So one of my favorite features in the game came with the El Dorado DLC. It's no the custom nation creator, though. While the custom nation creator is also a great feature and gives tons more replay value and also just...sheer stupidity sometimes, my actual favorite feature is the random nation setup. Because I love randomness. Great Britain being an OPM in North America? Yes please! Lucca being a prominent power in Northern India? I'll take it!
Long story short, this feature is basically what keeps me in the game and its mainly how I play it. I haven't played a vanilla game of EU4 in a while. One day I was chilling in a random world (with custom nations set up) and I decided "Hey, here's a fun idea, let's go for some achievements, and see which ones became harder or easier because of the random nation placements." And I also decided, hey, this could be fun for an AAR or two! So...that's what I'm gonna start. A series of AARs of me hunting for achievements in a random world. If this one is well received I will definitely be doing this more with other achievements when applicable (I don't think every nation tied to an achievement is present). Before we begin, a little house rules and information to provide.
- I'm not very good at the game, so this will be on normal difficulty.
- I cannot add ironman mode to this game I don't think, or I couldn't find anything allowing me to do so. That being said, do be confident in the fact I won't be savescumming.
- In turn, note that if I fail this run, the AAR will continue with my second or third run, or whatever run afterwards is immediately interesting. This isn't based off one run, it's just based off me trying to get the achievments, regardless of how many runs it takes.
- There are custom nations in this game. I'm going to try and interact with them as little as possible (specifically I will not be allying them or using them to help me) because I feel it makes the experience a bit less authentic. Depending on general thoughts during the run the rule might change, but maybe it won't ever be relevant. Who knows.
- I don't have every dlc, I think I only have around five, so a few features are missing. Sorry, I just don't have the funds.
Now, with all that out of the way, let's begin with our achievement run, Sweden is Not Overpowered. I mean, how hard can that be, really? It's Sweden, they're pretty good. Where are they, anyways? Let's find out...
...oh, huh. Okay. That makes things...a little harder. Ahem.
Welcome to Sweden! We are a three province minor, of Sunni religion, in what is western Morocco. We have a coastline, which is nice, but unfortunately 1/3rd of our land is just straight up desert. Our immediate and only neighbor is Ouchi, who are absolutely gigantic compared to little ol' Sweden here. We're going to have to see what we can do under these less than grand conditions.
So, immediately, I'm starting to see a problem with getting this achievement. Let me illustrate it for you.
You see, the Baltics are all the way up in the north, while we are all the way down in the south. The Baltic coastline is currently in Christian hands and we are currently stuck behind angry Christians in Iberia, France, Germany, and who knows where else, including a potentially angry Ouchi, who may not enjoy our existence. Hmm, this is truly a predicament...let's add more house rules! That'll help!
My house rules are simple:
- No forming new nations (as if we'd want to; Swedish ideas are good (I'm also not sure the random setup allows for me to do this))
- No switching religions, and the entire Baltic coastline must be Sunni by the end of this.
- No culture swapping, and ideally every Baltic coastline province should become Moroccan by the end of this.
- Try to have clean or at least reasonable borders by the end of it. No messes, please.
Now with that out of the way, let's get into the real meat on these bones.
This is our Swedish-Moroccan king, Zer'wal of the Zayyanid dynasty. A man who is much better at military affairs than administrative matters. He was the one who gazed upon the Baltic and decided to make it the first "Mare Nostrum of Islam". When informed that the already existing Red Sea has a very heavy Muslim presence, he demanded the informant was executed. Now people don't feel like correcting him for some reason. ...works every time.
Interesting fact, the Zayyanid dynasty doesn't have just one ruler! Seperated by Ouchi, Kiowa also has a Zayyanid on the throne. After exchanging some back and forth letters and giving him a traditional brotherly noogie, good ol' Urtilian decided to join an alliance with us. As you notice I'm currently building a spy network in Ouchi. I'm thinking about attacking them when the Iberians inevitably invade.
