Top 10 Strongest Starting Nations in EU4

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In this video we will be checking out some of the most powerful starting nations to play in europa universalis 4. Whether you are a beginner player learning to play the game or an advanced player looking to choose a nation to conquer the world, this list has you covered.
Want to support my channel and vote for future videos? Check out my Patreon, here: / alzabohd
Special thanks to the following Patreon users who support me:
Andrew Bach, Charles Nadeau, Dante Killebrew, Io Moore, Jack, Kim Harder Fog, Nicholas Walker, Numan Baran Buyukbay, Paul Hutchison, Peter Hayward, Shamir Khodza, Shinde Miya
The music used in this video is "At the Gates of Constantinople", "Commerce in the Peninsula", "Travel the New World", "Winter", "For God and Queen", "Para Bellum" and "Monsoon Dawn" from the EU3 / EU4 / VIC2 OST.
All music is owned and copyrighted under their respective owners. Europa Universalis IV is a grand strategy games published by Paradox Interactive. All rights reserved.
tags:
#europauniversalis4, #eu4, #top10eu4

[@AlzaboHD]

EU4 top 10s are back! This time around, we will check out the strongest starting nations in 1444. What top 10 videos would you like to see in the future? More eu4 later this week - including a brand new guide (Patreon Poll winner!) - so stay tuned!

[@promant6458]

Top 10 most valuable provinces, please.

[@hanneslundin346]

Top ten economic powerhouses?

[@electricVGC]

Top 10 starting dates

[@worstdayever2324]

Best coop nations?

[@danielfrancis7798]

I've been playing a game where every province is independent. I'd like to know what are the best nations to play if all provinces were independent. (Albania has to be one of them.)

[@AdamNoizer]

I'm sorry but I am utterly offended by the simple fact that Granada does not even at least get an honourable mention. Nothing better than starting off with a 1/1/0 ruler and simply the most loving neighbours in the best geo-political position anyone could possibly ask for.

[@AdamNoizer]

Do it Later I really want to but idk how to get through the first Iberia war

[@erikdk321]

@@AdamNoizer Wait a few years for France and Aragon to (hopefully) attack Castille. Attack Castille and bring in Morocco with promises of land.

[@AdamNoizer]

@@erikdk321 How do I promise land to Morocco? do you need a DLC? And I rarely find that Castille is attacked by Aragon or France before Castille attacks granada. Usually aragon will attack castille when castille is already losing a war to someone.

[@erikdk321]

@@AdamNoizer Promising land requires Cossacks dlc, but Im sure it's not essential. To avoid being attacked first you need to ally Tunis and Morocco. Another thing I forgot to mention: Conquer all or most of Tlemcen ASAP with help from Morocco or Tunis.

[@AdamNoizer]

@@erikdk321 Thanks. Would you say it is better to Vassalise Thlemcen first and then diplo annex them or just annex as much of them as you can outright?

[@RadioRes]

11/10 video. No Ulm in the list because its too OP.

[@AlzaboHD]

Ulm almost made it! It was the false #1. I still need to figure out your 1 day world conquest technique, I tried and it uninstalled my game

[@Dumpster-Baby]

World's greatest crossover

[@winters1998]

why hello there radio res *eyes emoji*

[@RadioRes]

@@winters1998 :eyes:

[@RadioRes]

@@AlzaboHD super secret easter egg btw. If you play day 2 as Ulm, it unlocks EU5...

[@simon89oi]

I have a good starting ideas , i have my only province wich is my room , i'm currently a vassal under my dad but i will declare on him war of independece soon when i get a job .

[@AlzaboHD]

This is an underrated comment!

[@artyomarty391]

no point of gaining independence too quick as its risky business and you might fail and on your ironman game you cant reload. You might wanna build up some wealth first and actually use your vassal leader's support for a time until you have expanded your province and have the funds to afford mercenaries

[@Yental]

I declared Independence on my Dad and then got Vassalisied by my mom

[@BeWe1510]

Imagine beeing a Habsburg where the position of father in law is under control of your uncle through a personal union

[@deadaccount1487]

believe in yourself and you might jus form the german empire!

[@panzertee9790]

Damn if only I were there at the start of the game...

[@AlzaboHD]

Prussia is incredibly strong - they made the cut in the top 10 most powerful formable nations so all is not lost! Thank you for watching

[@panzertee9790]

AlzaboHD Np bro I just stumbled across ur channel and am loving the top tens. Every time i start a new game I look at one of them to help me figure out who to play. Keep up the good work!

[@uteriel282]

brandenburg is still a good pick for a starting nation. 6 provinces with a 7th soon after game start along with a good location between 3 tradenodes. the ability to form prussia and germany as well as relativly weak minor countries all around for easy conquest with claims for the entire german region from the focus tree. and the possibility to get strong allies in poland, austria, hungary and denmark or sweden.

[@filipnassen9076]

What happened to you, Kingdom of Preussia? You used to be cool.

[@mattpliska]

All pathetic in comparison to the empire I founded

[@damianpatek7062]

Castile is more powerful than you think. 1. Iberian wedding. (mentioned) 2. Mission for personal union with Portugal. (mentioned) 3. Possibility to inherit Burgundy early. 4. Easy early attack on France during 100-years war. 5. Most important, +15% land morale from start. 6. Easy access to new lands in africa, and aggressive expansion does not matter there. 7. Easy colonization. It has no real rivals in region if you will start with attacking France, and then England. Edited: actually you can have problems with Austria if they will have some luck, but wait... You have mission to PU them too...

