Tips on being a Vassal

[Gargoyle]

Hi all,

I have played the entire 400 year campaign as a king (Denmark, did quite well).

Now I would like to try my hand at being a count. Yet every time I try I end up feeling so limited and powerless. I am mostly a role-player type, I don't look to be vicious without due cause. Is it hopeless to play someone's vassal, a count of a duke, without being really cutthroat to succeed?

Any tips?

 

[Cymsdale]

I think it depends on what "success" means to you. If you want to go from count to king, members of your dynasty are probably going to have get their hands a bit dirty along the way.

 

[Mods]

I started a game as a dutch count in the HRE, it's not easy: only after 200 years in the game I managed to become a king, was forced to fight 3 civil wars (lower crown authority) to expand.
Sometimes you'll have to wait forever, but you better take your chances when they come up
Same thing with the independence faction, our league actually managed to do it without a war with the emperor, he just allowed me to go and we were BFF's ever since

 

[Magnus Helvetti]

I just started as Count of Bern, and 5 years after that, Emperor declares me Steward. Not long, he created the duchy and handed it to me! I didn't fight any war, I just raised my kids, etc.

 

[Keden]

One of the fun things about being a count - in a strong Kingdom - Is that you can focus on other things. Playing a more peaceful game for instance. When I start as a count - Which I almost always do - I start with focusing on family and land. Basically I calmly start upgrading my holdings, marrying for traits and skills and just building a much more slow but steady powerbase. Just grab little bits of land here and there when you get the chance but don't make it a priority at first. In my Munster game, where I started as the secondary count in the Duchy of Munster @ 1066, I've now become Duke of Munster, Connacht, Dehaubarth, Gwynned, Brittany, Anjoy and I'm sure I've forgotten a few. Also my family is all geniuses cause I paid extra attention. I mean I have three brothers on my council all with nearly all their skills above 20. My sisters are all geniuses too, my wife is a genius, half my courtiers are kinsmen and geniuses too . It's quite fun.

TL;DR You can shift your priorities to a more steady game if you start as a count. Just don't expect major scores, but a solid game is fun too.

 

[Trashed]

Make a goal for yourself. Go for that goal. The more ambitious the better. As a count in the Netherlands I went for independence and then a Dutch kingdom. As a count in Southern Italy I went for toppling the Norman's there, taking over Sicily and uniting the entire South. Pick what you find fun and go for it. Going ironman at it is also a damn fine game experience.

Becoming a count in one of the 'hotter' spots on the map is also a guarantee for some fun.

 

[Casiru]

Counts expand through the fabricate claims Councillor option. If you build buildings in your primary holding and make sure your vassals like you, you can easily field 1000 troops within the first 20 or so years, allowing you to crush opposing counts. Your primary objective is to become a duke as you will have more options and usually strong enough vassals to let you start expanding outside of your realm.

Your territory acquisitions tend to snowball as you head towards your K title, for example as Ireland you can create a duchy giving you 2 territories total, then fabricate a claim in another 2 province duchy and you have 4 territories with only 1 claim. grab another duchy and you can form the kingdom allowing you to dejure the rest.

Advanced tactics include inviting claimants to lower titles and marrying your children to important people around the world... or winning a crusade.

 

[TipTravHoot]

Advanced tactics include inviting claimants to lower titles and marrying your children to important people around the world ... or winning a crusade.

Speaking of this, is there anyway to replicate the success of the historical First Crusaders? I concede I'm not the best CK2 gamer, but is it possible under the game's mechanic for a Duke (other than maybe a Super-Duke that controls like half of France or Germany) to successfully crusade? My attempts at crusading as a non-King never get that far. Either I can't build an army strong enough to make a difference and just get whipped by the Muslims, or my contribution winds up being insignificant relative to say the Pope or some King.

Is there anyway to really be Godfrey of Bouilon in CK2 (i.e. sell/mortgage your European holdings to build a massive army and carve out a Crusader State)?

 

[Mods]

Speaking of this, is there anyway to replicate the success of the historical First Crusaders? I concede I'm not the best CK2 gamer, but is it possible under the game's mechanic for a Duke (other than maybe a Super-Duke that controls like half of France or Germany) to successfully crusade? My attempts at crusading as a non-King never get that far. Either I can't build an army strong enough to make a difference and just get whipped by the Muslims, or my contribution winds up being insignificant relative to say the Pope or some King.

