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[gogis]

But Heroes 3 is the best of the series D:

Yes. But graphics is POS  Whole trend is shit

edit: We had hosted 5 or 6 years straight lan party tournaments of Heroes 3. Maps was done. Balance was adjusted. Heroes 3.5 was born eventually (not by us, but whatever). It's was huge game in Russia 

[Tarran]

If you dislike the graphics so much you can turn off quite a few graphics options, and there's also a mod to make the map flat.

Alternatively, you could always play EU2 and FTG if you really, really can't handle graphics.

[Lightning4]

I have big problems with current state of the game. It's just too easy, somehow all that changes (and I like em) give you even more control about everything and you can crush pretty much anybody, because AI sucks (and rightfully so). ...

It's hard to say... It seems to suffer from the same problem that EU3 did, in that once you're already big, it's harder to fail. So if you start as a nation that's already big, and get bigger, then it's just going to be even easier. If you're lucky, maybe another nation will blob hardcore and be at least a passable threat.
But if you pick a small nation tucked in an extremely politically hot area, it's going to be much, much tougher. Perhaps even more than EU3 was, because of all the new diplomacy mechanics which can both work for you, and work against you.

I find my Urbino game to be pretty intense. I haven't died yet, but alliances shift like the wind, and I've only just barely managed to squeak out of getting my ass handed to me a couple times (admittedly to what feels like cheaty peace deals). Rebel stacks are frightening when you're small, and I've been nearly broken once, and successfully broken another time. It's a diplomatic challenge trying to find passable allies that are actually close, trying to keep major powers happy, and finding the best possible expansion route that doesn't piss off a nation who has four times my forcelimits and can squash me.
And the larger I get, it feels like there's no end to the threats. First it was just a couple neighbors in Italy. Then it was larger Italian powers, who despite staying the same size, managed to match my forcelimits, or even exceed them. Now I'm starting to draw the interest of the minor powers. I fear soon, the Holy Roman Emperor will find a reason to dislike me. Or Austria. And I know eventually I'm going to butt heads with France. It's inevitable. That's going to be a fun one indeed. I just hope I'm large enough, or have some competent allies.

I suppose it isn't so much any difficulty as feeling like I could get demolished at literally any moment, even if it may not actually ever come.


The latest patch does seem to have made the AI more competent at its job, so there's that. I suspect there's always more room for improvement.


As for Muscovy, I think part of the problem is the later start date, if you're comparing it to EU3. In the later start date, the hordes are fragmented and have no technological edge. I believe historically, the hordes were already on the decline by this time.

[shadenight123]

Hey there lightning, you started with Urbino?

I can relate to the 'feeling squashed' thing and to the money problems.
I actually have to ask if the Ai cheats on the money.

I mean, I'm pretty sure I forced through peace deals quite a lot of loans on the neighboring countries...yet they always match my stacks time and time again.
 Ps: Tuscany is allied with Castile in my game, head of the coalition against Savoy...I tore apart its navy once already...yet they keep coming back with thirty-three stacks of ships.

What was your worst 'FUBAR' moment in Europa Universalis IV by the way? (Generally asked to everyone)

Mine was when Austria, Castille and France decided Savoy needed to be completely conquered.
I had to delivery Savoy, Cuneo and Nice to France.
...
Took them back when Austria and Castille declared war on France a few years later (Talk about Alliance Shiftings!)
...

[Tarran]

Mine in my latest game was, as Germany, having Austria form the HRE and steal up my vassals, both before and after forming it. I was moderately annoyed.

It won't save them though. I formed Germany from Brandenburg. I have goddamn awesome Prussian ideas. I have claims over the majority of the Germany region. I have, multiple times now, beaten France, the HRE, Poland, and Lithuania all allied together in multiple wars. I am an unstoppable juggernaut, and nothing they can do will stop me, I will eat Germany no matter what. They may make me drain my 200K+ manpower pool each war, but that will not deter me when I am ultimately victorious.

I've also had many other times where I was DoW'd by angry neighbors, but after hard fought wars, they never managed to take even a single province from me. Still, two times I was on the rope and only a loan+merc spam saved me from a defeat.

I also seem to be the targets of every single insult devised. Seriously, I annex one piece of land and I get multiple insults from across the HRE. I don't get why.

[PanH]

When GB dowed me one month before I had enough adm points to get adm tech 10 and form Ireland and took Connaught, Ulster and Meath.

Though, now it's time to take my revenge, since I control modern days Canada, USA (not all the inland province though), and the former Aztec. I put my capital in Manhattan (my force limit went from 19 to 79, and I got +60 income, as well as plenty of manpower and stuff). And suddenly, France, Castille (never formed Spain, Aragon still alive and kicking), Russia and the Ottomans have the "Competing great power". I am allied with Castille AND France. Bye bye GB.

[Lightning4]

Hey there lightning, you started with Urbino?

Indeed! I'm aiming to form Italy. Eventually. I control the middle peninsula now, and am starting to overrun what's left of Naples. Then I have to start the long game of figuring out when and where to strike to get provinces that are in the empire. Or who to try to diploannex, though I haven't had any luck there yet whatsoever. Going to be fun.

I actually have to ask if the Ai cheats on the money.

I dunno. It does sometimes seem that they manage to pull money out of thin air, but I think the AI is completely unafraid to take loans. Loans are not really a big deal anymore, since you can take a lot of them, and the inflation you accrue can just be removed by about half a year to a year's worth of admin points.
I'm fairly sure that you can demand more money than a nation actually has, too. So they'll have to take a loan just to pay you. Then they'll need more loans just to rebuild their military.

