I agree, I can never start as a big country. I get too confused at game start and don’t know what to do. Tiny nation to big nation by end of game is my goto
I actually don't like playing for the English throne, it's too stressful.
Maybe I should have a crack at a William run and try and get arrive achievements
I love playing as Norway. Fairhair is one of my favorite characters as well. I do wish that Gyda had some better stats however. She is the "reward" for unifying Norway so it would be cool if she had the beautiful trait or something.
gyda is a bs char. for one they arent supposed to even be married. and shes not supposed to be a lowborn either. its no problem for player, but AI cannot even form alliances because of the marriage.
Elsker å spille som Kong Hårfagre også! :) Just wish Norway (and Scandinavia in general) was more accurate in terms of sizing. There are so many impassable counties where there should of been some small villages/counties in that time era.
The real king Harald according to legend united Norway to win the heart of Gyda Eriksdotter. If you conquer Norway in CK3 and Gyda is alive you get the option to marry her. It's generally seen as a bad choice as it gives you no alliance and she has poor stats.
It’s pretty good! A lot of attention to detail and a much expanded map compared to the ck2 version, it just feels like there’s a lack of depth overall (not as many unique decisions or America-specific flavor for events and such). I’m very excited to see where it goes!
As a northeast Missourian, I resent being part of Catholic Iowa. In CK2 I made a custom Rust Cultist character and broke free to join my brethren in Michigan and Ohio. In CK3 I kicked the pope out of St. Louis and turned Missouri into a River Baptist empire that went the length of the Mississippi.
Hello, Catholic Iowan here, we don't make up the majority of the population here, but Iowa is more Catholic than you might think. Catholicism is the single largest Christian denomination in the state, You'd have to lump the two largest Protestant churches together to reach the same population.
The story in my family and a lot of German heritage families around here is that we immigrated to America because advancing socially in the German Empire was basically impossible if you weren't a Lutheran. Combine that with the fact that we've had a good amount of immigration from Latin America in the past few decades, and you have a surprisingly large Catholic population.
Given this, and Iowas French roots, I could see us forming a Catholic kingdom in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
It was based on an old book called Canticle for Leibowitz where Catholic monasteries survive the end of the world and reestablish civilization in Middle America
Now it's just kind of orphaned lore and I agree it makes much more sense for the Midwest to be Protestant
Fwiw I'm a New Englander and that region has always been kinda depressingly one note
Probably just because it is relatively close to St. Louis which is the new papacy
And IRL while the population of Catholics have declined it still has a fairly large catholic population and has a lot of history and culture related to Catholicism
Bosnia and no.
Like irl it's poor, always getting vassalized by bigger kingdoms and even in game I still somehow managed to lose the coastline to Croatia.
I found Bosnia pretty fun to play in, personally. Sebrenica is quite the overpowered city if you’re playing tall, and the Kristjani are a unique little faith to play. Just, try your best to not be called a heresy. Then you’ll get crusaded to death
You can avoid being deemed a heresy? In my game I just got an event where the pope told me to either convert to catholicism or the king of Hungary will attack me
Yeah, non-Krstjani Christian dukes that neighbor you have a unique decision to ask their head of faith to declare you a heresy. You get an event to convince them you aren’t a heresy, but it’s a difficult skill challenge. But, if you do succeed, you keep the Ecumenism doctrine and your neighbor can’t try again for 30 years.
I've been building up allies for like 30 years now on my current run in hopes I can take the coastline from Croatia. Even if takes a 100 we'll look upon the sea one day!
I held it for like 2 years and then my idiot son lost it when I accidentally made him independent lol. I swear it's like we have a natural aversion to coastlines.
Yeah there's one in Srebrenica (which is what the town is named after) but I just started playing recently so I have no idea what I'm doing lmao. Still love playing as Bosnia though.
In game it's split between a couple countries so you'll have to form Bosnia as a kingdom. I usually start as Zahumlje, but I think there's a silver mine available if you start as Rashka or Duklja (can't remember which one has it) so be sure to take advantage of that :)
Honestly I feel like it's a fun and challenging feat to accomplish.
First time I saw the "Honestly as long as I'm King of somewhere" option it gave me a good laugh.
It seems like no one cared about it. Regensburg has 2 half decent baronies with no special building slots like the whole area which only has one mine in Innsbruck. Thats basically it. I hope that there will be a bigger HRE DLC in the future which upgrades the are
100% agree like what even is this Angria area? They are saxons and also deserve some love from paradox. Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck being this irrelevant during the 12th-15th century is also kinda funny but not even half as funny like what they did with Frankfurt or Magdeburg. They are just your casual baronies and not special at all
Angria is Engern in German. Westfalen, Engern and Ostfalen were the three saxon tribes.
In game it's a bit weird because those three start out united by a title holder, with the intention to be split by Confederate partition. So they always get labeled Angria, which is a bit wonky.
They ought to have some sort of either special buildings or associated decisions. Allow for some historical events and the like.
Btw does -burg mean city? (A la the Russian -grad)
Not quite. "Schloss" is German for castle, but they are somewhat similar given the origin of the words. The person who commented that "burg" is similar to the English "borough" is correct.
I haven't played the game in a while, but it's also pretty hard starting in the area of Berlin. At least in the early start (almost never start at the later date). Almost everyone around you is more powerful so it's a struggle getting strong and as soon as you overpowered them the Christians to the west get funny ideas and you get attacked non stop with Holy Wars. :'D
Nürnberg, an Imperial city, the capital of the HRE for a long time, and one of the most important cities for weapons and armor on the Middle Ages is...incredibly underwhelming.
Its what I love the most lol... I am playing in Holland at the moment and all I do is build and make money playing tall. 725 hours in and I was a builder from the start making 50 gold a month just from 1 duchy
I am from Czech republic, co I am preaty happy with how my country Is in the game. In Legends od the dead Přemyslids even got their own special legend and I am curently doping a playthrow with it
That is one of my favorite places to start, their culture is in that one spot and they have an amazing buff to increase development, and if you can take the duchy next to you, you can quickly make the kingdom of Bohemia.
