Before we move on, let's take a look at the key characters in the Empire of Britannia.
His heir:
His grandson, who is a bit angry because of the change to Feudal Elective:
The council:
That's another grandson, Fulk, who is serving as chancellor. He wasn't too happy about the succession law change either.
The missive sent to Greece came back. They accepted the marriage proposal. Behold Prince Fulk's future bride:
It's nice that everyone agrees on my choice of heir:
Note: switching to Steam images here as I took a lot and I'd run out of room on imgur pretty quickly otherwise.
Rumor comes of a Khan of Khans coming from the East:
Bah, rumor.
Earl Matthias reminds us that our daughter, Princess Eleanor, is age 6 and in need of a mentor. This is as good time as any to arrange a betrothal, with the boy-king of Poland:
We're not using as much of our retinue as we could.
Out of curiosity, I wonder what the best composition is for a retinue. So far all I've learned is that all archers is really bad because they crumble in a straight-up fight (as you might expect).
Our son's betrothed, Anna of Singidounon, has come of age.
We opt for gold, hard cash, as we'll need to the money to expand our retinue and build up a war chest in case the succession goes ill. Though given our son's excellent stats and traits, it should be smooth. But you never know.
Various factions are invariably squabbling endlessly in the empire.
One of them, unfortunately, has become dangerous, with a strength that could conceivably rival our own:
Let's use the gold we got for wedding gifts to bribe the faction leader, so that he likes us more and steps down from the faction.
In retrospect, perhaps we should have looked at which faction members had the largest armies and then bribed them out first.
I wonder what the best ways to dissolve factions are. So far I only know of two:
- Bribe them to like you, whether through gifts of gold, titles, or land
- Kill them via assassination
Less than two months later, Duke Folkhard decided that you know what? He's just not that interested in independence anymore.
Unfortunately, there are still a bunch of faction members who think independence might a good idea.
I wonder what the best way to manage a large empire -- I've never had a game where I've had an empire this size that lasted past the first succession. I remember once I formed Britannia, the Empress ruled it from age 30 or so to age 90-something and then all hell broke loose when she died because she had outlived all the heirs I had groomed and the others had married off (to dwarfs, probably).
This empire looks like it might have a better chance, but I have to wonder whether I should have given away/formed Kingdoms. Or whether I should have destroyed the HRE title? But prestige, I need prestige.
If anyone has large-empire management tips, I'd love to hear them. From what I know of managing smaller kingdoms, feudal elective with all the electors except you being bishops is ideal, because bishops won't vote for bishops, and if you're the only non-bishop, then hey! But getting that set up in an empire this side would seem like it'd involve unsustainable amounts of tyranny, so I'm not sure how to configure the realm for optimal stability.
You'll note we have a bunch of Kingdoms that we could form (the little shield with a lion(?) on it in the icon bar). But I don't know whether we should form them, and plus they all cost money (which we lack) and piety and give prestige. And Emperor Fulk has a lot of prestige. Maybe his young heir can form some kingdoms to boost prestige? But with Feudal Elective, I'm worried about managing all those elections -- I can see 2 or 3 elections aligning, but 5 or 7?
In any case, I bribe this faction, leader-by-leader, until it's a much more manageable and less terrifying size:
Word comes of more Mongols making their west, led by someone calling himself Prince Arthas... oh wait, wrong game sorry.
Hopefully Britannia is far enough west that it'll be safe. Poland, Hungary, and the Byzantines form a nice buffer, don't you think?
Consumption is going around Middlesex. The Emperor Himself, at the hale age of 67, has come down with it:
Fortunately he gets better a few months later, but if not, we were prepared for the succession.
The Ilkhanate has started its conquests.
Prince Fulk has a son, Simon. Like his father and grandfather, Simon is also a genius. I congratulate myself on my choice of bride for Prince Fulk. Smart rulers make happy empires.
