Crusader Kings II - Paradox Entertainement (02/12)

Neoteros

Neoteros

SbADLdZ.jpg


How did this happen?

Well, the wife of my character, Bobone II "the Frog" Orsini, duke of Capua and most powerful vassal of the Pope (whose domains now stretch from Pisa to Messina, except I own most of that land) died during an epidemic, so I decided to marry the 16 year old sister of Emperor Birger "the Holy" of Carpathia... except Bobone fell in love with a commoner during the wedding, and basically talked her husband (one of his vassals) into divorcing her, after a whirlwind romance worthy of Shakespeare.

As for how the world looks like, it seems that Europe has been split into a handful of great empires: Capet France-Spain, Norman England (that also controls most of the rest of Great Britain, Brittany, Normandy and Flanders), the Holy Roman Empire (now with 100% more Poland), Carpathia (a behemoth stretching from the Adriatic to the Dnieper) and Palemonid Lithuania, now a pan-Baltic polity that includes southern Finland.

I can't seem to be able to fabricate a claim on the Papal States even though I have the "become king of the Papal States" ambition though, I'm powerful enough to attempt a successful march on Rome but I don't know if I'm doing it right...
 

Justinianus

Banned
Tomorrow I get my new computer (the Acer Predator Helios 300) and I'm planning on a Hellenic ERE run when HIP finally updates.
 
CHKeeley

CHKeeley

Justinianus said:
Tomorrow I get my new computer (the Acer Predator Helios 300) and I'm planning on a Hellenic ERE run when HIP finally updates.
Click to expand...

I’ve got an HIP ERE run planned too, I’m hoping they make the best out of the new Imperial succession system. It’s an interesting mechanic but I think the AI electors are very dubious in their voting methods.
 

herkles

Justinianus said:
Tomorrow I get my new computer (the Acer Predator Helios 300) and I'm planning on a Hellenic ERE run when HIP finally updates.
Click to expand...

The game for HIP I have been thinking of doing is a Russian Pagan empire that works with the new pagan reformation mechanics.

I am thinking that once I wrap up my current vicky2 AAR about Canada, that I will also do one of this game that I been thinking of. Part of the reason I want to do an AAR is to better describe the societal changes that I am making up about what is happening to my Empire as the game progresses.
 
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Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Well Catholicism is all but dead. After decades of continual war with the Umayyads, including a Crusade that represented the last chance to save Catholic Europe being cancelled after the Pope who called it died, Francia has been taken over by a Islamic coup, leading to it fracturing into numerous tiny duchies who I'm now trying to vassalise/inherit, Lombardy is a tiny state in Latium and the only major Christian States left is Brythionniad (myself), Pictland (my heir is married to their Queen) and the Byzantines (reduced to a greater Greece and with my King's nice on the throne). Everyone else has either fallen to the Muslims or converted to Tengri or Germanic faiths (including the two rump Saxon Petty Kingdoms still left in Wessex and Kent).

Soon Brythonniad will be the last bastion of Christianity, ruling the British Isles and several French territories (though probably not for much longer on the latter) and I've never been more thankful that Great Britain is an island.
 

Yorel

Still on my Zun Shattered World run.

I have a bit of a feeling that my rulers aren't reigning that long... But considering both came after Banham "the Great Tiger" who ruled since he was 9 and died at 64, that's probably coloring my judgement a bit. Still, feels a bit strange. Still, the reign do come short.

Banham's son Azyan succeeded his father on the throne of Sistan at the age of 38. Already a high ranking member of the keepers of the flame, he pursued the conquests of his father, eventually becoming the first Dastur of the Church of Zun as well as adding the Shahdom of Khorasan to his titulature. He eventually died at the age of 57, after nineteen years on the throne of Sistan but only four as Dastur.

Azyan's rule didn't consist just of me reforming Zunism into the Church of Zun. I also switched my succession laws to Eldership. I actually find it rather easy to handle considering there are only seven electors (The ruler and six Elders). Sure costed me a bit of money to ensure I would keep all my titles, but so far I've had no problem getting the successor I wanted.

