All right, these are from my first (and only) game thus far, playing as Burgundy and just celebrated passing into the 1600s. Click to enlarge the maps.
I pretty much jumped into the game without reading any dev diaries, the manual or what has changed after EU3, though I did find out about the more important changes such as the new trade system. Yet, I still ran into loads of unexpected trouble. First of all learning to make tradeoffs with your monarch points proved complicated. At first it seemed like they kept streaming in and I would never have to worry about running out of those precious points, so my spending was rather liberal... boy did I regret it later on...
I also didn't realise that you pay exponential penalty for every colony past two colonies, which meant that I've been teetering one loan ahead of bankruptcy for the past 50-70 years or so, but I think I'm getting my economy balanced again.
Anyhow, what has happened in the world thus far:
My situation is rather firm and secured,with no big players threatening my existence or stability. I am leading a personal union with Savoy and Alencon (the little swathe of land between me and Brittany who controls Paris) is a vassal about to be annexed.
France and England pretty much sealed each others fates by prolonging the hundred years war. Both got overrun by rebels and France was constantly hammered by her smaller spawns. I joined in the fun quite late and didn't have much of a role in their downfall - though I was ready and waiting to pick the cherries off the cake.
Cornwall (including Wales) broke free from England and with a little help from me conquered most of what is now controlled by Scotland, until they got steamrolled by the latter.
Castille has been my archrival for most of the game, competing on the colonial frontier and defending my long-time ally, Aragon who was almost wiped off the map by the former until I stepped in and helped them regain their lost territory. Just a couple of years before this map Aragon went to war with Castille and completely annihilated them, as you can see. I joined the war as well and released Grenada (which is now my vassal), but Aragon and Portugal did all the hard work.
Elsewhere Tuscany has managed to form Italy. Austria was a leading megapower and almost ran me over at a point before my allies actually saved the day (Aragon, Portugal and Savoy), but then they got constantly hammered by their neighbours and lost the Empire to Bohemia, and are currently teetering at the brink of extinction. Just a year after this map Ottomans singed a peace with Austria, taking three provinces and are now literally at the gates of Vienna, which is cut off from the rest of Austria.
Sweden formed Scandinavia and now yields the second-largest army and navy in Europe right after me. Eastern Europe and Russia has been a mess for most of the game, nations rising and falling as they please. Early in the game Lithuania conquered nearly everything in their way, until they somehow broke down (didn't pay much attention). Poland was quite large as well, until they got shrank into just a couple of provinces, but a few years after this map they managed to conquer a swath of Ukraine and are "back in the game" so to say.
In the Far East the Ottomans are business as usual, while a powerful Yemen formed on the Arabian peninsula and then annexed expansionist Ethiopia which had somehow managed to conquer the Mameluks all the way up to Cairo, before finishing off the latter. Currently they just sit around, waiting for the final encounter with the Ottomans.
Ming was very powerful early in the game, and controlled 1/3 of India until they were broken by rebels. Now they are being slowly eaten by Oirat Horde and Zhou. Who knows, perhaps we'll see the second coming of the Mongols?
The colonial game is rather blend, with only me, Portugal and Castille having any dealings in the new world, though recently Norway colonised Greenland and established a foothold in Canada so we might have a fourth contender right there. The Aztecs were swallowed by Castille but Aragon forced them to hand back most of the provinces in a peace deal.
In-game map:
Religious map:
Apart from Armagnac, protestantism is quite firmly confined to Central and Northern Europe, with Hungary making a little exception.
As you see, my expansion has cost me dearly. I am technologically at the same level with the Ottomans and Northern Africa, though I've managed to keep up on military tech.
Also, the curia is pretty well under my control (currently situated in Berg near the Netherlands):
I pretty much jumped into the game without reading any dev diaries, the manual or what has changed after EU3, though I did find out about the more important changes such as the new trade system. Yet, I still ran into loads of unexpected trouble. First of all learning to make tradeoffs with your monarch points proved complicated. At first it seemed like they kept streaming in and I would never have to worry about running out of those precious points, so my spending was rather liberal... boy did I regret it later on...
I also didn't realise that you pay exponential penalty for every colony past two colonies, which meant that I've been teetering one loan ahead of bankruptcy for the past 50-70 years or so, but I think I'm getting my economy balanced again.
Anyhow, what has happened in the world thus far:
My situation is rather firm and secured,with no big players threatening my existence or stability. I am leading a personal union with Savoy and Alencon (the little swathe of land between me and Brittany who controls Paris) is a vassal about to be annexed.
France and England pretty much sealed each others fates by prolonging the hundred years war. Both got overrun by rebels and France was constantly hammered by her smaller spawns. I joined in the fun quite late and didn't have much of a role in their downfall - though I was ready and waiting to pick the cherries off the cake.
Cornwall (including Wales) broke free from England and with a little help from me conquered most of what is now controlled by Scotland, until they got steamrolled by the latter.
Castille has been my archrival for most of the game, competing on the colonial frontier and defending my long-time ally, Aragon who was almost wiped off the map by the former until I stepped in and helped them regain their lost territory. Just a couple of years before this map Aragon went to war with Castille and completely annihilated them, as you can see. I joined the war as well and released Grenada (which is now my vassal), but Aragon and Portugal did all the hard work.
Elsewhere Tuscany has managed to form Italy. Austria was a leading megapower and almost ran me over at a point before my allies actually saved the day (Aragon, Portugal and Savoy), but then they got constantly hammered by their neighbours and lost the Empire to Bohemia, and are currently teetering at the brink of extinction. Just a year after this map Ottomans singed a peace with Austria, taking three provinces and are now literally at the gates of Vienna, which is cut off from the rest of Austria.
Sweden formed Scandinavia and now yields the second-largest army and navy in Europe right after me. Eastern Europe and Russia has been a mess for most of the game, nations rising and falling as they please. Early in the game Lithuania conquered nearly everything in their way, until they somehow broke down (didn't pay much attention). Poland was quite large as well, until they got shrank into just a couple of provinces, but a few years after this map they managed to conquer a swath of Ukraine and are "back in the game" so to say.
In the Far East the Ottomans are business as usual, while a powerful Yemen formed on the Arabian peninsula and then annexed expansionist Ethiopia which had somehow managed to conquer the Mameluks all the way up to Cairo, before finishing off the latter. Currently they just sit around, waiting for the final encounter with the Ottomans.
Ming was very powerful early in the game, and controlled 1/3 of India until they were broken by rebels. Now they are being slowly eaten by Oirat Horde and Zhou. Who knows, perhaps we'll see the second coming of the Mongols?
The colonial game is rather blend, with only me, Portugal and Castille having any dealings in the new world, though recently Norway colonised Greenland and established a foothold in Canada so we might have a fourth contender right there. The Aztecs were swallowed by Castille but Aragon forced them to hand back most of the provinces in a peace deal.
In-game map:
Religious map:
Apart from Armagnac, protestantism is quite firmly confined to Central and Northern Europe, with Hungary making a little exception.
As you see, my expansion has cost me dearly. I am technologically at the same level with the Ottomans and Northern Africa, though I've managed to keep up on military tech.
Also, the curia is pretty well under my control (currently situated in Berg near the Netherlands):
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