Crusader Kings II - Paradox Entertainement (02/12)
- Thread starter Tellus
- Start date
Well, most of the time my expansion is merely limited by my inability to fabricate claims. (I swear HIP lowers claim chance and raises costs.)
Things we learn the hard way: DO NOT CHEAT IN CKII.
I was playing as Scotland, and the Sultanate of Mauretania was giving me problems cuz they were picking on a few Christian kingdoms. I gave the kingdom to some crappy West African religion nation and expected them to fall to pieces so I could focus elsewhere.
I was wrong. I was really really wrong.
The Malian Empire extends from Tunisia to Mali to Spain. Most of the lands are West African, especially in Spain which they won in a Great Holy War. I can't really do anything because my ally the HRE keeps dicking around in Eastern Europe. Most likely, the Malians are coming for me.
Run while you still have time.
I was playing as Scotland, and the Sultanate of Mauretania was giving me problems cuz they were picking on a few Christian kingdoms. I gave the kingdom to some crappy West African religion nation and expected them to fall to pieces so I could focus elsewhere.
I was wrong. I was really really wrong.
The Malian Empire extends from Tunisia to Mali to Spain. Most of the lands are West African, especially in Spain which they won in a Great Holy War. I can't really do anything because my ally the HRE keeps dicking around in Eastern Europe. Most likely, the Malians are coming for me.
Run while you still have time.
I personnally like having a large empire, even if it becomes a nightmare at times. My expansion though is generally limited by claims (especially given the fact I generally don't fabricate them) and, past a certain point, vassal limit. I also have a tendency to wait for my vassals to lose the negative penalty about me raising troops to fight a war: it's generally better for vassals to hold no grudge against their liege and it also forces me to slow down with conquests. Last but not least, I don't fight wars when I have dangerous factions at home: no point fighting in foreign territory if you're threatened by Civil War.GoukaRyuu said:
The largest empire I got was basically me starting as Charlemagne and it ended up with me holding the Western Roman Empire's borders 400 years later basically. By that point though, I had a hard time expanding any further: I had reached my limit, I didn't know what to conquer after that and I had plenty of internal matters to focus on (Peasant revolts, Raiders, Factions, etc..) Still, pretty good times.
Siring lots of sons, putting them on St. Peter's throne and making them cardinals...
It's easy enough to crush the Pope and vassalize him, but has anyone ever tried making a dynasty of Popes?
I've been playing a Roman/Byzantine game, starting from the Stamford Bridge bookmark in HIP. My original character was Nikephoros Melissenos, Strategos of the Thracesians (Western Asia Minor, the duchy directly to the east of Smyrna, landlocked), who starts the game as the brother-in-law of Alexios Komnenos & co. I've had a strange fascination with the Melissenoi family for some time now, as the oldest recorded Byzantine family, and one that never rose to the purple. It was nice to have the opportunity to play as them; also, their coat-of-arms is sweet.
Anyway, early on I decided to migrate from Thracesians to a duchy in Europe, since I feared the Turks would conquer Asia Minor and give me a game over early on. I sent my logothete to fabricate claims to Adrianople and my plan eventually included Nikephoros becoming Emperor after winning a claim to the throne in the battlefield, which may happen in HIP if a general is particularly successful. That never happened, unfortunately, even though Nikephoros was a legendary commander and Grand Domestic/marshall by the end of his life, and since then I've decided to stay away from the imperial throne.
The consequence of said decision was a mess, predictably. It seems the AI simply cannot hold the imperial throne on their own. Constantine X died one year into the game and his son Michael VII succeeded him. The throne swapped around a lot after that between several Doukai and even Komnenoi. Eventually, Romanos IV Diogenes became Emperor (the backbone of his army were the Melissenoi) and looked like he was going to be a good one, but he died one month later and his son Germanos succeeded him. He didn't last long, being replaced by a Komnenid, who was deposed by Alexios Komnenos around 1100, but who ruled for a year or so until his nephew was returned to the purple. The throne has returned to the Doukai by now (around 1120), inherited by the Komnenid's Doukas kids. I'll get a list for y'all later.
Anyway, Nikephoros Melissenos was a seasoned Roman general and became known as Nikephoros the Lion, as any good Eastern military aristocrat would. Under his rule, the Melissenoi shifted from Eastern to mostly Western military aristocrats; although the Thracesians were kept under their grip, the family's seat moved first to Adrianople and then to the Empire's second city, Thessalonica itself, and Nikephoros became the Doux of Thessalonica. In his career as general, he defeated Turkish invasions several times, particularly at the Battle of Melitene, although he only delayed the inevitable. Towards the end of his life, he was determined to claim the Imperial throne following a series of civil wars that left the Empire weakened; as the single respected (and respectable) commander and nobleman left, he felt it was his duty to take charge and enforce order to restore glory to Rome. Unfortunately, he became infirm and died before he could march against Constantinople.
