kings and their heirs

[housecarl]

I have noticed that occasionally you can get a really bad King with terrible statistics and Virtue’s and Vice’s. When the king has off-spring, they tend to be terrible as well. I have in the past, tried to get rid of these bad king’s early on but when I heave succeeded usually by sending him alone against a hundred knights, I always seem to end up with as bad a replacement so becoming trapped in cycle that seems difficult to break. Searching the forum some people have suggested that a positive attitude can improve the King’s statistics, such as generals invading successfully or trading well to improve acumen. What I was wondering was do the heirs take on these positive attributes as well to break the cycle or once you have a bad king that’s it. Does anyone know if the heirs improve before I start a long process of boosting my King’s virtues?

[MonkeyMan]

The link to this died so have a re-post

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Excerpt from the deathbed speech of King Alfred III of the English c.1256

“Come in close my son so you can hear me speak, for before I die I would pass on the advice my father gave to me on the day he died, and his father gave to him …. Right back to Mad King Steven I the inbred loon on the Penguin people.

Good breeding is a science my son, you are proof of this, you are twice the man I was at your age and much greater a man than your two older brothers who died mysterious deaths soon after coming of age.

I shall tell you what I know of it that my line will continue down the ages and your sons will in turn be as powerful god fearing and intelligent as you are now.

Firstly my son to start you down the road of heirs is marriage. Your own mother was the daughter or Philippe the foolish of the French, and learn this well, it matters not who you marry, only that to be married before you come to the throne is an advantage in the heirs you bring when you come to be king. You know I was unable to find you a foreign bride, it seems that it is lonely at the top, but it matters not. As any man knows, sons are merely slightly different versions of themselves, with the mothers part done once the child is ripped from her womb, such that she may return to her leisure and have no contact with her noble son.

A sons upbringing should be with his father, perhaps at the birth of a son you should step back and contemplate your moves, we cannot go back on ourselves and bring up a son in the proper way if mistakes are made can we? But worry not, a couple of years matter not if the upbringing is sound, by the time the child has reached about 12 little can be done to change him. At these points the father should show the son how to rule, make war and put down rebellions. Always ensure you have at least one heir, but when there are some to choose from make sure the best of your sons is next in line the throne, the others as was the case with your unfortunate older brothers met with deaths at the hands of the inquisition and the spears of rebellious masses and assassins sanctioned by unknowns. Of course your brother Henry died in battle with myself, seemingly not being the general in the battle made him feel quite unhealthy that day and when he charged impetuously out with his men, him at the front in some kind of arrowhead formation as we defended the hill I knew he would not return to camp that evening.

When your son is 14 and about to come of age, ensure you return to your capital, that he might receive the best weapons and armour you can find.

Once you have a good heir, you must train him as you have trained yourself up until his coming of age. Give to him a strong army of powerful units, like yours of chivalric knights with superb armour and incite rebellion in Scotland and Portugal. Every year or so, a rebellion will come and your army kept in fine Wessex will go and sort out the problem, make sure you take about half the number of rebels, such that everyone can have a few to themselves. If the army has spears dismount some of your men and take some archers. When you feel safely in control of the battle charge in yourself and learn the joy of combat. Once the captured rebels are assembled, sometimes kill them, and sometime s show mercy depending on the reputation you wish to forge, but once you have a reputation, simply kill the leaders. Following this path should insure each generation passes on an extra level of command experience to the next, that your sons may learn of the lessons of the past.

Send your son on a crusade, but fund it well with good troops and make sure it is over quickly, in my youth this taught me to be the gentle knight I am now and my men honour me as a result.

If you wish piety of your son, you should employ a lowly inquisitor with little skill, try him. There has never been any chance of him being guilty, but this tutelage has served you well my son, and despite the annoyance and the fact you are a confirmed atheist the populace believe you to be holier than the pope himself.

Build a University that your son may learn from scholars and effectively run an economy.

This my son is how it has been for generations, you are 9 times the man your ancestors were, and the kingdom is run by powerful relatives in all its most important parts, showing that long term benefits can be gained from such a practice.

Finally my son beware gods judgement on the powerful for it is well know that those such as you can spawn sons with no military ability at all for in the bible it is written that 9+1 does not equal 10 but 0.

Go now my son there is much work for you to do. I die…..”

One year later King Richard IV declared himself the second King of the penguin people and was often seen in heavily drunken orgies with young boys, his own mother and a Goat called Bob. His rule lasted for only 5 years.

The moral of this is even the best laid plans are doomed to failure, so why bother in the first place.


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also be very aware of the 8-9 star king making 0 star heirs. Note that the kings command stats are passed on WITH modifiers that exist on heir maturing so if your king is in your province and has field defence specialist his son get his farthers natural figure and this bonus. So a natural 2 star king with this in effect gives natural 5 star heirs. In this way it is easy to make a 9 star king in 3 generations or less. However when he makes it to 8-9 stars, put him in a castle so he loses this bonus (and relies upon his castle defence bonus instead) to reduce the chances of getting a useless heir.

Please patch this CA your ruining all my hard work, my assasins blade is getting blunted on all these useless welps i keep producing

[Azrael]

Hey Housecarl,

Do good things with your King. Building lots of nice things and improving farmland give your Great Builder and Steward. Get your King's province trading as soon as you can also.

Good virtues can often overcome the negative impact of vices.

Expand with your army and in no time at all, even a Chinless Wonder can become the most influential King in the game.

Failing that, order an assasination on yourself. Just for the laugh of receiving your counsellor's advice on the matter.

Hope some of that helps.

Azrael

[housecarl]

Thanks for the help, it sounds like it is worthwhile investing the time to improve the King and his heirs will improve as a consequence. Will enjoy myself developing them to true greatness

[housecarl]

Alo thanks Monkey man for the post I did enjoy reading that

[Gregoshi]

Agreed That was a great piece of writing. Loads of good game advice presented in a very entertaining way. Truly worthy of the king's bard.

[terryblack825]

Druken orgies and a goat named Bob that's good stuff right there. And that advice seemed pretty good I only wish I could actually play the campaign so I could use it.

[Qilue]

Something to keep in mind when selecting your heir's new wife based on observations I've made about the various rulers.

Ever noticed how the islamic rulers seem to be better on average than their christian counterparts after a few generations? There's one actual difference. They aren't marrying the progeny of royal losers.

Moral - When you multiply with a zero you always get a zero.

Or - don't marry a princess if her father is a chinless wonder, prefers boys, has an influence of 2 and 0 in all stats.

[rasoforos]

one of my best kings ever was a chinless wonder. chinless wonder is cool:P)

[housecarl]

…mmm I see what you mean about is it worth it I took all the advice in the forums, built up trade effectively, forged alliances, expanded the empire built up the capital, had emissaries and spies and gave the heir an army, and sent him forth, provinces loyalty ok and reasonably happy. Gradually the king improved, but when he died and the heir became King he had terrible statistics, so I have begun again trying to improve with the new King…. I think I was right and I’m trapped in an ever decreasing circle with these heirs.