I notice my income isn't rising as quickly as it should and I wonder why. Looking at the province, I notice Consumption is still ravaging Middlesex. It doesn't say it in the tooltip, but I think this has a massive negative effect on tax revenues (you'll note the vastly diminished income on the right under Demesne):
I should note here that I use a tactic I picked up from : In my capital, I take or build cities. Yes, a Feudal Lord is not the right type of ruler for a city, and there's a tax penalty, but as that Guide spells out:
If you own a city, you get a -75% to income. However if you got a decent steward and he applies a +50% it's only at -25%. If you have Trade Practices 2 then it's only at -5%. With how much higher income cities are you will quickly notice your capital city outstripping any castle you have (including the capital with +50%)
This works for levies too, and that matters more for small starts (think Irish Counts fighting each other). The vast majority of my troops come from my retinue, so I don't really care about my personal levies as an Emperor. But money -- money pays for those retinues, and I could always use more money as it has so many uses. Hence cities in the capital. You'll note I built Chelsea in Middlesex a while ago. Once I get 900 gold, I should build that last free plot into another city as well.
I probably should have taken the other castle (at least for the income) as well, but I didn't want to incur the tyranny that it would have caused to do so at the time and then I think I forgot about it. Not sure whether it's worth personally holding the churches in the capital.
And this only matters in the capital (or wherever the chancellor is helping raise taxes, because of how the penalties/bonuses/technology interact.
I marry off lesser sons to queens. Which means the Tarash dynasty will inherit that crown, should issue result.
Sadly, Navarra is pretty tiny:
More dangerous independence factions:
Once again, bribery -- I mean, gifting -- is the solution:
I haven't been screenshotting all (or even most), but there's near constant stream of people plotting one thing or another.
Thankfully they almost all happily respond to my polite End Plot request with an apology and ending the plot. I wish there was a way to just have the game automatically ask them to End Plot if my Spymaster becomes aware of it, and then only bring it to my attention if they refuse to End the Plot. It's a bit of tedium, as, barring exceptional circumstances, when would I want them to actually bring their Plot about?
After a quiet year, I check in the progress of the Mongols:
I'm playing with all the DLCs except the Sunset Invasion (I didn't want the non-historicity the Aztec Invasion in this game). So another continual feature that comes up various Patricians of Republics asking me to declare Embargo wars against other Republics. I didn't realize, until later this game, that Embargo wars can be quite lucrative: you get to raze all the embargoed Trade Posts, for a tiny sum of cash each (50g each or so, which adds up quickly when there's 20 of them).
Here the uh, King of Sweden who also happens to be a Patrician and Heir to the Republic of Gotland (what?) is asking me to declare an Embargo war on Gotland:
And here's a look at the Republic Trade zones:
The green is Ulster, a Republic I formed last time. They're pretty small. If they ask me to fight an Embargo war against someone I'll do so and help them out (though I think it doesn't matter on whose behalf you fight the war -- Ulster won't get any priority on the razed trade post sites).
The pale blue near Denmark is the Republic of Sweden? I'm confused.
In any case, I decline to start an Embargo War right now. There's a succession coming ... as soon as the Emperor decides it's time to move on to the next world.
I'm starting to crazy waiting for this Emperor to ...
oh wait a second.
It's the Emperor who's gone crazy.
Now stark raving mad, he offers me the choice of imprisoning or killing his nephew Fulk (this is not Prince Fulk the heir, but a different a Fulk):
I opt for the less bloody option and then release him from prison soon after.
The Emperor's gone mad, eh? This should be interesting.
Another genius grandson:
I start building up more retinue:
Note also, on the right, that my income from my Demesne has vastly increased compared to where it was when Consumption was ravaging Middle sex.
The mad Emperor reigns in peace of a year or so, and so far his mad outbursts (apart from threatening to kill people or imprison them) are mostly harmless:
The Mongols are fighting the Muslims. The Muslims are trying to assassinate the Khan, but it isn't working:
You also see my retinue build-up progress. I still have a long way to go to max, and I don't have as money as I'd like. Retinues are expensive to establish -- there's a fee for the initial requisition, followed by costs for building it up (it starts at 1 solider).
Interestingly, a trick I ended up using (because I hate boats) is to found a bunch of retinues, leave them at 1 soldiers (you can control retinue build up on this screen -- the three circular buttons in a column in the middle of the Retinues tab) and then ship them across to the Continent. As they're just one soldier each, you can easily get boats for them all. Then fill them up on other side, with the soldiers magically appearing across the water without any need for boat micromanagement.
Here's the current progress of the Mongols against the Muslims:
Grandson Simon turns six. I have him tutored by the Emperor. He may be a raving lunatic, but he's got great stats and as far as I know, madness is not transferable from a mentor.
My spymaster kicks the bucket. I go to my list of in-realm replacements and don't find anyone satisfactory. (I generally shoot for 20+ in the representative stat, especially when I'm a large empire. For smaller counties and duchies 15+ is fine, though more is better).
