It's time again, to fan the flames of speculation, chagrin and wonderment!
This week, I'll speak of buildings. In Crusader Kings, as you probably remember, you could build improvements in your counties; things like a library, a road network or money lenders. These would unlock as technology advanced in the county, and, once built, would improve stuff like taxation, defensibility and levy size. Crusader Kings II, not to be outdone by its predecessor, has a very similar system, except you do not build improvements per county, but per Holding (i.e. the baronies within a county. In Crusader Kings II, your Demesne does not consist of a number of counties, but of Holdings.)
You can click on any Holding in the game to inspect which improvements it has, the size and composition of its levy and garrison, its fortification level and its base tax. If the Holding is part of your own demesne, you can build new improvements there (if any are available and you can afford them.) Castle, City and Church type holdings have different sets of buildings consistent with their role (remember, for example, that Cities are burgher dominated, rich, with sizable ship levies, and so on.) Not only that, but many cultures have their own slightly different sets of buildings. Thus, some Mongol Castle improvements will increase the number of Horse Archers, whereas the corresponding German type would increase the number of Knights.
Another nifty feature of the Holding View is that you can change the name of the Holding if its lord is your subject - this has no effect on the gameplay, of course, but it's still fun (especially in multiplayer.) Naturally, you can also rename counties.
That's all for now. Until next week!
This week, I'll speak of buildings. In Crusader Kings, as you probably remember, you could build improvements in your counties; things like a library, a road network or money lenders. These would unlock as technology advanced in the county, and, once built, would improve stuff like taxation, defensibility and levy size. Crusader Kings II, not to be outdone by its predecessor, has a very similar system, except you do not build improvements per county, but per Holding (i.e. the baronies within a county. In Crusader Kings II, your Demesne does not consist of a number of counties, but of Holdings.)
You can click on any Holding in the game to inspect which improvements it has, the size and composition of its levy and garrison, its fortification level and its base tax. If the Holding is part of your own demesne, you can build new improvements there (if any are available and you can afford them.) Castle, City and Church type holdings have different sets of buildings consistent with their role (remember, for example, that Cities are burgher dominated, rich, with sizable ship levies, and so on.) Not only that, but many cultures have their own slightly different sets of buildings. Thus, some Mongol Castle improvements will increase the number of Horse Archers, whereas the corresponding German type would increase the number of Knights.
Another nifty feature of the Holding View is that you can change the name of the Holding if its lord is your subject - this has no effect on the gameplay, of course, but it's still fun (especially in multiplayer.) Naturally, you can also rename counties.
That's all for now. Until next week!
