Europa Universalis IV Guide

7/21/2019 Europa Universalis IV Guide

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Preface ....................................................................................3

Introduction ........................................................4

Choosing your grand strategy ....................4

Deciding your route to your goals ........... 5

Managing failure .................................................. 5

Managing success ..............................................6

Monarch and Monarch Points ................... 7

Government ................................................................7

Advisors ......................................................................8

Land focus or Naval Focus ............................8

Colonization............................................................9

Technology ...............................................................9

Civic Development ...........................................10

Decisions ..................................................................11Ideas .............................................................................11

Size or focus ..........................................................12

Stability and rebellions ..................................13

Trade and Production ....................................14

Loans and inflation ..........................................15

Religion .....................................................................16

Diplomacy .....................................................................18

Alliances .................................................................18

Royal marriages ..................................................18

Espionage................................................................19Casus Belli and Claims ..................................19

Vassals and personal unions ......................19

warfare .............................................................................20

Before the War ..................................................20

Naval vs. Land warfare ..................................21

Geography and warfare................................ 22

Military technology ........................................ 22Military development.................................... 23

Force multiplications ..................................... 23

Quality and Quantity ......................................24

War of maneuver vs.

War of attrition...................................................24

Commanders and traditions ...................... 25

Fighting one strong foe ................................ 26

Fighting several weaker foes ..................... 26Fighting a superior alliance ...................... 26

When the war is unwinnable ...................... 27

Table of contents

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his guide will try to give a frame of reference to use when play-

ing Europa Universalis IV. It’s not meant to be a bunch tips and hints,

but will instead provide you with some context to keep in mind when

playing the game. Europa Universalis IV is a sandbox game where the

freedom to explore and find your own way lies at the heart of the gameplay. Hopefully

this guide will help you in achieving those goals, whatever they are.

Preface

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4

Choosing your grand strategy Setting the goals:

The first thing you need to do is to choose your strategy; where to do you want your

nation to go and what high level plan will you use to get there?

Europa Universalis IV is a sandbox game, and as such you mainly set your own

goals and targets. Do want to westernize the Ottoman Empire and maintain your role

as the West’s and maybe even the world’s foremost power? Will you lead Ulm to unite

Germany and dominate the European continent? Or maybe try to conquer the worldas France or England?

The first decision, what your aim is, will be the centerpiece of your strategy.

Without a goal, there cannot be a plan. If you find it hard to decide what you want to

do, there are places where you can go for inspiration.

The first place is the main mission list, an often hard to achieve goal given to you

by “the nation”. It will often take 10 – 50 years to achieve, and picking those off one-

by-one is a great way to go through your first games.

A second place to look for inspiration is history: What happened to your countryin the real world? What did they do right, what did they do wrong and what would

you do differently? For a history buff, playing Spain would be a natural challenge,

doing exactly what they did the first 100 years, but then steering them away from the

stagnation and mediocrity that set in in the late 1600s.

Introduction

A Brand New World



5

Deciding your route to your goalsOnce your goals are set, you need to decide how to achieve them. There are many

tools at your disposal as an EUIV player, none of which can be completely overlooked

(even a landlocked country need to know the relative naval strengths of friends and

foes), and all of which are described in greater detail within this guide.

The first order of business is to take a look at your own country. The following

order is a good way to start:

• The missions of your nation*

• The size of your country

• The size of your neighbours

• Monarch – Strengths and weaknesses of monarch• Economy – Income and expenses

• Diplomacy – Allies and foes

• Diplomacy – Claims on neighbors and claims on you

• Cultures, religion and cores within your nation

• Cultures and religions outside your nation

• National ideas

• Your military strength – Land and naval

•Foes military strength – land and naval

• Allies military strength – land and naval

• Foes’ allies military strength – land and naval

• Technology

• Geography around your nation

• Colonial possibilities

• Decisions for your nation

• Missions of your nation*

* If using missions to dictate strategy, start with this. Otherwise, chose a mission that aligns with

your strategy

This will be the basis for a so called OODA-loop, which stands for observe, orient,

decide and act.

Once you have observed and oriented, decide on your goal and act, and that is

where the rest of this guide comes in.

Managing failureOne of the toughest parts for a player will be managing failure. EUIV is designed to

minimize the occurrences of tipping points, i.e. to avoid instances when the player be-

comes invincible. Instead, the player will see its empire wax and wane as great kings



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tain internal stability. Never hesitate to pay points for stability, harsh treatment, to

lower your war exhaustion and to core regions. A weak king cannot be helped, and

some instability is survivable. But religious revolts, low stability and overextension all

mixed up in one moment can bring the strongest nation to its knees surprisingly fast.

