Knights of Honor 2 is finally coming in 2020!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/)
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 02:37:09 AM
Knights of Honor 2 is finally coming in 2020!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/)
Was just going to post this and you beat me to it.
Loved the original, still have my boxed copy, manual and all.
The only knock on the original was the battles which were underwhelming, hopefully they are improved for 2. The campaign however was fantastic and preferred it over some of the TW titles.
:notworthy:
<:-)
That looks reasonably sweet! -- THQ Nordic seem to be the devs this time.
Quote from: JasonPratt on August 21, 2019, 07:20:59 AM
That looks reasonably sweet! -- THQ Nordic seem to be the devs this time.
It's still Black Sea Studios. THQ Nordic is the publisher.
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 07:33:37 AM
It's still Black Sea Studios. THQ Nordic is the publisher.
Still? I thought it was Sunflower who made the first game?
Anyway - this is a MUST. The first game was excellent and I played the shit out of it.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 21, 2019, 12:02:29 PM
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 07:33:37 AM
It's still Black Sea Studios. THQ Nordic is the publisher.
Still? I thought it was Sunflower who made the first game?
Nope. Black Sea Studio it was. They also developed Total War Rome II, after being purchased by Creative Assembly...that is news to me.
Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 21, 2019, 12:02:29 PM
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 07:33:37 AM
It's still Black Sea Studios. THQ Nordic is the publisher.
Still? I thought it was Sunflower who made the first game?
Sunflowers was the first publisher.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on August 21, 2019, 12:07:51 PM
They also developed Total War Rome II, after being purchased by Creative Assembly...that is news to me.
Really? :o
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 02:37:09 AM
Knights of Honor 2 is finally coming in 2020!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/)
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
Quote from: CJReich46 on August 21, 2019, 12:56:24 PM
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 02:37:09 AM
Knights of Honor 2 is finally coming in 2020!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/ (https://store.steampowered.com/app/736820/Knights_of_Honor_II__Sovereign/)
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
WOOHOO!
So since this one is actually happening, we don't need any of Gus' balls?
If we do we might need to fire up a cloning vat.
Is that a euphemism?
Hope it does not suck. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit.
Quote from: Anguille on August 21, 2019, 12:29:40 PM
Sunflowers was the first publisher.
Ah, that's how I know the name. Thanks.
Quote from: airboy on August 21, 2019, 01:35:54 PM
Hope it does not suck. I enjoyed the first one quite a bit.
Ditto. :hide:
I have had the first one for about five years, on Steam. I didn't appreciate just how good it was, until I played a couple of games. A very deep, yet accessible strategy game.
This is good news indeed. I enjoyed the few times I played the original, am definitely looking forward to the sequel!
The main thing I remember about Knights of Honor was that it had some weird DRM where I had to uninstall some CD copying software to even load the game.
Quote from: joram on September 11, 2019, 08:56:28 AM
The main thing I remember about Knights of Honor was that it had some weird DRM where I had to uninstall some CD copying software to even load the game.
It was removed a long time ago with the second patch.
6th of december 2022 8)
https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame (https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame)
WHAT WHAT WHAT
<:-) <:-) <:-)
Quote from: Gusington on November 15, 2022, 10:42:02 AM
WHAT WHAT WHAT
<:-) <:-) <:-)
Yes...finally! :notworthy:
Quote from: Anguille on November 15, 2022, 10:40:50 AM
6th of december 2022 8)
https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame (https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame)
This is great news. Thanks for sharing.
I could not ask for a better holiday gift. My gaming schedule is cleared for the next...year.
Quote from: Anguille on November 15, 2022, 10:40:50 AM
6th of december 2022 8)
https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame (https://www.facebook.com/KnightsOfHonorGame)
:wow: In time for St Nick's Day. :smitten:
This is some of the best news I could have hoped for as far as gaming this late in the year :D
No multiplayer tactical battles. I'm out.
Quote from: Destraex on November 17, 2022, 06:42:58 PM
No multiplayer tactical battles. I'm out.
no multiplayer tactical battles I'm in
I mostly play alone so i don't mind.
This might be added later though as it's a feature from the original game.
+3 for me on no MP haha
Quote from: Anguille on November 18, 2022, 07:50:06 AM
I mostly play alone so i don't mind.
This might be added later though as it's a feature from the original game.
I still remember your fantastic AAR from the original game.
Do you still have it? Maybe we could repost it here...
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on November 18, 2022, 09:17:32 AM
Quote from: Anguille on November 18, 2022, 07:50:06 AM
I mostly play alone so i don't mind.
This might be added later though as it's a feature from the original game.
I still remember your fantastic AAR from the original game.
Do you still have it? Maybe we could repost it here...
You're too kind. I have to see if i can find something. I don't think it's still available on Paradox.
Well, since my divorce I've gotten pretty used to playing with myself, so lack of MP doesn't concern me either.
:(
Quote from: SirAndrewD on November 18, 2022, 03:23:42 PM
Well, since my divorce I've gotten pretty used to playing with myself, so lack of MP doesn't concern me either.
Then again, you do have two hands. :bd:
^^LOL
I think SirAndrew means that his ex used to be his gaming partner.
...
Quote from: W8taminute on November 18, 2022, 04:30:27 PM
^^LOL
I think SirAndrew means that his ex used to be his gaming partner.
I think Steve has what Andrew meant right! :bd:
D would not just drop a pun like that...accidentally.
Quote from: Gusington on November 18, 2022, 05:49:34 PM
D would not just drop a pun like that...accidentally.
:D
^And there we have it.
And here I was trying to be all innocent and everything. LOL
Well there are Gaming Partners of all types aren't there? ::)
Is there an available faction list anywhere? I have been looking since the release date has been announced but cannot find anything. Also - will there be different starting dates/eras to choose from?
Quote from: Gusington on November 19, 2022, 12:00:28 PM
Is there an available faction list anywhere? I have been looking since the release date has been announced but cannot find anything. Also - will there be different starting dates/eras to choose from?
I haven't seen the faction list but i've read that there are more than 200 to choose from.
"So, after making a thorough research pass, we chose three starting points in which the historical maps looked most interesting to us – the beginning of the 12th century, the 20s of the 13th century and the middle of the 14th.
https://community.knightsofhonor.com/index/dev-diaries/devdiary-2-world-setting-and-size-r10/ (https://community.knightsofhonor.com/index/dev-diaries/devdiary-2-world-setting-and-size-r10/)
^Awesome, thank you Anguille. Having three different eras available to start makes this a Total War killer for sure, for me.
Quote from: Sir Slash on November 18, 2022, 10:48:20 PM
Well there are Gaming Partners of all types aren't there? ::)
Quote from: Gusington on November 19, 2022, 12:00:28 PM
Is there an available faction list anywhere?
And then I realized Gus was asking a real question on a thread-relevant topic. But I thought my mistaken topical juncture was still worth saving for the lolz.
^Hahaha of course
Quote from: JasonPratt on November 19, 2022, 05:43:10 PM
And then I realized Gus was asking a real question on a thread-relevant topic. But I thought my mistaken topical juncture was still worth saving for the lolz.
Since when do we ever get off topic?
There's an AAR available with many infos (start etc.)
^Thanks Anguille!
O0
Part 2 of the above Let's Play:
Any idea how much this will be at release?
Quote from: Vintage Dude on December 02, 2022, 10:28:14 PM
Any idea how much this will be at release?
Gusington's first born daughter.
;D
Thanks
I can do a two for one as well, on daughters. Maybe even throw in a wife if I don't like you.
Where did you see 44.99, Grim?
Quote from: Gusington on December 03, 2022, 12:53:50 PM
I can do a two for one as well, on daughters. Maybe even throw in a wife if I don't like you.
Where did you see 44.99, Grim?
Believe mentioned on steam so I guess we will see. I would have guessed anyway up to 49 myself
Yeah me too, I thought it was 49.99 but don't remember where I saw that, if I did.
Maybe regular price is but on launch a 10 percent discount....we will see in a couple of days
I CAN'T WAIT :D
In case you haven't noticed :nerd:
Quote from: Gusington on December 03, 2022, 01:52:14 PM
I CAN'T WAIT :D
In case you haven't noticed :nerd:
Maybe even cheaper the first week...saw this....
Knights of Honor II: Sovereign is launching on PC on December 6th, 2022 at an SRP of € 44.99 / $ 44.99 / £ 37.99 - and if you are quick, you'll profit from a 12% launch discount in the first week!
Saw this as well...
First German Review of the Game
For those Interested, Gamestar (biggest German gaming site/magazine) just posted a Review: 78/100. I cant see the full article since im not subscribed but from what they show on the free page:
You'll like the game if:
- you prefer economy gameplay over warfare gameplay
- you dont want to spend 20 hours to learn a game before being able to play it
- you want a relaxing strategy game
You wont like the game if:
- you want spectacular real time battles as in Total War
- you want Roleplaying as in Crusader Kings 3
- you want a big challenge.
Nice. I can manage the first bullet in the first list, and of course the 2nd and 3rd bullets in the first list make me giddy. As far as the second set of points...I'll have to play it myself to gauge those three things. I'm willing to gamble ~40.00 that I will enjoy it.
78 out of 100 is not bad but I would be more excited with 80 of 100 or higher.
It's pretty much what i am expecting. Can't wait. :D
High speed MP trailer for those who are into that sorta thing:
Another one, although a year old it reveals quite a lot about the game.
That German review has some valid points but I know what I like thus making their argument...invalid.
^Nice, thanks W8. I've become a fan of The Terminator but I think I somehow missed the above when it was new.
^Yw!
Yeah Terminator is good because he does excellent Total War videos and he seems to know his stuff. I have respect for his thoughts and opinions on these types of games. He also seems to be inline with our gaming tastes.
Yeah Terminator clued me in to a ton of TW mods. Sounds like this new Knights of Honor game will be just as mod friendly.
Rob at Explorminate has an advance copy and has done an initial impressions video for this one which I was thinking of picking up but the impressions are certainly not overwhelmingly positive.
I am quite concerned about the lack of either an open beta or early access with this and as far as I know there are no other You Tubers given early copies to try out prior to release tomorrow, just in house streams.
I will hold off for now but see what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnl3paMXgEQ
^Thanks Devon - I do agree the lack of beta, etc., is disturbing. But a lot of these pre-lease YouTube posts are pretty positive. I give you 'mangy, flea ridden peasant hordes' here:
Quote from: devoncop on December 05, 2022, 10:29:03 AM
Rob at Explorminate has an advance copy and has done an initial impressions video for this one which I was thinking of picking up but the impressions are certainly not overwhelmingly positive.
I am quite concerned about the lack of either an open beta or early access with this and as far as I know there are no other You Tubers given early copies to try out prior to release tomorrow, just in house streams.
I will hold off for now but see what you think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnl3paMXgEQ
I've seen it but he seems negative from the go. We'll see and I'll be playing it from tomorrow evening.
Well as Aguille and Gus are well aquainted with the original and I am not I shall bow to your judgement when you play it.
I think I need to get out of the mindset of being too worried about the combat side and see it as a management style empire builder instead.
Thanks for the balance :-)
I know not the same as open beta/first access, but they did have a "closed beta" where people who requested were able to sign up and participate for at least the last several months. You did have to sign a non-disclosure form so folks aren't really able to discuss.
For people to enjoy, I believe people just need to have realistic expectations. If people are expecting a totally different experience and deep/complex game, you might be disappointed. But if you enjoyed the original and welcome less complexity, I think there is a good game to be had here. Plus at least for me, the first game was good enough so making it modern and updated for recent times would have been enough to make me buy it anyways:)
^Agreed - very much liked the first game and absolutely welcome something strategic and relaxing.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 05, 2022, 11:05:23 AM
For people to enjoy, I believe people just need to have realistic expectations. If people are expecting a totally different experience and deep/complex game, you might be disappointed. But if you enjoyed the original and welcome less complexity, I think there is a good game to be had here. Plus at least for me, the first game was good enough so making it modern and updated for recent times would have been enough to make me buy it anyways:)
That's pretty much my expectations
Definite disappointment here:
I actually never played the first so I'm not that worried about this one being repetitive.
Ooh Andy's Take...been watching him longer than Havoc...bring on the dueling reviews!!
In all my years of gaming I've read countless physical magazine articles, seen lots of YouTube reviews, read reviews online at Steam, gaming forums, megacritic, et. al.
The one take away I have now, now that I've matured as a discerning gamer, is that there is a lot of hype, deception, hubris, and people getting paid by the man to say anything and everything to bring you down. The best thing to do is read what the gamers themselves are saying and watch the YouTube videos (maybe even ignore the commentator's opinion) and see for your self if you think you would like the game or not.
How many times have you gone to a trusted friend for a car mechanic recommendation and then taken your car to that mechanic? Only to find out that he's the ripoff artist of the century. He may have succeeded in fooling your trusted friend but he couldn't fool you.
IOW don't let someone tell you do or do not buy such and such a game. Make that decision yourself. :)
I am not even looking at reviews--as mentioned my expectations are low and contained, nothing a review is going to say in order to change my mind. Not looking for it to be Game of the Year or revolutionize strategy games, just looking at is an opportunity to rekindle playing a game from my past and possibly being able to "handle" things better as other games often overwhelm me with deep spreadsheet mechanics:) Even if the AI is easy for people, even the dumbest AIs still give me a fit:)
I don't really want an absurdly hard game here.
