I'm really not an achievement guy but someone mentioned working toward the "play to the end of the game" achievement and I was like "oh I should check those and see what I've got." Oh well.
Don't feel bad, only like, 35% of people with the game have the 'get married' achievement.
edit: Went and checked on steam. 10.3% of people with the game have gotten the 'get married' achievement. Guessing people just hate playing ironman.
BYToady on
Battletag BYToady#1454
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ComradebotLord of DinosaursHouston, TXRegistered Userregular
Started up a "B" game to prevent Bjarmia burnout (and so I can actually dick around with Ironman again, now that the worst of the bugs have been ironed out), and I thought maybe y'all could help out with something.
So, I've converted my dynasty to Suebi and fled overseas away from the Umayyad hordes that are overrunning my former de Cantabria lieges as we speak and I ended up settling in Essex (the only chunk of land outside of the vast Karling empire the Pope would give me a claim on). The problem is we obviously don't share a border with our Suebic brethren back in Iberia, so I'll need to find an alternative route to cultural conversion and get some settlers to come from across the sea. If I'm reading it right, I can pull this off by having a primary title that is "de jure" of my culture. There are no traditionally Suebi titles in the game, but using the awesome that is the custom kingdom creator I can make one into reality (and yes, I tested it and according to my save file the culture of the Kingdom of Rostov is absolutely Visigothic, so it appears to base the "de jure culture" of custom titles on the ruler and not their base title). So, unless I'm mistaken, this is my ticket to getting Suebi culture to spread into England.
I'm sitting on Essex and have since conquered East Anglia (thanks Pope!) and I'm starting to make headway into Kent, and once I have those three I'll be able to declare a new Suebic kingdom in Southeastern England. But what the heck do I call it? Really not overly fond of any of those duchy names for a Suebian kingdom. Any ideas more original than "Suebia"?
Started up a "B" game to prevent Bjarmia burnout (and so I can actually dick around with Ironman again, now that the worst of the bugs have been ironed out), and I thought maybe y'all could help out with something.
So, I've converted my dynasty to Suebi and fled overseas away from the Umayyad hordes that are overrunning my former de Cantabria lieges as we speak and I ended up settling in Essex (the only chunk of land outside of the vast Karling empire the Pope would give me a claim on). The problem is we obviously don't share a border with our Suebic brethren back in Iberia, so I'll need to find an alternative route to cultural conversion and get some settlers to come from across the sea. If I'm reading it right, I can pull this off by having a primary title that is "de jure" of my culture. There are no traditionally Suebi titles in the game, but using the awesome that is the custom kingdom creator I can make one into reality (and yes, I tested it and according to my save file the culture of the Kingdom of Rostov is absolutely Visigothic, so it appears to base the "de jure culture" of custom titles on the ruler and not their base title). So, unless I'm mistaken, this is my ticket to getting Suebi culture to spread into England.
I'm sitting on Essex and have since conquered East Anglia (thanks Pope!) and I'm starting to make headway into Kent, and once I have those three I'll be able to declare a new Suebic kingdom in Southeastern England. But what the heck do I call it? Really not overly fond of any of those duchy names for a Suebian kingdom. Any ideas more original than "Suebia"?
Swabia should work. Its the name for a part of germany that the Suebi used to live in.
Antinumeric on
In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god’s blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.
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ComradebotLord of DinosaursHouston, TXRegistered Userregular
Started up a "B" game to prevent Bjarmia burnout (and so I can actually dick around with Ironman again, now that the worst of the bugs have been ironed out), and I thought maybe y'all could help out with something.
So, I've converted my dynasty to Suebi and fled overseas away from the Umayyad hordes that are overrunning my former de Cantabria lieges as we speak and I ended up settling in Essex (the only chunk of land outside of the vast Karling empire the Pope would give me a claim on). The problem is we obviously don't share a border with our Suebic brethren back in Iberia, so I'll need to find an alternative route to cultural conversion and get some settlers to come from across the sea. If I'm reading it right, I can pull this off by having a primary title that is "de jure" of my culture. There are no traditionally Suebi titles in the game, but using the awesome that is the custom kingdom creator I can make one into reality (and yes, I tested it and according to my save file the culture of the Kingdom of Rostov is absolutely Visigothic, so it appears to base the "de jure culture" of custom titles on the ruler and not their base title). So, unless I'm mistaken, this is my ticket to getting Suebi culture to spread into England.
I'm sitting on Essex and have since conquered East Anglia (thanks Pope!) and I'm starting to make headway into Kent, and once I have those three I'll be able to declare a new Suebic kingdom in Southeastern England. But what the heck do I call it? Really not overly fond of any of those duchy names for a Suebian kingdom. Any ideas more original than "Suebia"?
