Stepwise Colonization

[Meshed Gear]

Disclaimer: this is not so much a suggestion for EU4 as a item for my EU5 wishlist. Ideally it would combine with some population mechanic, colonial manpower, dynamic cultures/culture groups, and dynamic trade.

Historically, entire provinces weren't being colonized all at once. Instead colonies were established first established as a small fort/town, which would later expand to control the surrounding territory. Or not. Expansion usually depended on relations between the country which established the outpost and the local natives.

My proposal is this: implement four levels of colonization. These levels would be outpost, enclave, control, and finally a standard province. Trade company provinces in the current build would count as control, provinces that have been converted to the owners religion and culture would count as a standard province.

Level 0 colonization is an uncolonized province, as at present​

Level 1 colonization is an outpost. These could represent things such as factories, block of houses, villages, etc. A small group present in the province to trade, seed a new colony or perhaps for military reasons. Relatively quick to establish, these would not boost colonial range as they are unable to sufficiently supply and repair vessels. If established in a province that has an owner with a positive relationship, both nations derive some profit from it due to trade.
Countries with colonists would be able to establish outposts overseas and in adjacent uncolonized provinces. Trade leagues and merchant republics would also have this ability, but would need trade range in order to do so. Outpost profitability would be limited by the value of local provinces, encouraging spreading them out.
CKII trade posts are similar to this level​

Level 2 colonization is an enclave. More than an outpost, this would have a garrison, town, perhaps a local governor. Due to their increased size a province would have a limit of one or two enclaves. Compared to an outpost an enclave is a bit more profitable for the province owner, and a lot more profitable for the enclave owner. Growing an outpost into an enclave requires a positive relationship with the province owner, seizing land during a war with them, or by event due to the local troops taking advantage of / defending against local unrest. Able to repair ships and recruit local units.​

Level 3 colonization is control, you or your trade company own the province. Represents a population that is predominantly local with some of the overseas foreigners. As I mentioned this would be equivalent to trade company provinces in the current game that have the local culture and religion.​

Level 4 colonization represents the replacement of the local inhabitants with foreign settlers, either through extermination, inter-breeding, expulsion, or cultural conversion. Level 3 would automatically jump to level 4 for provinces with no native inhabitants, and new world provinces would have conditions that naturally tend to cause the transition as well.​

How this would work for provinces that start out uncolonized

First step would be to send a colonist to establish an outpost. This would be relatively quick, but at the beginning of the game have a chance of failure that increases with distance. Like Roanoke. Perhaps throw in an uncommon event where a nearby native country gets a temporary boost of some sort. Call it 'European pots and pans' or something. Once established the outpost would be secure against native raids, unless a country migrates into the province.

Upgrading a colony's level in provinces with no owner would be similar to the present system, you send your colonist to grow the colony with risk of native attacks as your borders expand. Trade good would be discovered either at level 2 or between levels 2 and 3.

While upgrading native attacks would once more be possible, if enough damage is done the expansion attempts will be abandoned and the colony will go back to previous level.

An enclave is able to extend colonization range, and can repair ships. It might not prevent another power from setting up one of their own in the province as well, depending on how many sites are available.

Upgrading to level 3 once more allows native attacks, as your colonists try to secure the whole province. Countries with their own enclaves would have chances to support larger and more dangerous native attacks during this period.

Upgrading to level 4 would happen one of two ways. Either the convert or die option is used, like during the reconquista, or the local population gradually gives way to the settler population. The second option would be a MTTH type thing, with a larger local population taking much longer or never being subsumed.

How this would work for provinces that have an owner

Building an outpost requires the province owner's permission. Or bribing local officials in the case of countries with high corruption. Same process as with provinces that don't have an owner, but without the failure risk. An outpost may cause local tensions on occasion, especially if the ruler's attitude were to become hostile...

Upgrading to an enclave either requires the owner's permission, a peace treaty term, or a fait accompli due to local events. This third option would generate an event chain between the two countries as they resolve differences, perhaps offer compensation. An enclave of different culture or religion permanently increases local unrest, but as previously mentioned is more profitable. Also able to recruit local units, and treat the province as home territory.

