[Emmie Cate]

Found a nice deal on Amazon, had CK, EU3 and Victoria all bundled together(no idea if any of them had expansions) for 38 bucks. Was tempted to get it, but don't have the money right now.

[emily grieve]

PERIMETER!

Now I want to reinstall that damn game....

Perimeter 2: Emperor's Testament was okay, a bit single story-lined, but fun. I wonder if Paradox will ever make another.... I like the idea of NOT needing money to make stuff... just level land for power consumption and time....

[Bambi]

Ugh, hastily prepared wars are messy. I had a mission to gain core in Caria which was in the hands of Egyptian rebels. Egypt had just made an alliance with me (after Macedonia and Epirus basically dumped me... Buggers). I declared war on the Rebels, accepting the stability loss because they were always training troops in Caria so I wante to catch them early. 12000 men against 5000 and we lost because my Archon decided in the war that a "close friend" should be Commander with a 1 Military rating to replace the Mercantile-faction member with an 8 rating :/

I suffered 5 defeats on land, and one at sea as an unexpectedly strong navy of 15 ships struck at my 3 ships who were transporting troops from Crete and Rhodes to the mainland. The rest of my navy was blockading Caria.

Thank god for the alliance with Eygpt though because their navy reopened my supply lines for reinforcements and I finally took Caria and helped quell the rebellion in Egypt.

And increased my trade technology even further

[Jade Muggeridge]

Nice. Which version of the game are you playing?

For clarification these are the expansions to the vanilla EU3 game

Napoleon's Ambition
In Nominee
Heir to the Throne
Divine Wind

EU3 Complete is everything up to In Nominee and is really, really good. No one should ever get the Vanilla game. EVER.

Heir to the Throne came out in Dec 2009 and makes a very good game great. It adds a very basic hereditary system and multiple different Casus Belli with different war goal for each. I highly recommend this for anyone who likes the game, it really makes the game shine.

I haven't played Divine Wind yet. It adds quite a bit of stuff in Japan and China along with some other changes. I have heard mixed reviews and probably won't get it until I hear better reviews of get svcked into an MP game that requires it.

They have also recently released EU3 Chronicles which includes all 4 expansions. This would be the most cost effective avenue for anyone who doesn't have Heir to the Throne yet. You would be limited to playing the DW version because you can't play past expansions once you install a new one.

I know you mentioned missions so it has to be In Nominee at least.



Sounds like fun, I will have to give Rome another shot when I get back into a Paradox mode.

I'm playing Divine Wind. This is my first time playing the game so i figured might as well start with the latest.

Castille and Burgundy are taking turns being jerks to me. They always issue trade embargo's on me (two of the three CoT's I actually manage stay in) and I can't get any of my merchants to stay in Lubeck(sp?) or go to Venzia. I'm not heavily invested in trade technology but it's nice to get a little extra income. I'm expecting another war to start soon with Burgundy but my manpower is low right now. I'm trying to get relations up with them so that i don't have to worry about them attacking me in Calais and Picardie, while Brittany gets me at Normandie. Luckily, Bohemia has made an alliance with me.

[Kristian Perez]

Forsooth and huzzah, fellow conquerors! I have news!

The Kingdom of Scotland has been on the rise as of late. They have brought the Kingdom of France to their knees, and have made war on Bohemia's ally, the Kingdom of England. As a man of honor, and a true Christian, Mikulas of Bohemia had no choice but to bring righteous battle to the perfidious Scots and their vassal, the son of perdition, the Duke of Saxony (who, true to his character, betrayed his liege lord the King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor).

Together with the Duke of Meissen, Mikulas of Bohemia crossed into Saxony. The fool who sits on the throne of Scotland had made a bad choice in calling up Saxony's armies, leaving the realm undefended. Easy prey for the heavenly host of Bohemia! In only a scant few days, the Duchy of Saxony was under Bohemian control. With his generosity , and great wisdom, King Mikulas send emissaries to the Duke of Saxony. Putting forth a most noble deal, Mikulas obtained the vassalage of the Duke of Saxony, bringing with it all of the Duke's demense and his own vassals.

