Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 17

We return to the land of Ireland in 1349 as King Flaithbertach mac Lochlann Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Scotland, King of Wales, King of Lithuania, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Latgale, Earl of Ross, Earl of Desmond, Baron of Friuli, Baron of Conway, Baron of Trim.

We are 11 years old, having recently ascended to the throne after the death of our Great Grandfather King Mael-Sechlainn 'the Wise'. We have many pissed off vassals, a three way ware in the Kingdom of Scotland, we are underage and unmarried (so small Demesne size) among many other problems. And so we begin...

1349- A rocky start

We reduce our demesne from 12 to 9 by getting rid of the Baron of Friuli, Earl of Ross and Earl of Desmond titles. We also transfer the vassalage of several earls to their rightful Dukes to increase some more opinions of us.

England declares war on us for the County Powys (in Wales) shortly after the beginning of our Reign in 1349 - with the armies already engaged in Scotland, and little support from our vassals we couldn't hope to hold them off - so we immediately surrender the County of Powys hopeing that the 10 year truce will help us to build our forces and alliances to take back that County and more from the Kingdom of England.

We gain the Just trait in 1350, adding +10 to our vassal opinions, which is good because the factions are starting to get pretty strong.

The last son of the last King is born, Prince Muirchertach is a genius - had the last King lasted to the birth of this one I may have changed to Ultimogenture (youngest son inherits first) .

We capture the County Fife and County Atholl by the End of 1350. We are able to create the title Duke of Albany and pass that to one of our vassals. One more county (Gowrie) and we will have all of Scotland.

I almost get the trait Ambitious (which would have been nice) but my Guardian beats it out of me... too bad.

We declare war for Gowrie in early 1351, I'd love to have all of Scotland united before we even reach adulthood. The county is captured for our vassal by the end of the year and all of Scotland is united outside of English Rule.

We have the Duke of Prussia rebel after we attempt to imprison him after he is excommunicated in 1353.

We get an alert that we can create the title of 'Wendish Empire' once we have the piety - turns out the Kingdom of Poland has De Jure absorbed the rest of the Wendish empire's De Jure claims, so now we have almost all of the remaining De Jure claims to that empire. I may make it once I can, but I believe that means we would no longer be Ireland... the Prestige and Power may be worth it though.

Our King comes of age in early 1354, and unfortunately despite marrying the best Stewardship woman I can find, we are forced to give up another title in our Demesne - we grant the title of Earl of Latgale to a Kinsman.

My wife is pregnant just a month or two after we marry and in March 1355 our son Murchad is born.

We hold a Grand Tournament to celebrate the Unity of Scotland and our Son and heir (who makes it through a sickly period after birth).

Just prior to the truce ending with England (December 25, 1358) we declare war on England, this is a gamble because we are going to need a lot of help from our vassals and mercs to win - but if we can take the County Perfeddlym then the King of England will no longer desire our counties and Kingdom in wales (as he will no longer be the Duke of Gwynedd. Which should give us some breathing room. To WAR!

Shortly after the start of the conflict our daughter Aine is born, hopefully we can honor her by winning this thing!

We achieve victory in May 1362 and take control of the County Perfedwlad just before the birth of our second daughter Dub-Dil in June.

My second son Crimthann is born in December 1363.

We are able to usurp the title of Duke of Gwynedd from the King of England once he is done with his rebellions (these resulted from the aftermath of our war). I then pass this to a vassal.

Now it is time to form the Wendish Empire!

We decide to support the Duke of Normandy in his excommunication war against the County Borgous in France. 1365

We are forced to put down a peasant rebellion in Scotland. 1365

Our son Ualtar is born in January 1366.

Unfortunately the Kingdom of England attacks us in 1366 and although I had hoped we could prevail, they got in some lucky victories and we were forced to give back the County and Duchy we had gained in the last war - this will continue to draw us into wars with them that we can't afford...

And thus the Wendish Empire entered a dark period where once King Flaithbertach was known as 'the Just' he became a cruel and tyrannical Emperor, assassinations, banishments, title revokations, and other acts of tyranny where the order of the day for nearly two decades.

Unfortunately the exact history of these times is hard to come by as Emperor Flaithbertach had many records (and people) destroyed to keep the knowledge of his deeds from spreading.

It was not until late 1390 that Emperor Flaithbertach would die and pass his realm to Emperor Murchad. His story was not an Irish one but one of a healing throughout the Wendish Empire. Later the Empire would reach awesome new heights but that was far ahead in the future.

