I really do love this game

[GCRust]

So in my current run, I've wanted to play as Abyssinia, with the overall goal of installing the Coptic Pope in Alexandria. Went with the Charlie start and got to work.

Fast forward to about 900, when my branch of the Solomonids got deposed from Kingship. It's been two generations of my family now, and about five or six other kings, and while Solomonids rule Abyssinia this isn't the game I'd planned on. Rather then making inroads into Egypt, the current branch of rulers are more interested in taking and developing land in Alania - going so far as to beat off a Holy War by the Ecumenical Patriarch (Course, it helps that the Byzantines are flipping Catholic this game, so the declaration wasn't nearly as powerful as it could have been). There's been plenty of factionalism and civil unrest, but after watching the Mulsims swallow everything down to Makuria, our borders have been stable for a century. I was getting worried that I'd be trapped as a vassal forever and never realize my game goal.

Then I got the chance to press my wife's claim on the Duchy of Semien, meaning my heir will now be a double duke and a pretty healthy infrastructure (Level 3 buildings in all my demense holdings), so I've decided that, with a positive cash flow and a manpower only a few thousand below the Egyptian sultanate, I might as well start fabricating claims on Makuria and Nubia and start chewing that up. Heck, maybe having a Alania-located Abyssinia will help me when the inevitable Jihads get called to throw me out of Alexandria.

Just when I think the game's winding down, it pulls me back in. Thanks again to the Paradox Development team for such a gem of a game.

 

[RelVleDy]

My favorite thing to do is run an enatic succession government with a council full of women with the ambitious trait. I also modded their AI_ambition with a custom trait to make them ultra-aggressive and greedy. Yea, it's fun seeing women fight.

 

[GCRust]

At this point I'm thinking of just leaving Abyssinia behind and shooting for the Kingdom of Nubia. The biggest problem playing as Coptics is Holy Wars are a death sentence. I had to wait for Berbera to flip to a Sunni Heresy to clear it out. Building up some other kingdoms in the region will likely help matters when the Jihads come.

 

[DukeDayve]

How did you manage to get deposed as king? I've had some fairly big faction rebellions in my latest Byzantine Emperor game, but I always seem to have 40 or 50% more soldiers than anybody trying to depose me.

 

[GCRust]

Elective Succession, and once you incorporate all the little chiefdoms, you're left with a lot of Dukes. I realize now my mistake was not passing out double Ducal titles to existing vassals to keep the election pool lower, but it wouldn't have made much of a difference since my 37 year old ruler suffered a terminal case of "Blow to the Head" fending off one of Egypt's attempts at conquering more territory.

The choice then boiled down to my 5 year old son vs a charismatic and well connected Duke.

I'll admit to not aggressively reclaiming my title, but I hesitate to push too hard after Yemen decided to bite a chunk out of Assab during a revolt. I worked hard to get the realm into its current state, and the threat of Muslim invasion is ever present.

 

[GCRust]

Oye. So apparently somebody in my family went and converted to Catholicism and now they've got the kingship. Now Abyssinia is flipping Catholic and there's dang all I can do to stop it!

Everything's falling apart!

 

[Legionary Guard]

I clicked this thread expecting it to be very sarcastic. I'm not sure whether or not to be disappointed that I'm wrong.

 

[GCRust]

I've decided to stop fighting against the tide. The Miaphysite faith is collapsing in on itself - 15% moral authority and falling. Monophysitism is everywhere, and we're three generations in to the Catholic Kings of Abyssinia. With my counties being actively converted to Catholicism and more and more vassals switching, I decided to take the option myself.

Now I'm torn between carrying on and seeing where a Catholic Abyssinia goes (The AI's finally moving northward - I could still take Alexandria) and try my best to get back the Kingship or hang up this game and go with a new idea - The Gideon family, but this time instead of falling upon the graces of Abyssinia right away, opt instead to become a vassal of the Abbasids and try to one day become Kings (or Sultans) of Jerusalem.

 

[masteriw]

I clicked this thread expecting it to be very sarcastic. I'm not sure whether or not to be disappointed that I'm wrong.

The moaners have all gone to the HOI4 forum.

 

[GCRust]

Carrying on with the game. It's a lot easier to expand when you can call on four separate holy orders to reinforce your troops. I'm not actively going after the old faith, though. My current goal is claim Alexandria, flip an heir, and install the Coptic Pope in Alexandria as planned.

 

[marko river]

I'm in my first play as small count of Rascia, only Serbian count among Greek counts in ERE. Luckily Emperor made me Strategos of Rascia which gave me some claims I couldn't possibly win, so I had to attack when my targets are destroyed in other wars. Duchy of Duklja (held by my father and then half-brother) got their armies destroyed by Venice before I swooped in, and when Emperor gave Singidunum to newly created count I was able to get it. Then with 1 castle and 2 vassals I was able to finish my now one-province half-brother with fabricated claim on Ragusa. Zeta is held by another Strategissa so I am close to form Kingdom in one life time. I even managed to make Kingdom of Croatia tributary, once again after Venice destroyed them in conquering their coastal county, otherwise impossible since my army was 3 times smaller.

