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The Kingmaker

AlexanderPrimus
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Feb 23, 2008
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AethelsweordHeader1_zpsa4826c96.png


DOWNLOAD ÆTHELSWEORD VERSION 1.2 HERE

Æthelsweord is an Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Improvement Pack for Crusader Kings II, containing various historical fixes and cultural improvements for increased accuracy, immersion and flavor.

Watch for Version 2.0, containing additional fixes and a completely revamped 867 scenario, coming soon!​

INTRODUCTION

The year is 1066. The old king is dead, and the great men of the realm have chosen Harold Godwinson to be his successor, bypassing the old king’s inexperienced young grand-nephew, Eadgar. Yet even as the jubilant vivats echo through the great abbey of Westmynster, the new king finds himself beset by foes on every side. From the distant fjords of Norway comes the bloodthirsty viking Hardrada, who plots to claim the throne of England by force. He is aided by Tostig, Harold’s vicious younger brother, who is seeking vengeance for his brother’s betrayal. Across the channel, William of Normandy seethes at the frustration of his ambitions. Vowing to make England his own, he has ordered the construction of a fleet of ships and waits only for the winds to turn in his favor. To the west and north, the myriad petty kings of Scotland, Ireland and Wales are ever seeking opportunities for greater power. Will they be a help or a hindrance? King Harold will not face these threats alone, however. His faithful brothers Gyrth and Leofwine continue to stand by him, as do his new allies, the northern Earls. He also has the support of England’s mighty thegns, noble warriors who will defend their homeland to the death. But even if all these should fail him, there is still his beloved Ealdgyth Swanneck, who will remain by his side to whatever end.

Will you take on the mantle of King Harold and defend Anglo-Saxon England from its many enemies? Or will history repeat itself? The choice is yours.


INSTALLATION

After downloading the mod, unzip its contents to your CKII mod folder in your computer’s Documents library. Then start up the game as usual, making sure to select the mod from the game’s initial start-up menu.


CHANGELOG v. 1.2: New Scenario

GENERAL FEATURES

- Increased the Same Dynasty modifier from +5 to +15 to better represent family ties [experimental and subject to change]

NEW SCENARIO

- 15 October 1066: Last Stand of the Saxons

HISTORY

Changes as of 1066.1.1.:
- Odo, brother of William, is now Bishop of Bayeux and his brother’s vassal
- Eadulf ‘Rus’ is now a vassal of Gospatric of Lothian
- Rhiwallon is now Prince of Powys and a vassal of his brother Bleddyn of Gwynedd
- Wulfnoth Godwinson is now William’s hostage in Normandy

Changes as of 1066.10.15.:
- Eadgar Ætheling is now King of England
- Ealdgyth of Mercia (Harold's #2 wife) is now at the court of Eadwine of Mercia
- Olaf ‘Kyrre’ is now Jarl of Ostlandet and Vestlandet, simulating his role as co-king of Norway
- Some minor tinkering with the Norman invasion to make it work properly for the new scenario

GRAPHICS

- Anglo-Saxons now use some Norse Christian facepack elements, as opposed to Pagan ones

CHANGELOG v. 1.1: Irish Fixes

VERSION 1.1 (Archived)

LOCALIZATION

- Irish Counts are now Ruires
- Irish Tribes are now Counties again
- Irish Dukes are now Kings

CHANGELOG v. 1.0: Initial Release

VERSION 1.0 (Archived)

NEW SCENARIO

- 6 January 1066: The Coronation of Harold Godwinson

LOCALIZATION

- Anglo-Saxon Barons are now Thegns
- Anglo-Saxon Mayors are now Reeves
- Anglo-Saxon Counts are now Ealdormen
- Anglo-Saxon Dukes are now Earls
- Anglo-Saxon Princes are now Æthelings
- Anglo-Saxon Counties are now Shires
- Anglo-Saxon Duchies are now Earldoms
- Scottish Counts are now Mormaers
- Scottish Dukes are now High Stewards
- Scottish Regents are now Guardians
- Welsh Dukes are now Teyrns
- Welsh Counts are now Princes
- Irish Counts are now Tribal Kings
- Irish Counties are now Tribes
- Irish Dukes are now Ruires
- Irish Duchies are now Provinces
- Irish and Scottish Barons are now Chiefs
- Norman characters now use the “Fitz” patronymic
- New "High King" special title defined
- e_britannia now uses High King title
- k_ireland now uses High King title
- Added new de jure Duchy setup for Anglo-Saxon and Norman England

