I conquered a couple of provinces and took 3 vassals… playing further, once 'truce' finished I was attacked by around 20 other small countries who gathered around 113k of army…
Trying to replay… in one of scenarios instead of decreasing army from 70 to 60, instead I've increased it from 70 till 120. As a result… opponents just didn't start any attack…
That seems quite logical, but is there any in game mechanism to estimate level of their aggression and amount my own 'strength' comparatively to opponents?
Thanks!
Best Answer
It's a function of relation values, Agressive Expansion values and the relative strengths of both sides in the conflict.
You might for instance see that a new coalition is formed against you when you next go to war. It is actually quite easy to avoid getting dragged into a war. Just make sure you have an alliance with one of the major powers on the continent. If you are France, an alliance with Poland/Lituania/Commonwealth for instance helps a lot in keeping the Austrians busy while you nibble away the the western borders of the HRE.
I find that in the end your expansion in EU4 is limited by diplomacy, not by military strength. The key to avoiding massive coalitions against you lies in the development of "Flexible Negotiations" and "State Propaganda", as well as making sure you have the "Improve Relations Over Time" type of advisor most of the time.