Crusader Kings 2

[salty mud]

Well, the latest patch seems to have broken CK2 into a state of almost unplayability. Mouse wheel doesn't work (it's no fun to press the arrows to get down a long list), children all end up with the same stats, crusades and jihads get mixed up... Thankfully a hotfix is coming soon.

 

[Zack]

And apparently the Ruler Designer DLC, which I was eager for, sucks.

But I wouldn't even know, because Steam STILL hasn't put it up.

 

[Vylinius]

Hotfix today fixed the game breaking problems from what I hear. I don't know about the DLC though.

 

[Samez]

Steam is still down for us Germans so no way to play my new game
Which nation/ruler would you recommend to start with. Played for an hour as the Duchy of Iceland. Which was good, as the amount of relatives is quite small in the beginning and aggressive neighbors are far away.
I didn't like that I have only direct control over one territory with no city in it (which limits the expansion a lot as the new city would cost 500 gold)

 

[salty mud]

I learned the basics with the Spanish kingdoms. Try there.

 

[Zack]

Ireland is the most common recommendation for beginners. Just remember mercenaries are your best friend.

 

[salty mud]

Can someone explain titular titles to me? They aren't explained all that well are they...

1.) How do I find a titular title to form?
2.) How would I go about forming it?
3.) What are the perks of having a titular title as opposed to another title?

 

[Antilogic]

Can someone explain titular titles to me? They aren't explained all that well are they...

1.) How do I find a titular title to form?
2.) How would I go about forming it?
3.) What are the perks of having a titular title as opposed to another title?

I'm assuming when you mean titular titles, you are referring to the landless (no de jure duchies) titles that give you prestige. They are usually preexisting like the King of Galicia and are inherited like any other title. I think the new patch added more landless titles, but I don't know what the conditions are for forming them.

Besides the prestige, another perk is that they are hard to steal (you can't fabricate claims on land that doesn't exist).

 

[salty mud]

So how do I know where these are? If they have no land, how would I create a title?

 

[SouthernKing]

Steam is still down for us Germans so no way to play my new game
Which nation/ruler would you recommend to start with. Played for an hour as the Duchy of Iceland. Which was good, as the amount of relatives is quite small in the beginning and aggressive neighbors are far away.
I didn't like that I have only direct control over one territory with no city in it (which limits the expansion a lot as the new city would cost 500 gold)

Play as a kingdom-level first. Spain is a good place for that (my first game was as the Kingdom of Galicia). I also recommend the Kingdom of Scotland.

 

[Antilogic]

So how do I know where these are? If they have no land, how would I create a title?

As far as I know, you don't create them, they already exist and are held by some character at game start. Unless they added some in the patch, in which case I would need to check out the game files.

 

[grandad1982]

Just started a game a Croatia.

I killed the heir (a little girl!) of my Duke and was next in line to inherit. I thought about waitng but decided to stab him to speed things along. Worked a treat!

One of my counts then started a plot and I legitimately improsoned him and stripped him of his title.

So far so good. I opted for Elective succession (from Gavelkind) and set my son up to inherit. Sadly he came very late and his education had barely begun when my first king died so I had no stewardship. I had to offload 3 counties (I'm 1 over my Demesne limit but I can handle it) and a Duchy to avoid serious problems. At least my decent Chancellor, Marshal and Chaplin like me.

My main problem is being sandwiched between the HRE and Byzantium (Hungry is imploding and I already snatched a county from a rebel Duke). Any advice on how to play this? Should I become a vassal to one of them (HRE)?

 

[mayor]

I have a Brittany game going (not active atm) in which I, accidentally, became part of the HRE. I then started to gobble up the whole HRE without having to declare war on the whole Empire.

That can be a pro to being part of the HRE, but if the crown law is to high this tactic wont work..
In my experience the crown law of the Byzantines is very high so I wouldn't recommend that, obviously I don't know how this developed in you game.

However, I would stay independent for now, since you're saying that Hungary is imploding. Try and snatch as many counties as you can.

An other strategy is that you try and inherit parts of the empires, but you have to be careful since it can mean that you end up being part of that empire. (that is how I ended up in the HRE.)

 

[Luckymoose]

So I had to kill forty of my dynasty members through execution and a generation later I had to execute the king, queen and their children in order to secure the throne for a not insane branch of the family. Life is good in Ireland and Wales.

 

[grandad1982]

Hmmm. I'm only 20 years or so into my game ATM. Byzantium are trying to pass absolute crown authority (as part of their De Jur kingdom I've been asked to vote but ignored it) not sure what the HREs crown authority is, I'll have to check it out.

As you say pushing in to the mess that is Hungry seems sensible right now.

I'd really like to get some of the counties around (and including) Venice at some point. I want to control my part of the Adriatic Sea.

In my previous games I've generally ignored Crusades (silly considering the name of the game) but with the last patch I might get involved. Using the Pope to excommunicate my rivals might work a treat.

Now to just try and get my self educated into a good monarch and not a total!

EDIT: So if I inherit my way into the HRE but my primary title isn't part of the empire am I still constrained by their laws?

 

[NedimNapoleon]

The Ruler Design DLC isn't that bad, but I make my guy Bogomilst and the Hungarians immediately invade (playing as Bosnia), is there any way to stop this!

 

[Antilogic]

So I had to kill forty of my dynasty members through execution and a generation later I had to execute the king, queen and their children in order to secure the throne for a not insane branch of the family. Life is good in Ireland and Wales.

That usually happens to dynasties I marry into.

Hmmm. I'm only 20 years or so into my game ATM. Byzantium are trying to pass absolute crown authority (as part of their De Jur kingdom I've been asked to vote but ignored it) not sure what the HREs crown authority is, I'll have to check it out.

...

EDIT: So if I inherit my way into the HRE but my primary title isn't part of the empire am I still constrained by their laws?

The East Romans start off more centralized than the Catholic kingdoms, and usually they get to absolute authority.

If your liege is the Holy Roman Emperor, then your territories will be grey. If you inherit a title but don't swear allegiance to the Emperor, then the territories will be added to your kingdom/holdings and be subject to your crown laws. I don't think you are constrained by the Emperor's laws, since those involve vassal relations and raising their levies (which you don't provide to him).

Note: if the emperor or any other independent realm raises their crown authority high enough, titles will pass to the liege instead of you.

The Ruler Design DLC isn't that bad, but I make my guy Bogomilst and the Hungarians immediately invade (playing as Bosnia), is there any way to stop this!

They get a free holy war CB against you (at least they did in .04--the cause of a ragequit on my part), so being a heretic is pretty much a guarantee you will be attacked by one of the major realms looking for easy land. I want to try to play a game as the Cathar king of France or emperor of the HRE--that could be interesting.

 

[SamSniped]

I've heard that this game is good, and from all your posts I want to buy it, but I'm not going to pay a lot of money to find that a game doesn't work for me. I'll stick with EU3 for now

 

[salty mud]

Get the demo. What better way to judge for yourself.

Here it is: http://www.fileplanet.com/224596/220000/fileinfo/Crusader-Kings-II-Demo

 

[NedimNapoleon]

The 1.5 patch makes it so hard to play with minors, I just one a war of Independence against Byzantium and I won, but now Hungary is a major threat to me!