What to do when you expand ?

[The'Mats]

Hi everyone,

First of all : my questions may seem pretty naive, as I am a beginner and I'm playing for the second time after a disastrous attempt a few months ago.

So I'm playing with Ireland as advised, and it's going pretty well. I'm in 1162 (I started in 867) and I have the Irish mainland plus a good third of England and my opponents in Great Britain are way weaker than me.

At the end of the 10th century, after a crusade, I owned the Kingdom of Jerusalem and lost it a few decades later after a Djihad so stupidly strong I didn't even bother sending troops. Now, after a new crusade, I'm getting it back.

Here is my problem : I have 17 allowed vassals and my domain size is at its maximum of 10. Getting the Kingdom of Jerusalem extends my domain to 65 provinces. I give my Chancellor a mission to divide the titles amongst my people and vassals, and he does so. The problem is that this stupido does several things I really really don't want him to do.

First, he gives himself a shitload of titles and then plots behind my back to become the King of Jerusalem. Second, he gives titles to my infant sons which prevents me to marry them for alliances for some reason (maybe that's normal, but I didn't know it was a game mechanic, or maybe I don't understand something). And third, he stops dividing titles at some point, which leaves me with 12 titles to divide myself.

So here are my questions :

- can I prevent my Chancellor from giving titles to my sons or himself, or give him guidelines of some sort ?

- what's your advice regarding dividing titles among my vassals ? I tried doing that chore myself, but it keeps creating more vassals (and exceeding my allowed maximum) even though I give titles to people that already are entitled vassals.

- can I destroy the "Kingdom of Jerusalem" title altogether ? So far I've always managed having only one son but now I had three before I managed to kill my wife (only found out later that you could divorce...). Switching to primogeniture is not an option for the moment, as many of my vassals hate my guts and I don't understand all of the requirements (the sub-options make them hard to understand).

- and last, there is now a great opportunity to take Brittany from the Spanish Ummayads. They're facing a tough revolt and I'm allied to a strong Aquitaine and a stronger Italy, both bordering Spain. Would you advise me to do so right after taking Jerusalem and in light of my current problems ?

Thanks a lot in advance !

 

[szmik]

Never ever use AI dividing titles.

Lazy approach: give out just counties, give one of them duke title. Forget.

Less lazy approach: give all duchy counties, but one to people hating you, the last one to person who likes you a bit along with duchy title.

If you don't want the trouble with Jerusalem, give away the kingdom title too. They will become independent.

As for Brittany - strike when they're weak, revolts are usually good time. Be aware AI tends to focus human player first, so they will probably ignore their revolts. But you're quite safe behind La Manche, and they probably can't send stack of doom to your place, even if they will, you can ignore while taking their land. Focus war target and let ticking warscore work. You can speed it up a bit, by taking their domesne counties.

 

[The'Mats]

Thank

If you don't want the trouble with Jerusalem, give away the kingdom title too. They will become independent.

I tried that, but it gave some of my southern English lands for some reason to someone else. Any explanation for that ?

And what are "duchy counties" ? The duchies whose names match those of a province ?

 

[Heinrich4]

I tried that, but it gave some of my southern English lands for some reason to someone else. Any explanation for that ?

I you give the kingdom of jerusalem to a vassal, he becomes independent. But if he owns some counties in england he will ofc keep these counties and they will now belong to the kingdom of jerusalem.

And if you have to many vassals you should create duchies and transfer vassals county vassals o these duchie vassals.

 

[szmik]

And what are "duchy counties" ? The duchies whose names match those of a province ?

I mean counties of the same duchy

 

[Kongming Jaeger]

Sometimes giving titles after a holy war or a crusade is too much of a hassle.
Personally I use the no hassless vassals mod, wich gives all titles not flagged (by me) automatically to a randomly generated courtier

 

[jpinard]

The'mats - welcome to the game that does everything in its power to not teach you anything - lol.
If you look at the map buttons for map delineations you have the smallest which is County << Duchy << Kingdom << Empire. So if I understand what szmik is saying, you should try to create a new Duchy or transfer existing Duchy title to new people. All those vassals under you will then be transferred to the new Duchy title holder. Look to see if there is a radio button up top that says you can do so. You need to be a Kingdom or more to do this. Could you post a screenshot of your game? I'm trying to visualize your situation...