Territorial range and wars | Colonization EU IV Guide
Last update: 11 May 2016
Territorial range determines how far you can send a colonist. It is the key fctor of the range of colonization. You will not be able to bridge the gap between Europe and America if you do not have sufficient range. The range is counted from the closest core province that you control and it is influenced mainly by your level of Diplomatic Technology and, again, the Exploration group where you find an idea that increases the range by 50%. Some countries also have a bonus provided by the national idea, e.g. Portugal (+25%).
What do you do if you are not able to reach out for the new world? If you play e.g. Austria, Poland or Sweden, it is going to be much more difficult than if you played with countries at the brink of Europe. You can submit a diplomatic plea to the other countries that already have their overseas lands for access to their ports and then, your range will count from their provinces. This way, you can easily neglect the less important provinces in your way to gain a piece of land in the wealthier regions. Unfortunately, this involves quite high fees that you, especially at the beginning of the game, may not be able to handle. You can terminate the agreement to use ports whenever you want to so, if you cannot afford maintaining it, you can send out a colonist and, after he starts establishing a colony, terminate the agreement to get the fees off your back. Once the colony is established and you will want to move your colonist over to another province, you will enter the agreement again and terminate it after he starts establishing a new settlement.
In a situation in which, either for financial reasons or because of low relations the plea for the access to the ports is denied, there is nothing else to do but delineate the route yourself by seizing control over the key islands in the middle of the ocean. It is easy to reach America e.g. via Iceland and then to Greenland. In 1444, Iceland remained under Norwegian rule that has union with Denmark in union with Sweden. This will mean going for war with the entire Scandinavian peninsula. Still, at this level, these are countries with relatively small armies. Another option are islands to the west of Northern Africa. Especially the Azores (towards the Caribbean) and Cape Verde (towards the "hunch" of the south America). The Azores belong to Portugal and Cape Verde has been no man's land from the very beginning but, since Portugal starts the game with an explorer and a conquistador, it is only a matter of time before it will make under the Portuguese rule. Also the African provinces may be an alternative, because they border, in the shortest straight line, with America. Remember that these regions, unlike Iceland, start out as colonies so, they first need to be transformed into a city before you can core them.
Colonial wars
By bordering, with your colony, another country's colony, you receive a mutual casus belli - Colonial Conquest. Note that these do not need to be colonies per se (population lower than 1000). In this case the colony is an overseas land (not on the same continent as the capital, unless there is a land connection). If there is a war going on, and the armies enter the actual colony (less than 1000 settlers), the colony is then seized (colonies do not have ports so they cannot defend themselves). Then, the enemy army may burn the buildings down, which leaves the area for re-colonization, or seize it for itself. Still, such actions will negatively influence relations with neighbors.