Bought Chronicles in the sale...what do I do? :S

[TremblingBlue]

Manchu's an interesting choice for a first game. I've never tried that one, but there's no reason you can't have a good time with it. The most engtrossing games I've had with EU3 have been with countries in awkward positions that aren't recommended for beginners. Byzantium, Ethiopia, Rajputana for example.

Just remember, if you get bored with Manchu for some reason, you can save and switch to a different country. I mention that a second time because when I started doing that EU3 became much more fun for me. I almost always finish the entire timeline.

Manchu looked interesting to me. I had all of eastern Siberia to mess around in, plus I could bully the Mongols and Korea. I'm not sure how I was meant to take on the Ming though...I didn't even attempt it.

I think I will have to start doing that (swapping nations). In HOI I tend to just load a save when things went wrong...here things can go terribly, terribly wrong and there's nothing you can do. Especially if a nation has been creeping towards you unnoticed outside of the region. Plus, with the sheer length of the game, I'm not going to get anywhere if I keep restarting!

I started out with EU3 and I think HOI is harder. So many units and so many things you can do with them.

Manchu will probably be hard for a first game. If you have trouble with Manchu, move to a big country in Europe.

I must say I was surprised at the units in this game. I thought it would be as complex or even more. For the time scale though it works.
HOI has wonderful units like paratroopers and tanks which of course won't be in EU3, but one thing I am so glad about is the lack of complexity with naval forces. I still don't have a clue what I'm doing in HOI...that's where it stops me in my tracks.

[king hannibal]

Your best choice is to start as Castille. Just go there, eat Granada, then go for Portugal. After that, COLONIZE.