Guide and walkthrough for the "Crusaders (Crusader Kings)". Crusader Kings Guide and Walkthrough Reviews and Reviews

I can quote an official of the game translation company into Russian on one of the forums:

- Crusaders is a game about coffee grinders. If you have one coffee grinder, you can turn it around the clock and get a grind. But if you have 10 grinders, then essentially nothing has changed: you're still running one grinder because you only have two hands. But if you find 9 friends who agree to grind coffee for 50% grinding, then your only task is to make sure that they remain your friends.

By the way, in the "concept" column of Paradox's design document, this is exactly what is written, only in English.

Actually, an attempt was made to create a full-fledged historical simulator. Certainly not in the sense of "Quake is a paratrooper simulator". The historical simulator is a classic concept of world fiction, commonly used by various intelligence agencies and governments to predict the development of the state of affairs. Simply put, a certain person was brought into the historical simulator, and events developed exactly as they would happen in real life.

With the advent of this game, the path to the goal has become shorter. To start with, 50 years after the start of the game, the number of characters turned out to be almost 250 thousand people, each with their own skills and character. Relationships, intrigues - in general, the upper class began to act approximately as it was in history, taking into account personal characteristics.

A little more - a leap in technological development, serious government funds, the involvement of professional psychologists - and we will be able to find out exactly what would have happened if Napoleon had won at Waterloo. The first tentative step along this path has already been taken.

Scenario selection

A list of scenarios is located in the upper left corner of the screen. On this moment There are three scenarios, the year the game started is indicated in brackets: Hastings(1066), The Third crusade (1187), The Hundred Years War(1337). You can start with any of them, but I can advise you to start from the earliest, as it has less subtleties and strong enemies, such as the Mongol hordes.

It is interesting: the scale of the Mongol invasion is completely determined by the level of difficulty of the game. The difference between 100,000 people and 200,000 is very significant.

After selecting a scenario, the countries available for the game will appear to the right of the list. Above are three buttons, each of which displays a different class of countries. The first button - a castle in the mountains - displays a list of kingdoms, with the image of a castle in the distance on the plain - the duchies, with the image of a gloomy wooden village - the counties. Many people think that running a large country is more difficult than a small vassal. I don't think so: to keep an empire from collapsing is about as difficult as to survive for a small feud. For a beginner, the Orthodox Russian principalities are ideal, since the Pope cannot force them to participate in the campaign, and they are neither easy prey nor crumbling empires under their own weight.

After selecting a country, the coat of arms of the dynasty, the ruling country, a map with the personal domain of the ruler marked, and a portrait of the current ruler will appear on the pedestal to the right of the list of countries. The titles of the ruler are listed on the pedestal itself. Sometimes an error occurs and instead of the royal title of the ruler, the ducal title is displayed. In the game itself, the title is royal.

After choosing both the scenario and the country, you can start the game.

Main screen

After the download is complete, a window will appear indicating the target and two coats of arms. This window was left over from previous games, in "Europe" there were other goals, in addition to scoring the most points by a certain date, after reaching which the player became the winner. But this mode was almost not used by the players, and in the following games it was removed. And the engine remained the same, along with a useless window. Confirm the start of the game.

Let's call this screen the main one. It is divided into a map and three auxiliary panels: a control panel located to the left of the map, a panel general information at the top of the screen and a message bar at the bottom.

The panel of general information is made in the form of a paper strip with folds. On the left side of it are the current day, month and year. In its right part, from right to left, the current amount of gold in the treasury, prestige points, and piety points are indicated.

In the message panel, all events that have occurred in the game are marked in the settings section as necessary for mention. Using the slider on the right, you can view older messages, just remember that the number of saved messages is not infinite, and some of them initially do not appear anywhere at all.

In the lower left corner of the screen there are several small buttons that change the large map mode and turn on / off various marks on the map. A tree button switches the map to landscape mode, a flag to relationship mode, stacks of gold coins to economic mode, a castle to kingdom mode, a cross to religion mode.

The three small icons below enable/disable certain markers in all map modes. The shield displays the coats of arms of the rulers over the capital provinces of the domains, the sword shows the collected militias when the militia markers are turned off, the fog of war is also turned off, the castle displays the current fortresses in the provinces. Please note that when coats of arms and fortresses are displayed at the same time, the first ones in small provinces cover the second ones.

To the right of the icons is a small map. Unlike previous games in the series, the color of the seas here means land, and the color of land means seas. Such a map fits into the medieval surroundings much better, but for the first few minutes the map seems uncomfortable. But very soon you will get used to it. In the corners of the map on the right, circles with plus and minus are used to scale the large map.

It is interesting: take a closer look at the map than usual. I am sure that you will find some unexpected discoveries. Game developers often put "easter eggs" into the game.

In the upper left corner of the screen is the coat of arms of the ruler of the currently selected province. After clicking on it, the control panel turns into a country overview panel if the province of the character's domain you are playing as is selected. If the province belongs to another ruler, then the panel turns into an external diplomacy panel.

When you click on a character's portrait in the upper right corner, the character's characteristics window will open, when you click on the attached coat of arms, the control panel turns into a country overview panel.

The control panel does not have a permanent look, it is called differently in different modes and is used for different actions. By default, the capital province overview panel is open. Consider map modes and types of control panels.

Map modes

Landscape map. The terrain map is used to determine the terrain of a province. This card is the main one. Some players find the map rather uncomfortable, but it just takes some getting used to. In case of big map the developers chose between entourage and convenience, and chose a medieval entourage.

A plains province looks like flat terrain. Forest - as flat, but with the appearance of several small trees. The hilly province is similar to the plains, but it is dominated by darker tones and there are slight elevations. A mountain province is similar to a hill province, but the mountain peaks are more clearly visible. The swampy province resembles a flat one, on which a few drops of brown paint have been dropped. The desert province is darker than the plains, but lighter than the hilly ones.

I repeat, once you let your eyes get used to and gain experience in distinguishing between provinces, the map will seem very convenient to you.

Relationship map. The relationship map is mostly the color of blank paper. After selecting a certain province, the others also change color. Countries with which the domain owner is at war are marked in red, with those with which a peace treaty has been concluded with orange, with those with whom a military alliance has been concluded with blue. Dark green are the provinces of the selected domain, light green are the provinces of direct vassals of the ruler who owns the selected domain, moderate green are the provinces of the vassals of the vassals. Thus, the entire feudal staircase is visible.

Economic map. On the economic map, the provinces are colored from bright red to dark green. Depending on the income received from that province. The greener, the richer. Thus, this map is used to determine the direction of expansion of the country and provinces for the construction of money-producing buildings.

It is interesting: the color of the province on the map is much more influenced by the so-called "base tax" than by the actual current income. It is noticeable that the colors of the map with significant progress in the economic branches of science almost do not change.

Kingdom map. On the kingdom map, the provinces are colored in the colors of the top of the feudal stairs. Simply put, vassals are marked with the color of the supreme overlord, regardless of direct or indirect vassalage. Any country that has managed to gain independence is painted in its own color, so listing all the colors is long and pointless. Thus, this map shows the balance of power in the world between dynasties.

Religion map. On the religion map, the provinces are colored according to the religion of the majority of the population. Orthodoxy is indicated in brown, Catholicism in white, paganism in gray, and Islam in green. Thus, this map is used to determine the direction of the Crusades.

Feudalism

Many novice players right at the start of the game are trying to fight feudal fragmentation. Usually this is expressed in the fact that the titles of vassal rulers are unobtrusively trying to take away, offering them to voluntarily give up their rights in favor of the overlord. If the feudal lord begins to balk, then a militia gathers from the personal domain of the ruler, and the shrew shakes himself right out of the carved chair. Usually he goes to relatives and becomes their courtier or adviser.

Then the course of events is repeated with the next person. The more feudal lords lose titles and become landless, the less eager to obey those who remain. In the end, angry feudal lords unite among themselves or even with neighboring rulers in a coalition and act as a united front.

