Crusader Kings 2 – First Play

I started off my first Crusader Kings 2 game as Duke Muchad I of Munster, Ireland, with the initial aim of being King of Ireland.  Let me just say from the start that this game is really out to get you!

More than half of my starting council hated me (well into the red zone).  To improve things (not knowing what I’m doing at all mind you) I decided to put on a great feast.  I invited 3 very important people, 2 of whom immediately declined.  The one that did come refused more wine, an apparently insulting gesture. Why oh why did I spend up so lavishly on food :(.

So much for a feast to improve things

Every man and his dog comes running to me to find them wives, which is quite difficult given the number of nasty traits that many of the eligible women are burdened with (including gluttony and syphilis).  But setting up these marriages was interesting, I clearly invited the wrong people to my feast because the fathers of the women I’m finding for all my relatives shower me with praise and accept the proposals (most of the time).

One of the nice things about not-always-online single player games is that some of your learning can come from saving a game before doing something big (such as attacking your neighbour).  Let’s just say that for my first invasion I was mighty glad I had a save to go back to!  No more invading for me for a while.

It’s currently the year 1072, a meager 6 years after starting.  My heir hates me and I hate him.  I uncovered his nasty plots, threw him in jail and then threw him out of the county all together.  I was hoping this would no longer make him my heir, but sadly he still is.  I’m now saving to get him assassinated because if I die and he’s still my heir I will be very sad (maybe even sad enough to start again).  I have 3 tiny children to a brand new wife (goodness only knows where this awful eldest son came from). These tiny children are all still babies (two are from a set of twins).   I just need to live long enough to see them grow up (now that’s every parents wish isn’t it :)).

So far I’m really enjoying it, and I know full well that this first game (and probably the next couple) will be filled with learnings and mistakes, it’s just too complex to know everything from the get go.

The best way I could describe Crusader Kings 2 is that it’s like getting lost in a good book, everything that happens springs to life in your imagination.  There is really very little on the screen (in comparison to other genres) other than stats and messages and maps, which I think is a good thing for immersion in this sort of game.

The in-game music is absolutely terrific too!

Did I mention that there seems to be a very infectious outburst of Smallpox? I hope I survive it …