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Nice OP, great thread title. Also holy poo poo it was really 2013? We're never getting EU5, it's DLC all the way down (not that there's anything wrong with that).
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Nov 16, 2017 17:12
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How are y’all getting prestige, especially when not actually At War?
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Dec 27, 2017 10:33
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I’ve had a few fun Dithmarschen runs now and have a few questions. Invariably, I conquer Denmark, north Germany, Westphalia and a few bits of Holland, and end up dominating the Lubeck trade node. I’ve never managed to conquer the UK although maybe I could if I played more aggressively early on. Questions: * how do you colonize late (1550s+) without sucking. Are you supposed to declare colonial wars? As a continental power, won’t that involve Spain coming overland magically with a huge army and kicking your teeth in? * would I make more money out of lubeck and the other trade cities (1) conquering and absorbing (2) vassalising (3) beating up periodically for their lutefisk money? * is it even possible to do east Asia trade from north Germany? If so how? * Can you do imperial stuff too? Again if so how? Seems like Austria or Bohemia always end up being emperor.
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Jan 2, 2018 09:09
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17th century France, Rise of Richelieu. Alternate title: the Jean-Baptiste Colbert Report. E: seriously, look at this guy. What’s in the letter, J-B?
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Jan 11, 2018 17:07
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Any thoughts on how not to get your poo poo kicked in as England in the HYW? I’ve tried subduing Brittany first then Scotland - should I be returning Maine instead and biding my time until I can tag team with Allies? France just seems to get stronger and stronger as time goes on. Could you conceivably hit miltech 4 ahead of them?
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Mar 26, 2018 18:31
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HYW chat: thanks for the advice, all. I managed to win the HYW, kinda, but I failed to realise that I had to win the Personal Union war outright and so lost that key part. It actually led to a really fun game: * Surrendered Maine * France invades Brittany and I dogpile. I win battles like crazy by carefully paying attention to army composition: 4 national cavalry, 8 national infantry and then up to the width limit of mercs, with a 5-stack trailing behind to reinforce. Eventually I grind down France’s manpower and take a modest peace of just Chartres. * Ally Castile, rinse and repeat for Paris, Reims etc.End up with all of Northern France except a bit of Brittany. France is down to 2 provinces and Burgundy is now the main strategic competitor. * Go Anglican * Start colonising * Out of nowhere, around 1595 I get sucked into a PU under Spain via a Spain v Burgundy succession crisis. Spain wins because Burgundy is balls-deep in an early 30 Years War * Win a 10 year hell war against Spain by retreating to England and sinking their ships, then emerging to retake English France Now it’s the early 17th Century and I’m preparing for the next war with Spain: Hellwar 2 Restore Union Bugaloo. It’s been ages since I enjoyed an EU4 game this much.
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Mar 28, 2018 13:01
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I’m in the late 18th century now in two parallel games in the new patch, one as England and one as Spain. England game was very smooth. Made buddies with Castile, neutered France early and then just did the usual double colonisation into US east coast and down to snag the Cape. Once established in Asia I took the missions to nab Bengal and after beating Ming in a couple of fights in India, gradually expanded west from there. It’s scary how fast you can conquer India with the late game CoBs. Things I still want to know from that game: * How do you decide where to send trade fleets? I can never work out the actual maths and it doesn’t seem to correspond to the ducats shown on the protect trade pop up. * related: how do you get enough sailors for a big merchant fleet? Once I had 60+ tradeships deployed, they ate up all my sailors even with the +sailors building in every British, Irish and French coastal province. Spain game was a bit tougher at first due to rebellions etc and my second ruler being 0/0/0, but ended up better overall due to early PU with Aragon and Naples. I colonised the entire African coast plus half of S America and all of Mexico. Portugal was a wonderful punching bag that I hit every 5-7 years or so to steal all their colonies. End game boss is the Ottomans. I allied with mega-Austria (which owns all of Netherlands plus 2/3 of HRE now). Only question from that game: how do you get enough admin and diplo points for an early colonisation / can you game getting the Columbus event?
