Crusader Kings II [Archive] - Page 4

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Monk

07-19-2012, 16:47

They changed the system with the 1.06 update.

Now plot kills work by events. You get a bunch of people to join you, and based on how high your plot % is it will take a certain mean time for one your conspirators to come up with with an assassination plan. Then a set number of days later the plan is put in motion. If you fail, you have to wait for a conspirator to come up with another plan and you might get revealed.

So yeah, it's a big nerf. You can't kill entire royal families almost immediately any more with the right courtiers in place. However, you can do some serious damage over time, and if you have over 200% plot power it usually takes only a month or so for the trigger.

It's based on a few things now. Plot power determines your chance of success, but now the number of plotters involved determines how often your plot can strike. There's now a big incentive to get as many people on board with your campaign to kill someone as you can, and feels a lot more dynamic than before.

In my previous game I set myself up to inherit the kingdom of Castile and attempted to murder the king with 5+ plotters.. i swear to god it was like a historical parody. He dodged every single one, including a runaway carriage, a falling stone from a battlement, a mistimed hunting accident and a misfire at an archery range. I never have seen such luck! But never once found out who was after him either..

After the 5th attempt i gave up and declared war. :laugh4:

Nigel

07-19-2012, 21:53

LOL

Nice story, Monk.

Well, imho the new system is more realistic and makes for more interesting play.
No more "guaranteed success - execute at your convenience" if you only get high enough plot power.

rickinator9

07-20-2012, 18:43

Well if you have good intrigue, you rarely get hit with a plot before you can detect it.

My ruler, despite being a Genius had all sorts of traits like Honest that reduced his intrigue to something like 3 or 4. The stepmother that bumped him off was an Elusive Shadow.

Might be because my name means 'Powerful ruler':laugh4:

frogbeastegg

07-20-2012, 18:46

Strangely enough, I've almost never had a wife die during pregnancy. I think it might have happened maybe once with one of my Sultans, but then it didn't really matter because he still had three left. And I was actually expecting death during childbirth and stillborn babies to be present in the game, considering this is medieval times we're talking about. I guess they either thought it was too serious of subject matter or figured it would just be too much work with no dramatic effect on gameplay. I mean kids and wives do die young and pregnant, it's just never when the wives are in the actual process of having kids.
CK1 featured higher death rates from illness and battle, and also had women and/or children die in childbirth. That was cut from CK2 in order to keep the character history data files from becoming obscenely large and grinding the engine to a halt. Kind of a shame, but an understandable decision.

There must be some mods which tweak mortality rates. Might be worth taking a look?

Zim

07-20-2012, 19:57

That's a cool turn of events. I forgot how fun primogeniture could be, Elective and Turkish Open succession have spoiled me.

Also, I always find it weird playing as the character who assassinated my last ruler. Kind of want to kill them on some level, but then if you got assassinated in the first place it probably means the new ruler is a better one...

It is a bit wierd. At least the one she assassinated was the younger son I only had for a year or so...

She does have quite good stats and since I tend to roleplay as a "nicer" ruler someone more pragmatic might be interesting.

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

Probably just a better player than I am. The Ireland game had been my first and I hadn't been managing my characters much. Just starting getting the hang of managing my heir's education.

Monk

07-21-2012, 05:19

CK1 featured higher death rates from illness and battle, and also had women and/or children die in childbirth. That was cut from CK2 in order to keep the character history data files from becoming obscenely large and grinding the engine to a halt. Kind of a shame, but an understandable decision.

There must be some mods which tweak mortality rates. Might be worth taking a look?

Yeah, this is essentially the reason. The game tracks every character ever born. No, really. Every character ever, even those who are in the history files dead has to be checked for events and various conditions for every in game day. When a character dies they are still stored in the history files, and the game continues to track their progress until the end of the game at 1453. It doesn't matter that they are dead, the game is still tracking them.

This is why if you plan to start adding a bunch of new events to the game you risk seriously slowing down the engine unless you include the player only tags.

Why do I never have such things? My succession is almost always secure and I have never been assassinated or plotted to death unless it was revenge.

Crusader Kings II is a bit like Dwarf Fortress in that, at some point, your skill at the game actually hinders the fun you can have just a bit. Sometimes half the hilarity is seeing it all blow up in your face, or struggling against the inevitable collapse of your dynasty after a series of events sets you into a decline. I firmly believe that Crusader Kings II is a game meant not only to chronicle your rise to power, but also your fall. Losing is fun.

naut

07-21-2012, 07:18

I'm really enjoying the huge epithet list and how each of my rulers get a swanky little nickname to go along with their reigns. My current king is Sultan Khalid 'the Merry'. =)

Hooahguy

07-22-2012, 08:22

CK2 is up for another community vote. Probably be the last time its an option to go on sale, as the last day of the summer sale is tomorrow.

LeftEyeNine

07-22-2012, 08:57

Y NO SWURD OF IZLAM ?

Nigel

07-22-2012, 10:58

The game tracks every character ever born. No, really. Every character ever, even those who are in the history files dead has to be checked for events and various conditions for every in game day. When a character dies they are still stored in the history files, and the game continues to track their progress until the end of the game at 1453. It doesn't matter that they are dead, the game is still tracking them.

Whow, this is odd. Even those who are long dead.
Does this mean that the savegame file is getting huge over time?

frogbeastegg

07-22-2012, 11:31

Whow, this is odd. Even those who are long dead.
Does this mean that the savegame file is getting huge over time?
Yep. That's where the family tree and ancestry data comes from.

The Stranger

07-22-2012, 11:31

yup, but theyre textfiles, so theyre still not that huge

I'm now playing as the Capets, within 2 generations I added the entire dejure byzantine empire to my holdings (so Im now emperor) as well as 80% of the Britannia and Frankish Empires. But my dynasty is still so small, there basically only is the royal family, if my three sons and I die the line goes extinct (just like the salians who will pretty much go extinct after this generation because all the males died and all the women are married. im thinking about saving them, but it might be too much hassle with the new plot kill mechanism.

so its still pretty intense because i'm playing as warrior kings, so theyre leading from the frontlines all the time. my king has become wounded atleast 3x now :P

Nigel

07-22-2012, 17:29

Yep. That's where the family tree and ancestry data comes from.

hmm, interestingly, in my current (and only) game the size of the savegame file has gone from 13 MB to 32 MB in the first 100 years and now seems to stabilize there (almost 200 years into the game now).

Anyway, here is another thing I have been wondering about:
How long does the "released prisoner" effect last. It gives you a +10 opinon bonus for all vassals, but you loose out on sometimes 25 sometimes 140 gold for ransom. So knowing how long the effect lasts would help me a lot in deciding if it is worth it.

Many thanks,
Nigel

rickinator9

07-22-2012, 17:35

Anyway, here is another thing I have been wondering about:
How long does the "released prisoner" effect last. It gives you a +10 opinon bonus for all vassals, but you loose out on sometimes 25 sometimes 140 gold for ransom. So knowing how long the effect lasts would help me a lot in deciding if it is worth it.

30 months. It's only worth it with landless prisoners, such as courtiers. That doesn't say you should release prisoners during the war.

Had to make a post about it here. While playtesting the elder scrolls mod, two guys plotted against me for autonomous vassals. Never received a message about it as my spymaster was in the plot. At least there were only 3 counties involved.

The Stranger

07-22-2012, 21:03

actually doesnt work that way, releasing a landless courtier wont give you a bonus with your dukes or whatever. the person has to be a count (alltough i might be wrong there) or higher and he has to be one of your vassals, for example as england if you capture and release the french king, it will give you bonus what so ever (except an instant 100% warscore if you are at war with france) and ofcourse a big ransom if he can afford it

Double A

07-27-2012, 07:42

So... I just got back from Europe and started playing again. I have a big, decentralized kingdom - Ireland, southern Scotland, Iceland, Finnmark, Kola, 2/3 of Iberia (western part), Morocco, Tunis, Tripolantia, all of KoJ, Sinai, Damascus/southern Syria, Crimea (but not the peninsula), "Poland" (3 places in Warsaw and 3 more on the coast), and a few blobs in the HRE area - right now it's Brabant, Carinthia, Genoa, Provence, and Bavaria. Thanks to some meticulous planning, I have 10 kingdoms and I'm also allied with France (my dynasty), who control just about everything east of my Iberia and west of the HRE, England (which I've set up so my grandson'll probably inherit, and Croatia (will be in France's place in a generation).

As you can probably imagine, transporting troops is an absolute nightmare. I desperately need advice on moving 120,000-160,000 levies, because it's reaaaaally tedious and agonizing. Sure, I normally don't need all of them, but I kind of do when I'm going up against what's left of the HRE.

The Stranger

07-27-2012, 14:54

mass them all in a few regions and then transport them from there in big chunks

Double A

07-27-2012, 17:16

That's what I do. Should I care how many boats I levy?

Nigel

07-27-2012, 17:35

Each boat can only carry a certain number of troops - so yes, the size of your fleet has to match the size of your army.

Double A

07-27-2012, 17:40

I know, but I generally make it so I can just barely fit my army on the boats. Do you guys care it if's like 20 over?

Oh, and fun news. I have 42k troops in the Holy Lands, but only 182 boats.

The Stranger

07-27-2012, 23:55

nope i dont care, usually i have like 10 more pop, in case i merge armies along the way :P. the only thing i do tho is dismiss the boats of my own demesne because boats are darn expensive. latergame when i have tons of income i dont care about that anymore either, but early on it can be a real drain on your income.

i agree tho it is tedious and one of the reasons why games tend to get boring when you reach a huge empire that no one can really stop.

fleets are really op, cuz there is no more attrition on sea, they took that out some patches back :P so you can just have 100k in the sea and invade the coast, if the nation you fight happens to have a long coastline you can end the war to 100% warscore in a 1 single round of sieges :P

Double A

07-28-2012, 05:27

LeftEyeNine

07-28-2012, 13:45

So I couldn't stand it and got the latest pack of Sword Of Islam as well.

Here comes the question: Is tutorial apt enough to make you get the hang of the game ?

Remember: I've been a total stranger to Paradox games.

rickinator9

07-28-2012, 14:19

It will be enough to get you going. One rule with Paradox games is that you learn a lot through Trial&Error. The CKII Wiki has a beginners guide: http://ckiiwiki.com/Beginner%27s_Guide

The Stranger

07-28-2012, 15:48

Alright, my son is married to the princess of England, which is still Agnatic. Apparently, his wife's claim isn't inheritable without a war, but it looks like I can't invade England on her behalf. Will I be able to do this when I die because she'll then be my wife? I really want to inherit England to form an empire, really tired of lowly dukes flubbing their noses at a guy with 11 kingdoms.

And yes, I already know having 10 extra kingdoms is a terrible idea.

you can probably only press it during a regency. if you hoover over the claim you will see when you can press it. you can also press it when a woman is in power but since its agnatic this wont just happen.

Double A

07-29-2012, 05:03

So I guess I got to go to murdertown. Again.

This makes three royal families and a duchy.

frogbeastegg

07-29-2012, 20:52

So I finally got Civ 5 out of my system sufficiently to play some Sword of Islam. Phew!

Can anyone recommend an interesting Muslim faction? I'm currently playing Mali so I can experiment with the new features in relative peace. Once I have a grip on how it all works I intend to start a proper game. I'd been wondering about the Seljuks in 1066, or the Mongols after they convert, or Saladin. On reflection that might not be the best idea. Huge pre-built juggernauts of constant warfare are not exactly my gameplay cup of tea; if I'm going to play an aggressive game I prefer to build my own empire - and I do plan to play a very aggressive game for once as the Islamic gameplay ruleset seems designed with that in mind. I don't want anything too small or challenging for this first proper game. Something medium-sized, nicely positioned, decently wealthy?

Secondly, are there any particular aspects of Sword's gameplay I should aim to try out ASAP? Anything which makes the Muslim factions particularly cool?

Alexander the Pretty Good

07-29-2012, 21:09

Try the North African Duke just to the west of the Shia Caliphate. You're within the de-jure kingdom of Africa but the actual king is far to the west and pitifully weak. Smash and grab your neighbors, take the crown of Africa, and then either attack the Italians or take on the Shia juggernaut.

As for gameplay, the coolest stuff are the new events for Muslim characters. The duke I'm referring to hasn't gone on the hajj so you can do that. It's on the intrigue screen. You can also observe Ramadan, which is a more in-depth feast (but you only have to do it every few years).

Monk

07-29-2012, 21:38

Double A

07-29-2012, 22:41

So this is weird. I've had gravelkind all game (which I started before 1.06b), but my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th kings all had at least one kingdom upon their deaths. I've always had the eldest son inherit everything but a duchy and a few counties. My current guy and his father (6th and 5th kings respectively) both have/had one son, so I can't really test if it's fixed right now. Could it just be that I'm Irish? :tongue:

rickinator9

07-30-2012, 03:40

So I finally got Civ 5 out of my system sufficiently to play some Sword of Islam. Phew!