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The game got really slow and buggy towards the end (I still want to get to the last year to get the achievement for completing an entire playthrough but it will have to be later). I started to get down on my luck with Flaithbertach and had to loose a few wars, kills some folks, etc. to get him killed off. Now his son should be able to keep the Empire healthy and if not he then his son or his son's son should be able to get us to the end of the game - if I do finish it I will post one more time with some details.

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 16

We return to the land of Ireland in 1323 as King Mael-Sechlainn 'the Wise' mac Oengus Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, King of Lithuania, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Desmond, Earl of Latgale, Baron of Trim, Baron of Conway, Heir to the Duchy of Estonia and Heir to the County of Ingria.

We are 40 years old with 8 children (7 living) including our eldest son and heir 22 year old Prince Flaithbertach who has a son of his own 2 year old Prince Lochlann.

We have six years of truce remaining with the Kingdom of Alba/Scotland who is our main target for expansion now that we have exhausted most of the opportunity in Lithuania. And so we begin....

1323-

My daughter has twin sons in February, one of which is a genius!

The Duke of Connacht revoked the County of Galloway from its former owner, he now has two counties and his duchy title - better keep an eye on him, don't want the vassals getting too much power.

The final province in Estonia is converted to Catholicism!

We gain the 'Falconer' trait in April, just before the start of a new Grand Tournament!

Unfortunately shortly after the Grand Tournament is over in August we gain the 'stressed' trait.

We are forced to put down the revolt of the Duke of Connacht in 1326 after he attempts to take the life of another of our Kinsmen and escapes our guards sent to imprison him.

We loose the trait of Stressed in 1327 as our Vassals wage war with the Kingdom of Alba/Scotland over one of their claims to the County Morray.

We declare war on the Kingdom of Alba/Scotland in July 1329 in the 5th War for Irish claims on Scotland.

Shortly after our vassal, Duke of the Isles, takes the County Morray from the Scotish.

The war in Scotland is over by December of 1330. We grant the title of Earl of Strathearn to a young Kinsman.

In 1332 we get a message that says that after 100 years under Irish rule, the Duchy of the Isles is now considered part of the De Jure realm of the Kingdom of Ireland (and no longer part of Scotland/Alba)

In 1335 we declare war on the Kingdom of England, looking to instate our Kinsman as the ruler of the Country. Later in the year in a battle between more than 60,000 men (30,000 on each side) in Northern England we gain the Maimed trait.

During the War our Vassals in Lithuania declare war on a small neighboring state that breaks away from Denmark.

We achieve victory in the war on England in December 1337, several counties in England stay in the Kingdom of Jerusalem (and several counties in Jerusalem stay in England) but our Kinsman (a lowly Baron) is now the King of England.

Within a month the Kingdom of England is wracked by revolt.

We declare war on the Independent County of Cathness in Northern Scotland in early 1338.
We usurp the title of Earl of Caithness in January 1339 and grant the title to our second son Gilla-Crist.

England is once again united with the Kingdom of Jerusalem later in the month of January 1339 under the former King Fulk, and the Baronry of Blarney in County Desmond (Ireland) is now considered part of the Kingdom of England!

We declare another War on Scotland in 1341, this time a De Jure war for the County Clydesdale.

During the conflict the Peasants in the Country Strathern rise up in rebellion and we are forced to put them down.

We capture the County Clydesdale for our Vassal by the end of 1342.

We attack Scotland again in 1346 for our newfound claim on Ross (they have a new King so no truce breaking penalty). We capture the County Ross by May 1347 (and keep it in our own Demesne thanks to a new wife with amazing stewardship).

We are able to Usurp the title of Duke of Morray. We keep this as our own title for now, likely our Grandson and heir will have to give it out when he becomes King.

We are also able to create the title of King of Scotland! We then enact High Crown Authority in Scotland because this is a prerequisite for Primogeniture Succession, which is what we have in all of our other kingdoms (and we want our Heir to Keep the new Kingdom! )

We immediately press one of our new claims, on the County of Teviotale and it is back to war!

We are in the middle of the wars in Scotland (also attacking Buchan, Atholl and Lothan) when King Mael Sechlainn 'the Wise' dies and his Great-Grandson, 11 year old Flaithbertach ascends to the throne of the 4 Kingdoms.

1349 Status

King Flaithbertach has a lot of troubles. First he can only have a size 11 Demesne so we have to offload 5 landed titles. Plus we are in the middle of a three sided war in Scotland - which shouldn't be such a big deal (we outnumber our opponents like 4-to-1) but we can expect some revolts with this succession. If we can finish these wars, placate the vassals and assume command of our Kingdoms then King Flaithbertach may be able to become the most powerful King of Ireland yet - but its going to be a tall task! Until next time...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 15

We return to the land of Ireland in 1294 as King Oengus 'the Wise' mac Enri Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, King of Lithuania, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond, Earl of Latgale, Baron of Trim, Baron of Conway and Heir to the Baronry of Haverford.

