What Nation will you play first?

[Leon]

Who do you think you will end up playing as first game? Interested in who people are excited to start as. I might go Macedonia!

[AoX]

I'm not sure yet, probably somewhere north of current france, or something in current spain. Feels like a good way to experience the game the first time, starting small, surrounded by small tribes.

[CristoTheVicious]

Definitely Odrysians, although I'm a bit afraid that they're going to be a generic greek nation and not actual thracians.

[♥Artoria♥]

My first game is likely to be a game with my group of paradox friends. We have a Charthage, Selucids, Egypt, and Macedon. I'm going to play as Rome

[Andro]

Seleucids-cause i'm masochist.
Antigonos on west, Ptolemy on south, Armenians and Scythians on north, Indians on east, satrapies such as Bactria and Parthia are just waiting for slightest error to declare indenpendence and if it's not enough, your culture (macedonian) and religion (hellenic) is practically non-existent in your subjects (being zoroastrian persians) one bad move and it's game over before you seriously started .....just love it <3

[pmpdadypenguinmn]

I will play Sparta and conquer Rome

[The Former]

Originally posted by Androklos:

Seleucids-cause i'm masochist.
Antigonos on west, Ptolemy on south, Armenians and Scythians on north, Indians on east, satrapies such as Bactria and Parthia are just waiting for slightest error to declare indenpendence and if it's not enough, your culture (macedonian) and religion (hellenic) is practically non-existent in your subjects (being zoroastrian persians) one bad move and it's game over before you seriously started .....just love it <3

I wish I had your nerve. May fortune favor your house, friend. I will be hanging out in Caledonia where everyone is monocultural and I have no immediate rivals, for I am the opposite of bold.

[Untitled_1]

I'll probably start with Rome, since that's the tutorial nation so I can just carry on after the tutorial (at least that's what I've heard). After that, I'll probably play someone in Britain since that's always a fun start position and seems very different to Rome.

[mbpoblet]

Originally posted by Androklos:

Seleucids-cause i'm masochist.

In the dividing the spoils streams their rebellions got their own rebellions... 😖

[The Former]

Originally posted by hitlerslostbollock:

I'll probably start with Rome, since that's the tutorial nation so I can just carry on after the tutorial (at least that's what I've heard). After that, I'll probably play someone in Britain since that's always a fun start position and seems very different to Rome.

I feel like Britain will be a nice place to start, as most likely, you'll have a "mini campaign" on the island where you can blood your warhosts in small conflicts on your path to unification, and then you can take their experience into greater Europe when you're ready. Good luck in both games!

[Trazyn the Infinite]

Pontus, or Epirus, though both are probably just asking for an arse kicking for new player given their position and their aggressive neighbors. Etruria's also tempting but again.. yeah.

Ptolemaic Egypt might work - I usually don't like starting with big nations but it's always been one that I've found fascinating, both for it's ancient egyptian heritage and modern (for the time) greek aristocracy/legacy of Alexander. I'll just need to find someone to start sending me lumber to build up a navy quick I suspect. And ally with those Carthaginians to the west. Because to the east there's a lot of unfriendly former "friends" sharpening their swords.

[The Former]

Originally posted by Ciridian:

Pontus, or Epirus, though both are probably just asking for an arse kicking for new player given their position and their aggressive neighbors. Etruria's also tempting but again.. yeah.

If you start with Etruria, you might be able to ally with Lucania and/or Saminum and team up on Rome from both directions. I've heard most nations (who aren't already in a client situation with them) around Rome dislike them due to their bellicose posture, so the common threat may help you make fast friends with neighbors.

[Apoll0]

As Im not very familiar with the mechanics, im just thinking of a brittanic nation ive really only played hoi4, so anything good to know before i start playing could be greatly apreciated.

[The Former]

Originally posted by Tr3v0r101:

As Im not very familiar with the mechanics, im just thinking of a brittanic nation ive really only played hoi4, so anything good to know before i start playing could be greatly apreciated.