Can anyone recommend an interesting Muslim faction? Something medium-sized, nicely positioned, decently wealthy?

Secondly, are there any particular aspects of Sword's gameplay I should aim to try out ASAP? Anything which makes the Muslim factions particularly cool?

1: Mallorca is a nice faction to play as. Starts out with 4 provinces, has some minors nearby, has medium wealth, but the riches in southern spain are nearby.
2: Polygamy and the intrigue between wives is quite interesting.

Double A

07-30-2012, 09:59

Oh god. I'm 3rd in line for the kingdom of France.

Must... control... murder reflex...

Hooahguy

07-31-2012, 14:39

Oh god. I'm 3rd in line for the kingdom of France.

Must... control... murder reflex...

Dont control it. Give in to it.

You know you want to...

rickinator9

08-04-2012, 13:26

Why exactly would you want war with the cumans?

rickinator9

08-04-2012, 21:11

My brother-in-law, the Emperor of Byzantium, keeps calling me to arms. I answer the call, but don't actually send any troops because I'm too busy plotting my eventual invasion of Sweden.

Just refuse it, he won't ask you again if you refuse.

Arjos

08-09-2012, 05:41

Supporting (ie: just accepting the call, it's not necessary to send troops) will boost your relations and will make them more likely to help you yes :)
Although byzantine assistance in Scandinavia, will come after quite some time, especially if they decide to go via land, coupled with all the attrition their army will face XD

Also refusing costs prestige, but I don't know if you are in need of it or not :P

Fisherking

08-09-2012, 07:01

Will that hurt my relations with them? The Byzantines are doing pretty good against the infidel hordes, I wanna make sure they're on my side if/when I make a move in eastern europe.

Refusing costs between -25 and -100 prestige. It will also cost you a -25 on how they see you, so it makes it unlikely they will come and help.

Accepting means you are at war as long as they are. Being at war cuts out some of your options, like giving titles to those outside your kingdom, doing most of the feasts or tourneys and so on.

That said, they usually tell you that they can’t come and help most of the time. Also marrying off daughters to the big factions usually works to your disadvantage. They are always at war, this makes them less likely to help you and much more likely to call you. On top of that your daughter is likely to die just as soon as a male heir is born. Offspring are not your allies either. They also have a weak claim on your lands or kingdom.

Not that that will matter so much. Sweden is going to get stomped by one of the hoards when they come on the map anyway. It is just about as bad as trying to play in Spain.

Chaotix

08-12-2012, 05:04

Behold! The Roman Empire is reborn!

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/559823810573041434/9BF96DF835B3B0C101AEE2D79145E826E21C820B/

This is that Rum Sultanate game I had been talking about earlier in the thread. It's finally reached the point where I can consider it finished and stop worrying about ending 30 plots per minute from my endless list of subjects.

All in all, I guess this shows how much fun I had with Sword of Islam. The map itself is pretty interesting - I can answer any questions you have about it but for now I'll post the most interesting things.

-I can field roughly 600 thousand troops, and 25k just from my demesne. When a decadence uprising came along late-game, it nearly broke the game!
-I am also the (Titular) Sultan of Georgia and Bulgaria. I could form Croatia, Serbia, Sicily, Syria, and Egypt, but they haven't de jure converted yet.
-I killed off every single member of the Seljuk family except for my immediate family, including the whole Persian line. Even now, the only lands held by Seljuks are the Sultan's royal demesne.
-England has been the subject of quite a few Jihads, and keeps going back and forth between Muslim and Christian powers. It went from English to Egyptian (almost fully Shia converted) to Danish and now it's Mauretanian.
-At one point France was the seat of the last vestiges of Egyptian power (the Fatimids were overthrown by the Italian Reggio Sultanate, and that's what they were called. Now France has taken it back.
-The Mongols were so afraid of me they never even dared to declare war on me. The results are amusing; they never got very far. They basically took all the Cumans' and Khivans' land and called it a day. The Ilkhanate converted and is friendly; the Golden Horde is basically nonexistant.
-The Russian Empire formed on its own. All that ugly extra territory above Crimea and Alania (which I intended to take) that I have up there is the result of my Beylerbeys declaring war on their own for pieces of territory. Each of them is basically as powerful as a king in his own right.
-I Holy War'd the Pope for Rome so I could really call myself the Empire reborn. He launched a Crusade to take it back from his holding in Ireland, and I beat the crap out of all of Europe in response. I have also renamed Constantinople to Istanbul and Rome to Rum, and I hold them both in my personal demesne.
-The Seljuks have married into all the ruling dynasties of Europe, and as a result most of the monarchs are now dark-skinned. In contrast, my Sultans tended to be light-skinned because I married European brides. Just a funny culture-reversal. :laugh4:

frogbeastegg

08-12-2012, 15:56

Chaotix

08-12-2012, 18:09

So ... could somebody please tell me what Sword of Islam offers for players who do not want to kill the world? I'm hoping I'm missing something. Paradox don't offer a good enough war simulation for me to find wide-scale conquering interesting, and all those dynastic, political and social aspects I like in the standard Christian game are sorely lacking from the Muslim one. Hajj is a short, repetitive chain of events which played out near-identically for each character I sent on it. Ramadan likewise. The multiple wives thing translates to an annoying penalty you can't afford when small but which you can easily ignore when large, and which ensures there will be plenty of dull imprisoning action come succession time.

Please. Help! Somebody save this from being a huge disappointment for me.

Unfortunately, I think you probably hit the nail on the head with that post.

Playing as a Muslim makes conquering much easier, but it makes remaining stationary much more difficult. Historically the Muslim hierarchy did not operate on a purely hereditary basis, and as you said there is much less emphasis on dynastic ties because women have no political options.

So what I would say you have to do to really get an immersive experience is to refrain from some of the gamier tactics. Sort of the same way you might decide not to invite courtiers, land them, and press their claims for quick land grabs as a christian. Or to marry into the throne of France and keep assassinating until you inherit.

Maybe you might want to not deliberately imprison all of your brothers after you inherit, unless they rebel or plot against you. Then you would get some real serious succession wars to survive. And it would drive your decadence up faster as well, making it a challenge to manage, maybe even have to put down an uprising if you're lucky. Because that is what the Muslim game is all about - decadence. If you pick a small family and know how to curb decadence right from the start, you'll never run into problems with it, but a big family like the Seljuks or Fatimids has decadence problems whether you're careful or not, just because they start out with so many family members. I literally had to assassinate all the Persian Seljuks while playing as Rum just to make the game manageable. Allowing your family to grow a little bit might simulate that with a smaller dynasty.

rickinator9

08-14-2012, 21:00

Something about the new DLC was leaked. The name? Legacy of Rome:laugh3:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?625933-Next-DLC-title-leaked

Voigtkampf

08-15-2012, 12:31

My sweet little PR birdie from Paradox tweeted me to expect more solid info on this within a week, sounds promising.

rickinator9

08-15-2012, 19:59

My sweet little PR birdie from Paradox tweeted me to expect more solid info on this within a week, sounds promising.

Expect it on a Friday. There is a pattern of PI announcements and news: They are always featured on a Friday.

Monk

08-17-2012, 12:26

The Gates of Hell is a secret, "medieval legend" event chain hidden within the files. Legends have a mean time to happen of 9000 months which means without any sort of help, you'll never see them. Their chance to appear is modified by your character's traits and possessed is one of the modifiers that increases your chance of seeing it.

The other legend event is Robin Hood and his Merry Men causing trouble in your kingdom. ~:)

rickinator9

08-17-2012, 15:23

I had that event in my AAR too. I must say it is pretty cool.

Chaotix

08-17-2012, 18:57

I got the Gates of Hell in my old Ireland game.

Caught me completely by surprise and it was pretty hilarious. I filled it with rocks, too... I wonder how well the other methods work.

Monk

08-17-2012, 20:33

I got the Gates of Hell in my old Ireland game.

Caught me completely by surprise and it was pretty hilarious. I filled it with rocks, too... I wonder how well the other methods work.

For those curious about the mechanics of the Gates of Hell, what the different methods mean and what you might want to do if it ever pops up in your game then here's a spoiler:

All of them have the same chance to work but they require certain things for you to use them. Christians can perform an exorcism to try to combat Hell's minions and characters who aren't greedy can sacrifice cattle. The default "safe" option open to all characters is the stones options, and for the truly desperate, sacrificing children to it can only be done if a child of an appropriate age (between 10 and 20) is in your court.

You might be wondering, well then, what's the difference? The difference is the aftermath. Each way of dealing with the problem will apply a different character modifier that you have to live with for 5 years, the modifiers are:

exorcism_gateshell = {
learning = 5
general_opinion = 3
church_opinion = 5
icon = 2
}
cattle_gateshell = {
stewardship = 5
general_opinion = 2
church_opinion = -1
icon = 4
}
stones_gateshell = {
martial = 5
general_opinion = 4
monthly_character_prestige = 0.5
icon = 1
}
sacrifice_gateshell = {
intrigue = 5
church_opinion = -2
general_opinion = -2
monthly_character_prestige = -0.2
icon = 5
}

There are two very clearly positive outcomes for the gates of hell event, those being stones and exorcism. Cattle is a split between good and slightly bad, the church doesnt like it but who cares it's gone right? Human sacrifice is something everyone hates, but it gives you a huge intrigue bonus for the next 5 years.

rickinator9

08-28-2012, 20:18

Legacy of Rome (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?629122-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-Expansion-Announced!) has finally been announced. Looking forward to this one!

Monk

08-29-2012, 03:08

The factional system is what has me most interested. It seems to be taking the "dumb" out of plotting and giving it a purpose. Dealing with plots for byzantine rulers looks to be much more complex than simply hitting someone lightly on the wrist with a "stop that!".

If the system can be used in factions that are not the Byzantines it will solve a lot of the problems i've been struggling with for my mod.

Martok

08-31-2012, 19:39

Legacy of Rome (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?629122-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-Expansion-Announced!) has finally been announced. Looking forward to this one!
Giggity!

rickinator9

09-05-2012, 13:11

Monk

09-05-2012, 16:49

First AoR dev diary has dropped (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?630854-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-Dev-Diary-0-Clearing-the-Fog-of-War). It's a summary of things included in the dlc and the things in the 1.07 patch.

Answers to my prayers. The in-realm factional system is replacing plotting on a wide-scale, regardless of where your character calls its home. This opens up a heck of a lot of possibilities for much more dynamic and intriguing plot based gameplay, more logical support for rebellious vassals against a liege and modding. Can't wait.

Oh, and we're taking another tack with the DLC this around - if you don't own the DLC, the AI won't be using the new mechanics or events either. Also, from now on in multiplayer mode, the host will control which DLCs are active.

An incredibly good change that allows the community to be flexible in what DLC they buy without being locked out from playing with their friends. It looks like most of the great stuff is going to be in the content patch for free anyway.

komnenos

09-06-2012, 12:40

Hello guys. I wanted to join to you and play CK2 with you. Please gide me.

xploring

09-06-2012, 13:37

Hi, another new player here, been playing for a week or two, mainly on tutorial island aka Ireland, but have been reading the official forum for months. I like following the story of my characters although sometimes events are few and far between and it feels like I am only waiting for the next claim to be fabricated. Tried somewhere in Burgundy and southern Italy, but coming to grips with the complicated relationships between characters and figuring out a plan of expansion seemed too much for me at the moment...

Looking forward to the next DLC too, sounds a bit more appealing than the last one. I like the parts about separate ambition and plot, and the increasing influence of generals in battles.

xploring

09-06-2012, 13:41

Hello guys. I wanted to join to you and play CK2 with you. Please gide me.

Hello, I am a newbie too. If you are looking for help in understanding/playing the game, there are a lot of useful information here:

http://ckiiwiki.com/Crusader_Kings_II_Wiki

Also, if you register under "My Games" at the top left corner at the official forum, you can download a great user guide at the CK2 FAQ forum (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?678-Crusader-Kings-II-FAQ)

Hope that helps.

komnenos

09-07-2012, 20:51

Now, I can't play it with you?

Beskar

09-12-2012, 00:23

Arjos

09-12-2012, 06:18

Hello guys. I wanted to join to you and play CK2 with you. Please gide me.

Afaik we tried once and didn't work...
I even remember reading that without a patch it didn't even start or something...
Don't know if anyone tried again after that...

I am interested in hosting a PBM succession game.

With an idea of the rules (as in how long the turns are for each player or if people will load different characters etc), I might be interested :P

Monk

09-12-2012, 11:40

I am interested in hosting a PBM succession game.

Just asking here if anyone is interested and if you are, what kind of starting point would you like?

An idea might be the Habsburgs, the each of us taking over through the generations and expanding to see how far we can get.