I've kinda been looking for something that does some relaxing world building and strategy with interesting combat to keep it fresh.
I'm watching Cringer playing on twitch. His sponsorship is over but he keeps playing due to him having fun.
Game looks ok. I don't think I'll be paying full price though.
You matured?
Quote from: SirAndrewD on December 05, 2022, 03:57:15 PM
I don't really want an absurdly hard game here.
I've kinda been looking for something that does some relaxing world building and strategy with interesting combat to keep it fresh.
Yep, I am with you....if I wanted more complex and hard, I would just play CK3 or something like that:) This might actually be a game that I complete, although probably not as I don't complete many:)
Even the guy who was dissapointed said he is having fun and will keep playing. He just thought they could have brought in more modern approaches and a little better graphics. I got the idea he wanted more complexity which is not what I'm looking for. I couldn't get into the CK2/3 family complexity so this looks more like what I want. I enjoyed the first version of KoH.
Quote from: bobarossa on December 05, 2022, 05:29:46 PM
Even the guy who was dissapointed said he is having fun and will keep playing. He just thought they could have brought in more modern approaches and a little better graphics. I got the idea he wanted more complexity which is not what I'm looking for. I couldn't get into the CK2/3 family complexity so this looks more like what I want. I enjoyed the first version of KoH.
Me too. I liked Knights of Honor. I'm patient with my gaming, so I'm a wait and see type. If it has some improvements on the original that's Okay. If it's a happy-medium between CK 2/3 and Total War that's fine too.
Out 12/6, my wife's birthday.
I'm sure she'll want a copy... :dreamer:
Heh :nerd:
Got to say most of the negativity is on my positivity list
Just like old one
Not hectic
Nothing new
Slow
Fetch me my pipe and slippers but I see nothing wrong with that
Funnily enough the more I look into this one (bearing in mind I never played the original) the more I like it.
Slow games are good for me these days, I normally shy away from real time stuff for that reason and the odd time I play paradox stuff it is always on the slowest speed and however much I might admire the Matrix Red Storm game that just came out, the complexity of it and it's never ending data is beyond me.
Think I may pick up this one in the next week as long as it doesn't prove to be buggy.
Thanks to those above who have shown me the error of my ways :)
Quote from: Gusington on December 05, 2022, 04:27:45 PM
You matured?
No not really but it sounded good in my post. Haha!
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 05, 2022, 03:53:25 PM
I am not even looking at reviews--as mentioned my expectations are low and contained, nothing a review is going to say in order to change my mind. Not looking for it to be Game of the Year or revolutionize strategy games, just looking at is an opportunity to rekindle playing a game from my past and possibly being able to "handle" things better as other games often overwhelm me with deep spreadsheet mechanics:) Even if the AI is easy for people, even the dumbest AIs still give me a fit:)
Me too.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on December 05, 2022, 03:57:15 PM
I don't really want an absurdly hard game here.
I've kinda been looking for something that does some relaxing world building and strategy with interesting combat to keep it fresh.
Ditto!
'Got to say most of the negativity is on my positive list.' - hahaha classic stuff there.
Quote from: Anguille on December 06, 2022, 05:17:15 AM
Get ready:
Great video that demonstrates what I wanted to see about this game. Only 6 more hours to go before I can go home and buy this puppy!
Of course today is the first day in 6 weeks that I am physically in the office and I cannot see what Anguille posted above. What is it?
Quote from: Gusington on December 06, 2022, 10:20:09 AM
Of course today is the first day in 6 weeks that I am physically in the office and I cannot see what Anguille posted above. What is it?
Tips and impressions ;)
Dammit will have to watch later.
It's a good video that includes how the real time battle system works. A simplified version of the Total War battle style.
I do like how the favorable reviews have begun stacking up in here. The more I hear 'simple' and even 'relaxing' the better it sounds.
Just got my Steam notification that it is available...$39.59, you were correct, Grim!
^That's a great opening day price on a game that is a day one purchase anyways.
fyi: If you've been on Greenmangaming for a while, it may be cheaper there. I'm a "bronze" tier and it showing for $30.88 for me (standard edition). You'll need to login to see your price.
https://www.greenmangaming.com/games/knights-of-honor-ii-sovereign-pc/
*sigh* Just grabbed it, but going to wait a bit for some Grog feedback before I redeem the code.
Hm.
After watching a few review videos I'm going to pass on this one for now and hear what the Grogs think.
Otherwise waiting for a sale.
Thanks Steve!
I'm enjoying its pace so far. It has been a long time since I played the original, but this feels very much like it based on my recollection. I don't think its too simple at all. It has a lot of interwoven systems and features. Royal family, selection of heirs, management of knights, construction of buildings in cities with several branching upgrades each, management of resources and economy, balancing of opinions and needs of various classes of citizens, diplomacy, armies, war, etc. It may not be CK level of complexity, but it certainly feels complex enough.
It's early, but so far, so good.
Quote from: W8taminute on December 05, 2022, 03:50:17 PM
The best thing to do is read what the gamers themselves are saying and watch the YouTube videos (maybe even ignore the commentator's opinion) and see for your self if you think you would like the game or not.
I think this is a huge advantage for us as consumers now - any new release gets a slew of Youtubers posting gameplay vids, allowing us to make up our own minds about whether we might like the game. Back in the day you would have to wade through a bunch of "professional" reviews and then try to decipher what they meant in terms of what the game might be like to actually play.
Quote from: Father Ted on December 06, 2022, 07:33:42 PM
I think this is a huge advantage for us as consumers now - any new release gets a slew of Youtubers posting gameplay vids, allowing us to make up our own minds about whether we might like the game. Back in the day you would have to wade through a bunch of "professional" reviews and then try to decipher what they meant in terms of what the game might be like to actually play.
Yeah, I hardly ever read pro reviews anymore. I think just watching the lets plays and youtube demos that this will be a game I'll like, just not enough for a day one at full price.
Not with the sheer amount of games I barely have any time in at least.
Andy's Take beginner's guide :nerd:
I just spent a few minutes gazing at the 14th century map :dreamer:
I have to admit I am tickled that Wallachia is playable right out of the box with no modding, starting in 1360 (Late Era).
I also love the minor victory conditions and how customizable they are, including the Destroy Kingdom mechanic which allows the player to win by defeating another kingdom or empire that the game choses, while the player chooses the size of that kingdom.
Oh and The Papal States are in-game, but not playable right now. They'll probably be modded in literally tomorrow. The music is also excellent and relaxing as advertised.
I looked around but did not see a tutorial campaign...did I miss it?
All the above said, I can see this becoming a go to game for me for years and 1000s of hours of gameplay. Multiple eras and the sheer amount of factions to play as really scratches multiple itches.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2009198719951937522/3DFB24E9A7C2833DEB6510B56B1EA066D50F5F2B/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Good to know gus - think we're in same boat regards what we want from the game
Quote from: Gusington on December 06, 2022, 08:55:57 PM
All the above said, I can see this becoming a go to game for me for years and 1000s of hours of gameplay. Multiple eras and the sheer amount of factions to play as really scratches multiple itches.
Don't do this to me Gus.
Quote from: Gusington on December 06, 2022, 08:55:57 PM
I looked around but did not see a tutorial campaign...did I miss it?
Tutorials are in settings. 'World Map Tutorial' and 'Tactical Battles Tutorial' are selectable. I don't have the game, just saw it on youtube.
Tutorials: there is an option under 'settings' in the main menu where you can turn on/off advisor tips. If you keep the advisor tips on each time you enter a new screen in game you get a concise description via popups that tell you what the various symbols and buttons do. The game pauses while you read the popups. Simple but effective tutorial.
I like what I see so far as well. KOH2 is a tad more complex than the original but not too overwhelming. I like how buildings now have additional components to them that you can build to enhance their performance. The family tree is much more informative than the previous game with key aspects of your family clearly laid out.
Diplomatic options are presented clearly on one screen. No more having to click multiple items to get the information you want such as relationships between countries, deals made, etc.
Haven't fought any battles yet but I'm hoping that in this game you can actually win a fight in the early game by playing it manually. I remember in the old game you were better off to let the ai handle battles.
Thanks mbar and W8! This game really sells itself, D and if you can get it for ~30.00...I see no issues :)
'Geek have you started a game yet? I will probably start a proper game at some point in the next few days. Right now I am still in the window shopping phase for eras and factions.
Quote from: SirAndrewD on December 06, 2022, 11:23:40 PM
Quote from: Gusington on December 06, 2022, 08:55:57 PM
All the above said, I can see this becoming a go to game for me for years and 1000s of hours of gameplay. Multiple eras and the sheer amount of factions to play as really scratches multiple itches.
Don't do this to me Gus.
Me being stupid might benefit you. I was in the beta of this game and didn't realize we would end up keeping the game. And of course me being stupid, I went and purchased/redeemed another key before I knew it...so of course now I have a new key with no purpose for me. PM me if you want to work something out.
^Hahaha now look at what Grim just did.
Quote from: Grim.Reaper on December 07, 2022, 11:41:38 AM
Quote from: SirAndrewD on December 06, 2022, 11:23:40 PM
Quote from: Gusington on December 06, 2022, 08:55:57 PM
All the above said, I can see this becoming a go to game for me for years and 1000s of hours of gameplay. Multiple eras and the sheer amount of factions to play as really scratches multiple itches.
Don't do this to me Gus.
Me being stupid might benefit you. I was in the beta of this game and didn't realize we would end up keeping the game. And of course me being stupid, I went and purchased/redeemed another key before I knew it...so of course now I have a new key with no purpose for me. PM me if you want to work something out.
PM on its way.
^The final step.
Grim is a gentleman and a scholar! :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
The gaming love is palpable on the board today.
Still deciding how to customize my start :dreamer:
The choices are almost infinite.
Discovered tonight that you don't even have to start in control of a kingdom...you can start in control of just a specific province.
That all said I am 99% certain which kingdom I am going to choose for my first run and I will prefer to start in the Late Era (1360).
Here is a shot of the Late Era province map:
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2009198719956776150/74978DC127CBFCD8188A7E722E6B93601ABDEDEF/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Quote from: Gusington on December 07, 2022, 09:18:11 AM
'Geek have you started a game yet? I will probably start a proper game at some point in the next few days. Right now I am still in the window shopping phase for eras and factions.
for some reason im sat on the fence, despite saying everything everyone was complaining about is the reason i want it!
i have no doubt the game is for me - absolutely, but it came out on the same day as Dwarf Fortress and Ixion - and whilst i could happily buy all 3 i want to give one of them my undivided attention and be a slave to its moistening powers
I understand. The sheer number of choices available at the start has kind of melted my brain.
Quote from: Gusington on December 08, 2022, 07:26:12 AM
I understand. The sheer number of choices available at the start has kind of melted my brain.
I used the standard settings and chose Scotland for my first game.
^How's it going?
I am going to try Transylvania in the Late Era as my first, tonight.
Quote from: Gusington on December 08, 2022, 08:40:50 AM
^How's it going?
I am going to try Transylvania in the Late Era as my first, tonight.
I am doing a slow gameplay and so far it's doing ok. I am focusing on building up my cities (barracks, Inns etc) and their specific special resources (salt, minerals, lambs for wool production). I think i have already a full list of counselors (2 being my sons and 2-3 merchants). One Diplomat is improving my relationship with England (my big neighbor), one of my daughters is married with a young dude from Ulster and i have trade treaties with 3 countries so far i think (England, Leinster and another one in the British Islands). So far only one war with Holland (England asked me to support them) which resulted in the defeat of Holland. I have one full army for the moment.
I'll have to expand at some point but so far everyone's been so friendly with me so that i will focus on improving my cities for the moment and learning the game step by step. :bd:
I started in the early era as Cilician Armenia. :)
^How are things in that neighborhood? I am attempting to begin an easy going start as the guides recommend but I am not sure if 14th century Transylvania will fit that bill.
I plan on starting my first game today after I finish running a webinar.
I think I'll be unoriginal and start with England.
This will be a productive day of work for sure!
Quote from: SirAndrewD on December 08, 2022, 11:40:23 AM
I plan on starting my first game today after I finish running a webinar.
I think I'll be unoriginal and start with England.
This will be a productive day of work for sure!
I started with England. Preparing to crush the Welsh followed by the Scots. Something tells me it won't be a walk in the park.
Funny I looked at Wales as a possible starting faction. Or 'Gwynned' depending on the era. All of Europe will tremble!
Quote from: Gusington on December 08, 2022, 11:16:20 AM
^How are things in that neighborhood? I am attempting to begin an easy going start as the guides recommend but I am not sure if 14th century Transylvania will fit that bill.
Surprisingly pretty calm so far. I do have Antioch and Jerusalem constantly asking me if I will join their war against Damascus however. I really don't have an army as I've been concentrating on getting my farms, harbors, and churches up and running. I have a feeling that I'm going to be dragged into a war I don't want sooner or later.
I'll be trying to train up some soldiers next other than the peasant militias I have now.
I am also going to build infrastructure first, then warmonger second.
