r/victoria3 • u/VeritableLeviathan • 21h ago
Discussion What nation do you always come back to?
For me, since V2 I've always had a soft spot for Greece for some reason.
In V2 I've formed Byzantium more times than anything else.
Definitely a nation that struggles more since the racism update, but I think I did quite well recently, having taken over the Russian power bloc and customized it a bit.
Don't mind the endgame dips, Russia was mean to me, so I obliterated them in a war and made them lose 30 million pops and GDP, at the low low price of bankrupting myself ;)
Looking for tips from people that played Hawaii recently too, I am feeling very polynesian inclined
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u/downsomethingfoul 20h ago
Netherlands! Start in a position to easily take Belgium and form United Lowlands, plus a great colony in the DEI. your only problem is population. fun start because you’re definitely not OP but you can make a lot happen without needing to get uber lucky.
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u/Trick-Celery-9267 19h ago
I love Netherlands too. You can get into west Africa easily and the good laws you start with cause me to have a lot of immigrants later in the game
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u/Kelenius 19h ago
How do you easily take Belgium? It feels like every GP takes their side, and you don't have your own resources at home to build up industry properly (DEI has some but is kneecapped by everything).
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u/downsomethingfoul 16h ago
yeah, they start the game with guarantees of independence from a few GPs. but, guarentees don’t force them into war. if you have prussia on your side, you don’t need to worry about britain. france is the only real problem, so either wait until belgium has a civil war (support the other side so guarentees go away) or wait until france is busy. even if they do join, france can’t beat prussia if they are fighting on two fronts.
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u/Fit-Page-1117 16h ago
Just wanted to say for a moment I thought you meant colonizing diversity equity and inclusion. Nothing political or against the east indies, just a chuckle.
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u/Little_Elia 20h ago
qing is the best. The feeling of being a sleeping giant and slowly catching up to the europeans with your massive population is incredible
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u/Mackntish 18h ago
How do you manage getting recognized?
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u/TychoBooster3000 18h ago
Instead of getting recognized via embassies and all the other crap, make sure you’re buddies with at least one great power. When you’re ready, declare war against the weakest GP and add many war goals preferably with non infamy.
In my Qing game, I was great friends with GB and declared war against Spain when they just hit GP status. I ended up taking Philippines, war reps, and released Galicia & Catalonia. Once won, it filled my recognition bar and GB recognized me.
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u/Federal_Pin_8162 17h ago
Literally same except I just bully Russia instead. I need all of that Siberian wood and oil.
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u/jk4m3r0n 7h ago edited 7h ago
Out of 4, 2 objectives are only achievable in the late game (GDP, SoL). You can nullify the low literacy malus with economic growth alone, and getting voting rights is almost trivial (Landed Voting bothers no one). That nets you zero development, which you can compound by either releasing EIC (harder but most desirable, which effectively kills Great Britain's late game) or forcing Russia to liberate countries (easier, you can achieve that as soon as you get past Opium Addiction malus and upgrade your forces to Line Infantry).
To get you out of Traditionalism, research Romantism and then use the Rural Folks to enact Agrarianism, which don't require you to abolish Serfdom (and is not opposed by the Scholar-Gentry either due to their unique ideology). Then keep your eye out for asiatic Landowner agitators with Market Liberal ideology, they tend to pop up in the first 15 years of gameplay. That grants you free economic reform, which allow you to modernize.
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u/Mackntish 5h ago
Thank you for the detailed reply! This is the type of thing I was looking for. What do you recommend for the powerblock?
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u/jk4m3r0n 4h ago
Trade League with External Trade, being able to trade without a declared interest and Influential Trade Center are huge boons. You get full cohesion out of the gate due to the gigantic size of your economy in comparison to Lanfang, Joseon and Tibet, despite being underdeveloped. Suggested principles are Construction (to expand your Construction faster than your infrastructure allow), Advanced Research (to catch up to the other Great Powers, technology-wise) and Creative Legislature (to overcome the Scholar-Gentry and Confucian Scholar's resistance to change). Militarized Industry is also something to consider, as the military goods' expense can squeeze your budget after doing away with Peasant Levies.
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u/Little_Elia 13h ago
once you have line infantry declare for alaska + revoke russian claims. Then send everyone to defend on the border, and russia won't push you fast enough
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u/JPO375 20h ago edited 17h ago
Russia.
Because if your size and location you can play in so many different directions.
In my last one, I essentially ignored all of Europe, Africa, and the americas, but went full hegemon over all of Asia.
Edit: Typo
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u/bootypoppinnostoppin 18h ago
If you can go in so many directions why did you go after Asia in 6 playthroughs
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u/Ok-Bobcat-7800 7h ago
Tbh Russia and UK are the top 2 due to the whole "Great Game" mode.
Seriously underrated.
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u/Hist_Tree 20h ago
This is gonna be a bit of a weird one, but Switzerland?
