I have purchased EU2

[Kuciwalker]

Tips?

[ravagon]

Get the 1.08 patch. Don't worry too much about the beta's at first.

Go through the tutorials at the start. They do a pretty good job of showing you the basics even though you'll probably be out of your depth when you get into the a real game.

Play as a moderate or powerful nation in your first GC.
Spain, England, Austria, The OE ...
Build tax collectors in most of your provinces right away. Without them your income will be a third of its potential.
Economy is generally the most important early on. Try and concentrate on trade/infrastructure research and don't be too tempted to mint to much coin unless you really really need it (your treasury slider should be close to zero) - inflation is a killer if you let it get out of control.

Other tips will probably be dependent upon which nation you're playing and whether or not you're involved in any major wars.

Oh, and one final thing? Always listen to Vel.

[Kuciwalker]

I picked Spain, the Age of Exploration. It says I'm losing ~30 gold/month. Is this recouped in yearly income, or do I have to move my treasury slider up so I don't go bankrupt?

[ravagon]

If you're losing that much right at the start then you probably want to check your military maintainance slider (set it at the lowest possible, 50%, unless you're at war with somebody and expecting to fight fairly soon) and the total strength of your army/navy.
If you're above your support limits then you'll be paying excess maintainance through the teeth. It may be better to downsize (disband) a few units to reduce your costs.

[Edit: You will recoup some of that in your yearly tax income but probably not the 360D worth that you'll lose over the course of the year).

[Velociryx]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Brother Rav!

And I'll see if I can find some of the old "how to" threads and give them a bump!

-=Vel=-

[ravagon]

I hasten to add, Kuciwalker, that the great one can sometimes be wrong. Such as during a co-op game where people (ie: me) are frantically screaming at him not to attack somebody much tougher but then he goes off and does it anyway. Hypothetically speaking of course.

It doesn't occur very often but it can happen ...

[Sandman]

I'd recommend starting in the 1492 scenario; makes for a smoother game, IMO.

[hexagonian]

If nations dogpile on you, take a deep breath and do not panic. Many times you can get a bunch of white peaces (unless your intent is to take them all on at once...)

Hit and run works in those situations.

[Odin]

Austria is easy. Once you get Hungary and Bohemia by event; in the AGCEEP mod you also get Magyar and Czech culture (do you get these cultures in Vanilla EU2 as Austria?) you are unstoppable. Austria is known as the Great White Blob for a reason.

One you get some experience, download the AGCEEP Mod at the Paradox Website, it has tons of new events (some made by people from 'Poly, I know Che did a lot of work on the Ottomans) and other improvements.



If you like colonizing, try Spain or England (it is possible to win the 100 years war, and get France and French culture, but it is not a good thing for newbies to try). If you like conquest, try Austria (Russia and Poland are for more experienced players)

[CerberusIV]

Originally posted by Odin
Austria is easy. Once you get Hungary and Bohemia by event; in the AGCEEP mod you also get Magyar and Czech culture (do you get these cultures in Vanilla EU2 as Austria?) you are unstoppable. Austria is known as the Great White Blob for a reason.

Yes, Austria is fairly easy. It's particularly good for practising the diplomatic options. The last game I played was as Austria and I managed something like 14 diplo-vassalisations and 15 diplo-annexes - probably as many as in all the other games I have played put together.

[Kuciwalker]

How do I keep my allies from making peace when I want to continue the war a little bit and grab more territory? Especially as my allies never give me territory in the peace deals

[Gamecube64]

Solution: Be the one to declare war

[Kuciwalker]

How do I get a casus belli easy?

[GTPoompt]

I believe unless you are playing the beta, there is no "sure fire way" to get any casus belli's. You can always use the option "claim their throne" which in the beta is actually is useful now as the stab hits aren't as big.

The best place to start for a newcomer is France in the 1492 scenario

[CerberusIV]

How do I keep my allies from making peace when I want to continue the war a little bit and grab more territory? Especially as my allies never give me territory in the peace deals

You can't. So grab the territory you want quickly and make peace yourself and leave your allies to their war.

How do I get a casus belli easy?

If you are playing Spain you have a CB against most of the non-europeans anyway. If you want a CB against a european country go to the diplomatic options -> relations and issue a warning. If they go to war with anyone whilst the warning is in force, you have a CB. There is no guaranteed way to get a CB but this, I find, is the most cost effective.

At the end of the game when you have maxed out the techs and can only put money into stability or treasury and have the biggest army and navy - who cares about CB's, just go to war.