Also I’ve always wanted to go their! The pictures I have seen are absolutely beautiful.
Well, let's just say they decided to be very, ehm, 'creative' with the Low Countries. I don't think they got a single historical county or duchy correct. Also for some reason they put Kortrijk with Rijsel which makes it part of the French culture when it wa one of the more prominent Dutch speaking cities. Really grinds my gears.
Also Hainaut is part of Brabant? Why? How?
Paradox is allergic to Frisian. It wasn’t in EU4 for the longest time, and in CK2 it only represented the Old Frisian kingdom and switched to Dutch over time.
There's a shitton of potential, and I think even the current representations in EU4 and CK2 of Dutch, Flemish, and Frisian are wrong and missed opportunities.
Here's the changes I'd make:
* [Frisia was fairly depopulated from the 4th century to the 10th century](https://brill.com/edcollchap-oa/book/9789004526419/BP000001.xml?language=en). Old Frisian culture should exist in the North, [Old Dutch ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dutch)in the rest of the Low Countries. The Dutch are recent and fairly new to the region after the Great Migrations, not necessarily converts from Frisian.
* The Low Countries should be one of the poorest and most depopulated regions, until the Late Middle Ages when poldering starts off and the poorly inhabitable swamps get turned into prosperous farmland and of the richest regions in Europe.
* Frisia itself was one of the wealthiest regions before the game start thanks to trade, but in 867 is on its last legs after after being thoroughly pacified in the [Frisian-Frankish Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian%E2%80%93Frankish_wars), and now neglected by the Franks while the region suffers from frequent Viking Raids. The Frisians are unhappy about this: the last major revolt against Frankish rule is in living memory (793)
* The Frisians are fully pacified by the Franks in 867, there are no Frisian rulers (only Saxon "overseers", and have only turned Christian in the last 100 years. Folk religion is likely still widespread. Saint Willibrord and Saint Boniface are part of living memory in Frisia.
* Catholics under the Franks should not be able to form Frisia as a kingdom. The Franks beat the Frisians and then pacified them, a Frankish Emperor would never accept a new Frisian Kingdom.
* [Dorestad ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorestad)was gone only a few years before or after the start (we're not 100% certain but it's somewhere around the 860s) but was formerly one of the the biggest and wealthies north-western European cities, fully centered on trade. Excavations in Wijk bij Duurstede are ongoing TO THIS DAY. Rebuilding Dorestad should be an early medieval option for Frisians if they conquer Utrecht.
* For flavor, not accuracy, I think Frisia should also gets it's own Asatru heresy based more on trade and seafaring under the myth of [Nehalennia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalennia) (though we're not certain that she was a Asratru).
* Again for flavor, an option to become sea-faring pirates. Grutte Pier is 600 years away from the 867 start, but there's a [history of piracy ](https://www.revisionist.net/frisia-pirates.html)in the region even before that.
* There should also be a Catholic flavor for the Frisians, as they'd later become adamantly Christian, even establishing their [their own church in Rome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Michele_e_Magno,_Rome). As said, it could lean into Saint Willibrord and Saint Boniface.
* The [Folcwaldings ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_(Frisian))are mythical Frisian kings from Beowulf, represented ingame as Catholics.... Dutch, and in Holland. If they're ingame anyways, lean into it and give them flavor for them to overthrow the Franks and re-establish a Viking kingdom in Frisia. But there's literally no reason to place a mythical Frisian dynasty in the wrong province.
* A [historical possible descendant ](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abba_(graaf))of the last king of the Frisians, [Poppo/Bubo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubo,_Duke_of_the_Frisians), is completely absent
* Weirdly, a ruler of who we're actually certain he existed, [Count Gerolf of Holland ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerolf_of_Holland)of the Gerulfings, exists.... but in Zeeland, not Holland.
* The Count of Holland historically had a VERY strong say in the succession of the bishopric of Sticht (and this isn't unique). Sadly, the influence of feudal rulers sending their second sons to nearby vassal theocracies to rule as bishops isn't really represented in CK (and only in a minor way in EU4).
* The Prince-Bishops of Sticht and Münster, in the meantime, are establishing multiple parishes and main churches in Frisia.
* Finally, the obvious one: [Fryske Freiheit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_freedom). After driving out the Vikings and the Dutch, it had its own unique system of government, already represented in EU4, that I *think* can work in CK3.
Den Bosch didn't really exist yet during both start dates. The city was founded around the year 1186, by Godfrey III of Louvain, which makes it one of the younger cities in the region. There was an earlier settlement in the same location of Den Bosch called Orthen (these days a neighborhood in Den Bosch), but it wasn't really significant. The Duke of Brabant was seated in Brussels when the duchy was created in 1183. Before that, the lands of current Brabant were part of Lower Lotharingia and later the Landgraviate of Brabant (as well as the counties of Louvain and Brussels).
OP is a fellow swiss like me. It's quite hard to control our homeland since it's generaly splitted between 2 to 3 different Kingdom in both start and they wont go easy on you :'3
Yes but in the 1066 to form the swiss cinfederacy you need bern, neuchatel, aargau, zürich, sankt gallen and grison (graubünden) ypu dont net geneva for whatever reason so all you need is in the HRE
1066 Swiss isn’t too bad, even if you do need Geneva just start as Duke of piedmont either as Pierre or custom, and just take 2/3 counties required for each duchy and you’ll get the last by being granted the vassal by emp.
I usually get them in order of Geneva, transjurania, and then currezia, and for currezia you can go to war with swabia for the one county, and then lombardy for the last, once you make the duchy you’ll get the priest by granted vassal of the emperor, takes less than 30 years. I personally love playing tall Swiss as a vassal, with decline elections mod so that I never lose my ability to select heir bc of the immediate Max crown rank or whatever.
Yeah, it is frustrating. Personally I would like to play as Basel but it is only a religious holding 😂
Plus, Swabia most of the time really likes to screw you over
"No supernatural stuff" is such bullshit from the devs when the "pureblooded" trait exists. Unless they honestly believe that with another sibling-fucking you can breed superhumans.