After Azyan died, the Elders thus chose his eldest son and heir Baddar to become the second Dastur. Judging by his traits, Baddar was a pretty competent fighter (43 personnal combat) but he never really showed any interest for war (4 Martial). By contrast, he was a Grey Eminence and his forte was diplomacy. Though it's more a coïncidence, he never really waged war aside from a mission of the Keepers of the Sun that asked him to conquer the province of Kurdistan (which lasted way too long because of how much distance my troops had to make...). Instead, most of his reign was focused on Internal politics as I tried to juggle factions and to keep the elders from choosing someone else than my preferred heir.

Doesn't mean the Zuhaid realm didn't expand though. My vassals have waged war, especially Baddar's relative Azaar the Great, Satrap of Herat, who expanded the borders to the North. Because of Azaar's conquests, Baddar was thus able to claim the crown of Transoxiana, as well as the Titular Kingdom of Kabulistan. Azaar probably could have been a serious contender for the throne in the future: while he and Baddar got along pretty well, the Satrapy of Herat was probably one of the largest vassals in the realm and could have proven difficult to handle in the future. By chance, Azaar had apparently adopted Agnatic inheritance laws which meant that none of his three daughters could inherit his Satrapy: instead, the Dastur inherited everything. Was a bit of a difficult thing to handle though as I had to redistribute all his lands: my personnal desmene had been tripled and I had one too many vassal in my limit. Though I'm still a bit short in regards to the vassal limit (I can only have two more vassals at the moment), it has also allowed me to recreate a more solid personnal desmene at the core of the Empire.

Dastur Baddar's reign was however troubled by religious revolts in India. In fact, when Baddar died, I was in the middle of moving to crush another Hindu uprising. For the record, the game said Baddar had died of depression... While it's true he was depressed, he also had three symptom traits: vomiting, diarrhea and a third one which I can't remember. Given the possible combinations available, he was probably developping either the Flu, Cancer or Food Poisonning.

Baddar was fifty when he died, having ruled as Dastur for a bit more than ten years. Which brings us to his succession.

Baddar had only married one woman before ascending the throne. Upon his accession, he took three other wives (including one of his father's former wives... but hey, because I picked Dawnbreakers, Zunism had divine marriage). Despite this, he already had a four year old son when he ascended the throne... But the boy was underaged and I didn't want to undergo a regency. As such, as bit of roleplay mixed with a bit of gamey reasons (more on that below), since I plan to switch to Primogeniture later on and I already have agnatic-cognatic succession, I nominated Baddar's eldest daughter to succeed him as Dastur.

Enter my current ruler... Dastur Shahzadi, Baneshben of Sistan, Khorasan, Transoxiana and Kabulistan. She's a genius, which means I'm more than happy with her stats. She's also a proven battle commander, even having the skull of one of the Hindu rebel leaders in her treasury. And her father had made her a Shieldmaiden. I have a feeling this is going to be fun... The only downside is that she's cruel and stubborn as well as envious I think.

The reason I say part of my motivation was gamey is because of her stats: she's the only genius in the family as far as I know. Not to mention her younger brother is turning out to be a rather crappy individual: he's wroth and slothful and he's also homosexual (which is fine by me IRL but a bit of a downer in the game because of the negative modifiers it brings). Still, he might end up on the throne if I'm unlcuky... Shahzadi is 33 and only has one daughter, who is eight. Her younger brother is only fourteen so he won't be the first heir I'll pick (next-in-line is her younger sister) but should Shahzadi die before her daughter comes of age... Since I want to simulate Primogeniture as much as I can, I'll have to nominate her brother as heir in two years game-time.

On a side note, I really need to learn how to use Ancestor Worship. I don't know how I can declare someone a Venerable Ancestor, which is a bit odd when you're Dastur.
 
Neoteros

Neoteros

Ngg88o6.jpg


The Pope didn't know he spent his last year plotting to take over the Papal States and becoming the most prominent BBW connoisseur in medieval history.
 
Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Is this the start of the long road back?

The Pope has not only finally called a crusade against the Umayyads that has retaken took northern Italy for Christianity, but IG's Children's Crusade has also taken Jerusalem, with considerable financing from me, and Antioch, cutting the Abbasids in half.
 

