CKII is released.

[RK47]

I assume Holy Orders aren't up yet?

It's up, but since West Franks are the ones doing the attacking, the costs will add up quick.
Defensively, only the Catholics are safe.
Orthodox is fucked.

 

[cw8]

I was playing the Umayyads back in Dec last year, a break from the usual vanilla Catholics, posted a screenshot few pages back and I don't see any disadvantages playing them provided you keep decadence down; which is easily done by jailing all decadent family members. Never had to fabricate claims, they simply just invade whole kingdoms. They can invade neighbouring provinces for -50 piety. And they never have to worry about succession which was one of the main factors that keep breaking up my Catholic kingdoms/empires. Also, I'm allied with the Abbasids for a time which is kinda like god-mode, so much so the Pope never called a Crusade against us even when we're attacking into heartland Europe.

I'm not sure how to deal with a huge Umayyad, Abbasid coalition other than to wait for them to break up or for the Mongols to appear. I would've consult Zhuge Liang, but he's passed on for a near 1000 years on the other end of the globe.

 

[Turisas]

It's up, but since West Franks are the ones doing the attacking, the costs will add up quick.
Defensively, only the Catholics are safe.
Orthodox is fucked.

Ye must smite the heathens with holy fire:

 

[Abelian]

We march for Aquitane.

Sweet update. I also approve of the Dune 2000 soundtrack.

 

[Absalom]

They really need to provide better systems for pagans converting to organized religions than emergency conversion. The whole missionary thing doesn't seem to work particularly well right now.

You're kidding, right? Missionaries work beautifully. Make your son Court Chaplain, send him off to convert, and when he inevitably gets thrown into the dungeon you can order him to take the vows and disqualify him from all inheritance, permanently. RK47 has even done it to an adventurer plotting to conquer him.

 

[RK47]

As for the West Francian vs Umayyad...

We got lucky twice. But I gained nothing here. I switched to Investiture Church Law and requested monies from the Pope though. Gained 900 gold.

Overall situation on the west seems to have stabilized. I don't have much room to expand and had to deal with annual raiders. The Umayyad situation is contained perfectly with the presence of Holy Order giving its defense no upkeep. But it's the attack needs constant support. I CAN declare holy war to retake Nevarra/Asturias etc, but there's no way I can rely on my Christian allies to deliver the help I need to win.

On the East however, you can see how the Orthodoxy doesn't have much of a chance of holding on in the next 100-200 years. The Abbassids are too strong and they have no holy orders to rely on. The ERE is in constant de jure conflict of Italy/Georgia and lost two wars so far. They are also prone to vassal revolts. Byzantines will Byzantine.

The good news is that Rus gavelkinded to oblivion, putting an end to the Suomenusko Juggernaut.

 

[RK47]

Decided to try my luck after seeing many revolts in Umayyad end.
It seems like their Decadence is running out of control...

Gonna try to aim for that Christian Holy Site at Santiago...

Oh, thanks Italy! With you, I'm sure we'll be unbeatable!

 

[Delterius]

Wow, that's a giant Abbassid blob. Sure, they generally keep growing in my games but they are also fairly dysfunctional. Just stopped early my jewish Abyssinia session and even though the Caliph can theoretically summon 50k+ armies I already captured Sanaa and Oman from him. Decadence always, eventually, gets to them.

On the matter of carefully groomed heirs, my 31 super diplomat just lasted less than a year on the throne. Having ascended at age 23 no less. Further, I just accidentally granted a duchy to a inbred cousin whom I had married matrilinearly to a clubfooted baroness. Oh well.

I'm thinking of trying the Zunist faith next.

Spoiler

 

[cw8]

That's the biggest Abbasid blob I've seen so far. Bound to implode sooner or later.

 

[RK47]

Things are going so well that Italy decided to start an Anti-pope. Ciao -30% Moral Authority.
Then I learned in P'dox forum that Anti-papacy is bugged that there's no way to remove it.
HO HO HO HO HO HO HO. THANKS ITALY.
Fuck that. Just won a holy war vs Umayyad. West Francia continues to advance as do I. We're just trying to make sure Umayyad will never have a single peace time. Ever. But that proves tough cause Cease Fires are binding to the AI, and intrigue is impossible vs the Muslims because the vassal love is just too strong.

 

[Delterius]

I wonder. Sunni Islam is a religion that starts with almost every Holy Site under its control, but it doesn't seem to have much of a religious threat over time. Unlike Catholicism's Antipopes and Orthodox's early iconoclasm, the Rise of the Shia is purely a military threat... unless it does diminish Moral Authority a bit and I don't know. Point is, couldn't that be part of the problem?