Control of the province is control of the province, directly own it or give it to your semi-independent trade company vassal. But that is another suggestion...

Trade companies won't work on reaching level 4, the overlord might. Converting religion wouldn't be much more difficult than at present but it would be very difficult to convert a province like Goa into a regular Portuguese culture province.

Summary

Change colonization to work in tiers. Need to start with an outpost. Outposts can also be built in provinces with an owner for mutual profit, but potential unrest. Would make it possible for Europeans to have a presence in India without having to fight 50 000 soldiers first.

 

[Canute VII]

+1000

 

[Canute VII]

Thinking about it, I recently made a suggestion that would fit your "level 1 colonization" in foreign owned province. I just callled it "trade post" instead of "outpost"...
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/trade-posts-in-foreign-countries.1050489/

 

[Meshed Gear]

Thinking about it, I recently made a suggestion that would fit your "level 1 colonization" in foreign owned province. I just callled it "trade post" instead of "outpost"...
https://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/index.php?threads/trade-posts-in-foreign-countries.1050489/

Makes sense, my intent was that trade-focused nations would be able to make the first, or possibly the first two, levels. With some restrictions like being unable to establish them in uncolonized provinces.

 

[Canute VII]

Makes sense, my intent was that trade-focused nations would be able to make the first, or possibly the first two, levels. With some restrictions like being unable to establish them in uncolonized provinces.

Yep. I believe, however, that level 1 and 2 should not be a precondition to levels 3 and 4 (or so I understand your proposition), but that it would be possible to colonize provinces just as we have it now. If level 1 or 2 is present in the province, traditional colonization via colonist would however be much faster. So I'm thinking about local effects of level 1/2 and in uncolonized provinces these could give +20/+30 settlers.

As to the levels I would like to understand them more like a level A1 and A2 (outpost/tradepost + enclave) which in uncolonized provinces can be useful to have faster colonization (in order to make them into level B1=territory and B2=state). Yes, I actually do interpret your level 3 and 4 (B1/B2 in my terminology) more like the territory/state system we currently already have, modified by trade companies (that may not completely be in line with what you suggested).

So for uncolonized provinces we could establish A1/A2, which gives more setllers and which cost 20/30 dip MP (or so I suggest; ps: this would be in line with "russian frontiers"). It would also give 5/10 trade power to at least partially give a monetary gain. Maybe A2=enclave could also lessen native ferocity or give a +1 combat roll to our armies if attacked by natives, which could be useful in early game, so you don't have to put as many regiments into your colonies in order to guard them (given we take the native policy, which would require to do so). Once the colony is established and turned into a fully owned province, the A1/A2 level would be removed, however. Then we are in B1/B2 mode. For the "trade focused nations" you were writing about - well they have no colonist and hence could never turn the province into a B1/B2 (i.e. fully owned colonized core province). However, when another nations colonized the province the outpost/enclave could persist (proviced both nations have sufficiently good relations).

In foreign owned provinces we would also be able to establish A1/A2. However, the local effects would be slightly different. Obviously we don't need settlers here, and we have to differentiate between effects for the owner of the province and the owner of outpost/enclave. The owner of the province could be given a -5%/-10% development cost bonus, the owner of A1/A2 could be given +5/+10 trade power. Maybe both could profit from a local production eficiency modifier. Now the more interesting bonuses: the province owner would be able to develop the province and force institutions. Yes, that means, that I propose to take the force institutions ability away from all other "blank" provinces without A1/A2 (if they have not received any "natural" inst. spread before). Only in provinces with A1/A2 which have been established by a nation that already has adopted the institution, the province owner would be able to force develop institutions from nothing, hence giving a strong incentive to let others establish outposts/enclaves. On the other hand the owner of the outpost/enclave could have a permanent spy network in the host country (i.e. the floor is not 0% anymore, but now it would be 10%/25%), making it much easier for him to infiltrate the country.