Yorel

Gwrtheyrn Annwn said:
Its not that bad, only a few CoA are black.
Click to expand...
And in the case of black dynastic coat of arms, you can work around that if you have the customizer DLC. In my Zunist run, my ruling family started with a bugged black CoA, but by clicking on the customize CoA option, I noticed that switching to a different style then going back to the original (for example Zunist to African to Zunist) debugged the CoA. You just have to memorize the characteristics of your CoA to recreate it.

Speaking of my Zunist run, the third Dastur of the Zuhaid dynasty, Shahzadi, died after fourteen years of rule, at the age of 48... Which is apparently old age. I guess it's close for a medieval time period of I'm just too used to my rulers living to their 50s and beyond... The Zuhaid realm still expanded under her rule though: alongside the crowns of Sistan, Khorasan, Transoxiana and Kabulistan, Shahzadi added those of Persia (Kingdom-level) and Daylam.

The succession doesn't look promising though. Shahzadi in the head only had two children. Her daughter, the eldest of the two children, was considered as a possible heir for a time... Until she died during a trial imposed upon her by the Keepers of the flame. It's a bit my fault as I checked only the fact that I was gonna lose renown if I refused, when Shazahdi's daughter was in the last months of her pregnancy... Then again, it's a bit of a dick move for a high ranking member of the Keepers of the Flame to ask such a trial for a heavily pregnant woman (not to mention said trial involved a bear apparently...).

Then came Shahzadi's son... Who was turning out alright despite being clubfooted. Sadly, he was still a minor when his mother died.

As per my rule of "following Primogeniture as close as I can" until I unlock the law, I thus went for the nearest valid relative of Shazhadi... Her younger brother Shahou, who was underaged when their father Baddar died. I wasn't looking forward to Shahou as an heir... I'm still not looking forward to him becoming the fourth Dastur. Shahou is Slothful, Greedy (and not Wroth as I had said previously), Stubborn and a Homosexual which won't help with his popularity. He does have a pretty decent education trait (Rank 3 Martial) but his highest stat is 8 currently... Still, he's only 29 and he has a two year old son (who is also the result of a divine marriage).

Unlike any of his predecessors, Shahou doesn't belong to any Secret Society. His traits kinda make me want to have him join Lucifer's own... But I feel like I'll stick to the Keepers of the Flame... Shahou doesn't feel "evil" enough for me to join Lucifer's Own. Plus, I feel like it's more something you're recruited into rather than something you join of your own volition.

Rough days are ahead though. Aside from his traits, Shahou will also have to deal with the overextension of the Zuhaid realm... His stats are so bad, that I'm going to have to give up lands from my desmene... And probably lower Centralization as I'm above my vassal limit (but lacking a Chancelor because succession just happened and the Council was partially dissolved). Speaking of which, it's a bit ridiculous how much land I have still to conquer to be able to declare myself Emperor of Persia despite the fact I have six kingdom titles... If it becomes too hard, I'll probably use the create Custom Empire decision but for the moment I don't want to.

Aside from that, I have to say I'm a bit disappointed with Ancestor Veneration... In the sense that despite being a Temporal Religious Head, I have no control on who to nominate as an Ancestor worthy of worship. It's all controlled by random events showing up upon a certain individual dying. I guess I had my hopes up a bit too much, but then again it would have been kinda OP if you were able to declare any of your ancestors to be worthy of praise.

I'm also a bit amazed about how few fucks I give to how many of my family members are marrying each other... But then again, I went for Dawnbreakers upon reformation and thus allowed for both Polygamy and Incest so it's not surprise they're going full Targaryen...

Oh and one last thing... The Silk Road gives a really REALLY nice bonus to my income. Probably helps that I'm owning half of the damn thing :p
 
Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Yorel said:
And in the case of black dynastic coat of arms, you can work around that if you have the customizer DLC. In my Zunist run, my ruling family started with a bugged black CoA, but by clicking on the customize CoA option, I noticed that switching to a different style then going back to the original (for example Zunist to African to Zunist) debugged the CoA. You just have to memorize the characteristics of your CoA to recreate it.
Click to expand...
Exactly.

