Europa Universalis IV

**Hooahguy** · 02-25-2014, 16:43

Currently allied with GB and France. I think the HRE is at war right now but I dont have anywhere near the strength to start a full out war. Just starting to rebuild my forces now so I guess Im going to have to bide my time. Also just launched a coalition against them, but nobody seems to want to join in just yet.

**TinCow** · 02-25-2014, 19:14

Originally Posted by Hooahguy

Currently allied with GB and France. I think the HRE is at war right now but I dont have anywhere near the strength to start a full out war. Just starting to rebuild my forces now so I guess Im going to have to bide my time. Also just launched a coalition against them, but nobody seems to want to join in just yet.

You've got the right allies, so the key is waiting until they're vulnerable in a war. They don't even need to be losing a war, just involved in a war that's sufficiently large that it's occupying most of their armies. If that happens and you can declare war, with France willing to join you (that part is very important), the flood of new armies into their territory could cause a chain reaction meltdown. The idea is actually not for your own armies to do the fighting, but for the other major AI powers to taken on HRE for you. In this case, it would be your ally France. Your own armies would move in to start occupying provinces and squashing smaller armies after the French take on the bulk of the fighting.

The important part is to catch them in a war with one of the other monster powers. In your specific case, Russia and the Ottomans both look like plausible candidates for that role. A war with one of them is likely at some point, so just keep your alliance with France strong and wait for the right moment. With so many major powers in Europe, it's entirely possible that others might also join in for their own reasons once the HRE is heavily weakened, such as Commonwealth and Spain, both of whom probably have rivalries with HRE based on how their borders look in that world map.

**Hooahguy** · 02-25-2014, 19:56

Gotcha. Is there a way to invite countries into my coalition? Because for now I cant seem to find a way to do so, which leads me to wish that there were more diplomatic options.

And what does the percentage mean in the HRE overview tab at the bottom? Right now Austria is emperor but only has about 42% control I think, so that cant be very good so hopefully I can prevent them from getting more powerful.

**Beskar** · 02-25-2014, 22:43

English+French Colonial spites, muslim advisor pictures and more native indian sprites.

**TinCow** · 02-25-2014, 23:28

Originally Posted by Hooahguy

Gotcha. Is there a way to invite countries into my coalition? Because for now I cant seem to find a way to do so, which leads me to wish that there were more diplomatic options.

And what does the percentage mean in the HRE overview tab at the bottom? Right now Austria is emperor but only has about 42% control I think, so that cant be very good so hopefully I can prevent them from getting more powerful.

No, there's no way to invite anyone into a coalition. Countries will join coalitions on their own when they think that a country has gotten too aggressive, which basically means that they've grabbed too much territory too quickly.

The percentage on the HRE tab is the amount of points they have towards the next HRE decision/implementation thing. The Emperor has to hit a certain % influence before he can enact the next decision, at which point it resets to 0% and works back up. However, if you've already had the united HRE nation form, then that entire chain is already complete and it's basically pointless. Actually... I'm not sure why it would even be there. I thought the entire thing disappeared when the HRE was formally united into one country.

**Beskar** · 02-25-2014, 23:33

It hasn't formed in Hooah's game, just some misunderstandings about the situation.. actually, should ask for a copy of the save.

**Hooahguy** · 02-26-2014, 01:15

I just assumed that the HRE was a group of central European nations banded together. Whether or not they are actually formed into one nation is irrelevant for me as they all guarantee each other's protection.

Also here is my savegame file for anyone who is interested: http://www.mobiusgamers.org/resources/my-dilemma.5/

**Beskar** · 02-26-2014, 03:55

Main problem is that you started in 1650, which is really late ingame. Your save is at 1720 and most of your rivals are all well established and it is like smacking yourself against the rock. Compared to a game where I was Norway, I expanded far more than you by 1560 (getting Greenland and hitting North America before the British) and already been fighting Muscovy a lot but able to field on par or greater.

Also later start dates does heavily favour the likes of Spain especially.

So you are in a situation where you do not have any advantages and no possibilities of really getting any kind of upperhand.

I do recommend playing from the start, and setting yourself goals like "unify Italy" and doing things to bring around that result.