One thing to note about EU is the choice of ideas is not just what you need but when you need it plus what ideas will you get in your national ideas. You should time your idea choices on when do you expect to need them, plan ahead. The first three. Jan 24, 2018 EU4 - How To Win as Sweden TheSocialStreamers. Unsubscribe from TheSocialStreamers? Cancel Unsubscribe. Subscribe Subscribed Unsubscribe 13.3K.
Europa Universalis IV is a grand strategy game that features historical events and people. Its developer, Paradox Interactive, is doing their best to simulate global history from 1444 to 1821. Within these 377 years, there were many great rulers and generals from different parts of the world who rose to power. In game, Paradox gave historical rulers stats with 0 being the lowest to 6 being the highest based on their administrative, diplomatic and military performance. If a ruler has 6 monarch points in all three skills, it means the ruler is perfect in all perspectives. Technology research will be faster if rulers have higher monarch points.
There are seven 'perfect rulers' throughout the whole game. As all of them are 'perfect rulers', I ranked them on their availability in game and their fixed military stat for firing, shocking, maneuver and siege, which are rated by their performance in historical battles. I will refer to them as the 'four military stats' in the list below.
7. Mori Takachika
Takachika is the Daimyo of the Mori Clan in1837. In that period, the Tokogawa Shogunate were facing imperialist threats from the Western world. At first, he was loyal to the emperor and tried to expel foreign imperialists and let Japan stay in isolation. However, it resulted in defeat at Shimonoseki. Afterward, he proposed to westernize and became a major player in the Meiji Restoration.
Takachika is only playable if players modified the timeline in game. Even though he is playable, it isn't until the very end of the game and he can hardly be used, hence the reason I put him in last place.
Mori Takachika statue in Yamaguchi, Japan
6. Noriaki Uesugi
Noriaki is the Daimyo of the Uesugi Clan. He is the shogunate who united Japan from the Nanboku-Cho, a period of time when there were two imperial courts rivaling each other and claimed to be emperor of Japan. They were the Northern Imperial Court of Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto, and a Southern Imperial Court of Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino. In 1392, the southern court declined being united by Noriaki. Later, he started a centralization reform and eventually held more power than the Takauji.
Unlike Takachika, Noriaki's timeline is placed before the game starts. If players modified the timeline, they still can use Noriaki until his death. At the same time, neither of them are playable without modification.
Statue of Nariaki Uesugi in the Golden Pavilion at Kyoto, Japan
5. Pyotr I Veliky
Known as Peter the Great, Peter is the Russian Tsar who studied shipbuilding in the Netherlands at a young age and initiated a revolution against the traditionalist and westernization of Russia. Also, he won the Great Northern War, which resulted in the rise of the Russian Empire and the decline of Sweden and Poland-Lithuania Commonwealth after claiming Baltic ports from Sweden.
Peter is actually a playable 'perfect ruler' in 1682. Because he lacks a fixed military stat, he is ranked after the following Top 4.
Portrait of Peter the Great
4. Henry VI
Known as 'Henry the Great' and 'Good King Henry', Henry VI rebuilt France after destruction from the French War of Religion. In the administration, he promoted education, agriculture, and expeditions to Canada. Nevertheless, he is known for his benevolence and love for his subjects. He is one of the few kings loved by the people during the French Revolution.
Henry VI is a playable French king in 1589 and has a 4,4,2,0 in the four military stats. With such stats, he definitely is able to 'make France great again' after the French War of Religion.
Portrait of Henry IV
3. Akbar I
Similar to Good King Henry, Akbar the Great is Known for his expansion of the Mughal Empire, religious tolerance and a centralized taxing system on military and subjects. Akbar also rewarded his officials based on merit instead of ethnic and religion background. He conquered most of neighboring powers during his military campaigns.
Akbar has a military stat of 4,4,2,2. He is evenly matched as Henry IV, but as he conquered other neighboring factions, a 2 in siege is given by Paradox.
