So, the PC is fixed now. I plan on playing some tomorrow or Sunday night, and having an update early next week. Thanks for your patience, and more is coming soon! 
The rise of the Hohenzollerns, 1192-1399: A mega campaign beginning CK2 AAR
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So, the PC is fixed now. I plan on playing some tomorrow or Sunday night, and having an update early next week. Thanks for your patience, and more is coming soon!
Good. Do it now!
I've already played a bit; I intend to play as much as I can tonight and update Monday or Tuesday.
subscribed.
the AAR reads like a novell. Very well done. Only at the point Friedrich I has his epic ending.
Just bought CKII a few days ago. It was bound to happen as these Paradox games are the only ones I can play without ever being bored (together with FM and Cycling manager though).
Considering starting an AAR of my own (though I basically stink in this game )
Keep it up!!
the AAR reads like a novell. Very well done. Only at the point Friedrich I has his epic ending.
Just bought CKII a few days ago. It was bound to happen as these Paradox games are the only ones I can play without ever being bored (together with FM and Cycling manager though).
Considering starting an AAR of my own (though I basically stink in this game
) Keep it up!!
subscribed.
the AAR reads like a novell. Very well done. Only at the point Friedrich I has his epic ending.
Just bought CKII a few days ago. It was bound to happen as these Paradox games are the only ones I can play without ever being bored (together with FM and Cycling manager though).
Considering starting an AAR of my own (though I basically stink in this game
Keep it up!!
Thanks for the kind words! Don't worry about being a newbie when you write an AAR; I'm not terribly experienced in this game either.
Since I finished playing last night (and to get everybody pumped for the new update), I need some more characters for the last thirty years or so. So...
I upgraded to 1.091 and bought the Republic. What unfortunate thing did the new patch force me to do? As always, if you've already had a character, please do not respond until I say you can.
I assume that you got some issues regarding the new rules on 1.09(1) ( have not read the minutia on 1.091, but there were some harsh changes in 1.09 that hit my game style hard ). As I already have a character I will not elaborate more, but it is the same thing that hit me I really feel your pain
). As I already have a character I will not elaborate more, but it is the same thing that hit me I really feel your pain 
Give away your precious precious castles. Do I have to say which counties ?
I assume that you got some issues regarding the new rules on 1.09(1) ( have not read the minutia on 1.091, but there were some harsh changes in 1.09 that hit my game style hard
I was pretty mad, and yet, I knew it would happen.
No, you don't: PM me with your character names and I'll add them to the OP!
For those who aren't aware, 1.09/1.091 drastically changed the demense limit; thus, I can no longer hold all the counties I presently have myself.
Well, I will not probably (after I update, that is) even notice it...I am used to the CK2+ demesne limits which are pretty hard on their own.
IMHO you all vanilla players should man up a bit
.
Well, most of the times the new limits are manageable enough, but they can throw some wrenches in some duchies ( say , like Brittany , with it's 6 counties ) ... And OFC there is the silver lining of limiting those megavassals with 10 counties and 4 duchies that by some reason think they are King materialWell, I will not probably (after I update, that is) even notice it...I am used to the CK2+ demesne limits which are pretty hard on their own.
IMHO you all vanilla players should man up a bit
Well, I will not probably (after I update, that is) even notice it...I am used to the CK2+ demesne limits which are pretty hard on their own.
IMHO you all vanilla players should man up a bit
I've downloaded CK2+, but haven't played it yet. Too busy with AARs at the moment!
Well, most of the times the new limits are manageable enough, but they can throw some wrenches in some duchies ( say , like Brittany , with it's 6 counties ) ... And OFC there is the silver lining of limiting those megavassals with 10 counties and 4 duchies that by some reason think they are King material
I have no idea who you're talking about! (Looks furtively about.)
Next update is in progress; should be up soon!
