I played as Abyssinia in a multiplayer game (on these very forums) once. I had to murder literally scores of Shia Caliphs to stay alive. Got to Cairo just before the game fizzled out.
This was back when assassinations were cheap, you see.
867! A great year, if you're a Viking. Kind of a shit year for everyone else.
We begin in the Duchy of Gasconge, occupying the Western half of the Kingdom of Aquitaine - one of the many successor kingdoms to Charlemagne's empire, alongside Italy, West Francia, Lotharingia and East Francia, all ruled by various members of House Karling.
This is Antso III de Vasconia, Duke of Gascony, Count of Marsan and Armangac
he's kind of a dick, being a cruel zealot and all.
son's alright though. He's a Brilliant Strategist, which will make a nice base for a glorious military dynasty.
all we do is of course in service to our glorious and just liege, Louis the Stammerer, by the grace of god King of Aquitaine etc etc
First we must secure Gartzia a comely bride worthy of his station as heir to glorious Gascony. Several Karling princesses in the Francias, as well as a Princess of Asturias present viable options, but the most readily exploitable claim belongs to Princess Ximena Iniga, youngest daughter of King Gartzia I of Navarra. She has several brothers, a nephew and an older sister between her and the Navarrese Throne, but Navarra is also much smaller than Gascony and right on our southern border.
Success! Meanwhile, the godless Mohammedans are apparently collapsing in on themselves, which is good because the Umayyads are damn close to Southern France.
Overcome with Christian pride at his son's wedding, Duke Antso decides to forswear sex henceforth.
Unfortunately, only a few months pass before Ximena shows her true colors
what the hell, Ximena you've been at my court like two months this is bullshit-
god dammit son
also that really isn't the tone you want your Spymaster taking with you, although apparently he's still happy to tattle on my asshole kids, so I guess we can just name him Master of Horse and find him a courtier to marry out of gratitude
In the autumn of 868, King Gartzia I abruptly dies of old age at 58, less than a year after Ximena's marriage to Gartzia of Gascony.
The Navarrese throne passes to his son, Prince Fortun, who rules for less than 24 hours before dying of severe maiming.
Prince Enko Iniga, Princess Ximena's nephew, inherits the throne, but he's fat and not nearly handsome enough to reign over the proud and beautiful Basque people. As trueborn Basque patriots it is our sovereign duty to install a more suitable candidate.
King Enko I's ascendancy immediately provokes a succession crisis with the Duke of Aragon, diminishing Navarra's already modest power even further. The hour is upon us! Strike hard, Gascons, for God and Ximena!
Duke Antso and Prince Gartzia rally the banners of Gascony and cross the Northern Pyrenees with an army of Breton mercenaries in tow, besieging King Enko's seat at Castle Pamplona whilst the embattled Navarrese king is still caught up in the siege of Aragon.
Aragon surrenders shortly after the investment of Pamplona, whereupon Enko - outnumbered by the Gascons and their sellswords - marches his own army east around the far side of the Pyrenees, laying siege to Armangac. It is a futile gesture, however, as Castle Pamplona capitulates within a week of the Navarrese arrival in Gascony. Prince Gartzia marches north with all his strength, meeting Enko on the field in the Battle of Tartas and smashing the pretender with ease.
Even as his banner is raised in victory at Tartas, Prince Gartzia is yet further blessed by the arrival of a son, securing the succession.
With neither army nor castle remaining, Enko surrenders.
Long live Queen Ximena of Navarra! (and our grandson!)
The same year as the accession of Queen Ximena and King-Consort Gartzia, the realms of Aquitaine and West Francia are abruptly joined following the untimely death of King Charles the Bald of Francia. Captured in a Viking raid up the River Seine, King Charles was indecorously offered up in sacrifice to their Pagan gods, a most unworthy fate for a scion of Charlemagne. His son, our own King Louis II, assumes the throne.
With Louis II now in control of most of France, Gascony's position is unhappily weakened. We represent almost half of Aquitaine, but less than a quarter of France. The Duke of Poitou has already founded a faction advocating the establishment of Elective Succession for Aquitaine, with a base of support which already exceeds the King's own strength. Splitting up the Karlings' power would enhance our position, so Antso throws Gascony's support to Poitou.
In 871, Poitou presents the Elective factions' demands to Louis the Stammerer, and is rejected. Poitou and his confederates rise up to force the issue by strength of arms. With more than half the realm behind us, this will surely an easy -
That spot is interesting times in 867. Since the Muslims are so united they lash out north a lot, and the Karlings are unstable, with tendencies to civil war and join another, forgetting to fight the Muslims.
