army there prevent it, or it just happens anyway?

Here’s that explanation put into a nice table. If you want to know the specific bonuses each one provides

Again, nice to have it laid out that way.

 

[diskoerekto]

We would need to annex the overlord completely to grab the CN as a separate subject. This type of mechanic is something that's already happened a few times in Mexico. That's how we gained those native vassals, by annexing their overlords. The land is auto-given to Al Esperans, but the subjects remain under us.

but they do bring a merchant each?

 

[jak7139]

Then the Protestants of my Europe have your name to curse bitterly (along with Wittelsbach, their fiercest enemy).

Brittany is a loyal Catholic, but also pragmatic. There's no way we were helping Austria with the League. It is nice they won on their own though.

That certainly is high. How bad an impediment is it in day to day terms?

Inflation makes everything cost more to construct and maintain. Having this high is bad, but not desperately so. As long as we're not reaching 20% I Feel we can wait to decrease it.

It's especially hurting our construction costs since we plan to build so much. But there's not really much we can do without spending loads of admin to decrease inflation.

Of course. But the poor locals won’t appreciate it

They won't, much like in North America. Australia is at least protected because of its remoteness, so sending forces to it is difficult and time-consuming.

Kept you hopping around there. Would having an army there prevent it, or it just happens anyway?

Armies wouldn't have done anything. The natives migrate around as they wish. Since Australia has less provinces and is mostly coastal (no accessible inland), there's a higher chance for their migrations to cancel a colonist (because, in game logic, the province is now no longer "empty"). The North American tribes migrate too. But there's more space to move around in, so the cancellations don't happen as often.

but they do bring a merchant each?

They can. Just remember that they each need 10 provinces to do so.

 

[jak7139]

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: Annexations, Espionage, Claims. Ireland, at Last!
|-|
(June 1578-May 1587)​

To reinforce this idea of peaceful growth, I check a box when interacting with Spain. This button prevents them from calling us into their offensive wars, but we also won’t gain any favors passively. They also might end our alliance. But we’ll get a warning if they think about doing that, so can just uncheck the box before that occurs.

(This screenshot was taken after the declaration. That's why Spain is already at war. I saw the truce between England and Spain was up, so figured another was forthcoming).​

And it turns out to be a good thing I did. A few days later, they attack England. That’s not our problem though.

After the Workshops finish, our income is at 44.19.

We’ve started annexing both of our minor Mexican vassals to free up the relation-slots, but they won’t finish the same month.

Why is this an issue?

Because annexing one will lower our Diplomatic Reputation for a period, either preventing or slowing the other annexation (our Diplo Rep must be positive for it to progress).

We could take a privilege from the Nobility to prevent this, but I also want to start preparing for the next Age, the Age of Absolutism. Each privilege we’ve handed out is lowering our Maximum Absolutism. We want to start revoking superfluous privileges. We already revoked one from the Bourgeoisie at the end of Chapter 38.

What can we do instead to help with our annexations?

We can try and sync our annexations so they finish in the same month. It won’t prevent the loss of Diplo Rep, but it will mean both integrations will be finished on time without any slowdowns.

First off, I use Concentrate Development (Chapter 28) on the slower of the two progresses to speed it up. Both vassals are nearly annexed (90.7%), but there’s one more thing we can do to guarantee they both finish the same month.

​

Integrations don’t progress while the subject is disloyal. Usually this is a downside, but here it works to our advantage.

Scutage, an option we last used with Kildare back in Chapter 14, can be turned on and off at will, however cancelling it causes an increase in Liberty Desire.

​

• Step 1: wait until one of the integrations is a month away from completion.
• Step 2: toggle Scutage to get that subject disloyal.
• Step 3: wait for the other annexation to be a month away.
• Step 4: get the first subject loyal again, either through spending Prestige, paying off debt, or disabling the Divert Trade/Embargo Rivals toggles.
  
  • Developing in a subject also decreases Liberty Desire but could potentially mess up the integration timer. Use caution.
• Step 5: both annexations should now finish on the next month tick.

After the integrations finish, we get a free Stability from an event. Before accepting it, I boost Stab manually to +1, bringing us to +2.

​

Even though our vassals' land is automatically transferred to Al Esperans a Anne, we do receive our vassals’ armies, a measly 3k (2/1/0 composition).

Using some spare cash, another Workshop is queued, along with 7 Barracks.

Once those finish, our max manpower shoots from 56,778 to 60,612. And the increased cap also increases our rate of recovery, 658 to 703 per month.

​

23k Reformed zealots revolt in our capital. Our manpower situation has recovered, so I build an army to deal with them. Our Disaster ends a few months later.

Religious Turmoil is unique among most Disasters in that it ends either when the end-conditions are met, or when enough time has passed. Even though our Religious Unity and rebel situation still isn’t great, we’ve weathered the storm. We get a free Stab for doing so, bringing us to +3.

