Guide and walkthrough for "Europa Universalis". Guide and walkthrough for "Europa Universalis" What does it mean to assign a stamp europa 4

We present you a list of all current codes with which you can get a huge set of benefits. Obtaining casus belli, idea groups, province resources and more in Europe Universalis 4.

Cheats in this game are divided into two categories. The first type is ordinary console commands. Enter some combination in Europa Universalis 4, press Enter and the effect is instantly applied.

The second type of codes are events. The fact is that in Europe Universalis 4 there are a large number of different in-game events, many of which give very significant effects, therefore they are used as cheats. You can learn more about commands of this type on the pages dedicated to them.

In addition, some commands in Europa Universalis 4 are toggles, meaning that re-entering their effect can be canceled. By the presence of a mark, you can recognize such codes for Europe Universalis 4 in the table.

How to enter any cheats in Europa Universalis 4

All codes are written using the console in Europe Universalis 4. To open it and start entering cheats, while playing Europa Universalis 4 with the English layout, press ~ (tilde). If the console does not open, switch the keyboard layout, most likely you have Russian.

Table with all cheats for Europa Universalis 4

In addition, in Europe Universalis 4 you can enter the help code in the console to display all available commands. Typing help [command name] will display all information related to the specified cheat. This allows you to clarify how to use a specific command without minimizing the game.

Other cheats for Europa Universalis 4

The possibilities of cheating in this game are not limited to the above list of commands. We bring to your attention a few more sets of codes and other options for obtaining advantages in the game Europa Universalis 4.

Useful in-game events

Forms of government, improvement of any aspect of the country and much more. Cheats for events will help with technologies, traditions, taxes, military power and other components of states in Europa Universalis 4. .

Getting reasons for war

Often a situation arises when you want to attack, but there are no real reasons for this. Using these codes will allow you to easily manage casus belli in Europe Universalis 4 by adding and removing them. .

Opening any idea groups

One of the key mechanics of Europa Universalis 4 is national ideas. Since they offer strong bonuses, many players want to get them all. This will help teams to open groups of ideas. .

AHTUNG! MANY LETTERS! It is essentially training. Also, some part of this article is available in the tutorial of the game itself.
In advance, I ask you not to throw slippers for punctuation and poorly composed sentences. Well, maybe even spelling in some cases.

A game from the Swedish company that released games such as , unlike which it has only a few differences. For example, when the actions of the game and some changes in the gameplay take place.
The very beginning of the game.
After launch, the boot menu shows some clues that I would advise you to listen to, and portraits of famous personalities.

Next comes a menu where you can choose to play solo or online. You can also change the settings, view the authors, or take a tutorial.


We select a single game and get into the menu with the choice of era and country.
On account of time. You can choose any date from 1444 to 1821, as well as a scenario such as the War of Independence or the colonization of the New World.
Unfortunately, you can play indefinitely only thanks to the plug-ins available in the Steam Workshop, and only until 1821.
Also, the game will tell you which country is easier to play in a certain moment time.

Almost the whole world is available for research. Some regions need to be colonized, and some will require certain sciences.

Now about the gameplay itself.
By selecting one of the many different countries, the camera is centralized on the capital of that country.


