The screenshot topic

[Jolt]

What you get for putting face to face two Elf decks.

[Meneldil]

Someone is watching Alizee on youtube. That's more disturbing than a cheap MtG game IMO

[Jolt]

:O Alizee's lovely! How dare a french utter such words?

[seireikhaan]

EU III: In Nomine, with the Magna Mundi Mod. Started as Bohemia, and wow...





Magna Mundi sure makes the HRE a lot more difficult to deal with. I've had more than one occasion where I've been brought to the brink of the abyss by Imperial sanctions that sapped my taxes and manpower. However, I've scraped, fought, and kicked my way into promince in eastern Europe, with some help from my legal inheritence of Mecklenburg(who had unfortunately lost Lubeck, the CoT, to the Danes previously. Lubeck has since been the center of hilarity as it continually rebels against the Danes/Scandinavians, who keep trying to futiley put it under heel). Currently am allied to Russia and Ukraine, along with a vassal or two in the HRE. My two big concerns for halting my eventual creation of Germany are Burgundy and Austria. Burgundy somehow survived the inital phases of the game, and now hold a lockgrip over the periphery of France. I managed to beat Styria, the proto-Austrians, into submission and drove them southwards, but Austria has since formed, regrouped, and still presents a considerable danger to my southern border as the Emperor. In the north, Denmark inherited BOTH the Norwegian and Swedish thrones, and thus created Scandinavia. They have just recently guaranteeed my independence despite my being a general jerk.

But perhaps the most interesting thing thus far...



Yes, that's the religious map. Catholicism got absolutely waylaid.

[Meneldil]

That is interesting. I've been playing a Terra Nova game with France, and in 1460, when Protestantism emerged, I blissfully embraced it.

Thing is, in 1500, I was still the only protestant country. Only in 1506 Burgundy became protestant, and the two of us were hated by the rest of the world. I think Terra Nova is bugged in that respect.


I'm now playing with MEIOU, as I find Magna Mundi to be way too tedious sometimes. Still France, as I'd like to finish a game with that country before moving onto another one. MEIOU is in some respect bugged as hell, but I like it so far.

[Husar]

That is interesting. I've been playing a Terra Nova game with France, and in 1460, when Protestantism emerged, I blissfully embraced it.

Thing is, in 1500, I was still the only protestant country. Only in 1506 Burgundy became protestant, and the two of us were hated by the rest of the world. I think Terra Nova is bugged in that respect.

Almost the exact same thing happened to me when I played Brandenburg in vanilla EU3. I gave up on that game.

[Meneldil]

My EUIII MEIOU game, as France. My empire isn't that interesting, I'm slowly uniting France (who starts with a handful of provinces, most of the modern days country being owned by a dozen of other nations), and grabed most of Portugal through a couple of wars. I think I'm #1 prestige-wise, but Castille is not far behind.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

What is interesting is the state of England. It managed to conquer most of Scotland and Ireland, and was probably the biggest threat to my kingdom. 4 years earlier, the English waged war on Scotland (whom I had force-vassalized). I decided to help my vassal and declared war on England. Despite the fact I somehow defeated the english navy (at the start of MEIOU, nations can only build cog, and galley at naval 2, thus england doesn't have such a huge advantage navy-wise), the first two years were terrible. I think I lost something like 100K men. My manpower collapsed and I was left with around 15K men defending Scotland, when Castille (my ally) attacked England and took most of Ireland.

Poor english then went bankrupt, after what an event triggered, causing Norway and Sweden to declare war on England.
Nationalists rioted in Cornwall (sp?), Wales and Mann, and will probably appear in Northumberland fairly soon. The english king is left with 0 men, 2 cogs, and his territory invaded by roaming hords of French, Scots, Swedes, Norses and Spaniards.

[Monk]

So after looking at all the screens of EUIII in this thread for quite some time, and with a serious need to get things off my mind over the weekend i bought EUIII - Complete and dove in. I have to say, it's a really satisfying experience once you get the grip of things. I haven't tried any mods yet mainly because I am still getting the hang of vanilla, but what I see so far I love.

