Austria!!!!!

I've mentioned this in other threads, but Austria really, REALLY needs work. I've never, ever, ever been able to play a game as them were I can build Stephansdom first, and that's Austria's only wonder. Also, virtually every game, and by that I mean I think only once have I not had to do this, I have to cheat in order to defeat the SODs that I will inevitably encounter between Germany, Hungary, Venice, Poland, and sometimes Genoa. Considering that you, as Austria, don't start with Patronage, Gunpowder, or Replaceable Parts, plus are surrounded by civs that all have had centuries to build and become powerful, Austria seriously needs a boost. If, when the cities flip, Poland or Germany declares war, the stack you get is almost never enough, and usually Hungary or Venice, or Germany or Poland, if they don't declare war initially, will wait and suddenly rush you. Oh, and did I mention that the plague hits soon after you start. If, by some means, you manage to fight through and get the Polish, German, or Hungarian cities you need without getting hit from all sides, the remaining power (usually for me Hungary or Germany) is still has tons of units, and by this point you've played too late into the game to win in time.
Yes, I've just been playing as Austria, and I'm seriously ticked that after running the clock three times to get a good start (which can be an even bigger irritation if you get a bad start as Holland or Sweden, which has happened too often) I had to: a) give myself Patronage and Stephansdom through worldbuilder, b) use worldbuilder to remove plague after the first city was hit, and c) give myself two SODs after both Germany and Hungary sent their own SODs almost simultaneously while I was taking on Genoa (Venice having collapsed in this scenario, and Germany and Hungary blocking my way to a Poland that collapsed several turns into my game.
My recommendation: start Austria in the 12th century, which is when the House of Habsburg was founded.

Learn from history. Austria was always a political power, and just a lot later military! that is represented in your UP too. I admit a good / avarage start is needed. Personally i played them once, but it was fine, whit an avarage start! so heads up, and keep trying

I've never been able to wait later. The reason I go for aggression right away, is that when I wait, either Germany or Hungary will have such a big army that it takes too long to conquer them. In particular, I remember a game I played as Austria that was going really well. I played diplomatically, biding my time, striking when the time was right. But by the time I had the army to take on Hungary, they had an almost equal army and I could not take it in time. The trouble is, the computer doesn't like a political game, but massive SODs.

Since writing this post, I actually had a spectacular game as Austria, when I switched to them from Poland. I sided with Venice against Hungary very early, and in the middle of that war, my former Poland collapsed, so I took that too. The rest will be super-easy. However, even in that game, I had to cheat and give myself Patronage and Stephansdom. In that regard, I have truly, never, ever, EVER been able to build Stephansdom, ever!

With all that said, I've found that Austria is better if you play another civ before them, and I still think that they should start in the 12th century, since that is when the Habsburgs were founded, and I think it would create more balance to the game.

P.S. Don't get me started on the Netherlands (though I've had much better luck with them)!

SavioursSamurai said:

P.S. Don't get me started on the Netherlands (though I've had much better luck with them)!

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Oh gods. The NL. Yeah... definitely takes a blessed start... I remember the one time I finally won (on Viceroy of course ...); well I don't remember exactly how I did it, I'm just extremely proud that I was victorious without worldbuilding. I don't think it should spawn at war with France or Germany (or that they should be able to declare war on flip), for historical reasons.

It also annoys me how in every single mod I play, Amsterdam is set a tile south of London... Amsterdam is actually located on a higher latitude than London, so why is it always represented south of London in game? I've tried to think through, "well the maps are never going to be perfect anyway" or "it's just an issue with the scale of the projection", but these really aren't great enough excuses for me to accept, especially in DoC where they literally have coordinates on each tile; though I can understand if there isn't really enough space in DoC, RFCE has plenty of map room in that area.

Yeah, France/Burgundy or Germany, or both, declaring war on NL on flip is a nuisance after you've had to wait 30 minutes (if your lucky) for the autoplay to end. I found that sometimes, it's all about how you move your units. Load some onto transports in a different way, and whether you're in a war can change, for some weird reason. Getting trade advantage is easier - if you're behind, use privateers/pirates, which is historically what the Dutch did. But the war thing, yeah, that can be a big problem.

QManNL said:

in DoC where they literally have coordinates on each tile

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Although they are absolutely incorrect.

QManNL said:

It also annoys me how in every single mod I play, Amsterdam is set a tile south of London... Amsterdam is actually located on a higher latitude than London, so why is it always represented south of London in game? I've tried to think through, "well the maps are never going to be perfect anyway" or "it's just an issue with the scale of the projection", but these really aren't great enough excuses for me to accept, especially in DoC where they literally have coordinates on each tile; though I can understand if there isn't really enough space in DoC, RFCE has plenty of map room in that area.

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If you look closely, you see that they are on the same latitude in the game. Furthermore, the map is made on an angle. If you turn the map, you will see that Amsterdam is north of London. And the coordinates on all tiles is an interface thing RFCE has as well.

merijn_v1 said:

If you look closely, you see that they are on the same latitude in the game.

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Oops
Doesn't change the fact that it looks awkward though...
Is now a good time for me to balk about the Iberian tilt, too?

Edit: Oh wow look, it's north of York now... that helps my OCD a lot.