Europa Universalis III

[Shabbaman]

OK, I'll play Scotland next. Or Ireland.

[Kingreno]

So, PP got me a free code for this game and I spent yesterday evening exploring teh possibilities. It seems like a very decent game though the learning curve is indeed steep, and the in game help is non-existant!

I started a game as Holland and that lasted just 10 years. Here's what happened: I got a "build army quest" and so I built armies, set research to govenrment and sent out traders to Antwerpen and Lübeck. Money was good and my relations to my Dutch neighbours very decent.
So far, so good. Now, in just 3 years of Play, micghty Burgundy declares war without CB on Brabant and Liege, conquering them with ease. They then go on to take Utrecht and are attacking Gelre... Their army is massive and though I am pretty well defended there seems no way I can take them on, or am I missing something here? I am at peace with them but for how long?

Othe rproblems:

My prestige is -5,0 per year without visible cause. do not get it...

I have 5 Magistrates, but what do they do?

I have a Navy, but it sits in port, what good can they do?

[Shabbaman]

Originally Posted by Kingreno

So, PP got me a free code for this game and I spent yesterday evening exploring teh possibilities. It seems like a very decent game though the learning curve is indeed steep, and the in game help is non-existant!

I started a game as Holland and that lasted just 10 years. Here's what happened: I got a "build army quest" and so I built armies, set research to govenrment and sent out traders to Antwerpen and Lübeck. Money was good and my relations to my Dutch neighbours very decent.
So far, so good. Now, in just 3 years of Play, micghty Burgundy declares war without CB on Brabant and Liege, conquering them with ease. They then go on to take Utrecht and are attacking Gelre... Their army is massive and though I am pretty well defended there seems no way I can take them on, or am I missing something here? I am at peace with them but for how long?

You need an alliance with France or England or something like that. Or ally with Burgundy. Grant them military access. All that will keep them from invading you. You are relatively safe, because Burgundy doesn't get pre-set missions to conquer you (although there's always border friction that could give them a random CB). Burgundy gets missions to conquer Brabant and Hainaut (actually that one is useful to get out of the personal union). These missions give them a CB, although that might not be so obvious. I don't know why they're picking on Utrecht and Gelre: they might've been too weak, insulting, or whatever. It's not as if the AI refrains from building up infamy...

It's a bad thing, because you need Utrecht and Gelre yourself. Luckily if they don't have a core there, the HRE might demand that they release those provinces.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

My prestige is -5,0 per year without visible cause. do not get it...

You're obviously losing prestige because the people are forgetting the awesome things you've done in the past. It's a game mechanic that exists to get you to do stuff.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

I have 5 Magistrates, but what do they do?

My, you survived for 10 years without using a magistrate? What difficulty level are you playing? I wouldn't recommend playing on normal... Anyway, magistrates are the "action buttons" of this game. Almost everything you want to do requires one (or more) magistrates (and if it doesn't require magistrates, it requires a diplomat). If you want to build something, you need a magistrate, for example. Or if you want to commission a painting My suggestion is that you build a constable or market first, because it is important to get a workshop or trade depot (the level 2 buildings following those) ASAP. It's all about the ducats.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

I have a Navy, but it sits in port, what good can they do?

Select them and make them sail around. Discover the world, meet new people and kill them. Actually, you might need to wait a few turns before you can do that.

[ProPain]

Originally Posted by Kingreno

So, PP got me a free code for this game and I spent yesterday evening exploring teh possibilities. It seems like a very decent game though the learning curve is indeed steep, and the in game help is non-existant!

I started a game as Holland and that lasted just 10 years. Here's what happened: I got a "build army quest" and so I built armies, set research to govenrment and sent out traders to Antwerpen and Lübeck. Money was good and my relations to my Dutch neighbours very decent.
So far, so good. Now, in just 3 years of Play, micghty Burgundy declares war without CB on Brabant and Liege, conquering them with ease. They then go on to take Utrecht and are attacking Gelre... Their army is massive and though I am pretty well defended there seems no way I can take them on, or am I missing something here? I am at peace with them but for how long?

Othe rproblems:

My prestige is -5,0 per year without visible cause. do not get it...

I have 5 Magistrates, but what do they do?

I have a Navy, but it sits in port, what good can they do?

Well, Holland is a good choice to start with. Good economy and research rates.


Some tips:

• when you start focus all your research ability on getting stability to 3. This will greatly improve your income and reduce revolt risks. Once you hit stability 3 you can research other stuff. If you take a stab hit during play ( and you will at some point) immediately focus all research to get stab back up to 3 again.
• All dutch/ belgian provinces run the risk of Burgundian invasion when you start. Send out some alliance requests to powerfull nations before you press the unpause button for the 1st time.
• Check Burgundy's mission before you unpause. Especiallt when you play as Brabant. Sometimes Burgundy's mission is to add you to their empire and that garantuees an early attack. Focus on allies and military even more.
• Magistrates: used for building stuff and some decision. Not so important at the start. use every 5th for a great painting and convert magistrate into cult tradition
• Navy. Not very usefull at the start unless someone DoW's you and tries to land troops from ships.

[ProPain]

I took so much time writing that up between work that Shabba basically gave all the same advise alrdy

[Kingreno]

Thanks PP and Shabba!

About Holland being a vassal of (tiny) Hainaut. Is declaring war the only option?? I immediately suffer war from Brittany and some other province...

So Magistrates are used for everything except trade/diplo.

What I did now was autosend traders to Antwerp and Lübeck (closest tradehubs) and I get the idea this gives me ducats.

