I recently was wondering what nation I should play as in my next Europa Universalis 4 play-through. I have well over 1000+ hours, so by this point, I have played all the big nations; France, England, Muscovy, Milan, Portugal, Castile, and the list goes on and on.
But recently I found a 1 province minor nation, that has the potential to dominate their trade node, and take over an entire region… with ease. Let me introduce Lübeck, a country that has such potential in relation to trade, that it has a whole trade node named after it (The Lübeck Trade Node). So I figured I would write a step-by-step EU4 Lübeck Guide, to help out anyone that isn’t familiar with this hidden gem.
Before we jump into this Europa Universalis Guide, first I would like to familiarize you with Lübeck’s circumstances in 1444. Lubeck begins the game with an average economy, but don’t let this fool you. Expect to be making double digits in profit within the first 20 years!
Furthermore, Lübeck is the leader of the Hanseatic Trade League. This means that you have an edge over the other countries in your trade node, as you get free trade power from the other members of your league!
Initially, you are completely surrounded by small nations (meaning they can be easily conquered), except Denmark to your north, and Brandenburg to your south-east. Luckily for you, Lübeck has the ability to form an alliance with both of these countries very shortly after beginning the game.
Moreover, you are a member of the Holy Roman Empire, which means you don’t have to stress out over Denmark or Poland invading you. As Austria will protect you from any outside nation.
Now let’s get straight to the tutorial!
Europa Universalis 4: Lübeck Guid
Lübeck Starting Moves
- Firstly, you will want to check your available Diplomatic Advisors. If have a Tier 1 Diplomatic Reputation Advisor, than you are in luck. If not, don’t worry. The Diplomatic Reputation advisor simply makes it easier to form alliances. So much so, that if you did manage to get one, you should be able to form an alliance with Brandenburg, without improving relations with them at all.
- Secondly, you will want to form an alliance with a few nations. These alliances will really come in handy in the wars we will be fighting in the following years, these are:
- England
- Brandenburg
- Austria
- Sweden (wait until they break away from the person union with Denmark)
Note: You will have to improve relations to achieve some of these allies.
- Next, you want to set your Rivals. The nations available to rival are somewhat random, but if you can, you will want to rival the following nations:
- Mecklenburg
- Saxe-Lauenburg
- East Frisia
- Recruit 3 infrantry units in your only province of Lübeck, followed by hiring the Free Mercenary Company. To hire the free company, you will have to get some loans. Dont stress, these loans will be payed back in no time! Once these units are dont, dont forget to complete the ‘Defend the City’ mission. This is, unless you dont have the Emporer DLC. In which case, you will be unable to claim the mission.
- Send your initial 5 light ships on a mission to ‘Protect Trade’ in the Lübeck trade node.
- As soon as you can, declare a ‘Humiliate Rival’ war against Saxe-Lauenburg. Overall, this war should a quite easy. The only exept to this is if Saxe-Lauenburg formed an alliance with Denmark. If so, forget about the following few steps, and dont declare war against them.
- Once you have wiped our Saxe-Lauenburg’s army, and conquered their province, you will want to send a peace deal. Make sure to damand the following:
- Humiliate
- Transfer Trade Power
- War Reperations
- Your next as Lübeck depend on whether you have the Emporer DLC, or not. If you do, you should have completed the ‘Defend the City’ mission by now, which should give you claims on all of Mecklenburg. If you dont have the Emporer DLC, start a spy network in Mecklenburg, and evnetually fabricate a claim on one of their provinces.
- Declare war against Mecklenburg. Depending on which nations Mecklenburg allied, this war may be easy… or hard. If they allied Lithuania, than that shouldn’t be a problem, as Lithuania should be falling under a Personal Union
- with Poland very shortly. If they allied Bohemia, than I suggest you rush Prague (Bohemia’s Capital) and peace them out of the war as soon as possible. Regardless, you will want to call your ally Brandenburg into this war, as you may really struggle without them.
- Once you have peaced out all of Mecklenburg’s allies, and besieged all of their provinces, sign a peace treaty with them. Demand the following:
- Mecklenburg becomes your Vassal
- As much money as they are willing to give you
Later Expansion – EU4 Lubeck Guide
By now, your economy should be very good! Furthermore, you should have some nice allies. As a result, you have a few options available to you.
We suggest you declare war on Wolgast shortly after the Mecklenburg War, force them into vassalisation too. On the contrary, you can form an alliance with Poland, and declare war on Denmark. I only suggest doing this if Sweden has broken away from the personal union under Denmark. After these wars, you can start picking away at your 1 province neighbors.
Thanks for Reading our EU4 Lübeck Guide!
