from personal exp for majors i find Poland very easy...a quick grab into golden horde within first 4 months annex her station a few armies to control the rebels and sink all your money into tax collectors and building an army or 2 on russian border...wait till russia goes to war with sweden or teutonics and rush in once shes commited and grab 3 of her lands going for those with highest cash value and you will effectively neuter russia forever...then drop couple small armies into garrison and build 1 more solid army to hit teutonics...grab all but her capitol to keep badboy reasonable ...dont annex prussia's or teutonics capitoals yet...seems less badboy hit if you reduce countries to 1 prov first then hit em later to annex...by 1520 or so when i play teutonics prussia and ryazan are all 1 prov states, russia is reducded uslaly minus novgorod, vladirmir and khazan in first war i usually hit them again by 1530 to take other khazan prov tver and the othe prov with polands shield...if you feel like it also throwing 1 army into crimea during your war with russia to grab kalmuk for the manpower <neutering crimea> ie a solid state with controlled neighbors without too much penalties....i often end up 1st or second in pts and rarely drop...in many games ive gone for various themes ..world conquest trade wars, diplo war <had 17 vassals
>..so for those who say poland is hard try again its easy..........
in order majors: france easiest i think...decent central position, rich provinces and large numbers of 1 province 2 prov neighbors to gobble during wars all of which are usually fairly rich...you build manpower and tax base up and spain will regret being near you at all
russia if poland isnt being played smart shes easy to buy off and russia drives south and gobles...by 1520 my russia already conquered khazan, golden horde, sibir, astrakhan and diplo annexed pskov and ryazan and with that land bridge i had sent 2 waves of 12k cavalry with the early conquistador <first with him second 2 months behind to resupply> and mapped out the entiure land bridge corrdior into kamchatka and discovered china...giving me access to her cot
england if you buy off france and avoid gettign whacked in war over calis you can come out very well...keep a garrison handy to keep the irish subjugated and either diplo or militarily conquer scotland asap i prefer diplo...also i will usually work myself into alliance where i can war against spain early on...i always go for the netherlands controling that region as france or england is very good for taxes and opening up options...for england it makes eventual annexing diplo of hessen and hanover easy...go figure i dont polay england as just a colinial power hehe i usually take my corner of europe and then sit back...my prefered provs..hannover, hessen, hanseatic league and of course all the netherlands and the english isles
poland as i said before...a simply well executed plan and you will have no real threats for long time...diplo the west conquer the east..eventually your only threat will be turkey and 1 enemy to focus on is good
spain a scattered position early on makes it tough..defending the netherlands can be real mean vs france early on...your provinves starting arent very rich so those north american provs are very important as is holding the netherlands..you have to hit france early on as you can afford and hurt her good...key doint go for provs on south border...go for caux picardie and normandie if ya can..that deprives france of 6 manpower and gives it to you..they only medium tax values but id rather reduce her ability to buiuld armies..watch how many little guys you goble during wars...gobble ones that will eventually turn protestant since you can always play the diplo game and eventually get the catholic ones..also key trick...send money to england during her wars with france..the longer and harder england fights the better for you...ive also had several games both played by me and by computer where spain diplo annexes austria..talk bout nice addition
turkey like russia you get to be conquerer..but unlike russia your badboy seems to hurt more...taking mameluks early on is a must..whether do it in one war or 2 is the question i go for 1...and soon after turn on persia and try my best to gobble her in one go...with these 2 gone you are safe in the safe to use diplo means to annex all of africa middle east anbd even mughals...also in my games i try to get golden horde into alliance <i usually get astrakhan golden horde, nubia and arabia into my alliances early on> this keeps russia off balance and small as i can act to cut down her adventures..it also gives me more allies to attack poland if needed...as i vassalize i can either drop em till later or annex them to make room to get crimea soon as i can shoring up the border...europe can wait till im rdy ...spend time building up tax base as many neglect to do..leaving turkey short on cash to build those excellent troops
