First Playthrough, unsure how to Proceed

[NecroRenegade]

Just got the game recently and I'm enjoying it quite a bit
I've watched quite a few youtube videos before which gave me an idea how the game works. I get how all the mechanics work (although marriage is still confusing), however, I'm at a standstill, and am unsure how to proceed.
Here's a brief rundown as to what's happened so far in my game (in order):
-I chose the Habsburgs (very original amirite)
-Allied myself with Kaiser Heinrich (marriages)
-Heinrich loses two civil wars (Tuscany and others become sovereign). Heinrich loses the throne
-Heinrich is released from prison and becomes a powerful Duke
-I manage to take over a nearby county. Heinrich then forms the Duchy of Upper Burgundy, and names me Duke
-Over time I fabricate claims and slowly gain a few more counties. Heinrich miraculously forms the Kingdom of Burgundy and then conquers the independent Tuscany
-He declares independence from the HRE but we lose the war (right after I had hired several thousand mercs to try and stem the tides, THANKS).
-Heinrich loses all titles and fades into obscurity. I remain as Duke of Upper Burgundy. The Kaiser becomes King of Burgundy
-All that happened over the next 50 years was me waging small wars with minor counts and earning their counties. Eventually the duchy controls about 2/3's of Burgundy
-Unfortunately, the kaiser decided to institute medium crown authority in Burgundy. Now I can't wage any wars on vassals. I have a sizable Duchy, but what I really would of liked is to be King of Burgundy myself, however that's impossible as the Kaiser is now King. Making it practically impossible so as long as he's king. It also doesn't help that all of the vassals absolutely LOVE HIM and that they basically unanimously elect his son as heir. It's practically premogeniture now. Same with Burgundy. So as long as his family stays as the Emperor's family, I can't do anything. Because they love him, he was easily able to institute high crown authority in the HRE and is on his way to absolute.
-So for the next 30 years or so nothing really happens. I gain absolutely no territory. All I've done is upgrade my holdings. Now I think I have a pretty decent economy and military (14+ a month I believe, and 6k levies). But things are getting a bit stale. Just recently the beloved Kaiser died and his son was unanimously chosen as Kaiser, and they love him as well! At the start of the game nobody liked the Kaiser, now all the vassals love the emperor, and I'm unable to do anything. I've looked into plots but for some reason I can't get a plot that allows me to do anything beneficial. I used to have a plot to lower Burgundian crown authority but that magically vanished. Forming a faction did nothing as everybody loved the Kaiser.

It's 1161 right now in my game. What do you guys recommend I do now? I suppose marriages are an option, I've delved into it a bit. I'm semi-certain that I'll inherit Nassau and some other county, but that's not a certainty. Question: If the heir of a county that I don't own is of my family (for example, heir to Nassau is a Von Habsburg, son of my character's son and the daughter of the previous count), will that family member become a part of my realm?

Sorry for the long post. And thanks in advance

 

[mike the knight]

I think that only if he is your succesor,,, Youhave mad eeverything possible up to this point I think inside HRE,what about loking around for weak muslims?

 

[unmerged(599111)]

Suggestions:
- Win the hearts and minds of your German Comrades and try to be elected Emperor yourself (joining their wars and allying yourself with them will help you do this)
- Attack any Pagans that may still be left (at this point in the game I doubt there are any left, but it's worth a try)
- Go after weak Muslims
- Marry, Plot, and Assassinate your way to any title you can get your hands (Honestly even small baronies can be a boon to you)
- Use your Chancellor to sow dissent between lieges and vassals in other counties (It may not piss off direct vassals of the Emperor, but it'll help in the long run)
- See if you can get the pope to grant you an invasion of a nearby Kingdom

 

[Ithvan]

Also, assassinate everybody.

 

[RustyTurban]

You have 2 choices, work towards becoming King of a small/medium Kingdom outside the HRE, or work towards election. Choose wisely

 

[Gqarz]

You would be best served, if you control 2/3 of Burgundy, working toward independence. You have to be patient though. You cannot take on the HRE at this time. Well liked Kaisers are very dangerous. Bide your time. The HRE will go through periods of unrest. Build your holdings, marry your heir to landed females, (with lands that can possibly be of use, Duchesses of Armenia Minor aren't much use to you, but French/Dutch/Italian territory is nice) Stockpile some gold for some quick merc attacks when you do rebel. There are quite a few things you can do to play around, like marrying your younger children advantageously. Be sure to have a fallback heir should your eldest son die suddenly. (Losing because you have only normally married daughters stinks if your sons have no issue) I like marrying my younger sons to landed ladies if possible or women that may inherit lands. You can play around with assassinations here to help things along. I marry my daughters to the most powerful nobles I can unless I'm planning on invading them soon. A large portion of the strategy of this game is biding your time and striking when its most likely to succeed. Again, if you rebel, its really best to have an heir because if you lose, the Kaiser will imprison you and you may never get out.

 

[NecroRenegade]

I think I found out why everybody likes the Kaiser. Him and the last 5 kaisers before him were all from the same family, the Andechs, and the Andechs having been breeding like rabbits. They 138 living members (I only have 32) in practically all important positions in the Empire. The kingdom of Burgundy, Lotharingia, Bohemia, even Jerusalem as well as plenty of Duchies.

I couldn't really do much until finally the next heir to the Kingdom of Burgundy wasn't the heir to the Empire. Once he was crowned king, I started a plot to fabricate a claim to the Kingdom of Burgundy. However that was getting me nowhere because he was an Andech and all his vassals were in love with him.

In a last desperate effort I decided to try and assassinate him and I only had a 17% chance of success with 61% chance of being caught with a spy network. Thankfully, I managed to assassinate him and avoid being caught on the first go
The new king wasn't liked as much and I easily bribed his vassals and got the plot power way up.

I declared independence from Burgundy, then joined the independence faction from the HRE, the Emperor decided not to bother with a civil war and let loose all members of the Independence faction (wasn't a lot of guys but some). Then I waited some time and managed to usurp the Kingdom of Burgundy
So now I'm independent from the HRE and King of Burgundy.
I'm kinda scared of the HRE though. I've seen them muster 30k plus guys before. I might even consider re-joining to avoid losing my titles.

Also: Something weird happpened. I'm not entirely sure how, but my character somehow got a claim to the Duchy of Bavaria. It's a big duchie and I'd like to get it. But It's a part of the HRE. So, if I go to war to claim Bavaria, will the Emperor get involved or only the Duke and his allies? Should I re-join the empire first, sue for lower crown authority, and then make war?

Thanks for the advice guys!

 

[NecroRenegade]

One more question, it's about marriage.
So I saw that the Kingdom of Sicily was ruled by a queen who was unmarried. I quickly divorced my old wife and married her. My guy's 56 years old and she's 18.
Here's the thing, he was my first male son. Before this my heir was the count of some province in Bavaria who was a Habsburg. If he had been crowned king, would I've earned that province as well? Back to my son, I look and it says he's heir to the Kingdom of Burgundy, it says nothing about Sicily. Will he inherit Sicily? If not, how do I get Sicily under my control? When I hover over my character's portrait, it says I'm King of Sicily. However I don't actually control it.

 

[rubert]

Your wife is Queen Regnant of of Sicily and controls Kingdom of Sicily while you are her Prince Consort there. Roles are reversed for Kingdom of Burgundy of course: you are the reigning King, she is the queen consort). Your children can inherit both thrones but if you have a son from your old marriage I would assume he will inherit only Kingdom of Burgundy while son from your current marriage will inherit Sicily (and Burgundy if your older son dies).