Swabia should work. Its the name for a part of germany that the Suebi used to live in.
Yeah, but I mean... there is a Swabia already. And it's a name taken from more modern German.
Eh, beautiful thing about the customizer is I can always rename it as much as I want.
Can't imagine ever playing Ironman. I don't hate myself quite enough for that madness.
...But apparently I do hate myself enough to spend about an hour and fifteen minutes last night cleaning up my newly-conquered kingdom. Tribal subjugation leaves you in a mess when you have a moderate-sized kingdom and then you conquer another one. The former king had six duchies (he clearly gave zero fucks) and counties spread all over the place. Half the new vassals were the wrong religion (and I have sufficient law advancement to revoke those without tyranny), and that included the Slavic holy site.
Also, I apparently inherited a revolt? I think it started right as I was ending my conquest. So first I had to put that down, which hilariously mostly consisted of fellow Slavics (so several of them got released from prison right after).
Next was a substantial juggling act. This new Vassal Limit thing is pretty punishing when you conquer a kingdom that's a complete and utter mess. Some of its duchies didn't even exist, so I was often faced with the prospect of going over either my vassal limit or my demesne limit (I'm at medium centralization and can't change laws again for several years). And that's with a demesne limit of 11 and a vassal limit of 14! Anyway, I eventually solved it by fighting a second war with former-king Dyre, taking away all of his titles, and having some vassals with multiple counties. Counts in duchies that didn't exist (and that I can't afford to create) got transferred to nearby two-county dukes, and eventually, the kingdoms of Polesk and Ruthenia found a state of balance and harmony. Most of my vassals now love me, and the holy site has been fully reclaimed by the Slavic faith.
There's one county in between me and each of the other three holy sites, which is hilariously frustrating. Luckily the tribal conquest casus belli only results in a 5-year truce, so with some luck I can still nab them before 46-year-old King Anastazja passes on. Ruthenia is going to go to her (substantially more capable) younger son, while my Strong-But-Bad-At-Everything-Else heir will get Polesk, which is actually a smaller and weaker kingdom. So, not only do I need to conquer those holy sites and reform the faith (I do have enough piety at least), but I probably need to expand the Polesk side of things so my heir doesn't get demolished by his brother.
I really wish you could choose which child to play as in this game. Actually, this isn't Ironman, so I can if I want to.
...whoa. Epiphany.
Perhaps I'll be playing as Ruthenia next instead after all. Kiev is not as advanced as Plock (Mazovia), but it has greater potential and a bigger market village. Maybe I can build it up in the next decade or so.
Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
I'm sitting on Essex and have since conquered East Anglia (thanks Pope!) and I'm starting to make headway into Kent, and once I have those three I'll be able to declare a new Suebic kingdom in Southeastern England. But what the heck do I call it? Really not overly fond of any of those duchy names for a Suebian kingdom. Any ideas more original than "Suebia"?
I've started a game in the south-east of England, and I'm giving things names like "Dagorlad" and "Minas Morgul." I want to rule my Kingdom of Mordor from Barad-dûr in Orodruin (Middlesex), where the shadows lie.
Civics is not a consumer product that you can ignore because you don’t like the options presented.
The only reason I do ironman is because I'd savescum constantly if I didn't.
Ugh, so many reloads after that assassinate button (which is gone now anyway)
Yeah, I was pretty absurd about savescumming before ironman was introduced. I was particularly obsessive about obtaining genius status on all of my primary heirs. So ironman now forces me to play without that, with the added bonus of letting me aim for achievements. Generally makes for more interesting, if sometimes more frustrating, play.
Ugh starting to lose motivation to play again. It gets tough knowing what to aim for next.
After taking over a duchy from England, I started plotting to kill the king so I could take more of his territory without being a trucebreaker. But then I thought, I could always just forget him for a while and expand elsewhere, and plot to revoke this duchy that I might lose if the duke dies. Or I could plot to kill someone's wife and marry my daughter to them...she's mad at me because I haven't found her a husband yet. I don't really know what to look for in a husband for her. Nobody ever accepts matrilineal marriages anyway.
Or should I forget expansion and save up some money for a while and buy a couple extra towns? I feel like that would be wasteful of my time, though. I dunno.
Ugh starting to lose motivation to play again. It gets tough knowing what to aim for next.
After taking over a duchy from England, I started plotting to kill the king so I could take more of his territory without being a trucebreaker. But then I thought, I could always just forget him for a while and expand elsewhere, and plot to revoke this duchy that I might lose if the duke dies. Or I could plot to kill someone's wife and marry my daughter to them...she's mad at me because I haven't found her a husband yet. I don't really know what to look for in a husband for her. Nobody ever accepts matrilineal marriages anyway.
