Crusader Kings II

[rickinator9]

Dev Diary 1, about the faction system this time: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...me-Dev-Diary-1

[Arjos]

Each person will control a character ruler.

Should be fun watching what people do, I'm in...
For the setting, I've always wanted to start a game as El Cid, gotta check for the exact date, but he can start as independent with Valencia...
If people prefer a larger scope, maybe we could give a try with Richard the Lionheart or Barbarossa :P

In the end I'm ok with anything lol

[The Stranger]

that would be around 1075 ill play if i can be one of the earlier players.

[Beskar]

El Cid...

Starting 1 January, 1094, you can find Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar in the game's default set up as the independant Count of Valencia.

That would be a tough one!

Here is the sign up:
https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showt...post2053483021

The Goal is Hispania!

[The Stranger]

a question for ppl who have dlc for ck2. before you could always tick the box for each dlc you would want to play with, but now this option is gone for me. is this a new update or did the latest patch delete my dlc?

it seems to be the latter =_=

[Arjos]

Happened to me too, just run a "verify integrity" and it will be back :)

[The Stranger]

ok thanks!

[Monk]

I hope you guys are ready to part with money when Legacy of Rome comes out. Some teaser beta screenshots were "leaked" by the devs on the Paradox forums, here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...eptember-18th)

If you can't be bothered (seriously though, go look) here's a break down of what the screens show us.

*The ability to heal the Great Schism
*restoring the Roman Empire to it's full glory
*Chariot races and the ability to hold and gamble on games! Oh my.
*Special events when provinces are fully reconquered by the Romans
*Blinding/castrating your prisoners (dear god, the Tyrant in me LOVES THIS)

and perhaps best of all.

*Completely reworked levy system with MUCH more information upfront for the player to see
*The ability to create and grow a new type of levy (ruler retinues) on command to bolster your armed forces.

I have a feeling $10 will magically fly out of my wallet when this mini-expansion comes out. I won't be able to stop it.

[xploring]

I hope you guys are ready to part with money when Legacy of Rome comes out. Some teaser beta screenshots were "leaked" by the devs on the Paradox forums, here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...eptember-18th)

If you can't be bothered (seriously though, go look) here's a break down of what the screens show us.

*The ability to heal the Great Schism
*restoring the Roman Empire to it's full glory
*Chariot races and the ability to hold and gamble on games! Oh my.
*Special events when provinces are fully reconquered by the Romans
*Blinding/castrating your prisoners (dear god, the Tyrant in me LOVES THIS)

and perhaps best of all.

*Completely reworked levy system with MUCH more information upfront for the player to see
*The ability to create and grow a new type of levy (ruler retinues) on command to bolster your armed forces.

I have a feeling $10 will magically fly out of my wallet when this mini-expansion comes out. I won't be able to stop it.

I am excited too. ^^
And actually it's only $5.99 for this one. I guess the extra $4 can fly somewhere else... :D Maybe the new portraits DLC?



Started a new game as a count in Flanders. Incredible what someone with decent intrigue can do through plot. In the space of months, I fabricated claim on my liege's duchy, then revoked my former liege's counties, revoked the poor count who helped me before, made Duke of Aquitane gave up two duchies, lowered France's ruling(?) authority... It all seemed a bit too easy, requirements too low and I don't understand why Duke of Aquitane gave up without a fight. Still, I am not complaining, it was totally absorbing and enthralling.

[rickinator9]

I hope you guys are ready to part with money when Legacy of Rome comes out. Some teaser beta screenshots were "leaked" by the devs on the Paradox forums, here: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...eptember-18th)

If you can't be bothered (seriously though, go look) here's a break down of what the screens show us.

*The ability to heal the Great Schism
*restoring the Roman Empire to it's full glory
*Chariot races and the ability to hold and gamble on games! Oh my.
*Special events when provinces are fully reconquered by the Romans
*Blinding/castrating your prisoners (dear god, the Tyrant in me LOVES THIS)

and perhaps best of all.

*Completely reworked levy system with MUCH more information upfront for the player to see
*The ability to create and grow a new type of levy (ruler retinues) on command to bolster your armed forces.

I have a feeling $10 will magically fly out of my wallet when this mini-expansion comes out. I won't be able to stop it.

I want to add that, if you look at those pics closely, you can actually see new portraits!

[Monk]

Dev diary number 2 posted: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/...me-Dev-Diary-2

Goes into detail explaining the new levy system as well as how Retinues will work. Ruler Retinues are now related to a completely new tech called Military Orginization and represent new, state owned "standing armies." As you increase your tech, and the size of your retinues, you can now field a permanent professional fighting force. However, your normal levy pools will suffer as a direct result of your shift toward a standing army.

Liege Levies now replace normal levies, which are raised much more logically (no more levies of just twenty men each all across a huge domain, apparently) and cannot be reinforced as long as they are raised.. Oh goodness. This means that wars are going to be ten times as brutal, and ten times quicker. Now losing a huge army in the field can be incredibly dangerous.

