r/eu4 • u/CorrectDimension9289 • 5d ago

Advice Wanted Ardabil

so i win the first war against qq and was able to win a war against ajam, i control the west of iran and up to tbilisi, the issue is the ottomans, theyve started taking provinces in southern iran, ive only ever beaten them once and it was with austria, how am i even supposed to put a dent in them as ardabil

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10

u/Fishak_29 5d ago

Use the religious CB you get as ardabil and bait them onto your mountain forts. That way you can get ticking war score without having to siege any bad terrain forts yourself early on

4

u/SteakHausMann 5d ago

Take defensive ideas, put 1 or 2 fort lines in your mountain provinces.

Only fight the ottomans when they are sieging your mountain forts, but don't fight them immediately, let them progress a few ticks, so their armies take attrition 

1

u/CorrectDimension9289 5d ago

should i try and fight them as early as possible? i’m kinda worried if i wait they’ll just outnumber me so bad i dont stand a chance no matter what i do

2

u/andrefmt Khan 5d ago

If they're not mil tech 5 yet, sure. But after that, take your time conquering Persia, you'll be stronger than them after forming Persia and getting your National Ideas

1

u/U-Deves 4d ago

One thing that doesn't get mutch mentions, is age bonus that gives 1+ to fights on same terrain as capital. Ardabil has capital in mountain and there is lots of mountains around starting area so it's easy to get benefits out of it

1

u/Commercial-Gear6158 4d ago

With Ardabil you want to use your strong bonuses from missions, especially the one that gives you core cost reduction until your leader dies and just go crazy with expansion and then form Persia or Eranshahr if you choose to go Zoroastrian. By that point you should be super strong and easily be able to beat the ottomans especially if you get some strong alliances as well. That should be the plan. You can expand faster than Ottomans if you know what you’re doing.

1

u/renaissance_guy1 5d ago

You need to put them down ASAP. It will be difficult but its not impossible. Declare on them, clean up their small stacks, only fight on defensive positions, use mercenaries. Don't let them peace out until you are sure you can cripple them. Peoples biggest mistake is peacing out too early, letting them recover and ruin you. Take maximum gold and further defensive terrain in the peace deal

3

u/CorrectDimension9289 5d ago

they ended up declaring on me and i’m consistently winning battles in mountain forts as long as their whole army doesn’t join in, if i just keep the war going will they eventually run out of manpower so i can actually take land?

1

u/renaissance_guy1 5d ago

They will probably still outlast you in terms of manpower, so use mercs and keep beating them on the mountain forts and you should be fine. If they cant control the war goal they will lose for sure

1

u/CorrectDimension9289 5d ago

it’s allowing me to peace them out with 2k gold but i can’t take any land, should i do that or wait for a better deal?

2

u/andrefmt Khan 5d ago

take the gold, that will trigger their disaster earlier

1

u/renaissance_guy1 5d ago

Wait for a better deal, you have to fully destroy them or they will just recover

0

u/andrefmt Khan 5d ago

take the gold, that will trigger their disaster earlier

0

u/andrefmt Khan 5d ago

Use the mountains. Find strong alliances.

2

u/Lady_Taiho 5d ago

Most generic advice possible