Or should I forget expansion and save up some money for a while and buy a couple extra towns? I feel like that would be wasteful of my time, though. I dunno.
Regarding your daughter: if she has really good base stats (such that you want her to churn out babies) or a great education (such that you want her as a tutor) you should probably invite a courtier to your court. Once they're in your court they don't have the option of refusing the marriage. Otherwise just marry her off normally to some second or third son to get an alliance that might help against England (Norway, Denmark, and Scotland are probably your best bets). Yeah the kids will get weak claims but that shouldn't be too big of a deal as long as the kid doesn't inherit much territory and even if they do I mean you're beating up England so unless they're the HRE or something they probably won't manage to dethrone you.
That said the larger issue of "what should I do next" is pretty much the game. There's not really going to be a right answer.
Ugh starting to lose motivation to play again. It gets tough knowing what to aim for next.
Once I finished uniting the Kingdom of Ireland and began encroaching on English soil, I abandoned my tutorial game. Compared to other titles, like Total War, where it is essentially the one and only goal, taking over large parts of the map isn't really the intent in Crusader Kings. I go in with an interest in something, set a personal goal, and end it once I've done it. There's no need to go all the way to the end date unless you're trying for the achievement; there's no triumphant cinematic or anything, it just ends.
So far my games have been:
1. Tutorial Ireland. Ended once I united the Kingdom, was not interested in making Britannia.
2. Estonia game. Was interested in exploring the possibilities there for personal reasons, ended it once I created Finland and it no longer felt Estonian.
3. Norway game. Technically Ostlandet. Created the Kingdom of Norway as Haraldr Fairhair, as in history, and then expanded to eventually create a Scandinavian Empire. Had no interest in going further.
4. Abbasid Caliphate. Got to try being a vassal, rather than always a liege, which was interesting. Tried to create an empire, did not succeed. I recalled the name Hulagu from my history classes, but could not remember why; this game reminded me.
5. Byzantine Empire as Alexios the Great. Mended the Great Schism and reformed the Roman Empire. I rode this game out to the very end, expanding in to as much historic Roman territory as possible.
6. Current game, Novgorod/Kievan Rus as the Rurukid founder, King Rurik. Much different thanks to the recent tribalism laws. Intending to make the Russian Empire, and then switch to something new.
I prefer to either relive interesting bits or history or try to make interesting stories, and I always end it when they've played out. If that doesn't work for you, you could always try gunning for achievements. Aside from the rough learning curve, how have you enjoyed the tutorial game?
I will say that while this game doesn't often teach me much about history (it seems to go off the historical rails about as soon as I hit play), it does teach a surprising bit of geography. I end up spending so much time focusing on a small area of land, that I learn the ins and outs without intending to. I will see the names of places like Skane, Lake Ladoga, Mosul, or Valencia in real life and be instantly reminded of where they are and the effort it took to control them.
The Republic of Taurica is stronger than I thought.
Remember that foolish tribal war from earlier?
I actually managed to turn it around with mercenaries (3 of the strongest ones, gotta love +80 gold income per month). We won the war and carved a good piece of land away from the barbarians. The Hungarians then thought they could get some of their lands back, but I was like "Nope".
The vassal AI continues to expand towards the East across the steppes. I suppose it is easier considering that there are now 3 holy orders active. Attacking Hungary in a holy war will require a considerable force besides just my retinues and normal troops.
I'm actively trying to create the Empire of Tartaria and only need 10-12 more counties to do so. I'm just worried about the oncoming Horde in around 75 years. I would feel a lot safer with the Empire of Carpathia than Tartaria.
Remember also your goals don't necessarily have to be about you personally gaining territory. You can do whole playthroughs as the loyal vassal Duke (wouldn't recommend Count), helping to keep your leige strong and powerful, expanding a bit in your own general region. You could focus on the breeding game, making your heirs into the perfect rulers while getting vassals/courtiers who are perfect advisers. You could form a smallish kingdom (like Ireland), then just play to keep it, or play for prestige/piety without expanding personally outside of it. You could try to get your family on to high thrones without getting yourself there. You could cast yourself as the anti-Karling, just intentionally breaking up blobs and keeping other families down through skullduggery. Lots and lots of options (I've really just scratched the surface) that don't involve painting the map. Not that there's anything wrong with some map painting, it just tends to make lots of games follow very similar paths.
Aside from the rough learning curve, how have you enjoyed the tutorial game?
I don't consider it the tutorial game. It's just...the game to me. I've played for 50 hours and almost all of it was starting with Ireland, trying to make the kingdom, sometimes failing and losing interest, and always not knowing what to do after making the kingdom. Stupid mistakes like spending hours in a big war and finding out I was just graciously giving out territory to a claimant who wasn't my vassal. One time I started out in Greenland and that was a huge waste of time.