[@vinifalleroliveira]

Have some luck and Spain becomes the strongest nation early on.

[@mytiliss682]

@Un Tipo Serio attacking Aragon makes sense if you want to feed it with expensive Northern Africa cores instead of cheap Iberian and integrate it for free later. Conquering England early is decent strat for BBB. At least it is looking honest compared to nocb with northern or eastern Europe.

[@ericdupuis8819]

@Un Tipo Serio Meh, France is just too strong in the beginning... It's near impossible to lose as France, while it can happen as castile (some unlucky alliance between aragon and france before the iberian wedding happen can cripple you). Though I would argue that it's even easier to do a WC with austria as you just have to reform the HRE and the vassal swarm will win all your wars for you...

[@eVill420]

I have never had the issue of defeating moroccoan navies, ever. It sounds to me that you are just extremely bad at the game. You don't want to hurt aragon because they are basically yours anyway, you can bait france to a mountain fort and annihilate them, especially if they have weak allies, you can take burgundy's land allying with them to defeat france. Then it's usually just feeding the other iberians with north african land and possibly attacking england. That's every slightly hard thing worth mentioning, tho world conquest would be hard to do

[@Whydoyoureadme]

El Surumay All of that is true, and it is also easily controlled. Castile is easy as fuck.

[@erichuang5785]

Ming for old players: starts invading Europe in 50 years Ming for newbie: explodes after eating up the Mongols

[@BlackBull.]

thats actually what happend my first ming game :D

[@ralphsaavedra2326]

dont do any celestial reforms, keep dat mandate high at all timess

[@raptorhacker599]

Just disable mandate of heaven dlc.

[@RotgerValdes]

@@ralphsaavedra2326 Actually you can handle with celestial reforms. Just: 1. Don't enact any reform until you get at least 75% of manpower, 12 Tributaries (the more the merrier but you don't really need more than 20), 3 Stability and a certain amount of admin points to recover it quickly, 0% overextension, 0% war exhaustion, as low unrest and autonomy as possible and forts in the key provinces. Sounds a bit challenging but you're the Ming so it should be easy. 2. Don't start any wars until you recover your mandate. Secure your surroundings first. 3. Wait for the event for the mandate so you can immediately recover a bit.

[@CountArtha]

Marrying your cousin? That's cute. True Habsburgs marry their _nieces_

[@aryaankhan3725]

True Hapsburgs marry their sisters

[@edoardovisaggio6825]

@@aryaankhan3725 laughing in Targaryen

[@kskmohanty5559]

@@edoardovisaggio6825 true mughals marry 100 women.

[@spesd8567]

True egyptians marry their childs

[@4n5h327]

True men dont even go on a date

[@valentinmihalescu608]

Would have put Poland there, i mean in 1444 are pretty bad but you can get PU over Lithuania and Bohemia and as u have 2 vassals of your own you can dismantle the HRE

[@pthea-trick2924]

you forgot the PU they can get over hungary

[@bawanisko847]

You can dismantale hre in first few years really easily

[@gregmccauley1687]

Yeah when I saw Austria was #3 and knowing Ottomans have to be #1 I was wondering if #2 was going to be France or Poland. Both are really strong so I could see either being #2. I actually prefer Poland because of the geographical position. France has to colonize or conquer England/Castile. Poland has access to a lot more attackable neighbors.

[@valentinmihalescu608]

@@pthea-trick2924 i always conquer Hungary :)))

[@DickePerserkatze]

@@pthea-trick2924 Is the PU over Hungary and Bohemia scripted like the PU over Lithuania or in the mission tree or you just have a higher chance obtaining a normal PU over them?^^

[@YuiFunami]

a top 10 most powerful nations outside of europe would be a good video

[@MrWootaz]

Yui Funami or even better a top 5 for each Region Outside Europe (America, Africa, Arabia, Southasia, Northasia). But that might ne alittle much.

[@alexandre007opa]

4 of them are not european tho

[@Povest1389]

Vijayanagar the mighty

[@saoirsedeltufo7436]

alexandre007opa Great Horde are European and Ottomans are European very early in the game (rip Constantinople)

[@federicovolpe3389]

Saoirse del Tufo They are European even before taking Constantinople since their starting capital is Edirne.

[@milankalajdzic2260]

You didn't mentioned Poland and it's really easy nation to play.

[@jaquestrap]

"You forgot about Poland" - George W. Bush. Not wrong though, Poland is easily one of the most powerful nations in the game. Why he put Great Horde above Poland makes no sense.

[@Bill_Garthright]

Thanks for that. I almost decided to try Poland in my current game. (I went with Sirhind, in India.) I'll keep this in mind, though. I don't want to play the _most_ powerful nations in the game, but I'm not up for the most difficult, either. And the funny thing is, I have _never_ played a European nation. (In my first game, I played the Iroquois, without knowing how different American tribes were. That was fun, but _wow,_ I was _really_ confused at first!)

[@stupidperson9250]

Hahaha I somehow fail at poland

[@henkkoonstra4014]

@Yahya Özlü winged hussars OP

[@theironphoenix.]

Because forming the commonwealth literally makes you a target, not to mention all the HRE nations that want to take your land

[@angry_strawberry2733]

I conquered the world as austria in iron man, however I wasnt getting the achievement, and I didnt understand why. after I waited till 1821 and still did not get the achievement, then I noticed that Ryukyu was still alive...

[@AlzaboHD]

Literal nightmare. Did you have any backup saves??

[@angry_strawberry2733]

@@AlzaboHD not unless i wanted tp conquer all of asia again

[@hotman_pt_]

Always check the ledger man

[@Lukekho]

Where am I?

