Games PC EUROPA UNIVERSALIS User Manual
F A I T H • P O W E R • W E A L T H
GLOBAL CONQUEST AND DIPLOMACY
FROM COLUMBUS TO NAPOLEON
1 4 9 2 - 1 7 9 2
Europa Universalis
Table of Contents:
Installation 2
Introduction
A Simulated Europe 3
What is Europa Universalis? 3
Why is the Clock Ticking? 3
What is the Goal of the Game? 4
The Game - An Overview 5
How do I Play? 5
How is the Map Designed? 6
Geography and Weather 7
Learning Scenario
General 8
The Top Line above the Map Window 8
The Top Line above the Info. Window 8
The Information Window - a Province 8
Army Units and Battles 9
Choosing Army Units 9
Movement of Troops 9
Discovered and Undiscovered Terrain 9
Occupied and Non-Occupied Terrain 9
Colonization and Economy 10
To Colonize a Province 10
From HMS Mayflower to Cities 10
The Financial Summary 11
The Budget Window 11
Trade and Merchants 12
Placing Merchants 12
The Economical Effects of Trade 12
Fleets and Sea Transport 12
Loading of Army Units 13
Unloading of Army Units from a Fleet 13
Trading Posts 13
How to Establish a Trading Post 14
Neighboring Countries 14
Diplomacy 15
War 15
To Prepare for War 15
To Declare a War 16
To Win a War 16
Offers of Peace 16
Activities
Countries 17
Provinces 17
Sea Zones 19
Cities and Capitals 20
Trading Posts and Colonies 20
Terra Incognita and
Permanent Terra Incognita 21
Stability and the Wrath of Your Subjects 22
What is Stability? 22
Things that Lower Stability 22
Things that Increase Stability 23
What is Affected by Stability? 24
Rebellions and the Risk of Rebellion 25
Liberation Movements 27
Religion and Tolerance 28
State Religion and Provincial Religion 29
Religious Tolerance 31
Four Important Events 31
The Foreign Policy Consequences
of Religion 32
The Effects of Religion on
Domestic Politics 33
Converting by Peaceful or
Violent Means 33
Politics and Diplomacy 34
Diplomacy as a Political Weapon 35
Diplomats and Relations 35
Royal Marriages 37
Alliances 38
Vassalage 39
Annexation 40
Refusal to Trade 40
War Affects Your Relations 41
Tolerance Affecting Your Relations 41
The Holy Roman Empire 42
War and Peace 42
Casus Belli and Declarations of War 42
Advantages and Disadvantages of War 43
Side Effects of War 44
Manpower and the Limitations
of Your Provinces 44
Pillaged Provinces 45
War Taxes 45
The Goal of War 45
Peace Treaties and War Damages 46
Movement and Battle 47
Army Units 48
Fleets 49
Commanders and Specialists 50
Movement Restrictions 50
Naval Supremacy and Interception 51
Naval Battles 52
Naval Blockades and Ports 53
Pitched Battles 54
Retreat 55
Fortifications, Sieges, and Assaults 55
Supply Lines 56
Attrition 57
Combat Morale 58
Economy and Infrastructure 59
Your Economy is Your Heart 59
Europa Universalis
Annual Income 59
Monthly Income 60
Other Income 60
Provinces and Population Growth 60
Level of Development Inhabitants 62
Production and Goods 63
External Factors 66
Loans 66
Inflation 68
Upgrading the Infrastructure 69
Managing Your Resources 69
Trade and Colonization 70
Supply, Demand and Market Prices 71
Centers of Trade, Merchants and
Trade Income 71
The Closing of Japan 74
Pirates 74
Trading Posts and Merchants 75
Colonization of the New World 76
The Treaty of Tordesillas 77
Explorers and Conquistadors 77
Colonial Growth and
Economic Consequences 78
Protecting Your Colonies 79
Technology and Development 79
To Develop Over Time 79
To Invest in Stability 80
Areas of Technology and Research 80
Cultural Technology Groups 81
Investing in Factories 81
Monarchs 83 - 94
The Archive 95 - 96
Historic Review 97 - 126
Technical Support 127
Credits 128
1
Europa Universalis
Installing and uninstalling the game.
The installation program of Europa Universalis
starts automatically when the CD is inserted in
your CD player. If your CD-ROM unit does
not have the auto run function activated, you
may start the installation by double clicking
setup.exe, which you will find in the root directory of the CD.
As soon as the installation program has started, you may install Europa Universalis and, if
n e c e s s a ry, DirectX 7.0, which is included on
the CD. When the actual installation has begun, just follow the instructions on the screen.
If Europa Universalis is already installed on
your computer just press Play in the installation
program to start. You may also start the program from a suitable button in the Pro g r a m
menu under the Start menu. You may uninstall
Europa Universalis at any time by using either
the Installation program or using the Add and
Remove program of the Control Panel.
System requirements:
Pentium 200Mhz (PII 300Mhz recommended)
Windows 95/98/NT/2000 (Service pack 4).
2Mb of Video RAM ( S u p p o rting 800x600),
64Mb RAM (128 Mb RAM re c o m m e n d e d )
180Mb free hard drive space, 2x CD-ROM
drive, Mouse or equivalent input device DirectX
7.0 or higher (Included with the game).
Requirements for network games:
Bandwidth of at least 512 kb/s
TCP/IP protocol installed
Commands for the user interface
• "Shift" + "F12" opens the chat function of
the network game.
• "F11" saves a screenshot as a bitmap picture
on your hard disk.
• "P a u s e / B reak" pauses the game/Restart s
the game in progress.
• "Ctrl" + "+" increases game speed (not avail-
able in network games).
• "Ctrl" + "–" decreases game speed (not
available in network games).
• "+" increases map size.
• "–" decreases map size.
• "ESC" and "ENTER" often functions as
Yes/No in dialogue windows.
• "F12" opens the console. Press "F12" again
to close.
• "Home" centers the map on your capital.
• "F1" lets you view missions or victory points.
• E/P/N are quick commands for easy
switching of map views.
• "F10" opens the start menu for saving and
loading games, including settings.
Commands for Armies and Navies
• "PageUp/PageDown" for fast jumps between your various units.
• "Ctrl" + "[number]" associates the chosen
unit with that number.
• "[Number]" chooses the numbered unit,
p ress the number again, and the map will
center on the chosen unit.
• "s" divides the chosen unit into two equal
parts.
• "a" quick command during siege.
• "u" to unload armies from a chosen fleet, if
you have troops onboard.
• "g" forms selected units into a single unit.
How to join a pier-to-pier game
• Start Europa Universalis as normal
• Click the [multiplayer] button
• Enter your desired name and press [internet]
• Enter IP address of the host and press [join]
How to host a pier-to-pier game
• Inform players of game and your IP address
• Start Europa Universalis as normal
• Click the [multiplayer] button
• Press the [host] button to host your
own game
• Select the scenario you wish to play
• Specify Victory options by accessing the
Victory menu
• Specify Game options by accessing the
Option menu
• When all options are set press [Start]
2
Europa Universalis
A) Introduction
A Simulated Europe
This game tries to simulate the interaction between the European countries during the period between 1492 and 1792 as realistically as
possible. This means that Europe is divided into provinces, which in turn make up the various countries. The provinces have populations
that produce goods, pay taxes, engage in trade,
and are recruited as soldiers and sailors. Each
population has a religion that incorporates
their view of the world and moral position. If
the monarch and the government act counter
to morally acceptable behavior, there is a risk of
rebellion. The monarch and the govern m e n t
(actually the player) are responsible for the
country and represent the country to the rest
of the world. In this way all of the European
nations are part of the same quarreling family,
where some co-operate and others fight.