I saw Muslims on the Rhine yesterday from that start. (Around 1050)
Of course, the defense of our grandson's inheritance beloved daughter-in-law supersedes our obligations to Poitou, so Duke Antso immediately reverses course and marches south to defend Navarra from the heathens!
Unfortunately, the Navarrese Army has already been driven from the field by the time the Gascon forces arrive at Pamplona, with Aragon besieged by 4,000 Muslims and another heathen host descending from Cantabria. But, marching in the sight of the Lord, Duke Antso is not dismayed! Together with the remnants of Ximena's army, the Gascons make their stand against an Umayyad army over twice their size.
shit
with the Gascon-Navarrese army smashed, Queen Ximena surrenders and cedes Navarra proper to the Umayyad Sultanate, reducing her Kingdom to the province of High Aragon. Duke Antso wearily orders the maids to start tidying up Gartzia's old bedchamber in Castle Armangac.
Meanwhile, the Poitou rebellion has fared no better in the North, as Louis the Stammerer calls in his brother, King Lothaire of Lotharingia, whose army easily routs the Francian rebels. The Duke of Poitou capitulates soon after.
So now the King hates us (even though Gascony never gave more than nominal support to the rebellion), our grandson stands to inherit a landless crown, and there are Umayyads on our doorstep. This has been a less-than-stellar year to be a Gascon.
Since this is the closest thing we currently have to a dedicated, active Crusader Kings II thread, I wanna ask, since half the forum seems to be playing this game at the moment, would anyone be interested in a multiplayer game? I'm not sure the game's really suited for its multiplayer option, but unmodded Civ IV wasn't either and we played that back in the day and it was still a lot of fun.
Upgrading makes a huge difference in the number of men you can muster from your holdings. It's a good idea to invest in the early upgrades like militia training grounds and anything which gives you +% levy size. But the AI is usually more efficient at improving its lands, so you might not wanna invest in improvements if you don't plan on keeping the holding.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
what PB said - if you've got a core county or duchy that you plan on holding on to forever, and not giving to a vassal any time soon, upgrade that shit. It actually says if you mouse over the affect it will have, usually something like +100 light troops of varying kinds, +50 heavy troops, +5% levy, etc. All of that translates directly into how big an army you can raise.
keep in mind, levies from vassals are affected by the opinion those vassals have of you (which includes baronies/cities/bishops held by vassals even when you hold the county)
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
keep in mind, levies from vassals are affected by the opinion those vassals have of you (which includes baronies/cities/bishops held by vassals even when you hold the county)
oh shit
didn't know that their opinion counts
yeah everyone hates me
I had one super popular king, and then every one of his sons is universally reviled
i thought it had to do with Martial score for some reason, but that makes way more sense
UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
I'm trying to decide how far I want to reach in my Byzantine game
I'm already off to an amazing start, started as the Duke of Calabria, the toe of the boot in southern Italy, and got lucky attacking the Aghlabids in Sicily. I declared war on them to try and take at least part of the island, and one battle in, the Emperor declared his own war - battles won by either of us contributed to both warscores, but because I had started first, mine hit 100% first, and I was able to claim complete victory on the back of the Emperor's armies, tripling my starting territory almost immediately. I used that to expand north into southern italy, picking at the independant republics one by one, and managed to create the Kingdom of Sicily within my first 20 years. I also managed to get my heir betrothed to the Emperor's second daughter.
Now, the thing about the Byzantine Empire is that children born during the emperor's reign are considered to be "Born In The Purple", which gives them extra prestige, and a boost in succession, meaning that only Princess Nikarete's two brothers stood between her and the throne, and not her older sister. And really, what's the bigger evil - tens of thousands killed in a bloody civil war, or two murders?
Anyways, my daughter-in-law is the Empress now, and my grandson is first in line to inherit.
My daughter-in-law is also a greedy, envious glutton with no real skills to speak of, on top of being a female ruler less than a year into her reign. The challenge will be keeping her in power long enough for my grandson to inherit.
Still, two-county Sicilian Duke to Basileus of the Byzantine Emperor in two generations would be a hell of a thing.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
oh, and one other thing. My starting ruler's wife was some princess from West Francia, I didn't really pay much attention to her family as I was marrying her for the prestige and her intrigue score, but apparently the Karlings are kind of a big deal?
