Quick questions / Quick answers -- EU3

Avagroth said:

So that means assuming I can create a big colonial empire, it pays off to be Mercantile then? Ok

Apart from that, I was wondering, as Portugal, if most of my provinces are overseas and cored, would it make sense to move my capital to the Americas?

And what do I do in the first 40 years? So far I've been going with the "hide in a corner, build up the treasury for colonization" approach but it sounds quite boring ^^

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Mercantilism can be good, and they apparently improved it a little in the beta patch, if that should be played. Still, the mercantile strategy is quite long-term, relying on the accumulation of territories and bonuses that are quite distant in the future. Free Trade might look like a bother when you see that it will take the better part of a century to move the slider to the more beneficial position, but even if it is not +5, it will still allow you to compete in foreign CoTs. Expect that England, France, Brandeburg and Scandinavia will move to free trade regardless of their initially mercantile sliders.

As for mercantile, it will mainly pay off when you reach the "monopoly stage" in mid-game. At that point, you can compete out everyone else and reap the full benefit of the CoT as the sole trader. However, until you have a monopoly, mercantilism mainly assures that you will be among the four top traders in the home CoTs, since having a good compete chance does not remove the free trader countries that also use your CoTs (though you will gain a slightly higher income). Ergo, you will have ensured access to your CoT, but the Free Traders might have ensured access to tens foreign ones -- until the monopoly sometimes forces them out. Still, the mercantile bonus may help to conquer CoTs and have a high infamy score, while being able to trade in them. This has to do with the fact that a CoTs in an uncored province damages you over-all compete-chance, often forcing Free Traders out of their other CoTs -- at least in MP where there are a lot of Free Traders.

The debate over Mercantilism and Free Trade rages on, but it would be my personal suggestion to you as a MP beginner to go Free Trade, simply for the fact that it is easier to understand. You will not lose control over your own CoTs and you may gain access to new ones. As for the "big american empire"-idea I see as a prerequisite in your mercantile consideration; do not assume you will get it, or even that you will be among the four first to gain "Quest for the new World." A little modesty has never hurt anyone.

Avagroth said:

Apart from that, I was wondering, as Portugal, if most of my provinces are overseas and cored, would it make sense to move my capital to the Americas?

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If your tariff income vastly exceeds your tax and production income and the potential decision bonuses does not make up for it, then yes. It's not something to do in a rush, but when it becomes possible, think about it.

Avagroth said:

And what do I do in the first 40 years? So far I've been going with the "hide in a corner, build up the treasury for colonization" approach but it sounds quite boring ^^

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You don't do much. If the MP game has one of it's Dawn Wars, then you might have some fun intervening (on the side of Castille perhaps). If you want to take a small chunk out of Morocco, but there are pros and cons to that. Charge cavalry! And heathen low income region that slows down tech progression a little...

Do you guys think Iconoclasm is worth it?

Thank you Serzis for the answers! Sorry if I came across as megalomaniac though, that wasn't my intention

So first game is Free Trade then! What about Aristocracy/Plutocraty?

What is a Dawn War though?

masteriw said:

Do you guys think Iconoclasm is worth it?

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If you're large enough to accommodate six Fine Arts Academies without triggering manufactory price escalation? Almost certainly, since being that big usually entails wanting some extra conversion chance.

Otherwise? Maaaaybe.

Avagroth said:

Thank you Serzis for the answers! Sorry if I came across as megalomaniac though, that wasn't my intention

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Haha. Nah, you might just rephrase it as ambition.

Avagroth said:

So first game is Free Trade then! What about Aristocracy/Plutocraty?

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As all thing: depends. For Portugal, you should probably prioritize plutocracy since it improves compete-chance, both home and abroad, and gives more merchants. It also provides spy production -- which is good for Free Traders since Free Trade otherwise removes spies from your game (mercantilism gives spy increase, but FT does not). Its a lesser point though. Aristocracy is mainly good for war, providing a lot cheaper cavalry but a naval traders does not really benefit from it.

