Questions on EU gameplay/countries

SoulBlazer · 27-03-2001, 06:11

Hi folks! I registered months ago but only started lurking around the forums a week ago - what a nice place is set up here! Glad to see I'm not the only one addicted to this game.

I see Hartmann is a moderator here -- hello! Mine me stomping on YOUR turf for a little bit?

A little info on me....I'm 25, been playing games for years, and am finishing up a Masters in American History. As a historian, I'm very criticial on games and movies that come out that deal with historical topics. Yet everything I read and then played with in EU is great and very well done! My highest praise to Paradox for their research, and then, to Hartmann and others for making it even better then it allready was.

I know most Americans are kinda ignorant about Europe and I beg my fellow game players from that part of the world....please DO NOT lump me into that group.

We just get taught more US history then World, sad to say....I want to teach history at a community college when my thesis is aproved, so I hope I can change that for just a few people.

I know more about European History from 1815 on, but this period covered in the game has always been of intrest to me as well.

Anyway, I've been playing the game for about a month -- since it came out in the US -- and been playing the IGC version for most of that time, as well as doing some MP games and reading the FAQ's out there. I still had some questions I really could'nt find answers to, though....

1) The AAR's here are great, but I was wondering if anyone had tried the US in one of the scenarios, like the American Revolution? I have found, IMHO, the US as a VERY hard nation to play.

I'd love to find and read a AAR about someone who could do better for us then historicaly.

2) Do Naval battles affect the peace deals any? What I mean is, you get a star if you win a large land battle -- what about if you win a naval battle? And if not, WHY not? It's like Paradox is saying they don't consider Trafagar or Midway to be as important as, say, Waterloo. On a related note, just how LARGE a battle does it have to be to win/loose a star?

3) Why don't colonies count for anything on the peace table? Again, it seems Paradox is saying it's not important, when many times it was. I hate having to fight a nation like Denmark that is half colonies because you need to take over the whole nation almost to get even one colony.

4) Joint attacks on proviences with allies -- I'm a little confused here. My understand was, if two or more allies were fighting for a provience, and one nation did a assault that won, they take the provience. What happens if no assault takes place and you just siege them out? I thought the ally leader (it may be the temp leader of the war) would take the provience, but someone else said it's due to who has the largest army present. And what if nations who are NOT allies try to take a provience? Is THAT where you need the biggest army?

5) Why the heck is naval attrition so high???? It makes bloacking ports and sending out explorers very difficult. On a related note, I agree with people it's too easy to transport troops. Only allow troops to be carried on transports. Nobody seems to build them anyway.

6) I'm not TOTALLY sure I understand the highlighted bar that is under a army unit when you have it selected. It's not morale, because that's given in the info box on the left. So does that bar take into account ALL the factors of that army and mean it's overall combat strength?

7) It seems land attition is way to high sometimes also. I guess I understand why it's so high, but is there any way to raise the supply limts of a provience besides upgrading forts and getting better infastructure tech?

8) I understand how the 'badboy' value works and what adds to it. All nations start at 0 and then gain points as they go to war. I also know the higher it goes, the greater the chance that you will be attacked. My question is, how do we 'translate' the value we see in the save value to the game? Is there like, say, a percantage that you will be attacked each month at 10? 20? Higher? Is there a way we can look, at a glance, to our values and say 'Oh, it's only 10....I can risk another war'.

9) I'm looking for a list of ALL the rulers in the game -- in the IGC -- that have 'special traits', like Henry VIII and Ivan IV. And a explantion of what these traits ARE. I've not been able to find them in any of the FAQ's out there. Does one exist?

10) Are there 'fixed' revolts in either the normal game or the IGC -- revolts that either WILL happen or have a high chance of doing so? The only one I've seen so far in the 300 year game is Holland. For example, if both Conn and Mass are British colonies or cities and the year is 1700, what's the chance they may rebel and create the US? Will nations that 'could' rebel, like Greece or Norway, only do so if the mother nation is in serious trouble and revolts are springing up?