How are you guys getting calm neighbors?? Started my campaign as Bosnia (changed my mind) and an hour into the game Hungary started smacking me around and just would not stop. I do like that villages and towns rebuild on their own, but Hungary then took a castle near my capital. I did manage to upgrade my capital's defenses and recruit enough peasants to keep the Hungarians away, but the army and the clergy are not fans of mine. The merchants love me.
I think the real time structure here is throwing me after so many years of turn based games. How do you keep everything organized? And how are you making more money? I am trying to get as many trade agreements and infrastructure upgrades as I can but it is not as quick or successful as I would like, yet.
Hungary may be declared a great power soon if they don't bankrupt themselves through war and make enemies of half the map. I do have a spy in Hungary but usually don't have enough money to take advantage of him there.
I've also had like half my knights taken hostage by Hungary in these wars.
Any advice welcome on how to deal with a much larger a-hole neighbor! I really was just minding my own business :/
^Ouch that's a rough start you have there. Maybe the Hungarian ai is programmed to go after Bosnia right away?
The first thing I did was make trade agreements with most of my neighbors, especially Byzantium since they are the largest near me. I also noticed that most of my neighbors have neutral feelings towards me so that helped. Not sure if all of this is random or designed that way on a case by case basis. I initially could only afford to recruit one peasant militia in each of my two starting towns. It wasn't after an hour of gameplay that I had enough money and infrastructure to recruit 3 spearmen and two archers for my one and only field army.
In the case of Bosnia I think you need to immediately recruit as many peasant militia as you can. Build a couple of farms to support them and try to make trade agreements with your neighbors. The money will come later. I have one trade route that makes 9 gold per day/week. That plus my towns income seems to net me 50 gold per time unit (day/week). It's taking forever though to accumulate 1000 gold but since no one is bothering me time is on my side.
^I think you're right and starting with Bosnia was not the idyllic, peace-loving existence I was hoping for. Got smacked around really good by Hungary but they themselves are suffering (I sent a spy there to track everything Hungarian) attrition. I should have known that the 14th century Balkans were not going to be a cakewalk.
Also took me a while to figure out that yes I could fill my knights slots, even though they weren't lit up or indicating that...I just need 200 gold and could hire some knights.
I have the game set to easy - some mechanics I was able to grasp and some not so much. But I did play for almost two hours, late into the night, on a day where I had to get up at 430am for work.
That alone really says something about KoH2. I think I have a winner here, as soon as I educate myself on its systems.
Good vibes! Next playthrough I just need to select an area a little more forgiving.
I believe this game is a winner as well.
You bring up a good point though that I discovered last night. Although you knight slots are not lit up you can still recruit. I think it was sort of like this in the old game as well. What I forgot about but saw last night is that on the map there may sometimes appear a little tent icon near your villages. Send a knight to that tent and you can hire mercenaries, just like the old game.
I think part of the problem of understanding the mechanics in this game is that we have gotten used to the old game so much that we're looking for mechanics in all the wrong places in the new game.
Edit: Oh that is a good sign that you played late on a work night.
^Yeah man, when I first sat down it was 930pm and I was dead tired. I said 'f it just start a game' and next thing I know I am getting smacked upside the head by Hungary and its almost 1130pm.
There is a charm to the game that will keep me coming back for more I think, especially after I learn.
I also thought that all the audio cues might get on my nerves but they have not yet.
Thanks for the tip on the tents...I was going through the motions with trying to hire, not having enough money, etc...by the end of my session I had just enough money to hire a few higher quality merc units to try to take my castle back.
I think my goal for this Bosnia campaign is to first survive, then set up a really heavily armed merchant city state :)
Update today......seems they tweaked on how soon others attack you based on the difficulty level you play.
General
• (Important) The SSRT option is now set to "None" on all graphics presets. Setting it on "high" causes severe frame rate drops, especially on 4K monitors. We are still working on other known issues, mostly related to switching resolutions, especially on multiple monitors
• Loyal mercenary squads are now free to hire for their kingdom. (The cost for hiring the entire army remains unchanged)
• Tweaked the AI behavior of army leaders in tactical battles to resolve an issue where they were being too aggressive and rushing into fights (particularly in battles when their side's estimations are really high)
• Added a cancel button when attempting to join a multiplayer game
• Courthouse upgrade no longer requires Scribe Offices
• Tweaked AI difficulty
Diplomacy
• Lowered chance of AI signing a trade agreement or non-aggression pact after signing a truce
• War declaration against player now depends more on difficulty level.
• Excommunicated players will get attacked more often, especially on higher difficulty levels and if they are commanding large empires or have many vassals.
• Increased chance of AI honoring non-aggression pacts
• Increased chance of AI helping the player on lower difficulties if they are either their vassal or sovereign
• Decreased bonuses to vassal relationships for Germany if controlled by a player to even the odds in multiplayer campaigns
• AI is less likely to grant independence without request or reason
• AI is a bit more likely to accept players' marriage offers
• AI unwillingness to attack you in the first minutes of the game now lasts longer for "easy" and shorter for "hard" and "very hard" difficulties
• Other minor diplomacy tweaks
Fixes
• Mouse cursor is now properly confined to the window's bounds, when playing in exclusive full-screen mode.
• Fixed some settlements on the map starting out with incorrect visual levels
• Fixed an issue causing green tutorial highlights in places like the Royal Court to reset every time players exit a tactical battle
• Fixes to invalid resolutions being loaded, leading to rare game crashes on start-up
^It's like they were reading my above info on Hungary. I wonder if I should just restart?
Quote from: Gusington on December 09, 2022, 12:28:27 PM
^It's like they were reading my above info on Hungary. I wonder if I should just restart?
Maybe you should if your prospects are too bad. On the other hand, you could still learn a lot if you manage to survive Hungary
I think I will...but the obsessive part of my brain demands I finish what I started :crazy2:
I just noticed that Grim posted news about the software update. I am having slight frame rate issues. I'll have to check what my SSRT setting is but maybe that won't matter as the patch forces it to "none".
Well I led Bosnia to the end...which didn't take long. Ugh.
Need to find a kingdom a bit easier to run. Once bad events started to happen they were impossible to overcome.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2009198719966855123/BAFD192355E49402BB205B1FC9A734C005796D25/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
So what's the Groggy consensus on this one? Is it worth $40-45 in these cash-strapped times?
Quote from: al_infierno on December 09, 2022, 11:08:10 PM
So what's the Groggy consensus on this one? Is it worth $40-45 in these cash-strapped times?
According to GG Deals which locates deals on games, this place is an "official" store and has it for like 28.99 if you use the code "ALLYOUCANPLAY". Never used them myself so no idea.
https://www.allyouplay.com/en/knights-of-honor-ii-sovereign
As for whether even worth it at that price, I'll leave to others but from my standpoint, I am enjoying it but still have a lot to learn.
I have been watching a lots of You Tube playthroughs and following the Steam discussions and the game is a lot better than it initially seems I think.
It has a strange mechanic in that there in a type of "countdown" in place before you can expect to be attacked which is longer at easier difficulties and shorter at harder ones. The Devs have already patched it once to rebalance a few things to make easier difficulties easier still as some folks found they were getting stomped very early on.
It seems obvious that the mixed reviews are down to a lot of people not getting all the nuances of the game and trying to be too aggressive. Unlike CK3 neighbouring countries get mad pretty quickly if you map paint and try to bully their region.
I like what I see.
I am buying it tomorrow
^Clearly I am one that got stomped extremely early on, but that was before the patch. It was also on easy difficulty :/
So I will start another campaign momentarily, also on easy, and hope for the best.
I hope to actually get to a point where I can actually become aggressive and piss of my neighbors. Dare to dream!
Still think I will be playing this forever once I learn it. It is very addictive in many ways.
I took the plunge. Starting a game as Scotland.
^Post impressions! A faction like Scotland may be perfect for turtling, not getting smacked down early, and some success.
Going in tomorrow - somewhere Italian
^Speaking of which I just played three hours (!!!) as Ragusa. And have survived so far. Still playing on easy. It helps that I have bigger powers like Croatia and Serbia on my borders to help counter the antics of other surrounding kingdoms. That kind of geography and yesterday's patch have allowed me to live longer as a tiny kingdom. I've also survived long enough to get ranked in different categories by the game and all in all am doing ok. I wonder if playing as a larger kingdom with more provinces would be less difficult and open up more options...
Performance Update: Reducing SSRT to 'None' significantly improved my framerate/stutter issue. I attribute this problem of mine to my older graphics card.
Gameplay Update: Cash is my problem but I know a lot of my income goes into the missions I have my clergy running to maintain stability in my empire. Other than that I have been waging a successful war against Rum capturing Konya and Aleppo. My empire grows.
Jumped on board an hour ago and deciding on a starting faction given what I have read and seen so far.
Thinking on either Denmark (worried about the Germans) or one of the Irish Dukedoms (worried about England) :).
Definitely starting on Easy difficulty though .... always start on "normal" in my games but as a die hard Turn based man the RTS stuff intimidates me :)
Think I will try an early game RTS tactical battle but am likely to auto resolve most of them.
Interesting that the Steam rating has consistently improved since release.
Quote from: Gusington on December 10, 2022, 06:52:03 PM
I wonder if playing as a larger kingdom with more provinces would be less difficult and open up more options...
I seem to have a better play experience with larger kingdoms. France or Poland for example. I got spanked pretty badly as Leon and Brittany.
I like the game...but am not a great fan of the tactical battle implementation. Troops move to too fast and combat just seems "arcade like" to me. I guess I am somewhat used to Total War series. Even TW is a little too arcade-like for my taste, but still better than KoH.
But having said that, I still like the game and will continue to play.
^I'll go for Transylvania or Wallachia next, I think they each have a couple of provinces.
Single province kingdoms, if geographically secure, offer some safety to learn the game but the economic options are really limited and money trickles in very slowly.
And devoncop I just looked at the Steam store page and the reviews are up to 'mostly positive' from 'mixed' as you said. 999 reviews posted.
Well I lost my second game as Ragusa...Apulia (!!) and Wallachia invaded my tiny Adriatic kingdom together and obliterated my capital.
Besides choosing Bosnia and Ragusa for these first two games, I also neglected to build a barracks, which led to me being able to field militia only.
So my one-province economy failed to support my anemic military, and guaranteed losses each time even on 'easy' difficulty.
That all said the game is quite fun. It's been a while since I have dedicated this much time to a game that keeps kicking my ass.
I think you may be right there Gus.
I gave the game a very quick spin on "normal" difficulty after all and chose Leinster the single province Kingdom that includes Dublin thinking I could take out Ulster given Connaught was a buddy from the off.
The problem was that Leinster had no less than 4 castles but not a single crop farm and barely any other economic resources. This meant that I was trying to develop from Ground Zero as my destitute peasantry scraped around for sustainable . Connaught then appealed for help in a war with Ulster and like a fool I agreed and sent my embarassing army into Ulster to do a bit of pillaging whilst I hoped Connaught and Ulster would be knocking each other senseless.....
Connaught thought it would make more sense to let my army do the heavy lifting and stayed bottled up at home and I got crushed by Ulster whose more plentiful resources had furnished an army twice my size.....
Restart later today :)
Love the UI and gameplay so far though.
EDIT/UPDATE
Second Leinster playthrough going much better. Only one castle and 4 trade goods along with a monastery and a crop farm as a start made a big difference. Have helped out big boy England v Gwynned to get them onside and getting some nice plunder.
Replayability looks to be immense.
Ha 'embarrassing army.' My Ragusan army was just barely large enough to be embarrassing :)
I think 14th century Transylvania has two provinces so I am going to go for them next...still keeping the difficulty on easy, clearly that's enough for me at this point.
And I'm building a damned barracks from the get go. Clearly the types of buildings constructed make a huge difference. Maybe if I didn't feel all fancy and build a damned winery instead of a barracks, Ragusa could have been the Adriatic superpower it deserved to be :/
Quote from: Gusington on December 12, 2022, 09:24:47 AM
Ha 'embarrassing army.' My Ragusan army was just barely large enough to be embarrassing :)
I think 14th century Transylvania has two provinces so I am going to go for them next...still keeping the difficulty on easy, clearly that's enough for me at this point.
And I'm building a damned barracks from the get go. Clearly the types of buildings constructed make a huge difference. Maybe if I didn't feel all fancy and build a damned winery instead of a barracks, Ragusa could have been the Adriatic superpower it deserved to be :/
Having a winery may have enticed the neighbor's armies to invade!
^You...may be on to something
Unsurprisingly a winery never came up as an option in 12th Century Ireland :(
No brewery either??
I have got a sheep farm......does that count as "fancy " ?
I know enough to not answer.
Quote from: Gusington on December 12, 2022, 10:27:03 AM
I know enough to not answer.
That was officially a "trick question" ;)
How do you find wives by the way, the way things are going my King may have to take a more direct interest in the sheep farm :hide:
The women of Europe are either married already or their father's suspect me of trying to get a claim on their Kingdom so refuse the offers....
;D
Even though my Bosnia and Ragusa crumbled pathetically, both royal houses were pretty good with the ladies and had several children.
Suitors would just randomly appear and almost always come to me first :cowboy:
Quote from: devoncop on December 12, 2022, 11:01:59 AM
Quote from: Gusington on December 12, 2022, 10:27:03 AM
I know enough to not answer.
