It looks like whoever is east of the Fatimids has re-established itself. One can hope that they continue to exert pressure on the Shia.
The crown of England probably got taken by France again.
That’s what I’ve done, just for fun, which has been very successful. I’ve imprisoned that fool of a son Jaime and nominated Gomez, who’s got much better stats and is a little younger.
England is France.
Also, I’ve got a major new source of income-- making the Count of Mallorca pay his own ransom. The man is an irredeemable and incompetent schemer, so every time he tries to have a plot, I imprison him. He never revolts, so I just make him pay his 70 gold and let him go. He’s a moron. I’ve done this three times already this year.
Einhorn is Finkle.
There’s also the “kill” console command.
The `~ key opens the console.
“charinfo 1” turns on debug info.
Hover over the portrait of a character, note their ID number.
“kill 12345” kills character with ID 12345.
I’ll check my email (you can find it through my profile) for a game save once apple has completed.
Is there anyone in line after me? If not, are we repeating from the top of the list (clairobscur)?
If so, skip me, I’m in the middle of preparing for our out-of-town vacation and hosting a houseguest and stuff and I can’t commit to having enough playing time to do this, unfortunately. I am still reading along with and enjoying the updates, though!
Completed? Do you want the game from the point my character (Bernardo) originally died, made dead with the “kill” command? Or do you want it from where I’ve continued to play to, once he does eventually die?
Yes, we’ll continue from the top.
I don’t care greatly, but I suppose the former is closest to an unmodified timeline.
I will do that as soon as I get home this evening.
Gmail doesn’t allow e-mailing of files that large. I’m uploading it to Google Drive and I’ll send you the link. Let me know if that worked. I’ve killed off Bernardo in 1254; that’s within a month of the original date of his death. You’re in the middle of a war with the Fatimids that you’re well on your way to winning. Watch out for your brother Gomez; he’ll make a great heir until you’ve got one of your own, but he’s savvy and ambitious. The King of France will eventually decide he wants trouble, and the Fatimids will never go away either. Good luck!
When I get the files, they’re zipped. That lets you attach them in Gmail.
I’m not an extensive notes taker, so here’s what I’ve got.
Ended war in against Fatimids in early 1254. The underage Fatimid sultan dies in a mysterious accident and his brother younger brother takes over. (This is a foreshadow of what’s to come.) The Holy Roman Emperor declares war on the Fatimids, and I answer the call.
1257: White peace between Holy Roman Emperor and Fatimids. I did my part by harassing the Fatimids in Iberia and North Africa.
1258: Fatimids have trouble keeping several vassals in line, I go to war over a piece of Hispania.
1261: Still fighting with Fatimids over Qurtubah. France declares war on Holy Roman Empire over Brabant.
1263: Finally get the war score high enough that the Fatimids offer peace. They went through a lot of Caliphs, though. It seems there’s a lot of Fatimids waiting for their shot at the Caliphate. My vassals are not happy over the use of their troops over a long war. And then the Holy Roman Emperor asks for help against the Duchy of Meissen. Sigh, back to war, if only a little.
1276: Long period of rebuilding. The last holdings of the Fatimids in Iberia revolts (it was Christian) and joins our Empire. Very lucky for us. We’ve also converted Cordoba, so the entire peninsula is Christian and in the Empire. Except for Rosello, of course.
I’ve been investing in building all the possible holdings. I’ve been trying to get some useful claims in France, but no luck yet. I should at least leave the Empire in strong position even if I haven’t expanded much.
Hopefully I can finish out my rule tonight. I was wounded for a while and sick for a while, but somehow held on.
Watch France carefully. Because they’ve got so many holdings in Britain, they’ve got more provinces than you. Then just ask the Pope for an invasion, and take the whole crown in one fell swoop!
Great! Pic, please!
Since I’m the next player, I had thought I would do that after all these years of war. Try to conquer the two isolated muslim holdings, but apart from that just building as much stuff as possible to strenghten the Empire. Since you did both, I guess I’ll have to be more creative.
