I am a new player to EU4 and I want to know some easy countries to start with.
My choice will be either Castile or England. Are they good for beginners?
My choice will be either Castile or England. Are they good for beginners?
Best Beginner Countries?
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Both England and Castille are very easy to play so yes they are, as England i would suggest you give up your holdings in France if you are a complete beginer and just focus on the British Isles, a big navy, colonization and trade for a really easy game.
Hi,
As has been suggested, England and Castille should be quite easy to start with. As a general rule in paradox games, you should probably start by a small country with few borders, such as Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Portugal ect. Small so you don't get overwhelmed by things to do, and with few borders so you can control when and where you want to expand.
As has been suggested, England and Castille should be quite easy to start with. As a general rule in paradox games, you should probably start by a small country with few borders, such as Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Portugal ect. Small so you don't get overwhelmed by things to do, and with few borders so you can control when and where you want to expand.
My suggestion is France. It's powerful, can start lots of wars, good for colonization, and is a good place to involve itself in trading shennigans, as well as given you a feel for the horror that is the reformation!
But yeah, I did my first game as England and it was... not a learning experience. It was not a fun experience. It was just awkward and I wound up losing interest in the game for a while, so I decided to give it a whirl as teh big blue blob. Learned a lot, enjoyed the game, and Super France empowered me with skills to take on harder countries.
But yeah, I did my first game as England and it was... not a learning experience. It was not a fun experience. It was just awkward and I wound up losing interest in the game for a while, so I decided to give it a whirl as teh big blue blob. Learned a lot, enjoyed the game, and Super France empowered me with skills to take on harder countries.
If you pace yourself and only colonize one or two native provinces at a time, it shouldn't cost much. Once the colony's population reaches 1000, it no longer requires upkeep.
castille, england, france, ottomans, austria (if you want to be Giant Dad of the HRE). Western nations (with exception of Ottomans) that are large and have few competitors nearby is generally a good choice. Castille in particular is very easy as long as you don't piss off the France.
Trollsylvania.
For reals though, I agree with Plasma Doctor. France is a great starting choice. You will be exposed to a lot, and have the resources to recover if you mess up (generally).
Byzantines is admittedly more challenging than Ryuku, but I hear Granada is a fun experience.
Both are decent countries to play as. England is quite beginner friendly in that apart from Scotland you're on a island by your self, so as long as you keep a decent sized fleet nobody will be much of a threat to you, Not even France. Although don't expect to hold onto any land they might want from you in mainland Europe. As mentioned above, it's probably best to give France your holdings in Europe to keep them off your back, this will allow you to focus on the British Isles and slowly learn the mechanics of the game without too much trouble.
Portugal might be a nice nation for beginners too, as long as you keep decent relations with Castille they shouldn't bother you, thus allowing you to focus on trade and colonisation. You could also attack the North African countries to get a feel for war, should you so desire. Your navy should be strong enough to keep them from posing any danger to your homeland should you fail to gain any ground in North Africa. If you did start with Portugal, i believe they start allied to England who starts at war with France, so might be a good idea to dissolve that alliance if you wish to keep out of the way of France. That said, Portugal's and England's navies combined should utterly destroy any French fleets, so unless France can get military access through Castille they pose no danger to you.
As for Castille? as mentioned above keep France onside and it should be a very beginner friendly country to play as.
Portugal might be a nice nation for beginners too, as long as you keep decent relations with Castille they shouldn't bother you, thus allowing you to focus on trade and colonisation. You could also attack the North African countries to get a feel for war, should you so desire. Your navy should be strong enough to keep them from posing any danger to your homeland should you fail to gain any ground in North Africa. If you did start with Portugal, i believe they start allied to England who starts at war with France, so might be a good idea to dissolve that alliance if you wish to keep out of the way of France. That said, Portugal's and England's navies combined should utterly destroy any French fleets, so unless France can get military access through Castille they pose no danger to you.
As for Castille? as mentioned above keep France onside and it should be a very beginner friendly country to play as.
Can't you pretty much peace out at the very beginning of the war by giving them those two south-eastern provinces?