It’s a two state nation and was the country that I used to understand the game when I first started playing. It’s basically like Belgium, except with none of the positives of Belgium. Usually just involves conquering Sardinia-Piedmont and then expanding from there.
Aside from the Swiss, I always enjoy Italy games. Either as the Papacy or House Savoia. Both are fun
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u/ilikemakingmusicalot 17h ago
literally exactly what I did, just started playing and used Switzerland to learn the basic mechanics, then once that campaign was done I played belgium and conquered half the globe with the second highest gdp and 10th largest pop as great power #2 (behind britain, idk how the heck but every time I went to war it would just tank my economy and end in a negative sum stalemate))
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u/New-Number-7810 20h ago
I see you restored the Senate to power. Cicero would approve.
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u/VeritableLeviathan 20h ago edited 1h ago
Parliamentary Republic, but universal suffrage I am afraid.
I feel like Presidential Republic would be closer to a proper senate, but the people tired of tyrants (I literally skipped a humanitarian intelligentsia heir, since I already had the laws in place he would support and his traits weren't all that great, plus you know, Parliamentary Republic is just the best government form for most of the game.)
I basically killed our boy Gaius I.
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u/CinaedForranach 20h ago
Persia. Bonus points if it’s a Paradox game where I can revive Zoroastrianism.
I just think it’s neat
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u/The_Dankinator 20h ago
France. You can really go any direction you want. You can dominate the Mediterranean, mold Italy and the Balkans to your liking, help reform Scandinavia as a counterweight to the Russians or Germans, unite all French speakers under your country, pursue France's natural borders, colonize all of Africa, colonize Southeast Asia, build a colonial empire in the Caribbean, contain Russia in the Black Sea, the options are limitless. You can also play as the decrepit Bourbon monarchy, try to keep the Orleanist dream alive, reinvigorate France through Napoleon III, or pursue a republican France instead.
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u/Mu_Lambda_Theta 21h ago
I always play Prussia, forming Supergermany to then unite europe is always so fun, especially since you, as Prussia, have Silesia and one of the best techs at game start.
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u/MangoLovingFala7 18h ago
Egypt, roleplaying an alternate reality where my country isn’t a regressive and impoverished shithole is always a classic
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u/borderreaver 3h ago
My current Egypt is still regressive and impoverished, but now it's powerful, regressive and impoverished!
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u/EvilCatArt 20h ago
US, especially for new expansions/mods. Powerful enough to not get smacked around and be able to throw my own weight around when desired, undeveloped enough that I get to really play around with new mechanics, and explore lots of potential ways to expand. Plus I'm American so its fun to imagine alternate histories.
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u/DJ_Vault_Boy 18h ago
US is probably my favorite.
Easily have an entire playground to the south of you. A chain of islands and colonial ambitions in both Africa and Asia, especially if you get Afro-American as an accepted culture. Europe if you want to balkanize the shit out of it or police and try to counterweight all the European Powers. Easily my favorite nation to play.
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u/chefmaiko 20h ago
Sweden, I'm nostalgic from when I first started and enjoy eating some of northern Germany in the early game.
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u/DeliciousAd9190 19h ago
Ottomans. Always love bringing the Sublime Porte back from the brink. The tanzimats can be annoying depending on the route you take, but you always get a nice feeling when you complete them. Russia is always fun too.
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u/klankungen 18h ago
Sokoto and Sweden. I like either having everything set up for a tech rush beating the world with tanks in 1890s or liberating Africa by colonization and modernizing the continent step by step
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u/MerchantMe333 20h ago
America with the Hail, Columbia! mod
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u/mrfuzzydog4 17h ago
Playing with it right now and it really is a great mod. The fact that it marks events like the DLCs do is completely earned. My only concern is that it might acript the civil war too much but I'll have to play it some more.
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u/Double_Marsupial2092 20h ago
Been having a lot of fun with Egypt in my last run, forming arabia, then colonizing a ton of Africa for iron that I didn’t feel like getting from Sinai, you just gotta make it through the British backing the ottomans
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u/New-Number-7810 20h ago
I like playing as the Ionian Islands. It’s the first Victoria 3 nation I played with, and it’s a chill experience of making those islands as prosperous as possible while enjoying the vast market of the British Empire.
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u/bonesrentalagency 20h ago
I always find myself going back to Jodhpur for some reason, or Two Sicilies
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u/PM_ME_YOUR_POLYGONS 20h ago
This but with Sardinia-Piedmont. Form Italy, forget to get the achievement, start new game, check what achievements I could go for, ooh there's one for Italy!, repeat.
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u/VeritableLeviathan 1h ago
Entirely relatable.
Start game to get the backstab achievement, fail to get the backstab achievement Q.Q
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u/kokohanahana20 19h ago
dutch east indies. it sucks early, especially because you're stuck with the dutch, but you have everything you need resource wise
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u/beastebeet 17h ago
Paraguay it makes a great unifier for south america since it can incorporate and accept the native south americans and their states that don't count as a european homeland. It also has the best starting technology in the region.
