Legends and Plagues - Pindicator Plays the Newest CK3 DLC

[Commodore]

Awesome, excited for this

 According to wikipedia Amerenia reached its height of power just be 100AD, only to have the Romans and Parthians take pieces out of them before Rome finally subjugated the whole country.  Our bully neighbors have new names, now the Byzantines and Abbasids, but the role is the same:  we have to juggle allegiances skillfully to keep from being eaten.

As an interesting note, those neighbors still think of themselves as Romans and Persians.

[pindicator]

One more game mechanic overview:  Struggles (link goes to CK3 wiki page for more detail).  In particular we are part of the Iranian Intermezzo.




Struggles are a bit of a controversial mechanic, introduced with the Struggle for Iberia DLC.  Certain areas of the map are in a Struggle where characters fall into 3 categories:

Involved - Your capital is in the designated region, your Faith and Culture are considered Involved.
Interloper - Your capital is in the designated region, but your Faith and/or Culture are not considered Involved.
Uninvolved - Capital is outside the designated region.

We are on the very corner of of the Persia region, but our Faith and Culture are not considered Involved.  To be involved 50% of the faith or culture needs to reside inside of the area.  See the wiki link above for a list of cultures and faiths, but in general all the Zoroastrian faiths, a lot of Ash'ari (Sunni) faith, Nestorian, and Mahayana Buddhism.  Involved cultures are mainly from modern Iraq (Kurdish and Mashriqi) as well as Persian and Central Asian.

Struggles are divided up into phases with different bonuses for Involved or Interloper characters.  (Even more confusing, the two struggles in the game have different phases and different bonuses.)  Look at the wiki link above if you want full details, but in general we only get a few bonuses for being an Interloper while Involved characters get a lot more.  There are two phases: Unrest and Stabilization.  Unrest gives bonuses towards levy size, reinforcement, and building construction time.  Stabilization gives bonuses towards friendly actions between rulers.  One interesting thing is that we get more of a bonus to advantage for leading our own armies as Interloper (+10) than we do as Involved (+5).  One of the rare instances where Interloper gets a larger bonus.

The Iranian Intermezzo is focused around the Caliphate:  every Involved or Interloper character has a modifier of either a Detractor of the Caliphate or Supporter of the Caliphate.  I'm going to be honest, I'm not fully aware of how the differences play out as I haven't played this struggle before.

Finally, Struggles need to eventually end.  The Iranian Intermezzo Struggle ends in 4 ways:

• Two ways for if a Detractor of the Caliphate becomes stronger than the current Caliph by hitting certain thresholds.
  
• If a Supporter of the Caliphate establishes the Arabian Empire and if the majority of all independe trulers are supporters of the Caliph.
  
• If a Persian ruler of Iranian heritage manages to build back up the old Persian Empire.
  

I'm sure I'll be clarifying a lot more on struggles as I learn more about the Iranian Intermezzo myself. Honestly, I'm not sure how a non-Sunni, non-Iranian Heritage ruler can end the struggle. I'm sure that will be made more clear as I play.

[pindicator]

The Main Characters:

Leading us in our quest is Count Smbat of Aran.




We are 37 and unmarried. We're rather awful. Our stats are appalling.  We rate as either Terrible or Poor in everything.
Traits:
- Shy (-2 Diplo, +1 Learn)
- Greedy (-2 Diplo, +5% income, +10% income per stress level)
- Arrogant (+1 prestige/month
Misguided Warrior (+2 Martial)
Military Engineer (-30% siege time)
Detractor of the Caliphate

Our son and heir is 7.  The game does not tell us who the mother was (but boy does it go down the father's line).




Right now all we know about our son is that he's pensive.  As we develop him as our ward we'll learn more about and influence his personality.

We are House Arranshahik:




The game files has our ancestry going back to the early 600s. There's something like 9 levels of deceased relatives I can go back and look through and I find that Great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather Zahrimir ruled Shirvan until 780 when it was taken by the Yazidids.  But for the here and now, know that the only other living relative besides Smbat and his son is our Marshall, Movses Arranshahik.  Movses is unlanded, and we'll have to work to change that.

Our council is very average:




There really aren't a lot of better options either, so I leave them be for now.


Neighbors:




Emir Haytham ibn Khalid of the Yazidid Emirate




Leads 900 men, has 3 counties that fall under the Yazidid Emirate.
He is Shy, Honest, and Craven - though also Gallant.  He is a Supporter of the Caliphate.

House Yazidid has bounced around a bit as Emirs under the Caliph.  Haytham's great-grandfather ruled Palmyra, a duchy in modern Syria, and his family ruled there for 3 generations until - the game doesn't say how - they inerited the rule at Shirvan and then all of the Yazidid Emirate.  Previously their house was known as the Shaybanids, but Emir Haytham has taken up the House name of Yazidid.