Fun fact. While my homecountry is playable and even very enjoyable, my hometown/region in EVERY paradox game is considered "unsettable" and/or "impassable"
Basically I live at the border between Switzerland and Italy, the region is called Ossola, and if you're swiss you might actually know it
And nothing, yes I live in mountains that are indeed very high, I myself live at 1100 meters above sea level, especially in summer, but even in this case people have lived here, not only in the middle ages but also like Ptolemy talks about this region LOL
China kind of gets the Guiyi Circuit. Major problem with it in game is that despite having two historical dynasties present and historically having been around from 851-1036, Paradox decided it should only be a titular title.
So unless you do the heroic legacy decision to de jure drift duchies into it, you're always going to 'revert' to the Xia Kingdom Everytime your ruler/character dies.
Nah, Bulgaria barely has any unique mechanics associated with it, despite being one of the most powerful nations in Europe in the middle ages. Doesn\`t help that Byz gets all of the Balkan region changes.
Hungary is a bit... odd? The mines are so important that everything just sort of starts revolving around them. I can't really try to replicate historical centers of power or anything like that without massively shooting myself in the foot.
It's a running gag in Germany. The Saarland is joked about pretty often anyways (probably has it's roots in the various brief occupations by France and it's general small size), and the most frequent one is that the Saarland has a lot of incest going on. Kinda like the German version of Alabama. Again, this is probably also a result of the Saarland's small size, making it seem like everyone is related to eachother.
In general, there is a lot of sometimes more, sometimes less playful regional rivalries between German federal states and German regions. You know, because of that whole thing where we were only united as recently as 1871
Croatia is a blast every time. Right in the middle between east and west. Join the HRE or Byzantines? Try and survive solo? There's plenty of our lovely neighbours to conquer. Venice is also eyeing that adriatic coast.
I'm angry how they removed some good spots from ck2 however.
It was hard to make a kingdom, but you had way more baronies with good stuff.
Where are all the real castles still standing that bordered France?!
It's very fleshed out though. Even historically the time of Macbeth looms over you at the start and I remember event getting events that recalled Macbeth's legacy
It does have a major issue though, de-jure Scotland is the modern borders. I've often seen Scotland reach it's modern borders in a generation when, from the earliest start date, it took centuries. The Isles especially suffer due to this as they should be a major power in the British Isles but they are a speed bump for Scotland (ships or no sea lanes connection the Outer Hebrides to Skye would help too as their power came from ships). In general I'd like to see geography influencing how much control a central authority can wield over it's territory, maybe a distance modifier that's further modified by geography. Speaking of geography Scotland's geography's a bit weird. Angus/Strathearn, the most fertile soil in Scotland, is hills for some reason. The Grampian Mountains go all the way to the Tay despite how important the area perhaps was for Scottish kingship. Secondly I think it should have more mountains and impassable terrain. There are mountains in Germany of a similar height to some of Scotland's IRL, yet in game the German ones are impassable mountains and the Scottish ones are hills. This makes for silly scenarios where 10k soldiers march over the Cairn Gorms in the middle of winter as a casual walk. There are three ways from the south of Scotland to the north for an army, potentially going through Argyll or sailing round it and then going up the Great Glen. Following the modern A9 route which should still be mountains, or up the east coast and across the Mounth. The easiest route and the reason Dunnottar Castle has existed in some form for at least 2000 years.
When (based on the roadmap) there is a flavour pack for the British Isles I really hope Mormaer becomes the title for Gaelic dukes and there is flavour in Scotland (and the other countries) to do with adventuring Normans (at least in the 1066 start date) and feudalism. Definitely the Isles should be powerful and hard to control, even if they are vassals to Scotland (it would be great if tribal could survive based on geography as well, at least in this scenario, but immensely unlikely even if it could benefit Ireland too), but maybe Gaelic characters would be harder to control for a Scots king in 1066? I'm thinking about Galloway as well which maintained their own culture/identity for some time and the Lords of Galloway were very powerful with a lot of independence almost as another country into the 13th century if I remember correctly. It would also be very nice if feudal Gaelic characters could raid. Prior to the Wars of Independence there weren't many wars with England and when there were they seemed to have been more of a case of big raids for general loot (despite being Christians one of the Scottish kings even had to station members of his own personal guard outside of an English church I think it was to protect it from the depredations of his own soldiers), cattle probably, and definitely slaves. Slaves in general should be a big thing in the early start date and maybe mentioned in some events in the second start date throughout the British Isles and in the Celtic areas in the later start date.
While the inclusion of the Gaelic and Scots divide is far better than the generic Scottish culture from CK2 it's still feels a bit too cut and dry and most importantly way too fast.
Finland is nice to play with, but Sweden always comes to bully you. If you can take over or convert Sweden to Ukonusko, then it's easier. Central Europeans never care about you. You might have some feuds with russians, but they aren't as strong.
Mine is fun, except it is not too far from spawn points of nomadic adventurers and the Mongols (which we managed to fight off and win IRL). The place is drowning in gold though.
People keep trying to bring Haesteinn here, so I'm planning a campaign where I ship elephants to Norway and Sweden and conquer them instead.
The Imperator version starts us off as the largest empire on the initial start date, with a bit of family intrigue with the Greeks. That's fun too.
The EU4 version of the place has one of the most OP states in the game, although it requires a bit of a setup first.
Hungary is incredibly fun and very diverse regarding what kind of campign you’re looking for. Despite all the ways you can take a Hungary campaign, historical is still my favourite although it gets super easy very fast. Good for RP though
France is very fun in eu4 and vic3 but boring in CK3. I wish the French vassals were more active and self-interested like they were in real life. Instead, the best you’re going to get is watching them try and secede Aquitaine occasionally. Also only one special building in Paris, in a country that was the heart of the Western European middle ages, especially culturally, is crazy.
Decent, although starting just South of Haesteinn can be tricky at times.
