Paradox Interactive Games Thread

[Helsinkian]

Playing as Sweden, it's easier to learn than Victoria II (which I dropped pretty quickly). Managed to conquer Denmark but went bankrupt in the process. I wish there were more country-specific events (you have a lot of them in EUIV, and it doesn't seem like it would be hard to implement). The war system needs to be improved so it's not just a bunch of numbers on a front. At least add more interesting animations of land and sea combat.

Built a lot of industry early on which helped me marginalize the landowners (who generally hate all reform attempts). Also marginalised the church with reform policies. Passed a bunch of reforms with the support of the industrialists and the intelligentsia, including free trade which was not necessarily the right move for my budget early in the game. But the latter interest groups include many republicans, and now the trade unions are also on the rise, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to remain a monarchy. Was able to start colonising only once I had bolstered the armed forces interest group which supports it the most (intelligentsia tends to oppose it).