In Progress Let's Play Crusader Kings 2: I want to be a Basileus!

[XenomorphII]

Mini-Update: State of the Family

Shots of the Dynasty Tree...

The whole thing.

Just Sergios's half.

Ioannes's half.



The Family Tree views of Alexander and his two cousins...

And of Alexander's two sons...

The major people of my dynasty and the duchess:

Alexander, Doux of Capua, Count of Napoli, Palermo, Siracuse, Salerno, and Capua:

D-2, M-16, S-11, I-6, L-3. Age 26. Traits: Skilled Tactician (M=+6, I=+1, S=+1, L=-1, Health=+.5), Shy (D=-2), Greedy (National Tax=+10%, D=-1), and Envious (I=

+2, D=-1)


His wife, Alexandra:

D-16, M-13, S-10, I-15, L-13. Age 25. Traits: Charismatic Negotiator (M=-1, I=+1, D=+6, L=+1, Fertility=+5%), Mystic (I=+1), Proud (Monthly Prestige= +.5),

Ambitious (+2 to all attributes), Zealous (M=+2, Monthly Piety=+1), Envious (I=+2, D=-1), and Cruel (I=+1, D=-1)


His sister, Pelagia:

Most of her dislike for her brother comes from her ambitious trait as well as the succession laws.

D-7, M-16, S-10, I-16, L-11. Age 22. Traits: Skilled Tactician (M=+6, I=+1, S=+1, L=-1, Health=+.5), Strong (M=+2, D=+1, Health=+2, Fertility=+10%), Temperate

(S=+2), Ambitious (+2 to all attributes), Brave (M=+2), Greedy (National Tax=+10%, D=-1), and Deceitful (I=+3, D=-2)

Man I wish she had been born Pelagius, and that Alexander had died.


His uncle, Ioannes:

D-7, M-4, S-7, I-0, L-1. Age 66. Traits: Detached Priest (I=-1, L=+1), Zealous (M=+2, Monthly Piety=+1), Humble (Monthly Piety=+1), Brave (M=+2), Gregarious (D=

+2), and Arbitrary (S=-2, L=-1)


His cousin and eldest son of Ioannes, Ioannes:

D-8, M-7, S-8, I-0, L-7. Age 22. Traits: Naive Appeaser (M=-1, D=+1), Humble (Monthly Piety=+1), Just (S=+2, L=+1), Honest (I=-2, D=+3), Gregarious (D=+2), and

Chaste (Monthly Piety=+.5, Fertility=-15%)


His cousin and younger son of Ioannes, Konstantinos:

D-14, M-22, S-9, I-7, L-0. Age 20. Traits: Brilliant Strategist (M=+9, I=+2, S=+2, L=-1, Health=+.5), Clubfooted (M=-1), Wroth (M=+3, I=-1, D=-1), Honest (I=-2,

D=+3), Arbitrary (S=-2, L=-1), and Charitable (D=+3)


And lastly the Realm tree:

 

[Monocause]

OK, "demoing" (with a "demo" update) it and it is a confirmed buy for me. First played as the king of Abisynia, conquered Harer, had a lot of fun managing internal politics, got facerolled by jihadists. When they declared war first I managed to avert disaster by assasinating the Saana ruler, prompting the state into civil war. The second time it didn't work because they apparently changed the succesion rights and so I quit. Good fun. The Ethiopian states are definitely doable, I made a couple of beginner's mistakes - first of all I should have concentrated on improving my holdings' levy size, which I didn't and my army size was not up to par, second - I granted a couple of counties to my courtier's not realizing that cities and bishoprics also count against my demesne limit and it is these that I should grant.

Playing the doux of Achaia right now. Planning to improve my holdings and wait until the time is right to strike for independence. The emperor is still to strong to do that now but his time is fast approaching.

Some of you guys complained in the other thread about assasinations directed at your ruler and about mercs. First of all - if you get assasinated then you failed at internal politics. Keep your spymaster uncovering plots in your capital province - and this is what he should be doing all the time, if you need him for something else then give him a different job but remember to recall him home. Have your vassals, your wife and your council (definitely your spymaster!) at positive relations. Ruler's diplomacy is an incredibly important stat so when you tutor your children be sure to pick someone who's at least a decent diplomat - and you should deffo consider someone with the Grey Eminence or Charismatic Negotiator traits. Seriously, you can manage with your ruler being horrible at everything else but a horrible diplomat will make you stand on your head just to keep everyone barely content, sending the chancellor and chaplain around your provinces like mad.

