How is your EU3 Game going?

[Tekee]

I can tell you how my EU2 game is going.
As China I am planning on a world conquest.
China is full of events every decade about some Lee Ching Rebellion or Hung Chung independence.
So I have to temper my expansionism for at least 30 years (((
Using my starting explorer, Zheng He.
Historically, Zheng was supposed to sail to africa and Arabia. I turned him right around and sent him east, across the pacific ocean.
There I found california.
So I will begin colonizing California, so that when Spain gets Christopher Columbus and begins to set sail for New World, China will already have colonies.
This will give me the head start I need to colonize all of America. Then conquer Europe.
I will bypass Asia as I don't want to deal with Shinto, Buddishts and Hindus. Christians are the easier because they are simply Christian to China and not Orthodox, Catholic, Counter-Reform, Reform, and Protestant.
So I will use North America as a landing pad to begin invasion of Europe.

 

[Keroro]

I hate this game. It's too addictive. I was up until 5:00 in the morning, colonizing and expanding and warring. My girlfriend got quite annoyed at that point and forced me to get to bed. Thanks to Love, PhroX et al with regard to advice on the expansions and mods.

How my game is going - I have even more of the caribbean now, and have started taking provinces off other powers. My ally England pulled me into a war against France and I used it as an excuse to take all their colonies (and destroy all their armies) in the New World. I'm just eying up a possible strike on the French mainland now, though Castille and England have largely beaten me to the punch.

 

[ComradeDavo]

My latest EU3:HTTT game. Started as Milan. Year is 1637. Formed Italy in 1508, though it took me longer to aquire the southern provicnes (Napoli and Sicily). Trouble at the moment as France and Austria are allied so I can't aqquire the Italian provicnes udner their control, and Burgandy is pretty strong as well so not much chance for expansion northwards. Hence have gone into North Africa instead.

1st time i've ever formed Italy in a game so bit inexperianced as to what to do next with them.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Ooooh, that's bad. I just finished an Italian game and probably the most important thing I did (to secure my future strength) was to take out Austria early. Because eventually they would become a ginormous roadblock in the way of securing Germany. Right now I'd think your goal would be not to take N. Africa (the provinces there aren't very good) but aim at taking down that French-Austrian alliance. And since you probably can't do that on your own, I suggest spending a majority of you time trying to ally with any potential military power that could help. For example, my alliance with the Ottomans in my game saved my ass multiple times, as they usually are up to par with tech and army size.

Then again I'm still kinda a newbie at this game, so, I don't know if you want to take my advice that seriously.

 

[Hammurabi II]

Arg!! I just bought EU:For the Glory, when seeing it was on sale at Gamersgate, thinking it was Heir to the Throne.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Ooooh, that's bad. I just finished an Italian game and probably the most important thing I did (to secure my future strength) was to take out Austria early. Because eventually they would become a ginormous roadblock in the way of securing Germany. Right now I'd think your goal would be not to take N. Africa (the provinces there aren't very good) but aim at taking down that French-Austrian alliance. And since you probably can't do that on your own, I suggest spending a majority of you time trying to ally with any potential military power that could help. For example, my alliance with the Ottomans in my game saved my ass multiple times, as they usually are up to par with tech and army size.

Then again I'm still kinda a newbie at this game, so, I don't know if you want to take my advice that seriously.

There aren't really any military powers capable of taking them on at the moment. North Africa is really easy it conquer and extra provinces means I cna have larger armies so thats why i'm doing that. I reckon my bet chance is to wait for the alliance to break and attack Austria and steal some of their southern provinces.

Notice France and Great Bristian (despite warring with each other) have taken most of Spain as well! Great Britain seems happy to be my ally though which is good.

 

[Joecoolyo]

There aren't really any military powers capable of taking them on at the moment. North Africa is really easy it conquer and extra provinces means I cna have larger armies so thats why i'm doing that. I reckon my bet chance is to wait for the alliance to break and attack Austria and steal some of their southern provinces.

That's a good strategy in the mean time, though there still is the chance they might dogpile you, so I still recommend alliances. Ally even if they aren't a military power, as long as if you get into a potential conflict they can kinda draw attention away from you, so you can go in and slice and dice their armies. Looking at the map, I guess the best allies would be Britain (though I'll explain their problem below), Burgundy (get your relation up enough too, they can easily distract France so you can move into their southern provinces), and Bohemia (I think that's what I'm looking at, it's basically Austria's Burgundy).

Notice France and Great Bristian (despite warring with each other) have taken most of Spain as well! Great Britain seems happy to be my ally though which is good.

It does seem like a good move, though really the only problem with Britain is their very low manpower compared to France. So in your situation, any ally is great, just make sure to have more than one to back you up, as one won't do the trick.

 

[ComradeDavo]

Yeah Bohemia's been doing pretty well, i'm trying to get them to ally with me but it's taking awhile.

