Best nation to play as

unmerged(220754)

Corporal

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Aug 17, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #1

After playing a great game of france i decided to resign I want to play another nation, I tried playing Belgium but got owned as for some reason an unorganised smaller army beat my larger army which was green organisation

now to the point: whats the best nation that is good for expansion but isn't too hard to play as, preferably a smaller nation

cheers

 

D

DerKoenig

Guest

• Dec 2, 2010

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• #2

Insert thy head into thy anus, young squire.

 

RedRalphWiggum

Field Marshal

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Aug 10, 2008

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #3

nognig said:

Insert thy head into thy anus, young squire.

Click to expand...

Don't flame please.

 

RedRalphWiggum

Field Marshal

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #4

OP, you might find this thread useful.

 

unmerged(198309)

Second Lieutenant

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Mar 6, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #5

I would suggest one of the bigger Italian country's, either Sardinia-Piedmont or Two Sicilies. With them, you have a direction of expansion and a mid term goal (Italian unification), but the process of doing so isn't tremendously difficult, and economically they are not badly off.

 

unmerged(220754)

Corporal

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #6

nognig said:

Insert thy head into thy anus, young squire.

Click to expand...

THATS IT YOUR BOURBONS ARE SANCTIONED BOY

dont worry mods i'll check that thread out

 

AlHasanAlbaghdadi

Waiting impatiently for VIC3

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Sep 7, 2009

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #7

Everyone has his own favourite nation

 

Dewirix

Historically plausible

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Feb 6, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #8

South America is a nice place to learn the ropes without too much chance of getting dragged into a major war with a GP.

I'd suggest Colombia or Argentina, the latter is probably better for expansion in the early game as you start off with some unclaimed cores held by weak neighbours.

 

fletcherreed

Engineer

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Jul 17, 2009

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #9

Netherlands, if you want to try colonization.

 

E

El Jojo

Lt. General

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Aug 7, 2007

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #10

Transvaal can be fun, you can start by annexing Oranje and Zulu. Then you have a wide choice of goals. As long as you keep good relations with UK you will not get involved in big wars against GP.
Portugal Colonies are easy to grab or you can invade Madagascar (do it quickly before they get sphered by France). Then you can either colonize southern Africa, or Asia. Or reverse the usual dynamic and invade a european country! I got a border incident with Portugal and I took their southernmost european state. I'm planning to invade netherland, just coming home in fact.
Of course, some would say you can always think bigger and grab South Africa from UK but that's quite tough...

 

RELee

Septuagenarian

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Apr 28, 2003

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #11

There can be only one, you gosh-darned, flea-bitten critter you!

 

Restless Native

Major

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Jan 11, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #12

I think Prussia is a fun nation. Although some hate it for the amount of SOI gaming you need to do. Clear goals, NGF and germany, from the start and clear enemies, Denmark, Austria, France from the start.
You have to be careful as your surrounded by big guns but can get very powerful fast if you play right.
And your in a positition to kick off a great war if you want to.

 

unmerged(220754)

Corporal

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Aug 17, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #13

Started playing as two sicilies and im enjoying it so far, having to build up my industry from scratch.
going to try and form Italy
any tips?

 

U

unmerged(153066)

Private

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Aug 12, 2009

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #14

I believe it's Modena that's easy prey for any of the more powerful italian minors (no alliances, and you can add a steel factory in the province which tends to do well). Personally I like to go for Tunisia the second I start the game though. Modena tends to be without alliances and doesn't get caught in anyone's sphere for a very long time in my experience, while Tunisia generally gets hammered to dust by the French very quickly. If you're quick though, you can grab it before them and have a nice point of expansion in northern africa when it's time to colonize later on. Next up you can wait for France or Spain to eat western Algeria, then march in from Tunisia and add a second protectorate. Once again a source of iron/steel in Constantine(?) I believe.

After I've secured Tunisia/Western Algeria, my next move is generally to snatch Modena when my infamy is below 5 again (+20 for annexing Modena).

 

Prussian Fellow

Second Lieutenant

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Aug 22, 2010

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• Dec 2, 2010

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• #15

One fun thing to do is to release and play as Ireland. They have three well populated states, so you can easily build up an army and industry, and you're poised to launch invasions all over the world. You're also on an island, so the only issue for you would be Great Britain, if you get on their bad side, but the way the AI plays naval invasions, if you've built up a good army then you should be able to handle them. (Also, save and reload after releasing Ireland, when you press "play as", the benefits of some techs don't register.)

 

unmerged(220754)

Corporal

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• Dec 3, 2010

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• #16

Prussian Fellow said:

One fun thing to do is to release and play as Ireland. They have three well populated states, so you can easily build up an army and industry, and you're poised to launch invasions all over the world. You're also on an island, so the only issue for you would be Great Britain, if you get on their bad side, but the way the AI plays naval invasions, if you've built up a good army then you should be able to handle them. (Also, save and reload after releasing Ireland, when you press "play as", the benefits of some techs don't register.)

Click to expand...

I didnt know you could do that im going to give it ago now
how are UKs reletions with ireland

 

gamer42_au

One of the old codgers

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May 4, 2004

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• Dec 3, 2010

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• #17

For moderate challenge, you could try Ottoman Empire.
They start as a GP, but are relatively weak and low tech (with low literacy, which is really hard to raise).
Of course many of your neighbours (Egypt, Persia, etc) are even weaker, so there are opportunities for expansion.
You start with a State Capitalist Government, so you can get industrialisation kick started.

 

Prussian Fellow

Second Lieutenant

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Aug 22, 2010

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• Dec 3, 2010

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• #18

Dunny774 said:

I didnt know you could do that im going to give it ago now
how are UKs reletions with ireland

Click to expand...

Pretty good, I usually don't have problems with them.

 

Ashantai

Lost in Time

Moderator

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Aug 4, 2009

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• Dec 3, 2010

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• #19

I found Belgium to be easy so long as you don't get in a war with France or Germany. Through a mostly peaceful game I'm now a #3 GP behind only Britain and France.

Other nations to try is Portugal, United States of Central America, and Japan if you want to try and westernise.

 

Ricox

Field Marshal

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Sep 24, 2009

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• Dec 3, 2010

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• #20

Japan is actually a nice nation. You're an island nation and you can easily protect yourself if you have a large navy. You can also in minimal amount of time get massive military, just like China, and you have plenty of space to expand into. Belgium is also good, it has a lot of potentional.