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Apr 22, 2018 07:40
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Thanks for the trade tips! I have a dream of breaking the game hard with trade and I feel it’s always juuust out of reach. Maybe try a Venice game. I did put it to good use in my Spain game, pulling in about 200/month in trade by game end. I also finally crushed the ottomans and won a 75% war with them just before 1821, taking Egypt. So satisfying. I feel like AI Ottos need to get nerfed a bit toward game end, they started each war with 500k+ men in the field and kept it going with 0 manpower for 5 years.
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Apr 23, 2018 03:36
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I recently played as Spain and England and they were fun games, but I feel like it’s possible to totally break trade and I missed out. For reference, I maxed out at around 2-300 ducats trade income as UK IIRC, from a mixture of new world colonies, controlling the cape and India. So question to the thread: how do you completely, utterly break the trade game so that you are rolling in impossibly huge numbers of ducats? Relatedly, how do you make the most of the spice isles? I never quite know where or how much to colonise there and it’s a real pain to conquer all those fiddly little high attrition islands.
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May 7, 2018 15:53
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I almost wonder whether there shouldn’t be a kind of trade post concept for colonial nations, where it starts out small but then there is the option at some point to start seriously disrupting the host country and assuming direct control.
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Jul 24, 2018 17:35
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Raj against the machine is perfect let’s do that.
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Jul 26, 2018 04:14
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Hooooly poo poo Vijayanagar is a beast in this patch. 1500 and I’ve got all India west of Bengal without breaking a sweat. E: and most of the way towards cape.
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Sep 12, 2018 09:05
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I’ve played most major Euro countries and a few of the interesting regional players by now but I keep going back to England. The English Channel making you invulnerable unless you screw up the British Navy somehow is such a massive advantage, and the AI never does what I keep meaning to do as France and amasses a huge army in Scotland ready to steamroll HMG by land if it drops its guard.
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Nov 27, 2018 15:09
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Re colonisation styles., I usually play as England because, like all the big powers, it gives a lot of flexibility to try out different strategies. I don’t think I’ve ever had to choose between trade companies and colonising America; there’s always enough resources to do both. Overall though if I’m colonising my game usually ends up quasi-historical like this: - Peace out with France - Beat up Ireland and Scotland a bit - CN in Caribbean - Province hop down to Cape and lock that down - Go back and lock down Caribbean After that I usually find there’s too much to do and the other colonial powers catch up really fast. Does anyone have any tips for Spain, France or England to really start dominating things earlier on (eg early-mid 17th century)? How to maximise that period where you don’t yet have the cash to run infinite colonies at the same time?
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Dec 28, 2018 23:55
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Azhais posted:England is more Slylandro to me Arilou in our own history books, Ilwrath in everyone else’s.
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Jun 11, 2019 06:47
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Fintilgin posted:Maybe some system where the province is owned by natives, but colonial powers can build a trading post, a bit like how merchants republics in CK2 can. Once your trading post has built to a certain point you can seize the province like forcing a vassal to give you a core. Thematically this feels right. My impression of real world colonisation was that the colony starts off just being a dot on the map exercising no influence outside that area, and gradually as it grows the balance of power changes. Once it changes so much that locals notice, that provokes tensions and you eventually got raids and such conflicts, that over time the colonists win more often than not due to having a more effective military. Until eventually the entire local area is under control of the colonists, who then send off a new colony and repeat the process, while also expelling or exterminating any locals who are still around.
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Jul 19, 2019 05:31
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Yeah heavies get murdered now in the med or the Baltic. Does that change at higher tech levels? Historically, it probably should: Nelson didn’t switch to using galleys when he was chasing Napoleon’s fleet all over the Mediterranean.
