Beginners Country?

[Sunspawn]

I suggest Poland. Ally Austria and Sweden once they're independent and you basically can never lose,Especially once the personal union event with Lithuania fires... As long as they're under you in PU they have 60k troops that they use to fight all your wars for you, you dont even control them. it's amazing. You're invincible unless you're just completely incompetent. Worlds best cavalry by a disgustingly long shot, great ideas, decent provinces, good allies, and plenty of opportunities for expansion, mainly AGAINST muscovy and the ottomans.

With the quality of your troops you can solo muscovy easily even if they outnumber you.

A person playing for the first time or two is not likely to be competent. Try again.

 

[Dutchman251]

England is also an easy start. Only make sure to get some strong allies first

 

[nkibilko]

A person playing for the first time or two is not likely to be competent. Try again.

I didnt mean competent in the game sense, i meant competent in the life sense. If he can read he should be fine.

 

[Tweakee]

Portugal and Ottomans are the hardest to completely lose with, so I'd call them the "beginner" nations. They also have very different gameplay from each other, which makes them a good pair to start with.

I'd include England as well, but the goofy strait changes in the next patch will likely make them "British France" quite often.

 

[Chaingun]

The standard advice at Paradox for new employees that don't already know the game is the Ottomans.

 

[darth254]

I also disagree with Muscovy for a new player. Too many things can ruin it for a new player:

1) handling of Poland and Lithuania
2) handling of Denmark and Sweden
3) opportunist hordes might jump on a new player, including if fighting Novgorod
4) separatism issues conquering neighboring horde land will bring for a new player.

I'm not saying Muscovy is hard, especially once you know the tricks of the game, but a new player is not gonna know the tricks of the game. There's quite a bit to juggle on Muscovy's borders imo. Sure, Muscovy is a cakewalk for an experienced player but that's not what we're talking about.

To me, a new player would want someone that has lower risk (fewer neighbors, and those neighbors are less likely to go after ya). Muscovy has great potential to expand, but they aren't exactly in an area of low risk for a new player.

 

[SignedName]

Korea gives a nice, stable start which lets you conquer quickly or turtle to your heart's content.

 

[n00bypl4y3r]

I will always suggest Theodoro. Trial by fire.

 

[pesgores]

I appreciate the love everybody gives to Portugal every time this question pops around, but unfortunately colonial nations have become too independence-hungry for our initial size. It's not the same beginner country it once was.

 

[Gaamel]

Ottomans is the easiest country of the game. Unless you make some serious mistakes it's a piece of cake. Start with Byzantium, tick the decision for free coring when it's done. Then take back the cores in Anatolia. The mid-term goal is to reach Wien for free Westernization (Ottoman starting tech is more expensive), but before you do that, focus on a strong powerbase in the Middle East and in Egypt (sunni, same religion as you). In the process you also unlock free missionaries.

 

[Ilightmaster]

Ottoman just be careful with truce

 

[brifbates]

Portugal (with youir head up Castille's behind so they don't stomp you) will get you well into the game without any real danger at all. Ottomans don't need to be nice to anyone, which is good because you won't get dragged into bad wars by silly ai allies.

Muscovy and France are terrible suggestions for new players because too many things can go wrong and get you wrecked either by a coalition (likely for a new France player) or just a dogpile of big neighbors (both). Muscovy is especially vulnerable to rng-if Poland turns down the union their life just got a lot harder...

 

[LouisJ444]

Between my first game problem and the other I tried playing as Portugal but first spain calls me for war .
Spain attacked aragon quickly and so I thought why wouldnt I help.

Then England calls me for a war.
I joined because I thought England will handle it.
But Burgundian troops walked in Aragon and destroyed my troops and then attacked my capital....

So yeah it went well but I lost the save...

 

[raikaria]

The absolute easiest nation in the game is the Ottomans. They start as one of the most powerful nations; have the strongest units for most of the game, get good events, god-tier ideas; and really have no competition in expansion; they get free Byzantium; tons of free cores at start, and once they have eaten that up; QQ is free because Hordes struggle in mountains, Timurids is free for the same reason; and Mamluks can't fight you.

Either you smash the hordes and take India or you conquer Egypt. By that point nothing can really stop you.

Even if you do screw up and lose a fight; just go to the other side of the Bosporos from where you are fighting to recover while parking your navy there.

There's a reason why World Conquest is easiest with the Turks.

However, Ottomans don't teach you everything. For easy colonial play you want Portugal or England [Portugal can go the entire game without going to war; England just has to keep it's navy strong and can not be attacked].

So; yeah; Ottomans/Portugal/England. To learn the Emperor mechanics play Austria; to learn non-emperor HRE mechanics Bohemia is a good choice, if you want to play HRE.

From there you can play most majors [except maybe Ming] with ease. You'll probobly start finding majors too easy or boring however and at that point you start playing smaller; harder nations.

 

[smoo1979]

I found the game very difficult at first as well. Even Portugal can be tricky. You may want to watch some youtube Let's Play videos to get the hang of it. I like Arumba but there are others out there.

 

[LouisJ444]

I watched many videos and understand what I need to do.
But if I play further in the game I will learn more things.

And I started the game as the ottomans.
I conquered Constantinople and the other provinces of Byzantium and Athens.
Now I'm helping Crimea with a little war so yeah, everything is going well now.

 

[Baxil]

Ottomans is probably the best choice for a beginner.

My first game was with Venice. You could also give it a shot

 

[TimLewis903]

Other than the Ottomans I always find Sweden to be a good starter nation in any Paradox game. EU 4 included. First of all they have great national ideas. They have room to expand if you choose to. Denmark, Norway, Northern Germany, and the Baltic nations are best. If played right can make the Baltic a Swedish lake. They can if played right form Scandinavia. They are easy to defend if a war in Europe goes badly so long as you maintain a decent navy. Only bad things are that Sweden starts out in a personal union with Denmark so you have to fight a war to break it, and compared to most majors Sweden has low manpower. The manpower problem can be remedied by fighting your wars smartly and having good allies.

 

[zorkman]

I appreciate the love everybody gives to Portugal every time this question pops around, but unfortunately colonial nations have become too independence-hungry for our initial size. It's not the same beginner country it once was.

I agree with what you are saying, but you don't have to play Portugal all the way thru, perhaps just the first 200 years to get a feel for the game, then move on to a better challenge.

 

[brifbates]

Or focus on going go to Africa/Asia as Portugal historically did instead of going heavy into the new world. Keeping a single CN happy isn't all that difficult, just don't go crazy with the tariffs.