The year: 1128
The Duchy of Tuscany has just declared independence under their Duke Sante I, son of Matilda of Tuscany. The road to get here was largely boring, with moments of peril and heart stopping moments where everything almost ended in an instant. I've never used assassins so much in a game, or had to rely so heavily on intrigue to keep my power.
Matilda was for me, and perhaps is overall, the best ruler in the game at the 1066 scenario. her stats are off the charts which let you build a huge demense. The problems she has are the ones i highlighted above. She's literally the only member of her dynasty living and you're stuck with gravelkind. Getting a matrilineal marriage wasn't that hard, (settled on the second in line to the Aragonese Throne) but what proved infuriating was getting sons. When you have a woman on the throne you've only got half the time to make babies that you would with a man, so you're racing to get that good heir before your ruler passes child bearing age. You can get lucky sometimes and get pregnant after 40 or so, but its super rare, or requires a crazy fertile spouse.
In 1084 there was a huge scare, my only male heir contracted typhoid and very nearly died. Any other game I wouldn't have minded, but Matilda wasn't giving any more children (and never did) and her two daughters had been married off to foreign kings. I was on the edge of my seat until he finally pulled through. I've also had to keep the line of succession clear with assassins. Sometimes Matilda's (and later, Sante's) daughters abroad would give birth to sons while at home, all that was ready was daughters to inherit. The heir system got really weird in its selection so i had to reset it twice. Each time my heart skipped a beat when i hit that "assassinate" button.
The war against the HRE was a crazy one. But ever since Matilda i've been building my economy, preparing for this day. I get +16 per month so that means.. you guessed it. Mercenaries. The Emperor got Excommunicated and a massive civil war broke out. I took the chance and declared independence, calling together a mercenary arm of around 5,000 to compliment my own force of 6,000. Looting and ransoming captured vassals from the empire kept me in the green while i kept up the pressure. When it was all over I'd humiliated the empire and managed to break way. Now? Now comes the real challenge. The Empire is still dealing with dissent but they're solidifying. I have no doubt they will come back for another round in Northern Italy - I need to be ready for the rematch, and soon.
Notice something interesting? Yep! Toulouse has declared independence from France! And they've kept it too, the French king has absolutely no power over his vassals. He can only level around 4k. Even though France has moved into Iberia, the only one to gain from those conquests was the Duke of Aquitaine who now controls more land than the rest of the French vassals put together. If he breaks away he'll take half of France with him. Amazing stuff.
Bookmarks