PDOX Games VIII: Communism Will Win

[Ism]

Sorry to hear that, my saves seem to been working fine, though it does keep saying the checksum is off. You gotta go back a version for CK2 to be compatible with 1.9 of the mod, did you make sure to do that?

I did, i couldnt load my saves at all when i reverted to the previous game version.

So, you set your game to 3.0.1.1, played the mod, put your game back to the current CK2 version, then put it back to 3.0.1.1 but the saves won't load now? I get that right?

[The Huskar Social Union]

I did, i couldnt load my saves at all when i reverted to the previous game version.

So, you set your game to 3.0.1.1, played the mod, put your game back to the current CK2 version, then put it back to 3.0.1.1 but the saves won't load now? I get that right?

I tried loading the mod on the current game version like i was playing yesterday, none of them worked. they just crashed on loading. So I set it back to the previous version, loaded the mod, it said my saves were incompatible and were greyed out. So i set the game back to its current form and havnt tried again.

[Valentine Z]

Hello there! I am like completely new to this series of games. I have heard and seen that Paradox's games are beloved by many many NSers, and I can see why.

With that said, pretend that I am like the complete newb here, which I am. I have played RTSes like Warcraft 3, Rise of Nations, and Civilization (to a lesser extent) before, but I have only heard of Paradox from NationStates, maybe because of the way some things are similar in terms of gameplay mechanics and roleplays?

Anyway, with that I ask... what would be the very first game you recommend? Some of my friends suggested CK2, though for me, I might be eyeing at Stellaris, or HOI4.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Hello there! I am like completely new to this series of games. I have heard and seen that Paradox's games are beloved by many many NSers, and I can see why.

With that said, pretend that I am like the complete newb here, which I am. I have played RTSes like Warcraft 3, Rise of Nations, and Civilization (to a lesser extent) before, but I have only heard of Paradox from NationStates, maybe because of the way some things are similar in terms of gameplay mechanics and roleplays?

Anyway, with that I ask... what would be the very first game you recommend? Some of my friends suggested CK2, though for me, I might be eyeing at Stellaris, or HOI4.

It depends on what you would be interested in.

HOI4 is 90% focused on war and had a limited time frame compared to the others, Stellaris has war, but also has exploration, dealing with anomalies, diplomacy, end game threats etc

CK2 is very character driven and is great for role playing stuff, so you play as a dynasty moving on from one character to the next as they die, and you can try and rise from a count to a duke, to a king, or stay as a duke the whole time, go on crusades, assassinate etc

[Valentine Z]

Hello there! I am like completely new to this series of games. I have heard and seen that Paradox's games are beloved by many many NSers, and I can see why.

With that said, pretend that I am like the complete newb here, which I am. I have played RTSes like Warcraft 3, Rise of Nations, and Civilization (to a lesser extent) before, but I have only heard of Paradox from NationStates, maybe because of the way some things are similar in terms of gameplay mechanics and roleplays?

Anyway, with that I ask... what would be the very first game you recommend? Some of my friends suggested CK2, though for me, I might be eyeing at Stellaris, or HOI4.

It depends on what you would be interested in.

HOI4 is 90% focused on war and had a limited time frame compared to the others, Stellaris has war, but also has exploration, dealing with anomalies, diplomacy, end game threats etc

CK2 is very character driven and is great for role playing stuff, so you play as a dynasty moving on from one character to the next as they die, and you can try and rise from a count to a duke, to a king, or stay as a duke the whole time, go on crusades, assassinate etc

Shoot, no wonder my friends recommended CK2 to me. They know me so well! ^^

Yeah, I am more of that guy who likes smaller-scale stuff, or character-driven things. (I'm on F7 or other RP threads for half the time). I guess that will fit me, then!

[The Huskar Social Union]

It depends on what you would be interested in.

HOI4 is 90% focused on war and had a limited time frame compared to the others, Stellaris has war, but also has exploration, dealing with anomalies, diplomacy, end game threats etc

CK2 is very character driven and is great for role playing stuff, so you play as a dynasty moving on from one character to the next as they die, and you can try and rise from a count to a duke, to a king, or stay as a duke the whole time, go on crusades, assassinate etc

Shoot, no wonder my friends recommended CK2 to me. They know me so well! ^^

Yeah, I am more of that guy who likes smaller-scale stuff, or character-driven things. I guess that will fit me, then!

