In Progress Odin demands blood! Let's revive the Viking Age in Crusader Kings 2!

[Kayerts]

I truly love the narrative style of this let's play :D

And apparently now the youtube links in section 8. are borked. Must be cooties.

Cootie shot: applied. Thanks for the catch.

 

[Kashmir Slippers]

This is great. Glad to see an update.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Fucking epic update. Great read. And you didn't even repeat the old jokes! AWESOME!.

 

[mondblut]

I wonder how HRE is doing. They won't tolerate a pagan Denmark for long, that's for sure.

 

[Esquilax]

Social pressure to update is genuinely appreciated. Thanks to all y'all, especially Ulminati for going the extra mile with the Battle Popery.

Well goddamn, now I feel stupid. If I had known that before, I'd be posting "ARE WE GETTING AN UPDATE?!!?" every fucking day.

Great stuff, this is one of the best LP's on the 'Dex. Queen Maer is proving to be as capable and cunning as old King Gungnir.

 

[Vernydar]

A question for you kayerts as I am very curious. Are you actually building something in your territories? Apart from the warrior cult. I couldn't help but notice how much money you have and how much you spend in assassinations

 

[Kayerts]

FINANCIAL AND GEOPOLITICAL REPORT, 1180

A question for you kayerts as I am very curious. Are you actually building something in your territories? Apart from the warrior cult. I couldn't help but notice how much money you have and how much you spend in assassinations

I was wondering when someone would notice that. Basically, the first time we got invaded (back when Sweden tried to claim Thord's Norrland), we were almost wiped off the map because I was short about 60 gold for mercs. (You may recall Thord repeatedly whoring out our daughter to unhealthy old men for the bride-price, etc.) That made me really paranoid about keeping a large rainy day fund around, probably moreso than was really a good idea. Also, since this is an LP, I'm trying to avoid having to write:

X. THE FALSE EMPEROR

Then the HRE invaded and we lost! GG, bros!

This may not have been strategically wise; however, in view of our aggressive expansion strategy, it's probably a bad idea to stop now. My reasoning is that we currently have access to three different mercenary companies. Hiring them all, which I might need to do, will cost ~750 gold, with monthly fees of about 40. So I'm trying to keep at least 1000 gold on hand.

The other reason I've been cautious about building things is the fact that investments in infrastructure in CK2 tend to not pay off for 60-120 years, so if we're not planning to keep provinces for our personal demesne for at least that long, it's questionable whether we should be developing them. Since most Swedish counties are mediocre, and since Denmark is awesome and right next door, I'd been holding off.

All that said, I've built a few things. Most have been concentrated to Uppland and Sodermanland, since I plan to keep those for a long time. I built a city in Uppland a while ago, and the war reparations from the Skanian invasion paid for another city in Sodermanland. I put up some buildings, too, mostly revenue-boosting ones.

I wonder how HRE is doing.

Not great.

They're still merrily punching themselves in the balls. Maer is tremendously impressed.

Their succession crisis is no joke. It's been about 16 years since it started, and things have calmed down slightly. Kaiser Almerich looks to be bringing the Reich somewhat under control, with most of the larger rebels reassimilated under his rule.

(Note that the kaiser proudly bears the Reichsadler, or aquila, in this shot -- thanks again, newcomer.)

The rest of the map doesn't have too many changes, though France's borders are mildly interesting.

Here's an updated map of the North and East--the color for Sweden is a bit hard to pick out from the water, but we've got a majority of Scandinavia at this point, plus almost all of Finnish Rus'.

Also note the complete mess Maer made of Rus' -- and bear in mind that Rus' is actually Russo-Hungary, so Temes and Transylvania are also part of the rebellion. Perm, Sarkel, and the Bulgars were all under Russian control, too. And the civil war will get worse before it gets better.

They won't tolerate a pagan Denmark for long, that's for sure.

Choices and consequences!

 

[Luzur]

Poland in Finland?

also i hate it when the nation name is completely off from the nation it meant to show. (Bjarmia is now Sweden.)