I'm not interested in history. Mostly I play it like a weird Civ variant, and also to see all the random events that can happen to my ruler.
I don't want to start out anywhere else because I don't want to have to deal with a huge empire right from the start that's already full of internal strife. I want to build to that myself, and maybe prevent the strife along the way.
Aside from the rough learning curve, how have you enjoyed the tutorial game?
I don't consider it the tutorial game. It's just...the game to me. I've played for 50 hours and almost all of it was starting with Ireland, trying to make the kingdom, sometimes failing and losing interest, and always not knowing what to do after making the kingdom. Stupid mistakes like spending hours in a big war and finding out I was just graciously giving out territory to a claimant who wasn't my vassal. One time I started out in Greenland and that was a huge waste of time.
I'm not interested in history. Mostly I play it like a weird Civ variant, and also to see all the random events that can happen to my ruler.
I don't want to start out anywhere else because I don't want to have to deal with a huge empire right from the start that's already full of internal strife. I want to build to that myself, and maybe prevent the strife along the way.
You can start as a count or duke anywhere in the world -- you don't have to actually be the ruler of any of those empires. One of the more entertaining games I played, I was a count in the northwestern part of the HRE, and I worked to unite Frisia and declare independence from the HRE.
Spain starts can be quite fun as well, as the Reconquista tends to be lengthy and interesting. The Christian kingdoms are fairly small; you could start out on the western end and endeavor to create Portugal.
The tribal starts are quite entertaining as well (does it require DLC?). There's plenty of goals from short to long term to keep you occupied for quite awhile; reforming the faith (or switching out of pagan religion), forging a kingdom, embracing feudalism (or republic if you have the DLC), changing your inheritance laws, reconquering all your split territory from generations of elective gavelkind, and creating the local empire -- all within regions that tend to start quite splintered and isolated.
And if you're in the Russia area, enduring the Mongol hordes that will then arrive probably around the time you finish those things.
Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
I think tribal requires Old Gods. I don't have Old Gods or Charlemagne, and when I start a new game it asks when I want the game to start and I can't choose anything earlier than 1066, it says I need one of those expansions for the time periods.
Is there any reason why I shouldn't try to just claim an entire kingdom at once? Like invite the prince of England to my court, hand him a county, and go to war? Does that bite you in the ass later? Does the whole thing hinging on the prince mean that later he is likely to cause trouble? Up to this point I'm used to taking over counties and duchies, and it feels effective to chip away a little at a time like that, but I didn't think about aiming big until last night.
If you're an emperor and big enough, sure, why not. He might not be king for long though and you might get a guy who hates your guts. If you're not an emperor, try to press kingdom-level claims so you either inherit the kingdom somewhere down the line or get a claim. Putting a spouse or parent of my current character on some throne is a thing I do a lot.
Note that if you're not an emperor and you press his claim, then the country remains independent, only with a new leader. And you lose the county you gave him.
Basically, never press claims for others that are equal or higher than your highest title, unless it's for a family member (immediately or later via inheritance).
Fleur de Alys on
Triptycho: A card-and-dice tabletop indie RPG currently in development and playtesting
Note that if you're not an emperor and you press his claim, then the country remains independent, only with a new leader. And you lose the county you gave him.
Basically, never press claims for others that are equal or higher than your highest title, unless it's for a family member (immediately or later via inheritance).
Ah, see, that's what I needed to know. Thanks.
How can I become an emperor then? Can't do it through taking land, I have to get my heir to have a claim on it or something? Or is it based on percentage of land controlled in a de jure empire, so chipping away is fine?
Note that if you're not an emperor and you press his claim, then the country remains independent, only with a new leader. And you lose the county you gave him.
Basically, never press claims for others that are equal or higher than your highest title, unless it's for a family member (immediately or later via inheritance).
Ah, see, that's what I needed to know. Thanks.
How can I become an emperor then? Can't do it through taking land, I have to get my heir to have a claim on it or something? Or is it based on percentage of land controlled in a de jure empire, so chipping away is fine?
It goes like this.
51% of a de jure area needs to be owned by this. This goes for Duke and Kingdom titles.
You need two Duke Titles to be King, and Two Kingdom Titles to be Emperor.
But here's the kicker: You need 80% controlled de jure area to create an Empire. Check the de jure tab to see exactly which areas count as part of the Empire.
This is important so you do not end up conquering areas which do not contribute to your goal of forming an empire.
But I can't claim a kingdom the same way I claim counties and duchies, because I'm not an emperor, and winning the kingdom in a war just makes it independent?