That was officially a "trick question" ;)
How do you find wives by the way, the way things are going my King may have to take a more direct interest in the sheep farm :hide:
The women of Europe are either married already or their father's suspect me of trying to get a claim on their Kingdom so refuse the offers....
If you can't find a wife, your king will probably get one from it's own kingdom. Should come automatically after some time.
Thanks Anguille....
I just checked the Steam forums re this and apparently on the world map there is a marriage filter you can use to identify unattached males and females and then it is a case of improving relations with them until they get worn down :)
A local girl sounds a lot less hassle though so keeping fingers crossed my boys charms are enough to generate one !
Has anyone won a game yet? This feels like the campaigns could just go on forever.
Quote from: Gusington on December 15, 2022, 10:18:10 AM
Has anyone won a game yet? This feels like the campaigns could just go on forever.
"Won a game" :DD
After three games getting crushed fairly quickly as Leinster, Ulster and Leinster again I feel I have hit the heights by playing as Scotland and actually conquering a region (Leinster) after my "peacekeepers" t ook advantage of a longrunning inconclusive war between Connought and Ulster V Leinster to jump in and seize Dublin much to Connought's annoyance :).
As for "winning" that is a VERY long term project.
I am really enjoying it though but I don't fight the battles manually, the AI resolution is fine.
I swear I will start a new campaign in the next few days. I have not played out a battle yet because I have not had an army worth taking control of :/ Nor have I taken any provinces :/:/ I need to 'git gud'
Quote from: Gusington on December 15, 2022, 10:42:39 AM
I swear I will start a new campaign in the next few days. I have not played out a battle yet because I have not had an army worth taking control of :/ Nor have I taken any provinces :/:/ I need to 'git gud'
Best decision I made was to cosy up to England. Always good to have a big brother !
Having said that England just asked me to help v Gwynned and now Ulster,Connaught and Munster are all very unhappy meaning Dublin is looking very vulnerable as it is still full of unhappy locals.....
I'm going to try and make Genoa the trading capital of the world
I've read about someone finishing as Sicily
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 15, 2022, 11:54:47 AM
I'm going to try and make Genoa the trading capital of the world
I've read about someone finishing as Sicily
Nice goal !
Gold certainly helps :)
Let us know how things are going :bd:
Quote from: devoncop on December 15, 2022, 12:31:57 PM
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 15, 2022, 11:54:47 AM
I'm going to try and make Genoa the trading capital of the world
I've read about someone finishing as Sicily
Nice goal !
Gold certainly helps :)
Let us know how things are going :bd:
Definitely let us know how you make out and if you enjoy the game or not. I do not regret buying this game at all, it's everything I thought it would be and more. :)
Will do chaps
I would love to see a link to an AAR for a player finishing as Sicily. Or any other faction in any era. But is finishing the same as winning?
So I started a game as 1360's Moldavia (two provinces) and it is so much better when you own two or more provinces.
I immediately built a barracks and even upgraded to castles (I forget the specific upgrade name). Wallachia was being cunty and we fought a long war to a standstill. This campaign so far is by far the most enjoyable of the three I've played. I'm not lighting the game world on fire but I'm holding my own (still on easy difficulty) and getting into more fights that I can hold my own in, while still trying to grow my economy.
With multiple provinces and cities, it is much easier to dedicate cities to specific disciplines like defense, commerce, agriculture, etc. At least it's easier for me to think of it that way.
Still haven't fought a battle tactically yet and the real time nature is still hurting my brain, but enjoying it much more now too.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2006947644943326755/F76898F17EEFE6B428117B678E88CF825438BFD8/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Nice job Gus !
That is exactly my experience with Scotland rather than playing as a one province nation. I am also still playing on easy.
I just got a Royal Armoury (upgrade from Barracks) in Edinburgh so I can start getting some much better quality troops now as well......or rather I would be able to do if I had enough food. The higher quality infantry must be greedy gits as each unit wants 40 food :(. Agricultural sector now being expanded to cope !
Although people talk about this game as Total War lite I totally disagree on the strategic level. Whereas TW allows countries to raise unrealistically large armies KoH allows Scotland to field only a couple of field armies of quality plus a few garrisons as the economy can't handle more, and wars upset neighbours much more than TW or EU4 btw.
One thing I was struggling with was all the unhappiness in Dublin after my peacekeepers "liberated" it which went on for a long time and my Kingdom Stability was down to -11 as a result. Luckily once the moaning bastards decided to revolt and established a Rebel Army outside the city one of the Royal Armies I had used to garrison Dublin was able to ride out and crush the rebels. Instantly my Kingdom Stability went to +2 so if you eventually take out a Wallachian Province bear that in mind.
Nice job Gus! Keep at it.
Yeah devoncop I too had problems when I conquered a city with unhappiness. Then there was a rebellion army that appeared which I crushed. I went from -27 unhappiness to -5 after that victory. Then I blew it all to hell when I noticed I have captured the rebel leader. I clicked on his icon in the upper left of the screen and executed him. My nobility was very pleased but I lost 1 point of kingdom power and the peasantry was really upset. Live and learn.
Quote from: W8taminute on December 16, 2022, 08:37:08 AM
Nice job Gus! Keep at it.
Yeah devoncop I too had problems when I conquered a city with unhappiness. Then there was a rebellion army that appeared which I crushed. I went from -27 unhappiness to -5 after that victory. Then I blew it all to hell when I noticed I have captured the rebel leader. I clicked on his icon in the upper left of the screen and executed him. My nobility was very pleased but I lost 1 point of kingdom power and the peasantry was really upset. Live and learn.
Ouch !
Just to add to my issues my venerable King died which upped the discontent again and now Dublin is apparently becoming loyal to bloody England :(
Thanks fellers. Wallachia and I signed a peace deal, as my neighbors were starting to grumble that I was too aggressive. Except Transylvania, which is a kingdom of its own (I thought it should have been part of Wallachia but I guess not yet in 1360?) and hates Wallachia. They rooted me on the whole time.
I really need to learn how to generate more cash and commerce (little brown sacks?) so I can continue to expand trade.
But kingdoms with more than one province are definitely the way to go...one province kingdoms are much more difficult to lead successfully.
Quote from: Gusington on December 16, 2022, 09:51:38 AM
I really need to learn how to generate more cash and commerce (little brown sacks?) so I can continue to expand trade.
Putting upgraded merchants in as governors , particularly in provinces with upgraded Market squares or certain agricultural buildings will generate extra cash and merchant sacks which are effectively your trade capacity. More sacks allow more trade routes.
^I'll probably need to slow the game down more or pause it altogether to get this right, thank you! Once the game gets going its real time nature can get hectic.
I agree with you Gus. One province kingdoms are definitely hard. At least until we all learn the ins and outs of this game. Yes those popup messages seem to come in fast and furious even on 1x speed at just the time you are trying to focus on fixing a multitude of problems in town. I've learned that pause is my friend. Haha!
devoncop good tip about merchant governors. I haven't tried that yet as in order to deal with unhappiness from religious unrest I had to place clergymen in. Sacrificing some money income in favor of calming everyone down was what I was forced into.
I haven't tried to mix and match governors at all really, to see the benefits. Maybe this is key to my money and commerce questions. I never seem to have enough of anything.
Occasionally I speed up the game to try to get a ton of gold in and then when messages pop up I slow down or pause, but I'm always futzing with the game speed.
I've had better luck with 'books' and sending clergy to Constantinople or Rome to get a nice boost, which I then use to boost my knights. I wish there was a quick, dirty way to boost commerce like that.
I've had pop ups appear to steal money from kingdoms where I have a spy but I haven't gone along with it yet for fear of getting caught and then crushed.
Quote from: W8taminute on December 16, 2022, 11:31:25 AM
I agree with you Gus. One province kingdoms are definitely hard. At least until we all learn the ins and outs of this game. Yes those popup messages seem to come in fast and furious even on 1x speed at just the time you are trying to focus on fixing a multitude of problems in town. I've learned that pause is my friend. Haha!
devoncop good tip about merchant governors. I haven't tried that yet as in order to deal with unhappiness from religious unrest I had to place clergymen in. Sacrificing some money income in favor of calming everyone down was what I was forced into.
That is the beauty of the system. It is tempting to think that Marshals are OP and a no trainer because of the advantage they give you on the battlefield but Merchants and Clergymen make great Governors and diplomats can save your ass with getting powerful allies on board.
Spies are situational, I have done a few witch-hunts having read some horror stories about enemy spy operations killing off Kings and causing succession civil wars but so far not found any spies as yet.
Just sieged Ulster's capital for an age but was unable to take it and had to White Peace out when my English allies had to race back to fight off a Gwynned invasion...."Ulster says No :)"
By the way...the best spy mission I have been offered was to provoke Ulster into a war against Scotland (meaning I get no aggression penalties) ....sods law meant I couldn't afford it the couple of times it came up though.....love how the AI options make sense....no missions v Wallachia or Carpathia for example ;)
95% of the game I am playing on speed 1 or pause !
^Same thing happened with me while besieging Tirgoviste in Wallachia...I almost took it but in the end could not. I'll definitely try again. They need to be spanked!
So now you want to mix the Spanking Simulator with Knights of Honor !?!?! ::)
Nights of DIS-honor: Spanking Simulator - :2funny:
^Jenius [tm]!
Great game. Having a lot of fun with this. Tried first game as England on Normal difficulty. Of course, I got my ass kicked.
I found there are a lot of hidden buttons. Like how to upgrade your city walls. Click on a city. Mouse-over the castle icon and a green arrow appears. Click it to upgrade.
I also found that running a test game using cheats is a very quick and safe way to learn the systems:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2901456442
^Ironically the wall upgrade button was one of the first ones I found.
I discovered tonight that when I request an audience with a kingdom I can ask for trade rights...but I still need to place governors in upgraded provinces to increase the money I make. Oh and I am now the #1 war monger in my campaign after fighting both Wallachia and Transylvania...however Serbia swooped in and snatched up the carcass of Wallachia :/
Still...making slow steady progress as Moldavia. Who woulda thunk it?
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2006947644953667646/344E123DC406E8A43A80F12C563925488B0CF6D2/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Shocking behaviour Gus :)
Well my Scots are amazingly number 1 in the world for military power but points wise they are only on about 1600 when the top 10 powers are around and about 4500. My major deficiency is in cultural power...(the game is evidently unaware of Glasgow being made European City of Culture at some point :2funny:)
Its coming to a crunch with my best buddy England it seems. We are still best of friends but England took out Ulster leaving them with Munster in the south of Ireland and Ulster in the north with the Scots in the two central provinces of Connaught and Leinster. To repay them the Scots have taken full control of both Welsh provinces....
I looked at a pretty successful Norway as help v England long term but on checking the Norwegian King lies rotting in an English jail ! Tricky.
How are your overall points looking ?
So how concerned should I be if food reaches 0 like in Gus's pic? Does only affect recruitment and growth or will the peasants starve and storm the castles?
Playing as Navarra (1 province) so I can learn the interface and gerneral flow of things. Hired a merchant and sent him on a trade mission. It looks like those Trade Bags are something that is just a level number that adjusts and not something that accumualates.
Gus, did you purposely torch that Crop Farm or was just something that happened after a battle?
Quote from: bobarossa on December 18, 2022, 12:39:46 PM
So how concerned should I be if food reaches 0 like in Gus's pic? Does only affect recruitment and growth or will the peasants starve and storm the castles?
Playing as Navarra (1 province) so I can learn the interface and gerneral flow of things. Hired a merchant and sent him on a trade mission. It looks like those Trade Bags are something that is just a level number that adjusts and not something that accumualates.
Gus, did you purposely torch that Crop Farm or was just something that happened after a battle?
The food number means that until food increases no troop recruitment is possible. It means there is just enough food for current commitments so a problem but not a critical one at this point.
The "trade bags" are a measure of trade capacity. Sending a merchant out on a trade mission will use up a number of that capacity (normally 10 or 20). Once that capacity is exhausted no more trade missions can be sent until the capacity increases.
During a war torching villages and farms not only hinders their owner by reducing income and food but also nets a gold and supplies bonus for the attacking army so I suspect Gus may have done it for those reasons.
Best of luck Bobarossa....one province nations are really hard I think. Make sure you make friends with strong neighbours!
Do you guys work for the developer ;)?!?!? Lol because you are making it very difficult to NOT buy this game! Must .... Resist .... :uglystupid2:
Thanks for the clarifications! I don't have any memory of the first game being this complicated! This appears to be much more detailed than the strategic layer of Medieval TW2 and when it came out I thought THAT would have made a good game on its own. I realize a single province start would be difficult from reading this thread. I just wanted use it to learn the interface basics for a day or so.
Can the game be paused for review and to give orders during the pause?
Quote from: solops on December 18, 2022, 02:38:43 PM
Can the game be paused for review and to give orders during the pause?
Yes
Quote from: bobarossa on December 18, 2022, 02:27:43 PM
Thanks for the clarifications! I don't have any memory of the first game being this complicated! This appears to be much more detailed than the strategic layer of Medieval TW2 and when it came out I thought THAT would have made a good game on its own. I realize a single province start would be difficult from reading this thread. I just wanted use it to learn the interface basics for a day or so.
The new version is a lot more complex than the first one...
