The reconquista has been complete for 80 years, ever since then I've been struggling with both interal politics and trying to curb France's attempts to grab power. I've had mixed success in both areas but overall France simply cannot hold a candle to me. Militarily, culturally or technologically. I can levy 70k men when my vassals are in high approval (35k when they are not) and own 8k from my own personal base. France can only manage a fraction of that. They keep losing crown authority wars and its killing their power in the long run.
To be honest I think I am going to call it a game if and when i push France out of Iberia. This has been one wild ride of a campaign but i feel that would be a good place to hang it up and start again. I've built such a good groundwork that even when civil strife does happen to crop up at home, its easily picked apart and dealt with. I've learned so much about this game from both my Irish campaign and my castile one. If anyone is wondering whether Iberia is worth it, my recommendation is an enthusiastic yes. Its a much more complicated game than Ireland and can teach you the intricacies of vassal/lord requirements. But it requires a bit of luck at the start due to the way claims fall on the different kingdoms.
Here is the world at 1301
The Rus looked really strong ending the 1100s but then out of nowhere the horde came knocking. It wasn't even a fair fight if you want my opinion, within 20 years the Horde had absorbed pretty much the entire Russian steppe. They've been marching west steadily since then. A slow dread march that, at the time of this screenshot, just finished swallowing Poland. To be honest I think the collapse of the Byzantines served as a big factor for the Horde to just walk over the steppes - at least initially. With only one threat to focus on they easily steamrolled the Rus and are looking like nothing can stop them. Again, i'm glad I'm over on this side of the map...
The HRE is coming out of a full century of internal strife and constant succession wars. They at one point lost pretty much all of Italy to smaller itallian states who took the opportunity to break away, but have since fallen back into the fold, one by one, as the structure of the empire is solidified. Its a good thing the HRE finally got its act together because the Horde has come knocking. The two aren't doing much, but I think its only a matter of time.
The remnants of the Byzantines continue to fight. Syria and Georgia have become the breakout stars of the assorted chaos with both successor states taking over large chunks of the map, Right now either one has a really good chance of going on a conquering spree. Unfortunately, Georgia has lost at least half its territory to Trebizond in a recent uprising. So unless they can reabsorb that soon, i'm not sure about their chances! The lawful ruler of the empire has by now lost absolutely everything and only controls one relatively small blob of land, they've even lost Constantinople by now.. He's currently fighting 6 wars, each of them have the potential to wipe him off the map once and for all.
A surprise has cropped up, legit crusader states! The largest is controlled by Sweden which holds most of Ascalon and the coast. Georgia holds Jerusalem and a stretch of land a bit more inward - together they have successfully defended their little pieces of land for the last 70 years. It's been a sight to see.
Lastly Scotland has become a surprise powerhouse, establishing a firm hold on Ireland and fighting numerous wars against the English since 1230, and winning most of them. England seems hell-bent on attempting ducal claims but each and every time they get sorely beaten.
Re: Crusader Kings II
Originally Posted by Monk
Initial load time (first boot up) takes around 45 seconds to 2 min. In game loads (loading saves) are almost instant. I have 8gb of RAM and a well cared for HD though so take that as you will
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