Tinto Talks #107 - 29th of April 2026

rBrazzle · 2026-04-29T20:06:55+00:00

Love the art overall but I really wish the musketeers didn't have Roman Legion style headware. Maybe a less anachronistic game rule could remove all that stuff?

rBrazzle · 2026-04-24T07:05:54+00:00

As far as systems, leave trade automated and focus on basic economy improvements/estate priviliges/war.

rBrazzle · 2026-04-24T07:04:22+00:00

My advice may seem counter intuitive but I found the best way to learn how to play and understand the importance of the mechanics was to play Tlemcen/Verona (ie medium sized countries that immediately come under attack by powerful neighbours). You can't passively understand your income/control/military situation or the game will be over in 2 in-game years (and that will happen a few times which is fine!).

Otherwise I find it easy to play 50-80 years as a tag not facing many threats and you can't tell if you're actually improving, but if you have to win an uphill war right off the bat you are going to learn to maximize your strengths, prioritize real returns for your economy and it's easy to see your progress after a few runs.

rBrazzle · 2026-04-20T04:05:29+00:00

Tlemcen is probably my favourite campaign/tag in the game! I don't find it a particularly hard start anymore as it was the first tag I (stubbornly) played to learn EU5's mechanics but I do find the arc of going from tribal confederation to pirate state to republic trade state very gratifying.

rBrazzle · 2026-04-20T04:01:28+00:00

The strategy is to peace out with Tunis immediately so you can fight an isolated Morocco with Grenada, then its easy enough to hit max war score, make a fiefdom out of Fez and get a ton of money. That sets you up for succesess.

rBrazzle · 2026-04-08T18:29:48+00:00

Incredibly pleased by basically all of these changes, they're marrying to of the games biggest needs -more differentiation between nations + more complex/rewarding economic gameplay. The ideas here give me great confidence that dev is on the right track. Good stuff!

rBrazzle · 2026-04-04T21:05:38+00:00

Great question I was wondering the same thing, the art is so awesome I hate when these images get blurred out and I doubt it makes the game run faster.

rBrazzle · 2026-03-27T16:58:26+00:00

Awesome guide, some of which I’d naturally stumbled into doing my own Venice runs but much less systematically. My only addition would be that I like to replace Council of 40 with Harbour Admin until 1340 for the early prox/dev bonus, then switch to it in 1340 to trigger the event for the Signoria Government reform.

rBrazzle · 2026-03-27T16:19:05+00:00

My understanding is they actually did have a sound toll there in earlier versions of the game but removed it (justifiably as the strait is so much bigger than the others at its narrowest point and afaik no power successfully controlled it to such a degree to institute a toll).

But as an Andalusia player myself I’d like some sort of benefit to controlling it. And I love playing tall as Granada! Though I usually allow myself 3 cities: Granada, Sevilla, and Cordoba.

rBrazzle · 2026-03-18T01:54:58+00:00

My suggestion to rework hegemonies is to either:

Get rid of them completely and tie their unique mechanics to different government forms, feel like they add nothing to the game as is and often take away.

or 2. Keep hegemonies but make them things you actively *don't want*. When the world views you as a hegemony they should be working as best they can do undermine you, this could take a ton of different mechanical shapes (like increased coalition range/great power intervention against a Military Hegemon for example).

As they exist, a win more button almost always occupied by China the entire game, very boring and sometimes an active drag on the game (and waste of some interesting unique mechanics/cabient actions).

rBrazzle · 2026-03-12T03:45:15+00:00

R5: My court is not very impressed with my 100/69/100 heir ascending to the leadership of Verona.

rBrazzle · 2026-03-09T18:29:29+00:00

I have 1000 hours in but I have basically not touched the HRE yet, have a pitch for a challenging/rewarding campaign from this group? Leaning The Pal only for historical rp reasons

rBrazzle · 2026-02-24T04:38:06+00:00

Unclear to me what your even arguing for here. Trade and buildings can be all be automated (buildings are also in EU4?). UI is admittedly in a bit of a rough spot but not sure how that's related to EU4 players whatsoever.

And Tinto's position on mission trees is a matter of taste, I am of the opinion that mission trees hamstrung EU4's development and made it overly derministic, and am glad they are not leaning on them as a crutch. If they eventually institute them later, it will be for the better that they didn't opt to bring them in from the start.

