Crusader Kings II topic

Well my 20 years in the demo are up.

Hmm, I was the king of Poland, and i went immediatly for a tactical alliance with denmark. My wife was a bastard whore, and we quickly had a baby girl. I raised her in my arms, Bitchtits I of Poland, we couldnt be prouder.

However his jealous brother was covetus of his kingdom, and attempted to assassinate Bitchtits I twice, the king had no choice but to put him in jail and torture him to death.

However my king desired a son and soon my wife was pregnant again, sadly however this only yeilded to Bitchtits II of Poland, and then Bitchtits III. Soon my king had given up hope and went off to kill dirty Baltic pagans in a fantastic holy war.

But on his return, he was overjowed to find his new hier in his arms: Balls-to-the-walls I of Poland. Summly he gave the boy to the creepy old spymaster for training. However soon the queens excessive horniness and the kings terretes created four other male sons: Second Kunt in line I, Kunt II, Kunt III and Kunt IV.

However it was on the eve of his eldest daughters 18th birthday when tragedy struck. While besieging Lithuania, a small patrol attacked the great host of 4500 men, and the king was struck in the back of the head. Thus he spent his final two years dribbling and gibbering on the throne.

And the game said i didnt acheive anything of note?

So I got the game last night, started out as the Duke of Lancaster before William took England. We managed to beat off Harald Hardraada of Norway, but William's army is just too big. We held out for 4 years, but then I declared independence just as William took down Harald. When William became king, I declared white peace and became a good vassal again ( ). Now I am in the process of picking off the Welsh minors, and biding my time. France and England have since gone to war, and William's whole army is in France, leaving me the largest land-holder back home...

What to do...

Oh yeah, and the new Duke married his step-mother. That's just the way we roll.

well right now im plaing to take over all of ireland and raise some armies to become king of scotland

What I personally LOVE and ADORE about this game is the possibilities are endless. There are 400 or so different playable characters so that every beginning is different. When Paradox releases a DLC (Hopefully) making the Muslim characters playable, that adds even more to the game. Continuing, I think every game is dynamically generated/made/whatever, so that gives it unlimited (or close to) re-playability.

I think that is one thing which makes games like Civ and Total War so appealing; never mind that you're destroying whatever gets in your way; the replay possibilities are endless, and that seems one of the most important aspects of a game to me, besides actual fun. I want a game that would last, not one that I can finish in an hour and throw out. Some current games achieve their 're-playability' by adding a multiplayer, but I feel as if it is just a replacement to these sorts of games. Sure, you have fun throwing it down with your friends, but there is multiplayer in these games too. I dislike that this genre is so under-appreciated.

The reason I liked the Elder Scrolls games wasn't because of the story (although that is important) or because of the graphics (Even though I like my eye-candy, doesn't mean much). It was because of their re-playability and the ability for me to have FUN while making my own stories. Some games like these engage you in it like an actual character. You're never just that mercenary, or that already characterized warrior. When I play CK2, or Total War, I actually FEEL like I'm Duke Sancho of Navarra, or King Esteban of Aragon. When I play Mount and Blade, I FEEL like my character.

Skyrim achieves it's re-playability by the sheer amount of things you can do in that game. COD or Battlefield achieve it through mutiplayer. CK2, however, achieves it by making you feel as if you are the important star, and everything you choose to do is reflected on your character. After your first person dies, it's no longer that Duke of Ireland. It's whoever you want. That, is what sells these games to me.

(This rant is sponsored by a long stretch of CK2 gaming, and I am quite tired right now, so take anything I say with a grain of salt.)

Very, very well put Varys! From working on my own game I now know that achieving a good game, let alone one that people want to play over and over again is a sure mark of genius, and it is only very rarely achieved except through cheap tricks.

Lets hope those companies continue creating them for many years to come!

To further your point, here are a few of the screenshots from my game, and the state of a world which is collapsing (Which almost never happens in CKII as far as I can tell.)


First up, Good old England, along with my current ruler. Sadly, his predecessor was the last of the direct line of kings I had. (Going father to son). He's a distant kinsman from that branch.


The fractured state of the rest of Europe. Both great empires (HRE and Byzantine are in pieces. And surprisingly, the Golden Horde stayed pretty far east. I've seen them go as far as England in some games. Rus managed to conquer their way to supremacy in Eastern Europe.


Try and spot why the Byzantines became so fractured.



A map of the world without country lables. Perhaps best displays how fractured it is.

Eldar scrolls was a let down. Not because it was a bad game, but because it was just the same game as oblivion. Bethesda doesnt seem to get characters, stories or completely nailing down the combat, if they had used the Mount and blade combat system it would change Skyrim from simply whaling on people to actual swordplay. But really its the story and characters that turn the game to average for me. If bioware teemed up with bethesda though? THAT would be a game.