[@AlzaboHD]

#1 of course

[@uteriel282]

a joke

[@Lukekho]

@@uteriel282 no

[@bpkoiralaproductions6004]

How would I know your current location, much less your locations 11 months ago?

[@someinsignificantguy4433]

Somewhere in South-Germany

[@ChillyBenpa]

Erdoğan: “Impossible at the moment , commander. Destroy the objective!”

[@ChillyBenpa]

it could be ,defuse the obj, too btw

[@avery3490]

*cough cough* president *cough* of turkey

[@priscillaraine9874]

I'm so happy that the stupid demonization was lifted! You're my favorite Eu4 youtuber and I wish you all the best!

[@AlzaboHD]

Me too! Thank you so much for watching Priscilla I appreciate your kind words

[@thver3044]

I want to say that Bohemia also is very cool. 1. They have very good ruler after Hussite event, and, at most of the times, they have good heir. 2. They have good provinces with high development and trade goods that will become expensive later. Also Bohemia have gold province at the start. 3. Their national ideas isn't so bad. 4. Bohemia have a good chance to become the Emperor. 5. Brandenburg and Saxony is easy targets at the start, also you can take a part of Poland if they will be at war with Muscovy or Denmark. I've forgot to say that if you'll beat Brandenburg you will get a path to Pomerania and to sea. That means that you can colonise. P.S. Sorry for my English.

[@j.jtorpeda4333]

I would put Poland in the pleace of Great Horde

[@AlzaboHD]

This was tricky. Poland is certainly very powerful, yet I've already included them in about 2-3 top 10s already. Great Horde is actually insane with their unlimited cbs, free growth through razing and high discipline. I'd recommend giving them a shot, they are surprisingly powerful.

[@j.jtorpeda4333]

@@AlzaboHD I need to check it then.

[@concisecipher1]

I would put Lithuania

[@concisecipher1]

Can easily get a PU on Muscovy and Poland, then form the commonwealth and get the PUs on Hungary and Bohemia.

[@ozisponas1593]

you can t so easilly pu muscovy with poland lithuanian missions allow lithuania to pu muscovy and poland after you form commonwealth you can swap missions and ideas to polish and then you can use missions to pu bohemia and hungary just have to make sure to trash austria before that so they won t get pus on them but with muscovy and poland as pu partners you can just annhiliate everyone having 150k men in before 1500 is ridiculuoslly op

[@EbonySaints]

While I can more or less agree with your picks for the strongest nations, not including Ming because of tributaries and the Mandate of Heaven is downright ridiculous. While I did my WC in 1.25 going Ming->Shan->Yuan along with Tag/Tributary changes, the fact of the matter is that if you go colonial (Which you easily can and should since Ming can easily afford developing for the Renaissance and spawning Colonialism) , Tributaries can: 1. Be extremely beneficial in terms of free manpower and/or monarch points. While Ming or whoever has the MoH is highly unlikely to ever run out of either, having a nice boost once a year is enough to almost replace quantity ideas and always be stupidly ahead in tech. 2. Lock away territory from other powers who want to conquer them, keeping enemies small for you to beat up. Once you get even bigger than you are, tributaries just become buffer states/free real estate/manpower that only needs to be mopped up in the last fifty years once you wipe the floor with everyone else, because no one will be ballsy enough to attack the OPM whose overlord happens to have 3000+ development with provinces on every continent. You also gain enough mandate through prosperity and stability to where once you deal with all the major powers, breaking off your Tributary status has little to no effect. 3. Fairly strong CCR reductions. Lifan Yuan and the Expand Palace Bureaucracy decision together both reduce it by 20% (The latter used to make that 30%), while Ming may not be able to make out with that much total CCR even after Absolutism, a Steppe Horde, Qing/Manchu, or some other gamey strategy can easily get to absurd levels, to where you can only pay less than 100 admin for six times that development. You're looking at a Chinese world conquest like every other, where you just bum rush your next door neighbor's door with a ram, when it more like whipping the crap out of the next two blocks for rent money and leveling their house with a bulldozer. Most nations that typically get the Mandate aren't the fastest WC nations, but they are by far some of the least stressful as far as resources go.

[@gregmccauley1687]

The best part about the Ottomans is despite the fact they are the most powerful nation in the game they can actually be fun to play because of all the weird stuff you can do. Especially before they patched everything out in the last 3 patches.

[@theogtsm9951]

The humblebundle deal is totally insane! I got all my friends playing eu4.

[@AlzaboHD]

Thank you so much for supporting the channel and charity! I agree, the deal is insane, whats even better is that if one of yall have dlc its shared for everyone in multiplayer, meaning that your friends dont need to buy any expansions. Gotta love PDX!

[@drakan4769]

10:34 I think that war may have been a mistake...

[@AlzaboHD]

I'm all about the historical accuracy! RIP the roast beefs

[@Cbobley]

I love the thumbnail! Really conveys the tone of “strong empire”. I haven’t watched the video yet, but I’m sure it’ll be great too!

[@arfn1973]

Hahaha Coat of Arms of the First French Empire!

[@Spartan113100]

Glad to see ads on your videos again! Great video as always!

[@AlzaboHD]

I'm glad the channel is back! Thank you for watching, hope you enjoy it

[@hanneslundin346]

I’m glad you’re back making great videos even after you got demonetised!

[@TheSerialKiller131]

youtube restore he's monetization again.

[@hanneslundin346]

fabinho Yes I know, that is what I meant

[@vinifalleroliveira]

Nothing better than having the Ottomans going isolationists early in the game.