Drawing of Akbar the Great
2. Gustav II Adolf
Gustav is one of the best generals in the list as he innovated new formations and weapons for the Swedish army. In the Thirty Year War, the Protestant League usually referred to him as 'Lion of the North' since he defeated Catholic armies multiple times. One of the notable examples would be the Battle of Breitenfeld in which he defeated a much larger Catholic army. As a result of the battle, German Protestant states ensured their freedom of religion not being prosecuted by the Catholic Church. In the same time, Sweden became a strong and influential power in Europe.
Gustav's excellent performance in the the Thirty Year War led Paradox to give him a 6,5,6,1 in military stats.
Gustav II Adolf being presented in EU4 loading screen
1. Frederick the Great
Frederick's reign is an example of Enlightened Absolutism. As a monarch, he modernized the Prussian bureaucracy, civil service and encouraged religious tolerance. Similar to Gustav, his achievements in the military are more famous than administration. Frederick led Prussia to win the Seven Year War, which historian argue is the first world war as European colonies and natives were fighting as well. In North America, it is known as the French-Indian War. Although he did not make Prussia as strong as great powers like Great Britain and France after the Seven Year War, Prussia was able to maintain their state of existence before entering the war.
Paradox rated Frederick 6,6,6,1. It means he is the most prominent general in the battlefield within this list.
Frederick the Great and his generals during the Seven Years War
Almost made it to the list
There are more great leaders in this period of time other than the seven I listed above. Perhaps they had some 'flaws' in their political life, so Paradox did not rate them with 6s across the board. However, they are indeed great leaders in history. Here is list of 'Almost Perfect Historical Leaders Based on EU4 Standard' and their major achievements:
- Gjergj Skanderberg, (6,5,6) Albania, 1443, defended Albania from Ottoman invasion for 20 years
- Elizabeth I, (6,6,5) England. 1558, economic reform, defeated Spanish Armada and united religion in England
- Minjo, Kaffa, (6,5,6) 1390, founder of Kaffa, first to innovate a method for roasting coffee
- Ang Chan I, Khmer, (5,6,6) 1516, defended Khmer from Siam and conquered land from it
- Zhu Di, Ming, (5,6,6) 1402, won succession war at Jingnan Campaign, conquest of Vietnam, defeated Northern Yuan and initiated treasure voyages
- Ismail, Morocco, (6,5,6), 1672, defeated Ottoman invasion and stayed independent, reconquered North African port cities from Spain
- Abbas I, Persia, (6,5,6), 1587, military reform and reconquered lost territories from Uzbek, Ottoman, Portuguese and Mughal
- Catherine the Great, Russia, (6,6,5), 1762, conquered Polish-Lithuanian, Persian and Ottoman territories, patron of art, literature and education, and issued paper money
- Suleiman the Magnificent, Ottoman, (6,5,6), 1520, conquered Persian, North African, European and Arabian territories, reformed education, taxation and criminal law
Brandenburg starts with 6 provinces in the HRE with only 57 development. Although a fairly small nation, it’s widely popular with EU4 players. The main reason is that forming Prussia from Brandenburg is a natural progression in game. And Prussia is a very strong nation with one of the best militaristic national ideas. The real challenge is early game though. Brandenburg starts fairly weak in close proximity to some bigger nations such as Bohemia, Poland and Denmark. And you are in the HRE, so expansion can get rather slow because of aggressive expansion and demand for unlawful territory by the emperor.
OPENING MOVES
- Get level 1 mil advisor. You can’t afford the other two just yet.
- Don’t set your rivals yet either. Wait till December 1st. In my experience, if you set your rivals early, they tend to seek stronger allies which will slow down your conquests.
- Ally and RM Austria and Saxony.
- Improve relations with Poland. Build spy network on pomerania.
DIPLOMACY
Bohemia
90% of the time Bohemia will rival you, in which case rival them back. But if they haven’t. RM them, don’t ally. There’s a chance they get your dynasty on the throne in which case you can force PU on them. Or you can savescum till they get your dynasty. You will have to take a few loans but having Bohemia under PU early game is well worth it.