Here we can see a lot of different buttons, icons and other things, other things, other things.
Let's start from the center. This is your capital, it houses the initial troops and fleet, which depend on the choice of some factors, such as difficulty and handicap.
There are troops and countries around, in your visibility zone, that is, adjacent to your borders. You can also see the borders of countries that have an alliance with you.
In the window on the right, under the timer, they show your diplomats, merchants (initially each country has 2 of them, but trading republics such as Venice have one more), armies and navies. Also, this window can be configured and it can show the time of construction of buildings, the formation of troops, and others.
About the timer itself. There is a pause, which, of course, stops the time in the game (in network game, if any of the players stop the time, it can be started after 30 seconds). 5 speeds are also available. At its highest, a month lasts about 8 seconds.
Now about the top bar. The first is the treasury. Game currency - ducats. Plus or minus near a coin means whether coins are coming into your treasury or decreasing. When hovering, you can find out the exact number of incoming or outgoing ducats.
Then there are the recruits. This is an important factor in wars, because recruits are needed to form armies and replenish them in case of losses.
Every month the number of recruits increases due to various buildings, sciences or events, as well as the number of regions that you own.
Stability. Stability is increased or decreased by events, or by purchasing it with ruler points. It varies from -3 to 3. At -3, there will always be uprisings in the country and many more minuses. With positive stability, obviously, there will be pluses.
Prestige. Prestige varies from -100 to 100, which changes due to events and annually. Each year, prestige decreases or increases, depending on how much it is. That is, if the prestige is negative, it will increase, because. tends to zero. Actually, with a positive amount, it will decrease. The amount of prestige you gain per year depends on events, advisors, the base 5% change, and a few other factors.
Degitimacy (republican traditions in the case of Venice). Legitimacy also changes in connection with events that sometimes occur in the country. Unlike prestige, legitimacy tends to 100. Legitimacy affects the risk of rebellion in the provinces and other factors.
Giplomatic weight, which changes depending on the opponents you have (more on them later). With certain amounts of weight, you will receive some bonuses.
Now there are three icons under the top bar. These are the points of the ruler. Administrative, diplomatic and military, respectively.
They are needed for various purposes such as constructing buildings, nationalizing conquered provinces, recruiting generals, or simply being spent in events. Each month you get n points, which depends on the abilities of your ruler and advisers.
Next are the flags that show that something is missing in your country. For example, the first flag indicates that you have few rivals that affect diplomatic weight and help with the military capture of provinces.
The second flag indicates possible uprisings. To suppress them, it is enough to spend a few military points, increase stability, nationalize the region, or some other reason, which is enough.
The third checkbox indicates that advisors are available for hire, which give various bonuses, including the very increase in ruler points. Only three advisors are available, one for each point.


Here I chose to hire an administrator. At first, only 3 advisers are available for hire, the number of which can change when certain groups of ideas are accepted, or during events.
The fourth flag shows you your truce treaties.
Fifth checkbox, what's on this moment you can choose a certain task that gives prestige and other advantages. These tasks rather help you advance in the game, because. there is often a capture of someone or an alliance.
Well, the sixth is that you can hire a general for your armies.
Of course, there are more flags, but I won’t talk about all of them.
Map. At a certain point in the game, certain countries have their open territories. Depends on historical factors, or if you do not want to open new territories, over time you will receive a notification that a new land has been discovered.

There are also several map modes. Each of them is needed for something. The first, for example, shows the climate and terrain of the regions. I will not describe each mode, when you hover over its icon, its functions are described.

Now click on the coat of arms located in the upper left corner. We are opening a window of the country.

first tab, Control, it says: your government type, ruler abilities, country bonuses, cultural affiliation, and monthly increase in ruler points.
About rulers. Republican countries have a term for electing a ruler, depending on the type of government itself. You can choose from three rulers: official, diplomat and military. Each has power in a monthly increase in ruler points, depending on his direction.
In ordinary countries, they reign until death by inheritance. If the ruler of the country has died and his heir is too young, then the temporary regency council will take over the board. If there is no heir, then the interregnum begins.
For increased receipt of heirs, it is necessary to conclude dynastic marriages with other countries.

second tab, Diplomacy, in it you can see neighboring countries, relations with them, countries that consider you enemies, or choose those very rivals to increase diplomatic weight.

It is also possible to create vassals from regions you have conquered, but which have not been nationalized by you. Vassals will be your allies and pay you monthly.
Here you can also see what religion the country professes, your ruler, the number of diplomatic ties, exceeding the limit of which will adversely affect the diplomatic points received.

Economy.

It shows the country's income, income bonuses, inflation and other information related to money.
Inflation can increase both when receiving money from the country in the event of a peace treaty, as part of it, and when gold is mined.
Loans are needed when there is no money in the country's treasury at all. Loans are taken for a fixed term and must be repaid with interest. The total number of loans you can get depends on the countries and a few more features.

Trade.

Trading is needed to make a profit. The income received from trading and modifiers that increase its percentage are also shown here. This lists the various trade nodes within your sight where you can send one of your merchants. BUT this does not mean that you can send your merchant to the other side of the world. The range is affected by ... "range".
Now about the trade itself.
You can put a merchant on a trade node to redirect trade influence to another node, which will increase the total income from the node of all countries whose merchants are located in it. Or send a merchant to collect profits. Node income is affected by Trade Influence.

