this game is too easy

[dulahan]

Eh, of course it's easy if you're playing the military game. But this game is fundamentally NOT about the military side. That's just ancillary.

It's about dynastic relations in a chaotic world. Some of it involves setting your own goals. But ultimately, playing it more reactively is why it's fun for me. Any time I've played just to paint the map, I got bored quick. Instead, it's start small, upgrade, react. Marry heirs, watch the crazy stuff that comes up. Be shocked when suddenly I inherit Byzantium for some crazy reason after my marrying a princess from there a few generations earlier. That sort of thing.

Yes, you can paint the map. But it's really not what the game's about.

 

[Eliyahu]

Turn up the difficulty slider ?

 

[nevercalled]

Sorry I'm calling BS on that. Playing in Ethiopia you only have access to two merc bands (unless you conquer Egypt). They supply 4.5k of mostly light infantry at an initial outlay of 450 gold and a running costs of 20 a month. If you control all of E_Abyssinia you make 10-20 gold a month, depending on upgrades, just to hire them is going to take around 5 years and allow you to keep them for around the same length. On top of all this is that 4.5k light infantry are no match for multiple Indian kingdoms if you are using the holy war CB, which is more or less your only option unless you were somehow able to flip pagan. Oh and there's also that little issue that the sultan of Egypt will declare on you any time he has more men than you which is most of the time.

that`s why i said it is not worth to go north.

And u get 80 g only after conquering all the tribal and one small chiefdom ( country with 2 counties) south from u with - 30% tax modifier( or however it is called).

What u do is business focus. When u are able to hire first merc u call holy war to conquer south duke ( 2 counties) than u go tribals one by one - u finish the war before they even gather and let enemies to siege your provinces (u use assault on enemies). U can even spare some troops by not engaging enemies and going only for occupying.

Doing this u get like 80 g income in first 4 years than u conquer the rest of abissinia and move to conquer India.

4k mercs is enough to win the war against many small countries before enemies will even gather.

I will say u never played there if u think u earn like 10-20 g gold a month lol.

And one more thing when suni empire attacks u ( or sultan), u buy time so don`t give up too early - u get much more time just due to that. And of course breaking truces on Berbera and Abyssinia. Afterall u are big enough just from the number of vassals to defend yourself. And content vassal give u like 20-30 years so.....

Eli:
Of course ironman and max diff

 

[Arona]

i have conquered the almost the whole world ( only islands left). It is 890 year. Very hard level, started from 1 k pop nomad county.....This game looks like a clicking fest for me no challange no difficulties.
Is there anything worth to wait for?

So make it harder for yourself, try to convert or territorys to your religion and culture.
Start foreign culture and religion on foreign land.

Try to establish dynasty who owns every barony, county, duchy, kingdom, empire.

Its not just conquering game

 

[Aries666]

that`s why i said it is not worth to go north.

And u get 80 g only after conquering all the tribal and one small chiefdom ( country with 2 counties) south from u with - 30% tax modifier( or however it is called).

What u do is business focus. When u are able to hire first merc u call holy war to conquer south duke ( 2 counties) than u go tribals one by one - u finish the war before they even gather and let enemies to siege your provinces (u use assault on enemies). U can even spare some troops by not engaging enemies and going only for occupying.

Doing this u get like 80 g income in first 4 years than u conquer the rest of abissinia and move to conquer India.

4k mercs is enough to win the war against many small countries before enemies will even gather.

I will say u never played there if u think u earn like 10-20 g gold a month lol.

And one more thing when suni empire attacks u ( or sultan), u buy time so don`t give up too early - u get much more time just due to that. And of course breaking truces on Berbera and Abyssinia. Afterall u are big enough just from the number of vassals to defend yourself. And content vassal give u like 20-30 years so.....

Eli:
Of course ironman and max diff

This is utter rubbish post a screenshot of your 80 gold income. I have literally just finished a playthrough in this region.

 

[Aries666]

This is when I finished said play through:

At this point I control most of E_Abyssinia, all of K_Africa, Egypt, Jerusalem, and most of K_Arabia, I also have a small Indian enclave not pictured. Even with all this running high city and church taxes as well as small feudal taxes I make 50-80 gold a month depending on my rulers stewardship. So please feel free to show me how you are making 80 gold a month from a few tribal holdings in Abyssinia.

 

[Kumicho]

Don't feed the troll..............

 

[Aries666]

Don't feed the troll..............

It's not really feeding when you make a mockery of their absurd claims

 

[nevercalled]

This is utter rubbish post a screenshot of your 80 gold income. I have literally just finished a playthrough in this region.

didn`t have any so i have made a new game. Have a bad luck at begin first focus income i got in 73.

as i said u get your income + city + tribals to vassal in 4-5 years maximum it is 80 g.

86 year everything what i need is to get at least 10 ships to move mercs.

 

[Aries666]

didn`t have any so i have made a new game. Have a bad luck at begin first focus income i got in 73.

as i said u get your income + city + tribals to vassal in 4-5 years maximum it is 80 g.

86 year everything what i need is to get at least 10 ships to move mercs.

Sigh, you have just proved my point, that is yearly income not monthly. At that level of income you cannot indefinitely hire your two available merc bands which are still insufficient to solo India. I'm not saying it is impossible to go into India from this position, just that it is no where near as clear sailing as you are trying to portray.

 

[nevercalled]

still when u assault u earn money with mercs not loose.
i have never written monthly.

Anyway i still will say that u can rape any small county u can assault. 5 k merc ( and there are usually some new merc companies avaible when u spread) are enough to siege 500 k castles.