Mercs are expensive enough, I think. The cheapest merc company I've seen costs around 90 GP to hire and the monthly costs were killing me. If you were able to mass mercs then your provincial income needs rebalancing.

Some tips:

- Female courtiers are great for snatching talented males off other courts. Be sure to arrange a matrilineal marriage, then the guy comes to your court. My current 24 STE councilmember is a German I got doing just that. Use the 'characters' tab to search for unmarried foreign courtiers with good skills. Matrilineals are easy to arrange (perhaps even too easy), just be sure to pick either a lowborn or someone of a small house, comparable in prestige to your courtier's.
- When it comes to males, pairing talented males with talented women gets you talented children at the court. Also snatching talented women from abroad make great tutors for your children, just be sure they've got the same religion.
- When accepting foreigners at your court be sure to please them and then demand conversion.
- Arrange marriages of your not-so-talented courtiers so that they got sent abroad. You won't have any positions for them anyway and they probably stop liking you at some point, can become your enemies. Make these fools a non-issue by arranging a matrilineal marriage with the daughter of Ali El-Zabim, a fishmonger from Tunis and wish them a fair voyage to the Moslem lands.
- If you have a talented daughter it might be better for you to keep her at your court - matrilineal marriage for her and a talented guy guarantees lots of decent quality children. Marry the worse daughters away for prestige boosts and alliances.

 

[SCO]

I intuit this game has a lot of potential for "amusing" game centered comic strips.

 

[Monocause]

My current head of dynasty. Currently in progress of killing off unwanted relatives to make sure everything goes to the correct heir; still got gavelkind (can't change due to Byzantine laws).

Usurped the duchy of Athens. I was hoping to create the kingdom of Greece after I become independent but it turns out that there isn't a title like that - any way to mod it in? Otherwise I'm stuck with holding several duchies unless I go for Constantinople which I won't.

BTW, Meletios is a murderous bastard who killed two of his sons and one of his brothers but nobody knows that; they love him. The plot my spymaster has uncovered is one my wife made against a kid I intend to kill off anyway so I'm not going to end it.

 

[XenomorphII]

Update 9-DAMN IT!!!

While we wait to gain a claim on the county of Taranto, Alexander's sister comes of age.

I decide to find her a husband.

And settle on the young Doux of Epirus. An alliance with him may come in handy, so a betrothal is arranged.

Not long after, I have enough money to upgrade one of my castle's a little.

And decide to boost my castle in Capua some more.


Alexander is apparently having a tough time...

And gains the Stressed trait (I=-1, S=-1, Fertility=-10%, Health=-1). The stressed trait also opens the door to the development of other nasty traits and events, that are problematic.

Come on people! Plot against out neighbors, not each other. Save that for when we aren't one "oops" away from extermination!

On a side note:

The Empire is a freaking mess right now, and the rebels in Sicily failed.


With enough money again...

I build up Salerno some. These are small boosts but now my army screen looks like this (note that the previous building in Capua still isn't finished yet)...

As you can see my personal levies have grown quite a bit since earlier, when I was struggling to get together 500 men. Soon I may try for Girgenti again.

Looks like the Catholics are going to start their crusades.

Oh crap...

That is the Emir of Cyrenaica that last time I fought them fielded 2000 men easily, and now they are coming for my holdings in Sicily. I must win. Not long after, Tunis is called into the war.

They arrive at Palermo with just over 2000 men, and almost immediately things go badly.

And again.


Some events related to our second son, Belisarios:

The siege of Palermo is still going on.

While my armies rally together, the chaplain dies.

The army:

They probably won't win, but I am sending them to engage the enemy anyway. Maybe, just maybe, I can get a white peace if I get lucky.

And the fighting commences...

We may have lost the battle but...

We killed their leader. Now I will disband and hope that my holdings on Sicily can hold out until we can attack again. And with the latest patch increasing the initial hiring cost of mercenaries, they probably won't be saving the day for me this time. (The cheapest merc units are now 75 gold to hire.)

Unsurprisingly...

The first siege is lost at Palermo. Also, after our defeat, the marshal was reassigned to troop training in Napoli.

Another defeat, but now I will hire mercenaries after all and send them and my forces down to fight. I must win.

