Crusader Kings II Spirit-all

CKII is on a steam flash sale for the next seven hours. 75% off.

Kier wrote:

CKII is on a steam flash sale for the next seven hours. 75% off.

Mine showed 110% off!

IMAGE(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-NLnMs4Wou0A/UAl3pdYRnoI/AAAAAAAAEUI/6B1boPQyAF8/s720/7-20-2012%252011-05-39%2520AM.jpg)

Probably just a mistake. Still, I took advantage of the sale and picked up CKII and the DLC for $12.49, plus African Units and Songs of the Caliph for $0.49 each.

DanyBoy wrote:

So who are the more fun nations to play in Sword of Islam? I picked up the DLC the other day and I'm wondering where to start.

I had a good run with Palermo (It's been put on hold with Steam sale madness)

Muslims get a free casus belli on any 1 province territories on their borders so i could gobble up the other Sunni counts and create the Duchy of Sicily giving me a de jure claim on the province held by the Norman dogs. That's where I left off after about 15 years of play. With Palermo as the capital you have a massive starting tech lead over the Catholic nations and I could see pushing up through the boot of Italy being very doable.

DanyBoy wrote:

So who are the more fun nations to play in Sword of Islam? I picked up the DLC the other day and I'm wondering where to start.

You can now play the Malteese . . .

But really, I am so caught up in my European dynasty I have not even started on the new stuff.

For my first game, I took tboon's advice and started with the Dutchy of Flanders. Bodewijn V died not too long after I started and I'm now playing as Bodewijn VI. One of my vassals, Count Eustache of Boulogne revolted. As I was teaching him the error of his ways, he apparently brought in an ally, Count Hugues 'the Devil' of Lusignan. I managed to capture and imprison him during battle.

My question is, what can I do with him? Can I leverage him somehow with his liege, or his county, or is the best I can do the "ransom" option?

I think it might piss off his friends over time if you don't release him. So kill him, ransom him, put him under house arrest, or let him go. Those are the choices.

Since he revolted, check if you can justifiably strip him of land or a title before releasing him.

As far as the release, ransom, execute, or leave him in prison options, it really depends on what you want to accomplish.

Executing him will usually lower everyone's opinion of you, including your loyal vassals so I rarely use that option. If you want to play nice with him in the future, release is often the way to go as it will often give your relationship with him a boost. However, there is still a chance you'll have to deal with him again later. I rarely use ransom except on foreign officials captured through war. It doesn't give you the friendship boost of simply releasing him, and you just end up with a very pissed off rebel on the loose. If I don't want to make nice with someone, then I usually just leave them in jail until they die naturally. Their children sometimes hate you for it, but most other vassals usually don't care.

If you haven't found it yet, there is also an "end plot" button that you can use to diplomatically request for someone to end a plot against you that you've discovered without having to attempt an arrest and possibly deal with open revolt.

I really need to get back to this game, but I'm trying to decide who to play as next. I had planned on continuing my Duke of Moray-->King of Scotland--> Emperor of Britannia game, but when I went to load up my save it literally now has the difficulty listed as "pointless" and displaying no bar. That certainly doesn't sound like it would be much fun.

That difficulty can change pretty rapidly though I was Emperor of Francia, and the game was listed as Pointless difficulty, but when I died the massive revolts that followed the succession of my heir certainly wouldn't qualify as pointless. I cleaned up the revolts, eventually, so I don't know what rating the game would have been at that point, but it was certainly difficult enough!

I wouldn't trust the so-called difficulty meter in this game. It is more a measure of size/wealth/prestige (essentially, how easy it would be for you to be wiped) than how hard a game will be. Running an empire is going to be quite challenging at times in a way that a two province count will not experience.

Are there any ways to get quick cash (or loan)? I desperately need some mercenaries but I'm about 10 gold short.

Check out the CK + mod. It lets you take a loan out at will, instead of as an event. Also makes a few other nice changes.

Syndicate? If you are short ten gold to *hire* mercs, how will pay them at the end of the first month?

Jasonofindy wrote:

I really need to get back to this game, but I'm trying to decide who to play as next. I had planned on continuing my Duke of Moray-->King of Scotland--> Emperor of Britannia game, but when I went to load up my save it literally now has the difficulty listed as "pointless" and displaying no bar. That certainly doesn't sound like it would be much fun.

