Please help me solve a Duchy mystery!

[Le Comte]

Hello internet,

So I started a game as the Byzantines at the Alexiad start and immediately successfully pressed my claim for D. of Armeniacon against Rum. But I was surprised when I received only the Duchy title, the two counties in Armeniacon remained in Rum's domain. I thought this was a bug and was about report it when I restarted and read the fine print of the war declaration. Lo and behold it says I will only receive the Duchy title. I've pressed ducal claims dozens if not hundreds of times, and I've always vassalized or directly seized the counties in the duchy (unless I'm going crazy, always a potential explanation). Adding a little to the mystery, if I instead press one of my relative's claims to Armeniacon, suddenly the constituent counties are part of the war.

So am I missing some obscure game element? A recent change? Is this a bug? A shadow nerf because Alexios is too strong a character who isn't Norse?

Thanks in advance for your insight and/or conspiracy theories!

 

[joos]

At first glance, your mystery seems easy to solve.

The other two counts belonging to de jure Armeniacon were probably vassals of another duke in the kingdom of Rum? That could possible account for you not auto vassalizing them.

However, the second part of your mystery is confounding. If you can't get those two counties, neither should the claimant you are pressing for, right? Unless he has strong claims on those counties too? Even then, the results shouldn't vary between the two CBs.

 

[kmh42]

WAD! You only get the Duchy title. This means that you only get the Counties of this dukedom when those counties were in the realm of the former duke. When this county are in the realm of another duke you don't get it.

 

[Dryhad]

However, the second part of your mystery is confounding. If you can't get those two counties, neither should the claimant you are pressing for, right? Unless he has strong claims on those counties too? Even then, the results shouldn't vary between the two CBs.

An unlanded character who gains a duchy (i.e. by a pressed claim) will usurp a county within that duchy. This is probably what happened.

 

[Le Comte]

Hey thanks for responses everyone! You were right! Although the Sultan of Rum originally starts with both counties in Armeniacon, he seems to have given them away to one of his dukes, but he didn't give the duchy along with it. I don't know if this was done before or after I declared war. Thanks for your insight.