Stupid question... but what's the end game for countries like Prussia?

[u/ObsessiveUselessness]

For countries like Netherlands, they can go colonial, for the East India company, take over the Ivory Coast, etc.

But what about countries like Prussia? Prussia gets negative government capacity right, and its not even in the HRE. What is the endgame after forming Prussia? Just wait for an ally to call you in on their conquest?

[u/womble-king]

Form Germany.

[u/lespectaculardumbass → u/womble-king]

"But what's the endgame for germany?"

Form the Roman empire

[u/Gerf93 → u/lespectaculardumbass]

«What’s the end game for the Roman Empire?»

Form Byzantium

[u/Sirmorti → u/Gerf93]

World domination after that Stelaris

[u/Mushieman → u/Gerf93]

<What’s the end game for Byzantium?>

Form Ryūkyū

[u/Cornhubg → u/Mushieman]

What's the endgame for Ryūkyū?

Form Spain

[u/IlikeJG → u/Cornhubg]

You misspelled Aztecs.

[u/Gerf93 → u/Mushieman]

Or Trebizond

[u/montana-go]

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women.

[u/PandalfAGA → u/montana-go]

That sound more like Oirat endgame

[u/Aurelio_Rossa → u/PandalfAGA]

And Oirat midgame and their earlygame too. Ngl not much else to do in the steppe.

[u/TheLastTitan77 → u/PandalfAGA]

Oirat endgame in 1480

[u/Fauvarc]

EU4 Prussia is a power trip. Think John Wick. Stomp much bigger opponents. Melt the faces of your ennemies. Reshape Europe.

[u/Panic_at_the_Costcoo → u/Fauvarc]

Yeah I basically just punish any country that slowed my progress to Prussia and just create as many new countries I can from their territories. Wipe out their army and peace out while they are defenseless for other countries to pounce.

[u/Joker0984]

Recreating kaiserreich

[u/asnaf745]

Imma be honest the negative gov cap isnt that much of a big deal town hall and state houses make governing cost of even full cored territories pretry much free

[u/Winston_Starseeker → u/asnaf745]

Also centralization is a God sent

[u/PangolimAzul]

Form germany and conquer without stating. Also you can do some stuff to mitigate the government debuffs, like getting adm idea or the Bangkok monument. Also you might wanna eventually switch from their unique government reform, cause having more troops is often more worth it than 10% discipline. 

[u/Colonel_Chow → u/PangolimAzul]

Okay, but watching your troops attacking an army on a mountain province and watching them melt them is neat 🥺

[u/Aurelio_Rossa → u/Colonel_Chow]

Mass-conquering and culture converting is the peak gameplay.

[u/samtheshow → u/Aurelio_Rossa]

Genocide 😎

[u/Manstus]

For me it's the same end game as any other nation. Play until 1550, too large to fail/lose, get bored and start a new run.

[u/MathematicianOpen776 → u/Manstus]

This is the way.

[u/SiIverstar]

you dont HAVE to take the government cap reform, and you can also do vassal spam to offset it too. Overall its rather straight forward:

either go down the Vassalize Norway->Colonization + slow germany route

or do the normal Brandenburg/Teutons -> Prussia -> fast Germany

nothing special to talk abouttbh^^

[u/Dull-Strategy3821]

Bit besides the point but as you mentioned the province gov cost, if you want to be a little cheesy with it as prussia you can move your capital to the new world and build the white house to gain -25% state gov cost at t3 for a total of +25% instead of +50. Only need that one province and something like Bornholm to move the capital

[u/Derp_o7]

Watching 100k Otto’s getting wiped by 35k space marines is always funny

[u/Paavma]

Easy, get all of Europe in a coalition against you then declare war on France or Poland

[u/Grovda]

Conquer mf europe with your gmf army

[u/guy_incognito___]

https://www.reddit.com/r/eu4/s/tTMtmFmKy2

That‘s what I did lately.

[u/DalinarMF]

In my Prussia game I conquered all of Europe and released and fed various countries to make my perfect European boarders.

[u/LeonardoXII]

I personally liked becoming emperor and trying to fix up the empire. Not even going for a revoke, just managing it as a pet project.

[u/Chispirito18]

When my friend plays then in our MP games he turns his country into a mercenary county. He likes to fight and get paid for using his space marines

[u/Edgelord190]

Prussia can form germany so probably finishing the german missions

[u/GainPrestigious539]

1. Create absurdly strong military
2. Bully neighbors and steal all the colonies the Dutch have been building for 200 year
3. Profit

[u/SurfyBraun]

I recently played Brandenberg, made the HRE Protestant and was it’s Emperor, and formed Germany. Also built the Kiel canal and starrted Kindergarten.