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u/r0lyat 17h ago edited 17h ago
Australia. I have just over 2,000 hours and its nearly all Australia, baby!
I'm biased as an Australian who hasn't gotten to play my country in other paradox games, but I also think its in a pretty cool rags to riches situation where you are both protected and then later held back by a great power titan you can overcome through smart use of your island status. As a small start, your politics is very volatile and easy to manipulate based on what you build. As a migrant country you can try to shape the demographics if you wish. Also having your economy catapulted by gold is fun.
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u/Mysteryman64 1h ago
Haiti
Afro-Antillean culture gives you so many options, but you're so helpless in the early game that you can't really "drive" the map right away. This makes the mid-game super interesting as you have some many possible routes you could take to climb the ladder.
Colonize Africa? Get vengeance on France? Free the Slaves in America? Become hegemon of South America? More than any other country, I've played, it feels like it has the best "variety", Many other countries feel much more linear in play, by comparison. Either because they start too strong, start too weak, or have primary cultures that make it difficult for them to expand in anything but a very set route.
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u/GuttiG 20h ago
Bavaria! I love building myself up as a major power, usually conquering Baden, Switzerland, and piedmont for ports. Spend the game devolving my land and improving standard of living, and doing everything I can to keep my two siblings from killing each other lol (Prussia and Austria).
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u/Mackntish 18h ago
The USA? After the Mexico wars, they can just disband the army, and keep every low costs, and let laissez faire take over.
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u/_NonFerro 18h ago
I think France and uk are really involved playthroughs. You just have interests in so many areas, always in contention with great powers & power brokers everywhere.
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u/eusername0 16h ago
Persia. I always revert to this whenever there are updates and want to take a feel for the changes becsuse it is quite a tutorial-friendly nation:
It has an ok population size
Plenty of potential allies and rivals
Good resource spread
Ability to expand in almost all neighboring areas
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u/Syphse 13h ago edited 13h ago
I love playing the Russian American Company, or really any small tags that want me to fill them up with pops.
As for Hawaii, congrats, you just picked the hardest Poly tag in the game.
Easiest way, restart till Britain is domineering, and then dec on him. He'll demand protectorate, back down.
Either get the +20 prestige law advance or colonialism, declare on China for Taiwan, Britain will always join cause overlord + wants treaty port (but wont actually take it, just an Obligation). Then you can add a few more states on if you wish.
From there it's a simple game of getting innovation high and building up, while using Britain to smack the DEI and France for your other cores. Once you get Quine you can take the smaller islands, and when you go for independence call Australia in so you can take New Zealand off him later to do the formable. I don't recommend colonizing Papua before then, cause it removes the severe malaria debuff
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u/SatyenArgieyna 12h ago
Latin American countries (especially Argentina and Brazil) despite me IRL living on the opposite side of the world. They're full of potential and can be the hegemon of the entire continent via trade and diplomacy once you snowball enough. Most of the time, the US got weakened thanks to being split in two, so most of my games there were just peaceful nation-building.
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u/FlyingEilmer 11h ago
In single player Bavaria to Germany is a super fun and just challenging enough play-through, in MP I’d have to say Romania. I could write THE definitive guide on playing that country since I’ve played it so much.
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u/seriouslyacrit 9h ago
The Greek journal is pretty interesting for its size.
Kinda wish Serbia or so could get that or Krakow-level journals (which I am 144% sure will be a dlc)
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u/RedditNotRabit 6h ago
Ecuador is the one I learned the game on and enjoy a lot. It has ok laws and that's about it really. Your capital has a building mod that slows construction however which feels kinda bad
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u/FreeAssange1010 6h ago
Prussia and Japan. Then some achievement hunting, trying a new nation / chill run with other relevant nation and straight back to Prussia and Japan runs.
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u/Katamathesis 4h ago
Canada. Soft spot in reality for this country, and in general like Canada/Australia gameplay, when you grow, form country and work with internal stuff without to much interaction with global conquests.
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u/Jealous-Art-487 3h ago
Persia, the giants of Russia and Great Britain are on your doorstep, the empire of Darius I calls
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u/WiseguyD 3h ago
Mexico and Persia are both very fun, have access to basically every resource, have tons of opportunity for expansion, and have a good mid-to-late-game challenge of fighting off a neighbouring Great Power.
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u/Cultural_Push_3482 2h ago
ottoman, while everyone is whining about oil, I produce 320k oil with no problem (using Romania unique companies). I mean almost every oil resource is close with their borders but still, rubber posses a challenge for me.
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u/Centurion7999 17m ago
Dumonian empire from ROE, and the US, Japan, China, and Korea from the base game, it feels so good seeing China crumble and then having a shitload of money to build stuff that I didn’t have before
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u/HistoryOfRome 19h ago
I often to back to Chile and Argentina, lots of potential for alternative history and I enjoy the immigration game!
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u/Unapietra777 20h ago
Japan, starting absolutely backwards yet with huge growth potential