First change to free trade, then to centralization. Increasing naval force-limit (Naval) might need to be adressed first, but otherwise you can start to move Plutocracy after the centralization has been pushed adequately to the left. If you get an event, I would not dissuade you from taking the +1 plutocracy choice.

For the effects of sliders, see: http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Domestic_policy_sliders
For some comments on slider strategy, see: http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Domestic_policy_sliders_strategy

Avagroth said:

What is a Dawn War though?

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Dawn War is not any kind "EU3-speak," just a personal phrase that I use for conflict that might uccur when two or more entities are placed in an initial point of conflict based on material circumstanced. Yeah, kind of specific.

The term "Dawn War" is taken from the Revelation Space universe (Sci-Fi) in which the Dawn War was...
On an unrelated but interesting note: the "Dawn War" is probably the terminological basis for the term "Morning War" in the Mass Effect universe. This assumption has mostly to do with the fact that the Reapers in methodology are "inspired" by the Inhibitors in Reynolds universe, though Bioware compromised in addressing the purpose of them to a degree that it became hopelessly vague: "You cannot comprehend -- oh, wait -- you can..." In fact, a suprising amount of concepts has been translated, though other inspirations are also present, like the Rachni being the Buggers from Ender's Game. Revelation Space a fantastic read, btw. But I digress.

Avagroth said:

So that means assuming I can create a big colonial empire, it pays off to be Mercantile then? Ok

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Yes, but only later, the reason I leave it untouched during the beginning in favour of Centralisation. I can't deny that going Free Trade is a more straightforward approach though - just send your merchants everywhere.

And as Serzis said, if you're going Free Trade, go Plutocratic. It's not much use in Plutocracy for full Mercantile because compete chances doesn't go any further than 99%.

By the way, who are the other MP players?

Serzis said:

If you want to take a small chunk out of Morocco, but there are pros and cons to that. Charge cavalry! And heathen low income region that slows down tech progression a little...

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Morocco has a gold province that may be useful, and that is basically it. And it can give you a few years miles of advance to South America (probably not something for you to worry about).

ANO1453 said:

Morocco has a gold province that may be useful, and that is basically it. And it can give you a few years miles of advance to South America (probably not something for you to worry about).

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There is the rare case where Morocco is successful, and it which case the player might want to contain them if you are in their region.

ANO1453 said:

By the way, who are the other MP players?

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It's presumably Victis Honor II, so it hasn't gotten a player list yet. I'm venturing a guess that Stnikolauswagner will be Castille if Avagroth is given Portugal -- which means that he is in no immediate danger.

It's going to be quite a few beginners and medium-experienced players (like myself) so expect the game to be fairly manageable. Depends on where Bixit puts Elcyion and whether a few campaigns end before the end of the month. :unsure:

Serzis said:

It's presumably Victis Honor II, so it hasn't gotten a player list yet. I'm venturing a guess that Stnikolauswagner will be Castille if Avagroth is given Portugal -- which means that he is in no immediate danger.

It's going to be quite a few beginners and medium-experienced players (like myself) so expect the game to be fairly manageable. Depends on where Bixit puts Elcyion and whether a few campaigns end before the end of the month. :unsure:

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I never played in Multiplayer before, so I don't know what kind of arrangement people do, but Castille could be pretty troublesome for Portugal.

Apparently I would be put as Portugal and *fairly* protected (as in, Castille won't eat me up because they don't want me to hate the game forever )

Thanks for the sliders tips!

Also, this Dawn War thinggy, is it from a book serie? Completely unrelated but I have nothing to read atm =p

Avagroth said:

Apparently I would be put as Portugal and *fairly* protected (as in, Castille won't eat me up because they don't want me to hate the game forever )

Thanks for the sliders tips!

Also, this Dawn War thinggy, is it from a book serie? Completely unrelated but I have nothing to read atm =p

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The first book was Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds, which is arguably the best in the series. The author's physics education and experience in the European Space Agency provides a nice grounding in the realm of the theoretically possible while his narrative remains increasingly engaging. As a sucker for heavily expository language and universes without FTL-capabilities, it's one of my favorites in the genre. I whole-heartily recommend it.

EDIT: Chasm City may chronologically precede Revelation Space with its status as an unrelated prequel, but it was published later and is written as a contextual sequel, which it indeed is.

