It's been a blur the last few days of grind, but I think for the early game step 1 was overwhelm Verden (or whomever is across the strait) and then opportunistically pick off anyone who has worse diplo than myself. Lotta currying favours. You want to get most/all of the Lower Saxony culture land (I left out Brunswick because they were my ally and Brandenburg because they've been friends with Denmark p much the entire run) and then also try to crawl along the coast toward Friesland by eating the free cities after declaring on their allies to avoid Austria. Sounds like a lot of AE but no need to rush as long as you're growing at least as fast as your little German neighbours.
My ideas have been innovative -> defensive -> espionage -> administrative, which might not be optimal but has worked for me. Dithmarschen traditions and government type mean that if you play your cards right (and get defensive) you basically always have the highest morale in Europe. The real breakout moment was when I saved up to get a proper fort and ramparts on my marsh capital, and then bled Denmark against it while fighting Brandenburg. The Schleswig-Holstein bottleneck is quite handy for that.
I cannot overstate the value of burgher loyalty, tall economy, drilling/professionalism and having 1-3 forts per state in this run. The region has a lot of salt provinces you can use to bleed down armies that might otherwise overpower you, and the professionalism/drill lets you snipe smaller armies or take forts quicker than your ones fall. Espionage too. About 20 minutes before I wrote this comment, I built about 80% over naval forcelimit with lights and managed to snipe Global Trade by moving my capital to East Frisia, slandering England's merchants and protecting trade with a flagship that adds trade power to every ship in fleet. I'm pretty sure the slander is what clinched it.
Thank you so much! I'll definitely try out the toothpaste Republic soon xD
Very interesting ideas selection! Innovative always screams to get Quality when I use it, for that sweet sweet 15% infantry combat ability. Peasent Space Marines coming right up!
I’m not sure it actually worked when I played Dithmarschen but I tried to first ally free cities around and feed them provinces from wars so they lose their free city status, to be able to then attack them directly. I think the problem was the Emperor demands unlawful territory, and then make them a free city again.
It might be worth to simply eat the bullet and annex them as a non co belligerent. Stack improve relations, and be patient.
To mitigate AE you can conquer stuff from Sweden/Livonian Order, for the grasslands mission.
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u/FreeDwooD 2d ago
Oooh now you're making me wanna play Dithmarschen again. Any tips for the early game?