A successful ruler, whose vassals are few in number and who could not stand under the protection of another overlord, will be able to cope with the coalition relatively easily. After that, a significant part of the country's population is killed during civil strife and the total number of militias is almost zero.

But unity prevails. And then the surprised player notices that the budget of the united country has disappeared somewhere: it is even smaller than the budget of the domain that he originally had. The speed of the restoration of the number of militias is lower than a snail's, and the maximum number of soldiers is simply indecent compared to what it was before the civil war.

Several years pass, and the player begins to receive numerous events that boil down to the fact that the personal domain of the ruler is too large, and because of this, the loyalty of the population of one of the provinces drops sharply. Then criminal communities begin to multiply throughout the country - thieves, robbers, hired killers.

It is interesting: thieves and robbers are unpleasant personalities, I do not argue. But they can greatly help you in the implementation of contract killings, between robberies and thefts. Just keep in mind that they are equally enthusiastic about helping you and other characters.

In the end, the uprisings become too much for your militia, and then the militias that live on grazing, since the budget is zero, they dissolve and the country is declared bankrupt. It is no longer possible to re-assemble the militias, since the loyalty of the population has fallen to zero and no one will simply agree to take part in military campaigns.

The result is obvious and sad. The player made a fatal mistake trying to unite all the provinces into a single domain. Historically, it is quite simple to explain this - the government and officials in the Middle Ages were not a soulless mechanism that works the better, the less individuality its parts show. On the contrary, the brighter and more talented the individual, the stronger the country.

It is, by definition, impossible to create a modern-type society in a game. There is no bureaucracy. Even Byzantium and the Pope of Rome, many times superior to the feudal rulers, eventually consciously carried out reforms that led to the feudal structure of the country.

It is interesting: The Pope has the right to keep more than 10 thousand provinces in his personal domain without penalty, regardless of skill. For comparison, the Mongol hordes - 1 thousand provinces, the Byzantine emperor - 10 provinces. Unfortunately, neither the Pope nor the Tatars can officially play.

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In general, there are no bureaucrats, so the local feudal lords play the role of government. Since the feudal lords are either killed or expelled, the player character remains the only ruler in the country. No matter how brilliant he is, with the growth of the domain, he will not be able to make the day twice as long. Therefore, he will work exactly as much as he can physically. With the growth of the domain, the number of issues that it must resolve increases, and for the most effective management of the province, you need to spend a day. That is how much each specific feudal lord worked. The effectiveness of government falls until it can be said that anarchy has begun to reign. The bottom line is clear.

In the game, this is expressed quite simply - the characters have the skill of management and titles. The number of provinces in a personal domain is equal to skill divided by 2 times the character's highest title modifier (0.5 for an earl, 1 for a duke, and 2 for a king). Very talented kings can personally rule about 20 provinces, but, for example, the borders of the Kingdom of Rus include almost 90 provinces. In addition, to obtain such a talented ruler, it is necessary to cross the courtiers, vassals and descendants for a long time and painstakingly in order to obtain a genius in several generations.

The only way out is to create vassals. From among the courtier or landless descendants, one is chosen to be given the title. The system of vassalage and titles is three-stage, different religions call the titles of one stage differently. The bottom step is a graph with a domain in one or two provinces. Counts are usually vassals of dukes with a domain in 3-4 provinces. Please note that only rulers with the title of the next stage can be overlords of the feudal lords of the previous one, i.e. an earl can only be a vassal of a duke or king, not another earl. The highest level is a king with a domain of 6-7 provinces, to which dukes are subordinate and some counts have direct vassalage.

Therefore, it is better not to try to unite the country, it is useless and unnecessary. Keep the maximum number of the richest provinces in the domain, but do not exceed the upper limit. Otherwise, the effectiveness will drop by 10% for each extra area. Of course, something can be leveled with the help of buildings, but ... Firstly, it is expensive, and secondly, do not deprive yourself of pleasure. Feeling like a puppeteer pulling the strings is a pleasant feeling, political intrigues for the sake of preserving the empire are the lion's share of interest.

It is interesting: in the latest versions of the game, it became possible to increase the loyalty of vassals by sending them cash gifts. Not to say that this will be able to contain the collapse of the empire due to the huge minus of reputation, but sometimes it is useful.

Province overview panel

In the lower left corner of the image is a drawing of a warrior. When you hover over it with the mouse, a tooltip details the composition of the militia of this province. The green bar below the picture indicates the current size of the militia (from the maximum). When you click on the picture, the militia is assembled, but you can independently collect the militia from your own domain provinces or from the domain provinces of fairly loyal vassals.

When you click on the landscape image, several icons appear on it, displaying possible buildings. Some of them require scientific development, otherwise their icons simply will not show. If the building is red, then there is not enough money to build it, or it appears on its own, as it gives a negative effect. It is unlikely that you want to personally create a guild of assassins in the capital, which will then be happy to help everyone who wants to kill any nobleman in the province, including you. Buildings have several levels, a more perfect one replaces a less perfect one, while the effects of different levels add up.

Below the relief are four scrolls. They symbolize peasants, townspeople, clergy and nobility. The scrolls below show coins, hearts and blades. Coins denote the gold received monthly from each stratum of society, hearts - the loyalty of the stratum to the ruler, blades - the distribution of power between the strata in the province. The (+) button at the bottom of each scroll is used to increase the power of the layer in the area.

The loyalty of a stratum of society affects the amount of taxes that can be received from the province. The income from the province is uniform, but the strata provide different shares of the tax. Peasants pay half of the total income, townspeople - 30%, clergy and nobility - 10% each. When the distribution of power in the province changes, the loyalty of the strata that lose influence falls, along with income. In addition, the distribution of influence determines the composition of the militia.

The following is a detailed description of the province. The table shows the amount of gold, prestige and piety, respectively, from taxation and robbery. Below the table are religion, culture, landscape, fortress level and the number of soldiers that can be in the province without attrition.

With the button at the very bottom of the panel, you can plunder a province, while there is no difference between the captured provinces of a foreign domain and the provinces of your own. Sometimes large icons appear between the Pillage button and the characteristic that affect the income and construction speed in the province, for example, the prosperity icon or the dysentery epidemic.

Character stat window

At the top of the window general characteristics the character's coat of arms and portrait are placed, skills, character traits, prestige, piety, status are indicated. A character's prestige affects the loyalty of his vassals, the possibility of claiming titles held by others, and the likelihood of a successful marriage. Piety affects the restoration of reputation after contract killings committed on the order of the character and titles obtained by force. In addition, piety affects the likelihood of a character being elected Pope.

It is interesting: there may be a Catholic cross next to the character's portrait. This means that the Pope is acting in the interests of this character. If you wish, you can declare war on the character and experience excommunication from the church.

The total number of skills is four, these are management, martial arts, skills of intrigue and diplomacy. Diplomacy skill affects the likelihood of concluding treaties proposed by the character and the loyalty of vassals. Intrigue - on the probability of success of a contract killing paid for by the character, and on the chances of defending himself from the killers sent for his head. Warfare is responsible for the outcome of battles under the leadership of the character, management is responsible for the number of provinces allowed in the domain without penalty, and income from domain provinces.

There are significantly more character traits, about 50 varieties. Basically, they affect the skills, likes or dislikes of other characters, depending on the similarities or differences of characters, and the likelihood of numerous events occurring. You can get certain character traits only with the help of events.

It is interesting: there is a feature in which it is generally impossible to kill a character. This is especially unpleasant in the case of the Mongol khans, who are literally itching to kill and save themselves from the Mongol invasion.

This is followed by a strip with the name of the character, years of life and age. The character's titles are listed below, or, if the character is landless, the court of the ruler in which he is located, and the position at the court.

