Sorry if this breaks any rules but I found my mind turning to how I would read AARs (after action reports) in the morning before school and then when I would get back home.

Does anyone else remember that time? It seemed like there were many AARs being done on this subreddit or in their respective game subreddits. Maybe it is because I check things less often now, but it seems like AARs are not really done as much anymore. Maybe because posting one screenshot with a bit of context added has replaced them as people's preferred way of sharing their campaign.

I would always look forward to new installments or new AARs in general and to see how creative people could be with them. Especially people who would add extra info or pictures from the time period to really sell the effect and add drama.

One that I remember very well is "On the Brink of Destruction" (Old Reddit | New Reddit) by u/nanomaster who is actually still active! Crazy to me that such a memorable piece of my past is still going on in some way. I remember a lot of HOI3 AARs from back then, I guess most of the game could be pretty bare so it gave you a lot of room to add creativity.

I also remember this one HOI3 AAR of how Hitler had a doppelganger who was actually running Germany, and there was a lot of interaction between the two for some reason. The player was the "doppelganger" and the story unfolded from their perspective I believe. Unfortunately many of the images have since been lost on that one, which is a sadly common end to many AARs from back then. I remember them including a lot of pictures from the 30s and I loved how it fleshed out the scene, stuff like Nescafe packaging and such.

Another one I remember is "Heaven cannot brook two suns, nor earth two masters" (Old Reddit | New Reddit) by u/durvas who sadly seems inactive, but their contributions remain. I mostly remembered it from the name which I thought was awesome back then for a Greece AAR, and because I don't remember many Vic2 AARs being made. A shame that we will probably not see many more going forward.

So yeah that is my trip down memory lane. Does anyone have AARs that they love from back then, or any more recent ones? I feel like the subreddit should try to host an AAR exhibition to bring back some interest in doing them, or maybe a competition? I really wish I could remember more, but obviously I would speed read them and then forget about them. I wish I saved my favorites, but oh well.

I did find this thread from a year ago that gets at something similar, but I am also interested in how people remember those days in 2015/2016/2017.

Also maybe there was never a 'golden age' and I simply remember there being one, but like I said it seemed like there was so much activity around AARs back then that it left an impression on me.

Hey folks, I'm sure there are many others like me who adore these old maps, decided to rework a gorgeous hyper resolution map designed by Rokas Ratkevicus into smaller desktop wallpaper versions with Affinity & Photoshop, various versions with different shades and real world photographed grain & paper textures.

All free to download for personal use here: Public Google Drive Folder

Original map design credit goes to r.ratkus / Rokas Ratkevicius 2025.

Let me know in the comments if you have any issues with access to the files. Enjoy!

I understand the navy now, quantity before quality

Now and again I like to play England, sell my French stuff, nick Portugal's lunch and uncover the map. I don't think I've seen an AI manage this before.

The last pic is a different game. I just enjoyed Golden Horde Europe being entirely east of Polish Asia. I get most of my inappropriate map-label satisfaction from Vic 2 but it's nice to see it in EU3.

Yeah, I know it's a hot topic, and I also know there's not much hope that my dream game (I'm a huge Bronze Age fan) will ever exist. However, I'd like to make a post explaining why I think a grand strategy game set in the Bronze Age would be an excellent idea:

1) A game unlike any other.
We know that most Paradox games are map painters. Yes, you don't have to conquer an empire as your objective, but 90% of games end with a gigantic empire. A Bronze Age game will have elements of a map painter, but I think the essence of the game wouldn't be territorial conquest, but internal management. The world is chaotic and societies are fragile; a bad harvest can spell the end of a civilization.

Another interesting aspect is that the Bronze Age marks the birth of the concept of the state, and you, as the player, will truly be able to shape your civilization as you wish. You can create bizarre theocracies, monarchies, and oligarchies.

2) A Mysterious World
One of the main reasons I see people claiming that a Bronze Age game wouldn't work is because we don't have enough information about that era. I think this isn't a flaw, but a strength.

In Paradox games (with the exception of Stellaris), you know what lies beyond your borders. In most games of EU V, France, England, and other major factions will always be present.

But in a Bronze Age game, the unknown can be a central mechanic. You start with a small civilization, you have to send out scouts and traders to discover who else is in this world, and suddenly you learn that there's a gigantic empire in Greece. You panic, you start preparing for a surprise invasion, and then suddenly another scout arrives claiming that the great empire has vanished. How? Nobody knows, but there are lots of strange ships on the horizon...

And if you want a more classic Paradox gaming experience, you can always play with Egyptians and Mesopotamians; you can create entire games focused solely on those two civilizations.

I got EU4 a couple of months ago and have finally gotten around to playing it. I have no dlc's. I'd like some good starter nation recommendations and some beginner tips so I don't get wrecked immediately.

Rule 5: the greatest division I could create as communist Sweden

I've never seen a comparison between these two so I'll make a post. Redirect me anywhere else if you've any info. I've played eu4 for a couple thousand hours in my toaster jujitsu laptop, it's unbearable after 1700ish and barely runs. Is stellaris "faster" or is it even worse cause I've been looking to buy it for some time. Should I save some money for another laptop instead before buying the game, cause it's around 10 years old at this point?

