So, I bought this on sale from Steam (wooo, digital crack!) and tried to play a few games. Needless to say, this is the hardest and most ridiculous strategy game I've attempted in my life...and I've played a fair few. Anybody got any tips? I started as East Wessex in the 800s, during the time of Viking invasions. This is how it went: 1) Tried to take Jorvik with my 2500 troops that I raised from personal levy. Got a long way, until they dropped 7000 troops on to my siege lines. I retreated. 2) Allied via marriage to West Francia. When called to help in their war, realised I don't have the ability to construct shipyards yet, so I'm stuck on the British Isles... 3) Constant attacks by small Viking raiding parties easily dealt with (only 3-400 strong) 4) My northern ally, Mercia, is attacked by a 9000 strong Viking invasion fleet, and can only muster 3000 in defence. They die horribly, and reinforcements pour in taking them to over 10,000. This force then heads for my capital of Wessex, where I have a measly 2300 - which is the entire army I can generate. Needless to say, I get wiped out. So how am I supposed to survive this, let alone expand? Every time I attempt to take a single territory outside of mine I get a huge Viking army, far beyond what I can muster, arriving that knocks me back and takes the territory. The deck seems massively stacked against me!
I bought it last summer in the steam sale and haven't got around to playing it properly yet. Some great stories around online about it, I think you're supposed to just enjoy playing it no actual way to win.
Everything I've heard about it is that it's meant to be brutally hard Not played it myself but have been temped, might download the demo and have a play since it looks quite cool.
Brutally hard? Definitely seems like it, I simply can't seem to pull together forces that can compete!
I am more of a Europa Universalis player but I have played a bit of this. These games can be very easy or they can be very hard, it really just depends who you start as. Start as the Liege of a large nation and you will have a much easier time. If you play as a smaller nation, duchy, count you can have the most fun because there is the most to achieve but you have play very differently at the start. For example, having allies can help you because you may get backup in fights, but you may also get drawn into wars you cannot win as you did. Do you want to put your fate in the hands of the computer AI? How good will that AI be in a war also? I think it is actually OK in this game IIRC. Starting small you need to be prepared to gain slowly over many years, being prepared to accept a different game style. You need to pick and choose your wars as much as possible. You want to get as many good marriages going as possible as well, just in case one of them comes good for you and you inherit something. Also you want to be creating good children with good stats. Make sure you know how your inheritance laws work. In the UK it is fairly straight forward. In some countries things get broken up between the heirs, meaning you will lose places when the liege dies. Few tidbits there.
One thing to remember is that you don't play as the country in CKII, you play as the character and their dynasty. An easy way I learned the mechanics of the game was to start as one of the Southern Irish rulers from the Stamford Bridge start date and try to form the Kingdom of Ireland since not much really happens in Ireland. Edit; and yes, it's brutally hard. I regularly play as the Byzantine Empire and get massive revolts every time my character dies because my vassals all want something, greedy gits.
Hah, I tried again as West Francia, again from the 800s starting point. Went rather well for about 30 years. I suppressed a revolt by my brother, and imprisoned the cheeky so and so for ten years. Unfortunately I then got soft and let him out, for him to immediately start another revolt...that somehow instantly got my own son (King of Aquitane) to attack me, and half my vassals. Needless to say, my force of 4000 got annihilated. Out of interest though, because this is about dynasty, with my son being alive and in game, would he then inherit the title and lands, bringing Aquitane and West Francia together in to one? (And then become my character?)
Also, learn what Cassius Bellis you have. You might be able to fight to form the Duchy of X against relatively weak opposition, thus giving you more power. I don't think the King gets involved in these types of wars. The game operates on different levels.
Assuming you've got the right inheritance laws yes Haven't played for a while but they should be something on your character screen about who your successor is. Hope he's not a moron otherwise you'll lose it equally quickly.