As time goes by the European nations
change, both in political, economic, and milit a r y strength. Depending on how well your
country is able to manage its resources, defend
its provinces, and invest in technology, nations
will rise or fall in power and status. Historically
the Ottoman Empire peaked during the 16th
c e n t u ry, after which its power slowly waned,
until it was finally regarded as the "Sick Man of
Europe" in 1792. Sweden began the period as
a backwards place on the outer fringes, and
then gained status as a great power during the
17th century, only to lose that status at the beginning of the 18th, to slowly sink into a second-rate power during the latter half of the
18th century.
What is Europa Universalis?
E u ropa Universalis is a game where you can
choose a European nation and play its ups and
downs over 300 years. The game provides what
you could philosophically call a "God perspective;" that is, you lead the country through 300
years, having the opportunity to be at many
places at the same time in order to make decisions.
This is an extensive and advanced game, but
do take it easy. By playing the learning scenario
and reading all the tips included in the game,
and reading the "The Learning Scenario"
chapter in this manual, you will soon be able to
play the game. In order to master the more
subtle parts of the game, you need to play a lot
of games and read the rest of the manual.
The game does not pretend to be historically
accurate. This means that it does not follow the
historical textbooks, because if it had, you
would not be able to act differently from the
actual governments. Instead you should view
the game as an "alternate history," that is, the
historic individuals, the nations, and the resources are provided, but you have a chance to
act differently. In your game the Thirty Years
War perhaps will never break out, or maybe
France will conquer America, or PolandLithuania will never cease to exist as a nation.
You lead a country and have a great number
of choices re g a rding war and peace, politics,
economics, and religion, but at the same time
your resources are limited because of the size
and traditions of your nation. You are simply
"The Grey Eminence" behind all of the
monarchs of your country during the period of
the game.
The game contains a number of diff e re n t
scenarios, including the Grand Campaign. The
various scenarios usually cover shorter time periods, while the Grand Campaign will let you
take your countr y from 1492 until 1792.
When choosing a scenario or the Grand Campaign, you always have the choice of when the
game should end.
Why is the Clock Ticking?
In a game like this, which is about historical
change, it is not possible to be in every place at
the same time. Time in the game is ru n n i n g
forward like a clock in reality, providing a real
sense of the flow of time, because an English
king, for example, did not know how the bat-
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Europa Universalis
tles against the French in North America
turned out until months later. Even war in general was an activity with uncertain results; since
you are the one who is moving and controlling
all of your troops, you are forced to give priority to some while the clock is ticking away. It also simulates the difficulties of running a large
e m p i re in contrast to a small, land-locked
c o u n t ry. As a player of Spain, for example, it
could be difficult to wage a successful war in
Northern Italy, at the same time that you are
colonizing a new province in Mexico, and
making improvements to the infrastructure in
the Philippines.
What you should know and remember is that
you may pause the game at any time. The clock
stops and the game stands still. In this "pause
mode" you can order troops around (although
they will not start moving until the game resumes), build army units and fleets, deal with
diplomatic offers, make changes in your budget, etc. You may also change the speed of the
"clock" at any time, i.e. change the speed of
the game, as you perceive it. In the beginning it
is advisable that you keep game time at a relatively slow speed, when you are feeling your
way around the various parts of the game.
What Is the Goal of the Game?
The goal of the game may actually vary from
player to player. The basics for the game are to
receive as many victory points as possible. It is
meaningless, at this moment, to discuss in any
g reater detail exactly what provides victory
points throughout the game, as we have not
yet discussed that area of the game. Instead we
will direct you to the list of victory points at the
end of the manual. If you play using the "stand a rd" victory conditions, the player with the
highest total points becomes the winner, but
please note that at the end of the game you will
see how many victory points your country has
received, and its relative position. This means
that you can play a country you find difficult to
play just to try to get a better result from game
to game, which is also a way of "winning." Another approach is to play Denmark, for example, and try to get more victory points than its
perennial enemy Sweden.
You can also choose a couple of other victory
conditions other than the "standard" ones.
The first choice is "Power Struggle," which
means that the country that is first to reach a
predetermined number of victory points is the
winner. Power Struggle is a good choice if you
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Europa Universalis
want to play a quick game. The second choice
is "Conquest," which means that the country
conquering a pre d e t e rmined number of
p rovinces is the winner. You set the number
when you determine victory conditions. Conquest is the number one choice if you wish to
decide the outcome of the game on the battlefields. The third choice is "Mission," which
means that each country will receive a specific
difficult mission, and the player that succeeds
first is the winner. Various missions may include: Russia must conquer all ort h o d o x
provinces in the Balkans, or Spain must "conquer England." Mission is the choice for players who would like to try something random,
yet challenging.
E u ropa Universalis is about a number of
ways of changing history, and changing history
becomes a goal in itself in the game, besides
winning. How you do it is up to you.
The Game – An Overview
When you start playing you will have a map in
front of you. This is the "game board" of the
game; in the same way you have a game board
in front of you when you play Monopoly or
chess. You lead a country, or more exactly, you
are a country, and all of the provinces within
the borders of your country belong to you.
Provinces outside your country belong to other countries. You also have access to army units
(symbolized by little soldiers) and fleets (symbolized by small warships), which you can
move around on the map (just like in chess and
Monopoly). By clicking a province you get access to information about it in the "information window" on the left side of the scre e n .
Here you are able to construct army units and
fleets, invest in infrastructure, and many other
things. Exactly what you are able to do and
how to do it will be discussed in greater detail
later on.
How Do I Play?
Naturally, leading a country during 300 years is
not an easy task. To win the game you need to
collect as many victory points as possible. Starting the game by waging as many wars as possible may get your country a large number of victory points, but may also lead to quick ruin. It
is usually better to collect victory points at a
relatively normal pace during all of your 300
years, rather than gaining points quickly during
just 100.
The primary problem facing your country is
pure survival. The Prussian diplomat who was
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Europa Universalis
involved in the third partitioning of Poland supposedly
said: "A nation not able to defend itself has no right to exist." In game terms your neighbors will try to take advantage of your weaknesses, but will also shy away from your
strength. In order to survive you must upgrade your defenses, and have enough army units and well-arm e d
fleets, but you must also pay attention to the development of your nation.
The secondary problem facing your country is development over time. If your country lags behind in economic or military development this will show up in losses
on the battlefields. When you consider economic development over time, it helps to think about this simple
metaphor. In very simple terms it is like putting money in
the bank. If you deposit 100 dollars at 10% interest, you
will have 110 dollars one year later, and 121 dollars two
years later. You should be aware of the dynamic nature of
economic development.
The third problem facing your country is discovering
the unknown world beyond the boundaries of Europe.
The discovery of new areas, and establishment of trading
posts or colonies, is quite costly at the beginning, but will
provide a lot of revenue later. The heart of the matter is
balancing your country’s priorities and making your resources meet your needs. A colonial empire also needs to
be defended, which means you should give the whole
idea some thought before you start putting things in motion. You may have to consider matters for the next ten or
twenty years ahead if you do not want to lose all you
gained due to poor planning.
How Is the Map Designed?