Thank you very much o/

Other question, I tried playing an Minamoto and unite Japan, because it sounded fun. However, I had a tiny problem with the missions: stuff like "vassalize Japan", "Royal Mariage with Japan" etc... and Japan is this tiny, one province country that stands for the Emperor and no interaction with it is possible. Is there a fix for this?

Also, I haven't gone that far in the game, but i tsounded interesting: assuming the IA created fairly big colonials Empires, will some of them enter a revolution state and new countries be born from it at some point?

Avagroth said:

Also, I haven't gone that far in the game, but i tsounded interesting: assuming the IA created fairly big colonials Empires, will some of them enter a revolution state and new countries be born from it at some point?

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I guess you are refering to the revolutions in the Americas?

After 1750, events will strike that give cores in South and North America to a number of states and trigger a nominally big colonial uprisings in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Haiti, La Plata and Quebec, to name a few. The actual event and lists can be found in "europa universalis... /events/" with names beginning with "ColonialUprising." This result in new countries being born out of the old ones, regardless of whether its actually Spain that controls South America. It does not transform a country into another.

However, it is sadly quite rare that the uprisings actually result in viable new states. By the late game, the player and the AI have usually gained so large amounts of troops that small colonial rebellions no longer pose the same threat as they once did. One or two states might gain independence, but if you want them to survive, it might require human assistance. The event isn't perfect and you won't see a USA that is even close to its Vicki 2 counter-part. Also, many players find the late game -- after conquering a quarter of the world -- to be quite boring, so one does not always reach 1750 in any case.

EDIT:
Oh, and about the Japan question: Kyoto is a little difficult to click on, but if you click in the lower border region, it shouldn't be a problem. I must say that I've never gotten a "vassalize Japan"-mission. If that was possible, do not do it, since you already effectively control it's foreign policy as Shogun and wants to unite it, rather than mess with it as a vassal.

This is a bit silly but: is the standard end date the beginning or end of 1821? I changed it and can't remember now. :laugh:

Sidereus said:

This is a bit silly but: is the standard end date the beginning or end of 1821? I changed it and can't remember now. :laugh:

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Jan 1, 1821

As Denmark, which countries should I be declaring no-CB wars on to cut off Sweden's insult spam until I can get a higher land force limit than them?

grommile said:

As Denmark, which countries should I be declaring no-CB wars on to cut off Sweden's insult spam until I can get a higher land force limit than them?

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I suppose whoever is beatable, isnt guaranteed by a big country, isnt in the empire, and isnt too far away.

Duskey said:

To check if your question has already been answered, please use the "Search this thread" function to the right.

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Sorry, cannot find that function. Also cannot search 9100 posts by hand, so I will ask this right away. Of course, if somebody told me where to find the "Seach this thread" function this would help, too.

I'd like to ask you guys what the rules are for shattering armies - meaning armies dying completely the moment combat begins. I encountered it before, but since now I always thought it happened when the dying army was SO extremely weak compared to the surviving one that there was some sort of instant defeat - rule.

However, today I lost a fresh regiment of 1000 irishmen, happily besieging an English fortress in Glamorgan, to a bunch of RETREATING (i.e. weakened in their moral department) English. It was two armies of English, army 1 consisting of two infantry and one cavalry regiment (survivors of battle before: 233/480/0) and army 2 consisting of a single infantry regiment (survivors 0/454/0). Neither me nor them had a general. Arrival date was the 30th, so no last minute reinforcements on the English side. Admittedly they had longbows, while I still had medieval infantry. I'm playing no mods, Heir to the Throne, no new updates available via the launcher, the readme file giving me a "changes for 3.2.", so I guess I have a 3.2 patch for HTTT. Any help appreciated!

grommile said:

As Denmark, which countries should I be declaring no-CB wars on to cut off Sweden's insult spam until I can get a higher land force limit than them?

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I'd probably start with something like Tunisia after all of N. Africa gets involved in the Castille-Grenada mess. Obviously the better option is to go after TO with one of your missions or whatever poor sap Muslim country is the crusade target.