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“This England never did, nor never shall,
Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror”


Welcome to the 7th development diary for Europa Universalis IV,
where we talk about the dominant power by the end of the Europa Universalis time frame, the country formerly known as England.
England can be considered both as one of the easier nations to play, but also one of the more challenging nations. That´s a paradox, you say?
Well, it all depends on what you wish to accomplish and what kind of empire you want to create ;)

The unique possibilities of England
What truly makes England unique to play is that the country has natural borders protecting it and that you can strengthen those borders dramatically with rather cheap investments. You can decide to let England get involved in the continent, from a safe position, or choose to isolate England and go overseas. The country also sits on a bloody nice position to control the trade from the Baltic and from North America. So the options are huge for you to take England in plenty of directions when creating your empire.

England’s Dynamic Historical Events
England is has one of the richest and best known histories. That may sound lovely for you guys, but it also means that we have had to work hard when it comes to decisions about historical events to include in Europa Universalis IV. The important countries in EU4 have a lot of events going on, so some of those major historical events have been turned into the starting points of large event chains that we call Dynamic Historical Events.

War of the Roses is an excellent example of Dynamic Historical Events. If England in the 15th century has a ruler without an heir, that means that there is a likelihood of a large event chain beginning. The player has to select who to back for the throne, York or Lancaster. This decision will throw the country into turmoil with various parts declaring for either the red or white rose, and you have to make sure to eliminate the very strong, rather resilient pretenders. What makes this interesting is that this event chain is not an event series that is guaranteed to come every time you play as England. It only occurs if all the necessary underlying factors are fulfilled. When it happens, you won't have planned for it to arrive on schedule, like many people did when they played Europa Universalis II, the last game in the series with a serious focus on historical events. We hope that this variation will gives you rather unique experiences when you play major powers.

The English Civil War will be another major event series that might encounter when you play as England, but we will not spoil it for you here yet. ;)
England also has many smaller DHE, like The War of Captain Jenkin's Ear: if they are rivals with Spain, after 1700, then you can get a casus belli on Spain. Or an event like The Muscovy Trade Company, where if you discover the sea route to Archangelsk, and its owned by the Muscovites, then there is a likelihood of this historical event happening.

England’s Missions & Decisions
We have kept the historical missions that existed in Europa Universalis III and we are expanding them for Europa Universalis IV, so you'll still see missions to conquer Scotland and colonize North America. When it comes to decisions, England still manually have to rely on the Wooden Wall, and make Calais into a Staple Port.

England’s National Ideas
The traditions that England starts with is a small boost in naval morale and a 5% boost to their trading efficiency.
The trading efficiency boost is due to the fact that the economy of England to fund their participation in the Hundred Years War was their taxation of the very profitable wool trade.

The 7 National Ideas for England are:
  1. Royal Navy : 25% higher naval force limit, and +10% more combat power for big ships.
  2. Eltham Ordinance : +15% higher tax.
  3. Secretaries of State : +1 diplomat
  4. Navigation Acts : +10% trade income, and +10% more combat power for light ships.
  5. Bill of Rights : -1 revolt risk.
  6. Reform of Commission Buying : +10% discipline
  7. Sick and Hurt Board : -50% Naval Attrition.



Reward: English Ambition
When England has gotten all seven of their National Ideas, they get the bonus of 'English Ambitions' which gives them a +100% on their embargo efficiency.

Here's a screenshot where I've cheated to show a little bit of the idea progress..

7.png

Welcome back next week, where we'll talk in detail about the enhancements we've done to the religious aspect of the game!
 
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Hmm, interesting. However, I am compelled to ask: Will Dev Diaries for individual countries be commonplace? Or will it be a mix? Or is this one simply an exception?
 
I guess we can look forward to DDs for each important nation? So why didn't you do Sweden first?

Will English DHEs also work for Great Britain, or has something been done to prevent GB from forming as early as it does in EU3?
 
Hmm, interesting. However, I am compelled to ask: Will Dev Diaries for individual countries be commonplace? Or will it be a mix? Or is this one simply an exception?

there will be a few around.
 
So with 1444 start, historical 17th century English Civil War may happen? Poor, stumped butterflies.:laugh:

Not a big fan of such determinism - it would make game entertaining for major nations, but also more predictable and less repayable.
 
Sound nice in general but I don't get why one of the tirgger conditions for the War of the Roses is having no heir. England had an heir when the war of the Roses started even though he was still a child.
 
may

may

may

Sure. However, there are automatically awarded country specific NI's, traditions, and loads of DHEs making probability of at least one firing quite high. If you sum it up, it's quite a lot of determinism.
 
Sure. However, there are automatically awarded country specific NI's, traditions, and loads of DHEs making probability of at least one firing quite high. If you sum it up, it's quite a lot of determinism.

So what? If those conditions were present at the start of thye game, why not simulate them? How will your gameplay be any worse for this? I respect that everyone has a different opnion, but I don't understand how one can be opposed to the fact that a historical event is now possible...
 
splendid.
Is the war of the roses just going to be one mega pretender stack? Seems a bit casual for such a big event.
I wonder how overpowered british warships will be with those national ideas and decisions. YIKES!!

I hope there is a DD dedicated solely for Denmark, because, lets face it, they need some lovin'.
 
Good to see the way that bigger nations (tier 1, as it's been stated elsewhere) will be handled. That's the deep and immersion that make this kind of games so great.
 
So what? If those conditions were present at the start of thye game, why not simulate them? How will your gameplay be any worse for this? I respect that everyone has a different opnion, but I don't understand how one can be opposed to the fact that a historical event is now possible...

My last reply on topic, since devs seems to be tired of it. To put it simply, historical events/ideas/traditions follow one specific, historical path - which while detailed, is predictable and less exciting. Matter of taste though, some people like CK2 sandbox, some people like EU2 railroad ride. It doesn't mean that game would be bad.