11) Finally, I'm hoping someone can give me some advice in my current MP game, where I'm playing Poland and my friend is England. He's done well for himself, in the ten years since the game started taking Scotland and a couple areas in France, while I've been at peace, building Level 2 forts on the border of the whole country and promoting judges. Now I'm adding artilery to the armies. We also turned the missions up. I did have my own alliance but a lack of dips caused me to join Tuscany's instead....the only one that would let me in. How do I catch up to my friend in points? I'm not sure if I SHOULD keep Poland peacefull....the only nations I have casus belli's on is Turkey and Prussia/Tutonic Order. I thought about going to war with Turkey, as they took over the Memluks and a provience from Hungary allready -- but am afriad of how the rest of Europe may react, as my relations are average at best. Plus I only get 1 dip a year -- makes it awfull to do anything! Should I try to keep Poland at peace and let the wars come to me, or can I risk a war or two? Russia is also expanding very well into the Khan's to the south and I'm worried about them.

Thanks in advance for your information/comments.

Greg

*Dark Knight* · 27-03-2001, 06:39

I'll try to answer as many of your points/questions as I can

2) It's my understanding that the outcome of all battles affects the stars, but it takes a lot of fighting to make one star of difference. Unfortunately, the system (in which you can only get up to 7 stars) is too limited for small battles to have an effect.

3) This also has to do with the limitations of the peace negotiation system. Since colonies (province with a city of under 700 people) can't construct fortifications, they can be overrun quickly and so they shouldn't count as normal provinces for determining peace. Unfortunately, the system is to limited to have small differences between the value of trade posts, colonies, and othe provinces in determining how many total 'points' a nation gets to demand in peace negotiations and how much these different types of provinces cost in terms of 'peace points'.

4) If there is more than one army, then the army with the highest-ranked leader gains control (this has obvious problems). In a tie, I think army size determines control.

10)The Dutch Revolt is the only predetermied rebellion. Nations that are currently nonexistent can reappear if rebel forces gain control of certain provinces (this may only be a single province, or may be more than one). However, there is only a chance of the nation regaining independence when the conditions are met, not a certainty.

11) You could try to preempt Russia by expanding into the Khanates before them, which would probably hasten a showdown. You probably want to annex Prussia and Courland as soon as possible, and might want to annex the Knights. Poland isn't suited to be a colonial power (although it has been done) so if you're worried about VPs, then you'll need to try land expansion. Bohemia, Hungary, and the Ottomans could all make nice targets in the right circumstances. Also, when you get a monarch with a higher diplomatic skill, you'll get more diplomats per year.