Technology.

Ruler points are spent on technology. Each of the three technologies has its own direction, as, of course, the points required to study it. So, for example, military technologies are needed to open military bonuses, and diplomatic ones are needed to improve trade, or open a new fleet.
The number of ruler points needed for technology is affected by the technology group to which the country belongs, or the temporary interest received for lagging behind in the study of science, or, conversely, in prosperity. As well as some bonuses received from certain groups of ideas.

Ideas.

Idea groups are unlocked by learning new levels of administrative technologies.
Like technologies, idea groups are divided into three types and learning them consumes ruler points. When learning a new branch of an idea, a point is added to national ideas (Venetian ideas, in this case).

Tasks.

Needed to gain prestige and advance in the game.
In the tasks there is an item "national decisions", in which, under certain conditions, you can, for example, create a Russian nation from Muscovy, or Scandinavia, with the unification of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
Domestic policy bonuses are available by researching idea groups.

stability and expansion.

In this tab, you can reduce the fatigue from the war, which negatively affects many factors, such as the time for the formation of armies and the risk of rebellion. You can also increase the stability itself for administrative points.
You can also see which provinces are in revolts, manage overexpansion and see colonization data.
Learn more about colonization. The menu shows three factors of colonization. The first is distance. Distance affects how far your colonist can explore uninhabited lands from your nearest region. This number can also be increased by the sciences. The second point is the annual growth of settlers. In order to completely colonize a region, you need to have 1000 people in the city. This is a standard number, and it is also increased by the sciences. The third point is administrative efficiency. This is "a measure of how effectively your country manages the occupied territories ..."
Even for the colonization of the territory it is necessary to destroy all the natives currently in it. If this is not done, then they will raid your settlement and kill people. This is done simply by moving your squad to the desired region and selecting the desired item in the army menu.
In addition to the base growth, there is some chance that some population will join your colonial city every month.

Religion.

Here you can see which of your provinces is dominated by a different religion than yours and you can send a missionary to that region. Also shown are units of tolerance for other religions and the ability to change the main religion of the country.
Catholics can vote for unelected cardinals for a monthly amount of influence with the Pope, thereby gaining influence from those cardinals when they become such. If this happened and your power began to control the Papal Curia, you will have access to such a casus belli as crusade. You can call for it against a certain power that professes a different religion. In this case, all Catholic countries will have a reason for war with this country. Also, the Pope can excommunicate a Catholic country from the church.
To increase influence on the Pope, you can become defenders of the faith for 500 ducats for a period of 24 months. But if you have less prestige than another country that wants to be the defender of the faith, then this title will fall from you. You will also lose this title if you attack a country with the same religion as you, or if your ruler dies. It will also give you an additional missionary and increase the morale of your army, but will increase the number of points you need to study the sciences.
Orthodox countries have a Patriarch, whose influence you can increase or decrease with some fairly frequent events. There are no downsides to having minimal influence, but at 100% the patriarch will increase missionary strength, reduce the risk of rebellion, increase the number of recruits by 33%, but also reduce tax income by 33%. So decide for yourself.
In general, there are too many religions to describe each of them. You can see everything for yourself.

Warfare.

Here you can hire a general who will allow your army to be more effective in a siege or in battles, as well as survive in winter conditions, or during the same siege.
You can change the type of troops you hire, which is unlocked when new military technologies are unlocked.
You can see the various modifiers to your army that make it more efficient, and its limits. The troop limit increases as you gain regions.
Now about what the icons mean. The first is the cost in ducats for one unit (1000 people). Then the combat capability is an increase in the damage of your army. Firepower that affects fire damage during battles. Onslaught power that affects melee damage. And the total number of units you have. Similar to the fleet. Cost, combat capability, guns, ship size (I don’t know what they affect) and the result.

Autonomy.

