Post your CK2 empire!

[Metz77]

Last night I finally obtained all of the land I'd been angling for since my Iron Century start as Duke of Brabant, which is everything in this image. I picked up some bonus land along the way.

I also ended up with three concurrent bloodlines from this guy, which was nice.

 

[Paragon Badger]

Started as a Han Taoist count in 769 AD. It's an excruciating experience because the Western Protectorate always pulls MAX levies and tax from you. Your liege also makes NO effort to protect you from steppe raiders, who can and WILL plunder your lands, kidnap your Chinese princess, steal your Magnum Opuses, and destroy your trade nodes.

The Black Death spawned in the 10th century. Not cool. It was right in the middle of a Kingdom Adventurer claim that nearly destroyed me too. Warscore went to -97% before I managed to beat them back. I established a custom Empire out of the remains of Tibet, which had fallen apart due to infighting. It was called Xiyu.

But then the Mongols came. About two centuries too early.

That's me, Xiyu. In control of every single Silk Road origin point. Looking delicious. Making about 100 gold a month in spite of supporting a 15k stack of Retinues.

Through gifts of alcohol and swaying, Genghis himself never invaded me. He just kept marching west. East too, he deposed the Tang dynasty, which had survived multiple invasions from other 'barbarian' peoples. I asked for a Chinese prince and got a matrilinneal marriage with one of Genghis Khan's insta-generated sons.

Wait... then that means...

My daughter, the next Empress, would have a claim on the Mongol Empire through her grandfather. Maxing out tolerance allows me to combine Agnatic-Cognatic inheritance with Taoist's heir designation to basically always have a superb heir and to pick my heir from multiple bloodlines/realms to claim.

Empress Zhou Zhaozong inherited at 19 after her mother was killed in a private garden meeting by her husband. She seduced her mother's murderer and then had him killed as well.

Then she declared herself the rightful heir of the Tang Dynasty, deposed by the Mongols (who were themselves deposed in China by Khitans like a decade later). This girl was lustful, ambitious, and attractive. From books amassed over the centuries to artifacts like the Tang Arm Protector, her attraction score was about +50. Also, with the private garden, she was able to seduce men and homosexual women.

Empress Zhou Zhaozong could have lived in peace for the rest of the days, but she had a claim that would not pass down onto any of her children. It was a once-in-a-millennia opportunity. She was Genghis Khan's granddaughter. She prepared for 4 years, doubling the 15k Retinue Army that had basically completely taken over all responsibility for defense in the Empire.

Then, after 16 long years of war, wittling down the superior Mongol horde's event troops (They started with 80k) and dealing with a massive faction revolt...

Empress Zhou Zhaozong 'The Great' became the Khan of Khans.

Current bloodlines acquired:

Ashina Blood
Blood of Songtsen Gampo
Blood of Gopala
Peace/City Architect Bloodline
Genghis Khan Bloodline
Child of Destiny Bloodline*

About 4 Children of Destiny have spawned in the game and all of them are a thorn in my side. One of them is the ruler of that orange blob in the Himalayas. Another has completely usurped the Abbassids. I'm going to try and obtain the other three for a theoretical +40% damage in combat.

Now I'm strongly considered converting to Bon and reforming it so I can holy war my way across to Ireland and Morocco. I definitely want to invade China at some point too...

 

[Metz77]

Started as a Han Taoist count in 769 AD. It's an excruciating experience because the Western Protectorate always pulls MAX levies and tax from you. Your liege also makes NO effort to protect you from steppe raiders, who can and WILL plunder your lands, kidnap your Chinese princess, steal your Magnum Opuses, and destroy your trade nodes.

The Black Death spawned in the 10th century. Not cool. It was right in the middle of a Kingdom Adventurer claim that nearly destroyed me too. Warscore went to -97% before I managed to beat them back. I established a custom Empire out of the remains of Tibet, which had fallen apart due to infighting. It was called Xiyu.

But then the Mongols came. About two centuries too early.

View attachment 520647

That's me, Xiyu. In control of every single Silk Road origin point. Looking delicious. Making about 100 gold a month in spite of supporting a 15k stack of Retinues.

Through gifts of alcohol and swaying, Genghis himself never invaded me. He just kept marching west. East too, he deposed the Tang dynasty, which had survived multiple invasions from other 'barbarian' peoples. I asked for a Chinese prince and got a matrilinneal marriage with one of Genghis Khan's insta-generated sons.

Wait... then that means...

My daughter, the next Empress, would have a claim on the Mongol Empire through her grandfather. Maxing out tolerance allows me to combine Agnatic-Cognatic inheritance with Taoist's heir designation to basically always have a superb heir and to pick my heir from multiple bloodlines/realms to claim.