I agree with everyone else, My King of Bavaria/King of Italy Game has proven especially difficult the higher my rank is.

CKII is essentally a management game as opposed to a war game (politcs by other means anyone?) so the more you have to manage, the greater the difficulty.

Robear wrote:

Syndicate? If you are short ten gold to *hire* mercs, how will pay them at the end of the first month?

Except that it's annoying that you now have two massive armies invading your territory, the whole mercenaries-turned-conquerors when you can't pay them is kind of an awesome feature.

I know. Kind of lets you know when it's time to give up some land and slink home in disgrace.

Any suggestions for good tutorials on how to check demesnes, kingdoms, vassalage, etc? I made the mistake of choosing what the game thought was an 'easy' starting place in the Holy Roman Empire, and while the money and military management has been quite easy I am totally confused about how to get a larger picture of who is a vassal of whom and what their demesne is and who is doing what outside of my territory. I really like the roguelike aspects in other ways, but that is opaque enough that I'm not sure I'll ever really understand it without a few stepping stones along the way. I'd like a view that showed what territories were under whose control, vassalage, kingdom, etc without having to click into everybody.

Heck, even figuring out who was in MY demesne was pretty tough.

If you select the diplomacy view and select a province it will show you the state of diplomacy from that county's perspective. The green provinces are vassalized to the same person, darker green is in the same demense (blue for allies and yellow I think for "cease fires"). Not perfect but after a bit you come to realize that knowing everybody's entire feudal structure will not help you at all. Generally you want to know about one province or duchy at a time and navigating that tree is not that hard.

Thanks!

If that view helps me see my OWN demesne and vassals I will consider it a victory. I definitely get how my expansion will not be focused against another empire at any given time, but I'll find that out as I go along.

ETA I think my problem was picking in the HRE, where EVERYONE around me was a vassal, so there's not a hell of a lot to do other than raise nearby levies when someone is attacked and try to quell rebellions while building up my kingdom.

Like other people have been saying, it may be 'easier' to grow a huge kingdom from that starting position but the skills needed to do so are far more complex than those used for governing a smaller kingdom / dynasty.

Jolly Bill wrote:

Any suggestions for good tutorials on how to check demesnes, kingdoms, vassalage, etc? I made the mistake of choosing what the game thought was an 'easy' starting place in the Holy Roman Empire, and while the money and military management has been quite easy I am totally confused about how to get a larger picture of who is a vassal of whom and what their demesne is and who is doing what outside of my territory. I really like the roguelike aspects in other ways, but that is opaque enough that I'm not sure I'll ever really understand it without a few stepping stones along the way. I'd like a view that showed what territories were under whose control, vassalage, kingdom, etc without having to click into everybody.

Heck, even figuring out who was in MY demesne was pretty tough.

Yeah, the difficulty slider is biased to consider places with lots of options and resources to draw on as 'easy', but if you're so new you don't even know that half your options exist they can be a lot more challenging to figure out.

The map modes are important for giving you the overall picture; in most cases you only care about your vassals; someone else's vassal is their problem. If you want to see your own vassals, bring up your character in the upper left and you'll see the 'Vassals' tab. I believe that clicking on individual vassals can move the map to where they are (might have to right click->'go to character'). You can also sort the list so you can see who is mad at you or who has the best stats.

Oh, and if you have a province selected there is a list of wars that that county is involved in, in the line under the picture of the ruler. Checking that can be invaluable when your liege keeps declaring wars on people but you have no idea where they are or which ones are still ongoing.

Robear wrote:

Syndicate? If you are short ten gold to *hire* mercs, how will pay them at the end of the first month?

That 75 gold is per month? Sheesh.

I guess I'm just kinda boned for a while then.

syndicatedragon wrote:

That 75 gold is per month? Sheesh.

I guess I'm just kinda boned for a while then.

Oh, no! There is a separate maintenance cost. It is much lower, but it is something to be wary of because they will rebel against you.

ZaneRockfist wrote:
syndicatedragon wrote:

That 75 gold is per month? Sheesh.

I guess I'm just kinda boned for a while then.

Oh, no! There is a separate maintenance cost. It is much lower, but it is something to be wary of because they will rebel against you.

