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Good news everyone, I'm going to have a new computer sometime next week! I will try to start updating the guide regularly again.

So far, I have:

  • Finish buildings
  • Shogunate
  • Faction system
  • Goals for 1821
  • Late-game

Any other ideas/comments? I'm thinking of maybe doing a quick review of the different start dates to kick off the revival.
 
My brother actually sold me his four year old computer for three hundred dollars so he could build a new one. I'm not going to post any specs because it's embarassing. :p. But I'll be able to play EU3 again!
 
thanks for taking the time and writing this AAR:)

You're welcome! I hope to start updating again soon, but three days until I got my new computer turned into a week turned into two weeks and so on. :\

Nice beginner's guide. Too bad it wasn't around when I was playing my first game as England, spending 30 minutes trying to figure out how to annex their provinces. >_>

You ever going to pick that Athens AAR back up?

Haha! The same thing happened to me in my first game, I was the Byzantine Empire, and I had a good deal of the Ottomans' provinces occupied but couldn't figure out how to send a peace offer and waited for them to send me one I liked.

Unfortunately, the savegame is lost forever. I was really emotionally invested into that AAR too (you can read a bit about that in non-review article in the AARlander /shamelessplug) and every time I've tried to start it back up it feels so cheap and forced, as can be noted by the incredibly decreased quality of the last five or so chapters. I will be starting a different narrative eventually though, but in a much more book-y style than Blue Lion.
 
Lesson XI: Alternate Army Types

Here, we're going to discuss something that has a LOT to do with preference, so take "X is better than Y" throughout this whole post as being my opinion.

So, what is this preference? Something that really signifies you're ready to begin forming your own style of playing Europa Universalis. You may have noticed while increasing your land technology that you unlock multiple types of infantry at once. The game suggests one in particular, usually something like "[one type that you unlocked] is superior to [whatever you have]". Usually the suggested one is balanced between aggressive and defensive. Here's an example of what your infantry screen might look like that I pulled from a game I've been working on for three days (look at the year and then think about three days. I've invested a ton of time and it's only like 1520, that's why I haven't been playing so much! Computer makes it slow.)

EU3_103.jpg


Let's start at the beginning. When you get Men at Arms, you also unlock Longbow. Almost everyone gets Men at Arms, but I personally prefer Longbow because it's different (Incoming hipster joke in the comments! Watch out!) and has an extra dot of shock and one less of fire. Entirely inconsequential, really, but shock is better in the early game so why not!

Free shooter is, in general, the best option at LT 18. After some tech levels, Tercio becomes better, though it is rather quickly replaced at the next tech level. Beyond that, many units are often perfectly fine outside what the game tells you to pick.

I'm going to end this by encouraging you to just try out some of the alternate army types. I think it's one of the least explored areas of the game, which is kind of boring! Short update, yes, but I promise to add more content (yeah, yeah, broken record) soon. Really! Probably when I get back from Pennsylvania I'll do a few lessons.
 
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intriguing game map you have there :eek:o

its a good debate, I think, esp if you tend to play westernised states there is a tendency to keep to a very similar pattern. But if you either need to be on the defense a lot, or believe you can manipulate the AI into attacking you in decent terrain then the Tercio option can really pay off. Equally with some of the other tech groups you can try and balance say defensive orientated infantry with an offensive pick for your cavalry.
 
This may be a very dumb question, but I suppose that's why the thread was created. What is the difference between Fire and Shock? More importantly, you mentioned Offensive Shock? So how does Offensive and Defensive Shock work?

I've been playing this game on and off for a while now, but want to get more into it. There's just so much I don't know!
 
Just wanted to say that this is a very informative AAR! Thanks for taking the time to write it!
I´ve just bought EU III in the Steam Summer Sale. Haven´t played it much yet, just tested it, but I already can tell it´s quite complex! This is really useful for us newbies!

I´ll keep reading your updates and learning while I finish my CK II AAR game, then I´ll get into EU III fully (wish me luck!! lol!)
 
This may be a very dumb question, but I suppose that's why the thread was created. What is the difference between Fire and Shock? More importantly, you mentioned Offensive Shock? So how does Offensive and Defensive Shock work?

I've been playing this game on and off for a while now, but want to get more into it. There's just so much I don't know!

..there should be a wiki somewhere, with an ok explanation (somebody will link it in a moment :D ) ..http://www.paradoxian.org/eu3wiki/Military#Casualties
Unfortunately the wiki isn't up-to-date ( I think fire comes first?), and not quite clear on the dice and numbers shown on screen.

Until then : there are two combat phases : fire and shock (aka shooting and melee). What you loose is men (= strenght, mostly very little) and Morale (= will to continue fighting, mostly rather more -and you have less to start with.)
when you compare, you compare your attack to opponents defense, and his attack to your defense. Then adding in factors like leaders, and diceroll, and terrain..

If you REALLY want to learn the mechanics behind the (basic) game, buy the BoardGame..
 
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Great AAR. I was looking around for a beginners guide an have always found AARs as the best way to learn. Thanks for doing it. I think I know what I am doing now ...!
 
Gella, amazing job. Thanks so much, this is really what I, and obviously many others really needed. You helped a lot of people get enjoyment out of something they needed help with. That's pretty damn positive and no small thing, my friend. I'm only on chapter 4 but feel I know so much more than I did before, really enjoy the light hearted Will Wright (1st sim city) take on it. Gets a little heavy sometimes, think that may hurt noobs like me, and that makes it more accesible. And also, the comments left by other, experienced players have some great info. TY, too. Great,great job, thanks for all the hard work and time, Gella.
 
Gella, amazing job. Thanks so much, this is really what I, and obviously many others really needed. You helped a lot of people get enjoyment out of something they needed help with. That's pretty damn positive and no small thing, my friend. I'm only on chapter 4 but feel I know so much more than I did before, really enjoy the light hearted Will Wright (1st sim city) take on it. Gets a little heavy sometimes, think that may hurt noobs like me, and that makes it more accesible. And also, the comments left by other, experienced players have some great info. TY, too. Great,great job, thanks for all the hard work and time, Gella.

Hey! You should do one of these for CK2! Ok, now I'm getting greedy......;)

Thanks quite a lot! The problem with making one for CK2 is, well, I need to get a lot better at it first. Haha. I don't exactly feel qualified to tell people how to play. I might continue the guide a bit more once I think of some more topics. When you finish reading, let me know if there's anything you don't really understand and I'll write a chapter for it.
 
Just for the record, this AAR is complete since I tried thinking of more concepts but ran out of ideas that I thought I could adequately explain. I will be using this thread to write lessons that I come up with, and possibly a secondary series of lessons about specific countries (though that might be a separate thread) but other then that it is complete.

Oh, and:

 
Just reading and applying Gella, when I feel like I've got the hang of most other stuff, will not hesitate to ask if anything is still odd. Much more abstract than HOI, I almost feel a bit handycapped from other war game experience. With these types I have to keep reminding myself, "this is not really a war game, your old rules don't apply". These really don't have anything in common with civ, aoe, etc, even HOI.
 
Just reading and applying Gella, when I feel like I've got the hang of most other stuff, will not hesitate to ask if anything is still odd. Much more abstract than HOI, I almost feel a bit handycapped from other war game experience. With these types I have to keep reminding myself, "this is not really a war game, your old rules don't apply". These really don't have anything in common with civ, aoe, etc, even HOI.

Definitely. Though military expansion could be considered the glue that holds a game of EU3 together, there are many other things to do that don't involve war, which is a sharp contrast to HoI, which is basically all about war.