Empress Zhou Zhaozong inherited at 19 after her mother was killed in a private garden meeting by her husband. She seduced her mother's murderer and then had him killed as well.

View attachment 520648

Then she declared herself the rightful heir of the Tang Dynasty, deposed by the Mongols (who were themselves deposed in China by Khitans like a decade later). This girl was lustful, ambitious, and attractive. From books amassed over the centuries to artifacts like the Tang Arm Protector, her attraction score was about +50. Also, with the private garden, she was able to seduce men and homosexual women.

Empress Zhou Zhaozong could have lived in peace for the rest of the days, but she had a claim that would not pass down onto any of her children. It was a once-in-a-millennia opportunity. She was Genghis Khan's granddaughter. She prepared for 4 years, doubling the 15k Retinue Army that had basically completely taken over all responsibility for defense in the Empire.

Then, after 16 long years of war, wittling down the superior Mongol horde's event troops (They started with 80k) and dealing with a massive faction revolt...

Empress Zhou Zhaozong 'The Great' became the Khan of Khans.

View attachment 520650

Current bloodlines acquired:

Ashina Blood
Blood of Songtsen Gampo
Blood of Gopala
Peace/City Architect Bloodline
Genghis Khan Bloodline
Child of Destiny Bloodline*

About 4 Children of Destiny have spawned in the game and all of them are a thorn in my side. One of them is the ruler of that orange blob in the Himalayas. Another has completely usurped the Abbassids. I'm going to try and obtain the other three for a theoretical +40% damage in combat.

Now I'm strongly considered converting to Bon and reforming it so I can holy war my way across to Ireland and Morocco. I definitely want to invade China at some point too...

Now that's a badass lady.

 

[makson]

Behold Neo-Assyrian Caliphate:

 

[Pants McPants]

State of OTL United States as of February 1st 2836:

Power is slowly condensing into several realms: California, the Holy Columbian Confederacy, the Delawarean Empire (me), the Hudsonian Empire, the Valleyan Empire, and the Ozark Empire.

Currently in a holding pattern because of ALL THE THREAT because I swooped in to take all of Michigan I could while they were outside of a defensive pact. Do have a goal to get Mount Rushmore in my borders before I wrap up the game.


Status of House Derren of Wilmington:
Christine Derren, First of her Name of the Delawarean Empire and the Kingdom of Maryland, age 61, commonly called 'the Holy'.
Her marriages: {Edward Hollidaysburg, died from great pox}, {Elon Gaspé, natural causes}, {Peludo Beggs, natural causes}, Callaway Skidmore

Coming up on her twenty-sixth year on the throne. Considering her start as not exactly the smartest tool in the shed, she certainly didn't have a dull reign. Already-mentioned Redcoat Invasion, a rare truce-breaking when I returned the invasion favor on the Redcoats after a holy war for Connecticut, technically two invasions of Michigan (first one was nullified after a liege change), currently waiting for my dear cousin to invade.


Her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchild:
(By Edward)

1. Joshua, current heir presumptive, 41, m. Gerlinde fon Welland
   -Bayley, 18, m. Michael Cookeville
   --Aloysius, newborn
   -Alexa, 1
2. Laura, 35, m. {Rubén Trujillez, wasting illness / radiation sickness}, m. {Stansbury Hazard, poor health}, m. Hendrick Laurinsburg
   -Stanley Stedvor, 18, her baseborn son by former King of Alleghania Benjamin Stevor
   {no issue by Rubén or Stansbury}
   -Christine, 5

(By Elon)

1. Eve, 31, m. Samedi Freret
   -(currently expecting her first child, paternity is dubious)
2. Henriette, twin to Eve, m. Outerbridge Myrtle Beach
   -(also pregnant for the first time)
   
3. {Jennifer}, died from rabies in 2814 at the age of 2

 

[Ultima_Ratio]

And raided holding number 200 is...

 

[Metz77]

And raided holding number 200 is...
View attachment 521347

How incredibly appropriate.

 

[fredrikslicer]

.

 

[guinea prince]

Was torn between posting this here or in Strange Screenshots. But you know what? The AI has been so on top of their game this run, Ima post *their* CK2 empire!
Don't mind the multicultural Buddhist India ruled by Bengali Jharkhanids. That's just standard human player doing as human player does.

Spoiler: Merchant King of Maghreb

Revolt aside, the Merchant Kings of Maghreb was one of the more impressive things to come out of the Umayyad Dissolution. I rarely see the AI for their own merchant republics, let alone form an independent republic kingdom. They're doing pretty well for themselves!