We are 31 with a 32 year old wife and three children including our eldest son and heir 12 year old Prince Mael-Sechlainn mac Oengus Ua Cheinnselaig is growing into a fine young man.

We recently participated in the Catholic Church's Crusade for Portugal as well as putting down a large claim to our throne in Northern France and a peasant revolt in Wales. We stand as the mightiest King of Ireland. And so we begin...

1295-1299 Holy Wars and Expansion in Lithuania

We declare a De Jure war for the County Zhmud in Lithuania in early 1295.

My wife is pregnant in late 1295 and in July 1296 our Daughter Orlaith is born.

Out daughter Princess Condal comes of age in 1296 and we are able to secure a Matrilineal Marriage with a Prince of the Byzantine Empire once more securing them as our allies (and should give us some good offspring as he has lots of good traits and so does our daughter).

The War for Zhmud ends in March 1296 and we pass the Earlship of Samogitia off to a Kinsman. We immediately enter into anothe war for the County Semba. We aren't using any levies in these wars, only our Retinue. The war for Semba ends in June 1297 and we immediately declare a Holy War for Livonia (against the Duchy of Estonia).

Our heir Prince Mael-Sechlainn comes of age in May 1298 and we marry him to a 16 year old genius German girl, I am a sucker for the genius trait it seems.

During the fighting in Lithuania we gain the 'Unyeilding' and 'Siege Leader' martial focus traits. Unfortunately shortly after we gain the trait 'maimed'.

We win the war in December 1299 and inherit 4 titles. We pass these out and recover the Retinues and levies (we had to raise our levy in Lithuania during the war). Soon it will be time to invade Scotland. We also are able to create the Duchy of Linvonia and pass this to the new Earl of Tartu (3 year old Mael-Patraic Ua Cheinnselaig).

1300-1303 Intrigue and war in the British Isles

In 1300, while Scotland is involved in a war to try to revoke the Countess of Atholl we pounce on them and claim two of their counties.

Shortly after the start of the war my wife Alberade becomes pregnant (war must make us a horndog).

Our Grandson Flaithbertach is born, unfortunately he is not a genius... but I'll love him none-the-less.

Unfortunately King Oegnus dies in battle against the Scots and in May 1300 our son King Mael-Sechlainn of Ireland becomes King.

Unfortunately this once again robs us of our chance to take counties from Scotland (as that war ends, our father's claims no longer valid). Instead we offer to Join the Countess of Atholl's war of rebellion against Scotland.

I decide to give my brother the County of Tyrconnell (I need to reduce my Demesne by one, it makes him and the Duke of Ulster friendly with me while not making any stronger vassals.

My father's last son is born, named Conall in September 1300.

We help the Countess of Atholl remain the Countess of Atholl in 1302 and our vassal, the Duke of Connacht takes the County Carrick from a Scottish revolt. We are able to form the Duchy of Galloway immediately and give it to the Earl of the Isle of Man to keep the Duke of Connacht from gaining any more power (he now has 3 counties and a duchy, more power than any other of my vassals).

We are able to take the County of Carrick title from the Duke of Connacht due to our weak claim on the title, we pass this to a new vassal and hopefully balance the vassal powers a little more.

1303-1310 Back to Lithuania as a new King

We declare a De Jure war on Scalovia in January 1303 to continue to unite Lithuania and by January 1304 we have won. We create the Duchy of Samogitia and give our new Duke and Earl titles to a new vassal.

Shortly after, in May 1304 we declare a De Jure War on Memel to bring that County into the Kingdom of Lithuania as well. This war is over by March 1305 with another victory.

We follow this with a De Jur war for Liivimaa in May 1305, if we take this we will have all but two Counties of Lithuania (and those two are held by the Kingdom of Denmark - definately a bigger decision to attack them)

Turns out Liivimaa has a 7000 man army, but we assault it immediately and are able to beat it with basically the same size force. We chase them around for a few counties until we have them totally beat (and a warscore of 74%) when we then start the siege of the county.

My wife is pregnant with our second child and in April 1306 our daughter Lerthan is born (a genius!)

We win our war in Liivimaa in 1306 and then revoke the title of the Countess of Liivimaa (because she is a 'dirty Romuvann') we give the title to a new vassal.

I take over as guardian to my 6 year old son Flaithbertach in May 1306.

