Crusader Kings II

[Monk]

Excuse me. I have a question about legacy of Rome. I'm playing Byzantine Empire but I can't still request invasion for any countries.why?

You have to have a valid Casus Belli to declare war on another character, and that character has to be independent. Make sure you are selecting the appropriate liege for the title in question that you wish to fight for. Hover over the "declare war" option to get a list of various checks that are checked in order to make war on someone.

As for the "Request Invasion" option, that is something only Catholics can do without a bit of work. Byzantium has vassalized the Patriarch of Constantinople in CK2, in order to request an invasion of another realm the head of your religion must be independent, and like you a LOT. The Patriarch would need to be independent. In order to do so, open your vassals tab and select the Patriarch from the list. Go to his diplomacy screen and select "Grant independence." You can now ask him to allow you to invade Orthodox realms that are much larger than your own.

Do note that it's highly unlikely there will ever be orthodox realms larger than you as Byzantium. Unless the Hordes were to convert to Orthodoxy.

[Alexander the Pretty Good]

That's going to be the new strategy-verging-on-exploit after The Old Gods, at least if you can send missionaries to the Hordes.

[Monk]

Adventures in Anatolia:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Asia Minor, 1159

Internal politics have exploded in the Sultanate of Rum. What had once been a strong sub-state of the greater Seljuk Empire has degenerated into a complete mess after nearly one hundred years of petty infighting. With the Successors of the Roman empire occupied in Helles with numerous civil wars, one would have though the conquest of the empire was assured. Yet the continued decadence of the Sultan's dynasty, the continued tolerance of foreign merchants and a series of failed expansions wars has seen the quick decline of the once formidable Seljuks. In the chaos that was the fourth Seljuk succession crisis, The Beylerbey of Armenia succeeded from Rum. They were quickly followed by the Beylerbey of Armenia Minor.

The two successor states of Armenia are bitter enemies, with Armenia Greater being ruled by Duke Baytas I of Armenia. Baytas is the son of Duke Tekin of Trebizond, and grandson of Beylerbey Ali I, who united the three great duchies of eastern Armenia together to create the greatest army in Anatolia. Baytas is a great warrior but an unproven commander. His is a realm that has weathered great hardship and always come out stronger because of it, and his army is without a doubt one of the best in Anatolia thanks to the efforts of his grandfather.

Baytas, leader of Armenia.

Armenia Minor, meanwhile, is ruled by Kaiqobad I. Whereas Baytas is a native Armenian, Kaiqobad is Turkish. Whereas Baytas is a great warrior, Kaiqobad is first and foremost an administrator. And perhaps most importantly, whereas Baytas has inherited his great realm from the men who built it, Kaiqobad has built his realm through nothing but the fires of his own ambition. At the age of 67, he is practically a living ancient of the medieval world, ruling his now free realm from his capital Melitene with an iron fist.

Kaiqobad came to power in 1110 AD after the assassination of both his grandfather in 1109, and his father the very next year. A wild conspiracy against Kaiqobad's father is to blame for both of their deaths, one which points back to the first wife of Sultan Suleyman I of Rum as the mastermind. Mesud I, father of Kaiqobad, had been gathering power for decades. Biding his time, waiting for the right moment to act and expand his personal demesne beyond that which had been granted by the Sultan. Though he achieved initial success in securing control of several new counties, his plans were put to a sudden stop by the assassin's blade. Kaiqobad swore revenge upon the grave of his father, leading a ruthless campaign of consolidation and intrigue among the other commanders and vassals of the sultan. While the Sultan was campaigning against restless vassals and rebellious brothers, Kaiqobad began his work. He first took revenge on the wife of the sultan, building a conspiracy against her and having her poisoned at a banquet held to honor visiting dignitaries.

Next was the conquest of Armenia minor and crowing himself Beylerbey of Armenia Minor. He was incredibly efficient in removing anyone who might've been a threat to his power. Rewarding those who served him well on the battlefield and destroying anyone who happened to stand in his way, Kaiqobad built a powerful web of alliances within the Rum Sultanate. He even clashed with Ali of Trebizond in a great battle outside his capital. The two powers fought while still technically vassals of the sultan over numerous disputed claims. Both sides claimed they had legal right, and both sides refused to back down. The ensuring war would ensure bad blood between the two dynasties for at least the next ten years, despite no side being able to claim victory. When Armenia succeeded from Rum two years later, having grown much too powerful for the weakened Sultanate to control, Kaiqobad was quick to follow. Curiously. It's said that Ali I died under mysterious circumstances just weeks after his realm broke away from Rum...

