How to form Scandinavia using Sweden - A step by step guide

This guide is made to help players who needs some help to form Scandinavia using Sweden. This guide is designed for new players to learn the basics of the game, not to educate or entertain 2000+ hours veterans, so pardon the simplicity and shallow depth of this guide ! :)

Writer's Note

This guide is made to help new players learn the basics of the game, not to educate or entertain 2000+ hours veterans, so pardon the simplicity and shallow depth of this guide. If you know something i don't that should have been written in this guide, feel free to add it in the comments :)

Introduction

Scandinavia is formed when the player owns or spheres all provinces with Scandinavian core. Those provinces are all provinces in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Schleswig. With Sweden and Norway already owned by the player at the start of the game, the task is to conquer (own, or sphere) Denmark. Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, and Schleswig are already in Denmark’s possession at the start of the game.

Besides conquering all Scandinavian core provinces, Sweden has to achieve Great Power status and at least 45 Prestige points. Also note that to form Scandinavia, you have to be at peace.



Once you satisfy all the requirements, you can activate the För Brödrafolkens Väl! decision.

Now, how to reach the goals mentioned above ? This guide will help you through it.

Securing Schleswig

Schleswig starts as a part of Denmark, but because it has German cores, the Prussia will try to get it from Denmark. They will try to acquire Schleswig from Day 2. So if you aim to form Scandinavia without going to war against Prussia and possibly Austria, the easiest (probably) way is to try to acquire it from Denmark first before the Prussians. You have to declare war to Denmark on Day 1 (January 1st, 1836) and choose Acquire State. Choose Danish Schleswig-Holstein afterwards.

Once you declared war with Denmark just right before the Prussians do, the first thing to ensure your victory against Denmark is to mobilize your army and move them along with your Svenska Armén to Malmö, because the Danish will invade them first. Denmark will get help from Holstein, as Holstein is Denmark's satellite. Denmark's and Holstein's army is not really strong so 40k+ infantries should be enough to repel them without much effort. Once you got rid of the invading Danish Army, now it's your turn to invade them. Occupy Copenhagen as soon as possible. Don't forget to move your Navy to secure the Öresund and blockade some of Denmark's ports.

To win the war, you need to get 24 war score. Occupying Copenhagen and Kiel will get you a high war score, as they are your enemies' capital, but usually it's not enough, so go for other Denmark provinces.

Securing Prestige and Great Power Status

Congratulations! Now that you've won your war against Denmark, Schleswig is now yours!

And then we realize that we left out something.
Right, we have not researched any technology.

Now that you have secured Schleswig, your next goal is to achieve Great Power status. The easiest (probably) way to achieve Great Power status is to piling up your Prestige points. This helps the 45 minimum Prestige goal too.

To quickly accumulate Prestige points, focus your research on the Aesthetics category in the Culture tab.



Now that your Prestige is piling up, try to boost your military strength too to outscore the Great Power #8 Nation (usually The Ottoman Empire). To help increasing the size of your army, set the National Focus on Soldiers in Götaland.

Normally, you will need several years (usually until early 1840s) to take the Great Power status from The Ottoman Empire, so just wait and make sure you don't get into trouble while trying to get the Great Power status, just play it cool.

During this waiting period, you may receive some alliance offers from neighboring countries such as Belgium, Lubeck, Mecklenburg, and other North German states. Accept all of them. They may help you in your next goal.

Securing Denmark - And All The Other Scandinavian Provinces

With the Great Power status achieved, it's easier (probably) now to conquer Denmark. The easiest (probably) way to conquer Denmark is by adding it to your Sphere of Influence. The procedure of conquering Denmark is roughly the same as before: Defend Malmö, occupy Copenhagen, occupy Kiel, go for the other provinces until they accept your peace demands.

Once you sphered Denmark, all the other Scandinavian core provinces that (usually) belongs to Denmark will also get sphered, so the För Brödrafolkens Väl! decision will become available. Activate it.

Enjoy Scandinavia!

[svet]

@KillerTaco69 seems right, rushing prestige (Romanticism and Realism) seems to work very well, you can get great power around 1840 and you really don't lose anything this way.

[KillerTaco69]

@The Commandant - Don't go to war with Denmark. Just spam prestige techs and conquer uncivs in North Africa to become a Great Power ASAP. Then simply sphere Denmark and form Scandinavia. After that just sphere Holstein to prevent Prussia from forming the NGF.

[The Commandant]

Hey, Prussia keeps intervining in my war against denmark. Any solutions to this or na?

[KillerTaco69]

Prussia doesn't usually go for Schleswig-Holstein until they form the NGF. Just focus on getting Great Power status and sphere Denmark to form Scandinavia. Then focus all of your diplomatic influence on Holstein to take them away from Prussia's sphere of influence. The key is to prevent Prussia from forming the NGF. Just keep relations with Prussia high so that they don't declare war on you. Once you secure Holstein you can then go for Lubeck, Hamburg, etc. and gradually eat away at Prussia's sphere of influence in Northern Germany. Focus on expanding overseas, especially in Egypt, and you should be able to secure most of Africa. Then you can ally France or even Russia and take land away from Prussia like Pomerania, Westphalia, and even the Rhineland. Those regions will greatly enhance your military and industry as opposed to Finland.

[Takumu]

also this guide for those reading is terrible since it doesn't apply to hpm

[Takumu]

you ally germany and voila they win the war for you

[Yeehaw Dixiedoodle #BBQ]

Any tips for beating up Russia and liberating Finland?

[OwlRaider]

Forming Scandinavia is easy, holding onto it is tough since Prussia/NGF/Germany has cores on Schleswig Holstein and will consistently declare war on you for it. Similar deal with Russia and Finland but Russia is usually much weaker than Germany. In both cases the solution costs a lot of infamy but is well worth it Imho: Liberate country CB, not Free People only the former. Why? Because Liberate country is the only CB in the game that actually removes cores from a nation. So give up Finland than Liberate it from the Russians to make Russia lose core on Finland. Same deal for Schleswig Holstein only in this case you'd have to do it 3 times, once for Prussia, once for NGF and once for Germany. Incredibly annoying, I know, but that's the only way to keep those 2 giants away from your precious Nordic lands for good.

[Sodaina]

try to ally Austria and Prussia, it helps

[Sodaina]

When I added the war goal, I lost all my prestige