XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Just a heads up. This isn't dead, but there won't be any updates until Thursday or Friday.
-
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In Progress Let's Play Crusader Kings 2: I want to be a Basileus!
- Thread starter XenomorphII
- Start date
Why you have different Coats of Arms than me? Is this picked at random? Go Romans! Death to Muslims and Frankish/Lonmbard/Norman Heretics! 
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Update 17-Oh Glorious Fortune
Well. It has been awhile, but when last we left off, Queen Alexandra Spartenos had defeated the Muslim invaders of Italy, and had decided to focus on absorbing the territory of the Duchy of Apulia into the Kingdom of Sicily. At present, we are waiting on a claim to happen for Beneveto.
While waiting...
We get pregnant again and...
We get an event and give patronage to a writer.
Not too terribly long later and...
One of my courtiers approaches me about being more ambitious. This event sometimes pans out well and gives you the ambitious trait, which is pretty great for a player character to have (though it can suck when your vassals/other relatives have it).
Having still not received a follow up to the courtier talk event, we get...
A new daughter.
Not long afterwards...
Our court chaplain accuses one of my barons of being a heretic. It hurts my relations with him, but I decline to believe him.
A take an opportunity to do some building at that point...
Napoli is building up quiet well and those additionally heavy infantry should be nice.
Peasants!!!
They are put down with ease, as my army is now pretty decent. As I was putting them down I noticed something odd. The Emir of Tunisia's levy in Girgenti was raised. So I check to see who he is at war with and...
Well that is interesting. I wonder...
Ahh that explains it. The ruling family in Cyrenica has become heretics. I feel like it is time to take Girgenti.
Let's go!
The army moves out, wipes out the few raised troops, and lays siege. Also I have seen lots of Cyrenica's naval forces moving troops to Tunisia. This should end quickly.
As the siege goes on...
Another child soon. That will be her fourth at only 22 years old.
Also...
Get rich. Check. New ambition is...
None. This is one area that I really hope Pdox does a lot of fleshing out. Ambitions have lots of potential, but right now there are just too few.
As the siege continues...
Our newest daughter is born, and I notice that our husband has taken over the barony in Beneveto.
A few weeks later...
The first siege ends. And immediately after...
I assault the lightly guarded second holding and take it. Now to wait on the third to fall.
While waiting Sergios turns 6...
And goes to us for his education. It is usually a good idea to send your heir to yourself for education so you can make sure he picks up good traits, and make sure he drops the bad ones.
After a brief wait, the last holding has fallen. Time to wait out the Tunisians, as I am not going to go after them at home where they are still fighting the Cyrenican forces.
Raising Sergios...
That will be good for him (and me).
While waiting for the warscore to go high enough for the enemy to give up, a good thing happens.
That's another Greek Orthodox province for us!
Yet another child is on the way.
Raising Sergios:
I don't particularly want him to have that.
I also decide to spend some of my rather large collection of money...
On a new castle in Messina. Every province must have at least one of each of the three types of holdings (castle, temple, city) but after that (if there are additional slots left) you may throw down whatever kind of holding you desire. I opt for the castle because I need more troops, and castles provide better and more troops.
An enemy army arrives in Sicily. Boy are they going to get it! I raise and rally my troops.
The battle and:
The battle and a new son while it rages!
More battles:
The prisoner is to be executed! I don't need their Heathen wealth!
They still are not willing to give me the territory though.
More troops arrive after I disband and re-raise my armies. I need to hire some extra help for this group.
As the army comes together, we get to raise Sergios some more:
I go for the extra diplomacy!
Whoops...
The siege is lost just as my forces rally and sally.
The battle:
There goes the center...
Oh no! This might end badly...
I can practically smell defeat in the air.
Way to turn it around guys!
Oh and also...
The Catholic uncle gets married behind our backs! That bastard.
The battle conclusion:
And then we assault Girgenti:
And time to pursue what remains of the enemy.
I bet they are ready to give up now...
And they are. Bam! Sicily is all ours now!
One of the prisoners is ransomed (the baron for 25 gold) the other is executed (he couldn't pay, and was also kin to the ruler though quite distant) and barons
are created in the sub-holdings of Girgenti. The main holding I hold onto for now.
That is this update. Hopefully next time we can finish off Apulia, and now that Cyrenica and Tunisia are religious enemies things should be much easier for us going forward.
My current objectives are as follows:
Unite Southern Italy
Conquer Tunisia
Conquer Mauritia (N.Africa- Morocco area)
Conquer Iberian Muslims
All the time- Watch the HRE for weakness and opportunities to pry Italy from it!
And to give you an idea of how the world looks right now (in dynasty mapmode):
On a side note, I had intended to have this update up this afternoon (about 5 hours ago) and do another one tonight, but I had to reload a couple of the batches of the images into imgur several times because it kept screwing up. So this is it for today (because imgur is pissing me off).
Also the reason some of Coats of Arms are different is that I have the DLC that came with preorders for different coats for some of the families.
Well. It has been awhile, but when last we left off, Queen Alexandra Spartenos had defeated the Muslim invaders of Italy, and had decided to focus on absorbing the territory of the Duchy of Apulia into the Kingdom of Sicily. At present, we are waiting on a claim to happen for Beneveto.