A good thing to remember is that many of these systems feed into each other. Failed

wars give higher war exhaustion, and war exhaustion breeds rebels that will further

lower your ability to wage war. Once the situation is bad enough, it will start lowering

your prestige, which will make your country worse at just about everything, including

religious intolerance. That why it is paramount to get out of these situations as soon as

possible, even if it includes a humiliating defeat (read more about this under warfare).

Remember, you have centuries to come back and take revenge on those that hurt

you.

Managing successSuccess might not sound like something that needs to be managed, and that is one of

the most common reasons why new players fail in Europa Universalis. Just because

the war is over, doesn’t mean that the peace has been won, and just because you domi-

nate the world’s trade doesn’t mean that it is not about to change.

Players will from time to time have golden ages with strong kings and most of theirmedium term goals achieved. It will be very tempting to push forward even quicker,

but the player should a bit careful with this temptation.

Aggressive expansion, overextension and limited amounts of manpower means that

a player that continues to push too quickly forward with conquests might soon be fight-

ing the whole world with a crumbling empire. And the trader country that pushes for-

ward with traders and warships to collect even more gold than needed might soon see

an endless stream of wars defending money you don’t know how to spend.

Instead this can be a good time to consolidate your position. Core your conqueredprovinces, unlock new ideas and upgrade your lands. Try to integrate a few vassals

if needed, and forge stronger alliances. This does not mean that you shouldn’t take

offensive measures if needed or if prudent; just be aware of your countries limits.



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Government

overnment is the very foundation of your country. It is the nationin itself, the ruling classes and the technology they use. It is where every

player will need to start, because if you cannot govern, you will not ac-

complish anything.

Monarch and Monarch PointsMonarch points are the new main currency of EUIV, in many ways more important

than old classic gold.Monarch points are not so much an object for strategy, but they are what dictate

which strategies you have available. The amount of points to your disposal will ebb

and flow as your monarchs and advisors change. Learning to handle low points while

exploiting the high points will be the key to success.

This will be one of the major parts of this guide, and almost all sections will discuss

the importance if prioritizing the use of these points. Remember that this is the es-

sence of strategy; choosing the best of limited options, while considering risk.

However, one rule should be mentioned at the outset: Your monarch points should

be like your mortgage, make sure you can pay it even if you become unemployed.

Always make sure that your empire can survive a 0 – 0 – 0 king, at least once.

Also, worth is that monarch points are one of the most important systems that will

keep you from just growing endlessly. Creating cores and converting cultures can cost

Government Screen



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a lot of points and you will also need to spend more upgrading the infrastructure to

the level you want.

Advisors Advisors bring bonuses to your country, distinct for the type of advisor you use plus a

general monarch point bonus. The former is always of the same magnitude while the

other varies from 1 to 3, with a substantially higher cost as this point bonus goes up.

The simple fact is that advisors will often be the highest cost for your country, and,

with the exception of a few very rich countries, you will simply be unable to pay for 3

advisers each with 3 point bonuses.

A more feasible strategy is chose one adviser with a high bonus to mitigate the big-gest weakness of your monarch, and chose cheaper for two the other, based primarily

on their specific bonus. This will help your country to keep up with your enemies,

give you some nice bonuses and still allow you to run a surplus.

Also, if you find yourself in a war and very strapped for cash, don’t hesitate to fire

your non-military advisors. It will hurt a bit to rehire them after the war, but it is

nothing a strong nation shouldn’t be able to afford.

Land focus or Naval FocusLand focus and Naval focus are the two most basic strategies you will need to choose

from. Between them you either go for the choice of a connected country based on

land military strength or a colonial/trading country based on naval capacity.

Nations that are good for land focus tend to have national ideas that give bonuses

to production, land force limits and soldiers. They will often be able to dominate their

own continent and can become extremely strong, but have a harder time defending

colonial ambitions.Naval countries tend to be island trading nations (however not all, Novgorod is a

classic ”land first”- country) or geographically dispersed nations that will try to build

colonial empires. They will dominate the sea and the whole world but can be weak

in their own back yard.

A country with land focus should still build navies and do trade and any naval

country will still need armies, production and a fairly good-sized homeland. It is

more of a decision of where the player will try to get the competitive edge, not a pure

either/or situation.



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Colonization

Colonization is one of the most important and potentially lucrative strategies in the

game. It is the natural decision for European powers with western ports, but also

some Asian countries can benefit from colonization.If you have reason to believe that you have the possibility to be one of the first to

reach lands that can still be colonized, it will pay off to rush for explorers and Quest

for the New World. This can best be done by choosing the Exploration idea group.

Try to scoop up the richest provinces first and core them to push further.

There are two main strategies for colonization. You can try to upgrade a few prov-

inces as quickly as possible by keeping the colonist envoy in place or you can move

them from province to province to grow your empire as fast as possible.

The latter strategy will grow your empire faster, but it will leave you vulnerable foroverextension and war. Colonies that are not fully developed have no defence and can

be captured in war without a peace deal.