Spoiler: Reformed African Mali

One of the coolest early deviations was Sub-Saharan Africa uniting, forming a massive kingdom, forming an empire, and reforming the African faith. Eventually they dissolved, with the Reformed Africans consolidating in Kanem-Bornu while Ghana went Catholic. They lost some land to the Sunnis in the Maghreb Republic, but African Mali is back in business and currently trying to carve a path into Sunni Abyssinia. Best of luck to them, I really hope they pull through. If my violent Buddhist conversions/forced reincarnations ever reach Africa, I want to maintain respected relationships with them.

Spoiler: Brexit 0rigins: Britain's Revenge

England was having a fun time all game. First France took over the entirety of the Jurassic Coast, hoarding all the cool fossils for themselves while England bled into Ireland and the lowlands of Scotland. Then England took back the Jurassic Coast, and bled into Northern France. Cue an inheritance into Italy somehow and now they're the empire of Catholic Europe. Surprised they ended up losing Leon to jihad, but I doubt their Reverse Brexit is anywhere near over, there's two centuries left in the game.

Spoiler: The Three Empires of Eastern Europe

Since early times, there has been a belt of empires: Carpathia, Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire. At times, Bulgaria would be suzerain of Carpathia. At times, Bulgaria would own Constantinople. But in time, all three empires stabilized, and became equals instead of joint oppressors, carving their own independent paths. You can see above how Byzantine especially has made some surprising gains, carving into Scandinavia and Africa.

Remember the Merchant Kings of Maghreb? How about the Merchant Emperors of Carpathia? Now that surprises me more than anything! I'm going to assume that acquiring Italian lands meant a vassal republic got factioned into power, but it's still super cool to see it happen. Two large, independent republics! And an empire-sized one!

Bulgaria's been around for so long that I took them for granted, and was surprised when they "settled". But that didn't really change anything since they went from giant blob to giant blob and kept everything the same. Taking a peek, it turned out that Bulgaria is officially Khazar Jewish, though I do not know how long that has been the case. This world is divided up into three colours, basically: the white Catholics of the West, the bronze Buddhists of the East, and a large splash of orthodox Purple as an Eastern European buffer in between. But within this monolithic purple, Bulgaria stands alone as a dagger of independent Blue. Though sadly, they aren't zealous enough to start converting their lands, so it's more of a mixed blue-ish purple.

Spoiler: Byzantine Bonus, and the children of Atilla

Might've noticed, the Greeks actually took the Holy Land for themselves. Not just their Holy Land, but Medina is under their control and Mecca is probably next on the menu. No Crusade was ever launched for Jerusalem, no major holy wars, just steady Greek conquest.

So succesfully, it's just a matter of fact that the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Red Sea coast are Greek and orthodox. If that's not Roman continuity, I don't know what is. The ease of their conquests is probably best attributed to the large Shia block that used to occupy Egypt before the Crusade for it. And with the fall of the Umayyads, the Abbasids were bereft of nearby allies long before Buddhism was brought to Baghdad by the sword.

Don't mind Egypt. Just Catholic Egyptian Arpad, as descended from Arpad and Attila.

And this amazing woman is also of Attila's bloodline. As if her incredible spread in stats and traits weren't enough, there really isn't anyone else more deserving to bring Buddhism to the Armenians for me.

The Foix scattered across Scandinavia is just Norway. A minor count just happened to turn them into a tributary. Sweden's trying to be a relevant, independent country, but they can't really compare to Greek Scandinavia. Germany's been pretty solid for a few centuries, as have the Pechenegs. I'm kinduv disappointed that the Mongolian Empire has been waffling about, going for the tiniest of nomad chiefs for the tiniest chunks of Volga Bulgaria at a time, instead of just taking the Pechenegs head-on and spreading into Europe proper. And they keep wasting their time chasing tiny allies of their war target's allies, instead of putting their event troops to use in carpet sieges. I can't even fear them properly, now that they're down to a mere 69k troops, so they better get their horses in gear

 

[Leyrann]

Was torn between posting this here or in Strange Screenshots. But you know what? The AI has been so on top of their game this run, Ima post *their* CK2 empire!
Don't mind the multicultural Buddhist India ruled by Bengali Jharkhanids. That's just standard human player doing as human player does.

Spoiler: Merchant King of Maghreb

Revolt aside, the Merchant Kings of Maghreb was one of the more impressive things to come out of the Umayyad Dissolution. I rarely see the AI for their own merchant republics, let alone form an independent republic kingdom. They're doing pretty well for themselves!

