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“This England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror”


Welcome to the 7th development diary for Europa Universalis IV,
where we talk about the dominant power by the end of the Europa Universalis time frame, the country formerly known as England.
England can be considered both as one of the easier nations to play, but also one of the more challenging nations. That´s a paradox, you say?
Well, it all depends on what you wish to accomplish and what kind of empire you want to create ;)

The unique possibilities of England
What truly makes England unique to play is that the country has natural borders protecting it and that you can strengthen those borders dramatically with rather cheap investments. You can decide to let England get involved in the continent, from a safe position, or choose to isolate England and go overseas. The country also sits on a bloody nice position to control the trade from the Baltic and from North America. So the options are huge for you to take England in plenty of directions when creating your empire.

England’s Dynamic Historical Events
England is has one of the richest and best known histories. That may sound lovely for you guys, but it also means that we have had to work hard when it comes to decisions about historical events to include in Europa Universalis IV. The important countries in EU4 have a lot of events going on, so some of those major historical events have been turned into the starting points of large event chains that we call Dynamic Historical Events.

War of the Roses is an excellent example of Dynamic Historical Events. If England in the 15th century has a ruler without an heir, that means that there is a likelihood of a large event chain beginning. The player has to select who to back for the throne, York or Lancaster. This decision will throw the country into turmoil with various parts declaring for either the red or white rose, and you have to make sure to eliminate the very strong, rather resilient pretenders. What makes this interesting is that this event chain is not an event series that is guaranteed to come every time you play as England. It only occurs if all the necessary underlying factors are fulfilled. When it happens, you won't have planned for it to arrive on schedule, like many people did when they played Europa Universalis II, the last game in the series with a serious focus on historical events. We hope that this variation will gives you rather unique experiences when you play major powers.

The English Civil War will be another major event series that might encounter when you play as England, but we will not spoil it for you here yet. ;)
England also has many smaller DHE, like The War of Captain Jenkin's Ear: if they are rivals with Spain, after 1700, then you can get a casus belli on Spain. Or an event like The Muscovy Trade Company, where if you discover the sea route to Archangelsk, and its owned by the Muscovites, then there is a likelihood of this historical event happening.

England’s Missions & Decisions
We have kept the historical missions that existed in Europa Universalis III and we are expanding them for Europa Universalis IV, so you'll still see missions to conquer Scotland and colonize North America. When it comes to decisions, England still manually have to rely on the Wooden Wall, and make Calais into a Staple Port.

England’s National Ideas
The traditions that England starts with is a small boost in naval morale and a 5% boost to their trading efficiency.
The trading efficiency boost is due to the fact that the economy of England to fund their participation in the Hundred Years War was their taxation of the very profitable wool trade.

The 7 National Ideas for England are:
  1. Royal Navy : 25% higher naval force limit, and +10% more combat power for big ships.
  2. Eltham Ordinance : +15% higher tax.
  3. Secretaries of State : +1 diplomat
  4. Navigation Acts : +10% trade income, and +10% more combat power for light ships.
  5. Bill of Rights : -1 revolt risk.
  6. Reform of Commission Buying : +10% discipline
  7. Sick and Hurt Board : -50% Naval Attrition.



Reward: English Ambition
When England has gotten all seven of their National Ideas, they get the bonus of 'English Ambitions' which gives them a +100% on their embargo efficiency.

Here's a screenshot where I've cheated to show a little bit of the idea progress..

7.png

Welcome back next week, where we'll talk in detail about the enhancements we've done to the religious aspect of the game!
 
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We ask for more screenshots!! :)
 
Cool... that tooltip, naval supplies... does that indicate that England is buying them directly from Cantabria?

I think it means that Cantabria sends its trade good to London trade node, so in terms of EU3 Cantabria belongs to London CoT.
 
I think it means that Cantabria sends its trade good to London trade node, so in terms of EU3 Cantabria belongs to London CoT.

both wrong :)
 
Question about:
Sick and Hurt Board : -50% Naval Attrition.

Does this mean that AI will suffer naval attrition? If not this idea would make sense for human player only.
 
