Europa Universalis

[Rickard N]

Now I have an up to date computer again!

Is this a game worth getting?

 

/Rickard

[Harold Jones]

yes, it is a lot of fun.

[Guest Hans Engström]

Massively fun, I play aboit an hour a day. However, don't pay full price, 129:- is max considering the sequel is due for X-mas release. See the website Europa for a really active community.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

I just picked it up for 20 bucks, and I'm still quite bewildered. Once I get the hang of it, I'm sure I will enjoy it.

 

Actually, I had a bit of trouble loading troops onto a transport. Is there a hotkey for this or something I need to know? This was the tutorial, trying to load troops in Ulster onto a transport ship in port.

[Guest Hans Engström]

Alas no hotkey, sadly you have to sail the ships into the sea and then order to troops to march onto the ship. Get the latest patch and the IGC for a lot more fun.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

I've found a number of dead links to the IGC, I'll keep trying. One thing that impresses me is that partners in an alliance actually contribute in a meaningful way during time of war. In most conquest strategy games, they simply join you in declaring war and never lift a finger.

[Guest Hans Engström]

In the community at the website try to find the guy called Doomdark (Henrik Fåhreus), he's one of the programmers of the IGC and his website is excellent, unfortunately I haven't bookmarked it.

 

Hans

 

PS, good tactic if playing one of the early non-colonizers. Build an army, heavy on cavalary, build a transport fleet with double capacity (since a lot of ships will get lost at sea), trade for maps with the Spaniards or Portugese and immediately attempt to take the Aztecs or the Incas. Same tactic will work wonders with the Indian states a hundred years later (you better built your tech before running into those 100 000 men armies the Indians field).

[Guest Hans Engström]

ha...found it

 

http://www.ludd.luth.se/~doomdark/EU/

[Douglas]

I've played one full scenario, the War of Independence, and I'm starting the Grand Campaign as Austria.

 

Rather than carrying out the "annex Hungary" mission, which seemed like a tall order and a ridiculous notion with our relations at 100+, I allied myself with them and we went to war side by side. They're great allies, following us into every slugging match, even when nearly every European power declared war on us at one point in a messy tangle of alliances.

 

War after war expanded my domain drastically as I taunted the major powers with the Annex button. By 1517, we had achieved stunning success, but were despised throughout Europe. Eventually I received notice that some small kingdown was declaring war on me. Then notice after notice flooded in from allies and opportunists forming a truly giant hammer and anvil with Austria and Hungary in the center.

 

We bought off the Papal States with a single mountainous province which then went into serious revolt (hah!), and picked the remaining coalition apart by concentating on single members and arranging a separate peace. The major powers remained at war with us for a time, but big deal. Let Spain suffer from their numerous religions and stability penalties.

[Brad Sallows]

>picked the remaining coalition apart by concentating on single members and arranging a separate peace.

 

Napoleon would approve.

[Guest Hans Engström]

Douglas, accept 'annex Hungary' get your relations up to 200, vassalize them and hey presto, 10 years later (if you never let your relations drop below 170) you can diploannex them. This is how I'm conquering Europe.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

I'll try it next time. Right now describing Austria as a pariah is something of an understatement.

 

Of course, we've still been stunningly successful in our wars, this on the Normal settings. Hanover has now been annexed and Venice only escaped annexation when Poland-Lithuania and Turkey drew our attention away, still losing a province to us in the peace treaty. This was added to our collection of conquests, Saxony, Thuringen, Bohemia, etc.

 

Currently 3rd place just behind Portugal with about 450 points in 1537 or so. Nearly all of them military. Fun way to play for a while, but I'm quite certain I'll be bored with it and try a more rounded approach next time.

 

[Edited by Douglas (13 Sep 2001).]

[Guest Hans Engström]

Yeah, there are a few oddball reports on the AAR section. One guy conquered the world as Sweden with only military expansion and using only infantry. Why, I can't imagine.

 

With the IGC go for Hard/aggresive and 'chaos hurts' settings. It's a real challenge. Chaos hurts removes your tax income when unrest incurs...a toughie.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

It happened. Hungary backstabbed me when the rest of Europe and Turkey all attacked as one. I actually held the line, forcing Spain and her allies out of the war by taking Franche Comte and another minor province, stranding Milan, Savoy, and Genoa without allies. Needless to say, I had a field day with these wealthy but isolated countries.

 

Turkey is still on a roll. There's something fishy about the way the game is handling morale in battles, especially involving the Turks, allowing tiny armies to fend off massive attacks. I've ceded two provinces slowing them down.

[Guest Hans Engström]

BTW the latest IGC has a new setting..."Chaos Maims"..ouch...Am busy conquering the world as the Ottomans right now, loads of fun.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

I haven't tried the IGC yet, I'm only on my second serious try at the Grand Campaign, this time as England and using a more rounded approach. Getting good results, too, with most of France under our control and colonies all over the New World and the coast of Africa.