For a beginner, the feeling of losing land right at the beginning is hard. This is why I do not suggest playing England as the first country. And considering the fact that England has a 0/0/0 ruler at EU4 start (equivalent to 3/3/3 in EU3), England is a worse choice in EU4 than in EU3.
Castille is probably the best state for beginner experience, as diplomacy is relatively simpler and all surrounding states are weaker. Plus the possibility of crusades and easier early exploration, making a decent experience even with little skills. My first successful EU3 game is as Castille, I ended up with a large colonial empire in the new world plus footholds throughout the Mediterranean.
If you have some personal agenda against Castille, France is also a decent choice. But expect the handle more subtle diplomacy: an English-Burgundian alliance would probably crush you at the beginning if you are not careful enough, and France is in a position prone to coalition warfare. Nevertheless, France is rich and powerful, would win on land 1-vs-1, and able to recover from a major defeat.
So Castille and France are what I suggest for beginners as a first serious game. Alternatively, playing different tags for a few years each is also a good way to get a basic understanding about the game, before you choose a favourite tag to go serious.
Castille is probably the best state for beginner experience, as diplomacy is relatively simpler and all surrounding states are weaker. Plus the possibility of crusades and easier early exploration, making a decent experience even with little skills. My first successful EU3 game is as Castille, I ended up with a large colonial empire in the new world plus footholds throughout the Mediterranean.
If you have some personal agenda against Castille, France is also a decent choice. But expect the handle more subtle diplomacy: an English-Burgundian alliance would probably crush you at the beginning if you are not careful enough, and France is in a position prone to coalition warfare. Nevertheless, France is rich and powerful, would win on land 1-vs-1, and able to recover from a major defeat.
So Castille and France are what I suggest for beginners as a first serious game. Alternatively, playing different tags for a few years each is also a good way to get a basic understanding about the game, before you choose a favourite tag to go serious.
I like Castille a lot for beginners.
You can pretty much do everything you want with them. Conquer the other iberians and be a european power by getting italy for example.
Beeing the colonial power number 1.
Make big holy wars and fight the muslims.
Loosing wars with france.
Perfect country in my opinion.
You can pretty much do everything you want with them. Conquer the other iberians and be a european power by getting italy for example.
Beeing the colonial power number 1.
Make big holy wars and fight the muslims.
Loosing wars with france.
Perfect country in my opinion.
You must conquer the world as Ryukyu.
It's the only way to prevent the Japanese and Americans from taking over your shitty island.
It's the only way to prevent the Japanese and Americans from taking over your shitty island.
Castille, france and england are a bit bad as you start in wars or will end in those real soon.
Better to play portugal and learn the colonization game, and whatever wars you end up in you may screw up and let castille rescue you.
France or england could be a great second country. England is probly safer as you may lose and still win
Once you know the basics on how to fight and win, and have also mastered colonization.. then you try castille.
After which you may want to up the difficulty a bit with ottomans or muscovy.
And when you are getting better, why not timurids (lets hope its a less hopeless situation than in the nonstop wars of eu3)
Better to play portugal and learn the colonization game, and whatever wars you end up in you may screw up and let castille rescue you.
France or england could be a great second country. England is probly safer as you may lose and still win
Once you know the basics on how to fight and win, and have also mastered colonization.. then you try castille.
After which you may want to up the difficulty a bit with ottomans or muscovy.
And when you are getting better, why not timurids (lets hope its a less hopeless situation than in the nonstop wars of eu3)
Go with Portugal. Stay out of european affairs and grab all the land in the new world you want.
Castille.
Big blob, Granada is easy kill.
After that, you can do whatever you want and you still have a strong base for all kind of expansions.
Big blob, Granada is easy kill.
After that, you can do whatever you want and you still have a strong base for all kind of expansions.
The usual candidates are England, Castile and Portugal.
With the 1444 start, England starts of it a war it is likely to lose with France... so you probably just want to give in to Frances demands and move on.
If you pick Portugal, you should go out of your way to ally with Castile or the will squash you.
With the 1444 start, England starts of it a war it is likely to lose with France... so you probably just want to give in to Frances demands and move on.
If you pick Portugal, you should go out of your way to ally with Castile or the will squash you.
Ottomans are actually quite good to begin with as well. Bit below the tech, but tough and some nice lands to conquer all around.
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