[@thepunisher4356]

God I feel this video is telling me to come back to EU4 to begin the grind of getting better again. Also I agree with number one. I’ve had many successful games as them. Plus they allow a lot of flexibility as far as tag switching and changing your religion to something interesting like orthodox or Coptic.

[@mariolutan3323]

Ottomans are an endgame tag. One of the few nations where it's impossible to tag switch. But you're right about the religions. :)

[@tinyman1144]

@@mariolutan3323 Orthodox ottos are a scary thing man...

[@_semih_]

@@tinyman1144 whats "orthodox ottos" ?? 😂

[@tinyman1144]

@@_semih_ Ottomans that have religion switched to orthodox.

[@EgnachHelton]

The most powerful strategy would be converting to Catholic and becoming HRE emperor (thus raising infinite amount of army from your vassal swarm).

[@albinaxelsson2368]

Happy to see you back making videos!

[@AlzaboHD]

Happy to be back - thanks for watching!

[@arethmaran1279]

Hey @AlzaboHD, I've played enough BF1 to recognize those voice lines, nice choice.

[@AlzaboHD]

Great game, was the first thing I thought of when I needed turkish voice acting haha

[@natusetiam]

For the people that just wants the list: Number 1: Ulm (14:06) Number 2: France (12:41) Number 3: Austria (11:07) Number 4: England (9:42) Number 5: Muscovy (8:11) Number 6: Castille (6:49) Number 7: Timurids (5:14) Number 8: Venice (3:47) Number 9: Ashikaga (2:09) Number 10: Golden Horde (0:39) Some fake nation: Number 1: Ottoman (14:26)

[@AlzaboHD]

Blasphemy! #1 are the Ottomans

[@natusetiam]

@@AlzaboHD The Ottomans aren't even real -_-

[@tinyman1144]

@@AlzaboHD Ottomans? What? Do you mean the eastern roman empire?

[@deviousghost7258]

@@tinyman1144 ottomans dont even deserve that name "eastern roman empire"

[@rovsea-3761]

Why aren't Ming on the list? Surely, with their sheer development they should be a much easier start than some of the others on the list.

[@KarumaGaming]

Great video my dude. I've been wanting to play a Japanese country and get back into EU4, and now I know which country to use!

[@AlzaboHD]

I'm glad it helped - thank you so much for watching and good luck in your campaign!

[@KarumaGaming]

@@AlzaboHD Yeah! I've actually been preoccupied with CK2 since Holy Fury came out, but I think it's high time I hop back on EU4 today. Thanks again!

[@andershansen9658]

"President" of Tyrkey... Loved that one!

[@admontblanc]

President has a nicer diplomatic bonus with foreign nations than sultan, he's just gaming the thing to his benefit the old bastard.

[@ZeSkillz]

Love your videos! Keep the good work ;)

[@AlzaboHD]

Thank you!

[@palanikumar7877]

16:38 "Making them useless and low quality, much like the Chinese products of today"... I like the way you put it...

[@Nexsyana]

No Alzabo love for Poland...Getting a huge PU early...OP missions...Really strong Ideas...Baltic is quite rich...And if you get the expand mission, move to Warsaw capital decision, and use the dev cost edict you can develop it into the most prosperous city in all of Europe...You can get free PUs while having PU immunity yourself...And the winged hussars are okay, I guess

[@AlzaboHD]

I

[@end_phase2749]

Furthermore, no love for the Greater Litau, since they have huuuge potential at game start, such as quickly flipping to orthodox day one, pu'ing brohemia within 2-5 years, a pu over muscovy via missions (works when they form russia too), as well as polands missions for hungary as well should they form the commonwealth. Truly the grandest of duchies

[@Nexsyana]

When I say Poland I usually mean Poland/Lithuania, because both are quite similar in strength and power...I love them both

[@CommonSenz]

Yeah, Poland/Lith is OP AF. Dismantled HRE by 1456.. Austria was an OPM by 1500, go figure :D Also had a PU on France (!) and Bohemia. Wish I had known not to integrate them and ruin my ironman.

[@Nexsyana]

@@CommonSenz Actually...I prefer to not dismantle it...become emperor and get that sweet 10 ccr

[@AtomikNY]

Fun fact: Fettuccine alfredo is an American dish. Italians are wholly unaware of it.

[@AlzaboHD]

It's all part of my "ignorant American" roleplay! In all seriousness though I didn't know that and I appreciate the info! Learn something everyday haha

[@djjayfortierdjjayfortier9999]

not really check the wiki. At early stage Its just a version of pasta and butter sauce they were doing long time in Italy. Then a guy started serving fancy version in Rome restaurants and it spread to the US from there where they add heavy cream

[@AtomikNY]

@@djjayfortierdjjayfortier9999 That may be, but you'll still get confused looks if you try to order the dish in Italy, as its popularity lies almost entirely on this side of the ocean.

[@damiansemeniuk4008]

Castilie/Spain has broken mission tree in dlc. I think Lithuania is OP too with their missions too PU Muscowy, Poland later Hungary

[@Yasin12378]

14:20 Erdogan talking with the voice of BF-1 Ottoman soldier. That is so clever to avoid cliche. GJ dude

[@TeeloSeyna]

What a 10/10 pronunciation of Molière.

[@liamwhite9609]

Great video! I hope you make a bottom 10 so you can list Sweden at it's rightful spot as the least OP of all nations.