One province kingdoms will have the opposite effect of being helpful because, in my experience, you will either be crushed quick or you will be running around like mad trying to put out fires and stay afloat at the same time, like Bosnia and Ragusa. Playing as Moldavia with two provinces is opening up more expansion opportunity and making things a little more flexible. I think for my next game, whenever that is, may be as another two province kingdom and set a minor victory at acquiring 5 provinces total, now that I am somewhat better at military expansion.
IIRC that farm is on fire in the above pic because of a rebel army passing through as I besieged the capital.
Same thing happened in Wallachia on a bigger scale...I was besieging a Wallachian castle as the Serbs (unknown to me) were besieging the capital. When Targoviste fell, I didn't understand what happened for a few seconds and then cursed the Serbs. Ultimately it worked out for me as Wallachia was destroyed and all my nearby neighbors were like 'Wow - guess we won't mess with you after all.'
This is a seriously great game. Deceptively deep with a great deal of immersion. I don't think I've wasted this much time on a game for quite a while. It looks simple on the surface, but the relations between building improvements and building other things is vital to how your economy and military works. Also worth noting is that resources are distributed differently with each new game, so replay value is huge.
I strongly recommend anyone playing for the first time watches some tutorials on YouTube and then plays a test game on Easy Difficulty with the max gold option at startup. This worked out for me as I learned to play. Once you get used to the way the systems work, it's a LOT of fun.
I failed badly on my first play-through. The easiest mistake is to not understand how the buildings/improvements interact with each other to produce gold, trade and other things.
Also, choosing the right advisors and levelling them up yielded some great but not overpowered bonuses that can really make your Kingdom successful. I got some real kicks out of clinching great trade deals that filled my treasury with thousands of gold because my merchants were great at their jobs. The opposite is also true, you can face some real pitfalls if things go badly, but they go sideways in a realistic way that just adds to the immersion and challenge.
I don't know what it is about this game - I've played Crusader Kings 3 and Total War and this just seems more real for some reason.
^The toughest for me to wrap my brain around is gold and commerce. Still early with this game but as I improve it will be a go to for a long time. I still haven't played through a battle yet either. I have been pining to play some Total War as I get to know KoH2 but I think that may fade once I start playing through battles.
Is the 'max gold option' you mentioned the maximum gold you can start with? 20k, 35k, etc.? Haven't tried that yet either.
Quote from: Gusington on December 18, 2022, 05:26:40 PM
Is the 'max gold option' you mentioned the maximum gold you can start with? 20k, 35k, etc.? Haven't tried that yet either.
New Campaign screen, under 'Starting Gold'.
Also, that save game icon on the starting screen next to 'Starting Period' is able to load a previous save to use as a starting scenario for any Kingdom.
(https://i.postimg.cc/m2pBfSBs/20221219090837-1.jpg)
This is a pretty good 18 minute intro to the game.
Agree with your summary above Ian....
This is a gem of a game. I also think the strategic game and AI are streets ahead of those in Total War and Crusader Kings.
My first proper Campaign has come to a head now as I decided to take the plunge, ally with Norway and try to take on England. I am besieging Ulster and raiding Newcastle at the minute with the Norwegians hopefully tying up the English armies on the continent.
Interestingly, Aragon has done very well in my game as have the Seljuks whilst France is only 3 provinces and looking sickly..... interesting to see if the same countries do well all the time like the big blue French blob in EU4 :)
am i right in thinking the goods map has green shaded territories for those areas that COULD build that good but havent yet got round to it
Thanks Ian - IIRC I posted that vid upthread here in the murky depths of the past.
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 19, 2022, 08:42:29 AM
am i right in thinking the goods map has green shaded territories for those areas that COULD build that good but havent yet got round to it
Not sure yet, still taking in a lot of info...
also, very useful STEAM guides:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/736820/guides/#scrollTop=500
^Wow there's a ton of content in that link.
After making a few kingdom upgrades and kind of feeling ok about myself, all hell broke loose with a massive rebellion in my fiefdom and in all the surrounding provinces too. Anyone else seen this? Still playing on 'easy' too :buck2:
I rage quit. The real time system of this game is just not giving me enough time to learn it. I may/may not go back to try to salvage this particular campaign, which is very unlike me.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2006947644963505107/662B68B320462AF024A6C180CD62BC642907B1D6/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Quote from: Gusington on December 19, 2022, 10:05:06 PM
The real time system of this game is just not giving me enough time to learn it. I may/may not go back to try to salvage this particular campaign, which is very unlike me.
OK, this is the kind of data I look for. I like turn based. Simultaneous is better than igoyougo. And "RTS" can be even better if done right and treated as "continuous, pausable time" as opposed to "real time", which is nothing of the sort. But there is absolutely no excuse for a strategic level game not to give you time for review, organization and execution.
Thats a bummer Gus.
In this game rebellions do happen but for a reason.
I see your Kingdom Stability is at a pretty shocking -40 :hide: so a big rebellion would be pretty much guaranteed. A very small rebellion will grow and grow unless it is stomped early. If you defeat the stack containing the rebellion leader the other stacks seem to disperse so that first rebellious stack is crucial.
I am wondering if anything in particular may have triggered the issues. Were you at war for a heck of a long time (war exhaustion hits stability hard), an old King just die ? Any espionage issues inside the country as one spy action allows you or the AI nations to instigate a rebellion inside a country ? A few (recently conquered) provinces with unhappy populations can also hurt Stability.
That's bad...how did you manage to get to -40 of Kingdom stability :o? And you are playing at 4x the time speed? THAT's FAST :o. I am still playing my first game on normal speed.
And you're not making any gold either (+6). You need to send your merchants to other kingdoms so they can trade for gold...they don't seem to be doing anything.
Newcastle and Ulster are now under the control of the Scottish Crown :bd:
I peaced out with England as I need to get Stability back to a healthy level. It has come back from -23 to -16 but I could ironically do with a rebellion springing up as once my loyal forces crush it the Stability get a nice temporary boost.
It is evident that trying to play this game like Total War will doom you. Priests are very valuable in managing the happiness of your population and bolstering your culture.
I invaded a neighbor (Transylvania) and it took a while to take them down but I eventually did after a few failed attempts at pacification. Then one of my knights and best general rebelled against me - I guess because I did not put down my neighbor fast enough? And from there it just snowballed into a nightmare of rebel doom stacks traversing my kingdom, burning everything (thus the low money) and foreign intervention from Hungary, Bulgaria and one other kingdom that begins with a 'Z' whose name escapes me. Then it just became an orgy of looting and destruction and here we are :/
Quote from: Gusington on December 19, 2022, 10:05:06 PM
After making a few kingdom upgrades and kind of feeling ok about myself, all hell broke loose with a massive rebellion in my fiefdom and in all the surrounding provinces too. Anyone else seen this? Still playing on 'easy' too :buck2:
This is why:
(https://i.postimg.cc/NMKT5cDd/Screenshot-2022-12-20-at-11-37-00-Knights-of-Honor-2-Sovereign.jpg)
You have to be careful that the opinions of your Nobility, Army, Merchants, Clergy and Peasants don't fall too low or you'll have trouble. From the looks of your screen shot, your Nobilty and Merchants hate you. Most important though, your Crown Authority is at the lowest possible and that means disaster. You can improve it by various actions and also by clicking on the crown icon and spending gold and Piety. The lower or higher it is, the more buffs/de-buffs you get to stability, economy etc.
Improving opinions of the various groups comes from sending out your Knights to perform successful actions, trading, making pacts etc.
Quote from: solops on December 20, 2022, 12:07:44 AM
But there is absolutely no excuse for a strategic level game not to give you time for review, organization and execution.
But it does, you can pause and also slow time to a crawl and still issue commands and perform all actions.
My crown authority was around +25 when I started last night's session when I was feeling pretty ok about myself and then within an hour plummeted to what you see above.
There's a pause button and you can issue orders while paused. Also there is 3 different speeds.
Edit: Sorry I posted this without realizings there was another page of posts to read!
I know, I've been using them without prejudice. My biggest obstacle here is learning the trade and commerce systems while trying to juggle everything else.
Give Scotland a go Gus. ...1170 start. Not surrounded by enemies as you are in the Balkans :)
Get friendly with England and you are set until you are ready to move with a nice strong economy.
To be fair any similarly sized country on the extremities of the map may well suit .
Definitely develop your trade though, cash can dig you out of a lot of problems?
Quote from: bobarossa on December 20, 2022, 08:05:05 AM
There's a pause button and you can issue orders while paused. Also there is 3 different speeds.
There's actually four speeds. If you press '+' on your keyboard at speed 4, it goes even faster. You can't access the higher speed from the GUI, only the '+' key.
Quote from: Gusington on December 20, 2022, 08:16:55 AM
I know, I've been using them without prejudice. My biggest obstacle here is learning the trade and commerce systems while trying to juggle everything else.
I'm having a blast with an English campaign on Easy Difficulty and I think I mastered most of it. They way I did it was to first play a practice game using cheats so I could play around with all the systems without any pressure.
I'd recommend you try a practice game and have fun constructing things and seeing how it all works.
Guide to cheats:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2901456442
Once you've set up the console (see link above), type in cl 3 to set the highest cheat level then pick your poison. I found that just adding books, piety and gold were good enough for testing purposes, and spawning armies in a pinch.
TIP: you don't have to re-type a cheat every time you need it, with the console open, press the up or down arrows on your keyboard to select cheats you previously typed in and then press enter to select it.
COMMON CHEATSPressing I will spawn an Army where your mouse cursor is.
Selecting an army and pressing DEL will delete it.
gold X
Sets the gold of the player kingdom to X (e.g. gold 100000)
piety X
Sets the piety of the player kingdom to X, (maxes out at 1000)
books X
Sets the books of the players kingdom to X. (maxes out at 1000)
spawn_pop X
Gives X population to the selected realm/province.
conquer
Conquers the selected kingdom.
max X
Levels up the selected characters skill. If X is 1, all skills are levelled up. If X is 0, a random skill is levelled up.
^Now that's the responsible way to use cheats in any game. Design of Experiment [DOE]
^Super helpful, thanks Ian. I hesitate to use cheats almost all of the time, maybe I will here.
Now that I've cooled down from my rage quit last night, maybe I salvage my Moldavia campaign?
If not, I will try to find an Eastern European equivalent to Scotland. I was hoping Moldavia would be it but clearly if Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria are targeting me, it is less than fun. The sheer speed that things went downhill was incredible.
I really want to get better at this game because larger kingdoms look super fun to play as.
No cheats, I just finished my second game with a victory. I got a Kingdom Advantages victory after producing all goods. Once you fill each of those areas you get some good buffs.
I'm not sure how repeatable it is or if I got lucky but I'm confident I've grasped everything I need to play well.
I'm choosing to continue also to see how far I can extend my nation. I think there's no end date on this and it could be a huge campaign, especially going head-to-head with the other big empires.
I'm also going to start a new game on normal difficulty with no starting buffs and see how far I can go.
(https://i.postimg.cc/y8ZLgbhP/20221220155104-1.jpg)
Congrats - I am jealous :/
Very impressive Ian. Nice job!
Thank you. However, my celebrations were short-lived.
Don't be a dumbass like me, and attempt to delete autosaved games. It also deletes your entire campaign save and cannot be recovered.
I started a new campaign on normal difficulty with no buffs as Byzantium. Honestly, too many provinces to contend with in my early career so I settled for a 1 province Duchy of Athens.
Venice declared war so I signed non-aggression pacts with its friends and succeeded in allying Bulgaria. I built a fairly good army just in time to crush a rebellion led by a Spy and they signed peace.
Couldn't keep the army at full strength after war though, as the drain on food was significant.
It's going to be a long, long game and I'm looking forward to the challenge. At some point I might try a giant like Byzantium again but not until I know I can repeat my earlier success on a normal difficulty.
Wow. Amazing job Ian.
I haven't even looked at trying to get all the goods....more playing it as a kind of sandbox with no victory conditions. If I manage somehow to conquer all of the British Isles I will call it a day for this campaign but it's more likely a Gus style rebellion will collapse things from within as with all the extra territories a lot won't have governors.
Good luck with Athens.... You like a challenge :)
'Gus like rebellion' :-[
Quote from: Ian C on December 20, 2022, 01:41:19 PM
I started a new campaign on normal difficulty with no buffs as Byzantium. Honestly, too many provinces to contend with in my early career so I settled for a 1 province Duchy of Athens.
Venice declared war so I signed non-aggression pacts with its friends and succeeded in allying Bulgaria. I built a fairly good army just in time to crush a rebellion led by a Spy and they signed peace.
Couldn't keep the army at full strength after war though, as the drain on food was significant.
It's going to be a long, long game and I'm looking forward to the challenge. At some point I might try a giant like Byzantium again but not until I know I can repeat my earlier success on a normal difficulty.
Well, choosing a one-province nation with a peaceful strategy was a mistake on normal difficulty. Nicea eventually laid siege and I was destroyed. It's an interesting learning experience.
Another big update today.......
General
• Improved the way the Papacy assigns cardinals, fixing an issue where no cardinals were left in late-game scenarios. Papal states should now aim to have at least two cardinals in its court and consider lower-level clerics, when no others are available.