All of Paradox’s map games are top down, with the slight exception of landless characters in CK3.

The goal generally is to command populations by imposing policies, conducting war between yourself and a neighbouring state, so on and so forth.

Would be cool if there was a game where you start off as a small political, religious, or cultural leader seeking to undo what nations did (and do) in history. Becoming a liberator or dictator (take your pick).

Planting seeds of revolution, rising up against a king, a government, a foreign occupier, whatever it may be. Starting as a small time leaflet distributor to leader of the faction in a civil war. Buying arms, bribing officials, dealing with internal party/group conflict until ultimately solidifying your power.

Would be a really cool dynamic and would focus on one of my favourite things about CK3 - Character development.

Plenty of eras to pick from, the Russian revolution through to the Cold War. French Revolution and the bourgeois overthrows. The undoing of colonialism.

I understand that many people are probably tired of the Roman Empire obsession in every Paradox game. Every game has some kind of "restore Rome" thing going on and maybe people are tired of that, but I advocate for them going all in again on a dedicated Rome game. I think they can learn from their lessons from Imperator Rome and make a good sequel. I think if implementation is done well, the audience will flock to it.

So Imperator Rome was, compared to the success of the success of other Paradox games, a disappointment. You can tell they had high hopes but gave up. It came out in 2019 though and while they did do lots of fixes and there is the glorious Invictus mod, they have in other games further developed the systems that would be used in a hypothetical Imperator Rome 2. The game came out before Crusader Kings 3, and I think CK3 has really well flushed out many of the systems needed in a sequel. The character interaction system in CK3 is way better and I think that is one of the most important improvements. Interacting with characters in Imperator is kinda clunky and managing the politics is not fluid. I have played a lot of Imperator Rome and I just am not too invested in character interactions past what I need to do to manage loyalty. Import many of the improvements from CK3, and you have something there.

Add to that, the Roads to Power DLC really does a great job of depicting an imperial governance system, so that would work very well with Imperator Rome 2. We also have yet to see how the Merchant Republics gameplay will change things, but obviously the lessons and base systems can be easily used in a new Imperator Rome sequel. A military overhaul would also be pretty nice too and there's some good stuff to pull from CK3. The unit variety would be nice rather than every nation having the same heavy infantry/spearmen but with different morale/defense/offense modifiers. Unit systems like from CK3 would add more flavor and immersion, which would make legion template designing much more fun. It'd also be nice to have the formations/tactics systems in Imperator maybe redone because I don't find myself playing with it too often.

In me saying all of this, I also believe there is a non-zero chance that making Imperator Rome 2 may be EXACTLY what they are doing right now. Without going into too deep detail to avoid a tangent, I picked up indicators a few years ago that Total War was preparing for a Medieval 3 game. Mostly things like them adding in specific mechanics in their smaller Saga titles (Thrones of Britannia, Troy, Pharaoh, Three Kingdoms to a degree) that had some level of relation to modelling a feudal gameplay structure and could be used in a Medieval 3 game. They'd introduce them in those other games, then optimize/perfect them when it came time for the big Medieval 3.

I have more reasoning than just that for Medieval 3 but my point is that I am getting the same feeling I did with a hypothetical Imperator Rome 2 as I did with Medieval 3, and I turned out to be right about Medieval 3. I think they are flushing out the mechanics they'd use in an Imperator Rome 2 in these other games and as the mechanics take better form, they can be effectively brought into an Imperator sequel.

Not much else to say

1-2 days ago I tried booting up stellaris but it said it got removed from stellaris. I just deleted it, and now when I booted up ck3 it said it’s leaving on July 31st, why? Is there some licensing thing that’s expiring or something?

Cardassians in Space

I know this says hoi4 but this can apply to stellaris or any game with naval units really.

Often times paradox will make changes that completely upend the naval game. Last time I played stellaris, corvette spam was king. Currently in hoi4, torpedo destroyers are really strong.

I understand wanting a balance where all or most ship types are worth building for naval superiority, but often times this isn't exact and one ship type becomes dominant. My argument is that if this has to happen, the larger, heavier ship type aught to be the dominant type, or at least not the smallest. By having destroyers or corvettes as the dominant ship type, what happens is that it punishes research and investment. In stellaris, you unlock the ship types one after the other. Corvette dominance means you stop at corvettes. In hoi4, you research 1936 destroyers, 1936 torpedoes, and put all your dockyards on torpedo destroyers.

If larger ships are dominant, then that rewards investment. Taking the time to build a super heavy battleship isn't a waste, and you won't be beaten by the person who spammed destroyers.

Here is the setup I'm thinking but it's really expensive so I would very much like to cut some corners: https://fi.pcpartpicker.com/list/ThF9K7

I'm not looking for advice on that (though obviously is appreciated) but just wondering what sort of rig is enough for paradox games.