​

Could this time of troubles, of rebellion, of war, of strife be over? Do we dare tempt fate?

How’s the King looking?

​

Good. Great! Then maybe…maybe there is hope.

Tharawal off the coast of Australia finishes, next we head to T’epot’aha’l in California. Ignore those peasants, they’ve been there for a while. Unlike Separatists, they aren’t an urgent threat to deal with. One thing at a time.

​

After 2 costly battles, the first a defeat, the Irish rebellion is put down. We now have a decent standing home army (14/2/1) in case England tries anything.

(I don't remember why I didn't have a general in the first battle. Maybe they were all busy with revolts).​

We don’t quite have enough for the next admin and mil techs, but the next diplo tech is taken on schedule. It gives faster colony growth and new upgrades to our transports and galleys.

When we do take the next mil tech about a year later, it gives extra Tactics and Morale, plus an upgrade for our infantry. The next admin one, meanwhile, gives a crucial Manufactory (Soldier’s Households) and a toggle for our armies (Forced March).

Both of those things will be discussed another time.

​

Gorontalo finishes. I move to the last free province in Sulawesi, Mamuju. I don’t notice any other European outposts. Once Poso completes, that colonist moves to Miwok in California.

T’epot’aha’l has been occupied by the Californian peasants. Our colony will still grow, but the colonist gets kicked out. He’s sent to Eora. The Miwok colonist is also kicked out by the rebels. After a failed play in Australia for the province of Woolna, we eventually succeed at colonizing Wurundjeri in the southeast.

​

An easy looking North American war is started against Etowah and their allies.

(The Danes have also reached Florida, as you can see).​

With our excess of diplo points, I’ve finally decided on our next Idea Group. We take Espionage. Espionage used to be a joke, but now it’s one of the best picks in the game. Highlights include an extra diplomat, less AE, extra Spy Network construction speed (meaning faster sieges and cheaper tech), and +15 reasons for vassalizing an AI nation.

Spain’s war with England ends in victory. They retake Sassari, Minorca, and a large amount of land in South America.

They also release the last 2 Irish minors, Clanricarde and Tyrconnell. Our army in Ireland is put on high alert.

As that happens, we take the first slot in Espionage, letting us cheaply take others’ subjects in peacedeals and making it so whenever we fabricate a claim, we can claim the whole State instead.

You still have to pay the full cost for each of the provinces in the State (though Espionage does make the cost cheaper). But fabricating on the whole State means you can get claims on stuff you don’t border.

​

Espionage is a great group if you want to have claims everywhere, all the time. Later it will be less useful, though still great, as we’ll get a free CB on everyone in the entire world.

Claims themselves also have some effects. Claimed provinces cost less to core. They also have a very niche effect on warscore costs. Claimed provinces aren’t cheaper to demand, but when choosing your wargoal, whichever province you pick costs less to take.

I usually like to claim the highest developed provinces and States first, then work my way down. Of course there are other considerations too, like how easy the wargoal is to occupy, whether you actually plan on taking the province to take advantage of the decreased costs, and so on.

Using some of our saved up Papal Influence, I further decrease construction costs to help with our building spree.

​

I also see that Spain has broken their guarantee of Clanricarde. We quickly annex the province and feed it to Sligo. The same happens to Tyrconnell whose province is given to Tyrone.

Ireland is finally, wholly, ours!

I declare another war in North America. This conflict sees us face Zuni, Navajo, and Yokuts. The enemy decides to siege California, dealing with the peasants there, instead of facing us in battle.

(The beginnings of a new Breton CN).​

I pick up another Age bonus giving us extra Prestige every time a missionary converts something.

We enact the next Government Reform. The main factors here were the +1 admin point per month and the lessened Estate influence. The Corruption increase means we’ll be paying more to buy it down, though right now our passive decrease is negating it.

(All of these are good in their own ways. But I want to start curtailing our Estates, and we need the admin power).​

The reduction in influence lets us revoke a privilege from the Nobility. Revoking unimportant privileges is something we’ll slowly be working on.

The Privilege gave us a decision for a free general which we've used occasionally like at the end of Chapter 2. But now we have enough mil to not need it).​

Using some cash, I queue up more buildings and 6 light ships. Peoria is annexed into Nevez Breizh. Etowah is annexed into d’Elbene.

There are 2 French colonies in South Carolina. I declare on Satapo and Osage.

(Three natives left east of the Mississippi. Then It's just as and our European rivals. France has started a second colony in South Carolina).​

King Richard is hailed as an Expansionist. He’s also Cruel too, remember. A Cruel, Expansionist for a King…

Quite the character.

But Richard, though villainous, is the ruler Brittany needs. Someone who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty, to take risks, and to bring Brittany glory and greatness.

Spain breaks their alliance with Portugal. We annex Osage and Satapo.