From what I have seen so far Prussia seems the big winner with these changes. They can blitz their hearts out and not sweat money for troops. (Prussia still starts with 8000 while everyone else has been cut to 7000)
They need not build a thing but troops and military buildings. It must be the easiest of all the factions to play. I would say the game has now been tailored for this faction alone.
Sweden does okay. They can not expand early or afford to start any wars but if they can expand their trade they can hold their own and slowly expand.
France is about the same. Less money, and cash was their big worry before but they can still survive.
Great Brittan has lost a lot with the changes. It is not a powerhouse. It can barely hold on to what it has in the beginning and expansion is very slow. Troops are its biggest worry.
Austria looks like it has been redesigned to be Prussia whipping boy. It had more than enough problems before. It is iffy if it has the clout to hold out.
Spain is a total basket case. They have a smaller navy, less troops, and no real hope of getting any cash. The early game was hard for Spain in the first place. Now I am unsure it is viable.
Perhaps if the Dutch are still willing to trade Ceylon and Curacao for Flanders…
What has been done to the town improvement is a shame! Most factions will be unable to improve beyond the second level of anything. Improving plantations must be handled carefully and it always results in diminishing returns.
Many regions are net money losers and where tax exempting them in the past would result in some increase now you are lucky if they rise to 0. Several still are loosing money with tax exempt status.
Most of the minor powers have been nerffed so they are no longer a problem for major powers. Taking them is an easy way to increase your cash if you can afford troops in the first place. This is mostly another big win for Prussia.
I have not tried Russia yet but I have noted that the Crimea seems to always fall on turn two in every campaign.
Unrest is now a minor irritant in home regions which takes little or no garrison to hold in check. The unrest in conquered regions appears to be stronger now but perhaps it is only due to the fact that troops are harder to come by.
Techs and buildings no longer cause unrest. Just the school improvements do.
The AI diplomacy is now on a par with that of M2TW, which sucked, and behaved more sensibly before it was changed.
More aggressive does not mean better.
Of course it does prove advantageous for Prussia. With all the weak minors declaring war on them they don’t have to bother worrying about which targets to pick.
The game may have gotten very hard for some factions but if you cannot win with Prussia you had best leave the others alone anyway.
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