Ah, OK. I guess I'll check it. Although, the whole thing is kind of moot since I don't have a way to get more cash. I didn't like that county anyway.

edit - is there any way for me to figure out WHY this war started? I seem to recall that someone created a false claim but I can't find the information anywhere now. Is there any way to end this war without giving up? I'm not even sure who to treat with...

syndicatedragon wrote:

edit - is there any way for me to figure out WHY this war started? I seem to recall that someone created a false claim but I can't find the information anywhere now. Is there any way to end this war without giving up? I'm not even sure who to treat with...

At the bottom of your screen, there should be a portrait of someone or something that will represent the ongoing war effort. You can check up on it. And from there, you can initiate diplomatic efforts; however, if you are losing badly, they might not consent to a peace without tribute or ceding the claim.

syndicatedragon wrote:
ZaneRockfist wrote:
syndicatedragon wrote:

That 75 gold is per month? Sheesh.

I guess I'm just kinda boned for a while then.

Oh, no! There is a separate maintenance cost. It is much lower, but it is something to be wary of because they will rebel against you.

Ah, OK. I guess I'll check it. Although, the whole thing is kind of moot since I don't have a way to get more cash. I didn't like that county anyway.

edit - is there any way for me to figure out WHY this war started? I seem to recall that someone created a false claim but I can't find the information anywhere now. Is there any way to end this war without giving up? I'm not even sure who to treat with...

If it's a war you're directly involved in, it will be listed on the bottom of the screen, just to the left of the map controls on the right. Click on the shields to pop up a window telling you about the current state of the war. Depending on how it's going, you can negotiate with the other character and possibly end it with something other than complete surrender. "White Peace" is probably what you want to go for, but what they'll accept depends on who started it and how the war is going overall. The tooltips are your friends.

If they won't accept your surrender, the easiest way to build up a higher war score is to be the one holding the territories that are in dispute. (Well, even easier is wiping out all of their armies repeatedly, but that's not always an option and doesn't always get you all of the way anyway...)

So, it appears I'm involved in Duke Robert the Old's war for France. I remember a couple years ago being asked to join his plot to claim France. At the time, I didn't feel like fighting the king would be in the best interest of survival. So the war kicked off without me and Duke Robert and Friends have been kicking butt ever since. I think the crown was significantly weakened by England's (William I's) invasion. Anyway, it was fun to watch but I was really just trying to keep my head down. I think a fabricated claim (on my duchy?) gave Robert (or someone) a CB against me, and now I'm deep in it with 1500 enemy troops parked in Boulogne.

It appears I still have the option to join in Robert's war; will this get me peace (with him?) Of course it means betraying my liege but the French king seems all but done at this point (his duchies are all occupied).

Also, is there a way to get a "plain" map with no figures on it?

syndicatedragon wrote:

So, it appears I'm involved in Duke Robert the Old's war for France. I remember a couple years ago being asked to join his plot to claim France. At the time, I didn't feel like fighting the king would be in the best interest of survival. So the war kicked off without me and Duke Robert and Friends have been kicking butt ever since. I think the crown was significantly weakened by England's (William I's) invasion. Anyway, it was fun to watch but I was really just trying to keep my head down. I think a fabricated claim (on my duchy?) gave Robert (or someone) a CB against me, and now I'm deep in it with 1500 enemy troops parked in Boulogne.

It appears I still have the option to join in Robert's war; will this get me peace (with him?) Of course it means betraying my liege but the French king seems all but done at this point (his duchies are all occupied).

Also, is there a way to get a "plain" map with no figures on it?

I believe that some of the map modes hide the armies, if that's what you're asking. Or just zoom out a ways.

So I tried starting as the Count of Boulogne. I've spent two thirds of my reign away on Philipe's Crusades, making strategic alliances through marriage, marrying my bastard sons to Duchesses and Princesses matrilinearly ...

I think I'm about to die. My eldest son is a gluttonous, slothful waste. The second son is no better. Both despite the best guardians I could give them. No one of any consequence will accept marriage proposals from me because they don't want my favor anymore. As I've built up my levies, so have my neighbors, and it doesn't much matter because my councilor hasn't produced a fabricated claim in 15 years of trying on the same county.

Um -- what *should* I be doing? I think I have the interface down reasonably well now.

Sounds like you are doing it right

The best thing is that both of your useless sons will probably start a civil war after you die!