Crusader Kings II

[Chaotix]

This is the goal of a game I am gonna start over the weekend. Either a Karling -> Germany or a Saxon Germany. Raise a powerful German state, defend Rome from heathens, take the holy lands, pacify the Slavic pagans, throw back the mongols... lots to do!

That extra 200 years adds so much depth to a single campaign it's staggering.

slightly related note... the AI formed the HRE in an observer game I let run last night while I was busy with other things. That's the first time i've seen that, and they became a pretty scary force. They'd united Lotharingia, East Francia and Italy beneath its command just as the Age of the Crusader began.

I was playing a game as Amalfi and Charles the Bald managed to unite ALL of the Carolingian kingdoms. Then he formed Francia.

I would be scared, but by that point I had already been forced to swear fealty to the the growing Byzantine Empire, which has been conquering new territory at a constant rate.

50 years later and Francia is still standing and quite formidable; had a couple of independence revolts from vassal kings but crushed them all. However, the Emperor had the unfortunate idea to also form the Holy Roman Empire. So as soon as someone survives to have more than a single male heir, that empire's gonna split. And actually, at that point it will probably be fairly historical, minus the presence of Karlings.

I'm starting to wonder with their sheer numbers, how the Karlings managed to almost completely die out by 1066, historically.