Your vassals are shown here. These are your allies who will participate in wars with you and will help you capture provinces on your behalf. They bring in a monthly income that depends on the form of government or groups of ideas. We also see the income from the colonies, and the total income received from all colonies and vassals. Vassalage occupies one of several possible diplomatic ties, so you cannot take on a huge number of vassals. You can, of course, but then you will not be able to study diplomatic sciences.

Fractions.

Factions are available to merchant republics. Their influence can be increased either with the help of ruler points, or it will increase by itself when choosing a ruler. They give factions various bonuses that will help you in certain cases. Although the factions are located opposite, with respect to administrative points. So, aristocrats give military bonuses, and administrative guilds.

Achievements.
Achievements can only be earned in single player in the absence of any plug-ins in Ironman mode. There are many achievements of different difficulty, such as the capture of the WHOLE world, or the capture of one insignificant province.

Well, in general, that's all. Looks like I didn't forget anything. Thanks for reading, I hope this article will help someone understand the game, and someone will be pushed to buy it.

People often complain that the events in their favorite games happen too fast. It seems that he just managed to build a couple of primitive houses for settlers, and the Stone Age has already ended, he made several global discoveries - bam! the harsh everyday life of general Industrialization is already on its heels. Sometimes it is not even possible to fully realize the possibilities of each era and carefully consider all its specific features. If you don’t like to rush either, but want to enjoy a calm, unhurried game, then the Europa Universalis 4 project will not only suit your taste, but will completely capture your free time.

Europa Universalis 4: slowly but surely

It is a pity that no one came up with a contest for the most leisurely game in the world. There is no doubt that Europa Universalis 4 would rightly receive an honorary title. However, this specificity cannot be called unsuccessful, rather, it attracts additional attention and makes the gamer delve into every subtlety. But do not look for the primitivism and conventions in EU4 that are typical of simple historical simulators. And yes, don't wait either. Here the scope is at least planetary scale, just look at the map in the main menu. The unhurried plot flow slowly flows out of the late Middle Ages, marked by the dramatic and vivid fall of Constantinople, and smoothly merges into the New Age, passing under the trembling banner Napoleonic Wars. By choosing one of the available states, you will lead it to happiness and prosperity, completely changing the course of history along the way.

The construction of an alternative model of the development of the world stretches for almost 400 years. All hardcore gameplay elements that distinguish the series from the same one, the vendors managed to keep, but the complex, and not always friendly interface, has undergone significant changes for the better. The ornate scheme of government has become more streamlined and coherent. At the request of the most active fans of Europa Universalis, the developers have expanded and improved the functioning of all vital industries and made the modeling of diplomatic relations between potential allies and adversaries more detailed.

Where to start the conquest in the strategy Europa Universalis 4

At the first stage, you become a prince in a small province, take the royal throne in the capital of one country, or try to seize the powers of an emperor. These parameters directly depend on which nation you decide to play for. When the primary choice is made, a world opens up before you, with which you can do whatever you want. If you want to conquer the lands of your neighbors, please! If you want to drive out nomadic tribes from their homes, no problem! Do you dream of personally planning the grandiose research campaign of Columbus - yes, as much as you like! The geopolitical map provides complete freedom. Reveal the fate of the world to your own taste - that's your main task. No simple missions, only great deeds and grandiose accomplishments.

Most valuable resource in the game Europa Universalis 4 - experience points. It is they who allow you to fully use the supreme power (at least a prince of an average hand, at least a great emperor) and open up additional, unique options in diplomacy, military tactics and construction. This is one of the fundamentally new elements of the series, not yet tested in previous parts. The rest of the development takes place on knurled rails. The main areas are still:

• economy;
• culture;
• warfare;
• religion;
• the science;
• trade;
• foreign policy.

Specialized advisers and sages help to deal with state affairs. The more competent the assistant, the better he copes with his duties, but he will also have to pay a higher salary. In addition, these units gain the basic experience only in old age and sometimes they can go to another world without having time to implement the necessary transformations.

War in strategy Europa Universalis 4

Despite the huge importance of trade and diplomacy, the military component in the EU4 game is of great importance. It cannot be said that it is a priority, but no one will be able to avoid it. Even the most ardent pacifists and supporters of an exclusively peaceful solution to any issues will certainly eventually be drawn into some kind of mess. However, one can also benefit from this: to receive an impressive indemnity from a weaker enemy or to demand the release of some small peoples who, in gratitude for independence, can become allies in future battles.