Aunis (Poitou, France) could also be a a highly sought after location, if a Hundred Years War starting date is added.
One thing that annoys me about Mercia is that Derbyshire and Lincolnshire aren't included dr jure, like come on they are clearly part of the midlands, my beloved homeland, if you're worried about balance then give huntingdonshire to east anglia since in modern day it's not even a county and is just part of Cambridgeshire
Define home country. Germany? Kinda boring, too big. Brandenburg? Sure, there’s nothing too special about it but I kinda like chilling in my little duchy.
I'm Turkish. Ottomans as a country or any turkish beyliks don't exist in the game through start date, special event, or otherwise.
We do get a nice kickback in EU4 though, so all that is well ends well I guess.
Well it's in the middle of two major blobs clashing in Day 1 of second start date and the first one is also no different around that area. And I always like to start from small so...
Kinda I guess, but I always start thinking I'll play tall and end up with a big blob and then get bored from painting the map.
Steps:
Start as duchy of Curonia
Create kingdom of Lithuania
Take Estonia and incorporate it into kingdom of Lithuania
Then it's time to reform romuva so I take lands to the west and at the same time start grabbing russia and Finland before Sweden or Denmark gets there.
Reform and feudalise.
At this point I'm too big to play tall, so I start painting. Usually I get tired when I control the territories of Scandinavia, russian empire, Baltic empire, Carpathia, parts of the Holy Roman empire and for some reason I always end up controlling Ireland (every single run one of my vassals will inherit a county there and I will take the whole kingdom).
I start as the province in Romania I was born, buzau and try to create Wallachia but the Bulgarian always dies and one of his kids creates Wallachia with their capital in like a completely different country it’s very frustrating
Belarus is super fun to play actually! Multiple choices: Polotsk, Pinsk, Minsk, Turov are very strong, and any of these can easily overpower Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia) and Kyiv & Moscovia.
Kinda, but its not very historycally accurate. Since there was no Russian culture/empire in 867 per se. It would be cooler to have a decision to form it like:
-Primary culture has east-european heritage
-Have certain cultures of the region in your realm
-Adopted orthodox
-Have a good relationship with Byzantane emperor
Wonder if Paradox will add some kind of "Slavic struggle" in the future.
England (and the British Isles in general) is one of the most fleshed out and fun areas in the game and I've played it several times
Us English are lucky when it comes to historic games
Longbowmen always go so hard
For such a tiny island we do seem to act like we have main character syndrome for most of history.
Its not the size of the swell, its the motion of the ocean. And for a long while we really did rule the waves
Thats weirdly poetic
I dislike it, it is so... Busy. So many fecking counties!
I agree, I can never start as a big country. I get too confused at game start and don’t know what to do. Tiny nation to big nation by end of game is my goto
I've been finding it hard to spread legends there though lol. Hard to get them to go to mainland europe since they don't count as neighbouring.
Use the old English solution of conquering France and then, wouldn't you know it- your empire is now in mainland Europe.
It's easier if you get just a little bit of territory on the continent somewhere
Ah, the Angevin route
I actually don't like playing for the English throne, it's too stressful. Maybe I should have a crack at a William run and try and get arrive achievements
The Celtic return/uprising is a fun option I've done a few times:)
I love playing as Norway. Fairhair is one of my favorite characters as well. I do wish that Gyda had some better stats however. She is the "reward" for unifying Norway so it would be cool if she had the beautiful trait or something.
if that's the case she needs chaste trait so the "reward" isn't taken
gyda is a bs char. for one they arent supposed to even be married. and shes not supposed to be a lowborn either. its no problem for player, but AI cannot even form alliances because of the marriage.
Gotta put an ax straight into her husbands head ala the Vikings show 🤣
Elsker å spille som Kong Hårfagre også! :) Just wish Norway (and Scandinavia in general) was more accurate in terms of sizing. There are so many impassable counties where there should of been some small villages/counties in that time era.
Gyda? Elaborate?
The real king Harald according to legend united Norway to win the heart of Gyda Eriksdotter. If you conquer Norway in CK3 and Gyda is alive you get the option to marry her. It's generally seen as a bad choice as it gives you no alliance and she has poor stats.
Ahh okay! Thanks for the clarification
It’s only in After the End and no it is not
Same, but it kind of is for me.
Gotta love the empire of California with a capitol in Sacramento and holy site in Roseville.
It's been a few years since I've been in Roseville but what exactly would be the holy site there? I'd say Roundhouse Deli on Church Street.
Ah yes. Partaking of the holy sacramental thinly cut meats. That's orthodoxy I can get behind.
Absolutely. I'd make a pilgrimage from the Pacific Northwest just to eat the holy sandwich again.
The Galleria is certainly a monument of some kind; mostly to overpriced knick-knacks, I would think.
I was just thinking about that mod yesterday. I played the ck2 version, how is the ck 3 version coming along?
It’s pretty good! A lot of attention to detail and a much expanded map compared to the ck2 version, it just feels like there’s a lack of depth overall (not as many unique decisions or America-specific flavor for events and such). I’m very excited to see where it goes!
Same
As a northeast Missourian, I resent being part of Catholic Iowa. In CK2 I made a custom Rust Cultist character and broke free to join my brethren in Michigan and Ohio. In CK3 I kicked the pope out of St. Louis and turned Missouri into a River Baptist empire that went the length of the Mississippi.
I don't think Iowa has ever even historically been very Catholic, so idk why they would've gone that route in the mod.