 

[Jaedar]

Awesome update. The foul danes finally taste their defeat!

 

[Ulminati]

O_o

Wait a goddamned minute... What's with Maers morphing hair colour?

 

[XenomorphII]

Her hair was obviously dyed red by the blood of her enemies.

More seriously I believe that Kayerts game (not sure if its the entire install or just this save) seems to be having issues, as many cosmetic things are non-standard (so perhaps faces were borked too). It is probably the result of a midgame update.

 

[Kayerts]

o_O

Wait a goddamned minute... What's with Maers morphing hair colour?

Wow, I didn't even notice that. But, yes, Xeno is right: the shots in the mini-update for the map were from loading a save up on my laptop's 1.05 install, with newcomer's fix; the screenshots in the main update are all generated from the actual playthrough, which is still running 1.04d.

 

[newcomer]

Maybe the hair morph is caused by my awesome flag fix :D

Kayerts seeing that you bethored Birger to a capet, why don't you make him your heir & push his son's claim (or if you don't mind kinslayer...)? Surely a pagan France would amuse everyone here

 

[Vernydar]

To Kayerts: Yes, I can understand you wanting to keep a fund for mercenaries. But imo it would be wise to invest something in building some cities, even base levels will do at the start. The cost is rather low for the gold you have now, and it will repay itself. After all, even events that give you gold (like marriages, and others) are as far as I can tell based on your base income. That is because they are usually X times a monthly income. So if your monthly income goes up, so does the amount of gold you get in events (this is of course also true for events that cost you gold...)

If you factor that, a city can repay itself in far less than 60 years... And also keep in mind that income depends on the stewardship of the ruler as well.

 

[stabby]

Acutally I think it might be one of the quirks of the character portrait system, as in a freshly installed game my female heir went from being a bright red headed lass to a blonde one immediately upon assuming the 'crown'. Had me wondering who this usurper was for a minute or so.

Also, I must say it was quite the amazing update as always Kayerts, and must thank you for your LP so far as it convinced me to get the game (and have quite the amount of fun with it). And if pestering you for updates adds to your motivation to continue, I guess I shall be joining the ranks in doing so.

 

[newcomer]

If you factor that, a city can repay itself in far less than 60 years... And also keep in mind that income depends on the stewardship of the ruler as well.

Furthermore, don't forget that your mayors will build something in your city, so building harbors for them will let them develop your city (and give you the ships to transport all the mercs & warrior cults)

 

[Kayerts]

Kayerts seeing that you bethored Birger to a capet, why don't you make him your heir & push his son's claim (or if you don't mind kinslayer...)? Surely a pagan France would amuse everyone here

I was considering that, but there were . . . developments. You'll see. For the moment, though, your plan to replace Thord with Birger as our heir has a fair amount of support among the Vikings, including some from unexpected quarter:

thordIsABro.jpg

 

[newcomer]

I was considering that, but there were . . . developments.

If you decided to go that path, just beware of crusades declared on you; there was one time I played as a muslim ireland (and seeks protection from seljuk to avoid game over) with a holding in britanny. Suddenly the pope declared a crusade on my brittany holding (luckily that was not version 1.05). Good thing no catholics want to fight the seljuks...

 

[Ulminati]

Wait wait wait... The Jarl that is designated your heir wants someone else to take the crown?

 

[Kayerts]

To Kayerts: Yes, I can understand you wanting to keep a fund for mercenaries. But imo it would be wise to invest something in building some cities, even base levels will do at the start. The cost is rather low for the gold you have now, and it will repay itself. After all, even events that give you gold (like marriages, and others) are as far as I can tell based on your base income. That is because they are usually X times a monthly income. So if your monthly income goes up, so does the amount of gold you get in events (this is of course also true for events that cost you gold...)

If you factor that, a city can repay itself in far less than 60 years... And also keep in mind that income depends on the stewardship of the ruler as well.