The main pros and cons of Europa Universalis 4

The bright advantages of the game include impressive detail and a truly gigantic size. global map. The history of the countries, principalities and individual provinces represented in EU4 is given very close attention, much more than in many other global strategies. Decorate the process with a dynamic, gambling multiplayer and attractive visual accompaniment. Fly in the ointment, some gamers call things that happen too often random events like insurrectionary riots, speeches by heretics or sudden inflation and some bias of the "random", sometimes too overtly acting on the side of the AI. If not for these errors, Europa Universalis 4 could be called just perfect. On the other hand, who is 100% perfect in our world?

First things first, let's not get into accusations and finger pointing. It is only your own business, why suddenly this article has become relevant and important for your well-being. Europa Universalis IV is changeable and merciless game where even the slightest mistake, miscalculation or omission can lead to death.

You may have declared war on someone the day before they upgraded military technology. Or you thought that a powerful ally of your enemy would not bother to trudge to you through all of Europe, but these uninvited guests have arrived, and they are hungry. Or maybe you were just unlucky, and the enemy found a brilliant military leader, and you got someone of the level of Ambrose Burnside.

Mazurovsky (Wiktor Mazurowski) Victor Vikentievich. Moscow fire. Napoleon leaves the Kremlin.

The main thing is that you are losing the war in EUIV, and everything is very bad. It won't be easy to get out. If everything was simple and you could get off with a minor agreement, you would not hesitate for a second. But no, this war threatens you with complete collapse.

It seems like all is lost. But EUIV is a game that rewards those who never give up and never load saves. Chances are, you can not only survive the crisis, but also get out of it almost unscathed.

You can watch your rout begin, but we'll show you how you can turn it into victory.

First rule: stay alive

If you can’t win in hot battles, it’s better to refuse them. When the war goes according to an undesirable scenario, the most important thing is to keep a decent army.

Not for fighting. Lord, not for them at all. This is a help to your global goal - how to keep the fleet in naval battles. As long as you have an army, the enemy will have to be relatively cautious. If the enemies spread out across the countryside and began to tear your country apart, you can attack one of the units and reduce their overall military power. As soon as they are grouped, you disappear.

Remember, siege progress is reset when the besieging army moves. By forcing the enemy to react to your troops, you are already winning by dragging out the war.

Play the game "Where is my army?" easy if you have a lot of land. The Russians, for example, can always retreat deeper into Russia. But what if you don't have enough space to protect your army?

It's simple - get it.

Rule Two: Expand Available Space

You cannot give a worthy rebuff, so you need to retreat and hide somewhere. Your territories are filled with enemies, so it's time to take a closer look at your neighbors.

The fee for this may vary. "Diplomatic relations" are spent on agreements with other countries. You can go beyond this limit, but each time you have to spend a monthly monarch point. If the war drags on (and a long war is your best bet), points will pile up and you'll fall behind in seafaring and economic tech to spend them on.

But in extreme cases, military access is worth it. In neutral territory, the enemy will be able to pursue and attack you, but will not be able to occupy it, so he will have to put up with the fog of war. This is the perfect place to hide.

Or to prepare covert attacks. Another way to pull enemy troops from your lands is to take a detour between your possessions through neutral territories. When the enemy runs out of soldiers, you can call a significant number of troops to lay siege to his capital for a couple of weeks. Even if you get caught, the army will be able to retreat and partially recover before being overtaken by enemy pursuit.

Of course, troops are needed to restore the army, and here a slight contradiction arises.

Rule Three: Lives are cheap, so buy them.

Mercenaries are just as controversial in EUIV as they were in Machiavelli's time. There are players who use them only in the most extreme cases. If you wage a protracted war with the help of mercenaries, you will have to pay off your debts for decades. It's an economy-cracking, game-choking money-eating machine.

But suddenly things got really bad? Then I love them.

There is a lot of negativity associated with hired soldiers: their upkeep is much more expensive than a regular army. They are worth a fortune if they make up for losses.

