Advice/Help needed with current game (not a rant)

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Started a game as the count of Anjou, 1066 Hastings. Right off the bat I see I can usurp the title of “Duke of Anjou” from my liege (as count I started with 3 demesne provinces, he only had one). So I do it, and after getting married setting up court and research I declare war on my leige. The King of France declares war on me (more on this clown later) and I proceed to siege my dukes province (I cant think of the name, its an archbishopric though) I win the siege and demand the title of Duke, and all the money I can get, he accepts and becomes my vassal, and count. The Kings armies participated but in the end waited in a province nearby watching…

So I disband my armies and decide to wait a while build up some cash. In the mean time I decide that a 4 demesne duchy would make me fairly powerful, and all my kids are under 10 so I don’t need to give any titles just yet. So I demand my former dukes title as count and he gives it without a fight. Great, mission accomplished, I’m the Duke, got 4 provinces under my control, and as a magnificent bonus I get as vassals all of the prior dukes vassals (doesn’t seem right, but hey im not complaining). One of the vassals is the count of Leon the other 2 are in northern France and I can’t remember the names. Now its a few years later, I’m still at war with the King (he isn’t moving his troops) and I am making babies and living big as the Duke (new vassals are extremely loyal as well).

So that’s the brief overview here are some questions I need help with.

1.What’s the best way to resolve the war with the King? He won’t accept a peace deal. Personally I don’t mind being his vassal, my goal (not yet) isn’t to take France, but to build a Duchy, I did that, now I want peace with the king. Do I have to remobilize and fight? Or will a white peace automatically occur from lack of action?

2.My new vassals have great loyalty, but I have 4 sons coming up and well I really prefer to keep my 4 province demesne intact for my heir, and maintaining a powerful Duchy for my dynasty. So I want to revoke those Titles and put my kids there in time. I know how to do it, I just don’t know if it’s wise (5-10 years away) what’s the general consensus on replacing vassals? Do you do it if they are loyal? Or is it better to splice up this 4 province demense and give the count titles to my kids and leave well enough alone with my new vassals?

3.BB Rating: I’ve missed it somewhere, where is it exactly?

More as I get responses, thanks.

 

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1. No...as far as I know there is no automatic white peace (although arguably there should be). Your options would be to see if you can induce his to accept a "surrender" that involves you playing some cash to appease him about your agressive tendencies ( ) or to mobilize and do battle. If you're lucky you might be able to defeat him a few times and get him to make a modest cash peace offer of his own. If you're in an exploitive mood, you culd march your armies around his and see if you can capture a provinc eor two of his without a fight (since the AI is not yet all that good at reactive to this strategy/exploit).

2. Judgement call. I usually use plan C and see if I can capture some nice heathen territories to set my sons up in.

3. Missed it? If you look at your realm screen (click on your shield on the map) you should see a line that says "We have a respectibel reputation" or something like that. (Edit: but there's no numerical display)

 

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1. No...as far as I know there is no automatic white peace (although arguably there should be). Your options would be to see if you can induce his to accept a "surrender" that involves you playing some cash to appease him about your agressive tendencies ( ) or to mobilize and do battle. If you're lucky you might be able to defeat him a few times and get him to make a modest cash peace offer of his own. If you're in an exploitive mood, you culd march your armies around his and see if you can capture a provinc eor two of his without a fight (since the AI is not yet all that good at reactive to this strategy/exploit).

2. Judgement call. I usually use plan C and see if I can capture some nice heathen territories to set my sons up in.

3. Missed it? If you look at your realm screen (click on your shield on the map) you should see a line that says "We have a respectibel reputation" or something like that. (Edit: but there's no numerical display)

Thanks for the reply T

1. I dont want to exploit it, and I understand he is pissed and should be. All things being equal I just took a duchy for myself without saying please. I hoped thier was an auto white peace (over time like EUII) but if there isnt then I throw him some cash and hope for the best, and if that dosent work, then its war.

2. Now here I get your point, and thats certainly an option, but I wanted to keep the kids in France, my personal game goal isnt to go conquering all over (unless thier is a crusade, currently there is not). Even then I have a nice set up and certainly have a son as the count of Leon would be a nice position for my family, logistically anyway. If Crusade is called I will certainly head to the holy land and create some titles, but I still want my DNA flowing through as much of France as possible.

3. I should have been clearer, yeah I was looking for the numeric display...

 

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1. Sounds good.

