Crusader Kings 2 Redux

[Razgovory]

The Reign of Bob Johnson of the Seljuk Turks was not a happy one.  Possibly because he was an inbred, imbecilic, hunch backed, dwarf with every disease known to man.  Possibly because he had no redeeming qualities, and somehow managed to epitomize all the Seven Deadly Sins.  Perhaps because he was an English Lollard and the only one of his kind in the entire world and couldn't understand anything said by his vassals, or perhaps because was hated by nearly everyone in the world, even his wife.  Still he managed to sire four dwarfy children before he became utterly incapable and made into a human nut cracker by his regent.  In the end he ruled over only one duchy and died while trying to shit in a bath tub.  Nobody is sure how Bob became ruler Persia, but his mark was felt through out the near east as rebellions against his rule wracked the Holy Land.  Bob was succeeded by his son Larry who would eventually be overthrown by six concurrent wars.  His blood line lives on, as one of his drooling daughters married in to the Royal line of France.  God know why the King of France accepted this offer, though I imagine if the game lasted longer this genetic time bomb would wreak havoc with the Capets.

[Josquius]

King vassals are awesome.  The stakes are super high, and they're totally capable of expanding on their own.  Love it.  Establishing a Byzantine Kingdom of Naples is the first thing I do in almost every Byz game. 

Trouble is they often seem to end up with vassals outside of their natural kingdom.
And when they rebel (sorry to repeat myself) they get that fecking free 100,000 men event.

[The Minsky Moment]

So, Gotland now will be a republic as powerful as Venice or the Hanseatic League.  Of course.

No kidding.
Which of these things is not like the other . . .

[Martinus]

So what's the best way to make money? Doesn't seem like there are many ways to do it directly other than building up (which first takes money).

Depends on who you start as. As a Count it takes ages but as a Duke or a King it's not that bad. You need to get a good Steward and send him to collect taxes in your home province. Try also getting enough direct holdings to fill up your demesne limit (as a Duke, I usually do it by using the Revoke Title plot on my counts). Then with all the gold you get try building the gold-giving buildings (i.e. the village/town/city and the walls you need to expand as a prerequisite) in your holdings, starting with the capital (due to the Steward's bonus).

If your ruler's Stewardship is below 8, use his Ambition to develop that.

If you get prisoners, try ransoming them.

If you are a Count, strip all holdings from your vassals (even cities and bishoprics) until you get enough cash/titles/holdings to just rely on castles.

[Queequeg]

Playing as the Bolgars. Easily the most limited game theremisnon the actual continent of Eurasia in Vanilla. And no way you can survive Mongols. Ever.

[garbon]

Faction system sure makes it easier to take on lieges. My gay king of Serbia was able to rouse half of the Empire for his mother's claim to the throne. My event granted doomstacks steamrolled those of the then Emperor.

[Razgovory]

Playing as the Bolgars. Easily the most limited game theremisnon the actual continent of Eurasia in Vanilla. And no way you can survive Mongols. Ever.

I didn't even know you could play as the Bolgars.  I thought they were pagan.

[Razgovory]

Nope, started up.  They are in fact Sunni.  I could see how playing them would be hard completely surrounded by religious enemies.

[Admiral Yi]

I think it's time for me to pick this game up.

Can someone please tell me the best place/way to buy it?

[Ed Anger]

I like steam. Frequent sales with the downside of slow patching...sometimes.

Or Amazon. Thier downloads are pretty good.

[sbr]

CK2 + DLC is 50% off on Steam at the moment.

[Admiral Yi]

What's DLC?

[Admiral Yi]

Also, never bought anything on Steam.  Is it just a site that downloads games, or is there some weird cloud whatever aspect to it?

[Ed Anger]

Downloadable content. Mini expansions.

Skip the song and faces bullshit. The Islam one lets you play the towelheads and the Rome one adds factions and standing retinues.

[sbr]

Also, never bought anything on Steam.  Is it just a site that downloads games, or is there some weird cloud whatever aspect to it?

It is both.