[@ValensBellator]

Poland seems super OP as well. It's exceedingly easy to be untouchable pretty much from day 1

[@stevengorton5072]

My current spain run is my favorite so far. I managed to get 3 personal unions in the iberian wedding event (argon had navarra and naples as pu subjects, then i stole all 3 haha). By 1540 i also got a pu other austria when i fought milan in a sucession war (this was a pretty easy war considering i had formed spain by this point having already intergrated my subjects and the league war was raging at the same time). Now with austria as a pu and my dynasty being on the thrones of france, brittanny, scotland, provance and lorriane (some how we be came french because de trastermain had some bad luck died out and i got a french heir). Now i have the potential for succession wars on scotland and france as they are heirless and old ha. I have france, commonwealth, britanny and mamluks as allies with parma as a vassal in italy (along with austria as a massive pu since they had inherited hungary early on in the game). I have half of west africa, colonies in brazil, mexico and cuba as well so i am quickly on my way for a world conquest.

[@AlzaboHD]

What year are you currently in? You definitely can conquer the world, good luck!

[@stevengorton5072]

@@AlzaboHD currently in the year 1627, France and Provence fell under PU with me with no succession war. Parma is now annexed with more Italian land taken by my PU states and me. My next goal is to get my dynasty on the commonwealth throne and maybe Russia. Thanks for the comment, big fan of your videos and with this run after over 1000 hours on the game I feel I can get my first World Conquest.

[@stevengorton5072]

​@@AlzaboHDHey so I have 30 years left and this is my Spanish Empire. steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/959733908899793827/3CF2F57B7F42D1F0471F6F4C734F12DF686E72E3/ Great Britain blobbed like mad and I could not beat them at any point (they took full quantity and can field over 1 million troops), only saving grace on this was Castilian brazil destroyed most of there south American colonies. They were the only Anglican nation in the game. I was defender of the catholic faith most of the game (even though commonwealth stole it for like 20 years) they were oddly allied to papal states through the run which meant I could not complete the Italian conquest missions I managed to stay allied to Scotland and commonwealth for most of the game, getting my dynasty on commonwealth throne but losing it on Scotland (they had pretender rebels at one point and I couldn't stop them quick enough as I was stuck in wars in Africa and Indonesia.) Brittany got purged when they switched sides in one war so I annexed the whole lot so I didn't need to PU them in the end. As you can see I have 2 separate colonies in brazil and Columbia because of the integration of the French colonies (I really wish same region colonies would just merge, would be so much easier to manage them ha) The Ottomans, Biapas, Yemen and Mughals formed an oddly connected Islamic power block in the middle east constantly beating on Russia to which I was allied for about 70 years until they wanted all my colonial provinces and broke the alliance.

[@piotrzwirowski8435]

You forgot about Poland. It has a good geopolitical situation, an easy union Lithuania and the ability to form the Commonwealth

[@jackmunson6066]

yah I think the ottomans are pretty OP especially because they can alternate between regions to expand to reduce aggressive expansion, and then can easily expand to Basra and gulf of eden trade nodes for alot of ducats

[@BlingLingification]

I think its worth pointing out that the Mandate mechanics for Ming become easier to deal with once you get the Imperialism CB, since you can now declare war on nations that don't border you, vassalize them, and then make a vassal swarm (or just use the vassal's lands as a staging point) to vassalize other nations that also don't border you, all without tanking your mandate. You can even do this without imperalism to a small degree in the Indian subcontinent by vassalizing the nepalese nations and taking one or two nepalese provinces that border Indian nations in the Indian subcontinent so you can get a conquest CB (if the vassals dont already have a conquest CB). You can then give the province back to the vassals if your mandate takes too big of a hit. Its really contrived and painstaking, but it works.

[@peffiSC2source]

09:48 lmao, after that England event, I bet you continued playing that save :D

[@BromTeque]

Before watching the video, from the top of my head: 1. Ming 2. Ottoman 3. France 4. Russia 5. Austria After watching video: Am I overestimating the power of Ming here? You also got me for a second with Ulm, good one.

[@tinyman1144]

I put Ming at the top too, because the mandate isn't as big an issue as he makes it out to be. Definitely not a world conquest country, but it's probably the most stable and might be the best for new players since Ming basically never has a defensive war unless it's a player horde or late-game britain wanting to have fun Releasing 1 tributary at a time to conquer them is functional in that you can do it without losing mandate, it just is very slow.

[@Arnoldisbored]

I can't see anything good with Ming other than starting development. The mandate is crippling, the ideas are below average, and the religion is below average as well. I could take a Japan minor and do far better than I could starting as Ming, unless I figure out some cheesy way to get rid of the mandate.

[@johncrofford]

@@Arnoldisbored, the Mandate makes level 5 advisors all game long relatively cheap, Ming's ideas are excellent for supporting a large army to conquer stuff at a speed that preserves the Mandate, and Confucianism isn't that bad once you have harmonized a few religious groups. Starting with a tributary network isn't half-bad, either. Even if you just colonize aggressively, invading Europe becomes an option very quickly.

[@Arnoldisbored]

@@johncrofford Did you play to the late game? Can you make good use of absolutism while you have the mandate?

[@johncrofford]

@@Arnoldisbored, I don't quite remember and my last game as Ming was definitely not on this patch. I'll get back to you.

[@alozz7]

Dude, even a video for one of my favorite videogames, I cant escape that parasite of a president...

[@gazihun6291]

14.21 *An itibari ile mümkün değil kumandanım!* *Hedefi imha edin!* :D sjsjsjsjsnsnsjsjsmsm

[@AlzaboHD]

Pssst, it came from battlefield 1! Haha thanks for the transcription, with google translate now I finally know that it means "It's not possible at the moment, Commander! Destroy the target!"

