Crusader Kings II Challenge - An Empire Divided

[The Stranger]

ye, i wouldve had around the same amount. only i hired more mercs i guess :P

[Monk]

ye, i wouldve had around the same amount. only i hired more mercs i guess :P

Yes, as I am discovering! Seems that the 1205 scenario is a money maker if you can quickly unite Anatolia. That will certainly help all of you in securing the de jure empire.

Second post has been updated with a list of all currently confirmed participants and their current faction of choice as well as leaderboard formating. If I have made an error tell me and I will change it.

Don't forget you are permitted to try as often as you like with any of the three factions listed in the rules. So just because you chose Byzantium on your first go, that doesn't mean you can't try it as the Latins and vice versa.

[Arjos]

Sökmen, the Emperor that wasn't

Heeding his father's words, the new Sultan outlawed fighting among roman Sunnis and granted freedom to all his beyliks for declaring jihads. The timing couldn't have been better: the nicean Emperor died, leaving his infant daughter as Basilissa. A grand jihad was called to liberate Anatolia.

A group of landless nobles also rallied under the banner of a minor beylik's youngest son and captured half of Sicily.

Sökmen then decided it was time expand further in Europe and consolidate the aegean ports.

News reached the latin world of the success in the latest crusade, ensuring jubilation throughout the whole of christendom. This for Sökmen was the perfect chance to establish himself as the protector of Islam and so called up his banners to liberate the Holy Land from the Franks, but also attacked Edessa claiming the emirate as his, thanks to dubious legal parchments.

With no one able to stop the Seljuqs, Sökmen had Korkut I, the emir of Aleppo, killed in order to move forward his kinsman's claim. No one suspected the Sultan, or rather avoided raising the discussion, but Allah surely must have taken notice of it.

Uncaring for the consequences of his actions, Sökmen rallied all the beyliks and sailed for Calabria and the Adriatic. There a league of christian states united against him, under the roman Kaiser leadership (Venezia, Genoa and Naples). Battles of unprecedented scale took place and, even though the Muslims were victorious, each battle saw the Sultan suffering wounding blows. Maimed and feeling cursed, Sökmen asked for forgiveness and tormented died 30 years old, when he could have achieved the greatness no Seljuq could have dreamed of.

The Sultana Khadja took the regency and left any military operations to the Captain of the Ghilman, who pt an end to all the conflicts.

With the regency far from over and their never ending ambition, coupled with the great influence gained at court, the Ghilman rallied men from all over the sultanate. Fervored by the recent Jihad called by the Sunni Caliph, the Rum attacked all the major power it bordered: the Latin Empire, Bulgaria, Jerusalem and even the Golden Horde, which was torned by rebellions.

Kayqubad II, still underaged, is about to inherit the greatest power the world has seen in centuries, who could ever stop him?

I'm well into what I call "the formality" stage of the campaign...
And yes I still haven't touched my royal funds XD

Well, off drinking and for the occasion rum it is :D

[rickinator9]

Am I able to do this over? I started too slow and now the GH has bulgaria.

[The Stranger]

ye he said you can try as many times as you want. but tbh i am 99% sure that Rum is best, then ERE and then the Latin Empire. but Rum is so much better that i think the other 2 have no chance.

if u want to win (and beat Arjos) you have to go with rum, if you play just for fun, ofcourse pick whichever you like

[rickinator9]

ye he said you can try as many times as you want. but tbh i am 99% sure that Rum is best, then ERE and then the Latin Empire. but Rum is so much better that i think the other 2 have no chance.

if u want to win (and beat Arjos) you have to go with rum, if you play just for fun, ofcourse pick whichever you like

I wanna try byzantine another time though. I could have attacked Trebizond but I didn't.
I could have attacked Bulgaria but I didn't.
I could have attacked Cyprus but I didn't.
I could have attacked Sicily but I didn't.

[Arjos]

if u want to win (and beat Arjos)

Really, I'm playing for fun :P
I have all the DLCs I want already XD

I picked Rum because I though everyone would go with the Romaioi or the Latins...
Good that I'm motivating people though ^^

I could have attacked Trebizond but I didn't.
I could have attacked Bulgaria but I didn't.
I could have attacked Cyprus but I didn't.
I could have attacked Sicily but I didn't.

Yeah, for this challenge you have to be ruthless, I didn't RP anything here other than the campaigning :D

[Monk]

Incredible work Arjos! You may be the first to succeed, and doing so with the sultanate! To be honest I was of the same mind as others, i thought the Byzantines would be be the first to succeed. I am glad to have been proven wrong at least based on early appearances

Avoid any succession crisis and you should have it all wrapped up.

ye he said you can try as many times as you want. but tbh i am 99% sure that Rum is best, then ERE and then the Latin Empire. but Rum is so much better that i think the other 2 have no chance.