It's then I noticed a fun little nation up north. A OPM by the name of Konstanz. They have not very important allies, and they are very close to my Swedish-Moroccan lands. I can't exactly get a claim on them, and by the time I did they'd likely get an ally with someone more problematic, knowing this game. With that said, I decided there was only one thing to do.
Pack your bags, baby, we're going to Iberia!
While I hate the idea of declaring a no CB war, this is essentially the only method of expansion that isn't fighting a big guy who could destroy me with just a look. I don't normally dabble with no CB wars, but I'm just desperate enough to give it a try. I call Kiowa into the war, and we take up arms!
Our ruler was given direct command over the armed forces, and he was so excited that his wife immediately gave birth to a child. I don't know how that works, but I don't question it! He's actually a pretty good ruler. Being the Moroccan Swedes we are, we name the child Gustav. Gustav Zayyanid will surely lead the nation to glorious, Baltic victory!
Also as you can see in the background we are currently launching a naval invasion, while our allies are...twiddling their thumbs or something. I don't know where they are. Hindustan is currently interfering in Nupe, though, which I think means they're inadvertently helping us. What nice people! With our forces landing in Konstanz and taking care of their army, it's only a matter of time before they fall to our power.
And fall they have. With our first province into the Christian lands of Iberia conquered, I realize that I'm going to need to be careful, lest a reconquista is in our future. Also, yeah, their army wasn't protecting their province for...some reason. I have legitimately no clue where they were that entire time.
With that really strange beginning war out of the way, we take the province! I set my sights on Nupe, next. They have one province in Iberia that will be juicy for me in the long run. In the meantime, I decide to quell the people of Huelva. Raising autonomy should keep the unrest down to-
...ah. Well, that's an issue. Must be something about Swedish-Moroccans that these people really don't like, huh? Or maybe it's the fact that we're Muslim...either way, these rebels are going to be an issue for some time now, and my negative stability isn't exactly helping.
And just as we get word of scholars appearing in our lands, no doubt enticed by our great Iberian conquests, our brother/cousin/whoever in Kiowa calls us into a war. They want to eliminate Fulo, who got bullied by Nogai not many years earlier. Fulo is allied to Anilco, a OPM situated in Gibraltar, of all places. Not wanting to disrespect a blood relative, I agree to help them with their minor war. This shouldn't take long.
In the meantime, I go over to Ouchi and check on their opinion of me. I can only assume they're starting to get hostile to this little nation in their side.
Oh yes...oh yes...
Yeeeeeeesss!
We secured an ally with the big boy in town. Unfortunately, they also declared war on Fulo, meaning my relative in Kiowa doesn't get anything from this. They will also later go on to vassalize Anilco, which blocks off my expansion just a small amount, and they're allied to Nupe, which blocks off my expansion by a big amount! But, I'm willing to let it slide. I need this alliance.
As a little bonus I also ally the nation of Nogai, just in case Ouchi gets any funny ideas and thinks they should attack the little blue boi by the border. Now Ouchi would be attack by two little blue bois by the border! Bet they wouldn't be ready for that, huh? Either way I am really only getting this alliance for insurance purposes. I don't trust the AI in this game to not stab me in the back, because that's exactly what I'd do to it.
While resting on my laurels and moving my spy network to Hindustan to also gain a claim there, I realized that we have Finnish as a supported culture. I'm...really confused as to why. We're Sweden-Morroco, nowhere close to any kind of Finn. I can only assume that this is coded into Sweden at the beginning of the game. Which is just...weird. Either way, I demote that culture to make room for more cultures in the future. I am nothing if not tolerant...just not to the Finnish.
Ooooo what is this? A nice little christian island nation, just off our coast, freshly discovered with no allies? Well, don't mind if I do. Seems like we just found new means of expansion, and better yet, it's away from the pink blob that is looming over us! ...I know it's not prime real estate, but I'll take anything I can get to ensure they don't wallop me immediately.
That being said, around ten years have passed and we have had a decent start. We conquered one province, secured a good alliance and have a decent amount of expansion opportunities, though only a few of them get us closer to our goal. We're in a precarious situation, but I think we might be able to push onward. That will be for later though. Next time, certainly.
