Starter Guide

Introduction
Empire Builder 2: Doomed Europe is an arcade map for Starcraft 2 where you have to carefully balance your economy, military, research and other factors in order to win the game.

Most games are fought against the AI although the AI can be disabled and you can compete against other players.

Games can last between 1-3 hours and due to the level of complexity you may find it takes a few games before you can make the most of it.

This guide will give you the basics you need to start playing the game.

When the game starts
All players can vote for AI difficulty (or disable the AI enemies) and set the victory conditions. After voting is concluded all players spawn in the bottom right corner of the map.

Once you have voted you are given a "settler unit"

Choosing a location to settle
The game map is a semi realistic version of Europe. As your settler moves through the map you will see a location name change over the settlers head.

For new players it is suggested you settle as far to the left of the map as you can.

If you dont have any experienced players or just want to try out being bold, It is suggested to be in Poland, as there area chokepoint on your right, and if Russia expands to Crimea, you can easily deal with it with the chokepoint below you

This is because the Russian AI enemy spawns units from the right hand side of the map. Experienced players can often build defences to hold them off.

Different areas will have different effects on your buildings and units. Snow terrain will cause less food to grow as will mountainous terrain.

Once capital is built - Choose a form of government
Depending on your play-style you will come to choose the Government that suits you. It will take a few games to get to grips with the changes each one makes.

Economy Basics
There are two primary resources you need to balance in game.

Cash

The higher your population. The more money you can get. You use cash to trade, construct buildings and is something you need to be careful of.

If you have too many expenses in the form of buildings and military units, your tax balance will fall to minus and eventually you will run out of money. The bank will automatically give you a loan to keep you in the game but if you keep it up you will eventually go bankrupt and have to start from scratch.

Food

The primary purpose of food is to be eaten by your population. The more people you have, the more food they will eat. Food can either come from farms or buying from other nations.

If you run out of food your population will begin to decrease. Lose too many population and your cash flow will suffer.

Empires who grow too fast without carefully planning will find that they have a huge population with no food and they do not have the cash to build enough farms fast enough to reverse the damage.

Metal, Oil, Power

These are often used in mid to late game. Power is needed for buildings, Oil is needed for vehicles and metal is used in military units, defences and upgrades.

Early build suggestion
Stary by building 8 LD homes with the "founders" you receive when placing a capital.

Then build three farms

Then build a school. The school will allow the LD homes to start upgrading automatically.

Once you have enough cash/food - Build a clinic to upgrade homes.

Watch food balance and add additional farms.

Build a university.

Upgrade farms or build new ones as needed.

Consider defences or military units.

Build Area
At the start of the game you have a limited build radius at your capital to place structures. Defences can be placed anywhere on the map but buildings must be placed in a radius.

By researching administrative hierarchy you can construct sub stations with a work bot. These sub stations are expensive but they give your nation further room to grow.

Carefully decide where you place buildings in the early game as you may run out of space before you are ready to expand.

Research
To unlock new units/buildings and bonus effects for your nation. You need to allocate a percentage of your tax balance to research.

Click the trade/economy button.

Click the economy tab.

Then drag the "research" slider to the percentage amount you are happy with.

Then click the research button.

Then choose what items you would like to research in the tree. You can research two items at the same time

Note that to get faster speeds you may need to build laboratories which are high in upkeep but can give a speed boost to research.

AI Enemies
There are three enemies you will encounter.

Russians = The default bad guys. They don't want you trying to recolonise Europe. Their main base at Moscow on the right hand side of the map will spawn units to attack the nearest player. As the game progresses their units will get stronger and progress from simple infantry to tanks and aircraft.

Americans = Often not seen until the mid-late game. Uncle sam is not the good guy here! - They arrive from the left hand side of the map with troop transports and aircraft. They will place a barracks on the map as well. Many economy focused and new players are often caught out by the sudden appearance of the Americans. Every player should have some form of defences.

Civil War / Rebels = In certain government types. You may find that you are suddenly dealing with an uprising. These events are rare and are usually triggered in the event your Emperor dies (If you chose Grand Empire)

Combat & Defences
The first and cheapest method is to use militia. If you select all of your homes you can begin training militia infantry. Low attack and low health. They are good for early game threats but you should consider researching upgrades to their armour and attack.

For static defences you can build with radar - walls and an igniter turret. All of these cost metal and if you do not have a supply of metal nearby, consider buying from other nations.

If you survive long enough you can unlock zombies, advanced aircraft, battle tanks and nuclear weapons.

Remember the AI will constantly be working to upgrade and build more units. If you do not invest in your military, you will find yourself quickly over-run. Even an economy focused player needs some form of military.

Corporations
Corporations are an advanced economy feature that automate a number of resource collection activities for you and if used correctly can see your nation raising huge sums of money and resources.

If you are unsure of what to do or how to use them. You may get a warning that says the corporation will go bankrupt unless you do something. For an easier game you can let them go bankrupt.

Practice
Empire Builder 2 is not a quick game to learn or master. There will be recessions where suddenly your positive tax balance goes into the red.