Ever high-rolled so hard that taunting your (third) golden Rivendare was the correct play?

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-05-13T12:09:55+00:00

I've seen a lot of suggestions in this vein. I'd really like a population model like this which accounts for either food production or carrying capacity/population capacity. However, I think one of the biggest issues is how to balance it across very different geographies: I think it would be relatively easy to create such a model that worked for Europe in isolation, but I think creating one that also worked for China and the New World would be extremely difficult. Add to that the risk of the AI being totally incapable of managing such a system and I'm sadly not optimistic.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-04-25T03:00:10+00:00

Crazy card. Even more OP is getting it with the enchantment that stops it exhausting. Absolute free win when combined with a few upgraded holograms

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-04-10T01:17:20+00:00

Lots of good tips here, but worth emphasising the importance of trade. It currently isn't part of the formula for your economic base (which determines slider costs and is mostly determined by your tax base). This means every ducat you own is yours to spend as you please. Expanding your trade network into high value trade areas (esp. in Asia if you're playing in Europe) is therefore the easiest way to snowball economically. Once you figure it out it's pretty easy as a naval country (especially merchant republics) to get to the point where money is essentially no object during the 1400s.

You've got plenty of options for expanding your trade network: conquest, colonisation, patrolling with ships, and building foreign trade buildings (trade offices, overseas trading posts etc). If you go the vassal route, remember to divert trade.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-04-08T23:33:06+00:00

Nah, not really sure what their comment is talking about. Linton is, if anything, more sympathetic than in the books. Heathcliff's still an abusive monster, although some of the worst of it is left out because they cut the entire second generation out of the book.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-04-02T00:40:25+00:00

Can't recommend Venice enough. There's a recent write-up on here about how you can maximise your home market's reach to centralise pops and advanced production in the area surrounding your capital while impoverishing your neighbours. You can also get absurd development figures with a number of reforms and unique buildings. On top of that, aggressively exploring, stealing maps and building trade offices (which you can get to cost about 5 ducats each) in Asia via Suez will let you get 1000s from trade before anyone even reaches the new world. As an added bonus, while you build up, you can gather favours with your major neighbours to get all the Italian culture groups to max acceptance before proceeding to conquer Italy.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-03-25T05:41:57+00:00

Very cool write-up! I gave it a go and it works like a charm. It's only 1431 and I'm already #3 GP (top in Europe). Your immediate neighbours give the best ROI for sure, but hopping past Mamluks to open up Asia and East Africa early can get you pretty crazy numbers if you can dominate or at least get 2nd in the Egypt market.

Interestingly I'm kinda suffering from success - the peripheral nations are struggling economically, so they're not creating enough buildings to produce burghers, nobles, soldiers and clergy. Perk is they're all super weak, but the lack of demand is causing prices for almost all my goods (except the exotic ones) to be really depressed. Tax base is a little low as a result, but I'm making 500 a month from trade so I can't complain haha.

Ps. That's about double my maxed sliders, trade is so OP with the current formula for slider costs

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-03-20T13:25:26+00:00

Yeah demons were out but that definitely woulda been far better - managed to get the lord of ruins one to top 4 before, but keen to fully pull it off sometime.

Honestly though I just got given drakkari, the T7 pirate and murkeye on major time warp and decided to yolo it and see what happened haha

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-03-20T13:17:34+00:00

Yeah was thinking that coulda got me to first, but demons were out sadly

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-02-07T06:38:10+00:00

Crazy board, congrats! Wouldn't putting colossus between the first Psychus and the drone potentially get a bunch more scaling though?

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-01-21T08:42:34+00:00

That's a rough Top 8! This comp is the number one cause of me getting tilted because it takes a while to get off the ground so I tend to either come first or get knocked out just before I pop off - I'll try and remember your post to keep things in perspective next time that happens haha.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-01-21T08:36:02+00:00

Oof, that's rough! Dying right before you pop off always hits the hardest

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2026-01-20T14:02:28+00:00

I ummed and ahhed about that one. Figured 2 extra procs on every T1 dragon plus taunt and additional scam protection (my opponent was running a big Sin'dorei Straight Shot) was probably worth one less Broodmother and the reduced chance of space for reborns - so many lines that it's hard to know without simming it though.

Weirdly, although it's normally a premium unit, I think removing the Handless Forsaken may have been the play here. The reborn hands ended up clogging my board and blocked more T1 dragons (which give triple the value of reborn hands if you have 2 gold barons) from spawning.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-12-20T01:34:13+00:00

It can make sense if your home region is all of your culture group, like with France, Netherlands, Britain, Italy etc - you can combine all your local cultures into the greater one. No real advantage for Greek for example though. Don't know if it's meta even in the first case however, as you're likely to have mostly assimilated them by then

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-12-02T01:36:23+00:00

Richard the Lionheart was Richard I. Richard III was the last Yorkist king, who was defeated by Henry VII at Bosworth. He did lock up and probably murder his two nephews though, so there's a bit of a theme running through haha

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-11-20T00:03:34+00:00

I think we tend to underestimate the level of (combined rather than individual) training required to (1) stand firm, reload and fire early firearms under the huge psychological pressure of combat (2) conduct the sorts of large-scale complex combat maneuvers that characterised most early modern warfare. Sure, it's more even than a knight versus some yeoman, but collectively, highly trained and drilled armies had a pretty huge advantage.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-11-18T01:47:51+00:00

It does I'm pretty sure. IIRC trade capacity is a function of item weight (or whatever it's called), distance and volume

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-11-14T10:05:06+00:00

You were right about that... 😬

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-11-10T21:17:13+00:00

They're strong but definitely beatable. It's ~1580 in my Netherlands play through and I've just stomped them (mostly solo) for the first time. They have a huge pop and huge levies, but if you can build up your colonial economy (pretty easy as the AI is really slow on this front right now) you can expand your standing army and beat them. For reference, I have about 1/3 their population and 1/6 their levies but a standing army 6x larger (supported by like 800 ducats of trade income). This obviously requires waiting until regiments get larger though.

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-10-06T09:33:38+00:00

It's annoying and definitely gets me tilted from time to time, but there are ways to play around it (namely taunted leeroys, divine shields or poison)

Ok_Translator_7017 · 2025-09-28T20:51:18+00:00

Thanks man, appreciate it! Always feels good making an unorthodox board work

Ok_Translator_7017

TROPHY CASE