• There is now a guaranteed period (of around 10 minutes) at the start of each new king's rule, during which he may not get married automatically.
• Added a relationship penalty when breaking royal ties with a kingdom (through audience).
• "Claim caliphate" is now unavailable for vassalized kingdoms.
• "Spy murder", "Hunting Incident" and "Kill the King" plots now get cancelled when the action's target gets imprisoned.
• The "Inspire rebellion" spy plot is now disabled for AI kingdoms at the beginning of a new game (time depending on to the difficulty level).
• New Journey opportunities no longer arise for scholars when they are already on a journey.
• Achievements are now disabled when playing the game with modded files.
• Multiplayer is now possible between players having different mods, as long as they're text-only (no defs/maps modded).
Tactical battles
• Tweaked the AI behavior of army leaders, making them less aggressive when winning decisively.
• Army leader squads retreat chance is now equal on all difficulty levels. Likeliness of retreat is increased when they are low on health.
• Fleeing squads now find a safer spot to retreat.
• Siege equipment now usually spawns at the back lines of an army (only spawning in front during assault battles).
Balance
• Reduced cost of "Village Militia" upgrades "Training Grounds" and "Town Watch", as well as "Rituals" upgrade in "Shrines".
• "Training Grounds" now produces Levies in town
• "Town Watch" now increases Siege Defense in town
• "Hostage Towers" now produces Levies in town and Gold per castle. Removed increased prison capacity effect.
UX / MISC
• Added additional indication for defeated players in multilayer menu.
• Crusader armies now give full world view visibility (fog of war vision and path arrows) to the kingdom which owns the crusade leader. Path arrows remain hidden for all other kingdoms.
• Health bars in tactical battles now take into account the maximum manpower of squads, not the manpower they have upon starting a battle.
• Added information about how much a merchant is gaining from their trade in the trade expedition preparation tooltip.
• Added separate tutorial messages (and hotspots, while holding down ALT) for province loyalty and local stability.
• Added visual differences to town icon states in province overview UI, for when a province is occupied/under siege.
• CTRL + clicking a kingdom in the scoreboard (top-right corner) opens audience with them, same as clicking on their coat of arms.
• Passive books and piety bonuses from clerics in court are now shown in their character tooltips.
• Diplomacy responses tweaked, so AI kingdoms state reasons for accepting and denying peace offers/demands more often.
• Credits may now be not only paused, but also resumed, when clicking on them.
Audio
• Added a sound effect when someone writes in lobby chat.
• Dragging/swapping units in armies' UI now plays the proper hire sound for the corresponding troop.
• Added voice lines for when an army leader dies in tactical battle and that doesn't end the battle.
• Fixed an issue, preventing characters greeting you, when being clicked while political view is active.
• Fixes wrong voice lines playing when manually cancelling a knight's action in multiplayer.
• Changing the game's text language no longer auto changes the audio language (if there is no corresponding one).
• Fixed an issue causing the voice line for enemies fleeing (in tactical battles) when player squads were fleeing.
• Fixed a wrong voice line being played when ransoming a prisoner, as well as inviting an exiled prisoner to your royal court.
• Foreign characters no longer greet you when you select them (for example, through messages).
• Fixed a missing voice line when your king's squad dies in the tactical battle and the battle keeps going.
Fixes
General
• Additional fixes were made to invalid resolutions being set, which led to odd behavior/crashes.
• Updated end game screens to properly support wide-screen resolution.
• Multiple text fixes and improvements.
• Fixed Edinburgh's province name.
• Fixed a bug where, special characters (Pope/Patriarch) were no longer aging after becoming "Important relatives".
• Improved mini map behavior when dragging near the corners.
• Fixed a bug where players could start with a random kingdom that is larger than the goal for Peasant Rush.
• Fixed an unresolved text in the province resources tooltips (during disorder).
• Fixed pope actions not leading to any relationship changes.
• New scholar journeys can no longer be activated via the new opportunity message, while the scholar is already on a journey. A general fix to other similar actions was done as well.
• Fixed Emperor of the World AI sometimes voting instantly.
• Fixes to loyalist rebellions declaring independence to properly restore a destroyed kingdom they are loyal to.
• Fixed the Negotiate Peace Diplomat action something stopping without a reason.
• Fixed a visual issue with the religion window, leading to the pope's portrait and status being displayed while the papacy is destroyed.
• Fixed an issue with knight statuses not updating properly after successfully performing the "Puppet Switch Sides" plot.
• Fixed issues with certain campaign rules not staying the same, when you create a new campaign from an existing save file.
• The "Gain province loyalty" action may no longer be performed by two clerics at once.
• Fixed the "Vassalize" spy plot to properly transfer the vassals of the targeted kingdom to the spy's kingdom.
• Fixed visual glitches with tutorial highlights in certain non-standard resolutions.
• The "Toggle score panel" hotkey now also works in single player.
• Fixed the Rotate left/right control options being mirrored incorrectly in preferences.
• Fixed text instances where key binding references were broken, if corresponding key bindings were left empty.
• Fixed an issue, causing a province feature (Cattle or Horses) sometimes to be shown in the province of Epirus (the town of Arta), when they were not available.
• Fixed an issue with the Change Religion action in the Religion and Culture window, showing progress from previous campaigns.
• Fixed a bug with crusade-formed kingdoms being able to become vassals to other kingdoms, that are already vassals.
• Fixed unite quests not working for kingdoms that were defeated at the start of a campaign (which includes provinces which can be restored by rebels/crusaders).
• Fixed the crusade ended message not appearing if the crusade's target is defeated by a rebellion.
• Fixed a bug where the "Dead character" status tooltip keeps refreshing after being shown.
Armies and Battles
• Fixed a case with AI army standing still when they could be helping with a siege or helping against rebels.
• The AI in world view should now properly consider its squads' health, when determining if its armies are weak or not.
• Fixes to army AI in world view, causing them to return to their town quickly after exiting it (caused by incorrectly calculating threats in the province).
• Tweaks to how troops choose enemies to fight in tactical battles. Cavalry units should now correctly target archers that are running away.
• Bonuses to unit attributes are now shown when hiring them in army/garrison. Also fixed issues related to that, such as not visualizing ranged defense correctly.
• Bonuses to squad defense from siege defense are now only added in simulated siege/assault.
• Fixed the friendly fire reduction effect from certain skills/traditions to work properly.
• Fixed battle estimation not being recalculated properly when the battle type changes.
• Fixed province occupation events incorrectly being called by the many different settlements in a province - fixes multiple nobility drops on realm occupation.
• Fixed heal cost for garrison squads that were hired from mercenaries.
• Fixed wrong heal cost being shown in garrison tooltip (wasn't including level cost increase).
• Fixed battle nameplates sometimes showing numbers/circular frames in multiplayer, after a pillage battle is over and pillage is already in progress.
• Fixed a rare bug leading to cavalry squads standing in front of a gate and not attacking it.
• Fixes to faulty rotations of ships during battles in worldview.
• When a reinforcing army backs out of a fight and a second army is standing by, it will now enter the battle as new reinforcing army.
• Improvements to the rotation of archers in tactical battles when they are about to shoot and change target.
• When an army leader dies in tactical battle, he is now guaranteed to also die in worldview as well (previously, there was a chance for him to be imprisoned afterwards, disregarding the outcome of the battle).
• When mercenaries finish a battle in water and have to heal, they should now properly travel to the nearest shore to do so.
• Fixed cases in which crusader armies were accidentally entering another realm, while on their way to their target, and then getting side-tracked by attacking other targets. This could cause the crusader army to stray away from the crusade target indefinitely.
• Fixed the attack bonus for leading a jihad not taking affect. Affected armies should now be properly buffed by it.
• Fixed issues with the game not pausing during tactical battle tutorials in certain cases.
• Fixed refresh issues with the army morale tooltip.
• Fixes to armies accidentally going outside the map boundaries in world view.
• Improvements to squad movement in tactical battles, fixing issues with squads speeding up briefly when ordered to move to a location near their current one, while they're already moving. Now, they should retain their speed (increasing it only when ordered to run/charge or when changing direction more drastically).
• Fixed an issue with town gates in tactical battles being restored to full health if they were previously destroyed via the "Open the gates" spy plot and then hit by a catapult during battle.
• Fixed issues with inability to reveal the destination of a squad that's been ordered to move via the CTRL + LMB drag command (when revealing squad commands by holding a button).
• Fixed rare issues with black spots appearing on the terrain on tactical battles.
• Fixed a bug where the fortification upgrade icon did not clear out when you tab to a province with an ongoing battle.
• Fixed an issue with squad levels (stars) sometimes not showing up in squad icons.
Multiplayer
• Fixed a bug where the "Co-op" turns to "Free for all", when victory conditions are met and one of the players leaves the campaign.
• Fixed visual issues with player/team indications in multiplayer lobbies, causing non-valid team members to be shown after changing team rules.
• Fixed UI issues when a player disconnects and host migration happens, resulting in broken screen visuals for a few seconds (mainly odd artefacts and transparency issues).
• Fixed response from host to client for Burn Food Reserves spy action (clients weren't getting proper update of the food amount in the sieged castle/town).
• Potential fix for client/host mismatch whether an army is inside or outside of a town.
• Fixed an issue with clients in multiplayer campaigns not receiving resource-related patriarch bonuses.
Quote from: Ian C on December 21, 2022, 07:53:43 AM
Quote from: Ian C on December 20, 2022, 01:41:19 PM
Well, choosing a one-province nation with a peaceful strategy was a mistake on normal difficulty. Nicea eventually laid siege and I was destroyed. It's an interesting learning experience.
Commiserations !
Unlike in the Paradox games I think conquering the world as a one province minor will be pretty much impossible (thankfully !)
I just got persuaded to attack England again by supporting Norway's attack and thinking I could pick up Munster and complete the Scottish occupation of Ireland and maybe pick up Warwick as well the Scottish Marshals marched south. This time however the English armies were no longer on the continent and I was in some trouble as rebellions in Ulster and Dublin kept the two Scottish armies in Ireland and Wales busy and the two armies matching south were forced to retreat to Newcastle and both were captured. Just as it looked like England would take Newcastle back as the garrison reduced, Norway managed to force England into a peace and the war was over......phew. Lesson learned as I had to pay 4000 gold to get my Marshall's back. :hide:
My diplomat is now working on a formal attack plan so that in round 3 hopefully both Noway and a very strong Castile can join in simultaneously..... :knuppel2:
I could have told you all about trying out as a one-province nation. RIP Bosnia and Ragusa.
I haven't seen an update pop up yet...looks like it appeared just a few minutes ago. Ah it just popped up. Grim is faster than Steam!!
Still deciding whether it's worth salvaging Moldavia or if I should just forget about it and move on to a new campaign. Did not get a chance to play last night.
Quote from: Gusington on December 21, 2022, 10:04:01 AM
I could have told you all about trying out as a one-province nation. RIP Bosnia and Ragusa.
I haven't seen an update pop up yet...looks like it appeared just a few minutes ago. Ah it just popped up. Grim is faster than Steam!!
Still deciding whether it's worth salvaging Moldavia or if I should just forget about it and move on to a new campaign. Did not get a chance to play last night.
New Campaign Gus !!
You know you want to :) I have learnt so much during this Scottish run and can see I have made a ton of mistakes with my development and usage of Knights so although I am having an absuolut blast and will carry it through until my likely demise I am already looking forward to a new run :-)
The patch is great (the mis-spelling of Edinburgh had been annoying me :) )
Quote from: devoncop on December 21, 2022, 09:59:07 AM
Commiserations !
Unlike in the Paradox games I think conquering the world as a one province minor will be pretty much impossible (thankfully !)
I just got persuaded to attack England again by supporting Norway's attack and thinking I could pick up Munster and complete the Scottish occupation of Ireland and maybe pick up Warwick as well the Scottish Marshals marched south. This time however the English armies were no longer on the continent and I was in some trouble as rebellions in Ulster and Dublin kept the two Scottish armies in Ireland and Wales busy and the two armies matching south were forced to retreat to Newcastle and both were captured. Just as it looked like England would take Newcastle back as the garrison reduced, Norway managed to force England into a peace and the war was over......phew. Lesson learned as I had to pay 4000 gold to get my Marshall's back. :hide:
My diplomat is now working on a formal attack plan so that in round 3 hopefully both Noway and a very strong Castile can join in simultaneously..... :knuppel2:
Did you know that refusing to attack nations doesn't result in any penalty hit with the asking nation? I refuse all the time.
I've not used the 'Formal Attack Plan' action yet. I'm guessing it gives buffs ?
Quote from: Gusington on December 21, 2022, 10:04:01 AM
I could have told you all about trying out as a one-province nation. RIP Bosnia and Ragusa.
I learned my lesson. This opening * might * be successful if I were to rush-invade some surrounding cities early on to expand quickly. I might try it.
Hi Ian
I did realise there would have been no penalty in refusing Norway but in the first Scotland/Norway v England war the English armies were almost all fighting the Norwegians in mainland Europe (Norway has expanded west as far as the Low countries). As a result I took Ulster, Gwynned and Newcastle from them before they sued for peace.
Sadly in the second Scotland/Norway v England war the English armies rather unsportingly decided to concentrate on the Scots :pullhair:. The only good thing was that as a rsult the Norwegians made gains v England forcing them to accept a peace from Norway before they had time to take back Newcastle whose garrison just held on long enough
.