Chapter 22: A questionable choice
8 June 1345, Nürnberg
Gebhard von Hohenzollern thought long and hard about his decision. Giving his older brother Gotteszorn would cement Maximillian's claim as Herzog von Bayern, and thus head of the Hohenzollerns. Keeping it for himself might mean nothing; it also might mean civil war. Gebhard simply couldn't be certain how Max would take his choice. When Max formally called his brothers to the ducal seat to pay obeisance to him as their liege, Gebhard had no idea how he'd react. As he entered the audience chamber of Schloss von Hohenzollern, he spotted his nephew Gerhard. Gerhard's usual scowl was even more pronounced on this day. Burkhard was there too, but in the background -- as a minor noble, he would not directly receive his fief from Max, but from his own lord. Burkhard was there more as a neutral observer. As Gebhard continued to examine the blade on his waist, mulling over the impossible decision before him, Max finally entered the audience chamber.
Gebhard immediately noticed Max was ill. The Herzog's complexion was extraordinarily pale, and while he was very careful to hide his weakness, Max was relying heavily on a guard for support. Despite Max's love of earthly pleasures, he did not appear to be a very large man. Then again, he'd been Herzog for less than forty-eight hours. Trotting alongside his father was young Michael, the presumptive heir to the throne. Max nodded to his brothers and bade them sit around the table he'd had brought in.
"I know you both have realms to operate, as do I. I promise this will be quick. As you can see, I've not been myself of late, and I really must return to my bed. However, I wanted to make sure that I made a few things clear while you were still here." Max gestured to his Chancellor, who read from a scroll.
Both Gebhard and Gerhard were stunned. The Hohenzollern family policy had always been to concentrate power in the hands of the head of the family. Yet Max's Chancellor had just announced that both men would receive an additional title.
Gerhard was particularly moved by the gesture. He bowed in gratitude and quickly escaped before his uncle could change his mind. Burkhard was given a small inheritance to improve his city, who also took his leave. That left Gebhard.
"Brother, I know very well what father told you. I even agree with him. It is a pure accident of birth that I am Herzog and you are not; nonetheless, I do not intend to relinquish my patrimony. If you wish to raise your men against me, to seize this crown by force, you are welcome to try." Gebhard started to speak, but Max waved him down impatiently. "I didn't say you would, but I do want you to know there will be strict consequences. I have no doubts as to your loyalty. I would not have given you Kempten if I did. I also know in the coming days that many will be displeased with me. I am not father. If I am to hold power, even expand it, I need you to be my right hand man. To that end, I am formally granting you Gotteszorn."
Gebhard, at that moment, knew his brother had essentially crippled any chance of a civil war. Gebhard admired the skill with which Max had completely neutralized any legal basis for his opposition. He was definitely learning from Simon about the indirect approach to rulership. Gebhard had no choice, really, and bent the knee to Max. In truth, the Marshal of Bayern was relieved; he hadn't wanted to rise against his brother anyway. He would return to Kempten -- his new capital -- with the confidence that, whatever his failings, Max would at least try to rule strictly but fairly.
17 January 1346, Schloss von Hohenzollern
Max looked with satisfaction at the feasting table. His illness cleared up in November, and he celebrated with a feast that lasted for two full months, as only he could.
He knew very well many of his vassals didn't trust or like him, and so the Herzog had hosted this feast. It was something he knew how to do well, and Max's overall charisma and personality tended to shine through at meals. He was justifiably proud of being a connoisseur, even if some of his guests didn't agree. In fact, Bishop Meinhard pointedly refused one of Max's personal favorite vintages. But one Bishop wasn't a real concern for Max. His Uncle was.
Klaus had been difficult to the old Herzog too -- Xavier and Klaus hated each other. Max was concerned that Klaus would try to pass this attitude down to his son; as Graf von Niederbayern, Gerhard was a potentially serious threat. Max resolved to have Simon, his spymaster, pay very close attention to Baron Klaus. Everybody else loved the feast, which made Klaus happy. He needed all of his vassals to be, if not loyal and eagerly supportive, at least not actively plotting against him. So far, only an insignificant Mayor had tried anything, and Simon caught him quickly and efficiently. The Mayor immediately renounced his evil scheme, but that didn't mean there weren't others. Max made a note to speak to Simon again about improving his ability to plot and intrigue for himself.