While waiting...
We get pregnant again and...
We get an event and give patronage to a writer.
Not too terribly long later and...
One of my courtiers approaches me about being more ambitious. This event sometimes pans out well and gives you the ambitious trait, which is pretty great for a player character to have (though it can suck when your vassals/other relatives have it).
Having still not received a follow up to the courtier talk event, we get...
A new daughter.
Not long afterwards...
Our court chaplain accuses one of my barons of being a heretic. It hurts my relations with him, but I decline to believe him.
A take an opportunity to do some building at that point...
Napoli is building up quiet well and those additionally heavy infantry should be nice.
Peasants!!!
They are put down with ease, as my army is now pretty decent. As I was putting them down I noticed something odd. The Emir of Tunisia's levy in Girgenti was raised. So I check to see who he is at war with and...
Well that is interesting. I wonder...
Ahh that explains it. The ruling family in Cyrenica has become heretics. I feel like it is time to take Girgenti.
Let's go!
The army moves out, wipes out the few raised troops, and lays siege. Also I have seen lots of Cyrenica's naval forces moving troops to Tunisia. This should end quickly.
As the siege goes on...
Another child soon. That will be her fourth at only 22 years old.
Also...
Get rich. Check. New ambition is...
None. This is one area that I really hope Pdox does a lot of fleshing out. Ambitions have lots of potential, but right now there are just too few.
As the siege continues...
Our newest daughter is born, and I notice that our husband has taken over the barony in Beneveto.
A few weeks later...
The first siege ends. And immediately after...
I assault the lightly guarded second holding and take it. Now to wait on the third to fall.
While waiting Sergios turns 6...
And goes to us for his education. It is usually a good idea to send your heir to yourself for education so you can make sure he picks up good traits, and make sure he drops the bad ones.
After a brief wait, the last holding has fallen. Time to wait out the Tunisians, as I am not going to go after them at home where they are still fighting the Cyrenican forces.
Raising Sergios...
That will be good for him (and me).
While waiting for the warscore to go high enough for the enemy to give up, a good thing happens.
That's another Greek Orthodox province for us!
Yet another child is on the way.
Raising Sergios:
I don't particularly want him to have that.
I also decide to spend some of my rather large collection of money...
On a new castle in Messina. Every province must have at least one of each of the three types of holdings (castle, temple, city) but after that (if there are additional slots left) you may throw down whatever kind of holding you desire. I opt for the castle because I need more troops, and castles provide better and more troops.
An enemy army arrives in Sicily. Boy are they going to get it! I raise and rally my troops.
The battle and:
The battle and a new son while it rages!
More battles:
The prisoner is to be executed! I don't need their Heathen wealth!
They still are not willing to give me the territory though.
More troops arrive after I disband and re-raise my armies. I need to hire some extra help for this group.
As the army comes together, we get to raise Sergios some more:
I go for the extra diplomacy!
Whoops...
The siege is lost just as my forces rally and sally.
The battle:
There goes the center...
Oh no! This might end badly...
I can practically smell defeat in the air.
Way to turn it around guys!
Oh and also...
The Catholic uncle gets married behind our backs! That bastard.
The battle conclusion:
And then we assault Girgenti:
And time to pursue what remains of the enemy.
I bet they are ready to give up now...
And they are. Bam! Sicily is all ours now!
One of the prisoners is ransomed (the baron for 25 gold) the other is executed (he couldn't pay, and was also kin to the ruler though quite distant) and barons
are created in the sub-holdings of Girgenti. The main holding I hold onto for now.
That is this update. Hopefully next time we can finish off Apulia, and now that Cyrenica and Tunisia are religious enemies things should be much easier for us going forward.
My current objectives are as follows:
Unite Southern Italy
Conquer Tunisia
Conquer Mauritia (N.Africa- Morocco area)
Conquer Iberian Muslims
All the time- Watch the HRE for weakness and opportunities to pry Italy from it!
And to give you an idea of how the world looks right now (in dynasty mapmode):
On a side note, I had intended to have this update up this afternoon (about 5 hours ago) and do another one tonight, but I had to reload a couple of the batches of the images into imgur several times because it kept screwing up. So this is it for today (because imgur is pissing me off).
Also the reason some of Coats of Arms are different is that I have the DLC that came with preorders for different coats for some of the families.
golgepapaz
Augur
should have built the holding in palermo, it's a pain in the ass to find and move to troops across the map, the game really needs a rally option.. Although messina is close enough.
and by the way my first playthrough and tutorial
Happened like this. I was making to north snatching territories from HRE and Crotia whenever the opportunity presented itself. ERE was too strong at that point but at some moment I've noticed there was big civil war in ERE. Intrigued I've checked the ERE has a new Empress just shy of 19 and unmarried so I thought I'd give it a try, assassinated my wife (with the help of 26 skill spymaster who in the end gained a dukedom from the whole affair), offered a marriage which promptly declined because I was nobody (Although I was a king of sicily and italy at that point).So ,I've tried his sister who's next in line and also declined . Luckily there was a third sister who was married to some count with no child. I've killed the husband, and married the third sister, waited for a child, then assassinated my wife's older sister and then the empress (they were still unmarried at that point. ) and my wife became the new empress with a male heir from my dynasty. I've also killed my two sons from my first wife and some fifteen years later with lots of civil wars because a I was a dishonorable scum and kinslayer and my wife hating my guts,my son became the king of italy with a empire on its way. some thiry five years later the empress died and this is the end result..