Spoiler: Reformed African Mali

One of the coolest early deviations was Sub-Saharan Africa uniting, forming a massive kingdom, forming an empire, and reforming the African faith. Eventually they dissolved, with the Reformed Africans consolidating in Kanem-Bornu while Ghana went Catholic. They lost some land to the Sunnis in the Maghreb Republic, but African Mali is back in business and currently trying to carve a path into Sunni Abyssinia. Best of luck to them, I really hope they pull through. If my violent Buddhist conversions/forced reincarnations ever reach Africa, I want to maintain respected relationships with them.

Spoiler: Brexit 0rigins: Britain's Revenge

England was having a fun time all game. First France took over the entirety of the Jurassic Coast, hoarding all the cool fossils for themselves while England bled into Ireland and the lowlands of Scotland. Then England took back the Jurassic Coast, and bled into Northern France. Cue an inheritance into Italy somehow and now they're the empire of Catholic Europe. Surprised they ended up losing Leon to jihad, but I doubt their Reverse Brexit is anywhere near over, there's two centuries left in the game.

Spoiler: The Three Empires of Eastern Europe

Since early times, there has been a belt of empires: Carpathia, Bulgaria, Byzantine Empire. At times, Bulgaria would be suzerain of Carpathia. At times, Bulgaria would own Constantinople. But in time, all three empires stabilized, and became equals instead of joint oppressors, carving their own independent paths. You can see above how Byzantine especially has made some surprising gains, carving into Scandinavia and Africa.

Remember the Merchant Kings of Maghreb? How about the Merchant Emperors of Carpathia? Now that surprises me more than anything! I'm going to assume that acquiring Italian lands meant a vassal republic got factioned into power, but it's still super cool to see it happen. Two large, independent republics! And an empire-sized one!

Bulgaria's been around for so long that I took them for granted, and was surprised when they "settled". But that didn't really change anything since they went from giant blob to giant blob and kept everything the same. Taking a peek, it turned out that Bulgaria is officially Khazar Jewish, though I do not know how long that has been the case. This world is divided up into three colours, basically: the white Catholics of the West, the bronze Buddhists of the East, and a large splash of orthodox Purple as an Eastern European buffer in between. But within this monolithic purple, Bulgaria stands alone as a dagger of independent Blue. Though sadly, they aren't zealous enough to start converting their lands, so it's more of a mixed blue-ish purple.

Spoiler: Byzantine Bonus, and the children of Atilla

Might've noticed, the Greeks actually took the Holy Land for themselves. Not just their Holy Land, but Medina is under their control and Mecca is probably next on the menu. No Crusade was ever launched for Jerusalem, no major holy wars, just steady Greek conquest.

So succesfully, it's just a matter of fact that the Eastern Mediterranean and parts of the Red Sea coast are Greek and orthodox. If that's not Roman continuity, I don't know what is. The ease of their conquests is probably best attributed to the large Shia block that used to occupy Egypt before the Crusade for it. And with the fall of the Umayyads, the Abbasids were bereft of nearby allies long before Buddhism was brought to Baghdad by the sword.

Don't mind Egypt. Just Catholic Egyptian Arpad, as descended from Arpad and Attila.

And this amazing woman is also of Attila's bloodline. As if her incredible spread in stats and traits weren't enough, there really isn't anyone else more deserving to bring Buddhism to the Armenians for me.

The Foix scattered across Scandinavia is just Norway. A minor count just happened to turn them into a tributary. Sweden's trying to be a relevant, independent country, but they can't really compare to Greek Scandinavia. Germany's been pretty solid for a few centuries, as have the Pechenegs. I'm kinduv disappointed that the Mongolian Empire has been waffling about, going for the tiniest of nomad chiefs for the tiniest chunks of Volga Bulgaria at a time, instead of just taking the Pechenegs head-on and spreading into Europe proper. And they keep wasting their time chasing tiny allies of their war target's allies, instead of putting their event troops to use in carpet sieges. I can't even fear them properly, now that they're down to a mere 69k troops, so they better get their horses in gear

Damn. That's an impressive playthrough.

What's the start date, if I may ask?

 

[CybrSlydr]

Here's what I've got going so far.

 

[guinea prince]

Damn. That's an impressive playthrough.

What's the start date, if I may ask?

Iron century, my first time playing it since it came out after I dropped off for a while. Good/bad news: Byzantines are seriously gobbling up the Red Sea and there's nothing any AI can do to stop them. But the Merchant Kings of Maghreb are eating Mali from the West, so my dreams of an independent, strong, AI Mali are gone

 

[thegeekcorner]

I haven't really played Crusader Kings in a little while, so I started drinking one night and started up a game as the Duchy of Ghana. It turned out to be the single best game I've ever played, culminating in my glorious Mali Empire. All kinds of crazy things happened, but two things make me very happy. One, the Byzantine Empire grew absolutely out of control without the influence of a strong regional Muslim nation to keep it in check. Second, I've never seen the Teutonic Knights have any counties before, so I was blown away when their map color was black! Almost made me want to convert to their religion. Almost.

