Europa Universalis III/Walkthrough

A Walk-through for this game is very difficult for a multitude of reasons. This game can have a very wide variety of game altering events. For example, you can be France in 1399, and Burgundy may go to war with you and you fight just them, or England might join so you have two fronts, or Aragon might also join with you, or against you.

You can pick any country in the world for every year from 1399 to 1821. That means there are potentially thousands of different ways this game could really go. To compound that, at any time you can save your game, exit, reload the save and choose a different country. Like starting the game as France and then exiting the game, loading the file and choosing England instead. The best way to do this walk-through is address certain issues individually, such as a basic country guide, as well as a guide to the world at different years in the game.

First part of the walk-through will examine the world at different points in the game. The game itself suggests several start dates, 1399, 1453, 1492, 1508, 1579, 1618, 1701, 1718, 1756, 1776, and 1789.

1399 The Grand Campaign

The world here is truly an open battlefield. Powerful empires could emerge in many sectors of the world, and the game could change very fast as a result. France is nearing the end of the Hundred Years War and is about to make a drive to unify their country. Even though they are in a winning position here, France is actually at it's weakest point in the game, and for anyone wanting to knock out the games strongest country, this is a good time to try it. What this means for any nation in the historical french region is that France is likely coming for you. Larger countries like Burgundy will probably hold out of awhile, but smaller nations like Provence and Orleans are very likely to become annexed in the next few years.

At this time England also has provinces inside historical France, but the ability to defend them may be lacking and indeed, the AI won't defend it, but the game's warscore method will at the same time make it hard for France to get the provinces for themselves even if they take them all and wipe out any units defending them. Overtime however, France normally does recapture them. The sooner France unifies, the more danger the entire world is from France's military, and a unified France is almost always the single most powerful force in the whole game.

Castile (later called Spain) is also moving to unify it's country, as is it's rival nation Aragon. Normally Castile quickly eliminates the small nations of Granda to it's south, and Navarre to it's north, and then turns it's armies on Aragon in the east. Ocassionally they'll also take out Portugal but this is far less likely, however, Portugal users need to be wary of this.

From here, AI Spain takes one of three paths, the least likely, Spain wars with France, which can be problematic because France tends to win. Second option, usually encouraged by the mission (continue Reconquista) Spain invades north Africa, this is an event that anyone playing any muslim nation should be wary of, because due to the make up of the game, it's easier for any nation to go to war with an opposing religion (Islam VS Christianity, Islam verses Eastern Religions, ETC).

Morocco, Algiers, Tunisia, and Tripoli are normally weak and Morocco or Algiers tends to take the first hits usually losing much of their territory in the first few wars. What happens from here is that Spain along with any allies that might have also landed start claiming North African Territory and continue marching either east, or south in Africa.

The third path Spain might take is going west to the new world, and for any nation in North America (who have low Tech Groups), Spain Arriving means normally you are doomed...

Italy usually gets divided into two camps, Naples and the minor nations that side with them who want to march north and take over Italy, and the Papal State/Milan group that want to march south and take out Naples. Progress is slow and to a much greater power, (France, Spain, Ottomans, Austria, Poland) by the time they are unified you are already so much stronger than them that you'd be able to crush them easily. One Minor note, Sicily though a weak country to start with, as an AI tends to be the wild card, they may just conquer Naples from the south as part of a greater alliance, or by itself as a third side, or Naples may conquer them, or perhaps a stalemate emerges with Sicily staying on it's island.

In Anatolia/Greece region the Ottoman Empire is rising and any nation in that region, especially a christian nation is facing very high likelihood of defeat in the coming years. Only Transylvania and Hungary seem to have the real shot of holding out. A couple side notes, Venice and Genoa a both Italian nations with territory in this proximity. Their navy is powerful enough at the opening point to deal with the Ottomans, but at least with the AI, they both eventually tend to lose their respective territories.

Though this is a dangerous time for Christian Nations in this region (Byzantine Empire, Achae, The Knights, Serbia, Wallachia, Ragusa, ETC) there are also some factors on the Christian State's side. The Ottoman Empire is being attacked by the Timurid Empire, which is the most powerful military at the opening point of the game, and the Greek portion of the Ottoman Empire is ripe for revolution. Albania for instance likes to declare it's independence. However, if left alone (or left to the AI) the Ottoman eventually stabilizes and the smaller nations are inevitably doomed.

There is an additional threat to the region. In the north, Hungary is also expansive minded and are just as likely to try to annex the smaller states as the Ottoman Empire is. Only two things hold them back, Poland, Bohemia, or Austria may make a move on Hungary, and declaring war on a state with the same religion is costly. From here, after the minors are all gone, it usually comes down to the Ottomans and Hungary (or a Hungary/Transylvania alliance) and more often than not, between AI's, the Ottomans win.