GWJ Strategy Gaming Group: Now Playing Midnight Suns

And our latest game is.... Crusader Kings 3!

Here's the new thread

Thanks jdzappa. I definitely want to play CK3 at some point but not right now, so I'll be skipping this one. I might have given it a go if I hadn't put my game pass subscription on pause, so that I can concentrate on playing some of my Steam backlog

I'll take the time until the next round to play more of the previous games from the group. Perhaps one or all of the following: Battletech, Frostpunk, Mechanicus.

No PC play for me so I'll carry on with some Mechanicus I reckon.

Jarl Halfdan, Hvitserk named
Jorvik fated, Aella faced
King defeated, by blood united
Bjorn uplifted, children blooded
New lands conquered, Saxons sad
Angles angry, under yoke
as ever was.

Now to new build, understandings
Asatru bends, to meet halfway
Strange local customs, warrior ways
Both benefit, hale Halfdan's holdings
Clever melding, Odin guides
fiefs maintain, as will be seen
in years to come.

Bubblefuzz wrote:

No PC play for me so I'll carry on with some Mechanicus I reckon.

I think it’s now available on consoles if that helps.

Tonight I have to decide if I’m going to try the HRE or a Viking run.

There is a *ton* of new content and systems since I last played a real game of this. Very pleased to see it. But I really have a ton of tasks now that I've completed my first war (and raised my first runestone!).

jdzappa wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:

No PC play for me so I'll carry on with some Mechanicus I reckon.

I think it’s now available on consoles if that helps.

Tonight I have to decide if I’m going to try the HRE or a Viking run.

You got me all excited then... but unfortunately not on consoles we own. It is on PS5 and Xbox X/S.

Bubblefuzz wrote:
jdzappa wrote:
Bubblefuzz wrote:

No PC play for me so I'll carry on with some Mechanicus I reckon.

I think it’s now available on consoles if that helps.

Tonight I have to decide if I’m going to try the HRE or a Viking run.

You got me all excited then... but unfortunately not on consoles we own. It is on PS5 and Xbox X/S.

Oh that sucks. I think the game has decent scaling options for older PCs but don’t want to steer anyone wrong.

Also, I never played with the character creator before this weekend but had a blast recreating my favorite Ted Lasso characters for a British vs Vikings run. Think I’m going to run my high martial/low diplomacy Roy Kent as one of Alfred the Great’s dukes and post my progress. I have no doubt that going against the great heathen army is going to hurt. A lot.

Whelp Roy Kent didn’t make it that long. Constant Viking invasions plus a Varangian adventurer weakened me, I got wounded and my physician couldn’t heal me, and then my son Ted was overthrown before he reached adulthood by peasants. Pro tip: if you are a count, don’t let the peasants get out of control cause they will murder you.

So now need to figure out if I try again in 1066 or do a non-Western Europe start. I’m open to suggestions. Are there any fun Muslim starts that you guys would recommend? How about Byzantines or Russia?

Maybe jump into Spain?

Robear wrote:

Maybe jump into Spain?

Have you played that from both sides? The Jimenas seem an obvious start but I haven’t played much as a Muslim ruler so would be interested in that.

Well, they all start out kind of in conflict with each other; that qualifies as interesting, right?

I am flabbergasted at the number of options available to the sons of Ragnar Lothbrok in the 867 start. So much going on. It's taking me real time to sort out what I want to do to whom next, and get all my vassals in a row, as well as deal with the primitive Anglo-Saxons and their weird religion. Maybe if I can unite the North of England I can create a secure second homeland free of all the Scandinavian infighting.

(As if.)

But it is a very fun start after the first war gets settled.

I continued my run in the post-tutorial game as the Petty King in Ireland. Looking at the field, I had already married off my son so I couldn't try to marry him into one of the other counties (and I'm not yet at the murdering in-laws point of the game yet), so I proceeded to take advantage of my leader's martial stats to do my march through the other counties via the process of fabricating claims and stomping all over the little guys. My next target is the three county section in the northwest of Ireland (starts with a C), which will give me well over half of the island. My only concern is that someone seems to be at war with Dublin over in the east, and has been for what feels like years. It might be Nordic peoples, which would be bad for me, but they don't seem to be able to take it for some reason. I'm not really sure what's going on there, but I'll need that piece of land eventually.

In the meantime, I'm spending money on things like feasts and pilgrimages, just to have something to do. I should probably start building more buildings as well, while I'm thinking about it. And there's been little to no court drama, outside of stripping my son of a spot in the court for a foreigner with much, much better stats. Some bribes and sways are taking care of that. Also, another dude on my council currently holds two counties. Not sure what happens to those when he dies or my leader dies; he's not married, and I guess I should check to see if he has children next time I fire it up. I don't know if I have to start stripping titles or what.

