What Country Should I Play?
This article is to answer the most agonizing question in any Paradox Game: who do I play?
Along with the discussion of the gameplay and features of the nation, this table includes:
- Difficulty: How hard is this nation? (ranked by Civilian, Recruit, Regular, Veteran, and Elite)
- Lore: what real-world/fictional nation is the culture and lore most similar to?
- Gameplay: what HOI4 vanilla nation(s) does it play most similarly to, if any?
Equus
| Country | Gameplay |
|---|---|
 Difficulty: Regular (pre-Great War) |
A very powerful but peaceful nation, the player will need to slowly adapt for the invasion from the technologically superior  Changelings. Most military reforms will only unlock just before the war begins, causing less experienced players to have great difficulty holding off the Changeling advance. However, the more land the Changelings take, the more their blood will dry, which can reward the player for their patience.
After the Great War, Equestria can become a superpower, with the ability to take on even Griffonian majors. The player should be cautious, however, as war requires reforms to the peace-loving country, and Celestia may not take it well... |
 Difficulty: Veteran |
The Changeling Lands start with the best tech and armies in the game, and on a war footing, though its industry is inferior to  Equestria's. The main goal is to build up a powerful army to smash through Equestria, whose defeat will leave you unbeatable.
The early game will focus on defeating Olenia, a weaker nation but with low infrastructure, a cold climate and lots of mountains that can bleed you. The starting tech lends itself to a high armour strategy. There is an alternate harmonic route with a civil war, but that route is largely uneventful, assuming Equestria stays harmonic. |
 Difficulty: Elite (no Equestrian help) |
A decent nation,  Olenia has the unfortunate position of being the first target of the hugely powerful Changeling Lands. Geography and natural advantages favour you, with icy cold, no infrastructure for the changelings, fort construction bonuses and troops that are specialised for winter and mountain operation.
However, the changelings so strongly outgun you that all of this is likely to be irrelevant. Olenia can go harmonic and seek an alliance with Equestria. Although Equestria is not on a decent war footing so early on the game, the combined strength should make the battle winnable if played correctly. |
 Difficulty: Recruit (with allies) |
The  Crystal Empire starts as an integrated puppet of Equestria. With terrible infrastructure and very low industry, they have a rough start. However, through quick industrialization by focuses, they can gain a respectable economy for its size and prepare for the looming war. Their focus tree has multiple strong buffs to magical research.
The Crystal Empire can stay as an Equestrian ally, providing a key hold area against the |
 Difficulty: Regular |
 Nova Griffonia starts with a decent industry, good tech, and research ability, and the  Griffon Frontier as its puppet of which you will eventually annex. With powerful industrial focuses, they can easily become the dominant nation in Northern Equus. The only major threat they has to worry about is  Stalliongrad.
Nova Griffonia remains non-aligned for 2 years; In 1009 can choose between 5 political paths, including a capitalist path that allows them to sell mercenaries to other nations. Other paths will see them become expansionist and gain war goals on their neighbours. The exception is the harmonic path which will instead see them creating a faction with their neighbours. |
 Difficulty: Regular |
The  Yakyakistan starts with a weak industry and as an agrarian society which gives heavy penalties to industry and research. They can eventually gain core on the  Jaki-Clan and industrialise, making them a key player in Northern Equus. Research ability is quite low with a max of 3 research slots.
The main threats are |
Griffonia
| Country | Gameplay | |
|---|---|---|
 Difficulty: Recruit |
While Wingbardy starts off crippled by several national spirits that needs to be removed via its focus tree, Its one of the most powerful nations on the Griffonia continent with a high industry and the leader of an already established faction. Unless Wingbardy is Harmonic its gameplay tends to be aggressive as it will usually expand into its weaker eastern neighbours and eventually attack the Communist Wingbardy is generally agreed to be fairly OP at present. | |
 Difficulty: Recruit |
The Griffonian Empire starts small but respectable, plus a very large collection of loose vassals. Half of these will secede and you will spend the next few years integrating your remaining vassals and conquering the breakaways.