Well, these are just my ideas, and I'm aware my text is a bit unstructured and possibly unclear. I hope I could bring my point across,though.

Edit: just wanted to mention that this actually lend itself to be incorporated into the expansion idea group, e.g. outposts/enclaves would be able to be established only if a country has expansion ideas (or it's availalbe to all, but expansion makes it much cheaper to establish llike giving a 50% reduction in cost or so).

 

[Meshed Gear]

My reasoning for forcing a province to go through each tier of colonization is because that is typically how it occurred. A promising site would be chosen and occupied, and then expand to control the surrounding area gradually. It could be argued that in the USA and Russia enough people were moving to occupy a whole province at once. Russia already has the Siberian Frontiers as mentioned already. For the USA I would advocate changing the Indian Removal idea so they could do something similar.

Going from establishing an outpost (level 1) to owning a province (level 3) would take longer than it does currently. Creating an enclave would be a bit quicker than the current system of colonizing a province, assuming you upgrade immediately upon reaching a new level.

Another reason to stop countries from immediately owning a province while colonizing is that it allows two (maybe even more for very valuable locations) countries to lay claim to the province. Depending on their relationship and willingness to fight or negotiate there could be a few outcomes ranging from war to trading enclaves to peaceful coexistence. And what better dowry for a princess than a small enclave or two? Some regions like West Africa had trade posts representing many different countries in Europe, with lots of conflict arising as they fought each other for more control of the trade. Scottish colonization of the Americas came to a swift end when they tried to establish footholds in territory the Spanish considered their own.

Something I didn't address in my first post was limits. Active expansion in a province, whether from tier 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, would act the same as current colonization. You send your colonist, and pay monthly maintenance for each colony. Not that different from the current system. Outposts and Enclaves would have a limit per trade node. This limit would be your number of colonists, with some other factors that could raise the limit. Perhaps a trade idea would increase the limit, and Merchant Republics would get an increased limit as well. So if Venice has completed the trade idea group but doesn't have any colonists they would have a limit of perhaps two enclaves and two outposts per trade node. Spain with exploration+expansion but not trade has four colonists, so four enclaves and four outposts per trade node. Territories would not be part of this limit, so growing an enclave into a territory would free up a slot for a new one.

Some ideas and government types could be altered to give bonuses for having outposts / enclaves, to make them more profitable for certain nations.

Whether a province is colonized or not would affect the method of establishing an outpost. Send a colonist to an uncolonized province to establish an outpost. Establishing an outpost in an owned province would not require a colonist. Instead it would be done the way trading posts currently are, by spending 50 admin power. Maybe the exact power cost would be changed due to having a higher outpost limit. The same result, but different methods of getting there.

Only in provinces with A1/A2 which have been established by a nation that already has adopted the institution, the province owner would be able to force develop institutions from nothing, hence giving a strong incentive to let others establish outposts/enclaves. On the other hand the owner of the outpost/enclave could have a permanent spy network in the host country (i.e. the floor is not 0% anymore, but now it would be 10%/25%), making it much easier for him to infiltrate the country.

This is possibly the reason why the old Westernization process was removed from the game. Powerful nations in the ROTW would convince a western country to take some land, and then swiftly get into the Western tech group. At which point they would have no tech penalty relative to the west for the rest of the game. I also dislike force developing institutions from scratch as ahistorical, and would rather see it removed completely. If having an outpost or enclave simply sped up spread, or gave progress for some institutions, that would be better. Global Trade comes to mind as one that would favour provinces with outposts or enclaves.
Nations welcomed trade outposts because they brought 1) Goods, either luxury or needed imports or 2) Gold and silver, to purchase goods. Therefore a province that has an outpost or enclave should either boost tax yield, boost production value, or allow faster prosperity growth in a region. An enclave would have stronger effects than an outpost, perhaps also boosting the province's trade value. The outpost owner would receive gold and some trade value in the node. But the foreign presence could also result in periodic local tensions, increasing revolt risk temporarily once in a while. Or all the time if the ruler is zealous and the traders are heathens.