If there is interest, I will make the topic in the throne room. :bow:

Starting points later than 1066 should be considered if this will become a thing. Right now muslim factions start a bit too powerful in relation to their christian neighbors at the earliest date. The early tech advantage combined with incredible ruler demesnes means that it takes a miracle for the Fatimids to suffer any sort of calamity in vanilla. They use that stability to run over absolutely everyone in my experience.

I'd suggest something closer to either 1080, 1090 or 1100 to have a good point to start from. They are all nice round numbers and let the AI grow and collapse a bit more organically.

Beskar

09-12-2012, 11:59

With an idea of the rules (as in how long the turns are for each player or if people will load different characters etc), I might be interested :P

Each person will control a character ruler. So lets say I go first, I play till my King dies then you play his successor, etc.

rickinator9

09-12-2012, 17:35

Dev Diary 1, about the faction system this time: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?632212-Legacy-of-Rome-Dev-Diary-1

Arjos

09-12-2012, 17:41

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

09-12-2012, 22:46

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

Beskar

09-14-2012, 01:55

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/showthread.php?142469-CK2-El-Cid-Campeador&p=2053483021#post2053483021

The Goal is Hispania!

The Stranger

09-15-2012, 11:45

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

09-15-2012, 11:55

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

The Stranger

09-15-2012, 12:04

ok thanks!

Monk

09-18-2012, 16:53

xploring

09-18-2012, 18:02

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/showthread.php?632997-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-beta-screens-(September-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

09-18-2012, 18:18

Monk

09-19-2012, 14:21

Dev diary number 2 posted: http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?633171-Legacy-of-Rome-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

09-19-2012, 22:45

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

09-27-2012, 00:49

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...

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

https://i.imgur.com/qyVoE.jpg

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.

https://i.imgur.com/w4hWL.jpg

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.

https://i.imgur.com/EYqGe.jpg

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. :laugh4:

Monk

10-01-2012, 08:32

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

https://i.imgur.com/vya14.png

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

10-07-2012, 00:29

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 (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?636381-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-DevDiary-4-Patriarchs-amp-Pentarchs)

naut

10-07-2012, 06:28

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

Ishmael

10-07-2012, 13:48

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 :beam:).

Monk

10-10-2012, 17:23

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 (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?638259-Crusader-Kings-II-Legacy-of-Rome-Dev-Diary-5-Events-and-Decisions), 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

10-11-2012, 03:35

Actually makes me want to play the Byzantines.

SoFarSoGood

10-11-2012, 05:44

Porphyrogenitos... 'born in the purple'.

Hooahguy

10-11-2012, 14:31

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

10-16-2012, 23:18

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

The Stranger

10-17-2012, 01:14

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

10-17-2012, 01:44

rickinator9

10-17-2012, 10:35

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

10-17-2012, 13:31

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

10-17-2012, 14:10

Strange, not for me.

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

Hooahguy

10-17-2012, 14:35

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

10-17-2012, 15:00

its already fixed. tx.

Beskar

10-17-2012, 15:51

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

I do like this new factions system!

Ibn-Khaldun

10-17-2012, 16:50

So. it's worth the money?

Nigel

10-17-2012, 20:22

Hooahguy

10-17-2012, 21:07

If he has a birth defect then thats fine.

rickinator9

10-17-2012, 21:31

Gah - the game has been working perfectly well for months - I really enjoyed it - and now an update comes along and messes it up.
My graphics now look like this:

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=7450&d=1350501580

You are not alone. (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?639568-1.07-ruining-portraits)

Monk

10-18-2012, 00:41

Gah - the game has been working perfectly well for months - I really enjoyed it - and now an update comes along and messes it up.
My graphics now look like this:

Yikes. I know it's a bit extreme, but maybe try to reinstall the game or verify yoiur steam cache? Definitely looks like the patch corrupted your game files.

Monk

10-18-2012, 03:50

rickinator9

10-18-2012, 09:51

Alexius you're a real :daisy: tough guy.

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/560955963355618183/C781E31E9B995B2E1E2ECC37821D93237D58058F/

Takes out both of my eyes then challenges me to Tzykanion.

GEE I WONDER WHO'S GONNA WIN.

I sure don't hope you're playing a Doukas? Then it is his right to blind you and humiliate you in a game of Tzykanion.

I have started a game as Trebizond at the 1205 start. It's certainly a rough ride. Took the county of Paphlagonia from Rum while they were fighting Armenia Minor and Georgia. Meanwhile, the Latins had stripped the duchies of Nikaia and Samos from the Byzantine Empire. I got a claim and now I am fighting the Byzz. I am more concerned of what the Latins can do to me than the Turks. I am literally surrounded by enemies.

Ibn-Khaldun

10-18-2012, 11:36

Btw, something I noticed. In GamersGate "Legacy of Rome" is sold with the price of 4,99€. However, if you buy it in game using bluecoins you get it almost 2€ cheaper. ~:)

Nigel

10-18-2012, 18:58

You are not alone. (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?639568-1.07-ruining-portraits)

Good to see that.
The developers are aware of the issue and working on in. They believe they will have a fix for it out my next Monday.

Voigtkampf

10-19-2012, 07:12

Couldn't get the Legacy of Rome, can't connect to Paradox service for two days now to get the damn thing from the ingame store... :on_furious::on_madputer:

rickinator9

10-19-2012, 09:58

Voigtkampf isn't alone either. (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?639808-Ingame-Store-Sucks)
Where did you buy CKII originally? You could just buy the DLC from there.

naut

10-19-2012, 10:22

One of my vassals is the liege to a mayor that should be my vassal (it's in my province). How do I rectify this issue?

rickinator9

10-19-2012, 11:15

One of my vassals is the liege to a mayor that should be my vassal (it's in my province). How do I rectify this issue?

Is it really that much of an issue? Only way I would know how to do it is revoking all his titles, but that's a bit much for a city, isn't it?

Meanwhile, I can't stop listening to this incredible LoR song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DD_NR8fIpw

naut

10-19-2012, 11:22

Is it really that much of an issue? Only way I would know how to do it is revoking all his titles, but that's a bit much for a city, isn't it?

Meanwhile, I can't stop listening to this incredible LoR song!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DD_NR8fIpw

Thanks! When I said a mayor, that was just for clarity. What I really meant was in total he has 4 cities and 3 churches that should be my vassals. Loss of tax and manpower is the issue. =P

Don't have the CK music on, tend to play my own music while playing. That said in general the music for CK is good, but too intrusive for me really.

Voigtkampf

10-19-2012, 13:38

Voigtkampf isn't alone either. (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?639808-Ingame-Store-Sucks)
Where did you buy CKII originally? You could just buy the DLC from there.

Got it from GG. DLC is from GG as well. To access ingame store, you need to have Paradox connect on. "Paradox connect not available at the moment, please try again later" is the simple error message I've been getting for the past two days...

Monk

10-19-2012, 13:50

Got it from GG. DLC is from GG as well. To access ingame store, you need to have Paradox connect on. "Paradox connect not available at the moment, please try again later" is the simple error message I've been getting for the past two days...

GG doesn't have the speediest customer service around, but they do have a reputation for doing as much as they can to help you. I would heavily suggest getting in touch with them through their contact info, or through the thread linked already.

Monk

10-22-2012, 19:30

Pardon me while I go flip a table over in frustration. Just start working on updating my mod for 1.07 and they release a hotfix! Guh. :laugh4:

Oh well. Looks like they fixed the portrait bug that some people were suffering, so that's great news. Muslims will also be restricted from Jihad before 1187, which is nice. No more Shia jihads into Galicia at 1080! ~D

full 1.07b changes:

- Fixed an issue with broken portraits and other graphics on certain older graphics cards
- Fixed a bug with Claimant Faction wars becoming invalid in Elective Realms
- Fixed a bug where various Dynasty variables would not be correctly reset on resign, which could even cause crashes
- Fixed the initial tech levels in the Nestorian and Miaphysite provinces
- Fixed a crash bug in the religion view that could happen when your ruler's religion changed
- Fixed a bug with Gavelkind succession in Empires where the holder also had many kingdoms
- Fixed an issue where you could become independent by joining an independence faction war in another realm
- Kurds now have access to the Persian cultural building
- William the Conquerer no longer set as mother of three Breton characters
- Fixed the history for c_aprutium
- Fixed deathdate of character 161537
- Fixes/additions to the Strathearn dynasty
- Fixes to the counts of Malta
- Fixed broken de Mello dynasty
- Various additions/fixes to several English dynasties
- Various additions/fixes to several German dynasties
- Renamed duplicate Onega province
- Added rulers to various Eastern pagan provinces
- Spymaster can now use Scheme in provinces belonging to your liege's other vassals
- Fixed hunting event to correctly apply to barons
- Fixed an ugly "invalidated war" message showing messy trigger conditions
- No longer possible to start or join Factions while in revolt against your current liege
- Fixed an issue where a vassal revolt war could sometimes invalidate on mostly unrelated other revolts in the same realm
- Fixed a glitch with the tooltip on the "Start a Faction" button
- No longer allowed to start claimant factions for female claimants against Agnatic law titles
- Fixed an issue with Protected Inheritance
- Reduced size of all event pictures by 25% at no loss of quality
- Muslim Jihads no longer possible before 1187
- The title is now displayed correctly for Russian Grand Princesses
- Some changes to the religious setup in the Levant

Double A

10-22-2012, 21:14

- No longer allowed to start claimant factions for female claimants against Agnatic law titles

How do I get rid of this? I'm really pissed at England right now.

The Stranger

10-22-2012, 23:59

Monk

10-23-2012, 00:33

did anyone notice that the rate of capturing noble prisoners has decreased with an insane amount since 1.07? its nowhere near as lucrative to fight wars now if you are small :S you could live of ransom now and then but now its just impossible.

You are much more likely to kill them than capture them. As the Byzantines I noticed special kill events for my enemies. Battles seem far more dangerous for the loser than ever before.

naut

10-24-2012, 05:41

You are much more likely to kill them than capture them. As the Byzantines I noticed special kill events for my enemies. Battles seem far more dangerous for the loser than ever before.
Much more dangerous indeed. And a big boon to war-score in a slower mod like Project Balance.

The Stranger

10-25-2012, 04:17

Beskar

10-26-2012, 00:03

i have a suggestion for a new challenge :P reconquer the entire dejure roman empire (as in: all the provinces you can conquer by using the reconquest CB) but you have to do so as the Spartenos in Napoli at 1066 :D

You won't believe this, but that is what I did for myself as the very first thing! I have gone past those borders though.

15500 cataphract retinue, worth 49600 normal 'men', for upkeep of 2.4 gold per month. Basically unbeatable. Can levy 151000-ish from Vassals. 1177.2 gold income per month. Would be even higher if I properly invested my money into buildings and wasn't affected by a bunch of modifiers.

Monk

10-26-2012, 00:19

You won't believe this, but that is what I did for myself as the very first thing! I have gone past those borders though.

15500 cataphract retinue, worth 49600 normal 'men', for upkeep of 2.4 gold per month. Basically unbeatable. Can levy 151000-ish from Vassals. 1177.2 gold income per month. Would be even higher if I properly invested my money into buildings and wasn't affected by a bunch of modifiers.

Since the game spawns courtiers each time you raise a retinue and you've gone on a conquer spree... I don't even want to ask how big your court is. :shocked:

I'm actually surprised Paradox let the DLC go out with how unbalanced it makes the game. Though, I must admit, holding the emperor's crown now feels really fun. I enjoy the Alexiad start date as well, perhaps my new favorite to begin a game from.

Beskar

10-26-2012, 01:30

Since the game spawns courtiers each time you raise a retinue and you've gone on a conquer spree... I don't even want to ask how big your court is. :shocked:

Not that bad, but | did see the Sejuk court with like 227 people in it.

rickinator9

10-26-2012, 13:41

i have a suggestion for a new challenge :P reconquer the entire dejure roman empire (as in: all the provinces you can conquer by using the reconquest CB) but you have to do so as the Spartenos in Napoli at 1066 :D

Sure, but without the courtier claim conquest exploit please. Otherwise, the guys who come after you will have more trouble with the inside than the outside.

Hooahguy

10-26-2012, 14:45

How do you guys deal with mega death-stacks? I was doing some probing and found that England can raise at least 50,000 troops. If I ever want to get ahead in my current campaign Im going to need to figure out a way to best them.

rickinator9

10-26-2012, 14:53

Hooahguy

10-26-2012, 17:17

But it seems like when they do have a revolt and I attack, the revolt ends quickly and they come together and crush me.

Beskar

10-26-2012, 17:34

Make powerful friends.

I was actually friends with the Byzantine Empire when I was Sicily. Allowed me to expand into North Africa all the way up to the Middle East against the Sunni and Shia power-blocs till I was at the point where I could rival them single handedly, including the Byzantine Empire. Then I started making other friends to push any wars in my favour then took on the Byzantine's during a big independence war.

Then all that accelerated when the Emperor turned into a heteric, allowing me to confine the Empire into Asia minor until he was deposed by his own vassals.

