About:
Europa Universalis IV (EU4 for short) is a grand strategy, empire building game by paradox interactive, released in 2013. The game involves managing a nations military, economy, diplomacy and government from 1444 to 1821.
Origin
EU4 was developed in 2013 as a sequel to Paradox’s long running Europa Universalis series.
Related Memes
EU4 – When you X/Every X game Ever/ X in a nutshell
This meme consists of YouTube videos that take a scene from a movie or TV show and put flags of the games various nations on the characters, and contain various sound effects and icons from the game. The meme can also take form of a music video with game footage in the background. This is to represent what a specific in game action or phenomena can feel like when experienced by the player.
The Big Blue Blob (BBB)
![]()
In the Europa Universalis series, the position and development level of France puts it in a position to “blob” or continuously expand in various directions. This has caused the fan base to commonly refer to France as the “Big Blue Blob” due to its color in the games political map mode and tendency to blob in the hands of both the player and AI. Korea is some times refered to as the “Other Big Blue Blob” due to its tendency to do the same thing with hordes in Central Asia.
This meme has been recognized by the developers themselves, having added the achievement “Big Blue Blob” to the game for owning 100 core provinces in Europe before 1500. Its is one of the hardest achievements in the game due to the time constraints.
The Three Mountains – Ryukyu
![]()
The nation of Ryuku is a small minor nation south of Japan in EU4. This nation gained notoriety after DDRJake, now a QA tester for Paradox, did a world conquest with this nation in both EU4 and its prequel EUIII using various exploits. It is regarded as one of the most difficult nations to play as given its location, hence the"The Three mountains" achievement for owning/ subjecting every province in the game as this nation.
Ulm Gone Wild
Ulm is a One province minor (OPM) in the middle of the Holy Roman Empire. After a well known comic style After Action Report by Paradox Forum user Svip for EUIII, the small nation gained notoriety in the Paradox gaming community. It is often a joke to state that Ulm is a powerful nation, despite its status as a minor prince in the HRE.
Ottomans are Kebab
A derivative of the “Serbia Strong/Remove Kebab” meme. Many players like to call the Ottomans “Kebab” as a result of that meme and it has come to be another name for them. This is controversial however, as on the Official Paradox Forums using the term has been banned for the forum admins view it as a racist terminology.
Paper/Bird/Sword Mana
![]()
In EU4, the ruler generates a certain set of monarch points in three categories (Admin, Diplo and Military). This is also increased by hiring advisers who also generate these points. The points are spent on doing most actions in the game, such as developing provinces or hiring generals. The term X mana refers to the icon displayed for each category of monarch points. The term originates from veterans of the series being outraged at the inclusion of these “magical” points into the game.
Von Habsburgs
The Habsburgs are the ruling dynasty in Austria in EU4’s time frame. In EU4 they are well known for being an annoyance, whether it be continually gaining the status of Emperor of the HRE or spreading their dynasty to every major nation in Europe via royal marriages.
The Holy Roman Clusterfuck
The Holy Roman Empire is a special organization of German princedoms in Europe during EU4’s time frame. In the games it receives special mechanics including a elector and Emperor system. The HRE is made up of so many small minors that it looks like a giant mess on the game map. This is a simplification of real life, in which the HRE had hundreds of princedoms. In game it is possible to unify the HRE into a single entity via becoming the Emperor and passing several “reforms”. This also exists in CK2, another paradox game center around Medieval Europe.
It is also common practice to post images of a non HRE nation becoming emperor, such as Spain (for which there is an achivment) France, England or even the Ottomans given the rare occurrence.
