Advise for starting campaign

[otaats]

@Lord_Bean if you need some insight, i made a thread about my Prester John/Blessed Nation run. i don't think i am a good player, but there are maybe things you could pick up from the thread

Prester John & A Blessed Nation

 

[Robert de Bruce]

Important is to get as much as possible out of Mameluckes, when Ottomans are going to kill them. You desperately need access to Mediterranean for institutions. From there you can jump to Cyprus, maybe Rhodos or conquer your way through North Africa. Its also easier to find allies then.

 

[otaats]

My quick tips:

• You need a strong start against Adal and the rest of the minors. Your starting economy is bad. Prioritize reaching Kaffa through Janjiro for the gold mine. Once you humiliate and take most of Adal's provinces, focus on your northern neighbors, but keep building spy networks southwards. Annex Alodia, vassalize Makuria, and do what you please with Medri Bahri. Beware of attrition in Ethiopian highlands, they will turn you into void very quickly if you don't take caution in your movement. When you attack Adal, Zayla will be mothballed. Take that fort first.
• Once the Ottomans declare on Mamluks, wait for them to suffer a defeat and declare. By this time you should have a relatively strong army and maximum tech (your ruler is one of the best in the game). You can take both Alexandria and Cairo in your first war. Be sure to have land route to them however.
• Develop Gonder for renaissance.
• Once you take the cities, there starts the real challenge: surviving the Ottomans for centuries. For some time you likely won't be able to form an alliance that can really hurt Ottos, so you need to rely on yourself. At some point you will get an event that's tied to Portuguese aid. Ask for military aid. You will get an enormous boost. Start planning for your defenses. Your first wars will be defensive, my advice i to build forts on good strategic points. 1) Qasr Ibrim, and let Makuria pay for the fort. That way you ensure that if the Ottomans somehow get through Cairo, they won't immediately destroy heart of your empire. 2) Tajura (remove fort in Zayla) - but not that necessary. The Ottomans will never have naval superiority in Red sea, and you can block them from crossing by putting your ships there.
• In between your wars with the Ottomans, you need to aggressively expand southwards, all the way to Butua and it' gold mines. Once you get there, you become a superpower and you're ready to take the fight to their side.
• My favorite ideas: religious, defensive, economic

 

[YuriiH]

Malta Island Adventure: tumble over yourself as Aragon to release/play-as Malta, then paint the map in nice green colour

 

[foriavik]

Ive picked up EU4 after 2 years now- with all main expansions and started a game as Teutonic Order. I am having hard times against Poland-Lithaunia but it is lot of fun thus far. Ive allied with CZ early and currently I am only waiting for Muscovy and the Ottomans getting stronger so I can kick them hard