I also reformed the African religion! And practically drove the Sunni into extinction.

 

[Leyrann]

Here's what I've got going so far.View attachment 533359

Wow. Is that AI Abbasids?

 

[CybrSlydr]

Wow. Is that AI Abbasids?

Yes?

 

[Count Hasimir Fenring]

I've been on a bit of a Shi'ite kick lately. After I grew tired of fending off a Crusade every half-hour as the Kalbid Sultanate of Sicily I decided to give the Soomras a shot because I feel I've not played in India enough and I like elephants. I've been more focused on maintaing a stable realm made rich by the silk road but I've taken opportunities to expand when I saw an opening. I seem to have inadvertently wrecked the Islamic world. Through cooperation with the Fatimids and intrigue with the Hashashin I was able to break Sunni power through warfare and conversion. Once the Seljuks, Ghaznavids and Karakhanids collapsed Shia power reached it's apex and Sunni populations began rapidly to convert. Shia Islam is now the vast majority of the Muslim population but I am now the only significant Muslim state.

By using marriage alliances and intrigue I destabilized the power structure of Greater Iran by causing unending sectarian warfare between the fragmented Sunni states and Shi'ite converts. The Fatimids were shattered by successful crusades into Egypt and Jerusalem as well as Byzantine expansion. The pagan Timurids then swept in and mopped up the Fatimids' Iranian territory as well as what was once a massive Fedayeen state ruling most of Persia proper. Most of Africa is now Catholic and the only sizable Muslim state left other than my empire is the Fatimid Caliphate which rules most of Arabia and the Sulayhids of Yemen. For me, I am trying to maintain Shia hegemony in my empire but moral authority is low and I may switch to Jain or Hindu. I've switched around before in order to maintain a syncretic empire. Most of my rulers have been Shi'ites reigning from Mansura but I have also had Jain and Hindu rulers reigning in Debul, which is still Hindu. I dislike ruling large empires but I find myself forced to begin expanding again lest the Paramaras or Timurids start inappropriately eyeing my Indus.

 

[junassa]

Playing with African Religions Overhaul plus some other mods

I'm playing with a nerfed version of Stronger Early AI Christians but IMO it's still too powerful. HRE is about to drive Abbasid out of Maghreb.
Playing with ARO puts me in a very vulnerable place. You don't get HOs after reform like most pagans do (gonna talk to them about that lol). Usually at this point I'm strong enough to take on either HRE or Abbasid but I'm going to have to do a bit more butt kissing than normal looks like.

 

[fedew]

Here goes my second post on this topic last was my roman empire

 

[Raisis]

I've already played CK2 for 500 hours but my last game was something I never had. I've started with Ferrara in 769 and played quiet calm. In 1042 I inherited the throne of Italy. Italy was very large, thanks to many successful crusades. I've had enough power to form an empire.

My biggest luck was, that I've created the bloodline of Alexander and my whole family owned the Europeane thrones. So they started invasion after invasion. Italy is now VERY large. It's really the largest empire I've ever created. The late game was quiet boring, because I had no really enemy. But I used the game to unlock some achievements.

 

[junassa]

Really happy how this turned out. Using ARO again with my mods and some others. Started in Canarias. Raided Ireland and got some Irish girl. I didn't really think much of her at the time besides the fact she was the heir of Meath, but she had the Irish Tanistry bloodline, so I was able to get out of elective gavelkind on my third ruler (I had no hope of reforming at this time, even with mods). Umayyad pretty much took over all of Iberia and all the way south to Ghana but they kept having civil wars and such until Umayyad lost control. Somewhere in there I swore fealty, fabricated a claim on duchy of Marrakech and won the war. From there I fabricated enough claims to reform, and got in range to claim Meath. I steamrolled the Irish and joined an independence faction, which we later won.

Khazaria smashed the ERE and conquered their way to Mercia before imploding. Abbasid imploded but their successor took over Africa, most of the Arabian peninsula and Anatolia. Crusades triggered and I had to fight off the heathens for control of Barcelona. In this mod African pagans don't get GHW until they lose control of certain counties or Jihads trigger so I had to GC for Africa.

I plan on salting Constantinople at some point but the stupid Khazaria turned Catholic so even with the No Interreligious Defensive Pact mod it'll be tedious to try to win now, so I think I'll work on trying to get the gold mines into my demesne first.