The lower part of the window consists of portraits united under one frame. In the first row in the first frame - a portrait of the overlord, in the second - portraits of vassals. In the second row in the first frame - portraits of parents, if there is only one portrait or the frame is empty - one of the parents is unknown. The second frame contains a portrait of a spouse, in the third - portraits of children. Until the age of 16, children do not receive a separate portrait, only a conditional silhouette is visible in the circle. Brothers and sisters are placed in the first frame of the third row, relatives are placed in the second. The last row is usually used to plan dynastic ties in order to obtain titles through succession.

Clicking on any portrait opens a window with the characteristics of the owner of the portrait. At the very bottom of the window, tiny portraits list the character's courtiers, if he holds a title, and claims to titles held by other characters, consisting of the current owner's portrait and the corresponding coat of arms.

Note: Cows - allows you to build - Cheese dairy.

Dynastic politics

Some rulers at the beginning of the game are young and full of energy, others are old and the probability of their death is high. In any case, in a few decades, even the healthiest and youngest ruler will grow old and die. Since the game uses the concept of "character" and not "country", the primary question is: who will you be forced to play as after the death of the chosen ruler.

The person who inherits the throne is determined by laws, which are detailed in the following sections. Now we must learn, firstly, to maintain consistently high characteristics of the characters and, secondly, to avoid losing part of the country due to a carelessly concluded dynastic marriage.

The parameters of the heir are equal to the arithmetic mean between the parameter of the father and the parameter of the mother. Therefore, you must choose your future spouse wisely. It is desirable that its parameters exceed the character you are playing as. But in no case do not marry relatives, especially sisters. In this case, the character has a very high chance of getting a congenital deformity. With high parameters of the parents, this is tolerable, but, in any case, unpleasant.

The ruler must be comprehensively developed. In the first place - management, with its increase, you, within certain limits, will be able to expand your personal domain, which relieves unnecessary headaches. In second place is the skill of diplomacy. The probability of concluding diplomatic treaties is not as important as the loyalty of vassals. In a large empire, an heir with poor diplomacy can cause the empire to collapse.

Military affairs and intrigue play a secondary role. Of course, it would be better to be able to fight, but even a genius will not be able to oppose anything to a more scientifically developed and with a larger army, albeit a completely mediocre enemy in terms of tactics. The intrigue skill affects the success rate of contract killings, but they should not be used unless absolutely necessary. If you do not try to cut other dynasties under the root with the wrong hands, then you will not often have to dodge flying daggers.

After choosing a bride and marriage, sooner or later a child will be born. When he reaches the age of five, you can send him to study at the court, in the army or in a monastery. Education ends some time after reaching the age of fourteen. The heir receives a personality trait that affects his skills. Some traits greatly strengthen the heir's skill in a certain area, others are completely useless or even harmful.

It is interesting: sometimes children appear at a time when the ruler is on a military campaign. What would that mean?..

You can only influence traits received by the heir indirectly. For example, if next to the heir there is an example of an adviser who is well versed in management, then there is a greater chance that he will increase his management skill. On the contrary, if the adviser is a drunkard or an idiot, then the heir will be disgusted with the duties he performs. The good development of the metropolitan area, competently and efficiently operating enterprises will also have a beneficial effect.

From time to time something happens to the heir. Let's say he falls under the influence of a talented merchant, begins to show interest in religion, or, God forbid, in different ways killing cats and dogs. You can influence it and direct development in the direction you need. Sometimes the incident ends in nothing, the character of the heir does not change. Sometimes he acquires new, negative or positive, character traits.

After the heir comes of age, you must transfer one of the domain provinces with the accompanying title to him, otherwise you will be deducted monthly prestige, just like for every adult unmarried daughter. Take your time with this. You will not be able to choose a suitable spouse for a son or daughter, and on their own they often choose brides with poor skills. Try first to find a suitable bride, and then have a wedding, after which you can safely allocate an inheritance to your son. Other rulers are very reluctant to give away talented brides, sometimes completely unaware of the benefits that they will receive by intermarrying with the ruling house. There is only one way out: stubbornly propose a dynastic marriage for several years with an interval of several months. According to the law of cubes, you should be lucky.

Also, don't forget that the age of the bride is important. If the son does not have descendants, there will be problems in the future. Work with every born heir. The eldest son may turn out to be an unsuccessful and bad ruler ... In this case, it is better to send assassins after his head before marriage and the appearance of his own children. Blood ties are one thing, but the interests of the country are quite another.

In addition to direct heirs and some relatives, you are responsible for the family affairs of the courtiers. The best courtiers occupy the positions of advisers to the ruler and a certain characteristic of them is added to the characteristic of the ruler. In general, the rules are the same here, but the families of the courtiers should have a narrow specialization, it's easier that way. One genus is used to make chancellors, another makes marshals, and so on. Sometimes you can try to prepare a future wife for the heir if no good applicants are expected. The main thing is to follow family ties.

The latest application of dynastic politics is a rather useless one. The absence of other heirs from the deceased ruler and the transfer of titles to the player is a very rare event. Of course, you can try to eliminate competitors with contract killings, but serious countries have good heirs with a high intrigue skill. At best, you will kill a person and it will become known, at worst, you will fail, and, again, it will become known. Each contract kill when revealing a customer is -100 prestige and -100 piety, which is very painful. In addition, vassals literally hate the murderous ruler, which, even with strong power, can lead to the collapse of the empire. In general, without special reasons it is better not to get dirty.

Country overview window

The country overview window consists of several parts. In the upper part there is a portrait of the ruler against the background of an image that changes depending on his religion and titles. Below is a number of coats of arms of vassals, even lower - monthly income, the number of provinces in the domain, the total number of militias of the overlord and vassals, the effectiveness of taxation of the domain. Next comes the reputation of the dynasty.

At the bottom of the panel are several images. The floor of the royal robe with the regalia put on it switches the panel to legislative mode, several people from different walks of life - to courtier mode, a shield with a sword leaning - to internal diplomacy mode, a chest - to budget mode.

Title claims are listed between the top and bottom sections. Let's consider all the modes in detail.

Internal Diplomacy Panel

The portrait of the character on the panel of internal diplomacy is preserved. At the bottom of the panel, the possible diplomatic actions are listed:

Mobilize Host. After the action is completed, a militia gathers in all provinces of the domain.

Grand Mobilization. An order for vassals to gather militias. Vassals think for a while, and then agree or refuse. It is better to assemble a great army after the declaration of war, and not before, otherwise even the most loyal of the vassals may refuse. After a declaration of war, the likelihood of consent increases significantly.

Offer Marriage. An attempt to conclude a marriage contract between the courtiers of the character. The lower part of the panel changes to a list of unmarried courtiers. After selecting a suitable person in the second list, a spouse is selected for him or her. Since both people belong to your court, the consent of an outsider is not required.

It is interesting: in later versions of the game, the ruler can order only relatives to marry, not courtiers at all. It is possible that this limitation will be lifted in the next version.

Send Assassin. Hiring killers to eliminate a specific person. Usually, the murder of one's own courtiers is required to choose an heir son, in the event that the eldest son is worse than the younger, or to dissolve a marriage with a barren wife.

Grant title. Grant a certain title to a courtier. This is done when the number of provinces in a domain exceeds the number effectively ruled, or, in countries where the ruler's dominions are divided at his death among all heirs, to maintain a unified empire in old age.

Create Bishop. This action is used to create a bishopric. The action is not always available, since only a courtier who studied in a monastery can become a bishop. When creating a bishopric, the ruler instantly receives a certain number of piety points, depending on the wealth of the province.

Create title. There are several titles in the game that do not belong to anyone and no one has claims on them. However, these titles can be obtained by including at least two-thirds of the provinces required for this in your own state, in a personal domain or with the help of direct or indirect vassalage, it does not matter. After that, spending a certain amount of gold, you will receive an equal number of prestige, and an additional title. Sometimes the creation of a title allows you to move from one group of countries to another, say, after the creation of the Kingdom of Rus'.

External Diplomacy Panel

In general, the panel is similar to the internal diplomacy panel. But a few buttons are different:

Declare War. Declare war on a character. The button can only be pressed if the player has a claim to one of the enemy's titles, the enemy has declared war on one of the player's vassals, or the enemy belongs to a different religion (branches such as Catholicism and Orthodoxy do not count). Declaring war on a vassal divides the loyalty of those remaining by 2.