[@JakeAustriaco]

With the other start dates not ever having been edited/updated since the game's release, could you do a top 10 strongest nations in unconventional start dates?

[@Ryan-vw5ul]

I'm a beginner with only 200+ hours in...

[@AlzaboHD]

I've got 2000+ hours in and I still learn things about this game every time I play it. EU4 is a lifestyle lol

[@achintyasaipokkuluri7029]

@@AlzaboHD Wow, I only have 54 hours and Two Campaigns; castile(Which got ruined due to me messing up save data) and Vijaynagar, currently playing. Also none are ironman (to scared to play ironman. I need console commands tech 30 lol.).

[@tinyman1144]

@@achintyasaipokkuluri7029 I've not played ironman, but my reason is that it just keeps crashing on me due to the amount of saving. Basic recommendation: do not use ironman mode unless your computer can handle mini-saving every few seconds/every in-game day because mine cannot

[@hebl47]

I'm 1400 hours in and only in my last playthrough have I learned how powerful privateering can be at destroying a rival. I basically declawed Spain with 80% pirate presence at Seville. They were nr. 1 great power with 3000+ points, but monetary so weak they couldn't start a single meaningful war. All thanks to my daring pirates. (Also: a nice bonus when a 500 ducat treasure fleet sails in and Spain only gets 100 ducats, while you get the other 400 >;] )

[@varunbelly8102]

@@achintyasaipokkuluri7029 my first run I'm playing right now is also vijaynagar , just formed Bharat around 1690 , cause I suck, at least I'm no1 great power

[@katti2227]

Superb

[@Times_Ticking]

Great video. I think a Hindu Ming is easily the most powerful nation. Easy to do with the force tributary mandate allows for province annexation. The only down side is the recent Ming nerf that causes the southern province to rebel once unrest becomes an issue. It takes some time but a Hindu Ming is a juggernaut and not that hard to get. Just release Vietnam as a tributary and gobble them up in 1.29 to reach its southernmost Hindu province.

[@Mat-cf7xj]

how dare you ally burgundy as france

[@gamgamesplayer4506]

LOL

[@markarchy]

I guess number 1 is the reason why no mamluk in this list

[@hanneslundin346]

Top ten economic powerhouses!

[@kreftan]

How close were Sweden to join your top 10? Honestly I think it should be in even though it starts as a PU but I'd like to know how you reasoned, ty for yet another intresting video.

[@AlzaboHD]

Sweden is definitely in the top 15-20. Their ideas are fantastic. Thanks for watching!

[@admontblanc]

I don't play this game, though been curious for some time, but if geographical positioning counts for something then any peninsular kingdom, except maybe in Greece, has enormous advantage due to a smaller external border.

[@RaAmon]

Empire four Kingdoms is best strategy free game :p nice videos you have here.

[@idsbraam]

So the link you posted, that gives you a small kickback when people buy the bundle? Or not? (if not, you might want to look into that, if you do, don't forget to disclose it because of #ethics ;) ).

[@AlzaboHD]

Good call, yeah I will edit the description to reflect this. Thanks for watching!

[@hakanozey5291]

Tayyip is everywhere

[@MrBreaknet]

"And I really mean 'gentlemen'". This one cracked me up.

[@tugberk33]

As a Turk, I didn't see the surprise 'hedefi imha edin' coming.

[@zdhim2714]

What does it mean ?

[@tugberk33]

@@zdhim2714 'destroy the target'

[@zdhim2714]

@@tugberk33 Ottoman in a nutshel.

[@Euzuner41]

@@zdhim2714 pskwosmwsk

[@andrewphillips-hird3761]

Admittedly I haven't tried Castile since Golden Century but I am surprised that Aragon didn't make it, they start with much higher development than they used to and the mission tree gives them such a ridiculous amount of claims and economic buffs that they end up with monarch points to throw away so even better developed provinces and lots of ducats. I wouldn't be surprised if they are stronger than Castile, as you can easily reap the benefits of colonisation with Castile and Portugal in a PU and a bit of colonising yourself. My runs of Aragon since Golden Century have been one of the few cases where I struggle to pick an idea group because I simply don't need help with money, military, or anything like that, even after having taken both exploration and expansion

[@placeholder8768]

Quick question- how do you get the diplomacy tab in the production interface?

[@AlzaboHD]

I believe it's locked to the Mandate of Heaven DLC. Without it you might not be able to access it.

[@placeholder8768]

AlzaboHD Alright, what a shame- I’m still a broke boi- I spent too much money on my tea and crumpets.

[@davidhusted9236]

Plz do tier 2 list , top 11+ list

[@user-dk8rw9yc8u]

Kazan and Jianzhou(Manchu) may be the two most OP, as choices for WC before 1600

[@Njald]

Gratz btw to sorting the channel out! Hope youtube won't fuck you over any more.

[@TheDvellify]

Ediniy moguchiy Sovetskiy Sojuz :D

[@The_Starfleet_Ensign]

Can you add which dlc is needed for what nation? :p

[@aydnciftci3601]

Dat end twist :D

[@AlzaboHD]

What did he say in Turkish? I don't speak the language and pulled it from Battlefield 1 haha but I am curious!

[@aydnciftci3601]

He said "It is impossible at the moment commander! Destroy the target." bro

[@AlzaboHD]

Hahaha thank you, that makes it so much better!

[@aydnciftci3601]

@@AlzaboHD yw mate =)

[@LunaEclipse5103]

What dlcs are required and/or recommended to play a campaign as The Great Horde?