But lo! Foul Scotland still makes war on true sons of Christ! A reckoning is in the works for them. A storm is brewing over Carinthia, another of Scotland's farflung vassals, which just happens to border Austria (as true a friend and subject as Bohemia could want or have).

[Robyn Lena]

Time for me to re-enter this thread, for in celebration of massive progress on the front of College, I have elected to pick-up Hearts of Iron III.

After a brief bit of disappointment when the Complete pack (which was 23% off on GamersGate) did NOT include Semper Fi (which I did pick up), I have played through the tutorial and am now preparing for war as the United States.

First thoughts: holy dear god, that's a lot of provinces. Second thought: I'm extremely grateful that game has a robust command system. You can parent divisions, and give the Theater division the objective of, say, taking Montreal. And the AI will do it. Much, much better than the previous games.

[Kristina Campbell]

Finally managed to start a good Northumberland game. Got on good terms with the royals of England, and am starting the process of creating a Saxon Ireland.

[.X chantelle .x Smith]

Time for me to re-enter this thread, for in celebration of massive progress on the front of College, I have elected to pick-up Hearts of Iron III.

After a brief bit of disappointment when the Complete pack (which was 23% off on GamersGate) did NOT include Semper Fi (which I did pick up), I have played through the tutorial and am now preparing for war as the United States.

First thoughts: holy dear god, that's a lot of provinces. Second thought: I'm extremely grateful that game has a robust command system. You can parent divisions, and give the Theater division the objective of, say, taking Montreal. And the AI will do it. Much, much better than the previous games.

I'll be curious to see your review of the game. I bought it at release and have been pretty disappointed. I don't mind some of the bugs I just haven't found the game that interesting, I really want to like it though. Maybe a good review will get me to reinstall.

[michael danso]

I bought it at release and have been pretty disappointed. I don't mind some of the bugs I just haven't found the game that interesting, I really want to like it though.

Do you usually enjoy 4X/grand strategy games?

[Angel Torres]

Nevermind. I just got assshoved again playing as Northumberland. Ruler went balls to the wall crazy. I kinda hoping he'll commit suicide.

[Curveballs On Phoenix]

Nevermind. I just got assshoved again playing as Northumberland. Ruler went balls to the wall crazy. I kinda hoping he'll commit suicide.

What game?
Also: exactly one hour after your last post.

[Yonah]

Crusader Kings.

[Tanya Parra]

Do you usually enjoy 4X/grand strategy games?

Yep, I was a huge fan of Paradox's games until some of their recent releases. I loved Hearts of Iron 2, if it isn't my favorite game ever it is in the top 5 for sure. I have played a handful of games of HOI3 (always as Germany ) and I always lose interest right about the time the war starts, which is bad news for a war game. I enjoy the buildup for the first couple of years; building divisions, researching technologies, etc. I just don't like the fighting.

[BRIANNA]

The War of Norman Oppression
As chronicled by Aelfgar Siward

As we, the children of Christ, enter into the 12th century of our LORD, we are wracked with conflict. Our noble sovereign, the Duke of Northumberland, and now York, could no longer abide the mistreatment of his fellow English. With righteous anger, and the strength and authority of the Almighty, our lord severed his forced "oaths" of fealty to the Norman pretender who sits on the throne, the so-called "king" Robert, grandson of the Bastard of Normandy. Rising up, our sovereign of Northumberland surged into Leicester, capturing the false Duke of York, and claimed his title for himself.

Seeing this great display of might, other realms that called London lord rebelled, until all the land north of the Northampton were afire with the flame of revolution. Although Normans who displaced the proper Saxon lord, the Duke of Lancaster was the first to throw his lot in with Northumberland, despite refusing an alliance. The Countess of Chester, too, threw off London's yoke. To the south, the Cornish lords, ever opportunists, attacked royal agents and expelled them from their realms.

In a moment of rare honour, the King of Scotland, with his armies and navies, struck right at the heart of the Normans, seizing even London itself and putting Robert on the run.

As for my lord of Northumberland, his campaigns in Lincoln tied up a good deal of the Norman troops, allowing the lords of Lancaster and Chester to secure their far smaller realms, and gave the King of Scotland the opportunity to ravage Oxford, Northampton, and Bedford. And, to my lord's great surprise, the Duke of Holland led attacks against Normandy-proper, capturing the whole of the land.