The game is played on a world map. You can’t see everything on the map at the same time, but only the provinces
and sea zones familiar to you country. In order to find out
more you need to explore the unknown parts of the map,
which are called Terra Incognita. This map, which we will
call the normal map, shows each province with its name,
its type of terrain, whether it contains cities, colonies, or
trading posts. It will also show land boundaries between
countries. In the sea zones you will see what the weather
is like, and whether it is winter or summer in the
provinces. Note that a fog stopping you from discovering
any army units in the provinces, or fleets in the sea zones
covers parts of the map. Areas not covered by the fog include your own country, the countries of your allies,
countries in which your monarch has entered royal mar-
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Europa Universalis
riages, and finally countries with which you are
currently at war. In these countries nothing is
hidden.
[screenshot of the "normal" map also showing
the fog of war]
You may also click on the button labeled the
"Political map" in order to view it. Here you
will find all of your foreign relations, and by
clicking a province in another country you are
shown the foreign relations of that country.
Note that this is the map you will be using
when you wish to perform diplomatic actions.
You may also click on the button labeled "Economic map," which shows the goods produced
in each province. There is also a "Trade map,"
showing the trade centers of the world, and
which provinces they control. The last map is
the "Colonial map," which you use when es-
tablishing trading posts or colonies. Note that
each map has a separate click able button,
which lets you view each one separately.
Geography and Weather
The game contains five different types of terrain: open terrain, forest, mountains, desert ,
and swamp. There is also one geographical obstacle: rivers. The terrain types affect the movement of army units, battles, and army unit attrition. Some provinces also suffer the effects of
winter, which in turn affect the various terrain
types.
Sea zones are also affected by the weather.
Certain sea zones may be ridden by storms, or
be covered by ice during parts of the year. Note
also that attrition is lower in sea zones next to
coastal provinces, compared with the open sea.
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Europa Universalis
B) Learning Scenario
General
The screen you see is divided into two fields, or
"windows." The larger window to the right is
the world map, of which you only see a very insignificant part. You will see more and more of
it as you discover the unknown areas. The
white and unknown parts of the map are called
"Terra Incognita," which is simply "The Unknown World" in Latin—the language of
knowledge and science during this age.
You will also see one pro v i n c e — U l s t e r,
which happens to be your only province, containing your capital. If you left click on Ulster
on the map, you will open a picture of your
capital in the other window. For the sake of
simplicity we call that window the Information
window.
The Info window will be described in full a
little later. Below the Info window you will find
the picture of a historical map, or more correctl y, an empty map. This is a world map in a
smaller format, which will aid you later in the
game when your knowledge of the world has
i n c reased. Note the appearance of "tips"
whenever a scenario is started. These tips provide quick and abbreviated information about
the most important functions of the game. We
recommend that you read these. You may also
access the "tips" by clicking the menu button
at the bottom of the Information window, and
then choosing "Tips."
The Top Line above the Map Window
On the top line above the Map window, you
will find a border with three symbols and a
date—the game clock—followed by another
t h ree symbols. The first three show how many
M e rchants, Colonists, and Diplomats you have
available. If you place the pointer above any of
the symbols you get information about how often you receive new ones, and what generates
them. The clock is shadowed whenever you
pause the game, and white when time is ru nning. If you think that the "pro g ress of time" is
too fast or too slow, you may change it by click-
8
ing the menu button at the lower left of the Inf o rmation window, choosing Alternative, and
then following the instructions. The three symbols to the right of the clock show the Stability
level of your country, the Manpower in thousands of soldiers, and the contents of your tre as u ry expressed in Ducats, which was one of the
most common currencies during the historical
epoch. You will receive more background information if you point at the symbols.
The Top Line above the Information
Window
The embellished line above the Inform a t i o n
window contains five coats of arms. If you left
click any of these, specialized information will
be shown in the Information window. The
shields will provide the following inform a t i o n
( f rom left to right): naval information, land
a rmy information, general information about
the country and its monarch, the state budget,
and the Financial Summary. The military information shows your level of technology, your
upkeep costs, and your chances of changing the
wages and costs of your soldiers and sailors. The
economic information will show the income
and expenditures of your country, including
how they are allocated. You may also choose
how to allocate your re s e a rch investments in order to develop your technology levels.
The Information Window—a Province
When you left click on your only province, you
will see the city of the province of Ulster in the
Information window. By clicking on buildings
and objects in the Information window, you
get additional information about the objects.
The buildings are the places where the various
o fficials of your province work. The off i c i a l s
may be appointed to more qualified tasks by
clicking the buildings, which will give you
m o re advantages in the game. You may also
build fleets and recruit army units.
The church is a very important building. It
will be upgraded automatically when the population of the province increases. If you left click
the church you will find general inform a t i o n
Europa Universalis
about the state of your province. If you click on
the text lines that appear when you click on the
c h u rch, you will get additional inform a t i o n .
You may also click on the symbols to get additional information about the economy and religion. In addition to the buildings of the
p rovince you also see another shield. The
shield shows the most important products of
the province, including provincial re v e n u e
from trade and taxes. When you appoint officials, for example, you will find that these revenues increase.
Army Units and Battles
Your first task is to recruit an army and fight a
battle. Note that there is a "Read more"-button in each "Mission window." We re c o mmend strongly that you read this additional information, as it provides both historical information and information about how the game
works. Please note also that by clicking anything under construction, you will find out
when the construction is due to be finished.
Choosing Army Units
Besides left clicking a unit, you may also keep
the left mouse button pressed and "circ l i n g "
the unit. You know that a unit is selected when
a green circle surrounds it, and you see an elongated rectangle at the base of the unit. The
morale of the unit is indicated by the colors
red, yellow, or green. A newly recruited unit always starts at the lowest possible morale. It will
then increase month by month to the maximum level allowed by your technology level.
The Information window provides additional
information about the chosen unit, such as unit
commander, strength, and attrition. You may
also split the unit into two parts, merge units
by first choosing all units in a province, and also reorganize – or customize – your units. Finally, you may opt to disband the unit.
Movement of Troops
When you have clicked the area you want to
move your army unit into, the troops will start
marching. You also see a green arrow showing
the direction of the march. If you wish to do
something else for a moment, such as take care
of your province, you will see the green arrow if
you choose the unit again. As you may have noticed, it will take a relatively long time to move
your troops to the new area. The movement of
troops takes a varying amount of time depending on the composition of the unit and the
state of the province to which you are moving
the unit. The province you moved your unit to
was undiscovered, giving you the maximum
t r a n s p o rtation time. In game time it takes at
least three months to move an army unit into
an undiscovered area. Note that you can reset
the speed of the game if you think the pace is
too slow at the beginning.
Discovered and Undiscovered Terrain
Discovered terrain is any terrain which is fully
disclosed on the map, while undiscovered terrain is only partly visible. The undiscovered terrain is partly covered by white, just like in old
maps, where any unknown terrain was represented in this fashion. Ulster was the only discovered terrain when you started the scenario.
Now you have discovered some more. Yo u
must discover any terrain that is only partly visible before you may conquer it. Normally you
need a Conquistador, or land military technology level of 11 in order to discover provinces.
Undiscovered sea zones usually require an Explorer or Naval technology level of 21. We have
made an exception from this rule in the learning scenario to let you discover provinces at an
earlier stage.
Occupied and Non-Occupied Terrain
"A nation always has an army, either its own or
somebody else’s," is a classical saying. This is
also correct in principle for this game. If you
see a province on the map containing a soldier,
it is an army unit occupying the province. If the
p rovince looks empty you may left click the
p rovince. If it belongs to somebody else you
will see the level of fortification. Fortifications
always have garrisons. Extremely few provinces
belonging to European nations completely
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Europa Universalis
lack fortifications, but there may be colonies
without them, or quite undeveloped provinces
at the very fringes of Europe. Fortifications are
not very common in the New World, but instead have loose confederations of tribes and
clans. This mean that somebody occupies almost every territory.
