How to be good at this game?

[Lord Finnish]

No matter how hard I try I always get my ass handed to me in this game. Latest episode as Poland. Started out fine, conquered TO and Livonia, united Commonwealth. But then everything goes to shit again. Russia has 100k men, so my 91k will never ever defeat them. All my allies betray me for no reason and everyone but OPMs set me as rival. I start a war with Hungary (who calls France) and I'm out of manpower by the end of it. Russia attacks and wipes me out. Then it's just a rollercoaster of defeats because I'm never able to rebuild my army in time. Can't ally with anyone since they always drag me to wars with Russia - I quit and deleted the save when I was called by the Papacy to fight Milan and Austria only to notice Russians parading in Vilna a few weeks later. In my experience I will always need at least 3 times more men to even think of defeating any defending enemy force other than rebels in battle. Poland is full of rivers and as (clearly dimwitted) human player the pressure of attack is always on me. The enemy with its clockwork precision sends its troops to unguarded frontiers and it's my job to seek battle with them.

What kind of magic do I need to be good at this game? When the game came out I was doing well but every patch leaves me worse. Do I just keep failing over and over again or is there some kind of a noob country like Ireland in CK2 that would get me started? I figured Commonwealth would be easy but I certainly proved myself wrong in that. I tried watching some Let's Plays but I'm not that bad, I don't need help in basic mechanics or anything. I've played this game for 87 hours so I know how to play, I just don't know how to play well.

This post doesn't make much sense I know but I can't think of a better way to ask for "advanced" help.

 

[long_fella]

* Take it slow, watch Aggressive Expansion (AE) and Over Expansion (OE), and keep relations up with everybody you can.
* If outnumbered fight defensive wars on your territory, attrition will put a big dent in the enemy's manpower (and those monthly reinforcement costs hurt too).
* Vassilse and diplo-annex where possible, rather than taking territory in wars.
* Try to minimse taking territory in a war that you don't have a claim on, fabritcated or otherwise.
* Try to ally with another big blob that you're not competing with (at the moment), but where you can mutally aid each other.
* Minimise the number of stacks you have with no generals.

 

[Valkyrie-Lemons]

With the manpower problem, use mercenaries as a complement (not a replacement) for your armies. Since they are quicker to train and don't use up manpower.

They can be expensive, but this leads into the second point, don't worry about going into debt. Only worry about getting into too much debt. For example, I started a game as the Swiss and took out around 166 coins in loans to fund a mercenary army to beat Savoy and take back two provinces. It took 15 or so years to pay it back but I won the war.

Also, as the above post says, try and vassalize territories rather than conquer them outright. Vassals give you income, can create armies for you (and they get +3 force-limits as all nations receive that bonus) and when you decide to annex them diplomatically, you get all their cores converted to yours. This can save a lot of monarch points, especially if it's a region with a high tax base.

Be opportunistic. Don't worry about betraying a good friend if his lands are ripe for the taking. After all, won't his lands be better taken care of by you?

Make rivals of the rivals of who you want to ally with. Even if you have no reason to make them a rival. This is because you can get a nice +25 (I think) bonus to relations, making it easier to get deals with them.

So, I hope that helps.

 

[panionios]

If playing Poland, ally Muscowy/Russia from day one (increase relations, marry them and you'll be able to ally them). With your eastern front secured, you can go wild on the west/north/south.

 

[Lord Finnish]

If playing Poland, ally Muscowy/Russia from day one (increase relations, marry them and you'll be able to ally them). With your eastern front secured, you can go wild on the west/north/south.

I allied with Muscovy, but they instantly broke their +200 alliance with me when I absorbed Lithuania.

 

[long_fella]

Because you suddenly became an enormous threat sat directly on their border.