One of my fondest CKII playthroughs back in the day was as the mighty Fatimid Caliphate in 1066. With Reaper's Due having heavily revitalized my interest in CKII, I thought it would be fun to play as the Fatimids once again; reclaiming the old borders, expanding into Christian Abyssinia, and, most importantly, driving the Turks out of Arabia. Yet as soon as I started and attempted to declare my first war, I noticed that I couldn't. Why not? Because the Fatimids start the game off in bankruptcy; 420 gold in debt.
Do I have a huge problem with this? Not necessarily. I know that I can easily just expel the Jews and very quickly get out of debt. I'm just wondering if this is WAD or if it is a bug. I know that in real life, the Fatimids at this point were at a historic low point, and that Caliph al-Mustanir wasn't exactly the greatest administrator. The game even makes mention of this in his description, stating how the Caliph's rule was dominated by powerful Viziers. What I expected was massive decadence (which, at 75%, the Fatimids do have) not huge amounts of gold debt.
Don't get me wrong, I know that the Fatimids were once massively overpowered when the game came out. The forums used to be filled with people complaining about how the Fatimids won an invasion for Greece against the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. I agreed that they needed a nerf. What I think would have been cool is if they started with even more decadence (90%) instead of just bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is very easy to fix even without expelling the Jews (you can get out of debt in about 10 months). Another mechanic that would have been interesting is if the vassalized mercenary band that the rulers of Egypt have access to, the Mamluks, actually joined in the decadence revolts. This would be somewhat historic as the Mamluks did eventually conquer and rule Egypt much later. Even during the 1066 the Caliph had some major problems with the Mamluks. If this is too difficult to program, perhaps they could start 1066 off with the Fatimids dealing with a Mamluk uprising. If the Mamluks win, they take over the kingdom of Egypt, while if the Fatimids win, the Mamluks are vassalized again. The Chola dynasty in India 1066 also starts off with a massive uprising. Perhaps they could pair this with high decadence and another revolt looming in the near future.
I just feel like putting the Fatimids in massive debt is a very artificial nerf that can very easily be overcome, and wondering if it is even WAD in the first place. And if it is WAD, what are some other starts that begin in bankruptcy?
Do I have a huge problem with this? Not necessarily. I know that I can easily just expel the Jews and very quickly get out of debt. I'm just wondering if this is WAD or if it is a bug. I know that in real life, the Fatimids at this point were at a historic low point, and that Caliph al-Mustanir wasn't exactly the greatest administrator. The game even makes mention of this in his description, stating how the Caliph's rule was dominated by powerful Viziers. What I expected was massive decadence (which, at 75%, the Fatimids do have) not huge amounts of gold debt.
Don't get me wrong, I know that the Fatimids were once massively overpowered when the game came out. The forums used to be filled with people complaining about how the Fatimids won an invasion for Greece against the Byzantine Empire in the 11th century. I agreed that they needed a nerf. What I think would have been cool is if they started with even more decadence (90%) instead of just bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is very easy to fix even without expelling the Jews (you can get out of debt in about 10 months). Another mechanic that would have been interesting is if the vassalized mercenary band that the rulers of Egypt have access to, the Mamluks, actually joined in the decadence revolts. This would be somewhat historic as the Mamluks did eventually conquer and rule Egypt much later. Even during the 1066 the Caliph had some major problems with the Mamluks. If this is too difficult to program, perhaps they could start 1066 off with the Fatimids dealing with a Mamluk uprising. If the Mamluks win, they take over the kingdom of Egypt, while if the Fatimids win, the Mamluks are vassalized again. The Chola dynasty in India 1066 also starts off with a massive uprising. Perhaps they could pair this with high decadence and another revolt looming in the near future.
I just feel like putting the Fatimids in massive debt is a very artificial nerf that can very easily be overcome, and wondering if it is even WAD in the first place. And if it is WAD, what are some other starts that begin in bankruptcy?
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