IT IS POSSIBLE TO TOTALLY AVOID COMBAT IN CK 2.
and by the way my first playthrough and tutorial
Happened like this. I was making to north snatching territories from HRE and Crotia whenever the opportunity presented itself. ERE was too strong at that point but at some moment I've noticed there was big civil war in ERE. Intrigued I've checked the ERE has a new Empress just shy of 19 and unmarried so I thought I'd give it a try, assassinated my wife (with the help of 26 skill spymaster who in the end gained a dukedom from the whole affair), offered a marriage which promptly declined because I was nobody (Although I was a king of sicily and italy at that point).So ,I've tried his sister who's next in line and also declined . Luckily there was a third sister who was married to some count with no child. I've killed the husband, and married the third sister, waited for a child, then assassinated my wife's older sister and then the empress (they were still unmarried at that point. ) and my wife became the new empress with a male heir from my dynasty. I've also killed my two sons from my first wife and some fifteen years later with lots of civil wars because a I was a dishonorable scum and kinslayer and my wife hating my guts,my son became the king of italy with a empire on its way. some thiry five years later the empress died and this is the end result..
IT IS POSSIBLE TO TOTALLY AVOID COMBAT IN CK 2.
Dropbox pic not visible. Try a proper image host. 
Hellraiser
Arcane
The teen terror strikes again bringing fear and blades into the hearts of ragheads.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Update 18-Being a Jerk
As we continue to wait and hope for a claim on Beneveto...
Our castle in Messina is finished. I am going to keep it and now I will assign Girgenti to...
Also I decide to build...
At my new castle.
Now. Back to waiting.
Actually...
Might as well go ahead and build up Messina's main holding to while I am at it.
While waiting one of our daughters turns six and is sent to a member of the court for her education and...
We get pregnant. Again.
Not long after...
An event for Queen Alexandra!
She fails at falconry.
Time roles forward some and...
Her third son is born.
You know what?
Screw waiting around! Let's take what we can now! (Also if I pick the claim up during the war, since I am pressing all claims I will gain it. I think.)
After raising and rallying...
This is going to be a pretty lopsided affair.
One of my vassals needs some money, so I oblige. He made himself the Doux of Salerno just after our fight with the Muslims.
What awful timing. Oh well. It won't change anything.
As I move to put down the peasants I get this event again. Wonder if it will pan out this time.
No sooner have I put them down and started to turn back to the war when...
I really wish these places would hurry up and convert so I don't have to fight these stupid peasants all the time.
After dispatching the rebels...
We raise Sergios to be kind to, and not envious of others. Also, I finally get around to laying siege to Apulia.
I also decide to hire some mercenaries to expedite the siege because...
Apulia is pretty heavily defended, and I want this over quickly.
The Patriarch funds my beat down of the Catholics. I haven't received any popups like this before from him.
After some waiting...
The first siege at Apulia ends.
And we get to raise Sergios...
To be more patient as the second siege is about to end.
And Apulia is taken. Time to defeat a small enemy force and move for Leece.
After catching and defeating the little group...
He offers peace, probably because he is under attack from Tunisia now too. I go ahead and accept his proposition, even though I debated dragging it out in hopes of getting a claim.
Time to hand out some land...
Since my count in Taranto made himself the Doux of Salerno, he has been wanting the county of Salerno (which is de jure part of that duchy). It is always a good idea to make sure that you do not hold lands that de jure should belong to your dukes as it incurs a pretty stiff -20 relations per territory held.
Not long after the peace...
Our chaplain dies, and his best successor is pretty miserable. I appoint him anyway and send him to Palermo. I need it to convert. Badly. If it does, it will be a huge boost in my strength and income, as all the holdings there are pretty well developed.
As if on cue...
Our steward follows suit. At least he has a suitable replacement available. He is sent to boost economic research for us in Napoli.
While all this fun has been going on some things have changed in North Africa...
Cyrenica is now the Emirate of Sicily (I haven't usurped the title yet because then all my counts in Sicily will want it, and the money is better spent elsewhere right now). Tunisia has taken all of Tripoli, while the Shia Caliphate took most of Cyrenica. I DO NOT want them to start coming for me, because they will win.
I think I am going to have to strike for Tunis and hope I can take it and hold it against their counter-attack and the inevitable attack that will come from Mauretani (which happens to be a surprisingly powerful emirate) because if I don't and they secure Tripoli for themselves (right now they are suffering all the conquest penalties for it since it had gone heretic) they will probably crush me in time.
As we continue to wait and hope for a claim on Beneveto...
Our castle in Messina is finished. I am going to keep it and now I will assign Girgenti to...
Also I decide to build...
At my new castle.
