We Need a Jagiellon! - A Crusader Kings 3 Story

[Cyneheard]

Now that you're moving onto a world stage with Byzantium's ire...how are their enemies doing?

Historically if the ERE was fighting on a single front, it was winning. Also, the ERE almost never was fighting on just one front.

Your statement doesn't prevent the ERE from winning on multiple fronts, but point taken.

[pindicator]

Skirmantas, Part Four: Uncommon Wealth

I still had to do some domestic work, as I was 2 holdings over my limit.  Since it does not look like Utenis has any reasonable way of getting back into power at Courland, I decide to give him the county of Warmia.  I decide to spend the 125g to create the High Chieftain of Prussia title and give it to him as well.  This gets rid of some of my more troublesome vassals at Sambia, Warmia, and Bartia.  Livs is given to Pukuveras (not the previous Pukuveras of Bartia, who has since died, but a new upstart) of house Ragaine.  He is Zealous and a good Steward, so I hope he will convert the province for me.

But you can imagine I didn't focus there long.  Up against the big bad Byzantines for the first time this game?  That's exciting.  Sweden would also join in on Denmark's side and suddenly I was facing down twice my number.  I called in my ally, Khan Aibak from the Caucasus but he only had 1,200 men.  Chieftain Asko brought 700 from Viipuri.  Chieftess Giera has 500 men from up north in Jahkamahkke.  We were still badly out-numbered.




The Byzantine forces appear to be headed for Pomesania.  I decide to try and meet them before they can be reinforced by the Danes and Swedes.  But over 4,000 now come in from the sea.  I retreat back to Veletia and the war goal.  My next plan is to hold out for time.  My War Score ticks up slowly for holding the goal of Circipania.  Plus since i have inherited this war from conquering Veletia, the AI is already getting tired of it and a 'Long War' incentive for them to peace out is ticking up.  But they turn back and start sieging Warmia.  If they gain war score from sieges it will be over.

And so instead of waiting for them at the county they were trying to conquer, they forced me to march across Pomerania again and meet them in Prussia.




But here the AI faltered.  They split their units into 4 stacks, and when I moved to engage the first stack at Pomesania they neighboring armies did not move to reinforce.  It is a good idea to split stacks to prevent huge losses of attrition, but at the same time the AI needs to do better at recognizing when it should re-group together.  Or perhaps they have really poor commanders who did not realize just how quickly we were coming from the west.  Regardless, when we went in against the Swedish units at Pomesania none of the neighboring armies came to help.  I was able to pick off stack after stack.  It left me a little disappointed; I was expecting a huge pitched battle between juggernauts.




The AI forces retreat in all directions, disjointedly.  I could take white peace here, but I take the opportunity to defeat every nearby army in the field to weaken my enemies more.  It was not without cost, as Duke Svarnas of Polockas was severely wounded.  His fighting days are over and the physicians do not think he will live to see another year.

In June, the AI gives a White Peace.

I think there's something buggy about how the game has you take over a war for a province when you completely eliminate the original holder.  For starters, why was Pomeralia my ally?  They were the ally of Veletia, but Veletia does not exist any more.  They should not have been on my side in this war.

Second, I was earning Prestige and Piety for some battles and not Fame and Devotion.  You only are supposed to earn Prestige and Piety for wars where you are not the primary party in the war: like when you go to the aid of your ally.  Here I earned hundreds upon hundreds of Prestige (which also adds to my Fame) where I should have only been early Fame.  All this Prestige and on the heels of a sound victory has given me confidence, and opened another path.  I now draw in almost 9,000 men and I have the once-per-lifetime opportunity of conquering a whole Kingdom.  If I can get up to 2,000 Prestige then we can sound the horns and aim for all of Poland.  This would then be almost enough for me to found the Southern Baltic Empire.

Duke Svarnas died at his home in Polackas that winter.  His son Kestutis is only 13 years old and forced into rule.  My brother, Zygimantas, becomes my new Chancellor.