Poland
They won’t ally you at the start, but they will RM you. They can be a strong ally, but they want the same provinces which you need to form Prussia. So I recommend you ally them only if they take the decision to PU Lithuania. Because if they don’t, there’s a good chance they will get beat up by Teutonic and livonian orders and Bohemia.
Teutonic Order
Most guides recommend rivaling the teutonic order, but I don’t think its necessary early game, unless you find the right circumstances to attack them very early. You have to take some provinces from them to form Prussia, so you will rival them, just a bit later in game.
Pomerania
Your number 1 war target at start. And that’s why I recommend restarting until they don’t have any strong allies, such as Bohemia, Poland/Lithuania or Denmark. Its a 50-50 chance, with better odds if you don’t rival them at the start. You can still take them on if they have strong allies, but its going to take some time, manpower and ducats. And it will set you back a few decades.
HRE minors
Magdeburg usually rivals you at start. They are not worth rivaling back as they always join the Lubeck trade league which makes them fairly strong early game. Mecklenberg is a good target to rival as they have small allies, which you can take on early. If you don’t ally Poland, I recommend allying another HRE elector. With Saxony already an ally, you will be the next HRE emperor.
Allies
Austria, Saxony and Poland, if they look strong. If not, ally one of the HRE electors to guarantee emperorship.
Rivals
wait till Dec 1st then rival Bohemia, Pomerania and Mecklenberg. Later change to Teutonic order, Brunswick and others depending on how the game progresses.
CONQUEST
Teutonic order
Strategy I
Attack them early, if Poland is willing to help you out. Take Neumark in the first war and give poland bare minimum of provinces so they don’t lose trust in you. Now Poland and your truce with teutonic order is synced, so possibly next time you attack TO, you can call in Poland without promising any land. This strat works very well if Poland is strong and you don’t want to fight them early on. Samsung un55fh6003 manual.
Strategy II
If TO has a strong ally such as Bohemia at start, let poland fight them alone and drain each others resources. Then attack the teutons when they are vulnerable.
Note- You can also get Neumark via an event for 100 ducats in the first few years, which is really convenient. And you fulfil a mission giving you free claims on Pomerania.
Pomerania
Attack as soon as you have a claim either by event or otherwise. Vassalize them. You should prioritize this war over others. It fulfils a mission and gives you some much needed money and trade power.
Mecklenburg
An opportunistic target. Attack them before pomerania, do it with humiliate CB. It gives you power projection, monarch points and splendor generation. They won’t be a valid rival for long.
Bohemia
Austria will usually help you out with Bohemia. Cut them down bit by bit, there’s no hurry.
Denmark
Start building galleys as soon as you can. Once you have naval superiority over Denmark and its subjects, you can start taking Danish lands. Or you can support Sweden’s independence if you want them as an ally.
HRE
Conquest of HRE minors will be slow early game because of AE. You can speed it up by becoming the emperor. And later in game, by dismantling HRE.
Further conquests– To form Germany, you can play the HRE game and get the required provinces bit by bit.
Decide between Russia and Ottomans mid game, as you will ally one and expand in the other direction. I recommend allying Russia, as Ottomans are always hated by other European powers making them easier to call into wars.
Note- Although Brandenburg starts with Prussian national ideas, the army bonuses don’t kick in till Idea number 3. So your army is very average at the start. But once you get all national ideas done along with couple of military ideas, your armies are basically unbeatable and you will have very high army tradition which means godlike generals too, making wars very easy.
GAMEPLAY MECHANICS
Ideas
You can choose literally any ideas depending on how you want to play. Try out ideas you have never taken.
Ideal set of ideas for expansion-
Innovative– discount on tech and institution cost is huge all game.
Influence– AE is a major issue early to mid game. Also you will have a fair amount of vassals, so the diplo annex costs help.
Religious– Since you are going to convert to Protestant or Reformed to form Prussia, it makes sense to go religious. You can also go humanist instead, but I prefer religious. If you have a lot of rebel issues, you can always choose the religious unity policy later.