Now. Back to waiting.
Actually...
Might as well go ahead and build up Messina's main holding to while I am at it.
While waiting one of our daughters turns six and is sent to a member of the court for her education and...
We get pregnant. Again.
Not long after...
An event for Queen Alexandra!
She fails at falconry.
Time roles forward some and...
Her third son is born.
You know what?
Screw waiting around! Let's take what we can now! (Also if I pick the claim up during the war, since I am pressing all claims I will gain it. I think.)
After raising and rallying...
This is going to be a pretty lopsided affair.
One of my vassals needs some money, so I oblige. He made himself the Doux of Salerno just after our fight with the Muslims.
What awful timing. Oh well. It won't change anything.
As I move to put down the peasants I get this event again. Wonder if it will pan out this time.
No sooner have I put them down and started to turn back to the war when...
I really wish these places would hurry up and convert so I don't have to fight these stupid peasants all the time.
After dispatching the rebels...
We raise Sergios to be kind to, and not envious of others. Also, I finally get around to laying siege to Apulia.
I also decide to hire some mercenaries to expedite the siege because...
Apulia is pretty heavily defended, and I want this over quickly.
The Patriarch funds my beat down of the Catholics. I haven't received any popups like this before from him.
After some waiting...
The first siege at Apulia ends.
And we get to raise Sergios...
To be more patient as the second siege is about to end.
And Apulia is taken. Time to defeat a small enemy force and move for Leece.
After catching and defeating the little group...
He offers peace, probably because he is under attack from Tunisia now too. I go ahead and accept his proposition, even though I debated dragging it out in hopes of getting a claim.
Time to hand out some land...
Since my count in Taranto made himself the Doux of Salerno, he has been wanting the county of Salerno (which is de jure part of that duchy). It is always a good idea to make sure that you do not hold lands that de jure should belong to your dukes as it incurs a pretty stiff -20 relations per territory held.
Not long after the peace...
Our chaplain dies, and his best successor is pretty miserable. I appoint him anyway and send him to Palermo. I need it to convert. Badly. If it does, it will be a huge boost in my strength and income, as all the holdings there are pretty well developed.
As if on cue...
Our steward follows suit. At least he has a suitable replacement available. He is sent to boost economic research for us in Napoli.
While all this fun has been going on some things have changed in North Africa...
Cyrenica is now the Emirate of Sicily (I haven't usurped the title yet because then all my counts in Sicily will want it, and the money is better spent elsewhere right now). Tunisia has taken all of Tripoli, while the Shia Caliphate took most of Cyrenica. I DO NOT want them to start coming for me, because they will win.
I think I am going to have to strike for Tunis and hope I can take it and hold it against their counter-attack and the inevitable attack that will come from Mauretani (which happens to be a surprisingly powerful emirate) because if I don't and they secure Tripoli for themselves (right now they are suffering all the conquest penalties for it since it had gone heretic) they will probably crush me in time.
golgepapaz
Augur
I've also never met this, It might have something to do witgh your piety . I rarely had any piety over 150 because I've pressed my claims generally when they were fighting with muslims and for that you need to have 100 piety at least
Hellraiser
Arcane
Yeah the byzantine orthodox bros could be useful if the shit muslims declare jihad.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Oh I want to. I just have to wait until my daughters get closer to coming of age, because the Empire has been a wee bit unstable as of late, and I want to be sure that I marry into an alliance with the Empire not some doux that cannot help me.
Cassidy
Arcane
I'm sure the Shia Caliphate is already planning to spread the religion of peace to Southern Italy.
Also picturing an Azerbaijani Djinn speaking: "What is wrong, Liberal?"
Also picturing an Azerbaijani Djinn speaking: "What is wrong, Liberal?"
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Well at the very least, if they start shit with me, I will send my spymaster to the caliph's court and murder his whole damn family before I go down. Might even cause a civil war that way too.
Yeesh
Magister
I don't get the running out of ambitions thing. Lame.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Yes it is. Especially for independent rulers. For them the problem is that aside from the "Kill x" (where x is determined by the game, and is usually just some random asshole that your character happens to hate) or "Kill Spouse" ambitions the only thing rulers can shoot for are the life ambitions (Paragon of Virtue, Exalted Among Men, Amass Wealth) and all of those are pretty easy for a decent sized kingdom to get. Also you can block yourself from pursuing those if you get your prestige/piety/wealth too high before selecting that goal and I believe are only allowed to achieve one of the three.
As a vassal there are a few more choices, but it is still an area that is painfully empty. Though I do really like the idea behind ambitions. They could become a very interesting thing if fleshed out a lot more. A LOT more.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Update 19-The Pretty Princess Marches On
Well as I sit around with my thumb up my ass trying to figure out what the hell I should try to do...
Tunis is now Africa. Oh boy. And here is a ledger shot...
I am kinda starting to think I may have to swear fealty to the Byzantine Emperor, and hope he will help me out in my expansions.
But for now...
Let's go balls in and hope we can come out on top.
Assembling the army...
Our army loads up on our boats and heads out. They arrive...
Off the coast and things look like they might go our way.
The first battle:
Is won. I pursue and annihilate the enemy force.
