Crusader Kings II - Paradox Entertainement (02/12)

Yorel

My Shattered World Zunist game is still going... But quite frankly, it's become a bit boring right now. The Zuhaid Empire is basically so powerful and rich only internal threats could pose a challenge, but so far I've been pretty good at managing that. There might also be the fact that I tend to consolidate the claims of my vassals first, which means I've basically been expanding one county at a time so far. I didn't even get to use my Great Holy Wars CB yet, but that's because I'm basically keeping that for huge swaths of territory.

It doesn't help that some my vassals have, by contrast, been extremly ambitious in terms of conquest. Armenia is now part of my Empire, which highlights the downfall of the Jain Kingdom of Dhaarmiya the Great as it's basically no more. They are also advancing in Anatolia. Punjab is now completely in my hands. I've also made gains to the North but expansion there has been inconsistant because it's mostly inhabited by Nomads: in fact, I've lost four provinces upon succession because they're inhabited by Nomads. This makes me reluctant to expand there as a result because I fear I won't be able to keep these conquests.

The good news is that I've reached level 3 in Legalism, which in turned allowed me to switch to Primogeniture succession for some of my kingdom titles. Caused a bit of scare though because there were A LOT of VERY ANGRY vassals after this. Fortunately, I have been able to keep everything together so far.

Dynastic wise, Mursalin II the Lionheart died after 27 years of rule, clutching at his heart. He was succeeded by his son Tashfeen, who was nearing his 24th birthday. Tashfeen has proven to be a competent successor so far and will likely try to keep continuing reforming the succession laws so that his son Mursalin succeeds him. Only time will tell though if he'll be able to pursue the dream of the Zuhaid to capture Egypt and secure Heliopolis.

One infuriating thing though: Legendary gatherings are bugged. I tried to do one with Mursalin II when I had the chance, but the bar refused to fill up and it's still there for his son Tashfeen. Not that I mind that much but still...

Anyway, I think I'll switch to another game after Tashfeen's death. I won't be giving up that campaign, but I've gotten a rather... crazy idea that popped in my mind.

You see, Shattered World is a feature that I love quite a bit because it makes me want to try many playstiles. So I basically decided, a bit out of the blue, to generate a Shattered World map and to create save files for each and every mainstream religion (i.e. none of the heresies). The idea I have at the moment would be to play one of those saves and then switch to another upon the death of the character, then come back to it after a rotation. Kind of like a Quantum Leap but accross the many save files and not just one.

It's probably a crazy idea that I'll never finish I know. But hey, can't fault me for being creative. Plus, I've had way too much fun with the name I gave to save files to give up...
 
Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Yorel said:
My Shattered World Zunist game is still going... But quite frankly, it's become a bit boring right now. The Zuhaid Empire is basically so powerful and rich only internal threats could pose a challenge, but so far I've been pretty good at managing that. There might also be the fact that I tend to consolidate the claims of my vassals first, which means I've basically been expanding one county at a time so far. I didn't even get to use my Great Holy Wars CB yet, but that's because I'm basically keeping that for huge swaths of territory.
Click to expand...
That's more or less what happened to me with my Powys/Brythoniaid/Prydain run. I got to a point where I has an immortal heir of Alexander as Emperor, had subjugated all of the British Isles and controlled much of Burgundy but my Burgundian vassals would all Muslim (having been liberated) and unwilling to convert to Christianity. To make things even worse, my European possessions were surrounded by Muslims and any war I declared against them would bring in the Umayyads who (controlling land from northern Morocco to the Rhine) would fuck me over. Catholicism was also dead (with Prydain as the sole legitimate Christian power) so I couldn't even call a Crusade against them.
 
Neoteros

Neoteros

About Hellenic restoration and reformation: I founded the secret society quite early in the game, after seizing Athens; now, 108 years on, I am king of Greece and Bulgaria, the secret society is 93 members strong, a few provinces have Hellenic communities, my crypto-Hellenic aunt has a claim on the Byzantine Empire. How do you think should I proceed from here? Is there a point after which the chief of the society will deem it safe to come out of the shadows?