We announce a Holy War for Estonia against the Suomenuskos there (this may draw Finland into the war but I think we can take them again). Looks like Sweden just took half of Finland in a holy war (they are Catholic as well) so we shouldn't have to worry about them.

My wife is pregnant in camp in Estonia, and in December 1307 our Daughter Dubchoclaigh is born. In March 1308 a bastard son of ours is born and our lover names him Oengus, we are forced to legitimize the namesake of our great father.

The Holy War for Estonia is ended in May 1308 and we gain 2 Counties and a few Baronries. We are also able to creat the Duchy of Estonia. We make new vassals for the Baronries and give the Earlships to two young kinsmen of mine and make the weaker one the Duke of Estonia.

We immediately turn around and declare a de Jure War for Narva (the last county in the Duchy of Estonia). During the conflict our wife Gunhilda is pregnant once again, and in May 1309 our daughter Lasairfona is born another genius! (too bad my heir isn't...)

We finish the war in Narva just around the same time, unfortunately our legitamized bastard son Oengus dies a sickly infant at the same time as well.

We have to put down two seperate peasant revolts in Lithuania in 1310, maybe I need some better vassals?!?

1311- Back to the Court in Ireland

I fall in in March 1311 but it passes quickly. My wife is pregnant again in 1312 and in August our son Ualtar is born.

Like our father, we gain the nickname 'the Wise' in 1313. We gain the lustful trait in 1314. And our wife becomes pregnant again shortly afterwords just before I lost the lustful trait again. Our daughter Aine is born in March 1315. I get the lustful trait back in late 1315 and impregnate a lover, fortunately my daugher Aife is claimed by a courtier.

My son comes of age but unfortunately there are not very many good wives available. I marry him to the girl with the highest stewardship and some good traits but she dies of depression not two weeks after coming to court. His next wife has great stats and traits but is 37, hopefully she will make him at least one child and then die so he can get a better wife in a few years when the next good crop is available (wow that was bad).

I gain the possessed trait in 1317 and later in the year my wife becomes pregnant - while I was away!

Later in the year we declare war on Scotland/Alba in an attempt to take the County Lothan, really it is to help out the King of Norway from letting them loose Katanes.

'My Son' is born in February 1318 and we name him Gilla-Crist

We are still in the middle of the war with Scotland in 1319 when the Pope declares a Crusade for Aragon! Likely the Holy Roman Empire will claim the lands but we have to try to at least be a part.

We loose the charitable trait it June 1319 but make it to Aragon with our full army. We take down a few small Aragonese armies and then settle into 4 sieges. Looks like the HRE can't join because they are in a seperate war with Aragon, but Venice has a higher warscore than us - at least we get the Crusader trait.

Our grandson Lochlann is born!

The Catholic Crusade for Aragon ends, the Duchy of Orleans takes over Aragon. Even as the armies are marching back towards our lands the Duchess of Dehuebarth becomes rebellious, seeking a claim on the Kingdom of Wales - and so we attempt to imprison her. Unfortunately it leads to rebellion with our forces in France.

We are able to get them to Normandy and back onto boats then to Wales to crush the rebellious army and lay siege to the two rebellious counties by the beginning of the next year (1322).

Perhaps sensing that it was their best time to act, Sumonesko rebels rise up in Estonia in early 1322, but we are able to put them down with our 7000 man Retinue in Lithuania.

The rebellions in Wales are put down in early 1323 and the Kingdom settles in to wait out the truce with Scotland/Alba.

1323 Status

We got lucky that the Holy Roman Empire didn't get Aragon in the last Crusade, but they continue to expand to the East. We are approaching the last 100 years of the game so if they don't break up soon we are going to have to start trying to break off chunks.

We are slowly breaking down Scotland/Alba. The truce with them lasts another 6 years and we are going to try to pounce once that is up.

Lithuania is all but united with just a few counties (owned by Denmark and Rus) outside of it still, we are likely done there for a long time unless we are attacked. I was hoping to grab Aragon to give us another area to expand into (we could take all the rest of Iberia not under the HRE) but we didn't get that lucky. We do have our Dynasty in control of the Duchy of Normandy in Northern France and in Leon in Iberia though, we might be able to use those as footholds to claim spain and/or france - either would be interesting. Until next time...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 14

We return to the land of Ireland in 1281 as King Enri mac Olchobar Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, King of Lithuania, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond, Baron of Trim, and Heir to the Baron of Haverford and Baron of Blarney.

We are 39 years old and our wife is 38 year old Emma Salian, Princess of the Byzantine Empire. We have four children including our eldest son and heir Prince Oengus who is a 19 year old Genius with many amazing traits and a new wife and daughter.

And so we begin...