Strictly speaking, sea zones are not occupied.
Instead the struggle concerns the shipping
lanes. Anyone who is able to stop others from
using the shipping lanes therefore exerts a certain influence.
Colonization and Economy
The importance of a good economy cannot be
overrated. The economic wealth of your count ry determines how much of your re s o u rc e s
you can invest into various activities, from research to war. What then, are the cornerstones
of your economy? Most of your income will
come from production and taxes, which are
generated by your population. The population
lives in the provinces, which provides two main
paths that enable you to broaden your economic base: war and colonization.
To Colonize a Province
When you click the colonization button (the
button that resembles a small, light blue ship),
the map changes to show which provinces you
can colonize (dark green) and which you cannot colonize (bone white). This is called the
Colonial map. When you choose a province to
colonize, information will appear in the Information window; that is where you choose
w h e re to send your colonists. Your colonists
may also be used as merchants, which will be
described later.
10
From HMS Mayflower to Cities
Colonies can be upgraded, and for each
colonist it is upgraded one level. A colony may
have up to six levels, where each level re p resents 100 inhabitants. When a colony reaches
700 inhabitants it is turned into a norm a l
province with a city. From then on you are able
to recruit troops and build fortifications in the
province.
Note that the economy of the province develops over time as the population grows. From the
moment you have established your colony, it ex-
periences a monthly increase in population. It is
positive if the country has a high level of stabilit y, and negative if stability is low. This means that
a first level colony may develop into a pro v i n c e
with a city without you having to send more
colonists. Population growth will not be very
high, which means that such a development will
take a long time. A first level colony rarely produces any revenue, while a sixth level colony is
m o re or less a small province. Each colonist
brings along 100 people.
The colonist, the leader of the expedition
consisting of 100 people, always starts out
from your capital, and is portrayed as a horse
and carriage and as a small sailing ship. The further away from your capital, the longer it takes
to complete the actual colonization. When you
establish a colony it may happen that the
colony receives the state religion of your country, and that may be interpreted as the presence
of a number of priests among the colonists. It is
an advantage if the religion of the province is
the same as the state religion, as diff e re n c e s
may result in rebellions during times of unrest.
Europa Universalis
The Financial Summary
H e re you get an overview of the economic
state of your countr y. Remember that the entire economy is affected by the stability of your
c o u n t ry; low stability results in low re v e n u e s
and technology levels, while a high stability rating will optimize both revenues and development. You will also find that income will increase when you upgrade buildings and receive
higher technology levels in the areas of infrastructure and trade.
Be careful with inflation. Inflation increases
proportionally with the amount of money you
choose to receive each month (by minting
coins), and by taking loans from the citizens of
your country or from other countries. The
normal state, where inflation does not increase,
is when you do not take out a monthly income;
that is, by increasing the amount of coins in
your country. At that point you only have your
annual income available. Note also that gold
mines will increase inflation. If you have gold
mines you can never completely avoid inflation.
Your best cure against inflation is the Govern o r. By appointing mayors to governors you
lower the rate of inflation. Remember that inflation is relative—as long as the increases in
prices are lower than the increases in revenue, it
is not a bad thing, at least not in the short run.
The Budget Window
The state budget lets you decide on how to
manage your re s o u rces for development, investments in stability, and public consumption
in the form of appointments of officials, diplomacy, and the armed forces. This may be classified into three separate areas.
The first is research, which results in qualitative advantages. Military units get a higher
morale, better fire p o w e r, and greater impact.
M e rchants become more competitive and
make greater profits. Infrastructure provides a
higher degree of effectiveness in production.
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The second area is stability, which affects eve ry area of your country. Stability affects the
economy, troop morale, the risk of rebellion in
your provinces, and whether your vengeful
neighbors will think it wise to attack or not. If
anything is more important than other factors,
it must be stability. It also affects the total size
of your state budget, which means that total investments in technology will be lower over
time if you go along with a lower stability,
rather than investing in maximum stability.
Your third concern is public consumption,
or actually the expenditure of liquid assets from
your tre a s u ry on a monthly basis. You spend
these ducats on more troops, more war ships,
more colonists, and more merchants.
Trade and Merchants
Historically you could say that the global economy did not exist until the discovery of America. The easiest way of looking at the global
economy of that era is as a number of adjacent
local economies. These local economies were
connected to each other with sometimes weak,
and sometimes strong ties. The ties consisted
of course of the merchants, and the power connecting them was external trade. The greater
the number of local economies connected, the
m o re trade increased. When trade incre a s e d ,
both demand and supply increased, giving rise
to global trade over time.
Each province in the game belongs to a center of trade. Goods are exchanged at the center
of trade, prices are fixed, and profits and losses
are divided through the care of invisible hands.
Trade during the 1492–1792 period had much
stronger ties to the state and the monarch than
t o d a y. The merchants you send off into the
world probably belong to some public or semipublic trading company.
Placing Merchants
You may only set out merchants at your centers
of trading. In order to get there you click either
on the Trade button, or on the small trading
company in the province on your map. In this
case it’s Ulster.
Deploying merchants costs money, including their upkeep. It is more expensive to set out
and keep merchants abroad than in your own
country, and even more expensive the further
away from your own country you get. Each
m e rchant you have set out in the center of
trade provides a yearly income, depending on
the total trade value of each center of trade.
A center of trade covering a low number of
p rovinces, with commonly available goods
(such as fish, grain, and wool), has a lower trade
value and will provide lower revenues, than a
center of trade covering several provinces, trading with exotic goods such as ivory, slaves, and
spices. Your technological level will also aff e c t
the profitability and competitiveness of your
m e rchants. When many countries appoint merchants in the same center of trade a veritable
trade war may very well eru p t .
The Economical Effects of Trade
The economical effects of trade should not be
underestimated. A raised level in trading technology with lots of provinces and trading
posts, the trade centers will turn into veritable
gold mines for anyone managing to maintain a
monopoly. Additionally the effects of being the
leading producer of certain goods will provide
unimaginable profit, when war, rebellion, and
c a t a s t rophes strike the European continent,
changing all prices. Note also the importance
of having a center of trade within your own
c o u n t ry. New colonies and trading posts will
almost exclusively end up under the authority
of your own center of trade. This will increase
both your immediate profits, and also the trade
value of your center of trade. It is also easier to
be competitive in your own center of trade, but
more about that later.
Fleets and Sea Transport
The fleet is a military unit consisting of a vary i n g
number of ships in the same way that an arm y
unit consists of a varying number of tro o p s .
T h e re are three types of ship in the game: Wa rships, Galleys, and Tr a n s p o rt Vessels. Wa r s h i p s
have a transport capacity of 1; galleys have a
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t r a n s p o rt capacity of 0.5, and transport vessels a
capacity of 2. What is transport capacity? Each
a rmy unit has a weight; the transport capacity of
your fleet indicates how many troops you are
able to transport. Cavalry and art i l l e ry have
g reater weight than infantry. The total weight of
each army unit and the transport capacity of the
fleet can be found in the Information window
whenever you have selected a unit. War ships are
m o re effective in battle, galleys are the least expensive, and transport vessels have the larg e s t
t r a n s p o rt capacity. Galleys should be kept in the
Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Black
Sea, as this ship type is useless on the open sea.