Grab title. Claim one of the other character's titles. Available only for characters of the same faith as the player and who are not his vassals. Requires a certain amount of prestige to perform, depending on the difficulty level. In addition, the action damages reputation by 1 point.

Revoke Title. Only available to the player's direct vassals. The requirement to transfer one of the titles of the character to the player. Subtracts 25% of the loyalty of other direct vassals on any outcome. In case of refusal, the player receives a claim to the title.

Usurp Title. A bit like the Create Title action, only with an existing title. In the event that a player captures two-thirds of the provinces corresponding to the title during the war, then he can receive the title without concluding a peace treaty and claims. Subtracts the amount of prestige points equivalent to making a claim and reduces reputation by two points

Offer Vassalization. Offer the character to become the player's vassal. The offer is accepted only if the character is experiencing serious difficulties - a war with a very strong enemy, say, and the player can greatly help the character at least just survive. In case of failure, prestige is deducted. The action is only available with a character of the same faith as the player.

Offer Alliance. The action exists only in later versions. Propose a military alliance to another character. The alliance system is only two-sided, the number of alliances is limited by the skill of the ruler.

Offer Marriage. Similar to internal diplomacy, but the overlord can reject the dynastic treaty.

Sue for peace. Propose a peace treaty. The panel of peace negotiations opens. All disputed titles are placed in the center of the panel. You can either recognize the title for the opponent, or not resolve the controversial issue, or approve the title for yourself.

At the top of the panel is a rectangle with two coats of arms attached and numbers to the right. It shows exactly how much you must receive or give in order to make peace. With the complete occupation of a personal domain, the probability of making peace on any terms is very high.

With the bottom slider, you can pay or demand tribute.

With religious enemies, only the creation of alliances, war and sending contract killers is possible.

Note: Local Merchant Houses - allows you to build - Brewery and Moneylenders

Budget Dashboard

The budget panel consists of several sliders that determine the taxation of different sections of society, and a general calculation of expenses and income, surplus or deficit at the bottom of the panel. Let's take a look at each slider.

Scutage. Tax from the player's vassals. Causes their discontent and reduces the number of vassal militias.

crown duty. Tax from the nobility in the personal domain.

Demesne Income. Not a tax. A fixed number, the size of which is constant depending on the size of the domain and the number of buildings in its province.

census tax. Tax from the peasantry in the personal domain.

Tolls. Tax from citizens in a personal domain.

army upkeep. Expenditure item of the budget, maintenance of the army.

Church Donations. Expenditure item of the budget, donations to the church. They increase piety, the lack of donations causes dissatisfaction among the clergy.

Duty to Liege. Expenditure item of the budget, deductions to the overlord. These are the funds that you get with Scutage when you are a lieutenant.

budget policy

The player must adhere to a few basic rules when collecting taxes. A significant part of the budget in a large empire is a tax on vassals. Sometimes this is almost the entire budget, i.e. the player can easily remove any duties from the peasantry, townspeople and nobility in a personal domain, and hardly notice the difference. The negative side of the tax on vassals is that it reduces the size of vassal militias and causes discontent. In the event that the vassals are loyal, you can move the slider all the way to the right, but when the empire crumbles, it is sometimes beneficial to remove this tax. Yes, force yourself to stay on bread and water for a while. But to keep the country and titles.

The principles of taxation of the peasantry, townspeople and nobility are, in principle, the same. The extreme positions of the slider respectively lower and increase the loyalty of the social stratum by 1% per month. It should be taxed to the extent that the loyalty of the population does not change. Please note that there can be various loyalty bonuses for the domain - depending on the ideological development of the province and buildings. It is better to choose the tax rate for the province with the lowest loyalty bonus, otherwise some provinces will turn into hotbeds of rebellion.

Donations to the church are sometimes the second most painful expense item. With donations, the situation is quite simple - they fluctuate the loyalty of the clergy by -1% and +1% at the extreme positions of the slider. At the same time, donations are the only way to increase piety, except for random events, the creation of bishoprics and war with infidels. When there is a significant budget surplus, it is better to finance donations in full: piety is the only way to increase reputation.

The last expenditure item of the budget is the army. Church donations better finance fully, and the player's army must finance in full, no matter how expensive it may be. The lack of food and salaries monstrously reduces the existing army, and the "Crusaders" are not "Europe II", the rate of army recovery is so low that the profit from insufficient funding will be ten times blocked by losses in numbers.

The remaining methods of fundraising, as a rule, occur only once in the life of each ruler, but at the same time provide huge sums of money. Usually this is the marriage of the eldest daughter and the wedding of the ruler. Gold is enough to completely complete a medium-sized war.

THIRD PAGE

Army overview panel

After clicking on the figure of a warrior on the map, the control panel switches to the army overview mode. The panel is divided into two parts. The upper part consists of small panels with the name of the units included in the army, a portrait of the commander and number. The lower part contains the general composition of the army by types of soldiers and a portrait of the supreme commander. This is usually the overlord or the character with the highest title, in extreme cases the character with the highest prestige. Above the list of militias is the total strength of the militias and the percentage of that strength that will be deducted from the army on the first day of the following month.

There are two buttons at the bottom of the panel, Split and Merge. Clicking on the latter opens the army section panel. In the upper part of the panel, the total strength of the parent army, the portrait of the commander, the division by types and small panels, a list of the militias included in the army, indicating the number, are indicated. At the bottom of the panel, the child army is described in the same way. You can move the militias by simply clicking on the panel. Note that a militia gathered from one province is indivisible.

With the Merge button, you can merge several armies highlighted with a frame.

When you click on the panel of each militia in the army overview panel, a panel opens detailed review militia. The upper part of the panel lists the culture of the militia, the native province, the percentage of attrition, the cost of maintenance per month, and the morale as a percentage of the maximum.

The bottom of the panel lists army soldier types, type pictogram, strike power, armor, and strength. Below these characteristics is the type of weapon and armor used by the soldiers of the type. Note that in different provinces, soldiers can use different armor and weapons, depending on whether they have implemented the latest metropolitan developments.

Soldier types:

Knights. Best used against lightly armed opponents, spearmen are much more effective against knights. In addition, knights have the best morale of all.

Light cavalry. Nothing special stands out.

Horse archers. Used only by Mongols and Arabs. Much more effective against heavily armed soldiers.

Spearmen. Especially good against knights, against the rest they are more or less the same.

Heavy infantry. Very good against archers, spearmen and light infantry.

archers. They work best against heavily armed opponents.

Light infantry. Absolutely hopeless against all opponents except archers. More or less applicable only in huge quantities.

In order to move an army from one province to another, you need to click on the image of a warrior with the left button and right click- in the province of destination. The movement takes place after some time, but instantly, i.e. after issuing the order to move, before the time expires, the army is in the source province, after - in the target one.

When two armies belonging to rulers who are at war are combined in a province, a battle takes place and the battle panel opens. In the upper part of the panel there is a portrait and the name of the advancing ruler, below on a narrow strip are listed the portraits of the rulers participating in the battle on his side. To the right of the portrait there is a green bar showing the percentage of morale from the maximum. In the lower part, the defending ruler is characterized in the same way.

In the middle of the panel, opposite each other, the quantitative composition of the armies is shown, on the left - the attacking, on the right - the defending ruler. The top of the panel shows the current combat phase. The first phase is maneuvering, the second is a small-arms attack, the third is the rapprochement of armies with small skirmishes, the fourth is hand-to-hand combat of the "line by line" type. Then the first phase begins again.

Sooner or later, one of the armies will either be destroyed or retreat. In the event that the battle took place in the province of the enemy from the side of the victorious side, the siege of the fortress begins and the siege panel opens.

On the panel, a bar at the bottom shows the progress of the siege, when the bar disappears, the fortress is considered taken. The speed of advancement is highly dependent on the development of siege science in the province in which the militia is assembled, and its numbers.