Also, my Chaplin is definitely the weak link on my council. I can't fire him, but the murder success rate is high, and the "getting away with it" is even higher. Hmmm.........

Also, typing out what I did here is helping me to think about stuff I need to do next time, and puts it down in one place, which is kind of handy.

I’m not sure I would murder a chaplain given that could get you excommunicated. But then again I haven’t tried it. They seem to come and go so for the most part I just bribe/sway them.

Also, if you guys haven’t checked it out yet there’s a new flavor pack set in Iberia coming soon. I’m therefore going to hold off until the end of May before making a Spanish run.

jdzappa wrote:

I’m not sure I would murder a chaplain given that could get you excommunicated. But then again I haven’t tried it.

Only if you get caught…

Generally it’s worth the risk if they have really low learning stats, i.e sub 10.

Thread arise! It's time to nominate our next game for July-September! Please list 3 games you're interested in and then I'll compile a list of initial nominees. I'll keep the first round open till Tuesday, June 25 at midnight PST.

I'm leaning more towards something in the RTS genre after months of grand strategy:

Company of Heroes 2
Iron Harvest
Steel Division 2

Company of Heroes 2
Fell Seal: Arbiter’s Mark
Lock 'n Load Tactical Digital

Right now I'm batting 0-2, having bounced off the last two games. Interestingly, I've bounced off Old World as well - I think there's something about character intensive strategy games that don't sit well.

Anyway, I'd be up for some RTS myself. Here are a few suggestions:

Dungeons 3 - pretty decent Dungeon Keeper clone
War for the Overworld - similar to Dungeons 3
Dune:Spice Wars - on sale in Steam ATM

Stars in Shadow
Company of Heroes 2
Slipways

Moggy wrote:

Right now I'm batting 0-2, having bounced off the last two games. Interestingly, I've bounced off Old World as well - I think there's something about character intensive strategy games that don't sit well.

Anyway, I'd be up for some RTS myself. Here are a few suggestions:

Dungeons 3 - pretty decent Dungeon Keeper clone
War for the Overworld - similar to Dungeons 3
Dune:Spice Wars - on sale in Steam ATM

Good point about the sale Moggy! Going to try and get our vote done in time to take advantage of it!

Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
Wargroove
Tooth and Tail

Same picks as last time!

jdzappa wrote:
Moggy wrote:

Right now I'm batting 0-2, having bounced off the last two games. Interestingly, I've bounced off Old World as well - I think there's something about character intensive strategy games that don't sit well.

Anyway, I'd be up for some RTS myself. Here are a few suggestions:

Dungeons 3 - pretty decent Dungeon Keeper clone
War for the Overworld - similar to Dungeons 3
Dune:Spice Wars - on sale in Steam ATM

Good point about the sale Moggy! Going to try and get our vote done in time to take advantage of it!

Dune: Spice Wars is top of my wishlist and it's looking good for a new release in early access...but, doesn't it break rule #1 of the group?
1. Games must be more than a year old.

(I'll be back with my picks shortly)

My picks:

1. Phoenix Point
This is in the current Humble Choice bundle (I've just started playing and enjoying it so far).

2. Invisible Inc
This has been on my to-play list for far too long - currently 75% off on Steam & GOG

3. Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
It's not Dune but it's an RTS in the desert! Currently 90% off on Steam & GOG

My picks are:

1. Northgard - because I've been wanting to play it for a while and haven't had a push to do so

2. Gladius: Relics of War - because it's a great game but I've only played one campaign. The DLC looks mighty tempting in the steam sale right now though

3. Cliff Empires - because we've not played a colony/city builder and this looks intriguing.

Just FYI, Fell Seal is up for vote in the JRPG quarterly thread for another day or so. Think it's leading right now.

It is leading right now! Is it time for a cross-club game?!

It looks pretty interesting as a FFT-esque game...but I can't get Battle Brothers out of my head right now. Bought all 3 DLC and it's injected another round of infectiousness I haven't gotten since, uh, Daemonhunters...I have to go back and finish that off too. And then there's Wartales on 20% discount on Steam which looks pretty enticing for an early access game.

I've started Battle Brothers a few times. Get a group together, outfit them, then head out. Search a ruin, find 13 ghosts, get killed. Try again. 8 experienced outlaws. Get killed. Rinse and repeat.

What's the secret to getting started in this game without all the slaughter?

Wartales is fun but it’s not a year old, I don’t think, and it’s definitely not fully cooked yet.