The Rebel post

[Great Est.]

I just recently installed and began playing XL (busted DVD drives notwithstanding). I've reached an impasse in my Cuman campaing after the Horde's arrival. I have a 3,000+ on 3,000+ battle to fight that I don't want to autocalc because I think I can wreck the Horde with my steppe heavies and Cuman horse. So I put that campaign aside until I have more time to wage war.
And ... I decided to try loading one of my vanilla campagns, the Danes. Bad idea, it turns out. Or was it?
The first thing I notice on the campaign map is the huge number of rebels. Then I realise I can control the Rebels! I thought I must have left this campaign in a shambles when I stopped playing and this must be a succession crisis. But no, the Danes were in Denmark but I could not control them. The nonexistent rebel king's name 'cannot be read.'
The rebels hold Britain, Norway, Sweden, huge chunks of Asia, Portugal, Valencia. These were clearly the dominions of the Danish empire I had wrought and now lost.
I decided to play for awhile, though I had no troop building capabilities at first. Now I'm churning out huscarles from Norway. My loyalty is 100% everywhere no matter what troops I have. I have decided to abandon (i.e., destroy everything in) most of the Asian territories and concentrate my forces in Britain and the Norseland. I have been unable to build ships.

I guess I can't savegames from before XL, huh? Are the rebels supposed to be playable in XL? So many questions. I will try to post pics of the rebel empire if I can get it to load.

[caravel]

Bad savegames always revert to a new early campaign as the rebels IIRC. And savegames from different mods or vanilla are incompatible also.