Crusader Kings II Spirit-all

That DLC is just fantastically cool. The size of your family really determines your long-term success, and being able to change stats will let you shape the start of the game. This is a *really* good sign.

I cannot believe how this game holds me on the edge of my seat for hours. Loving it!

Robear wrote:

That DLC is just fantastically cool. The size of your family really determines your long-term success, and being able to change stats will let you shape the start of the game. This is a *really* good sign.

I cannot believe how this game holds me on the edge of my seat for hours. Loving it!

I lost all of last weekend to a crazy ride where I began as the Duke of Apulia, hit a very brief apex in my career as the King of Sicily and King of Croatia, and had an incredible amount of fun watching the quick and disasterous crash that occurred from there.

I need to stop reading this thread if I have any hope of salvaging this weekend.

absurddoctor wrote:
Robear wrote:

That DLC is just fantastically cool. The size of your family really determines your long-term success, and being able to change stats will let you shape the start of the game. This is a *really* good sign.

I cannot believe how this game holds me on the edge of my seat for hours. Loving it!

I lost all of last weekend to a crazy ride where I began as the Duke of Apulia, hit a very brief apex in my career as the King of Sicily and King of Croatia, and had an incredible amount of fun watching the quick and disasterous crash that occurred from there.

I need to stop reading this thread if I have any hope of salvaging this weekend.

Trying to become King of Sicily as Duke of Apulia was really fun. Getting rid of Gavelkind early was key.

I'm playing as the Duke of Apulia as well - managed to get myself made King of Sicily, and took over the island while the Byzantine Empire was taking Calabria. I've managed to get my Dynasty pretty well set so far - marriages to excellent wives have resulted in two really very competent Kings in a row. Except now the Byzantine Duke who rules Calabria has just declared war on me... Not sure I can hold him off. The rest of Italy is in turmoil, largely split off from the HRE and ripe for some expansion if I can just manage to make it through the next ten years or so...

Holy crap, the DLC and update look awesome! Can't wait for them!

Also, I should have another Flanders entry this weekend. Bartolomeus I is having a long, interesting life (and I am having an interesting couple of weeks )

Robear wrote:

That DLC is just fantastically cool. The size of your family really determines your long-term success, and being able to change stats will let you shape the start of the game. This is a *really* good sign.

I'm totally sold on this DLC pack.

So here is a question. My ruler has a son of his own dynasty. This son is the heir. He's got several duchies, a county or two, and a foreign county that he holds (via his wife, who is foreign, I think). He's a Prince of the realm. And yet, I'm warned that the title of King might leave if he inherits.

Inheritance rules are Agnatic Elective, and as I said, he's the heir with the most votes. So what gives? Why might that title leave?

Are all the candidates for the title in your dynasty? Elective has some positives but it is dicey with regard to holding on to your titles. Just because he's your heir doesn't mean he will win the election.

Well, the message says that the title is in danger if he is the inheritor. Can't figure that out. I'll check the dynasty thing.

Should I go back to Gavelkind? Seems like that could be go for establishing a, how to put it, more widely spread dynasty. But everyone complains about it...?

Hmm, I don't know the answer to that. It doesn't seem consistent with how elective is supposed to work.

I misread it. It reports that the title of *Prince* will go away. When he becomes King. And is no longer Prince. Of course.

On another front, I noticed the new Pope was female, and liked me. I invited her to my Court, and she accepted! I then married her. Now she's Queen Consort of England...

Robear wrote:

I misread it. It reports that the title of *Prince* will go away. When he becomes King. And is no longer Prince. Of course. :-)

Robear wrote:

On another front, I noticed the new Pope was female, and liked me. I invited her to my Court, and she accepted! I then married her. Now she's Queen Consort of England...

Say...wha?

Yeah. I'm thinking after the patch, she's done for.

Checked the forums, known bug. Female bastard from an Italian province as Pope. Thing is, her stats are pretty good...

That seems more like an awesome feature than a bug to me.

Robear wrote:

Checked the forums, known bug. Female bastard from an Italian province as Pope. Thing is, her stats are pretty good...

Wasn't there a great female pope of a similar background?
Edit: Possibly fictitious. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan

I just picked this up the other day and I feel my want to do anything besides play it lacking. Literally, hours disappear in the face of expanding my dynasty. I started is a little count and through war and marriage just claimed the title of King of Ireland. Next stop... Scotland.

This game is fantastic albeit complex as hell (which is par for the course with Paradox). The claim system is taking me a while to grasp. For instance, I randomly acquired two provinces in York through a daughter I had married off and was pleasantly surprised. He then decided to rise up against me and I had to hire mercs and crush him.

This game is on sale at Amazon (activates on Steam) for the next few days for $17.99. If you happen to have some game credits sitting in your Amazon account (as I did), you can drop that down to $7.99. Not too bad.

CK1 was my favorite Paradox game prior to the later editions of EU3, so I'm really looking forward to digging into this one. Are there any must have mods or anything out there at this point?

billt721 wrote:

This game is on sale at Amazon (activates on Steam) for the next few days for $17.99.

