Does every game ends with youe country being top world power?

[Krajzen]

I am curious about how most of players end eu4 game, with total domination or just nice looking countries. I am also wondering what the hell is wrong with my strategic capabilities as usually I am among top 3/top 5 global powers but rarely top 1 in everything, not to even mention the fact I rarely achieve domination beyond one area (East Asia, India, East Europe, "USA').

For example in my Japan game it is 1730 and I am 'just' third global economy. Okay, I started from OPM Oda daimyo with 5 regiments but many people by this time would probably eat whole China. Meanwhile I am satisfied from Japan, Korea, Manchuria, Mexico, California, some islands and Eastern Coast of China. In my Punjab game I managed to unite India just 60 years before end, it is incredible for me how people can do world conquest or even continental conquest since 1.8.

 

[RyanX]

I tried blobbing, but I generally loathe it.

In my games, I try to expand while being confined to a certain region, not taking disconnected provinces because they are a high BT or CoT if it makes my borders look weird. Pretty borders are everything!! Naturally, things like income and army size depends on the goal I set for myself. I recently recreated the Austro-Hungarian Empire (+Northern Italy) as Silesia (the OPM vassal under Bohemia) and I have the 2nd largest army and 5th largest income in 1650.

 

[AndreasPhokas]

I did a game as a Coptic Uyghur state owning most of the Tarim basin....yeah....I had to rage quit around 1600. Low forcelimits and everyone around you hates you. I expanded decently then had Persia/Bukhara/oirat/ming/Delhi all declare on me within a 3 month period. my 14 forcelimit army couldn't hold em back despite the fact I was rolling in money.

 

[waypin]

I generally reach whatever goal I set out with and start a new game, and since I've shied away from all of the "longer" achievements so far my nations never really get that big.

 

[Will Steel]

I don't play this game as a wargame. I build my kingdom to a certain size (almost always based on historical and personal preferences), and then I simply cease fighting and focus on building and managing my empire internally. At best I will form a decent sized empire and then completely stop expansion, focusing on defending those lands first.

I am not the best nation in the world usually (unless I am something like Mughal Empire, or Ming/Qing, or a united HRE or France). But always in the top 10 for sure. I focus on building up economy and taking part in trade (without any colonizing, mind you). So I am usually the rich man paying others to keep fighting while I steal their money.

This is probably the reason I don't enjoy EU games so much, since I always do wars until I am satisfied, and then I play peacefully. And peaceful part is bland and boring as hell. But then, hopefully next patch will help people like me who want to play peacefully.

There are times, however, when I play just for fun and go on a full-on world steamrolling rampage. Nothing can convince me to stop expansion and give up on conquering the world when I play like that.

 

[Illianor123]

I did a game as a Coptic Uyghur state owning most of the Tarim basin....yeah....I had to rage quit around 1600. Low forcelimits and everyone around you hates you. I expanded decently then had Persia/Bukhara/oirat/ming/Delhi all declare on me within a 3 month period. my 14 forcelimit army couldn't hold em back despite the fact I was rolling in money.

So, buy mercs? But yeah, that seems like a tiny force limit.

 

[matk]

The 2nd last game I started was an attempt at a Genoa start to go for control of the Med while only taking important trade provinces. It last about 30 years and definitely did not end with Genoa being the top world power. It ended with my last province of Corsica being annexed by Aragon. The game taunted me right afterwards too with a loading screen that said something like "Losing a war is no reason to quit. There is plenty of time to take back those provinces later." Um, not in this case Mr. Loading Screen.

Otherwise, generally yes. Unless I have some specific RP goals that I want to achieve. Remove kebab, crush the Reformation, colonize an area to play as a specific colonial nation, etc.

 

[Dakilla TM]

I role play heavily in most of my games, so I do blob but not in an extremely gamey way with horrendous borders and such. Even as France, I restore my borders, take Aragon and Italy, and then focus on colonizing. I could plow through Europe like Napoleon but I'd rather spread the French glory to the whole world.

 

[Johan]

Yes. If they get past the first 50 years.

 

[WhiskyGlen]

Yes. If they get past the first 50 years.

Yes, I was just about to say this. If I don't get irritated and quit due to a bad start, then I always end up on top. I don't take well to losing provinces early on.

 

[in heaven]

I tried blobbing, but it becomes a bit boring after you're powerful and just blob into small 3 province minors, not my type of play style..

 

[klingonadmiral]

I usually restrict my blobbing, setting myself a limit to actively conquer 2-3 "regions" at most (rnadom PUs notwithstanding), the rest going into colonization. Some regions like the Low Countries fall into areas of general interest (so i.e. if I would ever play England I would still grab them even if I was going for Anglo-Iberia, because anybody would try to grab the Low Countries if he could). So my games in the end might look like Germany owning Germany proper+Poland (+Bohemia because borders), Mughals owning Persia and India, or France owning France, Germany, India, America north of Panama, the Spice Islands and the coast of China.

 

[MrGarfield]

It's harder with AI bonus and Lucky Nations. Usually Ottoman is head and shoulders above the rest because nobody in the western world bother checking on them, they just keep expanding east and racking up points.

 

[Iki_balam]

I once saw Johan say that the best way to play CK2 was to roleplay. I strongly think that applies to EU4 as well. Blobbing, possible but no fun. And most rulers of the day were far more likely to be petty. Most players dont act as cruel or idiotic as the monarch of that time period. For example, the American revolution can be expressed in EU4 terms as King George III seeing there was high liberty desire in the 13 Colonies. He increased the tax rate above 45%. Why? Well Parliament did it, but he didn't act like a player of the game, he acted like a tyrant and wanted to show who was boss.

 

[Lord Finnish]

I've tried not blobbing but it's just too boring. I rather set myself a blob-related goal (like re-creating the Rashidun caliphate as Hejaz) and go from there.

 

[Aard Vark]

For example, the American revolution can be expressed in EU4 terms as King George III seeing there was high liberty desire in the 13 Colonies. He increased the tax rate above 45%. Why? Well Parliament did it, but he didn't act like a player of the game, he acted like a tyrant and wanted to show who was boss.

Americans paid less in taxes than the British mainlanders. Actually King George III wasn't really a tyrant, that is just propaganda.

 

[Thrake]

I've had tried a few blobbing intense games, but it's not really fun and more of a grind, so typically I don't do that. I also usually play small nations with AI bonuses so in the end it takes me a much much much bigger blob than blob to outnumber them, so it might only happen late game if ever.

 

[Baxil]

I usually like to roleplay a bit so I almost never get at the top place, but I often get at the top 5.
Just once I was the 1st playing as Spain. But if you roleplay Spain of course you'll be the 1st

 

[ikkiks]

For me it's the opposite. I'm just incapable of playing this game with small goals. I feel like I'm doing something wrong when I'm on peace time, so I'm always looking for another war. Doing the venetian sea achievement was torture.

Maybe this will change with the new mechanics.

 

[Aries666]

Depends on who you start as. As Chavchuveny I finished around 6th which is around par for me on those kinds of starts. Start as England though and I will be 1st throughout. It also depends on your proximity to other majors, so for example as Wallachia I finished 1st but that was mainly because I wiped out Ottomans, PLC, and Austria.