I'm saying this because just before I went to bed last night, my wife died and the game informed me that I could press some weak claims on behalf of my son - namely claims to the kingdoms of Italy, Burgundy, Acquitaine, West Francia, and East Francia. The current ruler of all of the above is my dead wife's 12-year-old nephew.
Do I even dare trying to press a claim for Italy to further my goal of reestablishing the Roman Empire, and hope my daughter-in-law comes to my aid, or do I play it safe and focus on keeping my daughter-in-law in power? The Byzantine Empire is a hard thing to keep together for an experienced ruler, let alone an inexperienced one that people dislike just for being female.
Sadly, I'm not sure you'll ever have a good time to press that claim. Even if she likes you and dislikes the nephew, it's probably still maybe.
But it's way worse for your son. She probably likes him more, but he's already considered her vassal, which means that she can't join his war if he tries to press it. You could get lucky, and she could press it (she has a lot to gain for it after all), but I don't trust the AI to do anything.
I don't think your grandson can inherit it, but if he could, that would probably be the only reasonable chance you'd get.
You do need Italy though. Maybe I'd check to see if you could try destabilizing those kingdoms using diplomacy and intrigue? It's never been something I've been good at, and obviously you don't want to end up with a stronger ruler. Check what his vassals think of him and who also has claims maybe?
End on
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
Sadly, I'm not sure you'll ever have a good time to press that claim. Even if she likes you and dislikes the nephew, the distance would probably still mean a maybe for joining your war.
But it's way worse for your son. She probably likes him more, but he's already considered her vassal, which means that she can't join his war if he tries to press it. You could get lucky, and she could press it (she has a lot to gain for it after all), but I don't trust the AI to do anything.
I don't think your grandson can inherit it, but if he could, that would probably be the only reasonable chance you'd get.
You do need Italy though. Maybe I'd check to see if you could try destabilizing those kingdoms using diplomacy and intrigue? It's never been something I've been good at, and obviously you don't want to end up with a stronger ruler. Check what his vassals think of him and who also has claims maybe?
destabilizing western europe was something I half-heartedly tried while focusing on positioning within the empire, and I think I made a mess of it
originally there was one guy with West Francia, Burgundy, and Italy, and I had the bright idea that killing him and having the crowns go to his child nephew heir would mix things up, as the child would presumably be a weaker ruler? I'll admit I didn't put a lot of thought into it, counting on the new ruler penalty to make something happen.
Turns out his nephew was already king of Acquitaine and East Francia, so my plot served to unite all 5 kingdoms under him, and it's been depressingly stable up there since.
now that I think about it, most of my successful attempts to destabilize another realm involved me also being at war with them and it pretty much just served to help me take land faster without breaking treaties
maybe it'd be worth pressing the claim just to drain their forces (the AI likes to merge armies, so supply would help you here), but you'd probably have to last at least a few months before any factions would take advantage of the opening you were making. I don't think it'd work, but assuming it did, you'd still lose the war and one of the the claims.
I wish that someway, somehow, that I could save every one of us
Posts
Look I got two out of three numbers right
This was back when assassinations were cheap, you see.
Africa is to isolated and self-contained
buckle your ass in 'cause this shit's outta control
They get to rule for longer too which is nice for that long reign opinion bonus.
3DS: 1289-8447-4695
867! A great year, if you're a Viking. Kind of a shit year for everyone else.
We begin in the Duchy of Gasconge, occupying the Western half of the Kingdom of Aquitaine - one of the many successor kingdoms to Charlemagne's empire, alongside Italy, West Francia, Lotharingia and East Francia, all ruled by various members of House Karling.
This is Antso III de Vasconia, Duke of Gascony, Count of Marsan and Armangac
he's kind of a dick, being a cruel zealot and all.
son's alright though. He's a Brilliant Strategist, which will make a nice base for a glorious military dynasty.
all we do is of course in service to our glorious and just liege, Louis the Stammerer, by the grace of god King of Aquitaine etc etc
First we must secure Gartzia a comely bride worthy of his station as heir to glorious Gascony. Several Karling princesses in the Francias, as well as a Princess of Asturias present viable options, but the most readily exploitable claim belongs to Princess Ximena Iniga, youngest daughter of King Gartzia I of Navarra. She has several brothers, a nephew and an older sister between her and the Navarrese Throne, but Navarra is also much smaller than Gascony and right on our southern border.