Thank you so much for posting this!
I have been lurking and reading this thread, waiting and hoping for something like a $20.00 sale.

Are there any must have mods or anything out there at this point?

There's a Mongol face DLC, and a big patch and $5 DLC to design your own ruler coming mid-April. As far as I'm concerned, the game is 100% good to go at this point. You're gonna like it. A lot. Better than EU3 (well, at least on par) and better than CK1.

billt721 wrote:

CK1 was my favorite Paradox game prior to the later editions of EU3, so I'm really looking forward to digging into this one. Are there any must have mods or anything out there at this point?

CK2Plus is an excellent mod that adds a lot to the game. I heavily recommend it for all players of the game.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?587854-CK2Plus-Balance-improvements-more-kingdoms-and-empires-more-ambitions-and-plots

mortalgroove wrote:
billt721 wrote:

This game is on sale at Amazon (activates on Steam) for the next few days for $17.99.

Thank you so much for posting this!
I have been lurking and reading this thread, waiting and hoping for something like a $20.00 sale.

This deal is US only, unfortunately

edit: nevermind.

ZaneRockfist wrote:
billt721 wrote:

CK1 was my favorite Paradox game prior to the later editions of EU3, so I'm really looking forward to digging into this one. Are there any must have mods or anything out there at this point?

CK2Plus is an excellent mod that adds a lot to the game. I heavily recommend it for all players of the game.

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?587854-CK2Plus-Balance-improvements-more-kingdoms-and-empires-more-ambitions-and-plots

Second that, CK2Plus is really good. Also, highly recommend Death Causes.

IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/bartolomeus-i-flanders.jpg)

[strong][size=20]Bartolomeus (Bartholomew) I Duke of Flanders[/size][/strong]


[strong]Bartolomeus I Duke of Flanders[/strong] (23 November 1080 - 13 February 1147) was Duke of Flanders from 1097 to his death in 1147. He served as Chancellor of France from 1101 until Flanders declared independence from France in 1110.

He was the third son of Baldwin VI, first by his second wife Anne de Cambrai.

[strong][size=16]Biography[/size][/strong]


[strong][size=14]Early Life and Reign[/size][/strong]
As the third son of Duke Baldwin VI, Bartolomeus was thought to be only nominally involved with the succession of the Duchy of Flanders. As such, his early training focused on diplomacy rather than the martial arts. Had his half-brothers survived his father, his claim on the title would have been far too weak to press. However, when his half-brother Arnulf died of what is thought to be typhus in 1090, Bartolomeus' education became more martial in tone. When his other half-brother Baldwin led a failed uprising against their father and subsequently died in prison, suddenly Bartolomeus was the heir to the dukedom. He was granted title to the County of Amiens (traditional holding of the heir-apparent of the Flemish dukes) and his education in how to rule was accelerated. Seeking to strengthen the position of Flanders with the dukes of Central France, Baldwin VI betrothed Bartolomeus with Duchess Ide of Orleans, whom Bartolomeus married in late 1096. When Baldwin VI died in 1097, Bartolomeus was crowned Duke of Flanders.

Bartolomeus began his reign in Flanders with many of his vassals dissatisfied by both misrule under Baldwin VI as well as Bartolomeus' youth. His first five years of rule were spent fighting off the many rebellions that occurred. The most serious threat to his early reign came from Countess Richilde of Hainut, who led a rebellion in 1099 that ended with Richilde, like her father before her, imprisoned.

During this period, Bartolomeus attempted to continue his father's work in solidifying the Flemish position in the kingdom. He was named Chancellor of France in 1101. However the disintegration of French central authority and the degeneration of the later Capetian kings made this office powerless.

[strong][size=14]Ducal Conflict Against Louis VI[/size][/strong]
During the late 11th Century, the Capetian kings of France had become weakened; their control over the various French duchies became more and more tenuous. In 1101, the Norman Duke Serlo I declared independence from France and became a de facto independent realm. The French dukes in general saw that the Captians were unable to hold the realm together and began to plot their own independence. The accession of Louis VI ("The Cruel") to the throne in 1103 provided the spark that ignited the French Ducal wars of the early 1100s. Duke Hugues I of Burgundy declared war to depose Louis VI in 1108, leading to a long protracted war between Burgundy and France. The dukes of Aquitaine, Toulouse, Berry, Champagne, and Poitiers, seeing the king weakened and engaged, declared independence from France during 1109. Flanders and Orleans each declared independence in 1110.

Bartolomeus, by declaring late, insured that Louis VI would be unable to challenge his claim to independence. After the battle Montfort-l'Amaury and subsequent successful siege, Louis VI was forced to acknowledge that the Duchies of Flanders and Orleans no longer owed vassalage to him. Peace was signed on 20 September 1111.

Louis VI was deposed and beheaded in 1115 and Hugues I of Burgundy was crowned King Hugues III of France. Hugues III recognized the de facto independence of the French duchies.

