What are your goals in EU4?

[zodium]

my dream would be a game where you can pic any nation you want and it'd be a huge challenge. Like the ottomans in 1444

Ottomans are as challenging as you want them to be. You can literally start conquering into Europe right away, as long as you're also comfortable beating a continent-spanning coalition right away. I'm not being facetious, you can actually do that and win, and it's incredibly challenging.

 

[Artyom87]

Ottomans are as challenging as you want them to be. You can literally start conquering into Europe right away, as long as you're also comfortable beating a continent-spanning coalition right away. I'm not being facetious, you can actually do that and win, and it's incredibly challenging.

yeah true that. But its too much for me, too ahistorical. I want ottomans where you reclaim your rightful turkish land, then into egypt and tunis and to morocco, to georgia and crimea, and then suddenly find you are not the only one expanding and that you are not the biggest or have the best army/economy, and only THEN expand into europe

 

[oblio-]

yeah true that. But its too much for me, too ahistorical. I want ottomans where you reclaim your rightful turkish land, then into egypt and tunis and to morocco, to georgia and crimea, and then suddenly find you are not the only one expanding and that you are not the biggest or have the best army/economy, and only THEN expand into europe

The first wave of Ottoman expansion outside of Anatolia was in Europe

 

[Artyom87]

The first wave of Ottoman expansion outside of Anatolia was in Europe

serbia/bosnia/wallachia and parts of hungary dont count as europe. Just about anyone can take that land

I was thinking europe as in Vienna or Rome

 

[oblio-]

serbia/bosnia/wallachia and parts of hungary dont count as europe. Just about anyone can take that land

Not really. Hungary is often allied with France or Burgundy. They can often send troops over and if they do you are in for a lot of pain. Venice also conquers Ragusa/Serbia often and it, too, has scary allies.

Of course, if you catch them alone the conquest happens quickly.

 

[Artyom87]

Not really. Hungary is often allied with France or Burgundy. They can often send troops over and if they do you are in for a lot of pain. Venice also conquers Ragusa/Serbia often and it, too, has scary allies.

Of course, if you catch them alone the conquest happens quickly.

well then you dont declare war if its dangerous.

My point I was trying to make is Iam not trying to play the ottos and blindly declare war and get coalitions "just because", or play the russians and declare war on all the hordes and lithuania at game start, or declare war on poland as brandenburg on day 1, or never sign peace with France in the HYW as England until the 16th century.

I just want to play an OP nation like the ottos like its a challenge with a bit historical roleplay (meaning that I will try to get bosnia/serbia, but I dont have to if it will lead me to danger exposure).

In other words, I want to play an overpowered nation like its a small OPM where you do whatever it takes (within historical context) to grow and stuff and where you dont manipulate the game to make it harder on purpose such as declaring a pointless war or fighting for silly benefit (such as fighting wiith hungary if its allied with the pope, bavaria, and france just to take a province or three to sell to your bosnian vassal at game's start)

 

[zodium]

yeah true that. But its too much for me, too ahistorical. I want ottomans where you reclaim your rightful turkish land, then into egypt and tunis and to morocco, to georgia and crimea, and then suddenly find you are not the only one expanding and that you are not the biggest or have the best army/economy, and only THEN expand into europe

France/Russia provide exactly this role for the Ottomans.

 

[cpm4001]

I keep the borders clean! Yes, that sometimes means tag-switching, but who cares.

 

[Bloodyfield]

I enjoy playing challenging nations like real underdogs or maybe just some mid-sized countries and see how I can fare with them. Countries like Brittanny, Scottland or Yemen are exactly what I find the most interesting. Usually I stop playing by the time I get huge and uncontestet.

 

[balmung60]

Goals?
One: Blob.
Two: Screw over Castile/Spain (such an ugly color and so much of it).
Three: Screw over Austria (such an ugly color and so much of it). Four: Screw over anyone who reaches Ewiger Landfriede (I refuse to allow the HRE to form, and if they manage to revoke the privilegia, the number one priority is to prevent them from making the abomination that is HRE gray a reality, but no internal wars is kind of the tipping point).
Five: If anyone else is ruled by the Habsburgs, put them out of their misery (okay, so at this point, I'm just bitter at house von Habsburg (almost as bad as the bizarre mishmash of Karlings in CK2)).
Six: Avoid other unsightly things. I'll sink the DIP to integrate Lithuania because the Commonwealth is ugly and never form Scandinavia simply because the Kalmar Union flag is an abomination.
Seven: If it still exists, end Byzantium (revenge for CK2 and because, honestly, after all the romanophilia, I've come to despise the whole Roman thing).
Eight: Encourage alternate nation formations (eg. Novgorodian Russia, Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth)

 

[oblio-]

