The grand strategy gaming thread

[Damocles]

Whats the best paradox game to start with? Crusader Kings 2? Hearts of iron 3? Victoria? Europa universalis?

I've played both the EU games and CK2.

I think CK2 is probably the easiest to start off with as you sort of know what's coming with history and who you should/shouldn't fuck with (hint: don't fuck with Norway or France).
The tutorial is pretty decent in it too. Start your first game as the King of Scotland as it has all of the major concepts in it. If you start in England you'll be invaded by several world powers immediately, Ireland is alright but doesn't really have much going on for a complete newcomer. The EU games really take you into the time of the New World where expansionism and colonisation is the key but this is one more layer of difficulty and fucking about.

Spain is potentially a good one but you'll have to manage problems with Castille or Leon for territory and then the Muslim invasion from the South. The Holy Roman Empire and Byzatine Empire are far too big and complex.

If you do the tutorial which takes place in Scotland, then it should lead you on to the game properly. King Malcolm is a good person to takeover. There are potential problems in Lothian and securing the opinion of the Duke of Moray is extremely important early on. Once you've done this you can start looking at either The Isles which includes Galloway, the Isle of Man, Argyle and the islands off the North West or Scotland, or if you're really ambitious and Norway is having a tough time overcommitting to the war in England, you could nick North Scotland back and potentially the Orkneys.

Just to say that it is much slower than things like Civilization and is much more akin to needing thought out plans rather than spur of the moment whims.

There are some excellent Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mods out there too that transform the map from 11th century Europe/Middle East to their respective lands.

 

[greasedupdeafguy]

Whats the best paradox game to start with? Crusader Kings 2? Hearts of iron 3? Victoria? Europa universalis?

I've played both the EU games and CK2.

I think CK2 is probably the easiest to start off with as you sort of know what's coming with history and who you should/shouldn't fuck with (hint: don't fuck with Norway or France).
The tutorial is pretty decent in it too. Start your first game as the King of Scotland as it has all of the major concepts in it. If you start in England you'll be invaded by several world powers immediately, Ireland is alright but doesn't really have much going on for a complete newcomer. The EU games really take you into the time of the New World where expansionism and colonisation is the key but this is one more layer of difficulty and fucking about.

Spain is potentially a good one but you'll have to manage problems with Castille or Leon for territory and then the Muslim invasion from the South. The Holy Roman Empire and Byzatine Empire are far too big and complex.

If you do the tutorial which takes place in Scotland, then it should lead you on to the game properly. King Malcolm is a good person to takeover. There are potential problems in Lothian and securing the opinion of the Duke of Moray is extremely important early on. Once you've done this you can start looking at either The Isles which includes Galloway, the Isle of Man, Argyle and the islands off the North West or Scotland, or if you're really ambitious and Norway is having a tough time overcommitting to the war in England, you could nick North Scotland back and potentially the Orkneys.

Just to say that it is much slower than things like Civilization and is much more akin to needing thought out plans rather than spur of the moment whims.

There are some excellent Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mods out there too that transform the map from 11th century Europe/Middle East to their respective lands.

Thanks for the info, been watching gameplay footage on youtube all day. Looks confusing as hell but I'm sure its exciting once you get into it. Seems to be much deeper and detailed than the total war games.

 

[Anonymous]

It really hasn't.

 

[without a dream]

Whats the best paradox game to start with? Crusader Kings 2? Hearts of iron 3? Victoria? Europa universalis?

I've played both the EU games and CK2.

I think CK2 is probably the easiest to start off with as you sort of know what's coming with history and who you should/shouldn't fuck with (hint: don't fuck with Norway or France).
The tutorial is pretty decent in it too. Start your first game as the King of Scotland as it has all of the major concepts in it. If you start in England you'll be invaded by several world powers immediately, Ireland is alright but doesn't really have much going on for a complete newcomer. The EU games really take you into the time of the New World where expansionism and colonisation is the key but this is one more layer of difficulty and fucking about.

Spain is potentially a good one but you'll have to manage problems with Castille or Leon for territory and then the Muslim invasion from the South. The Holy Roman Empire and Byzatine Empire are far too big and complex.

If you do the tutorial which takes place in Scotland, then it should lead you on to the game properly. King Malcolm is a good person to takeover. There are potential problems in Lothian and securing the opinion of the Duke of Moray is extremely important early on. Once you've done this you can start looking at either The Isles which includes Galloway, the Isle of Man, Argyle and the islands off the North West or Scotland, or if you're really ambitious and Norway is having a tough time overcommitting to the war in England, you could nick North Scotland back and potentially the Orkneys.

Just to say that it is much slower than things like Civilization and is much more akin to needing thought out plans rather than spur of the moment whims.

There are some excellent Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mods out there too that transform the map from 11th century Europe/Middle East to their respective lands.

Cheers for the heads up about this game, it's brilliant. Annoying as fuck when you've got a great leader and set of plans going and they die young though.

