Paradox Interactive never gives up; thank heavens it doesn’t create a new stand-alone game with every brainstorm as some developers do. Mare Nostrum is the eighth add-on to, Add to that many inexpensive sound and icon packs along with several major patches and Paradox’s devotion for getting every factor of the period 1444 to 1821 down pat can’t be doubted.
Yet, at what point do all these add-ons merely clutter up the gaming experience? After all, eight times $15 (usually) adds up to a substantial amount of money. Recap Europa Universalis IV is a pausable real-time grand strategy game that covers the period 1444 to 1821. Players guide their rulers or republics in an attempt to become “” or merely survive.
Trade, war, colonies, diplomacy, dynastic problems, domestic issues, economics, technology and philosophy are the matters players must juggle to win. The game runs one day at a time but can be sped up, slowed down, and paused as players wish.
If four hundred years seems a bit much at this time scale, players can set their own start date or play one of the fourteen shorter campaigns. Every country in the world is playable by clicking on the map but a number of major powers, ranging in number from eleven to eight as time takes its toll, are good places to start. Initially Eurocentric, Paradox has developed add-ons spreading attention to the New World and the Steppes with the Orient playable but having fewer specific rules. If the system has expanded horizontally, it has also deepened with more options for diplomacy, trade, administration, religion and culture. Fortunately, a mini-manual for each add-on can be found at he or at the to explain all the changes. Salty Things As the name suggests, Mare Nostrum – “our sea” in Latin – has a maritime theme.
Sailors have been separated from the Manpower pool and are requirements for building and repairing ships. Coastal provinces provide sailors while improvements such as shipyards, docks and drydocks increase the number of these recruits. Nautical Ideas and technology also increase recruitment. The third column over indicates the number of sailors required for a ship. The number of fleet missions has been increased by three.
Not only can ships explore, protect trade, be privateers and hunt pirates but they now can intercept enemy fleets, hunt enemy fleets and blockade ports. The interface for these actions is simplicity itself: pick a fleet from the outliner, give it a mission and send it to a listed area. Another simple option is patrolling a given sea zone. Settings tell the fleet to be bold or cautious and how much damage they should take before heading home.
Players should remember that only certain types of ships can be assigned to some missions. Players controlling states along the North African Coast can become Barbary pirates using their corsairs to raid, pillage and plunder. These states were able to do this well into the nineteenth nave despite the best efforts of the Royal Navy, US Navy and US Marine Corps. A Venetian fleet heads in pursuit.
Debt in Venice The other two new features can be used by powers that are primarily land-based but have a strong Italian feel to them. The first, trade leagues, may be a game changer. Merchant republics can invite small, one-province states. These leagues provide a 20% boost to shipping capabilities and bonuses for the leader’s goods.
Leagues are also free military and diplomatic actions where all members fight together. The initiating power is the leader as long as its prestige holds up but can be supplanted if its fortunes slip. Countries may ask to join a successful league. A country is invited to join a trade league. The other feature is the renting out of condottieri, a type of mercenary often used by the quarrelsome states of Italy. Condemned by Machiavelli as inefficient and not devoted enough to their owner’s cause, they were nonetheless easier to recruit than the locals, disciplined and, if they died, expendable. The power that rented them out saw them as a good source of cash.
Condottieri are offered to a warring state as a diplomatic action. Once offered, haggling over the monthly price begins with a slide bar indicating the chance of acceptance. The selling state can control the unit and can recall it at will.
Milan rejects Venetian condottieri. Fleets, trade and condottieri – yes, a definite whiff of Northern Italian merchant republics is detected. Genoa and Venice are good candidates for trying the new features but Genoa is too close to the emerging national power of France. The Serene Republic of Venice is sly, crafty with a good fleet and dubious scruples; in short, a perfect choice! Venice in 1444 was slightly past its prime. With no more Crusaders to gouge and a good customer – Byzantium - about to go out of business, money was no longer as easy to grab as it once was.
The Doge at the time was not the sharpest blade in the drawer and the Republic was diplomatically overextended. Although still solvent, the treasury was low, limiting infrastructure improvements. However, two armies were enough to make neighbors wary, two fleets could still project power and provinces in the Adriatic and the Balkans provided a solid income although some unrest due to religion existed on Crete and Euboea.
Trade nodes existed at Venice, Vienna, Regina and Alexandria. A cautious beginning to build up the treasury and then spend on buildings and ships seems the best approach to bolster prestige.
First, Venice’s administration should be improved with three advisors. The treasury dictates to go with the cheapest choices; with a mediocre Doge, anything will help.