8 October 1346, Nürnberg
The cartographer anxiously sketched in a bit more coastline. The Herzog wanted "as an accurate a map as possible of the known world", and he'd given the expert cartographer less than day to work on it.
Thankfully, all the cartographer really had to do was write the proper names on the proper countries. Land masses tended not to change very much over the years. Before he signed his name, the cartographer frowned a bit at the power of the Golden Horde, and said a brief prayer that God would keep them from Germany.
29 April 1347, Nürnberg
Juliana was a Princess of England, and kept telling herself that her husband had died doing what he loved. That was little consolation, though. Simon was just as dead. Simon had been very busy the past few months. He identified and thwarted Gerhard's scheme to claim the Duchy of Bayern, and pressured the Graf von Niederbayern to reject such a cause as misguided. Simon had even helped raise some extra money when Max sought to buy some indulgences for his gluttony.
What should have been a simple investigation -- Mayor Leopold of Dachau had been accused of the heresy of sodomy -- cost Simon his life.
The Herzog had been very good to Juliana. After all, Simon was one of his closest friends. Max had sworn he'd take care of Simon's children as he would his own. Juliana was comforted by that, and thankfully her children were almost grown. She couldn't help but wonder if Max had ulterior motives, but in any case, she had little choice in the matter, for now.
26 November 1348, Schwaben
Robert Capet had never expected to rise far in the world. For most of his adult life, he'd been traveling around Europe, learning languages and meeting people. The Capets were a large family, though, and so he'd never had any real prospects of advancement. His one important assignment had been visiting Nürnberg on behalf of the King of France when Maximillian's twins, Gerlinde and Reinhard, were born. There had been rumors that the Herzog wished to divorce his wife, but with twins to raise, her own position was secure now.
Yet everything had changed with the death of Simon von Hohenzollern. Max was forced to go outside the family more for support. His new spymaster was Mayor Konrad of Dürmberg; his new Court Chaplain Goztelo of Zweifalten. Yet even these men were simply local nobles, people Max knew and trusted. When Francois de Dompaire, the old Chancellor, died at 72, there was simply nobody worthy to succeed him in the Holy Roman Empire. The only decent diplomat was Gerhard, and Max, understandably, didn't trust him much. Robert, a fellow gourmand, jumped at the opportunity to move to Bayern and serve as Chancellor.
His first task was to build support with the Kaiser, currently living in Schwaben. Herzog Max had a plan.
15 September 1349, on the road between Domazlice and Prague, Bohemia
Gebhard von Hohenzollern had mixed feelings about the campaign he was on. Max had successfully forged a claim on the Duchy of Schwaben, thanks to Chancellor Robert, but he couldn't act unless the Kaiser approved it.
So Max had offered to send a sizable force of his handpicked troops, led by his Marshal, to help put down yet another Bohemian revolt. To the Herzog's credit, he trained with the troops, developing an especially strong relationship with the heavy infantry.
Yet at the same time, while Max got the credit, it was Gebhard, Arnulf, and the Grandmaster of the Knights who did most of the work. The soldier in Gebhard hated that the nominal leader of his force remained miles away in his secure castle, but the commander appreciated that an inferior leader had removed himself from the chain of command. It left the Marshal considerable leeway in what to do with his troops; he chose to move on Prague itself, to enact a siege and wear down Bohemian resistance that way.
It was simple: by taking the enemy capital, Gebhard hoped to force a peace as quickly as possible. With his nephew Gerhard still making noise back home, Gebhard didn't want to be away for long.