The Stranger

10-26-2012, 23:45

Since the game spawns courtiers each time you raise a retinue and you've gone on a conquer spree... I don't even want to ask how big your court is. :shocked:

I'm actually surprised Paradox let the DLC go out with how unbalanced it makes the game. Though, I must admit, holding the emperor's crown now feels really fun. I enjoy the Alexiad start date as well, perhaps my new favorite to begin a game from.

you can marry of those cortiers matrialineally its what i do all the time :P i keep my court around 20 constantly.

The Stranger

10-26-2012, 23:47

Sure, but without the courtier claim conquest exploit please. Otherwise, the guys who come after you will have more trouble with the inside than the outside.

:S its hardly an exploit :P

but i meant it more as in the first challenge where we try to beat each others time than as the 2nd where we commonly try to achieve a goal :P but tiaexz has already done it so perhaps Monk can come up with another awesome challenge, idc if there are prizes but if someone sets a goal i find the game more fun

Beskar

10-26-2012, 23:57

I have to admit, I really dislike the way you expand, The Stranger!

I am some one who does it the old fashioned way, mostly because I like to keep duchies as duchies and under that duke. Keeping everything neat, tidy and stable. Can make it more "stable" to rule by making everyone be OPM's, headed by a duke of that area. It allows fast culture/religion swapping, and they are usually fighting amongst themselves before they attempt to gang up on you. I did this with my family members. It really decreased their ability to rival my seat on the throne.

The Stranger

10-27-2012, 01:31

well tbh when i play my own games i usually play near muslims so i holy war. i only use king tier claimants because i like to have my family members on king tier thrones :P usually i take something like spain or england and from there just expand by putting my family members in a throne on france or hungary whatever and then try to keep them in power.

i usually get 2-3 children with my first wife then divorce or kill her and marry claimants to the throne of other kingdoms and then when i got a son or 2 i put her on the throne, divorce and repeat :P

i never have any rebellions or whatever tbh, specially not now with these factions :P but i guess not everyone like to play like that. there is no problem maintaining what you conquer in that fashion if you try to maintain it in similar fashion if you know what i mean. i usually just kill people of rebellious nature :P

but sometimes i just dont have the patience, i was recently recreating the roman empire and i started in 1080 somwhere so the rummites had taken all of anatolia. and after i conquered the balkan i looked at the numbers of holy wars i had to do to reconquer anatolia, and i was like fk it... takes too long and i pulled some strings to get a rummite with a claim to the throne and pushed his claim :P then i revoked his title cuz he was muslim and thats how i got all of anatolia with 1 war instead of a dozen -_- i did the same with the fatimids XD im just too impatient i guess

Monk

10-27-2012, 03:21

:S its hardly an exploit :P

but i meant it more as in the first challenge where we try to beat each others time than as the 2nd where we commonly try to achieve a goal :P but tiaexz has already done it so perhaps Monk can come up with another awesome challenge, idc if there are prizes but if someone sets a goal i find the game more fun

Ehh. There probably won't be another one, at least not for a while and certainly never in vanilla with the current trend of paradox patches.

The unmodded game is now incredibly easy to exploit in numerous ways. The Imperial Conquest CB for the Byzantines, Muslim Invasion CB, holy war spam, breaking truces, courtier claims, opinion and rebellion mechanic exploiting, it's all a bit absurd if you ask me. There would need to be so many house rules that it would defeat the entire purpose imo.

The Stranger

10-28-2012, 11:42

Chaotix

10-29-2012, 07:16

=_=

well i have nice idea for a challenge,

The Habsburgers:

goals:
become holy roman emperor, emperor of hispania and king of hungary.

setting:
you can play any single county count in the HRE
dont know the right time yet, but something like 1100 maybe?

rules:

you are allowed only tp gain titles by diplomacy/intrigue (demand land of vassals or of lieges), marriage/heritage) or by creation/usurpation
you are not allowed to fight offensive wars except for crusades or to press dejure claims, the only exception is that you are allowed to fight holy wars in spain against the muslims to be able to create the title emperor of hispania

Why settle for any old count when you can have the Habsburgs themselves?

They exist at the 1066 start as the County of Aargau (situated in castle Habsburg, actually).

I was playing as them before the 1.07 patch, managed to become King of Burgundy, gained independence from HRE, and started conquering Spain. It's a pretty fun setting. Actually becoming the Holy Roman emperor would make the rest pretty easy though.

The Stranger

10-29-2012, 14:22

well because its alternative history :P if someone wants to be a pseudo habsburgs, they can

1100 is a nice starting point, the crusader states just sprung into existence and the fatimids are like at the smallest point ever (even though still very strong) in my game sadly the crusader states fell quickly and the fatimids expanded monsterly fast but there might be a different turn in some games.

becoming emperor i think will make things harder only because you have to keep the title, and you will have to deal with all the turmoil. and since you are not allowed to gain titles by war you will still have to marry smart etc

i started as the habsburgs as well, with some smart diplomacy i got granted the duchy of upper burgundy by the emperor and from there im trying to expand. im doing quite well and my son will inherite the duchy of tuscany and provence so i will soon be able to also create the kingdom of burgundy :P]

its alot of fun to try this way

Arjos

10-30-2012, 11:25

rickinator9

10-30-2012, 11:29

Arjos

10-30-2012, 11:34

Guess, I won't steal researches anymore then...

Will try that, but in all honesty, holding the Roman Empire together, has become quite a tedious chore...

Greyblades

10-30-2012, 11:39

Guess, I won't steal researches anymore then...

Will try that, but in all honesty, holding the Roman Empire together, has become quite a tedious chore...

Sounds about right for a medieval nation.

Arjos

10-30-2012, 11:45

Thing is: greek officials are everywhere, so is orthodoxy. They have control of large provinces, there's no discontent, nor an high central government dictating actions...
I just don't see the motive, other than revolting for the sake of revolting lol

Beskar

10-30-2012, 14:22

I turned down taxes for myself. I had too many revolts outside of that otherwise. But yeah, when I had like 160 duke vassals, I decided it got a little too annoying. Now I have started implementing Kingdom's in the regions. My logic behind this is that I got so much money anyway, if I have them into Kingdom's, it is far less people to keep "sweet" with bribes, plus the vassals tend to be fighting their own vassals, which keeps them from joining in civil wars against you.

The Stranger

10-30-2012, 15:06

Am I the only one finding these new faction revolts, a bit excessive?
I mean, how they unite and coordinate is good, they finally have some chances, but I've been seeing so many vassals, with positive relations, joining in...

Does it mean, that now large empires are just unstable, so we should settle for kingdoms and private armies?
I feel my gameplay just got halved :S

i personally havent had any trouble with factions so far, as the ERE in 100 years ive had only 2 rebellions for indepence, reasonably easily defeated, although the last one was unfortunately timed during a series of different wars so i took the white peace. i like this way alot better because no longer will my distant vassal rebell all the time without a chance because i raised some levies that toppled the delicate balance.

gifts and titles still seem to work atleast for me, i check the most powerfull ones in the faction and give them money, and whatever else they need to be appeased and i send my chancellor to work on relations. i find it easier now more than ever before to keep a large realm together.

Monk

10-30-2012, 20:56

Often times vassals will start multiple factions at once, it pays great dividends to find out who is the main plotter in your kingdom and send your spymaster to "scheme" in his capital. Scheming replaces the old "discover plots" action, and can be used in any province where you have vassals. After a set amount of time you will be presented with a choice in how you demand your vassal end his relation to the faction. Some vassals will thumb their nose at you, but others can be more easily persuaded. After a success, that vassal will no longer join a faction that opposes your rule. You can't scheme everyone away, however, so after you have your spymaster in place you should hand out honorary titles and send gifts to keep the rest of your subjects happy.

I've found the ideal relation to shoot for to be at, or around, +50 opinion. If you get a vassal over that point he will usually leave, or even disband it if he's the leader, the current faction he is apart of. This threshold may change as your Kingdom grows larger and becomes a true Empire, so always be vigilant.

The Stranger

10-30-2012, 22:34

best thing ive done sofar in my frisia campaign is own everything myself save for 2-3 counties, i switched to elective and since im a king with no dukes i have the only vote, i can basically pick whichever son or cousin i want to be heir. this is so cool! shouldve thought of that before!

Arjos

10-31-2012, 12:49

Still having +60ish kings forming leagues, but whatcha gonna do about it lol

The spymaster did help, thx guys!
Let's see if I can get this Roman Empire as far as Britain XD

rickinator9

10-31-2012, 13:46

You can always delegate: Give out some kingdom titles.
This has some benefits:
- Larger single levy(can also be bad if you are going into attrition zones)
- Less vassals to take care of

This also has a bad side:
- It costs more to bribe these vassals
- A revolt will be more dangerous.

rickinator9

10-31-2012, 14:53

This sounds like the most ridiculous DLC so far. (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/press/2012/10/crusader-kings-ii-sunset-invasion-announced)
What?! Pony-inhabited Atlantis next! Aliens!

Arjos

10-31-2012, 15:07

I'm Emperor, I gave the kingdoms away long ago lol

BTW that DLC is just wrong XD

naut

10-31-2012, 15:25

Surely it's not April 1st already?

The Stranger

10-31-2012, 16:40

This sounds like the most ridiculous DLC so far. (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/press/2012/10/crusader-kings-ii-sunset-invasion-announced)
What?! Pony-inhabited Atlantis next! Aliens!

that has to be a joke right?

aztecs on horses also??? wtf

Beskar

10-31-2012, 19:27

Crusader Kings II: Sunset Invasion DLC unveiled!

Finally, we're thrilled to announce the upcoming Sunset Invasion DLC pack for Crusader Kings II. It introduces – wait for it – an Aztec invasion of medieval Europe!

No, we're not kidding. Say hello to Paradox's first non-historic DLC ever for one of its grand strategy games. And what a debut! This pack introduces new Aztec units, culture, portraits, events and religion, as well as a devastating new plague.

Because what could be more “Halloween” than pestilence and human sacrifice? Sunset Invasion will retail at $4.99, and lands Q4 2012.

Read more: http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/crusader-kings-ii-sunset-invasion

Yes... interesting!

I will probably actually buy it, it seems fun and it will shake up western Europe. Some one in Paradox probably did this in their spare time for fun, and they decided to share it with us

Monk

10-31-2012, 19:56

This sounds like the most ridiculous DLC so far. (http://www.paradoxplaza.com/press/2012/10/crusader-kings-ii-sunset-invasion-announced)
What?! Pony-inhabited Atlantis next! Aliens!

https://i.imgur.com/bl4yx.gif

First DLC I won't buy. Game is unbalanced enough as is without magical unicorn invasions that could never have happened.

Voigtkampf

10-31-2012, 20:45

Anything could have happened, and if we are to believe quantum physics and Terry Pratchett, everything has happened.

I, for one, welcome our new Aztec overlords! :on_groucho:

Nigel

10-31-2012, 20:57

hmm, it is not April 1st today?
Let me check.

Monk

10-31-2012, 21:43

Anything could have happened, and if we are to believe quantum physics and Terry Pratchett, everything has happened.

I, for one, welcome our new Aztec overlords! :on_groucho:

Say hello to Yog Sothoth and the Elder Gods for me. :on_getsome:

Monk

10-31-2012, 21:45

hmm, it is not April 1st today?
Let me check.

Nope, this is apparently completely legit and paradox is shocked as to why anyone would object. (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?643490-Sunset-Invasion-FAQ)

Whatever. It's not like they are forcing me to deal with it, unlike in RTW when you had Rome fighting Old Kingdom era Egypt in vanilla. Firmly in the "not buying" camp for this one.

Beskar

10-31-2012, 21:58

People are indeed overreacting though.

To take this...

a) "funny, but not something I want."
b) "funny, i want it"
c) "not my cup of tea, I don't care"

I have seen A and B, but C is more like:
c) zomg paradox suckzozors republics mongols theoracy pope n' stuff

Monk

10-31-2012, 22:05

People are indeed overreacting though.

To take this...

I have seen A and B, but C is more like:
c) zomg paradox suckzozors republics mongols theoracy pope n' stuff

I agree. Personally I think it's a stupid idea but I'm not gonna burn down Paradox's home or kick their pets because of it. I can simply not buy it and be perfectly content, (as well as post over the top .gif images to express my lack of interest ~D )

I stand by my words far earlier in this thread that the paradox forums are a sordid hive of scum and villainy.

rickinator9

11-01-2012, 00:26

I stand by my words far earlier in this thread that the paradox forums are a sordid hive of scum and villainy.

Yup, but you can't go around it if you're a modder or interested in mods. The policy of that site is just so arbitrary. Threads are locked if paradox doesn't like them(for example the suggestion of a CKII modding nexus didn't make it out alive). There is also the rule of 'No external links'. I mean come on, who doesn't allow external links?!