A fast expansion is often good in the start, but as soon as you have real competition

for the new lands, it can be wise to shift to a more safe and steady strategy.

Technology

Technology will be the biggest point spend your country will have. Techs are expen-sive, especially if you play a tech group different from Western. The general rule is to

upgrade as soon as you have the chance, unless you KNOW that you need the points

elsewhere. However, always check out what the max amount of points your nation

can save is, once that is filled out any incoming points are just lost.

Spanish Colonial Empire during late 16th Century



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No matter what strategy you have decided on, try to upgrade all technologies regu-

larly, as they all will help you push your country forward. It is not a catastrophe if

you fall a bit behind in technology from time to time, but remember that you only get

a rather small bonus in cost from neighbours being ahead of you. So if you are more

than two technologies behind one of your rivals, consider spending some extra moneyon a good adviser. That extra point might not seem like much but it will go a long way

to help you catch up.

On the flip side, while the bonuses for those behind are small, the punishment for

trying to go ahead is enormous, which means that you soon might have almost no use

of an extra monarch point. This actually the real reason why it is not so bad to fall

behind a bit; if you are on top, a good king will maybe only bring you one tech ahead,

but if you are behind then a good king can easily let you catch up, even if he starts

three or four technologies behind.One final thing to keep in mind when it comes to technologies is that while all

technologies have important bonuses, some will have drastic effects, especially some

of the land based ones (a so called Revolution in Military Affairs). Always try to keep

an eye on those technologies that give you a new unit type (the early upgrades in

cavalry for Western nations will drastically improve your military capacity) or better

strategies, as pushing for one those early can finally give you the edge you need to

defeat that much larger rival.

Civic DevelopmentCivic development is another potential big drain of points; however prioritization is

much more empire, really ask yourself if the specific upgrade is needed.



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DecisionsIn most cases, decision are simple numbers games; small tweaks to your country that

will either play well with your long term strategy or help you to solve some short

term problem. There are however some major decisions, like forming new nations,

that are very important and make excellent goals for a game. To see if your country

can transform in to a larger country and what is needed to do it, simply look for a mis-

sion with a green instead of a blue banner. Often this will include conquering several

provinces, including some that at the moment are capitals in other countries. This

and later coring them will be a very time consuming process, meaning that this might

be a goal that stretches for centuries.

Ideas

Ideas are groups of bonuses for your country that can be unlocked with an investment

of 300 monarch points. There are 15 different groups that all have interesting and fun

bonuses to fit your play style. As a general rule, some play styles don’t require certain a

groups of ideas. A military nation will want some military ideas for sure, but it doesn’t

necessarily need be either offensive or defensive, quality or quantity (even if some

will suit certain nations a bit better). There are however a few exceptions, where youas a player will either be severely hurt or completely stopped from playing in a certain

way if you lack the ideas.

A colonial player must simply have the Exploration idea group, a trading nation

should really have the Trade ideas and a naval power should also really have the Naval

Available ideas



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group. However, as a country can have eight groups all tolled, it still means you will

have to make a lot of choices.

Playing on your strengths or mitigating your weaknesses? An important but not so obvious question you will need to answer during the game is

if you should use your ideas to further bolster a natural strength or to try to mitigate

one of your weaker areas.

At first glance it seems natural to further specialize in the area you have decided

to become your path to victory, but this might lead you to be dangerously weak in

other regards. A classic example would be playing as France and only focusing

on land and production. You would end up with an extremely powerful army and

economy, but you would also let your enemies fully dominate their preferred areas;trade and naval. Instead, choosing one or two naval idea groups could give you the

chance to finally cross that channel and bring the fight to your ancient enemy’s

homeland.

So how do you know when to choose what? Well, as with most complex decisions,

it is hard to give exact rules. But try to ask yourself, what tools would I need the most

to achieve my mid-term goals? If my armies already can defeat all my enemies with-

out problem, maybe stronger armies are less important than keeping my ports open

during the war. Or maybe what you really need is more diplomatic relations, in orderto be able to have more vassals.

So read carefully, try to estimate how many monarch points you will have to spend

and what your need will be primarily 50 – 100 years forward (solutions for problems

further in future is better saved for a later idea group). Once you have started to unlock

ideas, make sure to challenge your rivals and enemies with your newly acquired edge.

Size or focusSize or focus is the question is related to the military decision of quantity or quality;

however this option is skewed in the direction of size before focus. What the ques-

tion really is is whether or not you should plan on growing as large as possible, find-

ing strength in numbers and size or rather stay small in order to save your monarch

points for technology and ideas.