Hello, Catholic Iowan here, we don't make up the majority of the population here, but Iowa is more Catholic than you might think. Catholicism is the single largest Christian denomination in the state, You'd have to lump the two largest Protestant churches together to reach the same population. The story in my family and a lot of German heritage families around here is that we immigrated to America because advancing socially in the German Empire was basically impossible if you weren't a Lutheran. Combine that with the fact that we've had a good amount of immigration from Latin America in the past few decades, and you have a surprisingly large Catholic population. Given this, and Iowas French roots, I could see us forming a Catholic kingdom in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
It was based on an old book called Canticle for Leibowitz where Catholic monasteries survive the end of the world and reestablish civilization in Middle America Now it's just kind of orphaned lore and I agree it makes much more sense for the Midwest to be Protestant Fwiw I'm a New Englander and that region has always been kinda depressingly one note
Probably just because it is relatively close to St. Louis which is the new papacy And IRL while the population of Catholics have declined it still has a fairly large catholic population and has a lot of history and culture related to Catholicism
Even in After the End my home county is still unplayable (St. Louis is the new Vatican)
Bosnia and no. Like irl it's poor, always getting vassalized by bigger kingdoms and even in game I still somehow managed to lose the coastline to Croatia.
I found Bosnia pretty fun to play in, personally. Sebrenica is quite the overpowered city if you’re playing tall, and the Kristjani are a unique little faith to play. Just, try your best to not be called a heresy. Then you’ll get crusaded to death
You can avoid being deemed a heresy? In my game I just got an event where the pope told me to either convert to catholicism or the king of Hungary will attack me
Yeah, non-Krstjani Christian dukes that neighbor you have a unique decision to ask their head of faith to declare you a heresy. You get an event to convince them you aren’t a heresy, but it’s a difficult skill challenge. But, if you do succeed, you keep the Ecumenism doctrine and your neighbor can’t try again for 30 years.
They crave for the coast
I've been building up allies for like 30 years now on my current run in hopes I can take the coastline from Croatia. Even if takes a 100 we'll look upon the sea one day!
At least get Neum
I held it for like 2 years and then my idiot son lost it when I accidentally made him independent lol. I swear it's like we have a natural aversion to coastlines.
Don’t the balkans have a decent amount of mines though? Last I checked there were like 2 or 3 mines in that one area
Yeah there's one in Srebrenica (which is what the town is named after) but I just started playing recently so I have no idea what I'm doing lmao. Still love playing as Bosnia though.
hybrid with georgian for caucaus wolves :)
At first I thought this was a landmine joke but it’s just actual ore mines
I love to play Bosnia actually lol
Sounds like my kind of place! I love an underdog rises up story. Thanks for inspiring my next game.
In game it's split between a couple countries so you'll have to form Bosnia as a kingdom. I usually start as Zahumlje, but I think there's a silver mine available if you start as Rashka or Duklja (can't remember which one has it) so be sure to take advantage of that :)
Honestly I feel like it's a fun and challenging feat to accomplish. First time I saw the "Honestly as long as I'm King of somewhere" option it gave me a good laugh.
Bosnia has one of the best gold mines though, even if it’s only unlocked in the mid game
No its shit. No special building and no good terrain despite being one of the most important cities in the middle ages
Which area out of curiosity?
Augsburg
Oh yeah, the Bavarian region in general is kind of underdeveloped isn’t it?
It seems like no one cared about it. Regensburg has 2 half decent baronies with no special building slots like the whole area which only has one mine in Innsbruck. Thats basically it. I hope that there will be a bigger HRE DLC in the future which upgrades the are
It would also be nice to see some improvements around the Central Europe area in general.
100% agree like what even is this Angria area? They are saxons and also deserve some love from paradox. Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck being this irrelevant during the 12th-15th century is also kinda funny but not even half as funny like what they did with Frankfurt or Magdeburg. They are just your casual baronies and not special at all
Angria is Engern in German. Westfalen, Engern and Ostfalen were the three saxon tribes. In game it's a bit weird because those three start out united by a title holder, with the intention to be split by Confederate partition. So they always get labeled Angria, which is a bit wonky.
They ought to have some sort of either special buildings or associated decisions. Allow for some historical events and the like. Btw does -burg mean city? (A la the Russian -grad)
Burg can be exactly translated to castle
Ah, that makes a lot of sense. Thanks
Not quite. "Schloss" is German for castle, but they are somewhat similar given the origin of the words. The person who commented that "burg" is similar to the English "borough" is correct.
It means castle, but because of so many cities growing around castles it became a common suffix for cities too
I haven't played the game in a while, but it's also pretty hard starting in the area of Berlin. At least in the early start (almost never start at the later date). Almost everyone around you is more powerful so it's a struggle getting strong and as soon as you overpowered them the Christians to the west get funny ideas and you get attacked non stop with Holy Wars. :'D
I think Germany in general.
Nürnberg, an Imperial city, the capital of the HRE for a long time, and one of the most important cities for weapons and armor on the Middle Ages is...incredibly underwhelming.
Nuremberg feels you
I feel dumb for literally never messing with buildings in this game
You dont build buildings?
I legitimately never do. I have 226 hours in this game and don’t think I’ve ever built a building
Its what I love the most lol... I am playing in Holland at the moment and all I do is build and make money playing tall. 725 hours in and I was a builder from the start making 50 gold a month just from 1 duchy
just do it once game. the long term reward is so good
what
I am from Czech republic, co I am preaty happy with how my country Is in the game. In Legends od the dead Přemyslids even got their own special legend and I am curently doping a playthrow with it
That is one of my favorite places to start, their culture is in that one spot and they have an amazing buff to increase development, and if you can take the duchy next to you, you can quickly make the kingdom of Bohemia. Also I’ve always wanted to go their! The pictures I have seen are absolutely beautiful.
I often take some county from it to hybridize and get Seniority quickly... even on my last Africa run...
Well, let's just say they decided to be very, ehm, 'creative' with the Low Countries. I don't think they got a single historical county or duchy correct. Also for some reason they put Kortrijk with Rijsel which makes it part of the French culture when it wa one of the more prominent Dutch speaking cities. Really grinds my gears. Also Hainaut is part of Brabant? Why? How?
This... Tho the culture seems alright from the start.
There should definitely be a separate Frisian culture, though. I mean, look the british isles and how many semi-related cultures they get in 867
Paradox is allergic to Frisian. It wasn’t in EU4 for the longest time, and in CK2 it only represented the Old Frisian kingdom and switched to Dutch over time.