I guess the best way to find out if they cheat is to watch their inflation. If it rises frequently, then they have full knowledge of the loan mechanic.

What was your worst 'FUBAR' moment in Europa Universalis IV by the way? (Generally asked to everyone)

My first ironman attempt as Brittany. I had managed to expand to the two provinces Provence controls on Brittany's border.

France declared war. I didn't manage to get any significant allies.

I deleted that save, there wasn't much hope.

[Chaoswizkid]

Worst FUBAR moment?

Already posted about it. Played as Japan, allied with Ming in order to prevent Korea (which had annexed Manchuria) and Zhou (which had annexed most of Ming) from gaining too much power. Ming declared war on Korea despite not having much military at all (2-5k troops versus their 20+k), and the truce timer offsets disallowed Zhou from participating. Instead of entering the war as an ally, I entered as a junior in the coalition which I forgot to leave after I allied Ming and which I didn't know that you're just screwed as a junior partner. I expended all of my cash and manpower just to keep Korea occupied, defeating them where I could and stopping them from capturing Ming territory. As soon as Korea turned the tides on their Eastern coastline (which I had captured about half of the Manchuria region), Zhou declared war. I was left without manpower or money, Ming kept us in the war with Korea forever while doing absolutely nothing other than moving around the 2-5k stack of troops it had so that they didn't fight the deathstacks from Korea. Zhou immediately moved ~30k troops into Ming territory and I pretty much ragequit.

A really dumb and kind of FUBAR situation I had in EU3 was when I was trying to WC with the Teutonic Order. I focused mostly on Northern Europe, West Asia, Africa and the Americas. That is, I didn't really focus on the Mediterranean or the Middle East. When I eventually turned my attention on Italy, I discovered that the Papal State had been annexed by a Protestant nation. As the sole remaining Catholic nation (except for a handful of one-provinces that were able to keep Catholicism), I made it my duty to reconquer Roma. After the war was over, I get the event stating that I should be a good Catholic and release the Papal State. I figure that I've got plenty of time to steamroll it later (I colonized almost all of North and South America and much of Africa by this point, pretty much nothing could challenge me), so I decide to do it since its in the spirit of playing as the Teutonic Order.
The Papal State was released. It regained Roma. Roma had been converted to Protestantism. The Papal State changed its state religion to Protestantism. The Pope was a Protestant and didn't like that I was of another religion.
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[Sheb]

So my Morrocco run is going pretty well. It's 1521 and I control all of North Africa from the Atlantic to what was Tripoli (Algiers will be annexed in 2 years). I just finished Westernizing, so now is the time to arm up and crack Iberia. This'll be though, as Portugal is allied with Aragon which is leading a PU with Castile.  I'm thinking of beating up Songai for their lunch money, then attack protugal and use the cash to peace out with Castile, to stagger the truces and take Portugal down.

[Catastrophic lolcats]

1605 and Ireland managed to boot the English out of the Isles. It was not easy let me tell you but I got extremely lucky with some good alliances, a rebel crisis for england and finally a personal union with Spain that really helped.
Denmark was the main antagonist since she swallowed both Sweden and Norway extremely early and had a monstrous naval force limit. It was nothing but pain trying to fight a coalition of France, Denmark and their respective allies. Luckily with all the trade I was abusing from the new world I was able to fund pretty much any force and I won the war of attrition.

Spoiler: pics (click to show/hide)

Almost all of those little colonies you see outside of NA were English colonies that I had to steal so I could finally annex them. Note the little red island in central Africa, that's their capital.
I could keep playing as I have a good chance at inheriting Spain since I was able to beat them in the colonial game as they burnt all their money on endless wars with France. I did however cook up an ungodly amount of AE conquering what was left of England so it's going to be endless tedious coalition wars forever which makes me loath 1.2 so much.

[Tarran]

Woah, is that Serbia underneath Hungary? How did they avoid getting curbed by Hungary or the Ottomans?

[Catastrophic lolcats]

Didn't really pay attention to the Balkans but judging by the province history it seems it was all just a matter of luck. Venice, Poland and Hungary owned most of the Balkans until they revolted and Serbia got the provinces. 

Also an interesting thing to note is the +6 stability. It's of course not +6 stability but seems to be some kind of strange GUI bug I get very rarely. I'm thinking it has something to do with one of the graphic mods I'm using. Another graphical bug I get is the mouse pointer glitching. It looks like it's been sliced up horizontally per pixel line and pasted back together haphazardly.

[Mipe]

Oyo.

Conquered and colonized the whole African coast from Trarza (west african coast) to Mogadishu (just short of Gulf of Aden). I was lucky the Europeans were busy colonizing the Americas they somehow got to early (the Spain took nearly whole South America.. I don't know how they managed to get there before Portugal). Eventually, England was controlling most of North America, Spain almost entire South America, Portugal kept going to the Maya town for gold and whores, Viyanawhatever blobbed across whole Indian subcontinent... well, thanks to me controlling the African coast and developing provinces, the trade node in Timbuktu climbed to 50 value. Sweet.

The only problem is that the Ottomans and Mamluks are pretty high tech, even higher than most western powers, only short of France. S'why I didn't keep expanding - kept the buffer of uncolonized province between us, which prevents them from steamrolling me with high-tech doomstacks. Goal: turn whole Africa beige. Chances: Mission Impossible.

[Sheb]

Who are you playing?

[shadenight123]

'turn all africa beige' makes me think he's referring...to someone in Africa. Since he's speaking of westernized rivals implies he isn't western.

Sherlock Shade has done his job.