One of the most natural factors that determines what strategy you will take is actu-

ally the size of your culture; if your culture is small, the cost in monarch points will be

much more punishing as you try to grow out of these natural restraints. A larger culture however, like the Russians and the French, will find it natural to

try to create a large country, finding strength and money in expansion. It is normally

easier to play these countries; the ability have a large country with mostly the same

culture has few (albeit some) drawbacks. However, soon even these countries will hit



13

their natural limits and that is when you as a player will need to decide if it is worth

to spend the potentially hundreds of points to grow even larger.

It also worth noting that for both large and small, your neighbours will not like it

if you grow too quickly. Even though it might seem that they are too scared to push

forward, at the first sign of weakness they may all attack in a try to cut you down to

size. And while a large country might be able to field a larger army, it also has a lot

more provinces to defend and harbors to keep open.

Stability and rebellions

Stability and rebellions are one of those challenges the budding ruler just needs todeal with. Of course we all would wish that the ruled would be grateful for our bril-

liant work, the truth is that it ambition tends to upset them and create constant rebel-

lions. There are many reasons for rebellions, but once they break out there are only

two solutions; giving in or defeating them.

Giving in the demands of the rebels is seldom recommended unless you REALLY

know what you’re doing (an exception could be if you really want accept the 5-6-6

pretender instead 1-1-2 ruler you have now). While there might be some advantages

to giving in, there will also be some extreme hits to your country.Stability itself is one of the most important modifiers in the game, and you will

always try to keep it high. The question is however, how high? The cost for boosting

it can be rather high, especially for large and diverse empires, and it can quick become

a drain for your empire.

Stability and rebels in Spain during late 16th Century



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This guide has a simple piece of advice: Unless you have extreme problems, push

it to two. At two you will benefit from both negative and positive events (a three the

positive will be wasted as it can’t go higher). If it drops down to one from an event, let

it stay there, unless once again you really need the extra money or rebels are every-

where. Better to wait for an event that boosts it for free than to pay what might be up

to 200 points to upgrade it.

Trade and ProductionTrade and production are the two main forms of incomes besides tax, and will grow

quickly as the world runs forward into the modern era.

Typically, trade and production are quite closely connected to whether or not theplayer has emphasized naval or land power.

Trade will be the natural income for the naval nation; its fleets if light ships will

create trade power across the world and it will be able to steer income it to its home

port. When combined with a colonial empire, the country can become unbelievably

rich. Find what seems to be the ultimate trade route and steer it to a trade area you

dominate, and make sure to maintain it. However, be aware that trade steering can

create powerful enemies, so make sure that you have the forces needed to defend

your sea lanes in war.Production on the other hand is based on your provinces and will be natural in-

come for large sprawling empires. Upgraded by administrative technology, most large

countries will want to get at least one idea group that upgrades production.

Indian trade routes during late 16th century



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Loans and inflationLoans are an often misunderstood tool. It is seen as a failure to have resort to borrow-

ing money because you because your surplus fails. In truth, borrowing is one of the

most important tools for any country, and can give an invaluable edge.

There are two main areas where you might consider taking a loan; upgrading of

infrastructure and warfare.

Upgrading infrastructure is simple math. If the income increase from the invest-

ment is expected to be higher than the interest you will pay on the loan, then you

should consider borrowing the money. However, remember that loans drive inflation,

a cost that is often forgotten.

In warfare, borrowing is used both to cover expenses and in hiring mercenaries,

a good method for rich but military weak nations to win wars. After long wars, somecountries might have enormous amounts of debt that takes decades to pay off. This is

fully natural and should not be seen as something you need to worry about, especially

if the price for not borrowing is losing your empire.

Wealth vs. TechOne of the hardest tradeoffs, and one that players might least likely notice, is that

between income and technology, as a small focused empire will like to dominate both.

While very small countries will find often the costs required to upgrade your lands via buildings, creating cores, ideas and changing cultures fully manageable, it will not

take too many provinces or too weak a king before the choice becomes a problem.

Keep your course steady. What is your plan, what do want to achieve? If you are

going to war, ask yourself if you really do need to be ahead of your enemy or if you

will be in higher need of a large war chest and revenue that can support a big army?

Technology can give you a much needed edge, especially if it is a tech that unlocks

new troop-types, but a war chest will give you staying power and, more importantly,

access to mercenaries. And remember, if you have a hard time paying for your army in peace, it will cost

a lot more once you go to war.

For most players this divide will solve itself naturally, but it is important to keep

in mind that a relentless pursuit either of money or tech can leave the other hurting,

especially if you have a weak king.

Ideas vs. TechIdeas versus techs is one of the most common issued you will have to deal with, as

both has significant costs in monarch points.

Normally, most experienced players tend to push ideas, at least in the beginning,

to unlock both the idea bonuses but also national ideas. As ideas have no “ahead” of

“catching up” bonuses, there is no punishment in pressing straight ahead.