And what would be the most historically accurate doctrine combination?
 
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President Benedict Arnold

Neoteros said:
About Hellenic restoration and reformation: I founded the secret society quite early in the game, after seizing Athens; now, 108 years on, I am king of Greece and Bulgaria, the secret society is 93 members strong, a few provinces have Hellenic communities, my crypto-Hellenic aunt has a claim on the Byzantine Empire. How do you think should I proceed from here? Is there a point after which the chief of the society will deem it safe to come out of the shadows?

And what would be the most historically accurate doctrine combination?
Click to expand...

I think you probably need to take it over yourself to be able to bring it out into the light.

I assume Hellenics by that point in time would be hardcore traditionalist who would society to be organized in an Imperial non-feudal way-- as in viceroy dukes and stuff. If you're willing to do that, go for it but it sounds hard to me.

I'd also lay your aunt's claim to the Byzantine Empire ASAP. Does she have any kids? Is she an older or younger sibling to your parent?
 

Yorel

I said I'd switch game when Dastur Tashfeen would have died, but he's still alive so far. So I'm continuing my Zunist game for now.

I've nearly switched all of my succession laws for all my titles to Primogeniture. I think only Punjab and Transoxiana are still under Eldership succession... Which I don't mind that much.
The things is that I kinda of forgot how it puts a -25 opinion per title with your vassals if they're disatisfied with the succession change for 30 years... As a result, I've got a bunch of angry Satraps with -50 to -100. I'm not sure how half of my Empire hasn't rebelled: my guess is that they're not strong enough to band together. It might also be that me turning on the game rules that make it impossible to create a faction if you have a non-agression pact helped... Several of my vassals are my relatives.
I'm also not sure why Tashfeen hasn't been brutaly murdered since three of these angry Satraps sit on the council and one's the spymaster...

In other news though, I think I might launch my first Great Holy War soon. It won't target Egypt since I'm not bordering at the moment... But the Kingdom of Jerusalem is up for grabs. Also, after two Jihads against me, I think the Shi'a Caliphate needs a bit of a taste of its own medicine.

DEUS VULT!
... Wait, I'm not playing a Catholic...
ZUN VULT!
 
Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Gwrtheyrn Annwn

Decided to start a 1066 von Habsburg run, its now 1087 and I've manage to accumulate 4 counties (having started with one), two through war and one through marriage, my current Count is married to an Austrian Countess and his half-brother (unfortunately a bastard) is a Duke by marriage. Regrettably that means the Habsburg bastard line is going be Dukes whilst the main line are still only counts at the moment.
 
dianaswordofsappho

dianaswordofsappho

So right now I’m playing a character who has had an absurd amount of babies incestous and otherwise who kills his opponents and is slightly insane but
At least he’s a good dad?
 

Tyler96

Saw a grandson of Harold Godwinson reclaim England from the Normans in 1141 via adventurer war, unfortunately he's the last of his dynasty and married matrilineally.
 
Neoteros

Neoteros

Gwrtheyrn Annwn said:
Changing the Exclave settings can sometimes help.
Click to expand...

I put them to Harsh, and they're still steamrolling the land.

The whole world seems to be divided into a few hyper-empires though, with only the British Isles being somewhat balkanized: the HRE from Spain to Silesia, the Abbasids from Persia to Morocco, the Khazars are basically OTL Russia + Scandinavia, the Byzantines have their OTL territory + central and southern Italy, including Rome. Khazars and Byzantines are crypto-Hellenic, and will soon reveal their true faith.

Tyler96 said:
Saw a grandson of Harold Godwinson reclaim England from the Normans in 1141 via adventurer war, unfortunately he's the last of his dynasty and married matrilineally.
Click to expand...

Kill his wife and children.
 
