Count to Duke in 10 easy stages

[Javolenus]

Hi There,

I was reading how some people select a courtier at the start of the game, make him a count, and then restart the game as that guy with the aim of making him a duke and then a king.

I tried this and created the Count of Sandomierski (or however it's spelled) in Poland. His liege is the Duke of Lesser Poland, so I thought I'd aim at getting that title. But how to do it? So far, everything has backfired:

1. Laid claim to neighbouring counties and picked up a few. But prestige and gold went down! Had to give my new lands to sons. Now the whole family is under the Duke of Lesser Poland.
2. Went to war against pagans and won battles, wars and territory - but prestige and gold went down further and now I'm in minus figures.
3. Tried to marry into more prestigious famililies - difficult as no one wants to be associated with my dynasty.
4. Switched liege to King of Poland and thought to start a war with the Duke of Lesser Poland and gain his title - but need prestige to claim the Duke's title . . .

And so I'm stuck with a Count who is Europe's biggest nobody and who seemingly has no future.

And so I was wondering, could some one post some instructions on how to play the game? A kind of 'Count to Duke in 10 easy stages' type of thing. This might help me formulate a gameplan and get my Count on the move.

Many thanks on advance for replies.

 

[ConjurerDragon]

Hi There,

I was reading how some people select a courtier at the start of the game, make him a count, and then restart the game as that guy with the aim of making him a duke and then a king.

I tried this and created the Count of Sandomierski (or however it's spelled) in Poland. His liege is the Duke of Lesser Poland, so I thought I'd aim at getting that title. But how to do it? So far, everything has backfired:

1. Laid claim to neighbouring counties and picked up a few. But prestige and gold went down! Had to give my new lands to sons. Now the whole family is under the Duke of Lesser Poland.
2. Went to war against pagans and won battles, wars and territory - but prestige and gold went down further and now I'm in minus figures.
3. Tried to marry into more prestigious famililies - difficult as no one wants to be associated with my dynasty.
4. Switched liege to King of Poland and thought to start a war with the Duke of Lesser Poland and gain his title - but need prestige to claim the Duke's title . . .

And so I'm stuck with a Count who is Europe's biggest nobody and who seemingly has no future.

And so I was wondering, could some one post some instructions on how to play the game? A kind of 'Count to Duke in 10 easy stages' type of thing. This might help me formulate a gameplan and get my Count on the move.

Many thanks on advance for replies.

The game runs for a long time. For a first time I would rather set as goal to have your heir be of a rank higher than you - not to go from Count to Duke during your first ruler. Claiming titles costs prestige and gives badboy and gives you a bad reputation - if you are lucky you will sometimes get events that give you claims for free in your region with a bit of patience. Fighting pagans is a good start and if you wait until your target is already in a war and his troops abroad you can easily get a 2nd County.

 

[TempestDK]

Hi There,

I was reading how some people select a courtier at the start of the game, make him a count, and then restart the game as that guy with the aim of making him a duke and then a king.

I tried this and created the Count of Sandomierski (or however it's spelled) in Poland. His liege is the Duke of Lesser Poland, so I thought I'd aim at getting that title. But how to do it? So far, everything has backfired:

1. Laid claim to neighbouring counties and picked up a few. But prestige and gold went down! Had to give my new lands to sons. Now the whole family is under the Duke of Lesser Poland.
2. Went to war against pagans and won battles, wars and territory - but prestige and gold went down further and now I'm in minus figures.
3. Tried to marry into more prestigious famililies - difficult as no one wants to be associated with my dynasty.
4. Switched liege to King of Poland and thought to start a war with the Duke of Lesser Poland and gain his title - but need prestige to claim the Duke's title . . .

And so I'm stuck with a Count who is Europe's biggest nobody and who seemingly has no future.

And so I was wondering, could some one post some instructions on how to play the game? A kind of 'Count to Duke in 10 easy stages' type of thing. This might help me formulate a gameplan and get my Count on the move.

Many thanks on advance for replies.

As a Polish count, the easiest way to a Ducal title is to pick on the pagans at the baltic coast. Some of them have very small Ducal titles, so 2-3 province gains and you should have enough to declare yourself a duke.

Duchies of Courland, Samogitia and Lithuania all are two province duchies, so pick on those. Prussia is a 4 province duchy. Should be possible to get some titles through those.

 

[CrowleyHammer]

You can definately get them with events, i just had a claim given to me by an event, i think it was the duke insulted me and i answered with hostility and i got a claim on his duke title, he didnt get one on me however.

