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Paradox Grand Strategy |OT| Conquering the World one DLC at a time
- Thread starter Uzzy
- Start date
the only DLC out today was from prison architecht!
Sad it was delayed i really wanted it for the holidays. Christmas will be drab this year without PDS DLC to sink my teeth.
And Battletech's!
But yeah, I'm really gonna miss it. Federations sounds so good.
fuck me! i think I missed 2 DLCs for battletech. thank you!
I guess i know what i'm playing this chritsmas.
Ooooh right, I was just wondering when that was gonna be out. Prolly gonna buy myself the whole package after this thanksgiving.
come on don't jinx us! i'll finally be able to play portugal and spain in HOI IV
Hearts of Iron 4 is plodding along and there's a new expansion coming as always. But to me it still feels like the core fundamentals just aren't where they need to be. Combat still feels mega grindey at certain points, division counts are still way way too high, the battle planner still feels like it never worked really as well as you'd hope. Like it's workable, I've put in 400+ hours, but it's like they're fixing every problem except the main one of commanding troops not feeling fun.
The balance as of 1.7 is also just fucked. I haven't played 1.8 yet but the patch notes mention nothing changing there except submarine stuff for balance. Germany gets 1 trillion divisions and it's just stupid.
The balance as of 1.7 is also just fucked. I haven't played 1.8 yet but the patch notes mention nothing changing there except submarine stuff for balance. Germany gets 1 trillion divisions and it's just stupid.
Next Imperator update/free content is out next Tuesday. I kinda worry this game will become actually good and people will continue to not play it.
The player ¡number has slowly risen since the first major patch, and this patch seems to address another major complain from the players, so it hopefully helps the rebound.
well, i'll probably be playing it when this DLc launches. My main complain was how "sterile" the relationship between rome and carthage was. I'd have paid for this DLC.
That's actually a fair point, I have no clue about what this game does differently from other games, besides the historical setting.
I can't remember reading any discussion on the qualities the game may have (besides "that update fixed a lot of the problems it had").
So.... What's good and unique about the game?
I only played at launch so my opinion might be outdated. What i think it did well:
- the map size felt right. In games like europa universalis and CK2 you can easily move your army around your land. I find this a bit weird because it should take some time for any country to muster its forces. In I:R due to the the HUGE map your armies WILL take time to move from one end of your country to the next. This effectively means that fighting a 2 front war is much more taxing as you can't easily adjust the forces you committed.
- While the gameplay is similar to EU IV it has borrowed some elements of CK2 to make the inner working of your nation with more personality (this at launch wasn't working very well)
- Battles are much more interesting due to the new battle system. Its interesting because it allows lesser factions to be a bit harder to conquer as they can use their armies optimized for their terrain.Also due to the paper-scisor-rock type of units this means that war between 2 empires can be much more dynamic instead of just sending stack after stack. Also it is the first tittle of PDS where i can mostly predict whom will win when 2 armies fight it out.
- Diplomacy is locked by size. I like this for mainly 1 reason: it makes the AI (and player) consolidate much more often. If small countries can't ally with strong empires from far away it makes the smaller much more unlikely to survive agaisnt the local power. Effectively means that there will be several big empires in the map during the late game.
- The UI at launch was better than most of PDS games. it caught me completely off-guard. I want to specifically mention the map that looks amazing, the animations of zooming in and out as well as the globe rotation are very pleasant. It is no amplitude but i wish all the upcoming games have at least this level of detail and prettiness.
What i think it did wrong (at release, current patches have been working on):
- very light in flavor (every faction was similar to each other with a slight difference in bonus percentages) there is some flavor events in rome, carthage and greece but they felt far too little
- Every problem was "mana" based, which became extremely tedious and monotonous. Want do DoW, wait for X mana to tick. Want to move a citizen, wait for Y mana. Want a religious boon? wait for Z mana. The only thing that didn't depend on mana was money and military force, but even these could be highly dependent on getting bonus from mana stuff.
- Some mechanics require an astronomical ammount of clicks (wanted to move a group of population and convert them to your culture and religion? it required like 6 clicks per pop!)
IMO it is a game with as much potential as EU IV. I don't think the current mechanics can put it at the roleplaying level that CK2 and stellaris can achieve.
Imperator's map isn't actually globe-shaped by the way. It's just as flat as all the others, but the strictly Northern Hemisphere geography, North-Pole camera-rotation, and a limited Max-Zoom allowed them to create an illusion of it being so.
Strictly speaking, such a technique won't be able to be carried directly in to EUV, or even CK3 depending on how far south its Africa goes. Next Whole-Earth game is probably going to either go back to the EUIV map-model or have to be an actual 3D globe.