Be warned, lot of dlc. A LOT.

If you get the base game, you can only play as landed feudal catholic lords. So you cant play as muslims, pagans, jews etc. cant play as nomads, republics either.

And the quality of some of the DLC is debatable, a lot of it is cosmetic stuff like songs, unit packs, faces etc which can just be ignored really, for the big dlcs look at this wiki entry and decide which ones you would like to play with. And depending on the price and your funds you could wait to nab a bunch of them on sales if you are buying through steam.

I will tell you, dont get sunset invasion, its basically a meme that everyone hates or just groans when it happens, though it can lead to some inadvertantly bad ass moments when you accidentally leave it on with some other big mods running like i did once.

[Valentine Z]

Be warned, lot of dlc. A LOT.

If you get the base game, you can only play as landed feudal catholic lords. So you cant play as muslims, pagans, jews etc. cant play as nomads, republics either.

And the quality of some of the DLC is debatable, a lot of it is cosmetic stuff like songs, unit packs, faces etc which can just be ignored really, for the big dlcs look at this wiki entry and decide which ones you would like to play with. And depending on the price and your funds you could wait to nab a bunch of them on sales if you are buying through steam.

Oh it can't be that bad... right?

*Checks Steam Store*

30 DLCS, 300 SINGAPORE DOLLARS (that's 220 USD)... oh my...

Ahh, of course. Yeah, I guess I will see which ones I really like, maybe watch the YouTube videos on what each of them has, or read that wiki page. Or Steam Sale!

Thanks for the info, friend! ^^

[The Huskar Social Union]

Be warned, lot of dlc. A LOT.

If you get the base game, you can only play as landed feudal catholic lords. So you cant play as muslims, pagans, jews etc. cant play as nomads, republics either.

And the quality of some of the DLC is debatable, a lot of it is cosmetic stuff like songs, unit packs, faces etc which can just be ignored really, for the big dlcs look at this wiki entry and decide which ones you would like to play with. And depending on the price and your funds you could wait to nab a bunch of them on sales if you are buying through steam.

Oh it can't be that bad... right?

*Checks Steam Store*

30 DLCS, 300 SINGAPORE DOLLARS... oh my...

Ahh, of course. Yeah, I guess I will see which ones I really like, maybe watch the YouTube videos on what each of them has, or read that wiki page. Or Steam Sale!

Thanks for the info, friend! ^^

Yeah, steam sales are your friend, and also you can ignore a lot of the cosmetic stuff, i only bought them in sales to get some mods to work properly that i really liked playing. You dont need them for the base game at all unless you want some sexier looking folks running about.

Also yeah definitely look up playthroughs on youtube to get a feel for the game.

[Valentine Z]

Oh it can't be that bad... right?

*Checks Steam Store*

30 DLCS, 300 SINGAPORE DOLLARS... oh my...

Ahh, of course. Yeah, I guess I will see which ones I really like, maybe watch the YouTube videos on what each of them has, or read that wiki page. Or Steam Sale!

Thanks for the info, friend! ^^

Yeah, steam sales are your friend, and also you can ignore a lot of the cosmetic stuff, i only bought them in sales to get some mods to work properly that i really liked playing. You dont need them for the base game at all unless you want some sexier looking folks running about.

Also yeah definitely look up playthroughs on youtube to get a feel for the game.

I'm reckoning that I will try the base game first and just using my imagination for the portraits. As long as I can get the custom names going.

Weeew, with holidays nearing, someone is going to be sucked into the world of Paradox Games.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Yeah, steam sales are your friend, and also you can ignore a lot of the cosmetic stuff, i only bought them in sales to get some mods to work properly that i really liked playing. You dont need them for the base game at all unless you want some sexier looking folks running about.

Also yeah definitely look up playthroughs on youtube to get a feel for the game.

I'm reckoning that I will try the base game first and just using my imagination for the portraits. As long as I can get the custom names going.

Weeew, with holidays nearing, someone is going to be sucked into the world of Paradox Games.

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

[Valentine Z]

I'm reckoning that I will try the base game first and just using my imagination for the portraits. As long as I can get the custom names going.

Weeew, with holidays nearing, someone is going to be sucked into the world of Paradox Games.