I go to the "Find People" window to search, filtered by Men who are not rulers and who are of my religion, and sorted by Intrigue.
From there, I right-click on portraits and hit the scroll to go diplomacy, and see if I can invite them to court. This is the fastest way I've found of finding councilors, and it's a bit of tedium.
Pedro, the third-highest Intrigue on the list, agrees to join my court.
Emperor Fulk, stark raving mad he may be, is as healthy as a horse. Time to conquer the last non-Imperial county in England, Perfeddwlad.
Duchess Blanche the Fat shall soon be avenged.
Note: I like how Captain Cynan of White Company has the ambition to get married -- I tried to marry him to a spare daughter, only to learn that leaders of mercenary companies can't get married. Poor guy, living with an ambition he can't fulfill.
Another grandson. This one's not a genius, though.
Perfeddwlad falls in less than a year. All of the Island is now mine.
I grant the county to the local bishop, because I'm concentrating Imperial holdings in Middlesex. And, should I make that Bishop a Duke (or he, in his ambition create the Duchy/Archbishopric title himself) he'll likely vote my way in Feudal Elective succession.
Fulk dies! Except it's Fulk Thomasson, not Emperor Fulk. Or Prince Fulk. Too many genius Fulks running around.
That independence faction just doesn't give up, does it?
Bribery solves this faction issue, just like the others before it.
A year later, the Republic of Ulster comes to me asking for an Embargo War against Gotland. I say yes, even though Emperor Fulk is 76 years old and stark raving mad.
The Embargo War starts well, though Gotland has a surprisingly large number of troops. Note that 12k stack near Denmark:
The Emperor is still insane, it turns out. Good thing this isn't the Tamriel mod, or he might actually turn into an immortal werewolf and well... then we wouldn't have to deal with succession crises, would we?
I spread my forces a bit thin because I wasn't expecting a 19k stack out of Gotland.
Note to self: Put generals in charge of your army in future wars.
Gotland unwisely splits its stack and I pick it off:
The war goes well. A vassal asks me to advise a Duke to abdicate. Haven't seen this event before. I agree.
A different vassal takes over for the Duke:
Pedro the Spymaster does a good job uncovering plots -- this one to murder Prince Fulk!
This is why, after a certain size, I have the Spymaster Scheming in my capital as opposed to trying to Study Technology in some advanced Muslim land.
Speaking of Muslim lands, the Mongols sacked Baghdad. The Ilkhanate grows:
Emperor Fulk 'the Great' passed away at age 79.
For some reason his profile shows him as "of the Holy Roman Empire," which is odd because Britannia was his primary title. I've noticed this for other members of the Imperial family as well; perhaps it has something to do with HRE being an "original" Empire, whereas Britannia is formed?
Emperor Fulk II, the Younger, takes over tutelage of his sons:
He also sets to improving his Intrigue, which is his only stat below 8. His stats are much better than his father's.
King Gilbert I, not satisfied with having had his plot to murder the now Emperor Fulk II discovered and ended, now tries to plot a claim on the Empire of Britannia.
But Pedro is on the job and King Gilbert agrees to drop the plot. I could have imprisoned him, but it would have risked rebellion -- and I'm still in an Embargo War with Gotland.
And I hate boats and don't want to move my retinues back to the British Isles.
The war score is only at 42%, but Gotland can see where this war is going. I've wiped out their giant stacks and have plenty of troops left myself.
They offer surrender and I get to raze all their Trade Posts, earning a ton of money! Almost 1000 gold. Perhaps I should wage Embargo Wars more often!
I spend my new income building a new holding, a City, in Middlesex. Because more tax income is always a good thing.
It'll take a while to build -- January 20, 1231, two years hence. But 900 gold well spent.
I also take the opportunity to upgrade the income yielding buildings in my other City holdings.
Note the Ports -- ideally you want your capital adjacent to water, because you can build Ports, which give just as much money as the normal Town income buildings. So your cities generate twice as much revenue.
I don't have a bonus with Ulster for the Embargo War against Gotland, but I'm on very friendly terms.
Also, note that ugly patch of blue and purple in the middle -- France, under a rebellion from Gascogne. I decide that I want to add France to Britannia, and that seems like worthy goal to work toward.
I start by pressing a vassal's claim for the small county of Angouleme.
