EU2: What is a good country for a noob?

[Odin]

I FINNALLY got EU2! Now I just need to know what contries are good to learn the game with. I was thinking of England, but they are still in the 100 years war, and I want several years to get a hang on my economics before I start conquering. Maybe i'll try Sweden.

BTW, I have the AGC-EEP mod.

[Nikolai]

If you want to focus on colonization, choose Spain in the 1492 scenario. But the probably easiest country is France 1492. Then you will face more of the sides of the game too.

[Micha]

Well, he´s playing AGC-EEP, so no France yet...

I´d advise to play the standard game without mods at highest patch for a start. While the AGC-EEP is great, you´ll have a better time getting the hang of things in the vanilla EU2. It´s also more stable than the mod...

Play as Castille in 1419, then you have little war till later on and can go all the way up to Spain with lots of explorers and the like. Don´t play Portugal or Ottoman Empire at first, since you´ll run out of money pretty soon with those.

Austria is also great for learning, though it´s not present in AGC-EEP (and I didn´t manage to create it there)...

[dojoboy]

You may want to focus on certain aspects of the game first with specific countries. Such as, choosing a landlocked country will allow you to ignore the exploration, colonization, and naval elements while learning about land wars, trade, and diplomacy. Then, maybe play Portugal. With Portugal, you're almosy always going to be able to go naval unencumbeed by European matters. You can learn about exploration, colonization, and naval combat (techs) with them.

[Maniac]

My first country I played was Denmark.
Little, so you don't have lots to do right from the start without knowing what's all going on.
But rich, so you won't lose right away if you make some less bright decisions.

[Dinner]

If colonization is to complicated for a first timer then Austria is a good choice as it gets lots of favorable events and is far from any of the other majors. Turkey is the only one to ever really give Austria trouble but as long as Austria gets into Germany and Italy early it should have plenty of money for armies. Poland implodes on its ownand being in the latin tech group means you're usually a CRT or two ahead of the Turk.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by Oerdin
If colonization is to complicated for a first timer then Austria is a good choice as it gets lots of favorable events and is far from any of the other majors. Turkey is the only one to ever really give Austria trouble Poland implodes on its ownand being in the latin tech group means you're usually a CRT or two ahead of the Turk.

Poland/lithuania can be a power house early on, and france and spain will often get into conflicts with austria later.

[Nikolai]

Originally posted by Oerdin
If colonization is to complicated for a first timer then Austria is a good choice as it gets lots of favorable events and is far from any of the other majors. Turkey is the only one to ever really give Austria trouble but as long as Austria gets into Germany and Italy early it should have plenty of money for armies. Poland implodes on its ownand being in the latin tech group means you're usually a CRT or two ahead of the Turk.

Do remember that the Turks are latin techgroup untill 1600-something.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by General Ludd


Poland/lithuania can be a power house early on, and france and spain will often get into conflicts with austria later.

Poland loses western tech group and moves to Orthodoxed tech group when it annexes Lithuania. That alone is a big blow to a newbie combine in the fact that most proviences won't be your culture or your religion and you see why a total newbie shouldn't play Poland-Lithuania.

[Velociryx]

I'm gonna go against the herd on this one and recommend playing Muscowy for a "noob."

True, they are in a "weaker" tech group AND near other nations that are in a "stronger" tech group, BUT....

* You will learn the mechanics of combat....vital if you are gonna be a long-time EU player.

* You will learn ALLLLL about "General Winter," when to execute sieges, when to run away and wait for spring, etc.

* Blessed with abundant leaders

* Colonization options, both in the early game (Kola, Karelia, Arkangel, and any of the other colonies you can snag from Scandinavia), and again later, after you fight your way to the eastern corridor.

* The endless Russian Hordes mean that you can afford to make mistakes and still recover easily from them (it's nice to be playing a country where you can lose your entire army, take a loan and INSTANTLY be bristling with troops again, recruiting from Moscow alone!)

* Good events....(watch out for Russia's "Time of Troubles" cos it WILL hurt some, but by that time, you should be more than strong enough to handle it).

If you opt to play Muscowy, cancel your Vassalization with the Golden Horde right away, then focus on absorbing your neighbors first (don't take the colonies as territorial gains from war, let Novgorod settle those areas for you)...but rather, take established territories first to build a strong base, and then lay the smack down on anybody who gets uppity. If Sweden comes calling, remember two things: 1) They don't have NEARLY the manpower you do, and 2) General Winter will do most of the hard work for you. That, coupled with your excellent leadership should be more than enough to offset the tech advantage they will have. And don't give yourself a border with the Ottomans till you are strong and prepared. As for the rest of your neighbors....they've got NOTHING for you....they're just cushion and free land.

-=Vel=-

[Dinner]

Does Russia still get Mongol culture in an event or did they take that away when they took Baltic culture away from Sweden? Also if forming Russia is the goal then start as Novgorod because that way when you form Russia you will get both Russian and Ugric culture plus it's nice to start out with a CoT.

[Velociryx]

True, true...but for a "noob" starting as Nov is a pain in the Arse....you got quite possibly the crappiest army on the planet, which seems to have great difficulty fighting its way out of a paper sack, and Muscowy has better leaders. Plus, on any but the easiest difficulty settings, you're gonna get jumped by just about all of your neighbors on or before Feb 1, 1419, which will put you in a 4-5 front tooth-and-nail war for survival.

If I was a noob, and THAT was my opening situation, I'd run very far and very fast from this demon game!

IIRC, yes, The Rus still get Mongol culture, but admittedly, it's been a while since I gave them a spin, and my last game was as Nov...cos you're right...that CoT offers some sweet advantages (as does jumping Sweden and stealing Lappland, Finmark, and Narvik, Iceland and both Greenland provs) when Denmark and Norway come to the rescue of Sweden in an attempt to stop the Russian Tide....

-=Vel=-

[GePap]

I had a good time with China in my first games- lots of rom for mistakes, while still stinking rich. Then you get to the 1620's....

[Odin]

Originally posted by GePap
I had a good time with China in my first games- lots of rom for mistakes, while still stinking rich. Then you get to the 1620's....

Then you suddenly suck?

[Nikolai]

Then the world comes falling down on you. Honestly, +40% RR in every single Chinese province is not fun...