The result of my first serious play through is the Merchant's Republic of Novgorod.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Uniting the smaller Russian states was, at first, just a fool's dream as Muscovy and Tvar had both grown powerful early on. Through a mix of shady business that has earned me quite the bad reputation I forcefully annexed every Russian state I could, with the exception of Pskov which Lithuania (current ally) beat me to. I'm engaged in a bit of a Cold War with the Golden Horde, the true power on the steppes, after the last war I fought against them and their Ottoman allies ended in a minor defeat for me. That light green is an Ottoman satellite outpost, taken from me in the war.

[Martok]

You really do love your Russians, don't you?


Also, would very much like to hear what you think about EUIII Complete. My local Best Buy has a copy for something like $9.99, and I've been tempted to purchase it every time I go in there. I've been holding off, however, as -- aside from not having had much time to play games until the last week or so -- I'm extremely leery about playing any type of real-time strategy game. I know it's not supposed to be a twitch-fest like the Command & Conquer series, but I still really like to take my time with stuff and not feel hurried.

[Monk]

You really do love your Russians, don't you?


Also, would very much like to hear what you think about EUIII Complete. My local Best Buy has a copy for something like $9.99, and I've been tempted to purchase it every time I go in there. I've been holding off, however, as -- aside from not having had much time to play games until the last week or so -- I'm extremely leery about playing any type of real-time strategy game. I know it's not supposed to be a twitch-fest like the Command & Conquer series, but I still really like to take my time with stuff and not feel hurried.

My first games were actually with England and then France, both met with terrible disaster as I had no idea what I was doing! The fact that my first succesful game happened with a russian faction is a bit funny, i admit.


EUIII is a beast of a game, it's one that has sucked up a lot of my free time, when people say that it offers hours of gameplay they aren't kidding... Games can potentially span five centuries, and lemme tell you my current game is only just now after six days of solid play even coming close to hitting 100 years.

However, it's also a game that is both incredibly deep and easy to get into. I bought an electronic edition (no manual) and was still able to learn it after a few evenings of tinkering. If you want to think of it in terms of comparisons, think of it as Total War with about fifty other things to worry about and no turns involved. The latter can be both an advantage and disadvantage, but there's a number of speed options (as well as a pause where you can still issue orders) that help with the fact that there are no turns.

If you like empire builders I highly recommend it, especially for only ten bucks! However I also recommend you have the time to devote to it. Sunday I sat down and intended to play only a little bit. I ended up playing for four hours. I really enjoy the game so far, and I haven't even had the courage to leave "normal" difficulty yet. I might bump up AI aggressiveness on my next go, but for now things are satisfying.

edit: I think the biggest factor in me really having fun with this is the AI. It's really impressed me and I'm only playing vanilla, I can't even imagine how ruthless it is in mods like MM.

[Crazed Rabbit]

A pic from some GRID racing tonight [LARGE]:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

CR

[seireikhaan]

You really do love your Russians, don't you?


Also, would very much like to hear what you think about EUIII Complete. My local Best Buy has a copy for something like $9.99, and I've been tempted to purchase it every time I go in there. I've been holding off, however, as -- aside from not having had much time to play games until the last week or so -- I'm extremely leery about playing any type of real-time strategy game. I know it's not supposed to be a twitch-fest like the Command & Conquer series, but I still really like to take my time with stuff and not feel hurried.

For 10 bucks, I'd say get it. EU III is pretty fun as an empire builder all around. Takes a good degree of patience, however, and time. 500 years can be a long game. And I wouldn't worry too much about it being RTS- it has a bunch of different speeds for which the game can progress, as well as the almighty pause button.

