• We have updated our Community Code of Conduct. Please read through the new rules for the forum that are an integral part of Paradox Interactive’s User Agreement.
I just couldn't decide what to do for my next game. So I simply started a game with Haestein and thought of something fun to do. This is the result:
An0HDzL.jpg
I decided to harass the Sunnis instead of the Catholics for once. Well, and the Miaphysites who had to suffer first because I needed a power base. The Empire is built upon a renamed Kingdom of Nubia who had all of Abyssinia, Crete, Venice and Sanaa drift into it. I had to go with no centralization whatsoever, because I wanted all those kingdoms to drift into the empire at once upon forming it. Therefore I had a huge amount of dukes. Still wouldn't have worked out, so I switched to Ultimogeniture (had Gavelkind for about 150 years) and waited for my old ruler to die. With my new one - 17yo at the time - I broke truces like a madman simply to get all those lands before he died. It worked out quite well. Now I have mostly vassal kings.

Also, 150 years of expansion and gavelkind weren't all for nothing.
GiyMiwU.jpg
Eat that, Karling scum!
 
  • 4
Reactions:
A newbie here. After several dud starts with Munster and Sjaelland, I finally got a game where I wasn't mercilessly crushed or completely outmatched. For this game, my goal was to secure the future of the Norse faith. So I aimed to unite Scandanavia under an empire and reform the faith. Some save scumming when I blundered from not knowing how the game works all that well and to avoid gavelkind disaster early on, though no ruler designer. My first ruler executed a half-dozen sons (one in a Blot) to keep his gains intact. The second became Fylkir and Emperor. I convinced every other independent Norse ruler to join, which was a handful of counties in Britain and the Baltic.

As someone who started playing this game earlier this year, I know your pain. One of my first games I started as the Jarl of Uppland in a Charlemagne start. I was doing fairly well until it all came crashing down with a bad mix of reforming the Germanic religion, becoming feudal, premature death of ruler, and gravelkind succession all within a span of 3 or 4 months. And it was an ironman game so I couldn't reload a previous save. Now I try to space out my major reforms.
 
  • 2
Reactions:
As someone who started playing this game earlier this year, I know your pain. One of my first games I started as the Jarl of Uppland in a Charlemagne start. I was doing fairly well until it all came crashing down with a bad mix of reforming the Germanic religion, becoming feudal, premature death of ruler, and gravelkind succession all within a span of 3 or 4 months. And it was an ironman game so I couldn't reload a previous save. Now I try to space out my major reforms.

Ouch! I think I've finally gotten the basics right, including the Norse-specific stuff. The learning curve on this game is nearly vertical but it's so good once you're past that wall.


I do always wonder. Does a Holy Order actually gain anything from having land?

I imagine they'd be a bit more prone to holy wars than your average rulers...
 
  • 9
Reactions:
Well here we go, my greatest empire ever founded.
2015-11-20_00001.jpg~original


It is the strongest nation in the world with over 200k soldiers. Founded in 1085 by this wonderful woman...
2015-11-20_00003.jpg~original


My great grandmother. However the empire could not have reached such glorious heights without the firm leadership of this guy...

de28a3c4-2ee1-4b02-ac52-000483d5cc9c.jpg~original

To top this all off the game still has about 200 years to go. If anyone is interested I am using the Typus Orbus Terrarum FULL.
 
  • 1
Reactions:
This is dirtier than blurple.
 
Woah, what mod?
 