Facing the full might of the Norman crown, our lord of Northumberland was forced to give ground in Lincoln. His vast money reserves spent, he was forced to allow his armies to return home. But such was the harm inflicted, the Norman armies were unable to amount effective assaults against York or Leicester, at least none so bad that the local regiments couldn't deal with them.

Free from Norman oppression at last, the Duke of Northumberland decided to honor God, and entered into negotiations with the hellspawned Norman king. A peace was brokered, with no small thanks to the Holy Church.

[jaideep singh]

Link to the AAR? I assume it is on the Paradox forums?

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?326850-To-Live-and-Die-in-Dixie-*Doomsday*-A-History-of-the-C.S.A. <---- Thats the HoI 2 Doomsday one

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?306500-To-Live-and-Die-in-Dixie-*-Revolutions*&pp=20 <---- and heres the revolutions one.

I was under the name Volga then

[Jordan Moreno]

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?326850-To-Live-and-Die-in-Dixie-*Doomsday*-A-History-of-the-C.S.A. <---- Thats the HoI 2 Doomsday one

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?306500-To-Live-and-Die-in-Dixie-*-Revolutions*&pp=20 <---- and heres the revolutions one.

I was under the name Volga then

Excellent. Bookmarked but I am too drunk to read it tongiht.

[Carys]

This is out to day if anyone is looking for another good game http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-DHHOIG/darkest-hour-a-hearts-of-iron-game :celebration:

[Marie]

I shouldn't have looked... I knew what was going to happen.

I bought HOI3 and it's expansion (and it's Sprite Packs, as part of the Complete pack, which I THOUGHT included Semper Fi, but didn't) for 54 bucks.

Now, they're on sale on Impulse. For about 20 total.

Oddly enough, I feel more amused. I thought it was on sale when I bought it, but it was the "Save 23% by buying them all together!" ad.

Well, a good lesson has been learned. At the cost of 40 bucks...

I think I got the raw end of the stick.

[Facebook me]

Woot. My Crusader Kings is on the way! Soon I will be able to post here about my adventures in the game, from a complete newbies perspective. Going to be awesome ^^

[Da Missz]

Woot. My Crusader Kings is on the way! Soon I will be able to post here about my adventures in the game, from a complete newbies perspective. Going to be awesome ^^

Three words of warning:

You. Will. Lose.

Seriously, the game is so complicated you'll be marching all your troops in a bid to capture a nearby place and then your entire kingdom revolts because your king murdered his infant son in a fit of schizophrenic rage and got excommunicated. Then, because your king is excommunicated, EVERYONE ELSE in the world gets a claim on your demesne, promptly declares war, and your entire army will be fighting off an invasion force, but it's very weakened because of the civil war, and finally, the last of your demesne is occupied, and you lose.

Don't get frustrated- get even. For example, with HoI3, my armies are getting their butts handed to them by forces 10% their size, because I researched wrong. Now, however, I've restarted, and my armies will be unstoppable, because I know how to play. It takes a few games to get started. It IS easier from EU3 to Vicky II, but CK and HoI3 are pretty much their own areas- much more focused.

People have asked for a review of HoI3, so here it is-

It's much harder to learn. The game is completely focused on war. EU3 and Vicky are about many more things, but HoI 3 is like waging war in those on steroids. The entire game is building up to the outbreak of war- unless you select one of the "war-in-progress" starting times. All technology is geared towards war. There is little population management. There is no building beyond that which is required by war. All events, all decisions, EVERYTHING is towards war. And unlike EU3, it usually has the tendency to march on pretty close to history (namely because most decisions are coded to re-enact historical events, like the annexation of Austria, Britain and France's guarantees towards Poland, etc.

Thing is, if you start in the earliest start, unless you're one of the countries actively engaged in war at first, you're looking at three years mimimum till war breaks out- and instead of days, months, years, like in EU3 and Vicky II, you have HOURS, days, months, years. It's alot slower from year to year- months are the new years, as I said.

That said, if you want to focus on a specific element, all you have to do is tell your AI to automate aspects. Technology, production, even the military can all be automated. And because the map consists of thousands of provinces, it's very, very helpful. But naturally, it IS AI, and it has limitations- I have not found a satisfactory way to tell it to transport reinforcements to Britain, for example.

