Once upon a time, on January 1, 1419, there was a verdant isle which its inhabitants called Éire, but which I’m going to call Ireland because that’s the American way. Since the 12th century Ireland had existed as a nominal subject of the English crown, but as a practical matter the Gaelic Irish governed themselves in most parts of the country under local chieftains. Over the years, direct English authority had shrunk to the city of Dublin and several surrounding counties, a region known as The Pale.
And here, using the EU2 political map, we see the five provinces of Ireland and the four that Ireland actually controls. (That’s something I’ll have to fix.) Ulster is my capital, as denoted by the circle icon. All of the Irish provinces are marked with my national symbol, signifying them as my “core provinces”. Owning a core province of another nation, as England now does, causes sour relations between the two countries. It also means that I have a perpetual right to declare war (in game terms, a “Casus Belli”) against England for as long as this situation lasts.
Okay, now let’s zoom out and check out the state of Europe in January 1419:
As you can see, a lot of the national borders that we generally associate with Europe aren’t, uh, quite established yet. For instance, you might be asking, “Where the hell is France?” At this moment in history, French government is highly decentralized, so French territory is a patchwork of independent but allied duchies. The blue territories are France proper; some of the other colors represent the vassal realms of Bourbonnais, Orléans, Provence, and Auvergne. Over time, France tends to absorb these smaller duchies and become more centralized.
The other factor in play is the Hundred Years War, that long period of intermittent warfare between England and France, now in its 82nd year. England presently has the upper hand thanks to their devastating victory at Agincourt in 1415. They are in control of some French provinces, and are also in alliance with Brittany (the tan kingdom in northwest France) and Burgundy (dark red, central and northern France). Against the English alliance stands the rest of France, who are in alliance with each other, plus Scotland.
Ireland is neutral in all this, but it should be obvious that we’re no fan of the English on our little island, and anything that keeps them occupied makes me happy. Ireland starts as the smallest and weakest country in the British Isles, and if I want to drive those English bastards back where they came from, I’ll need to make my move while they’re embroiled in wars of their own.
Now, if I may direct your attention to the top of the map, you’ll see the main game status bar floating up there.
On the left side we have the number of traders, colonists, diplomats, and missionaries available to me. They’ll tend to increase as time passes (to a maximum of 6 apiece).
Over on the right, it’s time to introduce one of the most crucial metrics in the game. Ladies and gentlemen of the EU2-reading public, say hello to your new best friend and mine, Stability. Stability is a measure of the internal cohesiveness of a nation, and it can range from -3 to +3. It influences darn near every aspect of a country, from income to trader replenishment to the chance of rebellions. We’ll want to keep it high, and when it gets dangerously low, bringing it up will become our #1 priority. The larger and more populous a nation, the longer it takes to recover from Stability hits. Big sprawling empires can take years just to go up a single point. For Ireland of 1419, which is quite tiny, it takes only a month or two.
Finally, we have the Manpower rating (which measures the current drafting limits of my army), and the other really important figure, my bank account.
Gooooooooooals!
Here’s what I want to accomplish in the next 400 years toward making Ireland into a world power. These goals pretty much speak for themselves:
• Drive the English out of Ireland for good!
• Absorb England and Scotland, peacefully or otherwise, unifying the British Isles under an Irish crown.
• Own a foothold in continental Europe.
• Colonize the New World as much as possible. (Particularly the gold- and potato-rich territories of the Inca Empire.)
Also, just to be different, and to give myself a challenge:
• When the opportunity arises (after the Reformation happens), go Protestant and try to get all of the Irish provinces converted to Protestantism by game’s end.
That should be enough to keep me busy a while. One more thing: player-controlled nations can take on optional “missions” to earn extra victory points. I won’t be doing any of these, so that my VP total will be a more accurate measure of how Ireland is performing against the other nations of the world.
Coming next: the first 20 years! Watch Ireland establish itself as a nation, build its strength, and engage in a pointless and extraneous war – just like the big empires do!
