Paradox games but definitely NOT GAMES OF THRONE

[Mick]

Aaaaaand yoink.

[METALMAN]

It's just a shame EUIV without expansions doesn't really work and becomes more and more warped with every patch. : /

[FLiam]

Working out how to hold onto important titles upon succession etc is still a massive mindfuck to me.

[Mick]

Get rid of Gavelkind.

[OctoberRaven]

Or if you're an unreformed pagan ruler, try to get your secondborn son killed.

[Schlitzbrille]

 

[Krabby]

Can we maybe get this thread renamed to "Paradox Games Chat", o mighty Mr. @METALMAN?

[Mick]

2 hours ago, Krabby said:

Can we maybe get this thread renamed to "Paradox Games Chat", o mighty Mr. @METALMAN?

:@

[METALMAN]

On 01/12/2021 at 21:49, Krabby said:

Can we maybe get this thread renamed to "Paradox Games Chat", o mighty Mr. @METALMAN?

Normally I would be okay with this but I need a formulation that makes my disdain for Game of Thrones mods known.

[Schlitzbrille]

2 minutes ago, METALMAN said:

Normally I would be okay with this but I need a formulation that makes my disdain for Game of Thrones mods known.

Paradox Games only, NOT GAME OF THRONES FFS

[Krabby]

So I ended up winning the Spanish Civil War!!!

After I smashed the Anarchists (Sorry @DMN) and restored the NE - I reestablished by defensive lines and marched a bunch of freed up troops south and used them to affect a breakthrough down there. After that I started rolling them up northwards, using that stack to break through and then support subsequent attacks across the line. I rushed over and took their last airport and denied them air power which helped to finish things off. Defeated the Nationalists and Royalists by fall of 1938. 

My intention was to maintain the Second Republic and maintain democratic principles even if that meant pissing off the Soviets but then, well, the people voted and they decided Communism is there bag. Whether that was because I allowed the Soviets to come help us or not, idk. I had the chance to screw with the elections to make sure they didn't win but well, that wasn't democratic and would have forced yet another civil war on the population. We've been through enough and the people have spoken...so I guess we are communist now!

My first plan of action will be to go after those dirty Portuguese (which I was slowly gearing up to try and screw witht hem anyway)! I don't know what I will do re: the Soviets. Obviously they'll be more friendly now and I can full on accept their help, which would be nice, but I also feel like the way I am playing I would reject their influence in my government. So we'll see

 @MadJack @Absolute JasonM 

 

What is the deal with Combat Width? Also I captured some Nazi and Italian vehicles and tanks, can I use them and how? lmao

[The Lusophone]

In the recent update they changed what combat width is effective in what terrain, it's much more complex now than it used to be, which was just 40/20. No one's really worked out the meta yet.

As for captured equipment iirc its just used automatically except for planes which I think you have to deploy at your air bases.

[JasonM]

I've done two games, one as the USA and one as the UK. And I do feel that 20s are plenty viable but perhaps not as effectively 'can do everything you'll ever need' as before.

I ended up defeating the axis in '44 after making a stand in Greece and eventually pushing along the Albanian and Bulgarian coastlines into flatter land. I nearly kicked the Bulgarians out early but then Romania joined the axis and Yugoslavia was invaded, and that made life significantly harder.

As far as what is efficient, i'm not a star at that. But I use 24/48 divisions of pure infantry with support artillery to hold the line, then brought along 2x12 motorized divisions with light tanks, anti-tank guns, and artillery to push through gaps in the line to circle towards wherever trains converged.

If that push succeeded, we'd cut off a good chunk of the AI's supply and after the infantry filled up the line I repeated the process with the motorized.

Not as efficient and effective as it could've been, but it won me the war.

Also, transport planes, just give every division a handful of those set to resupply and it makes your life so much easier.

EDIT: Apparently somebody on reddit did the maths for the new widths.

idk about tank meta yet, but here's the navy meta as i've learned it. Spoilered for size.
 

Spoiler

 

First the importance of fleet composition. | For every capital ship you have (Carrier/Super Heavy/Battleship/Battlecruiser/Heavy Cruiser) you need 4 screening ships to protect them (Light Cruiser, Destroyer). Without enough screens, your capitals are less effective in combat and more vulnerable to damage. | This is a hard rule, so it's always gonna be your focus with any nation on any save.

Stuff like Battleships (BB) or even the ridiculous Super Heavy Battleship (SHBB) are fun, but they are so insanely ridiculously expensive, that you can only build 1 maybe 2 of them across your entire save. They pack a ridiculous punch, but in that same time span you can create a lighter more bespoke navy that covers significantly more ocean. Although somewhat fortunately, there's only 1 SHBB design, so once you got that there's no need to keep up in hull tech.

If you want a Battleship at Aliexpress prices, you can always go the Battlecruiser (BC) route. They are almost a third cheaper than battleships but still provide heavy firepower close to Battleships. They're speedy glass cannons, can dish more than what they can take, but they punch well above their weight.

Heavy Cruiser (HC). The smallest 'capital' you can have. They sacrifice most armor of bigger ships for speed and flexibility. And can still punch above their weight, although you'll tend to rely on volume more than quality...

Light Cruiser (CL). One of two 'Screening' type ships. They're the premium option that brings versatility and armor over the Destroyer. They can be set up as scouts, anti-submarine warfare, or straight up screen-killer with its light armament. And even add torpedoes to threaten capital ships that lack screens.