16

While this is normally the correct strategy, especially with a good king, one word

of warning should be given. Countries with a military focus doing this can often find

themselves a few techs behind, techs that in early game can have drastic implications.

Take an extra moment and consider if it might not be worth delaying the gratifica-

tion that comes with a new idea until you have enough points to unlock the next tech

instead, especially if you play the Western tech group.

Religion

Europa Universalis takes place in a period of great religious change, at least in Europe.

At the start of the game, all of Western Europe is Catholic, but within a century greatreligious turmoil will take place across the continent.

This is something any player playing a European country will have to deal with.

While there are some religious problems in the rest of the world as well, the strategy

there is mainly to try to keep your religious unity above 60 % and slowly convert those

that disagree with you.

Europe however will see the Reformation start, branch out and also lead to the

Counter-Reformation. Most countries in northern Europe will experience religious

turmoil, and will have to decide whether to reform or not. As a rule, reform if either the majority of provinces have or your capital has

changed religion. It will cost you a lot in stability and lead to a weakened diplomatic

situation, but the reformed churches have some nice bonuses, and you will hopefully

not be the only one that changes your religion.

The World’s religions at late 16th Century



However, be respectful of exactly how disruptive religious disunity can be.

You will probably do best in keeping out of wars and foreign ambitions until

you have gotten your religious unity back over 80 %, as it otherwise can easily

shatter your country.

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iplomacy is the art of (mainly) friendly relations with the rest of

the world. It is a game that every country will need to play, and can give you great benefits or reveal your weaknesses depending on how you go

about it.

Alliances Alliances are one those tools that might be a bit more complex that it first seems. At a

first glance, why wouldn’t you want as many friends as possible?

Well, because it comes with a lot of baggage. A weaker ally than you might seedecide to use their new found strength in form of your armies to declare war on all

their former bullies, throwing you into an endless cycle of wars. Stronger allies might

instead have you playing second fiddle, by always assuming control of your wars and

make sure that they get all the goodies in peace negotiations.

Most players will do well in having a few friends, but try to pick them with some

care. The perfect one is someone who is almost as strong as you, loyal but without too

many foreign ambitions of their own.

Royal marriagesRoyal marriages are also a double edged sword. While they give you a nice relation

bonus and some bonus to legitimacy, it also will punish you if end up fighting the

Diplomacy

Spain’s Diplomatic Relations



19

country. Even worse, if the country has higher prestige than you and you lack an heir,

you can become the junior partner of Personal Union, a very bad position indeed.

Royal marriages should of course be used, especially to get diplomatic vassals, but

just be sure that you don’t intend to fight the nation soon and also be careful when

marrying countries that are clearly bigger than you.

EspionageEspionage is the act of using subterfuge to further your nation’s agenda. Without the

espionage idea group, you are simply limited to forge claims on your enemies, a useful

tool for sure. But with the Espionage idea group you can sow discontent, infiltrate

their administration and lower their diplomatic standing.Espionage is a great tool for nation that does not want to grow too much, but still

need tools to keep rivals and enemies in check. Use it to turn the world against too

powerful nations or to keep their newly conquered areas rising in rebellions.

Casus Belli and Claims Always have a Casus Belli when going to war, anything else is just sloppy. Often mis-

sions can give you those if you lack more valid claims to invade. If nothing else isavailable, fabricate claims. You will take a small hit from aggressive expansion and it

will give your enemy a warning, but it is still worth it, as it not only gives you a Casus

Belli, but also makes it easier to core the claimed province once it is conquered.

Vassals and personal unions Vassals and personal unions are good ways to expand your empire while limiting the

need of monarch points to run it. Vassals can be created both via war and via diplomacy, and is necessary tool for

most budding world conquerors. Many players will see a vassal only as the first step to

full annexation, but you should also consider keeping them in that position. A vassal

creates a natural buffer for your country, can often contribute with a few small forces

to harass your enemy and require nothing from you to run. Just try to keep them

moderately happy so they stay under your wings.

Personal Unions are great as long as you are not the junior partner. Claiming

thrones can be a peaceful and valid way of growing your country, and you should not be afraid of using it. On the other hand, if you ever come under a personal union as

the junior member, start preparing your armies for a war of independence as quick

as possible.



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or many players, strategy is the same thing as warfare. While thisis not strictly true, it is one of the areas where skill and luck can change

the course for a nation profoundly. However, this does not mean that you

should just declare wars and hope that skill and luck will fall upon you as

a blessing. This is actually maybe the most certain way that the course of your nation

will be changed profoundly for the worse.

Before the WarStart by making sure that you have the correct view of your alliance and your enemy’s

relative strength and weaknesses. Remember that if another nation in the rival alli-

ance is stronger than the one you attack, it might become the alliance leader and call

its own allies. Any misjudgment in this regards can easily lead to an unwinnable war.