But that will become a problem later. In the short term, mercenaries work great. They will fight on your side when there are no more soldiers available for replenishment. Mercenary units are formed on the day of hire, which is ideal for cases when the country is captured by the enemy. It's an almost infinite resource if you don't burn through it too fast and you only spend money on them. And even if there is no money, you can always borrow it.

Mercenaries will bleed the enemy, distract him and interfere with absolute victory.

The alternative is surrender. I wouldn't recommend her.

Rule four: Don't give up

If such wars were easy to end, we would not discuss this topic. Fear sets in when the enemy does not agree to even insanely generous terms of a truce. You don't know what you'll be left with when the fighting stops.

For all but the most powerful powers, the terms of a truce dictated by the enemy will turn into complete ruin. You will lose the best provinces, the country will break into pieces, and the hated, once defeated enemy will return to life. There are many options for settlements that can cancel long hours of play and set you back so that it will be oh so hard to return.

But while you resist, you are still able to influence the outcome of events. If you decide to endure everything and accept defeat, you risk receiving terms of a truce that are completely beyond your control.

Rule Five: Know Your Enemy...and His Enemies

Even if you are at war with just one country (which will be rare, because EUIV can be called an alliance game), you need to notice the diplomatic weaknesses of the enemy or opponents. Check who you are fighting with by clicking on the "war score" button - it appears at the bottom of the screen during the war.

The most nightmarish option if the coalition opposes you. In this case, making peace separately will not work. Coalitions in EUIV are deadly because each member fights to the last. You just have to hold on and wait until the enemy commander in chief decides to end the war.

However, coalitions are rarely formed. In most cases, you will encounter multiple alliances. At this stage, you need to understand who really hates you, who appeared only because of obligations, and who can be delivered additional problems.

In any war, there are usually only one or two real enemies. Small detachments from their assistants? This is a great target for your army. Let them bleed, and they will most likely leave you alone, and then come for the white world.

The remaining enemies need to be defeated or simply worn out. The good news is that they can be a great opportunity to use diplomacy. Or rather, not them, but their neighbors.

Very rarely do you get a chance to enlist help in a war. Most computer players understand that it makes little sense to get involved in someone else's war, especially on the side of an almost losing country. But it's still worth a try. Even if you don't make friends in the middle of a war, a post-war alliance will help keep you safe.

In addition, it is useful just to know about the enemies of your enemies. If they have serious rivals (which the diplomacy window will helpfully tell you about), then they can most likely get involved in a war on another front - you just have to hold out until that moment. I have ruined several countries by endlessly draining energy from them and then watching with glee as they are torn to pieces. Therefore, it is always important to know the diplomatic relations of your enemies as if they were your own.

Rule Six: Choose the right time and place

You should imagine in advance how the remaining segment of the war will go. Perhaps you will be defeated in many battles. This is the main reason for your problems - you cannot win battles.

So your goal is to win small skirmishes, increasing the war score and forcing the enemy to suffer losses. Most siege units contain only a few thousand soldiers, so usually even a small army can overwhelm them with numbers before reinforcements arrive.

Usually, but not always. There are battles that stretch out for one extra day, long enough for the main enemy troops to approach, which will grind you to powder. But this risk is worth taking. Such battles turn bloody for both sides. You are losing, but you have caused losses to the enemy for several days. Sometimes it also happens that the enemy throws soldiers into battle in separate units, allowing you to defeat troops that greatly outnumber you. One large-scale defeat can change the whole pattern of war and put your enemy at a disadvantage.

If possible, it is worth trying to occupy a province where it is convenient to defend yourself. Don't back yourself into a corner (no matter how good the terrain is, that's not your tactic), but keep an eye out for mountains, rivers, and dense forests. it good places to provoke a fight. Take them first and get a huge advantage in defense.

They don't have to be your provinces. Again, invading enemy territory allows you to provoke a battle in advantageous territory. Austria, for example, is easily lured into an Alpine trap. Will you win the fight? Noooo, maybe. Can you kill a bunch of enemy soldiers? Undoubtedly.

Rule Six: Finish on Time

There is an interesting phenomenon in Paradox games in especially difficult wars: towards the end they are perceived as something personal. Decisions made are less and less based on common sense. I don't just want to win the war, I want to humiliate the imaginary person I'm playing against.

