News Update 6/20/13

This is just a quick update, mostly for those who are following the Tale of Five Empires series. I plan to post part 4 either tomorrow or over the weekend. It's taking a little longer than I anticipated (I was busier than usual this past week), but I should be able to make that deadline. There will be a part 5 due to having a lot of content I want to write about (such as the Pope declaring a Crusade). I would say that will be the last part, but every time I've said that so far I've been proven wrong, so if you're having fun just sit back and enjoy the show for as long as it keeps going.

Also, the Norse faith has officially been confirmed for my next playthrough. Blood for the All-Father!

-Arcthos

A Tale of Five Empires, Part 3

I would first like to say thank you to everyone who has waited patiently for the third installment. This one will be shorter (in span of years, anyway) than the other two, but I wanted to highlight my war with the Timurids and the immediate aftereffects. As a result, this series will continue on to a fourth part, where I wrap up the final thirty years (assuming nothing EXTREMELY huge happens).

The Great Syrian Jihad

A Tale of Five Empires, Part 2

Wow! I've had quite a few good responses from my last post, and judging by the number of views it was fairly popular. As such, I'm going to continue on with finishing the Tale of Five Empires series (shouldn't be more than three parts in total) before moving on to my next installment. Thank you to everyone who has voted in the Choose a Faith poll, and for those who haven't, it will be left up for another day. And now, for our feature presentation...

Peasants, Revolts, and Adventurers:

A Tale of Five Empires

I bring to you today one of the final chapters of the tale of House Estrid (formerly House Ylving), who start in 1066 as the rulers of Denmark. This is actually the first game I started of Crusader Kings II, before all of the expansions (except Sword of Islam) and patches. I've started a few others, but I always come back to this one, and thankfully the save has had enough integrity not to explode after each major update. This being my first game, I didn't really know what I was doing initially, which led to some interesting situations (such as having a Danish Catholic rule the Byzantine Empire for about 5 minutes before it turned on him). Since I've only recently developed an interest in doing AARs, I don't have any screenshots chronicling the previous 300+ years of history, so instead I'll give a very brief background and then show a few of the recent highlights.

Brief History:

The noble House of Estrid starts in 1066 with King Svend II of Denmark (quickly known as "the Old") and his many illegitimate children. However, the old king manages to have a single trueborn son before his death, young Prince Wulfgar. Due to the elective succession rules in the kingdom at the time, one of Svend's older bastard sons takes the throne, but he turns out to be little more than a regent for the youngest of King Svend's sons, for he dies shortly after Wulgar comes of age. The nobles wisely decide that only Wulfgar can be the true king of Denmark, and since that day a bastard has never again sat on the throne.

Over 150 years later, in 1237 A.D., King Aleksander II, a man all agree is an attractive genius, hands a bag of gold to a shadowy man outside his door before going to grieve over his mother, the recently deceased Empress of Byzantium. As his mother's firstborn son (and thanks to the fact that Born in the Purple wasn't a trait yet), he inherits the ERE as well as Constantinople itself, a place of power that would only grow into a more potent symbol under the control of House Estrid over the next century. First, however, the Greek lords must be convinced that Basileus Aleksander I "the Wise" is a worthy master, something that over half of them don't agree with and make very apparent with a dozen rebellions erupting all over the empire. Some territory is kept, but much is lost, and the success of the rebels pushes crown authority to an absolute minimum. The Danish usurpers will have their work cut out for them, but true to their Nordic roots they are a hardy, resilient people, and Aleksander is already planning the course for his future descendants to not only retake the ERE, but obtain some other prizes in Europe as well...

Longships on the Horizon

            As many of you may know, the Old Gods was released for Crusader Kings II yesterday. As an avid fan of CKII, myself and many others have been anticipating this DLC for a while now. A much needed technology system overhaul? I can go raiding and sacrifice people for piety? Sign me up! I’ve been especially eager because it promises a chance to explore some of my own Scandinavian heritage, albeit in one of the alternate histories that arise on any given playthrough. That being said, I haven’t bought it yet and was actually wondering what everyone’s impressions of the new Pagan system are. No matter how excited I am for new features, I never like to make a purchase until I hear some reviews. So tell me: What do you like most about the Old Gods? What do you think Paradox could have done better, if anything? Worth the price to buy now, or should I wait for the inevitable and ever-anticipated Steam sale?

            I’ve been thinking of doing a Crusader Kings AAR, so if I do decide to pick up the DLC, I’ll leave a poll on the main page where you can vote and tell me if you’d like to see one involving a Pagan playthrough or one based in Westeros with the Song of Ice and Fire mod (once it updates for the latest patch). The ASOIAF mod is my favorite (and admittedly only) mod for CKII, and I would be more than happy to share the tale of another adventure in the Sunset Kingdoms or, once the developers add it, Essos. As always, comment below and thanks for reading!

-Arcthos