The Heavy Crown [Book the Third on the House of Wessex]

[coz1]

Fb-fb:

A Cathar king? Oh boy... that could be interesting. I mean he could go on to conquer a whole bunch of Europe doing that... or he could get dogpiled by other countries trying to declare Holy Wars. Or he could just ditch the heresy. Guess I'll have to read the Song of Wessex to find out!

And while the story continues, congrats on another successful AAR thread! Has been most enjoyable!

Yes, you will. I am a bit dodgy how it all works out, but that is part of the conceit of the new work. I really enjoyed doing this one, but it was over when Eadward died. The resthas just been gravy for those that want it. The new is something completely different...I hope.

I have only now caught up from the last few posts (after I subscribed to the other thread this morning without reading it). Sadly, I'm moving over the next week and a half, so I'm liable to be behind for some time yet.

Glad to see that you have caught up and you may be in luck as I don't know that I will move as fast with the new AAR. I look forward to your comments when you get the chance (especially knowing how a move can take up quite a lot of time!)


To all - Great to see some folks follow over and thank you for that! It is a new world and a new place and so Heavy Crown moves swiftly to the page 3's of the world. Always thus and always it shall be. Bit sad, as I loved Eadward's story, but we all must move on. That is the way of it and he would likely be proud.

 

[Bullfilter]

Oh, I have a sneaking suspicion that the fading of the light for Heavy Crown might be delayed a little bit by the current ‘awards season’. A few bows left for Eadward & ensemble yet.

 

[coz1]

Oh, I have a sneaking suspicion that the fading of the light for Heavy Crown might be delayed a little bit by the current ‘awards season’. A few bows left for Eadward & ensemble yet.

I will not deny it when I say that I hope so. Eadward, Berold, Harold...Æthelric and Cynethryth...even Uhtræd and Margaret (and Judith!) Spent a lot of time building these characters and I have always hoped they would be appreciated. We shall see.

 

[El Pip]

I have only now caught up from the last few posts (after I subscribed to the other thread this morning without reading it). Sadly, I'm moving over the next week and a half, so I'm liable to be behind for some time yet.

Spooky. That describes my position, I've only just caught up now it's over and I'm moving next Friday so will probably fall behind on Song of Wessex.

This has been an excellent read Coz, but I'll admit I'm glad you are switching back to narrative. As well written as the history book section was, and as amazing as the achievements of the later Queens was (the less said about Æthelric the better ), I did prefer the narrative works. Without context on character and personality the historical account of the monarch swapping a spy master or changing a chancellor did not grip me the way the Trilogy chapters did, taking small events and turning them into high drama or low deeds (or both ).

Thank you for sharing this excellent read with us and now onwards to the sequel!

 

[coz1]

Spooky. That describes my position, I've only just caught up now it's over and I'm moving next Friday so will probably fall behind on Song of Wessex.

This has been an excellent read Coz, but I'll admit I'm glad you are switching back to narrative. As well written as the history book section was, and as amazing as the achievements of the later Queens was (the less said about Æthelric the better ), I did prefer the narrative works. Without context on character and personality the historical account of the monarch swapping a spy master or changing a chancellor did not grip me the way the Trilogy chapters did, taking small events and turning them into high drama or low deeds (or both ).

Thank you for sharing this excellent read with us and now onwards to the sequel!

There is some luck on the new one. It is early so not far along. It is growing, but not too terribly fast.

You really honor me, @El Pip to have gone through and read these works as long as they are. I am glad that I provided a good story here because that was my goal, and I agree with you - the ins and outs of court politics is much more meaningful in narrative fashion. When you can build a spymaster and then kill him off means a lot more than just one more warm body to fill the position. Same goes for any other and I spent a lot of time with them all.

I appreciate your accolades and once more, thank you for taking the surely long time to read through these last two years of work. It was a labor of love and I am more than pleased that it has been enjoyed.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

This message was dictated by me, TBC, and written by my brother (hi). He has been good enough to type this out, but then again he is a student of law and therefore not to be trusted.

I confess I am impressed that the HRE managed to live up to its historical version, and did absolutely nothing with the absurd amount of power that it had.

So, the great trilogy ends...and like most modern works, has been suddenly expanded into having another sequel. Time will tell whether this is just to pad out the inevitable Mongol doomsday.

What a journey the last few years have been, writing and commenting on this beast of CKII storytelling? So far as I recall, this began just a little bit before Jabberjock and I started writing AARs on this forum some couple of years ago now. Strange to think of it as being over (only not quite, as we covered already you American capitalist pig you).

