So what have you done in Iberia?
Lots of things! First off I removed some starting holdings from the southern muslims. Sevilla, Badajoz and Toledo have all been nerfed and lost a few holdings each. I also nerfed a lot of their starting tech buildings so they will have to build up their power in a more logical way, presenting much more sensible rise to power for them. They are still quite powerful but nowhere near their level of strength before.
What's the reasoning behind that?
Well i noticed in 1.05, and again right after the patch up to 1.06 that the muslim factions were running over absolutely everyone in their way. Not only would they wipe out the Jimena brothers, take out Barcelona and expand into Africa, but it would takie the combined might of France and the HRE just to contain them and stop their reign of terror. As separate factions they could essentially take on the world all by themselves and that was ridiculous.
So you've taken away holdings? Won't that upset the historical enthusiasts?
Probably, and I'm sorry. However it's my belief that complete historical accuracy should bend itself to gameplay concerns. I'm not implying anything about the historic political situation or trying to 'rewrite' history, i'm making a video game mod that is fun for me to play. I hope it's fun for you also.
What about the other side of the coin, you know, the North?
The northern christians have recieved buffs both in the area of their starting tech buildings and the number of holdings they have. I did this because in vanilla they have so few men it is a miracle if you see them survive. It requires an incredible stroke of luck on their part, namely a crusade or some other fortunate windfall (double assassination of two of the four Jimena brothers, for isntance) for them to even survive. This isn't fun. It isn't even fun playing as a muslim! Instead of an enemy waiting for you on the horizon, you get push overs. Castille, Leon, Galicia, Aragon, Navarra and Barcelona have ALL recieved buffs in some form or another. Some more than others, some less. They are now more or less equal to the powers of the south and have the ability to stand on their own merits.
So does that mean the balance is now completely in their favor? Does the North win all the time?
Not really. Iberia is all about who works together best now. Who unites their factions first, who strikes while their enemy is weak, who fights when their enemy doesn't want to fight, and who spends their piety and the lives of their men wisely now determines who wins in Iberia. You know, i could swear I read all of that in a book or something. Whatever it's probably not important.
How will a player find the new balance?
A player will likely find the initial unification of the north much easier than before due to being able to plot to kill their brothers to inherit their titles. Still. Even when the AI united all of the north the Andalusian muslims still found ways to win. Like i said, the balance is pretty equal now, if not equal it's as close as I can get it.
Anything else?
The kingdoms Castille and Leon have regained de jure ties to Toledo and Badajoz, respectively. Why did I do that? I suspect paradox gave those de jure to Andalusia to encourage the southern muslism to expand north -
they don't need any encouragement to do that. This at least gives the christians a way to expand without incurring all the wrath of their good muslim neighbors all at once.
Holy Wars also now cost piety, i'll post more about this in the actual changelog but basically:
The generic Holy War CB now costs 100 piety to use. You will get that back if you win. I did this because the AI
cannot handle the fact that people jump in around them. They don't take into account rulers joining to defend their faith when declaring war. Furthermore an AI ruler must now wait until he has 150 piety before they can even consider declaring a holy war. Human players can declare holy wars any time they want for just the piety cost.
Should you win your character will incur a special truce timer specific to the Holy War CB. While this truce timer is active you will not be able to declare another holy war. This means you can no longer spam holy wars until you own the entire map. Nope. This also means that the first ruler in your area to win a holy war no longer gets a huge momentum advantage. I'm sure you noticed it as well in areas of religious contention.. Denmark was really bad about this as they clubbed the eastern pagans and took all of the baltic within 10 years.
Anything else?
Lots of stuff, but that's everything that relates to Iberia balance.
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