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Europa Universalis Development Diary #13: a Glimpse of 2021

Europa Universalis: The Pre-Production Copy

Season’s Greetings everyone! On the first days of the year, we bring you a glimpse what’s to come in 2021. Let’s hope that this year will bring a lot more joy, and room for social activities, than the one we leave behind.

We’ve had this beautiful beast in our office for a few days already to play around with, and we are really looking forward to getting it to the table for real now. So, without further ado, here is the Pre-Production Copy of Europa Universalis: The Price of Power, in pictures (and video).

I have to say it: I’m in love with these components!
The contents and box of the Deluxe Edition, with miniatures for scale.

Warning! All these pictures show a Pre-Production Copy – printed components have been printed digitally and cut with a plotter, which means some colours may be a bit off, and cut edges may seem a bit rough. The finished product will have offset printed and die cut components, with much cleaner edges and better alignment.

And now a video of Eivind doing a sort of unboxing – please excuse the low tone of voice while the plastic is crunching, it is a Norwegian thing.

That piece of foam will keep everything from moving around inside the box during transport. And taking it out will add some extra space at the top of the box.

Shiny Gold Foil!

Just eye candy this one, but still shining like a billion suns. My inner magpie is happy.

 Double-layered Player Mats: A Perfect Fit 

We have made sure that all tokens on the Player Mat fit perfectly; easy to put in, easy to take out, but staying in place – Small Towns, Large Towns, Vassal tokens, Manpower meeples, Monarch Power, Stability marker, Religion token.

Here you can see the size compared to my hairy hand, the indents, and the bot mats on the back. We expect better alignment in the definitive die-cut version, and the offset-printed ink should be significantly more resistant to wear and tear than the digital print.

The Map Board: Adaptable to Your Gaming Needs

Here you can see what the mounted boards that come in the box look like. Sturdy, good quality cardboard, in three pieces – allowing for different set-up configurations according to the number of players, or your table space. Now your family doesn’t have to eat somewhere else! The map boards stay in place because of the weight of the cardboard.

Full Deluxe map, aligning neatly
Playing other than colonisation? save that one!
Almost perfectly aligned areas, lines and borders. Only tiny adjustments required.
The difference in size between the Giant Playmat and the board that comes with the game
Every map board has it’s place in the tray, serving as lids to keep the contents below in place – thanks GameTrayz!

 Cards: Worth a History Book

This game has so many cards! Both cards that are tailor made for the featured Realms, and Generic ones that enable variability – you can make so many combinations, your grandkids will still be making combinations you didn’t make before. The linen finish makes them easy to shuffle and the thick card stock makes them durable.

Event Cards galore!
Age IV Events!
Action cards ready for action
Trade Cards
All cards in their wells. The dice can be scooped out easily.

The total counts for the cards are: 

DELUXE EDITION: 390 bridge size cards (57×87 mm), 312 minicards (64×42 mm)

BASE GAME: 270 bridge size cards (57×87 mm), 208 minicards (64×42 mm)

 Tokens: A Treasure chest of possibilities 

We tested new shapes for different tokens and we love them! Now it is even easier to differentiate between them on top of the board!

All the punchboards from the Deluxe edition.

 Here you can see how the Player Tray hold all the Player tokens tight with the lid:

If we have to be completely objective about this, it looks gorgeous!

Fresh Baked Missions

All the Missions are now available for final testing in Tabletop Simulator. Missions for the Major Powers (Austria, Castile, France, England, Muscovy, Poland, and Ottomans) have had a complete makeover. And brand new Missions for Denmark/Sweden, Mamluks, Portugal, Venice, Netherlands, Brandenburg, and Papal States, as well as Generic Missions, are also out.

The Generic Missions allow you to compose Mission decks for unfeatured Realms with lots of variability, tailored to their individual “needs”. The community is already in full swing, testing them all in TSS, but we would love for even more of you to give them a spin! Join the Discord to get access to the updated TTS assets. We will also put them out as a PDF for you to read, and comment on, shortly.

Generic Missions

We will come back to you just after New Year’s, with more details, fresh PDFs, and an updated timeline.

All the best, and stay safe!

Víctor & Eivind @ Aegir Games