This will give you excellent manpower and industry, which you can use to steamroll the rest of the continent, becoming the continental superpower. The only thing going against you is that everyone on the continent wants you dead, as defeating you will give them cores on the Empire. The Griffonian Empire is locked into an expansionist path. It can't go Communist or Harmonic. | |
 Difficulty: Regular |
Aquileia starts out small with 4 vassals, below average technology and a relatively weak industry. However, all paths allow you to annex some or all of your vassals and neighbours and gain their lands as cores, which allows you to turn into a resource-rich populous powerhouse with a strong industry. Focuses also let you to reach good technology fairly fast. The republican path allows you to form the Entente with the  Griffonian Republic and  Skyfall, which can aid you greatly when facing the expansionist  Griffonian Empire.
Aquileia has harmonic, socialist and supremacist paths as well as two non-alinged paths. | |
 Difficulty: Veteran (no allies) / Regular (allies) |
Skyfall starts in an apparently poor position, with low resources, and stuck on Free Trade law. However, with a very strong navy, insanely powerful production bonuses, the help of trade partners and a lot of civilian factories, Skyfall punches far above its weight, and will give difficulties to any of the major powers.
| |
 Difficulty:Varies - typically Veteran |
Powerful vassal of the Griffonian Empire who will be one of the first to withstand its onslaught. Should they hold off the Empire, they will emerge as one of the most powerful nations on the continent.
It has an extremely unique political mechanic around forming Coalition governments, with a huge number of very detailed paths (including secret ones) and potential for an unusual civil war. A Harmonic / Non-Aligned route will allow you to attempt to marry with the Duchess of the | |
 Difficulty: Varies (Many paths) |
NM's experience varies because of its whopping 15 different political paths - the most important decision is whether to work with Equestria or not, which can help protect you late game. Alternate paths support neutral or even very aggressive plans.
But the main paths will be familiar to any player of vanilla Australia, NM has conscription and economic laws locked away for a long time, which compounds the problems with the small population. NM has a variety of ideas and spirits to support defensive play, and works well with fortification focuses. Late game, its powerful variety of national spirits give it some very strong bonuses. | |
 Difficulty: Veteran (no allies) |
The Griffonian Republic starts off with several internal problems and a game-ending civil war can occur if not properly managed. Will have to pick difficult choices on how to solve these issues with there generally being a faster but less beneficial option and a longer but more beneficial option. At the end of its focus tree it can embrace the 3 Principles of Griffon which gives several powerful bonuses. The | |
 Difficulty: Regular (Communist and Non-Aligned) Veteran (Fascist) |
Most notably has a very unique civil war which always happens several months into the game. It's basically three nations bundled in one, each with several unique focus trees and paths. The fascist path is notoriously difficult, and it requires a skilled player to defeat the forces of the military junta and the socialists. | |
 Difficulty: Regular (Harmony and Non Aligned) Veteran (Fascist) |
The Knightly Order of Hellquill is an interesting minor nation to play in the more eastern parts of Griffonia. The main player path is embracing the fascist Reformisten and leading an enjoyable, difficult if not morally compromising war against the entire Riverlands. | |
 Difficulty: Regular |
The Gryphian Host is an interesting nation because of its large amount of expansion options in Southern Griffonia. If Fascist, it can easily defeat Lushi, Gryphus, and Brodfeld/Prywhen, establishing a Southern Pact and eventually taking out the River Federation. If Communist, it can do much of the same except you have options to ally with the Griffon Liberation Army. With that you have the opportunity to be a vital ally in the fight against reactionary monarchism in Griffonia!
