Interesting gameplays to try

[AapoAlas]

So, after doing what is supposed to be done, first forming a Grand Hansa and building a slice of a colonial empire on the Northern Hemisphere, then building a Neva-to-Alaska spanning Russian Empire with Muscovy, finally building a nearly Pan-Germanic Germany from Brandenburg-to-Prussia, I find that I feel kind of bored. I know that there are still parts of the game that I cannot do, like right now I'm having huge problems trying to keep poor old Norway together after a peacefully ending Union thanks to an enthusiastic Sweden, but I feel like I need something new, something I haven't tried, something that isn't quite your usual "carve an Empire" type of playthrough.

So, what I'm asking is, what kind of interesting gameplays can you think of? I remember back in EU3 there was an awesome AAR of Brunswick going for a gentleman's approach and only conquered provinces if they were or would immediately become cores. That kind of gameplay is now, of course, impossible.

What else is there to try? What self-made restrictions and / or goals to set on yourself to create a different, new and refreshing game for thineself?

 

[anomalacaris]

I was thinking about some here
Still no time to try any of them yet...

 

[Ikenos]

The gentleman's approach is not impossible. set a goal for yourself to never take a non-core province in war. Expand only through colonization, PUs and vassals. Feel free to break up big nations, as the liberated nations will often be happy to join you.

Play a 'defend the natives' game. Get to Africa and the Americas quickly, settle next to the 'uncivilized nations' and protect them from the other colonial powers until they westernise.

I don't advise trying to do both suggestions simultaneously.

 

[AapoAlas]

The gentleman's approach is not impossible. set a goal for yourself to never take a non-core province in war. Expand only through colonization, PUs and vassals. Feel free to break up big nations, as the liberated nations will often be happy to join you.

Play a 'defend the natives' game. Get to Africa and the Americas quickly, settle next to the 'uncivilized nations' and protect them from the other colonial powers until they westernise.

I don't advise trying to do both suggestions simultaneously.

I like these, there's definitely something here Though the Gentleman's Approach would still be very hard, as I think one should refrain from PU'ing and vassalisation through wars, only diplomatically. Neither should one, I believe, start wars... I like that

 

[Lessing]

Play as Oman and become a trade superpower without taking any land by force.

 

[Chyll]

I was thinking of trying as a tiny start in India and going for the sub-continent.

I recently tried a Japan game with a goal of minimal mainland action, colonize Philippines, and then try to get Aleuts down through California. So, in short, avoid the obvious Asia grind. I will have to try again as I got sidetracked, though I did avoid the mainland & maintained a great Manchu alliance, I got sucked into Brunei without thinking. (The Aleuts are darn far away, btw.)

Play a 'defend the natives' game. Get to Africa and the Americas quickly, settle next to the 'uncivilized nations' and protect them from the other colonial powers until they westernise.

Oooo. I like this one.

 

[unmerged(553312)]

I'm thinking of carving out a catholic crusader kingdom in the middle east but I don't know who to play as. Italians? Cyprus? Knights?

 

[alicuza]

Change countries every couple of decades.

 

[InnocentIII]

Play as Oman and become a trade superpower without taking any land by force.

Try the same as Venice. You're reasonably powerful, but everyone around you sets you as a rival. Just don't conquer too much stuff. Trading posts here and there.

I'm thinking of carving out a catholic crusader kingdom in the middle east but I don't know who to play as. Italians? Cyprus? Knights?

Good idea, or Ireland?

- Set yourself a tough list of Idea Groups to take ahead of time. No fair changing to keep up with the times. Good with any middling power.
- Start in the HRE and only take land through vassalage. No more than one forced vassal at a time.
- Play Songhai.
- Play as a reasonably powerful country, but set as a goal the enlargement of an AI country. I spent much of my Argentina Vicky2 AAR building up Poland. It's fun not to just grab stuff for yourself, and helping the AI along can be challenging, like those WoW quests where you had to guard an NPC as he tried to kill everything in his path with a fork and a loincloth (iirc the fork was his armor, the loincloth was wetted down for hand to hand combat).
- Speaking of which, why not play as France and force Europe to it's current borders? Probably harder than WC. Maybe as Germany, then.

The first one I intend to try myself, concentrating mostly on Espionage, just to use the Idea Group and see what it can do. I loved playing Darloks in MOO2, I'm hoping for a bit of the same. I'm planning to it in an AAR though, so I'm waiting for 1.2. A couple more weeks, I assume.

Vassalizing within the HRE is what I've been doing as Burgundy lately. I like to treat AE as an actual bad thing and keep it low. Coalitions can be very powerful - if you choose not to fight against them.

Songhai looked interesting in this http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?710629-From-Timbuktu-to-Silesia-Songhai-AAr, though it may all fall apart, I suppose.

 

[DukeWilleo1630]

You can try to create the kingdom of god as Papal States. You have to deal with your old pops dying all the time, which you get a stability hit for like monarchs. I suppose you could play the game in a way to try and keep europe catholic, and fight the muslims. And of course, to expand north you have the HRE to deal with.

It's hard to think of a game where you are not trying to expand as your goal. Maybe choose a small nation and try to stay alive the whole game with the borders you start with? lol.

 

[unmerged(781643)]

You should try ck2 conversions, thats what I've been doing since normal Europe is waay to boring xD
Try my Worse than Ryukyu map in the mod section maybe.

Or you can try an expand and survive game as Southeast Asia or an African nation where you have to prepare for the inevitable European invasion, those are fun.

India is also very fun, as its mainly small rival nations which you can conquer.

Or you can play portugal and be portugese.

 

[magitsu]

Gentleman's approach aka diplovassalizing and integrating most everyone was nice for a while.

How about release every possible country? There's plenty of potential OPMs waiting inside big countries. You might get ugliest borders ever though.

 

[unmerged(215686)]

Take the Oman idea one step further: Create a Trade empire without taking land by force, AND keep the Europeans out of the Indian Ocean.

 

[User4035]

Try the different idea groups out. There are a ton of ways to mix an match.

Who ever takes the espionage idea? its not that great because its very nich but if you do take it you can send your diplomats out to make havoc on your foes. Build a mercenary empire, use trade to get gold and take the mercenary idea group. You can spam mercenaries like crazy!

 

[AapoAlas]

The first one I intend to try myself, concentrating mostly on Espionage, just to use the Idea Group and see what it can do. I loved playing Darloks in MOO2, I'm hoping for a bit of the same. I'm planning to it in an AAR though, so I'm waiting for 1.2. A couple more weeks, I assume.

I like your ideas, you have some damn good ones I actually nearly started a game with Sicily doing the Espionage thing, but it's still kind of waiting... Maybe I'll get around to it, maybe it'll become an AAR as well And don't ask why Sicily, it should be obvious, shouldn't it? *grin*

 

[Bigheeed]

Forming the Netherlands from a single province on Ironman I've found to be one of my most fun and challenging games to date, its nearly end game and I've only just caught up with trade and tech from so much war in Europe.