12 replies to this topic

[Kaziocore]

Anyone playing CK2? For some reason, I'm loving this game

[Duderonomy]

I'm thinking about getting it. Depends on how my new job works out. I clocked 436 hours on Europa Universalis 3 and loved the two Let's Plays on Crusader Kings 2. I heard that with the update you can actually set up individual kingdoms and rule over them as emperor. I always loved grand strategy more than micromanagement.

[d3mon]

I just started playing it but keep getting the wounded trait.

[Rand0m her0]

Its fun. A good intro is to start as dublin. Your heir to something else as well, which means when the old man eats it you get two earldoms, and it puts you in a solid position to stomp all over Ireland, which in turns puts you in position to stomp over wales and scotland which in turns puts you in position to stomp over england and then your singing "Rule, Britannia" for the rest of the game

[Kaziocore]

I chose some random kingdom in Spain. I killed my brothers :<

[Duderonomy]

I chose some random kingdom in Spain. I killed my brothers :<

Sounds about right.

 

I bought the game 6 or 5 months ago (during the banned times) and enjoyed it well enough. I always had issues with managing the family line. You're supposed to constantly marry off any non-heir with high intrigue into another kingdom. I usually missed somebody and they would start giant civil wars/stabbing their way to the top. Lots of unrest and the kingdom would fall apart. It got to where I'd never spend money so I could always buy mercenaries.

 

Haven't played much, since I actually like Victoria 2 better. I don't know whether it's possible to do a grand Paradox game with the current games. It'd be awesome to go from the middle ages in CK to WW2 in Hearts of IRON.

[Lord Winter]

A grand paradox game that your talking about can be done. It is called a mega-campaign. They usually involve:

 

-Playing Crusader Kings 2 to the end, and converting the save file into Europa Universalis 3/4

-Playing Europa Universalis 3/4 to the end, and converting the save file into Victoria 2

-Playing Victoria 2 to the end, and converting the save file into Hearts of Iron 3

-Playing Hearts of Iron 3 to the end, where hopefully you have a large empire due to the near 1300 years you have played through (with DLC's)

-(Or continue with Civilisation 5/Beyond Earth, with some user country modding if you want)

[Keepitred]

I have europa universalis IV (might be getting crusader kings II) with the extended timeline mod.

[Lord Winter]

If you get all the current major DLC's for Crusader Kings 2, you can play from mid 700's to late 1300's/1400's. Can't remember which one it is right no.

[Lord Hippo]

My biggest problem with CK2 is that I always end up with my vassals hating me in a war I cannot possibly win. I am not very good at that game.

[Duderonomy]

My biggest problem with CK2 is that I always end up with my vassals hating me in a war I cannot possibly win. I am not very good at that game.

Mercs almost always fix rebellions. Use them to soak up damage from large armies while using personal forces for sieges. If your enemy has no more army, disband the mercenaries. Never raise troops from vassals unless they are kin. On that note, always be scheming to replace vassals with your relatives, either by marriage or by force.

So always make sure you have a WC in CK2.

[Lord Hippo]

Is it good to consolidate power into few vassals? Typically I run the kingdom and a single duchy, with all my vassals being dukes. 

 

EDIT: How do you inherit through marriage? If I send my son to marry their daughter, there first have to be no more of his sons alive in order for my son to inherit.

[Duderonomy]

Is it good to consolidate power into few vassals? Typically I run the kingdom and a single duchy, with all my vassals being dukes. 

 

EDIT: How do you inherit through marriage? If I send my son to marry their daughter, there first have to be no more of his sons alive in order for my son to inherit.

It's generally better to have more, smaller vassals. If a small vassal revolts, he's easier to deal with because he has fewer resources. Even better, you can usually replace him with a blood relative because of his treason, so that territory is more stable in the future. A larger vassal takes a lot of troops and time to put down. More vassals can be more difficult to individually manage, but you get bonuses for blood kinship and the like that you can leverage for a permanent bonus. 

 

I generally have Duke vassals that only own one county. This makes them much weaker. If they manage to obtain another through marriage, I scheme to take it away. I try to rule at least two duchies, or even three if possible, with a single county in all of them. It's easier to control counts that are directly under my control than dukes, since the counts don't get much tribute. Remember, gold is the big resource you need, since it can easily turn into most of the other game resources (like troops).

 

If you want to inherit through marriage, you either need to snipe weak lineages or be willing to murder all rivals to the throne. Otherwise, it's just chance and the fecundity of your ruling family. You're better off going after counts & dukes than kings. Once you obtain 50% of a kingdom's de jure territories, you can usurp the crown.

 

I find that it was more fun to play Crusader Kings 2 as a business simulator, rather than a battle simulator. This is actually a pretty historically accurate way to play, since kingdoms of that time thrived or sank on their King's ability to raise funds. Always think about the costs and benefits of acquiring land, rather than blindly expanding. A single territory can kill you if you aren't prepared for the consequences of ownership (de jure enemies, inability to govern properly, etc.). Time Warner should never have bought AOL. You may not need that county in Norway when you rule Ireland. Unless you think you can take down Norway, of course.

 

Always improve fiefdoms you directly control first. Monetary improvements, navy improvements, and then army improvements. Only help those vassals who will remain loyal. Only raise vassal levies in dire emergencies or for Crusades. The bump in sharing the Crusader trait offsets the negative effect of raising the levies.

 

In fact, I think that most people's problems with CK2 is figuring out the concept of indirect control. So many games just straight up give you control of every aspect of a kingdom, that it is kinda jarring to head straight into the chaotic web of relationships and resource sharing, even if that is a more accurate model of the real world. Try to picture your capabilities as a continuum, rather than an on/off switch, that ranges from a province on the other side of the world with zero ties to you, to troops that belong to an allied kingdom, to a direct holding.

 

Just because you can raise vassal levies, does not make them yours. Just because your color covers a province, doesn't mean it will always support you.