Military campaigns

So, you have decided that the boundaries of the empire or personal domain need to be expanded. However, before starting a military campaign, it is necessary to correlate what is available with what is desired.

• First, military action is very expensive. At the very least, the price is almost never below the current income of even a very highly developed empire. Of course, negative funds in the treasury, at first glance, do not bring much trouble, but sooner or later the player will be declared bankrupt and the army will be disbanded. This is especially fun before the decisive battle with the enemy.
• Second, estimate the approximate size of the militias and the boundary of the province's supported armies. For example, it is very difficult for Byzantium to wage an effective war, not because of the small budget, but because of the Constantinople militia, equal to 10-15 thousand people. As you remember, the militia cannot be divided into parts, therefore, in a province without a road network, the militia will lose a significant part of the composition due to attrition. Consider these losses before declaring war.
• Thirdly, keep in mind that when declaring war on a vassal, both his direct and indirect overlords get the right to declare war on you, and in nine cases out of ten they use this right. Some players do not pay attention to this, several provinces of the overlord's domain are not a very serious opponent, but do not forget that the overlord can raise a militia of any of his vassals. Simply put, don't think that you can easily take a bite out of a large feudal empire.
• Fourth, before declaring war, you must have a reason to do so. You can't fight without a reason. As a rule, a claim to one of the opponent's titles is used, but to obtain it, you must either carry out complex dynastic intrigues, which you obviously did not do with a simple desire to expand, or spend a certain amount of prestige. To claim the title of, say, the German king, 1650 points are required on the lowest difficulty level. Prestige is not only an indicator, prestige is the loyalty of vassals. Once prestige is deducted, vassal loyalty may begin to erode over time.

It is interesting: in principle, this only applies when the prestige drops below 1000. The maximum loyalty increase due to high prestige is 1% per month, which corresponds to exactly one thousand points. Anything above this bar does not count.

• Fifthly, when war is declared and claims for the title, reputation drops. Again, reputation has a big impact on the loyalty of vassals, and much more than is commonly believed. With excessive expansion and more or less average abilities, vassals will rebel if there is no break between wars. For example, one captured title reduces reputation by two points, for every 1000 points of piety, reputation increases by one point annually. Draw your own conclusions.
• Sixth, compare the difference in military science between your provinces and those of the enemy. A difference of even one level will have a detrimental effect on the probability of victory. It is generally impossible to win with a more serious gap. In addition, compare the qualitative composition of the armies, at least roughly. To fight with a knightly army against spearmen and archers is suicide, the Hundred Years War and the famous “battle of the golden spurs” are proof of this.
• Seventh, a war with the Muslim world is almost meaningless until you manage to overcome the overwhelming superiority in military science, otherwise no brilliant commanders and huge hordes will help you. But otherwise, it is very pleasant to fight with Muslims - the reputation does not decrease, but increases, quite a lot of prestige and piety points are awarded for each captured province, there is no need to conclude any peace negotiations, everything that you can keep is yours.

It is interesting: Orthodox countries do not receive any prestige, piety, or reputation for crusades. However, there is still no reputation downgrade.

• Eighth, check if you have enough courtiers who can be granted the captured lands and made vassals. Nobody canceled the limit on the size of the domain, so the lack of suitable people can bring a lot of trouble.
• Ninth, never send vassals to fight against Muslims. Prestige and piety are awarded to the one who leads the army, just like a conquered province and a corrected reputation. Vassals can break the enemy army and, in extreme cases, start a siege, but at the last moment, the overlord must arrive under the walls of the besieged fortress.

Note: IV and V - +5% prestige for holding a province title.

Yard Panel

The courtyard panel consists of two parts. The upper part shows the portrait and coat of arms of the chosen courtier, his name and age, skills and traits of character, status, prestige and piety. In general, the courtier is completely similar to the titled character. Just below these characteristics there is a drop-down menu and a button with which the appointment is confirmed.

At the bottom of the panel there is a list of courtiers with portraits, names and positions held at court. To assign a courtier to a specific position, select him from the list and confirm the appointment with the button.

Four positions affect the characteristics of the ruler, one more is useless.

courtier. Worthless post. An errand boy, running small errands and waiting for the appearance of the captured county, which will be awarded to him for merit. In addition, these courtiers can be used as pawns to create dynastic ties. From time to time they beg for money and are very offended when you refuse them.

Marshall. A marshal is a military adviser to a ruler. The marshal's military skill stacks with the ruler's skill. Female courtiers cannot become marshals.

Spymaster. The spy is in charge of secret affairs. His Intrigue skill stacks with Ruler skill.

Chancellor. The chancellor is an adviser on foreign affairs. His diplomacy is added to the ruler skill.

Steward. Internal Affairs Advisor. Adds his knowledge to the management skill.

Legislative panel

The legislative panel consists of a portrait of the ruler and a list with two tabs. The first tab opens a list with legal settings, the second - with scientific ones.

On the first tab, the list is divided into three parts. The first defines the laws of inheritance, with the help of the second part it is possible to distribute power between the ruler, the nobility and the lower strata, on the third - between the church and the ruler.

When you select a certain position, the settings on the map on the right of the provinces will be recolored. Ruler domains using a similar legislative system will be marked. On the second tab, when choosing the direction of development of science, the provinces are painted in different colors, the color corresponds to the degree of development in the province of the selected scientific direction. The colors corresponding to the degrees of development are indicated at the bottom of the panel.

Please note that you can only change the laws and customs in the group once every ten years. Also, it's only worth risking changing inheritance rules if the vassals are fully loyal, as changing them deducts 50% loyalty from each vassal.

Laws of succession

Salic Primogeniture. After the death of the ruler, the throne is inherited by his eldest son. If the eldest son is dead, then the throne is inherited by his eldest male descendant. In the event that the eldest son had no children, then the throne is inherited by the next oldest son of the deceased ruler.

Semisalic Primogeniture. It differs from the previous participation in the chain of inheritance of women (but only after men).

Salic Consanguinity. The throne is inherited by the strongest male descendant of the deceased ruler. In the event that he cannot take the throne, then his elder brother takes over. Upon the death of the ruler and the absence of direct heirs, the throne passes to the strongest grandson, and so on. The strongest vassal is determined by the number of provinces, prestige and military skill.

It is interesting: direct heirs of the ruler receive a loyalty bonus, depending on the probability of accession to the throne. Probably ghostly dreams greatly warm the soul.

Semisalic Consanguinity. The same, but women participate in the chain of inheritance, although after men.

Salic Galekind. The feudal formation is evenly divided among all male heirs of the ruler, sons, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, with the exception of relatives of the deceased ruler in the female line, say, the sons of his daughters.

Semisalic Galekind. The same, but female relatives also participate in inheritance.

Elective Law. The throne of the deceased ruler is inherited by his strongest vassal. The strongest vassal is determined by the number of provinces, prestige and military skill.

It is interesting: the first three heirs in succession receive a claim to the title upon the death of the ruler. Keep this in mind when you calculate who will revolt and who will sit quietly.

Distribution of power between strata of society

Royal Preorgatory. The ruler receives tournament events. Changing from this type to another does not affect the loyalty of the vassals in any way. The militias are mixed, but heavily armed warriors predominate. The tax from peasants and townspeople cannot be lower than 25%, the tax from the nobility and vassals cannot be lower than 50%.

Feudal contract. The ruler receives tournament events. If you refuse this method, the loyalty of the vassals drops by 20%. The militias are heavily armed, with a predominance of chivalry. Taxes from peasants and townspeople cannot be lower than 50%, taxes from nobility and vassals cannot be higher than 50%.

Traditional Custom. The ruler does not receive tournament events, changing from this type to another does not affect the loyalty of vassals in any way. The militias are very mixed, but few knights are present. Taxes from the peasantry, knighthood, townspeople and vassals cannot exceed 70%.