Also...
My Catholic uncle has a Catholic son. BOOOO!
Not long after that and destroying the enemy...
What shitty timing. I take it anyway. It may bite me in my ass though later. Oh and my army is laying siege to an enemy province now, and I went ahead and disbanded my fleet, so it isn't costing me money.
I also decide to see what husbands are available for my eldest daughter and find...
I'll take it! Hungary as an ally (at least in the future) would be able to protect my holdings in Europe if I come under attack. Also there wasn't anyone in the Empire that would give me any useful alliances.
PEASANT SCUM!!!
The first of many sieges is won. Yay.
A courtier comes to us trying to convert us to their heresy, but we convert them to the True Orthodox Faith instead. Heresy can be a fun route to take, and I may do it later. For now though, it would probably amount to suicide, as Orthodox realms and I think Catholic realms as well, would gain Holy War Causus-Belli on me, and kick my little ass.
We win another siege. This is going to take some time though. Tunis is a large Duchy.
Raising Sergios:
Excellent. He is 15 and will be coming of age soon.
Africa hires some mercs. They are sending them south towards Tripoli though to put down a rebellion there. Fine by me. Also I win the last siege not long after this shot, but didn't take a pic.
I arrive in Tunis itself and...
There mercs start to double back towards the province I just took. I will let them arrive then destroy them (hopefully).
The enemy also takes this opportunity to re-raise their levies and I find out...
That we have been knocked up. AGAIN. This will be child 7. Alexandra is 33.
Battle with the enemy mercs and their forces:
Goes great! If you noticed they did not have a flank on their army, and because of that I was able to break them down fast and not suffer much myself. Back to Tunis to siege.
Wiping the enemy out at Tunis.
What is this...
YES! HAHAHAHA! GLORIOUS VICTORY!
Time to distribute our winnings. I won't keep any territory there for myself.
First I distribute each country...
Then I usurp the duchy title from the ragheads.
Then I pick the youngest of the counts.
And make him a duke.
Land redistributed. This should (theoretically) accelerate the conversion process since there are now 6 court chaplains at work in the area (hopefully).
As I move my troops to deal with the rebellion in Sicily...
More rebels take up arms in Gabes in N. Africa. This is going to be a recurring problem (read nightmare) for me until conversion happens.
See what I mean?
Anyway, as I am dealing with the rebels...
Sergios comes of age.
And we marry him to a random Greek noble with decent stats. The Emperor desired a better alliance then us, and frankly, I don't blame him.
As I move to deal with the last of the rebels (luckily they aren't too hard to get to thanks to my ample naval transport capacity)...
We push out another son. The succession should be very interesting when it happens (well it would be, but I am not giving any of them land, so they should be manageable).
An event happens...
And we say let the merchants stay.
Bam! Another victory for Orthodoxy.
Sergios gets married and we take the money!
More rebels to dispatch.
As my army movies to deal with them I decide to do some building...
The light cavalry troops will be a welcome addition to my armies.
WHEEEE. Rebels. At least...
I'm not the only one with problems. Africa has gone to shit. HAW HAW HAW.
Our eldest daughter comes of age and is married off. We now have an alliance with Hungary. Yay us.
And in other news...
The Shia Caliphate has exploded. For now. They should be awhile in bouncing back from that. Especially since the ruler is old (and the same guy that it looked stable and strong under).
Also for those who care, I am FINALLY starting to see money come in from Palermo. I still get no troops there (and won't until 1156) but I am now get 25% of the income from it. Woooohooo!
Our first grandchild! Yay.
Waiting around and...
An event. And...
More rebels. Oh boy!
Also...
Another child come of age and is married off. He may be only a count now, but his father is next in line to the throne of the Empire so it may pan out into a worthwhile alliance. Or it may not.
Alright that's this update. Here is the world at present and the resignation screen:
The Pretty Princess is a badass.
Tune in next time and watch me continue to be a dick, as I break treaties and conquer Muslims. Also as a heads up after my next update I will do a mini-update regarding all the family stuff.
Well as I sit around with my thumb up my ass trying to figure out what the hell I should try to do...
Tunis is now Africa. Oh boy. And here is a ledger shot...
I am kinda starting to think I may have to swear fealty to the Byzantine Emperor, and hope he will help me out in my expansions.
But for now...
Let's go balls in and hope we can come out on top.
Assembling the army...
Our army loads up on our boats and heads out. They arrive...
Off the coast and things look like they might go our way.
The first battle:
Is won. I pursue and annihilate the enemy force.
Also...
My Catholic uncle has a Catholic son. BOOOO!
Not long after that and destroying the enemy...
What shitty timing. I take it anyway. It may bite me in my ass though later. Oh and my army is laying siege to an enemy province now, and I went ahead and disbanded my fleet, so it isn't costing me money.
I also decide to see what husbands are available for my eldest daughter and find...
I'll take it! Hungary as an ally (at least in the future) would be able to protect my holdings in Europe if I come under attack. Also there wasn't anyone in the Empire that would give me any useful alliances.
PEASANT SCUM!!!
The first of many sieges is won. Yay.