 

[Poltair]

Well, I can't post a screenshot because I'm not using In Nomine but for my first game I started with the Maldives in 1453. It took me a very long time to begin to get anywhere but eventually I discovered and colonised the island of Diego Garcia, soon after I managed to colonise Bourbon and then in quick succession Mauritius and Mahe.

Once I had a small economy sprouting from my new colonies, if you could call them that, I built a transport fleet and hired some mercenaries to invade Ceylon. I occupied the north and forced the south to be my vassal, before I really knew how the game worked but it seemed to work out fine.

With my tiny island confederacy secure I turned my attention to the wars on the Indian mainland, which I'd been a part of since beginning the game but never set foot on the sub-continent itself to actually join in.

Allied with Sind and the north India power player, Dehli I joined in my first real war, venturing through Sindi lands to take the last province of Rajputna, Jaipur. After annexing Rajputna and gaining my first piece of land on the mainland I was thrown into a turmoil of a century of intermittant fighting between Vijayanar and the northern coalition of Deccan, Dehli, Sind and myself.

Deccan fell, and Dehli began to weaken, Sind seemed to lack the military muscle to back anykind of attack against Vijayanar who now owned most of India barring the extreme north, the dying realm of Dehli and the extreme west, an amalgamam of Sindi, Maldive and Gujarat lands.

Across the border of what is modern day Pakistan I got to watch in horror as the Timurid Empire crumbled underneath a monster of a faction (I'll edit their name in as I've forgotten it.)

I quickly realised if I wanted to have any hope of taking India - which was my original over ambitious goal - I needed more land. I quickly realised that Sind and Gujarat between them didn't pack a punch hard enough to stop my 12, 000 strong mercenary army, so I married the Sindi royal Line, claimed their throne, broke our alliance and attacked. Gujarat backed their long standing ally, Sind but all they really did was open the door for me to annex them. Sind was left with only two territories, Gujarat was wiped out and Dehli and the Maldive Confederacy now had a substantial base to combat the Vijayanar threat.

Unfortunately Dehli turned into a let down, restarting the war before they were ready to fight it and losing more land each time a settlement was made. Vijayanar went on to consume Nepal and Tibet while Dehli shrunk away into the west, north of my own hold on the mainland.

I got a break when the Vijayanar monster hit Ming after conquering Tibet. Those two began a goliath of a battle which tied up the Indian super power. I recieved an offer of Alliance from the faction who replaced the Timurid Empire and with that secured, I declared war on the weakened Dehli and took three of their provinces.

Ceylon declared war on me and began 20 years of fighting and sieges across the two territories, bringing their ally Pegu into the fight once again. I wasn't expecting to anihilate Ceylon only to have Pegu land some kind of commando regiment in the Maldives themselves.

Currently it is around 1620 A.D and the Maldive Confederacy is rife with uprisings, pirates and the ever present threat of Vijanayar, I took the war to Pegu, only to find that my war with them, in modern day Burma, is sitting right above a Vijayanar invasion of modern Malaysia.

Suffice it to say that, the inevitable final chapter of the ambitious Maldive Confederacy will be a war with Vijayanr which looks set to span every side of the Indian Ocean and most of southern Asia.

 

[Dachs]

You survived as the Maldives? Kudos are due (though I dunno how hard they were before IN and HttT)

 

[Tee Kay]

^ Seconded. You're a brave one Poltair.

 

[Poltair]

Much less brave more than completely moronic. I wanted a "Challenge" for my first game. . . I didnt realise at the time it'd take me 60 years to even get into the damn thing!

However, I'm much looking forward to dying in a completely historically incorrect Maldive-Vijayanr war across the entire south quarter of Asia.

Fasten your seatbelts India and Siam, blood will be spilled.

 

[Keroro]

For my first game I initially thought about the Iroquois, but after a few years of terrible economy and no progress at all I decided to re-start as an easier nation. Portugal. I'm gonna go back and try something more challenging later. The Maldives are tiny - I'm impressed you've done so well!

 

[Tee Kay]

Mecklenburg. It is the end of 1490. I was perhaps not being as aggressive as I could have. Nevertheless I own all the provinces I need to form Germany - now I have to wait fifty years.

A bunch of vassals. Freisland, Cologne and Trier are electors, so that's nice, since my reputation is quite high after all those wars.

Lithuania there is becoming a problem. After having taken half of Poland they now border me. They split some trade from Lubeck to Danzig, and have recently embargoed my merchants (Castile has me on embargo too). Their army is twice mine; however their economy is worse and their inflation is 12%. France is almost France now and is guaranteed to be a serious menace. In the south it seems the Austrians really want Venice, and war can't be too far in the future. With my current relations the only people who will conclude any sort of alliance with me are the Bohemians, which won't matter much should someone attack one of the HRE minors instead.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Mecklenburg. It is the end of 1490. I was perhaps not being as aggressive as I could have. Nevertheless I own all the provinces I need to form Germany - now I have to wait fifty years.