Goals?
One: Blob.
Two: Screw over Castile/Spain (such an ugly color and so much of it).
Three: Screw over Austria (such an ugly color and so much of it). Four: Screw over anyone who reaches Ewiger Landfriede (I refuse to allow the HRE to form, and if they manage to revoke the privilegia, the number one priority is to prevent them from making the abomination that is HRE gray a reality, but no internal wars is kind of the tipping point).
Five: If anyone else is ruled by the Habsburgs, put them out of their misery (okay, so at this point, I'm just bitter at house von Habsburg (almost as bad as the bizarre mishmash of Karlings in CK2)).
Six: Avoid other unsightly things. I'll sink the DIP to integrate Lithuania because the Commonwealth is ugly and never form Scandinavia simply because the Kalmar Union flag is an abomination.
Seven: If it still exists, end Byzantium (revenge for CK2 and because, honestly, after all the romanophilia, I've come to despise the whole Roman thing).
Eight: Encourage alternate nation formations (eg. Novgorodian Russia, Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth)

A man. A plan. A canal. Panama. Death to Habsburgs.

I tend to do the same thing. In my case Russia, Castile and Portugal as aggressive colonizers are targets of hatred. The Ottomans are a distant second. For whatever reason I can't hate France. I don't care much about Austria, I've smacked them around too many times to fear them

But those 3 above get smacked whenever I get a chance. Russia especially: it's their fault that they're sitting on such beautiful map property. Nothing says "successful blob" like huge letters stretched over Siberia!

 

[Artyom87]

I hate Spain and CW. And I feel sorry for everyone else

 

[balmung60]

A man. A plan. A canal. Panama. Death to Habsburgs.

I tend to do the same thing. In my case Russia, Castile and Portugal as aggressive colonizers are targets of hatred. The Ottomans are a distant second. For whatever reason I can't hate France. I don't care much about Austria, I've smacked them around too many times to fear them

But those 3 above get smacked whenever I get a chance. Russia especially: it's their fault that they're sitting on such beautiful map property. Nothing says "successful blob" like huge letters stretched over Siberia!

To be clear, I don't fear them - I just don't like them.

As for France, I don't care about them either. French blue is too pretty to get mad about.

 

[Kirkegaard]

No matter who I play with it always end up like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHn0pBePN7I

 

[fuelbomb]

I like to set small to moderate, regional goals, and then just go forward from there. I will say though, one thing that I absolutely LOVE doing, once I get powerful enough, is to agressively ruin and dismantle any country that sticks its nose in my business or honours an ally's call to war. I'll siege them 100% and then release every minor nation possible, take all of their money, annul as many treaties as possible, cut them in half, landlock them, and send them on their way.

 

[Freudia]

Get big. That's usually the only goal I walk into a game of EU4 with. I like seeing how far I can push a nation, so I tend to pick unprivileged starts. Over the course of the game I might add subgoals or restrictions to the run, but when I'm first starting a campaign, getting as big as I can is usually the only thing I'm aiming for.

That and making the map look nice by painting with a nice purple or something.

 

[Redwallzyl]

play within a plausible senerio often at later start dates and use commands to keep the AI from being stupid (Spain in Siberia) or keeping borders nice. i don't like to super expand but instead create small powerhouses like in my Netherlands game where i only own the low countries and control the Indonesian trade for 700 in trading profits a month. so I'm single handedly able to defeat France with mercenaries and take there Indonesia colonies as well as doing my best to dismantle Portugal and Spain's monopoly on trade and all without blobbing in Europe and the Americas. though i do own the entire cape and most of Indonesia and now the Spanish Philippines.

 

[ikkiks]

Conquer, conquer and conquer. Always trying to conquer more than the last game, or until it becomes too easy and boring. Last time, I got to an almost one-tag WC as Otto. But, somehow every american nation got their liberty so I ended up with an one-tag old world conquest. That's what I get for trying to keep my borders clean.

Right now, I want to try a Ryukyu wc, but I feel like it's impossible without a huge exploit, such as infinite monarch points.

 

[cpm4001]

play within a plausible senerio often at later start dates and use commands to keep the AI from being stupid (Spain in Siberia) or keeping borders nice. i don't like to super expand but instead create small powerhouses like in my Netherlands game where i only own the low countries and control the Indonesian trade for 700 in trading profits a month. so I'm single handedly able to defeat France with mercenaries and take there Indonesia colonies as well as doing my best to dismantle Portugal and Spain's monopoly on trade and all without blobbing in Europe and the Americas. though i do own the entire cape and most of Indonesia and now the Spanish Philippines.

And I thought I was the only one who did this sort of stuff!

 

[Illianor123]

I like to make formables, or blob as a nation with an interesting name or ideas (like The Knights).

Clean borders are a pseudo goal.