Europa Universalis IV: Lions of the North

Lions of the North is the sixteenth large expansion for the strategy game Europa Universalis IV. It was developed by the Paradox Development Studio and Paradox Tinto teams. The add-on focuses on the titular lions of the north, i.e. the states lying on the Baltic Sea in the early modern era - Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Poland and Lithuania (i.e. the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) and the Teutonic Order. The DLC offers players three new trees of multithreaded missions, allowing them to explore alternative versions of history, as well as unique state reform options or unit types (including the Swedish Carolingian infantry and the Polish-Lithuanian winged hussars).

Game mechanics

Due to the non-linearity resulting from the various decisions the player can make, the new missions provide great replayability. For example - the player can steer a Finland freed from Swedish rule and help it find (or not) its own destiny; choose whether Gotland will become a monarchy, a merchant republic or a pirate state; and contribute (or not) to Danzig giving rise to the Prussian nation.

In addition, when playing the Baltic countries in the Lions of the North expansion, a number of unique - based on their historical counterparts - state reforms and state privileges can be introduced. Players also received at their disposal a number of previously unavailable units, capable of determining the fate of battles. Their recruitment, however, requires the fulfillment of certain requirements.

Technical aspects

Europa Universalis IV: Lions of the North is not a standalone add-on, which means that you must own the basic version of the game to run it. Significantly, thirty-five new graphics of units belonging to the Baltic and Scandinavian nations, as well as six musical themes - three for each of these two categories of countries - have arrived with the expansion.