It makes sense. Such wars need to devote all of yourself. Otherwise you decide to give up, start new game or just do something else. But hold on to the end, session after session, gnawing out victory? This is done only on emotions.

But now, the time has come to conclude a truce, and the same feelings begin to whisper bad advice: “Hey, trample them. You don't have to agree to these terms. After what we've been through, they themselves have to make concessions."

But that's just your pride.

Sometimes it pays to keep fighting. If the enemy suddenly suffers serious losses and is surrounded by other enemies, it makes sense to take a chance and snatch some land or monetary compensation. Again, the continuation of the war allows you to delay the post-war situation, which will still bring you a lot of headaches.

But do not forget that everything can turn out as you like. If the enemy manages to negotiate with the rest of the enemies, you will return to where you started, only now completely exhausted. If everything goes bad again, you will not see the former situation.

So, when you are offered a benign truce or a white peace, agree and consider it a victory.

How to survive the world

No matter how bad the war is, the consequences can be even worse. Broken, indebted, short of manpower, and almost certainly stripped of land, you may feel as if you were fighting for a Pyrrhic victory.

But don't despair. You have ten years of guaranteed truce, which will allow you to partially recover from losses. You'll be amazed at how quickly the national debt is paid off when the money doesn't go down to military power.

First of all, it is necessary to unite the weakened units. Resupplying them is expensive: if you have multiple units that are down to 10%, you will have to spend much more on them than on one new one. Just do not rush to combine artillery and cavalry. They are expensive to create, so it's best to leave them on their own so that they gain full strength without the start-up cost of a new unit.

Your main peacetime threat (with the exception of predatory neighbors) is riots and their most extreme form, the Peasants' War. This is a Disaster with a capital letter, of which there are few in EUIV. This is a time bomb that threatens the collapse of the entire country.

With low human resources, the peasants get angry and the counter starts up to 100%. With a hundred popular unrest leads to the Peasants' War. Interest drips faster if you have more than 10 loans (and you certainly have more) and high war fatigue. The Peasant War doesn't mark the end of the game, but you won't have a quiet peaceful time to lick your wounds and save money.

See what's the problem here? On the one hand, it is necessary to leave part of the mercenary troops to suppress potential rebellions and protect against attacks by neighbors. On the other hand, military spending should be reduced to a minimum in order to pay off the national debt and eliminate the causes of impending disasters.

A good compromise would be to cut funding for the troops. This will lower their morale and make them more vulnerable in combat, so I don't recommend moving the slider below 33%, although it's an easy way to save money without firing soldiers.

Surviving in peacetime after a difficult war is like navigating a ship through a minefield, there are no one hundred percent methods. In general, you need to keep a minimum of troops and pay debts as quickly as possible. You will lose years of progress by firing advisers and forgetting to build infrastructure. But it will help to recover faster from the catastrophic consequences of the war.

The meaning of victory

So why go through all this? Even if you manage to survive the war, you will spend 5-10 years on battles and then another 10-20 years you will rake up the consequences. Just to stay the same.

Except, that's not entirely true. In Europa Universalis, the right time for action eventually ends. Whoever was chasing you all over the map in 1480 took the best opportunity. He had the right alliance, the right diplomatic situation, the right technology, the right army and commanders. If you survive all this, it is unlikely that the enemy will ever pose such a threat again. Moreover, he threw all his resources into your destruction. And you survived.

Compared to many other global strategies, the Europa Universalis series is an order of magnitude more complex and realistic. The conquest of the whole world here is a task, though feasible, but still not at all trivial. Having annexed a couple of countries, the sovereign may find himself in the ring of enemies - they are afraid of too arrogant aggressors and enthusiastically crush the crowd. And exactly at the moment when the country's economy finally caves in under the protracted war.

Thoughtless expansion, not supported by a well-thought-out domestic and foreign policy, is reminiscent of the division of cancer cells in the body - and the result is the same. War is not alpha and omega, as in the series total war, but only one of the means, along with trade, diplomacy, espionage and others.

