Theodoro you say...

[hajutze]

Doesn't prevent them from getting claim on Crimea itself and hating you for that.

I'mma put my progress in spoiler tags (for some reason I'm quite happy with my progress )

Spoiler

I am probably going for the southern parts of USSR (Uzbek + South of it), the problem is that the Timurids are allied with the Ottomans and I'm not a big fan of fighting big wars for 1-3 BT provinces

 

[ParadogsGamer]

Doesn't prevent them from getting claim on Crimea itself and hating you for that.

I'mma put my progress in spoiler tags (for some reason I'm quite happy with my progress )

Spoiler

I am probably going for the southern parts of USSR (Uzbek + South of it), the problem is that the Timurids are allied with the Ottomans and I'm not a big fan of fighting big wars for 1-3 BT provinces

Russia, PLC, Ottomans, Timurids. Not much way of expansion heh?

 

[hajutze]

Trust me, fighting Russia and PLC is out of the question, but I am going after them Timurids one way or another (probably after PLC crushes the Ottomans again so they wont join in a defensive war with Timmies)

But first - Uzbeks

 

[Freudia]

Doesn't prevent them from getting claim on Crimea itself and hating you for that.

I'mma put my progress in spoiler tags (for some reason I'm quite happy with my progress )

Spoiler

I am probably going for the southern parts of USSR (Uzbek + South of it), the problem is that the Timurids are allied with the Ottomans and I'm not a big fan of fighting big wars for 1-3 BT provinces

Sounds like your situation was a little similar to mine. I got hugboxed by Ottomans + GH + Persia, and only just recently managed to break out of that. I like the way your Theodoro looks more than mine, though. Looks cleaner.

Spoiler

Najd and Oman are vassals.

 

[hajutze]

Gotta love how the turks take their time to conquer the mamluks

And gotta hate how I crushed the Uzbeks, got half of their land and ... they allied the turks :angry:

 

[ParadogsGamer]

Freuidia, your picture shows 1619.
So the real problem going forward seems to be the boxing in between the big powers.
Perhaps going for a weak Persia/Timurids is the best direction. Or if Russia is week, then up that way. Europe seems far away though.

 

[atwix]

I think the best route for Theodoro is straight south to Persian gulf and then west into Mamluks. And play opportunistic around Black sea. If you see a nation losing a war, get some quick pickings when you see their army got wiped (iin the ledger). Create a corridor line through that nation to a next one. Expanding an OPM in EU4 is basically conquering provinces in a straight line to towards other countries while attacking weak folks around you when you can. Its possible to conquer Uzbek, take expansion, colonize few provinces and hop to Oirat or Chagatai. Well, I should check new map, but planning ahead does help. Study 1444 start map and set your goals at start.

I'll give example: As yaroslavl, i went for Pskov in independance war, so i bordered livonian order and Novgorod. Took the province from muscovy that would link me to them after a novgorod war. After a short Tver war, i could declare on novgorod with help of denmark.

Result? Direct line from Yaroslavl to Baltic port now, direct line to sweden for getting help in future wars from denmark, chance to westernize, and direct access line to Perm now through conquered novgorod provinces. Yay for making lines.

 

[Freudia]

Freuidia, your picture shows 1619.
So the real problem going forward seems to be the boxing in between the big powers.
Perhaps going for a weak Persia/Timurids is the best direction. Or if Russia is week, then up that way. Europe seems far away though.

Yes, this is definitely the way to go, I think. Persia is not likely to be weak though; Timurids staying together is the most ideal situation as Timurids is a paper tiger. With that said, Europe for the most part is off-limits for the first 150 years, as you need to build a powerbase before you challenge PLC and Ottomans. If the opportunity shows itself, you can push northward (ergo you don't get boxed in by GH + Ottomans + Persia), but whether you can go more north than that remains to be seen. I can't really say; I had a weak Muscovy instead of a strong one. I'd imagine a strong Muscovy or Russia would make going north dangerous. So until you get that powerbase, going anywhere but south or east is dangerous I think. As atwix said, you should remain opportunistic though and definitely be alert for easy pickings. For quite awhile you're that dog that looks for scraps of meat from the table.

 

[hajutze]

If I could only declare on the Timmies without the turks joining (believe me I've tried ... made them abandon the alliance -> turks become DoF and really after 10 years ;()

Spoiler

all I want (for now) is to take are the uzbek and turkmeni lands so I can make a nice border

===================================================

Well .. the Turks attacked Hungary + Spain and some others, I allied Austria (as well) and attacked the Timmies ... the turks got wrecked

The result:

Spoiler

+ I forced them to disband the alliance again but I'm sure they'll be right back on it as soon as possible.

 

[ParadogsGamer]

You guys are getting ahead of me. All my playing was from Friday. I like to keep my weekends off.
So I will be playing again tomorrow.
Oh, and episode 5 is live.
So it was episode 6 I found the diplomat lol.

 

[hajutze]

The weekend is the only free time I have sooo

I guess next step is -> Iranian region

Spoiler

I've converted (culturally) everything except the caucasian cultures (it feels ... wrong ... somehow )

 

[ParadogsGamer]

The weekend is the only free time I have sooo

I guess next step is -> Iranian region

Spoiler

I've converted (culturally) everything except the caucasian cultures (it feels ... wrong ... somehow )

Well I'm gaming full time, monday to friday ;-)
So I will be catching up during the week.