Even with all of central Anatolia, Kaiqobad's ambition is not satisfied. The weakened Sultanate to his west desperately struggles in another succession crisis, and the grandson of his greatest rival, Baytas, rules to his east. If the Turkish administrator had it his way, he'd see all of Anatolia beneath his command. A united, stronger sultanate than the failing Rummites. Unfortunately, already in his 60s, it seems his greatest enemy may be time.

[Monk]

Let me tell you something about fear. Fear is the Holy Roman Empire converting to a heresy and destroying two catholic crusades meant to take back Italy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Religion map -

/

Yeah. I'm glad I'm way over here in Anatolia. No thank you, sir!

[Ishmael]

Let me tell you something about fear. Fear is the Holy Roman Empire converting to a heresy and destroying two catholic crusades meant to take back Italy.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Religion map -

/

Yeah. I'm glad I'm way over here in Anatolia. No thank you, sir!

Heh, 'Holy' Roman Empire indeed. I don't think I've ever seen a large nation, let alone an empire, convert to a heresy before, but then again my current game is the first in which I've reached the Mongol invasions (I tend to prefer building up a nation, rather than managing it ).

[naut]

Adventurers: Landless characters can gather armies and go off to carve out new realms on their own.

Aw hell yeah!

[Monk]

Heh, 'Holy' Roman Empire indeed. I don't think I've ever seen a large nation, let alone an empire, convert to a heresy before, but then again my current game is the first in which I've reached the Mongol invasions (I tend to prefer building up a nation, rather than managing it ).

I know! This is very very rare from my own experience. It's not uncommon for a powerful ruler to convert to a heresy later in life, but the emperor not only converted, he converted nearly all his children. Ensuring his heir would follow the heresy, and has been fighting hard to convert all his vassals. He has crushed two huge crusades trying to take back Italy. It's only a matter of time until he gets his court in order and starts holy warring

Aw hell yeah!

Haha. My sentiments exactly! Curiously, Paradox has been incredibly tight lipped about that feature, declining to say much to RPS in this article. Paraphrased as "It's a feature that will change a lot before release." is all the writer could get.

I'm eager to read the dev diaries as they come, no doubt.

[Monk]

Hope you guys don't mind the double post, here's an Old Gods Interview with PC gamer: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/02/05/cr...know-so-far/1/





Highlights include:

• The Adventurer system will tie in to landless claimants. Did you banish an ambitious brother to the life an an exile? Now he has the ability to come back and make your life hell. Although it is stressed that it's in its very early concepts, Paradox outlines their goals to tie in adventurers with rebellions and landless claimants to make keeping power more challenging.
  
  

  So the landless adventurers you mentioned aren’t actually playable?
  
  No, not as far as I know. Basically, the adventurer system is not fully implemented yet. So it’s in our progression. But our idea is, landless characters can be a danger to you. So just because you’ve kicked out the guy who claims your title—he doesn’t have any land—doesn’t mean he’s not a threat. Our goal is to try and tie them in with rebels. So rebels will now rebel for a title claimant.

• Prestige will drive invasion ability. In a move that mirrors the Muslim piety mechanics, Norse Casus Bellis will be heavily tied into their prestige as opposed to their title ranking. A count who has great prestige can call together a vast army and topple his neighbors with greater ease than an king whos prestige score is pitiful.
  
  

  And Prestige is a key thing. So, because these invasions are your biggest way of getting troops over land, I can be the poorest count in Norway. But if I have a high enough Prestige, I can declare invasions for one of my pagan neighbors, in fact, summon Vikings, and basically kick them in. So you have to make sure you have a lot of Prestige so you can counter-invade and things like this.

• The tease of teases: Nomads are a high possibility. Perhaps one of the biggest missing pieces for any scenario hoping to portray this era, Nomads. Although very little of concrete is revealed, the Paradox representative says in no uncertain terms that it's something they really want to do.
  
