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I’m a longtime player of the franchise.

That and colonization will be more like Victoria 2-  much less micromanaging.

one of the best ever. Not sure to what I look forward to more, EU or Rome Total War II.

Undoubtably Rome Total War.
I love the franchise. Get to be Germany(Prussia) in Napoleon: nothing makes me happier.
I have not played Europauniversalis, but over the years whatever game I have bought has ended up in the bin, because it was not a Total War game.

@wittmann:

Undoubtably Rome Total War.
I love the franchise. Get to be Germany(Prussia) in Napoleon: nothing makes me happier.
I have not played Europauniversalis, but over the years whatever game I have bought has ended up in the bin, because it was not a Total War game.

Europa Universalis focuses on grand strategy, essentially the map portion of total war games.  If you like total war for the battles, then EU may not be for you.

Total war games are fun, but get fairly repetitive for me, to the point where I ‘auto-calc’ battles regularly.  I did love Rome Total War a lot though- and will probably buy the next one.

Thank you BJCard. I do like the battles, but on very hard it does get a bit boring fighting so many I agree.
I love the games for the management of the provinces and Empire. I am such a tightarse and try to get by with small armies and loads of money in the bank.
I was very proud of myself when I got 1 million in the bank playing as Spain in Medieval II.
I hate spending money; I am a saver!
Obviously, UK was the nation to play in Napoleon as they could own the seas and all the trade that entailed.
I did succeed in Imperial Psychopath too(as UK).

@wittmann:

Thank you BJCard. I do like the battles, but on very hard it does get a bit boring fighting so many I agree.
I love the games for the management of the provinces and Empire. I am such a tightarse and try to get by with small armies and loads of money in the bank.
I was very proud of myself when I got 1 million in the bank playing as Spain in Medieval II.
I hate spending money; I am a saver!
Obviously, UK was the nation to play in Napoleon as they could own the seas and all the trade that entailed.
I did succeed in Imperial Psychopath too(as UK).

wittman, if you enjoy the strategic aspect, how does taking control of England in 1399 and do the following:
Try to conquer Scotland and Ireland.
Try to keep your French territories and/or expand English territory in France
Try to keep England together during the war of the roses
Explore the oceans
Marry off your daughters to increase diplomatic ties! 
Form alliances if you wish!
The Pope is asking for a crusade in the holy land- do you attempt to conquer Palestine?
Start colonizing anywhere you dang well please- you may have to fight the natives and/or the other colonizing nations!
Send missionaries to convert the heathens!
Do you stay Catholic or do you go Protestant? Or Counter-Reform?  You may not have a choice if your populace raise up in revolt!
As England you probably want to do heavy research in Navy, but you need to worry about Army and Infrastructure too!
Build up infrastructure in your territories as you continue to research
Wage war against overseas natives!
Watch out for unrest in your colonies- they may just declare independence.
Uh-oh, your daughter was married to the French king who is now dead with no heirs- You are now in a war of succession!!!
To prepare for this war, you already are low on manpower, shall we recruit mercenaries?

Just stuff I thought of on the top of my head…

BJCard: which version is the Henry IV one(1399)?
Sounds very interesting.

@wittmann:

BJCard: which version is the Henry IV one(1399)?
Sounds very interesting.

wittman, Europa Universalis III with all the expansions is the one in which you can start in 1399.  I think the 3rd expansion moved the date up from 1453 to 1399.  You can get the complete set for ~$15 US right now from gamersgate (Europa Universalis III Chronicles).  I buy all my Paradox stuff from Gamers Gate.

http://www.gamersgate.com/DD-EU3C/europa-universalis-iii-chronicles

EU 4 is coming out later this year- and I cannot wait!

Thank you. Will pop into a game shop tomorrow and have a look.
Cannot say I will buy it, as I would rather spend my spare time sitting and chatting  to you guys.

@wittmann:

Thank you. Will pop into a game shop tomorrow and have a look.
Cannot say I will buy it, as I would rather spend my spare time sitting and chatting  to you guys.

Fair enough.  You may have a hard time finding it in a physical store- it is an older game and the expansions were DLC.  Good luck!

Cannot say too much about EU3, but as a EU2 player I agree with BJCard, try it. If you really want a challenge, though, dont take England. Take Iroquois or another native American nation and try to stop the English :)

Thank you Alexgreat.
But why would I want to stop the English?
After Germany(or Prussia), they are my favourite country in the whole wide world!
I will have more time in September when our daughter goes to school, so I will endeavour to find a copy.

@alexgreat:

Cannot say too much about EU3, but as a EU2 player I agree with BJCard, try it. If you really want a challenge, though, dont take England. Take Iroquois or another native American nation and try to stop the English :)

Well, EU2 is certainly a great game in its own right (and if you have a pretty dated computer (>5 years old) maybe the best option), but EU3 with all the expansions is another world.  EU4 comes out in Fall 2013, but typically Paradox games are essentially a ‘beta’ version when they first come out.  They have gotten better at that- EU3 came out with lots of glitches, but the recent Crusader Kings 2 was much better OOB.  Despite that, I will be getting EU4 on opening day!

For a new player, the English are fun because they aren’t France or Castile (The two easiest nations IMHO), but they aren’t so tough to be frustrating.  Try taking on one of the German or Italian countries (Bohemia, Brandenburg, Milan, etc) and try to unite their respective country.  Try to save the Byzantine Empire;  Likewise, control the Turks and create a Caliphate.  Take an Indian or Japanese country, westernize, and start colonizing yourself!

I wouldn’t waste my time with native american nations- not much to do for 100 years and super frustrating when the Europeans have guns and you have spears.