A courtier comes to us trying to convert us to their heresy, but we convert them to the True Orthodox Faith instead. Heresy can be a fun route to take, and I may do it later. For now though, it would probably amount to suicide, as Orthodox realms and I think Catholic realms as well, would gain Holy War Causus-Belli on me, and kick my little ass.
We win another siege. This is going to take some time though. Tunis is a large Duchy.
Raising Sergios:
Excellent. He is 15 and will be coming of age soon.
Africa hires some mercs. They are sending them south towards Tripoli though to put down a rebellion there. Fine by me. Also I win the last siege not long after this shot, but didn't take a pic.
I arrive in Tunis itself and...
There mercs start to double back towards the province I just took. I will let them arrive then destroy them (hopefully).
The enemy also takes this opportunity to re-raise their levies and I find out...
That we have been knocked up. AGAIN. This will be child 7. Alexandra is 33.
Battle with the enemy mercs and their forces:
Goes great! If you noticed they did not have a flank on their army, and because of that I was able to break them down fast and not suffer much myself. Back to Tunis to siege.
Wiping the enemy out at Tunis.
What is this...
YES! HAHAHAHA! GLORIOUS VICTORY!
Time to distribute our winnings. I won't keep any territory there for myself.
First I distribute each country...
Then I usurp the duchy title from the ragheads.
Then I pick the youngest of the counts.
And make him a duke.
Land redistributed. This should (theoretically) accelerate the conversion process since there are now 6 court chaplains at work in the area (hopefully).
As I move my troops to deal with the rebellion in Sicily...
More rebels take up arms in Gabes in N. Africa. This is going to be a recurring problem (read nightmare) for me until conversion happens.
See what I mean?
Anyway, as I am dealing with the rebels...
Sergios comes of age.
And we marry him to a random Greek noble with decent stats. The Emperor desired a better alliance then us, and frankly, I don't blame him.
As I move to deal with the last of the rebels (luckily they aren't too hard to get to thanks to my ample naval transport capacity)...
We push out another son. The succession should be very interesting when it happens (well it would be, but I am not giving any of them land, so they should be manageable).
An event happens...
And we say let the merchants stay.
Bam! Another victory for Orthodoxy.
Sergios gets married and we take the money!
More rebels to dispatch.
As my army movies to deal with them I decide to do some building...
The light cavalry troops will be a welcome addition to my armies.
WHEEEE. Rebels. At least...
I'm not the only one with problems. Africa has gone to shit. HAW HAW HAW.
Our eldest daughter comes of age and is married off. We now have an alliance with Hungary. Yay us.
And in other news...
The Shia Caliphate has exploded. For now. They should be awhile in bouncing back from that. Especially since the ruler is old (and the same guy that it looked stable and strong under).
Also for those who care, I am FINALLY starting to see money come in from Palermo. I still get no troops there (and won't until 1156) but I am now get 25% of the income from it. Woooohooo!
Our first grandchild! Yay.
Waiting around and...
An event. And...
More rebels. Oh boy!
Also...
Another child come of age and is married off. He may be only a count now, but his father is next in line to the throne of the Empire so it may pan out into a worthwhile alliance. Or it may not.
Alright that's this update. Here is the world at present and the resignation screen:
The Pretty Princess is a badass.
Tune in next time and watch me continue to be a dick, as I break treaties and conquer Muslims. Also as a heads up after my next update I will do a mini-update regarding all the family stuff.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Africa can't fight a war for shit? Who would have thought
I see potatoland acquired a a chunk of hitman land, hardly surprising since they are pagans. How the hell did the HRE acquire pomerania and prussia? Both should either be controlled by some minor polish noble or pagans and this is way before the teutons got invited to smite the prussians. Guess the HRE could have beaten potatoland to grabbing that land.
I see potatoland acquired a a chunk of hitman land, hardly surprising since they are pagans. How the hell did the HRE acquire pomerania and prussia? Both should either be controlled by some minor polish noble or pagans and this is way before the teutons got invited to smite the prussians. Guess the HRE could have beaten potatoland to grabbing that land.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Yeah I hope they pull together. In my current game in the HRE (shooting to form Germany as the Hohenzollerns) Rus is completely united and when the Golden Horde showed up they were forced to go south and ended up battling the Il Khanate. They even became Orthodox.
Alternatively, in other games, I have seen them eat everything between the edge of the map and the HRE.
They are very strong. One of the top five powers. But they have been at war with France for a long time. Hopefully that coupled with my new ally in Hungary keeps them at bay. If they come knocking, they will likely be attacked by others though so I should be able to manage.
I have thought about going that way, but I would really rather focus on the west, and let the byzzies have the east. Also as long as I don't border them they probably won't bother me, since they usually will have their hands full with the byzzies and later the hordes.
The HRE usually declares war on the pagans in Pomerania on day 1 and it doesn't take them long to eat their way through the rest of the pagans.
Hellraiser
Arcane
Figured as much, that is what I would do in their place.