But I can't claim a kingdom the same way I claim counties and duchies, because I'm not an emperor, and winning the kingdom in a war just makes it independent?
It's a bit complicated. Forging a claim on something with your councillor will almost always only forge a claim on county, but can claim a duchy, I've never heard of him succeeding with a claim on a kingdom or higher. You can also gain a claim on it if it exists and you are a pretender when the current owner inherited it, say you lost an elective monarchy or something. You can also have a claim on it if it was passed down to you from a pretender, like if your parent married a pretender. Most often, you will have a claim on something you once owned but lost, either through war or succession. Your claims are always on your character sheet, separated by strong and weak claims, be sure to read their inheritance properties by hovering.
You cannot win an entire kingdom from a neighbor in a single war without a claim, the claims I mentioned above are what give you the authority to dethrone someone and take everything. You can however slowly take all of the pieces of a kingdom through other wars and claims, and once you own enough of the historic de jure lands, you can take the title itself. The old king will keep everything he had, but he will not have the title. With that title you will gain a claim on all the historic lands of that kingdom.
Always be sure to look closely at the Casus Belli for a war that you're intending, it will tell you exactly who gets what lands and what happens to them afterward. Never give someone a title, or fight a war to award someone a title, as equally high as yours, as a king has no authority over another king and giving them a foreign throne will just make them independent, and a very friendly neighbor.
If you click a county and bring up its info, look for the shield/herald which refers to the county and click on it. You can then click the De Jure box to see what duchy, kingdom, and empire it is historically a part of. If you click any of them, you can see what is needed to create them from scratch or usurp them from someone who already has them.
What happens if I whittle away an entire kingdom, claiming the last county that the king had, just because I have claim to the county and not the kingdom?
What happens if I whittle away an entire kingdom, claiming the last county that the king had, just because I have claim to the county and not the kingdom?
The Kingdom title is destroyed when you take a king's last county and you can remake it. Though unless that king is of a different religion, you should be able to usurp it long before that.
Jephery on
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"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
There is a plot to forge a kingdom claim, but you need to be a subject of that kingdom in order for it to be available.
The best way is marrying your primary heir to one of the king of England's daughters, then murdering all other heirs. Then the title will go to you eventually in another 2 generations.
He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
If you want a kingdom quick as a vassal of that kingdom, all you need to do is:
1. Lower Crown Authority faction until autonomous vassals
2. Elective sucession faction - autonomous vassals allows elective monarchy factions
3. Candidate faction for yourself - elective succession allows factions for anyone that can be voted for.
Its possible to go from duke to king in less than a year without fighting a single war if your liege gets into a particularly bad war.
Jephery on
}
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
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AuralynxDarkness is a perspectiveWatching the ego workRegistered Userregular
If you want a kingdom quick as a vassal of that kingdom, all you need to do is:
1. Lower Crown Authority faction until autonomous vassals
2. Elective sucession faction - autonomous vassals allows elective monarchy factions
3. Candidate faction for yourself - elective succession allows factions for anyone that can be voted for.
Its possible to go from duke to king in less than a year without fighting a single war if your liege gets into a particularly bad war.
Honestly, the even-simpler route is usually to go directly to 3 if you have a claim and wait for the king in question to lose a dumb apocalyptic Karling War.
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FandaHang a shining starupon the highest boughRegistered Userregular
Am I right to think that playing a merchant republic is much more interesting if you pretend the campaign fund doesn't exist?
Am I right to think that playing a merchant republic is much more interesting if you pretend the campaign fund doesn't exist?
Depends how much you enjoy watching the computer screw up your republic :P
Was wrecking face as Venice once, setting up trade posts, using those posts to CB the cities, then the cities to CB the provinces, had half of Italy. Oops, lost a vote and the AI instantly swears fealty to the Byzantine Emperor.
Am I right to think that playing a merchant republic is much more interesting if you pretend the campaign fund doesn't exist?
Depends how much you enjoy watching the computer screw up your republic :P
Was wrecking face as Venice once, setting up trade posts, using those posts to CB the cities, then the cities to CB the provinces, had half of Italy. Oops, lost a vote and the AI instantly swears fealty to the Byzantine Emperor.
Eh nothing wrong with that, you can still build tradeposts and then lower crown authority to allow you to wage your wars of freedom. Having the Byzantines have your back in defensive wars is really nice.
He's a shy overambitious dog-catcher on the wrong side of the law. She's an orphaned psychic mercenary with the power to bend men's minds. They fight crime!
So I'm currently doing a solid job in operation "catholic castration"; the principality of Scandinavia has successfully conquered santiago, rome, prepared invasion wessex, GHW'd north umbria and west francisca (leaving the map looking rather screwed up with aquitane all over the place, lotharingia in control of parts of italy, Frisia independant, and east francisca a scattered mess).