I start drifting away from role-play a bit here as I get a little obsessed with making this war on Poland work.  Another option I have is to change Lifestyle trees, and go to Martial.  Which I do.  The first Perk of the Strategist branch is Bellum Justum, which would give -50% to all Casus Belli costs.  With me at 1,500 Prestige that would be another avenue to earn enough Prestige.  And so Skirmantas begins to learn of war.




Sventaragis has come of age in 1105!  We arrange a marriage with the daughter of Khan Yeldem of the Pechenegs.  The Pechenegs are currently winning a war against Byzantium.  You're welcome, Khan.  I mainly pick this match for the Prestige gain of marrying a princess, but the alliance is also a help.

From here the singular focus of Lithuania becomes to prepare for war against Poland.  We will need more gold for the creation of titles after the war, and we will need Prestige before the war.  There is only one solution: Raiding!




In September of 1106 over 8,000 men cross into Denmark from the south.  They move up the peninsula unopposed, raiding every hamlet and holding, and taking many captives for ransom.  By May 1107 they have burned most of the peninsula and move on to the islands of Fyn and Sjaelland.

Between the war preparations, the family demands of his son, and having no moment to himself to unwind, Skirmantas is slowly building up stress.  It comes to a head in 1107 when his friend Betten, wife of Chieftain Giemund, dies:




This is his second mental break, and again the choices are bad.  I could become Reclusive to lose a lot of stress, but I'm sure that will be even worse in the long term.  Instead I take the second choice and donate 80g to relieve a little stress.  But this only just drops me below 100 and I am very close to earning another break should I be over 100 in 5 years time.




The first raiding party returns home in October 1107 with 84 gold and 84 prestige.  The two remaining parties finish their pillaging and return home; in January that becomes another 360 gold and prestige.  Now we are over 2,000 prestige!  But I still wait another year, for the Martial perk to appear:




Now we are ready!  In addition, I was also wanting the Offensive War penalty from before to tick away.  I expect the war against Poland to be a long, drawn out affair, and I do not want upset vassals in the middle of it.  Or afterwards.




The armies are raised at Chelmno.  I plan on moving down both sides of the Vistula, capturing until I am north of the capital and then turning south.

Poland has one ally in Ruthenia, but yet they never called them into the war!  I spent 350 Prestige to call in Caucasus, but Khan Aibak was really not needed.  I cross south with 9,000 men.




Meanwhile, Countess Rana is caught attempting to murder my Vaidilute, Sisko.  I have her imprisoned and once in prison tell her she may only be released if she converts to Vidilism.  Rana is the location of the 5th Holy Site for Vidilism, and so now all 5 sites are controlled by Vidilist rulers.  We can now reform the faith.  We just need something like 8,000 Piety first...

To celebrate, my brother Dravenis invites me to a feast.  Normally shy, somehow Skirmantas has become an Eager Reveler trait.  And something about feasting with his brother seems to bring him out of his shell for this feast:




It is a rare bit of letting loose for Skirmantas.  He speaks at length with his sister, Khanum Roze.  And when the food is late and the grumblings of the feasters is heard, he does not silence them or sit quietly, but instead joins in the disapproval.  It feels rather good, he realizes.  Sure, there are still some awkward moments, but it is a bit of a coming out party for Skirmantas: the real Skirmantas, not the one who rules and has to keep a kingdom in order and a religion from being exterminated.

While at war I am called into another by my ally, Chieftess Giera of Jahkamahkke.  It is only a few hundred embattled on each side.  I accept and plan on forgetting this war exists.

Then in December of 1109 a peasant revolt breaks out in Breslau. 




We have caught the Polish army at the border and defeat them soundly.  I decide to send 1,500 men north to deal with the peasants.  When they finish, they continue north to help Chieftess Giera.

Meanwhile, there is another large war breaking out to the north!




King Bror of Sweden has claimed the Danish crown.  The Byzantines are still allied with Denmark and we see almost 10,000 Byzantine troops march north through our lands.  Though Sweden had some early success the war is moving against them.  They still are in the middle of it as of the end of this update.

