Hi all,
I'm mostly an EU player, but I like Crusader Kings quite a lot, and played it a few years ago for a bit. I decided to give it another try, so bought Deus Vult, and loaded it up again. Going with the advice given on another thread on this forum, I decided to start as Duke of Apulia. After invading Moslem Sicily, I became King of Sicily, and have converted all of it to Catholicism. Later I invaded the Kingdom of Zirid, and have ended up with all of the Duchies of Tunis and Constantine. My family swiftly became Greek in culture, so my current king glories in the name of Basileios de Hauteville. :rofl: Greek culture has therefore been slowly spreading up the peninsula as far as Napoli, and through Sicily, and has recently spread to Tunis. Thanks to having Semisalic Consanguinuity as succession law, I've been able to choose which son to make successor by making sure the best one has the greatest title. I've also gone crusading against the Moors, taking six provinces in southern Spain to reduce the pressure on the few remaining Christian counties in the north.
All this explanation is just to give you an idea of my situation, so that I can ask; what next? I'd like to secure more of Italy, and through a fortuitious marriage early on to Mathilde of Toscana, my main monarchical line has inherited claims of a few northern Italian counties, but all of these (with the exception of Venice, which is an independent Republic) are under the control either of the King of Germany, or (for some reason) a powerful King of Poland. Further, although I've pushed into Spoleto and Ancona, I can't get any further, because the Pope blocks me in Roma and Orvieto. Any ideas how to get territories currently owned by the Pope or Germany?
Also, after giving vast amounts of cash to a friendly Polish archbishop, I've become Papal controller (don't worry, I know this means I should delay any planned campaigns against the Pope). What can I do with this? I assume excommunication, but I can't find the option... How does it work?
Finally, it's now the 1140s, where would you suggest I go from here? Try and secure the rest of Italy? Continue westwards in Africa, in order to become King of Africa, and link up with my territories in Spain to fight the Moors? Head eastwards against the Byzantines to rule more now-culturally-similar Greek subjects? Head eastwards along Africa to crush the King of Egypt and liberate Jerusalem? Or make a move for Iceland?
Sorry for the long post, what do y'all think?
Cheers,
Stigandr.
I'm mostly an EU player, but I like Crusader Kings quite a lot, and played it a few years ago for a bit. I decided to give it another try, so bought Deus Vult, and loaded it up again. Going with the advice given on another thread on this forum, I decided to start as Duke of Apulia. After invading Moslem Sicily, I became King of Sicily, and have converted all of it to Catholicism. Later I invaded the Kingdom of Zirid, and have ended up with all of the Duchies of Tunis and Constantine. My family swiftly became Greek in culture, so my current king glories in the name of Basileios de Hauteville. :rofl: Greek culture has therefore been slowly spreading up the peninsula as far as Napoli, and through Sicily, and has recently spread to Tunis. Thanks to having Semisalic Consanguinuity as succession law, I've been able to choose which son to make successor by making sure the best one has the greatest title. I've also gone crusading against the Moors, taking six provinces in southern Spain to reduce the pressure on the few remaining Christian counties in the north.
All this explanation is just to give you an idea of my situation, so that I can ask; what next? I'd like to secure more of Italy, and through a fortuitious marriage early on to Mathilde of Toscana, my main monarchical line has inherited claims of a few northern Italian counties, but all of these (with the exception of Venice, which is an independent Republic) are under the control either of the King of Germany, or (for some reason) a powerful King of Poland. Further, although I've pushed into Spoleto and Ancona, I can't get any further, because the Pope blocks me in Roma and Orvieto. Any ideas how to get territories currently owned by the Pope or Germany?
Also, after giving vast amounts of cash to a friendly Polish archbishop, I've become Papal controller (don't worry, I know this means I should delay any planned campaigns against the Pope). What can I do with this? I assume excommunication, but I can't find the option... How does it work?
Finally, it's now the 1140s, where would you suggest I go from here? Try and secure the rest of Italy? Continue westwards in Africa, in order to become King of Africa, and link up with my territories in Spain to fight the Moors? Head eastwards against the Byzantines to rule more now-culturally-similar Greek subjects? Head eastwards along Africa to crush the King of Egypt and liberate Jerusalem? Or make a move for Iceland?
Sorry for the long post, what do y'all think?
Cheers,
Stigandr.