EU4 PAPAL STATE STRATEGY PLUS

Of course, Austria tends to drag its allies into a bunch of pointless wars against big players, so theyвЂ™re not automatically the go-to manpower-provider. Hungary is a poor second-choice to Austria theyвЂ™ve got he manpower but not the connections. Austria has excellent manpower as the starting Holy Roman Emperor and making friends with the emperor will open the door to HRE membership and North Italian conquest with fewer strings attached. Aragon and Venice are important for the naval assistance they can provide, and will probably both be necessary.

EU4 PAPAL STATE STRATEGY PLUS

On day one try to ally with Aragon and Venice, plus possibly Austria or Hungary.

My early-game strategy is going to take all of this into consideration and make friends with my obvious enemies. Pope Eugenius IV is not a towering pillar of personal effectiveness. ThereвЂ™s also the Holy Father himself to look at. Venice has a clutch of vassals, tends to make friends with at least one major regional player, and can generally be counted on to have a strong navy. Reasonably nearby but not neighboring directly is Venice. Aragon has a much more impressive navy and army than the Pope, and frequently makes friends with Spain, France, Burgundy, or even Austria, none of whom are safe to dance with when youвЂ™ve got four Italian provinces and little tiny vassal. To the South lies Naples, encompassing the whole South of Italy and sitting pretty as the minor partner in a Personal Union with Aragon. Attacking Siena or Lucca on day one before they have any allies would be awfully tempting if they didnвЂ™t get the automatic assistance of the sitting Emperor. Several small-to-middling Northern Italian states look ripe for the picking, but theyвЂ™re all in the Holy Roman Empire but the Pope isnвЂ™t. In the minus column youвЂ™ve got the neighbors. ThereвЂ™s also Avignon, but thatвЂ™s mostly just a magnet for trouble with France, Burgundy, and Provence. Four central Italian provinces that are well-developed, good early-game manpower for such a small state, excellent tax revenue, and a single-province vassal ready to use as a buffer for overextension are all in the plus column. The starting position of the Papal States is reasonably strong but without a safe means of early expansion. Also it looks like the Papal government form can never promote itself to Empire status. This means no royal marriages for diplomatic purposes, but it also means thereвЂ™s no worrying about your ruler dying without an heir thereвЂ™s always somebody lined up to pick up the banner as Bishop of Rome. As such, certain options arenвЂ™t directly available for somebody playing as the Pope. The Papal States represents the temporal authority of the Holy See. Having just giving the Papal States a test-drive in Europa Universalis this weekend, IвЂ™ve decided to give it a proper play-through and report on my progress, challenges, and setbacks.

Eu4 papal state strategy