This DLC just keeps getting better.

[The Stranger]

hmm sounds nice :P if retinues means more customized armies im going to like it. finally i can have a flank with pure cavalry!

[Monk]

Waiting for the next DLC has been tough, there's a ton of cool changes that I want to get my hands on in the 1.07 patch. But about a week ago I decided I simply couldn't wait. I wanted to start an unorthodox game, and at the same time I wanted to test out a new mod: Project Balance, which i've heard good things about.

The rules were simple.

Start as a custom character with almost zero bonus traits in the Duchy of Lithuania.
Stay pagan for as absolutely long as possible.
Stay Lithuanian culture.
Unite the other Romuva factions, either through diplomacy or the sword...

And with those rules a new power began to rise on the shores of the Baltic..

Unfortunately, just as I claimed king tier (which in project balance allows a whole new range of options to open up for you), i got boxed in by a huge Kiev. Nowhere to go but forward, I endured, building alliances, preparing for the day when we'd have it out...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Lithuania - 1171

For over 60 years the King of Kiev, once a lowly duke, had ruled a nearly united Rus. Aside from Novgorod in the north holding out independance, the Kievans had brought together just about every other principality under their control. Their king was strong and had high diplomatic skill so I don't think I ever once saw a revolt. Yet they had one of my de jure provinces, and it was buggin me. Kiev had around 6000 manpower advantage, and while I could have brute forced it, I never really felt comfortable doing so. In project Balance, levies replinish MUCH slower than vanilla, so if I lost a bunch of guys in a huge slug fest it would seriously hut my ability to wage war, at least for a good 10 years. I needed the good king of Kiev to be distracted, perhaps with a foreign war or a rebellion. Even better, I needed the old guy to hurry up and die and let his imbecile son take over. Patience is indeed a virtue, for I got all three.

Kiev was in a bitter de jure war against Hungary when their old king passed on and let his idiot son take over. A son, mind you, who couldn't lead a thirsty man to a drink of water. Still in the midst of a nasty war in the south, the Duchy of Vladimir revolted. Now engaged on two fronts, it was my turn to add insult to injury



Initial invasion plans of Kiev in order to add the province of Polotsk to my domain. My main army supported by my allies, the (for now) free tribes along the northern border would attack Polotsk proper while a smaller mercenary strengthened force would hit Minsk in the south.

Absolutely no resistance was encountered for the first six months, likely due to the enemy armies being tied down fighting on so many fronts. However, they had an ace in the hole. An alliance with Byzantium! Fotunately for me, Byzantium was a shadow of her former glory, having delt with independance wars all game. Still, she put up a spirited fight.



The battle of Minsk was the utter devastation of the standing Byzantine army. 12,000 men against 17,000 allied Romuva forces, I took a beating there and lost a good overall 5,000 men, but the Byzantines came out much worse. Their entire expeditionary force was lost and i bagged a good 10-12% warscore from those fights alone. The entire Kievan defense collapsed under the weight of so many foreign wars. They used to have about 18000 men, now they have 2000.



Meanwhile, Lithuania endures through it all. The war was won, and Kiev is now in a downward spiral. If those Vassals don't rebell out of spite from losing so many wars it is purely because they don't have any men to do so with.

[Monk]

So after complete devastation was wrought by the horde I decided to make a special map to commemorate the fall of my most hated enemies. I've seen some maps like this floating about on the official paradox forums, and wanted to give it a go making one of my own. Wasn't that hard really once I figured it out.

Kingdom of Lithuania and her neighbors, c. 1251 AD

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Cumania was only the first stop for the Golden Horde. Although the southern Ilkhanate fell quickly to decay and internal pressures, the Golden Horde brushed all aside as they marched forward. The Cuman Khanate, which was one of the strongest powers of the known world with a 70k levy, fell within a year. The Kingdom of Kiev, which had united all the Rus lands (save Novgorod) was next in the Horde's sights. The powerful Grand Dukes of Kiev, who had successfully curbed the growing power of Lithuania for years, were completely crushed after two years of warfare. The Duchies of Vladimir, Rostov and Tver broke away and declared independence as the kingdom fell and are currently fighting the horde in separate actions. After twenty long years, it's still unsure whether the Golden Horde is a power that is here to stay. Until then, they remain a power to be respected.

In the south, what was once a united Hungary has split into two states. Although divided on the issue of who rules what, the Polish-Hungarian commonwealth protects its borders fiercely against all outside aggressors. Two kings now rule, one in Poland, and one in Hungary, both brothers and sons of the late Hungarian king who had held both thrones united. The brothers are far from their father's equal and have lost much territory to the rising star of Lithuania.

No longer constrained by a united Hungary in the South and a powerful Kiev in the east, the Kingdom of Lithuania's power has never been greater. With the ability to levy 40,000 men and close royal ties to both the Kingdom of Pomerania and the Duchy of Prussia on their western border, the Alexanis dynasty has just concluded a bloody war against the Polish-Hungarian Commonwealth in which both the duchies of Mazovia and Kuyavia were secured.