In India u have Chawda free to own. Than 2 countries south of India both small enough to just win.

 

[vandevere]

The point of CK isn't that it's hard but that it's fun. And I would further add that war and conquest is basically the least funnest bit of CK.

Agreed. WC is actually the least engaging, most boring part of the game. I have loads more fun managing vassals, marrying children off, enjoying the Dynastic Simulator, and watching the AI realms lose their collective mind...

 

[Naughtius Maximus]

I was using only light cavalry army playing nomads. Free one from prestige.

Anyway i have started a new game as a count in france converted to sunni and again conquered all france from inside.

So what do u suggest not to conquer anything at all?

I was playing EU IV before and it was much more tricky and had more sense.




yes

no - but i think it is like playing suni under christian france

was playing once as a king of the christian kingdom there was stupidly easy. when i conquered half of hispania i gave up.

?

Sunni with a Christian liege is extremely easy in comparison as the lands within the realm fracture from gavelkind or some one county duke gets elected King/Emperor. Not remotely close to operating under an Iqta empire or Viceroyalties of the Byzantines.

King of hispania is also very easy. I specifically mentioned being a count in Galicia in Charlemagne start for a reason.

 

[nevercalled]

Sunni with a Christian liege is extremely easy in comparison as the lands within the realm fracture from gavelkind or some one county duke gets elected King/Emperor. Not remotely close to operating under an Iqta empire or Viceroyalties of the Byzantines.

King of hispania is also very easy. I specifically mentioned being a count in Galicia in Charlemagne start for a reason.

u get rid off gravelkins in first or second king.

however i can try to play count in Galicia. From what i know it is first holy war dec duchy but still in the meantime u can be able to fabricate claim on something else and survive imo.

 

[Baron Bratwurst]

Ever play as a vassal?

Ever play as a zoraster/zunist count under the Abbasids in Charlemagne start?

Zoroastrians and Zunists aren't that hard though. It took me exactly one try to get both achievements with Zunbils.

 

[Dr Gonzo]

Zoroastrians and Zunists aren't that hard though. It took me exactly one try to get both achievements with Zunbils.

Yeah. If anything having a unique religion makes it even easier once you get big. No having to fabricate claims!

u get rid off gravelkins in first or second king.

however i can try to play count in Galicia. From what i know it is first holy war dec duchy but still in the meantime u can be able to fabricate claim on something else and survive imo.

Count in Galicia is difficult but can be done without much bother. It's not particularly harder than Semien. Once you get past the first 10 years you may as well have started out as the king.

 

[zharliette]

How difficult would it be to make a WC while staying Jain? Having never tried that, I'd guess it's as hard as it gets, considering the lack of holy war CB.

 

[Monphat]

This is the worse troll attempt in the history of the internet. Put some effort into It, will ya?

Sorry to ruin the parade, but OP is right, troll or not.

I haven't played the game in a long time and don't feel the pressing need to play it precisely because there is no challenge left. Or better to say, I feel like I am playing a game without any competition or opposition. AI is not only predictable and stupid, but it also is incapable of dealing with many of the game's mechanics, including warfare. After my multi-Empire easily crushed Aztecs and two Mongol hordes at the same time, while all vassals and factions were completely powerless to even try defying me... I just turned the game down. This is a real problem with CK2.

CKII wasn't designed to be difficult. There are challenges, sure, but as a sandbox game it's more about making whatever you want to happen a reality. Irish Baltic? Sunni England?

1) Not everyone is playing for crazy diverse scenarios. I personally don't. Some people actually expect challenge appropriate for well-made strategy game.
2) You are confusing cause and consequence here. CK2 wasn't designed to be difficult, but that's only because of AI's limitations, not because PDX wanted everyone to blob without any effort. Crazy scenarios are just a way of people dealing with boredom of game where AI can't present any challenge, not the other way around.

 

[vandevere]

Sorry to ruin the parade, but OP is right, troll or not.

I haven't played the game in a long time and don't feel the pressing need to play it precisely because there is no challenge left. Or better to say, I feel like I am playing a game without any competition or opposition. AI is not only predictable and stupid, but it also is incapable of dealing with many of the game's mechanics, including warfare. After my multi-Empire easily crushed Aztecs and two Mongol hords at the same time, while all vassals and factions were completely powerless to even try defying me... I just turned the game down. This is a real problem with CK2.



1) Not everyone is playing for crazy diverse scenarios. I personally don't. Some people actually expect challenge appropriate for well-made strategy game.
2) You are confusing cause and consequence here. CK2 wasn't designed to be difficult, but that's only because of AI's limitations, not because PDX wanted everyone to blob without any effort. Crazy scenarios are just a way of people dealing with boredom of game where AI can't present any challenge, not the other way around.

So you're saying the devs should just nerf-bomb the game into the ground, or what?

 

[iron0037]

So you're saying the devs should just nerf-bomb the game into the ground, or what?

What you call nerfing, I would call making the game more fun. The fact that world conquests are so easy makes them boring. I've never done one because it's just pointless micromanagement to finish painting the map. I usually stop my game when I form an empire because there's no risk of anything going amiss by then (much earlier, honestly). I imagine that it's a sentiment shared by many other players because so few admit to ever completing a grand campaign.

If the game did a better job reflecting the near impossibility of maintaining a sprawling medieval empire, that would keep me engaged and playing. It would be rewarding if I managed through luck and stratagem to prevent the thing from imploding. But the game sorely lacks any late game surprises. Yes, you can opt to pace yourself. Yes, you can look for obscure personal goals to motivate you. Yes, you can try to start with the most impossibly hard character. But players shouldn't have to dig so deeply for entertainment.