 

A couple things do bug me. Royal Marriages ought to be broken when war breaks out between two nations, no matter if one was merely coming the aid of an ally. And the stability penalty for changing state religion should be less severe, so that historically accurate conversions are encouraged instead of delayed indefinitely by the terrifying prospect of being plunged into widespread revolution while surrounded by neighbors who can be most charitably described as vultures.

[Douglas]

Following a campaign in France which destroyed most of her remaining armies and landed us three more provinces, our armies weren't quite ready yet for another conflict, and were also out of position. Spain, Denmark, Poland-Lithuania, Brandenburg, and the Palatinat attacked us as one, quickly devastating my army in Mecklemburg. Our navy fended off attacks in the Channel, but was unable to reach and defend our holdings in the north.

 

Our diplomats worked overtime to break up the alliance, and were marginally successful. But soon both Poland-Lithuana and Spain made offers I couldn't refuse without a stability penalty, and I lost control of Western Pommerania and Oporto. Still not too bad. For the next ten years, I focused on building my empire instead of retaking these lands.

 

As our economy began booming loudly and our colonies in North America were upgraded to cities, I built up the peacetime armed forces to a massive level to put down revolts and prepare for another war. My diplomatic efforts during this time brought us to near-neutrality and royal marriage with Poland-Lithuania, but relations with The Netherlands declined steadily despite the massive gifts we showered upon them during a war with Spain that threatened their very existence.

 

Finally, I decided the time had come to strike at Spain and her allies, around 1665. My army in lower Portugal quickly captured a lesser province to open the supply line and laid siege to Spain's capital, while armies in France moved on Flandres and the northern frontier of Spain. Poland-Lithuania dishonored her alliance with Spain, and left my armies in the north to deal with Brandenburg and Denmark, forcing both out of the war and winning a province and an indemnity.

 

The Netherlands stepped in to take advantage of our preoccupation with her neighbors, but it was a foolish move. I put my war with these ungrateful Dutch on the back burner for now. Spain desperately tried to lift our sieges of her capital and the jewel Flandres, but we captured each after a long vigil outside the walls, and continued on, forcing a peace treaty which delivered Flandres, Roussillon, and a wad of cash into our hands.

 

Now the Dutch stared down the barrel of Brown Bess alone and started pleading for a white peace. Nothing doing. We marched on Zeeland, Munster, and Holland, taking all three but settling for the former two in the peace deal. As an added bonus, this cut them off from Hessen, who revolted, declared independence, and were swept into our military alliance.

 

Now I think victory is a foregone conclusion, with an 1800+ point lead on Spain and a good 750 D net income yearly. But I'll play out the last third of the game, see how far I can extend my empire's reach.

[Guest Hans Engström]

It is most fun in the beginning when there's a challenge. I like to halfway throught the game (circa) stop acting reasonably to get things interesting, ie, not put down revolts, raise taxes etc to simlate really bad governement or corruption. It spices things up a bit. On a related note, anyone else have crash problems? Mine tends to exit to desktop quite a bit, also it won't run on my WIN2K laptop at all.

 

Hans

[Douglas]

It crashes to the desktop more often than any game I've played in years, and there is never a normal exit, quitting the game will invariably lock up my computer the minute I try to start another program.

 

I put up with this because it is a fun game, and because play sessions are so long the latter crash problem isn't too much of a bother. But I am wary of other Strategy First products, since they haven't been able to fix these problems by patch 1.09.

 

Agreed on the early game, I think the full GC spans so much time it can become dull in the last 1/3rd, because you've already conquered a vast territory and are rolling in cash like pigs in filth. I can only imagine what the new 400-year campaign in EU2 will be like.

 

[Edited by Douglas (29 Sep 2001).]

[Guest Murph]

Just got it, and am getting ready to install. What patch(es) do I need to d/l to make it not crash? Is it that crash prone?

[Douglas]

It doesn't crash enough to make it unplayable. Download the 1.09 patch at least, the 1.10 is mostly for multiplayer, I believe.

 

The Improved Grand Campaign sounds neat, but i haven't tried it yet. It's a third-party mod which, among other things, lets you play any country in the game, even the Iroqois or the Golden Horde.

 

Have fun. Try the Eire tutorial for about ten minutes, then switch to the American Revolution for a crash course. And scan through the message boards at the EU website for a general sense of what you should be doing as the game progresses.

[Rickard N]

Where can I get the patches?

Now I got the game at least!!!

 

/Rickard

[Guest Hans Engström]

I think Doomdark has both the IGC and the latest patches, otherwise it's http://www.europa-universalis.com .

 

For Doomdarks IGC, scroll down to one of my first psots. Get good and I'll challenge you on-line.

[Rickard N]

Weel, the problem is that I never bothered to get a line at home... Sitting on the Internet wire to the world at school

:-)

 

/Rickard

[Guest Hans Engström]

re: Rickard

 

Technophobic peasant...