Getting back into CKII as an EU4 veteran

[Peachrocks]

Hey all,

I've played around with this game a bit lately and just can't get to grasps with it. I get the basic rules but a lot of the things i want to do just don't seem practical. Long time ago I played the El Cid (De Vivar) start (Valencia) and controlled Hispania and a significant chunk of Africa by the end but now I want to start from much earlier.

I really like weird alternate history but a lot of the smaller starts I seem to get dogpiled on and 'removed' so I don't get anywhere. I'm pretty damn solid at EU4 and can play starts like Jangladesh or Navarra but doing similar or even slightly bigger doesn't seem practical.

I know the game is more about roleplaying and story telling then expansion, I'm totally okay with that, I'm not okay with being wiped off the face of the Earth .

In any case here's some random things I might want to achieve.

Israel
Cathar religion
Any really unique or small religion though I don't want to do Jainism just yet, I'd prefer to be in the west.
Basque Dominance

I typically want to start as early as possible as well. I've got all the expansions, just looking for some direction in doing weird and silly things.

 

[deadhand13]

Get alliances with the biggest nearest blob. Preferably blobs. Then, once you have a real powerbase you should be able to fight your own wars a little more comfortably. This is especially true for the two early Iberian starts. Non-aggression pacts (automatically made when marrying close kin) can also keep some of them off your back, but seeing as the threat in Iberia is a Muslim, not so helpful in your case. If you're feeling a bit gamey, you can also start as a non-Basque/Iberian/Whatever, then educate your heir with that culture to become it from a safer start.

 

[Peachrocks]

Get alliances with the biggest nearest blob. Preferably blobs. Then, once you have a real powerbase you should be able to fight your own wars a little more comfortably. This is especially true for the two early Iberian starts. Non-aggression pacts (automatically made when marrying close kin) can also keep some of them off your back, but seeing as the threat in Iberia is a Muslim, not so helpful in your case. If you're feeling a bit gamey, you can also start as a non-Basque/Iberian/Whatever, then educate your heir with that culture to become it from a safer start.

Um... I hate to admit it but I'm not sure how to form alliances. I know you used to do it through marrying but ugh, so much reading on things but I knew I was going to miss something incredibly simple .

Edit: Oh, like that. Ugh x100. Can see how I missed it though.

 

[PeTeTe809]

I myself came from EU4 into CKII, after playing things like Cuzco or Aztec, Ethiopia, Majapahit and the likes.

All that counts for nothing, nothing.

Best I can say is start a game, run it at speed 1 and read every single tooltip. Like a total noob, you will learn a lot and at a certain point you will get into the whole EU4 zone when plans for world conquest start popping into your head.

 

[Peachrocks]

I myself came from EU4 into CKII, after playing things like Cuzco or Aztec, Ethiopia, Majapahit and the likes.

All that counts for nothing, nothing.

Yeah pretty much knew that just saying where I was comin' from... Still the fact I didn't know how to use a pretty essential tool... yeah... that kinda hurt

 

[Bernard95]

Probably the best advice I could give you is just ease yourself back into it since a lot has changed over time. Roll with a duke or small king in 1066 and go from there, preferably something within the HRE like Tuscany. Then after that maybe take someone like Haesteinn of Nantes in 867 and go o some conquering (on a side note, I've personally done a Norse Israel starting as Haesteinn after invading Eastern Africa).

Remember that just like with EU4, you've still got Youtube, the Wiki, and these forums as learning resources. You can also make things easier or harder on yourself by using the new customizable game rules.