Arjos

11-03-2012, 12:30

And here it is :P

https://img833.imageshack.us/img833/6451/romanempire.jpg

Started in 1081, I actually united it a little earlier than this pic: was hoping for civil wars in some kingdoms to be over, but got eventually tired of waiting lol
Restoring it too soon, was a bad move, it reset the imperial incorporation of the kingdoms, so in the end most areas are outside of the crown law...
Still there are so many Despots, that there is virtually no chance of rebellions, unless one starts to play as a maniac I guess...

BTW, no title was gained by marriage: proper roman bloodshed XD
My vassals in the east and around the Black Sea, went crazy for Holy Wars ahahahah
I've also started to advance towards the Elbe :)
The most incredible thing for me, was the failed mongolian invasion (there used to be a Sultanate, stretching from Egypt to India) and after that, they never showed up again lol

The Stranger

11-04-2012, 02:01

nice :D

rickinator9

11-04-2012, 02:08

there used to be a Sultanate, stretching from Egypt to India

Still better than Fatimids.

The most interesting thing in that screenshot for me are the Ghaznavids. They are mostly the same as in the 1066 start.

Monk

11-04-2012, 03:00

I think you should pacify Germania ~;)

Arjos

11-04-2012, 11:28

Bringing peace to the soul of Varus, is proceeding well, but now this happened:

https://img27.imageshack.us/img27/2904/timurlenk.jpg

Never played this far in the game, perhaps I'll finally have a place to send my milion levies XD

The Stranger

11-04-2012, 23:43

i can never set myself to finish such games :S once i hit a certain size i just get bored by it

i should perhaps learn the art of losing with ck2 :D

rickinator9

11-04-2012, 23:58

i can never set myself to finish such games :S once i hit a certain size i just get bored by it

i should perhaps learn the art of losing with ck2 :D

It isn't the boredom for me, but the speed. After you get past 1200, the game just seems to become much much slower. You can go through a month in 5 seconds in 1066 at speed 5, but in 1200, that's 20 seconds, and that's boring in peacetime.

The Stranger

11-05-2012, 01:13

so in the end its still the boredom :P but ye it gets all too slow n stuff... too many plots to cancel etc -_-

but as the habsburgers im doing good :P almost became emperor, i was heir but i died before the emperor died...

naut

11-05-2012, 09:13

Tried the GoT mod. Is it just me or does it deteriorate into an inbreeding mess after a while? The AI really has no scruples when the inbreeding modifiers are removed.

Edit: Looking through the events it appears that the lover events do not discount adult children from the equation. That's where all these inbred bastards are coming from, mothers taking their sons as lovers (or fathers and daughters!)

The Stranger

11-05-2012, 11:48

havent tried it yet lately. but it might be rdm because i had one game in spain campaign where my family not in my court was only inbreeding. it was so annoying :P but that was just 1 game where it happened

Arjos

11-05-2012, 15:11

Argh, it was building up for the show down of the century and... Automatic Game Over XD

The Timurids, conquered Norway: yes, they stretched from Iceland to Ethiopia lol (well with few kingdoms in the middle, but nothing they couldn't have conquered in few years)...
I was so interested in playing this east vs west scenario :(

Bottom line, coming January 2nd 1453, it all ends...

Beskar

11-05-2012, 19:27

You can edit the define so it can go past that date.

Double A

11-13-2012, 10:01

Or transfer your save onwards.

Monk

11-13-2012, 17:28

Two days until the mini-DLC hits and 1.08 is forced upon us. You know the drill if you're on steam by now, set to "do not update" and hope for the best if you have a game going!

Some good stuff in this patch.

MAJOR:
- Added Nahua culture and Aztec religion

MINOR:
- Retinues no longer get free leaders
- Liege levies raised via the province view are now raised in the selected province
- You can now forbid your council from leading armies
- Optimized succession calculation, which could cause massive slowdowns in big dynasties with many landed members
- Intrigue plots vs barons or their courtiers can now include their liege's courtiers and other vassals
- Fixed Scottish Schiltron building giving 10x defensive bonus to pikes
- Fixed Dutch cultural retinue lacking pikes
- Fixed an issue with AI strength calculations the first month after loading a game
- A bit more randomness in the size of the rebel reinforcements in civil wars
- The Pope now receives even less war contribution score in Crusades
- Fixed a crash with a null war list in Province View and Diplomacy View
- Mercenary regiments and Holy Orders will now automatically get a new leader when the old one dies
- Less likely that the captain of a merc regiment gets reassigned to lead something else
- Kingdoms no longer assimilate out of de jure empires that have no holder
- Fixed a bug with not being able to move capital back to your title's preferred capital
- The Imperial Reconquest CB now only works for the restored Roman Empire
- The Imperial Reconquest CB no longer clears out all rulers under the title
- Disbanding multiple selected units will never disband retinues if there are non-retinues in any selected unit
- Liege levies will now disband if their owner is at war with the owner of the unit
- Retinues no longer reinforce if their owner has no money
- Diplo AI: Imprisoned vassals or below will always accept a demand for religious conversion, and go free from prison
- AI: Much better at assigning flank commanders for important armies
- AI: Less likely to go overboard with Crown Authority
- AI: Not interested in Lower CA plots in irrelevant kingdoms/empires
- AI: Fixed a bug with it not dismissing liege levies when done with them
- Army AI: Fixed a bug with invasions not happening when they should
- Ledger page with independent rulers now shows troops including retinues
- Shift or Ctrl clicking buttons in Ruler Designer coat of arms designer now multiplies the frame change by 5 or 10
- Fixed bug where byzantine unit pack was replacing all eastern europeans
- Raising troops via raise all or raise on province will now merge units
- Now allowed to ask to join tribal invasion wars
- Fixed bugged altaic culture building modifier
- Fixed the history of c_sodermanland
- Fixed consistency issue with German characters name Philipp
- Fixed faulty employment date for Robrecht van Gent
- Fixed broken Ua Conchobair dynasty
- Province of Bira no longer stays Orthodox for the entire game
- Fixed bug where imprisoned underage rulers could kill their regents
- Gave The Two Saltuks from Erzurum their correct names
- Corrections to Phillip IV of France and many related characters
- Sigrid Ylving no longer has the wrong mother
- Fixed the deathdate of King Charles IV of France
- Added missing Ecumenical Patriarchs
- Fixed a bug where courtiers of landless characters would be listed in a weird location
- Fixes and additions to various Frankish and Occitan dynasties
- Fixes and additions to the Hunfirding dynasty
- Missing marriages, mothers, children of Valdemar II and Erik V of Denmark added
- Fixed a rare crash in 'on_siege_over'
- AI: The independence faction does not present an ultimatum until it has at least 33% of the liege's strength
- AI: De jure vassals of your culture and religion, except kings, will not start or join independence factions
- Reduced the chance of massive rebel reinforcements for the Independence faction
- Diplo AI: Mongols and Aztecs will no longer revoke titles off human players just for having the wrong religion or culture
- Armenian, Georgian and Alan cultures updated with new names, name linkings and patronymics
- Fixes to the County of Melgueil
- Ingeborg Magnusdotter now has the correct gender
- Sartag Khan now converts to Nestorianism instead of Orthodoxy
- Corrections to the religion of several Zirid characters
- A few Catalan name fixes
- Changes and additions to the Godwin dynasty
- Fixed a bug with Primogeniture when tracing back through the current holder's mother
- Fixed a very rare crash with Holdings with no holder
- Fixed an issue with inheritance by landless characters when there was no de jure vassal title they could take off the previous holder
- Diplo AI: Much more careful about imprisonments
- Imprisoning characters no longer affects their position in the line of succession
- Fixed a bug with the event pictures on Mac and Linux
- Added blinded trait to historically blind characters in the database
- Added missing space to Armenian dynasty prefix and Irish male patronym
- Byzantine, Armenian and Georgian character fixes and additions
- Fixed wrong liege for Duchy of Champagne and County of Gevaudan at certain dates
- Welsh/Hiberno-Norse Dublin character fixes and additions
- New dynasty for the Kurdish Shaddadids, extended Mirdasid pedigree
- On player agreement, the game now sends information to the Paradox backend when you start a game, containing the names of the DLCs and Mods you run (can be toggled with "dont_track_data = [yes/no]" in settings.txt)
- AI: The leader of a claimant faction will no longer leave the faction in an elective realm where the claimant is currently the heir
- AI: Fixed a slight bug where current heirs would not back claimant factions for themselves
- Spymaster Scheme job has been overhauled and simplified
- AI: Fixed an issue with the number of available galleys check

FOR MODDERS:
- The criterion for determining who can lead troops is now determined by the allow trigger for 'job_marshal' (so women can now be modded to lead armies)
- Added trigger 'is_adult'
- Added trigger 'is_marriage_adult'
- Hid the religion screen when playing pagan, it was semi-broken looking anyway

Monk

12-08-2012, 07:01

When news broke last month that EUIV was nearing it's alpha state (and looking pretty good i might add), Paradox teased in a joking way that they one day might include an official converter DLC. Well, while that news has largely died away and only resides in the hearts and minds of crazy people like me, it appears that Paradox is making great efforts to bridge the gap between CK and EU with the next CK2 expansion: Republics!

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/12/08/crusader-kings-iis-next-expansion-announced-the-republic/

Crusader Kings 2: The Republic will be launched alongside the 1.09 patch and will bring with it new gameplay mechanics such as: The rise of merchant leagues, Patrician Families who vie for the seat of the Doge and who scheme against one another, and the ability to lose complete control of your nation and not receive a game over.

The DLC will also feature "trade zones" which can be directly controlled by the patrician families, and an election mechanic wherein you invest money to increase your chances to win the control of your home faction.

There's also a humorous remark about how 1.09 will be a fairly meaty patch with loads of new features, "some of which players have even asked for!" No doubt in reference to the last DLC. Read up at the link for a few more interesting details.

Beskar

12-09-2012, 08:09

Republics? Finally. The first faction I tried to play as was Venice.

komnenos

12-09-2012, 20:18

when is the beginning year of that?

komnenos

12-09-2012, 20:21

And also what about other expansions of that? Do they start at the same year?

Beskar

12-09-2012, 22:32

when is the beginning year of that?

Same as normal.

rickinator9

12-10-2012, 23:32

I spotted a nice 'Find Character' search engine for the characters tab in one of the screenshots.

rickinator9

12-28-2012, 22:33

You may not have noticed but DevDiary 1 (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?653655-Crusader-Kings-II-The-Republic-Developer-Diary-1-The-Five-Families) and DevDiary 2 (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?654839-Crusader-Kings-II-The-Republic-Developer-Diary-2-War-and-Trade) have been released on ParadoxPlaza for a few days.

Monk

12-29-2012, 00:11

I hope you guys had a great holiday. If you hadn't noticed, CK2 has been on sale numerous times in the steam sale. If you haven't bought it by now you are a very silly person. Or not, I'm sure you have your reasons! :grin2:

I just finished one of my longest games yet and had an absolute blast. It had everything. War, treachery, fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, chases, escapes, true love, miracles. Whew. Took me two weeks to get through it and I had a great time. If you want a laugh and got some time to kill, why not read some of the crazy stuff I saw.

Here's a map I made for fun, I'll try to run down a bit of interesting parts of the world and some stories behind them.

The world at 1425, when I stopped, starting as Matilda of Tuscany in the Project Balance mod

https://i.imgur.com/WMKVq.jpg

Gosh where to start? I supposed the start date choice, which was The Alexiad start, 1081. I like this start for a number of reasons. One, England doesn't fall apart like they usually do from their invasion start, and two, the Byzantines are at a very manageable size and have to earn their big blob. Speaking of the Byzantines, let's start there!

Byzantium - After nearly three centuries of turmoil the Emperors of Constantinople have finally turned their fortunes around and reclaimed the majority of Anatolia, with the exception of the crusader state of Nikea, which is controlled by the King of Scotland. They might have united much sooner and posed a problem had it not been for one of my cousins. Married to the Doux of Thrace, somehow, one of my dynasty managed to put together a rather impressive array of inter-realm alliances in Byzantium. For two hundred years, no Emperor sat on the throne in Constantinople without his blessing. If they tried, he and his descendants would spark a bloody civil war to put someone else on the throne. It was only after the powerhouse Duchy of Thrace was broken up and divided around 1290 that the Emperors could consolidate their power and begin to push against the Rumites

Crusader States - From the founding of the first Crusader Kingdom in 1160, European knights have fighting in many distant lands and founding kingdoms in their wake. The lone bastion of Christianity in Spain, the Kingdom of Portugal (that kinda brownish, orange color in spain) stands against the might of the Almoravids, who until very recently were a huge threat to southern France. However, a powerful crusade backed by the Kings of Italy, Scotland and France, secured the power base of the Almoravids in Northern Africa and completely broke their advance. The Holy Roman Empire holds the holy city of Jerusalem, but the growing power of Syria threatens their borders daily. Not even the numerous holdings of the Knights Templar in the Levant can hold back the tide forever.