Hope you guys enjoyed! I'm rusty with AAR making but hopefully this'll be a good time for all. I hope to relish in the chaos with all of you. Ciao!
Long story short, this feature is basically what keeps me in the game and its mainly how I play it. I haven't played a vanilla game of EU4 in a while. One day I was chilling in a random world (with custom nations set up) and I decided "Hey, here's a fun idea, let's go for some achievements, and see which ones became harder or easier because of the random nation placements." And I also decided, hey, this could be fun for an AAR or two! So...that's what I'm gonna start. A series of AARs of me hunting for achievements in a random world. If this one is well received I will definitely be doing this more with other achievements when applicable (I don't think every nation tied to an achievement is present). Before we begin, a little house rules and information to provide.
- I'm not very good at the game, so this will be on normal difficulty.
- I cannot add ironman mode to this game I don't think, or I couldn't find anything allowing me to do so. That being said, do be confident in the fact I won't be savescumming.
- In turn, note that if I fail this run, the AAR will continue with my second or third run, or whatever run afterwards is immediately interesting. This isn't based off one run, it's just based off me trying to get the achievments, regardless of how many runs it takes.
- There are custom nations in this game. I'm going to try and interact with them as little as possible (specifically I will not be allying them or using them to help me) because I feel it makes the experience a bit less authentic. Depending on general thoughts during the run the rule might change, but maybe it won't ever be relevant. Who knows.
- I don't have every dlc, I think I only have around five, so a few features are missing. Sorry, I just don't have the funds.
Now, with all that out of the way, let's begin with our achievement run, Sweden is Not Overpowered. I mean, how hard can that be, really? It's Sweden, they're pretty good. Where are they, anyways? Let's find out...
...oh, huh. Okay. That makes things...a little harder. Ahem.
Welcome to Sweden! We are a three province minor, of Sunni religion, in what is western Morocco. We have a coastline, which is nice, but unfortunately 1/3rd of our land is just straight up desert. Our immediate and only neighbor is Ouchi, who are absolutely gigantic compared to little ol' Sweden here. We're going to have to see what we can do under these less than grand conditions.
So, immediately, I'm starting to see a problem with getting this achievement. Let me illustrate it for you.
You see, the Baltics are all the way up in the north, while we are all the way down in the south. The Baltic coastline is currently in Christian hands and we are currently stuck behind angry Christians in Iberia, France, Germany, and who knows where else, including a potentially angry Ouchi, who may not enjoy our existence. Hmm, this is truly a predicament...let's add more house rules! That'll help!
My house rules are simple:
- No forming new nations (as if we'd want to; Swedish ideas are good (I'm also not sure the random setup allows for me to do this))
- No switching religions, and the entire Baltic coastline must be Sunni by the end of this.
- No culture swapping, and ideally every Baltic coastline province should become Moroccan by the end of this.
- Try to have clean or at least reasonable borders by the end of it. No messes, please.
Now with that out of the way, let's get into the real meat on these bones.
This is our Swedish-Moroccan king, Zer'wal of the Zayyanid dynasty. A man who is much better at military affairs than administrative matters. He was the one who gazed upon the Baltic and decided to make it the first "Mare Nostrum of Islam". When informed that the already existing Red Sea has a very heavy Muslim presence, he demanded the informant was executed. Now people don't feel like correcting him for some reason. ...works every time.
Interesting fact, the Zayyanid dynasty doesn't have just one ruler! Seperated by Ouchi, Kiowa also has a Zayyanid on the throne. After exchanging some back and forth letters and giving him a traditional brotherly noogie, good ol' Urtilian decided to join an alliance with us. As you notice I'm currently building a spy network in Ouchi. I'm thinking about attacking them when the Iberians inevitably invade.
It's then I noticed a fun little nation up north. A OPM by the name of Konstanz. They have not very important allies, and they are very close to my Swedish-Moroccan lands. I can't exactly get a claim on them, and by the time I did they'd likely get an ally with someone more problematic, knowing this game. With that said, I decided there was only one thing to do.