Which would actually be really cool - To have the maximum Zoom-Out be of a relatively period-accurate globe-model - Especially paired with the "Paper-Map on Zoom-Out" of Victoria 2 and Imperator paired with it.
I got a new laptop during Black Friday. My old one didn't run CK2 well, but good enough so I could enjoy playing. It also ran EU4, but a little slower. It wouldn't have run any games after that.
Now that I can actually run more games now, I'm looking at the Steam sale. Stellaris is $9.99 and HoI4 is $14.99. I definitely want both games eventually, but not sure if I want both right now. But....I'm seeing a bundle that has Stellaris, HoI4, and I:R for $39.57. Do I just go for it? Or maybe just Stellaris and HoI4? Or maybe just Stellaris and focus on playing that? Then there's a bundle that has Stellaris with Utopia and Apocalypse for $29.97. Too many options lmao.
Edit: Decided to just go with Stellaris at $9.99. Realistically, I can't play all these games in addition to all the non-Paradox games I'm playing. And then there's other things I do on my free time as well. HoI4 will be on sale again and perhaps at $9.99 when I'm actually ready to play it.
Now that I can actually run more games now, I'm looking at the Steam sale. Stellaris is $9.99 and HoI4 is $14.99. I definitely want both games eventually, but not sure if I want both right now. But....I'm seeing a bundle that has Stellaris, HoI4, and I:R for $39.57. Do I just go for it? Or maybe just Stellaris and HoI4? Or maybe just Stellaris and focus on playing that? Then there's a bundle that has Stellaris with Utopia and Apocalypse for $29.97. Too many options lmao.
Edit: Decided to just go with Stellaris at $9.99. Realistically, I can't play all these games in addition to all the non-Paradox games I'm playing. And then there's other things I do on my free time as well. HoI4 will be on sale again and perhaps at $9.99 when I'm actually ready to play it.
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Dunno if Game Pass PC still has the offer, but try to sign up and you might get the 3 months for $1 offer. GPPC has Imperator: Rome and HoI4 (and Stellaris), IIRC. And other stuff.
I'd warn against actually buying those versions, but as trials they will be fine.
Major changes coming to the Revolution in EU4:
It really seems this will be the last EU4 DLC, RIP. But I guess we can start our wishlist for EU5.
It really seems this will be the last EU4 DLC, RIP. But I guess we can start our wishlist for EU5.
Yesterday's Stellaris dev diary about Juggernauts and Mega-Shipyards
TLDR:
Juggernauts are 1-per-empire ships like Colossi, but act more like a battleship bolted to 2 shipyards. They have a couple of X-slots and bunch of hanger slots, and can produce, repair and upgrade ships. It doesn't affect system control or borders like a starbase would though, and are intended as a support vessel for sustained invasions. They also have powerful auras which we're not privy to yet.
Mega Shipyards are megastructures that act as a ton of shipyards and provide a passive build speed bonus to all other shipyards in your empire. The three stages are:
TLDR:
Juggernauts are 1-per-empire ships like Colossi, but act more like a battleship bolted to 2 shipyards. They have a couple of X-slots and bunch of hanger slots, and can produce, repair and upgrade ships. It doesn't affect system control or borders like a starbase would though, and are intended as a support vessel for sustained invasions. They also have powerful auras which we're not privy to yet.
Mega Shipyards are megastructures that act as a ton of shipyards and provide a passive build speed bonus to all other shipyards in your empire. The three stages are:
- 10 shipyards, +100XP starting XP, +33% global ship build speed.
- 20 shipyards, +100XP starting XP, +66% global ship build speed.
- 30 shipyards, +100XP starting XP, +100% global ship build speed.
So Target Acquisition Array is basically a no-brainer then, if weapons range is still as OP as I remember.
If i have the resources for a juggernaut I think picking subspace amplifier and munitions plant will be more effective as that will allow your fleet to keep moving.
I guess it would depend on the Juggernaut's sublight speed, if it slows the rest of your force down considerably then I might want to just commit to the long-range death turtle strategy.
But maybe if you kept it separate in a captured system as a forward base for multiple fleets, then being able to get your fleets back in the fray as soon as possible might be interesting.
Sup bois and gals
So, after knocking off a fun Hindustani run wherein I got The Sun Never Sets on the Indian Empire, during which I fully explored absolutism for the first time, I am going for my first WC attempt with Castile. I don't expect to achieve it first time, but I hope to get Spain as HRE as a consolation/aid for the potential WC.
