Which CK2-imported Scandinavian nation to play?

[soebek]

I'm currently finishing up a CK2 game I started as the King of Sweden, where I have successfully subjugated the entirety of Scandinavia, plus Scotland. I am the King of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Scotland. I'm not an emperor. Now, I started this game with the deliberate intention of importing it into EUIV when I was done, as I had never played a Scandinavian nation before (usually sticking to Ireland, Italy or the muslim states in North Africa) and wanted to see it through as far as I could. 1453 is almost upon me and I'm on the verge of being ready to export, but I'm unsure of what nation to "export" as, if that makes sense.

Firstly, does my EUIV nation and associated idea group come from my title, or my king's culture? For example, if before exporting I make the Kingdom of Norway my primary title in CK2 but my king himself remains Swedish, will I have the Norwegian or the Swedish national ideas? This isn't a big deal, but I need to know so I can make appropriate preparations to set up the export (ie, whether it's as simple as switching my primary title to the chosen nation before exporting, or if I need to go deeper and make sure my final monarch is of the correct culture).

The reason I'm doing this is because I'm aware that the nation you choose -- with its associated idea groups -- has a far greater impact on EUIV than it does on CK2, where my primary title is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Here, the difference between choosing Sweden or Norway (or one of the others) seems to be far more impactful, as it determines what national ideas I get, which in turn can have a huge impact on the way the game plays out.

So, that being said, which nation would you suggest I take forward as my main one into EUIV? I guess the national ideas I potentially have access to are those of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Scotland. Which of those is the most "fun", and how do they impact the way the game plays out? And if, for example, I was to say I'm potentially looking at playing EUIV as a nation leaning towards colonisation (having already had my share of warfare and conquest in uniting Scandinavia in the first place), which of the ideas would most further that aim?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[grisamentum]

Well Sweden is overpowered so if you're just looking for the "best" country you should probably go with that one. But Norway gets a bonus colonist and in theory doesn't need the Exploration idea group (but in reality you should take it anyway) and is definitely the better colonizer because of the extra colonist and the bonus range.

 

[quinntan2222]

Norway's are definitely the most colonial based but Sweden's probably overall best, though military focused, because of the national modifiers from events and national ideas.

 

[Dakilla TM]

Do Sweden! The NIs and events that make Sweden infamous is what you want

On a side note, and I think this is just me, but when I play an imported CK2 game, all the monarch names are really old school/Midieval style names. Like for Sweden, I really like Karl, Gustav, Fredrik, Christopher, etc. But when you import, you get names like Knut, Knut, Knut, Knut, Erik, and then MOAR KNUTS! I find that a bit absurd.

 

[peter12345]

Firstly, does my EUIV nation and associated idea group come from my title, or my king's culture?

according to the newest changelog for CK2, it is based on culture

 

[soebek]

So the overwhelming opinion seems to be that:

If I want to play a purely colonially-focused game to the exclusion of all else then I should choose Norway for the national ideas.
If I want to play a more balanced game then I should choose Sweden, as they're inherently more powerful than the others.

Is there any benefit to picking Danish, Finnish or Scottish as my national ideas and events, or are they just weaker? What are their strong points?

If I pick Sweden, and go for a more all-rounder sort of game, can I still become a colonial power? Perhaps not the premiere power in the world (I doubt I can compete with Portugal, for example), but I'd still like to grab a good number of colonies. Or does a game as Sweden tend to be very militaristic and Eurocentric with a focus on epic land wars in central and eastern Europe?

according to the newest changelog for CK2, it is based on culture

Thank you for this! It's a little more work, but not too much. I've got about thirty years of CK2 time left - guess I better start tutoring my heirs!

Final quick question - if I export a CK2 save at the game end of 1453, does EUIV start at 1453 or 1444 as usual?

 

[Vedinu]

If I pick Sweden, and go for a more all-rounder sort of game, can I still become a colonial power? Perhaps not the premiere power in the world (I doubt I can compete with Portugal, for example), but I'd still like to grab a good number of colonies. Or does a game as Sweden tend to be very militaristic and Eurocentric with a focus on epic land wars in central and eastern Europe?

Well that's of course up to you.
You can colonize, and it will be quite easy because you hold Scotland.
But just pick Norway. Because Sweden is always Sweden.

 

[peter12345]

Is there any benefit to picking Danish, Finnish or Scottish as my national ideas and events, or are they just weaker? What are their strong points?

I dont know about finnish, but i dont think they have any strong points. I haven't played any of theese contries yet.
Denmark and Scotland are good/fun because of thier starting positions and to bacause of thier culturs. Denmark starts with Norway and Sweden under PU, and Scotland can take out England (which normally doesn't happens) and go for the new world. Since you already own theese lands, there isn't really a point in converting into Denmark or Scotland.

 

[S0ny B1ack]

So the overwhelming opinion seems to be that:

If I want to play a purely colonially-focused game to the exclusion of all else then I should choose Norway for the national ideas.
If I want to play a more balanced game then I should choose Sweden, as they're inherently more powerful than the others.

Is there any benefit to picking Danish, Finnish or Scottish as my national ideas and events, or are they just weaker? What are their strong points?

If I pick Sweden, and go for a more all-rounder sort of game, can I still become a colonial power? Perhaps not the premiere power in the world (I doubt I can compete with Portugal, for example), but I'd still like to grab a good number of colonies. Or does a game as Sweden tend to be very militaristic and Eurocentric with a focus on epic land wars in central and eastern Europe?



Thank you for this! It's a little more work, but not too much. I've got about thirty years of CK2 time left - guess I better start tutoring my heirs!

Final quick question - if I export a CK2 save at the game end of 1453, does EUIV start at 1453 or 1444 as usual?

You can find their national ideas here: http://www.eu4wiki.com/National_ideas
Except the finish ones, since they are a minor country and get these: http://www.eu4wiki.com/Minor_countries generic ideas...

I've only played one game of EU4 form the beggining to the end. But I can say that you can become a major colonisation power even if you start late and have no boni from your national ideas. I palyed an Iron man Switzerland game and never planned to colonise.
Than I got a port in northern italy and noticed that i could reach one uncolonised province in Africa... So I took expension ideas (since they give a colonist, but later also other usefull stuff if the colonisation would fail) and got it (It became mine around 1570-1580). From there I was able to reach the carribean, which just recently opened up on the map - yes I didn't explore anything in the whole game...
(you would obviously go a different route, but I just wanted to point out - I had no NIs for colonisation, my position was far worse than yours would be etc. and it was still possible)

So yes even if oyu take Swedish you could create a colonising empire IMHO (at least against the AI)

In the end this was created:

Spoiler

(there are some more islands colonised by me, but this is the biggest area - everything was done with normal colonisation exceot the area of the Aztecs, which I had vassalised through war and later diplo annexed)

 

[soebek]

You can find their national ideas here: http://www.eu4wiki.com/National_ideas
Except the finish ones, since they are a minor country and get these: http://www.eu4wiki.com/Minor_countries generic ideas...

Thanks for the link!

I think I'll go with Sweden then. That's also the least "cheesy" given my CK2 game has seen me play as Swedes ruling Sweden for its entirety, so it makes the most sense they'd have Swedish ideas!