Riga

Primary culture

Balten (Germanic)

Capital province

Riga (38)

Government

Clerical State

State religion

Catholic

Technology group

Western

Rigan ideas

Please help with verifying or updating this infobox. It was last verified for version 1.33.

Traditions:

−10% Development cost

+25% National garrison growth

Legacy of Bishop Albert

+2 Yearly papal influence

+0.25 Monthly fervor

+10% Church power

Hanseatic Port of Riga

+10% Trade efficiency

Monopoly Rights

+25% Domestic trade power

Denounce Witchcraft

+2% Missionary strength

Free City of Riga

+1 Diplomatic reputation

Fortify Riga

+20% Fort defense

Restore the Brothers of the Sword

+5% Discipline

Ambition:

+20% Manpower recovery speed

Riga is a small Theocracy on the Baltic sea. It is surrounded on land by the Livonian Order. It starts allied with Lübeck and in the trade league led by Lübeck. The Daugava estuary is located in Riga and gives it an out-size proportion of the trade power in the Baltic trade node, compared to its size.

Missions[edit | edit source]

Main article: Rigan missions

Events[edit | edit source]

Main article: Rigan events

Decisions[edit | edit source]

id

Reform into Kurland

The Northern Crusade has long come to an end. Our Crusader identity will soon bring us no more than nothing and maybe one day, it will eventually become a burden... By secularizing the state and reforming it into a duchy which is led by the former Grandmaster and his knights - now the Duke and his vassals - we can rouse the state from decadence and ameliorate our diplomatic situation.

Potential requirements

Kurland does not exist.
The country:

was never an end-game nation.
has not yet enacted this decision.
is either the Livonian Order or Riga.

If the country is AI-controlled then:

it can not be a custom nation.
Protestant, Reformed, Anglican or Hussite religion must be enabled.

Playing with normal or historical nations.

Allow

The country:

has an administrative technology of at least 10.
is not at war.
is not a nomad nation.
is { Protestant, Reformed, Anglican or Hussite
owns its core provinces:
- Goldingen (39)
- Mitau (1935).

Mitau (1935) is part of a state

Effects

The country:

becomes Kurland.
gains 10 prestige.
becomes a monarchy, if it is a theocracy
gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’, unless it has custom ideas.
gets “Increased Centralization” for 10 years, giving:
- −0.05 monthly autonomy change,
- +1 national unrest.

Every neighbouring monarchies:

gets the opinion modifier “Secularized Monastic Order” ( +25 opinion / −2.5 yearly decay / +25 max) towards Kurland.

If Mitau (1935) is part of the HRE, but its owner is not a member then:

the province is removed from the HRE.
the Holy Roman Emperor:
- gets the opinion modifier “Removed provinces from the Empire” towards the owner, worth −50 opinion with a yearly decay of 1.
- loses 1 imperial authority.

Mitau (1935):

becomes the new capital of the owner country.

id

Reform into Livonia

The age of crusading knights is fading fast. There will come a time when we no longer have anything to gain by holding on to the trappings of a monastic order. Besides, the Landmeister would much rather be a Duke... or King. By reforming into a secular state, we can revitalize our administration and gain the respect of our neighbors.

Potential requirements Playing with normal or historical nations The country was never an end-game tag None of: Country flag `formed_livonia_flag` is set At least one of: Is player-controlled Is not playing a custom nation At least one of: Is Riga Is Livonian Order None of: Livonia exists At least one of: Is player-controlled The Protestant religion is enabled The Reformed religion is enabled The Hussite religion is enabled The Anglican religion is enabled	Allow Administrative technology is at least 10 Is not a steppe horde Is not at war At least one of: Religion is Protestant Religion is Reformed Religion is Hussite Religion is Anglican Owns core province Livland (37) Owns core province Wenden (4241) Owns core province Latgalia (273) Province Livland (37): Is in a state

Effects Province Livland (37): Province becomes the new capital. If it was in the empire and the country isn't, it is removed from the empire. Country becomes Livonia If: Limited to: None of: Latvian is accepted culture Gain Latvian as an accepted culture If: Limited to: None of: Estonian is accepted culture Gain Estonian as an accepted culture Gets new missions Gain 10 prestige If: Limited to: The country does not have custom ideas Trigger country event “New Traditions & Ambitions” Gain country modifier “Increased Centralization” for 10 years, giving the following effects: −0.05 Monthly autonomy change +1 National unrest If: Limited to: Government is theocracy Change government to monarchy Every neighbouring country: Limited to: Government is monarchy Gain opinion modifier “Secularized Monastic Order” ( +25 opinion / −2.5 yearly decay / +25 max) towards Our country Set country flag `formed_livonia_flag`

AI decision factors:

Base weight: 1
Base weight * 0 if the following are true:
- None of:
  - Owns core province Livland (37)
- None of:
  - Owns core province Wenden (4241)
- None of:
  - Owns core province Latgalia (273)

id

Reform into Prussia

The lands once conquered and Germanized by the Teutonic Order will always need protection against rapacious neighbors. Should the Order fail in this duty, we can take their place and usher in a new era of prosperity and Prussian discipline.