Carp

Carp

It is 1016. Nestor the Great is the 36 year old King of Gotthias, an independent kingdom of the Crimean Goths which extends from the Crimean Peninsula to the Don-Volga portage. The kingdom is fairly small but extremely wealthy and well-developed owing to its control over the Silk Road between the Caspian Sea and Cherson. Nestor is a fruitful man with many illegitimate daughters from before he was married, and he uses them to forge bonds with the pagan Slavic princes of the North and perhaps convert them to Orthodoxy. He marries one such daughter, Kassiane, to Gleb, the Prince of Kiev. Gleb of Kiev, however, is attacked by his neighbor, Viacheslav of Severiane. During the war, one of Viacheslav's sub-chiefs, Gleb of Chernigov, sacks Kiev and captures Princess Kassiane, whom he promptly carries off and makes his concubine.

Grievously insulted, King Nestor declares war and marches at the head of 7,000 men into Severiane. Viacheslav's army is off fighting another war, so without opposition the Goths plunder and occupy every corner of his domain. Finally they come to Chernigov. The abductor Gleb is not present, being away on campaign with Viacheslav, but Kassiane is found and liberated and Gleb's only son and heir is captured. Nestor orders him to be burned at the stake. Viacheslav surrenders, and as part of the peace terms his brother Oleg is sent to Cherson as a hostage.

Unfortunately, Gleb of Kiev has since died, and Kassiane needs a new husband. Nestor decides that, now that justice has been served, he should patch things up with Severiane by marrying Kassiane to Viacheslav; after all it was one of his sub-chiefs, not Viacheslav himself, who abducted her. Viacheslav, having just learned that the Goths are not to be fucked with, agrees. Just a few months later, however, Nestor receives word that Kassiane has been killed in a suspicious fall. The furious king holds Viacheslav responsible for this crime, and orders his hostage brother Oleg to be mauled to death by a bear. Viacheslav never hears of it, however, because - as Nestor subsequently realizes - Prince Viacheslav had actually died of a heart attack a week earlier.

And so ended the thoroughly pointless War of Kassiane's Abduction.
 
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Neoteros

Neoteros

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Cosmopolitan - Civilized - Stability - Temporal​
 

Homer Simpson & the Brain

Given the Norse's historical penchant for assimilating themselves linguistically into the regions they settled, would it be realistic to have the names most of the ATL melting pot cultures that would spring up in their wake simply be translations of "Northmen" in the local language (i.e. Norzhden - the Normans' name if Rollo had conquered Brittany instead)?
 
Evilprodigy

Evilprodigy

Donor
Homer Simpson & the Brain said:
Given the Norse's historical penchant for assimilating themselves linguistically into the regions they settled, would it be realistic to have the names most of the ATL melting pot cultures that would spring up in their wake simply be translations of "Northmen" in the local language (i.e. Norzhden - the Normans' name if Rollo had conquered Brittany instead)?
Click to expand...
Well the Norse who settled in Russia were called Rus, after (possibly) the Finnish name for Sweden, Ruotsi, which comes from the word for groups of warrior oarsmen. That name spread and became common in the Byzantine and Muslim world.
The Norse who settled in the Gaelic-speaking world of Western Scotland and Ireland were called Norse-Gaels or (According to the list on wikipedia) (Old Irish: Gall-Goídil; Irish: Gall-Ghaeil; Scottish Gaelic: Gall-Ghàidheil) meaning 'foreigner-Gaels' which the world Gael is considered to be a Gaelic person, in the same vein as how the Anglo-Saxons considered themselves Anglo-Saxon in the broadest sense of the term. So their name is basically 'Foreign Irishmen' and is thus unrelated to being from the North. That being said, apparently people in Dublin called the Norse 'eastmen' and other Irish called the 'lakemen.'
Norse were also refereed to as Varangians in the Byzantine and Muslim world, after the Norse word for Sworn Man, specifically to distinguish them from the Slavicized Rus.

So the words various cultures used for the Norse wasn't related to north but, like every collection of words for a culture, came from a variety of sources. Sometimes the language of the speakers, sometimes a descriptor from the locals, and sometimes a derivation (as in Norman's roundabout Latiny way the word came about).
 
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