Quality > Quantity tailless! The gates to Großdeutschland shall soon open!

A bunch of vassals. Freisland, Cologne and Trier are electors, so that's nice, since my reputation is quite high after all those wars.

So, de facto hereditary Emperor? Sweet! That will help Germany stay strong...

Lithuania there is becoming a problem. After having taken half of Poland they now border me. They split some trade from Lubeck to Danzig,

That's enough of a reason to crush them.

and have recently embargoed my merchants (Castile has me on embargo too). Their army is twice mine; however their economy is worse and their inflation is 12%. France is almost France now and is guaranteed to be a serious menace. In the south it seems the Austrians really want Venice, and war can't be too far in the future. With my current relations the only people who will conclude any sort of alliance with me are the Bohemians, which won't matter much should someone attack one of the HRE minors instead.

Hmm... sounds like you'll have your work cut out for you. What are your long-term goals before leaving this current game?

Well, provided nobody can match your HRE votes, you'll have that benefit... have you considered trying to grab the Curia controller position? Then again, that wouldn't serve much purpose now that the Reformation's right around the corner... I assume you'll be going Protestant? Or in true Imperial tradition, fight off the influx of heretics?

Anywho, I wish you luck repairing your reputation, as well as destroying those pesky French, Habsburgs and Lithuanians! There's a lot of responsibility for whoever wishes to lead the German Empire to success.

 

[Tee Kay]

No point trying to influence the curia now, with my reputation.

For now I'd sit still and wait for my reputation to recover and until I can form Germany. I'll get cores on a bunch of provinces then and I can "liberate" the rest of Germany (Austria included). I'll keep a large-ish standing army until then in case France (or anyone else - almost everyone hates me) DoWs. As for Lithuania, if the embargo isn't lifted I'll take Danzig and just leave Lithuania alone afterward to serve as a buffer against Moscowy (soon to become Russia, it seems).

 

[Tani Coyote]

No point trying to influence the curia now, with my reputation.

Ah yes... I haven't played EU3 in a while, so I had forgotten that whole reputation = increased cost thing...

For now I'd sit still and wait for my reputation to recover and until I can form Germany. I'll get cores on a bunch of provinces then and I can "liberate" the rest of Germany (Austria included). I'll keep a large-ish standing army until then in case France (or anyone else - almost everyone hates me) DoWs. As for Lithuania, if the embargo isn't lifted I'll take Danzig and just leave Lithuania alone afterward to serve as a buffer against Moscowy (soon to become Russia, it seems).

Sounds like a good idea! You have 50 years until Germany can form, so it shouldn't be too hard... though... I hope you find something to do during those 50 years, otherwise it'll be one long, boring wait.

Also, something regarding that other post of yours in the drawing thread... you said it took you 10 seconds to get the joke... it took me until just a few days ago to realise your name is "Tail-less" (I'd always pronounced it as "Tai-yays" for some reason... I blame my Spanish classes)... and Kangaru is "Kangaroo", correct? Tail-less Kangaroo... kinda sad it took me that long to get it... ...I hadn't even noticed the second s..

...Unless I still am off somehow, which I wouldn't doubt. I can be quite slow on some things...

 

[Tee Kay]

France or Austria or Lithuania or Denmark or Milan or Hungary declares war on one of the HRE states every five years or so, so I think I'll be rather busy.

And yeah, tail-less kangaroo. That'd be the kangaroo in my avatar (although I usually draw him with a tail) (Doesn't look much like a kangaroo anyway). The kangaroo is spelt with a "u" because of the character limit. I forgot what names I was originally going to use but they were all taken, so I tried a ridiculous name that no one would have picked. Anyway, off-topic.

 

[Rub'Rum]

For my first game I initially thought about the Iroquois, but after a few years of terrible economy and no progress at all I decided to re-start as an easier nation. Portugal. I'm gonna go back and try something more challenging later. The Maldives are tiny - I'm impressed you've done so well!

I bet a lot of people try their first game with small hopeless countries. My first game was with Morocco, and then when I started playing again a few weeks ago, Tibet. The thought process is that you have some interesting goal for them, and you don't want to necessarily play a big country that will have to be at the center of world affairs (France, England, Spain, etc.). You just want to lay back and learn a bit and go "wow I can actually play as ANYONE I like!?" . But that's not a good way to start because the incredibly difficult position you're in can really turn someone away from the game "I can't do anything and I'm always losing money".

 

[GoodGame]

I have a question for anyone who plays the game: How much do the expansion packs add to the game? I've only got the basic version ATM, but having enjoyed what I've seen I'm considering maybe getting Victoria or the expensions to EU III. Also, are there user made mods that anyone plays that improve the gameplay significantly?

Cheers in advance for any advice. Hope this isn't considered a threadjack.

EU3 complete is pretty cheap on Amazon, probably cheaper than what you paid. I'd get it if you find you like playing the version you have.