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

I can live with that. It's been a while since I have last bought a game... to go off-topic a little, I got most of my stuff through Humble Bundle nowadays. I don't know, I just haven't gotten around playing more games.
If I remembered correctly, last game I bought was... holy shit, it was Overwatch from 2017. Yeappp...

So yeah, will totally buy the game with some essential DLCs.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

I can live with that. It's been a while since I have last bought a game... to go off-topic a little, I got most of my stuff through Humble Bundle nowadays. I don't know, I just haven't gotten around playing more games.
If I remembered correctly, last game I bought was... holy shit, it was Overwatch from 2017. Yeappp...

So yeah, will totally buy the game with some essential DLCs.

Welcome to the world of murder, incest, plotting and your genius son dying of a who knows what just before he becomes an adult. This thread is now your new home.

[Lunas Legion]

I'm reckoning that I will try the base game first and just using my imagination for the portraits. As long as I can get the custom names going.

Weeew, with holidays nearing, someone is going to be sucked into the world of Paradox Games.

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

Ruler creator isn't that necessary since, well, you'll get a new ruler in a few decades anyways. I've always found that picking a random nobody (or, even better, a somebody few to no one's heard of) to greatness is more fun and has less issues with the title's previous occupants trying to oust you.

[The Huskar Social Union]

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

Ruler creator isn't that necessary since, well, you'll get a new ruler in a few decades anyways. I've always found that picking a random nobody (or, even better, a somebody few to no one's heard of) to greatness is more fun and has less issues with the title's previous occupants trying to oust you.

Yeah but... flags tho

[Valentine Z]

I can live with that. It's been a while since I have last bought a game... to go off-topic a little, I got most of my stuff through Humble Bundle nowadays. I don't know, I just haven't gotten around playing more games.
If I remembered correctly, last game I bought was... holy shit, it was Overwatch from 2017. Yeappp...

So yeah, will totally buy the game with some essential DLCs.

Welcome to the world of murder, incest, plotting and your genius son dying of a who knows what just before he becomes an adult. This thread is now your new home.

Yayyy, can't wait for that day I bought the games!

[Lunas Legion]

Ruler creator isn't that necessary since, well, you'll get a new ruler in a few decades anyways. I've always found that picking a random nobody (or, even better, a somebody few to no one's heard of) to greatness is more fun and has less issues with the title's previous occupants trying to oust you.

Yeah but... flags tho

I always forget to change my CoA anyways when doing that.

Although am I the only person who gets annoyed when the Byz's titular coats of arms don't line up with the family ones since many are the exact same?

[Abserdia]

Oh yeah for custom houses you need the ruler creater dlc, but its only a few pounds, well... whatever that would translate to singapore dollars. But its a nice little thing to have.

I can live with that. It's been a while since I have last bought a game... to go off-topic a little, I got most of my stuff through Humble Bundle nowadays. I don't know, I just haven't gotten around playing more games.
If I remembered correctly, last game I bought was... holy shit, it was Overwatch from 2017. Yeappp...

So yeah, will totally buy the game with some essential DLCs.

The only essential DLCs, in my opinion, are Way of Life, ToG, and Holy Fury. Way of Life for the focuses, ToG for 867 and pagans, and Holy Fury for even better paganism, bloodlines, swaying/antagonizing, etc and etc. Everything else is very subjective.

[Lunas Legion]

I can live with that. It's been a while since I have last bought a game... to go off-topic a little, I got most of my stuff through Humble Bundle nowadays. I don't know, I just haven't gotten around playing more games.
If I remembered correctly, last game I bought was... holy shit, it was Overwatch from 2017. Yeappp...

So yeah, will totally buy the game with some essential DLCs.

The only essential DLCs, in my opinion, are Way of Life, ToG, and Holy Fury. Way of Life for the focuses, ToG for 867 and pagans, and Holy Fury for even better paganism, bloodlines, swaying/antagonizing, etc and etc. Everything else is very subjective.