Popular law. The ruler does not receive tournament events, changing from this type to another does not affect loyalty. The militias are dominated by lightly armed warriors, mostly spearmen and archers. Taxes on peasants and townspeople are limited to 50%, taxes on nobility and chivalry cannot be lower than 50%.

B>Note: IV and V - +1% province income

Relations between state and church

Regal Supremacy. There are events both strengthening the power of the church and weakening it. The ruler receives events related to usury. Each percent of the influence of the church increases the size of the militia. Donations to the church cannot exceed 80%. Only in one case out of five the bishop is appointed by the Pope, in the other four by the ruler.

Monastic supremacy. Events both strengthen and weaken church power. There are no usury related events. Each percentage of the influence of the church instead of the militias provides additional taxes. Donations to the church cannot be less than 50%. In one case, out of three, the governor appoints the bishop, in the other two, the pope.

Essential Balance. Events only weaken the power of the church. There are no usury related events. Each percentage of church influence simultaneously provides additional taxes and increases the size of the militia. Donations to the church cannot be lower than 30% and higher than 70%. The pope and the ruler have an equal chance of appointing a bishop.

Church Supremacy. Events only strengthen the power of the church. The ruler forbids usury. Each percentage of church influence grants neither additional taxes nor militias. Donations to the church cannot be lower than 70%. Bishops are appointed by the Pope alone.

The science

There is no centralized science in the game. The directions of scientific development are divided into three groups, in each group the player chooses one direction. There are five stages of development in each direction, the higher the stage, the longer it takes to grow to it (although the period is always random).

After reaching a certain level, it is considered that the scientific development is known in your domain. At the same time, it is considered embedded in the capital province. But the effects of it, more advanced weapons, developed ideological thought, and so on, are so far only manifested in the capital. It takes time, sometimes quite a long time, to spread the advanced achievements of scientific thought across the domain. Sometimes development from a neighboring fief may come to your domain, but this takes an especially long time to wait.

To accelerate scientific development, it is worth building roads, opening libraries, schools and universities, and trying to have a talented person rule the country. And, of course, to be lucky - sometimes real breakthroughs are made, but very rarely.

Scientific developments are detailed in tables (27 pieces, read in the section "According to the magazine"). Troop types are named after the first two letters of the name, VS means that the effectiveness of a troop type increases against another type, Sh. and Mor. have nothing to do with losses, the first affects the speed of the enemy's flight, the second - the ability to resist such attempts.

Crusaders and the Pope

The Pope is a character located in Rome or, in the taking of Rome, say by the Holy Roman Empire, in France. The Pope does not differ from the rest of the characters, his title is on the third rung of the feudal ladder, i.e. equal to the royal one. The pope may hold certain provinces, but usually does not interfere in European politics.

A player cannot become a Pope. But they can be twirled like a puppet. Actually, this person is always someone twirls. This character gets an additional Excommunicate option on the Foreign Diplomacy panel. With it, he excommunicates any character from the church. Excommunication is a serious blow to the loyalty of vassals.

But you can't excommunicate anyone from the church. When excommunicated, the Pope loses prestige, depending on the piety of the excommunicated. Despite the fact that the Pope is rather slow to gain it, some characters, mainly the rulers of large empires, remain untouchable.

The crusade is announced some time after the start of the game. A red cloth appears near the character's portrait. From this point on, all Christian rulers must capture and hold a certain number of provinces with Muslim or pagan culture, depending on their power, otherwise they will begin to lose piety.

In some cases, the character gains the "Crusader" personality trait. In this case, the rate of loss of piety increases markedly, but the amount of prestige and piety received for each captured Muslim province becomes truly enormous.

In addition, the Pope may demand the introduction of overwhelming power of the church in the country. If you refuse, the character is excommunicated, regardless of his piety. From time to time, the character who controls the Pope will receive funds from the sale of indulgences, which can be sold at a loss to prestige and piety, or distributed to the poor, with an increase in both parameters. When at war with a fellow believer, the character who controls the Pope will sometimes receive a blessing from Rome, along with a claim to one of the opponent's titles.

In principle, the role of the Pope is somewhat lower than we would like. However, gaining power over him is also much easier than it was in reality.

Note: IV and V - +5% income from citizens

Note: IV and V - +5% piety

Customs and laws

The chief custom of feudal society is, no doubt, the laws of succession to the throne. I strive to get rid of the laws dividing the country among all the heirs as soon as possible. The rest of the ways are about the same, but I usually use the transfer of power from father to eldest son.

The worst way, without a doubt, is Salic Galekind. Rus' paid for such a system of inheritance with countless civil wars and the collapse of the country after the death of each unifier of the country. In the end, the matter ended with the Mongol yoke. Only the Moscow princes began to try to change the rules of inheritance for the better - before their death, they transferred most of the possessions to their eldest son. Actually, this is exactly what a player should do if he wants to keep the country united. But exactly the same result is achieved by simple inheritance from father to son, and without political paralysis at the onset of the advanced age of each ruler.

Salic Consanguinity is a strange way. The strongest offspring, of course, is better than the eldest offspring, but only if the eldest offspring is a complete mediocrity. The ruler's military skill is not as important as the number of domain provinces allowed without penalty, which is directly affected by Stewardship. Good heirs are obtained with a well-chosen wife, and it is better not to make exceptions to this rule. If the wife is correctly chosen, then the eldest son will in any case be a good ruler. As a last resort, it is possible to eliminate several older sons in infancy if the dice rolled badly. In general, more artificial adjustments have to be made with this mode of inheritance than with Salic Primogeniture.

The only advantage of Elective Law is a very large range of heirs in a large empire and the impossibility of losing part of the country due to disadvantageously concluded dynastic ties. But I already said that I prefer Salic Primogeniture. In general, it would be ideal to transfer the throne to the most capable character in the empire, regardless of family ties or political position. But since there is no such way of inheritance, you have to rely only on your own strength, that is, competently and for a long time to look for a wife, and have the most clear inheritance mechanism. And this is Salic Primogeniture, since the player can influence both the characteristics of the heir, and make the least number of contract killings when choosing one of several contenders for the throne. Dot.

The last set of rules is most consistent with the way of the free cities in Flanders and northern Italy. Power belongs to the townspeople and partly to the peasantry, the feudal lords are forbidden to gain a foothold on the lands around the free city, which are under the jurisdiction of the elected council. The ruler is bound by the decisions of public meetings and cannot exhaust the lower classes particularly hard.

The last thing I would like to talk about is tournament and usury events. Tournaments are nothing special. In the event that the relationship between the ruler and the nobility is built according to the first or second model, sooner or later the monarch establishes tournament competitions. The competition is expressed in the fact that the ruler sends the marshal to the tournament, nameless opponents oppose him. The marshal either wins or loses to a friendly knight, either neutral or hostile. In the first case, the ruler gets quite a lot of prestige points and spends some gold, and the marshal has an increase in military skill and the “Valorous” character trait appears. In the second case, the marshal's disability group directly depends on the degree of friendliness of the victorious knight. The marshal's military skill does not affect the outcome of the tournament, the winner is determined randomly.

Events related to usury are also not particularly highlighted. First, from time to time there is an event after which moneylenders appear in a certain province (Moneylenders building, free), and the player loses 25 piety points. Likewise, other trade-related buildings may spawn with the same piety deduction. The prohibition of usury results in events with the demolition of commercial buildings and an increase in piety, but if the ruler is a Jew by nationality, then even with the overwhelming power of the church, events that demolish commercial buildings do not occur.

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Game description

The dark ages may be ending, but Europe is still in turmoil. Petty vassals fight against kings fighting to unite a fragmented country under their rule. The Pope calls for crusades to protect Christians in the Holy Land.

Expand your holdings and secure the future of your dynasty. Replenish your treasury, appoint vassals, destroy traitors and heretics, introduce new laws.

