Crusader Kings II Co-op Game Thread!

[Terminus_Est]

@clairobscur

Another issue was the existence of an anti-pope in Portugal. Having no clue about what advantages she could derive from this situation, she simply ignored it, hoping that a knowledgeable courtier ( ) could someday advise her on this matter.

I have not done this, but my understanding is that you can press the anti-pope’s claim on the papacy and install him as the actual pope. As the papacy is a king-level title and you’re empress, that would make the pope your vassal (as long as he is your direct vassal or a member of your dynasty).

In the meantime, having an anti-pope anywhere in Christendom will erode the moral authority of the church, so expect to see a lot of heresy pop up. On the other hand, you can easily request excommunication on any uppity vassals. Plus you’ll get a lot of tax money, since clergy in your realm who don’t like you would pay the anti-pope who then pays you.

[Pleonast]

@clairobscur

after the complete disappearance of the Byzantine Empire (also not recorded by the chronicles).

Actually, it still exists, but only as a stub on the Bosnia coast. You can see it your screenshot wedged between some Pisan holdings next to the green blob.

I also notice the Hungary, which used to be a major player is the center of Italian peninsula has disintegrated.

@clairobscur

During the first year of her reign, the duke Ponce of Toledo, the king Alvaro I of Mauretania, the king Esteban I of Leon were in turn considered as heir presumptive. Having no way to impose her choice, the empress resigned herself to this situation, since in any case, the crown wouldn’t leave her dynasty.

Yeah, because all the constituent kingdoms are held by Jimena, I didn’t see any reason to take the relationship penalties by holding kingdoms myself. We still get the same amount of prestige either way, too.

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

So, gameplay questions: I think I’m much better at managing my desmene now, but I still have issues holding onto more prosperous ones, or, because I give away every single duchy I create now in my game (I have one, and if I have more than that, the vassals start to bitch), I’m stuck with the original lands I had from the beginning of the game as my desmene, with maybe one or two added to it, through luck/mismanagement. Also, I have two empires and about a half dozen kingdoms in my realm. I desperately need to hold onto the two empire titles, I presume, but should I also push to keep the king titles or start looking to give them away as well? All my lands are electives, so there’s that. Lastly, I’m still not grasping how to make marriages work for me. Any lands I get off of marriages are dumb luck, and more recently, I’m seeing more lands leave my realm because of marriages. What do you guys look for when you’re looking to marry your folks? I just usually look to the top of the list and marry there because I don’t know any better.

[appleciders]

Your demense:

First off, you can hold two ducal-level titles without your vassals getting upset. In your situation, there may not be a benefit to holding any. If you hold any duchies in which you control all of the counties in those duchies, then you get the benefit of some small bit of prestige monthly, and no downsides. If you hold duchies where you don’t own every county in the duchy personally, your count-level vassals in that duchy may desire the duchy, and therefore like you less. It’s best if ducal titles in realms where you hold no counties don’t exist, because counts will not take opinion penalties that way. If you want more counties in your personal demense, consider revoking good counties from your vassals through plots. Do not do it through the diplomacy screen, because this causes all of your vassals to dislike you*. Ideally, you pick counts who have only a single county and no duchies, because while they’ll still hate you after you take their lands away, it won’t matter because they have no land. Good counties to select for your personal demense are geographically contiguous so you can gather armies quickly, wealthy or with good technological development, and have lots of holding slots. You might be tempted to take some county like Rome or Venice which does meet those conditions, but be warned that it takes thirty years to get normal levies and taxes from a newly conquered province. Don’t feel obligated to create every single duchy possible; sometimes Dukes are a pain in the neck, especially once they hold two Ducal titles. I often have thirty or more Ducal titles available to create without creating them.

Kingdoms and Empires:

You do need to hold on to the Imperial titles. (Which two do you have? Hispania and?) If someone else gets one of them, they’ll become independent. Try to harmonize their succession laws, if you haven’t already done so. I don’t like to have kings as vassals because they can become very powerful and make dangerous factions. Small kingdoms like Galicia aren’t too bad, but they can be deceptively powerful because they can have dukes as vassals well outside their kingdom’s de jure borders. I like to hold onto king-level titles myself for that reason. Some people like to have kings as vassals because then you can raise all their levies in one place, but I don’t think that’s worth the trouble of having powerful kings in factions.

Marriages:

I look for different things for different characters. For myself or my intended heir, I look for (ideally) a Genius Strong Attractive woman, in that order. That’s about genetics and picking the best possible mother for an heir. For my other sons, I look for political advantages. Princesses with claims on kingdoms are good bets, because then you can put them on the throne and get them into your empire, or at least your dynasty. For daughters, I will snag someone with a claim on a Kingdom if I see an opportunity, but sometimes I let them go unmarried. Having people running around with strong claims on my titles is an invitation to factions, and I hate factions.
Popes and anti-Popes:

You need to deal with this anti-Pope situation one way or another. He’s giving -20% to Moral Authority for Catholicism, and that means you’ll have way more heresy in your provinces, which means heretic revolts, heretic nobles who hate you, and so on. Either eliminate him (and his anti-Papacy; I’m not precisely sure if assassinating him is enough) or put him on the Holy See. If he’s your vassal or a vassal of your vassal (and it looks like he is, if he’s in Portugal) then have a war with Rome to put him on the Throne of Saint Peter. Then he’ll be your vassal, you’ll get Rome and any other counties that the Pope has into your empire, and if your bishops don’t like you, they’ll pay taxes to him and he’ll pay you. Be aware that he doesn’t have many levies but can raise significant mercenaries. He shouldn’t be a threat to you if you move with your whole army at once.