I haven't visited the British Isles in any of my campaigns yet to see the misspelling of Edinburgh hahaha.
A brand new campaign sounds logical but seeing Moldavia to the very bitter end may be good for laffs and perhaps I will learn something. Probably not but I can dream.
One thing I am growing not to like is the lack of time recording - since it's real time there is no mention of what year the campaign is in. Or seasons for that matter. I always loved that about the TW series.
^I've noticed that too about no date display in game. Would be nice to have for flavor purposes but I suppose they left date keeping out of the game due to it's sandbox nature.
They could also probably implement some kind of seasons system but it would probably get more annoying than charming.
Another great guide focusing on the military:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2902155317
Had to install GOG Galaxy in order to update my game! No update files had been posted to the download section since game was released. Bastards.
Had to watcch some videos. Aragon declared war on me and couldn't figure out how to create an army but saw it in a video.
Thanks for the above, Ian - it will aid in my ongoing struggle.
Quote from: Gusington on December 23, 2022, 02:17:25 PM
Thanks for the above, Ian - it will aid in my ongoing struggle.
You're welcome. Mine too. I'm diving in again...
:bd: I'm still in the last throes of my Moldavian campaign. One province left. Either because I chose easy difficulty or I am just proficient enough to survive, the campaign has not ended yet.
Quote from: Gusington on December 23, 2022, 05:31:18 PM
:bd: I'm still in the last throes of my Moldavian campaign. One province left. Either because I chose easy difficulty or I am just proficient enough to survive, the campaign has not ended yet.
It's the Knights of St John and Malta all over again :).
But less romantic? And more...Eastern.
Campaign finally ended. That was so painful. I think I have absorbed some knowledge of the workings of this game but damn if it is not totally unforgiving. I am going to take a breather for now, but I don't want to step away too long where I forget everything I took in by osmosis here.
Are you all starting campaigns with big stacks of gold? I did learn that I should have been doing that and started all three of my campaigns with literally no gold and built up wealth from zero, which is probably the most major factor in my struggle learning this game.
Towards the end, I rebuilt up my economy enough where I was able to start importing a few things, upgrade my infrastructure and build an army, but I again found myself with only one province. I invaded Vinnytsia to attempt to take back my home province but they were allied with Hungary, who promptly swooped in and destroyed me. Finally.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132426363917/6834AD63799BF0578FA5D07043AA9057A6068BB9/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
I guess you just don't have a Cluj how to play! :D
I'm going to try a bigger country this time. My brief stint with Navarro was doomed when three larger countries declared on me. But a got a partial feel for the superficial workings of the game. Really need to plan my building choices.
:-[
Actually you have a much better Cluj than I do. I had to go watch a video just to create an army!
Doing ok so far with Genoa
I've entered the great power list, am number 1 for trade and commerce and domination
My armies are feared across the land despite only taking on Venice and Sardinia - lots of defensive pacts have been signed against me
Germany has been excommunicated and is full of rebels but still expanding and Hungary is massive
Quote from: Gusington on December 28, 2022, 05:30:32 PMI think I have absorbed some knowledge of the workings of this game but damn if it is not totally unforgiving.
I am firmly of the opinion that 'Normal' Difficulty is 'Hard' and 'Easy' difficulty is in fact 'Normal'.
^This alleviates the self-dread and negative waves that the game was beginning to produce for me. That and Bob's Cluj revision above :)
Now to pick another kingdom to play as. Is it cheating if I start with 20k in gold or is that standard operating procedure for you fellers?
And 'Geek, in summary, what is the secret to your success here? Please don't say 'git gud.'
I need KoH2 but I need to not suck!
I'm unsure - I'm on normal difficulty
So far I've only attacked single province places with no alliances to anyone else
I have 2 marshalls and 2 armies with about 7000 in all - 4 spearmen, 2 archers, 2 swordsmen x2
I'm not interested in the RTS battle game - all auto
Sieges have been the hardest where I've run out of supplies long before men but that was without the siege engine equipped or the extra supplies wagon that I now see
One army has a heavy spearman and heavy sword recruited at a mercenary camp
I'm about 465 money every 'turn' - this has just come from trade and commerce - you need at least 2 merchants to set up a really good market and then boost that market when the message comes up to do so but you have to have the commerce spare - this comes from driving as deep as possible into some of the paths - docks, shipyards, admiralty, brings sail making, map making all kinds of commerce and unique trade goods people will want
Quote from: Gusington on December 29, 2022, 12:42:48 PM
Now to pick another kingdom to play as. Is it cheating if I start with 20k in gold or is that standard operating procedure for you fellers?
Easy Difficulty with 20K gold is my new default.
I am playing on Easy difficulty (concur with Ian C that it should be considered as normal difficulty for this game).
No extra gold and just standard settings including historical set ups though if I got a Spy as leader I would probably customise the initial leader as Marshal,Merchant or diplomat)
I ignore the victory conditions and just set my own....for Scotland it was obviously to unify the British Isles.
Thanks guys. Since my first three games have been brutal without any gold, gonna start my next campaign on easy, with some gold (probably 20k) and pick a kingdom with 2-3 starting provinces. I am also going to attempt to refrain from getting involved in any wars unless provoked. I have not played out any battles myself, as 'Geek mentions above...too busy on the strategic map. Will peruse the late era (1360) map later tonight.
Actually it's about 8000 gold with a Very High treasury start, at least if you play England at the late starting date.
^Ok I can live with that. I never earned more than 3000 at any one time in any of my first three campaigns yet.
And appropriately that is my 50,000th post. I knew I felt different.
Quote from: Gusington on December 29, 2022, 05:25:52 PM
And appropriately that is my 50,000th post. I knew I felt different.
And so Gus was ascended. Some say he grew a full inch taller that day, but when he rushed to fair, he was still too short to ride the ride.
The disappointment was palpable. It was then that Gus decided to use his powers not for good, but for evil.
;D
Does anyone know what happens to the army of your king leading them dies
My current martial king is looking decidedly wobbly and he has a good army with him
I know when I accidentally let a martial go with 2 squads they disappeared too
^I've had entire armies become mercenaries and I've had entire armies become rebels. I've seen fire and rain.
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 30, 2022, 08:31:07 AM
Does anyone know what happens to the army of your king leading them dies
My current martial king is looking decidedly wobbly and he has a good army with him
I know when I accidentally let a martial go with 2 squads they disappeared too
I think they disappear.
To avoid losing armies with a Marshal, march your army into a couple of cities and drag-and-drop the units onto the garrison spots there.
^I have actually done that and can testify that it does work.
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 30, 2022, 08:31:07 AM
Does anyone know what happens to the army of your king leading them dies
I think they stay in the city if the king dies in the city.
I think I am going to play as Austria next...two provinces, 'easy' difficulty, with a goodly amount of starting gold. Standard victory conditions, nothing fancy for a minor victory. Keeping spy operations and influence 'full' as well.
Quote from: Gusington on December 30, 2022, 10:11:05 PM
I think I am going to play as Austria next...two provinces, 'easy' difficulty, with a goodly amount of starting gold. Standard victory conditions, nothing fancy for a minor victory. Keeping spy operations and influence 'full' as well.
I am going to take Austria as well with the same settings except just the starting amount of gold. It will be interesting to see how the AI differs in its approach against us :-).
I suspect the fact Austria is surrounded by potential enemies will make it tougher than Scotland but we shall see.
^I'm used to the whole 'surrounded by enemies' thing...in life as in KoH2.
I am choosing a 'high' amount of gold as opposed to 'normal' or 'very high'...is that equal to the 8000 crowns that Ian mentioned above?
Thinking back to the Total War games, at the start of most campaigns the player gets a big stash of gold to start out, like 5000 or 8000, so by not doing that I was really shooting myself in the foot.
Excited to start as Austria! Could be epic. And those could be some very poignant last words a week from now :)
I just noticed Austria starts as a vassal of Germany in both the 1200's and the 1300's start and does not exist in the 1100's start :(
That could be really tricky but I will give it a go as the 1300's start and try and aim for independence and to make a break from Germany mid to long term if I last that long....
Me too - not sure how much the vassalage will hurt or hinder me...could be cool to see how we both do.
Quote from: undercovergeek on December 30, 2022, 08:31:07 AM
Does anyone know what happens to the army of your king leading them dies
My current martial king is looking decidedly wobbly and he has a good army with him
I know when I accidentally let a martial go with 2 squads they disappeared too
I'll have to double check my game but my when my king died, who was a marshal with some units, he was in a city. The troops remained in the city and I just transferred them to another marshal.
Ok I lied and took Croatia. However I must have learned some skillz because my campaign is going swimmingly after a couple of hours...I'm even in the top rankings for making serious coin! Glad I stuck with this and did not quit in a nerdrage.
Wow I really have turned my game around here. :dreamer:
And in a strange twist, all of my military success has been against Austria as Croatia in this campaign, in what has amounted to be a general European war against Austria and Germany, allied with Ragusa, Bosnia, Bavaria, Naples, Venice and Hungary.
And the cash keeps rolling in. Finally.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132447716293/9ABAE0D35DBE7CA1066832F9536290486D8140C6/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132447716166/DC932BC6F55236246E3D93DE32A524408CA91DB0/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Is that -8 with the armies happiness
What have you done?? 😂
I didn't use them enough, they were antsy. I took two provinces away from Austria and they are down to only Vienna now, so I have four provinces of my own. I also set up a minor victory condition of earning 20,000 gold which now seems doable. This game is so much more fun when I can actually 'git gud.'
Damn it feels good to be a gangsta.
Doing nicely there Gus :bd:
My Austrian game could end the same way for Austria as in your game. Starting with default cash meant no money for a barracks as yet so the diplomats are having to work overtime.
Have a non aggression pact with Croatia but Hungary and Germany hate each other so I am likely to be the meat in the sandwich I fear.
^Yeah I wonder if there is a hard-coded hatred programmed into the AI between Hungary and Germany.
As you can see I got caught in the same situation but lucked out to be on the more winning side. I have more allies coming to my aid in this game than in the others combined, by a long shot.
Next game I may make a minor victory condition through claiming 5 provinces, that sounds fun. I do like the variety of options available so the campaigns don't go on forever.
Hungary and Germany are great big lovers in my game - it's a powerful band right across Central Europe
That's a healthy economy you have their Gus. Seems like you're short on food though. You must have a large standing army.
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 02, 2023, 09:02:25 AM
Hungary and Germany are great big lovers in my game - it's a powerful band right across Central Europe
Good to hear.
The replayability in this game is amazing.
They've both been excommunicated and have massive internal trouble with rebels but any country who tries to take advantage of their situation loses and they are both expanding
^Since you mention that, Germany has been excommunicated by multiple Popes in my current game and with the Vatican's blessing, I have been dismantling Austria, little brother of Germany. That has probably helped.
W8 yeah I have two large 'stacks' and healthy garrisons at my cities, which helps put down pesky Austrians when needed. I am just elated that I have unlocked the part of my brain that is starting to understand the interlocking economic relationships. Still trying to acquire salt, though :/
Agreed on the replayability of KoH2 but I wonder, just like in the Total War games, how different each kingdom/faction really is...
Yup trade for specific items is the one thing I'm stuck on - needed wine, France has wine, set up a trade agreement and sent a merchant - I can import horses or beef - no idea where the wine is - I don't know if they haven't built the buildings for it or are using it for themselves - I have found a nice corner of Spain with no allies or friends who have grapes so they might be my next conquest
Unsure how morale and supplies are affected by a sea journey from Genoa to north west Spain and then a siege - all exciting stuff to find out
^Heh I started sniffing around for plump provinces that have...out of all things...salt.
You know there's a map filter for it?
I can give you nice as one but use the map filter
Quote from: Gusington on January 01, 2023, 05:02:47 PM
Wow I really have turned my game around here.
Watch your food. Build crop farms in provinces with the most farm settlements and upgrade them. Also, you can assign merchants to import food.
Also watch your armies - you are down to -9 there, not good. Rebellions form when they get really mad and they are not easy to handle.
I got to sit and play for a few blesses hours this afternoon, made enough gold to declare my independence from Hungary (which allows more money to come directly to me) and am now a great power. I've started building heavy armories and if I am patient and collect more coin (20k) I can declare a minor victory. I have cracked the game open! I also wiped Austria and Bosnia from the map, and one of my clerics is the Pope...that's how we scored independence. I even have provinces that are not part of my kingdom, but border on it, taking up my culture.
I have gone from KoH2 zero to KoH2 hero :D
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132453261506/8D3C6281C86F4CBC1FC35ED0DAD517E93764E03D/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132453261408/FC9CC62F56A31FAA9373D2B8A084DF6A4C84B73D/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132453260978/051EEF199121EB5C9DA804B5C3305CB5133D4E69/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132453260853/63AC2CA7EECE447C83241FC2B4A08B00E5A71951/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132453260713/3B78B5B74C3D726DD0AE103020A98AA34833BA55/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Quote from: Gusington on January 02, 2023, 05:22:49 PM
I got to sit and play for a few blesses hours this afternoon, made enough gold to declare my independence from Hungary (which allows more money to come directly to me) and am now a great power. I've started building heavy armories and if I am patient and collect more coin (20k) I can declare a minor victory. I have cracked the game open! I also wiped Austria and Bosnia from the map, and one of my clerics is the Pope...that's how we scored independence. I even have provinces that are not part of my kingdom, but border on it, taking up my culture.
