New game suggestions: I want to marry my way to the top

[Sam L]

Ok, I just finished Capetian (France to Byzantine Empire) game. This was a game I started from when I got the game. LOL. As you can see I don't have a lot of time to play this game but I persevered. 140k score at the end. Very satisfying.

So the next challenge is to start as a Count/Countess and marry my way to the top which was more or less what happened in my previous game except this time as Count not as a King. Any suggestions for characters?

 

[ticattack]

- If you don't mind starting in France again, there's the Karlings who are the descendants of Charlemagne. Reclaim your birthright!
- The Isle of Man. Pretty sure that's a lone county in 1066. Unite Britannia.
- One of the small muslim states in Iberia. Your goals: survive your neighbours, survive the Jimenez, conquer Wales.
- Assuming you have LoR, start in the ERE and plot your way up.
- Start as a saxon, survive the initial invasions and restore a saxon to the throne of England - before the normans can pollute your language too much (pre-empt or stamp out English culture).
- If memory serves, Napoli has a greek orthodox count in 1066, the Spartenos dynasty. Reclaim Sicily.
- Iceland. One's a count, the other his one-county duke. Pick either, they're weaker than many counts in the game anyway. Your goal is to become relevant to anyone else.

 

[Amadeu of Savoy]

Try the reconquista with an Aragon start 1066.

 

[unmerged(228153)]

Play as the one-province duke of Luxembourg, claim Lübeck via holy war right from the start, grab Liège and go from there. As for whom to marry, may I humbly suggest Matilda di Canossa, what with her huge tracts of land (rimshot!), or maybe Oda von Weimar, who might just inherit her father's ducal title with that weird German umlaut dangling uncomfortably in the middle.

I've heard Duklja is pretty fun, too, if you prefer not to play inside the HRE. If you can figure out how to add the magical line »playable = yes « correctly to commons\religions\00_religions.txt, you might also want to try your luck as a Pagan character and marry the Princess of Poland or something, then go all ROMUVAH! on your neighbours. Good luck.

 

[Negru Voda]

Why not play the Habsburgs

I think they are situated somewhere in Burgundy in 1066 - Count of Argau or something if memory serves me right.

 

[tuareg109]

- The Isle of Man. Pretty sure that's a lone county in 1066. Unite Britannia.

I guess you wouldn't know this unless you've actually played as the Man of Man, but son of the starting Earl of Man is Earl of Galloway, and HIS son (eventual inheritor of all three counties) is Earl of Carrick, leading to an easy creation of the Duchy of Galloway, and in a prime position to exploit the weaknesses of Lothian, the Duchy of the Isles, and all of Ireland.
I'm just getting really into an Isle of Man game (year is 1112), and I can say it's probably the best I've ever played. Soon I'll form the Kingdom of Ireland and get to acquiring Scotland.

 

[Sam L]

Thanks guys. I went with Count of Shrewsbury. Norman Conquest never happened. But England was conquered by Norway. I have 5 daughters before a son. The daughters are all bethrothed to various kings and heirs. The son is a genius. It's going to be an interesting game. But it's weird going from Basileus to a count on the fringe of Europe. There's nothing to do! But it gives me more time to look for marriage opportunities.

 

[Sam L]

Why not play the Habsburgs

I think they are situated somewhere in Burgundy in 1066 - Count of Argau or something if memory serves me right.

Next time.