Once you feel satisfied with your assessment of the situation, prepare for the

fight. One of the great benefits of being the attacker is that you have the possibility

to make sure that you are a 100 % prepared. Do not miss the opportunity to utilize

this advantage.The first step should by to make sure that you have claims on all those areas

you intend to conquer. It might be a bit time consuming, but most likely worth it.

It makes it easier to later core them, lowers the war score needed and also the ag-

gressive expansion.

French forces engage invades Cologne

warfare



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The key to success in the actual war is to make sure that your country’s forces are

well prepared and ready for the fight. Raise army spending before you attack so that

your troops will be at maximum morale when they march. Train any last extra regi-

ments you can and make sure you’ve recruited the mercenaries you feel that you need.

If using navies, make sure that they already have left harbor so that they can cut of

landing, block his ports and keep his naval forces locked in the whole war.

Preparing for a defensive war is harder, but not impossible. If you have reason to

believe that war is coming, such as enemies getting caught fabricating claims on your

lands or strong rivals with legitimate reasons for war, have a clear battle plan, but be

ready to amend or completely abandon it if needed. Make sure that you can defend

your colonies, recognize your enemy’s weak points and be ready to strike hard and

decisively at those when you have the chance.For advice on how to win some standard scenarios, read the following parts of

this guide.

Naval vs. Land warfareNaval vs. land based warfare is actually a bit of a false choice. All countries need to at

least take both forms of warfare in consideration, even if landlocked players will find

their options severely limited in regard to sea-based activities.The choice you need to make is whether or not to strike a balance, maintain the

ability to fight and win both on land and on water, or focus on one or the either, seek-

ing victory from complete domination of the chosen specialization.

If possible, it is preferable to have both capacities; a player with both capabilities

will have a lot more strategic flexibility and able to win or benefit from a wider range

of military and political conflict. However, it is a more expensive and demanding path

than specialization and the risk is that you end up and as a jack of both trades, unable

to force your will on either of the battlegrounds. As a simple rule of thumb; if you are a minor to medium power, specialize. Island-

nations, trade powers and budding colonial empires will want to focus on navies,

keeping sea lanes open, gaining trade power and defending yourself against enemy

landings.

On the other hand, nations aiming at rapid military expansion on its starting con-

tinent will want make sure that they have the strongest armies possible, being able to

dominate the battlefields, defending your provinces and capture theirs.

Whatever your plan is, make sure that you have the correct ideas that support your

decided path. It also doesn’t hurt to make sure that what your national ideas are, some

countries are simply better on land and some on the sea.



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Geography and warfareGeography and warfare are one of those areas that are often overlooked by inexperi-

enced or over-confident players, but must be seen as a critical consideration in war-

fare (unless you really love losing soldiers without good cause).

When it comes to fighting, the rule goes something like this: The flatter the land,

the better it is for cavalry. This is the most important rule to keep in mind as will dic-

tate what sort of armies that will win.

On the open steppes of Russia and Central Asia, a cavalry based army is undefeat-

able and will simply overrun those that dare go in there without enough hooves. On

the other hand, in the hilly and forest clad Nordic lands, infantry is often king and

cavalry will have a mainly supporting role.

So before going to war, consider what terrain you will fight in. If fitting on flatland, try to aim to have as much cavalry as possible without negative bonuses (no

more than 50 % of the army for Western countries) and while fighting in forests and

on mountains, cavalry should maybe only be 20 %.

Another important thing to keep in mind is that attacking across rivers and onto

mountains gives the attacker penalties, which can be very steep. Sometimes it just

can’t be helped and a strong army should be able to carry the day regardless. But at

least always consider if you should wait or try to attack from another angle. It is pru-

dent and will save both money and manpower.The final part of geography to consider is attrition. Attrition is the most common

killer of men in this era, and it can really be atrocious. Jungle, desert or snow-clad

lands are the biggest killer, and can drain the coffers and manpower reserves quickly

of any would-be conqueror (at least you can feel safe that you weren’t the first to make

this mistake).

Whenever fighting in these climates, make sure to use as small forces as possible

to get the job done, try to keep the campaigns short and efficient, use boats whenever

possible and always consider a spring campaign. Keep an extra eye out in colder cli-mates as what was warm one March can be a frozen hell the next year.

Still, the ability to master fighting in a variety of terrains can be a good way to

regional and later on world domination. A skilled player sees geography more as a

possibility than as a threat; if it is dangerous for you then it is most likely dangerous

for your enemy as well. And remember, sometimes you simply need to start a land

war with Russia.

Military technology The need for military technology cannot be overstated. While advanced troops and

tactics are far from the only way to victory (read more under force multipliers) it is

the one that has the steadiest and straightest progression. This means that if you fall



23

behind too much, you will find out no matter how great your generals and how high

discipline you have, you simply can no longer win battles.