Yeah, this is basically it. Rough tier list of DLC (in my opinion):

God Tier: Way of Life, The Old Gods, Holy Fury
Pretty Damn Nice to Have Tier: Sword of Islam, Legacy of Rome
Take It or Leave It Tier: Legacy of Rome, The Reaper's Due, Charlemagne
Eh? Tier: Sons of Abraham, Monks and Mystics
Divides the Community Tier: Conclave
Meh Tier: Horse Lords, Jade Dragon
Bleh Tier: Rajas of India
Aaaaagh Tier: Sunset Invasion, The Republic

[Ism]

Yeah, steam sales are your friend, and also you can ignore a lot of the cosmetic stuff, i only bought them in sales to get some mods to work properly that i really liked playing. You dont need them for the base game at all unless you want some sexier looking folks running about.

Also yeah definitely look up playthroughs on youtube to get a feel for the game.

I'm reckoning that I will try the base game first and just using my imagination for the portraits. As long as I can get the custom names going.

Weeew, with holidays nearing, someone is going to be sucked into the world of Paradox Games.

Steam does have a demo for the game. It's limited, but it should give you some idea of how you like it before you even have to buy vanilla.

[Ostroeuropa]

Investing in countries means you can influence them far easier. The New World will usually not have anyone bothering with it until the rest of the world is handled, so after pumping the US full of railroads you can develop the rest of the americas and then usually nobody can touch you on influence as your modifier from investing Vs them not investing will mean you curbstomp them.

It might also be worth allying with the UK and focusing on southern expansionism until the UK gets itself caught up in a major international conflict, then taking advantage of it by invading canada.

When you say "invest" you mean like build railroads and factories in their countries? I was wondering what the point of that was.

Countries in your sphere of influence also prioritize you for resource sales above everyone else, so you can use it to corner a market and extract raw resources from them for production into luxury goods. Because of that, investing in them with stuff like railroads will increase their production of raw goods for extraction along with making them prioritize you.

South America is big on coffee, and cornering that market is vital for your luxury goods supply. The UK tends toward getting tea instead. With the US having coffee, and UK having tea, the only options for a third power are China in the late game, or finding one of the more rare luxury goods to satisfy their rich and middle classes.

A nation being in your sphere eliminates tariffs on some of your goods as well as theirs and puts you in a common market.
As the UK, by investing in South America while gobblign up India, you can corner the market on both tea and coffee and force other powers to pay through the nose for them.

https://vic2.paradoxwikis.com/Foreign_investment

Priority for goods being bought/sold.

1. Master
2. Other sphere members (Ranked by prestige)
3. World market (Ranked by prestige)

By having a large sphere of influence with all the resources you need, you can set tariffs very high since your spherelings will not pay them. This will mean you remove your nation from the world market and deny rivals your business. In most games this is only viable for the UK or China, but the US can just about manage it.

The only luxury goods for the middle and upper classes that don't require you to build factories to make them:

Coffee
Oil (Only capitalists like this)
Opium
Tea

Reminder:
Do Not Sphere China.
These same mechanics mean it will tank your economy to do so, as you add hundreds of millions of chinese peasants who now take priority over other nations for buying your merchandise, and who are now no longer paying tariffs for food. China is best divided among other powers, one or two provinces seized and a treaty port is more than enough.

This is less of a problem late game when Factories can outcompete china and make it so their high population doesn't just crush your factories and bankrupt them.

You can CONQUER china and be just fine, tax income replaces tariff income.

China is broken by the way. If you westernize as China, you can effectively strangle the world economy by importing all goods before anybody else, including army goods meaning you can field your massive population as an army and it simply takes priority if your prestige is high enough, depriving other nations of their ability to upkeep their armies except with their own domestic production. At that point badboy doesn't matter, just go Ham and laugh as the world coalition of 30,000 fed guys and a couple hundred thousand starving soldiers with no ammunition tries to stand up to your army of half a billion.

It's such a problem that China has to be artificially nerfed in mods with events that cause it to balkanize into Warlords if they westernize, pushing back the China problem a few decades so this exploit is harder to pull off.

[Washington Resistance Army]

The TNO demo is out for anyone who wants to try it. You're gonna have to download from Moddb and do a manual install though cuz Steam is doo-doo.

[The Imperial Reach]

When you say "invest" you mean like build railroads and factories in their countries? I was wondering what the point of that was.

Countries in your sphere of influence also prioritize you for resource sales above everyone else, so you can use it to corner a market and extract raw resources from them for production into luxury goods. Because of that, investing in them with stuff like railroads will increase their production of raw goods for extraction along with making them prioritize you.