I have gone from KoH2 zero to KoH2 hero :D
What a triumph! And to have the Pope under your wing - I've not encountered that myself yet.
When it all clicks it's great. It's even better the next game, because even on the same difficulty level, depending on which nation you choose, there's still plenty of challenge. I tried England and that was a deep, epic game and it wore me out in a fun way. Really got me thinking about diplomacy, war and economy. Dont forget espionage. Spies can really swing it your way (one opened the gates of a city in a critical siege and turned the war in my favour). Byzantium is also huge with many provinces and that's a challenge I may accept in a future game. Like everyone says, the replay value is great.
^Definitely. I really wanted to love this game and am very glad I stuck with it until that clicking point. I'm now confident I will get 100s if not 1000s of hours from it, easily. Replay here is infinite.
Are you sticking with Normal/Easy for now? The big factor that really helped me was the initial amount of gold I had. Not having any is very crippling and almost impossible to overcome.
Also does anyone know what to do with excess books and piety? All of my marshals are maxed out and my book supply is just languishing, as is my piety, as you can see in the shots above. Can I cash them in somehow?
Played a blinder there Gus . Great job.
It is an absolute blast this game . My Austrian run shows it is definitely possible to enjoy the game with the default amount of gold, you just need to play very carefully early on and try to butter everyone up. :).....that is of course on easy difficulty...
Austria is still playing a delicately duplicitous diplomatic game and has managed to jump in on the winning side in the latest Germany v Hungary bloodbath and I now have the Hungarian King and a Marshall rotting in a Vienna dungeon after an epic 6000 v 6000 battle outside Pec in the Hungarian borderlands....
Quote from: Gusington on January 02, 2023, 08:46:44 PM
Also does anyone know what to do with excess books and piety? All of my marshals are maxed out and my book supply is just languishing, as is my piety, as you can see in the shots above. Can I cash them in somehow?
Increase Crown Authority (click on the crown icon top left, also costs gold) and you'll get a bunch of buffs.
Another part of the game strategy is to hire & fire Knights. In peacetime there's no real point to having 3 Marshals. Painful as it is to fire fully-levelled-up Marshals, more Merchants, Spies or Diplomats will open up peacetime opportunities to increase trade and gold, do some political intrigue and find new allies as well as undermining some potential enemies. Hiring/firing is a juggling process with considered risks and potentially huge benefits. Peacetime espionage can weaken or even overthrow your rivals or potential future targets. Levelled-up Spies are quite powerful. Diplomacy/Espionage/Trade is a game-within-a-game and takes a little while to master it but as I mentioned, the benefits can be huge. Fully-levelled-up Diplomats and Spies can work wonders.
Choose a Tradition (click the crown, bottom left). Costs 1000 gold and 400 books. Only selectable after a knight learns a skill to level 3. Gives signifiant buffs.
(https://i.postimg.cc/Qdq4Z6X5/20230103115200-1.jpg)
^Ah thanks Ian and devon - so crown authority can be increased with books as well as gold? That's pretty awesome. I have selected 1-2 traditions for my kingdom so far, mostly generalist stuff like 'strategery' :) - this part of the game is deceptively deep.
I play and think very defensively...I never thought to aggressively use my uber spies. Same with uber diplomats. I also use my marshals in peacetime to crush rebellions - in this game it has been pretty effective. I have three right now.
I enjoy rolling in the gold coming in so many times I pass up operations that diplomats or spies are offered to keep the money for other things.
I cannot express enough how satisfying it has been to learn this game. After the initial nerd rage, having things click was a great gaming moment...it really changed my mood.
Quote from: Gusington on January 03, 2023, 09:47:06 AM
^Ah thanks Ian and devon - so crown authority can be increased with books as well as gold? That's pretty awesome. I have selected 1-2 traditions for my kingdom so far, mostly generalist stuff like 'strategery' :) - this part of the game is deceptively deep.
I play and think very defensively...I never thought to aggressively use my uber spies. Same with uber diplomats. I also use my marshals in peacetime to crush rebellions - in this game it has been pretty effective. I have three right now.
I enjoy rolling in the gold coming in so many times I pass up operations that diplomats or spies are offered to keep the money for other things.
I cannot express enough how satisfying it has been to learn this game. After the initial nerd rage, having things click was a great gaming moment...it really changed my mood.
No, piety and gold for Crown Authority, not books.
You can do neat cold-war strategies like cause unrest in a kingdom using spies, and the nation will be frozen dealing with rebels. Rebels are the bane of Normal Difficulty for me. I read on STEAM that a player used only Spies, Merchants and Diplomats and achieved a lot. That's one of the great things about this game, you can approach it many ways, using many strategies.
^Ah ok on the crown authority.
Rebels have been pretty baneful for me on easy difficulty!!
you have rebel prisoners - click on them and convince them to start a rebel army in a province of your choice
^Too late, I killed them. KNEEL BEFORE ME
:)
that works too - i tried the other way thinking it would be anonymous - bavaria was not happy
^I think Bavaria would be a great campaign...have to remember them.
I don't usually go for killing my prisoners willy/nilly, but if they mouth off it's off with their heads.
Don't give me lip when I'm trying to decide what to do with you, son.
The 'oh no you didn't' has got me into trouble on more than one occasion in crusader kings and total war and hopefully KoH too
^I like your style. I also like how neighboring kingdoms in KoH2 are like 'BREH WTF' hahaha :D
Always handy when the popes on your side tho - well done on that
'Geek that was totally unexpected...full disclosure I don't even know how it happened or if I could make it happen again.
17:15 - ill fire up KoH and see what i need to do
23:30 - sees Gus start playing KoH and sees the time - hip has seized ive been locked in the same position so long
Tonight i expanded into Savoy, Compostella, Barcelona and Florence and just as i was wondering what the hell to do next the King of Naples died leaving me a claim on his lands and i inherited Bologna and Naples
I have more land than knight slots and dont know who to give what
^Hahaha...WINNING
I actually am now doing well enough to take a vote on World Emperor...I lost, by not too much...but who would have thunk it a week ago?? Frickin' Mali and Rostov spoiled my party.
A massive rebellion has not reached me yet but is tearing Italy apart, btw.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132459116745/E5ED799C2DD776EE48274CB2C8B1A86F5B2092F1/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
i lost in mine too to a muslim guy in spain - all the other muslims refused to support him but wouldnt give me their vote - im 5 points away from been able to click the claim victory button but i think ill leave it and see what happens with spain and germany
it seems whoever gets picked to go on the crusade can give themselves masses of land, croatia, hungary and sicily have all led a crusade in europe against europeans and now they have a massive presence to my north
One thing thats annoying me is the downward spiral with the pope asking me to attack germany which is so much bigger than me, i say no, -1 with the clerics, request comes in again, -1 with the clerics, round and round - id also like to see some kind of 'thanks genoa for not attacking us' from germany and a boost to that relationship, i could see eventually Germany saying 'hey lets fk the pope, get your armies and let us go sort him out'
^Yeah me too with the Pope...in all these type of games the Pope always seems to be hardwired as a total pain in the ass hahaha...
...even if he's your Pope!
Quote from: undercovergeek on January 03, 2023, 08:43:05 PM
it seems whoever gets picked to go on the crusade can give themselves masses of land, croatia, hungary and sicily have all led a crusade in europe against europeans and now they have a massive presence to my north
If you accept to lead, you also get to keep some of the most powerful unit types in the game.
Arse!
Super powered Sicily is not what I need
^Maybe it is and you have not realized it yet.
I led a crusade to some province in Anatolia, can't remember the name, but lost :/
But it was at the beginning of my current Croatian meteoric rise to power so meh.
Cash money <:-)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/5100921132464698157/38398DB9E89CAB9653024F83985A93F74DFAAC80/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Well done!
Thanks - I think I am most excited about that after being flummoxed by the economics of this game in my first two campaigns :)
:bd: Minor economic victory! <:-)
My question now is should I immediately start a new campaign now that I have some grasp of the mechanics, or take break?
Map of Greater Croatia below.
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2035097135959685787/01B995C55863A570C2665C2A2471E1C910360554/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/2035097135959685388/EFA5799DB6B88E7B5F8139D459606930408BECAC/?imw=5000&imh=5000&ima=fit&impolicy=Letterbox&imcolor=%23000000&letterbox=false)
Quote from: Gusington on January 06, 2023, 10:03:18 PM
:bd: Minor economic victory! <:-)
My question now is should I immediately start a new campaign now that I have some grasp of the mechanics, or take break?
Congratulations! I just had my second win with the Kingdom Advantages victory.
After completing my last campaign I spent several days away from it. It's a great game. A classic I will play in years to come, but it's a Time Vampire. Parts of the day vanish.
It is definitely a time vampire. I'm taking a few days' break from it but I'm already thinking about which faction I will play next and how I will customize the campaign parameters. It's a nice Total War alternative.
Please delete.
Anyone play any Muslim factions yet?
Quote from: Gusington on January 09, 2023, 11:23:15 AM
Anyone play any Muslim factions yet?
Nope. After my English campaign I jumped in as Bohemia. I achieved a victory a few hours ago and was just about to throw in the towel when my Queen was assassinated by a Botnian spy, who was also killed in the action. Viken had just formed a defensive pact with Botnia and Poland (who I was on great terms with). I couldn't let this outrage pass, declared war on Botnia, and fought a huge war across eastern Europe, took most of Poland, signed a separate peace with Viken and Vassilzed Botnia.
Just when you try to quit, the game reels you back in...
(https://i.postimg.cc/C5rp7tr8/20230109162439-1.jpg)
^Wow you have a lot of gold there, man.
Bohemia is on my short list to play after I try a Muslim kingdom.
Quote from: Gusington on January 09, 2023, 01:33:31 PM
^Wow you have a lot of gold there, man.
Bohemia is on my short list to play after I try a Muslim kingdom.
Vassals are providing two thirds of that income. Aragon alone gives over 500 gold.
I think you have the financial game figured out.
Quote from: Gusington on January 09, 2023, 01:43:59 PM
I think you have the financial game figured out.
Population = Gold. Grow your population. Do trade. Expand trade. When an enemy is close to defeat, sign a peace, keep the land you took but Vasselize them = steady income.
The most important method of helping you decide what are the most effective things to build in a province is to
choose your developments based on the province's settlements, features and natural resorces (see pic ). This is really important to maximizing your output of gold, food, levy size etc.
If your province has 1 or more farmlands, build food-producing developments.
1 or more villages, means more population. Consider Markets or Housings, or both.
Build Barracks if the province has good Levy size then pick buildings that increase that Levy size, and so on.
Match your buildings to the province's strengths, and you can't go wrong.
(https://i.postimg.cc/qBsZHf7k/20230109210459-1.jpg)
^Yeah I began matching my buildings to my available natural resources [finally] in the last game. What difficulty are you playing on? Do you start to lose interest in the end game?
Match your buildings to province strength and also match the governor to provinces strength
^Yep I do that too.
Quote from: Gusington on January 09, 2023, 05:36:02 PM
^Yeah I began matching my buildings to my available natural resources [finally] in the last game. What difficulty are you playing on? Do you start to lose interest in the end game?
I've been on easy difficulty for my first two proper games. I did try an earlier game on normal but I wasn't skilled enough so I cut it short. The next one will be on normal difficulty and I'll be prepared for the rebels. I think I'll play it vanilla with no buffs. Standard treasury etc.
The end game -well there's always attempted world domination - which won't be easy. The game has a way of preventing steamrollering across the map with war exhaustion, nations allying against you and a good AI, so it'll be a challenge. I've found war exhaustion to be a good limiter is this case. With heavy war exhaustion your kingdom beings to slowly disintegrate. Uprisings, rebellions etc. You have to rest between major campaigns to allow your society to get back to normal. I've found it to be one of the more realistic games in this respect. In theory you could conquer the world but it may take generations.
Also, you could play around with spies and such and try to achieve other goals like destabilizing rivals.
Speaking of which, I found out there is a number on your King, which signifies his generation. You can find it on his portrait in the Kingdom screen (the one with the crown icon, bottom left).
I got one of my clerics up to the level of a Cardinal (no idea how) but I've not seen one of my Knights become Pope yet. I'd like to know how you achieved this!
^Heh me too...no idea :)
I am tempted to try normal difficulty next campaign, maybe coupled with some additional starting cash?
Quote from: Gusington on January 10, 2023, 09:03:10 AM
^Heh me too...no idea :)
I am tempted to try normal difficulty next campaign, maybe coupled with some additional starting cash?
I don't think extra gold at the start is too much of a buff. Normal difficulty is challenging as it is.
To become Pope I read that your Cleric first has to be a cardinal elect and your Kingdom must have high Piety.
Also, you could kill the other cardinal elects with spies, thought that sounds a bit too Machiavellian for me. Not the way I roll.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/736820/discussions/0/5704402939713623977/
^That makes sense, my piety in my first three games was always very high. Killing the other cardinal elects must be very difficult as well as take a long time. Would be interesting to try.