Right then, so one last time:

Mercia turned out to be a big wet blanket, but at least once you dried it you managed to cut it up into something useful.
Normandy was a worthy foe for many kings of Wessex and England, and that really needs to be remembered going forwards.
I don't like Edgar but his sons were a good bunch.
York fully deserves to be burnt to the ground and not rebuilt after all the toxic waste that spewed out of it over the last few centuries. Even Morcar…
France is pathetic. The Pope is a lunatic. HRE is rubbish and the rest of the world doesn't exist except as crusading targets.

...yes, I think that's everything. See everyone in Song of Wessex!

 

[coz1]

This message was dictated by me, TBC, and written by my brother (hi). He has been good enough to type this out, but then again he is a student of law and therefore not to be trusted.

I confess I am impressed that the HRE managed to live up to its historical version, and did absolutely nothing with the absurd amount of power that it had.

So, the great trilogy ends...and like most modern works, has been suddenly expanded into having another sequel. Time will tell whether this is just to pad out the inevitable Mongol doomsday.

What a journey the last few years have been, writing and commenting on this beast of CKII storytelling? So far as I recall, this began just a little bit before Jabberjock and I started writing AARs on this forum some couple of years ago now. Strange to think of it as being over (only not quite, as we covered already you American capitalist pig you).

Right then, so one last time:

Mercia turned out to be a big wet blanket, but at least once you dried it you managed to cut it up into something useful.
Normandy was a worthy foe for many kings of Wessex and England, and that really needs to be remembered going forwards.
I don't like Edgar but his sons were a good bunch.
York fully deserves to be burnt to the ground and not rebuilt after all the toxic waste that spewed out of it over the last few centuries. Even Morcar…
France is pathetic. The Pope is a lunatic. HRE is rubbish and the rest of the world doesn't exist except as crusading targets.

...yes, I think that's everything. See everyone in Song of Wessex!

I am certainly glad that you have caught up, @TheButterflyComposer for you have been there since the beginning (as you say.) More so, especially, given your latest troubles. I hope the reading of this has been a balm if no thing else. I hope that you know that I wish you the best of health and wealth and your worth on this forum is a wonderful thing both as a writer and a reader.

I don't disagree with your last thoughts, by and large. Mercia was rather huge in the short term but became a cudgel around my neck. One of the more satisfying elements was to finally corral them/it and pull it into the crown. York? Well, I would not have been there without Morcar, but he did prove a trouble. Solved, but not forever. It did lead to one of the last bits that I liked, but it was a pain in the ass to get there though it was not as hard as I thought it would be (but then again - this was vanilla.)

Normandy was my shining moment here, if I might say. I turned them from mortal enemies into the very best of friends within just a hundred years. France is not far behind (but you're not totally caught up. ) When/if you read Song of Wessex you will see that Normandy is completely English. Not Norman...not French. English. So too are parts of France. I hope you do get around to reading the latest because many of the goals you desired here are borne out there. It just took a while. I play slower than you, I think.

I don't disagree on the HRE but I blame that on vanilla. It's not as though I challenged them much during these years. France, to a certain degree, suffered the same fate. Paradox makes great games but the AI is not always on point. With great worth, the HRE did little and with me not pushing them, they still did relatively nothing but hold their own. P.S. That also changes.

It's OK not to like Eadgar. In truth, he was a bit of a prick when it came to his children. Really glad you liked the sons, though I still wished I did a bit better with Uhtræd. I hope I caught them all in their way and made them come to life as much as I am able. Eadward was my favorite (and why I forced the game to him by cheating. ) The summary at the end was to end it but as you say...we capitalist pigs. Except I am gaining no recompense for this other than your comments. And that is enough for me.

I am so glad that you read through this and have been a stalwart since nearly day one. Those that know the "whole" story can appreciate it that much more and it was 400 years of fascinating made up history. That's why I play the games. That's why I write them up. And that's why I love the interaction about them. What could happen? What should happen? Long time here and each time...it is always fun.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I am certainly glad that you have caught up, @TheButterflyComposer for you have been there since the beginning (as you say.) More so, especially, given your latest troubles. I hope the reading of this has been a balm if no thing else. I hope that you know that I wish you the best of health and wealth and your worth on this forum is a wonderful thing both as a writer and a reader.

It's been a really cool read too because of how much change there was.

York? Well, I would not have been there without Morcar, but he did prove a trouble. Solved, but not forever. It did lead to one of the last bits that I liked, but it was a pain in the ass to get there though it was not as hard as I thought it would be (but then again - this was vanilla.)