South America is big on coffee, and cornering that market is vital for your luxury goods supply. The UK tends toward getting tea instead. With the US having coffee, and UK having tea, the only options for a third power are China in the late game, or finding one of the more rare luxury goods to satisfy their rich and middle classes.

A nation being in your sphere eliminates tariffs on some of your goods as well as theirs and puts you in a common market.
As the UK, by investing in South America while gobblign up India, you can corner the market on both tea and coffee and force other powers to pay through the nose for them.

https://vic2.paradoxwikis.com/Foreign_investment

Priority for goods being bought/sold.

1. Master
2. Other sphere members (Ranked by prestige)
3. World market (Ranked by prestige)

By having a large sphere of influence with all the resources you need, you can set tariffs very high since your spherelings will not pay them. This will mean you remove your nation from the world market and deny rivals your business. In most games this is only viable for the UK or China, but the US can just about manage it.

The only luxury goods for the middle and upper classes that don't require you to build factories to make them:

Coffee
Oil (Only capitalists like this)
Opium
Tea

Reminder:
Do Not Sphere China.
These same mechanics mean it will tank your economy to do so, as you add hundreds of millions of chinese peasants who now take priority over other nations for buying your merchandise, and who are now no longer paying tariffs for food. China is best divided among other powers, one or two provinces seized and a treaty port is more than enough.

This is less of a problem late game when Factories can outcompete china and make it so their high population doesn't just crush your factories and bankrupt them.

You can CONQUER china and be just fine, tax income replaces tariff income.

China is broken by the way. If you westernize as China, you can effectively strangle the world economy by importing all goods before anybody else, including army goods meaning you can field your massive population as an army and it simply takes priority if your prestige is high enough, depriving other nations of their ability to upkeep their armies except with their own domestic production. At that point badboy doesn't matter, just go Ham and laugh as the world coalition of 30,000 fed guys and a couple hundred thousand starving soldiers with no ammunition tries to stand up to your army of half a billion.

It's such a problem that China has to be artificially nerfed in mods with events that cause it to balkanize into Warlords if they westernize, pushing back the China problem a few decades so this exploit is harder to pull off.

Good to know. I was going to try and be historically accurate and be the dominant influence over the Americas; keeping those uppity Euros out of New World affairs as the US often did around this time. I especially want to make sure the Great Powers - especially Britain - stay away from Mexico and Brazil; the former because I need to Manifest Destiny the shit out of it before I ultimately make peace with them, and the latter because Brazil is a Secondary Power and I really don't need them challenging me for dominance at the behest of, say, Britain.

Anyway, my second USA game went bust after the Ottomans and Scandinavians started invading New England with massive armies after I got involved in a crisis in Greece (it was total bullshit too, because Scandinavia had less reason to join the Ottomans than me yet they still did) so I just quit again. I also did not avoid the Civil War like I initially thought, but it was pretty easy all the same. I did learn that having Dixie units in your armies will cause them to rebel when the South secedes - thus fighting your Yankee units. In hindsight, I should have expected that. I know now not to build any Dixie units before the Civil War breaks out. I never even got to launch my Manifest Destiny campaign against Mexico, either. Everything and everyone kept distracting me and I still haven't figured out how to increase the size of your army (is it tied to population?) so my army was expanding fairly slowly.

I'll give USA another shot using what I've learned from experience and what I've been told here to see that this time it (hopefully) goes better. My current plan is to cozy up to Britain, save Texas, unite the 48 contiguous states, dominant all independent nations in the Americas (and Liberia), win the Civil War, buy Alaska, snatch Hawaii, occupy Cuba, Puerto Rico, & the Philippines, and colonize as much of Canada and the Pacific Islands as I can.

At some point I'll have to try that China glitch, too. That sounds fun as fuck lmao.

[Lunas Legion]

0/10 not maxing tariffs because you don't give a fuck and it's an amazing source of revenue.

[Ostroeuropa]

Countries in your sphere of influence also prioritize you for resource sales above everyone else, so you can use it to corner a market and extract raw resources from them for production into luxury goods. Because of that, investing in them with stuff like railroads will increase their production of raw goods for extraction along with making them prioritize you.

South America is big on coffee, and cornering that market is vital for your luxury goods supply. The UK tends toward getting tea instead. With the US having coffee, and UK having tea, the only options for a third power are China in the late game, or finding one of the more rare luxury goods to satisfy their rich and middle classes.