Sword of Islam

First major addition to the game. Released with patch 1.06 on June 26, 2012. The add-on unlocks the ability to play for Muslims (which was conditionally possible before with some difficulty ...) and adds specific mechanics for them:
Decay is a mechanic that measures how much you and your relatives have gone wild. Your idle (= landless) relatives will constantly increase it, which will lead to condemnation of their (and your) behavior.
The adoption of laws does not require the consent of the vassals, but piety.
The laws of inheritance do not change: the son with the most possessions will be your heir
Polygamy. Wives can be up to 4. The higher the title, the more wives you must support so that you are not thought badly of you.
New religious reasons to fight with neighbors.
Special events 100+ pieces: problems in the harem, showdown between branches, hajj
Zoom map to Mali

Legacy of Rome

The second major addition to the game. Released in October 2012 with patch 1.07. This time in the center of Byzantium and Orthodoxy.

New events, specifically for Byzantium: for example, captives can be blinded or castrated.
Events for the restoration of the Roman Empire and reconciliation with Catholicism.
"Escort" system, although in fact we are talking about a "contract army"
"Ambition" system for ruler to improve skills
The system of patriarchs
More buildings
"Factions" system within one country: groups of aristocrats who may try to issue an ultimatum to their overlord.

The Republic

Third major update. Released on January 15, 2013 with patch 1.09. This time the game makes playable trading republics: Venice, Amalfi, Genoa, Pisa, Gotland, Ancona and Hansa. Their heads are patricians, heads of trading families.

A new type of gameplay where you have to rely on mercenaries and you can't master large territories.
Trading empires in the form of trading posts and trade zones
New causes of war: embargo or capture of a trading post.
New law of succession: choice of patricians.
New events reflecting the struggle between merchant families.

The Old Gods

Fourth major addition. Released on May 28, 2013 with patch 1.10. Unlocks a new start date: 867 and allows you to play as Pagans.

You can play as Pagans and Zoroastrians
Uprisings now have leaders and become more dangerous for the life of the country.
The authority of a religion now depends on who owns the sacred places of this religion.
Pagans always divide the inheritance between all sons, women can manage their temples, the disadvantages of a short reign are more terrible, it is more malleable to convert to another religion
If you capture three holy places, then the pagans can convert the old religion into a new one.
Pagan women captured in war can be made concubines. This will result in a divorce from her ex-husband, if he had one. Children born of her will be entitled to her title (if she had one).
It is possible to restore Zoroastrianism by recreating the Persian Empire. This will create the head of the religion and receive the title of Saoshiyant - the savior of Zoroastrianism. All his descendants will also have an interesting bonus from this.
Marriage between close family members in Zoroastrianism is encouraged and gives a bonus to the opinion of vassals.

Sons of Abraham

Fifth major addition. It was released on November 18, 2013 along with patch 2.0. Works on Abrahamic religions, mostly Christianity, but some for Muslims, and also adds Jews.

The Pope is now elected by a Council of Cardinals. By spending money on the "election campaign" you can promote your chosen one. He will then repay with free permits.
You can ask to create a crusade
Two new holy orders for Catholics and at least one order in each religion are now available. And yes, you can borrow money from the Templars (and not only).
About 300+ new events.
If the ruler is made a Jew, then Israel can be created.
Pilgrimage to holy places among Catholics
Courtiers can be sent to a monastery or a holy order

Rajas of India

The sixth major addition to the game. It was released on May 25, 2014 along with patch 2.1. Adds Jain, Hindu and Buddhist rulers to the game. This update does not support saves made in earlier versions.

Added a new region and new rulers, including Siberia and Afghanistan. There are about 300+ new provinces in total. Tibet was not brought.
Change the projection of the map: cut off the western coast of Africa, added the Indian Ocean (and yes, guys, no one has built the Suez Canal yet)
Three new religions with their own mechanics. Sects replace heresies here.
War Elephants!
Diplomacy range has been added. Now the Vikings are not very good at chatting with the Indians.
Reworked faction rebellions: the leader temporarily receives the title of ruler, and all allies become his vassals.
Nestorianism is no longer a heresy, but a separate religion.
New decay system for Muslims.

Charlemagne

The seventh major addition to the game. It was released on October 14, 2014 along with patch 2.2. Adds an even earlier period of history.

The new starting date is 769.
The system of viceroys, when the title after the death of the ruler returns to the overlord.
— Own kingdoms and empires, not just historical ones (3 duchies = kingdom, 3 kingdoms = empire)
Dynasty Chronicle Page
Historical events telling about past historical events
Tribal buildings that can grow into towns/castles
Slightly reworked and added new laws and technologies
A new honorary title that allows you to appoint a regent for yourself if you need one
Removed assassination from diplomacy

Way of Life

"Small" addition to the game. Released December 16, 2014. Improves roleplay and immersion by allowing you to choose a branch of random events that can happen.

All characters from counts and above can choose a focus or "how we will live." Focus immediately gives a bonus to stats and opens up diplomatic decisions and actions (for example, intrigues will allow you to arrange surveillance of someone, family to make friends with family members). If you follow a trick for a long time and “pump” it, you can get a useful trait.

horse lords

The eighth major addition to the game. Released on June 14, 2015 with patch 2.4.1. Unlocks the ability to play as nomads.

New possible government: do not confuse with tribes, these are just nomads who do not sit in one place. Nomad hordes have no permanent settlements, and their strength is measured by the number of empty plots that affects the population.
Clan wars to make up for the almost complete absence of vassals.
Losing all the lands for the nomads is not the end of the game, because you can take your horde and go to win a new one for yourself.
Silk Road. predetermined trade routes. The provinces where they lie can build trading posts and get even more profit.
Tribute. Now you can not conquer the enemy, but impose tribute. He will pay denyushki and will be obliged to help in all the soldiers.
Map drawing. 27 new provinces: Uighur, Khitan, Sogdian, Tokhar...
Only rulers, marshals and commanders can lead troops
More geographical events (deer hunting in Europe, tiger hunting in India)

I will leave a second (third?) review, having already played a more substantial time. So, this game is for the long haul. One batch easily stretches for tens of hours. The first generation you play for will drag on for a long time, and the most interesting and tasty thing happens when you need to change generations (vassals have a “long reign” opinion bonus, so they hate the new king, and over the years they begin to exalt, but yours the ruler has brothers-uncles-brothers-in-law who dream of the throne ...) + at the beginning the world is rather monotonous, and by the second generation intrigues and plans are already gaining momentum ... or rather, you can finally try to do something, otherwise the world was quite empty for big plans.

The game is heavily influenced by religion. She, consider, the cornerstone of all the local turmoil. Therefore, a step to the right and the neighbors are already shouting jihad to you (or a crusade, or simply “beat the infidels!”). Alliances with countries can only be made with neighbors of one's faith. Are they different? Then you will not see the hand of the princess, even if you are at least thrice rich and better armed. You can conquer the world either with your fist or with weddings, but, as I already said, weddings are only for your religion and this is a very long way, since they will not give you an heiress as a wife, you will first have to marry, then give birth to a child who will have the right to inherit, and then kill everyone who stands in his way to the throne in the correct order.

In many ways, this strategy is a simulator of a dynasty, since although here you can rebuild provinces, lead troops into battle, etc., but basically you need to weave intrigues, make sure that the vassals are happy, the brothers do not gape for the throne, and the neighbors received cuffs on time. And it's how you distribute titles and who is vassal to whom that will affect the success or failure of the game.

To sum up, I like the game, but it swings painfully slowly, and even after swinging, some things require a lot of time, both in-game and real. For the rest ... even if I wanted to find fault, there's nothing to it.

As a minus for developers, you can write down a trick: one of the paid DLCs blocks the use of achievements if it is installed ... and yes, this was intended, not a bug.

Again, I write impressions from the beginning of the game.

So the barrier to entry is very high. You have to jump. There is training, but rather conditional. Walls of text are loaded all the time (to each open menu text on the screen).

It is necessary to monitor a lot of parameters, which are not always possible to influence earlier than a couple of decades of hard work. And then the second inconvenience you still find these parameters on the menus. And at the moment this search is the biggest drawback of the game ...