 

[Canute VII]

My reasoning for forcing a province to go through each tier of colonization is because that is typically how it occurred. A promising site would be chosen and occupied, and then expand to control the surrounding area gradually.

From a realism perspective I have to agree, but from a gameplay perspective I fear it would be rather annoying to wait through levels 1-4. Hence why I proposed to have levels 1-2 and 3-4 concurrently. But this really depends on how this would get implemented, I guess.

It could be argued that in the USA and Russia enough people were moving to occupy a whole province at once. Russia already has the Siberian Frontiers as mentioned already. For the USA I would advocate changing the Indian Removal idea so they could do something similar.

Agreed.

Going from establishing an outpost (level 1) to owning a province (level 3) would take longer than it does currently. Creating an enclave would be a bit quicker than the current system of colonizing a province, assuming you upgrade immediately upon reaching a new level.

Another reason to stop countries from immediately owning a province while colonizing is that it allows two (maybe even more for very valuable locations) countries to lay claim to the province. Depending on their relationship and willingness to fight or negotiate there could be a few outcomes ranging from war to trading enclaves to peaceful coexistence. And what better dowry for a princess than a small enclave or two? Some regions like West Africa had trade posts representing many different countries in Europe, with lots of conflict arising as they fought each other for more control of the trade. Scottish colonization of the Americas came to a swift end when they tried to establish footholds in territory the Spanish considered their own.

I think we already have competing claims to uncolonized provinces in the sense that we can declare a colonial war or fabricate claims on a newly colonized province. Also the system where the pope assigns certsin colonial regions to a nation (treaty of tordesillas) could be interpreted as such. Could you explain where your suggestion would go above that?

Something I didn't address in my first post was limits. Active expansion in a province, whether from tier 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, would act the same as current colonization. You send your colonist, and pay monthly maintenance for each colony. Not that different from the current system. Outposts and Enclaves would have a limit per trade node. This limit would be your number of colonists, with some other factors that could raise the limit.

The thing is that there already are limits (especially if you create levels 1-4 using a colonist). Limits: number of colonists, immense cost to sustain colonisation if you go above your number of colonists, settler increase. Sure, these are soft limits, but tbh I often like these more than hard limits. I'm not sure why the limit per trade node would be needed then, if in your suggestion every colony would start with an outpost (which would be created by a colonist)?

Perhaps a trade idea would increase the limit, and Merchant Republics would get an increased limit as well. So if Venice has completed the trade idea group but doesn't have any colonists they would have a limit of perhaps two enclaves and two outposts per trade node. Spain with exploration+expansion but not trade has four colonists, so four enclaves and four outposts per trade node. Territories would not be part of this limit, so growing an enclave into a territory would free up a slot for a new one.

Some ideas and government types could be altered to give bonuses for having outposts / enclaves, to make them more profitable for certain nations.

Whether a province is colonized or not would affect the method of establishing an outpost. Send a colonist to an uncolonized province to establish an outpost. Establishing an outpost in an owned province would not require a colonist. Instead it would be done the way trading posts currently are, by spending 50 admin power. Maybe the exact power cost would be changed due to having a higher outpost limit. The same result, but different methods of getting there.

Tbh this would likely get a bit too convoluted and a lot more effort to implement, if there are various methods to establish outposts depending on *other factors*.

I think thats the charm of the way it could work that I tried to outline in my previous post. You establish outpost/enclave in the way a merchant rep. would establish a trading post. Sure the UI of uncolonized provinces would have to be adapted for that. In foreign owned provinces the button used to establish outpost/enclave would be greyed out until the owner has diplomatically given the allowance to establish outposts in his territory.

Hence, in an uncolonized province, you could have an outpost even if you have not sent a colonist (even if you don't even have colonists). If you want to back that up with a colonist - fine, it eill give increased settler growth. If not, you will simply enjoy better trading power and if upgraded to an enclave can build ships there, have more colonisl/coring range. However, if another country sends its colonist there, your investment is under threat to be destroyed. So you should have a claim on this province or a specisl CB. This would create the kind of conflicts you were writing about, I believe?