Given how badly the catholic church has had it's teeth kicked in It shouldn't be much longer before the whole thing collapses in on itself (christianity only has one Holy site to the best of my knowledge, and I'm not sure I can crack the nut that is constantinople).
Now that having been said, I'm still a bit irritated by the fact that I'm not seeing europe descend into a mess of heresies. I wanna see the map go insane god dammit!
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edit: Went and checked on steam. 10.3% of people with the game have gotten the 'get married' achievement. Guessing people just hate playing ironman.
So, I've converted my dynasty to Suebi and fled overseas away from the Umayyad hordes that are overrunning my former de Cantabria lieges as we speak and I ended up settling in Essex (the only chunk of land outside of the vast Karling empire the Pope would give me a claim on). The problem is we obviously don't share a border with our Suebic brethren back in Iberia, so I'll need to find an alternative route to cultural conversion and get some settlers to come from across the sea. If I'm reading it right, I can pull this off by having a primary title that is "de jure" of my culture. There are no traditionally Suebi titles in the game, but using the awesome that is the custom kingdom creator I can make one into reality (and yes, I tested it and according to my save file the culture of the Kingdom of Rostov is absolutely Visigothic, so it appears to base the "de jure culture" of custom titles on the ruler and not their base title). So, unless I'm mistaken, this is my ticket to getting Suebi culture to spread into England.
I'm sitting on Essex and have since conquered East Anglia (thanks Pope!) and I'm starting to make headway into Kent, and once I have those three I'll be able to declare a new Suebic kingdom in Southeastern England. But what the heck do I call it? Really not overly fond of any of those duchy names for a Suebian kingdom. Any ideas more original than "Suebia"?
Yeah, but I mean... there is a Swabia already. And it's a name taken from more modern German.
Eh, beautiful thing about the customizer is I can always rename it as much as I want.
I've conquered the world, restored the Roman Empire, become the Saoshyant and taken England as Denmark.
All before they added achievements. Guessing a lot of those players drifted away.
...But apparently I do hate myself enough to spend about an hour and fifteen minutes last night cleaning up my newly-conquered kingdom. Tribal subjugation leaves you in a mess when you have a moderate-sized kingdom and then you conquer another one. The former king had six duchies (he clearly gave zero fucks) and counties spread all over the place. Half the new vassals were the wrong religion (and I have sufficient law advancement to revoke those without tyranny), and that included the Slavic holy site.
Also, I apparently inherited a revolt? I think it started right as I was ending my conquest. So first I had to put that down, which hilariously mostly consisted of fellow Slavics (so several of them got released from prison right after).
Next was a substantial juggling act. This new Vassal Limit thing is pretty punishing when you conquer a kingdom that's a complete and utter mess. Some of its duchies didn't even exist, so I was often faced with the prospect of going over either my vassal limit or my demesne limit (I'm at medium centralization and can't change laws again for several years). And that's with a demesne limit of 11 and a vassal limit of 14! Anyway, I eventually solved it by fighting a second war with former-king Dyre, taking away all of his titles, and having some vassals with multiple counties. Counts in duchies that didn't exist (and that I can't afford to create) got transferred to nearby two-county dukes, and eventually, the kingdoms of Polesk and Ruthenia found a state of balance and harmony. Most of my vassals now love me, and the holy site has been fully reclaimed by the Slavic faith.
There's one county in between me and each of the other three holy sites, which is hilariously frustrating. Luckily the tribal conquest casus belli only results in a 5-year truce, so with some luck I can still nab them before 46-year-old King Anastazja passes on. Ruthenia is going to go to her (substantially more capable) younger son, while my Strong-But-Bad-At-Everything-Else heir will get Polesk, which is actually a smaller and weaker kingdom. So, not only do I need to conquer those holy sites and reform the faith (I do have enough piety at least), but I probably need to expand the Polesk side of things so my heir doesn't get demolished by his brother.
I really wish you could choose which child to play as in this game. Actually, this isn't Ironman, so I can if I want to.
...whoa. Epiphany.
Perhaps I'll be playing as Ruthenia next instead after all. Kiev is not as advanced as Plock (Mazovia), but it has greater potential and a bigger market village. Maybe I can build it up in the next decade or so.
I've started a game in the south-east of England, and I'm giving things names like "Dagorlad" and "Minas Morgul." I want to rule my Kingdom of Mordor from Barad-dûr in Orodruin (Middlesex), where the shadows lie.