  

  That’s something, obviously. We call it “The Hungarian Question.” Which is, “How do we get the Hungarians from their home right now, in Western Ukraine, into Hungary?” So it’s something that we know about, and we’re probably going to do a bit of iteration, and trial and error, on that one. We definitely want nomads to move.

Lot of other stuff in there that is hinted at. Article is definitely worth the read.

[Chaotix]

I am practically drooling in anticipation over here.

I'll just have to satisfy the wait with continuing to rebuild the Roman Empire.

Step 1: Finally get done with taking back Anatolia already!

[komnenos]

Sorry again. I have two questions:
1. Is any thread about this game: March of the eagles in this site?
2. I can't make my Ecumenical Patriarch independent(I can't find a suitable choice for it) what should I do?

[Chaotix]

1. I haven't seen a thread with that title in recent memory, but the best way to find out would be to use the search function.

2. If you are the Byzantine Emperor, are at peace, and the Ecumenical Patriarch is your vassal and at peace, then you should be able to make him independent simply by going to his diplomacy screen and clicking "Grant Independence". I just tested it myself in my Byzantine game.

[Monk]

1. I haven't seen a thread with that title in recent memory, but the best way to find out would be to use the search function.

2. If you are the Byzantine Emperor, are at peace, and the Ecumenical Patriarch is your vassal and at peace, then you should be able to make him independent simply by going to his diplomacy screen and clicking "Grant Independence". I just tested it myself in my Byzantine game.

Granting Independence was added in the last major patch. Your game will need to be up to date in order for you to do that.

[Fisherking]

I quit playing this quite some time ago. Mostly because I was frustrated with not being able to take a Spanish faction and survive up to 1200.

It was no trouble taking a strong faction and going into Spain, it was just doing anything with a Spanish Christian faction.

I know they have added tons of DLC and loads of patches since then but did they ever rebalance what goes on with Iberia?

When they do, maybe I can trouble myself to try it again.

[Monk]

I quit playing this quite some time ago. Mostly because I was frustrated with not being able to take a Spanish faction and survive up to 1200.

It was no trouble taking a strong faction and going into Spain, it was just doing anything with a Spanish Christian faction.

I know they have added tons of DLC and loads of patches since then but did they ever rebalance what goes on with Iberia?

When they do, maybe I can trouble myself to try it again.

One of the unfortunate balance problems in the vanilla game is Iberia. Paradox removed a lot of headaches by preventing Muslim jihads until after 1187 in one of the patches, but the base Iberian gameplay still heavily favors the Andalusian musims. This was in large part due to the ability of the southern Islamic factions ability to declare de jure wars on the north, after paradox moved the duchies of Toledo and Badajoz into the Kingdom of Andalusia de jure. The only way the north could fight the south was with holy wars which allowed all other Muslims to jump in and help, while the south had free reign to fight the north with de jure claims that allowed singular, one on one fights. It also didn't help that the south was just much stronger than the north.

One of the primary goals of a lot of balance mods, including mine, was fixing that mess.

[Ishmael]

I quit playing this quite some time ago. Mostly because I was frustrated with not being able to take a Spanish faction and survive up to 1200.

It was no trouble taking a strong faction and going into Spain, it was just doing anything with a Spanish Christian faction.

I know they have added tons of DLC and loads of patches since then but did they ever rebalance what goes on with Iberia?

When they do, maybe I can trouble myself to try it again.

I managed to unite the Iberian peninsula as Castille in my latest game, and I am by no means a great player. The way I went about it was fourfold - firstly unite the main Catholic kingdoms, then save up tons of money, ally with a powerful kingdom and, most importantly, pick your moments.

I did start with a ruler-designer character, but honestly this was more harm than help, as it means you lose the benefits of the intra-dynastic alliance the Jimenas all get. However you do keep your ruler's claims, which helps (I believe the kings of Castille, Leon and Galicia all have claims on each others' titles). In my case I turtled a bit until I had 1000 gold, faking claims on my vassals' counties in the meantime and waiting until I had a child old enough to marry off to a French prince/princess. Once you have said alliance and sufficient gold, wait until the other Catholic kingdoms are weak (preferably infighting, if not then when they are fighting the Muslims) and hit them hard with the aid of the French and as many mercenaries as you can support.