Syria - (the darker grey/brown in the near east) When the great Ilkhanate invaded the lands of the Seljuk Turks, few could predict how absolute the Turks' defeat would be. Completely broken and scattered, most of the Turkish successor states were either swallowed up by the march of the Hordes, or fell to constant infighting, unable to increase their power. The exception was Syria, who in the aftermath of the fall of the Seljuk Empire, forged a powerful state to withstand the ferocity of the Horde. Surviving two invasions by the Ilkanate, Syria now directs its focus to the Crusaders who have occupied Jerusalem for nearly 250 years. Syria's strength is unrivaled in the east with only the Byzantines having a more powerful army at their command.

The Hordes (or lack there of) - After their dramatic rise to power in 1230 it seemed that the Horde was destined to rule the world. Destroying the Great Seljuk Empire, casting down the great State of Cumania, there was no stopping them. Until time caught up with them, that is. Stretched thin over so much land, the hordes eventually fell. First to infighting amongst each other as the Golden Horde attacked the Ilkhanate in the late 1270s, and then finally, themselves. The Golden Horde fractured and was overtaken by the powers they conquered. The Ilkhanate on the other hand consolidated its last remaining territories and has managed to hold onto a bit more land than their treacherous brothers. Though largely disconnected, the strongholds of the Ilkhanate are some of the most heavily fortified locations of the known world.

England - The fall from grace if there ever was. A powerhouse of the North for over two centuries, England envied no kingdom. Her mighty armies clashed with France annually in the 70 years war, fought for control of the Duchy of Normandy. For ages, I thought the English were going to be a big breakout power, as not only were they keeping things together at home, they were winning territory from France almost every other war. Early in the 1200s however, a plot by a forgotten kinsman of the ruling King turned the realm upside down. A war to usurp the throne soon spiraled into 50 years of bitter factional fighting, loyalist, rebel, they became simple meaningless labels thrown around as an excuse to kill. When the war ended, England was in tatters. There was nothing left of the great Kingdom of England that William the Conqueror had forged. The line was extinguished somewhere in the war, and with no authority of succession, the title passed to a lowly bishop where it remains to this day. The Prince-Bishopric of England was a micro-state covering the grounds of single temple for over forty years, and only recently has begun to piece itself back together.

HRE/Italy - I can't really talk about one without the other, because Italy (controlled by me) and the HRE's history go back centuries to the first founding of the kingdom in 1163. Andrea II, the great grandson of Matilda of Tuscany, was a bit of a schemer. For twenty years he had bribed, threatened and forged illegal documents to ensure that nearly all of northern Italy belonged to him, and if not directly under his command, than they certainly owed him their allegiance. Such behavior wins you very few allies, and it wasn't long before one of his enemies pleaded to the Pope for help, who responded by promptly excommunicating Andrea. This would have been really annoying had it not been for a crusade that was called just a few years later. The Pope, who recognized Andrea's considerable military power could be of use, offered a compromise. Go on crusade and have all your sins absolved!

Who can argue with that? Not only did Andrea lead the crusading armies of Christendom himself as he stormed Tyre, but he personally captured the fabled city of Jerusalem itself. The Pope, so impressed that such a man could redeem himself, that upon the victory of the crusade crowned Andrea King of Jerusalem and Italy. It was a great day for the di canossa dynasty. But it would not last. The Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire began to feel threatened by the sudden rise of one of his vassals to the rank of King. Not only that, but rumors were spreading that Andrea was planning rebellion (it doesnt help that I was in the Independence faction ~D) . Perhaps a rebellion to take the seat of Emperor for himself! Andrea was a hero, a legend, a tale mothers tell children about to inspire them to good deeds. Everyone loved him, and where he lead, many would follow. So it wasn't a shock that a few years later, the Kaiser demanded Andrea relinquish his control of Jerusalem and hand the title of King over to the man who "rightfully deserved it", the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire...

It very nearly caused a war. But in the end, Andrea adjudicated and agreed to the demands of the Emperor. This event would spark a blood feud between the di canossa and the Salian dynasties that would last for over seventy years where it was finally settled in the Italian war for independence. There, not only would the Kings of Italy break free of the Holy Roman Empire and begin to build their hegemony over Italy, they would also claim the Kingdom of Jerusalem in a separate war and win back the holy city for the last surviving child of Andrea II, if only briefly. And just to add insult to injury, the war saw the last Salian Kaiser of the HRE to hold power, as when he died shortly after a new house took control. The the last child of Andrea II still living at this time was named Eve, as she had been born the year of the city's capture, would rule in Jerusalem for 15 years afterward. Her children would eventually lose control of the kingdom to political infighting, which opened the door for the HRE's to return to the Holy Land.

Italy would grow considerably after their breakaway from the HRE, and for the next two centuries would enjoy a rapid growth in both territory and military power. Numerous small wars were fought on the boot itself to increase the power of the growing kingdom and unite the Italian culture provinces, which until now, had been separately governed. Many incredible characters came and went in that time, but the last truly great ruler of Italy was Dorota I the Bold.

In 1290, as Byzantium power was rising in the east, the new masters of Italy were falling upon hard times. A brutal civil war had torn the northern half of the peninsula apart. The powerful dukes of Genoa and Venice were demanding more and more autonomous power, and as their demands went unheeded they decided they would force the issue. Newly crowned King, Candido I, was killed at the battle of Tuscany as he tried to rally his loyalists in defense of the dynastic homelands, leaving no heir. The Kingdom passed to his half-sister... who happened to be married to the new Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire. Dorota soon found that she had inherited a Kingdom fast falling apart. Powerful dukes were overshadowing the central authority of the crown, and the list of vassals who were allied to her was growing shorter by the day. When her husband, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, denied Italy military aid, the aid Dorota desperately needed to save her Kingdom, she petitioned the Pope for a divorce. The marriage had lost its convenience, not only in being a useless alliance, but it had been agreed that children born of the union would be of the father's dynasty. Without a divorce, it would mean the end for di canossa control of Italy!

The new Queen of Italy quickly took a new husband (with a much better arrangement for her children), rallied the remaining retinues and loyalists in Modena, and solidified her power with a terribly bloody victory over the Duke of Venice. A victory hard won by a massive army of mercenaries, made possible only by the huge warchests Italy had filled in her long years of slow careful expansion. One by one the disloyal fell to Dorota's mercenary backed army until finally the faction was broken. Every traitor was dealt with, and as they soon found out, as Bold as their new queen was, she was also a cruel hearted woman. It was not uncommon to find her in the dungeons, personally torturing those her men had captured on the battlefield.

As the last powerful di canossa Queen, Dorota would spend her 56 years on the throne ruling with an iron fist (dying at the age of 87, she proves the old adage of the good die young, but :daisy: live forever). She brutally suppressed dissent and increased the authority of the crown. Though harsh, her methods returned the true power of the realm back to the throne, and from that centralized base, Dorota was able to support the numerous crusader actions of the late 1300s. She sent troops to back the defense of Portugal in the Jihad of 1342, as well as sending her only son and then heir to the battlefields of North Africa in the crusade against the Almoravids. She even oversaw the defense against the African invasion of Italy, which smashed the landings in the southern boot soundly! Italy's Queen may have been a tyrant to her own land, but in the eyes of the Pope she could do no wrong.

Her passing was a turning point in the history of Italy. None of her vassals loved her, but each learned to respect Dorota the Bold, for she was a true defender of Christendom and a powerful ruler. Those who came after her would lack the same conviction she had shown was necessary to hold the powerful dukes of the realm under their thumb. Little by little, the privileges and rights of the crown were eroded. More and more, the rulers of Italy were forced to contend with wars from within, instead of expanding their influence without. Until at last, the last di canossa king, Candido III, died in 1420. The demesne, which had grown to include modena, Tuscany and Lombardy over the long march of time, had shrunk to just Tuscany by his reign. Blocked by powerful vassals at every political move he made, Candido was unable to move the borders of the Kingdom, nor the borders of his authority beyond that which he inherited. He died childless at age 35, an ignoble end to the line of Italian Kings and Queens.

There was so much more than that, but wow. If I tried to write down every story that happened, i'd be here for three days! :laugh4: It's true that my main line died out, but there were others out there. Di canossa family members ruled as vassals in Portugal, Byzantium, Aquitaine and a few other places! They were even Kings of Castile for a short time, before being ousted by a coup.

Have I mentioned I love this game? Yeah I do. This is why. I could spend weeks reflecting on every little thing I saw my characters do and all the trouble they got into.

komnenos

12-29-2012, 07:57

what a good news.I will buy it surely.:yes: Thanks for good news!

Greyblades

12-29-2012, 23:52

I don't suppose anyone knows any "the different methods of gaining land" and "how to develope your nation quickly" guides? I've been out of the loop for quite a while.

Monk

12-30-2012, 06:31

I don't suppose anyone knows any "the different methods of gaining land" and "how to develope your nation quickly" guides? I've been out of the loop for quite a while.

High diplomacy chancellors have a chance to fabricate claims on entire duchies at a time. I think the skill threshold for that ability is around 15, so it's a good idea to always seek out the best people for that job. You will still get claims on single counties but you can ignore them until something better comes along. Of course, fabricating on a duchy is very expensive so remember to float a bunch of cash.

Inviting claimants to your court and landing them. Look at the title you want to acquire and next to the history button you'll see claimants, which is everyone who has a claim on that title. You can either invite random courtiers, or, use marriages to get people of your dynasty with valid claims on that title. Remember that you don't have to directly inherit something to get a claim on it, the 2nd and 3rd in line also get strong claims.

Daughters of your dynasty are one of the most important assets you can have in CK2, you should learn to think about them strategically and make use of the betrothal mechanism. Good heirs usually are snatched up instantly the moment they hit 16 by the AI, but Paradox specifically designed betrothals to give the player an advantage. The AI is programmed specifically not to use them, so check the available betrothals every few years and see what your options are. Line up each daughter as best you can, either for a military alliance or to get claims in the family.

Greyblades

01-02-2013, 04:20

Hamata

01-02-2013, 05:30

just bought this game for $7.03 on steam sale what a deal

rickinator9

01-02-2013, 06:13

Ok I got a situation, the heir I was grooming was assassinated by some smalltime norse bishop who I promptly murdered, now I'm left with a weak heir, is there anything I can do to avert the inevitable sucession war?

Stocking up money for bribes. Killing guys with honorary titles or killing ambitious vassals. Or, if you have more capable children, just kill the heir. Switching to elective might also help, but it is a bit risky with big realms. Elective has become my favorite kind of succession law for small realms. If you mostly have dynasty members as vassals, you have to be doing something wrong if you lost your primary title.

Greyblades

01-03-2013, 00:56

Chaotix

01-03-2013, 02:20

Ok now my saves are crashing frequently, lovely.

Before that my vassals kept charging into uinwinnable rebellions of independance and usurping eachother's titles and generally making a mess of things for no blasted reason.

That is very strange.

Are you patched up to 1.08?

I've been playing since 1.03 and I haven't had a single crash yet.

As for the vassals - if you let them have too much power, they will do that. Generally the rule I follow is to try and keep them all separated into their respective duchies and keep crown authority at medium so they don't mess with each other.

Greyblades

01-03-2013, 04:33

It may have something in relation with the fact that my vassals are fighting eachother regardless of me having medium crown authority. I think I shall reinstall it, see if it gets fixed.

Monk

01-03-2013, 04:50

It may have something in relation with the fact that my vassals are fighting eachother regardless of me having medium crown authority. I think I shall reinstall it, see if it gets fixed.

Areas outside of the de jure territory for a title can ignore the crown laws associated with it. Characters landed in de jure England ignore the laws associated with the Kingdom of France, even if one character holds both the kingdoms of England and France. The characters in england only respond to the laws of England.

Vassals may also always declare war to overthrow a liege regardless of crown law and will do that from time to time. This is why it's always a good idea to put an end to "fabricate claim" plots of lower vassals, as if a count gets a claim on the duke title he is a vassal to, he will start a war for control of the duchy. Even though the fight is effectively two social tiers down from you as the ruler, it still is incredibly annoying.

rickinator9

01-14-2013, 14:47

1.09 and The Republic are coming out today. Along with it comes the obligatory Mediterranian portraits and a song pack.

Rhyfelwyr

01-14-2013, 15:05

I tried playing this game and has no idea what was going on. I'm fine with paradox games like EU, Victoria etc, but I have no idea what to do with this.

From what I understand it is less about building a strong faction and more about hoping that your individual gets to hold strong positions. Doesn't seem that fun...

Monk

01-14-2013, 17:52

From what I understand it is less about building a strong faction and more about hoping that your individual gets to hold strong positions. Doesn't seem that fun...

