Post your Europa Universalis 4 Empire

[Lord Finnish]

Byzantium 1.8 Ironman

Doing well considering the slowness of expansion in 1.8.. the new provinces make it pretty sluggish to take over middle east.

Next stop is Italy, though I am also going to nab Tunisia while at it.
I'm surprised at how poor Egypt is. Pretty much every province except Cairo/Alexandria has 1 or 2 BT, I don't think that's very realistic for the number one breadbasket of the world.

 

[zer0das]

The Ottomans got a little over ambitious and tried to tussle with me for Suez right as my might was fully kicking in... ended up taking Jerusalm, Gaza, and one other province in a defensive war. Then they tried to conquer Kaffa (the Crimean one, not the Ethiopian one) and are getting bludgeoned over the head by a really strong Commonwealth+Austria and friends.

 

[TheRomanRuler]

Byzantium 1.8 Ironman

Doing well considering the slowness of expansion in 1.8.. the new provinces make it pretty sluggish to take over middle east.

Next stop is Italy, though I am also going to nab Tunisia while at it.
I'm surprised at how poor Egypt is. Pretty much every province except Cairo/Alexandria has 1 or 2 BT, I don't think that's very realistic for the number one breadbasket of the world.

Glad to see another Finnish ruler of Rome

 

[Lord Finnish]

Glad to see another Finnish ruler of Rome

Since then I have become the actual ruler of Rome as well. Was quite the war but I took Spanish Italy and Rome for myself. Currently taking out Tunisia although it was interrupted by a Spanish holy war on me - they are the most powerful state besides myself so when Spain comes knocking everything else will have to hold...

I am also wondering how the hell I'm going to take Dalmatia so I can fire the "reconquest of Balkans" decision. It changes hands all the time and everyone holding it is allied to France, my sole ally besides vassals.

 

[Krischo]

Byzantium 1.8 Ironman

Doing well considering the slowness of expansion in 1.8.. the new provinces make it pretty sluggish to take over middle east.

Next stop is Italy, though I am also going to nab Tunisia while at it.
I'm surprised at how poor Egypt is. Pretty much every province except Cairo/Alexandria has 1 or 2 BT, I don't think that's very realistic for the number one breadbasket of the world.

Can you tell what was your strategy?

 

[Lord Finnish]

Can you tell what was your strategy?

When you start the game, first thing you do is take loans and build 25-odd galleys, enough that you can take out the Ottoman fleet and blockade their ports. In 1.8 Byzantium is very wealthy and you can easily afford the upkeep and pay back the loans.

Wait for Ottomans to take out Albania and attack Anatolian minors. With their army gone, declare war and block the strait. Siege Ottoman European provinces at your leisure. Take as many provinces as you want and can. It takes two or three wars to expel the Ottomans from Europe besides Edirne. Every time do the same thing, make sure you have enough galleys to block the strait and enough land forces to defeat a possible Ottoman garrison in Edirne (usually around 12k troops).
You can seek allies to help your cause, Poland is a good target. They may not Rival Ottomans which makes alliance difficult but don't worry, that happened in my game and everything turned out alright.

When you reclaim European provinces, the obvious next step is Anatolia. This takes a bit of luck since you will have around 17-19 forcelimit compared to Ottomans' ~29.

Before going to Anatolia, save up a lot of money. Should be easy for Byz but don't be afraid to take loans. Start the war by destroying their navy and blockading their ports. Wait until their WE gets sufficiently high and cross the strait. Spend all your money on troops, if you are half decent at this game you should be able to beat them (I have only 130 hours in the game and I did it). Since you control the strait it's not a big deal if you lose a battle or two, so long as you're the last man standing sooner or later you will win.

When you have neutralized the Ottoman army, focus on taking provinces on the Aegean coast, as many as you can. Specifically take the province south of Edirne so Ottomans will move their capital out. When you have one major victory in Anatolia and 4-5 provinces there, you have pretty much won. By the time you are halfway through Anatolia you will be by far the most powerful nation in the region and it's just nonstop steamrolling from there.

TL;DR spam galleys to block the strait.

 

[General_Grant]

Mewari Raj, about 100 years into the game.

So far really enjoying the high number of provinces, makes for a more satisfying regional gameplay. India is a lot of fun! Rajput ideas are a bit underpowered however.

Sindh, Kathiawar, Malwa and Rohilkhand are vassals.

 

[niallmcfc]

Mewari Raj, about 100 years into the game.

So far really enjoying the high number of provinces, makes for a more satisfying regional gameplay. India is a lot of fun! Rajput ideas are a bit underpowered however.

Sindh, Kathiawar, Malwa and Rohilkhand are vassals.

Dammit, how am I meant to show my Mewar off later if you're already here?

 

[General_Grant]

Dammit, how am I meant to show my Mewar off later if you're already here?

I am quite sure that it would still be only the 2nd Mewar of this very vast thread, surely there is room for both

 

[niallmcfc]

I am quite sure that it would still be only the 2nd Mewar of this very vast thread, surely there is room for both

Ok, but I'll make sure to have it bigger by the same date

 

[CanOmer]

 

[DevastatingTech]

Wow you are stronk. Also this Kazan is awesome.

