Europa Universalis V confirmed

[Syt]

Biggest conundrum for me to wrap my head around at the moment is diplomacy. Glancing at the map it appears to be covered with teeny tiny entities, begging to be conquered.

But then you look at it and they're vassals or fiefdoms of someone who has a personal union with someone and is also allied with someone else who has vassals etc. and it quickly becomes a crazy game of Jenga where you have to figure out which block you (i.e. your country and army) you can safely remove. That list is longer if you're, say, France, less so if you're Holstein-Rendsburg or Meissen or other midsized country.

It's also confusing how some interactions work in personal unions or regencies. The countries are separate entities, so when I was playing Brandenburg and the ruler of Lower Bavaria died, it created a personal union, but while I initially had leadership, Lower Bavaria took it over within months (since they are much stronger in 1337 start).

Which feels weird; it's a bit hard for my brain to internalize that I'm running the country, and its ruler is one factor of many in that - and just because they are also ruling another country, it doesn't mean I can do whatever towards them. I am not playing as the ruling dynasty.

Similar with Holstein-Rendsburg. Your count starts is also the regent of Denmark at game start. But at least at first glance I couldn't see many direct benefits (it was my first game, so didn't look into diplo bonuses etc. that it might give).