*Unless you have a good reason to revoke their title. You can revoke one (not all, just one) title if they’ve revolted against you. To tempt them to revolt, you can try to imprison them if they have a plot. If you’re “lucky” and your marshal fails to take them into custody, they’ll revolt and you squash them like a bug. Then you revoke a title for rebelling.

[Terminus_Est]

Mawage is what bwings us togeder today.

Once past a certain realm size, I’m often no longer seeking to expand the realm any further, especially not with single counties. At emperor level, if I do want to exapnd my realm, I’ll find someone with a claim on an entire duchy or kingdom. Usually, though, I’ll find someone to marry who has good traits for my heir - a genius or high stewardship or intrigue. If I already have an heir, I’ll find a spouse for them who was similar desirable traits.

I’ll also have breeding program among my loyal vassals and courtiers. For example, I’ll marry my spymaster to someone with high intrigue and hopefully create a master race of overpowered spymasters.

[Least_Original_User_Name_Ever]

@appleciders

Your demense:

First off, you can hold two ducal-level titles without your vassals getting upset. In your situation, there may not be a benefit to holding any. If you hold any duchies in which you control all of the counties in those duchies, then you get the benefit of some small bit of prestige monthly, and no downsides. If you hold duchies where you don’t own every county in the duchy personally, your count-level vassals in that duchy may desire the duchy, and therefore like you less. It’s best if ducal titles in realms where you hold no counties don’t exist, because counts will not take opinion penalties that way. If you want more counties in your personal demense, consider revoking good counties from your vassals through plots. Do not do it through the diplomacy screen, because this causes all of your vassals to dislike you*. Ideally, you pick counts who have only a single county and no duchies, because while they’ll still hate you after you take their lands away, it won’t matter because they have no land. Good counties to select for your personal demense are geographically contiguous so you can gather armies quickly, wealthy or with good technological development, and have lots of holding slots. You might be tempted to take some county like Rome or Venice which does meet those conditions, but be warned that it takes thirty years to get normal levies and taxes from a newly conquered province. Don’t feel obligated to create every single duchy possible; sometimes Dukes are a pain in the neck, especially once they hold two Ducal titles. I often have thirty or more Ducal titles available to create without creating them.

Kingdoms and Empires:

You do need to hold on to the Imperial titles. (Which two do you have? Hispania and?) If someone else gets one of them, they’ll become independent. Try to harmonize their succession laws, if you haven’t already done so. I don’t like to have kings as vassals because they can become very powerful and make dangerous factions. Small kingdoms like Galicia aren’t too bad, but they can be deceptively powerful because they can have dukes as vassals well outside their kingdom’s de jure borders. I like to hold onto king-level titles myself for that reason. Some people like to have kings as vassals because then you can raise all their levies in one place, but I don’t think that’s worth the trouble of having powerful kings in factions.

Marriages:

I look for different things for different characters. For myself or my intended heir, I look for (ideally) a Genius Strong Attractive woman, in that order. That’s about genetics and picking the best possible mother for an heir. For my other sons, I look for political advantages. Princesses with claims on kingdoms are good bets, because then you can put them on the throne and get them into your empire, or at least your dynasty. For daughters, I will snag someone with a claim on a Kingdom if I see an opportunity, but sometimes I let them go unmarried. Having people running around with strong claims on my titles is an invitation to factions, and I hate factions.
Popes and anti-Popes:

You need to deal with this anti-Pope situation one way or another. He’s giving -20% to Moral Authority for Catholicism, and that means you’ll have way more heresy in your provinces, which means heretic revolts, heretic nobles who hate you, and so on. Either eliminate him (and his anti-Papacy; I’m not precisely sure if assassinating him is enough) or put him on the Holy See. If he’s your vassal or a vassal of your vassal (and it looks like he is, if he’s in Portugal) then have a war with Rome to put him on the Throne of Saint Peter. Then he’ll be your vassal, you’ll get Rome and any other counties that the Pope has into your empire, and if your bishops don’t like you, they’ll pay taxes to him and he’ll pay you. Be aware that he doesn’t have many levies but can raise significant mercenaries. He shouldn’t be a threat to you if you move with your whole army at once.

*Unless you have a good reason to revoke their title. You can revoke one (not all, just one) title if they’ve revolted against you. To tempt them to revolt, you can try to imprison them if they have a plot. If you’re “lucky” and your marshal fails to take them into custody, they’ll revolt and you squash them like a bug. Then you revoke a title for rebelling.

Wendish and Carpathia.