I send the diplomats (always in short supply!!) to my neighbours for mili passage and stuff like that. So I should send soem to France and England for alliances as well huh? Ok will do. How about tradetreaties? Do or don't? It's not like in civ or total war that trade is always good?

Magistrates = paintings?? I have some other "envelelopes with the green V on it" is that what they do?

How much military do I need? I have 16 units in Holland at teh moment while Gelre has only 1. Yet without a CB... it seems in vain. Thta's a don't right, attacking without CB?

[Shabbaman]

Originally Posted by Kingreno

About Holland being a vassal of (tiny) Hainaut. Is declaring war the only option?? I immediately suffer war from Brittany and some other province...

Take a look at this strategy guide. If you're only half as interested in obscure game mechanics as I am you'll love that wiki. I'll copy/paste the part about Hainaut:

1. Follow the classical path by sending insults to Hainaut. The relationship level with Hainaut must drop below 0: after the death of the king, Holland will get a separate king and become an independent nation. This path to independence can be long and exhausting.
2. Dissolve the alliance with Hainaut and simply declare war on them. Holland will immediately get a new, independent king. But here's the catch: Hainaut is protected by the Holy Roman Emperor (most likely Bohemia) and also allied with Trier. So though it's possible to quickly win against Hainaut and get peace (most likely with Trier), Bohemia can send huge armies that are just too strong.
3. This path towards independence is the most recommended. Simply dissolve the alliance with Hainaut (because you don't want to fight Burgundy) and wait until Burgundy gets the mission to annex Hainaut and declares war on them. Burgundy will quickly win and annex Hainaut. This will automatically free you from the union.
The most crucial part here is not to forget to dissolve the alliance with Hainaut because otherwise you will be having lots of trouble (when having alliance in personal union as lesser partner, you automatically become dragged into war when somebody declares war on major partner of the union). I actually recommend to dissolve alliance right away at the start of the game, because Hainaut is too weak to protect you anyway.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

What I did now was autosend traders to Antwerp and Lübeck (closest tradehubs) and I get the idea this gives me ducats.

Well, you're lucky for a change: those are the most valuable centers of trade, so you'll receive the best revenue. Merchants can make you very rich.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

Ok will do. How about tradetreaties? Do or don't? It's not like in civ or total war that trade is always good?

Trade agreements are good when you're ahead, but bad when you're behind. In my France game I got into the Hanseatic trade league (which is a trade agreement with multiple nations at once, basically), and it screwed me out of competing in Lubeck. Luckily it screwed everybody else out of competing in Antwerp and Genoa (CoT's I owned), so it wasn't that bad for me. With the over 9000 infamy it helped me compete in foreign CoT's that nobody else had reached, but I don't know if it's worth it. At the time it wasn't a conscious decision, it just sounded cool (an important factor in any Paradox game). Anyway, about trade agreements, I wouldn't bother. Another related topic is "open markets", but you shouldn't have problems with that already.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

Magistrates = paintings?? I have some other "envelelopes with the green V on it" is that what they do?

Yes, all green envelopes make paintings There's a ? symbol next to the envelope, it has a tooltip that tells you what it does and what the requirements are.

Originally Posted by Kingreno

How much military do I need? I have 16 units in Holland at teh moment while Gelre has only 1. Yet without a CB... it seems in vain. Thta's a don't right, attacking without CB?

You don't have a core on Gelre?

Well, you can attack without CB, but you'll get a stability hit (that's what the information in the "declare war" screen means). You're small, if you hire an artist you should be back at +3 stability rather quickly (especially if Propain has told you how you can move the sliders...). Sometimes you get a mission to conquer or vassalize your neighbours (which means you get a CB), so it's worth pursuing the mission objectives you receive. If not for the mission itself, perhaps for the next mission.

Which brings me to this: what are you planning to do with Gelre? You're in the HRE, so it's likely the emperor will force you to release provinces you don't have a core on. You could vassalize them, usually you get a mission to integrate a vassal which also grants a core on that vassal.

[Kingreno]

Thanks again for the feedback.

My second try with Holland lasted 75 years. I got the feeling I got unlucky with several things, Hinaut survived very long despite a Burgundy mission to kill them, my neighbours all got heavy allieances in the HRE and my gamble to invest in an alliance with England went wrong as Spain, Sweden, Denmark and France declared on them and even got a foothold in Cornwall...

The HRE web of alliances made it virtually insane to wage war as was shown when I attacked Frisian with a decent CB. I got swarmed with 20+ declarations of war I do not know to prevent this from happening as everyone seems to be allied with at least 3 other nations getting a nasty dominoeffect...

[ProPain]

Use of diplomats in the early game
I read you used diplomats to get military access. In the early game I'd skip on that and use the diplomat to get an alliance or a royal marriage. These are much more valuable options and diplomats are scarce. Imo getting military access is only usefull in 2 situations

1- You need it to get to a opponent in a war
2- You need relations with someone improved. Strangely military access also increases your relations by +10

[ProPain]

Originally Posted by Kingreno

Thanks again for the feedback.

The HRE web of alliances made it virtually insane to wage war as was shown when I attacked Frisian with a decent CB. I got swarmed with 20+ declarations of war I do not know to prevent this from happening as everyone seems to be allied with at least 3 other nations getting a nasty dominoeffect...

Being small you need a lot of alliances yourself, invest in that with your diplomats in the early game. Also when you declare war there;s an option you can check to call all your allies to arms. You can also check there if they;'re willing to join and judge if enough parties will enter the war on your side to make it worth while.

Bear in mind that the party who starts a siege is considered the leader in that siege and will eventually occupy that territory. Only provinces that you occupy yourself can be ceded to you in a peace treaty so make sure you beat your allies to essential provinces.