From the start you're right, Rum is just too powerful to take in a head on fight. Waiting for the opportune chance while consolidating is your best bet to take them out. Assassinating their sultan while they have a child heir and spamming their more powerful vassals with your chancellor's "ruin relationship" is a good way to precede an invasion of someone more powerful than you.

The Sultanate of Rum has zero internal problems at the start - it's up to the player to create some strife.

[rickinator9]

From the start you're right, Rum is just too powerful to take in a head on fight. Waiting for the opportune chance while consolidating is your best bet to take them out. Assassinating their sultan while they have a child heir and spamming their more powerful vassals with your chancellor's "ruin relationship" is a good way to precede an invasion of someone more powerful than you.

The Sultanate of Rum has zero internal problems at the start - it's up to the player to create some strife.

Not to mention the ability to holy war the entire west.

[Monk]

Not to mention the ability to holy war the entire west.

True but the Latins can holy war the entire East.

I can't recall if orthodox nations can have Holy War CBs or not. I haven't played since thursday and my memory is a bit foggy.

[The Stranger]

I encountered a gamebreaking bug that possible sets me back a decade.

[Arjos]

I stopped taking pictures regularly, because really right now it's me abusing every nation XD

I declared war against Jerusalem, the Golden Horde, Bulgaria and Adrianopolis at the same time. Had just the time to deploy some armies that the Pope called a crusade for Constantinople, whole Christendom attacked me!
It was mad fun, 60k stacks all over the place, in the end Egypt and Africa joined the fight and I sacked Rome :P

The Sultanate of Rum has zero internal problems at the start - it's up to the player to create some strife.

The turkish open succession is just awesome, the best in the game imo, all vassals get +10 opinion and your heir is always your son or the strongest kinsman in case you have no male heir...

I can't recall if orthodox nations can have Holy War CBs or not.

They can :)
I actually think that the Latin Empire or the Byzantines can have an easier life since they can marry christian queens, the muslims have agnatic succession only and it gets a bit messy with marriages claims...

[The Stranger]

to marry your ruler into the byzantine empire dejure territory you either need to have 1 ruler breed like a rabbit with multiple queens or you need to have rapid successions. basically conquest is much faster. and the rums have the fastest conquest since holy war on byzzies will not get as much support by strong allies for religious defense but when you holy war rum then some strong muslim nations will support.

[Monk]

I encountered a gamebreaking bug that possible sets me back a decade.

Resolved.

Stranger encountered a bug where a faction who declared independence from Egypt, while he was already at war with Egypt, would reset his warscore for no apparent reason upon the independence war being a success. Not only that but all the counties he'd occupied would suddenly unoccupy themselves, with no interaction from Egyption forces. All of this despite the fact that his war for Egypt had nothing to do with the independence war, no less. Other CKII users have also reported this on rare occasions.

He graciously provided screenshots as proof and I can confirm that's exactly what happened. I've allowed him to work around the bug and also encouraged him to write a bug report, which he has

I declared war against Jerusalem, the Golden Horde, Bulgaria and Adrianopolis at the same time. Had just the time to deploy some armies that the Pope called a crusade for Constantinople, whole Christendom attacked me!
It was mad fun, 60k stacks all over the place, in the end Egypt and Africa joined the fight and I sacked Rome :P

Your success has not gone unnoticed by the AI! It seems the fall of Byzantium and the other successors has prompted a reaction. Very well done in defending your hard earned conquests! Will we see the first successful challenge inside a century?

They can :)
I actually think that the Latin Empire or the Byzantines can have an easier life since they can marry christian queens, the muslims have agnatic succession only and it gets a bit messy with marriages claims...

Honestly it's a toss up between Byz and Rum on who has the better starting point, imho. Rum has the internal security and the military power - but a good player can turn Byzantium into the Sultanate's equal with a little time and effort. I also consider the looming threat of a crusade to be an added bonus difficulty to anyone who plays the Sultanate, as you no doubt discovered

Watching this thread evolve has been a lot of fun. Quite eager to see how the rest of you are doing in your games.

[The Stranger]

I stopped taking pictures regularly, because really right now it's me abusing every nation XD

I declared war against Jerusalem, the Golden Horde, Bulgaria and Adrianopolis at the same time. Had just the time to deploy some armies that the Pope called a crusade for Constantinople, whole Christendom attacked me!
It was mad fun, 60k stacks all over the place, in the end Egypt and Africa joined the fight and I sacked Rome :P



The turkish open succession is just awesome, the best in the game imo, all vassals get +10 opinion and your heir is always your son or the strongest kinsman in case you have no male heir...



They can :)
I actually think that the Latin Empire or the Byzantines can have an easier life since they can marry christian queens, the muslims have agnatic succession only and it gets a bit messy with marriages claims...

you have to start over tho, im much faster :P

[Arjos]

you have to start over tho, im much faster :P

I respect peace treaties! XD

[The Stranger]

you do? :O

(I only do that against ppl of the same religion XD not only for this challenge)

[rickinator9]

Disrespecting truces with the infidel has no drawbacks. You can't interact with them anyway.