[strong][size=14]Flemish Expansion[/size][/strong]
Taking advantage of a diminished and weak French kingdom, Bartolomeus embarked on a program of expanding his holdings. He added the County of Reims to his family's holdings in 1115 after a short war with the Duke of Champagne. The County of Paris was added to his demesne in 1118 after the short Flemish-French Ducal War with King Manassès I of France. Chartres was added to the Flemish holdings in 1126. The Barony of Meaux was taken from Champagne in 1136. In 1118, Bartolomeus took the title Duke of Valois as the recognized de jure duke of that holding.
Between these various wars, Bartolomeus invested heavily in his demesne's infrastructure; the great Cathedral of Damme was begun during this time. The Duchy experienced a time of great prosperity as a result. This prosperity made Flanders a target for claimants. Bartolomeus fought defensive wars against the Countess Elijnore of Vermandois (Bartolomeus' niece) in 1133 and Duke Augustin I of Lower Lorraine (claim on the County of Hainut) in 1144.

After reigning as Duke of Flanders for 50 years, Bartolomeus I died on 13 February 1147.

IMAGE(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ee/Tombeau_de_Jean_sans_Peur%2C_duc_de_Bourgogne%2C_Dijon.jpg)
[size=9]Tomb of Bartolomeus I in Cathedral of Damme[/size]

[strong][size=16]Family[/size][/strong]


Bartolomeus I was of the House of Flanders (van Vlannderen). In 1096 he married Ide, Duchess of Orleans, bringing together the houses of van Vlannderen and du Blois.

[strong]Father:[/strong] Duke Baldwin VI of Flanders
[strong]Mother:[/strong] Anne de Cambrai
Bartolomeus and Ide had five children

  • Barthèlèmi, Count of Amiens
  • Wenna, Queen of England - married to King Swenfred I
  • Anna, Duchess of Silesia - married to Duke Jerzy I
  • Antoon, Duke of Orleans, inherited from Ide
  • Anne, Duchess of Normandy - married to Duke Serlo II

[strong][size=16]Titles[/size][/strong]


  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/d_flanders.png) 24 September 1097 - 13 February 1147: Duke of Flanders
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/d_orleans.png) 24 September 1097 - 13 February 1147: Duke of Orleans (via marriage with Ide of Orleans)
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/d_valois.png) 16 February 1118 - 13 February 1147: Duke of Valois
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/c_brugge.png) 24 September 1097 - 13 February 1147: Count of Brugge
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/c_gent.png) 24 September 1097 - 13 February 1147: Count of Gent
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/c_ile_de_france.png) 8 August 1118 - 13 February 1147: Count of Paris
  • IMAGE(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/281072/ck2%20aar/images/c_yperen.png) 24 September 1097 - 13 February 1147: Count of Yperen

[size=8](Image of Bartolomeus I adapted from Wikipedia. Tomb of Bartolomeus is from Wikipedia)[/size]

Well, I fell of the fence and lost 40 euro. But I got this Crusader Kings II game plus DLC instead!

tboon wrote:

Second that, CK2Plus is really good. Also, highly recommend Death Causes.

Actually, CK2Plus integrates the Death Causes mod now, so no need to download it separately. \

Also, your summaries are fantastic, Mr. tboon! I hope you have been posting them on the Plaza as well.

dejanzie wrote:

Well, I fell of the fence and lost 40 euro. But I got this Crusader Kings II game plus DLC instead! :-)

It is an amazing game. Definitely the best grand strategy game I have ever played. I'll be buying all of the DLC and expansions to support them. And that is something I very rarely do as I think DLC is generally BS, but Crusader Kings II is an example of a game done right and supported well.

ZaneRockfist wrote:
tboon wrote:

Second that, CK2Plus is really good. Also, highly recommend Death Causes.

Actually, CK2Plus integrates the Death Causes mod now, so no need to download it separately. \r

Really? Good to know, I must have missed that. I haven't updated CK2Plus since just after the patch cam out.

ZaneRockfist wrote:

Also, your summaries are fantastic, Mr. tboon! I hope you have been posting them on the Plaza as well.

Thanks for your kind words, I really appreciate them! I have not been posting them on CK2 forums but I have been saving them as separate files and may post them when I get through this game. I made a template to try and work around some of GWJ's...um...interesting formatting restrictions to make it easy for me to get these done (otherwise they end up like all my other AAR attempts on GWJ: tailing off into nothing ) and trying to maintain two templates that the same time is not something I'm that psyched to do right now.

dejanzie wrote:
mortalgroove wrote:
billt721 wrote:

This game is on sale at Amazon (activates on Steam) for the next few days for $17.99.

Thank you so much for posting this!
I have been lurking and reading this thread, waiting and hoping for something like a $20.00 sale.

This deal is US only, unfortunately

edit: nevermind.

You could get a friendly Goodjer to grab it for you and give you the Steam key for that sub $20 price.

So I caved an snagged the game through the Amazon sale. Apologies for being a filthy skimmer, but given that this sort of game can have kind of a steep learning curve and I don't have any experience with Paradox games (closest I've come has been the Civ series, which I've been playing since II), does anyone have any "I wish I'd known that when I started playing" style protips for me?

Went through the tutorials this afternoon, probably start up my first real game this evening.