1281-1283 End of a Reign

Our son's first son is born in May 1282, and he is a genius like his father, looks like we will have at least two generations of geniuses on the throne!

We get our second son the Dilligent trait, he is turning out to be a great backup heir (and he is 1 year away from manhood). We gain the nickname 'the Confessor' probably due to all the holy wars/religious rebellions we've fought in.

The last province we took from Lithuania is converted to Catholosism! Once the truce is down we should do another Holy War, they are quite lucrative.

We find a way to make it happen, by declaring war against another Romuvan state nearby, it draws the first guy into another war with us but they're already tired and our levies are fresh!

During the fighting the Duke of Lithuania dies and passes his titles to his young (4 year old) son who likes me, so that's good.

We grow ill in March 1283 just as a castle finished construction in Gwynedd, this is meant for our second son but I realize I have him betrothed to a Duchess in the Holy Roman Empire, if he were to pass that baronry to the heir of the Duchess then the Baronry would fall under that Duchy and hence out of our Kingdom - so I give it to another vassal and it's fine because we won't have the unlanded Son penalty because he's going to be a Duke in the Holy Roman Empire.

Unfortunately shortly after we die of illness and pass our titles to our eldest son Oengus. Oengus and his wife have very high stewardship so we have a size 11 Demesne! Time to fill it up!

1283-1286 A new King of Ireland

Scotland is once again the Kingdom of Alba, even though a Dunkeld is on the throne he is Welsh so this is probably the reason. Also the Petty Kingdom of Galloway has their independence, maybe we can try to gobble them up after our Holy War near Lithuania. England is also having some rebellions, hopefully they can damage them!

The Duke of Ulster died in my dungeon in 1284 and his heir likes me a bunch more! In fact we only have 4 vassals (out of 36) hat don't like us and they are all ambitious. Shortly after there is a new Duke of The Isles as well.

We inherit an Earlship and Baronry in the County of Latgale in Lithuania that we are able to keep for the time being.

Unfortunately we fall ill in January 1285 just before declaring a De Jure war in Lithuania against a single independent Catholic county. We gain another Earlship and Baronry thanks to this war, and are able to create a Duchy - the Duchy of Prussia. After passing these titles out we decide it is time to celebrate!

The Grand Tournament is held and makes my vassals love me even more!

There are Catholic uprisings in the neighboring Zemaiteje in Lithuania as Catholosism spreads through the remains of their lands. Plus we spread catholosism to the county we took in the last Holy War.

Technological advances allow us to build 6 more Retinue armies (3000 more men) so now we will have about 8500 in our Retinue along with about 16,000 we can raise in our personal levies and 8000 more in vassal levies! That's about 32,000 men! Just about the same size as England/Jerusalem.

1286-1288 Crusade!

Crusade! The Pope has called a Crusade for Portugal and we join immediately. The levies are raised and set sail for the Portugeuse shores, I want to try to make sure the Holy Roman Empire doesn't expand their presence in Iberia.

I loose the ill trait in December 1286 on the boat towards Portugal. My wife is pregnant in siege camp midway through the next year, and we gain the nickname 'the Wise'. My second son Enri is born in early 1288, we name him after my father.

I take over as guardian of my eldest son Mael-Sechlainn and gain him the 'Patient' trait.

Unfortunately, even though we won more sieges than them they give the crusade to the Holy Roman Empire, then we learn that a relative of ours in the Duchy of Austrias is hiring men to invade us, we'll likely be able to put it down fairly easily but we prepare none-the-less.

1289-1294 Rebellions and ridiculous claims

England is once again known as England and Scotland is attacking the Petty Kingdom of Galloway.

Mael-Patraic declares his host claim war on us in 1291. I catch a glimps of his army marching through Normandy - it has nearly 30,000 men! They are on their way to Lithuania. I find out there is a part of Ireland in Northern France (a small Baronry) when Mael-Patric leaves a 5000 man force there in siege. I think I will attack it first.

We inherit the Baronry of Blarney from our Brother and pass it to another kinsman.

The attack in Northern France goes well, we crush one small army and then the rest of his forces circle back to attack us and we are able to crush portions. It grinds our 15000 man force down to less than 5000 by the time it is done but we had another 15,000 man force in reserve in Lithuania and his 30,000 man army is dead.

In 1294 the rebels in the County Gwent (the last Welsh county in Wales) rebel with a force of about 5000 men. I raise the local levies in Ireland to put them down hard.

1294 Status

The sun sets on another Chapter in the tale of the land of Ireland. King Oengus 'the Wise' is now 31, has crusaded and won several holy wars and rebellions. We now stand at the precipice of Irish power, hopefully we can get some claims on Scotland soon and expand closer to home.