 

[r.soleofsalford]

Age of empires was good

yes i still have it somewhere

 

[Damocles]

Whats the best paradox game to start with? Crusader Kings 2? Hearts of iron 3? Victoria? Europa universalis?

I've played both the EU games and CK2.

I think CK2 is probably the easiest to start off with as you sort of know what's coming with history and who you should/shouldn't fuck with (hint: don't fuck with Norway or France).
The tutorial is pretty decent in it too. Start your first game as the King of Scotland as it has all of the major concepts in it. If you start in England you'll be invaded by several world powers immediately, Ireland is alright but doesn't really have much going on for a complete newcomer. The EU games really take you into the time of the New World where expansionism and colonisation is the key but this is one more layer of difficulty and fucking about.

Spain is potentially a good one but you'll have to manage problems with Castille or Leon for territory and then the Muslim invasion from the South. The Holy Roman Empire and Byzatine Empire are far too big and complex.

If you do the tutorial which takes place in Scotland, then it should lead you on to the game properly. King Malcolm is a good person to takeover. There are potential problems in Lothian and securing the opinion of the Duke of Moray is extremely important early on. Once you've done this you can start looking at either The Isles which includes Galloway, the Isle of Man, Argyle and the islands off the North West or Scotland, or if you're really ambitious and Norway is having a tough time overcommitting to the war in England, you could nick North Scotland back and potentially the Orkneys.

Just to say that it is much slower than things like Civilization and is much more akin to needing thought out plans rather than spur of the moment whims.

There are some excellent Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mods out there too that transform the map from 11th century Europe/Middle East to their respective lands.

Cheers for the heads up about this game, it's brilliant. Annoying as fuck when you've got a great leader and set of plans going and they die young though.

I took Wales the other day as I offered vassalization to the Isle of Man and it turned out that the young girl was also in Glamorgan and has Casus Belli on a few counties around her. From there with the help of a few Fabricated Claims, I was able to become King of Wales aswell as Scotland. Weirdly, at this point Wales also consisted of Devon and Cornwall and it gave me Casus Belli to go and take them.

I'm waiting for another major English revolt in Mercia to rise so I can plan the timings right and not have to fight a full strength England. Also working on Ulster but not sure how I'm going to grab Ireland as some counties are allied with the Holy Roman Empire and there's no way I'm going to be able to take them on. I've set up some marriages to try and get some of the counties in my bloodline somewhere

 

[Damocles]

Can't work out whether CK2 is the best or worst game ever.

I put a few days worth of effort into a game then it ended because I died in battle and my kid got assassinated. I feel that there shouldn't be such quick failure boundaries in that time investment, reminds me of the old "GAME OVER" screen. I mean this as both a positive and a negative.

Did Doyaldinho/Samurai Rabbit ever do a review of CK2?

 

[Challenger1978]

Whats the best paradox game to start with? Crusader Kings 2? Hearts of iron 3? Victoria? Europa universalis?

I've played both the EU games and CK2.

I think CK2 is probably the easiest to start off with as you sort of know what's coming with history and who you should/shouldn't fuck with (hint: don't fuck with Norway or France).
The tutorial is pretty decent in it too. Start your first game as the King of Scotland as it has all of the major concepts in it. If you start in England you'll be invaded by several world powers immediately, Ireland is alright but doesn't really have much going on for a complete newcomer. The EU games really take you into the time of the New World where expansionism and colonisation is the key but this is one more layer of difficulty and fucking about.

Spain is potentially a good one but you'll have to manage problems with Castille or Leon for territory and then the Muslim invasion from the South. The Holy Roman Empire and Byzatine Empire are far too big and complex.

If you do the tutorial which takes place in Scotland, then it should lead you on to the game properly. King Malcolm is a good person to takeover. There are potential problems in Lothian and securing the opinion of the Duke of Moray is extremely important early on. Once you've done this you can start looking at either The Isles which includes Galloway, the Isle of Man, Argyle and the islands off the North West or Scotland, or if you're really ambitious and Norway is having a tough time overcommitting to the war in England, you could nick North Scotland back and potentially the Orkneys.

Just to say that it is much slower than things like Civilization and is much more akin to needing thought out plans rather than spur of the moment whims.

There are some excellent Game of Thrones and Lord of the Rings mods out there too that transform the map from 11th century Europe/Middle East to their respective lands.

I'll have to buy it now.

 

[ChesterRdBlue]

Crusader Kings is £29.99 on steam and about £7 for a steam key on eBay. Are the keys OK to use or am I missing something?

 

[Damocles]

You shouldn't buy Steam keys off of eBay as they are a one time use.

Paradox isn't a big company, they are a small studio who focus only on these grand strategy games so you don't really find cheap titles. I know full prices is a risk so maybe watch a Lets Play or something before you buy so you can get a picture of if it's something you're interested in. They aren't really for everyone but the ones who like it will really like it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69OmfUvs-Gw[/youtube]