As for my Powys/Brythonniad run, it has come to screeching halt when my son inherited (having already been King of Alban) and my government type went tribal, thereby deleting my demesne levy and leaving me with only 4.5k from vassals having had 25k from demesne alone as King of Brythonniad. If that wasn't bad enough, I now have 50% threat and a defensive pact forming. I tried to remedy the situation with a few console commands (yeah, I know :p) and whilst I did get my demesne levy back up to a 14k maximum level, I still only had 0 available when one of vassals demanded I give them the Kingdom of Alban, I had no choice but to agree, leaving me in a worse situation than I had been in the first place.
 
Planet of Hats

Planet of Hats

Donor
Meanwhile, I'm doing a game as the high chief of Perm.

I've successfully unified Perm and claimed part of Nenetsia, which I've been holding for most of a century, but though I have max tribal organization, I'm in a weird spot where I'm not sure I can convert and continue to survive amid nomadic pestering. That said, I secured a marriage to the daughter of one of the Cuman Khans, who happens to be Buddhist, so I could certainly convert to Buddhism and feudalize.

Then again, remaining pagan may be more advantageous for now, if only because of the benefits that come with being a defensive pagan.
 
Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Having salvaged my Brythonniad run with some jiggling of inheritance laws, it is now becoming the best game I've played.

My current Emperor has had a good life, born Prince Mihangel of Brythonniad to King Arthws the Holy, he came to throne in a crisis. Brythonniad was not only taking part in the crusade for Lombardy, it was also the target of a jihad called by turn Abbasids. Scarcely a year into his reign, however, the crusade ended successfully, the first victory of the Muslims for decades, if not a century, with the liberation of north Italy. A further year on, the Abbasids, who have landed army after army on British soil, were defeated, earning Mihangel the tile of Lionheart. After another five years of the taking out Middlesex, Suffolk, East Anglia and removing the pagan hold of Canterbury, Mihangel inherited the Kingdom of Alban from his wife, ushering in an unprecedented era of prosperity.

He was soon proclaimed King of Ireland and then Emperor of Prydain aged 45 and as Prydain enjoyed year after year of peace, he laid down the Great Longsword of the Gwrtheyrion Dynasty with which he'd cut down scores of infidels and took up the pursuit of learning, joining the Hermetic Society in the process. Some 5/6 years later, having published several papers and risen up the ranks of the Hermetic Society, Mihangel heard rumours of the possibility of immortality and proceeded to devote much of his wealth and influence to finding it, eventually doing so at the age of 54, founding an immortal bloodline in the process.

Immortality gave Emperor Mihangel a new lease of life as became Magus of the Hermetic Society, began work on his magnum opus, fell in love with Idunn the Youthful (who is also immortal) and marry a 18 year old sister of a Khagan. Life was bliss and were about to get even better when Mihangel, through his great learning (read forgery after spending considerable amounts of money and prestige) discovery that he, and indeed his entire house, was directly descended from Alexander the Great! Thus he founded a second bloodline, ensuring the greatness of House Gwrtheyrion for all time. He also fathered numerous children, some bastards with Inudd, others born in wedlock with the Khagan's daughter, even as his children from his first wife began to die of old age.

There have troubles, however, Muslim sympathy has been growing among the nobles of the empire, leading to several being burned as apostates and most strangely of all, one of my vassals (the Duke of Northumbria to be specific) inherited the Kingdom of Jerusalem, causing him to break free of the Empire and necessitating a war to reincorporate Northumbria into Mihangel's domain, a war that had the unforeseen side-effect of the Duchy of Parma being added to Prydain. Soon Mihangel will add the title of King of Jerusalem to his already substantial list since all of the King's heirs have died, either in the successful Abbasid jihad to take Jerusalem or in the war with Mihangel.

Now in his mid-seventies Emperor Mihangel the Lionheart of Prydain is the master of Christian Europe (or what's left of it) with his children and grandchildren either rulers or married to the rulers of many of the remaining Christian states, most notably the Byzantine Empress. His capital has experienced a period of expansion and prosperity as Mihangel plunged his wealth into the construction of many buildings in the city, along with several others in his demesne and the future of Prydain under its immortal Emperor looks bright.
 
Kome

Kome

Apparently the Holy Roman Antipope prevents the empire from joining crusades.

I guess the only option is to destroy the HRE.
 
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