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Nov 14, 2019 22:01
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After reading the Byzantium HoI4 LP that’s up and running again, I decided to have a go at Constantining it up in the eastern med. I can semi-regularly win the first war against the ottomans using the budgetmonk strategy of nicking Selanik and that province opposite Constantinople while the forts are mothballed, and occasionally nab Anatolia, but my mid game sucks. How are you supposed to win wars at tech level 16+? I am getting my clock cleaned by the Mamluks despite having tech level parity, equal or better generals and a full combat width (32/32) stack of infantry + artillery with a spare frontline. Time is late 1500s, and I have taken all of Anatolia, the Aegean and most of the Balkans. Somehow, although I have quantity ideas, they can bring 120k soldiers and 40k artillery out of thin air after I win the first battle. Their troops seem to move at twice my speed and to be able to move without the crippling attrition that hits me if I don’t split my stacks; whenever I do, they hit and murder the first half-stack before the second (which is right next door) can reach the battle. I’m supposed to have more morale but that doesn’t survive the first fire phase. After one or two bloody engagements that I win or narrowly lose, I’m out of money and low on manpower. Do I just need better micro? How do you win these mid game hellwars? Like, Russia allied with me and our combined armies should be wiping the floor with them. Poil posted:I've got 50 light ships (early frigates) privateering the Lübeck area and they have 598.1 trade power and control 45% of the node. They're costing me 4.05 every month but loots 14.12 so that's a delicious What modifiers apply to them? That sounds amazing.
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Jan 13, 2020 20:21
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profit!
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loving Mamluks, man. 115% discipline, 60% tradition despite not fighting any wars in the past century as far as I’ve seen, and an infinite supply of manpower. They’re the France of the Middle East. Also weirdly everyone loves them and even if allied can’t be induced to join in an attack on them.
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Jan 15, 2020 13:24
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Wafflecopper posted:a thousand times this. discontent sown i can deal with, i just turn off the popup and assume i have the penalty permanently bc what am i gonna do about it that i'm not already doing (conquering everyone) anyway. foreign separatists can go to hell though. your people are welcome and content in my empire and by crossing the border you just guaranteed i'm going to kill you instead of cheering you on from the sidelines so great job opening a second front and ensuring your own annihilation there guys Espionage should really shut that poo poo down. If we assume it means having the equivalent of Francis Walsingham managing an ahistorically early MI5 for your counter-intelligence efforts, and considering you’re spending an entire idea group on it, you should straight up be immune to being hosed with by anyone who doesn’t themselves have the idea. I just finished a Byzantine game and got the Basileus achievement, and I was *this close* to getting the Mare Nostrum achievement. I can’t see how you can get to the UK in time. I ate Spain and half of France, and finished the mission tree, so I feel pretty good about the game. Espionage felt like it didn’t do much though; couldn’t ever get rebels to spawn. I *did* enjoy the -20% AE though. How are you supposed to use vassals properly? I had a couple but felt I didn’t get much out of them, even with influence ideas. Then again, I inherited Russia in a PU, hehe.
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Jan 22, 2020 22:02
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I had a few goes at Taungoo and God, it’s a brutal start. Any tips for not getting swatted down? E: also finally got Mare Nostrum last week as Aragon-> Italy. That strategy where you cripple the Ottomans right at the start by no/CBing Byzantium is insanely effective.
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Feb 15, 2020 16:02
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Has anyone else tried that fantasy mod Anbennar that was mentioned earlier? I downloaded it to have a go. It’s unfinished and janky but kind of entertaining. Just had a game as Lorent, a mixed colonial / land power that’s a sort of France analog. It has: - Lots of cross alliances and patchwork landholdings and so on to make conquest difficult - Wizard generals with 6-12 shock - Hindu style pantheon to worship that give large bonuses - Monster nations that periodically invade everyone else and get counter-invaded - spells that give you +.5 goods produced everywhere - vaguely interesting fantasy storyline about rediscovering not-Valinor and discovering that at least one of the gods ain’t at home any more - some kind of complicated system for managing all the different fantasy races in your realm I’m not sure if it’s good, but it’s interesting
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Feb 23, 2020 14:30
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Has anyone ever played as the pirate republic? I vaguely remember seeing that was a thing a while ago, but I never knew the conditions for it to form or how to play as it.