Next ideas you can go whatever you like. Diplo and admin are good to have at some point. I usually go quality, admin, diplo, then offensive, and defensive for those space marines.
HRE
Brandenburg starts as an HRE elector. So once you improve relations or ally couple of more electors, your emperorship is guaranteed once Austrian monarch dies. Once you are emperor, you can take on smaller HRE nations slowly.
-If you take a province from HRE, the emperor will ask for the unlawful land back and if you refuse, it leads to some unrest and negative opinion modifiers. To avoid that, you should start the next small war before ending the first one, for the duration of coring conquered province. Emperor cannot demand land back if you are at war or if you have a core on the province.
-Other way to deal with HRE restrictions is to dismantle it by capturing the electors and emperor’s capital. You will lose the emperorship once you convert to Protestant and reformed anyways, at least until you win the religious war if you are inclined to do that.
-You can always leave the HRE as well, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The only reason you would do it is because you want to form an empire. So if you form Germany which automatically upgrades your government, you will leave the HRE as well
Religious League War
You can become the protestant league leader if you are the first elector to convert to protestant, so always convert on day 1. Look to start the war fairly early before any major nations have joined the catholic side. Once you win the war, it gives you easy emperorship and some neat bonuses.
Events
There are a lot of good events associated with playing as Brandenburg- Prussia.
Neumark– You get nermark for 100 ducats early game from TO. very convenient with no bloodshed.
Ansbach– You get an event where Ansbach becomes your PU. You can expand in Bavaria with them. Later you get an event to end the union. You can choose either option, both have their pros and cons.
Absolutism– You get free +20 max absolutism late game, which is amazing if are playing a blobbing game.
Prutenic Tables– One of my favorites is the prutenic table which gives you 25% tech and idea cost discount. After this event, you should get as many of them as possible while the discount is active.
Enlightened Reforms of Fredrich The Great– Another 25% idea cost discount is huge. You will never be short on monarch points late game.
Some more military events give you army professionalism, tradition and monarch points too.
Form nations–
Prussia– you can form prussia if you have admin tech 10, are protestant or reformed and have these provinces. You will usually get the provinces before getting to admin tech 10. So you can play fairly slow at the start and you’ll still be okay. Once you form Prussia, you get claims on the TO provinces and your government type changes to Prussian monarchy which has some very good modifiers.
There’s another mechanic called militarization of country, it rewards you for playing tall, as having more provinces will decrease the militarization. At full militarization, you get bonus for discipline, manpower recovery and land maintenance cost. Prussia is one of few country where you get incentives for playing tall. You can also buy militarization by spending mil points, but your armies are already unbeatable so its not necessary.
Germany– you can form germany at admin tech 20 with these provinces. Expansion into HRE is usually slow, which is fine too, as you don’t get any perks by forming Germany except for claims in north and south german regions. Once you form Germany, you will leave the HRE. You also keep the prussian gov type and the national ideas with Germany.
ADVANCED MECHANICS
Absolutism- is important if you are playing an expansion game. You get +10 max absolutism from the prussian government and an extra +20 from the event and you can increase you absolutism slowly with strengthening government, harsh treatment and increasing stability plus the age ability. So firing the court and country disaster is not worth it. In fact, you can do world conquest without it as well.
Revolutionary– you can go revolutionary late game, you want some extra perks and a new cool flag.
ACHIEVEMENTS
With this guide you can get at least 2 good achievements.
Early reich– just forming Germany gives you the achievement. Its not that hard once you get over the first few years.
A fine goosestep– Getting a discipline of 125% with Prussia is not hard. You can get discipline by national ideas, quality, offensive, policy, ruler trait, advisor and militarization.
You can also do a couple of HRE achievements by becoming the emperor and later dismantling HRE.
I hope this guides helps out players who are looking to try out as Brandenburg or Prussia.
Here is the video tutorial.
And here is the timelapse.