On a different note, boy, am I surprised to find out that trying to imprison an adventurer who's in some sheikh's court is a tyrannic action.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Yeah, that bug really cripples catholics. It gets even worse when the pope (or pope to be) gets on a seduction spree and his kids somehow inherit the claim on papacy and become antipopes. But hey, they did put out an awesome new patch last month. Here's the complete patch notes:

Spoiler

MAJOR:
- Fixed issues in lobby when players were loading saves

CONVERTER:
- Added copy folder to sunset invasion scenario conversion

Oh well, I'm sure they will get around to fixing this stuff after a new DLC or two. Maybe.

 

[RK47]

Decided to break truce and grab another duchy off Umayyad.

This 5 year blitzing is the only feasible way of kicking the Muslims while they're down.
Also

 

[Delterius]

Huh.

Spent a few hundred years preparing my kingdom of jewish Ethiopia for a grand showdown against the Abbassid caliphate, a giant green blob that slowly but surely expanded into the Byzantine Empire and far past Persia. Then, a few decades into the 11th century they just fell apart into a bunch of warring sultanates. So much for that. That's what you get for delegating whole kingdoms, I guess.

So, any reason why two mercenary bands I just hired jumped from 10,00 to 20,00 ducats on maintenance?

 

[Country_Gravy]

Huh.

Spent a few hundred years preparing my kingdom of jewish Ethiopia for a grand showdown against the Abbassid caliphate, a giant green blob that slowly but surely expanded into the Byzantine Empire and far past Persia. Then, a few decades into the 11th century they just fell apart into a bunch of warring sultanates. So much for that. That's what you get for delegating whole kingdoms, I guess.

So, any reason why two mercenary bands I just hired jumped from 10,00 to 20,00 ducats on maintenance?

If you are playing a Jew, your mercenaries are Jews and they totally jewed you.

 

[Abelian]

So, any reason why two mercenary bands I just hired jumped from 10,00 to 20,00 ducats on maintenance?

Did the cost increase occur suddenly? If it was gradual, it could be you hired the mercenaries when they were not at full force and they have been increasing their numbers each month.

 

[Delterius]

So, any reason why two mercenary bands I just hired jumped from 10,00 to 20,00 ducats on maintenance?

Did the cost increase occur suddenly? If it was gradual, it could be you hired the mercenaries when they were not at full force and they have been increasing their numbers each month.

Nope, it was sudden. Strangely enough, it isn't happening anymore.

 

[Zero Credibility]

Well, the size of merc troops increase over time. Maybe the maintenance costs do as well?

 

[Abelian]

Speaking of interesting conflicts in the Middle East, I got into one myself playing as Harold II. My Jerusalem kingdom became the target of a Shiite jihad. While I was bringing some levies from England, I had to deal with an 8K stack.

Then, I get notice of a 5K Shia uprising in Jerusalem. The Shia jihad then attacks the Shia uprising, then I attack the jihadis, then the jihadi's retreat into the same county as the remaining rebels and wipe them out.

Now I have to deal with a Sunni jihad and holy orders don't exist yet...

 

[RK47]

I wouldn't even bother with Jerusalem until I established a blob of my own or holy orders for the free defensive upkeep.
Only a hardcore 5-castle stacking with Marshall training levy can stand up to most assaults.

Meanwhile, 5 truce breaking later...

Also, this host was worryingly huge, but it's a good thing they decided to do a split landing...

We're halfway done here. I'll keep breaking truce.

 

[RK47]

Yeah I'm done.

 

[Mexi]

Man, the Charliemagne thing really screwed up everything for me. Before this patch and DLC came out, my game was working so well. Once it came out, I can't even play the damn game anymore. It lags too much. Seriously, they screwed up this game badly now.

 

[Absalom]

Muslim blobs would disintegrate more if the cheeky AI didn't immediately destroy all unnecessary titles. Especially with those massive opinion boosts they get from other Muslims.

Course with ruler designer you can make ANYONE a descendant of the prophet for shits and giggles. Game gets sillier every DLC but I keep playing it, I dunno.

 

[Turisas]

Course with ruler designer you can make ANYONE a descendant of the prophet for shits and giggles. Game gets sillier every DLC but I keep playing it, I dunno.

Make everyone a descendant, that'll sort things out.

 

[TheEntitledOne]

Does anyone know of a fix to speed up the low FPS with the latest achievements? I'm struggling to keep going beyond 1000AD.