So make sure that you are always not more than two techs behind your enemies

and even then fight only if you know that your armies are either a lot bigger or with

substantially higher discipline. If this means hiring an expensive military adviser,

well you might have just have to. An alternative is of course to simply avoid war until

you have caught up; using charm and diplomacy while your sword is being sharpened.

Military developmentMilitary development is the development of military infrastructure to improve the

war making capabilities of your country. The come in three main forms; ports andwharfs for building and maintaining ships, training fields and barracks to train sol-

diers quicker and raising your land force limits, and, finally, building mighty for-

tresses to defend your lands.

Ports and training fields should be weighed simply on their merits. If you need

cheaper boats or more men and have the money and monarch points to spend, then

there is no reason not to do it. Continuous improvement of the military infrastructure

will give you a nice boost to your war machine and is a good way for more martial

nations to spend periods of peace.Fortresses however are often a lot less optional. Very aggressive players or those

geographically defended can perhaps chose to overlook these often expensive proj-

ects, but for everyone else they will often be a necessity; especially for small and

focused countries. They will provide a staying power in a conflict, will allow they

player a lot more time to prepare a defence if surprise attacked and will raise the your

enemies losses substantially. If you have less than seven provinces and you do not

play an island, try to give at minimum all your border provinces and your capital the

highest level of forts. If you are larger you might want to prioritize, but try to keep atleast one fortress strong in every potential military theater, including your colonial

possessions.

Force multiplicationsForce Multiplications are factors that multiply the efficiency of your soldiers.

If something enables you to use 5 soldiers instead of 10, well then it is a force

multiplier of 2. There are several force multipliers in Europa Univeralis; terrain, com-

manders, numbers, technology, tactics, specific unit type bonuses and discipline are

the most important ones.

Unit type bonuses and discipline works as direct multiplications; a 10 % increase

makes for 10 % increase in effect. Commanders, terrain and other factors work a bit



24

more complexly, with some numbers growing in effect based on how great the rela-

tive difference between combatants is.

The most basic way to understand this is that discipline and unit type bonuses are

extremely efficient if the units are fairly comparable in size. Terrain, commanders

and tactics will have impact in most fights, while sheer numbers will always triumph

if the difference is big enough

Troops are a bit special, end game troops more or less cannot be beaten by early

game units, but it also an unlikely combat scenario.

Quality and Quantity

Quality and quantity are two different factors regarding your military capacity; theamount of soldiers you have (quantity) and what force multipliers those troops will

use (quality). These two are often put up as mutually exclusive, but they actually

aren’t. There is no reason why a strong military nation shouldn’t work at improving

both, aiming for both a large and an efficient army.

True, a smaller country will most likely find it important to first improve the qual-

ity of their troops as they often will find themselves fighting numerically superior

enemies, and populous but poor countries will find that ideas lowering the cost of

recruiting troops will play well to help them maximize the utility of their manpowerresources.

But the fact remains that you still will want to have at least a bit of both. A war-

rior nation without manpower bonuses will too quickly drain out of manpower, and

a nation without manpower cannot wage war. Correspondingly, a nation with solely

numbers will too often find themselves losing battles they should win, taking horrible

losses and see their war exhaustion shoot through the roof.

War of maneuver vs. War of attritionWar of maneuver and war of attrition is a continuum describing two different meth-

ods and philosophies in trying to defeat the enemy.

War of maneuver is the method of using distinct tactical movements to try to

achieve local superiority, defeat the enemy in detail (defeating the enemy piece by

piece), conquering important goals and constantly keeping the enemy of guard. The

idea here is to try to win several quick victories or conquer the enemy’s capital early

in the war and force forwards a victory beneficial to the player. Quick victories andthe conquering of key provinces will make the enemy give up concessions at the

peace table, even if they still might have the possibility to win should the war drag on.

War of attrition is, on the other hand, warfare where victory primarily will be won

by defeating all their armies and also emptying their coffers and/or their manpower



25

pool, making them unable to continue to fight. This either achieved by continuous

fighting on the battle field or by the slow process of occupying all of their territories.

While this is extremely time consuming, it will defeat the enemy totally and often for

many years going forward.

Whenever possible, the player most likely will try to keep closer to the maneuver

ideal as it taxes the country’s resources a lot less seriously, and will allow for quick

and cheap victories. However, sometimes a war of attrition becomes unavoidable,

either if the enemy is too large to be outmaneuvered or if the player is aiming at a total

victory to vassalize or annex.

It is also worth noting that generally a quality driven army will be better at maneu-

ver warfare and quantity is necessary to win a conflict based on attrition.

Commanders and traditions

Commanders are one of the most important factors deciding the strength of your

army; always have one leading your forces!

The level of your commanders is decided by your military tradition and your ideas.