It differs from other strategies in that save/load doesn’t work here at all: starting from the fact that you can only load from the main menu, which makes it terribly inconvenient, and ending with achievements that only fall in ironmode.

Well, the main difference is that here the main emphasis is on the dynasty and relations between aristocrats. An ally cannot be bought. All unions in the game are marriages and only. You can't attack your neighbors for no reason: the reason could be the right to the throne or religion... or just something fabricated, as long as it is. Similarly, with executions, prisons ... Weddings and children this is what will allow you to expand the empire and stay alive in this world. Vassals and children can also be married to those who need you. Disgruntled vassals will gather in small groups and plan coups. Satisfied sit and pay more money to the treasury. It is because of relationships that you will choose a mentor for children, give out titles, make lovers, weave intrigues ...

According to reviews, when the first generation dies, it will become more interesting and livelier game(and I see why), but so far I haven’t made it to such a start: either I was dying of boredom, or the neighbors kicked too hard.

The Crusader Kings series is my favorite from Paradox. No doubt, Europa, Victoria and Hearts of Iron are excellent, deep, informative and also took many hours of my life, but still, feudal intrigue, the role of the individual in history and other things that are famous for the “Crusader Kings” are closest to my soul.

Since listeners of the podcast regularly ask “I bought CKII on your recommendations - HOW do I even play it ?!”, Auralien encouraged me to write a small introduction for beginners. This is not an instruction on the game interface (“to see the number of your militias, open the military tab”) and not a specific guide like “how to create a Buddhist Tataria by the year 1000”, but rather general recommendations for beginners - so that they would be interested in playing, so that they would not immediately killed, and so on.

• It's better to buy a special beginner's kit, that's what it's called on Steam. There is a fairly wide range of mechanics, but not too much so as not to get lost.
• A good starting character choice is an Irish feudal lord in the High Middle Ages. There are almost no Vikings left, strong enemies do not threaten the island, you can safely do the unification of Ireland under your banner and be crowned as a result.
• Your most important attribute is stewardship, which determines the size of your personal domain. Military affairs (noticeably affects the total number of militias) is also important. But being a scribe to a feudal lord is not so important, for that there are priests and clerks.
• Do not neglect feasts, fairs, and the like. They give small but pleasant advantages, and you can also acquire good personality traits there.
• Or bad ones - drunkenness, for example.
• Prestige, other things being equal, is more important than gold. A poor king is the norm, a disrespectful king is nonsense. In addition, your final score in the game is built precisely from a combination of prestige and piety of the dynasty, and mortal metal is not taken into account in any way.
• In a personal domain, you should have two duchies with a total area of ​​\u200b\u200b5-6 provinces - it will be difficult to control more, and vassals are offended.
• The vassals themselves must be kept in a black body - the duke must have one personal province, distribute the rest to the counts and make him vassals.
• Forbid vassals to fight each other - this will end up with some troublemaker gaining a domain the size of yours and starting to claim the throne.
• The ideal vassal has your culture and religion, the Contented trait (or at least not the Ambitious one!) and is not related to you.
• Your chief adviser is the master of spies. Your very existence depends on it. Ideally, it should be a humble but talented villain who has the warmest feelings for you. For a master of spies, you should not skimp on honorary positions (for example, a cup maker), satisfying his desires (does he want to marry? Here is a young noblewoman for him!), Invitations to booze and other ways to build relationships.
• And in no case do not appoint your son as a master of spies! Or even a person who benefits from your death. But a wife or, better, a mother will be almost ideal candidates, all other things being equal.
• In the treasury, you should have 200 coins as NT. This will allow you to recruit mercenaries in the event of an attack by a strong neighbor or a mutiny of vassals.
• Feel free to spend everything in excess of this on the development of your domain - the walls of the castle, the castle village, then the barracks for different kinds troops, then a unique structure, then a donjon, fortifications according to the residual principle.
• Paying for an upgrade for a vassal's holding is a good way to please him. It also makes sense to invest in the construction of an educational institution in a vassal city - it helps with science.
• Birthright is the best order of succession for a Christian or pagan feudal lord. At first, you will probably have a so-called Section (Gavelkind) - the possessions of the deceased are torn equally among the heirs. It is clear that you cannot build an empire in this way, and if you do, then your sons will spread everything.
• Everything is simpler for Muslims, where you can choose the heir yourself, simply by granting him some property. Whoever has more awards is the beloved son.
• If the estate is still divided by inheritance, you have a casus belli to force other heirs to cede your father's property to you.
• You should marry a rather noble (not lower than your level of ownership, otherwise a penalty to prestige), healthy (no “weak”, “lame” and other things), moderately depraved (only without homosexuality!) And sensible (her characteristics are added to yours) bride.
• And yes, appearance is inherited, so it is possible to have a Russian Negro Tsar because of an Ethiopian great-grandfather. But this is a purely cosmetic effect - the main thing is that the cultural affiliation should be like that of subjects and vassals.
• Raise your children yourself. In particular, try to raise the children of large vassals - these are both hostages and future "happy" vassals.
• If the wife has grown old (that is, she is over 30), but has not given birth to children, feel free to divorce (or plot to kill the queen) and marry the young one. If this marriage is very necessary for political reasons (say, it does not allow the neighboring empire to fight with you) - well, get bastards from your mistress and legitimize them.
• Don't quarrel with the clergy, and if you're a Catholic, don't make antipopes. This will come back to haunt the fall of the authority of religion, the spread of heresies, a low probability of conversion, and a general collapse.
• Before the war, look at the number of enemy troops (in the character window), the presence of allies and the amount of money. Otherwise, you run the risk of victoriously defeating the enemy’s tiny army and proceeding to lay siege to his castle, after which you will find that the ten thousandth army of his ally and another two thousand heavy hired cavalry are coming at you.
• When you send the chancellor to fabricate a claim on someone else's possessions, increase the NZ to 400 gold - when the chancellor finally achieves a result, you will be written off a significant amount.
• Rebellious vassals are either released for a ransom (if they have come to their senses), or thrown into a stone bag (if it is an irreconcilable enemy). It makes sense to kill especially strong enemies in a dungeon with the help of a conspiracy. Germanic pagans may also sacrifice them to the gods. Official execution of vassals should not be done, it harms the reputation.
• If vassals take advantage of your weakness (say, the king's infancy) and put forward an ultimatum with not very unpleasant conditions (like a tax cut or a level of centralization), it is often more profitable to accept it, strengthen power, and then deal with the impudent ones one by one.
• In general, do not neglect conspiracies to take away a vassal county or get rid of a duke who has gone crazy. But remember that conspirators can come for you too.
• If your character lost the crown, but retained the main possessions (that is, this is not a game over) - do not despair. Revolts can be arranged by yourself.
• The religious war, on the one hand, allows you to quickly capture the entire duchy. On the other hand, his co-religionists from all over the area will not fail to fit in for the enemy, so be careful.
• Recruit your personal guard from your special fighters (they are the last on the list) - archers for the British, heavy cavalry for the French, etc. This will help create the layout of the troops needed for especially lethal tactics like pike columns or berserker attacks.
• You will also need good generals. If there are none among your courtiers and vassals, knight two or three commoners and appoint them as commanders.
• Strategic maneuvering is very important. With the outbreak of war, you need to gather your militias into a fist as soon as possible - if everything is done right, then it will not be difficult to break the enemy in parts. Wait for a stronger enemy at the crossings, in the hills, by the river.
• Traveling with ships is much faster than walking - but ships consume quite a lot of gold.
• Don't forget about non-combat losses. Harsh winter, waterless desert, mountains, wild forests - all this greatly affects the maximum limit of troops that can pass the province without loss. The advanced development of the "army organization" technology also helps to gain an advantage.
• If superior enemy forces besieged a well-fortified castle, do not rush to his aid. A long siege is often accompanied by significant losses from garrison sorties, outbreaks of disease and the like - let them weaken a little, and in the end you can help out the besieged.