Heir marriage questions (plus a few others)

XELANAMYT · Mar 10, 2012

Hi,

I would like your opinions on who my heir should marry as this is the part of the game which I guess could have great ramifications later in the game so I don't want to get it wrong!

The situation as it stands is I am a duke in Ireland and have taken over/vassalised most of the counties in Ireland (just saving up to create Kingdom title) and my son is 14 and has been betrothed to the Duchess of Cornwall for ages. However she decided to try and take over some of the King of Englands lands and lost, got vassalised and imprisoned so I can't marry her and therefore will break the betrothal.

Who should I try and betroth my son to? I have looked at the potential wives and there are only duchy titled people (or lower) available. There are several Scottish princesses too which would result in an alliance, but I want to take over Scotland at some point so I guess that would cause an issue. I'm really at a loss at what to do here so any advice would be great.

Also, as a side note, what is the best way to get a good chancellor? I have tried marrying someone into my court, but she wasn't available for some reason. I have also tried inviting someone directly, but not found a single one who would move over.

Finally, do you think it is feasable to invade the non-catholic parts of Spain? It seems like the Moors have taken over 80% of it so it would be easy to attack and create a few titles, but I'm not sure if the distance to travel/reinforce would be an issue.

Thanks very much.

Aldrahill · Mar 10, 2012

XELANAMYT said:
Hi,

I would like your opinions on who my heir should marry as this is the part of the game which I guess could have great ramifications later in the game so I don't want to get it wrong!

The situation as it stands is I am a duke in Ireland and have taken over/vassalised most of the counties in Ireland (just saving up to create Kingdom title) and my son is 14 and has been betrothed to the Duchess of Cornwall for ages. However she decided to try and take over some of the King of Englands lands and lost, got vassalised and imprisoned so I can't marry her and therefore will break the betrothal.

Who should I try and betroth my son to? I have looked at the potential wives and there are only duchy titled people (or lower) available. There are several Scottish princesses too which would result in an alliance, but I want to take over Scotland at some point so I guess that would cause an issue. I'm really at a loss at what to do here so any advice would be great.

Also, as a side note, what is the best way to get a good chancellor? I have tried marrying someone into my court, but she wasn't available for some reason. I have also tried inviting someone directly, but not found a single one who would move over.

Finally, do you think it is feasable to invade the non-catholic parts of Spain? It seems like the Moors have taken over 80% of it so it would be easy to attack and create a few titles, but I'm not sure if the distance to travel/reinforce would be an issue.

Thanks very much.

Perhaps marry your son to the daughter of a Duke in Scotland? It's the alliance you create won't exist when the Duke himself dies, so you can wait until the Duke dies, and then your heir's wife dies, and the child of that union will have inherited claims to the titles of the Duke! That way, by the time your grandson inherits, he can go ahead and attack Scotland.

To get a good chancellor, either have a lot of money and get lucky when clicking "Invite Nobleman to court" or go around through different places in the game checking their claiments list. Sort the claiments in order of Diplomacy skill, and find the best one who is willing to come over. You don't have to press his claims, and you get a free chancellor!

It is feasable to attack Muslim Spain; however, make sure you're prepared. It all depends on what happened in your personal game, but I know that during my last Ireland game, by the time I had secured Ireland fully, Spain was basically overrun. Once I held large parts of Scotland and had a huge personal demesne, I invaded and conqured the entire Western and Southern parts of the Iberian penisula. Had to rush it though, as France was nabbing up huge parts of it

Sam,

Latrunculus · Mar 10, 2012

Just find a female with high stewardship skill and positive fertility traits.

XELANAMYT · Mar 11, 2012

Thanks very much, I'll give those ideas a go.

Lord Canterbury · Mar 11, 2012

You have got three main options...

1 - Marry for land: If you can find an underage duchess or countess that is willing to marry your son, then your grandchild will inherit their land. A king can often pick up counties this way. This is obviously a long term play, but is my personal favourite.

2 - Marry for alliance: Marry a relation of a powerful king (say France) just for the alliance. Marrying the kings daughter is always good as she will also be the future kings brother so the alliance will continue. However, I think it is better to use your own daughters for thsi type of marriage.

3 - Marry for stats: This can be important for you heir as you wife gives you half her stats... but to me this just feels like the last resort if you can't arrange a decent marriage for land or diplomacy.

I would also say that it is meant to be a difficult choice! The marriage of you heir will have more effect on your game than any war of conquest that you might have.

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Heir marriage questions (plus a few others)

XELANAMYT

Second Lieutenant

Aldrahill

Lt. General

Latrunculus

Private

XELANAMYT

Second Lieutenant

Lord Canterbury

Grand Prolonger of Autumn