Ugh, so many reloads after that assassinate button (which is gone now anyway)
Yeah, I was pretty absurd about savescumming before ironman was introduced. I was particularly obsessive about obtaining genius status on all of my primary heirs. So ironman now forces me to play without that, with the added bonus of letting me aim for achievements. Generally makes for more interesting, if sometimes more frustrating, play.
3DS: 0963-0539-4405
After taking over a duchy from England, I started plotting to kill the king so I could take more of his territory without being a trucebreaker. But then I thought, I could always just forget him for a while and expand elsewhere, and plot to revoke this duchy that I might lose if the duke dies. Or I could plot to kill someone's wife and marry my daughter to them...she's mad at me because I haven't found her a husband yet. I don't really know what to look for in a husband for her. Nobody ever accepts matrilineal marriages anyway.
Or should I forget expansion and save up some money for a while and buy a couple extra towns? I feel like that would be wasteful of my time, though. I dunno.
Regarding your daughter: if she has really good base stats (such that you want her to churn out babies) or a great education (such that you want her as a tutor) you should probably invite a courtier to your court. Once they're in your court they don't have the option of refusing the marriage. Otherwise just marry her off normally to some second or third son to get an alliance that might help against England (Norway, Denmark, and Scotland are probably your best bets). Yeah the kids will get weak claims but that shouldn't be too big of a deal as long as the kid doesn't inherit much territory and even if they do I mean you're beating up England so unless they're the HRE or something they probably won't manage to dethrone you.
That said the larger issue of "what should I do next" is pretty much the game. There's not really going to be a right answer.
Once I finished uniting the Kingdom of Ireland and began encroaching on English soil, I abandoned my tutorial game. Compared to other titles, like Total War, where it is essentially the one and only goal, taking over large parts of the map isn't really the intent in Crusader Kings. I go in with an interest in something, set a personal goal, and end it once I've done it. There's no need to go all the way to the end date unless you're trying for the achievement; there's no triumphant cinematic or anything, it just ends.
So far my games have been:
1. Tutorial Ireland. Ended once I united the Kingdom, was not interested in making Britannia.
2. Estonia game. Was interested in exploring the possibilities there for personal reasons, ended it once I created Finland and it no longer felt Estonian.
3. Norway game. Technically Ostlandet. Created the Kingdom of Norway as Haraldr Fairhair, as in history, and then expanded to eventually create a Scandinavian Empire. Had no interest in going further.
4. Abbasid Caliphate. Got to try being a vassal, rather than always a liege, which was interesting. Tried to create an empire, did not succeed. I recalled the name Hulagu from my history classes, but could not remember why; this game reminded me.
5. Byzantine Empire as Alexios the Great. Mended the Great Schism and reformed the Roman Empire. I rode this game out to the very end, expanding in to as much historic Roman territory as possible.
6. Current game, Novgorod/Kievan Rus as the Rurukid founder, King Rurik. Much different thanks to the recent tribalism laws. Intending to make the Russian Empire, and then switch to something new.
I prefer to either relive interesting bits or history or try to make interesting stories, and I always end it when they've played out. If that doesn't work for you, you could always try gunning for achievements. Aside from the rough learning curve, how have you enjoyed the tutorial game?
It's annoying to fall in love with a small duchy and its struggles only to lose the name when you form a higher title.
Ha! The infidels fight amongst themselves!
Remember that foolish tribal war from earlier?
I actually managed to turn it around with mercenaries (3 of the strongest ones, gotta love +80 gold income per month). We won the war and carved a good piece of land away from the barbarians. The Hungarians then thought they could get some of their lands back, but I was like "Nope".
The vassal AI continues to expand towards the East across the steppes. I suppose it is easier considering that there are now 3 holy orders active. Attacking Hungary in a holy war will require a considerable force besides just my retinues and normal troops.
I'm actively trying to create the Empire of Tartaria and only need 10-12 more counties to do so. I'm just worried about the oncoming Horde in around 75 years. I would feel a lot safer with the Empire of Carpathia than Tartaria.
I don't consider it the tutorial game. It's just...the game to me. I've played for 50 hours and almost all of it was starting with Ireland, trying to make the kingdom, sometimes failing and losing interest, and always not knowing what to do after making the kingdom. Stupid mistakes like spending hours in a big war and finding out I was just graciously giving out territory to a claimant who wasn't my vassal. One time I started out in Greenland and that was a huge waste of time.
I'm not interested in history. Mostly I play it like a weird Civ variant, and also to see all the random events that can happen to my ruler.
I don't want to start out anywhere else because I don't want to have to deal with a huge empire right from the start that's already full of internal strife. I want to build to that myself, and maybe prevent the strife along the way.
Spain starts can be quite fun as well, as the Reconquista tends to be lengthy and interesting. The Christian kingdoms are fairly small; you could start out on the western end and endeavor to create Portugal.