Destroyer (DD). In any navy except maybe the British and American navies (Who could viably only use CL's), these boys will be the absolute backbone of your navy. Cheap, light, fast, they keep your big boys afloat whilst also being able to track down pesky submarines and help damage capitals with a small torpedo armament. Or completely mine a sea region within no time flat. These are the first ships you make, and these will never stop producing, because you never want any navy group to be without their valuable presence.

Submarines (SS) can either operate independently from the rest of the navy (more risk but more potential tonnage sunk) or be combined with conventional navies (less risk, less potential tonnage). Submarines are so cheap, the only reason not to send them out en masse is a lack of manpower.

Aircraft Carriers (CV). Despite being a capital ship, I have left this one at the bottom because it needs a lot of context. They are the most expensive ship that on its own won't provide any sort of support or firepower in battle. After all, all of its usefulness comes from its ability to fill the skies with airplanes. That makes the Carrier unique in being able to bring air support even in places where you'd ordinarily have none or very limited amounts.

But that also makes the carrier a super specific tool, and an expensive one at that. Because not only must you construct a carrier (Third most expensive after the BB and the SHBB), you must also research carrier specific planers and subsequently build them. And both ship and planes use a lot of fuel, ship and planes combined they use the most fuel of all ships you could build.

But when CV's work, they can defeat anybody. 50% fighters to control the sky, 50% Naval Bomber/CAS to drop torpedoes/bombs on the foe, they can decimate navies without any ship ever coming into firing range. And what good is your beautiful fleet when it can never get close enough to fight back? And that's what they bring, ~~a fad~~ the future of naval combat.

A small addition on planes + Carriers.

Both Naval Bombers and Close Air support can hit naval targets off the deck of a carrier. (or anywhere, really). But Naval Bombers can reliably dish out 90-150% more damage per plane against naval targets than CAS can. On a flight deck of 50 planes where you have 20 planes dedicated to naval strikes, NBIII will give you 500 naval attack combined vs. 260, and that's the base technology without adding extra modifiers or upgrades. Naval Bombers also have a slightly higher range out of the gate, which can be further expanded to ridiculous proportions with upgrades.

Flipside, Naval Bombers can't provide any sort of support against ground targets when supporting infantry actions. So it's definitely not an open and shut choice, but definitely one to mull over. (Or you can always slap two carriers in every naval group and have more planes all around)

If you have the choice and the industrial capacity, having naval bombers patrolling the oceans can severely limit the AI's maneuvering abilities, and also cause heavy losses against them at the cost of much cheaper to produce naval planes.

 

If you're still here after reading the above novel sized on everything navy, here's the most effective/cheapest naval composition you can go with. At least against AI, in multiplayer experienced players would probably beat you.

Design 1 top of the line Heavy Cruiser (HC). I.e. 1 heavy main battery, with AA, Radar, engines, armor, and the entire top row filled with soft-attack weapons like rapid fire cannons or secondary cannons. (trust me).
Design 1 Destroyer (DD). Make it as cheap as you want to, they are only there to fill the ocean. But you can give them depth charges, torpedoes, and a cannon if you want them to provide some usefulness. (depends fully on how much ships you can produce).

That's it, that's your navy for the rest of the game. Make sure you have a 1:4 (or 1:5 to be safe) ratio of HC to DD and you'll be able to fill the seven seas with a fleet that can threaten any nation in the world.

- Facing carriers? Well your HC/DD are faster than those and will catch up and engage them in waterline combat where the CV's range advantage is nullified.
- Facing Battleships? Your soft attack will decimate their screens and make it impossible for the BB to fight effectively.
- Facing Submarines? Kinda vulnerable, but you've got a perfect screen ratio and in the event you lose a destroyer those are so cheap they'll multiply like cockroaches.
- The heavy gun on the HC will provide fire support when adjacent to land battles.
- It can even be used in a convoy raiding capacity, with its soft attack + speed being able to terrorize shipping lanes. Who needs silent hunters when you can do it loud?
- Lacking in fuel production? This navy is significantly more fuel efficient than any conventional navy will ever be. Save the environment, sink a carrier!

A final note, naval deathstacks are very much a viable strategy in HOI4 as long as the ratio is good. The penalties aren't high enough to overcome the damage you'll deal... So if you inherit a fleet with ships you don't want to use, add them to a strike force and let them sit in port waiting for your smaller fleets to find the enemy.

[OctoberRaven]

On 01/12/2021 at 16:49, Krabby said:

Can we maybe get this thread renamed to "Paradox Games Chat", o mighty Mr. @METALMAN?

So I can talk about VTMB2 when it comes out here? You know, in the grim darkness of the year 40,000?

[Krabby]

6 minutes ago, OctoberRaven said:

So I can talk about VTMB2 when it comes out here? You know, in the grim darkness of the year 40,000?

Sure, why not!

[Schlitzbrille]

 

[Mick]

[Schlitzbrille]

1 hour ago, Mick said:

[Schlitzbrille]

For no discernable reason, I'm doing a run as the Lord of Massey's Hook from 71 AC when Jaehaerys I's son Aemon came of age. Seven years in and I'm on three wives, a stillborn son, been cucked by my brother, and the king's not as much of a shit dad as he was in canon.

[METALMAN]

For those of you who are loser nerds you can get (almost) all the EUIV DLCs for a low, low price here: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/europa-universalis-iv-complete?hmb_source=&hmb_medium=product_tile&hmb_campaign=mosaic_section_1_layout_index_1_layout_type_threes_tile_index_1_c_europauniversalisivcomplete_bundle