With my previous game ending in a corrupt game file, I decided to play a game to conquer as much land as possible before 1453. I also thought that since the game is titled "Crusader Kings", I should learn how to play a Christian ruler. I couldn't quite work myself to playing Charlemagne, the most vile of the Karlings, and settled with playing as the HRE at the Stamford Bridge start. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a fun game. I remained a good Catholic because I wanted to learn their mechanics. I learned a lot of things in this game. Firstly, and probably most importantly, I learned how not to press a female's claim on a throne unless they are of your dynasty. The same goes for guys, but at least I could grant them a landed title to make them my vassal before handing them a crown. I had many wars that were repeats after I figured out how that worked. :confused: Previously I only played Germanic rulers so I just spent my days involved in conquest and subjugation wars before finally getting holy wars. Secondly, I found out that if you lose Jerusalem but keep the title, you get the kingdom back after another successful crusade even if you don't participate. Thanks for your hard work Sweden! :p Thirdly, jihads for Jerusalem are scary. As I was fighting a second jihad, I was so baffled as to why I was losing because I could field about 250k men without holy orders and mercenaries. At one point, I paused the game, pulled out a calculator, and added up how many enemy combatants there were. There were over 1.2 million. I lost. :( Fourthly, Tengri rulers can declare wars for entire kingdoms? :eek: Going to have to try that out at some point... Something else I learned, if you're going to usurp the Byzantine throne, make sure you give yourself enough time before 1453 to clean up the mess it leaves behind. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing how this game pans out in EUIV. House Salian must dominate the early modern world!


upload_2015-11-20_14-52-32.png
 
  • 3
Reactions:
With my previous game ending in a corrupt game file, I decided to play a game to conquer as much land as possible before 1453. I also thought that since the game is titled "Crusader Kings", I should learn how to play a Christian ruler. I couldn't quite work myself to playing Charlemagne, the most vile of the Karlings, and settled with playing as the HRE at the Stamford Bridge start. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a fun game. I remained a good Catholic because I wanted to learn their mechanics. I learned a lot of things in this game. Firstly, and probably most importantly, I learned how not to press a female's claim on a throne unless they are of your dynasty. The same goes for guys, but at least I could grant them a landed title to make them my vassal before handing them a crown. I had many wars that were repeats after I figured out how that worked. :confused: Previously I only played Germanic rulers so I just spent my days involved in conquest and subjugation wars before finally getting holy wars. Secondly, I found out that if you lose Jerusalem but keep the title, you get the kingdom back after another successful crusade even if you don't participate. Thanks for your hard work Sweden! :p Thirdly, jihads for Jerusalem are scary. As I was fighting a second jihad, I was so baffled as to why I was losing because I could field about 250k men without holy orders and mercenaries. At one point, I paused the game, pulled out a calculator, and added up how many enemy combatants there were. There were over 1.2 million. I lost. :( Fourthly, Tengri rulers can declare wars for entire kingdoms? :eek: Going to have to try that out at some point... Something else I learned, if you're going to usurp the Byzantine throne, make sure you give yourself enough time before 1453 to clean up the mess it leaves behind. In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing how this game pans out in EUIV. House Salian must dominate the early modern world!


View attachment 143376
Nice play through. Personally I always try to take famous or prestigious dynasties and incorporate them into my realm some how. Like playing as a Mojmirid Great Moravia and, after forming an empire title, placing a christian Abbasid on the throne of some petty kingdom. Right now I have a fully romanised Salian as the King of Italy. :D

This is dirtier than blurple.
Yes but it is much more stable, I have never had a single revolt against my rule. I am just excited for EUIV with those sexy Karling NIs
 
  • 1
Reactions:
This is nothing short of glorious.
I can only imagine the gaminess required to do it. Why I don't play ironman lol. To complete anything this difficult you must exploit the shit out of the game.

Empire of the Jomsvikings, with reformed Germanic faith and Norse culture. Start date 1066 as Erik the heathen on ironman.
RfYTGRR.jpg
How do you even make this a kingdom? Pretty much the Jomsvikings would have to choose to do it then you would have to usurp it. I only saw that happen once (ages ago) with the Knights Templar.
 
I can only imagine the gaminess required to do it. Why I don't play ironman lol. To complete anything this difficult you must exploit the shit out of the game.


How do you even make this a kingdom? Pretty much the Jomsvikings would have to choose to do it then you would have to usurp it. I only saw that happen once (ages ago) with the Knights Templar.
It is possible, although unlikely with the Found a New Kingdom/Empire decision. The Knights Templar won a Crusade for Persia against some sunni shah, and rather than forming the kingdom of Persia, the computer just said 'Ah screw it' and formed the Kingdom of the Knights Templar.... it was strange.