Crusader Kings II

[Zorbanos 1st MRB]

Anyone ever play this game? I cannot figure it out, but at ten bucks, i couldnt resist a sale

[Kanon 1st MRB]

it is a really good game

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

I play it, probably the best medieval Dynasty simulater out there that I have seen. I've got two games on it going right now. On one, I've conquered all of my rivals and became King of Ireland and am now planning to take the rest of Britannia, and on my other I am a Norse Pagan who I just made King of Norway and am now trying to crush the family that historically becomes Kings of Norway and convert it to Catholicism. Its just so fun playing with how things turn out in different scenarios compared to how it occured in history. Once you hit the start button from whatever date you choose, things will not go the same as history intended, or even the same way that they did the last time you played from the exact same date.

Its a great game, and I reccomend the expansions Old Gods, Sunset Invasion, Character Creation, Legacy of Rome, and maybe even Sword of Islam or The Republics.

[Peaker]

I've been an avid fan of this game for a while, as with most Paradox games. Currently I invented a dynasty called the Martells in Aragon after my post season Game of Thrones craze. I've conquered most of the eastern side of spain and happened to inherit significant parts of Aquitaine through marriage, which allowed me to create the Kingdom of Aquitaine, which I made to have an elective succession because it's hilarious and Gavelkind sucks. So now I have the dual crowns of Aragon and Aquitaine, and when the last of the moors are chased out of Spain, a showdown with Castille will be incoming. The Holy Roman Empire is also goddamn bloated and there's a gigantic Russian Kingdom (Ruthenia).

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

I've been an avid fan of this game for a while, as with most Paradox games. Currently I invented a dynasty called the Martells in Aragon after my post season Game of Thrones craze. I've conquered most of the eastern side of spain and happened to inherit significant parts of Aquitaine through marriage, which allowed me to create the Kingdom of Aquitaine, which I made to have an elective succession because it's hilarious and Gavelkind sucks. So now I have the dual crowns of Aragon and Aquitaine, and when the last of the moors are chased out of Spain, a showdown with Castille will be incoming. The Holy Roman Empire is also goddamn bloated and there's a gigantic Russian Kingdom (Ruthenia).

If you want to play as the real Martells, there is a very good Game of Thrones Mod for Crusader Kings II where you can play as any of the Families and they go from the time of the original Seven Kingdoms, to Aegon's Conquest, Robert's Rebellion, and The War of the Five Kings. They even added special features like Incest, Magic(Like Melisandre), and the Night's Watch, no Essos yet though unfortunately. I don't know if they have fixed their problems with the latest release of Old Gods, but I heard its a very good mod, and I intend to get the updated version when I'm sure its ready.

Then it'll be time to make my own Red Wedding of the Freys, Boltons, and Lannisters. King in the North!

What year are you at in the main campaign though? The Mongols aught to deal with the Russians and maybe even the Germans if you're willing to be paitent.

[Zorbanos 1st MRB]

So far i've just started one dynasty as the King of Munester, slowly but surely trying ton conquer Ireland, only on my 2nd generation

[Guest]

Why have I never heard of this game before?! It looks awesome.

[Peaker]

I've been an avid fan of this game for a while, as with most Paradox games. Currently I invented a dynasty called the Martells in Aragon after my post season Game of Thrones craze. I've conquered most of the eastern side of spain and happened to inherit significant parts of Aquitaine through marriage, which allowed me to create the Kingdom of Aquitaine, which I made to have an elective succession because it's hilarious and Gavelkind sucks. So now I have the dual crowns of Aragon and Aquitaine, and when the last of the moors are chased out of Spain, a showdown with Castille will be incoming. The Holy Roman Empire is also goddamn bloated and there's a gigantic Russian Kingdom (Ruthenia).

If you want to play as the real Martells, there is a very good Game of Thrones Mod for Crusader Kings II where you can play as any of the Families and they go from the time of the original Seven Kingdoms, to Aegon's Conquest, Robert's Rebellion, and The War of the Five Kings. They even added special features like Incest, Magic(Like Melisandre), and the Night's Watch, no Essos yet though unfortunately. I don't know if they have fixed their problems with the latest release of Old Gods, but I heard its a very good mod, and I intend to get the updated version when I'm sure its ready.

Then it'll be time to make my own Red Wedding of the Freys, Boltons, and Lannisters. King in the North!

What year are you at in the main campaign though? The Mongols aught to deal with the Russians and maybe even the Germans if you're willing to be paitent.

I'll definitely check that mod out, and i'm like, in 1190 or something I think. Once I unite Spain and create the empire of Hispania, I can probably take on the HRE though. My more immediate objective is to finish neutering France and to consolidate my lands in the kingdom of Aquitaine, since French lands are super rich and levy a lot of troops. I also happen to have fairly good relations with the Kaiser of the HRE, so I'm not in any immediate danger there.

[Zorbanos 1st MRB]

anyone got any tips on preventing succession crisis? my relatives keep rebelling =|

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

I had succession problems on my Ireland King due to Gavelkind and No Crown Authority, meaning I had to wait for my Grandson in order to finally change it to Primogeniture. My solution, kill off every single potential successor that your family has other than your immediate heir. Use plots to have people killed, or pay assassins in conjunction with your spy master if you want to take a risk. When my first son came to power after my king died, I had to kill all four of my own siblings before they grew up due to my vassals wanting to claim them for the throne. Its not really a solution though, as once you start marrying off daughters to foreign lords then your vassals just start to get them and their descendants involved, they'll go through every damn potential successor that there is regardless of who they are.

So, an even better solution: ensure that you have a large stockpile of money(for Gifts, Assassinations, or Mercenaries) and a large amount of soldiers and Fiefs under your direct command which will be passed to your heir at all times. Gavelkind is good if you have only one son, that's what I learned from it, but since that isn't feasible in many cases do your utmost to ensure that you get the laws changed as soon as possible to Primogeniture, and maybe even Absolute Crown authority.

But yeah, best solution to prevent succession crisis in my mind would be to kill all of your unneeded children or relatives, but the more realistic solution would be to just make sure that the odds will always be stacked in your favour if rebellion occurs. Or you can kill your vassals and replace them with Lowborn Courtiers or Lords who actually like you, in that regard you should also avoid foreigners for as I found with having to deal with Anglo-Saxon and Norwegian descended Lords on my Irish Lands, they are just a pain in the ass that you want to kill or breed out as soon as possible.

Edited June 23, 2013 by Armstrong 1st MRB

[Peaker]

Honestly, I prefer to solve succession crises by force of arms, it's more decisive and you get payoffs that way. Plus, having many sons is a convenient security, and you can give them fiefs, which increases the prestige of your overall dynasty. I currently have a retainer army of 5000 and I can raise a 5000 men levy, more than enough to quell any small rebellion, and for a large one I can hire a mercenary company. One good thing to do is to prepare your heir to rule. Diplomacy is by far the most important skill for a ruler, since it directly affects his relations with everyone. You also might want to give them a fief of their own before they inherit, but make sure you married them off first.

Try to have all the counties in the duchies you own, and never have more than 2 duchies. Sometimes I set up rivalries between my vassals on purpose as to get them busy with each other, for example granting a newly conquered county to an out of duchy lord. Always make sure your own holdings provide at least 25% of the soldiers of your kingdom. Eventually this becomes harder, but you can smooth over succession problems with a huge stockpile of cash.

[Husbergwaffe]

This is one of my favorite games. I think I have all the major DLC's. The 867 start is insane. Paradox does a pretty damn good job IMO.