Best nations for colonization?

[[Z] EMKP]

I'm not gonna lie, colonization is one of the key sources of fun in Victoria 3. (I used to play hoi4) What are some potential colonial powers you guys recommend?

[Alex]

For an overview, have a look here:
https://vic3.paradoxwikis.com/Goods#Maps

1. Until midgame, primarily look for states with iron and coal. You can never have enough of this stuff, and the international market is usually short on them as well (on steel, too). A good pick would be South and South-Eastern Africa.
2. Then, check which resources you're lacking in, which are scarce, or which you can't reliably buy in sufficient quantities. Like sulfur, for example, which means grabbing some land in South-Eastern Asia.
3. Your secondary target should be luxury goods, which your population will soon demand, but which aren't readily available, or which can be counted as strategic goods. Opium, for example, may be cheap and plentiful early on, but later, you'll be needing huge quantities of it for your field hospitals.
4. Afterwards, you should start securing oil and rubber. This will be a serious bottleneck later on, so get your fair share of it in Equatorial Africa or South-Eastern Asia (yet again, see the pattern there). New Guinea is an especially good pick, since it has both, with some extra iron and sulfur on top.

[[Z] EMKP]

Thanks for the insight! I'll definitely keep that in mind. Although I was kinda asking what country I should play as for the most fun colonizing

[Alex]

Originally posted by Z EMKP:

Thanks for the insight! I'll definitely keep that in mind. Although I was kinda asking what country I should play as for the most fun colonizing

Okay, I think I misunderstood a little. Not what you want to colonize, but as whom you want doing the colonization, right?

Let's see:
1. Britain and France are frankly way too OP.
2. A more interesting choice may be Spain or Belgium/Nederlands, you already have some colonies, but you're nowhere near being OP.
3. If you want to colonize from scratch, then pick Japan, any South American country (especially if you have the "Colossus of the South" DLC), and maybe the US to get some of those proverbial "banana republics".
4. If you're already an experienced player, then you could pick something more challenging. Australia, any of the Arabian splinter states, or Transvaal.

[6ap6apblckaAa]

One wierd nation in this regard is Qing. Although you are pretty late for colonization because of tech, but due to population size you generate enourmous amount of points.

[Tasteless]

Tahiti and form the Austronesian empire.

[Ilhan]

If you play Belgium and gain some Dutch land in Indonesia, you can conquer the entire region easily.

[nikoxentium]

Originally posted by 6ap6apblckaAa:

One wierd nation in this regard is Qing. Although you are pretty late for colonization because of tech, but due to population size you generate enourmous amount of points.

they patch it, pop is non so iportante right now, it depend state you colo, but sure it's better more, unfortunetely qing is too big to have a really good potentiel like russia or japan for exemple

[[Z] EMKP]

Thank you guys! I think i'll try Tokugawa or Belgium next game. Maybe when (and if) that goes well i'll try Transvaal again (for some reason whenever I play it goes wrong)

[SIX]

I took most of Africa and Indonesia as India last game since you start as a British puppet you can beat everyone but the British at the colonization game

[disdage]

I like colonizing as France, Algeria is a VERY useful jumping off point. I had one game where 60 percent of Africa was just me and my puppets as France(my main focus in that game wasnt even colonization, it was egalitarianism)

[[Z] EMKP]

Zamn. Thank y'all for the insight! How good is sweden for colonization, btw? Or Denmark?

[Scheneighnay]

Originally posted by 6ap6apblckaAa:

One wierd nation in this regard is Qing. Although you are pretty late for colonization because of tech, but due to population size you generate enourmous amount of points.

Yeah, in the latter half of the game as China I took a pretty hefty chunk of Africa. Still, France and Britain always have the bulk of it.

[Alex]

Originally posted by Z EMKP:

Zamn. Thank y'all for the insight! How good is sweden for colonization, btw? Or Denmark?

As Sweden, you're pretty vulnerable, since the enemy can disrupt your entire shipping by raiding just a single sea node. For Denmark, it's two. This means that having a good fleet, and forming Scandinavia should be your priority.