27-03-2001, 06:11	#1
SoulBlazer Major Join Date: Sep 2000 Location: Coventry, Rhode Island, USA Posts: 555	Questions on EU and IGC Hi folks! I registered months ago but only started lurking around the forums a week ago - what a nice place is set up here! Glad to see I'm not the only one addicted to this game. I see Hartmann is a moderator here -- hello! Mine me stomping on YOUR turf for a little bit? A little info on me....I'm 25, been playing games for years, and am finishing up a Masters in American History. As a historian, I'm very criticial on games and movies that come out that deal with historical topics. Yet everything I read and then played with in EU is great and very well done! My highest praise to Paradox for their research, and then, to Hartmann and others for making it even better then it allready was. I know most Americans are kinda ignorant about Europe and I beg my fellow game players from that part of the world....please DO NOT lump me into that group. We just get taught more US history then World, sad to say....I want to teach history at a community college when my thesis is aproved, so I hope I can change that for just a few people. I know more about European History from 1815 on, but this period covered in the game has always been of intrest to me as well. Anyway, I've been playing the game for about a month -- since it came out in the US -- and been playing the IGC version for most of that time, as well as doing some MP games and reading the FAQ's out there. I still had some questions I really could'nt find answers to, though.... 1) The AAR's here are great, but I was wondering if anyone had tried the US in one of the scenarios, like the American Revolution? I have found, IMHO, the US as a VERY hard nation to play. I'd love to find and read a AAR about someone who could do better for us then historicaly. 2) Do Naval battles affect the peace deals any? What I mean is, you get a star if you win a large land battle -- what about if you win a naval battle? And if not, WHY not? It's like Paradox is saying they don't consider Trafagar or Midway to be as important as, say, Waterloo. On a related note, just how LARGE a battle does it have to be to win/loose a star? 3) Why don't colonies count for anything on the peace table? Again, it seems Paradox is saying it's not important, when many times it was. I hate having to fight a nation like Denmark that is half colonies because you need to take over the whole nation almost to get even one colony. 4) Joint attacks on proviences with allies -- I'm a little confused here. My understand was, if two or more allies were fighting for a provience, and one nation did a assault that won, they take the provience. What happens if no assault takes place and you just siege them out? I thought the ally leader (it may be the temp leader of the war) would take the provience, but someone else said it's due to who has the largest army present. And what if nations who are NOT allies try to take a provience? Is THAT where you need the biggest army? 5) Why the heck is naval attrition so high???? It makes bloacking ports and sending out explorers very difficult. On a related note, I agree with people it's too easy to transport troops. Only allow troops to be carried on transports. Nobody seems to build them anyway. 6) I'm not TOTALLY sure I understand the highlighted bar that is under a army unit when you have it selected. It's not morale, because that's given in the info box on the left. So does that bar take into account ALL the factors of that army and mean it's overall combat strength? 7) It seems land attition is way to high sometimes also. I guess I understand why it's so high, but is there any way to raise the supply limts of a provience besides upgrading forts and getting better infastructure tech? 8) I understand how the 'badboy' value works and what adds to it. All nations start at 0 and then gain points as they go to war. I also know the higher it goes, the greater the chance that you will be attacked. My question is, how do we 'translate' the value we see in the save value to the game? Is there like, say, a percantage that you will be attacked each month at 10? 20? Higher? Is there a way we can look, at a glance, to our values and say 'Oh, it's only 10....I can risk another war'. 9) I'm looking for a list of ALL the rulers in the game -- in the IGC -- that have 'special traits', like Henry VIII and Ivan IV. And a explantion of what these traits ARE. I've not been able to find them in any of the FAQ's out there. Does one exist? 10) Are there 'fixed' revolts in either the normal game or the IGC -- revolts that either WILL happen or have a high chance of doing so? The only one I've seen so far in the 300 year game is Holland. For example, if both Conn and Mass are British colonies or cities and the year is 1700, what's the chance they may rebel and create the US? Will nations that 'could' rebel, like Greece or Norway, only do so if the mother nation is in serious trouble and revolts are springing up? 11) Finally, I'm hoping someone can give me some advice in my current MP game, where I'm playing Poland and my friend is England. He's done well for himself, in the ten years since the game started taking Scotland and a couple areas in France, while I've been at peace, building Level 2 forts on the border of the whole country and promoting judges. Now I'm adding artilery to the armies. We also turned the missions up. I did have my own alliance but a lack of dips caused me to join Tuscany's instead....the only one that would let me in. How do I catch up to my friend in points? I'm not sure if I SHOULD keep Poland peacefull....the only nations I have casus belli's on is Turkey and Prussia/Tutonic Order. I thought about going to war with Turkey, as they took over the Memluks and a provience from Hungary allready -- but am afriad of how the rest of Europe may react, as my relations are average at best. Plus I only get 1 dip a year -- makes it awfull to do anything! Should I try to keep Poland at peace and let the wars come to me, or can I risk a war or two? Russia is also expanding very well into the Khan's to the south and I'm worried about them. Thanks in advance for your information/comments. Greg Last edited by SoulBlazer; 27-03-2001 at 06:14.

27-03-2001, 06:39	#2
Dark Knight Troll-slayer Moderator Join Date: Jun 2000 Posts: 9,180	I'll try to answer as many of your points/questions as I can 2) It's my understanding that the outcome of all battles affects the stars, but it takes a lot of fighting to make one star of difference. Unfortunately, the system (in which you can only get up to 7 stars) is too limited for small battles to have an effect. 3) This also has to do with the limitations of the peace negotiation system. Since colonies (province with a city of under 700 people) can't construct fortifications, they can be overrun quickly and so they shouldn't count as normal provinces for determining peace. Unfortunately, the system is to limited to have small differences between the value of trade posts, colonies, and othe provinces in determining how many total 'points' a nation gets to demand in peace negotiations and how much these different types of provinces cost in terms of 'peace points'. 4) If there is more than one army, then the army with the highest-ranked leader gains control (this has obvious problems). In a tie, I think army size determines control. 10)The Dutch Revolt is the only predetermied rebellion. Nations that are currently nonexistent can reappear if rebel forces gain control of certain provinces (this may only be a single province, or may be more than one). However, there is only a chance of the nation regaining independence when the conditions are met, not a certainty. 11) You could try to preempt Russia by expanding into the Khanates before them, which would probably hasten a showdown. You probably want to annex Prussia and Courland as soon as possible, and might want to annex the Knights. Poland isn't suited to be a colonial power (although it has been done) so if you're worried about VPs, then you'll need to try land expansion. Bohemia, Hungary, and the Ottomans could all make nice targets in the right circumstances. Also, when you get a monarch with a higher diplomatic skill, you'll get more diplomats per year.