His sucessor, Romanos Melissenos, was content to remain at Thessalonica, without his father's imperial ambitions. He became a strongman of the Doukid regime, sometimes serving as regent, though it was under one of his regencies that central Anatolia was lost to a jihad. Although Doux Romanos does not aim for the purple, he has consolidated his grip on Europe by claiming for himself Great Vlachia and by harboring Italian ambitions, that has seen a Sicilian princess married to his youngest son, Leon Melissenos. Romanos had two other older sons, Nikephoros and Basil, but the former was a hunchback forced into a monastery who died young, and the latter an unexceptional courtier at the Emperor's court. Leon, however, was a brilliant general and his father's appointed successor. He is expected to do great things once Romanos passes away.
Anyway, early on I decided to migrate from Thracesians to a duchy in Europe, since I feared the Turks would conquer Asia Minor and give me a game over early on. I sent my logothete to fabricate claims to Adrianople and my plan eventually included Nikephoros becoming Emperor after winning a claim to the throne in the battlefield, which may happen in HIP if a general is particularly successful. That never happened, unfortunately, even though Nikephoros was a legendary commander and Grand Domestic/marshall by the end of his life, and since then I've decided to stay away from the imperial throne.
The consequence of said decision was a mess, predictably. It seems the AI simply cannot hold the imperial throne on their own. Constantine X died one year into the game and his son Michael VII succeeded him. The throne swapped around a lot after that between several Doukai and even Komnenoi. Eventually, Romanos IV Diogenes became Emperor (the backbone of his army were the Melissenoi) and looked like he was going to be a good one, but he died one month later and his son Germanos succeeded him. He didn't last long, being replaced by a Komnenid, who was deposed by Alexios Komnenos around 1100, but who ruled for a year or so until his nephew was returned to the purple. The throne has returned to the Doukai by now (around 1120), inherited by the Komnenid's Doukas kids. I'll get a list for y'all later.
Anyway, Nikephoros Melissenos was a seasoned Roman general and became known as Nikephoros the Lion, as any good Eastern military aristocrat would. Under his rule, the Melissenoi shifted from Eastern to mostly Western military aristocrats; although the Thracesians were kept under their grip, the family's seat moved first to Adrianople and then to the Empire's second city, Thessalonica itself, and Nikephoros became the Doux of Thessalonica. In his career as general, he defeated Turkish invasions several times, particularly at the Battle of Melitene, although he only delayed the inevitable. Towards the end of his life, he was determined to claim the Imperial throne following a series of civil wars that left the Empire weakened; as the single respected (and respectable) commander and nobleman left, he felt it was his duty to take charge and enforce order to restore glory to Rome. Unfortunately, he became infirm and died before he could march against Constantinople.
His sucessor, Romanos Melissenos, was content to remain at Thessalonica, without his father's imperial ambitions. He became a strongman of the Doukid regime, sometimes serving as regent, though it was under one of his regencies that central Anatolia was lost to a jihad. Although Doux Romanos does not aim for the purple, he has consolidated his grip on Europe by claiming for himself Great Vlachia and by harboring Italian ambitions, that has seen a Sicilian princess married to his youngest son, Leon Melissenos. Romanos had two other older sons, Nikephoros and Basil, but the former was a hunchback forced into a monastery who died young, and the latter an unexceptional courtier at the Emperor's court. Leon, however, was a brilliant general and his father's appointed successor. He is expected to do great things once Romanos passes away.
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B-29_Bomber
Banned
Last of the Arthurians: Jihad
I now rule a kingdom from Central Italy to Tripoli. I rule over so called heretics, "Schismatics", and Papists, Greeks and Italians, Arabs and Berbers, and Cornish and Normans. I now have the power to bring the German Emperor to heel and yet I am a mere King? I should be crowned Emperor of the Romans, true Romans ruled from the actual city of Rome!
The only thing stopping me is that damned German Emperor and his choke hold over Northern Italy. Of course there's the Empire of the East, but they're hardly a threat, with their constant civil wars ever since their loss of Anatolia...
Wait...are you saying there's something in the Reaper's Due apart from cats? I haven't noticed anything...
So I got the RePer's Due and started up a new game in Wessex. As normal (when testing DLC at least) I made my character stupidly good and what do I find? GAME OPTIONS. I can finally stop the games annoying bits (AI seduction), and a few other things) without having to waste a couple of hours screwing around in the game files trying to figure out how I fixed it last time. I didn't go with any of the really easy options, except disabling defensive pacts) but knowing the option is there is nice. I mentioned in the Stellaris thread that my biggest gripe has always been Paradox trying to force a specific style on my single-player games, and this drastically reduces that.
I haven't actually PLAYED the DLC yet but I'm already happy.
I haven't actually PLAYED the DLC yet but I'm already happy.