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Mar 9, 2020 15:37
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I find it hard to colonise competitively in this game. The AI always has like six colonists working at a time whereas it bankrupts me to run even 2, and that’s with an additional colonist from a policy or whatever.
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Mar 28, 2020 14:54
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In a typical euro game, a big power like Aragon can put maybe 30k men on the field for its first war. Wikipedia by contrast has Agincourt at about 10-20k on each side. The only real problem I have with the combat is the ability of every country on the planet to project power globally as if it had a fleet of nuclear aircraft carriers. I’ve no idea how to stop countries sending their armies halfway across the world for every single conflict though. I wonder if it’s possible to have brushfire type conflicts, with limited forces, a defined conflict zone and no escalation? This is modelled in the chinese civil war mechanics for HOI4 and IMO is a model worth exploring for some of those early century wars. That could play out well if, for example, a rebellion flares up and you have to pull your troops out of the theatre, or a rival invades - you could give up the lesser conflict while not risking your capital being occupied etc.
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Apr 29, 2020 08:54
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Fister Roboto posted:I'd like to see reinforcement and attrition tied into other systems, like trade, professionalism, and looting. With low professionalism, you're entirely dependent on looting to supply your army. Your army will be fine in enemy territory as long as the loot bar holds out, but when it's depleted you start suffering heavy attrition, and you also can't reinforce. As your professionalism increases, you start being able to resupply and reinforce your armies as long as they have a supply line to a controlled trade center. Kind of like HOI4's supply mechanic. That’s a very nice idea.
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May 2, 2020 05:51
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aqu posted:I’m not sure what I’m more excited for: Emperor coming out or Reman making a new EU IV video after two years. Whoah. Maybe we really are living in the End Times.
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Jun 9, 2020 10:18
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Intended behaviour is for the Ottomans to have a good 15th Century, GREAT 16th and early 17th Century and rapidly become weak after that. I don’t think the game models it that badly to be honest. EU4 has a few more tools in its box to cause trouble for developed powers after they snowball than most strategy games.
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Jun 17, 2020 04:11
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Are there any good guides on there on how to colonise the new world as a player? What’s good to do, by what time, how far should you stretch your treasury doubling up colonists, that kind of thing? I’ve got nearly 2k hours in the game and still I am haunted by a recurring nightmare that I’m doing it suboptimally.
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Jul 11, 2020 11:47
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Deltasquid posted:Yep. The only thing which would be more painful than no cb declaring on somebody is no cb truce breaking (literally only do this in fringe cases like if you're playing as the Byzantines and won your first war against the Ottomans and you're ready to go for round 2 as soon as the first war ends) That exact scenario is the only time I’ve ever done a truce-breaking war and it owned. So satisfying.
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Jul 14, 2020 23:44
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I feel like an Africa game would be fun. Was looking at West Africa as Mali or someone, bringing the light of Islam to Brazil, but nobody seems to have any unique mission trees. Who is interesting to play as in Africa right now?
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Aug 9, 2020 16:03
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That was a super nicely done apology, and with PDX being listed I can appreciate how difficult it probably was to get everyone aligned on releasing it.
