I've restarted playing CK2 recently.
After one "test" run to see what had changed with the two last DLCs, I'm now about 300 years into my Ironman campaign.
Just to give some context, I started as the count of Parma in 769 (for the coat of arms, mostly). My initial plan for the game looked something like this:
1. Become duke of Ferrara (I wanted to make Ravenna my capital).
2. Convert heir to Greek culture
3. Become a great duke
4. Seize the throne of Italy
5. Swear fealty to the ERE
6. Seize the throne of the ERE
7. Vassalize the pope
8. Restore the Roman Empire using the puppet pope to call crusades
Easier said than done right?
Things went smoothly until point 4. When I became king of Italy, I managed to clean up the realm after two civil wars to increase council power. I had all duchies correspond to their de jure duchies, and all vassals to be my culture and/or my dynasty.
After this, I thought my realm would be stabilized, but no! I kept having these civil wars to increase council power once in a while, especially after my ruler died.
With a cleaned up realm, there was nothing left to revoke. So I let half of my vassals rot in prison. This was the only way to prevent subsequent civil wars to increase council authority.
Now, what I realized after all these civil wars is that a vassal can join a faction to increase council power even with 70+ opinion. They need to be 90+ to leave such a faction. The consequence is that, to stabilize the realm, about half of your vassals have to stay in prison. I'm not history specialist, but this does not seem realistic at all.
Anyway, I am now at step 6 currently. The ERE is under agnatic-cognatic primogeniture. I have the power to beat them, but I lack the claim to do so. Therefore, I married my new ruler to some 13 years old girl whose 53 years old mother had a weak inheritable claim on the ERE. My plan was to wait to get a male baby, then push the mother's claim. Since women can't get babies after 45, I thought my wife would inherit the ERE, and after that my son.
My 3rd child was finally a son. As I was preparing to install the now 61 years old mother-in-law as the new Empress, I GOT ASSASSINATED! HOLY SHIT! I had absolutely NO indication this was going to happen. My spymaster had 16 intrigue and relatively liked me (+40 relation).
My 0 year old son became King of Italy with the Queen mother as the regent. So far, during the 12 first years of regency, here's what happened:
- 2 civil wars to increase council authority. 3/4 of my vassals are now in prison.
- Pope called a crusade for Galicia, but since I was busy in civil wars I could not join.
- Mother-in-law died, the Queen mother now has a non-inheritable claim on the ERE (it will have to be pressed as soon as I get out of regency).
- Caliph called a jihad on the ERE for Jerusalem (which I had captured during the last crusade).
That's where I am at right now. I had to stop playing because... I'm at work right now
After one "test" run to see what had changed with the two last DLCs, I'm now about 300 years into my Ironman campaign.
Just to give some context, I started as the count of Parma in 769 (for the coat of arms, mostly). My initial plan for the game looked something like this:
1. Become duke of Ferrara (I wanted to make Ravenna my capital).
2. Convert heir to Greek culture
3. Become a great duke
4. Seize the throne of Italy
5. Swear fealty to the ERE
6. Seize the throne of the ERE
7. Vassalize the pope
8. Restore the Roman Empire using the puppet pope to call crusades
Easier said than done right?
Things went smoothly until point 4. When I became king of Italy, I managed to clean up the realm after two civil wars to increase council power. I had all duchies correspond to their de jure duchies, and all vassals to be my culture and/or my dynasty.
After this, I thought my realm would be stabilized, but no! I kept having these civil wars to increase council power once in a while, especially after my ruler died.
With a cleaned up realm, there was nothing left to revoke. So I let half of my vassals rot in prison. This was the only way to prevent subsequent civil wars to increase council authority.
Now, what I realized after all these civil wars is that a vassal can join a faction to increase council power even with 70+ opinion. They need to be 90+ to leave such a faction. The consequence is that, to stabilize the realm, about half of your vassals have to stay in prison. I'm not history specialist, but this does not seem realistic at all.
Anyway, I am now at step 6 currently. The ERE is under agnatic-cognatic primogeniture. I have the power to beat them, but I lack the claim to do so. Therefore, I married my new ruler to some 13 years old girl whose 53 years old mother had a weak inheritable claim on the ERE. My plan was to wait to get a male baby, then push the mother's claim. Since women can't get babies after 45, I thought my wife would inherit the ERE, and after that my son.
My 3rd child was finally a son. As I was preparing to install the now 61 years old mother-in-law as the new Empress, I GOT ASSASSINATED! HOLY SHIT! I had absolutely NO indication this was going to happen. My spymaster had 16 intrigue and relatively liked me (+40 relation).
My 0 year old son became King of Italy with the Queen mother as the regent. So far, during the 12 first years of regency, here's what happened:
- 2 civil wars to increase council authority. 3/4 of my vassals are now in prison.
- Pope called a crusade for Galicia, but since I was busy in civil wars I could not join.
- Mother-in-law died, the Queen mother now has a non-inheritable claim on the ERE (it will have to be pressed as soon as I get out of regency).
- Caliph called a jihad on the ERE for Jerusalem (which I had captured during the last crusade).
That's where I am at right now. I had to stop playing because... I'm at work right now
- 2
