Crusader Kings 2

[cybrxkhan]

In my new game right now, as a Byzantine Doux, I watched Alexios I gloriously take the Byzantine throne, only for some Doukas daughter to send a faction ultimatum for him to give it back to the Doukas. For some reason - I am certain he was probably just insane - he submitted and we had another Theodora sitting on the throne. Of course, nobody liked her anyways, so I started a faction war to re-install Alexios on the throne, and pretty much every vassal of the Byzantine Empire except for the Empress' husband joined in on the curbstomp battle and restored Alexios to his rightful place as Byzantine Emperor (hopefully, this time, he won't just give away his throne willy-nilly).

Now that was some fun playing around with factions.

 

[LightSpectra]

Bought CK2 + Legacy of Rome. Any recommendations for a first campaign to play through? The only other Paradox game I've ever played was HoI3 and I wasn't very good at it.

 

[mechaerik]

I definitely suggest an Irish count or duke. My first playthrough was with Ulster, because their dynasty, the Sithrigi, has a cool name.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Ireland's the best starting place, definitely - plenty of counts and dukes duking it out (no pun intended), and since things there are kind of isolated it's a good place to learn the basics of the game. It's considered the "tutorial" region by much of the CKII community over on the PI forums, although it's still fun even for someone experienced due to the fact it's sort of in its own corner so you can take things at a pace you prefer.

After your Ireland game, if you're not against late starts, I would also suggest starting between 1307 to 1337 in either the Balkans or Italy, to give you an idea of how a game that progressed that far might work. In Italy, you have a situation similar to Ireland at the start of the game - plenty of independent counts and dukes, and an obvious ambition - forming the Kingdom of Italy (instead of the Kingdom of Ireland) by the time the Renaissance rolls around. The Balkans are also a hodgepodge of Muslim and Christian duchies, kingdoms, and a declining Byzanitne Empire - perhaps opportunities for interesting and varied gameplay, and also a good place to learn how religious relations and tensions work.

And then after that, you probably know enough to play anything you feel like - or perhaps tackle a mod or two.

 

[MoreEpicThanYou]

I started as the King of Scotland, but then again I've never trusted SouthernKing's gaming advice since.

 

[Optical]

The count of Dublin in Ireland is the best starting game, hands down. Your father is the count of Leinster to the south, so you can create two (2-county) duchies less than 20 years into the game most of the time. After that it's relatively simple to unite Ireland. Few threats, lots of conquest.

 

[salty mud]

I always struggle to find interesting areas to play. Ireland is too simplistic since I know how to play the game, and everywhere else seems unbalanced to the point of not being fun. Playing a Spanish kingdom is nigh impossible because of endless Muslim doomstacks, playing in Italy is very hard because you need to remove the HRE to form Italy, Byzantine Empire is overpowered, Pagans are overpowered...

 

[uat2d]

Playing a Spanish kingdom is nigh impossible because of endless Muslim doomstacks

You're doing it wrong then, the muslims there are constantly fighting each other, you can easily ally the rest of the catholics and the land is good so you can hire mercs quite easily.

 

[mayor]

Indeed, last time I played as a Spanish kingdom I had almost constantly 1 or 2 crusader armies under my banners.

 

[salty mud]

Maybe I've been unlucky. I very rarely see Muslim infighting.

 

[mayor]

you could try to direct their attention to an annoying catholic neighbour. Then strike before they are able to make serious gains against him/her

 

[SouthernKing]

If your e looking for something on the duchy/county level, then somewhere in Ireland for sure.
For a kingdom, then Scotland by far. Ireland is right next to you as an easy avenue for expansion. England also trends to be an utter mess until 1130 or so.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I always struggle to find interesting areas to play. Ireland is too simplistic since I know how to play the game, and everywhere else seems unbalanced to the point of not being fun. Playing a Spanish kingdom is nigh impossible because of endless Muslim doomstacks, playing in Italy is very hard because you need to remove the HRE to form Italy, Byzantine Empire is overpowered, Pagans are overpowered...

Try a later start date. Most people don't want to because they're afraid they won't "experience the full game", whatever that means, but is it really that bad to even move up by even a couple of decades? Particularly since most people sort of lose interest in their games within a century to a century and a half.

I've heard that even starting in ~1077 (or 1081, or ~1100) is a much more interesting and balanced start than the 1066 start. Basically, the Byzantines, Fatimids, and Seljuks - three of the bigger blobbers - are weakened, or at least weaker than in 1066; parts of Spain are already united, meaning they're stronger and able to resist the Islamic incursions - especially the silly Fatimid invasions (which don't happen as often because, as said, the Fatimids are weakened); and so on.

Other start dates also have interesting scenarios and challenges that you won't find in the rather imbalanced 1066 start date. As I mentioned earlier (I think), the 1307-1337 start dates are perfect for the Balkans/Anatolia and Italy. The former because you have plenty of Muslim, Orthodox, and Catholic states duking it out in the region, including a declining Byzantine Empire and a rising Ottoman DYnasty. The latter because you are finally free of the HRE's yoke and it's basically an Ireland-type free-for-all, except on continental Europe and pretty much all the late-game technology.

 

[madviking]

If you start as Galicia, Leon, or Castille, you need to kill your brothers. My Mega-Leon game started by assassinating them. Aragon and Navarra are much harder. Barcelona is almost impossible.

 

[Optical]

Barcelona is as much fun as you'll have in Spain. It's easy to forget you have de jure claims on two Muslim provinces at the start, and then the Amirids are just offshore. Ally with a Jimena, usurp some duchies and before too long, you can usurp the Aragon royal title. From there it's a cakewalk.

Disclaimer: When I did this, once I started to definitively beat the Muslims the HRE decided to take the rest of Spain.

 

[Ozbenno]

Just picked this up in the latest Steam sale. Have always avoided the Paradox games because they seem a bit overwhelming!

Going to go through the tutorial and then play as Ireland (from above suggestion) for my first real game. Let's see how it goes!!

Should I enable all the DLC (got CK2 complete) when I play or leave some out? Does it matter at all??

 

[Andvare]

I dunno what CK2 complete contains, but the only DLC that I know of, that hurts the gameplay, is the atrocious Aztec one.

 

[NBAfan]

I'd enable all of them except the Sunset invasion if you have that.

 

[Optical]

If you bought the Complete bundle, AFAIK it's just cosmetic and music DLCs, so enable them all. Sword of Islam and Legacy of Rome are well worth getting later if you like the game.

 

[Luckymoose]

Does anyone have experience with CTDs in multiplayer games, especially later into saves? I'm wondering if it is just that the game becomes unstable over time.