The painful truth is that we have to make our own games, like the Yavuz couple did with M&B and what the Pop team intends to do in the future.

Anything else means that we will be relying on large game companies, which in their turn are guided by the game market, which, in its turn, is full of dumb teenagers* with the attention span of a fly.

I honestly doubt we will ever be seeing another game like Civ 4 or Fallout II coming from huge companies any time soon. Even my limited knowledge of the gaming industry is enough to confirm that our only hope now are indies and specialized companies, like Paradox with CK II, for example.

*. no offence; some teenagers aren't dumb

HEY, I PASSED MY MURTHS TEST AND DID ALLRIGHT IN INGLISHE TWO!!!!1111

It's not necessarily that they just follow what the market says, it's more that, for a large company, the risk of essentially wasting such a large investment on a game that nobody wants is just too much. They have employees, bosses and all the others depending on them not to screw up, which is why smaller studios find it much easier to push boundaries. If they screw up, it's a few people who lose out, and they lost much less money, so they are willing to try it.

So I had a few more hours to continue with my Duke of Lancaster game last night... and I think i've screwed England up for a few hundred years.

Lancaster is the largest Duchy in England at the start, but you begin at war with Norway and the Normans, we beat Norway bloody but eventually capitulated to William the Conqueror (held him off for 10 years though!) and became his vassal but lost no land. Within months of taking England, William loses Normandy to France, but otherwise we enjoy relative peace. Lancaster becomes the most economically advanced faction in England while we continue to grow, but my focus on economics has meant my army size has suffered.

Then, at the tender age of 71, William dies. And with him, the hopes for England. His Grandson Tancred takes over, and immediately Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, Devon, Cornwall and Bedford all declare independence and split. Tancred's armies manage to maintain the status quo more or less, but both York and Lancaster sit on the side lines watching the war like hawks. Eventually York decides that England cannot win, and offers their own declaration of independence. Days later, Lancaster do the same.

Scotland decides this would be a good time to strike and invade York, taking Northumberland from them, then my brother the Earl of Derby declares independence from me, forcing Lancaster to split their forces. England rally but then with the entire Derby family in jail (and the brother executed), Lancaster takes down the last of the English resistance. Lancaster are the first to get their independence while the others continue to struggle.

Loving this game!

Hehy playing in my Ulster-to-Ireland game any time a Scottish noble got a claim on me he mysteriously died days later.

So I took Mallorca/Menorca in a crusade about 40 years ago, and while I was in the middle of a war with a rapidly crumbling England for Northumberland, some random Islamic king declares war on me. I call off the war with england, and rush 2000 troops to Mallorca, only to find that the same number of enemy troops made it there before me. I call in the Holy Roman Empire (my only allies), and they accept. I don't want to risk my army on a landing assault, so I stick them in Menorca, and wait for the muslims to attack me, so I get defensive bonuses and seas, etc.
Suddenly, the entire of North Africa declares war on me, swarms Mallorca with about 6000 more troops, and rushes me in Menorca. I lose all my army, Holy Roman Empire still nowhere to be seen. It autosaved just after everything failed, I'm doooooooomed, because all my best vassals were in that army.

That's why piety is extremely important to get built up.

The knighthood orders and their thousands of heavy cavalry just crush Muslim nations.

so close to becoming king of ireland just have one count and one duky left the count is to strong for me know but the duke is weak im just worried that the count might attack me if i try to get the duke

My last autosave was right before Hugh took the throne, so the original line of kings is still going.


20 years after King Lionel "The Holy" took the throne of England, he has brought his country to glory. Ruling as the king of England, Wales and France. Some say he may soon set his eyes on Ireland and Scotland as well.




And another map of the whole world. See that little bit of dark red in the far east? Timur has arrived, and he's giving the original Mongol hordes hell.

So.... while you guys were all talking about your minor succcesses. Here's what I got.

Count Morvan of Leon, a minor county of Brittany. In a time period of one reign, I made the house of Leon the royal family of France.

It all started In Leon, just a county. I built up my county, sent out a diplomat for claims, etc.

Within the first 3 years, I was duke of Brittany.

I had joined a plot to make an elective succession, then when it got passed (after a civil war), I hired mercs and placed my count in power.

Then, I swore fealty to France. I got myself married to the Princess of Navarra, and my son betrothed to the future duchess of Aquitaine.

I didn't think I was actually going to get myself to be king so fast. I engaged in a bunch of holy wars in Spain, securing all of Valencia and a bunch of marriages. Then I was invited to a plot that would make someone else king. (some old dude). Got him king, with a bunch of other vassals.