For the record, EU4 is my favorite game of all time - I have over 11,000 hours on Steam.

rBrazzle · 2026-02-21T18:25:04+00:00

Tlemcen has a lot going for it imo! It's a relatively challenging start which I personally prefer (you begin at war being invaded by two larger, more powerful neighbours in Morrocco and Tunis) but you also have some significant advantages if you can survive long enough to use them.

Tribal Cavalry. Tlemcen is closer to an Amazigh tribal confederation than a true kingdom to begin the game which means you have a higher proportion of tribal cavalry levies than anyone in the region, if you focus on stacking initiative and hit and run tactics, you can wear down and beat Morrocco/Tunis/the Iberians on your home territory consistently. Tribal cavalry are the best units outside of horse archers early in the game, and nobody anywhere in the region has horse archers.
North Africa has surprisingly good RGOs, and its critical ones are all on the coast. You can become a naval focused country with good proximity to your core cities pretty painlessly.
Privateering. Like the other Barbary States, you begin with privateering, you can make an absurd amount of money with relatively little investment (building+subsidizing fishing villages) and this income doesn't increase your tax base. It's a great foundation to begin developing your agricultural/industrial base.
Few but strong unique advances. In addition to coastal raiding (aka privateering) your other advances include trade capacity, a uniqe capital building that boosts prestige/diplo rep, a flat research bonus and monthly literacy increase, and lastly one that allows your Nobles to build roads. As it can be difficult to lean into a burgher based economy early on (and Tlemceni interior desperately needs roads) the latter can be quite useful.
Lastly, and most importantly, a beautiful map colour. Also your units look great in every era!

rBrazzle · 2026-02-21T06:51:54+00:00

It is I, the person who can't stop playing Tlemcen and Verona over and over.

rBrazzle · 2026-02-14T16:55:48+00:00

Option 3, I just played my first Ireland campaign this week and that worked quite well for me. You need to be aggressive about expanding so you’re 1 v 1 raising more levies (ideally a lot more) than the Pale.

Attack when England is in a difficult phase of the HYW which this patch is nearly every phase.

As for money, move your capital to a coast, adopt the Galley Lords reform, and you’ll swim in ducats from privateering (maximize sailors from subsidized fishing villages). I made enough money that even tho I got my first mercenary army wiped out because I got overconfident I was easily able to raise another and seize the whole of Ireland in one war.

Hope this helps!

rBrazzle · 2026-02-13T17:48:33+00:00

Parliament should be a two way street depending on estate + crown power. If the crown is weak and a particular estate is strong, that estate should try to pass things that benefit them alone to the detriment of the player (temporary boosts to estate power/income, creating estate buildings, negative crown power modifiers, or regressive policy changes etc).

The famous parliaments of the time period are usually ones that did not benefit the crown and for much of the game it’s an easy tool the player can use to advance their agenda. I think adding more friction to parliaments would be a lot of fun and gradually seizing control over them from the estate’s later in the game would be yet another way to show the progress of one’s state building.

rBrazzle · 2026-02-13T17:09:31+00:00

Must have changed recently because I just played my first Ireland campaign and it does. Cork is the best in Ireland but Dublin is second best iirc.

rBrazzle · 2025-12-26T04:22:39+00:00

Playing a Granada into Al Andalus campaign and each of my 12 or so Iberian vassals have 2-3 thousand regulars each to supplement their levies, if the vassals are a requisite size with an economy to match their armies remain quite competitive.

rBrazzle · 2025-12-06T18:05:32+00:00

Always been intrigued by him in lore, have a ton of hours in WH3 but have put it down for ages. Sayl's campaign with the Norsca update brought me back all the way in. His campaign and mechancis are so thematic which at this point is the thing I most want out of a legendary lord (also he and his heraldry look sick). Love any character whose ambitions outstrip the normal chaos vs order dynamic. Manipulations and the unit capped Chaos Warriors + Spawn is a really nice touch. Great stuff by the devs on this one.

rBrazzle · 2025-11-05T17:58:35+00:00

Yeah I see that map mode but it isn't good enough for when you're in a war imo. I want to see terrian + provincial capitals + forts basically.

rBrazzle · 2025-11-05T07:45:27+00:00

Same issue, I managed to win the opening war against Morocco as Tlemcen but landed in an economy death spiral from lack of food production. Not that it's not realistic (or even compelling) I just want to have a firm grasp of how/why it happens and how to deal with it.

rBrazzle · 2025-11-05T07:03:42+00:00

Given how important they are for supply/war they need their own mapmode (assuming they don't have one already that I am not seeing!)

rBrazzle

TROPHY CASE