Europa Universalis IV announced

[crazy canuck]

I think the main rootcause of the vassal feeding is the integration time.It just too fast.You can annex a vassal within like 15~20 years?
Thats a joke.An integration of a nation should take mutch more time, like 50~100 years.

Agreed. 

[Viking]

North Africa is Distant Overseas for Iberian Nations.

Anyways, is this MP thing going to happen? Saturday Afternoon starting Jan 4 or 11?

[Josephus]

Few things are beginning to irritate me.

When in a war and having to chase armies around the globe. For instance, I have a few key battles going on, but some minor ally of an enemy sends a few harassing units deep into my territory. I need to send armies out to chase them, but the AI has a remarkable ability to see me coming and leave the province at the right moment. this means I'm distracted chasing these piddly armies around, not concentrating on my big battles.  This works the other way too. If I see an opportunity to crush a small army, by the time I get there, the AI has moved units from provinces unseen into the target province, just before I get there. The game needs a "Follow units until battle occurs" button.

Two: Retreating. My Russian army loses a battle in Sweden and retreats all the way to Moscow! Really?

Lessons Learned. As Russia, don't westernize. Not worth the hassle. Constant rebellions and constant stab hits, just when you need stability to complete westernization.

[Viking]

Few things are beginning to irritate me.

When in a war and having to chase armies around the globe. For instance, I have a few key battles going on, but some minor ally of an enemy sends a few harassing units deep into my territory. I need to send armies out to chase them, but the AI has a remarkable ability to see me coming and leave the province at the right moment. this means I'm distracted chasing these piddly armies around, not concentrating on my big battles.  This works the other way too. If I see an opportunity to crush a small army, by the time I get there, the AI has moved units from provinces unseen into the target province, just before I get there. The game needs a "Follow units until battle occurs" button.

Herding Cats. When dealing with AI units wether they be armies or fleets, if they don't think they can beat your army they will avoid combat. They will also proceed on the assumption that you are a brain dead idiot that will not move his armies or fleets. You herd their mini stacks chasing them down the movement well - the ai will always flee in a direction which is shorter than the direction you are coming from (which is fucking stupid and bad design, armies ALWAYS fled along lines of communication or dissolved) - eventually they will reach a province where you are coming FROM the shortest direction and you can fight a battle. Alternately use multiple stacks to herd your enemies into a poor position - this is good for dealing with fleets - spread your fleets out and herd the enemy fleets into a corner and re-enforce whichever fleet of yours starts the battle. Else, get force march to destroy the mini stacks.

According to PDI the AI seems through fog of war but pretends not to, that is BS. It sees where you are and where you are going. If it can wipe out your armies in one invasion region (area where you have contiguous control) it will immediately carpet siege (something which NEVER happened in history) and if you are moving via multiple waypoints it sees your final destination and will only react if the final destination is relevant to it.

Two: Retreating. My Russian army loses a battle in Sweden and retreats all the way to Moscow! Really?

I see your Sweden Moscow retreat and raise you a Fez- Constantinople retreat and a Cuzco- La Plata retreat (via Venezuela)

it's stupid, deal with it.

Lessons Learned. As Russia, don't westernize. Not worth the hassle. Constant rebellions and constant stab hits, just when you need stability to complete westernization.

No, wrong. Westernize as soon as possible. Just do it right, as opposed to wrong, which is the way you seem to be doing it.

[Josephus]

Thanks for the advice re: herding. It is tougher to do with Russia when there's so much space for them to keep moving to. But I'll keep it in mind

How is there a better, or right, way to westernize?

[Viking]

Thanks for the advice re: herding. It is tougher to do with Russia when there's so much space for them to keep moving to. But I'll keep it in mind

How is there a better, or right, way to westernize?

1 - keep up in mil tech, fall behind in adm and dip tech, use the extra points to culture convert and core and increase stability
2 - plan your westernization a decade in advance, do it when you have a good adm leader (you can see your heir), save up money, get peaceful relations with your neighbors, get out of alliances
3 - with your saved money hire a level 3 ADM advisor, fire the other two, if you can afford lvl 3 dip and mil advisors as well do that too (there are some nice +1 stab events related to lvl 3 advisors)
4 - stay at -3 stab for as long as possible, while you stay at -3 stab you can accept the stab hit events
5 - once you can get to +1 stab in one go then go to +1 and westernize
6 - focus on killing reactionary rebels and not other rebels, concede to the other rebels, you will be at -100 prestige regarless, you might as well take the hit like with staying at -3 stab for as long as possible
7 - consider releasing vassals before westernizing, especially if doing so reduces the number of wrong culture and wrong religion provinces you have, vassals still provide half manpower and force limits to you and will help you with their higher prestige armies to quash rebels.

Done right you can get through it in 5 - 10 years no problems.

p.s. if you get into a war during westernization, LOSE IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

[Josephus]

p.s. if you get into a war during westernization, LOSE IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

Oooops.


yeah, got into a war with Sweden. LOL...we got hammmered.

But thanks for all that..will keep it ready for next game.

[Viking]

p.s. if you get into a war during westernization, LOSE IT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE

Oooops.


yeah, got into a war with Sweden. LOL...we got hammmered.

But thanks for all that..will keep it ready for next game.

Trying to fight at -100 prestige is brutal. iirc you have -40% morale vis a vis 100 prestige. Which, when facing high morale enemies, can mean auto wipes with even numbers.

[Josephus]

Yup.

I got routed early on, but used my vast manpower to rebuild. Finally I built two stacks of 25+ armies and moved them up to the swedish frontier.

Then, suddenly, westernization finished. The AI, of course, used that moment to send his 35+ stack against me. I got decimated. No retreat, no nothing. Lost 50+ armies. Sweden barely lost anything.

Well...I lived, i learned. Thanks.

[Viking]

Yup.

I got routed early on, but used my vast manpower to rebuild. Finally I built two stacks of 25+ armies and moved them up to the swedish frontier.

Then, suddenly, westernization finished. The AI, of course, used that moment to send his 35+ stack against me. I got decimated. No retreat, no nothing. Lost 50+ armies. Sweden barely lost anything.

Well...I lived, i learned. Thanks.

Hey you completed westernization, 'grats. Now go leverage you NIs to flood the your enemies with men and manpower and use your 10% tech rebate to catch up and pass poor sweden on tech.

[Solmyr]

And remember to post screenshots marked POLTAVA LOL on the Paradox forum.

[Josephus]

And remember to post screenshots marked POLTAVA LOL on the Paradox forum.

[LaCroix]

it's sort of ridiculous how easy it is for japan to colonize the pacific. i reached america sometime in the early 1500s

[garbon]

This change in 1.4 looks pretty big. Seems like that now makes North America pretty open as a free-for-all.

# Trade Nodes
- Added new tradenode Western Europe, leading to Sevilla, Bourdeaux, Antwerpen & London
- Carribean no longer leads to Sevilla & Bordeaux, but instead to Western Europe.
- Moved Chesapeake connection from London & Bordeaux to Western Europe.
- Mauritanian coast now leads to Western Europe instead of Sevilla.

[Josephus]

they're pretty much overhauling everything.