[Austin Suggs]

I feel like I've gotten good enough to offer a fellow newbie some advice. Start small. Like, way small. Counties are by far the easiest things to manage, since you only have one territory to manage. Once you start getting that territory developed, you can look into securing nearby territories. Limousine, La Marche, and Bourbon are really good for that, and snagging all three nets you a duchy, which means more prestige, gold, and cool things.

Another thing to be in mind of is your liege lord. Once again, the Aquitaine areas are really good for this, because the Duke of Aquitaine is really strong, and the King of France (his/her liege) butt-raqes pretty much everyone.

I would also suggest you never play as Northumberland. At the start, it's based almost entirely on luck, and you're sandwiched between England and Scotland (which seems to have this odd ability to become a mega-powerhouse really quick).

So, in conclusion, start as a small county in France.

[JD bernal]

Three words of warning:

You. Will. Lose.

Seriously, the game is so complicated you'll be marching all your troops in a bid to capture a nearby place and then your entire kingdom revolts because your king murdered his infant son in a fit of schizophrenic rage and got excommunicated. Then, because your king is excommunicated, EVERYONE ELSE in the world gets a claim on your demesne, promptly declares war, and your entire army will be fighting off an invasion force, but it's very weakened because of the civil war, and finally, the last of your demesne is occupied, and you lose.

Don't get frustrated- get even. For example, with HoI3, my armies are getting their butts handed to them by forces 10% their size, because I researched wrong. Now, however, I've restarted, and my armies will be unstoppable, because I know how to play. It takes a few games to get started. It IS easier from EU3 to Vicky II, but CK and HoI3 are pretty much their own areas- much more focused.

People have asked for a review of HoI3, so here it is-

It's much harder to learn. The game is completely focused on war. EU3 and Vicky are about many more things, but HoI 3 is like waging war in those on steroids. The entire game is building up to the outbreak of war- unless you select one of the "war-in-progress" starting times. All technology is geared towards war. There is little population management. There is no building beyond that which is required by war. All events, all decisions, EVERYTHING is towards war. And unlike EU3, it usually has the tendency to march on pretty close to history (namely because most decisions are coded to re-enact historical events, like the annexation of Austria, Britain and France's guarantees towards Poland, etc.

Thing is, if you start in the earliest start, unless you're one of the countries actively engaged in war at first, you're looking at three years mimimum till war breaks out- and instead of days, months, years, like in EU3 and Vicky II, you have HOURS, days, months, years. It's alot slower from year to year- months are the new years, as I said.

That said, if you want to focus on a specific element, all you have to do is tell your AI to automate aspects. Technology, production, even the military can all be automated. And because the map consists of thousands of provinces, it's very, very helpful. But naturally, it IS AI, and it has limitations- I have not found a satisfactory way to tell it to transport reinforcements to Britain, for example.

Yeah, having followed this thread since the beginning(the entire reason I bought CK), I kinda figured I was in for a world of hurt once I start playing. I'm looking forward to it though, I love hard games that require a lot of strategy ^^ This will be my first game of this type though(Since I don't think there are enough similarities between it and Civ III/IV to put them in the same genre) and I can't wait to sink my teeth into it ^^ I'm eventually planning on getting the others, EU3, Victoria(is Victoria like CK in that it doesn't have numbered sequels?) and Hearts of Iron 2(From what I've read here and elsewhere, the 2nd one is the best, but I'm more then willing to listen to other opinions, certainly), and eventually finding a way(even if I have to go to a buddys house) to download the converter mods so I can play as one country from CK to HoI

Edit: also, thanks for the advice Verlox, I've noticed that everyone seems to recommend starting off small if you're new to the game, so I'll definitely be taking that advice to heart, no point in making it even rougher on myself ^^

[sarah simon-rogaume]

It took me until Bohemia until I really started getting Crusader Kings. Playing as a massive kingdom can just cause such trouble as Skyshadowing has detailed. Rebellions, angry neighbors, it's all just so much worse as a kingdom.

As Bohemia, I'm lucky, since I'm not mondo huge, and I've built it up over time so my industry and such is there.