Choosing early/earliest starting dates.

[ManCalledSun]

Fun Game. Seems like something I can get into. And lurking the forums has proven to be very fruitful. Thanks to all!

Right now I'm playing as Crete and in my inexperience I'm finding myself not really knowing what to do other than waiting for technology levels to improve and checking out all the nearby by provinces/countries. What else can I be achieving while I slowly build myself up?

And, perhaps, I can open this up and ask: What's the appeal/strategy for selecting early starting dates? What do you do during long gaps of time where there really isn't anything going on?

Oh, and, what's the deal with Supply Limit? It's okay if I exceed it?

Oh, and, my list of characters are totally lame and not very usefull. Are there steps I can take to improve the attributes of some of these bums,?

Again, despite the steep learning curve and the complexity of it all this game seems like something I could get into. I'm also curious about other Paradox games. Way cool.

 

[unmerged(76495)]

Fun Game. Seems like something I can get into. And lurking the forums has proven to be very fruitful. Thanks to all!

Right now I'm playing as Crete and in my inexperience I'm finding myself not really knowing what to do other than waiting for technology levels to improve and checking out all the nearby by provinces/countries. What else can I be achieving while I slowly build myself up?

And, perhaps, I can open this up and ask: What's the appeal/strategy for selecting early starting dates? What do you do during long gaps of time where there really isn't anything going on?

The appeal of starting on day 1 is mainly that theres more time to shape your countrys future. Theres little more annoying than almost having reached your goals and then the game ends. During long times of nothing, you should increase your game speed and think about your situation overall. Keep an eye on other nations war, if a nation is loosing badly then jumping on the winners side might earn you a province or two.

You have your trades set up? If this is your firstish game then try to play with the diplomatic options. Remember, the worst that can happen is Rome declaring war on you and annexing you.

If you play as a small nation, then keeping an eye on other 1 province minors is a good idea. The difference between very strong and super easy annex is small for these nations, and it can quickly change.

Oh, and, what's the deal with Supply Limit? It's okay if I exceed it?

Think of supply limit as how many men you can feed with your production of supplies. If you have more than that, then you have to buy foreign supplies. Not 100% accurate but good enough. In game terms, going over supply limit means higher cost to maintain the additional units. I don't know the specific numbers.

Again, despite the steep learning curve and the complexity of it all this game seems like something I could get into. I'm also curious about other Paradox games. Way cool.

Well it depends on what you like about Rome.

Charachters and dynasties? Buy Crusaders Kings
Empire Building? Buy Europa Universalis 3
The Warfare? Buy Hearts of Iron 2 Doomsday (stand alone-expansion)

each of the above have expansions that increase the fun in the games.

 

[Sheltonious]

Unleash the Cretans

You might want to try one of the major powers. You will definitely have something to do then. But if you prefer a small nation I would recommend Epirus. They are the single most powerful minor nation in the game. If used properly you can even take out Rome with no mods and or cheating. Check out my Campaign thread in the Multiplayer section, I explained how I brought Epirus to greatness.

Crete is an odd choice, I havn't played them so I'm not sure what a good strategy would be. I would recommend getting access to Iron and building an army bigger than your rivals or Rhodes, Aetolia , Achea and Sparta. I would also recommend gaining military access in a greek nation before you start expanding. I am not sure how large a fleet you would be able to build so one strategy would be to take your one or two ships and ferry your troops to the greek mainland one or two at a time depending on how large your fleet is.

Then once all your troops are ready you DOW on the unsuspecting victim. You would need a good commander and superior forces but once that first nation falls you can build from there. And as long as you are conquering greek nations and you yourself are greek than you will get their citizens and will not take a hit on your research.