As some of you might know, yesterday was the 6th anniversary for Europa Universalis IV. We want to take this opportunity to congratulate Paradox and all EU4 fans on this occasion. Especially the fans who have been there since the release six years ago (or even way before that). We celebrate the anniversary with a new chapter in our Development Diary. With this being the 10th chapter, our diary has reached a small milestone itself. As it is, we will as a matter of fact be talking about Milestones today – in game milestones that is – as well as Missions and Events.
Events
A big factor in setting the agenda for each Round in a game of Europa Universalis: The Board Game are the Events. You reveal Event cards at the start of every Round in the Draw Cards Phase, and each player has to use one of their Turns during the Action Phase to draft and play one of the Events on display.
The Events are divided into different Ages, and give players a sense of the flow of history. Many of the cards are inspired by historical events, like wars and revolutions, or the Reformation. But there are also more generic events, that could have happened at any time and place, like epidemics and revolts.
The Events represent happenings in the game that are somewhat outside the players’ control. But if you pick the card, you can choose how to implement the Event. Often, there is a choice between an A and a B option on the card. Many Events also have some secondary effects that leave some choices for the player who picked the card.
Some Events have a flag in the lower right corner. These are specific to certain Realms and are only used if these are active Player Realms in the Scenario you are playing. Most of these Events have a historical monarch on them. These will normally take the place of the current Ruler of the Realm that they belong to.
Every Event will be beautifully illustrated by Olly Lawson, Joeri Lefevre (creator of the featured illustration for this post), or some other gifted artist.
Missions
All the Major Powers (and some others) have their own sets of Missions that the players can strive to complete. Which Missions are available for selection is determined by the scenario you are playing.
Completing Missions is one of the main sources of Victory Points in the game. They also provide additional rewards, such as Claims, Monarch Power, Ducats, Colonists and more. Very often, completing a Mission will also unlock new Missions for selection.
Missions make it easier for players to focus their efforts on one or two clear objectives at the time. The objectives are to a large degree inspired by the historical development of the realms they belong to, but leaves room for making different choices or strategies from one game to another. Europa Universalis IV players will recognise many of the Missions from their video game counterparts.
Milestones
Milestones are public goals that the players will compete to achieve. They are very similar to Missions, but anyone who can meet the completion requirements can score them. However, only three players may score Victory Points for each Milestone. The first to complete it will receive 5 VP, the second will get 3 VP, and the third player will get 1 VP. There are always 4 active Milestones in the game, that players can score.
Milestones are divided into four suits, and the reward is always the same for all Milestones of the same suit. EconomicMilestones provide Administrative Power, Expansion Milestones provide Diplomatic Power, Politics Milestones provide Military Power and Warfare Milestones provide Ducats. We set this up in a way that means you most often need to spend a different type of resource (Monarch Power or Ducats) to complete the Milestone, than the reward you will receive.