Hi there Paradoxians!
While we are all desperately waiting for the release of the Cossacks, there are some things we can do to try to deal with the Hype. One of them is to play EU4 endlessly; another one, to read again all the DDs since the release of Common Sense. Or we could also speak about future changes for EU4. If you are hopeless enough to choose that last option, then you have come to the right place.
So, one of the features that needs some rework and that has been recently most requested in the forums is the naval system. After the great improvements that EU4 has experimented concerning diplomacy and peace-time mechanics, I think it’s a good time to have a look at the navy.
Let’s face it, navy in EU4 has not the significance it should have for that period of history. Some have argued that navy-related ideas are not powerful enough to be chosen, but I think they are quite good. The real problem is that the naval system is simply not worth it to spend an Idea slot on it. It’s always preferable to spend that amount of MPs on any other idea group. Even for those nations focused on trade or colonialism, naval ideas are usually not worthy enough.
I have in mind a rather well known historical episode that illustrates pretty well what I want to show. I’m talking about the Spanish Armada disaster of 1588, when, simplifying things, pretty much the whole fleet of Spain was defeated and partly destroyed in front of the coast of Great Britain. After that loss, the Spanish Empire of Philip II suffered a huge weakening. That seems pretty obvious, because how could a colonial empire manage it without being a naval power? And how is it possible to maintain the overseas territories with no fleet or sea control? There’s no way loosing the fleet could be such a disaster in EU4 (except, maybe, in some cases where fleets have exceptional defensive purposes, like with England or Venice). For most countries that would just mean a bunch of money to be paid if you want to rebuilt your fleet, but it wouldn’t be a priority for the player anyway, as it had to be historically for colonial nations.
So, in my opinion, there are some easy ways to represent this without entirely changing the naval system in EU4. The whole point of the navy improvements has to be as follows: to make navy a very worth (and necessary) thing to invest, as well as a very expensive thing to lose. Not only in terms of money, but also of prestige, geographic domination and political influence.
I think the optimal way to do it should include a complete rework of how the navy works, introducing some sort of maritime areas of control instead of a merely division of the sea in squares; and some more utilities and depth for ships, instead of the current division in war ships, trade ships and transport ships.
Nevertheless, there are some simple and easy ways to improve the naval system without modifying the core game system, simply using the parameters already existing in the game. The point is to make fleets more necessary and worthy, and the absence of it more painful for a coastal nation. In other words, we have to really make navy a necessary tool for strategic domination, as it was historically. Here are the courses of actions that I suggest:
1. Make trade more dependent on navy (not only on light ships) and/or naval tradition
2. Make the colonial growing dependent on navy and/or naval tradition
3. Make income from colonies dependent on navy
4. Make overseas minimal autonomy and monthly autonomy change dependent on navy.
5. Increase the war score obtained by port blockading and the profit made of it.
6. Establish some bonuses for prestige and Power Projection as a result of a big navy, and some penalties for a little navy (relative to its navy force limit).
All those changes, properly balanced, could make navy really useful and necessary. They also make a lot of sense historically speaking, specially points 2, 3 and 4. This way you would really want to have a big fleet, and you could really want to pick a naval idea, since it would mean huge bonuses for your nation. Besides, losing your navy would mean a big loss for your nation, as well as destroying the enemy’s fleet would strongly weaken him for a while.
Another feature that could be implemented, but this is already a substantial modification of the game mechanics, is the robbery of private pirates. What I have in mind is, for example, a penalty to coastal provinces trade power/income or to a whole trade node due to the activity of pirates in that area. This penalty could be reduced and even eliminated by patrolling the area with a proper military fleet.
And that’s all, I just wanted to give my ideas and to contribute to improving the game. I hope this threat could serve to discuss about this topic, even if my ideas aren't taken into account. So let’s discuss!
P.S.: I apologize for any possible mistake, as English is not my mother language or my first foreigner language.
While we are all desperately waiting for the release of the Cossacks, there are some things we can do to try to deal with the Hype. One of them is to play EU4 endlessly; another one, to read again all the DDs since the release of Common Sense. Or we could also speak about future changes for EU4. If you are hopeless enough to choose that last option, then you have come to the right place.
So, one of the features that needs some rework and that has been recently most requested in the forums is the naval system. After the great improvements that EU4 has experimented concerning diplomacy and peace-time mechanics, I think it’s a good time to have a look at the navy.
Let’s face it, navy in EU4 has not the significance it should have for that period of history. Some have argued that navy-related ideas are not powerful enough to be chosen, but I think they are quite good. The real problem is that the naval system is simply not worth it to spend an Idea slot on it. It’s always preferable to spend that amount of MPs on any other idea group. Even for those nations focused on trade or colonialism, naval ideas are usually not worthy enough.
I have in mind a rather well known historical episode that illustrates pretty well what I want to show. I’m talking about the Spanish Armada disaster of 1588, when, simplifying things, pretty much the whole fleet of Spain was defeated and partly destroyed in front of the coast of Great Britain. After that loss, the Spanish Empire of Philip II suffered a huge weakening. That seems pretty obvious, because how could a colonial empire manage it without being a naval power? And how is it possible to maintain the overseas territories with no fleet or sea control? There’s no way loosing the fleet could be such a disaster in EU4 (except, maybe, in some cases where fleets have exceptional defensive purposes, like with England or Venice). For most countries that would just mean a bunch of money to be paid if you want to rebuilt your fleet, but it wouldn’t be a priority for the player anyway, as it had to be historically for colonial nations.
So, in my opinion, there are some easy ways to represent this without entirely changing the naval system in EU4. The whole point of the navy improvements has to be as follows: to make navy a very worth (and necessary) thing to invest, as well as a very expensive thing to lose. Not only in terms of money, but also of prestige, geographic domination and political influence.
I think the optimal way to do it should include a complete rework of how the navy works, introducing some sort of maritime areas of control instead of a merely division of the sea in squares; and some more utilities and depth for ships, instead of the current division in war ships, trade ships and transport ships.
Nevertheless, there are some simple and easy ways to improve the naval system without modifying the core game system, simply using the parameters already existing in the game. The point is to make fleets more necessary and worthy, and the absence of it more painful for a coastal nation. In other words, we have to really make navy a necessary tool for strategic domination, as it was historically. Here are the courses of actions that I suggest:
1. Make trade more dependent on navy (not only on light ships) and/or naval tradition
2. Make the colonial growing dependent on navy and/or naval tradition
3. Make income from colonies dependent on navy
4. Make overseas minimal autonomy and monthly autonomy change dependent on navy.
5. Increase the war score obtained by port blockading and the profit made of it.
6. Establish some bonuses for prestige and Power Projection as a result of a big navy, and some penalties for a little navy (relative to its navy force limit).
All those changes, properly balanced, could make navy really useful and necessary. They also make a lot of sense historically speaking, specially points 2, 3 and 4. This way you would really want to have a big fleet, and you could really want to pick a naval idea, since it would mean huge bonuses for your nation. Besides, losing your navy would mean a big loss for your nation, as well as destroying the enemy’s fleet would strongly weaken him for a while.
Another feature that could be implemented, but this is already a substantial modification of the game mechanics, is the robbery of private pirates. What I have in mind is, for example, a penalty to coastal provinces trade power/income or to a whole trade node due to the activity of pirates in that area. This penalty could be reduced and even eliminated by patrolling the area with a proper military fleet.
And that’s all, I just wanted to give my ideas and to contribute to improving the game. I hope this threat could serve to discuss about this topic, even if my ideas aren't taken into account. So let’s discuss!
P.S.: I apologize for any possible mistake, as English is not my mother language or my first foreigner language.
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