austria early on you wont be much for the military option by diplomacy is easy...you should have no trouble building failry quickly...dont go too fast or badbpy will still hurt and beware your allies could drag you into wasteful wars <as austria money is better spent buying vassals then troops> main dangers ive seen over and over is turkey attacking hungary and bohemia attacking poland both which can be very costly wars...however both can be useful if your allies lose 1 or 2 provs each making them easier to diplo annex. in order i go for diplo annex of bohemia, hungary, bavaria, venice, milan, modena, tuscany, genoa, savoy, baden...takes time but not too hard to do...oft times i will make em vassals let the alliance run out and join the alliance that has the next ones i want to work on them...the more vassals the better the cash flow and you can spread out the annexing to keep badboy in hand...keep in mind which countries will go protestant <all ones on my list are usually perm catholic> sometimes i will go for saxony and brandenburg early on instead hoping to grab before they change over...auystria isnt very hard over all..but takes bit more patience and self control to stay with the plan...i find myself eager to conquer something..especially when my allies get into war...but you need to avoid unecessary badboys so that you can diplo easier <higher badboy semes to reduce the odds of them saying yes> also nice trick to use...vassalize as many protestants as you can and try to keep in state of war with small nobody nations you cant reach till they convery...dont invite your allies to war so they will convert <seems i almost never see a country at war convert unless its a player nation> being at war will keep them from breaking the vassalizations then you can keep the income from the vastly better economies they get as protestants
Portugal hardest...slowest to build and takes infinitely more patience...avoid war with spain for long time bid your time...but patience is the key..i find her to be challenging and if i had more patience she would be a good country to try...but alas im a bit too expansionistic
minors : easiest to play and recommended
netherlands starting with 2 provs..it isnt hard to build alliance with hannover hessen cologne and eithe palatinate or brandenburg and attack spain to liberate your lands...usually i can get 3 home provs <hague, zeeland and flandres in first war while at same time annexing lorraine who always seems to fight for spain ...sometimes cologne will fall to spain during this sometimes not...make sure your general is free to seige steal should your allies be close to conquest <had cologne messing uo my plans one game> second war grab artois and the other h named prov i forget, and either cologne if spain owns it or luxembourg if she doesnt <thats why i conquer lorraine for 2 reasons a. lowers all relations so i can string out marriages at will to all and to keep me in striking range of franche conte which you need to take to get enough victory clout to get what you want..once your homeland secure sink monek into vassalizing cologne hessen and hanover and later annexing if you can..presto a solid strong littel state that kicks ass
china tricky...not fun sicne you cant build buildings or such but i changed that...i work with premise that genghi's policies rubbed off on china in accepting and tolerating other religions just in case...so my china since the spice trade has brought so much contact with the middle east has also brought a religious wave of change..i edit china to sunni...allowing her to build...it restrains her ability to diplo annex korea, vietnam, cambodia or japan but i think makes if far more fun to play...plus the same religion hit for war doesnt make sense for her...her pagan beliefs were always dif from japan etc...this trick will also work for any of the asian pagans japan makes a good second...china is powerful but you need to hope you get a explorer and conquistador by event or your expansion will be very slow till someone finds you...optional is trying shiite..but with the way shiites were in hiding most of time and power of sunni...i tend to believe if they chose one to change to they would chose the stronger one in world affairs...also reasoning why didnt chose catholic...moslems represented a greater influence in chinese affairs to that point in history with trade and such while catholicism/chrstianity was unknown more or less <rumors of overland missionaries abound> and of course cant chose protestant or lutheran..they dont exist yet
sweden good littel nation build an army, declare war on denmark grab a province or 2 get peace and build slowly but surely...wait till russia is at war for while and reach in and grab a prov or 2 same for teutonic knights...go slow dont overextend...all in all not too hard to play
persia rich, easy to defend land <attrition works for you on defence> your diplo growth will be stunted as you cant annex anyone by those means cept mameluks assuming they live <forming an alliance with them early on may save them> build up colonize and explore india and invade the countries of india...with their manpower added and wealth you can go after crimea, astrakhan...and later turkey...a true challenge and thrill to play...next to netherlands this really is my favorite minor to play ... but its not the easiest
hardest minors to play
inca, aztec, iroquois...all of which are stunted...even when i change their religions and change their type to latin or such they still cant build buildings...unsure what else i can change ...perhaps in country ai description to alow this...till they can build buildings they wont be able to grow well or have most of options of play other countries do kinda like running a footrace with one foot...if can be done...just more difficult
aden...you got a halfstrength city and 2 colonies...no army to speak of and crap for cash...have a good day
pskov...yes ive sene her gain province..but 10 times out of 11 pskov ends up conquered by teutonics, sweden, russia or poland within 30 yrs...as a player maybe those odds will drop...but her options are limited and friends even fewer
ragusa...do i need say more? or is it obvious enough ?