HISTORY

Changes as of 1066.1.1.:
- Modified King Harold’s stats and traits to more accurately reflect his historical attributes
- De facto setup of Anglo-Saxon earldoms corrected to be historically accurate
- Added new holding histories for Anglo-Saxon earldoms
- Harold’s more danico wife renamed to Ealdgyth ‘Swanneck,’ relocated to his court and made his lover
- Harold’s ahistorical brother Ælfgar removed
- Temple holding in York now held by Ealdred of York
- Wulfstan is no longer Prince-Bishop of Worcester, he now simply holds the temple holding there instead
- Harold Ralfsson now holds the castle of Ewyas Harold in Hereford
- Eadric ‘the Wild’ is no longer Earl of Shrewsbury, he now simply holds a castle there
- Ralf ‘the Staller’ is no longer Earl of Norfolk, he now simply holds a castle there
- Eadulf ‘Rus’ is no longer Earl of Teviotdale, he now simply holds a castle there
- Cadoc is no longer Earl of Cornwall, he now simply holds a castle there
- Stigand and Ealdred now hold the special title “Archbishop”
- Gospatric of Lothian now possesses Anglo-Saxon culture
- Added various new historical characters, including Saxon thegns and pre-Conquest Normans:
  • Marleswein - Thegn of a castle in Lincoln
  • Ansgar - Thegn of a castle in Middlesex
  • Bondi - Thegn of a castle in Northampton
  • Ælfstan - Thegn of a castle in Wiltshire
  • Eadnoth - Steward of England and Thegn of a castle in Somerset
  • Siward Barn - Thegn of a castle in Gloucester
  • Lyfing - Thegn of a castle in Derby
  • Regenbald of Cirencester - Chancellor of England, at Harold’s court
  • Richard Fitz Scrob - Thegn of “Richard’s Castle” holding in Hereford
  • Osbern Fitz Richard - Son of Richard Fitz Scrob, at his court
  • Robert Fitz Wymarc – Thegn of “Clavering” holding in Essex
- Cultures of Cornwall, Cumbria, Clydesdale, and Teviotdale are now Welsh
- Diarmait son of Donnchad is now Petty King of Leinster
- Diarmait's son Murchad, the Tribal King of Dublin, is now his vassal
- Moved Toirdelbach ui Brian to Diarmait's court
- Malcolm of Strathclyde is Welsh culture and Petty King of Strathclyde, controlling the provinces of Clydesdale, Teviotdale, and Cumbria
- Dolfin is no longer Earl of Cumbria and is a courtier of Gospatric of Lothian
- Mael-Snechtai is now Petty King of Moray
- The Mormaers of Galloway, Carrick and the Isle of Man are no longer vassals of the Petty King of Soreyar
- Changed the Duchy of Leinster's succession law to Tanistry
- Changed the Kingdom of England’s succession law to Elective

GRAPHICS

- Added some new Anglo-Saxon coats-of-arms, including the Wessex Wyvern
- Anglo-Saxon, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish cultures now use Norse settlement images for castles and cities, but not temples (REQUIRES THE OLD GODS)
- Anglo-Saxon, Scottish, Welsh, and Irish cultures now use Norse models for the Chancellor, Steward, Spymaster, and Marshal, but not Court Chaplain (REQUIRES THE OLD GODS)
- Anglo-Saxons now use some Norse facepack gfx elements (REQUIRES THE OLD GODS)
- Anglo-Saxons now use modified Norse unit sprites (REQUIRES THE OLD GODS)

CREDITS

SirDraco - Lead Modder, Anglo-Saxon Improvements
Galle - Modder, Celtic Improvements
AlexanderPrimus - Project Coordinator, Historical Consultant


Note: This mod utilizes Characters: 1.000.209.000 - 1.000.211.999
 
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Screenshots:
De-jure and De-facto setup under Harold
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Battle of Scarborough aka the Battle of Stamford Bridge
ck2_3-1.png

After Hastings
ck2_1-1.png


Still to come:
- Improved 867
- More New characters for 1066 bookmarks
- New Events
- Maybe More.....
 

Attachments

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Excellent stuff! Nice to see Paradox's anti-Anglo-Saxon crusade reversed.
 
Any chance we could have some screenshots? I'm interested in seeing the Saxon portraits.

I will get some, though a bit of warning, some aren't that good while others look a lot better than normal, Harold looks great, Eadwin not so much.

EDIT: Added to second post
 
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If you'd like some help then I can give you what I managed to back up of my revised Saxon setup. It's not much, but it should help you fill out some some of the major families and give you a few new vassals.
 
I'm quite uncomfortable with the term tribe and tribal king, I have to admit. I think local kingdom probably would have suited better, and provincial king/ruire going to the duchy title like suggested. This is the practice of most modern historians. Sub-king/Sub-kingdom is another alternative.

I do like the other changes though.
 
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Does this work without the Old Gods?
Yeah it will, it's just that you won't benefit from any of the 867 scenario changes. The only differences between v1.10 (free patch) and ToG are the new scenario and the ability to play as pagans and Zoroastrians, which isn't an issue in the British Isles.
 
Would it be possible for me to integrate this into CKII+?

I don't see a problem with it, though as this mod is primarily SirDraco's baby, I'd want to get his stamp of approval first.

Do you plan to implement saxon names for provinces or to leave them in modern english?

Unique Saxon province names are a definite possibility. We would potentially make them like the Norse province names in TOG, where they change over once a different culture owns the province. We could potentially do this with the Irish kingdoms too.

If you'd like some help then I can give you what I managed to back up of my revised Saxon setup. It's not much, but it should help you fill out some some of the major families and give you a few new vassals.

Sure, show us what you've got.

I'm quite uncomfortable with the term tribe and tribal king, I have to admit. I think local kingdom probably would have suited better, and provincial king/ruire going to the duchy title like suggested. This is the practice of most modern historians. Sub-king/Sub-kingdom is another alternative.

Working on this, I've got a fix in mind that should work well.
 
Our mod currently requires TOG for some of the various graphics changes. We're planning to release a non-TOG version in the near future.

Just to add to this, it also currently requires the Norse Sprite and Face Packs.

Eadwin looks funny

Yeah he is one of the disappointments from the Norse packs, if I get bored at some point, I may mess about with his DNA and any others with weird hair but this is not top of my priorities at the moment. We're still hoping that the Celtic Face Pack will have some better hair for them.
 
Yeah he is one of the disappointments from the Norse packs, if I get bored at some point, I may mess about with his DNA and any others with weird hair but this is not top of my priorities at the moment. We're still hoping that the Celtic Face Pack will have some better hair for them.

And if all else fails, in the end we could try to pick and choose the aspects we like from both the Celtic and Norse facepacks and make our own "Saxon Face Pack," if such a thing is possible.