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What do these slightly transparent British flags in Sweden's provinces mean?
They suddenly showed up after my last turn.
I checked the diplomacy screen and Sweden has not become a protecorate of Britain or anything like that.
I noticed that many other semi-transparent flags have shown up in other countries around the map too...
What do they mean?

that is the Alt of the Nation,, they favor England the most

Ah, I see.
Thanks!

EDIT: By the way, is there any way to make the flags go away again?
I tried right-clicking and choosing the attitude overlay, but the flags stay in place.

Get a diplomat there to change the attitude ("Malign"), or bribe them with a donation or two.  But, frankly, I've never worried about that too terribly much.  By the time you see the flags, it usually takes a while to get them to change their attitude too terribly much.  Some countries start with such a positve attitude that it takes forever to reduce it.  (As France, it once took me twenty years to get England to not hate me, but merely despise me.)
 
I don't know if it's in the manual or not, but you can see the beginning attitudes in a file called COG2attitudes.txt in the proper scenario folder.
 
In the 1805 standard scenario, for example, Sweden starts with a +100 in attitude toward Britain.  That's not a lot, but it's a good head start for the Brits.

EDIT: By the way, is there any way to make the flags go away again?
I tried right-clicking and choosing the attitude overlay, but the flags stay in place.

No, the flags are not part of an overlay; they're a basic feature of the map. They would disappear if and when the attitude of that player became more neutral, i.e. it favored no one nation significantly over and above another.

Diplomats are out of the question anyway - I'm playing Denmark and I can't afford the upkeep.
I'm trying to make Britain like me so they will agree to trade me some of their textiles, but every time I subsidize them their attitude towards me drops! (might be because I trade a lot with France - who likes me...).

Is there any way to see what other countries think of me other than the smiling/frowning heads on the diplomacy screen?
Whenever I subsidize somebody I see their attitude towards me in the event report in plain numbers - is there a way to see this number otherwise?
Would be very helpful...

ORIGINAL: briny_norman

Diplomats are out of the question anyway - I'm playing Denmark and I can't afford the upkeep.
I'm trying to make Britain like me so they will agree to trade me some of their textiles, but every time I subsidize them their attitude towards me drops! (might be because I trade a lot with France - who likes me...).

Is there any way to see what other countries think of me other than the smiling/frowning heads on the diplomacy screen?
Whenever I subsidize somebody I see their attitude towards me in the event report in plain numbers - is there a way to see this number otherwise?
Would be very helpful...

... yes but you need a diplomat either in or adjacent to their territory to get the exact values. So you may want to at least pay for one.

Great - that's a nice feature.
Made me decide to conquer Sweden to be able to afford a diplomat.
But...
The same turn I invaded Sweden Britain made a protectorate out of her and gave me an ultimatum.
I said go to hell and now we're at war. Perhaps not the wisest decision as my economy is totally dependent on my ports and my two mechants, one of whom is now isolated in the atlantic with the mighty English fleet between her and the relative safety of the Baltic Sea.

Another fine mess I've gotten myself into...

Yes, that is exactly what will happen if you see a flag on a minor nation and you declare war on it.  The flag can be considered a warning that that would happen.

ORIGINAL: briny_norman

Great - that's a nice feature.
Made me decide to conquer Sweden to be able to afford a diplomat.
But...
The same turn I invaded Sweden Britain made a protectorate out of her and gave me an ultimatum.
I said go to hell and now we're at war. Perhaps not the wisest decision as my economy is totally dependent on my ports and my two mechants, one of whom is now isolated in the atlantic with the mighty English fleet between her and the relative safety of the Baltic Sea.

Another fine mess I've gotten myself into...

Ahhhh. Ain't COGEE great!

deleted

ORIGINAL: bjmorgan

ORIGINAL: briny_norman

Great - that's a nice feature.
Made me decide to conquer Sweden to be able to afford a diplomat.
But...
The same turn I invaded Sweden Britain made a protectorate out of her and gave me an ultimatum.
I said go to hell and now we're at war. Perhaps not the wisest decision as my economy is totally dependent on my ports and my two mechants, one of whom is now isolated in the atlantic with the mighty English fleet between her and the relative safety of the Baltic Sea.

Another fine mess I've gotten myself into...

Ahhhh. Ain't COGEE great!

It sure is!
The war is now over.
I quickly conquered Malmo but a few turns later the English had arranged the old Swedish forces in a new army and thoroughly kicked my ass in three consecutive detailed battles.
The battles were all fought in forests, knee deep in snow with the occasional blizzard thrown in for good measure.
I outnumbered them 2 to 1 in every battle but they still beat me.
All their brigades had 8 morale and there were a couple of very effective light brigades that really benefited from the terrain. Also, they made very good use of cavalry screens in one of the battles which was nice to see.
And they had an artillery unit - which I did not - and that made a big difference too.

The same turn they threw me out of Malmo they signed protective pacts with Prussia and Austria who both declared war on me... [X(] Prussia didn't waste any time and immediately sent forces into Hamburg and my battered army is now facing a numerically superior Prussian army in Jutland for a life and death battle while my humble plea for peace is being considered in London.

Only good news is I got my merchant home in one piece, though wounded, and I've won a couple of nice naval battles where I've managed to catch smaller English fleets of frigates, merchants and 4th rates isolated from the more scary parts of the English navy. Got a couple of 4th rates and quite a lot of timber from those actions.

But those are just symbolic victories. I'm on the brink of total defeat.
Yes, these are serious times indeed for the Danish, who have been blessed with an idiot as their king.
I should never have messed with the English in the first place.

Hehe, got more or less the same lesson when as 1804 Prussia I invaded French-oriented Saxony ... Switched to protectorate instantly, and Napoleon came and handled my arse to me in person [:D]!
I just had the "advantage" over you to have Russia and England as allies, but it didn't help me much (except for good English money I get each turn, these British are briberers [:'(])

I just loved the experience though, as it was totally logical and historical [8D].

the Troops in Sweden are Tuff, I have lost a few Battles to them with my French Danes before (until I brought my French Itataions North, had to give them some bread and wine, but they did it)

(funny how I seem to have so many Non Frenchmen doing the fighting for me ?)

Just like Napoleon.

Well, the danes are back from the grave.
Seems Britain decided to have pity on me - the same time as they imposed a whopping debt of 1400 gold on me after the war, they also made me their ally and started to subsidize me with even an even larger monthly amount of money.
Good way to spend the cash they get from me, I guess. They buy my allegiance with my own money...!
But this influx of cash and the experience from the surrender has put me back in the game - I've taken a province from Prussia and started to produce a little textiles.
The Brits took away Trondheim, though, so I lost my main supply of iron.
At some point I might have to fight them again...
But not untill they've filled my coffers a bit more... [:D]