Help with my saved game and a question

[ed75]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for help with my saved game. I currently have 4 out of 6 of the counties of the Duchy of Brittany. I want to get my hands on Rennes and Nantes, and now looks like a good time to strike as Rennes is actually in revolt (Middle Francian Revolt). Does anyone have some good tips on how I can take Rennes, as for some reason, when I sieged Rennes with my ~800 levies, the Middle Francian army came and lifted the siege (i.e. not the Revolt army, but their enemies) - why was that?

Thanks.

 

[shoall]

If you attack a revolt the real goverment and the revolter will be allied to each other when attacking you so MF can come and steamroll your tropps sieging the revolt and then prooceed to nail the leader of the revolts head on a pike in a battle(They can even combine in the middle of a battle against you)

 

[ed75]

Hi - thanks. It seems absurd at first that the enemy of my enemy would attack me. I suppose it only makes sense if Middle Francia have a claim themselves on Rennes and don't want to see someone else - the rebels or anyone else - take it.

I'm posting my latest saved game here. What happened:

- I decided to save up to get around 400 in gold for a merc siege of Rennes (ducal claim)
- It helped a lot that I received 250 in gold because of a dishonest vassal
- I sieged down Rennes unopposed but then had to siege down several other rebel counties and fight several battles (two of which I lost) against both the rebels and Middle Francia before I very finally achieved a 100% warscore
- Then I was disppointed to find I didn't gain Rennes but the count there merely became my vassal
- I finally managed to get a male heir

So my questions now are why did I get only a vassal and not gain a county? And what happens when my character dies - will my heir inherit Rennes as a vassal too? What happens too when the current ruler of Rennes dies? Will his heir also be my vassal?

If you are an experienced player, what would you do now? I suppose expansion options immediately around me are very limited - as Middle Francia is all around. Would you try to expand into the British Isles, e.g. Cornwall?

Thanks!

 

[brifbates]

De jure claim wars against counts and below always result in the target becoming your vassal, you only take the land yourself if the target is a Duke or higher. They will remain your vassal when your ruler dies (unless you get a split inheritance of some sort, in which case they will go to whoever gets the d_Brittany title). In most cases, they will remain your vassal when their ruler dies (there will be an alert warning you if they won't).

 

[ed75]

Thanks for this explanation, brifbates.

Update for my game (attaching saved game here):

- The count of Rennes started a faction for independence against me, so I revoked his title and took it myself

My next aim is to become King of Brittany. It says I need 146 gold for this and 2 duchies. As far as I know I only hold one duchy (Breizh). Does someone have some good advice on what other duchy to try to take?

Or should I forget that and give away some counties? - I'm 5/3 above my demesne limit and it's pissing off my vassals.

Thanks for any good advice!

 

[jimjom]

Thanks for this explanation, brifbates.

Update for my game (attaching saved game here):

- The count of Rennes started a faction for independence against me, so I revoked his title and took it myself

My next aim is to become King of Brittany. It says I need 146 gold for this and 2 duchies. As far as I know I only hold one duchy (Breizh). Does someone have some good advice on what other duchy to try to take?

Or should I forget that and give away some counties? - I'm 5/3 above my demesne limit and it's pissing off my vassals.

Thanks for any good advice!

Try to "give" 1 or 2 counties away to someone of your dynasty, no (future) claims on your main title, AND content. If you dont have such people you can "lend" your counties to some random (OLD!!) dude, without any family, and married off to some childless old hag. This way, when he dies, the title reverts back to you.

As for which other duchy you could form: best bet would be to to cross the sea and form Cornwall. Is probably a lot easier than to try and claim some french duchy...

 

[brifbates]

Kent may be an easier target than Cornwall as it starts up split 3 ways so you can just fight two wars against a single province count rather than a multi-province Duke. You could also look around in Ireland for an easy 2-3 province duchy or try to marry your way to one somewhere.

 

[ed75]

Thanks guys. I've decided on Cornwall as it has no allies/pacts. I've got the fabricated claim and I'm ready to invade. Only problem is I don't know how to get there - how do I build boats?

Thanks again! (Nearly 200 hours in this game and I still don't know how unless I'm a Viking).

 

[ed75]

Ok, so I've built shipyards in the city and church of my capital. But still no ships are available to me. Why not, please?

 

[brifbates]

Those are vassal fleets, they'll only be available if the vassal is loyal (they should appear on the vassal line of the fleet tab). However, when you're at war an intrigue decision to hire transports should appear (assuming you meet the requirements).

 

[ed75]

Thanks. I'm aware about the vassals thing, I'm just trying to work out why I'm not building ships of my own? My shipyards are in my direct holdings. Thanks.

 

[brifbates]

They take some time to build after you get the shipyards completed. This will also apply if you disband them away from home and lose them later on so always bring them to a province in your realm before disbanding them.

 

[ed75]

Ok, thanks, will wait a bit and see how things go

 

[ed75]

Got it sorted eventually, but mostly had to rely on vassals' ships, as my own were very slow in coming. Am now King of Brittany, having taken Cornwall and Devon.

Thanks for your help