England is back to being England but they still hold the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the Muslims really have no power to take it back thanks to the awesome might of the Holy Roman Empire which just continues to grow.

We also have an opportunity to expand Lithuania and perhaps take all of its De Jure holdings, but this interests me less than Scotland (I still hold the hope that we can form the Empire of Britania!)

Until next time...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 13

We return to the land of Ireland in 1264 as King Enri mac Olchobar Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, King of Lithuania, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond, Baron of Trim, Heir to the Baronry of Clonard

We are 22 years old, our Queen Emma of Byzantine is Heir to the Kingdom of Georgia and our young son Oengus is heir to the Byzantine Empire (and a genius!).

Let us begin...

1264-1278  Waiting on our heir

Our Earl of Galloway passes away and passes Countess Catriona of Galloway takes over - she is married to the Duke of Connacht/Earl of Oriel so their son is going to get all three titles, a little more power than I like my vassals to have but they are rather loyal so it should be okay.

Our son Oengus gains the dilligent trait in 1265, just before another Romuvan Rebellion (I have my Court Chaplin trying to convert these guys but they just keep rebelling!

My wife is pregnant with our third child in October 1266 and our second son Olchobar was born in May 1267.

We gain the Master Rough Terrain Martial Focus while fighting against the Rumuva uprising in Lithuania. Just before taking down the rebellion itself.

I feel a little ill in March 1268 but got better by November. I took over as Guardian for our 6 year old son Oengus during this period. Our younger brother gains the Brave trait under our stewardship

Our Duke Indretach of Courland is trying to fabricate a claim to a County in Lithuania. I was unable to convince him to give up his plot so I had to try to imprison him and I was successful.

Our son gets the Just trait, I'm really excited about his potential. Our wife is pregnant with our third child in 1270, and in February 1271 our third son Conn is born as is our fourth son Tomas (twins!) we're going to have a lot of sons to marry off! Our heir gains the humble trait, he's turing out well.

We imprison our Duke of Lithuania after he acts dishonorably (not sure what he did but I was successful).

We hold a summer fair in 1271, unfortunately I grow ill during the fair and can't enjoy it. Fortunately I lost the illness later in the year and gained the gardener trait.

My relative, the Duke of Normandy asks for my help in a conflict so I raise the levies and go to help.

We get the event to embrace the love we have for our wife in 1272, we are 30 and 29 so hopefully we have several more children (and hopefully she gets over her depression).

We convert the population of Lithuania to Catholosism, so hopefully no more revolts!

A Jihad for Jerusalem is called for by the great Shia Caliph Mina - if England takes too much damage me may have to take the opportunity to take some land from them. A new pope is named in 1272 as well, Pope John XIX.

Not much happens for a few years, although I got the measles without noticing (until I lost it). My oldest two sons are growing up to be amazing boys.

My son Oengus turns 16 and looks to me an amazing boy. His stats are 17/16/25/9/16, He's a Midas Touched Genius who is Dilligent, Just, Humble, Patient, Charitable, Kind and Brave.

Unfortunately (or fortunately if it was going to bring me to war with the Holy Roman Empire) we loose the Heir to the Byzantine Empire for Oengus and Kingdom of Georgia for our wife.

We marry Oengus to Alberade di Friuli, a 16 year old german girl who is Midas Touched, Gregarious, Humble, Kind, Just and Charitable. Her stewardship is 18 so together with a good councilor we should get at least a size 10 Demesne.

1279-1281 Again on the rise

We begin the construction of a new Baronry in Desmond, we're going to need some titles to start passing out to our sons.

I fell ill in the winter of 1278, by the end of the year it developed into Pneumonia but it passes early in the year 1279.

In 1279 we decide it is time to unite Lithuania - so we declare a Holy War for the rest of Lithuania. Unfortunately during the war we gain the 'stressed' trait.

We finish the war in 1281 but only get one territory (I should have kept the war up, was my first Holy War so I didn't know how it worked).

1281 Status

We are now 39, hopefully we have a solid 20 years to throw our power around. I'd love to take some territories from Scotland and get back on track to my overall goal of forming the Empire of Britania.

The ilKhanate continues to take over most of the East but they have now converted to a form of Christianity, I wonder if that means they will stop invading.... hasn't stopped any other Christian nation as evidenced by us, England and the Holy Roman Empire.

Until next time...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 12

We return to the land of Ireland in 1247 as King Olchobar mac Eamonn Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond, and Baron of Trim.

