Europa Universalis IV: Paradox Games play Best with Friends

Europa Universalis Rome, 3, and 4 Series

Europa Universalis: Rome, 3, 4, and Me: The Basics

Europa Universalis: Rome - My First EU Game and the Character System

Europa Universalis 3 versus 4: Sometimes Simpler, Occasionally More Complex, and Just As Fun

Europa Universalis IV: Paradox Games play Best with Friends

Hearts of Iron IV: Paradox Games play Best with Friends Part II

When I started Awkward Mixture, Europa Universalis 4 was one of the first games I reviewed. I had recently transitioned from Europa Universalis 3 to the new version, and commented on the differences between the two. Since 2016 the comparative article remains one of the most read on Awkward Mixture. After many hours on EU4 I could write an article comparing the two with equal experience in both. Except I can't, because I no longer remember the systems of EU3. I've fully converted to EU4 and don't' regret it.

My initial comparison was between EU3 complete, and EU4 vanilla. Since then I acquired all but the final DLC. Europa Universalis 4 includes thirteen expansions, and they are expensive when purchased individually ($10 to $15 each), but the Humble Store sold all of them for $17 on January 2020.

Two years ago, I began a game of Europa Universalis 4 with a friend. I had never played Europa Universalis, or any Paradox game, as multiplayer before, but it worked splendidly.

Playing the Europa Universalis series has always been great, but awkward. The player determines the speed of the game: normal, x2, x3, x4, or x5. Most players, including myself, use speeds 4 and 5, pausing often, and reduce the speed to 2 or 3 when at war. Initially my friend an I tried to play EU4 at speed x3. We were compelled to play at speed x2 because my friend's computer couldn't keep up. Later we came to see x2 as preferable.

To a solo player this speed would seem dull, but it allowed us time to talk; about the geopolitics of the EU4 world and our daily lives. As England, I unified the isles, and initiated my colonial conquests. We used the Random New World option in the Conquest of Paradise DLC. This option replaces North America, South America, Hawaii, and Greenland. It transforms the landmasses between the 30th meridian west to the antimeridian into a collection of randomly generated continents. This is a useful option for those player who always rule colonial powers, but are bored by the same new world. Unfortunately, something about the Random New World seems wrong. Perhaps it lacks the history necessary for it to feel significant . Stellaris had a similar problem. Or maybe the random new world feels strange because the landmasses are boringly predictable. They are blobby, lacking the creative design of real world locations like Central America, Indonesia, Western Europe, the Middle East, Scandinavia, and the Sea of Japan.

As I fought with Spain, Portugal, and France for command of the resources of the New New World, my friend, as Austria, unified the Holy Roman Empire and defeated the Ottomans. Our interests never conflicted, allowing us to maintain a permanent non-aggression pact. Late in the game we did ally to crush an insurgent France. At 1800, with our enemies destroyed by our military, economic, and political might, we stood alone as two world powers. We agreed to fight a war to see if either superpower was dominant enough to defeat the other. In the end it was a draw. Austria subdued the British possessions on the continent, but His Majesty's Royal Navy protected the rest. British colonies refused to send armies to fight on the European continent, leaving the regular British army insufficient to defeat the Austrians. I tried to find the save file to take a picture of the final result, but two years of updates have corrupted the save file beyond recovery.

It was the best experience of Europa Universalis, played at speed x2, an hour an a half every Monday for many weeks, which turned into months. We decided to repeat the play-through, this time as Ethiopia and the Timurids. While my friend nearly succumbed to rebellions, I unified the Coptics and subdued the Muslim forces in the Horn of Africa. I crossed the Bab el-Mandeb into the Arabian Peninsula and conquered the regions of modern day Yemen and the western coast along the Red Sea. With the aid of the Ottomans I destroyed the Mamelukes, claiming Cairo. Then we had a falling out, and the Ottomans defeated me in war after war. Muslim remnants in modern day Somalia revolted. Just when it looked darkest for my fledgling empire, Paradox updated the game, and the save file was corrupted.

At some point during that game we were joined by a mutual friend, who controlled England. By the start of our third multiplayer game, we numbered four.

This time two of us used the nation designer tool in the El Dorado DLC. This tool allows the creation of a custom nation. With 200 points the player designs a starting ruler, spouse, and heir. The player buys land with the points. The player chooses land owned by other countries, or uncolonized land. The points are also spent buying national ideas, the technology group, culture group, and more. The nation designer includes a massive amount of options.

Many players have tried unifying Mexico as a native nation. They hope to resist the European invasion. They never succeed. We sought another means for victory. I created the country of California, a High American, Confucian country, while my friend played as a Norse Illinois (my other friends were England and the Timurids, and they didn't contribute to the defense against European colonialism).

After conquering the Pueblo, California settled the nearby territories of Nevada and Oregon. The settlers struck gold, and the race was on. I had never realized before how powerful gold is, especially as an early game resource. My people wanted more, leading California to invade Mexico, conquering its tiny nations one by one. With the gold mines of the West Coast and Mexico, half of the revenue of California was in mined gold. This powered a massive colonization effort into Canada, Alaska, the Rockies, Texas, all the way to the Mississippi and down to Panama.

Foreign settlers arrived from Spain and Portugal. Spain settled the Louisiana, while Portugal owned the Caribbean islands. In a normal game attacking a colony means war with the colonizer, but my friends and I discovered a flaw. A nation will only defend its colonies if the attacker's capital is on the same continent than colonizing nation. Since California was in North America, I was able to conquer the Caribbean, the Louisiana, and the entirety of South America without fighting Spain or Portugal. With the resources of La Plata, Brazil, Cuba, and Peru, California spread to Siberia, Japan, Taiwan, Madagascar, Australia, and Indonesia.

Through it all I was accompanied by my three friends. We shared gossip about the nations of Europa Universalis, talked about how badly the Patriots were playing, and discussed the coronavirus. What I learned is, Europa Universalis, and many other Paradox games, are more enjoyable, played at a leisurely pace, but with friends.

Since then my friend and I expanded to other Paradox games; Hearts of Iron III (didn't work), Hearts of Iron IV, and Crusader Kings II. Crusader Kings II features DLC which converts the end of a CK 2 game to the start of an EU 4 game. On my own I started a game in 1337 as the Ottomans. My friend and I have started a CK 2 game at 867 AD, and plan to play to 1444 AD, convert to Europa Universalis 4, and then play until the end date of 1821.

Eventually I'll write about it, but that will be a two year endeavor.

Recent:

Fallout Far Harbor: Malevolence in the Outdoors

Relevant:

Civilization VI: Vanilla

Total Warhammer: Fantasy Combat

Ultimate General: The Opening Salvo