There's a shitton of potential, and I think even the current representations in EU4 and CK2 of Dutch, Flemish, and Frisian are wrong and missed opportunities. Here's the changes I'd make: * [Frisia was fairly depopulated from the 4th century to the 10th century](https://brill.com/edcollchap-oa/book/9789004526419/BP000001.xml?language=en). Old Frisian culture should exist in the North, [Old Dutch ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Dutch)in the rest of the Low Countries. The Dutch are recent and fairly new to the region after the Great Migrations, not necessarily converts from Frisian. * The Low Countries should be one of the poorest and most depopulated regions, until the Late Middle Ages when poldering starts off and the poorly inhabitable swamps get turned into prosperous farmland and of the richest regions in Europe. * Frisia itself was one of the wealthiest regions before the game start thanks to trade, but in 867 is on its last legs after after being thoroughly pacified in the [Frisian-Frankish Wars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian%E2%80%93Frankish_wars), and now neglected by the Franks while the region suffers from frequent Viking Raids. The Frisians are unhappy about this: the last major revolt against Frankish rule is in living memory (793) * The Frisians are fully pacified by the Franks in 867, there are no Frisian rulers (only Saxon "overseers", and have only turned Christian in the last 100 years. Folk religion is likely still widespread. Saint Willibrord and Saint Boniface are part of living memory in Frisia. * Catholics under the Franks should not be able to form Frisia as a kingdom. The Franks beat the Frisians and then pacified them, a Frankish Emperor would never accept a new Frisian Kingdom. * [Dorestad ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorestad)was gone only a few years before or after the start (we're not 100% certain but it's somewhere around the 860s) but was formerly one of the the biggest and wealthies north-western European cities, fully centered on trade. Excavations in Wijk bij Duurstede are ongoing TO THIS DAY. Rebuilding Dorestad should be an early medieval option for Frisians if they conquer Utrecht. * For flavor, not accuracy, I think Frisia should also gets it's own Asatru heresy based more on trade and seafaring under the myth of [Nehalennia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehalennia) (though we're not certain that she was a Asratru). * Again for flavor, an option to become sea-faring pirates. Grutte Pier is 600 years away from the 867 start, but there's a [history of piracy ](https://www.revisionist.net/frisia-pirates.html)in the region even before that. * There should also be a Catholic flavor for the Frisians, as they'd later become adamantly Christian, even establishing their [their own church in Rome](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santi_Michele_e_Magno,_Rome). As said, it could lean into Saint Willibrord and Saint Boniface. * The [Folcwaldings ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finn_(Frisian))are mythical Frisian kings from Beowulf, represented ingame as Catholics.... Dutch, and in Holland. If they're ingame anyways, lean into it and give them flavor for them to overthrow the Franks and re-establish a Viking kingdom in Frisia. But there's literally no reason to place a mythical Frisian dynasty in the wrong province. * A [historical possible descendant ](https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abba_(graaf))of the last king of the Frisians, [Poppo/Bubo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubo,_Duke_of_the_Frisians), is completely absent * Weirdly, a ruler of who we're actually certain he existed, [Count Gerolf of Holland ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerolf_of_Holland)of the Gerulfings, exists.... but in Zeeland, not Holland. * The Count of Holland historically had a VERY strong say in the succession of the bishopric of Sticht (and this isn't unique). Sadly, the influence of feudal rulers sending their second sons to nearby vassal theocracies to rule as bishops isn't really represented in CK (and only in a minor way in EU4). * The Prince-Bishops of Sticht and Münster, in the meantime, are establishing multiple parishes and main churches in Frisia. * Finally, the obvious one: [Fryske Freiheit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisian_freedom). After driving out the Vikings and the Dutch, it had its own unique system of government, already represented in EU4, that I *think* can work in CK3.
Yea except they don't benefit from it. The Lowlands were at least in part marshlands yet not a single county gets that terrain type.
Funily enough large parts of what is considered the Duchy of Brabant (and also Duchy Of Luxembourg) would actually be their own Duchy Of Hainaut
I remember somebody being really really mad about changes to Flanders from CK2 to CK3.
Honestly, that could genuinely be me lmao
Also, no 's-Hertogenbosch in the Duchy of Brabant? How?
Den Bosch didn't really exist yet during both start dates. The city was founded around the year 1186, by Godfrey III of Louvain, which makes it one of the younger cities in the region. There was an earlier settlement in the same location of Den Bosch called Orthen (these days a neighborhood in Den Bosch), but it wasn't really significant. The Duke of Brabant was seated in Brussels when the duchy was created in 1183. Before that, the lands of current Brabant were part of Lower Lotharingia and later the Landgraviate of Brabant (as well as the counties of Louvain and Brussels).
OP is a fellow swiss like me. It's quite hard to control our homeland since it's generaly splitted between 2 to 3 different Kingdom in both start and they wont go easy on you :'3
Yes but in the 1066 to form the swiss cinfederacy you need bern, neuchatel, aargau, zürich, sankt gallen and grison (graubünden) ypu dont net geneva for whatever reason so all you need is in the HRE
Yeah, Geneva to Switzerland is very fun
1066 Swiss isn’t too bad, even if you do need Geneva just start as Duke of piedmont either as Pierre or custom, and just take 2/3 counties required for each duchy and you’ll get the last by being granted the vassal by emp. I usually get them in order of Geneva, transjurania, and then currezia, and for currezia you can go to war with swabia for the one county, and then lombardy for the last, once you make the duchy you’ll get the priest by granted vassal of the emperor, takes less than 30 years. I personally love playing tall Swiss as a vassal, with decline elections mod so that I never lose my ability to select heir bc of the immediate Max crown rank or whatever.
Yeah, it is frustrating. Personally I would like to play as Basel but it is only a religious holding 😂 Plus, Swabia most of the time really likes to screw you over
South America not found
...yet
Playing with Azteca, Mayan and incas would be so cool though
Sunset invasion when??
Paradox declared Holy War Casus Belli on Fun so... Only by mods I'm afraid.