[@AlzaboHD]

I'd definitely recommend the Cossacks so that you can raze provinces. The only other DLC i'd recommend for all campaigns is the Art of War

[@LunaEclipse5103]

AlzaboHD thanks for such a quick reply and a heart!

[@TheTutore]

I feel like Poland should be on this list, it's simply monstrous early game and in the hands of a player very easily spirals out of control. It's got a tough list to contend with but I would say Either the Golden Horde or Venice ought to be replaced with it, though probably the Golden Horde due to the fact that while it's got weak neighbors to expand into it's gonna have a lot of state slots filled up with trash that isn't very good, Russia has this problem as well but has much better mechanics to back it up, and some decent provinces to expand to. Poland on the other hand has a wealth of options available, be it crushing Russia early and dominating the steppes, Dismantling the HRE within the first 5 years and gobbling up central europe, or removing Kebab early as the only country that can put up a fight so early on (or doing all 3, which it very much is capable of doing in the right hands) In short I think you did my boy dirty, that being said glad to see you're doing well now, lets hope youtube leaves you alone now.

[@Gerwald_Lanzer]

please do Strongest Releasable Nations. Nations you don't really hear about and can only play if you release them as a vassal.

[@artyomarty391]

try the following challenges on very hard difficulty and ironman: 1) France with no great power allies and no allies after 1550 2) GB with no allies after 1600 (can be fairly challenging ) 3) Muscovy witj no allies 4) Ottomans with no allies 5) Spain with no allies after 1550 6) Poland with no allies after 1550 (try with no allies at all for extra challenge)

[@MaxAnkum]

On Castile, they also have an increased chance of inheriting burgondy

[@admontblanc]

Wouldn't Portugal also have that? I never played this game but my understanding is that all the christian iberian kingdoms have close ties to Burgundy, in Portugal's case the founding king was a grandson of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy, although by issue of his 2nd son Henry, who was himself 2nd son of King Robert II of France, later Henry I, Count of Portucale after marrying Alfonso VI's bastard daughter, Teresa of Leon. House Burgundy has probably had throughout history the largest number of ties and claimants to several european lineages that ruled powerful nations at very different periods of time. I believe they also issued the Hapsburgs, the Bourbons and some other notable houses. Dang the inbreeding is astounding but still interesting when you think about all these different claims you could gather by being of burgundian lineage.

[@FaithfulOfBrigantia]

@@admontblanc I've played this game hundreds of times and never once Portugal inherited Burgundy nor was I ever close to inherit it when I played Portugal. And well, it makes no sense for Portugal to have any claim in Burgundy since their Burgundian dynasty was gone since 1383.

[@oRange_brOwn]

How far is Vijayanagar from the notable mentions?

[@alattack3018]

Did you use Victoria 2 music throughout the whole video?

[@AlzaboHD]

Nah just two songs in the middle, they fit well with Russia and England imo

[@alattack3018]

@@AlzaboHD Oh, I recognized it at about 11:41 I thought I was going crazy hearing vicky 2 music but when I listened closer I recognized it. Speaking of vicky 2, you should do some videos on it!

[@FusionGamerElite]

Otters are the most powerful? Might have to get back to EU4...not played for awhile

[@gonzo7071]

I spat coffee at that Haspburg joke

[@XaleanderS]

10:20 you can avoid this war by making a vassal called Normandy and giving them all cores in North France.

[@finlarion9126]

Multiplayer discord: discord.gg/KpGAktF

[@melledevries4685]

I can't believe you got *ehem* president Erdogan to feature in your video! You've come so far

[@BoraCM]

I played as Tokugawa once. It's max army limit was 2000. I united the whole of Japan and won my my first war bu allying Oda.

[@AnapliotisGiorgos]

i loled about ulm :)

[@jbkjbk1999]

The Tsars of Moscow certainly do not commence the campaign with anything, since the Muscovite ruler didn't adopt that title until at least 1492, and didn't officially change from Knyaz to Tsar until 1530 ;p

[@DreamMorpheus42]

I honestly feel like PLC should be higher than Venice. Venice has a really rough early game, and has a lot of neighbors able to stomp them out. I don't even think they are the strongest Italian state, I personally prefer Milan. PLC is excellent for a new player and have a great starting position. They might even be stronger than Muscovy. The Elective monarchy mechanic is also great for getting PUs, and they are probably the second best nation for PUing Europe outside of Austria.

[@Aenthaus]

Yes, both Venice and Milan have rich provinces that are coveted by powerful neighbours. But Milan is a member of HRE at the beginning of the game, which is a substantial guarantee, whereas Venice starts under the threat of Austria, which is the Emperor, and Ottomans are not that far. Also, Milan as no access to sea, this can quickly become an issue, but at the beginning of the game, it allows to focus on terrestrial affairs. Venice has to deal with both sides, but I feel its fleet is very powerful. I am currently playing with Milan, and it is fucking fun :-)

[@AlexS-oj8qf]

I played Austria once, not knowing it's background and inherited Burgundy and Spain out of nowhere 😂

[@Snowy123]

This guy is a noob, ulm is clearly the strongest nation.

[@bestshowontheweb]

You call him a noob and don't even know the power of Theodoro?

[@officialromanhours]

Bruh smh all yall morons Yas clearly best nation

[@emirkokturk1599]

you made the list to early game .you should think med and late game too

[@cana_leta]

The vassal swarm is the most fun thing in the game!

[@AlzaboHD]

Definitely agree! I'm trying to figure out a revoke strategy that doesn't use Austria and can be pulled off relatively quickly.