On Valentine's Day, I'm informed Fulk's wife, Anna, is pregnant.
Emperor Fulk II encourages virtues such as honesty and humility in his sons.
My ally, the Byzantine Emperor, requests my aid against the Mongols. I accept, because I'd rather not lose 100 prestige. I wish the game would make these pop-up instead of just being a flashing icon, because it's very easy to miss them when running at max speed, and you end up losing a lot of prestige for not replying to allies' requests for aid.
Angouleme joins the Empire.
I decide that whittling down France, county-by-county, claim-by-claim is going to take forever because I have to endure 10-year-long truces each time I do. And France has too many counties.
I look at the Kingdom of France and see who the Claimants are. I invite one, a certain Alain, to my court.
He has a lot of claims. His claim on France is a weak one, which means I can only press it during a rebellion or when France has a female ruler (which is one of the major downsides of having a female ruler -- weak claims can always be pressed against a female ruler).
But I need to land him in my realm first, so that when I press his claim he will stay as my vassal. (I think? I'm not sure what would have happened had I not landed him in my Empire -- I think I would just make him King of an independent France that was not a vassal of Britannia -- I got burned by not landing claims I pressed in prior games, so I'm not sure if anything is different at the Empire-level).
Unfortunately I don't have a spare county at this time. I'll need to acquire one, then matrilineally marry him to a dynasty member of mine (so his heirs are of my dynasty), then grant him land, then press his claim for France when France is in a rebellion.
The only snag? Alain is married.
Meanwhile I press others vassals' claims for various patchy ugly places that make for unpretty borders. I like pretty borders and find prioritizing pretty borders to be an excellent means of determining where to conquer next.
Byzantium had had positive war score against the Mongols, so I hadn't bothered sending troops to help them. But their war score suddenly nosedived and I looked at the situation to see why.
Oh. Maybe I won't send troops because there's no way they'd get there in time nor would they be able to prevail against 28,000 Horse Archers and their 50,000 friends.
Sorry Byzantium.
A week or later, it turns out I was right:
After conquering that province I invaded for pretty borders, I find myself at peace for the first time in Emperor Fulk II's reign. I immediately call a Grand Tournament.
His son Simon, the heir apparent, comes of age:
Great stats there. Time to find him a wife:
Only a genius will do:
The Grand Tournament concluded uneventfully. Time to get back to the plan of owning France. Step one: acquire a county I can give to Alain.
Gotland owns Zeeland? Well I've fought them before, I'm sure we can take them:
Princess Matilda comes of age. She's no genius, but is a very good diplomat.
I have someone in mind to marry her off to.
Alain would have been a good candidate, but he was already married. I find someone else who has a weak claim on France.
And pair him off.
Pedro keeps putting in the hours. These damn vassals won't stop plotting!
I continue my pretty border campaign, acquiring more land, this time from Flanders.
Alan comes of age.
Even better stats than his older brother, though not by much.
I select a wife for him:
Once again, only a genius will do.
Simon has been appointed my chancellor, thanks to his super high Stewardship skill. I get a bit of a scare though:
Thankfully all is explained:
Whew. Glad to know the Emperor's firstborn is honest.
Flanders cedes land.
Artois makes the mistake of rebelling, which means I don't have to break a truce to attack them:
Word comes of another Mongol Horde, the so-called Golden Horde coming from the East, led by someone called Thrall... oh wait, wrong game again sorry.
The Ilkhanate (above) has taken a lot of Arabia. Oddly they haven't decided to mess with my Kingdom of Jerusalem holdings. Perhaps they're afraid of me?
Some quiet years roll by. Simon has a genius daughter, Joanna.
I marry Eustace, a non-genius dynasty member, off to some Danish Duchess.
I continue pretty border wars, now in the south of France/west of Italy/west of Switzerland, which is oddly enough, held by Aragon.
It falls quickly.
I've been building up my retinues all this while as well.
If I thought conquered quickly, obviously I hadn't checked out the Golden Horde.
Dang, Rus just disappeared, just like that. Notice also Genoa and Venice duking it out in North Africa.
Pretty border wars hit a temporary snag when Gotland busts out a 21,000 man stack:
But I soon prevail.
Some years ago, in the spirit of experimentation, and because I want more prestige, and because I have a lot of money and more than enough piety...
