EU4 ORIGINS || ETHIOPIAN AKSUMITE DREAM #9
Channel: Andrew Channel International
Date: 26/01/2022

Europa Universalis IV (abbreviated EU4 or EUIV) is a grand strategy computer game created by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released for the PC on Windows, OS X, and Linux on 13 August 2013.

Much of the game's setting is based in the historical era of initial European exploration and colonization of the New World. The game opens at the tail end of the Hundred Years' War and the decline of the Byzantine Empire and continues through to the revolutionary periods of the United States and France, and concludes a few years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Players assume control of a nation, seeking glory through exploration, trade, warfare and diplomacy, dramatically altering the course of history in the process.

Origins is the 4th immersion pack for Europa Universalis IV. It was announced on 2021-10-19 and was released alongside patch 1.32 on 2021-11-11. (Source: Wikipedia)

About the campaign:

Ethiopia is a medium-sized country in eastern Africa, just north of the Horn of Africa. In 1444, it shares a border with its vassals, Flag of Damot Damot and Flag of Hadiya Hadiya, and with Flag of Alodia Alodia, Flag of Beja Beja, Flag of Medri Bahri Medri Bahri, Flag of Adal Adal, and Flag of Janjiro Janjiro. Starting with an Empire-rank government and control of a Coptic holy site, Ethiopia has the potential to be not just a contender for African superiority but to challenge for control of the Arabian peninsula and the Middle East.

After the Songhai 1.32 patch, the new mission chains for Ethiopia are primarily focused around the liberation of the copts in the Middle East, the legacy of the Empire of Flag of Aksum Aksum and the contact with the Europeans.

Religion
Three religious denominations exist inside Ethiopia at the start of the game: Coptic (the current state religion), Sunni and Judaism. While a Jewish Ethiopia may offer an appealing challenge for experienced players, a Coptic or Sunni Ethiopia provides the best opportunity for success.

Coptic Ethiopia
As a Coptic nation, Ethiopia can make early use of the unique holy sites mechanic thanks to the site in Aksum. The ability to give a boost to military (through manpower recovery (+10%) or discipline (+2.5%)), religion (through missionary strength (+1.5%)), or other aspects of the nation (through increased yearly legitimacy (+0.5) or reduced core creation cost (-10%) which is arguably one of the strongest points of the Coptic faith) based on the chosen holy site bonus allows Coptic Ethiopia to proliferate at a rapid pace, either through absorbing lesser countries or converting held provinces. Should nearby Flag of Makuria Makuria convert the holy site in Qasr Ibrim from Sunni to Coptic, Ethiopia (as well as all other Coptic nations) will unlock a second Coptic bonus, further increasing Ethiopia's potential power. The conquest of Alexandria from the Flag of Mamluks Mamluks (which will be a short-term goal after domination over the horn of Africa is achieved, as to not let the Flag of Ottomans Ottomans seize control over the area, which will make the conquest of the holy site much more difficult) will unlock another Coptic blessing at your disposal.

When conquering Egypt, it is best to take entire states in a single go. This is because there are a number of events that can grant +2 missionary strength for the whole state, for 10 years, upon taking a specific province in the state. Conversion is thus much easier getting these bonuses, and having it apply to the whole state and not be wasted.

Idea groups
Most of the idea groups can well benefit Ethiopia depending on your overall strategies. The below picks merely make use of Ethiopia's particular situation:

As mentioned before, economic ideas helps the institution spawning strategy when fully invested, but its other benefits also directly or indirectly boost income, one of Ethiopia's main weaknesses in the early game. Though income from trade ideas can greatly outstrip income from economic ideas, it's much more the long term investment since it requires Ethiopia to conquer many provinces in several different trade areas before it can overtake economy ideas' income potential.