Papal States have the big advantage that Austria cannot march directly to Papal states so they have to deal with Military access (which the other Italian states would deny if they are allied to Papal States) or use their honestly weak fleet. They not only help you defend these lands, but more importantly they will delay the Austrian take over, requiring the Austrians to significantly outnumber Papal States' forces. It is strongly recommended that a line of forts should be constructed on the Austrian border before declaring war on Austria. Parma and Sardinia-Piedmont may be difficult cases since they border Austria and France respectively. Since most of the other states are already under the French or Austrian Sphere of Influence, the task of gaining states will take a lot of time, so start early, as soon as Great Power status is acquired.

Therefore, it might be better to fight Austria with the help of France before one becomes a great power. Once Papal States becomes a Great power it breaks out of Frances Sphere of influence and might thus loose the alliance with them. In order to form Italy, the Papal State must have all of the Italian states, in addition to the Austrian region of Lombardia, either within its Sphere of Influence or conquered. Once Great Power status is achieved, the task of uniting the Italian states behind a single flag becomes possible. An alliance with France is all you could ever ask for in terms of defence, and they can easily also be used offensively.Īvanti Italia! The independent Italian nations A more daring strategy would be to attack Switzerland before they are sphered by France. In addition, if they are researched straight away, there is a good chance you'll gain a large amount of prestige from the inventions.Īnnexing Tunis and gaining regions from Egypt (especially Dumyat and the Levant) can be another solution. Researching the techs that grant bonuses to research points early can provides a great boost to research. Unfortunately the reunification of Italy will have to stop after this for a while, since the Two Sicilies are too strong for the time being and the other states are either in France's or Austria's Sphere of Influence. Once Modena is acquired, a steel mill there will be a good choice.

So a guaranteed profit maker is the glass factory and a winery. One should start by industrializing the two starting regions. They both affect the relations with other states, and give prestige at the cost of infamy.

The papal state eu4