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May 14, 2021 07:19
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Anbennar is in a really good place right now. I’m coming to the end of a very satisfying full playthrough as Lorent (fantasy France). Its had consolidation, internal development, exploration and colonisation, managing a rival to the north who’s still going strong near game end, picking apart the NotHRE, two religious reformations, and nicely blobbing enemies that effectively block off expansion in certain directions unless I were to spend 50 years working on just them. Like, I started out with a halfling nation as a vassal, fed them halfling lands then they did a Netherlands revolt. Conquered them and rereleased as a loyal vassal, then when I got coalition warred and was losing, I was able to peace out by releasing them again as a buffer state. Mod is good. E: I wish there were a way for it to completely redo the units’ 3D art. PDX releasing an immersion pack would be something I wouldn’t mind paying for, but it’s such a can of worms to do that for a mod (not to mention the install base probably being too small) that I imagine it will never happen. Beefeater1980 fucked around with this message at 09:42 on Aug 9, 2021 |
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Aug 9, 2021 09:39
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Re Anbennar, is it reasonably practicable to reunite the empire using the HRE mechanics? For those not familiar with the mod, there are two waves of religious upheaval - essentially, the Reformed equivalent means that just as you’ve finished dealing with the heretic princes from the first league war, a bunch of loyal princes get converted to the new religion and tank your IA. And while I could play through a second wave of heresy, it just feels too painful. Incidentally any other tips on how to max out IA would be very welcome in case I go back to it. I’ve never done a proper HRE / diplo-focus type game and it’s hard to know how to play it.
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Aug 12, 2021 10:16
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Isn’t the implication there that a band of angry Greeks is roaming the planet pillaging all their infrastructure and carting it back to Constantinople? In that world it kind of makes sense that The City would be way ahead of everywhere else. It’s still a terrible display mind, in the same way that Excel fucks up the colour coding when there are outliers.
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Aug 17, 2021 08:47
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Your units aren’t at full strength, your general sucks or you are behind in unit type/tech. The official explanation on the wiki is slightly out of date but I don’t think anything major has changed since then: https://eu4.paradoxwikis.com/Land_warfare Battles work something like this: Both sides roll a d10 (0 is low). 3 days of fire. Apply fire modifiers to the roll. Roll again. 3 days of shock. Apply shock modifiers. Roll again. 3 days of fire. Apply fire modifiers. Etc. In each phase modifiers are applied. Terrain shifts a roll by up to -2. The difference between the generals’ respective skill in fire and shock also shifts the roll. Unit attack/defence dots (aka pips) are a further shift. National ideas are yet a further set of mods. This yields a final modified difference in each phase. The difference in each phase is the multiplier for how many men die and how much morale damage is taken each day, which for each side is increased by discipline and reduced by tactics. At some point, I think a difference of 7 or 8, it gets really lopsided and one side starts taking massive strength and morale damage, leading to a stackwipe. A maximum number of troops can fight based on combat width, but for the numbers you gave this wouldn’t matter. Cavalry also beats infantry 1:1 for a lot of the game and can also flank, allowing it to potentially do a lot more damage. There’s clever micro poo poo you can apparently do with reinforcements but the above level of understanding was enough to get me winning most battles against the AI.
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Aug 18, 2021 16:11
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It’s ridiculous how completely Anbennar has revitalised EU4 for me. I was basically done with it for a while and suddenly there’s a whole new lease of life.
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Sep 8, 2021 08:41
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HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:I do wish there was a better primer to the setting easily accessible though. I kinda badly misunderstood the nature of Corintar and the fight against the Orcs, not realising the starting ruler is half-Orc. I just have a sneaking suspicion he wasn't too happy with the genocide button. He and Corin were boning IIRC. There’s also lots of neat little touches. I’m fairly sure “The Dookan”, which sounds like a silly orc name for their dumb orc god, is supposed to be a corruption of Ducaniel, some ancient elf deity.
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Sep 9, 2021 05:43
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I’m running Leviathan, nothing terrible has happened. Yet.
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Sep 20, 2021 16:02
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 04:08 |
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Sri.Theo posted:I'd love it if institutions were even more "alternate history" tbh and removed the geographic and religious limitations on spawning them. EU5 could introduce some cool stuff like the chance of them spawning depends on x/per a region. The holy grail for all of this is something dynamic that makes sense in terms of the game world. Printing shouldn’t take off in the yurts of the mongol horde if they’re still bordering, but if they settle AND have a not entirely repressive government AND some other factors, then why shouldn’t DaDu be the centre of the printed renaissance?
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Sep 30, 2021 16:11
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