Is there anyway to really be Godfrey of Bouilon in CK2 (i.e. sell/mortgage your European holdings to build a massive army and carve out a Crusader State)?

I won the first crusade on Jerusalem as the duke of Flanders once (owning only 2 duchies), he had massive piety so I just used holy orders.
The trick is to join crusades ASAP and build up your war contribution by always being sieging something

 

[telegraph]

I find playing count a bit... lacking.
You are very small and feeble. your army is rarely big enough to pull off a siege. not much is going on around you...
As a duke,though, you can be pretty successful and have a lot of fun. A Duke of Brittany might be fun. A constant shifting between crowns of England and France is an excellent palyground for a sneaky duke. Will you be able to put your kin on both thrones, while remaining a simple duke? Will you be able to pull a reconquista off and still be a mere duke? How about your kin as both east and west emperors? While still being a duke on a small triangle?

 

[The_Blind_One]

Played a game as a count in trebizond duchy (byzantine empire).

Was alot of fun supporting the emperor in his never ending muslim invasions. Atleast I didn't have to micromanage it every time. I just build up my army and supported the guy where I thought neccessary.

Overthrew my duke when he got rebellious towards me and the empires integrity, took his lands, further strengthened them and became BFF's with the emperor, voting against his idiotic plans to minimize city taxes and supporting him in high crown authority. Now he's like coming over every week for that weird greek game they play and I can't pronounce.

Then at first as regent and later as marshal I supported his new son in unifying the empire and warding off the seljuks/fatimids. He rewarded me with a duchy and 3 freshly conquered counties and transferred vassalage of another 3. It was one of the most satisfying moments in CK2 history for me. To have my liege reward me for my hard efforts in defending the empire was pure bliss. I screamed at my pc in disbelief of what had actualy happend.

He had raised my status to the mightiest duke in the empire. Therefore my goal was to always try and maintain good relations with the empires current dynasty and I would be the bastion in the east protecting the borders. That's why I'm leading the independence faction. Nobody can press for it anymore!

My record as the House of Phoenix.

- Returned the rightful dynasty to the empires throne twice
- Warded off another 4 attempts.
- Defended against 5 civil wars.
- Defended against 6 invasions/jihad (damn jihads and invasions)
- Staunch supporter of high crown authority (absolute is pushing it tho, I want to war those heathen muslims as past time fun!)
- Aided in the reconquest of in order, bulgaria, serbia, sicily, armenia, half of italy, half of syria, italy complete, syria complete, jerusalem, egypte...well it goes on and my emperor is close to taking in spain and entire africa.

 

[TipTravHoot]

Played a game as a count in trebizond duchy (byzantine empire).

Was alot of fun supporting the emperor in his never ending muslim invasions. Atleast I didn't have to micromanage it every time. I just build up my army and supported the guy where I thought neccessary.

Overthrew my duke when he got rebellious towards me and the empires integrity, took his lands, further strengthened them and became BFF's with the emperor, voting against his idiotic plans to minimize city taxes and supporting him in high crown authority. Now he's like coming over every week for that weird greek game they play and I can't pronounce.

Then at first as regent and later as marshal I supported his new son in unifying the empire and warding off the seljuks/fatimids. He rewarded me with a duchy and 3 freshly conquered counties and transferred vassalage of another 3. It was one of the most satisfying moments in CK2 history for me. To have my liege reward me for my hard efforts in defending the empire was pure bliss. I screamed at my pc in disbelief of what had actualy happend.

He had raised my status to the mightiest duke in the empire. Therefore my goal was to always try and maintain good relations with the empires current dynasty and I would be the bastion in the east protecting the borders. That's why I'm leading the independence faction. Nobody can press for it anymore!

My record as the House of Phoenix.

- Returned the rightful dynasty to the empires throne twice
- Warded off another 4 attempts.
- Defended against 5 civil wars.
- Defended against 6 invasions/jihad (damn jihads and invasions)
- Staunch supporter of high crown authority (absolute is pushing it tho, I want to war those heathen muslims as past time fun!)
- Aided in the reconquest of in order, bulgaria, serbia, sicily, armenia, half of italy, half of syria, italy complete, syria complete, jerusalem, egypte...well it goes on and my emperor is close to taking in spain and entire africa.

This sounds like an amazing game. I applaud your discipline in not pushing for independence/the throne.