However, many Riverlands nations have options to go to war with the Gryphian Host, including Lake City and Wittenland. One who wants to play the cossacks of the South should look closely at what the nations of the Riverlands are doing and plan accordingly. In the harmonic path, you can try to join the River Coalition. A skilled player should have no trouble succeeding as the Host, unless they are severely impaired by an expansionist AI River Coalition. |
|
 Difficulty: Regular |
Yale is a small country that starts as a vassal of the Griffonian Empire, but has an enormous amount of content and a wide variety of paths to choose from. You can remain loyal to the Empire, conduct forbidden experiments for surprising results, keep the universities in power and form a technocracy or rise up and create a militant anarchist commune. Yale has good industry and excellent research, making it easier to fight against the Empire. Once the Empire has been defeated, a new extension to the focus tree is unlocked depending on what path you chose, allowing for further development and conquest. | |
 Difficulty: Regular (Normal), Veteran (Caramel Haze) |
The River Republic is the founder of the River Coalition and as such starts as its leader. They have communist, non-aligned and harmonist paths. Which path you go down is decided during the first focus "Divided government" and its associated events and decisions. Harmony path will focus on either internal development and the coalition (this path gives an extra point for the federation race) or securing the outer borders of the Coalition in the Golden Curtain path. The non-aligned path will focus on destroying the Griffonian Empire before it can threaten you. The communist path has two branches, market socialist and Stalinist. The former will try to unite the Riverlands with unique subversion and influence mechanics while the latter will simply go to war with the ENTIRE COALITION.
The Republic also has a diverse military tree which contains several interactions with other coalition members as well as unique decisions. | |
 Difficulty: Civilian (Stay with River Coalition) / Veteran (Leave River Coalition) |
A powerful member of the River Coalition. Nimbusia's strength lies in its strong army although many other aspects of it does suffer. Nimbusia starts in a favorable position with no direct threats and weak neighbors in the south to annex. It has a unique political struggle at the start that will require balancing party popularity and stability. The important decision is what foreign policy path it will follow which is available depending on which political faction won the political struggle. 2 of the foreign policy branches will allow it to stay in the River Coalition while the other more difficult branch will see Nimbusia leaving and going to war with the River Coalition.
It also has access to the unique sea cloud carrier unit and bonuses to its army from its focus tree. Overall it is a very unique and flavorful nation. | |
 Difficulty: Civilian (Stay with River Coalition) / Veteran (Leave River Coalition) |
Lake City stands as one of the most powerful nations of the River Coalition and has a multitude of ways to expand into their Griffonian neighbors, with a particularly strategic position in regards to its proximity to Griffon nations. Lake City has an event chain at the beginning that will allow you to choose between many different paths, including a monarchy that as the ability to proclaim the Holy Pony Empire and conquer the entire River Coalition. Its paths allow it to pursue numerous ideological paths and foreign policy positions, such as a Harmonic path that will invade  GLA (Prywhen) but also race for the River Federation, and militaristic Non-Aligned and Fascist paths that can conquer most of Southern Griffonia and the Griffking River Basin.
|
Zebrica
| Country | Gameplay |
|---|---|
 Difficulty: Recruit |
This is a nation that has a massive split of 2 paths right at the start, dependent on Equestria's actions, and both are worth playing, one taking you to Equus and the other focusing on North Zebrica and both the Equestrian Civil war and the North Zebrican war can be decided by you, but your allies will help carry theit weight so you don't have to do so alone (and it also allows beginners to mess around a bit).
|
 Difficulty: Veteran |
Tobuck is caught between a rock and a hard place, with Chiropterra and Zarantia both looking to expand and take you out relatively quickly. On top of this, your first year of gameplay is dedicated to helping the country leader embezzle money out of the county. While it is certainly a interesting story with a unique mechanic, it also hampers your growth in the early years. However, Tobuck has a variety of different paths you can take, and has lots of different outcomes and choices, making it a very interesting and replay-able nation. |
 Difficulty: Recruit |
This nation is the largest in it's area and doesn't enter in conflict with other major powers until the late game, unless the player actively pursues otherwise. The political situation is well told and understandable, while the paths you can take are clear and easy to follow. |