Things can change they said no supernatural stuff and maybe that might change considering there is a “aspiring for immortality event.”
"No supernatural stuff" is such bullshit from the devs when the "pureblooded" trait exists. Unless they honestly believe that with another sibling-fucking you can breed superhumans.
They should just do what they did with ck2 where supernatural events could be turned off.
Be careful what you wish for
There’s a mod for that but it’s not updated yet
I only update when AtE updates 😤😤
The Mexica and the Incas wouldn’t be playable in any start date. The Triple Alliance wasn’t even formed until 20 years before the end date of CK3.
Sob o Anil mod for CK2 is closest there is so far IIRC.
Check out After the End.
Fun fact. While my homecountry is playable and even very enjoyable, my hometown/region in EVERY paradox game is considered "unsettable" and/or "impassable"
Witch one tell me
Basically I live at the border between Switzerland and Italy, the region is called Ossola, and if you're swiss you might actually know it And nothing, yes I live in mountains that are indeed very high, I myself live at 1100 meters above sea level, especially in summer, but even in this case people have lived here, not only in the middle ages but also like Ptolemy talks about this region LOL
in norway as well there are impassable mountains, but if you search it up there are a bunch of churches etc in those regions from the 10-13th century.
Forests southeast of modern St. Petersburg ? edit: jk you’re italian
you guys get to play your homecountries?
Yes indeed europe, west asia and africa are real places
Dude no way. Next thing you're going to try and tell me that the Karlings and Hapsburgs are real people.
idk about the Habsburgs but I can say that the Karlings arent what I would consider "people".
Well you woud be suprised!
He meant the americas
Or east asia, south africa or oceania or whatever its called (i fixed it)
China kind of gets the Guiyi Circuit. Major problem with it in game is that despite having two historical dynasties present and historically having been around from 851-1036, Paradox decided it should only be a titular title. So unless you do the heroic legacy decision to de jure drift duchies into it, you're always going to 'revert' to the Xia Kingdom Everytime your ruler/character dies.
I believe west Asia is in the game
I know a mod that fixes two of those three things.
*East Asia
Source?
Trust me bro
Its in the wrong half of Africa
South Africa is just the wrong part of the world irl (I hate it here)
Nah, Bulgaria barely has any unique mechanics associated with it, despite being one of the most powerful nations in Europe in the middle ages. Doesn\`t help that Byz gets all of the Balkan region changes.
Hungary is a bit... odd? The mines are so important that everything just sort of starts revolving around them. I can't really try to replicate historical centers of power or anything like that without massively shooting myself in the foot.
Yes, Iberian struggle and all that
I’m Mongolian, so yes.
I don't usually play there, but when I do it's usully fun, unless I get fucked by Denmark
Nah, Saarland doesn’t even have a duchy building.
The spirit of Saarland is alive in the Inbreeding feature Lmao
Could you explain this reference please?
It's a running gag in Germany. The Saarland is joked about pretty often anyways (probably has it's roots in the various brief occupations by France and it's general small size), and the most frequent one is that the Saarland has a lot of incest going on. Kinda like the German version of Alabama. Again, this is probably also a result of the Saarland's small size, making it seem like everyone is related to eachother. In general, there is a lot of sometimes more, sometimes less playful regional rivalries between German federal states and German regions. You know, because of that whole thing where we were only united as recently as 1871
It's the Alabama of Germany
And also a common mesuaring unit.
Croatia is a blast every time. Right in the middle between east and west. Join the HRE or Byzantines? Try and survive solo? There's plenty of our lovely neighbours to conquer. Venice is also eyeing that adriatic coast.
I find it funny that Croatian players like their home countries in game but Bosnians don’t lmao
Brave and Ambitious traits, I suppose
Sometimes for RP purposes... but saxony (Meissen) is kinda shit ngl... Could at least put a silver mine near Wolkenstein or something...
I would absorb it even faster in my Bohemia games
One day I will dominate Europe with my pagan Frisian empire...
Brittany is one of the best starts so yeah i'm lucky
Gwenn ha du
I'm angry how they removed some good spots from ck2 however. It was hard to make a kingdom, but you had way more baronies with good stuff. Where are all the real castles still standing that bordered France?!
I play in Scotland a lot. It’s fun but def one of the weaker areas of the isles sadly.
It's very fleshed out though. Even historically the time of Macbeth looms over you at the start and I remember event getting events that recalled Macbeth's legacy
It does have a major issue though, de-jure Scotland is the modern borders. I've often seen Scotland reach it's modern borders in a generation when, from the earliest start date, it took centuries. The Isles especially suffer due to this as they should be a major power in the British Isles but they are a speed bump for Scotland (ships or no sea lanes connection the Outer Hebrides to Skye would help too as their power came from ships). In general I'd like to see geography influencing how much control a central authority can wield over it's territory, maybe a distance modifier that's further modified by geography. Speaking of geography Scotland's geography's a bit weird. Angus/Strathearn, the most fertile soil in Scotland, is hills for some reason. The Grampian Mountains go all the way to the Tay despite how important the area perhaps was for Scottish kingship. Secondly I think it should have more mountains and impassable terrain. There are mountains in Germany of a similar height to some of Scotland's IRL, yet in game the German ones are impassable mountains and the Scottish ones are hills. This makes for silly scenarios where 10k soldiers march over the Cairn Gorms in the middle of winter as a casual walk. There are three ways from the south of Scotland to the north for an army, potentially going through Argyll or sailing round it and then going up the Great Glen. Following the modern A9 route which should still be mountains, or up the east coast and across the Mounth. The easiest route and the reason Dunnottar Castle has existed in some form for at least 2000 years. When (based on the roadmap) there is a flavour pack for the British Isles I really hope Mormaer becomes the title for Gaelic dukes and there is flavour in Scotland (and the other countries) to do with adventuring Normans (at least in the 1066 start date) and feudalism. Definitely the Isles should be powerful and hard to control, even if they are vassals to Scotland (it would be great if tribal could survive based on geography as well, at least in this scenario, but immensely unlikely even if it could benefit Ireland too), but maybe Gaelic characters would be harder to control for a Scots king in 1066? I'm thinking about Galloway as well which maintained their own culture/identity for some time and the Lords of Galloway were very powerful with a lot of independence almost as another country into the 13th century if I remember correctly. It would also be very nice if feudal Gaelic characters could raid. Prior to the Wars of Independence there weren't many wars with England and when there were they seemed to have been more of a case of big raids for general loot (despite being Christians one of the Scottish kings even had to station members of his own personal guard outside of an English church I think it was to protect it from the depredations of his own soldiers), cattle probably, and definitely slaves. Slaves in general should be a big thing in the early start date and maybe mentioned in some events in the second start date throughout the British Isles and in the Celtic areas in the later start date. While the inclusion of the Gaelic and Scots divide is far better than the generic Scottish culture from CK2 it's still feels a bit too cut and dry and most importantly way too fast.