It's 1550 and I own half of France, all of Iberia (Portugal under PU, Spain formed), Naples, some of Algeria and Anatolia, and my vassal Byzantium owns Greece and Constantinople, and part of Anatolia. I also have a Scottish province bordering England to negate their fleet for the inevitable conquest. The New World is mine and Portugal's, so mine.
The HRE has had its religious war, and is still Catholic, hurrah. I intend to tunnel to borders and then start a charm campaign on the electors. Or vassalise them, either way. Figure I could be nearly HRE come Absolutism, if I am clever and lucky. Burgundian Succession never fired, the one really bad bit of luck so far.
Reckon that sounds like a good base for cranking it up come Absolutism? I want vassal swarm to do most of the work, I could have achieved vast empires before (Hindustan, Persia, becoming HRE as Florence etc) but have never had the patience. This time I am completely ignoring relationship penalties (i.e I currently have 8 alliances/vassals/unions and only 5 slots) and going for the swarm. I am just worried I am already behind the curve...
Edit: ...1610 and Portugal's somehow escaped the Union. WTF. I'm in a stalemate against the Ottos in Anatolia. My Queen is ineligible for the HRE so I have to wait ?? years to even start to convince the Electors.
GOD DAMN IT.
Edit 2: I wonder... probs easier to scrap colonization entirely and simply nuke down the colonizing nations. If I can hamstring France and England - as I have done this run - and get the Burgundian Succession, I could limit the amount of crap to mop up in the rest of the world and spend early Diplo points on Influence ideas, not Exploration. But would this limit cash later on? HMM.
Edit 3: chaining PUs. Castile gets Aragon and Portugal, nuke England and get France PU mission via culture shift. PU attained, switch back. Hoooooo baby...
So, after knocking off a fun Hindustani run wherein I got The Sun Never Sets on the Indian Empire, during which I fully explored absolutism for the first time, I am going for my first WC attempt with Castile. I don't expect to achieve it first time, but I hope to get Spain as HRE as a consolation/aid for the potential WC.
It's 1550 and I own half of France, all of Iberia (Portugal under PU, Spain formed), Naples, some of Algeria and Anatolia, and my vassal Byzantium owns Greece and Constantinople, and part of Anatolia. I also have a Scottish province bordering England to negate their fleet for the inevitable conquest. The New World is mine and Portugal's, so mine.
The HRE has had its religious war, and is still Catholic, hurrah. I intend to tunnel to borders and then start a charm campaign on the electors. Or vassalise them, either way. Figure I could be nearly HRE come Absolutism, if I am clever and lucky. Burgundian Succession never fired, the one really bad bit of luck so far.
Reckon that sounds like a good base for cranking it up come Absolutism? I want vassal swarm to do most of the work, I could have achieved vast empires before (Hindustan, Persia, becoming HRE as Florence etc) but have never had the patience. This time I am completely ignoring relationship penalties (i.e I currently have 8 alliances/vassals/unions and only 5 slots) and going for the swarm. I am just worried I am already behind the curve...
Edit: ...1610 and Portugal's somehow escaped the Union. WTF. I'm in a stalemate against the Ottos in Anatolia. My Queen is ineligible for the HRE so I have to wait ?? years to even start to convince the Electors.
GOD DAMN IT.
Edit 2: I wonder... probs easier to scrap colonization entirely and simply nuke down the colonizing nations. If I can hamstring France and England - as I have done this run - and get the Burgundian Succession, I could limit the amount of crap to mop up in the rest of the world and spend early Diplo points on Influence ideas, not Exploration. But would this limit cash later on? HMM.
Edit 3: chaining PUs. Castile gets Aragon and Portugal, nuke England and get France PU mission via culture shift. PU attained, switch back. Hoooooo baby...
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For those on the fence about EU IV or still lacking some of the DLC, you can currently get a wonderful complete bundle akin to the CK 2 bundle of several months back at humble bundle for 17 USD / 15,33 €.
I don't think there's any idea of anything yet. Just the weird "experimentation" update they dropped into EU4 but won't fully explain and some files found in the localization strings. I assume we'll know something soon if that's their intent.
I'm curious, would people subscribe? Obviously depending on the price.
La Resistance releasing february 25th
18 Polish bucks a month for the EU4 subscription according to the EU subreddit.. Google tells me that's 4something dollars/euro. I don't necessarily think it's an awful idea, especially for people like me that just want to play one or two games a year. But it seems weird to launch it at the same time as you're selling basically everything through Humble for ~4 months worth of this sub.
5€ a month? Thats more expensive than I thought only for EU4...18 Polish bucks a month for the EU4 subscription according to the EU subreddit.. Google tells me that's 4something dollars/euro. I don't necessarily think it's an awful idea, especially for people like me that just want to play one or two games a year. But it seems weird to launch it at the same time as you're selling basically everything through Humble for ~4 months worth of this sub.
