Crusader Kings 2 Redux

[Valmy]

it's unfortunate the best way to play islam is to kill all your children except for the chosen heir, and imprison every other relative.

LOL can I be: Ottoman Empire?

[LaCroix]

i haven't played enough to be ottoman empire, or even byzantine empire 

still, it seems quite a hassle to play islam. maybe i want to play a muslim nation and have a grand plan for conquest ... and don't want to utterly decimate my bloodline.. without the use of mods or edits. it's impossible! also, removing decadence is ridiculously easy once you've ensured your family line is nearly destroyed

[garbon]

Hmm, started in Alexiad so I'd have weak Fatimids.  They ate up all of Ethiopia, made in-roads into Arabia and recently took Jerusalem. When I saved/exited last night, they had just launched a holy war against me for Achaea.

[Valmy]

Hmm, started in Alexiad so I'd have weak Fatimids.  They ate up all of Ethiopia, made in-roads into Arabia and recently took Jerusalem. When I saved/exited last night, they had just launched a holy war against me for Achaea.

I almost always start Alexiad, a far better starting date IMO, but the Fatimids have never been weak.  They regularly own large swaths of Southern Europe.

[Solmyr]

The fundamental problem is that rulers of large empires are able to gather all their vassals and march them over great distances far too easily. If it was more like IRL, with vassals waging their own little private wars all over the place, and only available for the liege's use for 40 days per year, it would be more difficult to gather doomstacks and take lots of territory.

[garbon]

Hmm, started in Alexiad so I'd have weak Fatimids.  They ate up all of Ethiopia, made in-roads into Arabia and recently took Jerusalem. When I saved/exited last night, they had just launched a holy war against me for Achaea.

I almost always start Alexiad, a far better starting date IMO, but the Fatimids have never been weak.  They regularly own large swaths of Southern Europe.

I should have marched on them instead of Rum at the start.

[Martinus]

Hmm, started in Alexiad so I'd have weak Fatimids.  They ate up all of Ethiopia, made in-roads into Arabia and recently took Jerusalem. When I saved/exited last night, they had just launched a holy war against me for Achaea.

I almost always start Alexiad, a far better starting date IMO, but the Fatimids have never been weak.  They regularly own large swaths of Southern Europe.

I should have marched on them instead of Rum at the start.

Well, I don't think the Alexiad-start Byzantine empire is strong enough to march on Rum, to be honest.

[Faeelin]

Really? In most games I've seen, they swat it easily.

[garbon]

Hmm, started in Alexiad so I'd have weak Fatimids.  They ate up all of Ethiopia, made in-roads into Arabia and recently took Jerusalem. When I saved/exited last night, they had just launched a holy war against me for Achaea.

I almost always start Alexiad, a far better starting date IMO, but the Fatimids have never been weak.  They regularly own large swaths of Southern Europe.

I should have marched on them instead of Rum at the start.

Well, I don't think the Alexiad-start Byzantine empire is strong enough to march on Rum, to be honest.

Why not? Byzantines can easily chip away at Rum who is constantly distracted by its internal faction politics and revolts because of culture. 

[Valmy]

Well, I don't think the Alexiad-start Byzantine empire is strong enough to march on Rum, to be honest.

You can, especially if you do not use Holy Wars.  The large Byzantine Fleet gives you the ability to move troops around strategically and wear down the Rumites by crushing smaller armies.

Or you can wait until they are distracted like garbon says.  But granted it is tricky the Rumites are very strong. 

[Valmy]

Really? In most games I've seen, they swat it easily.

They do?  The Rumites have a pretty strong alliance with the Seljuks and if you do the Holy War thing lots of other Muslims can join in.  Plus they are not exactly a push over themselves.

[garbon]

Or you can wait until they are distracted like garbon says.  But granted it is tricky the Rumites are very strong. 

Well I only have this one game but they've been constantly distracted / the Seljuks haven't done much to help them as they've often been facing their own breakdowns.  In fact full-sized Seljuks only just re-formed in my game.

[Tamas]

What is seriously retarded in this game is that Empires are the most stable things imaginable. Kingdoms regularly break up and unstable like fuck, but Empires do not.

[Octavian]

I started at the Alexiad start date with Byz using Project Synergy mod (mix between CK+ and SWMH map). I really like the CK+ faction system.

Anyway 20 years into the game the Fatimids who hasn't expanded declared a Jihad against Bohemond II of Apulia. I joined Bohemond alongside Capua and later the Count of Sicily. The Fatimids raised 10.000 holy warriors but lacked the fleet to transport them... So they lost.

Rum has been stable but busy fighting against Seljuk rebels. As a result of that large rebel armies formed and several regions was taken and greek rulers installed. Diplomacy and war (against Bogumilist) returned those regions to me.

[Queequeg]

Anyone interested in a more realistic Byz game should probably start aa bit after Alexiad, with the partial Turkification of Anatolia and the firm establishment of Cilician Armenia.