Before i could i press my claim, my brother decided to rebel against the king of England and got throughly beaten, i rebeled soon after and sent my armies to break the siege, now i have England to contend with i dont think i will live long enough to press my claim anyway lol. bloody Normans.

 

[Worldcrusher]

I had a really great game once in CK vanilla as Count of Hlynov - you're Orthodox so the Crusades don't beat up your piety rating, you're independent, so no liege making life difficult, and you're a count, so no vassals making life difficult.

I looked north and went after whoever had few soldiers, small fortifications, and no alliances (move fast!). I think the first places I took were Kemi and Kola in Finland - a long trek across the steppe, and the sieges were very slow going, but that was the start. I eventually became King of Rus in that game, conquest-only (no inheritances or assassinations and a considerable amount of luck).

Don't know how it would work in DV; haven't tried it there yet!

 

[Veldmaarschalk]

1. When you are a count don't give away titles to your sons or anyone else. A count can't have vassals, so once you give someone else a counttitle of yours you have lost any influence on that county. As a count give your sons courtpositions, that should keep them happy enough. And don't worry about the prestige-loss.


2. How did you lose prestige while winning wars ? Wars are the best way of gaining prestige. Of course if you declare war on someone with who you have a truce then you will lose 100 prestige, so don't do that when you are a count.

Also don't worry about losing money or going into debt, as a count that is pretty normal.

When you are a count and you want a specific duke-title you need patience and wait for the right moment. The game spans many centuries and sometimes it can take a couple of decades before you are a duke and then a king. But once you are king, things go relatively easy.

 

[unmerged(133776)]

The one thing i absolutely abhor about being a Duke vassal to a King, is even when i conquer new territory, my Liege will come in and steal 1/2 to 2/3 of those new counties for his own (unless i conquer and claim them as my personal demesne). Even when I've joined in and fight the enemies he declared war on. It doesn't seem to make a difference if he's at war with 3 ore 4 other kingdoms. And what makes it more hair-pulling, is he'll work on my new vassals, before going off and deal with those other enemies.

If i declare on a different enemy, an area i have m eye on, once again, most of the time, he'll settle peace with them and leave me hanging. It's like he takes pleasure in keeping me down, that's how he gets his jollies. lol

I'm not sure if it's because of the settings i play with (easy/coward - as I still consider myself a novice). Maybe Liege's act differently on other settings?

I'm currently experimenting with Flanders conquering France from within and it's aggravating.

 

[johnbecool]

Just a note of my experience: let the initial setup: normal, weakling, i saw very strange things in another settings... but mays be it hasn't a real importance...

 

[Javolenus]

Many thanks for the replies - now things are a lot clearer. Basically, I'm gonna start again and this time place myself in N. Poland near the Baltic pagans. I'll also follow all the suggestions in the thread - thanks again to everyone, as I learned a lot from this. As for losing prestige by winning wars, I presume it was because my liege kept making peace with my enemies, so the war ended with me getting nothing, so I would start a war again . . .

Anyway, things are clearer now so I'll start over. Thanks again.

 

[Nick B II]

You can't really write a general strategy guide for CK. Regional ones work ok, tho. In the Baltic you should conquer wimpy pagans. Focus on pagans in the same Duchy, so that you can proclaim yourself a Duke.

Off hand I'd say you're doing quite well. You expanded your family's lands. Sons who were landless are now Counts in their own right. To get the Duke-title you should probably usurp it. Get 2/3 of the Countys in Lesser Poland in your desmene and you'll be able to usurp the Duke-title even if your prestige is negative.

Lieges are always a pain. They are supposed to suck.

Nick

 

[Chipawah]

Focus on growing your dynasty and marrying into strategic families to gain claims (and possibly even titles if you are really lucky, but it can be hard as a low prestige count to marry the eldest daughters of other rulers).

Getting your second county is the largest step in my experience, and this second possession also needs to be something worth having that actually provides some power, not some backwater province that costs you more than it brings in and only provides you with a manpower of 250 soldiers, those are better to simply give away for some BB reduction.

The easiest way to gain prestige as a count is to have your forces fight for your liege, as they win battles they bring you prestige.

A bit of luck, a lot of patience and perfect timing is what you need to grow strong as a count.

 

[Javolenus]

Many thanks for replies - a big help. I started over as a count in the Baltic. I easily beat up neighbouring pagans and eventually got enough land to make a dukedom. My first ruler died just as this dukedom happened but not before he made his children counts and countesses. Now the first ruler's son and heir is building and consolidating. Looking hopeful. Eventual target is King of Poland. Thanks again for all the help!