The assembled army moves out....

Enemy reinforcements arrive before I do. I am fucked. Hard.

The battle...

Well shit. Looks like I have lost Sicily.

Another siege is lost. I cannot win this and so I will surrender.

I don't think this LP is going to last much longer. But who knows? Maybe the Spartenos Family's fortunes will change for the better soon.

 

[Cassidy]

The Religion of Peace won't let you have Peace yourself.

 

[Yeesh]

This fucking game. I don't get it. But I appreciate the chance to watch others play better.

 

[XenomorphII]

Update 10-The Winds of Fortune

Well, things are not looking great with the loss of Sicily. So, Alexander decides to swear fealty to his neighbor, the King of Sicily, in the hopes of receiving protection. Also he hopes he can use his protection to systematically devour the surrounding lords then take over himself, effectively being a modern day Trojan Horse, where we are the Greeks, and the damned Normans are the Trojans.

Of course he accepts our offer. Let's see if this Greek Trojan Horse ploy works as good as the original.


Almost immediately afterwards...

Yes! It breaks the bank, but oh well, I need to expand.

While waiting for our funds to increase, our son and heir, Sergios, come of age and is sent to him mother for his education.

Hopefully he turns out alright.

I go ahead and start a war for Taranto and decide to arrange a betrothal of one of my daughters to one of the other dukes of Sicily, who happens to be allied to my enemy in Taranto in the hopes of keeping him out of the war.

It fails though, and we also get some events...

Things look bad. I send my spymaster to set up spy networks in Taranto. I may have to kill some leaders to make this easier.

Also...

We lose a battle against the joined forces of our enemies.

While I wait for money and/or levy replenishment. Another son is born to Alexander...

Also another enemy joins the war against us. But in some good news...

I am made Master of the Horse for the Kingdom of Sicily. It gives me a slight prestige and income boost, which I will gladly take.

Not long afterwards, an event for Alexander and his wife...

I would have taken one of the other options, but they all cost money and I need that money right now. Sorry dear.

That is my personal levies moving out. Hopefully they can win this one without mercenaries, so I can spend that money on more permanent things.

Oh...

The enemies try to flee from us, but are caught.

And annihilated.

Another enemy joins against me, and his army is dealt with. I am going to hire some help now to end this quickly.

The campaign...

Just as the second holding of Taranto is about to fall Alexander receives some news from home...

Now back to the fighting!

And...

Victory! This is Alexander's first success! Maybe he isn't completely worthless after all. My chancellor is already trying to get us a claim on Bari.

Not long after Belisarios turns 6.

I take over his education, hoping to keep him from developing any traits that will make him dangerous to Sergios.

Also...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Yes! I take it, even though it plummets my prestige even further. Right now expansion is more important to me. Also Bari is a Greek province. Once I take it, I should start to see Greek culture spread begin.


And a child rearing event for Belisarios...

Hopefully he won't be trying for power this way.

Also...

Yet another son. Good thing I got out of gavel-kind inheritance.

Well, time to take Bari, or at least try to...

Time to lay siege to the province.

Also our daughter comes of age...

Why are all the Spartenos ladies such bad-asses?

Anyway siege...

One down two to go. And an event too...

I go for it. The stewardship boost might be nice.

Almost there...

Also note that no-one is coming to this guy's aid. Guess they know not to mess with the Spartenos's now.

Just as the last siege was about to end, he surrendered. Another victory for Alex, in a very short time too.

With the war over and a nice surplus of money, I decide to take the time to improve Salerno...

These may be small little bumps but they should help me in knocking out my neighbors without having to rely on mercenaries.

Time passes while I hope for another claim, this time on Leece, and we get a child rearing event...

I decide I want the boy to be kind (especially to his older brother).

I will take this opportunity to point out that...

If I were so inclined I could convert to being a Catholic, and that if I had 50 prestige, I could become Norman too. But screw that. We are going to be Greek Orthodox.

Also...

Good for them. Also you may notice that Sicily is at war with Hungary (bottom right side) it doesn't really concern me so I will be ignoring it.

While waiting for our money to build up...

Alexander becomes an honest man.

Not long after...

We have enough gold to build a castle village and boost our income. Yay us!

And...

Another daughter comes of age.

And is married matrilineally to one of my courtier's who has high learning, and is about to be made chaplain.

Also...