Potential requirements

The country:

was never an end-game nation.
has not formed Prussia before
has Pomeranian, Saxon or Prussian as primary culture
is not Prussia, Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, Brandenburg or the Teutonic Order
is not a theocracy
does not have the 'Celestial Empire' government reform

If the country is AI-controlled then it:

is not a custom nation
Prussia does not exist
Either the Protestant, Reformed or Anglican religion is enabled

Playing with normal or historical nations

Allow

Prussia does not exist
The country:

has an administrative technology of at least 10.
is not a subject nation other than a tributary state.
is not at war.
is not a nomad nation.
is Protestant, Reformed, Anglican or Hussite
owns its core provinces:
- Königsberg (41)
- Warmia (42)
- Danzig (43)

Effects

The country:

becomes Prussia
gains 25 prestige
gets new missions.
gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’, unless it has custom or Prussian ideas.
changes primary culture to Prussian.
increases rank to kingdom, if:
- it is a duchy
- the emperor DLC is not enabled or the HRE does not exist
gains a permanent claim on:
- West Prussia area
- East Prussia area
removes all provinces from the Holy Roman Empire, if it is a member and not an elector or the emperor.
if it is not revolutionary:
- if is not a republic, becomes a monarchy and enacts 'Prussian Monarchy' government reforms
- if is a republic, enacts 'Stratocratic Administration' government reform
if 'States General' government reform is enacted, reform is removed
gets “Increased Centralization” for 10 years, giving:
- −0.05 monthly autonomy change,
- +1 national unrest.

One random owned province with Pomeranian, Saxon or Prussian culture:

Gain 1 base tax

One random owned province with Saxon or Pomeranian culture as well as country's capital:

Change culture to Prussian

id

Form German Nation

Regardless of the absence of a strong, central authority, our nation is prospering. The Hanseatic League, formed by hundreds of towns in northern Germany, has contributed to the prosperity of our nation. Intellectual growth, combined with sea and overland trading, has also helped spur the development and transform our country into a wealthy manufacturing center.

Potential requirements

Germany does not exist.
The country:

was never an end-game nation.
is not The Papal State, Holy Roman Empire or Roman Empire
has not yet enacted this decision.
is not a colonial nation.
is in the Germanic culture group except Dutch culture.

If the country is AI-controlled then it:

has an administrative technology of at least 20.
is not a custom nation
is not a former colonial nation.
is not a theocracy.
has at least 15 cities.

Playing with normal or historical nations.

Allow

The country:

has an administrative technology of at least 20.
is not a subject nation other than a tributary state.
is not at war.
is not a nomad nation.
is not the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
owns core provinces:
- Berlin
- München
- Brunswick
- Augsburg or Stuttgart
- Nürnberg or Frankfurt
- Niederhessen or Köln
- Königsberg or Straßburg
- Hamburg or Lübeck
- Dresden or Erfurt
owns at least 50 core provinces across the North Germany and South Germany regions.

Effects

The country:

becomes Germany.
gains 25 prestige.
gets new missions.
gets the event ‘New Traditions & Ambitions’, unless it is a custom nation.
leaves the Holy Roman Empire.
increases rank to empire.
gets a permanent claim on North Germany and South Germany regions.
gets “Increased Centralization” for 20 years, giving:
- −0.05 monthly autonomy change,
- +1 national unrest.

The emperor of the HRE:

gets the opinion modifier “Left the Holy Roman Empire” ( −150 opinion / +1 yearly decay) towards Germany.
gets the event ‘Germany breaks out of the Empire’.

AI will always take this decision unless it is

Austria

Strategy[edit | edit source]

The below is one of many player suggested strategies for Riga. Bear in mind, due to the dynamic nature of the game, it may unfold differently for other players.

Riga is an OPM surrounded by the Livonian Order. Despite this fact Riga has three aces up its sleeve that allows it to become a Baltic powerhouse in the hands of a skilled player. First is Riga's ability to reform into Kurland without leaving the HRE. The second is the fact that Riga's primary culture is Prussian. This gives reduced penalties when conquering provinces in the HRE and allows the player to form Prussia when the player feels strong enough to leave the HRE or has become an elector or even emperor. Being part of the Germanic culture group also means that it is possible to join the HRE with 200 or less development as opposed to countries with a non-Germanic culture which can only join if their development is 100 or less. The third and final ace is a convenient series of events that almost always happens within the first few years of the game.

