Europa Universalis IV: The Cossacks

The Cossacks is the seventh large expansion to the Europa Universalis IV game - a real-time strategy in which the gameplay takes place on a global scale in a historical setting. As in the case of all previous expansions and the vanilla version, the Paradox Development Studio is responsible for creating this DLC. The Paradox Development Studio is a development branch of the Swedish company Paradox Interactive, which specializes in strategy games and has many well-recognized brands representing this genre (e.g. Crusader Kings, Hearts of Iron).

Mechanics

The title may suggest that in The Cossacks the bulk of changes affect the titular Cossacks - a multi-ethnic group of people who played an important role in the history of Poland during the Europa Universalis IV campaign. In fact, the expansion offers a complete overhaul of the game, developing the gameplay for virtually every faction. The main focus here is on the mechanics of the provinces (Estates) and transferring them to groups of your subordinates, e.g. nobility, clergy or even to the mentioned Cossacks. By giving up part of the revenue from a given area, you can reduce the unrest among the local population or lower the cost of recruiting armies there. However, the estates must be kept in check, as their representatives may grow to be too strong and attempt to overthrow you.