But the personal stuff is more interesting. My first wife was my spy, looking for bad stuff and blackmailing lords in my vassal's Sinigdounum, however got killed by city mayor. I'm still looking how to avenge her without tyranny. I just took any ex-duches for my second wife didn't bother with lands, just fertility bonus and got few more kids. But then... all the time I had Hunter focus without being aware that focus gives events and I kept wondering why is there always a white stag event. In one of those ventures I met a girl in cabin who wanted to get laid. Well, no wonder, I'm a lord right? ANd there I can forget her or take her with me. I tried to take her with me just for fun and woala: I got 17 year old courtier, beautiful (+30 appeal) and with 20+ intrigue. I didn't expect it is such a master scheme to get a 20 year older lord to sex, but hey... and she likes me very much because we are lovers.

OK, so now I found I can't employ her as my spy even though she is best schemer I got. So, devil knows when to knock. I switch my focus to start spying on my wife and plotting to kill her. I managed to get her into prison. Several people joined the plot, eventually my lover joined also. She pretended to help her escape and murdered her, but not without others discovering my part. So now I am known murderer. And I gotta say that girl know how to play the game, she literally help murder my wife just to get me marry her. Her nick name is "of the Wilds" and she is the wild one indeed. (Not sure is that normal nickname for lowborns). In her first year of spying in Constantinople she had 2 or 3 technology points events, she has Quick trait and that beautiful trait (not sure the name) and gave 3 or 4 kids with good genetic material. I didn't care about prestige loss. And she is working on finding plots against me, ensuring to become the first Queen of Serbia. Very impressive I must say

The strangest thing is that she is considered kinslayer. I am sure she didn't have that before killing my wife, but I'm not sure why would my then wife be a kin to her, she was some Vlach count mother. So actually Our love didn't flourish after the marriage, but I start having a realistic opinion on her, thx ti -100 kinslayer. So we broke of our affair although she remains loyal and fertile.

Now, for the record, I had absolutely nothing to do with those foul actions my character did. It was all her doing!

 

[FifthMonarchy]

Oye. So apparently somebody in my family went and converted to Catholicism and now they've got the kingship. Now Abyssinia is flipping Catholic and there's dang all I can do to stop it!

Everything's falling apart!

This irritates me beyond all reason when I play Miaphysitie games, the Armenians and the Copts have hung on against surprising odds but one stroll past a foreign clergyman and my vassals and courtiers dump the faith of their fathers! For shame.
Maybe in your game carry on with the ultimate goal in mind (I always try to re-seat the pope in Alexandria too, would love it if they did a celebratory event pop-up when you achieve it), might be easier as a Catholic with more allies and holy orders then flip back either by having the pope educate your heir or via a county decision if there's any left. Then if you're Nubia you have at least two holy sites and the bonus of the pope controlling one so MA could start to recover.

 

[GCRust]

That's my plan right now. Though now Miaphysitism has been usurped by Monophysitism due to the ridiculously low moral authority of the Miaphysites. Stupid Wicked Priest Coptic Pope that technically exists but has no court save a Chancellor to aid in plot intrigue against, leaving the faith vulnerable to heresy and Catholicism and driving moral authority even lower when Miaphysitism lost Axsum when it flipped.

Though good with the bad, getting money from the Catholic Pope for fighting against non-Catholics and the four Holy Orders they immediately get alone has really advanced the time table on claiming Alexandria. I'm hoping I can get there before Miaphysitism is wiped away completely, though then the fight begins for the soul of an Empire (With the Crowns of Nubia, Abyssinia, and Alania in my possession, all I'm waiting for is the Prestige to create it.)

Why do we have Alania? I don't know, but after watching the AI spend over a hundred years fighting for that piece of land, I'm hesitant to toss it away when it'll just get snapped up immediately by either the Catholic Byzantines (They flipped without my intervention. Catholic moral authority is sitting at 100%) or the Mahdis of Arabia (They successfully ousted the Abassids, though the latter has recently returned as the leaders of the Sultanate of Egypt. It was definitely a "Ah, my old enemy returns." moment).

On the plus side, I regained the kingship over Abyssinia and the AI was kind enough to give me three separate revolts immediately after claiming the throne, so my vassal opinion (even over the guy I deposed) is wildly high.

Funny story on how I regained Kingship though - a AI character I owed a favor to called in the favor to force me to join his faction. The faction in question? Putting me in charge. Boy if that isn't the AI saying "Hey, pay attention to your notifications stupid!", I don't know what is.