The big fleet of early barques and galleys is told to patrol down the Adriatic to hunt pirates and the small fleet of light ships will protect trade to Alexandria. A trade league must be formed quickly. The more the merrier but diplomatic actions are limited to one a day. Also, one-province countries are scarce and difficult to spot.
Cyprus joins on the first day with Sienna and Lucca following soon thereafter. Genoa predictably forms its own trade league with countries Venice misses. An alliance with the Papal States seems like a good idea. In the next year, Hungary and the Ottomans fabricate claims on two of Venice’s provinces but do nothing. A corsair raid on Euboea forces the war fleet to become bolder and head south.
Venice’s treasury is growing so the strategy appears to be working. The year 1446 sees Venice follow Genoa’s lead and start signing up North Sea counties to the trade league. Perhaps the Baltic could be exploited.
Friesland and East Fries join but further immediate growth is stymied due to lack of diplomats. Venice could call back its spy master from Mantua but the truce will end soon and a fifth column is always valuable.
After a while, diplomats are freed up and three more northern countries join the trade league. However, the downside of leagues appears when Venetian merchants leave home, disgusted at so many foreign rivals.
By the same token, technology dependent on diplomatic growth is stagnant because belonging to a trade league costs a diplomatic point. Firing the old advisor and hiring one with a +2 rating remedied that problem. And so it went. Juggling commerce, improvements and administration is the primary way of slowly improving a weak nation.
Controlling a warlike nation is more exciting but the maintenance of peace requires insight and guile. The map of the Emerald Isle is improved.
Mare Nostrum does not change the texture of Europa Universalis IV as did the more expensive or but add-ons are like the ingredients to a stew; the basics are acceptable but adding good spices make the dish extraordinary. Mare Nostrum creates the equivalent of a culinary delight. About the Author Jim Cobb has been playing board wargames since 1961 and computer wargames since 1982. He has been writing incessantly since 1993 to keep his mind off the drivel he dealt with as a bureaucrat. He has published in Wargamers Monthly, Computer Gaming World, Computer Games Magazine, Computer Games Online, CombatSim, Armchair General, Subsim, Strategyzone Online.
He was adjunct faculty at Cardinal Stritch University for fifteen years.
Take control of anationand expandits power through military conquest, diplomacy, and colonial wealth.Europa Universalis IV starts in the era of European colonization of the New World and ends after the Napoleonic Wars. The time span of the game is around 4 centuries, starting from the year 1444 A.D. Until 1821 A.D. Players will choose a country and rule it through the centuries to create a powerful global empire. The game map covers the entire earth and players will be able to explore distant lands, trade with friendly nations, and conquer enemies through military warfare in this epic game filled with lush visuals and historical depth. Relive history in all its blood and glory in Europa Universalis IV.
2 years 6 months ago This game was made for those who arent good at fighting in the games like Total war, but they were good in politics and economics affairs. Of course that large number of players with any skill started to play this game thanks to it endless number of situations. Great thing about this game is that thanks to Paradox Development Studio this game is going forward. You can see new DLC still releasing. This game is fun for hours. Take up your lands and try to make from it one of the greatest in the history with many ways.
By sword or diplomacy. Colonize the new world and fight aganist other colonist and natives. Build a mighty military empire or a merchant republic. Everything is possible in this game and it's up to you, how will you decide. 3 years 8 months ago Europa Universalis IV isn't a game for everybody. It's a complex, sometimes slow-paced strategical game that will require lots of thinking and boatloads of patience and tactical imagination to be fully appreciated. Yet, for the true fans of this historical warfare it's definitely one of the best titles in this genre.
Playing EU4 will let you feel like you're literally inside an history book, able to play with many different historically-accurate factions (from the Papal States to the Chinese Ming dynasty) that will grant you plenty of replayability thanks to the totally different approaches you need to fully appreciate that. 3 years 9 months ago This is one of those titles where you hate yourself for not being a history nerd. This strategy SAGA requires a lot of 'lets play' videos and a study session with the manual. It's more complicated than a 'Game Of Thrones' plot but has the addiction level of Oreo's and milk. For the dedicated fans this is a welcome return to the most epic strategy game since life itself. New graphics(nothing mind boggling)and a endless amount of detail turns this game into a history lesson on steroids. 3 years 9 months ago Europa Universalis IV, like all the previous installments, is a gift for those of us who desire a strategy game that doesn't compromise when it comes to depth and scope.
It takes patience, dedication and insight to master the mechanics, but what few realize is that you don't really need to master anything. It can be far more satisfying to set small, silly goals for yourself and fulfill them, or die trying. Want Poland to colonize Kamchatka? It isn't going to pay off, but who cares!