19 August 1350, Nürnberg
Gebhard needn't have worried about Gerhard. Max had a much bigger problem to deal with: his daughter, Berchte. Gerhard wanted glory for himself, true. Yet Gerhard was content simply to try to rile up unrest. That could be dealt with. Berchte wanted his son Reinhard dead.
Max was horrified. Family was critical to success in his era, yet he had his oldest child plotting against his youngest. He simply couldn't stand for that. He was completely lost for a solution when Almerich, his cousin, gave him some good information.
Almerich was Simon and Juliana's son. Although something of a weakling, Almerich was a genius with numbers, and so Max had apprenticed him to his Steward. However, remembering his promise to Juliana, Max also invited Almerich over for dinner now and again, and was posing his difficult problem to Almerich. The shy young man always tried to find the least confrontational approach, and recommended appealing to her Christianity. That, unfortunately, didn't work. Berchte continued to deny she had any ill will towards her brother.
Frustrated beyond belief, Max found salvation in a church, of all places. The Court Chaplain condemned his daughter as hateful to God for betraying her own flesh and blood. Max decided that, if the Court Chaplain was so angry, what about the Pope? The Chaplain made it to Rome, and sure enough, agreed.
Max could only hope the excommunication would shake his daughter's interest in her plan. The last thing he could afford was to lose a child.
23 March 1352, Vodi
The death of the Kaiser predictably triggered a massive war for the succession to the throne.
Bohemia had already won its independence; more were sure to follow. By 23 March, a new Emperor overthrew Udo II: Magnus I. While that calmed things down internationally, thankfully, not all was bliss for the heir to the crown of Bayern.
If the Pope had excommunicated Berchte for trying to kill her own brother, Michael's crimes were no less terrible in the eyes of the Church. Michael had some strong points -- he was very bright, a master of the subtle arts both in back alleys and smoke filled rooms. He was gregarious, always happy to share a drink with his fellow man. Unfortunately, that was the problem. It seemed that Michael preferred sharing drinks with his fellow man to his fellow woman. Even if Max had wished to hide this deficiency in his son's character, Michael's speech made it all too plain. Worse still, the heir was craven, deceitful, angry, greedy, and overly cynical. In other words, a positive nightmare for the Church and for Max. Michael was away in Vodi and refused every suitor Max sent his way. If Michael had at least consented to a marriage and produced a child or two, Max wouldn't have cared. Unfortunately, Michael was out of his father's reach and in the reach of too many other men.
To Michael, Bayern didn't matter. He'd spent most of his life near the Baltic coast and considered a move to the "uncivilized south", as he put it, slightly better than death. Unfortunately, that was not to be his fate. The laws of Bayern and the Holy Roman Empire were very plain. As the eldest son, he would inherit. There was no tastefully sending him to a monastery or giving him a bishopric. (The Kaiser's odd decision to relinquish investiture to the Church made the bishopric impossible at any rate). Michael was too well born to join the army or a mercenary company. Sending him abroad would just open him to even worse influences, perhaps even deprive the Hohenzollerns of their place in the world. None of this mattered to Michael, who continued to live as he always had.
Yet it plagued Max every waking moment.
31 May 1353, Schwaben
Although he no longer had the right to choose the Kaiser, the Herzog von Bayern was still legally an Elector of the Holy Roman Empire. When his summons to the Imperial court came, he was somewhat confused. Kaiser Magnus hadn't called a single Reichstag since he won the throne. Still, a trip to Schwaben gave Max a number of opportunities. He could make sure his claim to the Duchy there remained sound, investigate what the Kaiser thought of the Hohenzollerns, and even practice some new skills. Max was a better plotter and steward than he had been even two years ago, and he never lost a chance to hone them still further. He was particularly proud of a scheme in which he entrapped a poor commoner in a thievery scandal.