 

[FreeSoc]

*Aq Qoyunlu stronky stronk*

I don't think I've ever seen Montenegro do that well. Ever.

 

[Tufto]

How did you do Aq Qoyunlu so well?

 

[FreeSoc]

Not really an empire per se, but here's the glorious beginnings of the Burgundo-Dutch Humanist Hand-Holding Trade Empire of Tolerance and Profit.

I've almost stripped England of their continental possessions and have, in alliance with Castile, crippled France.

What you *can't* see is the full extent of France's weakness. In the first war against France so far (1448-1453ish), the only province I took from the French was Champagne. At the end of that war, however, I forced France to cancel all 5 of their vassals, and I am now warning France, so there's no way they can just regain the vassals before the 15-year truce is up. This is only the beginning of what should be a fun Burgundy -> Netherlands Ironman game, but I think I'm basically safe from the French menace, barring some horrible misfortune, at this point.

 

[Incompetent]

What you *can't* see is the full extent of France's weakness. In the first war against France so far (1448-1453ish), the only province I took from the French was Champagne. At the end of that war, however, I forced France to cancel all 5 of their vassals, and I am now warning France, so there's no way they can just regain the vassals before the 15-year truce is up. This is only the beginning of what should be a fun Burgundy -> Netherlands Ironman game, but I think I'm basically safe from the French menace, barring some horrible misfortune, at this point.

If you plan to form Netherlands, remember to kill France first, or you'll have to give all that land back.

 

[FreeSoc]

If you plan to form Netherlands, remember to kill France first, or you'll have to give all that land back.

Yeah, my plan is to completely obliterate France by 1500-ish (1525 at the absolute latest) and then keep Guyenne as a permavassal (I don't have AoW, so can't make marches) on my southern border to stop Castile/Spain getting too powerful and turning on me one day.

 

[Myrten]

'Murica stronk in AoW thanks to no autonomy floor and new provinces

 

[Mztr44]

A modest Wallachia->Romania for my first post AOW game. It was pretty slow the first 200 years. Austria's ruler died within the first few years and Brandenburg was elected Emperor and got the Burgundian inheritance. I watched the Golden Horde vassalize and annex Crimea and then later Crimea was reborn again through rebellion and went on to vasslize and annex the Golden Horde. Brandenburg and Poland alliance managed to win a war against France and then later Brandenburg with Austria won another one. The 30 Years War never happened, was just an uneventful standoff. Russia had a massive Sunni rebellion and got forced into a religion change which was amusing, which left me as the last bastion of the Orthodox faith. At one point I was a 3 province vassal to Poland but was freed by Austria + Brandenburg, so I made friends with Austria who went on to Revoke the Privilegia. Odd thing happened though, since there was no 30 year war, Catholic remained the dominant faith, and Austria was Catholic. Once they united the HRE though, they changed to Reformed?! Once that was done, I used them to smash the Ottomans and Poland, over and over. Picked up Hungary as a vassal and turned them into a march, later created a Client state, Vladiski, to test that feature out.

 

[BarskiPatzow]

When you start the game, first thing you do is take loans and build 25-odd galleys, enough that you can take out the Ottoman fleet and blockade their ports. In 1.8 Byzantium is very wealthy and you can easily afford the upkeep and pay back the loans.

Wait for Ottomans to take out Albania and attack Anatolian minors. With their army gone, declare war and block the strait. Siege Ottoman European provinces at your leisure. Take as many provinces as you want and can. It takes two or three wars to expel the Ottomans from Europe besides Edirne. Every time do the same thing, make sure you have enough galleys to block the strait and enough land forces to defeat a possible Ottoman garrison in Edirne (usually around 12k troops).
You can seek allies to help your cause, Poland is a good target. They may not Rival Ottomans which makes alliance difficult but don't worry, that happened in my game and everything turned out alright.

When you reclaim European provinces, the obvious next step is Anatolia. This takes a bit of luck since you will have around 17-19 forcelimit compared to Ottomans' ~29.

Before going to Anatolia, save up a lot of money. Should be easy for Byz but don't be afraid to take loans. Start the war by destroying their navy and blockading their ports. Wait until their WE gets sufficiently high and cross the strait. Spend all your money on troops, if you are half decent at this game you should be able to beat them (I have only 130 hours in the game and I did it). Since you control the strait it's not a big deal if you lose a battle or two, so long as you're the last man standing sooner or later you will win.

When you have neutralized the Ottoman army, focus on taking provinces on the Aegean coast, as many as you can. Specifically take the province south of Edirne so Ottomans will move their capital out. When you have one major victory in Anatolia and 4-5 provinces there, you have pretty much won. By the time you are halfway through Anatolia you will be by far the most powerful nation in the region and it's just nonstop steamrolling from there.

TL;DR spam galleys to block the strait.

And take Kosovo for more income, right? gooooooold