Remember, that while commanders cost points to have in service and you therefore

will want to limit the amount active, they cost quite little to recruit, so recruit a fewuntil you get the one you need. In small local wars, a high shock, fire and at least one

point in siege is very useful. Large scale invasions benefits heavily from maneuver.

French commanders during the Revolutionary Wars



26

Fighting one strong foeWhen you’re fighting one strong foe, your first priority should be to defeat their army

in battle. If your countries are both small to medium sized, collect all your forces in one

strong army and try to find an advantageous position, and crush the enemy. Keep fol-

lowing your enemy until its army has been annihilated completely, and then go for their

country. Most small to medium sized countries will be unable to raise a new army soon

and once you have defeated them, you should be able to quickly subdue them.

If you empires are both large, however, prepare for grueling and drawn out war. Use at-

trition to keep the enemy forces weak, and attack as soon as you see an opening. The most

important goal here is actually not to run out of money and manpower, even if this means

that the war will be drawn out. A war between two large countries of similar strength can

easily become a lose–lose situation unless you are very careful to preserve your forces.

Fighting several weaker foesThe opposite of fighting one big force of comparable strength is fighting several small

enemies that together match you strength for strength. This is one of the forms of war

where trying too much of maneuver warfare might just get you bogged down forever.

Your enemy will often come in a few different attacks with several smaller stacks of

troops. It is easy here to see them all as easy pickings and try to defeat them one afterone. The problem is that they will almost always try pull away of you come after them,

and often it will be a fool’s chase sending you running across the warzone, while other

armies will slowly siege your cities down.

A smarter strategy is to divide your armies into at least two; one that keeps the en-

emy from attacking too far into your country, and one that goes on the attack. Most

small nations will surrender promptly if you capture their capital, making it easy to

take them permanently out of the war. Just be careful when demanding concession.

Demanding provinces or vassalisation from every single enemy will make your aggres-sive expansion score skyrocket, and you might find yourself in a war that never ends.

Fighting a superior allianceThis is a moment where you will need to try to win by a combination of attrition (if

you have a large nation) and maneuver, was no war as ever won via attrition against a

vastly superior enemy alone; they simply have much more resources than you.

What route you should take depends on how large your country is. If your country is

large (10 + provinces) a good strategy can be defence is depth. Your enemies will be tied

up in long sieges, and will most likely run losses due to attrition (this is a very effective

strategy in the north, where large countries are combined with long winters and low

support), something the player can help along by using scorched earth tactics.



27

The goal is here to combine your armies in one fist, move away from combat at

most points and only strike when the enemy is weakened or separated. The forced

march ability is actually invaluable in these situations as it will allow the defender to

choose his or hers battles much easier. Combine this with quick recaptures of your

own lost territories and it might be able to defend your country long enough for the

enemy to surrender or go for a white peace.

A much tougher situation is if your nation is small or your capital at direct risk. These

wars will depend on strong fortresses and some fighting. First of all, see if there are some

weaker enemies close that you can finish off before the main bulk of the enemy arrives.

Once they come, you actually have only one chance – you must somehow manage

to defeat their armies. If you fight several enemies, try to defeat them in detail, which

means that try to defeat them before they are able to combine in one large force (this isdifferent from the section “Fighting Several weaker foes”, as you still focus on defeat-

ing only their armies and not bringing them permanently out from the war). A series of

successful victories like this can often be enough to negotiate a very lenient peace deal

or even a white peace. However, if one of your foes is strong enough defeat you alone

and is hell bent on your destruction, you must do the hail Mary of Europa Universalis

IV; buying every mercenary you can afford and try to win in one decisive battle.

Even small countries (of course depending on how rich they are) can often bor-

row a surprising amount of money. They key here is not to be stingy, you only get onechance. If it is possible, try to have an army at least one and a half time as strong as the

one you will fight, and be sure to have the terrain bonus. Hopefully you will win the

engagement, and after that you must hunt down the enemy and destroy them com-

pletely. Once again this should be enough to negotiate a reasonable peace, without

giving up provinces (something you can’t afford if you small to begin with), and while

you will be hurting from the debt for some time, it will be worth it.

When the war is unwinnableOne of the most classil problems you will face is the unwinnable war. What do you do

when your attacked by an alliance too large to reasonably be defeated (we will assume

that you didn’t start this war yourself unless to try to gain independence). No matter

how much you borrow and maneuver and defend in depth, the enemy is just too strong.

So what to do? Well, still try to get a few victories, so it looks like you are gaining,

even if they are pyrrhic victories. And then offer things you feel that you can afford

to lose. Borrow money and offer teat, and be ready to surrender trade power. Youcan also be ready to release a nation since that is generally preferable to giving these

regions directly to your enemy, as they will be easier to reconquer. Just decide when

a war is unwinnable as soon as possible, pull out and prepare your vengeance.



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Europa Universalis IV Guide