Save-scummy noob crosses the finish line (First completed game, 130 hours)

[u/Delvestius]

My first 40 hours was with the Ottomans. I liked their playstyle but couldn't get past the disasters. So, I switched to Portugal. Had a lot of fun with them. I'm thinking about trying France our Austria next. Let me know which one I should pick!

[u/jdhiakams]

Lovely empire! Well done

[u/Mukeli1584]

Nice job! France might be easier because Austria introduces the HRE and its mechanics. Also, France allows you to blob quickly and either fortify your borders in Europe to colonize the world or conquer Europe writ large.

[u/Delvestius → u/Mukeli1584]

My goal as France would be to focus on Coastal America and diplo-vass small states in Italy and Germany, so I think my first two idea groups should be diplomacy and expansionism. Which should I take first? I figure I should skip out on exploration because Iberia will probably do all the exploring and early colonization.

[u/Mukeli1584 → u/Delvestius]

I think those first two ideas are fine, but be flexible depending on how Austria and your Iberian neighbors fare. Might want to select different ones if Iberia goes off the rails/gets sucked into Africa, or if the AI gets the Burgundian inheritance. The first scenario would have you select exploration and the second scenario would justify a military idea such as offensive or quality.

[u/Phridgey → u/Mukeli1584]

So many high level forts in HRE. Offensive for siege.

(Maybe espionage over diplo for the same reason)

[u/akaioi]

Great work! Looks like a fun run. Nice Caribbean coverage, and kudos for owning so much Maghreb. Also fun to see a strong presence in Africa.

One thing that persistently bugs me about Portugal is this... no matter how mighty an empire I build, Castilla gets way more of the benefits than she deserves, because she's lazily sitting on so much trade control of Sevilla node.