This is possibly the reason why the old Westernization process was removed from the game. Powerful nations in the ROTW would convince a western country to take some land, and then swiftly get into the Western tech group. At which point they would have no tech penalty relative to the west for the rest of the game. I also dislike force developing institutions from scratch as ahistorical, and would rather see it removed completely. If having an outpost or enclave simply sped up spread, or gave progress for some institutions, that would be better. Global Trade comes to mind as one that would favour provinces with outposts or enclaves.

Not sure if you agree or disagree with me here... What I'm trying to do is to make the rewuirements to force institutions more restrictive. Currently, every rotw nation can force develop an institution in a blank province (that has not received any natural spread) and that even if it has never had contact with any nation that has already embraced the institution (in the early game, most rotw nations would not even know europe exists). Don't get me wrong: I love playing rotw, but forcing institutions simply feels wrong.

Nations welcomed trade outposts because they brought 1) Goods, either luxury or needed imports or 2) Gold and silver, to purchase goods. Therefore a province that has an outpost or enclave should either boost tax yield, boost production value, or allow faster prosperity growth in a region. An enclave would have stronger effects than an outpost, perhaps also boosting the province's trade value. The outpost owner would receive gold and some trade value in the node. But the foreign presence could also result in periodic local tensions, increasing revolt risk temporarily once in a while. Or all the time if the ruler is zealous and the traders are heathens.

Yes, local unrest should definitely be a thing. Thinking about italian enclaves in Constantinople for example.

 

[Meshed Gear]

From a realism perspective I have to agree, but from a gameplay perspective I fear it would be rather annoying to wait through levels 1-4. Hence why I proposed to have levels 1-2 and 3-4 concurrently. But this really depends on how this would get implemented, I guess.

Assuming a province takes a decade to colonize fully, it would be an extra dozen or so clicks for heavy colonizers each decade. I concede it might be viewed as annoying, but it is still less micro than a single war usually takes.

I think we already have competing claims to uncolonized provinces in the sense that we can declare a colonial war or fabricate claims on a newly colonized province. Also the system where the pope assigns certsin colonial regions to a nation (treaty of tordesillas) could be interpreted as such. Could you explain where your suggestion would go above that?

There are quite a few places, especially islands, where two or more nations both invested in colonizing. Some are still divided to this day, like St. Martin, while others were unified through various means, as happened with New Netherlands and New England. Treaty of Tordesillas applies to a whole region, is limited to Catholics, and applies modifiers to colony growth speed. This would be more local, less powerful, and have other methods of resolution beyond warfare. I'd also advocate changing AI opinion modifiers regarding colonial territory so that they strongly want areas they are colonizing, slightly less strongly want regions they have Treaty rights to, and quite a bit less hostile when it comes to desiring colonies outside those areas.

If two countries are colonizing the same colonial region it is reasonable to expect their colonial nations will end up fighting a century or two later in the game. If two countries are colonizing the same provinces there should be conflict within a few decades, whether resolved through diplomacy, war, or other means.

The thing is that there already are limits (especially if you create levels 1-4 using a colonist). Limits: number of colonists, immense cost to sustain colonisation if you go above your number of colonists, settler increase. Sure, these are soft limits, but tbh I often like these more than hard limits. I'm not sure why the limit per trade node would be needed then, if in your suggestion every colony would start with an outpost (which would be created by a colonist)?

I threw the limit idea in because it seemed the simplest way to prevent carpet spamming enclaves to cut others off (depending on how many enclaves the average province in a region allows this would be more or less effective), trade posts currently have a limit of one per node, and it seemed simpler than forming some method of calculating diminishing returns for oversaturation of a region. I admit it isn't an elegant solution.

Tbh this would likely get a bit too convoluted and a lot more effort to implement, if there are various methods to establish outposts depending on *other factors*.

I think thats the charm of the way it could work that I tried to outline in my previous post. You establish outpost/enclave in the way a merchant rep. would establish a trading post. Sure the UI of uncolonized provinces would have to be adapted for that. In foreign owned provinces the button used to establish outpost/enclave would be greyed out until the owner has diplomatically given the allowance to establish outposts in his territory.