Also, I never ruled an Empire (always started small and quitted my games before reaching such a level). Is there anything I should know about being an Emperor?
Well it was the obvious thing to do–Hispania has reached its natural limits. I see three possible ways to expand further. 1) Into France to the north, 2) into the Fatimids to the south, or 3) something further.
France is currently strong and healthy. There’s not much hope for going there. Except I am hoping to get a claim on a southern duchy and press it during a weak point. No luck so far. I was hopeful that France and the Holy Roman Empire would start a series of wars, but once they hashed out Brabant (going to France), they’ve been good neighbors.
The Fatimids are weak and constantly putting down vassal rebellions and usurpers. I may be tempted to try another holy war that way. But it’ll be a slog.
The other option is expansion into smaller Christian countries farther out. Burgundy and Wales are smaller kingdoms that we could probably beat, but it’s a long march or sail to get to them. The Italian peninsula is fragmented and is probably the closest, easiest place to expand.
We’ll see. I think I’m in my forties now, so I should get another 10-20 years I think. Once I’m getting big “long reign” bonuses, I’ll probably start a major war.
An empire is more or less like a kingdom, just more politics. Your vassals tend to be more powerful, but you have a large manpower pool to draw from, assuming you keep most of your vassals happy.
Details: How have you disbursed the kingdom titles and which have you retained for yourself? It doesn’t look like you have any troublesome vassals. Any powerful dukes worth keeping an eye on?
As for expansion, the Fatimids would still have claims on Andalusia and Portugal so I expect them to keep coming back. You need to do the Christian thing and make Holy War all the way to Egypt. Just wipe them off the face of the earth.
There’s also Rosello.
I’ve mostly kept the vassals under control with my excellent Diplomacy (my only good stat). I handed out duchy titles to all my brothers (and enough counties to go with them to put me under the demesne limit), so they form a core of happy vassals. There’s two vassal kingdom titles not held by me (Aragon and Galicia). I may hand out one to my heir if the vassals get too uppity.
The Fatimids are in too much turmoil to wage offensive war right now. But they can still call up stacks of doom for long enough to make sieging them tricky.
Gah, the save got corrupted. I had to go back to 1266 and redo…
Europe when I was crowned in 1254.
1270: The Duchess of Sicily dies and her son inherits. I ask if he’d like to join the Empire as my vassal and he accepts. His mom never wanted to. He comes with a bunch of de jure claims that we can eventually press to expand in the Italian peninsula.
1273: My brother Gomez, King of Aragon dies and I inherit the title and lands. I was not expecting that. So I can fold that crown back into the primary line. To avoid vassal penalties, I give Aragon and Portugal to my first son and heir. I keep the Kingdoms of Leon and Castille for myself, along with the Duchies of Leon, Castille and Granada. Vassals are all now positive by about me. (My late brother the King hated me, but never enough to do anything about it.)
The pope calls a crusade on Hungary, because ironically the de jure kingdom has been completely taken over by Mongols. Currently the Kingdom of Hungary is one of the Italian states, wedged between the Papacy, Pisa and Venice. I don’t feel like I need more piety at this point, and since all conquests will go to Hungary, I decline to join the crusade.
Europe in 1273.
Direct vassals in 1273.
1274: The Holy Roman Emperor needs help against the Kingdom of Burgundy. I reluctantly accept to help him. And war ends before my troops even leave my Empire. That was easy.
1275: The fallout from the Burgundian war comes to my court. My half-brother’s wife is Osterhild von Wartenberg, whose grandmother was once queen regnant of Burgundy. She has a weak claim that can now be pressed against the child currently on the Burgundy throne. This is our chance to expand! To war! And to make things sweeter, the King of France answers our call to arms.
We mobilize the entire Empire. Interesting, with my recent investments, I still run a profit, even with all the troops raised. But it is a long march to Burgundy.
1277: The Pope cancels the crusade; it was a complete failure. Good thing I didn’t step into that quagmire. And Burgundy quickly collapses under the combined might of Hispania and France. Now, to see if the new queen can hold her throne.