[@dylanclark4017]

I’m sorry this is old, but what did you say in French before vive le France?

[@dylanclark4017]

+AlzaboHD ?

[@LyleAllbritton]

Is it bad that I was like "yeah the Ottomans are cool, but what about that general in Ulm again?"

[@enKageKagen]

Some huuuuuge disagrees. 1 Lack of Poland. Ideas in top5, decent start, free PU, easy dismantile HRE very early, more subject later from mission, easy convert to Orthodox. In player's hands it is far superior to Muscovy with more directions to expand faster institutions and so on. 2 Kazan is better than great horde. Starts with less dev and force limit but has better ideas especially religion unity as tradition. Priceless with conquering orthodox early. 3 No Mameluks here? They start as 2nd great power and among all big powers have the easiest acces to asian trade companies and african gold mines. 4 Aragon is superior to Castille. starts with less dev and army but in better trade node free PU over Naples and doesnt have awful starting ruler and heir as Castille has. Gets free PU over Castille and another one from mission over portugal. Choosing Aragon means dominating colonisation without wasting ideas on exploration and expansion. And aragonese mission tree is more usefull than castillian. And you can even form Italy easily with Aragon

[@horstschlemmer9578]

I don't think so. Sure Polands missions are better, but no that much. The PUs are nice but Russia get a lot more claims (which reduce coring cost). And while their military might be slightly worse in the midgame, their expansion ideas are far better. Their starting position is also super good. They can pretty much ignore ae as long as they don't piss off the Ottomans. They also have an insane amount of states and will never have to worry about manpower or corruption.

[@rustedgreatsword4902]

@@horstschlemmer9578 To be fair, when Poland forms the common wealth they never have to worry about anything. Either they can dismantle the hre, bully russia, or take on the turks. For single player and multiplayer Id say Poland is the stronger overal.

[@artyomarty391]

poland's potential depends a lot on metagaming and non-hard difficulty. Russia is better because its only threat is poland and turkey and it can ally one of the two so there really is no threat. The fact that poland can expand in any direction is also its curse because its surrounded by a potential threat at every side

[@admontblanc]

@@artyomarty391 which is why historically it always struggled to maintain any sort of regional dominance for any meaningfully lasting period of time, if you look at a nation in a similar position on the continent that managed lasting integrity despite ups and downs that would be France, even the smaller, less able to expand iberian kingdoms were more relevant with a geographical position equal to Italy, and only surpassed by UK, but with much faster achieved unification and consolidation. But I don't play this game, and being a game means you can use that massive potential for continental expansion and cheat history's due course.

[@FaithfulOfBrigantia]

The worst part is that you are right about Aragon being superior to Castille, which is absolutely ludicrous in a historical point of view, it would be like making Scotland superior to England.

[@christineboari131]

14:08 wow, it sure feels lonely in here o_o

[@AlzaboHD]

There are many female EU4 players commenting, y'all are representing! Thanks for watching.

[@emircanylmaz9642]

Ottomans as bayrakları as as 🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷🇹🇷

[@hotelpan]

我大明，天下无敌啊！ My Great Ming is utterly invincible!!!--- by Zhu Youjian the last emperor of Ming(Beijing) Most popular meme among Chinese EU fans.

[@hotelpan]

@I don't need name I may make a video about the best paradox chinese memes. Like a "Belt and Silk road initiative" of Ming with hanged Timurid, Kebab, hanging holyroman and crying baby France. Or the third Rome lost its throne when the USSR was collapsed then the second brother of communism took it. Long live the fourth Rome: PRC. JAJA

[@uteriel282]

i wouldnt mind playing ming and forming china if the mandate of heaven wasnt so bad. but its even worse than the hre and not worth using/having at all.

[@Flw-uv2md]

(笑

[@bitoque5996]

My Ming just exploded - Drew

[@erichuang5785]

我大明，天下无敌啊！什么，天命炸了？老歪脖子树.jpg

[@mememachine6022]

Navarra if you get the start you can pu nearly all european gp

[@user-zg4bk6rv1q]

I don't know how it was 4 years ago, but now Ethiopia should at least deserve a mention, you can easily unite the horn by 1460 and with your mission tree you can just replace Mamluks and later on become a western tech nation too

[@Chumbaniya]

With how strong trade companies are for generating wealth at the moment, I think that nations well placed to colonise and expand into trade company regions are amongst the strongest now. France takes the top spot for me because they start with the ability to conquer land in Europe and to colonise South Africa and start directing trade from Malacca to the Genoa node early, without having to pick one or the other, and they are well placed to vassalise Portugal, Holland, and maybe even Castile and England and have them also put in work colonising for them. For the same reason, I rate down nations in Asia for conquest-heavy games simply because they lose access to almost all trade company regions, leaving them with much less ability to get value out of provinces beyond their state limit.

[@heater1237]

Surprised Ming or Aragon was not on the list. Edit: After watching the video, I saw that Ming didn’t make the cut and he covered it but yeah.

[@MirorgGrelon]

I beg to differ on 2 points you make 1 if you are going to list a horde, oirat is in a way better position due to weaker neighbors and an easy way into india to get that juicy loot. You can easily expand east to grow in power if you don't like more expensive wars to the west, due to the negated coring distance if you have an adjacent vassal, india becomes your oister too. Compared to the situation of the great horde when you are surrounded by several strong nations and limited to easy wars to the south or expensive wars to the north. 2. The easiest way to conquering the world is being a horde. UNLIMITED MANA. nuff said.