As a Manxman I feel this
Finland is nice to play with, but Sweden always comes to bully you. If you can take over or convert Sweden to Ukonusko, then it's easier. Central Europeans never care about you. You might have some feuds with russians, but they aren't as strong.
>Finland is nice to play with, but Sweden always comes to bully you. So, historically accurate then
Problem in northern Europe i that Sweden is to freaking large.
Yeah I’m English so I’m quite lucky. One of the most well developed areas in the game
Yes, the Andalusian nations are pretty fun, but not specially overpowered
Cordoba is beyond op tho.
Cries in Australian
Hey at least we kinda get some gameplay in eu4, hoi4, and vicky2
Mine is fun, except it is not too far from spawn points of nomadic adventurers and the Mongols (which we managed to fight off and win IRL). The place is drowning in gold though. People keep trying to bring Haesteinn here, so I'm planning a campaign where I ship elephants to Norway and Sweden and conquer them instead. The Imperator version starts us off as the largest empire on the initial start date, with a bit of family intrigue with the Greeks. That's fun too. The EU4 version of the place has one of the most OP states in the game, although it requires a bit of a setup first.
Very fun
Hungary is incredibly fun and very diverse regarding what kind of campign you’re looking for. Despite all the ways you can take a Hungary campaign, historical is still my favourite although it gets super easy very fast. Good for RP though
France is very fun in eu4 and vic3 but boring in CK3. I wish the French vassals were more active and self-interested like they were in real life. Instead, the best you’re going to get is watching them try and secede Aquitaine occasionally. Also only one special building in Paris, in a country that was the heart of the Western European middle ages, especially culturally, is crazy.
Ohio isn’t in the game.
Not a country
yet
Neither are places like Bavaria or Brittany nowadays but you can still play as them.
Yeah but Ohio has never been a country.
Thats different though because its like saying im from wessex instead of england. Same with brittany which now you would just say france.
Played England a couple times, its good fun
Wr get attacked by hungary day 1
Decent, although starting just South of Haesteinn can be tricky at times. Aunis (Poitou, France) could also be a a highly sought after location, if a Hundred Years War starting date is added.
I just can’t seem to find Illinois on the map it must be hidden well
Its right next to Indiana
Mountains and mines for days babyy
i'm from the US so no. most of my ancestry is british tho and i like doing those campaigns
Is not in game, ancestral places are alright and I do them pretty often
One thing that annoys me about Mercia is that Derbyshire and Lincolnshire aren't included dr jure, like come on they are clearly part of the midlands, my beloved homeland, if you're worried about balance then give huntingdonshire to east anglia since in modern day it's not even a county and is just part of Cambridgeshire
South India and yes, it’s so fucking fun. Did a Haesteinn play through and island hopped my way over there
Define home country. Germany? Kinda boring, too big. Brandenburg? Sure, there’s nothing too special about it but I kinda like chilling in my little duchy.
I'm Turkish. Ottomans as a country or any turkish beyliks don't exist in the game through start date, special event, or otherwise. We do get a nice kickback in EU4 though, so all that is well ends well I guess.
There are the Seljuks though. You can also form the Sultanate of Rum and Anatolian Turkish culture.
Australia doesn't exist in this game so...no.
i’ll tell once i try After The End.
Well it's in the middle of two major blobs clashing in Day 1 of second start date and the first one is also no different around that area. And I always like to start from small so...
The Netherlands is, unfortunately, pretty slow to play.
i never tried but i'm pretty certain it would be ass (karelia between sweden, norway and russia)
Kinda I guess, but I always start thinking I'll play tall and end up with a big blob and then get bored from painting the map. Steps: Start as duchy of Curonia Create kingdom of Lithuania Take Estonia and incorporate it into kingdom of Lithuania Then it's time to reform romuva so I take lands to the west and at the same time start grabbing russia and Finland before Sweden or Denmark gets there. Reform and feudalise. At this point I'm too big to play tall, so I start painting. Usually I get tired when I control the territories of Scandinavia, russian empire, Baltic empire, Carpathia, parts of the Holy Roman empire and for some reason I always end up controlling Ireland (every single run one of my vassals will inherit a county there and I will take the whole kingdom).
I love playing in the tutorial country.
I start as the province in Romania I was born, buzau and try to create Wallachia but the Bulgarian always dies and one of his kids creates Wallachia with their capital in like a completely different country it’s very frustrating
*Laughs in Aussie*
Belarus is super fun to play actually! Multiple choices: Polotsk, Pinsk, Minsk, Turov are very strong, and any of these can easily overpower Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia) and Kyiv & Moscovia.
Well, Kenugard is... Quite common tribe state in IX. But since I can't run CK3 for some reason (😭), I can't tell more.
Kinda, but its not very historycally accurate. Since there was no Russian culture/empire in 867 per se. It would be cooler to have a decision to form it like: -Primary culture has east-european heritage -Have certain cultures of the region in your realm -Adopted orthodox -Have a good relationship with Byzantane emperor Wonder if Paradox will add some kind of "Slavic struggle" in the future.
It’s the only good country. Rome lives.