Well I can't say I'm thrilled by this DD. Well, well, I think the changed tradesystem and renewed modding community will make up for it so EUIV is a sure buy.
 
Johan,

As far as ships, are galleys and light (say frigates in the late game) separate categories?

Any chance that galleys will now be useable only in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Baltic so that they remain dominant there (for reasons of cost and numerousness) into the late mid-game while ocean-going squadrons dominate everywhere else?

How big are ocean-going squadrons getting right now?
 
I'm sure that mods adressing this issue would pop up after release - it shouldn't be hard to remove DHEs. I may be wrong, but National Ideas and Traditions seems to be hard-coded feature though.

Don't worry, these can obviously be changed to something generic for either cultures, regions or continents. We'll be able to make some good and actually plausible mods that respect what you want to do with your nation, though it won't be quick work :)
 
I'm a bit disappointed Zeeland is not an island. I want a DD for the Netherlands & France !
 
Question regarding AI and DHEs (hopefully legitimate one):

What rationale would there be behind AI choices in DHEs? Historical option, totally random, pre-written chances like in EU2, or would AI calculate best option based on circumstances? Would this be customisable in menu?
 
I found that England was actually too rich in EU3. England was dirt poor compared to France. Tudor England was too poor for an army. EU3 England can easily land massive armies in Egypt, Turkey or Scandinavia when the real England couldn't afford to cross the channel with more than a skeleton force. Even in the hundred years war England's armies were way smaller than what they can summon in EU3 or CK2, the French were just too disorganised to fight England properly.

England was basically just a sideshow in dutch-french conflicts in the late 17th century.

Last time I checked a Tudor army of 40,000 invaded France.
 
This is quite offensive. That discussion can go overboard, and that someone can get tired of it, it is true. That you go around accusing someone who simply is discussing a gripe with the game they are looking for it is not tolerable, though.

So, please. That the debate should not end up covering all DDs is true. But do not make those who do not agree with you appear as trolls. We are not.
Trolling is trolling, whether you like it or not.

Now, there is such a possibility as to opening a new thread called "determinism in EU4". You can post a thousand times in there and I won't have the slightest problem with it since I won't read it.
But the DD's are threads about news on the game. I usually read through all of them to catch responses from Devs. But DD6 is completely ruined and I had to give up on it about half way through. That annoys me.
 
Trolling is trolling, whether you like it or not.

Now, there is such a possibility as to opening a new thread called "determinism in EU4". You can post a thousand times in there and I won't have the slightest problem with it since I won't read it.
But the DD's are threads about news on the game. I usually read through all of them to catch responses from Devs. But DD6 is completely ruined and I had to give up on it about half way through. That annoys me.

They're not trolls just because you disagree with them.

Trolls start trouble for fun, to piss people off, they say stuff they don't even know anything about or agree with just to have people rage behind their screens.

So could you please not use words incorrectly just because it bothers you that other people use this forum?
 
Trolling is trolling, whether you like it or not.

Now, there is such a possibility as to opening a new thread called "determinism in EU4". You can post a thousand times in there and I won't have the slightest problem with it since I won't read it.
But the DD's are threads about news on the game. I usually read through all of them to catch responses from Devs. But DD6 is completely ruined and I had to give up on it about half way through. That annoys me.

...this makes no sense. Trolling is staging a false discussion for the sake of seeing the whole thing burn. A troll might not even agree with what he says in order to spread disorder and flames. Accusing someone of trolling means that he purposedly destroyed something for the sheer sensation of seeing it collapse. It is EXTREMELY offensive to say "you're trolling" when a discussion (yes, it went overboard, but it was a SERIOUS discussion) isn't going or didn't go the way you like. You use the word without even knowing what it means exactly, and by doing this you offend people that didn't have the smallest gripe with you (or Paradox, for all it cares - I already have decided that I will buy EU4, even if it means epurating DHEs and National Ideas after a few test games). So stop.
 
I hate England so this diary note is not that exciting for me. But next one is about religious stuff! Now i'm really excited!

I really like the historical event stuff though, hopefully we can also add our own! It sounds great, good work