Success! Meanwhile, the godless Mohammedans are apparently collapsing in on themselves, which is good because the Umayyads are damn close to Southern France.
Overcome with Christian pride at his son's wedding, Duke Antso decides to forswear sex henceforth.
Unfortunately, only a few months pass before Ximena shows her true colors
what the hell, Ximena you've been at my court like two months this is bullshit-
god dammit son
also that really isn't the tone you want your Spymaster taking with you, although apparently he's still happy to tattle on my asshole kids, so I guess we can just name him Master of Horse and find him a courtier to marry out of gratitude
In the autumn of 868, King Gartzia I abruptly dies of old age at 58, less than a year after Ximena's marriage to Gartzia of Gascony.
The Navarrese throne passes to his son, Prince Fortun, who rules for less than 24 hours before dying of severe maiming.
Prince Enko Iniga, Princess Ximena's nephew, inherits the throne, but he's fat and not nearly handsome enough to reign over the proud and beautiful Basque people. As trueborn Basque patriots it is our sovereign duty to install a more suitable candidate.
shit's about to get real up in the Pyrenees
Also the GoT mod can be kinda wonky
And there are people who may in fact not have read it who wouldn't appreciate the humor in Stannis being struck down by Tommen in single combat
King Enko I's ascendancy immediately provokes a succession crisis with the Duke of Aragon, diminishing Navarra's already modest power even further. The hour is upon us! Strike hard, Gascons, for God and Ximena!
Duke Antso and Prince Gartzia rally the banners of Gascony and cross the Northern Pyrenees with an army of Breton mercenaries in tow, besieging King Enko's seat at Castle Pamplona whilst the embattled Navarrese king is still caught up in the siege of Aragon.
Aragon surrenders shortly after the investment of Pamplona, whereupon Enko - outnumbered by the Gascons and their sellswords - marches his own army east around the far side of the Pyrenees, laying siege to Armangac. It is a futile gesture, however, as Castle Pamplona capitulates within a week of the Navarrese arrival in Gascony. Prince Gartzia marches north with all his strength, meeting Enko on the field in the Battle of Tartas and smashing the pretender with ease.
Even as his banner is raised in victory at Tartas, Prince Gartzia is yet further blessed by the arrival of a son, securing the succession.
With neither army nor castle remaining, Enko surrenders.
Long live Queen Ximena of Navarra! (and our grandson!)
The same year as the accession of Queen Ximena and King-Consort Gartzia, the realms of Aquitaine and West Francia are abruptly joined following the untimely death of King Charles the Bald of Francia. Captured in a Viking raid up the River Seine, King Charles was indecorously offered up in sacrifice to their Pagan gods, a most unworthy fate for a scion of Charlemagne. His son, our own King Louis II, assumes the throne.
With Louis II now in control of most of France, Gascony's position is unhappily weakened. We represent almost half of Aquitaine, but less than a quarter of France. The Duke of Poitou has already founded a faction advocating the establishment of Elective Succession for Aquitaine, with a base of support which already exceeds the King's own strength. Splitting up the Karlings' power would enhance our position, so Antso throws Gascony's support to Poitou.
In 871, Poitou presents the Elective factions' demands to Louis the Stammerer, and is rejected. Poitou and his confederates rise up to force the issue by strength of arms. With more than half the realm behind us, this will surely an easy -
SHIT
it doesn't help that Asturias also just shattered into pieces because of Castille
I saw Muslims on the Rhine yesterday from that start. (Around 1050)
Unfortunately, the Navarrese Army has already been driven from the field by the time the Gascon forces arrive at Pamplona, with Aragon besieged by 4,000 Muslims and another heathen host descending from Cantabria. But, marching in the sight of the Lord, Duke Antso is not dismayed! Together with the remnants of Ximena's army, the Gascons make their stand against an Umayyad army over twice their size.
shit
with the Gascon-Navarrese army smashed, Queen Ximena surrenders and cedes Navarra proper to the Umayyad Sultanate, reducing her Kingdom to the province of High Aragon. Duke Antso wearily orders the maids to start tidying up Gartzia's old bedchamber in Castle Armangac.
Meanwhile, the Poitou rebellion has fared no better in the North, as Louis the Stammerer calls in his brother, King Lothaire of Lotharingia, whose army easily routs the Francian rebels. The Duke of Poitou capitulates soon after.
