Enjoy, its really good despite its bad reputation
I can finally play it now, after taking all day to download!
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Enjoy, its really good despite its bad reputation
I don't know who to play as for the grand campaign, any thoughts on the countries strengths and weakness's?
Britain: good footholds, decent economy, lack of land invasions, large potential. Good navy. No Industrial unhappiness and good starting naval tech, so it has massive potential.
France: Bipolar economy, strong but vulnerable positions, and a twisted diplomatic position. Pretty decent naval possibities.
Prussia: Ditch navies and colonies, this one starts off with a technological advatage, and a major advantage in the basic line infantry format. Very strong potenential as a land power...but many, many enemies, and only 2 starting provinces.
Russia: Huge potential, but massive fronts, many enemies, and a very backwards starting economy/public order. Starts off at war with the Ottomans, the only faction more backwards then you. Also, multiple enemies could lead to fast overwhelming fronts.
Turks: Okay, backwards economy, angry people, and a war with Russia, along with many protectorates who like to get in fights they can't possibly win. Begins with infantry so foul, you will often win battles via sword and spear, but artillery is nice...if you can afford it. Tough campaign.
Dutch: You begin everywhere, with many possible fronts and few real powerhouses. You could go anywhere you choose, but are limited by your struggling economy and the looming France and Spain. Tech is pretty good, and a good navy, huge possible potential.
Spain: Back to backwardland we go, specifically with economy and tech. You begin with many footholds and vassals, but with the ability to expand at a snails pace. Bad starting alliances may lead to a quick "Finish Him!" by any power that decides to sail over....and for some reason, that seems to happen a lot.
Austria: You start off with generals with a pike/spear fetish...more backwards-ness, but this one seems a little easier to throw into gear...if Prussia doesn't enter Kill Mode first. Not the best diplomacy, really, but it could be worse. Oh, and did I mention that Prussia wants your head?
Poland: Actually, not as bad as meets the eye. Good cavalry, but backwards infantry to start (apparently your generals visit Vienna often), and bad tech. But room to blossom, if you can...which reminds me: you begin with the diplomatic standing of a rabbit. Prussia begins with guns pointed towards the West Prussian land you unluckily own, and few neighbors are overly fond either. But, on the bright side, no Industrial unhappiness means good late game tanking.
Sweden: Strange 'un here. You begin with a pretty good army and navy, and relatively isolated. A not-so-good economy, but not impoverished. Your diplomacy though...starts you off in a trap. Russia, Denmark, and Poland all begin ready to spring the second you try and expand anywhere. Now, the Danish are not too hard...but the others, not so much. Oh, and nobody likes you, so if you expand too far, everyone will turn on you.
Marathas: And now for something completely different. You begin with a parcel of land and fuedal tech, fighting alone against a bankrupt, decaying, even more fuedal empire twenty times your size. But don't let the tech fool you; once you have united India, you become a war machine.
I'm pretty sure that's everyone.
I have to say that Holland was one of my favourites, not simply because i'm Dutch but because they get a single province on each theatre, and right off the bat you can take them anywhere, in any direction.
As long as you dont lose Amsterdam, you could decide on either conquering the Americas or India, or try to do 'em both. Or you could just ignore those areas and shoot for a conquest of Europe, starting with kicking the Spanish out of Brussels.
Also, i like starting out with a single province instead of multiple, which makes the Dutch have another + over most other factions, and also a reason why i enjoyed some Napoleon campaigns less (mainly the Europe campaign), while other two campaigns were fairly limited due to a lack of research options etc. Still enjoyed Napoleon, but atm i cant wait to get Shogun 2 in my hands tomorrow.