Help with Europa Universalis II

[sabo]

I finally broke down and bought this game because everyone was raving about it. I've gone through the tutorial twice and read the manual and I understand everything in there but I just can't put it all together and play a game.

Does anyone out there know if there is any kind of Walk Through for this game?? Iv'e found cheat codes but no walk through

THanks!!

 

[sabo]

Or can someone just tell me how to get started? One thing I'm confused about is what do the different colors of the different provinces stand for/mean? When should I colonize, when should I fight, etc. etc.
Thanks!!

 

[knowltok2]

The different colors represent terrain. One thing to remember about this game is that is is long. Very long. Don't try to conquer the world in the first twenty years.

Try: www.europa-universalis.com

for more info. They have a pretty good forum there and you can pick up a lot of good stuff there.

 

[sabo]

thanks knowltok2

 

[FrosTi]

Originally posted by sabo10
I finally broke down and bought this game because everyone was raving about it. I've gone through the tutorial twice and read the manual and I understand everything in there but I just can't put it all together and play a game.

Does anyone out there know if there is any kind of Walk Through for this game?? Iv'e found cheat codes but no walk through

THanks!!

take France in the Age of Exploration if you want it easy...

 

[magic-monkey]

Playing France, Spain or England should see you through. Try to be a little bit more subtle with your diplomacy than you might be if playing civ2, you can expand on every front at once and the pace can be a little slow. If you want to play agressively in the Grand Campaign try taking the Ottoman Empire.

One thing that i was extremely glad to find out about were the attrittion rules. If you look at province info there should be a "support" number. This is the max number (in thousands) of troops that the province can support, go over this and losses will start to occur, just from moving through the territory. Try to keep within these limits, otherwise you'll lose huge numbers of men unnecessarily.

Also, i find signing plenty of trade pacts useful to get a food hold in Centres of Trade. You might want to switch the auto-merchant thing off and send merchants in pairs so one can displace another country's merchant, and your fresh one can take that newly opened space.

er... more stuff if i can remember it later. any specific questions would be nice.

 

[knowltok2]

Definately turn the auto merchent off. Maybe if you are swimming in cash you can use it, but not normally.

You can use that attrition rule against the AI. Often times they will start to besiege your terittories with large armies. Instead of rushing right at them, wait a month or four. They're forces will be whittled down and you will have an easier time of it.

If you have excess cash, consider making loans to other nations. This way you will gain interest income. Be careful that you only lend to friends so you don't wind up in a war with them and loosing your money.

If you are besieging a territory that has a port, it helps to station a fleet next to the port to blockade them. Even before you get the blockade ability, this will shorten sieges.

Attrition also has a movement function. It will happen to any size army moving at the end of a month. So when possible, move your armies on the 1st. If you are in no hurry, move them one provence per month. This cuts down on your attrition quite a bit.

Patience is the key to this game. I am playing the French in the age of exploration and it is early on. I want to take the Dutch provences from Austria because they have french shields on them, and because having the Trade center in Flanders will be a big economic plus. I could have attacked right away, but I waited until Austia was involved in three different wars. Now I am crushing them, and will soon be able to take a few provences that I want. Their opponents include England, Spain, Poland, and a host of small nations. Add me as France to the mix and they don't stand a chance. I haven't even seen an Austrian Army

Also remember that short wars can be successful, long wars rarely are. I don't plan to conquer all of Austria in this war, nor even get all the French homeland territories that they own (I'll still have a causi belli against them this way). I'm looking for 2-3 territories and that is it. Once I can get them, I will ask for peace. There is plenty of time for later generations to wrest the Tyrol from their grasp .