Pack your bags, baby, we're going to Iberia!
While I hate the idea of declaring a no CB war, this is essentially the only method of expansion that isn't fighting a big guy who could destroy me with just a look. I don't normally dabble with no CB wars, but I'm just desperate enough to give it a try. I call Kiowa into the war, and we take up arms!
Our ruler was given direct command over the armed forces, and he was so excited that his wife immediately gave birth to a child. I don't know how that works, but I don't question it! He's actually a pretty good ruler. Being the Moroccan Swedes we are, we name the child Gustav. Gustav Zayyanid will surely lead the nation to glorious, Baltic victory!
Also as you can see in the background we are currently launching a naval invasion, while our allies are...twiddling their thumbs or something. I don't know where they are. Hindustan is currently interfering in Nupe, though, which I think means they're inadvertently helping us. What nice people! With our forces landing in Konstanz and taking care of their army, it's only a matter of time before they fall to our power.
And fall they have. With our first province into the Christian lands of Iberia conquered, I realize that I'm going to need to be careful, lest a reconquista is in our future. Also, yeah, their army wasn't protecting their province for...some reason. I have legitimately no clue where they were that entire time.
With that really strange beginning war out of the way, we take the province! I set my sights on Nupe, next. They have one province in Iberia that will be juicy for me in the long run. In the meantime, I decide to quell the people of Huelva. Raising autonomy should keep the unrest down to-
...ah. Well, that's an issue. Must be something about Swedish-Moroccans that these people really don't like, huh? Or maybe it's the fact that we're Muslim...either way, these rebels are going to be an issue for some time now, and my negative stability isn't exactly helping.
And just as we get word of scholars appearing in our lands, no doubt enticed by our great Iberian conquests, our brother/cousin/whoever in Kiowa calls us into a war. They want to eliminate Fulo, who got bullied by Nogai not many years earlier. Fulo is allied to Anilco, a OPM situated in Gibraltar, of all places. Not wanting to disrespect a blood relative, I agree to help them with their minor war. This shouldn't take long.
In the meantime, I go over to Ouchi and check on their opinion of me. I can only assume they're starting to get hostile to this little nation in their side.
Oh yes...oh yes...
Yeeeeeeesss!
We secured an ally with the big boy in town. Unfortunately, they also declared war on Fulo, meaning my relative in Kiowa doesn't get anything from this. They will also later go on to vassalize Anilco, which blocks off my expansion just a small amount, and they're allied to Nupe, which blocks off my expansion by a big amount! But, I'm willing to let it slide. I need this alliance.
As a little bonus I also ally the nation of Nogai, just in case Ouchi gets any funny ideas and thinks they should attack the little blue boi by the border. Now Ouchi would be attack by two little blue bois by the border! Bet they wouldn't be ready for that, huh? Either way I am really only getting this alliance for insurance purposes. I don't trust the AI in this game to not stab me in the back, because that's exactly what I'd do to it.
While resting on my laurels and moving my spy network to Hindustan to also gain a claim there, I realized that we have Finnish as a supported culture. I'm...really confused as to why. We're Sweden-Morroco, nowhere close to any kind of Finn. I can only assume that this is coded into Sweden at the beginning of the game. Which is just...weird. Either way, I demote that culture to make room for more cultures in the future. I am nothing if not tolerant...just not to the Finnish.
Ooooo what is this? A nice little christian island nation, just off our coast, freshly discovered with no allies? Well, don't mind if I do. Seems like we just found new means of expansion, and better yet, it's away from the pink blob that is looming over us! ...I know it's not prime real estate, but I'll take anything I can get to ensure they don't wallop me immediately.
That being said, around ten years have passed and we have had a decent start. We conquered one province, secured a good alliance and have a decent amount of expansion opportunities, though only a few of them get us closer to our goal. We're in a precarious situation, but I think we might be able to push onward. That will be for later though. Next time, certainly.
Hope you guys enjoyed! I'm rusty with AAR making but hopefully this'll be a good time for all. I hope to relish in the chaos with all of you. Ciao!
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