The ease with which he'd gotten away with this changed something in Max. He'd believed in honesty and being a good Christian: all that earned him was a murderous and excommunicated daughter, an heir who wouldn't even speak to a woman apart from his mother, and another son who was marked for death. No, in at least one realm, Michael was right: it was important to act as surreptitiously as possible, to strike only one the moment was ripe, and to ignore conventional moralities or ethics. When Max continued the family tradition and opened an inn, his devious salting of turnips won him more cash and praise than he might have earned by being noble and innocent. So while he was supposedly there just to cast his vote, he spent plenty of time with some agents in the city.
The Herzog von Braunschweig approached Max and shook his hand. Max secretly had been trying to encourage nobles there to rise against him, but when the man was in front of him, the Herzog von Bayern was all smiles and happy thoughts. "Max! So good to see you! What do you think of the vote this evening?"
"A vote, you say?"
"Oh, yes. It seems the Kaiser is concerned about civil war, and so he's going to loosen his hold on us a touch, or so my friends tell me."
"How remarkable! I do hope he's right, as I'd hate to see something happen to the Empire. I must be off to cast my vote, then." The Herzog von Braunschweig departed. A few hours later, the Kaiser's proposal passed.
Max's hands wrung with glee. I like this Schwaben. Perhaps I'll stay.
Long overdue, but there you are; a new update! Michael will certainly be a bit of a challenge to deal with. I couldn't even marry him off because he wasn't part of my court. Very frustrating.
Next update should be this weekend, possibly a bit later.
Marvellous. Even though the Hohenzollerns themselves are in a tough spot right now, this limited crown authority will finally give you some oppurtunities to expand.
By the way, is that an independant Britain I see on the last world map? And given the overall might of the HRE, I'd love to see "Barbarossa" happen; an invasion of Russia!
By the way, is that an independant Britain I see on the last world map? And given the overall might of the HRE, I'd love to see "Barbarossa" happen; an invasion of Russia!
There will be some opportunities, you're right about that!
Britain isn't entirely independent, if memory serves; that's either just a tiny sliver of independent territory or yet another rebellion.
Max is quite the clever one, it seems.
I may have underestimated him, at first.
The good news is, once Michael inherits, you'll be able to make him marry.
Thank God for the lustful trait.
I may have underestimated him, at first.
The good news is, once Michael inherits, you'll be able to make him marry.
Thank God for the lustful trait.
Actually I was talking about a certain vassal of mine in the game I was playing when of the 1.08->1.09 patch
But, like they say around here, if the hat fits your head ... On the update: well, besides the homosexual unmarried heir ( TBH , I would either invite him or send him a "trained medicus" to put the heir crown in someone else, but that would roleplay poorly with max , I assume ), the excommunicated daughter and the loss of counties, it was actually a good one
Especially if you consider the new Authority laws in the HRE ... now the only thing you have to do is to end the Bohemian intervention and push the claims you have. With some luck you can even cash in the confusion that grasses in both Francias ( France is also in civil war, right ? ) and aim to something else Say, Austria ( the prospect of a Hohenzollern Austria is too funny to be passed IMHO )
I have other plans for Michael.
Actually I was talking about a certain vassal of mine in the game I was playing when of the 1.08->1.09 patch
On the update: well, besides the homosexual unmarried heir ( TBH , I would either invite him or send him a "trained medicus" to put the heir crown in someone else, but that would roleplay poorly with max , I assume ), the excommunicated daughter and the loss of counties, it was actually a good one
That would be lovely, if possible! (Austria is on the menu; not for Max, but perhaps in the future).
Oh wow that war of succession must have been difficult! Did you get out as a winner (I am asking since there are so many hostile i.e. "red" armies)?
Which dynasty is the new Kaiser of?
Also, isn't it a bit of a pity that you do not have the historical dynastic shields?
Anyway, I guess that the Bohemian independence won't last long...
Also, isn't it a bit of a pity that you do not have the historical dynastic shields?
Anyway, I guess that the Bohemian independence won't last long...
It would be really disapointing if Reinhard gets murdered before my character gets to do anything. How many sons does Max have before him?