Moreover, speaking, for example, about diplomacy, we do not mean a scanty set like “declare war” and “sign peace”. The possibilities of the player are much wider. "Europe" is as logical and reliable simulator of the ruler of the XV-XIX centuries, as far as it is generally possible in modern computer game. The sequel stayed true to those principles.

The Age of Discovery and Progress

The first noticeable difference from the third part is the updated graphics. The strategy map and the figurines roaming it are finally tear-free, and the design and UI are now influenced by Crusader Kings 2 , previous game Paradox. However, longtime fans of the series are, of course, much more interested in changes in content than form.

Each country is in a hurry to take a piece from the defeated Novgorod.

At first, it seems that the mechanics have not changed in any way, and even worse than that - the developers seem to have removed some features from the game. Where is the espionage? Where are the domestic policy sliders?

However, it soon becomes clear that Europa has not become poorer, but quite the contrary. Espionage is found in the diplomacy menu, and the possibilities of secret agents in the fourth part are much better balanced. Until you are ready to enter into open war with your enemies, the knights of the cloak and dagger will sow discord in their camp and prepare the ground for future conquests.

Domestic politics is now regulated through a system of national ideas, which allows you to choose a variety of bonuses for your country, from the effectiveness of missionaries to the cheapness of mercenaries. National idea points are accumulated along with scientific progress. Over time, your state "pumps", like a character from a role-playing game.

The most aggressive natives are subject to destruction, while others can and should be used.

Instead of illogical and poorly implemented cultural traditions, we have three new resources: administrative, diplomatic and military points. A sort of generalized indicators of royal attention. Will the monarch take the time to modernize the fleet or negotiate with the rebels? Will he prefer to strengthen relations with a neighbor or help bankrupt traders? Will he build a few temples or lower the inflation rate? The result is a flexible system with a bunch of possibilities and options for development.

The trading system has also been reworked. The commercial center is no longer tied to a specific province, now trade routes run through the entire map, along which resources and capital move, and a merchant sits on each segment. By increasing your influence on the trade node through merchants and patrolling fleets, you gradually redirect the flow of material and material flow along a route that is beneficial for you, that is, through your provinces.

Liechtenstein - hegemonic status

While Paradox games do feature multiplayer, they are all clearly single-player oriented. The states in Europa Universalis are obviously not equal in strength and economic potential - as, indeed, it was in history. To quote the internet, "it's not a bug, it's a feature."

In a global sandbox where you set your own goals, starting a campaign for a small German principality can be just as exciting as leading a mighty Spain. Favourite hobby experienced players- to lead weaklings like the Papal States to world domination.

Delivery of goods from Alexandria to Europe occurs in three ways. Venice is interested in having only one left.

However, in the fourth part of the country they differ not only in size at the start. Each has an additional set of national ideas, in addition to the hundreds of public ones. In addition, some states that have actually achieved power are considered "lucky." This is expressed in all sorts of bonuses that help the country take its historical place so that the world map does not look completely discouraging. For example, France is much more likely to swallow Burgundy than vice versa. However, if you want equal opportunities, then the "historical accuracy" option can be turned off.

Map of Europe. Even the smallest speck on it is a playable country.

"Lucky" countries such as the UK, Spain and the aforementioned France are more developed than any Luxembourg and have their own unique events. For example, in England, under certain circumstances, the War of the Scarlet and White Roses flares up, in the Ottoman Empire, Janissary riots periodically occur, and so on. Thanks to this, the game for each state is exciting in its own way.

Nagging time

And finally about the sad. The military-tactical component of the game is still weak. Three types of units - infantry, cavalry and artillery, the minimum influence of the player on the outcome of the battle, a cheating computer - this is still not Total War for you. However, Europa Universalis is a game primarily about the intricacies of big politics. And in this she will give a series Creative Assembly one hundred points ahead.

The entry threshold remained the same high: in new system trade even a veteran economic strategies will not figure it out right away. It is worth noting that the developers have spent a lot of effort in trying to make a complex game mechanics as clear as possible, and the interface is more convenient. So, if you hover over any parameter, you will immediately see where it comes from and what it affects. However, if you are unfamiliar with the work of Paradox, it will take a lot of time to understand all aspects of the game. In this regard, competing Civilization looks much better.