Yeah, I'm playing CKII with all the dlc on and as Kent. So much mad stuff used to happen when you played a minor out of the way of Europe but now its just insane. I was building my support base in Kent and Essex using a guy I had basically turned into the Hulk; super strength, super angry, smacked everyone around all the time. He then found religion and became so pious and noble that every adored him and he became a saint when he died (first time that happened). He was murdered by his daughter, my next character, who was seriously channelling Galahad with how many marriage alliances she made with Europe. And we all know what happens when you make loads of marriages in Europe...you end up as king of France by accident. So my next character was king of France by accident, until I ditched the throne to some rebels after taking as much gold as I could get my hands on, and Brittany. After that, I focused back on my core territory in south of England only to find East Anglia had somehow founded the kingdom of England whilst I was in Europe for five years. So now have to fight a northern based England whilst also conquering Wessex and a Viking-Pagan-Ireland that's ruled by a possessed homosexual who ate the last pope.

Normandy was my shining moment here, if I might say. I turned them from mortal enemies into the very best of friends within just a hundred years. France is not far behind (but you're not totally caught up. ) When/if you read Song of Wessex you will see that Normandy is completely English. Not Norman...not French. English. So too are parts of France. I hope you do get around to reading the latest because many of the goals you desired here are borne out there. It just took a while. I play slower than you, I think.

Probably, since I tend to burn through years as my plans take a couple of years to reach fruition most of the time. Or they did back when I was playing Albion. Now I'm a bit more efficient. Incidentally, Galahad never did conquer France. I did get there in the end though, by, you guessed it, accidentally having a family member inherit it (and not even the side of the family I was trying to get it with).

The summary at the end was to end it but as you say...we capitalist pigs. Except I am gaining no recompense for this other than your comments. And that is enough for me.

Uh huh. In that case we're going to start charging premium. Or demand the bAAR reopen so I can cash in on some of the goodwill I've somehow accumulated round these parts...

I am so glad that you read through this and have been a stalwart since nearly day one. Those that know the "whole" story can appreciate it that much more and it was 400 years of fascinating made up history. That's why I play the games. That's why I write them up. And that's why I love the interaction about them. What could happen? What should happen? Long time here and each time...it is always fun.

So what's the plan for this series then? Do you have EUIV and willing to give a conversion a try? Would be very interested to see how the Europe you've been building up goes forward.

 

[coz1]

Uh huh. In that case we're going to start charging premium. Or demand the bAAR reopen so I can cash in on some of the goodwill I've somehow accumulated round these parts...

So what's the plan for this series then? Do you have EUIV and willing to give a conversion a try? Would be very interested to see how the Europe you've been building up goes forward.

I play very slowly so I can capture everything. If it takes a long time, so be it. I also do not have grand goals. I'm not that good of a player. The little bits of minutia also help the story, so that can't be bad.

It occurs the me that I was not entirely clear above, but I looked at converting to EU4 (which I do have) but this version of the game would not go there. There was simply no match and I think it was God's plan that I move forward. I do finish (or will) this particular game, but I wanted to try a game with all of the DLCs (or most) and have started that as well.

 

[TheButterflyComposer]

I play very slowly so I can capture everything. If it takes a long time, so be it. I also do not have grand goals. I'm not that good of a player. The little bits of minutia also help the story, so that can't be bad.

It occurs the me that I was not entirely clear above, but I looked at converting to EU4 (which I do have) but this version of the game would not go there. There was simply no match and I think it was God's plan that I move forward. I do finish (or will) this particular game, but I wanted to try a game with all of the DLCs (or most) and have started that as well.

I think you might enjoy all DLC on the other side of the map. Its a similar fundamental system (feudalism, all the same inheritance laws etc) but gives tons of different events and situations cos there's two new religions to deal with, Tibet and China, the silk road, Mongols to the north, Islamic empires to the west and you could start in Sri Lanka, an island attached by a tiny isthmus to the subcontinent. Should be a fairly good, somewhat easy start but challenging game overall.

 

[coz1]

I think you might enjoy all DLC on the other side of the map. Its a similar fundamental system (feudalism, all the same inheritance laws etc) but gives tons of different events and situations cos there's two new religions to deal with, Tibet and China, the silk road, Mongols to the north, Islamic empires to the west and you could start in Sri Lanka, an island attached by a tiny isthmus to the subcontinent. Should be a fairly good, somewhat easy start but challenging game overall.

As my sig suggests, you'll have to do with a pagan Saxony for that. Otherwise, Wessex carries on.

 

[Asantahene]

Damn you Coz for not having chapter numbers and indexes in this tome-I am back finally (we all have lots of time on our hands right?) So I used the post numbers instead and need to read from #1075 then fire into the new book. Good to see you still at it-will be commenting once I have caught up

 

[coz1]

Damn you Coz for not having chapter numbers and indexes in this tome-I am back finally (we all have lots of time on our hands right?) So I used the post numbers instead and need to read from #1075 then fire into the new book. Good to see you still at it-will be commenting once I have caught up

Great to see you back!! You're just in time for the big finish of book 4. Can't wait to see what you think.