Alexander is maimed in battle against the Hungarians (my liege raised my levies after a while, though he does not get much from me due to us hating each other).


In family news...

Our sister, and last child of Sergios I, is married off to doux to be in the Empire, which has now more or less put itself back together again.

Some time later, Demetrios, Alexander's third son, is sent to his aunt for an education...

Also Alexander gets...

I decide on falconry because it can boost the character's diplomacy, which is something that Alexander badly needs boosted.

And he is successful in it!

To end this update, here is a shot of Alexander at present...

The man has had some serious problems since coming to power, but is starting to come into his own now.

Let's see if we cannot raise our rank before he dies.

 

[SCO]

This Trojan Horse gambit really feels like a exploit. I know that if i was the liege of a asshole that kept declaring war on my other subjects i would keep thinking less and less of them, and after the second grab for power i would make my number 1 priority to fuck him up.

 

[Trash]

When the muslims in Northern Africa aren't squabling amonst themselves they really seem to love invading South Italy and Southern France. Even when the muslims in the Iberian Peninsula are getting their arses kicked there is a good chance of any of the African big boys getting involved. I really loved it when as Barcelona the Shia Caliphate declared holy war on me and I saw two 2000+ strong doomstacks land on my doorstep. As I said, you're in an interesting spot there...

 

[XenomorphII]

This Trojan Horse gambit really feels like a exploit. I know that if i was the liege of a asshole that kept declaring war on my other subjects i would keep thinking less and less of them, and after the second grab for power i would make my number 1 priority to fuck him up.

I would agree, but he actually disliked the other guys I have been taking even more then me. Most of his vassals are ambitious and are getting a -50 in relations, and almost all of them (count and above that is) have rebelled against him at some point and so also get -25 for being traitors. A few also picked up the scheming bastard modifier too (I think it is -25 as well). Also they are agnatic-primo as well, and almost all his vassals are family, so that is another -5 for everyone, and some get a -50 for being pretenders. So its more like that one guy who is a dick, but hasn't done anything to me, fighting those bastards that have been screwing everything up every chance they get.

 

[Luzur]

pics shows up as broken for me.

 

[Serious_Business]

Very good narration, feels like listening to the meteo channel, great job

 

[XenomorphII]

pics shows up as broken for me.

Sorry, I don't know why they aren't showing. If anybody does know why they might be showing up as broken, please let me know, so I can hopefully fix whatever is wrong.

 

[Azira]

They show up fine for me.

 

[Yeesh]

That's a spicy meatball.

Pics are fine for me as well.

 

[Luzur]

looks like this for me:

 

[Azira]

Verrah odd..

 

[Cornflakes]

I just made an account on this site solely for the purpose to tell you I am anxiously awaiting the next installment of this. BUMP

 

[XenomorphII]

I just made an account on this site solely for the purpose to tell you I am anxiously awaiting the next installment of this. BUMP

Thank you! I am playing through the next one at present, so stay tuned!

 

[XenomorphII]

I need bumps to get to the next page so I can post the update!

 

[Cassidy]

BUMP

 

[XenomorphII]

Thanks for the BUMP!

Update 11- Long Live The Doux

Alright. First thing I want to do is illustrate something...

That is the last of the old guard d'Hauteville vassals that had rebelled against the king, and is who I am now trying to fabricate claims on in Reggio. Let's

hope I get lucky and get claims on her soon, as her heir is a doux in the Byzantine Empire, and it will make life difficult for me if I have to pry territory from the Empire.

I have enough money now to upgrade some of my personal holdings...

I opt to build a village at my castle in Capua as it gives a pretty healthy boost to my income.

Not long after...

The Duchess of Calabria rebels. Again. For like the third time. She is unsuccessful though, and agrees to a white peace in the end (meaning a return to the status quo).

Not long after, my spymaster, which had been sent to Reggio to build up a spy network, brings me some interesting news...

We go for blackmail. Hopefully I can get a nice chunk of money out of this.


More child rearing events occur...

After a while just waiting around for money, or for something to happen, Alexander gets an event...

We could use a new noble around the place.

Also one of Alexander's sons turns six and is sent for an education to his sister.

And I decide to use my gold to build an improvement in Napoli.

I also decide to move my spymaster to the Kingdom capital at Apulia. I may try and assassinate the king's two sons in order to foster rebellion amongst the other lords.

Whoops...

