As I've mentioned before, I'm keenly
aware of the price of video games, and because of this I buy games
that originally sold for sixty dollars when I see them on Steam for
ten. So it was with great joy that I finally picked up Europa
Universalis 4, during the Lunar New Year sale on Steam.
As a fan of EU:R and 3, I've wanted EU4
since it came out in 2013, but I was patient. Paradox, the
developer, kept delivering expansions, along with a massive amount of
free additional content, but I waited, hoping they would create a
bundle. I didn't want vanilla, I wanted the final product! But with
seven DLC expansions already, and another just announced (Mare
Nostrum), there seemed little point in delaying.
Yet, in a perverse manner of revolt, I
refused to buy any of the expansions. I will play vanilla! Then
I'll buy one expansion per sale, building my experience as if I had
bought each as they came out. Some day, two or three years from now,
I may catch up to Paradox, if they will just... stop... releasing...
expansions!
Its a little funny, but what finally
convinced me to invest in EU4 was I saw my brother had it. The next
time he was on Steam, I asked him to play, only to discover he had
bought EU4 awhile ago, but his computer can't run it. Foiled!
It was already installed and ready to
go, so though it felt like a betrayal of EU3, I began.
Today I'm going to outline the main
components of the Europa Universalis series of which I have played
EU: Rome, 3 and 4. I plan to make this a recurring series, because
my love of EU is comparable only to my delight in Dota 2.
The Europa Universalis series is a
grand strategy game that balances historical detail with complex
mechanics, but uses fairly streamlined game-play. The setting is the
end of the Middle Ages until the end of the Napoleonic Era. The
game-board is the world. To start a new game, you pick a nation and
direct its path through history until 1821. While you rule, you are
not a ruler, for in the four hundred year span (1399 – 1821 for EU3
and 1444 – 1821 for EU4), there will be many Kings, Queens, and
Presidents. But, you run the country: raising armies, negotiating
with other countries, and taking out loans (never take out loans).
The Europa Universalis series uses a
number of specific and general historic events, especially for the
major countries, but the game is mostly about managing your country
to achieve whatever goal you desire. For me, and I assume most
players, it is global domination (or at least as close as you can
get).
Let's look at the key components of
managing a country in EU3 and 4
The most important feature of a country
is the economy. Every month your country receives or loses gold,
which is added to or removed from the treasury. Gold is used to hire
and maintain armies, construct buildings, bribe other countries,
support colonies, and deal with events. While critical, there are
only limited actions one can take to increase income, and these
actions only come to fruition over time. For instance, some
buildings will enlarge earnings, but they require an extended
construction time, and individually only have a minimal effect.
Disbanding armies or reducing army supply is often the most effective
way to reduce costs, but comes at the steep price of being unprepared
for war.
War is a risky way to earn cash. If a
war goes well, the enemy can be forced to part with their gold to
achieve peace. Colonies can be a source of money, but a very long
term one, that requires significant investment. And even with all
the time and money colonies can revolt, causing hefty war costs or a
complete loss . If a country needs gold desperately, a loan from the
bank can be useful for quick cash, but unless you can invest it
wisely in a way that makes a profit, creditors are going to be coming
back five years later and the problem will be even worse. Eventually
your country could spiral into loan, after loan, after loan, all just
to pay back the original, until the country goes bankrupt.
If the economy is doing well, there are
other components of a kingdom. Internal stability is measured on a
scale of -3 to +3 and influences trade power, spy defense, and
income, but most importantly effects national unrest. Each province
has local unrest: effected by the ethnic group, religion, and how
long since they were conquered. High unrest leads to marauding
rebels, bent on forming their own nation. Compounding national
unrest on top of local insurrections can lead to massive rebellions
that must be held down by a generous application of soldiers. If
this continues eventually the rebels will break away, or some other
country may take advantage of your governments shrinking manpower and
money.
Its best to avoid undesired
entanglements by practicing effective diplomacy. Every nation has a
relationship score with every other nation, on a scale of -200
(horrendous), to 200 (exceptional). Each interaction with another
power requires the use of diplomat. Diplomats are renewable but
limited, so you can't take advantage of every diplomatic option. And
there are quite a few options, but they can be summed up in a few
categories. There are protective agreements, such as alliance (a
mutual protection) and guarantee (one power protects another). One
can take offensive measures such as; warn (tell a country not to
attack anyone), embargo, aid rebels, or fabricate claim (allows one
to attack without a casus belli). There are a number of other
options such as improve relation, conduct royal marriage, and provide
military access, but in the end it all boils down to one action.
War!
To declare war it is necessary to have
a casus belli, which is Latin for “a case for war “. In the EU
series declaring war without a CB causes a loss of internal stability
and worsening diplomatic relations. There are innumerable reasons
for a CB, but the easiest to activate is to fabricate a claim with a
diplomat. Each CB provides different benefits and conditions for
conducting a war, but as long as one is activated it provides enough
justification to avoid repercussions.
To fight a war a nation must have
armies. These armies are composed of 1,000 unit brigades that can be
combined together. An effective army is composed of infantry,
cavalry, and artillery (the three types of units). An effective army
is also an expensive army. But gold isn't the only limiting factor.
Nations are limited by a renewable resource called manpower, which
represents the amount of men
available to join the army. A strong nation, such as England, starts
with a manpower of 55,000. When a battle occurs, the soldiers that
die must be replenished and they are drawn from the national manpower
(which is a collection of the provinces' manpower). Yet manpower is
limited and renews slowly. For instance, the English manpower only
increases at 500 per month. That means it would take 110 months to
refill. While the game embraces long planning, nine years is a long
time to be in a state of weakness. Running out of manpower is
disastrous, and to reduce losses, many nations use a combination of
regular soldiers and mercenaries (who cost more but don't use
manpower). If a nation has no more manpower, armies are not
reinforced, and no more can be built. There is no quick fix. The
only solution is to wait for it to replenish naturally.
When
a war is won or lose (or possibly inconclusive), a peace deal is
written up and sent to the other nation. It can including the ceding
of territory, breaking of alliances, releasing vassals or conquered
nations, and changing of religion, to name a few.
There
are so many other aspects, Religion, Geography, Culture, Production,
the Holy Roman Empire, the Papacy, the unification of Japan, and
more. I can't get to them in this article, but EU will become a
regular series, like Dota.
I
plan to take this series in two directions; looking at successful
strategies, and at the differences between EU:R, 3, and 4.
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