I made several duchies, and consolidated my power (also went through a disturbing financial crisis. I spent a lot of cash.)

I made a claim on the duchy of Anjou, completely demolished them to entertain myself. I was able to make some of my loyal vassals dukes.

Now at this time, all of Southern France is loyal to me. The succession law changed to elective monarchy. I nominated myself.

If only those poor fools voted for me...

When Morvan wasn't elected (damn northerners) I declared a war to depose my liege, it was horrible, and I expended all of my cash to buy all the mercs I could possibly get.

The scale of this war, was like this.

EXAMPLE:
BATTLE OF ANGERS:
10,513 DUKE MORVAN'S ARMY
9,798 KING HENRI'S ARMY

that was the final battle. That broke their military, then I steamrolled myself down to Paris.

And at France, I got the indication for a truce... Henri wanted to abdicate to my favorite heir, myself.

King Morvan the Holy! King of France, duke of Brittany, duke of Valois, duke of Berry, count of Leon, count of Vantes.

Wow, nicely played!

In my own game I am now the Duke of Lancaster, Duke of York (scumbags that they are), Duke of Hereford, Duke of Gloucester, and Duke of southern Wales whatever that is called. I am also the Cupbearer and Chancellor of England.

The family who are currently king of England have themselves only 2 counties, while the Duke of Bedford is gobbling up the southern lords at an alarming rate. Basically if I want something done, the King will do it...

I managed to marry the sister of the King, unfortunely my Duke then died at the age of 27, leaving one female heir (0 years old!). If she dies without children, then the next heir is the current King of England :S

So here's the question; how do I actually get the sodding throne? Its not possible to to diplo-claim the throne is it? Otherwise I have to get a legit claim (was hoping to get that through the sister, but unfortunately the kid didn't inherit any claims at all). At the moment I could destroy England in a war, I have a far larger economy and military now, I just lack the CB to do it.

The way I would always do it:

Elective monarchy, then depose liege for myself (the prestige hits are worth it)

You can't really diplo-claim a kingdom. The only other thing I can think of besides marriages and all that, would be to declare independence, then request an invasion from the pope.

Actually... you can gain half of the provinces, then declare independence, then usurp the throne.

Ok, so war with Bedford for the south then usurp the Throne from the King in Devon. Works for me, thanks!

I had some exile come to my court with claims on the thrones of Norway, England and France. After a few marriages a direct decedent got the titles along with Ireland and Wales.

I swear one five year old emperor moves his court to North Africa and the worlds goes insane.
https://2img.net/r/ihimizer/img849/4927/ck27.jpg
The thing that irritates me though is as soon as one claimant of the French throne won all that cleared up instantly in France. HRE pending.

After what is quite possibly the most nail biting, intense, insane reign ever, the Duchy of Lancaster have taken the English throne.

That single 0 year old Female heir saw Lancaster forced into an elective sovereignty, becoming an English Vassal again, the complete conquest of Wales and the seizure of London, plus forcing England to becoming elective as well. Her half-brother (different dynasty) has been in line for the throne for the past 20 years due to the elective system so in a moment of desperation (she was 30 and had just fallen ill) she pressed forward and seized enough land to lay a claim on England (didn't need to usurp interestingly enough, own enough land and you get the claim CB automatically apparently), and after seriously WTF PWNING the minor English armies she took the crown for herself.

Since that, she has recovered from her illness, fought off a civil war from the former English Lords, handed out 5/6 ducal titles she had and FINALLY the lords decided that her son was more worthy than her bloody half-brother...

...who is now the most awesomest Chanceller ever, having come -><- to being slaughtered... only thing that saved him was that he has never fallen below +80 relations and that I had an incompetant Spymaster.

Now hopefully England can enjoy some peace and stability.

Lol.

Good job Mordred

Everything went right for once!

I managed to beg forgiveness from the Pope, giving myself enough piety to call the Knights Templar to help, and drove the muslim armies away, and went on a campaign through north africa, defeating armies until I could force a peace.
Then, I ousted the English king, who had been excommunicated, and helped the Duke of Lancaster take his place, and turned back to my own lands. I took my rightful lands in the Isles, and began carving off the north of Ireland, grabbing vassals with claims to the rest of it.
Mallorca finally became fully integrated to my culture and religion, so I didn't have to rush off there with an army every few years, and all was good, with 1400 gold and a mess of prestige.

Then I died in a tournament, and lost my dynasty because my wife wouldn't give me any sons.

Pick me a nation guys. I'm thinking a lord in Hungary, but I might try something bordering Muslim lands, or the Byzantine Empire.

I would pick a lord in Hungary, see how that works out.


How do you guys build up your economy? I never seem to go above 800 gold, and it takes a while for me to build up any money.