If successful, you'll now control all of Northwest Spain. Take some time to consolidate your position and put down any uppity rebels (I went for the full on tyrant route with my insane ruler, banishing anybody of count rank or above in order to get tons of cash, but that's optional). When you want to take the fight to the Muslims, just do the same thing as before - save up money for mercenaries, call in France, and try to wait until they're infighting if possible. If you want to speed the process up, declare holy war on as many of the Iberian powers as you can simultaneously - they'll all join each others' wars anyway.

The holy orders are helpful when they arrive, but I think by the time they did I hardly needed them. However, if you get a string of bad luck they can definitely help in an important war.

I hope that helps!

[The Stranger]

I quit playing this quite some time ago. Mostly because I was frustrated with not being able to take a Spanish faction and survive up to 1200.

It was no trouble taking a strong faction and going into Spain, it was just doing anything with a Spanish Christian faction.

I know they have added tons of DLC and loads of patches since then but did they ever rebalance what goes on with Iberia?

When they do, maybe I can trouble myself to try it again.

ive never had any trouble in spain myself :S but i know alot of people have. did u ever try barcelona? i havent played in a while, but barcelona used to be very strong (probably still now) and u could unite 3/4 of iberia within a century.

the barcelona dynasty have an unmarried ruler at one of the early startdates and alot of brothers and sisters to marry of meaning you can easily get an alliance with tuscany (recommended!), france, england (recommended!) and the jimena's

[Fisherking]

My best success was with Barcelona in an earlier build. But later versions of the game even made them unplayable.

I gave the game a couple of more updates after that but it was not fixed. It is not as though I never played any other factions than the Spanish ones but I saw it as a major game flaw. Their doing nothing to fix it and even making it worse caused me to totally lose interest.

[Chaotix]

In my experience, the easiest way to survive as a Christian king in Spain is this:

-Get yourself a marriage alliance with France or the HRE asap.
-Call a holy war for a duchy (or two or three at the same time if you think you can handle it).
-Call in your massive ally and watch them win most of the war for you.
-Rinse/repeat.

This might be a little more difficult with the current mechanic that makes rulers dislike you for calling them into wars, but it just means you will have to a) join their wars back or b) wait a while in between each holy war. Eventually about 20 years down the line you will be tough enough to start taking lands without the help of allies, as long as the Almoravids don't get involved.

Using that strategy alone, I managed to wind up with a Kingdom of Navarra that controlled all of Iberia save Portugal as well as half of France.

If you are playing as Castille, Leon, or Galicia, you can also assassinate your brothers to consolidate the kingdoms under your own rule. (this is historically what the King of Castille actually did, so it's not that game-y)

[Monk]

Or you could try a modded version

[xploring]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/203770/

CK2 and most DLCs 75% off on Steam, but not The Republic DLC.

---

After a break of 4 months from the game, I finally united Ireland for the first time. England and Wales is already divided in small pieces, so it seems plain sailing from here.

Found an exploit/loophole with the grant independence-offer vassalization feature, you can do it with your de-jure vassals and relationship will improve for nothing.

[Monk]

http://store.steampowered.com/app/203770/

CK2 and most DLCs 75% off on Steam, but not The Republic DLC.

---

After a break of 4 months from the game, I finally united Ireland for the first time. England and Wales is already divided in small pieces, so it seems plain sailing from here.

That's a great feeling, huh?

Do your best to keep on the good side of the pope as you are gobbling up Wales and England's successors. Until you can build a strong base from you are incredible vulnerable from Scottish advances, and they love jumping in on excommunication wars should you be so unlucky.

Once you get a bit of territory under your belt though..

[Sarmatian]

I like playing in the eastern part of the map and so far, even though I've been generally successful, the Mongols come and kick my behind every time.

Now I've tried playing as Cumans (there's an orthodox christian cuman duke in 1066), thinking maybe I can beat them with their own weapon - horse archer retinue but it's cca 1130 now and I have a very small retinue and I don't think I'll be able to rival them in numbers, not even close.