Count Vasak II of Suenik




Leads just shy of 600 men.  Is Apostolic and Armenian.
He is Lazy, Fickle, and Forgiving.  More importantly, his county is the location of the Apostolic Holy Site of Dwin, giving +1 Learning and +5% monthly piety to all Apostolic leaders.  Other Holy sites are Jerusalem, Antioch, Beirut, and Koloneia (on Anatolia around the old Kingdom of Pontus).

The game lists House Siwnik back to 300AD, with over a dozen descendants before they began their rule with Count Hrahat of Suenik in 646.  The tiny mountainous county has passed down through their family through 9 generations.

Count Bagrat of Kakheti




Leads 500 men, this Orthodox Georgian also has a claim on the Principality of Tao-Klarjeti to the west.
He is Honest, Lazy, and Humble.
He is the head of House Bagrationi.  More on them in a bit.

Prince Tornik of Tao-Klarjeti (sounds like the name of a system in Star Trek)




Holding 4 counties and the duchy title for Tao-Klarjeti, he commands a force of over 1400 men.
Tornik is Stubborn, Humble, and Vengeful.  He also is of House Bagrationi.

Prince Ashot of the Armenian Principalities




The remanants of the Old Kingdom of Armenia reside in Ashot's control.  With 5 counties, a ducal and a kingdom title, he commands over 1600 men.
He is Diligent, Generous, and Cynical.

House Bagratuni is the family that first restored the Old Armenian Kingdom in the 600s.  They ruled the kingdom for 6 generations before Ashot swore fealty to the Abbasids.

And finally, the big players:

Caliph al-Mu'tazz ibn al-Mutawakkil of the Abbasid Empire




A skilled Diplomat (and not much else), the Caliph commands over 4,000 men.  However the game puts him immediately fighting off a rebellion - some 3,800 men are fighting to break away.
The Caliph is Generous, Arbitrary, and Calm.  Obviuosly he is a supporter of the Caliphate.

Basileus Basileios of the Byzantine Empire




Basileios is Brave, Deceiptful, and Ambitious.  He has very high Martial and Espionage scores.
He commands largest army in the area, with just shy of 4,800 men, but he also begins at war.  His war is far to the west over Sicily.


Enough exposition, the stage is set.  Time to play the game!

[haphazard1]

That is a LOT of information to absorb.

As someone with little knowledge of the game, I have questions. What would you consider your most useful assets/skills/whatever in this start?

Thanks for the detailed update.

[pindicator]

That is a LOT of information to absorb.

I know, I haven't even gotten into Culture or Technology or the newer features like Plagues, Legends, or the new Legitimacy stat.

I'll try to mix a little in with the reporting and not overwhelm, but I wanted to set the stage before playing.

As someone with little knowledge of the game, I have questions. What would you consider your most useful assets/skills/whatever in this start?

Well, I would say the very basics are gold and levies. Big armies and lots of money are the most important parts.

Later on when you get a realm of sufficient size it's also about keeping your vassals in line - whether they love you or fear you. We'll go into that a little when I actually have some real vassals (all these mayors and barons the game considers differently). Edit: And also later the size of your armies later on isn't necessarily the same as the quality, but that takes a while to develop.

[haphazard1]

Thanks for explaining some of these things. I have considered trying to get into CK3, but it is rather intimidating how many systems and game mechanics there are to deal with.

For your current position as Count Smbat, what are your strengths? You are surrounded by a lot of rivals and potential enemies. What do you have going for you? You seem like a pretty small fish in a large pond.

[pindicator]

I'll be honest, I'm about 5 years in and still trying to figure that one out. A very big problem to overcome is as a Count you are hindered from expanding by two factors: your domain limit, and the fact that you can't have another Count under you as a vassal (you need to become a Duke first).

Count Smbat has a domain limit of 4, thanks to his terrible stats, and starts with 3 holdings. So I can conquer 1 more holding and ... that's it. Anything I conquer past that gives me nothing.

To become a Duke, I need to control more than 50% of the counties in a duchy. Normally having 3 counties would mean you are practically there - except all 3 of the countries that Smbat starts with are in different de jure duchies. One of them is held by Prince Ashot, another has half its lands under Abbasid rule, and the 3rd is the Yazidids. So going east is my most likely expansion route.

[Mjmd]

I mean I know you like difficult starts, but I did notice all the starts you had us choosing between seemed small and this one appears fairly difficult. I'm assuming this is on purpose?

[pindicator]

Yes, the challenge is part of what drives the interest for me.

That said, I don't think I appreciated just how difficult this start could be.

[Magic Science]

Is it possible to just be eliminated outright early on in CK3 like is possible in Civ IV? Could that happen to you with this start?