Monk- If you like EU III, I would highly, highly recommend getting Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun, and the expansion, Victoria: Revolutions. Quite a bit deeper economically, with the AI being a bit better at domestic management than in EU III. Its a bit more rigid in terms of historical accuracy- its possible to bend history in a big way still, but a lot harder than in EU III. Plus, the end rankings feel like they mean a lot than the prestige factor in EU. Plus, it offers a nice perspective on 19th and early 20th century history, really recreating a highly charged atmosphere between the swelling European behemoths as they vie with each other over resources.

[Jolt]

For 10 bucks, I'd say get it. EU III is pretty fun as an empire builder all around. Takes a good degree of patience, however, and time. 500 years can be a long game. And I wouldn't worry too much about it being RTS- it has a bunch of different speeds for which the game can progress, as well as the almighty pause button.

Monk- If you like EU III, I would highly, highly recommend getting Victoria: An Empire Under the Sun, and the expansion, Victoria: Revolutions. Quite a bit deeper economically, with the AI being a bit better at domestic management than in EU III. Its a bit more rigid in terms of historical accuracy- its possible to bend history in a big way still, but a lot harder than in EU III. Plus, the end rankings feel like they mean a lot than the prestige factor in EU. Plus, it offers a nice perspective on 19th and early 20th century history, really recreating a highly charged atmosphere between the swelling European behemoths as they vie with each other over resources.

However, if you buy Victoria, you WILL fail miserably many many times before you actually succeed doing something good. You'll see your people rise in countless revolts against and you will have no idea why.

[Crazed Rabbit]

GRID Again:

This time I'm doing a crazy inside pass on the last lap, having been stuck in second since the first lap.

And it worked!

EDIT: Another!

CR

[seireikhaan]

GRID Again:
This time I'm doing a crazy inside pass on the last lap, having been stuck in second since the first lap.

And it worked!

EDIT: AnotherCR

Wow, beautiful game. Nice shots.

Jolt- That's why Vicky is awesome. The best games are the ones you can't win your first time playing.

[Prussian to the Iron]

And at the beginning of that match they called me a noob.



Was a slaughter

what game is that?

[frogbeastegg]

what game is that?

Looks like Company of Heroes, or one of its expansions.

[Veho Nex]

Froggy is right, It is Company of Heroes, with Opposing Fronts Expansion Pack.

[seireikhaan]

Fear the mighty Republic of the United States of Central America.

[Jolt]

Fear the mighty Republic of the United States of Central America.

Khaan, we really ought to play a game of Ricky together! :P

[Csargo]

[seireikhaan]

Isn't there a better, peaceful way to annex Sweden?

That looks like it'll be killer on the badboy points.(assuming you're going to annex norway at some point as well)

[Csargo]

Isn't there a better, peaceful way to annex Sweden?

That looks like it'll be killer on the badboy points.(assuming you're going to annex norway at some point as well)

If you know of one, I'm listening. I know there is an event for a Scandinavian union, but I don't know the triggers for it.

I'm not even sure what my bb is. I took the 7 southern provinces in the last two wars with Sweden and Norway. I got two northern provinces from Russia after the first war with Sweden. Right now I'm in debt (10000) and lost Slevig(sp?) to Prussia

[seireikhaan]

If you know of one, I'm listening. I know there is an event for a Scandinavian union, but I don't know the triggers for it.

I'm not even sure what my bb is. I took the 7 southern provinces in the last two wars with Sweden and Norway. I got two northern provinces from Russia after the first war with Sweden. Right now I'm in debt (10000) and lost Slevig(sp?) to Prussia

It might have been changed in VIP, but I know in regular Ricky Sweden has to pick the Scandinavian surge option at least one of the two times when Denmark gets into trouble with Prussia/Austria events. I think it has a higher chance of firing if Sweden chooses it both times. In both cases, Denmark can't lose Slesvig(oops ) So, assuming Denmark survives the wars unscathed, the nation with higher prestige created a Scandinavian gov't.

[seireikhaan]

Sorry for the double post, but I started up another VIP game(i'm still going to go through with the USCS, but felt like a different game for now), as Bolivia. First goal- survive without Peru gaining independence. Turns out... Bolivia's got potential.