[The Stranger]

First



The rest of the shots turned into the Chronicles of the Empire of Rum will follow later.

Also I edited out the year, so the challenge will remain for other players!

[Monk]

@The Stranger

If you want you can decline the prize, but I would still like to acknowledge your victory.

Please send me your save game either by email or upload it to http://www.mediafire.com/ , you can create a free account and get 200mb of storage for nothing. More than enough for this.

My email is monk643[at]gmail.com

[The Stranger]

i havent won yet have i? other ppl might be faster still.

I will send it soon. I might want to try again, i think i can be faster than i have been now.

[scottishranger]

Dangg stranger very nice

Well to start off my own adventure, I am playing as The true Byzantine Empire!

To begin Basileus Theodoros I declared war on the traitors of the Despote of Trebizond, and claimed the provinces of Sinope and Amisos as de jure parts of the Byzantine Empire. Trebizond put up a good fight, but in the end the Byzantine Army, aided by the Varagian Guard and the Rus Band, triumphed, with help from Genoa who declared war to seize Cherson.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...2F7746C5865BE/

During this time my brother Manuel revolted against my rightful rule, taking his province of Heraklia into rebellion. Since he revolted during wartime, I crushed him and banished him to the farthest reaches of Christendom, seizing all his titles and money.

I also had 1 daughter and 2 sons born.

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...18113C054EF07/

Next I claimed the Eastern half of Krete to retake, and successfully usurped the title of Duchy of Krete after its conquest

The greatest success so far though has been drumroll..... THE RETAKING OF CONSTANTINOPLE

http://cloud.steampowered.com/ugc/59...129CE02C1D277/

Theodoros noticed that the vile usurpers were engaged in both the Crusade for Jerusalem and in a ducal war against Epirus. Taking advantage of this, his eminence raised his armies and set forth to reconquer the ancestral capital. After Constantinople, Thrakia, the islands of Naxos and Gallipoli were taken, the cowardly Latins sued for peace and The Duchy's of both Thrakia and Adrianople were retaken

and thats my progress so far...

[Monk]

i havent won yet have i? other ppl might be faster still.

I will send it soon. I might want to try again, i think i can be faster than i have been now.

Thus far you are the first to report a complete de jure victory. The standings won't be updated until confirm it your victory, however. Upload it at your own pace.

As per the rules you are permitted to try as many times as you like and submit your best time for prize consideration. Or, as i have said, you may decline the prize as well. That is your option

If you don't mind me asking, how does usurping Emperor titles work? I've never done that before. Is it just like usurping any other title? You hold half the de jure and then boom you get the option?

[Monk]

@scottishranger

Welcome to the fray! Another Byzantine player, very good. I bet rickinator9 was feeling a bit lonely.

You're off to a great start, having already recaptured Constantinople. Very good!

[The Stranger]

Thus far you are the first to report a complete de jure victory. The standings won't be updated until confirm it your victory, however. Upload it at your own pace.

As per the rules you are permitted to try as many times as you like and submit your best time for prize consideration. Or, as i have said, you may decline the prize as well. That is your option

If you don't mind me asking, how does usurping Emperor titles work? I've never done that before. Is it just like usurping any other title? You hold half the de jure and then boom you get the option?

Ok, I confirm the victory. I sent you the files. I will make an AAR later tho, now its too late here :P

and ye, usurping de jure empires works same as other titles. obviously titular empires cant be usurped (so you can only usurp Byz Empire or the HRE)

[Monk]

Ok, I confirm the victory. I sent you the files. I will make an AAR later tho, now its too late here :P

and ye, usurping de jure empires works same as other titles. obviously titular empires cant be usurped (so you can only usurp Byz Empire or the HRE)

I don't have access to the comp with CK2 on it so i'll have to check it later tonight. However I got your save downloaded fine, thank you. If you would like to forfeit the prize you are certainly welcome to. I would still like to post your time to give everyone something to shoot for, however.

In the event that players would like to forfiet their prizes I will just bump that prize level down one notch. So if the player who obtains #1 doesnt want it, it goes to the player who got #2, and ect.

Remember all it's not a race. First one complete this in real world time means nothing, you have until next month to compete in the challenge. It's more like a time trial to see who can do this the fastest. Even though Stranger has by appearances reached the finish line first you can continue to compete in the challenge even if his entry turns out valid. Which it looks like it might very well be.

Good luck and continue to forge your dynasty ahead!

[The Stranger]

nah ill play for the prize :P you can post my time. its 1267 (took me 52 years)

[Monk]

nah ill play for the prize :P you can post my time. its 1267 (took me 52 years)

That's the spirit!

[Monk]

Pushing to 3 so announcement doesnt get lost

[Monk]

ditto