Not hoping, no. There's random elements in the game like the fabrication of false claims, or the plots to kill someone, but that's about it. Combat is a little dice rollish too but EU3 has that in spades. You are right that CK2 is focused on dynastic and character management rather than factional leadership. In EU3 what is a slider position or an abstract concept is simulated by the relation system between characters. It's not hard to understand why your spynet isn't catching plots when your spymaster has -100 relations to you and is plotting to kill you.

You can still do the typical EU map painting and blob style gameplay but you have to approach it in a much different way in CK2. You have to align marriages in a smart and strategic way to build claims on titles. You need to keep an eye on potential claimants popping up, both who want your titles, and those who want your enemy's titles. You need to quell imbeciles within your family, and make sure your succession laws don't dictate that your empire is handed over to an idiot who'll ruin 200 years of hard work. You need to manage vassals and ensure that none of them are growing too powerful, balancing power internally between all of the characters beneath you.

You need to do that, all while keeping foreign powers at bay by ensuring your military and economic strength have been growing steadily. There is much more to the game than simply hoping you get lucky, though, a little luck never hurt.

CK2 is what you get when you cross a grand strategy game with an RPG experience. No it's not for everyone. Yes it is the shallowest of all of the "big" Paradox's games*, but it's still much deeper than you're giving it credit for.

*CK2 is the simplest and probably easiest to learn next to eu3. EU3 has a much broader scope and a lot more concepts to get used to, but i'd almost rank them the same in their difficulty. Vickie 2 is next with it's complex economy systems, events, definitely a much more challenging game.

And finally there's HOI3 which is just 'dear god what are you doing?' Similiar to EVE online with a learning curve like a cliff edge.

Beskar

01-14-2013, 18:43

*CK2 is the simplest and probably easiest to learn next to eu3. EU3 has a much broader scope and a lot more concepts to get used to, but i'd almost rank them the same in their difficulty. Vickie 2 is next with it's complex economy systems, events, definitely a much more challenging game.

And finally there's HOI3 which is just 'dear god what are you doing?' Similiar to EVE online with a learning curve like a cliff edge.

I disagree, EU3 is the 'easiest' by miles though CK2 is the most fun. Vicky is like EU3 but with "We can build factories!" eco/pop game and HOI3 is pretty much "I have 100000 men in 1000 territories, I will slap it on AI controlled, too much micromanagement".

Monk

01-14-2013, 19:01

I disagree, EU3 is the 'easiest' by miles though CK2 is the most fun.

I disagree with the first part, but agree very much with the second. :laugh4:

To me, CK2 was worlds easier to get into than EU3 was. Though it's hard to say if I enjoyed that ease of transition for the former because I had already played grand strategy before.

Beskar

01-14-2013, 19:38

1.09 and The Republic are coming out today. Along with it comes the obligatory Mediterranian portraits and a song pack.

1.09 is out, no dlc on sale at the moment though.

I disagree with the first part

This is why: In short, everything which is in EU3 is in CK2 and is taken to the next level and made more complicated.

Relationships with other nations? Has to be done through marriage and other such ties, no "offer alliance" button. It also has inter-faction relations too. Very relationship based.

Technology? EU3 'I got a slider and invest in tech money funnel'. CK2 'I accelerate certain aspects of technology as a focus over time for meagre gains. No 'fast track' technology. Lots of variations and not blanket increases like EU3.

Armies? "I will build 6000 men, 4000 horses, here is my army stack. They auto-refresh in the field". CK2 has levies which requires pulling together from other territories and your relationship with your vassals affects how many men and which individual units. There is now retinue to content with and there are mercs which the AI can also use, which makes Venice for example able to beat large duchies even though it is an OPM. Armies don't auto-refresh so have to be regathered from the source, and they don't refresh when they have men summoned in the field...

Heirs? EU3: some guy with a random name just takes over with hardly any real effects. CK2: "I just lost half my kingdom!" "My vassals are all rebelling!" "Some one else won the election!" etc

Trade? EU3: I can have a centre of trade or send merchants! Ck2: New DLC just added Trade in the game at a more complex level.

Monk

01-15-2013, 09:38

Hmm. Interesting.

I was going to write a response but along the way I realized that being more difficult doesn't exactly mean more complex. Take the EU3 war exhaustion system and compare it to the "levies raised too long" penalty in CK2 for instance. The former is something the player has to grin and bear, and is an abstract modifier applied to various levels of your society. War Exhaustion is bad because revolt risk rises, morale drops and your recruiting slows down. How do you combat it? End the war. That's it. Either that or get lucky with some events that give you free negative war exhaustion

Compared to CK2's vassal penalty for using levies for extended periods - what happens? People start to hate you. Revolt risk rises, plots begin to form, and now after LOR factions begin to form to directly weaken your administration's power, not just seek independence.

CK2's system is actually more complex and requires more player involvement than EU3's, but does it in a way that is, i think, much easier to manage since everything is still in the player's direct control. I can bribe or kill faction leaders, send distant cousins to tutor with vassals to remind them of my trust, award honorary titles, or transfer de jure baronies that I may be in control of that I shouldn't be (fulfilling a de jure vassal transfer is an instant 80 relations).

Both systems accomplish very similar things but CK2's allows for way more management and gameplay opportunities than the abstract modifier, and it's something I hadn't consciously realized until now. And surprisingly you're absolutely right about the Trade system, which until recently was something that EU3 had that CK2 simply didn't. The Trading Post mechanics from The Republic are surprisingly well developed, tying into the plot, retinue and levy systems in ways that I really did not expect. The system allows you to expand your power logically and in a very hands on way, rather than EU3's very abstract merchant/CoT mechanic.

I think you're right, EU3 is definitely a less complex game despite being a much more traditional grand strategy and featuring a much broader scope.

Arjos

01-15-2013, 13:45

From what I understand it is less about building a strong faction and more about hoping that your individual gets to hold strong positions.

You can build a strong faction, by playing as an independet ruler. And you can scheme for higher positions, by being a vassal.

Everyone is happy :P

Beskar

01-16-2013, 06:39

I like the changes the patch brought.

Not so impressed with republics, however.

Monk

01-16-2013, 08:51

I like the changes the patch brought.

Not so impressed with republics, however.

They are certainly different. I enjoy the different style they bring to the table but overall they are not as interesting as feudal gameplay, it's true. The dynastic management is very watered down and almost automated so that you can focus on building your finances and trade empire, which is a shame because dynasties are more than half the fun of the game. I find them enjoyable in their own ways but as I said, not as much as the base game.

Also, it would seem there are some Deep Space Nine fans at Paradox:

https://i.imgur.com/LxIyd.jpg

Any self respecting businessman should know them all by heart: http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Rules_of_Acquisition

The Stranger

01-22-2013, 21:12

anyone trying the GoT mod? it looks quite awesome :D i just started my first campaign

Monk

01-23-2013, 20:54

anyone trying the GoT mod? it looks quite awesome :D i just started my first campaign

Eh. The GoT mod seems more about managing your character and the novelty of the setting rather than actually building claims and advancing your position of power. It's fun to check out but I don't know, not something I can play much of on a regular basis. Plus there's so much incest that after a while your average character health is going to eventually get super low. :laugh4:

Chaotix

01-23-2013, 21:44

Eh. The GoT mod seems more about managing your character and the novelty of the setting rather than actually building claims and advancing your position of power. It's fun to check out but I don't know, not something I can play much of on a regular basis. Plus there's so much incest that after a while your average character health is going to eventually get super low. :laugh4:

I agree.

It is a super-cool setup and very fun to look at/explore, but there's not much to do in it.

Starting at either Robert's Rebellion or Clash of Kings is fun to fight the war and make it go your own way instead of the way it should, but after that you can really just sit and wait for your characters to die. Once I'm dealing with a new generation of original characters not from the books, I find it difficult to keep interested.

That said, it's still worth a look if you've ever seen or read Game of Thrones.

The Stranger

01-23-2013, 22:56

Alexander the Pretty Good

01-25-2013, 02:07

Monk

01-25-2013, 07:06

Patch coming tomorrow:

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?660549-CK2-patch-1.091-ETA-Friday-2013-01-25-%28includes-changelog%29

Lots of bug fixes (none I really noticed) plus some tweaks to how the Republics behave (including making other families build stuff in their palace).

Beaten to it! Extensive bug squasher which, among other things, fixes a really nasty Tanistry bug that could cause instant game over. There is also a change to the Muslim Invasion CB which requires you to border the kingdom in question, or have a county in the de jure territory already. This won't be a huge deterrent to players looking to abuse that CB (as there are numerous work arounds I can think of), but it SHOULD stop the AI Fatimids from invading Greece/Italy at the start of the game in vanilla. Great change.

Monk

01-26-2013, 06:24

Rev up those conspiracy theories, because I am sure hungry for speculation!

Paradox has been releasing incremental hints about their next official expansion for CK2. (You can read the third thread at this link (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?660853-What-is-this...-Day-3)) Each day, a bit more of the picture is revealed. Most people have this pegged for the long hinted pagan/norse DLC as there seems to be the top of a Norse themed helmet in part of the third reveal. No official word thus far, just the tease. What could it be?

But wait! There's more! Are you getting tired of CK2? Want to maybe check out another game from the Paradox Library? Something is brewing on the Vickie II forums. A second expansion for the Victorian themed grand strategy is rumored to be in development. (link to the tease is here (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?660800-Secret-Document-Clue-one.)) Again, no official word, just the horrible tease. Either way, looks interesting.

rickinator9

01-26-2013, 14:59

Paradox has been releasing incremental hints about their next official expansion for CK2. (You can read the third thread at this link (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?660853-What-is-this...-Day-3)) Each day, a bit more of the picture is revealed. Most people have this pegged for the long hinted pagan/norse DLC as there seems to be the top of a Norse themed helmet in part of the third reveal. No official word thus far, just the tease. What could it be?

But wait! There's more! Are you getting tired of CK2? Want to maybe check out another game from the Paradox Library? Something is brewing on the Vickie II forums. A second expansion for the Victorian themed grand strategy is rumored to be in development. (link to the tease is here (http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?660800-Secret-Document-Clue-one.)) Again, no official word, just the horrible tease. Either way, looks interesting.

I'm pretty sure it's a longboat. If you look at the upper-left corner, you can see something what looks like the front of one of these. In the lower-left corner, you can see a piece of wood. That could be a paddle. So it's either a pagan DLC or a DLC that goes back in time, to the Viking ages.

Monk

01-31-2013, 12:46

New DLC confirmed: Crusader Kings II: Old Gods.

http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/crusader-kings-ii-old-gods#about_game-tab

Feature list:

Play as a Pagan chieftain and ravage your weak neighbors. If you remain at peace for too long, your people will grow restless...
The new earliest start date is 867 AD: The Viking Rurik has founded the kingdom of Rus and the Great Heathen Army under the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok rampages through England.
Play as a Zoroastrian lord and restore your ancient religion to prominence.
Adventurers: Landless characters can gather armies and go off to carve out new realms on their own.
Prepared Invasions: Declare your intention to invade and watch your armies grow with adventurers and restless warriors, but don't wait too long to start your war or it might all fall apart...
Rebels with a Cause: Rebels are no longer a faceless menace – they are now led by characters with agendas.
Loot and pillage provinces. Burn down their cities and take their gold!
Sacrifice to Odin at the great Blot!
Christians and Muslims can dispatch missions to convert the depraved heathens.
New beautiful Pagan interface skin.
New events and decisions: berserkers, sejdr, curses, omens, divinations, runestones and much more.

All of them are amazing, but these in particular?

The new earliest start date is 867 AD: The Viking Rurik has founded the kingdom of Rus and the Great Heathen Army under the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok rampages through England.

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

Prepared Invasions: Declare your intention to invade and watch your armies grow with adventurers and restless warriors, but don't wait too long to start your war or it might all fall apart..

Play as a Zoroastrian lord and restore your ancient religion to prominence.

Rebels with a Cause: Rebels are no longer a faceless menace – they are now led by characters with agendas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QfSzgV1q5g

The new DLC is going to release in Q2 2013. This spring: It's time. ~D

Unfortunately, after doing some research it looks like Paradox wont allow you to actually play as the adventurers. They are AI controlled. A bit of a let down, honestly! But it's an interesting feature nonetheless and I look forward to seeing it in action.

Ibn-Khaldun

01-31-2013, 14:47

This game gets better and better with every DLC(except that Aztec one)!

rickinator9

01-31-2013, 18:56

I heard there's only the bookmark for 867 AD. You can't select other dates earlier than 1066, as that would be too much work for one DLC.

Monk

01-31-2013, 19:23

I heard there's only the bookmark for 867 AD. You can't select other dates earlier than 1066, as that would be too much work for one DLC.

Yeah it's been confirmed by one of the devs. It's disappointing certainly but understandable to some extent. The base game has just under 300 years of history in it you are able to pick through with relative accuracy. If they were to tackle researching 867 - 1066 they'd be looking at a similar research time that they put themselves through for the full game at launch. It's probably not something they are eager to launch into and still keep a timely release date.