In May, a huge setback for the Polish side:




King Boleslaw III now rules in Poland.  His father, King Sieciech, has died of Malnourishment.  Certainly good news for me!  Surprisingly, Ruthenia is not aiding poland despite their alliance, and so I easily outnumber the Poles now that my ally Khan Aibak has arrived.  Yet they would get an ally when in 1111 the Grand Prince of Smolensk would come to their aid with 1,600 men.

You can see our forces slowly moving south down the Vistula.  On several times we have tried to catch the Polish army and force a confrontation but they are very good at staying out of our grasp.  So we must continue to siege down holdings and force our way to their capital.




It was in one of these skirmishes that Chieftain Varaka was struck down.  The vassal that I thought could not be tamed, who became if not a friend of Skirmantas', then a vassal that I started to look foward to his interactions with.  He had agreed to help Skirmantas learn Martial better, but died before he could complete the task.  As a tribute, Skirmantas shows off his skill to the court and all agree Varaka would have been proud.




Finally we catch the Polish army in the field in September of 1111.  They try to escape again but this time we are able to come down on their rearguard and destroy it utterly.  Their armies disjointed, they try to come back to aid the rearguard, but instead are destroyed piecemeal.  These battles break the last resistance of the Polish kindgom, and here the young king signs peace.




Now we just have to hold on to it.

Other Happenings:

• Muslims now have access to Jihad, though that is less an issue for me than the Christian Holy Wars
  
• Sventaragis made friends with Chieftain Geimund's son, Traidenis
  
• Soaba gives birth to my 5th son, Tovtivilas.  Still no daughters.  She also spills a giant pot of stew in the middle of a feast.  Not our best moment.
  
• I become the guardian of my 3rd son, Lutuveras.
  
• I fought a war against Luticia for the last county in the duchy of Mecklenburg
  
• We commissioned another Epic to earn more Renoun
  
• Hungary broke away from the HRE briefly, but then Bohemia conquered it again.  Bohemia is a monster now within the HRE.
  
• Also within the HRE, the King of Lotharingia has started an uprising for independence.  It has a chance of succeeding
  

[sunrise089]

I see there is still some Poland on the map. Were those areas controlled by the Polish king but not part of the de jure kingdom?

Also, how much more land do you need to forge the empire?

[Cyneheard]

The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Kingdom is born!

[pindicator]

I see there is still some Poland on the map. Were those areas controlled by the Polish king but not part of the de jure kingdom?

Precisely.

Also, how much more land do you need to forge the empire?

2 counties more and I can create the South Baltic Empire. One reason I was so eager to do this was it got me that close to an Empire title.

Of course that name is awful and we'll have to come up with a better one

[Commodore]

"Greater Lithuania" is right there on the table. Go for the historical recreation, with .7M Lithuanians controlling 10M Poles and Russians.

[pindicator]

Ugh, just spent over an hour digging through vassals, doling out the new conquests, and creating titles. Doing my best to stave off the inevitable independence wars down the line, but Poland comes with some mighty dukes. Might be able to play and write up the next part before my backpacking trip on Friday.

And as always we're out of money again. Burned through that 1200g like it was nothing.

Edit: I like "Greater Lithuania". Unless we want to go the campy route and name it "Realms Beyond"

[Brian Shanahan]

Wasn't the original CK 1 thread here about the Duchy of Potolsk? Name it after that.

[sunrise089]

I think I want to buy the game and try it out. I'm used to Switch games at this point...do Paradox games on PC go on sale within their first year of release, or should I buy it at regular MSRP? Also, I guess the best I can do with respect to added content is to buy the "Royal Edition" for an extra $25 which includes the first expansion, but am I still going to be on the hook for...a lot...of expansions later?

[pindicator]

It's 20% off through Humble Bundle for the next 36 hours.

The expansion bit is a downside with paradox games. It's too early to tell how mandatory they will be since this is the first one. But in other series you can pick and choose a bit