Oesophagus
Arcane
Damn, now I'm going to have to give this game a try. As if my financial status wasn't bad enough
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Well the problem is that there are two titles in the game that give me that distinction. The Holy Roman Empire, and the Byzantine Empire. Also bear in mind that when I said that I still hadn't really played the game much (just a bit of the demo). In CK1, it was quite easy to take the Spartenos family and, if you survived the horrible first years, devour yourself a new western empire.
In CK2, expansion is generally much slower (some exceptions, but they aren't really options for us as Orthodox). So my original plan of systematically conquering Europe and becoming the Basileus of the Holy Roman Empire (thus making it Holy, Roman, and an Empire) is going to be one hell of a long shot.
This is compounded by the way independence war mechanics are set up right now, because the breaking away party doesn't gain gradual warscore for their territory, which means that in something like the HRE nobody every actually breaks free because none of the individual parts are capable of fighting the emperor and his endless waves of troops.
Especially since the AI doesn't like to let those wars be won for anything less than 100% victory (which is next to impossible to gain against the HRE without the gradual upticks in warscore that one gets for occupying or holding the target of the war).
Anyway the point there is that once the HRE is somewhere, it never ever leaves. Now so far, in this game at least, they are remaining relatively manageable because they aren't inheriting everything.
So I might be able to challenge them down the line for some territory, but I also am only just about to hit the 100 years in mark, and it has usually been after that when I tend to see these inheritances start happening in a big way.
For example. In my now defunct Wales game, the HRE inherited England (which had Denamark and included me, who had Ireland and most of Scotland), Poland, the huge duchy in S.Western France, Hungary, has all of Italy (don't think it was inherited but still), Norway, and controls most of Iberia (someone in the empire inherited the last Christian kingdom which had been a buffer between the Muslims and the Empire in Southern France, needless to say the Muslims were overrun not much later).
Anyway, every few years, there is a string of independence wars fought, but nobody is able to defeat the HRE (who fields hundreds of thousands of men easily at this point) so it just keeps growing and growing.
XenomorphII
Prophet
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2011
- Messages
- 1,198
Update 20- Stuff
First...
We send our Catholic cousin of for an education. Hopefully he becomes Orthodox during his rearing.
I had been considering simply ignoring the truce I have with Africa and finishing them off but...
It looks like the long war between France and Mauretania is over and they would probably jump on me if I gave them the chance and they are strong enough that it would be a significant problem. So instead, I will watch them like a hawk, and the moment they get involved in any trouble I am going to steamroll through them, truces be damned.
In the meantime, I will continue to try to lay claim to Foggia and finish off Apulia.
Thanks to our daughter's recent marriage we became and ally of the Emperor (he is my daughter's brother-in-law). I accept. Maybe they will back me up to some day.
Though I am not going to actually do anything in the wars he brought me into.
Also...
Queen Alexandra gets named the Wise not long after.
In family news...
Our son has a son. Depending on how long Alexandra lives (she is 38) he or his son might be the next character we play as. He is going to have some big shoes to fill at the current rate of gains.
While waiting around for claims or other opportunities...
This event can be a lot of fun as a vassal (you can sometimes make your liege/rivals/people whose titles you want to revoke a heretic and cause all sorts of fun) but for me now, I do not need heretics on top of Muslims to deal with.
It is at this point that I realize I have lots of money so...
I decide to send my spymaster down to Mauretania to "help" them out. And by help I mean sow chaos and discord so I can conquer them and convert them. That is helping. Right?
First off, to make things easier on myself...
I target the spymaster of my enemy to be.
But the first attempt fails.
The second works out great though!
Now to try to cause a succession crisis by putting a young boy on the throne (and he may have too die if things to break down well enough for me).
Failed, but undetected, and I have plenty of money to try again so...
I do, this time with success. Now to see what happens and if further action is needed.
Since I am on a roll...
I try to kill this guy. He is the regent and heir to the throne, and a powerful noble to boot. Let's see if my second try luck holds...
Bwahahahah! We are a murder machine!
Just to be a dick and because I noticed something...
Alright. I am done with that now. Time to wait and hope.
Time passes uneventfully except for some rebellions here and there...
And we get this event. Also I probably went overboard with my assassinations and ended up not causing any real damage. Oh well.
Also I decide to improve my provinces some as I need more troops...
Additionally...
Palermo is finally free of the conquest penalties! And it marshals almost as many men as Napoli itself (or will once it replenishes the levy).
More rebels. Woo. Also Apulia changed itself to Beneveto.
An event happens!
Dang that courtier of mine is looking OLD. I keep hoping that any day now I will get claims on Foggia.
But I don't. Time to look at our alternatives (that I didn't realize I could do until earlier today).
After clicking the shield for a title you can see who has claims on it. Foggia has none. That sucks. Where else could I look for expansion? Hmmm...
Looks like the Duchy of Dalmatia in nearby Croatia has some claimants. Let's take a peek...
Hehehehe. The thumbs up and down indicate whether they will come to my court. Let's invite us a good Orthodox Christian like say...
And he agrees. Now let's...
Ruin that poor bastard's day.
They probably won't help, but you never know.
That poor bastard. The king of Croatia is now at war with Sicily and the Byzantine Empire. Sucks to be him.
Hungary declined though. Oh well.