I've finally gotten a solidly liberal populace, with events that triggered a democratic government. Hoping that fills my badly unpopulated empire in. Been a heck of an interesting game- I narrowly avoided a collapse right off the bat due to a joint Argentinian/Chilean effort against me while my Peruvian populace was getting trigger happy. I got lucky in that the Argentines got hit even worse with rebellion, and I managed to beat them bady enough to gain military access, which I badly needed. Against the Chileans, we stalemated with two 20k forces plugging one province "bridges". With Argentina out, I manuevered the force I used against them around the chilean flank, and tore their forces apart. Took three provinces and turned Chile into a satelite.

After feeling satisfied that the Peruvians were done rebelling, I amied north at Ecuador. Ecuador was pitifully weak- I humiliated them while snatching all but three provinces in the first war. Few years later, I declared war on them again. However, Columbia was allied with them. Ecuador still had no army to speak of since I shattered their last one, and I annexed them. For some reason, columbia's always way too easy to beat, no different this time. I massacred them, took the three provinces which create Panama, took the state that separated Panama from my borders, and humiliated Columbia. To temper by badboy, I granted Panama independence.


Little bit after that, I created a small navy, moblized 100k troops, and dow'd on Korea- Bolivia has ZERO grain or coal. China was guaranteeing their independence, and came to their aid- however, they were in the middle of the Taipeng war, and couldn't do much meaningful to help Korea. After about 9 months of drag down war, kicking down rebellion after rebellion, and instigating an invasion of mainland China, I finally got the southern two states from Korea, humiliated them, and took the island off of the peninsula. I outmanuevered China's lumbering 150k army that they had finally swung around to Manchuria, straight to Beijing, and took their offer of the island of Taiwan in exchange for peace. Promptly swung a bunch of troops back to Columbia, who I then turned into a satelite with ease.



In other words.... its been a wild ride.

[Csargo]

I'll annex them all then() I've had a lot of trouble with rebellions and debt. Good job with Bolivia khaan.

[seireikhaan]

I'll annex them all then() I've had a lot of trouble with rebellions and debt. Good job with Bolivia khaan.

Just take care to avoid them Ruskies and Germans.

The Bolivia game is, uh, interesting.... Internal political turmoil is ridiculous, I was cruising with my nice, liberal, democratically elected gov't, with a decisive majority of the voting electorate voting liberal... and then some durned general goes and wrecks my precious democracy in a coup! There goes my hope of getting mass immigration.

edit: And 56% of my population is Korean, if that gives you an idea of how badly I need that immigrant manpower.

[Crazed Rabbit]

The Bolivia game is, uh, interesting.... Internal political turmoil is ridiculous, I was cruising with my nice, liberal, democratically elected gov't, with a decisive majority of the voting electorate voting liberal... and then some durned general goes and wrecks my precious democracy in a coup!

Having taken a Latin American history class this last semester, that doesn't surprise me in the least. Well, it somewhat does, considering a majority of the pop was voting liberally.

CR

[seireikhaan]

Having taken a Latin American history class this last semester, that doesn't surprise me in the least. Well, it somewhat does, considering a majority of the pop was voting liberally.

CR

Well, the reason they were voting liberal was because of a cultural tech(ideological thought) that triggers a bunch of modifiers for your populace based on what policies the current gov't has. Plus, the wealthier segments of the population tend to be more liberal(in the classical sense), while the farmers and laborers tend to be more conservative. I had wealth set a requirement for voting, hence only those with decent wealth could vote, hence I had mostly liberal votes.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Well, the reason they were voting liberal was because of a cultural tech(ideological thought) that triggers a bunch of modifiers for your populace based on what policies the current gov't has. Plus, the wealthier segments of the population tend to be more liberal(in the classical sense), while the farmers and laborers tend to be more conservative. I had wealth set a requirement for voting, hence only those with decent wealth could vote, hence I had mostly liberal votes.

Ah, the classic South American Strongman with rural support.

CR