Paradox Games

Equestria at War, huh? I may have to take a look...

If you do decide to play Iron Curtain, please be advised that the National Foci do not necessarily mesh well with each other. They're slowly fixing them (Britain and France were just revamped, USSR, USA, Cuba, and West Germany before that) but some (like Egypt) are still a complete mess.

Having said that, its pretty fun, and a great way to kill time.

Edited by AzurePaladin on Sep 14th 2018 at 3:58:47 PM

Interesting, I'll look into it!

Reminds me of this MLP mod I played for Victoria 2 that was really fun, it dropped Equestria into California and added a number of unique events/policies/pops for it. The only problem was that it didn't work with the mod folder and instead overwrites the game's default files. Which was odd...

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Sep 14th 2018 at 3:39:01 PM

So, if you were ever wondering how to do what is often considered the most Alien Space Bats out of the blue historical divergence in Hearts of Iron IV - Communist Japan - with almost no trouble, just delete your entire army except a single motorized division and park it just outside of the Kanto state. When the civil war happens, you'll keep control of your sole division and you can simply roll into Tokyo and end the civil war in a single day.

I also happened to retain some of the fleet, though were the People's Japanese Navy to sortie against the Imperial Kwantung Navy, it would be such a rout that the PJN may as well not exist - we only have four capital ships: Ryuujou, Mutsu, Yamashiro, and Ise, as well as a smattering of cruisers and destroyers. Fortunately, we have secretly planned the largest and most powerful battleship in the world, Yamato Hiei so that we may overcome our obvious numerical disadvantages through raw technological might.

Edited by Balmung on Sep 16th 2018 at 6:23:49 AM

Speaking of mods, I really hope that someone eventually makes a Resistance Fall Of Man mod.

Hadn't played Stellaris in a while...wow, they slow down initial exploration and colonization considerably. Like, a lot.

Edited by onyhow on Sep 17th 2018 at 7:12:46 AM

Indeed. Not to mention all of the planetary changes that are coming up.

With the upcoming planetary changes I just can't play Stellaris, tiles just look so inadequate by comparison.

But yes they did slow down expansion quite a bit, personally I really like it. Instead of the old rush to find and colonize habitable planets one's expansion can be more organic and deliberate.

Edited by Fourthspartan56 on Sep 17th 2018 at 10:58:49 AM

^ True enough, but oh man needing full system scan in order to even colonize does suck quite a lot, especially when there's huge systems...while you ALSO need fully manned science vessel to get to unexplored system does suck quite a bit coming from old system...I do agree with you though.

Edited by onyhow on Sep 17th 2018 at 9:07:49 AM

Apparently market resources are a thing and are, naturally, 100% moddable. Someone on the Stellaris facebook page mentioned making memes a marketable resource, followed by the inevitable joke about the EU banning them...

Not to mention, there was Spice (it must flow), bacta, Unobtainium...

Edited by Rytex on Sep 18th 2018 at 8:46:03 AM

Soylent Green

This will spice up my next Despoiler run.

Not sure what's in it yet but Stellaris had a 7.2 Mb update just now on my computer.

HOI4 Dev Diary - Exiled Governments

Looks like playing Poland or Belgium in multiplayer games might be viable now.

Stellaris Dev Diary #126 - Sectors and Factions in 2.2

WTF man, 2 machine empire game (been just playing a bit then delete save...mostly trying stuff out), first empire discovered are both fallen empire...wat. I'm not sure but I think BOTH times it's materialist FE! Now current game also has marauder systems right north of me...ack.

Still, surprised that the border station managed to take out the intial pirate attack without intervention though. Which is good, because 3/4 starting corvette I doubt would be able to take on that.

Edited by onyhow on Sep 21st 2018 at 2:54:43 AM

CK2 Dev Diary: Saints and Venerated Ancestors.

Last, Best Hope get!

I was pretty nervous since I hadn't prepared as much as I wanted - the original plan was to build up a big enough force to crush the Materialist FE next door to get the top-tier reactors, engines and armor, then upgrade my fleets in preparation of an Upstart Awakening setting the Xenophile and Xenophobe FEs against each other. But by the time I'd built up enough to consider challenging a Fallen Empire, lo and behold the Xenophiles decided to wake up on their own. Cue me blowing a ton of Unity on resource- and fleet-boosting ambitions to prepare.

The actual war was pretty interesting. I did a "Precursor" run this time, i.e. I was the only standard empire at the game's start, Life-Seeded space elves on a Gaia World, in a galaxy with maximum habitable worlds and primitive civilizations. I claimed about a third of the galaxy for my own and spent ages terraforming it to my liking, while I enlightened any primitive civilizations I found on the rim and kept them as protectorates. Then in another long, laborious process I integrated them, then immediately converted them into vassals so they'd share my tech. Once they were all vassalized I let them go so they'd expand, and in short order formed a federation with them all.

So it was a pretty built-up and buddy-buddy galaxy when the War in Heaven started, and I'd even built a Gateway network connecting me and my protectorates/vassals/federation partners' homeworlds. The twist was that when the League of Un-aligned Powers formed, one of my buddies didn't join it, and instead became a vassal of the Xenophiles because I'd forgotten about a wormhole connecting that part of the rim with the heart of the Xenophobes' territory. So those poor space frogs got pounded by my other League partners while I all but solo'd the Xenophiles, only for the Xenophobes to pop out the wormhole and launch some raids into my rear that my allies mostly repulsed. By the time I took out the Xenophiles and the space frogs became my vassal (again), the Xenophobes had partially-occupied the frogs' homeworld. But since that fleet decided to sit out the rest of the war until I came for them, I suppose it worked out. And by the end the whole Federation was attacking the Xenophobes from all sides, until my warlock armies were able to deal the finishing blow.

A decent end to my Stellaris gaming until the next big patch. Unless I decide to see what a Crisis looks like in that galaxy.

Oh wow, that Commonwealth of Nations thing is really interesting!

HoI4 Dev Diary - Je Maintiendrai: Netherlands Focus Tree

I wonder who the fourth nation to get a new focus tree in that expansion is.

Who're the first two?

The Netherlands are good though. I see a lot of options, along with the ability to peacefully create the Benelux.

UK and USA get new focus trees, with alternative history paths being part of the DLC.

Netherlands is getting a new tree as well.

Paradox said that they're going to do "two new trees, two reworked trees" for the future, so that leaves one more minor nation to get its own focus tree.

Some people suspect Belgium, Spain or even Brazil.

Wouldn't make much sense to do two different focus trees for two countries right next door to each other, at least IMO.

The CK2 twitter is teasing Hellenism getting implemented as a proper religion.

The truth. It burns.

Been playing Equestria at War a bit myself; first time tried Equestria (and got rolled over by a Sombra-ized Crystal Empire), then last night tried the Griffon Empire that didn't work out quite like I'd hoped. Next time I play though I have a strategy.

I've actually been thinking of making a page for it.

Edited by theLibrarian on Sep 27th 2018 at 8:29:38 AM

So...I'm being blocked off from the rest of the galaxy by by 2 marauders, a FE, and a xenophobic empire...what should I do?

Also there's an Enigmatic Fortress in my pocket and a planet with dark matter and living metal 2 jumps away from that fortress...

There already is a page for EAW.

Equestria's position is not that great till you build up war support and start getting some manpower on your side (ponypower?), and then you can churn out divisions and let that military might show itself off.