2. Doesnt' this situation remind you of those nasty challenges that faced many a monarch - what to do with one's sons when they all grow up? Only one can inherit (unless you changed your laws) and the others are going to be tricky to keep happy without letting them become a bit willful and possibly disrupting other parts of your realm. Happily, this is one of the interesting and difficult challenges that CK presents that s pretty much working perfectly as designed and doesn't need tweaking. I sympathise with your quandry and will be interested to hear what you decide to do (and how it all works out).

3. Nope...the only way to see the numerical value is to open the save file (as per EU2 per-1.07). I suppose that it's posible that Johan might add that sometime in the future (though it would be at least 1.03 or later).

 

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I would wait until I had more conquests, especially since your kids are still young. If your game is anything like mine, you’ll be crusading soon enough.

One thing I’ve noticed about crusading, and this might apply to your situation, is that if I create titles in conquered Muslim land, the newly installed counts all have “Kick Me” signs on their backs. Neighboring Muslims immediately declare war on some or all of them. This doesn’t happen if I keep the counties in my demesne.

As King of Naples most of demesne is in North Africa (except Roma, reconquered from Muslims ) while my heirs are spread over southern Italy and Sicily.

 

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Don't worry about being at war - there is no war exhaustion in CK!!
Eventually the King will come around to offering you a white peace.

 

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Don't worry about being at war - there is no war exhaustion in CK!!
Eventually the King will come around to offering you a white peace.

Im going to reply to all of you, but had to quote Sonny... Hope this message finds you well old timer.


Mr T: Im happy to say that on item 2 the game has met my expectations completely The key for me will be to maintain the 4 province Duchy as is and have all successive dukes keep it intact, and find other homes for their children, perferrably in France, somwhere down the line my dynasty will vie for the crown.

November: Thanks for your reply. In all candeor for the first two nights I had the game I just screwed around with various counts getting used to game flow, i havent crusaded, although I have had the pope call for one. So once that comes up I will create some new titles in the holy land, and your overview of the potential hazzards of having a christian duke thier is a nice tip should I want to allow one childs demise.

Sonny: Im shifting slowly out of EUII mode here, no war exhaustion seems a little to easy, in addition the Kings army isnt attacking me, he sitting in an adjacent province. Im not going to rant on the AI not moving, but I think I should have to have a little more consequence to taking this duchy then waiting it out, his armies have attrition hits (am I drifting back to EUII again?) and then he arbitraily offers peace. Im not a prude when it comes to game play I will certainly take an exploit if I need to get over the hump, but in this case I think I should at least offer some cash, but demand recognition as Duke of Anjou, so I will self police in this case.

Expanding on my note to Sonny, No War Exhaustion seems a little to easy, look at my case, I took (by force) a Duchy, and then took his province. The King should be pissed and besieging my lands, okay maybe the AI isnt up to it at 1.01 I can live with that, but I ought to have some penalty, its just to easy, and Im playing Hard/agrressinve (Im never sure what the terms are, its the second to hardest level on each setting)

 

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Expanding on my note to Sonny, No War Exhaustion seems a little to easy, look at my case, I took (by force) a Duchy, and then took his province. The King should be pissed and besieging my lands, okay maybe the AI isnt up to it at 1.01 I can live with that, but I ought to have some penalty, its just to easy, and Im playing Hard/agrressinve (Im never sure what the terms are, its the second to hardest level on each setting)

Yes, at this stage the AI will keep his forces in the field (costing him tons of money) as long as he is at war. This is really a pain when the king asks you to mobilize your troops and he keeps them standing about doing nothing for years while your treasury goes down the drain.

Offering $$ for peace is not a bad idea. Without peace the AI may just one day decide to continue the war. Is the King fighting anyone else? If so he may come after you once he has concluded peace with the other opponent unless your conclude a peace.

But there is no need to worry about war exhaustion. As long as you have the money to pay the troops you can fight.

The old timer is doing well. Thanks for the concern.

 

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One thing I?ve noticed about crusading, and this might apply to your situation, is that if I create titles in conquered Muslim land, the newly installed counts all have ?Kick Me? signs on their backs. Neighboring Muslims immediately declare war on some or all of them. This doesn?t happen if I keep the counties in my demesne.

I've found that you can avoid this by creating Duchies instead, and/or giving them more than one province as demense.