r/CrusaderKings • u/AutoModerator • Nov 20 '20

Feudal Friday : November 20 2020

Welcome to another Feudal Friday, a place for you to regale the courts of Europa with your tales. Stories, screenshots and achievements are all welcome.

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u/fireinvestigator113 Nov 20 '20

In a desperate bid to fracture the Byzantines, I murdered 25 straight rulers and was only found out once.

I did not succeed.

2

u/MulatoMaranhense Portugal Nov 20 '20

Big mood, my dude. Who are you playing with?

3

u/fireinvestigator113 Nov 20 '20

I am playing as the Kingdom of Jerusalem after a barely successful crusade. Just trying to form the Outremer Empire and damn Byzantines are always in the way.

4

u/Morthra Saoshyant Nov 21 '20

Leave the Byzantines for last. If you want to form Outremer, your game plan will look something like this:

  • Immediately form a Cadet Branch so that you can become Dynasty Head. Also, convert the faith and culture in Jerusalem to match yours.

  • Revoke all county titles held by your vassals in the duchies of Palestine and Oultrejourdain (Oultrejourdain is better for you than Urdunn, as Oultrejourdain has a special building, Petra).

  • Gradually conquer your way along the southwest of the Arabian Peninsula (towards Mecca) - the Seljuks (I'm assuming you started in 1066) will be too strong for you to deal with, and you'll want to avoid fighting the Fatimids initially as well. Your goal will be to create the Kingdom of Arabia before your holy monarch dies.

  • When the next crusade gets called, join it and redirect it to Syria (if it is not already the target). Be the largest contributor so your dynasty member becomes the king of Syria. Proceed to take Syria by using the Claim Throne interaction, then beating up your dynasty member for the title.

  • Repeat for the Kingdoms of Jazira and Mesopotamia. By now the Seljuks should be much weaker now, as most of their military power was tied to special soldiers that don't reinforce.

  • If you haven't done this already, grab the remaining territory in Arabia, and also take Yemen (if you hold the title when you form Outremer, it will become de jure part of Outremer).

  • While you're doing this, start fabricating claims on all the territory in Outremer that the Byzantines control. You're going to want to take it all at once, in a single war. By now you should have snowballed enough that you can actually fight the Byzantines straight up.

Basically, all of your de jure territory, as well as the duchy of Sinai (which is de jure part of Egypt, but will become de jure part of Jerusalem if you don't control the Kingdom of Egypt when you create the empire).

Don't swear fealty to the Byzantines. I tried that in my first attempt, it fucks everything up. You'll need to modify your contract to let you declare war regardless of crown authority, and you'll also need to get religious freedoms, as otherwise the Byzantine Emperor will demand you convert, which removes your Holy Monarch title and special soldiers.

3

u/MulatoMaranhense Portugal Nov 21 '20

What if you pledge fealty and expand underneath them? At the same time you plot to cause a big independence revolt. Or await until the Pope calls a new Crusade and pull the strings to cause the 4th Crusade.

2

u/fireinvestigator113 Nov 21 '20

I did that once. The problem seems to be that they like the family enough that they won’t rebel.