Also, Waldensians appear in Lleida. This is an unacceptable blot on the faith of the Empire. If only the Spanish had a way to deal with heretics. 
1278: The King of France needs help against Norwegian incursions in England. I owe him a favor, so I send some troops to help. France wins its bit of turf.
1279: The heretics revolt, but are put down quickly. But then Lollards appear in Calatrava. I am not happy.
1280: The Waldensians are finally stamped out.
1281: The Queen of Burgundy finally beats off all usurpers (I think four of them!) I sent help with some troops occasionally. She won’t accept vassalization, but her son (a Jimena) may. If nothing else, we have an useful ally in central Europe.
And now the Lollards are revolting.
1283: The accursed Lollards are converted back to the true faith.
One of my kinsman has a weak claim on the Duchy of Brittany, part of the Kingdom of Wales. This looks like a good opportunity.
1284: The war falls apart. I can’t win quick enough before someone else usurps first. Oh well.
1286: Let’s try again with the Duchy of Munster, also a part of Wales.
1287: I capture the Queen of Wales, but her husband refuses to ransom her for piddly 14 gold I ask for. I have half a mind to release her just so she can go back to him.
And the King of Wales gives up (with a war score of only 65%). The Empire of Hispania now has a foothold in Ireland.
1293: Helping the Queen of Burgundy with another usurper. Also, my youngest son dies and my wife dies.
And, big news, the old King of France dies. The new King of France also has the Danish crown (via the other grandfather). But the English crown goes to his brother. Very interesting!
In a diplomatic coup, I marry the sister of the King of Wales, who has no living children (and won’t produce any more because his wife is living comfortably in my prison). My new wife is the only living sibling of the King and his heir. Now if we could only produce an offspring. Not likely, but you never know.
1294: The new King of France dies of old age. And the crowns of France and Denmark go to different sons. See kids, this is why we made an Empire.
1295: And my young wife is pregnant. Let’s hope for a son.
But it’s a girl. Oh well. We’ll try for a matrilineal marriage.
1297: I’m stressed and ill, but I get better. I can’t believe I’ve lasted this long.
Also, somehow Denmark has taken the English crown. Those d’Anjous are cut-throats.
1298: Incredible! Another baby on the way…
I am maimed while putting down a peasant revolt. Surely, I am not long for this world.
1299: A son is born. He will be King of Wales some day. We might need to help his uncle shuffle off this coil.
On 25 February 1299, Emperor Jaime II the Great died.
Europe immediately after my death in 1299.
To my heir: we’re in great shape. You’ve been running to kingdoms as an NPC for quite a while, so you’ll have long-reign bonuses from all those vassals. You have a lot of choices of which way to go. The duchies of Leon, Castille and Granada have had a lot of investment, so be careful about giving any of them away.
You have a small pot of money; I suggest using it to gift vassals until your rule is firmly established. You’ll need to divest yourself of excess kingdoms and duchies–I kept two kingdoms and three duchies for myself and gave the rest away. Your son is a good choice.
Because of my intensive building of minor holdings, you are the direct liege of a bunch baronies (or cities or bishoprics). I gave newly built baronies to unlanded Jimena kinsmen. (I think I build all possible in Iberia, but check are newer overseas territories.) Your dukes are not happy about this, so check each duke and see which baronies they think they should control. And then transfer that vassal to them. You’ll turn the malus into a bonus.
Be careful of your stepmother, she is the spymaster. All of her brothers but one ended up dead somehow, before I married her. I think only you and your son stand between her son (your half-brother) and the Imperial crown.
Save file is sent, good luck, my son!
Desmene size screws me so hard. I still can’t quite grasp how to effectively manage that/titles.
Demense is the sum of your counties, bishoprics, and cities held. I’m not perfectly sure how baronies fit it. Your allowed demense depends on your highest level title (Count, Duke, King, or Emperor), your Stewardship score, and your technology.
You can have two Duchies before taking opinion penalties from your vassals. You can hold as many Empire-level titles as you want with no penalties.