Which, in your experience is the best troop type to combat the mongols? I've seen some advocate either heavy infantry or pikemen?

[Fisherking]

That was another reason I quit playing. They always produced 100,000 troops out of thin air when ever you went to war with them. Always took over Scandinavia and Iceland. There was little way around it.

Have they fixed that yet? Did the Aztecs take on that role now?

[Sarmatian]

That was another reason I quit playing. They always produced 100,000 troops out of thin air when ever you went to war with them. Always took over Scandinavia and Iceland. There was little way around it.

Have they fixed that yet? Did the Aztecs take on that role now?

Aztecs are filling that role for western Europe but they're not part of base game, you have to buy that DLC.

So far, it seems the easiest way to deal with the hordes is to get lucky and have GH convert to christianity and il-khanate to islam, and let those stacks fight each other out.

[Beskar]

There was one game where I was the Netherlands. Ik-Khanate spread through Russia like wildlife, then it came knocking on Poland's door and beat them. The Pope called a crusade for Poland and all of Christiandom took part, that was a mighty battle which finally destroyed their stacks and Poland was reclaimed. The Golden Horde ended up going south and the Shiite's took care of them. Due to several internal factors, the Ik-khanate split up into duchies and pretty much collasped.

Mongols can be beaten, but you really need to be in a very strong position and try to get in on wars with neighbours to help them defend. More battles means it will weaken them more.

[Monk]

I like playing in the eastern part of the map and so far, even though I've been generally successful, the Mongols come and kick my behind every time.

Yeah the Mongols are pretty tough. The only way to beat them if you are an eastern power is to spend the entire game prepping for them. Building levy boosting buldings and doing everything you can to raise retinue and levy caps. Strong kings with high diplomacy or Stewardship are a must, as are alliances with other great powers.

I went face to face with the mongols in a Ryazan -> Rus game where I spent from 1066 to 1230 preparing for the golden horde. The best defense I found was getting my dynasty onto the thrones of nearby kingdoms like Hungary and Denmark, while at the same time expanding my power base through the steppes.

It can be rough if you're on the north east because mst of those provinces, quite frankly, suck. You have to put thousands of gold into making them worthwhile, and even then, you still wont be on equal footing without hefty alliances.

Battle tactics revolve around drawing the mongols into a fight on rough terrain with everything you have. Every mercenary company you can hire, every alliance you can call and every last levy and retinue you got. The Old tactic used to be to split your army into three and string them across three provinces, each able to support one another. Then, draw the mongols in with a deceptively weak center, then move in quick to reinforce from both sides when they engage.

Unfortunately the Mongol AI has gotten 'smarter' in that it now moves around in a giant doomstack and obliterates anything that moves. Countering that monster is almost impossible on your own, alliances, huge treasuries and income (for mercenaries) and a ton of prep work is really the only way to defy the mongols in their current balance. Should you fail, huge crusades or the passage of time will be the downfall of the mongols.

Eventually their stacks almost always get worn down as seeing the golden horde go on a world conquest is much rarer these days than it used to be. However, whether you will be around to see it is another story. Especially if you enjoy playing on the eastern map like I do!

This is a very small reason I am looking forward to The Old Gods. An extra 200 years to prep for the mongols.

[ZeueX]

Hi,

I'm so close making the "Empire of Hispania", but my female ruler 89 years and I got a warning that all my titles will be lost on succession even though I have a grandson as heir. I have a saved game just before my ruler dies and when she does I lose the game, what am I doing wrong?

[Beskar]

Gravelkind. All the titles will not pass onto your heir underneath this succession law.

[ZeueX]

Gravelkind. All the titles will not pass onto your heir underneath this succession law.

No I have Agnatic Cognatic - Primogeniture, which says that my oldest child will success

[Monk]

No I have Agnatic Cognatic - Primogeniture, which says that my oldest child will success

Sometimes the title calculation is a bit buggy when it comes to heirs. Hover over the button, it should tell you who the title will go to upon the death of your ruler. if it is your expected heir then feel free to ignore it.

Also remember that if your grandson isn't of your dynasty, then that's a pretty big deal in of itself and may be causing the pop-up/threat of game over. In that case You may need to assassinate a few dozen people to get your dynasty back in the line of succession