All fleet units suffer "attrition" when at sea.
When you choose a fleet unit you will find the
current attrition speed in the Information wind o w. This is shown in connection with the
small skull. There is no attrition when a fleet is
in port, which means that you need to send
your fleets into port at regular intervals in order to maintain the ships. If a fleet transporting
army units is sent to port the army units will be
unloaded automatically in that pro v i n c e .
Merging, splitting, reorganizing, and dissolving fleets is done in exactly the same way as
army units are merged, etc.
Loading of Army Units
First you need to order your fleet into a sea
zone, and then order an army unit in an adjacent province to load onto the fleet. You cannot load the fleet unless it is in port.
When the troops are loaded you will find a
new button in the information window when
you choose the fleet. Click this button when
you want to unload the army unit in another
adjacent province.
Unloading an Army Unit from a Fleet
Choose the fleet and click the unloading button. You will now see the army unit on the
map. Now click the province where you wish to
unload your army unit. The troops will now
start marching to the province.
Trading posts
A colony is a province providing some produce
and a small amount of trade. Trading posts do
not provide any produce to speak of, but instead provide a better trade value affecting the
center of trade to which it belongs. By establishing many trading posts, preferably in
p rovinces producing unusual goods, you
quickly increase the trading value of the center
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of trade they belong to, and if you have a
monopoly or a large number of merc h a n t s
t h e re, you will receive good revenues fro m
your invested funds. The trading posts may be
improved up to six levels. At the higher levels
the trading posts have a great trading value.
You build trading posts by sending out merchants. Click the colonization button. As we
mentioned previously, you have some colonists
available—the number is shown in the line
above the map. These can be used either as
colonists or merchants. Historically the first
colonizations happened when the Euro p e a n
countries first established trading posts in an
area, and later on colonized it. Trading posts
are cheaper than colonies and are usually easier
to establish than colonies. It is also easier to
maintain a colony in a province where you already have a trading post, as compared with a
neutral and empty province.
How to Establish a Trading Post
Click the colonization button. Now you see
the map in its colonization view. Bone white
provinces are not available for colonization or
trading posts. They are either undiscovered, al-
ready fully developed provinces with more
than 5000 inhabitants, or belong to other
countries. Possible prospects are all of the
green colored provinces. If the province is dark
green, you already have a colony there, if the
color is medium green, you have a trading post,
and if the color is light green, you have neither.
Click the province where you wish to establish
a trading post, and then click the button "Send
merchant." You will now see a figure unpacking pots from a chest as a sign of work in
progress. When placing the pointer above the
merchant you will see how long it will take until the trading post is ready for business.
Neighboring Countries
Your neighbors are naturally of great interest to
you, whether they are your allies or your enemies. Normally you know about your European neighbors and their provinces, but usually you know nothing about the non-European
countries. You must discover them. You are also only able to send diplomats to a country if
you know about it, and diplomacy is one of
your most important tools for survival and expansion.
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Diplomacy
Diplomacy can be used in many ways. The
diplomats you send out are your tools when
you want to achieve something. What is it you
want to achieve? You can offer royal marriages
or alliances, or take up such offers. You may dec l a re war or offer peace. You may try to exchange geographical knowledge, and you may
c reate better relations to other countries
through gifts and tokens of respect, or worsen
relations through insults and bans.
Royal marriages are a good thing. They imp rove relations and make it difficult to carry
out declarations of war. The alliances you enter
are also important, as you will easily fall prey to
other alliances if you do not belong to any. It is
quite possible to defend yourself against another power, but if three, or even four, other countries attack, you are in deep trouble.
In order to use diplomacy you click the
diplomacy button below the information wind o w. This opens a diplomacy menu for your
country. You may look at another country on
the map at any time. By clicking the "coat of
a rms" of that country you may review the
diplomatic situation of that country. You have
a number of choices in your diplomacy menu.
By clicking an option, that diplomatic mission
will be performed and you will have one diplomat less. Note that if you make an offer of royal marriage or an alliance the monarch will not
automatically accept the off e r. The deciding
factor for such a decision is your previous relations. If you have attacked and occupied a
number of small and innocent countries your
surroundings will naturally treat you like an international pariah.
War
War is one of the fastest and best ways of expanding politically and economically. War also
has its share of disadvantages. Your re s e a rc h
will often suffer, as you probably need to invest
heavily in stability after each war. Wars almost
always destabilize your country. War also affects the risk of rebellion in your provinces. A
land with multiple religions often risks a "great
mess" each time a war drags out in time.
To Prepare for War
B e f o re you declare war you need to pre p a re .
This usually means that you expand your
a rmies and fleets in order to obtain local
s u p re m a c y. You should also compare your
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strength to the strength of your potential enemies. If you are well pre p a red you suffer less
risk of having to finance your war with war taxes and increased minting of coins. Note that attrition is higher for army units that are moved
during the winter months. Plan your war accordingly. It is also important to consider the
allies of your potential enemy, and trying to figure out how your own stability will be affected.
On the one hand you check to see if you have
any Casus Belli (Latin for "cause of war"),
which will decrease your loss of stability because of the declaration of war, and on the other hand by declaring war and then "regretting
the act." When you declare war you are informed of the size of your loss of stability and
what caused it.
To Declare a War
War can be declared either from the diplomacy
menu, where you go to the country in question
and click the line "declare war," or by honoring
an alliance where one of your allies either has
declared war on another country, or has been
attacked.
To Win a War
In order to win a war you must be victorious in
battles and naval engagements and/or capturing the provinces of the enemy. You capture a
p rovince by moving an army unit into a
p rovince, defeating any enemy units in the
province, and performing a successful siege or
assault. When your flag is waving above the
town, colony, or trading post of the province,
you control it and this will be counted to your
advantage during peace negotiations. Note
that the opposite is true for your opponent,
which means that you should try to avoid losses in battle and try to hang on to your
provinces. Extended wars lead to exhaustion,
which often results in rebellion in your various
provinces.
Offers of Peace
In order to make an offer of peace you click a
p rovince belonging to (or that has belonged
to) the enemy. Then click the diplomacy menu.
H e re you click on the line saying "Offer of
Peace." Here you see the results of the war,
through the number of stars or tombstones in
the information window. If you see tombstones you should consider offering a tribute
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and/or provinces in order to gain peace. If you
find stars you may often demand a tribute
and/or provinces. Each star or tombstone represents a province or 250 ducats, which you either may offer or demand. You may only offer
to give up provinces, which have belonged to
you, and are now controlled by the enemy, and
you may only demand provinces, which have
belonged to your enemy, and now are in your
c o n t rol. If you demand provinces that belonged to your enemy at the start of the scenario, that is, his or her core provinces, the enemy now has a Casus Belli (cause for going to
war) against your country.
C) Activities
Countries
Each player runs a country. Each country consists of one or several provinces and possessions
(the diff e rence will be explained later). Yo u r
country has a border marked on the map, and if
you wish to view the political map, the
provinces of each country are marked with the
same color. Each country has a monarch and a
state religion. Most of the countries are located
in Europe, but there are a few non-European
countries spread out in the world that may be
included in the game. Certain countries have a
special political status - these countries may be
played. Each scenario defines the countries you
a re allowed to play. The diff e r ence between
player countries and other countries is that a
player country may not be occupied as the result of a peace treaty or through diplomatic
means (see Peace Treaties and War Damages).