Coming off of HOI4, you're actually in pretty decent shape because HOI4 probably has the most micromanagement of any Paradox game. In general...

- You'll find that battles and warfare are slightly less complex. Some features from HOI4, like discipline and division design, will carry over to Imperator in somewhat familiar ways, though I believe division design is a bit simpler in Imperator. There are also no front lines to manage in Imperator, as this concept wasn't really a thing during this era. Armies march directly to regions to capture them, and if enemies meet, they struggle to drive on another off. Campaigns are a little more informal in that regard, compared to HOI.

- There's no real "production"; as long as you have manpower, you can produce armies. The trick is, some unit types require access to certain materials. Heavy infantry requires iron, ships require wood, cavalry requires horses, and so on. Each little segment of the map (called "cities" in Imperator, if I'm not mistaken) produces one type of trade good, so a combination of trade and strategic map control will be a big deal.

- In general, lots of emphasis on trade, as it can be a huge moneymaker. Each trade good also has passive bonuses for owning it, exporting surplus, and a couple other criteria. For example, if you simply own a certain good, you'll get a specific passive bonus. If you're exporting your surplus of that good to someone else, you'll get an extra bonus. Each type of good has their own set of bonuses.

- The biggest difference from HOI is the emphasis on government type, governance in general, and attention to the characters in your kingdom all have precedence. Rather than national idea trees, you'll have a bunch of traditions and inventions to select from based on various factors (culture group, government size, government type, and so on) that will define your nation's strengths.

Additionally, there are characters all over the world, grouped into influential families. They serve a similar role to generals in HOI, but with much more complexity. They'll age and die. They might become maimed or even die in battle. They form friendships and rivalries with other characters. They marry and have children, who themselves grow into potential generals and officials for your kingdom. They develop ambitions and amass personal wealth. Their soldiers can become loyal to them. In addition to generals and admirals, you can also appoint characters to political posts in your cabinet.

If families become disgruntled, members can leave your kingdom or even rebel and declare civil wars. If a general with loyal armies rebels, his soldiers go with him! So keeping your most dangerous characters happy and on the side of your government is crucial. You don't have direct control over any of your characters, but you can influence them by the way you appoint them to posts, the way you deploy the armies they lead, and so on.

----

Sorry, I get a bit long-winded. The most important thing to note is that HOI is a little more "on-rails" than other Paradox games. It's something of a sandbox, but in general, history will play out similarly every time, with only the player's input affecting major changes. In other games, like Imperator, it's very sandboxy. You'll always start with the same world setup, but from there, ANYTHING could potentially happen. It's a lot more open and unpredictable, and there's much more flexibility in how your kingdom changes with the times for that reason.

You might start out as a Roman republic, but decide later that you want to reinstate the monarchy and have a single hereditary rule. You might decide that your Rome, rather than expand into Europe, focuses on the east and claims Asia early on, affecting your diplomacy, culture, and trade goods differently than history. In the next game, you might play Rome again but decide to expand straight into Africa and build up a large force of camel cavalry, rather than relying so much on heavy infantry.

It's that sort of thing. Basically it's a ton of fun because you can take wildly different paths with even just a single nation every time you play.

(Extra note: The general rule is that HOI's focus is primarily on production lines and military, while most other Paradox games - including Imperator - put more focus on governance, diplomacy, and long-term strategies.)

[Cybot]

1st playthrough will be Rome, since it's Imperator ROME! And it's the tutorial nation and probably have a lot of flavor and events.

2nd will be a small little nation, probably one of the Illyrian ones so I can be a deuchebag pirate towards Rome lol.

3rd will be Egypt, hopefully i'll be ready for the challange after the other two playhtroughs.

[Rampant Luck]

I'm someone who likes to hunt achievements for paradox games, though I usually don't complete them. I'll probably start as Rome to get a nice introduction to the game while aiming for a few achieves.

After Rome, I'll probably go for something like Carthage or Egypt, then smaller or more difficult countries.