Crusader Kings II

[endfire79]

So I'm trying to play this stupid game again.  Once again, I'm just sitting with my thumb up my arse, waiting, and waiting, and waiting for my idiot flunky to fabricate a claim so I can go to war.  Started the game in 867ad, it's now 900ad and the idiot still hasn't managed it.  BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

30 yrs goes by fast in this game, suggest you increase the game speed.   Technology grows a lot slower than in the Europa Universalis series; this is the early & late middle ages.

What kingdom (or duchy) are you starting as?

If you want action immediately, then start near the time of the first crusades and answer to papal call to holy war, or play as one of the Muslim principalities fending off the knights who said ni  :)
Alternatively, you can play as one of the Slavic kingdoms or duchies in east around the time that the Mongols decided they wanted bigger horse pastures (1240's).

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

I started as some unpronounceable Irish tribe and I've now progressed to become the King of Mumu.  It's basically a duchy of 3 areas.  I think it's all up now though because the original guy just snuffed it.  His son's got very little prestige and no standing with the 3 bishops who are his vassals.  The Vikings just showed up with 7,000 guys against my 1,100 personal levies.  The bishops won't raise any troops because they're more loyal to the Pope and I don't have enough prestige to raise the tribal army.

[endfire79]

Ah vikings.  Guaranteed to ruin a day. Is this pre 900?

[Silent Disapproval Robot]

907 or something like that.

[jejo68]

if you want action from the get go, start as viking  :)

[endfire79]

Those are the times where the Vikings are at the advantage. You can also switch to the Byzantine realms, where you have threats from multiple fronts.

[JasonPratt]

Or Persia. So very screwed, yet large enough to not necessarily be screwed from every single direction.

[MengJiao]

I've always favored Brittany as a good beginner realm. Nice, manageable number of vassals and territories. Independent duke ("petty king" technically), so you can aspire to establish a true kingdom. Not too hard to stay on good terms with France and England, playing them off against one another to avoid conquest by either. Some nice realms in Ireland you can conquer by fabricating claims.

  Burgundy in 759 was pretty good, I thought.  I just sorta did whatever it seemed Charlemagne would like and did okay.  Maybe I'll go back to Burgundy after the patch and see what's what.  I think its about 763 or so.  I had plenty of dubious vassals (my half-brother for example), but my seemingly utterly incompetent spy-master (an 11 in spy mastery as I recall) was very lucky and I kept plenty of people in jail.  As I remember they were all out of jail.  I had some cunning plan where their various ambitions and fiefs somehow kept them all in mutual check.  I took up gardening after some Saxon Pagans nearly killed me.  But I'm okay now.  I think.  Name's Theodoric (or something like that) oddly enough.  I'm a genius and so is my wife.  Naturally we have no children.  The rest is history.

  I got to 782!  Charlemagne is "the Wise" and there's a big movement to make me King of the Franks.  I'm not in any rush.  I have an heir of sorts named Bobo or something.  I try to know as little about him as possible.  What can you do?

[Nefaro]

  I have an heir of sorts named Bobo or something.  I try to know as little about him as possible.  What can you do?

He's probably plotting your death right now, as we speak.  Or one of your close relatives is plotting his death.   >:D


Tough love in CK2.

[MengJiao]

  I have an heir of sorts named Bobo or something.  I try to know as little about him as possible.  What can you do?

He's probably plotting your death right now, as we speak.  Or one of your close relatives is plotting his death.   >:D

Tough love in CK2.

   The Bobo doll was used to test aggression after viewing violent material in the early 1960s.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/23/Bobo_doll-fr.svg/600px-Bobo_doll-fr.svg.png

[republic]

I'm returning to Crusader Kings II after a long break.  Which DLC would you recommend I purchase right away?  Or is it like Hearts of Iron/Victoria where you need them all to get the best experience?

[Nefaro]

I'm returning to Crusader Kings II after a long break.  Which DLC would you recommend I purchase right away?  Or is it like Hearts of Iron/Victoria where you need them all to get the best experience?

You don't need any extra DLC unless you want to play those extra eras or factions.  The core game has been updated to contain all the patches and new stuff along the way.  It's essentially a modular system so compatibility is kept no matter what DLC you have.  The DLCs just allow you to expand the scope of playable factions and times. 

All modern games that regularly market DLC add-ons should use this kind of modular system but not all do so.

[JasonPratt]

Wait, some of the timeframes require requisite DLC, don't they? Namely Old Gods and Charl?

Except that once you have Charl, that only means you can't start at OG bookmarks and thus not with playing whomever is around at that time, you can still play through that time period as whomever you started (maybe picking up the historical figures for your faction along the way) -- if I understand the mechanic correctly.

Similarly, if you don't want to play as an Indian faction, or as a Republic, don't bother with those DLCs; but they'll still be around to play against.

[Yskonyn]

How about starting a collaborative playthrough where each participant is responsible for an X amount of years until the other one takes over the savegame.
Of course this would all be written down in AAR form?

[Barthheart]

How about starting a collaborative playthrough where each participant is responsible for an X amount of years until the other one takes over the savegame.
Of course this would all be written down in AAR form?

That sounds cool... how about a new person takes when ever an heir takes control.....