This afternoon I decided to take a look at the latest Europa Universalis IV from
Paradox Interactive,
The Cradle of Civilisation. Ever since I first started playing EU, I've had my eyes set on playing a nation from within the Middle-East but with the
Ottomans being such a dominant force I have never really found the motivation to play any particular nation for long.
I decided that the
Mamaluks were by far the strongest candidate here and that with them I would dominate over the Middle-East and, with some degree of luck, Asia and potentially Europe as well. This area has undergone a lot of dramatic changes, with the
Mamaluks receiving their own government type and changes to the way religion works as well. My first thoughts were to explore a few more of the options that now exist within the game.
You have the ability to reduce development for instant gains should you wish to do so. I do not believe however that these are significant enough to warrant much use outside of perhaps using it to create lands that are more suitable for vassals than anything else. Even then, you still want the vassal to have some good territory. Despite this, I have heard one suggestion that it might be abused by those who are potentially going to lose territory in a war. I don't foresee this being a huge issue though. This is because if you lose land in a war you are likely, eventually, going to want to take this land back.
So whilst the benefits for yourself will be gained in the short term, you will lose out significantly when you take the land back. I equally don't believe that gaining just sailors is a good enough reason to downgrade land. There are more than enough sailors in the game if you pace yourself.
I had hoped to quell the Ottomans early, but it seems that despite my best efforts they have made several strong alliances and are able to conquer quite a lot quite quickly, even into Europe. They are limited in what they can take in the South by myself and their alliances but I am quickly finding that if I am unable to develop another means of protecting myself, other than my vassals I am going to be eaten up by them. They already outnumber me and this is quite worrying for my empire. I shall be looking towards Europe for a strong alliance now to ensure that I have no more trouble from the Ottomans.
My next quest is to secure the rest of the Arabic peninsula which I have yet to complete. So far the latest DLC has given me a new perspective on the Middle-East in Europa Universalis IV and I will definitely be returning after I have finished my current campaign. With the introduction of a lot of smaller nations it has become a different challenge. It will forever be a race against The Ottomans but at least now others stand a chance against the great power house that once ruled the land. There is a strong potential to now rule over Arabia, an empire that can stretch from Andulasia all the way over to the Indian Ocean and stretch across the African Deserts.
\There are other elements that I am thankful for as well. There seems to be a lot of events to improve Army tradition, and with the new ability of Drill which improves general fighting capabilities it seems there is a lot of additional improvements over the fighting style of the game. Choosing whether you want to drill your soldiers is important. If you anticipate a battle coming it might be worth avoiding the risk of the morale reduction, but the additional bonuses, despite being minor to start with could well turn the battle towards the end. Particularly if you have a superior army to your enemy. You must now consider much more in terms of the possibilities.
Overall I am pleased with how this DLC has turned out and I believe there is a significant potential for the Middle-East to become a focus point for many players this patch. One that will perhaps finally see the sun set on The Ottoman Empire once and for all. But that is just a dream it seems. They are still as strong as ever but perhaps the contenders are finally worthy of the challenge after all this time.