The Republic of Novgorod, once a near client state of the Kingdom of Kiev, is undergoing a bit of a restoration of power in the wake of the Horde's arrival. With the Rurikovich dynasty in chaos, Novgorod and Vladimir represent two of the only strong states remaining of that bloodline. Their rivalry will no doubt decide who is the true successor of the Kingdom of Kiev and the standard bearer of the Rus.

And lastly, the Duchy of Estonia resides to the North of Lithuania and east of Novgorod. With deep dynastic ties to many of the Northern Finnish tribes, she has the manpower and political connections to ensure that they may endure no matter what storm might beset them. Their borders have gone largely unmoved for two hundred years.

[rickinator9]

That map looks gorgeous! How did you make it? Having the terrain map as a bottom layer with a map screenshot on top?

Edit: LoR is coming October 16th. Here's the latest DD

[naut]

Good stuff Monk. That area of the map is definitely my favourite. Kudos!

[Ishmael]

I'd forgotten how addictive this game is. I was reading about the Reconquista the other day which prompted me to start up a game, and next thing you know five hours have passed and I'm frantically fighting off a Jihad for Galicia as Castille (my king being King Ishmael the Brilliant. I'm very proud of getting that nickname ).

[Monk]

We're a week away from the release of Legacy of Rome and the final dev diary is out, detailing all the crazy flavor events the Byzantines are getting. You can read it here, but if you don't feel like clicking a lot of new stuff is outlined:

*New traits for direct children of the Basileus. Described as "born in the purple" this gives children born of the rulers of the Byzantines (while their parents are the emperor) a much stronger claim on the throne. It is still possible to choose those without this trait to succeed you by granting one of your children the honorary "despot" title, which ranks them higher in the succession.

*The ability to reforge the Roman Empire complete with a new flag, localisation and title. It also gives you a new trait called "Augustus." This trait gives a monthly prestige boost (comparable to Proud) and makes all your vassals happier. There's also an event (optional) to move your capital to Rome, but the dev warns that compared to Constantinople, Rome of this era is nowhere close to as good.

*Healing the Great Schism has been defined. If a strong Byzantine Emperor can unite Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Rome under Orthodox rule, as well as accumulate an absurd amount of piety, they can effectively unite the two branches of the church. Under this decision, Catholicism becomes a heresy and rulers of Europe must decide whether to convert or keep to the western faith.

*Blinding or Castrating is detailed and is seen as a much more preferable alternative to outright execution. Blinded or castrated characters are removed from direct succession. There's an ambiguous comment about how eunuchs played a key role in the Empire and hinted that castrated characters may have special event chains for them.

*Many many more special events including races at the hippodrome, unruly varangians (Oh my yes) and special celebratory events after big wars. There's even conspiratory event chains related to cheating in races and supporting one team of racers over another.

*The Dev diary ends claiming they haven't made the Byzies overpowered, and in fact, go out of their way to state seeing this turn of events in game is probably really unlikely.

[Beskar]

Actually makes me want to play the Byzantines.

[SoFarSoGood]

Porphyrogenitos... 'born in the purple'.

[Hooahguy]

So I finally had some time to play CKII last night.

My campaign is a mess. I own roughly a third of Ireland. England basically took over the Kingdom of Ireland, so now I am a vassal of the English crown. Which basically puts me on the "screwed" level since during the last war, England raised over 40,000 troops to take over Scotland and Ireland.

So now Im just plodding along, trying to ensure the survival of my line.

[rickinator9]

Legacy of Rome is released! If you're fast, steam has some sales on old CKII DLC

[The Stranger]

sigh, i just bough legacy of rome, the money gone off my account but steam didnt install it... and i cant find the option to install anywhere. am i missing something? cant pick it in the list of add ons either.

and i cant login for support, not change my password, nor the send e-mail to change password, because all that doesnt work. there is supposed to be a change password button but its not there. i friggin hate steam to death. rip offs...

[Hooahguy]

sigh, i just bough legacy of rome, the money gone off my account but steam didnt install it... and i cant find the option to install anywhere. am i missing something? cant pick it in the list of add ons either.

I believe when you start the game it updates through the ingame launcher, not through Steam.

[rickinator9]

I believe when you start the game it updates through the ingame launcher, not through Steam.

Steam does it.

@The Stranger: There should be a 'Clausewitz engine' banner at the lower-left corner if you have 1.07

[Hooahguy]

Steam does it.

@The Stranger: There should be a 'Clausewitz engine' banner at the lower-left corner if you have 1.07

Strange, not for me.

[rickinator9]

Strange, not for me.

I meant the first loading screen with the Paradox Interactive sign on it

[Hooahguy]

I meant the first loading screen with the Paradox Interactive sign on it

That was what I was talking about. You update it through that first loading screen.

[The Stranger]

its already fixed. tx.

[Beskar]

I simply bought it, the game updated to 1.07, I am now playing it.

I do like this new factions system!