We are 31 with an unfortuantely 'Chaste' wife, but she has gifted us with a son and heir along with a daughter. Our son, Prince Enri is 5 years old and betrothed to a 4 year old genius Byzantine Princess (this is a little genetic gambling I am playing, I'd love to breed Genius into our line).

The Kingdoms have settled down since the disasterous reign of my Brother Iacob and the equally bad final years of my Grandfather King Amalgaid II. Through all of this though, we have been expanding at the detraction of Scotland, and we continue to fabricate claims in an attempt to continue this push - our only hope to dominate the world against the awesome powers of England/Jerusalem and especially the massive Holy Roman Empire will be to get as much area solidly united under our rule as we can. And so we begin...

1247-1255 Reaching new heights.

Typhoid Fever continues to ravage the Kingdoms of Ireland, Wales and England - many of our kin and/or vassals contract the disease.

Another Succession revolt in Scotland occurs in early 1248. We gain a claim on the County of Carrick shortly after, but I definately want more than that so I will wait until the revolt is over and they are really tired (whomever actually wins) then hopefully we will have more claims and be able to take multiple counties.

We take over as guardian of our son and heir Enri later in 1248. His planned wife continues to impress with her stat line being all 7s and 1 8 (in intrigue) and she is only 5. Turns out she is heir to the Byzantine Empire, the Kingdom of Georgia and several counties - interesting, I wonder if that means we will either split the Byzantines off from the HRE or perhaps become their vassals later in the game... will be interesting either way.

There is a new Duke of Connacht in September 1248 and he likes me pretty well so that is good, he has a female heir though, they better get at it and make some sons! On a side note my vassals are marrying within the Dynasty a lot, they better not start getting inbred!

My son Enri picks up the Kind trait in 1249, hopefully the first of many good traits that will help him to be a good ruler. And my wife is pregnant with our third child in 1250 - and our second daughter Nuala is born in April 1251.

I gain the trait of ambitious in late 1251 along with two more claims in Scotland - I want one more than then we are going to lay the hammer down!

Duke Murchad of the Isles dies and passes his titles to his daughter, Duchess Dervorgilla of the Isles has a neutral opinion of me because she wants Argyll and the Isle of Man, which are supposed to be her vassals but report directly to me, I decide to give her fuedal lordship over the County of Argyll (not the title but make the title holder her vassal) so she will like me some.

Scotland is once again known as the Kingdom of Alba, and again almost immediately enters into a period of revolt. We almost have the claims I want to take and once this revolt is done hopefully we will and can hit them hard.

Duke Faelan of Gwynedd seeks to fabricate a claim on one of our titles - the Kingdom of Wales. This obviously cannot stand, we would force him to end his plot but he has been a thorn in my side for a while and is also ambitious (so he continually hates us) so we decide to imprison him, as we can do that without tyranny because he is leading a plot.

Unfortunately we only have a 40% chance of imprisoning him and he of course escapes capture - to arms!
During the conflict our son Enri gains the Brave trait. We check up on his planned to be wife and little Princess Emma (10) has gained the Deceitful, Cynical and Patient traits, she is now 7/7/10/16/10 - god I hope she actually likes Enri because if she doesn't she could easily plot against him.

The siege against Duke Faelan of Gwynedd ends in 1253 and we imprison him and Usurp the County of Powys from him - this also make him loose the Duke of Gwynedd title as it was his only County title and we recreate it for ourselves. We don't have the Demnse to support another County however (and we don't want the 'Holds too many Duchies' penalty) so we make young (9 year old) Mael-Ciarain Ua Cheinnselaig the Earl of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd.

Shortly after dealing with Duke Faelan a Crusade is called against the Kingdom of Lithuania - another conquest likely for the Holy Roman Empire, but we at least have to try to be involved (if only to get the Crusader trait). And so in March 1254 we make our way towards Lithuania (on the Eastern border of the Holy Roman Empire/Poland).

While onboard ship my Wife becomes pregnant with our fourth Child (for a Chaste Woman she is kinda slutty) just before we arrive on the shores of Lithuania in April 1254. We start our first Siege and gain the Crusader trait in May. I realize that I am the only person participating in the war and we actually have an army much bigger than Lithuania so I raise the rest of my levies and begin the big invasion - the shot is small but we actually have a shot at being the winner of this if we do it right.

In camp in Lithuania our son Enri gains the Humble trait, we seem to be raising him well. Looks like his future wife just picked up the 'Just' trait so that's cool. Our second son Cennetig is born in November 1254 just as a large battle between the bulk of the Lithuanian army and our own (along with help from the Papacy) begins. Unfortunately I am wounded in the battle, but I gain the Zealous trait shortly after - hopefully the wound will heal to a scar and gain me prestige (I'll settle for just not dying). We later get the Master Flat Terrain martial focus.

