Europa Universalis IV announced

[Drakken]

What is the deal with privateers? Do you have to fight a war against sponsoring nation to get rid of them?

Yup.

[Zanza]

I underestimated the strength of the North American natives. You used to be able to beat them at like a 1:5 ratio easily, but fighting them in my current game needs at least a 1:2 ratio. Did they get much stronger in Conquest of Paradise somehow?

[garbon]

What is the deal with privateers? Do you have to fight a war against sponsoring nation to get rid of them?

Yup.

Well that's obnoxious. Spain had sicced them on me in Bordeaux but they were allocated back as trade protecting lightships when I increased pressure at Western Europe node (which I tend to agree that it was a terrible addition).

[Zanza]

I played my game as The Hansa for roughly another 25 years, so I am now 74 years into the game. I've conquered most of the rest of the Baltic region, took parts of Poland, Silesia, annexed Brunswick and force-vassalized Thuringia. I fought a hard war against Denmark when Denmark made the mistake to attack my ally Muscovy over Kola. When we had like 85% warscore and could easily have gotten 100%, AI Muscovy peaced out and made Denmark release some OPMs and its vassal Scotland. At 100% we could have made them release Sweden, which would have broken them forever. The AI is stupid about this.
Apart from a monster France (my ally), I can compete with all other nations by now. Austria and Muscovy did quite well in my game.



I've got a colonial nation in the Thirteen Colonies area and started building a second in Canada. England is in Newfoundland, Portugal and Spain are both in Brazil.

[DGuller]

How do colonial nations work?  Do you just build five colonies in the region, have the colonial nation form, and then just let them handle everything from then on?  I'm about to start colonizing as GB, but I don't want to put myself in the hole by not understanding the mechanics.

[Zanza]

I don't really understand the mechanics either. You get the colonial nation once you have five provinces within one trade node. The colonial nations build up quite a nice military, but are fairly passive from what I can tell. You need to colonize next to them by yourself and then the colony gets added to them once it becomes a city.
You get some trade and some money from them, but nowhere near as much as you got before they introduced colonial nations. At least that's my impression so far.

[DGuller]

I don't really understand the mechanics either. You get the colonial nation once you have five provinces within one trade node. The colonial nations build up quite a nice military, but are fairly passive from what I can tell. You need to colonize next to them by yourself and then the colony gets added to them once it becomes a city.
You get some trade and some money from them, but nowhere near as much as you got before they introduced colonial nations. At least that's my impression so far.

Hmm, sounds like a missed opportunity to cut out the micromanagement.  Not having to manage what you already carved out is nice, but I find the process of settling blank provinces to be the most tedious part of colonization.

[garbon]

5 provinces with cores. So if you annex a native state, have to core first before it becomes state.

Also colonial nations to war on each other/native states. That's how I'm in that situation where I have to fight Spain as they intervened in a colonial fight.

[Viking]

I underestimated the strength of the North American natives. You used to be able to beat them at like a 1:5 ratio easily, but fighting them in my current game needs at least a 1:2 ratio. Did they get much stronger in Conquest of Paradise somehow?

YES. They get this building in the capital which gives 10 extra force limit.

[Viking]

How do colonial nations work?  Do you just build five colonies in the region, have the colonial nation form, and then just let them handle everything from then on?  I'm about to start colonizing as GB, but I don't want to put myself in the hole by not understanding the mechanics.

Effectively they are Vassals that don't use a diplo slot. Important stuff to know

1. They defend themselves and war with their neighbors.
2. They give you 50% of their trade power.
3. They give you 50% of their force limits, naval and land (OMG THIS IS MASSIVE)
4. Their tariff rate is the % of their income you get
5. Keep the tariff rate below 50% and they will never revolt
6. Keep the tariff rate below 50% and they will not go bankrupt
7. They use the same ideas your ai would pick, except colonization
8. They don't help out in Europe, but if you do send a fleet with instruction to be attached to, you can pick up some heavy ships
9. You don't need to micro manage, but, like all ais, they can lose their country to their own incompetence.

[Zanza]

Do colonial nations attack the Natives by themselves or just other colonial nations?

[Viking]

Do colonial nations attack the Natives by themselves or just other colonial nations?

Both.

[garbon]

Do colonial nations attack the Natives by themselves or just other colonial nations?

It took mine a couple decades before they started to active natives.

[Zanza]

Those fucking North American natives are harder to fight than equal-tech European nations. I just lost a battle where I had 19k against their 13k. What the fuck.

[garbon]

I have definitely not had that experience.  Was terrain perhaps a factor?