Managing Gavelkind - What Should I Have Done Instead???
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Yeah, I see now that I did a lot of this backwards. I will probably start up a fresh game with Proto-Hungary and try not to put the cart before the horse.
I don't mind gavelkind really - and I like focusing on internal politics as well as external, which is why I think CKII is more fun than EUIV. But I guess I often disagree with the way titles get weighted a lot of the time. In my case the game was going to give the heir the Empire title and a couple of counties. Meanwhile the second heir was set to get both kingdom titles.
Maybe I'm missing something but the Empire title seems kind of worthless to me without at least one of the kingdom titles to go with it. I wouldn't have minded the second heir getting one of the kingdoms - that's kind of what I wanted to happen. But the situation seems like it would have been untenable if I had not had a couple of last-minute sons (not that it helped much). I would have been the Emperor, sure. But the second heir, who would have BOTH kingdoms would have declared war on me very quickly. What military strength would I have had?
I mean I guess the game would have continued in that case since the second heir was obviously of my dynasty too but it's just kind of a crappy position to be in. It is very frustrating that the player/current ruler gets absolutely zero say in how the titles get split.
Shame there isn't a way to declare a primary title at each level. The others could be exposed to more claim or inheritance risk such as in gavelkind - the primaries sit with the oldest 'main' heir, the rest distribute.
As to the OP, faced with the same decisions I may have gone the same route.
As to the OP, faced with the same decisions I may have gone the same route.
I guess I wasn't thinking far enough ahead early enough in the game.
Well, I was in some ways but not in others. I converted to Orthodoxy pretty early and promptly married a daughter off to the ERE to keep them off my back - they were making inroads into Bulgaria the thought of a bright purple neighbor was unsettling. We didn't end up sharing a border but it was close and it ended up with only one county between us as a buffer.
But gavelkind and Empire-level titles don't seem to go together very well - there are too many titles kicking around at that point. The obvious solution is to reform/convert and get to elective pretty quickly.
In the situation I was faced with in the game I guess I shouldn't have pre-awarded a title to my heir. Of course I had no way of knowing that I would have a son very shortly afterwards. I guess at that point I should have revoked and let my vassals get over it. I had managed my vassal opinions pretty well at that point and had no real revolt risks among them.
Of course when the second son came along I'm sure the game would have gone back to the bizarre succession plan that started the whole mess and give my primary heir the Empire and a couple of counties and my second son both kingdoms...
Really, I probably should have written the Carpathian Empire off as a bad idea, kept the kingdom of Hungary for myself and made some friendly relative of mine the King of Wallachia to be my ally and buffer against Bulgaria and Byzantium. A borderline incestuous marriage or so every couple of generations and they would likely be allies for the duration of the game or until the big purple blob in Constantinople ate them for breakfast.
Well, I was in some ways but not in others. I converted to Orthodoxy pretty early and promptly married a daughter off to the ERE to keep them off my back - they were making inroads into Bulgaria the thought of a bright purple neighbor was unsettling. We didn't end up sharing a border but it was close and it ended up with only one county between us as a buffer.
But gavelkind and Empire-level titles don't seem to go together very well - there are too many titles kicking around at that point. The obvious solution is to reform/convert and get to elective pretty quickly.
In the situation I was faced with in the game I guess I shouldn't have pre-awarded a title to my heir. Of course I had no way of knowing that I would have a son very shortly afterwards. I guess at that point I should have revoked and let my vassals get over it. I had managed my vassal opinions pretty well at that point and had no real revolt risks among them.
Of course when the second son came along I'm sure the game would have gone back to the bizarre succession plan that started the whole mess and give my primary heir the Empire and a couple of counties and my second son both kingdoms...
Really, I probably should have written the Carpathian Empire off as a bad idea, kept the kingdom of Hungary for myself and made some friendly relative of mine the King of Wallachia to be my ally and buffer against Bulgaria and Byzantium. A borderline incestuous marriage or so every couple of generations and they would likely be allies for the duration of the game or until the big purple blob in Constantinople ate them for breakfast.