So now the King hates us (even though Gascony never gave more than nominal support to the rebellion), our grandson stands to inherit a landless crown, and there are Umayyads on our doorstep. This has been a less-than-stellar year to be a Gascon.
i own half of spain, but apparently the half that has fuck all in the way of levies
are investing in city/keep improvements and such worth it at all?
oh shit
didn't know that their opinion counts
yeah everyone hates me
I had one super popular king, and then every one of his sons is universally reviled
i thought it had to do with Martial score for some reason, but that makes way more sense
3DS: 1289-8447-4695
I'm already off to an amazing start, started as the Duke of Calabria, the toe of the boot in southern Italy, and got lucky attacking the Aghlabids in Sicily. I declared war on them to try and take at least part of the island, and one battle in, the Emperor declared his own war - battles won by either of us contributed to both warscores, but because I had started first, mine hit 100% first, and I was able to claim complete victory on the back of the Emperor's armies, tripling my starting territory almost immediately. I used that to expand north into southern italy, picking at the independant republics one by one, and managed to create the Kingdom of Sicily within my first 20 years. I also managed to get my heir betrothed to the Emperor's second daughter.
Now, the thing about the Byzantine Empire is that children born during the emperor's reign are considered to be "Born In The Purple", which gives them extra prestige, and a boost in succession, meaning that only Princess Nikarete's two brothers stood between her and the throne, and not her older sister. And really, what's the bigger evil - tens of thousands killed in a bloody civil war, or two murders?
Anyways, my daughter-in-law is the Empress now, and my grandson is first in line to inherit.
My daughter-in-law is also a greedy, envious glutton with no real skills to speak of, on top of being a female ruler less than a year into her reign. The challenge will be keeping her in power long enough for my grandson to inherit.
Still, two-county Sicilian Duke to Basileus of the Byzantine Emperor in two generations would be a hell of a thing.
I'm saying this because just before I went to bed last night, my wife died and the game informed me that I could press some weak claims on behalf of my son - namely claims to the kingdoms of Italy, Burgundy, Acquitaine, West Francia, and East Francia. The current ruler of all of the above is my dead wife's 12-year-old nephew.
Do I even dare trying to press a claim for Italy to further my goal of reestablishing the Roman Empire, and hope my daughter-in-law comes to my aid, or do I play it safe and focus on keeping my daughter-in-law in power? The Byzantine Empire is a hard thing to keep together for an experienced ruler, let alone an inexperienced one that people dislike just for being female.
But it's way worse for your son. She probably likes him more, but he's already considered her vassal, which means that she can't join his war if he tries to press it. You could get lucky, and she could press it (she has a lot to gain for it after all), but I don't trust the AI to do anything.
I don't think your grandson can inherit it, but if he could, that would probably be the only reasonable chance you'd get.
You do need Italy though. Maybe I'd check to see if you could try destabilizing those kingdoms using diplomacy and intrigue? It's never been something I've been good at, and obviously you don't want to end up with a stronger ruler. Check what his vassals think of him and who also has claims maybe?
destabilizing western europe was something I half-heartedly tried while focusing on positioning within the empire, and I think I made a mess of it
originally there was one guy with West Francia, Burgundy, and Italy, and I had the bright idea that killing him and having the crowns go to his child nephew heir would mix things up, as the child would presumably be a weaker ruler? I'll admit I didn't put a lot of thought into it, counting on the new ruler penalty to make something happen.
Turns out his nephew was already king of Acquitaine and East Francia, so my plot served to unite all 5 kingdoms under him, and it's been depressingly stable up there since.
Also combined karling kingdoms tend to be the target of a lot of elective faction, in my experience.
now that I think about it, most of my successful attempts to destabilize another realm involved me also being at war with them and it pretty much just served to help me take land faster without breaking treaties
maybe it'd be worth pressing the claim just to drain their forces (the AI likes to merge armies, so supply would help you here), but you'd probably have to last at least a few months before any factions would take advantage of the opening you were making. I don't think it'd work, but assuming it did, you'd still lose the war and one of the the claims.
edit: or do they not have the right culture? well, for your sake I hope they don't
I thought the Carolingian kingdom titles mostly constituted the HRE
also I'll update this this weekend I had urgent work this week
I've seen France blob across half the map but I don't think I've ever seen them claim that title
And Burgundy!
@Dongs_Galore, how could you not have name your dynasty Dongs, and then given out first names like Wang and Winner?
Come on!
ooh, or Embiggened, that's the name of a first-born right there