The army:
They load up and head for the province of Zadar.
I assault and the sieges end quickly.
I spot the enemy army. Time to chase them down and wipe them out to end this.
Caught them:
And peace:
Whoops. I was under the impression he would become my vassal? Oh well I can offer him vassalization.
Except, he refuses my offer of vassalization due to me being a distant realm. What an ungrateful little shit.
We back up the emperor again.
Not long after....
Oh boy this will be fun. I send out the call for help to the emperor (I cannot call Hungary since they declined me recently.)
That's this update. I am going to wait until after this war ends to worry about doing a family update.
First...
We send our Catholic cousin of for an education. Hopefully he becomes Orthodox during his rearing.
I had been considering simply ignoring the truce I have with Africa and finishing them off but...
It looks like the long war between France and Mauretania is over and they would probably jump on me if I gave them the chance and they are strong enough that it would be a significant problem. So instead, I will watch them like a hawk, and the moment they get involved in any trouble I am going to steamroll through them, truces be damned.
In the meantime, I will continue to try to lay claim to Foggia and finish off Apulia.
Thanks to our daughter's recent marriage we became and ally of the Emperor (he is my daughter's brother-in-law). I accept. Maybe they will back me up to some day.
Though I am not going to actually do anything in the wars he brought me into.
Also...
Queen Alexandra gets named the Wise not long after.
In family news...
Our son has a son. Depending on how long Alexandra lives (she is 38) he or his son might be the next character we play as. He is going to have some big shoes to fill at the current rate of gains.
While waiting around for claims or other opportunities...
This event can be a lot of fun as a vassal (you can sometimes make your liege/rivals/people whose titles you want to revoke a heretic and cause all sorts of fun) but for me now, I do not need heretics on top of Muslims to deal with.
It is at this point that I realize I have lots of money so...
I decide to send my spymaster down to Mauretania to "help" them out. And by help I mean sow chaos and discord so I can conquer them and convert them. That is helping. Right?
First off, to make things easier on myself...
I target the spymaster of my enemy to be.
But the first attempt fails.
The second works out great though!
Now to try to cause a succession crisis by putting a young boy on the throne (and he may have too die if things to break down well enough for me).
Failed, but undetected, and I have plenty of money to try again so...
I do, this time with success. Now to see what happens and if further action is needed.
Since I am on a roll...
I try to kill this guy. He is the regent and heir to the throne, and a powerful noble to boot. Let's see if my second try luck holds...
Bwahahahah! We are a murder machine!
Just to be a dick and because I noticed something...
Alright. I am done with that now. Time to wait and hope.
Time passes uneventfully except for some rebellions here and there...
And we get this event. Also I probably went overboard with my assassinations and ended up not causing any real damage. Oh well.
Also I decide to improve my provinces some as I need more troops...
Additionally...
Palermo is finally free of the conquest penalties! And it marshals almost as many men as Napoli itself (or will once it replenishes the levy).
More rebels. Woo. Also Apulia changed itself to Beneveto.
An event happens!
Dang that courtier of mine is looking OLD. I keep hoping that any day now I will get claims on Foggia.
But I don't. Time to look at our alternatives (that I didn't realize I could do until earlier today).
After clicking the shield for a title you can see who has claims on it. Foggia has none. That sucks. Where else could I look for expansion? Hmmm...
Looks like the Duchy of Dalmatia in nearby Croatia has some claimants. Let's take a peek...
Hehehehe. The thumbs up and down indicate whether they will come to my court. Let's invite us a good Orthodox Christian like say...
And he agrees. Now let's...
Ruin that poor bastard's day.
They probably won't help, but you never know.
That poor bastard. The king of Croatia is now at war with Sicily and the Byzantine Empire. Sucks to be him.
Hungary declined though. Oh well.
The army:
They load up and head for the province of Zadar.
I assault and the sieges end quickly.
I spot the enemy army. Time to chase them down and wipe them out to end this.
Caught them:
And peace:
Whoops. I was under the impression he would become my vassal? Oh well I can offer him vassalization.
Except, he refuses my offer of vassalization due to me being a distant realm. What an ungrateful little shit.
We back up the emperor again.
Not long after....
Oh boy this will be fun. I send out the call for help to the emperor (I cannot call Hungary since they declined me recently.)
That's this update. I am going to wait until after this war ends to worry about doing a family update.
Cassidy
Arcane
ITZ near.
Kashmir Slippers
Magister
The Emperor is almost guaranteed to answer your call to arms because you answered two of his, and your attacker is a heathen. If he will actually do anything... That is another question altogether.
Here's to a good heathen bashing.
Here's to a good heathen bashing.
Norfleet
Moderator
- Joined
- Jun 3, 2005
- Messages
- 12,250
In CK1, the succession laws of the Byzantine Empire were sufficiently malleable to your interests that you could get yourself elected the next Emperor after Doukas Emperor kicks it. Is this not the case in CK2?
If CK1 is any guide, if the AI is capable of managing to find his way to the battle at all, it will be a giant mess because of the effects of Siege-Stealing. If there isn't any siege-stealing anymore, then it will STILL be a giant mess if they start sieging anything you wanted.
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