Events that deduct gold are also based on monthly income and are (I think?) more common. Also, bear in mind that I've had to rely more heavily on fabrications for claims than you would in a normal game, and those aren't cheap. (E.g., the claim on Skane set me back 400g.) That said, you have a valid point, especially now that I have valuable territory, and I'll be building more now.

Poland in Finland?

50 years ago, the Polish-Novogrodian Commonwealth was hot shit. Rus absorbed most of the Novogrod part, but I think there was one county outside the duchy, and since it gave them a border, Poland holy warred against some Finns.

also i hate it when the nation name is completely off from the nation it meant to show. (Bjarmia is now Sweden.)

Yeah, agreed. Guess we better conquer some more Finns so that we can bump up our font size!

Wait wait wait... The Jarl that is designated your heir wants someone else to take the crown?

He's a true patriot! Or else is not looking forward to being accused of Gay Cooties for the next 40 years.

 

[Luzur]

also i hate it when the nation name is completely off from the nation it meant to show. (Bjarmia is now Sweden.)

Yeah, agreed. Guess we better conquer some more Finns so that we can bump up our font size!

many of my strategic invasions in Finland came about because of that cause.

 

[Ulminati]

Wait wait wait... The Jarl that is designated your heir wants someone else to take the crown?

He's a true patriot! Or else is not looking forward to being accused of Gay Cooties for the next 40 years.

Say what you will about Maer. A queen that awesome I wouldn't mind giving a cootie shot...

With my dong.





I'm insinuating I'd have sex with her.
It's subtle, I know.

 

[mondblut]

After all, even events that give you gold (like marriages, and others) are as far as I can tell based on your base income.

So do events that cost gold. For my uber-HRE, forging a claim on Venice has cost me like 5k gold. So, if claim-forging is a primary expansion strategy, bloated income is actually counterproductive. A couple of times I was actually forced to pass a freshly forged claim, for pressing it would plunge me into a financial crisis for half a year in a middle of war. Then I ceased to forge altogether, settling my chancellor in the capital of Ilkhanate to keep the gooks happy instead. Mass-matrimarrying claimants to Yngling black widows does a better job. Some of the more overworked ones had borne Yngling heirs from like 3-4 hungarian or breton husbands in sequence through their lifetime.

If you factor that, a city can repay itself in far less than 60 years... And also keep in mind that income depends on the stewardship of the ruler as well.

A city pays out in 100-250 months, depending on taxes and initial cost (anywhere from 700 to 1000, likely depending on the number of baronies already present in the county).

 

[newcomer]

After all, even events that give you gold (like marriages, and others) are as far as I can tell based on your base income.

So do events that cost gold. For my uber-HRE, forging a claim on Venice has cost me like 5k gold. So, if claim-forging is a primary expansion strategy, bloated income is actually counterproductive. A couple of times I was actually forced to pass a freshly forged claim, for pressing it would plunge me into a financial crisis for half a year in a middle of war. Then I ceased to forge altogether, settling my chancellor in the capital of Ilkhanate to keep the gooks happy instead. Mass-matrimarrying claimants to Yngling black widows does a better job. Some of the more overworked ones had borne Yngling heirs from like 3-4 hungarian or breton husbands in sequence through their lifetime.

If you factor that, a city can repay itself in far less than 60 years... And also keep in mind that income depends on the stewardship of the ruler as well.

A city pays out in 100-250 months, depending on taxes and initial cost (anywhere from 700 to 1000, likely depending on the number of baronies already present in the county).

How uber is it? The highest cost for such claims that I have been offered is ~1k, that's when my income is somewhere near 100/month. At this point I focus all efforts on building universities (research) & grabbing whatever land I can

 

[mondblut]

How uber is it? The highest cost for such claims that I have been offered is ~1k, that's when my income is somewhere near 100/month. At this point I focus all efforts on building universities (research) & grabbing whatever land I can

I have about 1000/month with pretty much whole Europe under my control (and baronies retained as direct vassals whenever possible). I figure a claim forged now would cost, like, 10k.