I formed Germany. I thought it would inherit my primary title's laws, but it doesn't. It starts as Agnatic Gavelkind, which is pretty terrible. But I waited 10 years to change it and well:
I can't change it while vassals are fighting. And they're always fighting with each other. Even though I'm at High Crown authority (which still allows for internal wars, or wars based on plots). Argh.
Why did I form Germany again?
Right, Prestige. I'm not sure this will turn out to be worth it in the long run.
Oh shit. Fulk II passes away at age 54. I wasn't expecting succession this quickly. Simon takes over, so Germany remains in my control, but I have a bad feeling about all this.
Well, I guess Simon can't be his own Steward.
Also, note one thing here -- Simon has had one son, followed by no less than six daughters. And his one son isn't even a genius, though some of the daughters are (Joanna, in particular), but that's no help because some of my titles are Agnatic Feudal Elective (so no women can rule):
Not to mention Germany is Agnatic Gavelkind, which means I'm forced into choosing my first son as my heir until I get that changed.
Why did I form Germany again? This is going to be giant hassle keeping all these titles together. Anyone know of a better way? Destroying titles?
I designate my non-Genius son as my Elective heir for all my titles, but he's not even winning the vote in HRE:
The King of Bavaria is, which apparently somehow decided to join my Empire some years back without me conquering it or noticing until now, when it's in my elections winning the HRE.
Basically I am one unexpected death away from HRE and Britannia separating, unless I can establish a lead on the HRE elections. I'll try sending gifts and honorary titles to the electors voting for the King of Bavaria, but I'm not sure that'll help. Some of them are already at +100 with me but are still voting for him. Maybe because he's their liege lord?
The voting keeps changing. No sooner do I manage convince people not to vote for the King of Bavaria than do they start voting for the Duke of Upper Loraine instead.
Maybe I'm just not cut out to run a multi-empire with Feudal Elective, but I'm stubborn and figure there's gotta be a way to make this work.
In a bid to cozy up to electors, I hold a Grant Tournament:
I notice that my Spymaster doesn't like me as much he should. For some reason he thinks he's my Rival? I marry him off to a sister (fulfilling his marriage wish) and shower him with gifts. I can't have my Spymaster negative to me or that unexpected death might show up a lot sooner than I'd like.
Well I just solved my King of Bavaria problem in the most unexpected way.
King Christopher the Late of Bavaria had been working as my Chancellor thanks to his high Stewardship skill. This necessitate him collecting taxes in Middlesex, land of my three cities and plentiful tax base. Apparently this also caused him to angry the local peasants, who perhaps didn't like the idea of a vassal King wandering around raising tax revenue... and got angry and killed him.
Just like that.
Happy New Year?
But at least the HRE election is now mine!
The Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate continue their conquests.
The moment we've all been waiting for. France is dealing with internal rebellion.
Wait, stop, you might say. Why am I pressing Alain's claim?
What about that other guy you invited and married off a girl to? Him? He died a while back. Them's the breaks.
Well, I landed Alain in a county I conquered in Flanders, which makes him my vassal.
But he's already married, I can't marry him to a dynasty member!
Good point. Just a second...
My retinues march in. I don't even bother raising vassal levies or hiring mercenaries.
France is in a bad spot. Gascogne is winning the war against them, but I'm pretty sure I can rack up war score faster than Gascogne can win its independence, which means I'll get all of France, including Gascogne. Sucks to be Gascogne.
Turns out Alain has a son, and his son agrees to my invitation to court and once he's in my court I can matrilineally marry him a dynasty member. So once I put Alain on the throne, his descendants should be of my dynasty.
Maybe I should have done that before I declared war? Probably. But it's done.
The Ilkhanate becomes Muslim.
The conquest of France goes well.
But sad news.
Prince Simon, my heir, has died after illness at the age of 26.
So now the question arises -- who should be my new heir? I only have daughters left...
I don't have much choice. Germany is still Agnatic Gavelkind, which means if I want to retain that title, I have to go with my next closet male kin -- Prince Alan, also a genius, and Emperor's brother.
He manages to quickly win acclaim among the Electors, across all three voting titles:
The King of France surrenders.
I've solved the blue-blob-on-the-map-problem:
Damn, that looks really pretty:
And notice his son, matrilineally married to a dynasty member of mine, is his heir! Excellent. And oddly enough King Alain really likes Emperor Simon. Who knew pressing someone's claim for a Kingdom would make them like you?