A sub for all their games would pique my interest, possibly. Not for each tho.
Nah, think I'd buy the DLC in sales, as ever.
Nah, think I'd buy the DLC in sales, as ever.
I don't really see the point of this to be honest. Giving access to all of their games with all their DLC is pointless, since a single one of them will require you to dive into that game for several months before you can even think of launching another.
At best, I could imagine paying 4 bucks to try a couple if I'm hesitating between several titles... but even then, it's better to wait for the next sale, buy the vanilla version of the game for about the same price, and take it from there.
At best, I could imagine paying 4 bucks to try a couple if I'm hesitating between several titles... but even then, it's better to wait for the next sale, buy the vanilla version of the game for about the same price, and take it from there.
Soooo it's 1690. I am Spain. I own (directly) all of the UK, the Western Med, Italy, France, Netherlands, Bulgaria, Constantinople, Anatolia and a huge swathe of Scandinavia and western Russia; I have about 12 vassals/PUs across Europe, making me pre-eminent. I lead the ranks in everything, it's absurd. Never been so powerful. I have NA and SA under control: English (mine via absorbing England in PU) and Spanish colonies only - no other colonisers of note present - will make American conquest an absolute doddle.
I have most of West Africa, so that continent is sorted too.
The kicker is breaking Poland and Lithuania, and then surging east. I am going for my first WC (determined to just get it done, over with, and go back to more fun local games) and I can't really believe I have enough time, but practice makes perfect.
I have most of West Africa, so that continent is sorted too.
The kicker is breaking Poland and Lithuania, and then surging east. I am going for my first WC (determined to just get it done, over with, and go back to more fun local games) and I can't really believe I have enough time, but practice makes perfect.
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Imperialism CB and high absolutism allow you to go utterly mad in terms of conquest late game. If you've not triggered your golden age Diplo Tech 23 is a perfect time for it. Not having to kill the colonisers is a big bonus too.
Remember that nations can't join coalitions if they don't exist. Try to focus your conquests on one religious group at a time, at least regionally, to lower that AE. Try to buffer your wars so that one has wrapped up just as you've cored the last one's conquests. Check each country to see how many wars it'll take to conquer them, and plan accordingly (15 year truce timer for 100% WS.) If you get close to the end just truce break. Don't be afraid to ditch expansion/exploration either, in favour of more useful (for now) idea groups. You can always just subsidise your CN's four ducats a month till end game and they'll keep expanding for you.
Remember that nations can't join coalitions if they don't exist. Try to focus your conquests on one religious group at a time, at least regionally, to lower that AE. Try to buffer your wars so that one has wrapped up just as you've cored the last one's conquests. Check each country to see how many wars it'll take to conquer them, and plan accordingly (15 year truce timer for 100% WS.) If you get close to the end just truce break. Don't be afraid to ditch expansion/exploration either, in favour of more useful (for now) idea groups. You can always just subsidise your CN's four ducats a month till end game and they'll keep expanding for you.
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Screenshots would help, but based on what I'm reading it's definitely possible. I've never done a World Conquest starting from the west, but around 1690 I would usually only have all of asia and maybe parts of Africa. As Uzzy said, you can get insane amounts of lands in the last hundred years of the game. Japan for instance is one 100% peacedeal with max absolutism, imperialism and 20% warscore reduction. normal sized Ming would take max 2 or 3 peacedeals, etc.
You just need to be in a War-core-war mode for the rest of the game, being as efficient as possible. Start a war, take a 99% OE peacedeal (you can go over with humanism probably, but it'll bring headaches), and declare your next war as soon as peace is signed. Sit on the warscore until everything is cored, sign peace, and declare your next war. Target bigger nations first (if Ming still lives, take him soon, or you'll need to trucebreak).
Also, you have 12 vassal/unions? Integrate as soon as possible. You'll need the slots for new vassals. It allows you to take more than the 99% OE.
Looking at the PLC comment, don't try to be neat by taking targets one at a time. Destroy the PLC, and immediately move into Arabia or some small part of Africa. You should never not be at war.
Also, around 1720-1750 you're gonna think that you're not going to make it. I had that feeling all of the 4 WCs I did. Ignore it! Go into your saves and make a backup of your current save just to be sure. With my Three Mountains I still needed all of Europe in 1780 and I got it in the end.
And trucebreaking after two years when your cores are done is not that bad in the end if you're running level 5 advisors. So if you need to do that, don't be afraid. Your admin tech level doesn't count for the achievement.
And let us know if you make it!