Maybe I should bring the spymaster back home. I don't know that someone killed Alexander, but I am suspicious as it seems he died at a fairly young age.

Anyway, now we are Sergios II, Doux of Capua.

I think he is going to do well as a ruler.

He is also well-liked by the council, and most of his vassals.

Not long after he comes of age...

D-14, M-14, S-10, I-20, L-9. Age 16. Traits: Elusive Shadow (M=+2, I=+9, D=+2, S=-1), Ugly (D=-1), Brave (M=+2), Proud (Monthly Prestige =+.5), Gregarious (D=+2), and Patient (I,D,S,L=+1).

Now to find a good wife and fulfill his newly decided ambition.

We find a good one, and take the dowry this time. Her high diplomacy and intrigue will be very helpful to us, but we need to get her converted out of her heresy.

Sergios's new ambition is to have a son.

Not long after the marriage, and my chaplain's reassignment to Napoli to try and convert my new wife...

Sergios II is made the spymaster for the Kingdom of Sicily. Hehehehehe....the king is either very brave, or very stupid. As spymaster, I will have a much easier time acting against him, or his family, if I decide to. Also if anybody plots against him and brings me into it, he will likely die.

Time passes and...

Another castle village is built. This time in Salerno.

Also...

The king wishes to marry Sergios's mother. I decline. I could probably get an easy claim, or put a half-brother on the throne, but I would rather not go about things this way.

A little later, an event...

I agree with the burgers. I mean burghers.

Not long thereafter, our cousin's son comes of age and I arrange a marriage...

And another cousin comes of age...

And is married off.

Not long afterwards, Sergios II gets an event...

+1 Stewardship for him, bringing him up to 11. Also want to add that thanks to our wife and councilors, our state attributes are pretty good under Sergios II (they are the number in parenthesis next to my own attributes).

Before too long, I have 50 gold again, and decide to improve Bari...

It is already making me some money thanks to it being a Greek province, though it still suffers from the recent conquest, wrong religion penalties.

As time passes, Sergios II becomes stressed...

I hope he will recover quickly.

While waiting around the King of Hungary goes to war with the Duke of Turnov, and our liege decided to help the King of Hungary. During the fighting...

That's nice. Though I don't really need more courtiers at present. I need claims for expansion.

Also we make friends...

Cool.

Story.

Bro.

Not long after...

Sergios II's brother comes of age and is married. I take the money again.

And with that money (and a little wait)...

The castle in Capua receives some more improvements.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

An event happens, and we side with the hunters.

Well while our liege is running around in Hungary like an idiot, the Muslims decide to try for the rest of the Island of Sicily. I bet they get it to.

Pretty sure that's about twice as many men as my liege can raise.

While the Muslims stomp around Sicily and head towards the rest of Southern Italy...

Wonder if it leads to something else? Guess we will see.

Not long after...

It is expensive, and hurts my prestige, but we take it. I won't press it in war right now though, since they are still fighting the Muslims.*

Immediately thereafter...

Counter-claims, from a different one of the lords of the realm.

One of the Muslim powers leaves the war, and takes a piece of Sicily with him.

While I debate with sending my own personal forces to aid the King, and keep the Muslims from taking more of Sicily, an event happens...

Hopefully the first of many. Also Sergios II decides that Muslims gaining more power is a bad thing and raises his troops and moves them down to Reggio to join

up with the army that the King has pieced together...

I decide to park the troops at Reggio, and hope that the Muslims will try to attack us there soon, and that we can win when they do.

The two armies and their compositions.

As they march on us...

Our liege flees. You cowardly bastard.

Battle:

Reinforcements are on the way! We may win this battle yet!

Ha! Victory! And before the reinforcements arrived no less! Also two prisoners were captured.

Now to liberate the occupied bits of Sicily, decide the fates of our prisoners, and go about claiming the Duchy of Calabria!


*In retrospect, I probably should have passed on that claim as the ducal claim doesn't remove the immediate problem that I face with that territory, it will just make her my vassal, who will, in short order, be inherited into the Byzantine Empire.

Also I have noticed from other games, that having more than one of your primary title (so a king with multiple king titles, or duke with multiple duke titles) generates lots of hate from vassals as they start to desire to be promoted to your rank in the area they are in. This results in -25 relations.

 

[golgepapaz]

the image problem again...

edit: it's ok now, don't know what happened..

 

[Azira]

No problem here. This is odd.