Hence, in an uncolonized province, you could have an outpost even if you have not sent a colonist (even if you don't even have colonists). If you want to back that up with a colonist - fine, it eill give increased settler growth. If not, you will simply enjoy better trading power and if upgraded to an enclave can build ships there, have more colonisl/coring range. However, if another country sends its colonist there, your investment is under threat to be destroyed. So you should have a claim on this province or a specisl CB. This would create the kind of conflicts you were writing about, I believe?

I've been thinking about it some more, and I came up with a new idea. Colonists are sent to uncolonized provinces, merchants are sent to regular provinces. The symmetry appeals to me, and using a merchant means a country takes a short-term decrease in trade profits (due to losing a merchant) in exchange for potential future earnings from the outpost. Same process, but different specialist is required. If the specialist stays in the province after getting things started the upgrade will proceed quicker, as at present, or you can send them off on their next mission.

Some war between neighbouring colonies was between armies, but a lot was between colonial militias. Event-based 'local conflicts' could lead to a series of decisions on all sides. Some options might lead to war, some to concessions, some to the status quo ante bellum, a few might even result in abandoning an enclave. The border conflict event chain a country and two of its subject colonial nations can get is one example of such a system.

Some historical example 'local conflicts'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Jumonville_Glen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Philip's_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Hartford_(1650)​

 

[Mutagen_Prime]

At the very least I'd appreciate a 'colonial outpost' provincial modifier that prevents a newly established colony from being counted towards national colonial range for 25 years or something and maybe reduced tax/manpower revenue. This modifier could shrink in longevity every time colonial range is increased via tech. Then just have Portugal's unique splendor reward also slash this 25 year modifier by 80% during the age of discovery to still enable them to leap frog around Africa at the rate they did. This would slow down some of the exploitative colonial tomfoolery and encourage more realistic colonization imho without requiring a full overhaul.

 

[Meshed Gear]

Requirements to Colonize

A nation starts by selecting the desired province that is within colonization range, and sends a specialist.

A merchant is sent to provinces with an owner, a colonist to provinces without one.
A merchant can't be sent to a province if the owner won't allow you to, generally due to hostility. Can be circumvented when dealing with countries with high levels of corruption.
Probably prevent sending a merchant or colonist to provinces owned by unreformed natives, or have an event where you pay them to vacate the province like the Dutch at Manhattan.
​

Tier 1: Outpost

The specialist travels to the province, same as at present, and once there establishes an outpost (Tier 1 colony). The outpost doesn't take long to establish, perhaps instant upon arrival, but in provinces that have no owner there is a risk of the colony failing. This risk increases with distance from other territory and colonies, and is decreased as diplomatic tech levels up.

Outposts are simply a presence in a province, with few enough people that they could all be loaded onto a ship or three. In provinces with an owner they grant the colony owner some trade power, and the province owner receives benefits such as more income or faster prosperity growth. A province may have multiple outposts.

Tier 2: Enclave

Once a province has an outpost the owner of the outpost can send their specialist to expand it into an enclave. An enclave is more substantial than an outpost, and can be thought of as a local base for the power that made it. The process of upgrading takes time, maybe a year. A province can have a limited number of enclaves, roughly the number of buildings a province can have, minus the core bonus.

An enclave extends a country's colonial and naval range, unlike an outpost. Additionally an enclave generates more trade power / profits, and local troops can be recruited.
On the other hand, the increased foreign presence may result in tensions with the local community, with revolt risks. Countries with enclaves in the same provinces will be *very* interested in getting rid of the competitor.

Tier 3 and Tier 4: Provinces

The difference between tier 3 and tier 4 is that tier 3 represents a local population with a small upperclass of the power's population, whilst tier 4 is a province with the power's population.