Provinces
The province is the smallest geographical unit
of the game. There are two types of political
status for the provinces. They either belong to
a country, or they are independent. Your country consists of provinces belonging to you. The
p rovinces are fully developed, as opposed to
possessions. This means they have cities, where
you may appoint officials, and where you may
build ships and raise army units. Possessions
are provinces that lack a city, but have either a
colony or a trading post. Any province that
does not belong to a country is an independent
province. These provinces only exist outside of
Europe, and are populated by natives, organizing their societies through clan and tribal systems. The independent provinces do not have
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standing army units; instead native war bands
will meet you if you move an army unit into the
province. You may colonize or construct trading posts in independent provinces, there b y
gaining a certain level of control. Only countries may have a colony or a trading post in an
independent province. When a colony or a
trading post is established, the province is no
longer considered independent. A basic difference between a province with a city and a
p rovince with a colony is that you can build
ships and raise army units in the former, including appointing officials, and establishing factories. You may not do any of this in a province
with a colony.
A coastal province is a province with a port.
Note that in order to have a port the province
must either have a city or a colony. A province
with just a trading post may never have a port.
Having coastal provinces also affects the number of colonists and merchants your country
will receive each year. Also note that ships do
not suffer attrition when in port, because they
can be maintained. If you have a large country
with provinces on several continents, you will
18
do better if you have ports in as many places as
possible, in order to send your ships in to port
now and then, to avoid suffering attrition (See
Attrition). The provinces you start the game
with are your core provinces and your most imp o rtant ones. Core provinces are marked on
the political map with small shields. The country a province belongs to is noted by the flag
waving above the city, the colony, or the trading post. During times of peace you may only
move your army units from and to provinces
belonging to your own country, or into independent provinces. During times of war you
may also move army units into provinces belonging to allied countries and dependent
states, and into countries with which you are at
war. There is also one exception. The Emperor
of the Holy Roman Empire may freely move
his army units within the borders of the Empire
(see The Holy Roman Empire).
Note that a province may belong to one
c o u n t r y, but may be controlled by another.
This happens when two countries are at war
with each other, and one of the countries has
occupied a province belonging to the other
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c o u n t r y. When peace has been declared, all
c o n t rolled provinces re t u rn to the original
o w n e r, unless they have been surre n d e red as
part of the peace treaty. There are two exceptions. The first depends on whether you have
signed the Tordesilla Treaty or not (see The
Tordesilla Treaty), because you may then move
into and take control of the colonies or trading
posts of other countries, regardless of whether
you have been at war with these countries or
not. The other exception applies if rebels manage to seize one of your provinces. The
p rovince still belongs to you, but the re b e l s
control it. If another country controls any of
your provinces, you will not receive any income
f rom these provinces. You will see that a
province is controlled by another country if the
flag of another country is flying above the city,
the colony or the trading posts. (Rebels fly a
red flag.) In order to take control of a province
you must capture the city, either by storm or
siege. Provinces with cities lacking fort i f i c ations, and provinces with colonies or trading
posts are automatically controlled when you
move an army unit into it. Also note that
provinces under your control will be counted
to your advantage during peace negotiations.
Sea Zones
The seas are vast open areas. During this period
the chances of controlling the seas was limited
by the quality of the ships and their crews, the
basic resources, and of course the weather. The
sea is therefore divided into sea zones. Each sea
zone is an area where fleets have a limited influence. Each fleet actually consists of a main part
and several smaller patrols. When the patro l s
discovered enemy ships, the main part of the
fleet was assembled to deal with the enemy
fleet. This means that battles between fleets do
not occur automatically; this depends on the
quality of the fleets. The main problem was
finding the enemy and creating local superiority. If you did not succeed the engagement was
called off. Your territorial waters are the sea
zones off the coast from your coastal provinces.
Here you have several advantages, as you know
the waters, the weather, and you are close to
your bases for maintenance.
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Cities and Capitals
Your capital is shown on the map. This is the
city belonging to the province where you find
your shield. The province with your capital
may not be surrendered during peace negotiations other than by occupation (see Peace
Treaties and War Damages). The city shows a
graphic representation of the level of development of your province. What you see in the inf o rmation window is a picture of the city, as
you build ships, raise army units, upgrade
buildings, and build factories. The population
level of your city indicates the wealth of your
province. Normally the population of the city
will increase over time, but it may also drop because of war, rebellions, random events, and if
the city is situated in an area of adverse geographical conditions, for example in the
African tropics. When a colony has 700 inhabitants it develops into a city. The city is still colonial, and in order to become a real European
city with efficient production the pro v i n c e
must have at least 5000 inhabitants.
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Trading posts and Colonies
When you have established a trading post or a
colony in a province you gain control of the
province. In other words, the province is now
yours. This means that no other country may
use the province for troop movements during
peace, and no other countr y may establish
trading posts or colonies in the province. You
may lose your province either through negative
population growth because of the geographic
conditions, which will make your population
drop to zero, or by ceding the province to another country as part of a peace treaty. You may
also lose a trading post either because an enemy
army unit burned it to the ground during war
(see Trading Posts and Merchants), or by ceding the province to another country as part of a
peace treaty.
Trading posts and colonies are called possessions, and are diff e rent from provinces with
cities, partly because of population levels, and
partly because of the development levels. The
difference between a trading post and a colony
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is that the trading post provides a low production value and a high trading value, while the
colony provides a high production value and a
low trading value. In addition the colony has
population growth and may be developed into
a city, while a trading post does not have population growth, nor may it be developed into a
province with a city. You may still develop your
trading posts into colonies by sending colonists
to your trading posts.
Terra Incognita and Permanent Terra
Incognita
Both "Terra Incognita" and "Permanent Terra
Incognita" are undiscovered areas. Te rr a
Incognita re p resents provinces and sea zones
not yet discovered by your countr y. When
these are discovered, either by moving arm y
units or ships through them, or by trading
maps with other countries, the areas cease to be
Terra Incognita and become part of the known
world, as your country knows it. Note that you
n o rmally need a Conquistador, or you must
have reached Land Military level 11 in order to
discover provinces. For undiscovered sea zones
you need an Explorer or you must have
reached Naval Technology level 21.
P e rmanent Te rra Incognita re p re s e n t s
undiscovered areas not consisting of provinces
or sea zones. Permanent Terra Incognita comprises the areas that were not explored at all at
this time. Historically, there were several areas
that were not discovered until after 1792 (such
as some parts of Siberia and Australia), or
which had been discovered earlier, but where
all knowledge about it had faded into legends
(such as the interior of Africa), and finally areas
which could not be explored using the technology of the times (such as certain Northern
sea routes).
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Stability and the Wrath of
Your Subjects
What is Stability?
The political culture of Europe during the period was not an isolated phenomenon. How
each country should behave in regards to both
domestic and foreign policy had already been
f o rmulated during the height of the Roman
Empire, and had later been developed during
the Middle Ages. The ideological start i n g point at the end of the 15th century was Christianity as a unit. Civilization was defined within
the framework of Christianity and consequently, what constituted civilized behavior between
countries. A similar starting-point existed in
the Moslem countries, where "country" was
not a properly recognized concept. Instead
they re g a rded all Moslems as part of the
Moslem Haram. Internally the division of society was frozen, partly because of the division of
power between various groups during the late
Middle Ages, but also through domestic policy, which could be described as a struggle or
game between various groups in society. The
monarch naturally played a large part.