A nation being in your sphere eliminates tariffs on some of your goods as well as theirs and puts you in a common market.
As the UK, by investing in South America while gobblign up India, you can corner the market on both tea and coffee and force other powers to pay through the nose for them.

https://vic2.paradoxwikis.com/Foreign_investment

Priority for goods being bought/sold.

1. Master
2. Other sphere members (Ranked by prestige)
3. World market (Ranked by prestige)

By having a large sphere of influence with all the resources you need, you can set tariffs very high since your spherelings will not pay them. This will mean you remove your nation from the world market and deny rivals your business. In most games this is only viable for the UK or China, but the US can just about manage it.

The only luxury goods for the middle and upper classes that don't require you to build factories to make them:

Coffee
Oil (Only capitalists like this)
Opium
Tea

Reminder:
Do Not Sphere China.
These same mechanics mean it will tank your economy to do so, as you add hundreds of millions of chinese peasants who now take priority over other nations for buying your merchandise, and who are now no longer paying tariffs for food. China is best divided among other powers, one or two provinces seized and a treaty port is more than enough.

This is less of a problem late game when Factories can outcompete china and make it so their high population doesn't just crush your factories and bankrupt them.

You can CONQUER china and be just fine, tax income replaces tariff income.

China is broken by the way. If you westernize as China, you can effectively strangle the world economy by importing all goods before anybody else, including army goods meaning you can field your massive population as an army and it simply takes priority if your prestige is high enough, depriving other nations of their ability to upkeep their armies except with their own domestic production. At that point badboy doesn't matter, just go Ham and laugh as the world coalition of 30,000 fed guys and a couple hundred thousand starving soldiers with no ammunition tries to stand up to your army of half a billion.

It's such a problem that China has to be artificially nerfed in mods with events that cause it to balkanize into Warlords if they westernize, pushing back the China problem a few decades so this exploit is harder to pull off.

Good to know. I was going to try and be historically accurate and be the dominant influence over the Americas; keeping those uppity Euros out of New World affairs as the US often did around this time. I especially want to make sure the Great Powers - especially Britain - stay away from Mexico and Brazil; the former because I need to Manifest Destiny the shit out of it before I ultimately make peace with them, and the latter because Brazil is a Secondary Power and I really don't need them challenging me for dominance at the behest of, say, Britain.

Anyway, my second USA game went bust after the Ottomans and Scandinavians started invading New England with massive armies after I got involved in a crisis in Greece (it was total bullshit too, because Scandinavia had less reason to join the Ottomans than me yet they still did) so I just quit again. I also did not avoid the Civil War like I initially thought, but it was pretty easy all the same. I did learn that having Dixie units in your armies will cause them to rebel when the South secedes - thus fighting your Yankee units. In hindsight, I should have expected that. I know now not to build any Dixie units before the Civil War breaks out. I never even got to launch my Manifest Destiny campaign against Mexico, either. Everything and everyone kept distracting me and I still haven't figured out how to increase the size of your army (is it tied to population?) so my army was expanding fairly slowly.

I'll give USA another shot using what I've learned from experience and what I've been told here to see that this time it (hopefully) goes better. My current plan is to cozy up to Britain, save Texas, unite the 48 contiguous states, dominant all independent nations in the Americas (and Liberia), win the Civil War, buy Alaska, snatch Hawaii, occupy Cuba, Puerto Rico, & the Philippines, and colonize as much of Canada and the Pacific Islands as I can.

At some point I'll have to try that China glitch, too. That sounds fun as fuck lmao.

Army size is tied to Soldier population, you can increase soldier population with national focuses.

[Ostroeuropa]

So uh....

Ia Max promoted Cultures worth it as a custom nation idea of a multiculturalist nation?

For the nation inspiration imagine Prussia and USA combined but as a monarchy in Brandenburg.

You'll get:
9 accepted cultures at max tech, assuming you pick decentralized bureaucracy.

10 if also trading in Silk.

12 if you adopt Humanist ideas.

13 if Humanist-Diplomatic policy is taken.

An additional 4 are available from the custom idea, for 17.

You can hit 20 if you go for Mamluk government.

Which region of the globe were you thinking?