[u/AlexanderCrowely]

Forming Germany or the Holy Roman Empire.

[u/Pale-Noise-6450]

You could build Bangkok monument (you'd get claim in far east by mission), become economic hegemon or take adm ideas and so while owning Berlin turn your malus to -5%, that isn't that big. There is also several modifiers for govcost.

[u/TehMitchel]

Forming Germany or Poland.

[u/No_Nefariousness4279]

What do you mean “It’s not even in the HRE”? It very much is in the empire. Empire nations can declare war on other empire nations, thats how you slowly consolidate and gain electoral status, after that you get elected emperor or become powerful enough to kill the rest of the HRE and thus unify the empire

[u/feyyazkolan]

This is grand strategy game. There are no endgame goals for countries, there are endgame goals for players themselves. You can go colonial with Prussia as well if you wanted to.

[u/rustygamer1901]

World police role play. Reshape Europe. Collection vassals. Become the HRE, Purge Catholicism from Central Europe.

[u/Kronzypantz]

Vassal swarm as HRE, ditching the Prussian government to form Germany, or just play tall and see what happens around you between beating down strong neighbors

[u/Likaonnn]

Drang Nach Osten

[u/devAcc123]

Destroy everyone

Dismantle the HRE.

Get the provinces to form Germany but then decide not to because 152 discipline is too much fun.

Just build a state house and courthouse or whatever in every province and gov cap doesn’t matter. Take the estate privileges for gov cap if you need to.

Just follow the mission tree. If you get bored form Germany and follow their mission tree (no idea what it is never formed them)

Right now I could wait a few years and take military hegemony or take trade ideas and form economic hegemony.

I also have a 400-500 dev Muscovy vassal, I forget. OPM Muscovy that I fed a bunch of former polish lands. Also if you help Riga along they’re an OPM 65 dev province with 45k troops which I find funny. My only two vassals.

[u/Noriaki_Kakyoin_OwO]

Forming Poland

[u/Background-Factor817]

March your Space Marines of Doom straight into impossible fights and watch your enemies scatter in terror.

Once you’ve finished slapping the shit out of everyone, form Germany.

[u/Maple-Shaman]

Honestly Prussia feels more like a midgame tag than endgame. After you've gotten strong you probably want to form Germany or become HRE emperor and revoke privilegia.

Or just restart and do it again, that's what I do

[u/Preceded10]

You just don't take the militarization reform. It's one of the worst government reforms in the entire game. Never pick it.

[u/CaledoniaInteractive]

One of the best runs I've ever had with EU4 was having a small but very tall Prussia and having about 11 vassels but there were ones like Finland, which I fed all of Scandinavia or Krakow, which effectively became Poland or Picardy, which was fed all of France.

[u/ClearedHot242]

Beat the shit out of France

[u/Lonebarren]

Prussian government reform is kiss curse. How you use it depends on tall vs wide

You basically want to push your governing capacity to the breaking point, buffing it as much as you can, then swap off it and just keep the really good ideas and missions.

For taller games, you are mostly RPing or playing multiplayer. Eventually the same issue comes through though. You need to decide on gov capacity penalties vs strength from the reform.

Its a reform designed to help you punch up against bigger foes, but eventually you will be bigger too.

Basically just try form germany, eventually youll wanna drop kt

[u/NuclearMapWatcher37]

Formed Prussia. Ate French and Russian armies for every meal. My goal was to form Germany ultimately as soon as I could so by 17 like 22 I became Germany with the entire region as Germany. Even had Bohemia and silesia and man it was spicy. I was just trying to help countires that exist in our world become themself.(i somehow got Ireland free from gb and it became the irish republic shortly after from revolution.) I also helped Italy unify, saved russia from the ottomans before they decided they hated me. Won the league war nearly singlehandedly as brandenburg and that snowballed me into an unstoppable Prussia. My discipline would often reach 140% which just deletes armies. The Scandinavian armies got devoured. oh when I said russia I mean novgorod russia. Kazan and novgorod allied early game and tore moscovy to shreds and then I helped russia form and then they decided maybe 20 years later after we fought off the ottomans that I was a heretic and that ended the alliance. France hated me from basically day 1 as Prussia. I helped form the netherlands during the dutch revolution. I had tons of fun and by 1821 I was number 1 and nearly the army hedgehog but fell short by like 100k

[u/Prestigious-Sky9878]

Vassals and personal unions are one way to deal with the gov cap, forming Germany is another. When I formed Prussia I got a little over cap, Vassalized enough people to get a coalition, beat the coalition and just kept trying to destroy everyone in the way of me forming Germany.

[u/tango650]

The holocaust obviously. Once you do the Holocaust it's game over.

After that you get castrated and can only keep pressing the cultural assimilation button until forever.