And there's already a grandson, who is of my dynasty. Little Jordan:
The German vassals finally stop fighting long enough that I can switch it away from Gavelkind to Elective Monarchy:
Great, a fourth title election to manage. But at least I can choose my heir now, which is something I'll need to do, I'm sure (as my brother is only 4 years younger than me, and I prefer long reigns, not sure ones)
Emperor Simon becomes a scholar.
With France as part of Britannia, we have a commanding lead in armies:
But of course the Hordes can conjure horse archers out of thin air, so perhaps we best not tangle with them... yet. Also, Genoa and Venice are immensely powerful republics. Dang.
This is the superpowers edition of Crusader Kings II. I can't remember seeing a game with so many massively powerful nations/empires/republics.
I don't have a young male genius whom I could select as an heir.
But Fulk has the Quick trait, which is like a budget-version of Genius. And he just came of age.
Let's get him a Genius wife. Perhaps he can have a Genius son:
They wed a year after betrothal.
I take a small prestige hit by turning down a request from my Croatian ally to attack Byzantium. I don't want to tangle with the Byzantines right now. I need to sort out this succession first.
Note to self: Still no generals in my armies. Dear me. Retinues don't start with Generals, so they have to manually added, which is very easy to forget to do.
On the plus side, checkout my income from my Demesne -- those three cities are paying off quite handsomely!
Another event I've not seen before. A Republic member asks to marry a noblewoman and offers a Bride Price... of 552 gold.
Not the world's most impressive lady, but sure... 552 gold? Not sure what the Republic was thinking, but okay.
Poland asks for help against the Cumans.
I agree to lend help, and actually march my troops over there since I'm not fighting any wars right now... but Poland dispatches them easily and wins the war before I can even get to the fighting.
Okay, I have no male genius heirs. My only son died of illness. Time to divorce the wife and hope a new one can provide genius male heirs. Emperor Simon is over 50 years old now.
The Pope agrees to give us the divorce:
I've started another Embargo War against Gotland, though I guess I forgot to take a screenshot of the declaration. But you can see the 0% icon in the bottom right.
I find this genius woman with high diplomacy. Gurbesu. A Mongol.
We win the Embargo War. That was fast. And here's over a 1000 gold for our coffers.
Prince Alan has a son -- a possible male heir -- and a genius!
Maybe I didn't need to divorce my wife? But no, it turns out I couldn't have voted for Richard because apparently my brother's son is not an eligible Elective heir. What determines who's eligible to be voted for in a Feudal Elective election?
Emperor Simon narrowly escapes being kidnapped.
Thanks Duke Freidrich!
You can see me building up retinues in the background, spending all the gold acquired from razing the Gotland trade posts. I have a feeling that we're in for a messy succession and I want to be prepared: with troops. Up to 55k in just retinues, which is quite sizable.
Another thing I didn't realize -- you can apparently educate vassal-child-kings:
Unfortunately this child king is currently winning in the HRE elections.
In an attempt to turn the electors voting for the child king to my side, I press their claims. Surely if I press this Duchess' claim, she'll vote for who I want to Emperor, right?
Sorry Poland. I need this county to ensure I hold onto HRE.
Gurbesu is with child.
Pray for a boy. A genius boy.
Note to self: Still no generals in my retinue. This is embarrassing.
A son! A genius son!
All hail Prince Peter!
The King of France dies in an accident (not a plot as far as I could tell). His son, Jordan, of my dynasty, inherits.
The plan to conquer and own France with my dynasty is now a complete success.
I've been trying to figure out how to conquer Brittany for some time. My chancellor spent many years trying to get a claim with no luck. And I've cleverly married people to get my dynasty inheriting it...
But the ruler, the sweet Duchess Dulce, has decided to embrace heresy.
And heresy means that I can declare Holy War!
Another son on July 7th. Another genius son!
We conquer Brittany -- but not all of it. Some complications from the rebellion going along with the Holy War (I think the Holy War ended up only being declared for the non-rebelling parts of Brittany, or something). I'm not really sure why we didn't get all of Brittany.
Unfortunately we can't declare Holy War again because we'd be a truce-breaker if we did so:
I guess we'll just have to wait to conquer the rest of Brittany.
While we wait for the truce to expire, let's start conquering some of Provence to gain access to the French Riviera.
Oh shit.
Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.
Oh shit.
The six year old Emperor Peter has been raised to Emperor of Britannia.
But not the HRE. Damn electors voted away HRE and Germany. The Two Empires are now One.