Opening moves[edit | edit source]

For the opening moves the most practical option is to exploit these series of events which will now be explained more thoroughly. The first thing the player should do is fabricate on the Livonian Order and build a spy network in the Teutonic Order. At the start of the game Poland will almost always take the mission "Conquer Western Prussia". As long as the Teutonic Order does not acquire strong allies like Denmark, this will cause Poland to declare war. Because the Teutonic Order and the Livonian Order are always allied, the player's only neighbor will be tied up in a war it will almost certainly lose. Once Poland has crushed the army of the Teutonic order, they will likely not answer a call to arms should the player attack the Livonian Order. By the time this happens the player should have built up to their force limit or perhaps go a bit over it. Preferably the player's army should be at least as large as that of the Livonian Order. The player can delay declaring the war so Poland can thin the Livonian army, but this also brings the risk of Poland occupying land the player may desire. For maximum result the player should declare war as soon as the Teutonic Order would refuse a call to arms. After declaring the war, the first priority is to occupy Mitau and as many other provinces as possible before Poland can get to them. Siege down the enemy forts and let Poland do all the fighting. After all Livonian lands have been occupied, the Livonian Order can be fully annexed. As soon as this is done the player should fabricate a claim on Danzig and start improving relations with Austria. It is recommended that the player increase autonomy in conquered provinces because otherwise the rebel armies may be significantly larger than any army the player can muster. The player should declare war on the Teutonic Order as soon as possible to exploit their state of weakness. After their war with Poland it is likely they will be left with no army or allies. The most important thing to gain from this war is Danzig which will allow the player to join the HRE, which will in turn grant the player protection from its large neighbors who pose an existential threat. These threatening neighbors are Denmark, Sweden, Muscovy, and Poland. It is possible to take as much land from the Teutonic Order as aggressive expansion allows and still be small enough to join the HRE, however this will then require more positive relations with the emperor which the player may not be able to achieve. It may be a good idea to just demand Danzig and come back for the Teutonic Order later. In that case it is possible to have that truce expire before the truce the Teutonic Order has with Poland has expired. This allows the player to take that land without Poland interfering. Once the player can add provinces the HRE, the player should add Danzig, then Mitau, and then Riga. Applying this strategy may require some restarts if the Teutonic Order acquires strong allies such as Denmark who may rival Poland, or if Poland doesn't take the mission to conquer western Prussia and thus does not declare war.

Mid-game[edit | edit source]

Soon after joining the HRE the player can expect to receive declarations of war from all of the neighbors which pose an existential threat to it. For one reason or another the AI seems to neglect the fact that the player can count on the protection of the emperor and all his allies. Thus the player can easily turn all these wars around simply by letting Austria and its allies do all the heavy lifting. This allows the player to take land from Poland, Muscovy, Sweden and Denmark with minimal effort. Not all of these countries may declare war, but usually most do at some point after the player defeats the Teutonic Order. It is thus very important to join the HRE before the wave of DoWs come down on the player. After having put all one's neighbors in place, the player will likely be a regional power with significantly less threatening neighbors. It is usually around this time that the reformation occurs. It is recommended that the player convert to either Protestant or reformed so the formation of Kurland and Prussia become possible. Reforming into Kurland may be a very attractive option since this is one of the few formation decisions that does not remove the player from the HRE. Furthermore, it causes the government to become a monarchy and gives the player access to Kurland's national ideas which provide a good basis for an army. From here the player can expand in any direction.

League wars: Joining the league wars can be very lucrative for the player. Not only is it an opportunity to gain some land, but it is an excellent opportunity to gain elector status and overthrow Austria as emperor. Becoming an elector requires some luck since it is not guaranteed that emperorship will go to the player after the war or that the chosen emperor will offer elector-status to the player. If the player becomes an elector it will be possible to form Prussia without leaving the HRE. Becoming the next emperor is a lot easier however. Most likely the player will be the most eligible candidate since the player will be the largest country within the HRE and be of the correct religion if the player is Protestant instead of reformed. Once the player has become emperor, the formation of Prussia is also possible without leaving the HRE. The player can then work to unite the HRE and continue to expand around Europe. Alternatively the player can choose to remain neutral in the league wars and gobble up weakened or preoccupied neighbors. Doing so can also shift the balance of power in the player's favor and be good progress in forming Germany. Should the player wish to keep Kurland's national ideas, the player may also enter the colonial game since this grants the player +15% colonial range which may make up for its initial position far from the Atlantic. However Riga is not situated near any trade nodes which benefit from the New World, so the player may then wish to expand into the lowlands and make Holland their new trading capital.

After the league wars have concluded the player should be one of the major players in Europe. From there is easy to conquer the entire Baltic region, Eastern Europe, and beyond. Riga starts a small and insignificant city-state, but if everything falls into place in the beginning it finds itself in a unique position which allows it to snowball like few other OPMs can.