Europa Universalis III: FAQ
This is for users just beginning the process of playing the game and who want to get right into it. A more detailed guide can be found here.
How do I take territories?
First you must be involved in a war of course. Next you want to take and occupy land you want to annex. Note when you occupy land during a war unless it is a colony, you must sue for peace in order to get that nation's territory. Suing for peace effectively ends the war, if the other side accepts the treaty. During a war you will notice shield near the bottom right. When you hover your mouse over it, it will either show you a green or red percentage number. Green is good and means your war score is in the positive.
When your warscore is in the positive and you are prepared to sign a peace treaty click on the target country you wish to sign a peace treaty with. Click on the first option that says "Sue for peace". This will bring up several options. There are different circumstance that allow different things to be done. To take territory either annex them or demand territory from them. At the bottom of the screen it will show you weather or not they would be willing to accept the deal. The largest penalty for taking territory is called repuration or infamy, depending on which version you are playing. It is also known as your badboy score on the Paradox forums. Go over a certain limit and countries will start declaring war on you.
Taking over a countries last province, ie there capital, you must first take over all of there other provinces. Then in a seperate war annex them completely. Certain tribal nations you are able to annex all in one war.
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How do I move troops by sea?
First you must have a navy. If you start with a sea province you will most likely start with a small navy. Navies are represented by slightly larger flags than your armies in zoomed out view. You can drag and select these navies move them out to sea directly next to the province you want to move your troops from. Then select your armies and move them out to the sea province wear your ships are. When building ships, your transports are always the last in the list of available ships to build from. Generally are called flytes or something similiar and completely defenseless against attack without other ships in the group to protect them.
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How do I explore terra incongnita?
You generally need to have the national idea "Explore the New World". In your army tab of your shield you will then be able to recruit conquistadors and explorers. Conquistadors can be assigned to an army like a general can and will allow your army to move into terra incognita land. They will move slower than normal into that land but will make it visible to you for the rest of the game. You can also run into Wasteland areas, which are areas that cannot be occupied or colonized. The Amazon Rainforest, the Rocky Mountains and the Kongo are just some these places that are considered wastelands and uninhabitable. Some mods like the Whole World mod can modify these wastelands.
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Can I move save files from expansion to another or from the normal game to a mod?
In some cases it is possible. I recommend backing up save files when upgrading to new version, especially with Steam. Generally I don't recommend doing this, it generally causes lots of problems which won't be immediately obvious. Try at your own risk.
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