So long as they go all out making 867 really fleshed out I won't miss the ability to time machine between the two bookmarks.

rickinator9

01-31-2013, 22:46

Not to mention there will certainly be mods that bridge the gap.

Alexander the Pretty Good

02-01-2013, 00:21

This is going to be amazing (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTQvnhNVgxQ)

Beskar

02-01-2013, 02:45

New DLC confirmed: Crusader Kings II: Old Gods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApxnAr6pRt0

komnenos

02-02-2013, 14:06

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?

Monk

02-02-2013, 15:23

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

02-03-2013, 04:42

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

02-03-2013, 19:21

Adventures in Anatolia:

https://i.imgur.com/SXFCTG4.jpg
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.

https://i.imgur.com/Vmg7DwP.jpg
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.

https://i.imgur.com/AqSQSUN.jpg

Monk

02-05-2013, 05:09

Ishmael

02-05-2013, 11:02

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.

Religion map -

https://i.imgur.com/k1KAHR7.jpg/

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 :beam:).

naut

02-05-2013, 14:06

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

Monk

02-05-2013, 19:02

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 :beam:).

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 :sweatdrop:

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 (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/04/norse-code-crusader-kings-ii-the-old-gods/). 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. :yes:

Monk

02-05-2013, 20:39

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/crusader-kings-ii-the-old-gods-everything-we-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

02-06-2013, 03:41

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

02-09-2013, 11:16

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

02-09-2013, 20:02

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 (https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/search.php?search_type=1&contenttype=vBForum_Post&forumchoice[]=46).

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

02-09-2013, 20:18

Fisherking

02-09-2013, 21:12

Monk

02-09-2013, 21:41

Ishmael

02-09-2013, 23:39

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

02-10-2013, 13:54

Fisherking

02-10-2013, 17:05

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

02-11-2013, 01:34

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

02-11-2013, 03:12

Or you could try a modded version :deal2:

xploring

02-15-2013, 03:07

Monk

02-15-2013, 04:49

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.. :knight:

Sarmatian

02-16-2013, 10:13

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

02-16-2013, 10:33

Sarmatian

02-16-2013, 14:10

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

02-16-2013, 15:55

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

02-17-2013, 04:54

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. ~D

ZeueX

02-17-2013, 19:08

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

02-17-2013, 19:23

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

ZeueX

02-17-2013, 19:41

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

02-17-2013, 20:00

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 :laugh4:

ZeueX

02-17-2013, 21:51

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 :laugh4:

hmm I do not think the dynasty is a problem, when I start the saved game as the heir, I get all of the titles when the ruler dies, but it is not the same, it is like starting a new game.. And actually when I think about it, the warning of "title loss on succession" has been there since the female ruler came in power, I suspect a bug.

Monk

02-17-2013, 22:01

hmm I do not think the dynasty is a problem, when I start the saved game as the heir, I get all of the titles when the ruler dies, but it is not the same, it is like starting a new game.. And actually when I think about it, the warning of "title loss on succession" has been there since the female ruler came in power, I suspect a bug.

Yeah it's very possible, i've noticed it rarely too. Like, the game is convinced I will lose all my titles upon succession, when in reality, the transition of power looks perfect and usually is so. My advice would be to just do what you're doing now: Save often and keep an eye on it, but don't worry too much about it :yes:

You might even consider reporting it as a bug on the paradox CK2 forums.

Sarmatian

02-17-2013, 23:29

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. ~D

I abandoned Cuman game and started a new one as Rurikovich dynasty. With some luck I managed to unite the Rus and claim the title of the King of Rus. First two successions were a pain with half of my kingdom rebelling against me. I managed to deal with that and last two transitions of power were smooth, with no rebellions, thanks to imprisoned dukes and heavy bribing. The last one was exceptionally tough as my 30 year old king died and left a 3 year old girl in power. Well, that little girl about 40 now and commanding huger respect from her vassals, having 100 relations with most of them. Moscow is steadily growing in tech 10/9/5 now, the culture tech behind mostly due to my patriarch being constantly elsewhere to convert religion. I except the next transition of power to go smooth also.

Il-khanate will arrive soon, and at the moment I have a dynastic alliance with rather big Kingdom of Georgia, holding land from both Georgia and Alania. Only worthwhile allies in the region is Byz of course. I've found that other strong allies like Poland or HRE aren't useful because by the time they get there, the war is already over. Mongols devastate my land with their 100 000 strong attrition free stack, and soon get to 100% warscore.

I will probably be able to muster around 120 000 levies of my own in a couple of decades but as always the problem will be combining them fast enough to actually combat the Mongols, without suffering too much attrition and with mongols not assaulting every holding to get 100% warscore fast.

I'm still undecided whether I should conquer easternmost duchies. I've left them purposefully in the hands of Cumania (tengri) to maybe force the il-khanate to go south. Down there there is an immensely powerful Sultanate of Egypt having 140 000 levies at the moment. Also, I won't have the time to properly upgrade those holdings so Mongols would assault/conquer them rather easily, giving them warscore quickly. What do you think? A good strategy?

Monk

02-18-2013, 01:10

Good job in the unification of the Rus! That's probably one of my favorite places to start at the 1066 date. Lots of room for expansion and freedom to do what you want while still presenting lots of challenges.

I'm still undecided whether I should conquer easternmost duchies. I've left them purposefully in the hands of Cumania (tengri) to maybe force the il-khanate to go south. Down there there is an immensely powerful Sultanate of Egypt having 140 000 levies at the moment. Also, I won't have the time to properly upgrade those holdings so Mongols would assault/conquer them rather easily, giving them warscore quickly. What do you think? A good strategy?

:yes: it might even buy you a little time if you leave those duchies as a buffer, say, an extra 5 years before their eventual invasion.

Don't forget assassinations! It may be worth it to try to assassinate some of the best mongol generals. Locate the mongol leader and take a look at his court after the invasion, see if you can select individuals and determine who his best generals are. Something to keep in mind is that the mongols great power comes from their battle tactics, which cannot be used if the AI lacks good commanders. A few well placed (and lucky) assassinations might be the key to winning a crucial fight on the flank that could determine the war.

A few things things to note about the Mongol Invasion:

1. Every new khan can call in reinforcements until the year 1300. But once he does, he no longer can do that during his life time. So you never want to assassinate the khan directly.

2. Every 10-20 years the mongols will return with much less troops and attempt reinvasions, should their initial invasion fail. These will go on until 1300, the mongols will bring anywhere from 20000 to 60000 men in these 'lesser' invasions. Not the doomstacks of the first, but something you must contend with.

3. If they at any time convert they automatically lose the ability to call in new troops.

I like to think of the Mongols (and later Timur) as the boss battles of CK2. They are really tough and they require a lot of planning to approach with a hope of victory. My advice would be to save on the eve of the invasion and then continue in a different slot. If at first you don't succeed, try to refight the war from the beginning and see if you can do any better by adjusting your tactics. The Mongols are meant to be big blob shatterers, so don't be dismayed if you gotta give it more than one try to beat them.

Sarmatian

02-18-2013, 10:02

Bah, another game down the drain -

Il-khanate appeared about 1 year after I loaded up my save. Georgia attacked Cumania for Abkhazia, called me in but Cumans called Il-khanate. I quickly mobilized as I've seen their stacks divided hoping to destroy them one by one. I could mobilize 80000-90000 but attrition killed me as most provinces in the east can't support more than 40000. In the end some 60000 remained and I managed to destroy one of their 20000 stack but they quickly combined the rest into a 100000 doomstack and utterly destroyed my army, with less than 1000 losses. Less than two years later Golden Horde appeared and immediately declared war on me. I was still recovering and could only muster about 50000 troops. I severely mauled one of their stacks, only 7 thousands left out of initial 20 but they combined two in one 40 something thousands stack and attacked my 30 thousand strong army while I was moving another 25 thousands to reinforce them. But they got there sooner, killed of my first army with negligeble losses and proceeded to do the same to the reinforcing army.

Again I surrendered hoping to buy some time and save money for mercenaries but raising my retinues all over again a few times drained my treasury. A few years later Il-khanate declared war and while I was trying to hurt them even slightly GH declared war again.

This is the first time I've seen both hordes appear within a two years of each other and somehow, both thought I was a juicy target. I was allied to Denmark, Georgia and HRE, all answered my call to arms but only Georgia sent 10000 troops before the war was over.

Gonna move west for my next game cause I really don't know how can I possibly defeat the hordes unless I'm maybe Byz, but starting as the most powerful nation isn't appealing to me.

Chaotix

02-19-2013, 23:00

Yeah, as the Byzantines you can get powerful enough before the hordes arrive that they won't even want to declare war on you.

If you play as them in the 1081 start (Alexiad) it's a little more interesting as you have the Rum Sultanate to contend with first, but once you've beaten them and taken back half of Anatolia you're set for the rest of the campaign. The fun in playing the Basileus mostly comes from restoring the Roman Empire somewhere down the line.

I've just mended the schism in my game, but it was a pain getting a claim on Rome and it'll be more annoying to get claims on Genoa and Venice, who both converted to Orthodox with the change. After that, though, it's Imperial Conquest CB all the way till I restore the Empire's historical borders!

Ishmael

02-19-2013, 23:47

Monk

02-20-2013, 00:11

Yikes. I've been playing a game in Spain and the British Isles (I swapped to an Irish count of my dynasty once I became Emperor of Hispania), and so hadn't really given much thought to the Hordes, especially after they both near-simultaneously converted to Nestorianism. However, whilst idly browsing the 'independent realms' ledger I noticed the Ikkhanate has a 250 thousand strong army, with the Golden Horde having another 150 thousand. I'm thinking once I've fully united Britain I'll switch to the fairly powerful Kingdom of Greece (also of my dynasty) and see if I can take them on. Are their troops still resistant to attrition after they convert?

Wow, what? That can't all be doomstacks... how big are the hordes in your world? Show us a screenshot!

edit: As far as I know, once the horde converts they can still use their doomstacks (and yes they are attrition proof) but they lose the ability to call their powerful invasions. They are forced to use the claim system or fight holy wars for single duchies at a time.

Fortunately, if they are powerful and have large areas of land, those numbers you are seeing might be coming from more traditional levy and retinue caps which do suffer attrition.

Ishmael

02-20-2013, 02:58

Wow, what? That can't all be doomstacks... how big are the hordes in your world? Show us a screenshot!

edit: As far as I know, once the horde converts they can still use their doomstacks (and yes they are attrition proof) but they lose the ability to call their powerful invasions. They are forced to use the claim system or fight holy wars for single duchies at a time.

Fortunately, if they are powerful and have large areas of land, those numbers you are seeing might be coming from more traditional levy and retinue caps which do suffer attrition.

This is my first game that's lasted until the hordes arrived, and it's proved to be pretty interesting:

https://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u525/Aridhol/ck2_2_zpsf7b69694.png

https://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u525/Aridhol/ck2_1_zps3a33abf1.png

https://i1320.photobucket.com/albums/u525/Aridhol/ck2_3_zpsb154be6d.png

I started as Castille, and managed to unite Spain (except for a chunk on the east coast owned by Pisa). In the process, I managed to put a ruler of my dynasty on the throne of Sicily and Greece, both of which were won in crusades. Sicily started out strong, taking most of the land in North Africa that Greece currently owns, but lost the majority of it's territory to Greece through inter-realm inheritance and a few wars. Greece went surprisingly well considering that their founding ruler was an imbecile, but with only a little support from Spain they managed to carve out a fair chunk of territory. I don't think they've ever been allied to the Byzantine Empire, but together they managed to break the backs of the Muslim powers before the Hordes arrived (which contributed greatly to the success of the Ilkhanate). Islam is now practically extinct in Europe.

Nothing particularly exciting had been happening in the rest of the world. France had been a powerhouse for about one hundred years (being a very helpful ally of Castille when it was first growing), but now is a patchwork of independent states. The HRE has stood strong throughout, expanding into Norway and Finland. Unfortunately they were struck by their first major civil war just as their allies the Cumans (who had united all of Russia and fielded about 80000 levies) were attacked by the Golden Horde, which ended poorly for them. The Pope launched a crusade to retake Poland, but as the HRE did not deign to take part it failed miserably. However, somewhat miraculously both the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate converted nigh-simultaneously to Nestorianism about 30 years ago, and since then their borders have been frozen pretty much in their current locations.

Current plans are to finish up with unifying Britain, then I'll swap over to Greece, take out the Byzantine Empire and defeat the Ilkhanate somehow. Easy, right? :beam:

Chaotix

02-20-2013, 03:51

That's quite a campaign plan.

Think you can do all of it in just 140 years?

And 250k levies is actually not ridiculous for ~1300 (~1200, when the Mongols arrive, is really stretching it though). Impressive for a computer-controlled nation though, usually I only see the Fatimids/Seljuks, or maybe HRE or Byz get to be that big. I guess it makes sense with the Mongols.