The tribal starts are quite entertaining as well (does it require DLC?). There's plenty of goals from short to long term to keep you occupied for quite awhile; reforming the faith (or switching out of pagan religion), forging a kingdom, embracing feudalism (or republic if you have the DLC), changing your inheritance laws, reconquering all your split territory from generations of elective gavelkind, and creating the local empire -- all within regions that tend to start quite splintered and isolated.
And if you're in the Russia area, enduring the Mongol hordes that will then arrive probably around the time you finish those things.
Is there any reason why I shouldn't try to just claim an entire kingdom at once? Like invite the prince of England to my court, hand him a county, and go to war? Does that bite you in the ass later? Does the whole thing hinging on the prince mean that later he is likely to cause trouble? Up to this point I'm used to taking over counties and duchies, and it feels effective to chip away a little at a time like that, but I didn't think about aiming big until last night.
Basically, never press claims for others that are equal or higher than your highest title, unless it's for a family member (immediately or later via inheritance).
Ah, see, that's what I needed to know. Thanks.
How can I become an emperor then? Can't do it through taking land, I have to get my heir to have a claim on it or something? Or is it based on percentage of land controlled in a de jure empire, so chipping away is fine?
It goes like this.
51% of a de jure area needs to be owned by this. This goes for Duke and Kingdom titles.
You need two Duke Titles to be King, and Two Kingdom Titles to be Emperor.
But here's the kicker: You need 80% controlled de jure area to create an Empire. Check the de jure tab to see exactly which areas count as part of the Empire.
This is important so you do not end up conquering areas which do not contribute to your goal of forming an empire.
It's a bit complicated. Forging a claim on something with your councillor will almost always only forge a claim on county, but can claim a duchy, I've never heard of him succeeding with a claim on a kingdom or higher. You can also gain a claim on it if it exists and you are a pretender when the current owner inherited it, say you lost an elective monarchy or something. You can also have a claim on it if it was passed down to you from a pretender, like if your parent married a pretender. Most often, you will have a claim on something you once owned but lost, either through war or succession. Your claims are always on your character sheet, separated by strong and weak claims, be sure to read their inheritance properties by hovering.
You cannot win an entire kingdom from a neighbor in a single war without a claim, the claims I mentioned above are what give you the authority to dethrone someone and take everything. You can however slowly take all of the pieces of a kingdom through other wars and claims, and once you own enough of the historic de jure lands, you can take the title itself. The old king will keep everything he had, but he will not have the title. With that title you will gain a claim on all the historic lands of that kingdom.
Always be sure to look closely at the Casus Belli for a war that you're intending, it will tell you exactly who gets what lands and what happens to them afterward. Never give someone a title, or fight a war to award someone a title, as equally high as yours, as a king has no authority over another king and giving them a foreign throne will just make them independent, and a very friendly neighbor.
If you click a county and bring up its info, look for the shield/herald which refers to the county and click on it. You can then click the De Jure box to see what duchy, kingdom, and empire it is historically a part of. If you click any of them, you can see what is needed to create them from scratch or usurp them from someone who already has them.
The Kingdom title is destroyed when you take a king's last county and you can remake it. Though unless that king is of a different religion, you should be able to usurp it long before that.
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
The best way is marrying your primary heir to one of the king of England's daughters, then murdering all other heirs. Then the title will go to you eventually in another 2 generations.
1. Lower Crown Authority faction until autonomous vassals
2. Elective sucession faction - autonomous vassals allows elective monarchy factions
3. Candidate faction for yourself - elective succession allows factions for anyone that can be voted for.
Its possible to go from duke to king in less than a year without fighting a single war if your liege gets into a particularly bad war.
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
Honestly, the even-simpler route is usually to go directly to 3 if you have a claim and wait for the king in question to lose a dumb apocalyptic Karling War.
Depends how much you enjoy watching the computer screw up your republic :P
Was wrecking face as Venice once, setting up trade posts, using those posts to CB the cities, then the cities to CB the provinces, had half of Italy. Oops, lost a vote and the AI instantly swears fealty to the Byzantine Emperor.
Eh nothing wrong with that, you can still build tradeposts and then lower crown authority to allow you to wage your wars of freedom. Having the Byzantines have your back in defensive wars is really nice.
Given how badly the catholic church has had it's teeth kicked in It shouldn't be much longer before the whole thing collapses in on itself (christianity only has one Holy site to the best of my knowledge, and I'm not sure I can crack the nut that is constantinople).
Now that having been said, I'm still a bit irritated by the fact that I'm not seeing europe descend into a mess of heresies. I wanna see the map go insane god dammit!