0. Introduction
Hello there!
A few years ago, I had immense fun doing an AAR with very specific houserules.
To restrict myself, add some impredictability and enjoy a balanced world while still tryharding and pushing myself to the limit, I switch country repeatedly. This is something I have done consistently since years for fun campaigns, and this creates really interesting story lines. Now that we seem to have a more stable patch and I am back to EU4 with renewed enthusiasm, I wanted to relive this experience.
Basically, I pick a random country and I play it for about 20 years. There is no set rule for how long I have to play it, I stop when I feel like there is nothing more to achieve short term. This can go anywhere from 10 to 40 years, as it happened in one instance in my previous AAR. Once this is done, I leave the country into the competent hands of the AI and jump to a new country, which may be a nation I just destroyed or someone on the other side of the globe. Obviously, my previous nation can become a complete disappointment, or it can thrive. Seeing a minor nation I controlled in 1500 still be a regional power in 1700 is incredibly rewarding.
There are some specific house rules I use.
I try to leave the country in the best possible position. Basically, I don't conquer as much as possible by bankrupting myself, letting an empty shell with 5k debt, no manpower, rebels and a coalition. I leave the country if I'm confident they won't collapse immediately in AI hands. I also try to improve the economy as much as possible as this is the best way to ensure a country's survival long term.
This is also why I won't abuse Estates, given that I'm afraid that the AI won't be able to rebalance things. I will try to increase crownland if I can, especially as we near the Age of Absolutism.
This time, I decided to completely skip the New World and just reroll. It can be fun to play, but for an AAR it does not add much as the nation always disappoints and disappears.
I play in Normal because switching countries is my way of limiting myself. I pondered doing this in Very Hard, but more countries would be dead ends.
I don't use exploits and try to keep things realistic and stable if I can but I play extremely agressively in some dire situations. My previous AAR included several no CBs and trucebreaks, as this is the only way to play some nations. Some situations I will jump in may be more desperate than any situation in 1444. As I said, I will try to salvage what I can before leaving, but some nations were clearly doomed (looking at you, Timurids from last time). I will still avoid no CB and trucebreak if I see another realistic option to succeed.
What you can expect here is a mix of serious gameplay and hopefully useful advice (in all modesty, I'm pretty good at this game), some potential fun challenges if things don't go my way (an Icelandic North America might have slipped in my previous AAR), and the real feeling of history unfolding. That's what I really enjoy. To me this feels like a superior version of an observe game, as I can root for some countries and I am emotionally engaged.
A few years ago, I had immense fun doing an AAR with very specific houserules.
To restrict myself, add some impredictability and enjoy a balanced world while still tryharding and pushing myself to the limit, I switch country repeatedly. This is something I have done consistently since years for fun campaigns, and this creates really interesting story lines. Now that we seem to have a more stable patch and I am back to EU4 with renewed enthusiasm, I wanted to relive this experience.
Basically, I pick a random country and I play it for about 20 years. There is no set rule for how long I have to play it, I stop when I feel like there is nothing more to achieve short term. This can go anywhere from 10 to 40 years, as it happened in one instance in my previous AAR. Once this is done, I leave the country into the competent hands of the AI and jump to a new country, which may be a nation I just destroyed or someone on the other side of the globe. Obviously, my previous nation can become a complete disappointment, or it can thrive. Seeing a minor nation I controlled in 1500 still be a regional power in 1700 is incredibly rewarding.
There are some specific house rules I use.
I try to leave the country in the best possible position. Basically, I don't conquer as much as possible by bankrupting myself, letting an empty shell with 5k debt, no manpower, rebels and a coalition. I leave the country if I'm confident they won't collapse immediately in AI hands. I also try to improve the economy as much as possible as this is the best way to ensure a country's survival long term.
This is also why I won't abuse Estates, given that I'm afraid that the AI won't be able to rebalance things. I will try to increase crownland if I can, especially as we near the Age of Absolutism.
This time, I decided to completely skip the New World and just reroll. It can be fun to play, but for an AAR it does not add much as the nation always disappoints and disappears.
I play in Normal because switching countries is my way of limiting myself. I pondered doing this in Very Hard, but more countries would be dead ends.
I don't use exploits and try to keep things realistic and stable if I can but I play extremely agressively in some dire situations. My previous AAR included several no CBs and trucebreaks, as this is the only way to play some nations. Some situations I will jump in may be more desperate than any situation in 1444. As I said, I will try to salvage what I can before leaving, but some nations were clearly doomed (looking at you, Timurids from last time). I will still avoid no CB and trucebreak if I see another realistic option to succeed.
What you can expect here is a mix of serious gameplay and hopefully useful advice (in all modesty, I'm pretty good at this game), some potential fun challenges if things don't go my way (an Icelandic North America might have slipped in my previous AAR), and the real feeling of history unfolding. That's what I really enjoy. To me this feels like a superior version of an observe game, as I can root for some countries and I am emotionally engaged.
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