You should also be aware of the advantages
associated with breaches against "the international rules." The princes of the Renaissance
were soon involved in a highly advanced game
of political struggle, where a European hegemony was the goal. In this aspect you should
consider the abstract concept of stability. If the
monarch broke the formal and informal rules,
both his foreign and domestic reputation fell,
including the status of his country. The response to declarations of war was often your
own declarations of war, which caused a spiral
of injustice, war, and revenge that affected all
of Europe.
Stability is thus affected by both the international status of your country, and by the relations between your monarch and his subjects.
The stability of your country may vary on a seven-point scale from –3 to +3.
Things that Lower Stability
There are several reasons why stability may deteriorate, but the most important are definitely
declarations of war. Declarations of war were
not regarded lightly by anyone in Europe during the period, perhaps with the exception of
the issuer. In other countries the monarchs and
the governments viewed any declaration of war
with concern, because it might upset the balance of power of the region. You could say that
society viewed the country as a person and the
declaration of war as a physical attack. Yo u
could make this attack if you had good and
proper reasons (see Casus Belli), but uncalled
for wars were punished by force. As a result of a
declaration of war, you could lose prestige and
international honor. Add to this the quite negative reactions of the population, as war meant
levies, inflation, and raised taxes. A declaration
of war without Casus Belli lowers the stability
of your country by two steps (–2). A declaration of war with a proper Casus Belli does not
affect your stability at all. Religion was something that united and divided countries during
the epoch. It was thought of as an un-Christian
and therefore it was immoral to declare war on
a country with the same religion, which meant
that the population and the priests re a c t e d
quite negatively if any monarch chose that
route. A declaration of war against a country of
the same religion lowers your stability an additional step (–1). To declare war against an allied country was seen as truly degenerate behavior, lowering your stability yet another step
(–1) if the country under attack has ties
through a royal marriage with yours. If you declare war against your own vassal your stability
will drop another three steps (–3), while ending your vassal ties without a declaration of war
lowers stability by three steps (–3). If you dec l a re war against a country with which you
have a peace treaty, your stability will drop by
another five steps (–5); in effect, this means
that you will become an international pariah.
Peace treaties remain in effect for five years.
Some other important factors that lowered
stability during the period were various politi-
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cal acts of a dubious nature. Breaking your foreign promises immediately lowered the reputation of a country and its prestige. The principle
of "Pact Sund Servanda" (agreements are
binding) was a basic rule already in Roman law,
and had been incorporated in the diplomatic
life of the times. Annulling a royal marr i a g e
could be a good thing for your country in
many ways, but the stability of your country is
l o w e red by one step (–1). You are seen as
flighty and insecure in your foreign relations,
which is cause for strong irritation among any
groups of society with strong connections with
the country in question. If you decide to sack a
vassal your stability is lowered by three steps
(–3). Especially the nobility will question your
f o reign competence. A vassal has subjected
himself to your decisions, even though this is
mostly of a formal nature, which means that
dissolving the relationship is regarded as a sign
of your weakness. If you leave an alliance your
stability is lowered by one step (–1), which
means that many powerful men in the upper
levels of society probably have invested a lot of
prestige and friendship in the alliance that you
are leaving. The same thing occurs if you refuse
to honor an alliance; for example, if you do not
help a brother when a third country attacks
him. It will lower your stability by one step
(–1). Sharp foreign turns will create uncertainty about your future direction in the political
game. If you refuse a country the chance to
trade at your trade centers you also lower stability by one step (–1). Your neighbors will feel
threatened, because what you did against one
country may be repeated against another.
Finally, there are five general causes for lowered stability. The first occurs if your country
goes bankrupt. Bankruptcy occurs if you have
taken out five loans from the national treasury
(loans from other countries are not counted),
and you are unable to repay them when they
are due, or when you have taken out five loans,
and your monthly costs are higher than your
monthly income. With bankruptcy the stability
of your country is lowered by one step (–1).
The population has lost confidence in the abil-
ity of the monarch and the government when it
comes to handling your finances. The same
thing applies when you are unable to repay a
loan from another country, as your stability is
lowered by one step (–1). Stability is also lowered if you decide to raise war taxes (see War
Taxes), which means that you further increase
the burdens of your country while lowering
stability by one step (–1). The fourth reason is
a change of state religion. Changing state religion normally means a huge transformation of
society, affecting every level of society. Some of
your subjects will celebrate, while others will
stage a revolution. Changing the state religion
lowers your stability by five steps (–5), except if
you change from the Catholic Church to
Counter Reformed Catholicism. (For a longer
description, see Religion.) Finally some random events may lower the stability of your
country (see Random Events).
Please also note that all effects are cumulative; that is, if you have a stability of 0, and dec l a re war against a country without a Casus
Belli, and in addition you have ties to that
c o u n t ry through royal marriage, and a peace
t re a t y, this will lower your stability by eight
steps (–2–1–5=–8). As mentioned earlier, you
may not have a stability of less than –3, but for
each additional step you will suffer an automatic rebellion in each of your provinces. In this
case your stability will drop from 0 to –3, and
then you will have 5 rebellions in each of your
provinces.
Things that Increase Stability
You may increase the stability of your country by investing in stability in your state budget
(see Investing in Stability). This is handled as a
c e rtain sum set aside for this purpose each
month, which you may view in the information
window. Note that the cost of increasing stability is higher if you have a large country, as you
must appease more people. When the gre e n
line has reached its end the stability of your
country is increased by one step (+1), and the
green line starts anew at the beginning. This is
to be interpreted as the monarch and the gov-
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ernment making concessions to various groups
of society; for example, a temporary lowering
of taxes for the peasants, land grants for the nob i l i t y, trading rights for the townsmen, or
greater freedom for the serfs. You may also see
the cost as part of certain actions, like replacing
b a i l i f fs, changing the laws, etc. Finally they
may cover the cost of raising the prestige of
your country; for example, by holding splendid
weddings, raising the magnificence of the
court, etc. You cannot raise stability above +3
by investments. The rate of increases will be
lower if you are at war, for each quarter you
have been at war, and for each province cont rolled by the enemy (core provinces are
counted twice and the capital is counted as ten
normal provinces). All investments made when
your stability is at +3 will result in ducats for
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your treasury. Note that certain random occurrences may raise stability (see Random Events).
When you are victorious at war, and have managed to annex formerly independent countries
(see Annexation), your stability will increase by
one step (+1), as your victory will increase your
international prestige and make a big impression on your subjects.
What Is Affected by Stability?
To begin with, all population levels of your
cities and your colonies and all your monthly
and annual income are affected. During bad
times with spreading unrest the population often decreases. If your stability is low you are
p robably at war with another country. Yo u r
population is decreasing through levies, people
running off into the woods, and because of
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plagues that were often a result of the wars. In
game terms you will be able to view the percentage of increase or decrease of your population by clicking the church of a province. If
conditions are really bad, cities and colonies
may have a negative growth, which means that
they are being depopulated. Population levels
d e t e rmine the production income of your
p rovinces, which means that stability will determine the long-term development of your income. The administrative system is also less effective when there is unrest. Bailiffs were not
obeyed, roads and communications deteriorated, and people evaded their taxes to a greater
extent, resulting in a higher cost of living with
l o w e red consumption and production. This
will mean that your tax income will incre a s e
and decrease in pro p o rtion to your stability.
You see this as changes in your annual income
and also by checking up on your Financial
Summary.
Trade is also affected by the same phenomena.