If a province has no owner a colonist can be sent to once more expand the enclave. This takes longer than the upgrade from outpost to enclave, being roughly equivalent to the current colonization process. Upon completion the province has local culture+religion, some events may change the religion during the colonizing process. Depending on the local native population, province location, and country policies/tolerance/decisions/etc there is a MTTH for the local population giving way to a settler population. When this happens the culture and religion flip to the colonizer's. If a province has no natives this happens immediately upon the province being fully colonized.

To take a province that has an owner requires conquering it. In some cases this may be by event, perhaps to secure military assistance or as a result of a conflict between the merchants and a local ruler. In other cases it will be by war, as most conquests are.

 

[Liquidstuff]

Excellent idea, please implement !

 

[mathuser]

Requirements to Colonize

A nation starts by selecting the desired province that is within colonization range, and sends a specialist.

A merchant is sent to provinces with an owner, a colonist to provinces without one.
A merchant can't be sent to a province if the owner won't allow you to, generally due to hostility. Can be circumvented when dealing with countries with high levels of corruption.
Probably prevent sending a merchant or colonist to provinces owned by unreformed natives, or have an event where you pay them to vacate the province like the Dutch at Manhattan.
​

Tier 1: Outpost

The specialist travels to the province, same as at present, and once there establishes an outpost (Tier 1 colony). The outpost doesn't take long to establish, perhaps instant upon arrival, but in provinces that have no owner there is a risk of the colony failing. This risk increases with distance from other territory and colonies, and is decreased as diplomatic tech levels up.

Outposts are simply a presence in a province, with few enough people that they could all be loaded onto a ship or three. In provinces with an owner they grant the colony owner some trade power, and the province owner receives benefits such as more income or faster prosperity growth. A province may have multiple outposts.

Tier 2: Enclave

Once a province has an outpost the owner of the outpost can send their specialist to expand it into an enclave. An enclave is more substantial than an outpost, and can be thought of as a local base for the power that made it. The process of upgrading takes time, maybe a year. A province can have a limited number of enclaves, roughly the number of buildings a province can have, minus the core bonus.

An enclave extends a country's colonial and naval range, unlike an outpost. Additionally an enclave generates more trade power / profits, and local troops can be recruited.
On the other hand, the increased foreign presence may result in tensions with the local community, with revolt risks. Countries with enclaves in the same provinces will be *very* interested in getting rid of the competitor.

Tier 3 and Tier 4: Provinces

The difference between tier 3 and tier 4 is that tier 3 represents a local population with a small upperclass of the power's population, whilst tier 4 is a province with the power's population.

If a province has no owner a colonist can be sent to once more expand the enclave. This takes longer than the upgrade from outpost to enclave, being roughly equivalent to the current colonization process. Upon completion the province has local culture+religion, some events may change the religion during the colonizing process. Depending on the local native population, province location, and country policies/tolerance/decisions/etc there is a MTTH for the local population giving way to a settler population. When this happens the culture and religion flip to the colonizer's. If a province has no natives this happens immediately upon the province being fully colonized.

To take a province that has an owner requires conquering it. In some cases this may be by event, perhaps to secure military assistance or as a result of a conflict between the merchants and a local ruler. In other cases it will be by war, as most conquests are.

This looks well thought out and I hope it gets included into EU4, especially factories and enclaves. It took some time to read and I also have some thoughts.

I was thinking that since Trading Policies were added, you could send your merchant to the node to activate a Trading Policy to establish outposts in the area rather than one province at a time. And maybe have interactions through the State Tab to manage the outposts and enclaves. Plus, the fifth Trading Policy has restricted use, so an alternative fifth Trading Policy, or possibly a combined one that still has the unique mechanic, with a name like Propagate Influence could work.

Now, someone mentioned CK2 and although Trade Zones aren't present, trade factories and enclaves could be used to represent the merchant republics with some detail. Maybe even The Knights could get some representation, too.

Also, I would like to see the colonizers take a proper approach on focusing on Trade Company Regions without an early Scramble for Africa. Portugal already had trade factories at the beginning of the game and places like Arguin never became more than an outpost. In addition, they would take possessions through smaller conflicts as they expanded their holdings.

Well, those are some thoughts and keep up the good work. I look forward to see how things will turn out this coming year.