But Peter is a determined fellow. Maybe it's the Mongol blood in him, from his mother.
He wants what is his. What is his by RIGHT, electors or no electors.
I like this kid.
White Peace with Provence. The HRE is a bigger fish to fry, and we need everything we've got to deal with it, because a six year old is going to make for a rocky succession.
If only the HRE had been Agnatic-Cognatic Elective, I could have just voted for Genius Joanna and not have to had bothered with a six year old (electors don't like voting for six year olds).
Maybe I should have kept my votes on Alan, but I didn't expect Simon to die at age 59. But his father did at 54, so maybe I should have foreseen it.
Maybe my next game will be in some Basque kingdom, where I can run Cognatic Elective so Genius Women can rule.
For now, Joanna is in the enviable position of being Emperor Peter's tutor, the one who talks sense into him when becomes a cynical six year old.
But one who apparently encourages him when it comes to fighting for his claim over the HRE right away. Or maybe no one would stop Emperor Peter. Maybe no one could.
But wouldn't it have been wiser to wait to settle down all the vassals? Look at that dangerous factions icon in the top. There's going to be rebellion. The Empire will be torn apart. All because a six year old couldn't wait to settle the vassals, and attack the HRE once he gained maturity.
Peter, impulsive Peter.
Still no generals commanding the retinues.
46,000 versus 25,000.
The war score is green, slowly crawling upward.
Could Peter win? Could this impulsive six-year old really assert his claim on HRE and keep the Two Empires together?
Battle after battle goes Peter's way.
The war score rises. 10%. 20%. 30%.
39%.
That's a lot of Kings and Dukes and Grand Mayors all wanting independence.
Peter isn't hearing it. He turns them down. They declare war.
Peter sends his spymaster to Pisa, where the faction leader reigns.
Kill him, says the now-seven year old. No one defies the Emperor.
No one.
The first attempt fails, but no one divulges the boy Emperor's name.
Peter orders another attempt. This one will be the last -- the Imperial Treasury is not rich enough to finance more than this final try, not with the war with the HRE going on.
And just like that, the rebellion ends.
There is a happy seven year old in Middlesex tonight.
Gifts are sent to some of the other independence faction leaders.
Note we're over 50% war score with the HRE.
Peter, impulsive Peter, has become Patient.
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
A look at Princess Joanna, Peter's half-sister and tutor, and most virtuous woman:
Odd that she's designated as "of the Holy Roman Empire," all things considered.
Over 60% war score with the HRE.
So much for that bribe.
Another independence faction.
Peter does not hesitate.
And once again, he finds his mark.
One gold coin remains in the Imperial Treasury.
It rolls around in the fist of the Emperor, who smiles. Just a boy. A happy boy.
An enemy Duke is captured and imprisoned.
No one defies the Emperor.
Apparently some people aren't getting the message.
Over 80% war score with the HRE.
So there was a peasant rebellion in Trent, which is in northeastern Italy. But with everything going on -- war with the HRE, independence factions -- no one tended to the peasant rebellion.
Peter remembers. Trent.
But Joanna has taught him patience. There will be time. He is just nine years old.
Trent's time will come.
Peter's orders were delayed, as tax income had to come in to pay the assassins.
But once it did, the order was the same.
And a most curious little boy?
Who needs Latin, and History, and Homework when there are Empires to conquer and rebels to assassinate?
But Joanna will not let her half-brother become indolent.
She herself could not rule. But Peter will rule in her stead. As she would have. With iron. Kind, gentle, sweet iron.
The Queen of Bavaria, a dull-witted child, is betrothed to Peter's younger brother, Prince Robert:
Apparently in the succession and HRE election, Bavaria fell out of the HRE entirely. Not sure how that happened, but I wasn't sure how Bavaria fell in in the first place, so I guess things as they were before?
94% war score is not enough.
But 100% war score is.
The Two Empires are reunited. Under a ten year old.
Once again, our comparative map:
Well that was an eventful last decade or so!
This is my first time keeping together an Empire this size for this long. I'd be grateful for advice on what to do going forward and how to keep the Britannia/HRE together. Should I switch to Primogeniture and abandon Feudal Elective? Should I destroy the HRE title? Should I destroy the England title? (e.g. Dukes ruled by an Emperor) Should I incur massive tyranny to strip Kings and Dukes of titles and replace them with an army of Archbishops?