Declines in both domestic and foreign trade
were common during wars and during periods
of unrest in general. This is portrayed by a connection between your annual quota of merchants and your stability. If your stability is at
the lower end – that is, –3 or –2 – you will have
g reat difficulties getting the merchants to do
business; they will simply lack all incentive to
trade, which lowers your pool of merchants by
two (–2). If your stability is at –1, your pool is
lowered by only one merchant (–1). If stability
is at 0 or +1, you gain one (+1) or two (+2) extra merchants. If the stability of your country is
excellent, +2 or +3, you gain three extra merchants. In addition, stability affects the ability
of the merchants to get into the trade centers,
as well as their ability to compete with merchants who are already present. Note also that
the annual interest of your loans varies along
with your stability.
Your diplomatic skills and the risk of rebellion
are also affected by the stability of your count ry. When it comes down to your diplomatic
abilities, you may not declare wars if your stability is at the very bottom (at –3). This is part-
ly due to social unrest and the fact that court
intrigue is at such a high level that the monarch
and the government are unable to deal with
anything other than trying to keep the country
united. To fight a war at such a time is impossible. The risk of rebellion in your provinces is in
direct proportion to your stability. The lower
your stability is, the greater the risk of re b e llions, and vice versa. You can read more about
this later in the manual.
Rebellions and the Risk of Rebellion
Rebellions were fairly common during the period, primarily during the early part, the 16th
and 17th centuries, while decreasing in scope
and frequency during the later years. There are
several reasons for this. Normally re b e l l i o n s
w e re caused by social or religious injustices
against the broad base of society, known as
"peasant uprisings." A fortunate start of a rebellion re q u i red leaders and even administrators in order to compete with the governmental power, and this is where the nobility and
prominent townsmen entered the picture. Any
successful rebellion re q u i red that all levels of
society got involved if they wanted to change
social reality. A few such "successful" rebellions
are the war of liberation of Gustavus Vasa, and
the French Revolution, but even properly organized and solid rebellions could fail in the
end. The fewer rebellions at the end of the period were usually due to the fact that few rebels
had access to the modern weapons technologies available to the government, and the inc reasing difficulties in uniting diff e rent social
classes. The arm of the government had become longer, and its grip was also much
stronger.
The risk of rebellion varied from province to
province. In order to review the risk of rebellion as a percentage value, click the church of
the province and point at "Risk of Rebellion."
You will then see what the risk is, and what is
causing it. You may also look at the map showing religions, where you see all provinces with
various levels of shading. The darker the shad
is, the greater the risk of rebellion. The two
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most important causes for rebellion are the level of stability and the level of tolerance of the
monarch and the government toward the religion of the provincial population (note that a
p rovince may have another religion than the
"state religion" – see "State Religion and
Provincial Religion). The risk of rebellion is in
direct proportion to the stability and the level
of tolerance; that is, the lower the values, the
g reater the risk of rebellion, and vice versa.
T h e re are also a few general factors aff e c t i n g
the risk of rebellion. The risk is always lower in
the province with your capital, because the
monarch and the government have much better political control, compared with the other
p rovinces. If you have built a factory in the
province the risk is lower as the population has
a higher production, which results in a higher
standard of living. On the other hand, the risk
will increase if you have appointed a bailiff as
tax collector, as more efficient taxation leads to
less income for the population. You may also
lower the risk of rebellion by appointing a
lawyer as high judge, as this improves the judi-
26
cial system and the police. The game incorporates a special case, which may be good to
know about: the phenomenon is called "Dutch
nationalism" and will occur sometimes during
the second half of the 16th century. It will result in a heavily increased risk of rebellion in the
Dutch core provinces, which originally (1492)
belonged to Spain. This "nationalism" was
controlled by religion. The risk is affected by
the religion of the provinces. If the country
they belong to has a different religion, the risk
of rebellion will be much higher.
What happens when there is a re b e l l i o n ?
Each month there will be an uprising in each
province, and the chance of success depends on
the risk for rebellion. When a province rebels, a
rebel army unit appears, carrying a red flag. It
immediately engages any regular army units in
the province and then starts a siege of the fortified city. If the rebel forces manage to take the
province, the red flag will fly above the city. If
the city garrison also rebels, then the rebels will
automatically control the city. This means that
the rebels will control the province, and also
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that the risk of rebellion will increase in each
adjacent province, and that the rebel forces will
move into the next province in order to conquer it. A rebellion may spread like wildfire all
over your country if you are unable to stop it in
time.
The same things apply to provinces cont rolled by enemies as to provinces contro l l e d
by rebels; you do not get any income from the
province until you have manage to retake it. If
the rebels manage to take control of enough
provinces (the number to be controlled varies
from country to country), two things may occur. Either the rebels are allowed to take over
the sovereignty of certain provinces (more
about this in the next chapter), or the "government will fall." If the government falls, you return to stability level +3 and regain all of your
p rovinces that used to be controlled by the
rebels, and all rebel army units disappear.
There is also a chance of your country switching state religion. The rebels were simply able
to win, and you just lost a whole lot of victory
points.
How do you get rid of a rebellion? If low levels of tolerance caused the rebellion, these can
be changed. If the level of stability in your
country is low, you may try to change that, because rebellions decrease if stability is high. But
if a rebellion has succeeded, and you now have
a rebel force in your country, your only way of
dealing with it is through the use of forc e ,
sending an army unit into the province and defeating the rebels in a field battle. When an
a rmy unit is fighting and taking losses, then
morale decreases over time, until the unit panics and has to retire. The rebels will never retire. If the morale of the rebels reaches the panic level the unit simply dissolves. Do not forget
that provinces conquered and controlled by
rebels will generate new rebel forces, which
must be conquered in order to put a stop to the
rebellion.
Liberation Movements
A liberation movement may start as a regular
rebellion, but may develop after a while into a
liberation movement with demands of inde-
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pendence. Certain areas, like Brittany, Norway,
Catalonia, and the Ukraine, among others,
may develop into liberation movements, and
then proclaiming their independence, but this
is also true of formerly existing countries,
which have been annexed during wars. The
p rovinces under the control of the rebels are
simply transferred from your country to a new
c o u n t r y, which has just appeared. The new
country starts its existence automatically at war
with your country. There is nothing that prevents you from conquering the new country
and annexing it.
Example: France (stability 0) is at war with
Switzerland. The monarch and the government are of the firm opinion that the war may
be won, and decide to switch the state religion
f rom Catholicism to Protestantism. Stability
d rops to –3, and rebellions start in several
Catholic provinces. The war with Switzerland
is not successful, and an alliance consisting of
Spain, Lorraine, and Cologne declares war
with France. After half a decade France has lost
a few provinces to the "alliance," but Provence
28
and Brittany have appeared as independent
countries. The "alliance" refuses to offer peace
without massive concessions of land, and
France finds it necessary to make smaller concessions to Provence and Brittany, in order to
lower the number of adversaries, thus avoiding
a loss of land to Spain.
Religion and Tolerance
Religion was a very important part of life during
the period. Catholicism was the uniting force in
Christian Europe. In 1492 Castile and Aragon
had "liberated" the Iberian Peninsula from almost 800 years of Moslem government. Neither
the Pope nor the Emperor had the same power
over people any longer as during the Middle
Ages, but religion still served as a common system of thought for the inhabitants of Euro p e .
People on the eastern fringes of Europe still confessed to the Orthodox variety of Christianity,
and lived within a similar, but slightly diff e re n t
system. The Ottoman Empire was both the inheritor of the Byzantine Empire and the
Caliphate of Baghdad, and here the Sunnis were
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