Hi and welcome fellow gentleman (or gentlewoman),
In this here guide I'm gonna teach you all about the delicate art of expansion.

Who am I?

Well people refer to me as Jackal or OOJ. I'm also called the "known traitor" by the less refined people. I can assure you this reputation is completly unfounded.

We can separate expansion into 4 types:

-Passive
(Colonization)

-Hostile
(Taking provinces in wars)

-Diplomatic
(Trading provinces for help with war etc.)

-Indirect
(Vassalizing or helping allies)

Also known as colonization.

How does one colonize provinces?
1.Select a province

2.Press "colonize" button

3.Select method

4.Select number of people

5.Confirm

Exploring before colonizing?
I would suggest to explore in the early game and with time abandoning exploration in order to focus on full colonization.

How to use the first 3 fast colonizations?
I suggest to use them to either take strategic locations/provinces that have good bonuses.

What colonization method to use?
I suggest using:
-Fabricate Signs From The Gods
or
-Fabricate A Shared Ancestry

As most often one of them will be a lot cheaper than any other method.

Amount of people I should use?
If you don't have enough to send 3 full parties of colonists I suggest splitting your manpower between the 3 parties rather than sending 2 full ones.

This type of expansion is the most popular choice. It's the easiest one to do so you can't fault anyone for using it.

How do I declare war?
This page will walk your through the declaration of war process(can't be bothered to write all of it again):
https://minds-of-nations.fandom.com/wiki/War

How do I speed up the war?
Well the only way is to either:
-ask someone else to also declare and double team your enemy
or
-engage in diplomacy with your enemy
DO NOT USE SIEGE IT'S USELESS

This is a simple one.

If you have a struggling nation on your border that is under attack instead of taking advantage and also attacking you can always get land and a new ally. 2 in 1

You simply offer help in his war in exchange for a couple provinces. This usually makes you seem less hostile and makes it less likely for you to be teamed up against.

This can be additionally split into 2 subtypes:

1.Vassals and vassal expansion

How to get a vassal?
Look around the map for people who look like they are in a bad situation (surrounded or being attacked) and offer them their enemy's lands in exchange for becoming a vassal.

What kind of vassal to get?
This depends on the amount of gold you have and what are the demands of your soon to become vassal. For example he might say that he wants to get YOUR gold and YOUR food and YOUR newborns. This is a handy chart of what type of bonuses/maluses you will get per vassal type [insert obligatory "thanks to Kaiser Estris for getting this added into the game" here]:


























Why would I give land to my vassal?
For one it doesn't take away from the amount of provinces you can take for yourself so it's extra 2 free provinces that will with time help you. Also if your vassal is far away from you it allows you to create a dependant on you regional power in the area.

2.Allies and ally expansion

How do I get future victims allies?
First find a common enemy or goal. This will be what drives you relationship. If you fail to find one it's highly unlikely that you will find an ally or your alliance will last long.

Why would I help my allies expand/what's in it for me?
Well you're a gentleman(or gentlewoman). Also it will make it so that if they ever had plans to betray you they might abandon those plans. They will also see that you're an upstanding guy and it will make it easier to accomplish your common goal. Afterall if your allies don't trust you then what's the point of having them?

Well at this point you have to look for weaknesses in their coalition.
1. Send everyone a non aggression pact, if they accept then they can't join any wars against you for the next 144 years (do keep in mind that this a double edged sword as your allies will be exposed to attacks).

2. Try talking to people who have nothing to gain from attacking you. Most often they only join cause they are bored and can be easily persuaded to change side.

3. Look for anyone called Order Of Jackals or anyone representing LOAN. You can bet they will betray that coalition without a second thought.

3.1 Look for anyone called Kaiser Estris. If you find him in the coalition then you should just give up now. There is probably no chance of winning against him.

4. Put the hostile expansion on hold. There is a chance that they will eventually give up and leave you be.

If war is inevitable:

5. "Divide et impera" their asses. First make sure they can't combine their armies. If you manage to catch their armies apart then the war is already won

6. If they manage to combine their forces then depending on their army size you should do this:

6.1 You're outnumbering them. Pick flatlands as the place of battle. Match their infantry add some archers and pour everything else into cav. They won’t stand a chance against you.

6.2 You're outnumbered by them. Pick mountains as your place of battle, with any luck they won't notice and take their cav with them. You should make archers and f ton of infantry. With any luck you might come out on top. If not, well their losses will take longer to recover so you probably can work on a white peace.

6.3 Remember to NOT take the fight to them but rather stay in one of your provinces. They are the aggressors so it's up to them to full siege you not the other way around.