We spend the year 1255 trapsing all around Lithuania destroying small armies while the other half of our army sieges the capital, I have 84% of the War contributions and we have a 58% warscore by the end of the year. We also keep our son from gaining the content trait.

Back at home there is a new Duke of Ulster and he is ambitious so he hates me, I may have to deal with them after this Crusade is through (although if I win I'll likely have a lot more things to deal with). I lost the trait ambitious later in the war (apparently I'm already the best in the world according to me, so what is there to be ambitious about) so that sucks, but thankfully I also lost the would and got a scar.

1256-1260 Ireland is now on the Continent!

We win the Crusade in October 1256 and inherit 31 titles and the Kingdom of Lithuania! We also create 3 new Duchy Titles (Lithiunia, Grodno and Courland). After about 15 minutes of organizing I have found enough male members of my line (in my court) to give each Baronry, Earlship and Duchy out and only give the Dukes a single Earlship each (and everyone else single titles) this made me a crapload of happy vassals and none of them should be too powerful. I was able to get everyone with positive opinions of me, except the Duke of Ulster of Course - the Duchess of Munster even likes me by 3 and she is in prison!

We gain the title of 'the Great' in 1257 and besides the new Duke of Dehuebarth who doesn't like us much we are not seeing any problems. We decide it is time to start collecting tax from our Feudal Vassals for the first time and so a Small Feudal Tax Law is instated (it is approved within a month in early 1258) this pushed two more vassals to the negative opinion of me, but not many. Hopefully as the Counties and Baronries in Lithuania recover from the transition of power we will start to really see some gold pour in, although it did just go up to over 23 gold per month which is better than it has ever been.

My son Enri comes of age in 1258 as Midas Touched, still only 16 Stewardship but still not bad and his traits are pretty good (Kind, Brave, Humble, Temperate) still two years before his wife comes of age but when she does it will hopefully be a thing of beauty. I start construction on a Baronry in County Kildare to have a title to give him (I kinda gave the crapload I had in Lithuania away - I don't want him way out there anyways). I want to make sure he gets married correctly before sending him off anyway - and believe me I can afford the prestige loss for unlanded son now that I have 3 Kingdoms.

Our now Daughter-in-Law comes of age in 1259 and the marriage seals an allegiance with the Holy Roman Empire which means we are once again allied with the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of England/Jerusalem (the two biggest powers of the day).

We gain the fourth claim on Scotish counties in 1259, just wanna wait for their revolt to end before attacking them. Should be soon as they are 90% done according to the warscore. The Baronry of Clonard finishes construction in 1260 and we grant the title to our eldest son and heir Enri. By this time our monthly budget is +31 Gold and rising.

Our second son Cennetig turns 6 in 1260 and we take over as his Guardian, he is ill but hopefully that will pass. I also notice that the Earl of the Isle of Man and one of this sons has the genius trait (they are of my Dynasty) so we're not the only ones breeding well. The Dynasty's prestige is up to 1556!

1261 But we still want to take over Scotland!

In January 1261 the revolt in Scotland ends and King Fergus Dunkeld takes command, the King is young and weak, we have many claims on their lands and they have no allies outside of Scotland - back to war in the Isles!

We ask our allies to join the war, the Holy Roman Empire agrees but England/Jerusalem says they are too far away (even though they are right next door they consider their main kingdom Jerusalem now so the British Isles are pretty far away).

Our second son Cennetig gains the Zealous trait while we gain the Organizer trait. Unfortunately shortly after we die in battle and our son takes command! Unfortunately we loose our claims on the Scotish counties and the war ends inconclusively.

1262-1264 A new King of Ireland

We are now King Henri and we have a bunch of vassals who are not too happy. First we reduce our Demense down to 9 by giving our brother (and current heir) the Baronry of Clonard. Then we transfer a few vassals to some of our Dukes that should rightfully be feudal lords of them.

Our wife is pregnant with our first child and in October 1262 our first son Oengus is born (must be a Byzantine name). He is Heir to the Byzantine Empire along with all of our other titles, very interesting to see how that works out. Plus he inherited the Genius trait! Already 5s across the board and he's less than 1 year old!

We have several factions forming (to instate other rules, to Lower Crown Authority, etc.) some are around 4-5000 men strong so they're in the mid 30s percentage wise to our own forces.

Duke Aegnus of Ulster gets to the point we can try to imprison him without tyranny (as he attempts to fabricate a claim on my Kingdom of Ireland) so we do so and are successful (too bad, I was hoping for a good rebellion to put down to ease some of these tensions). That disbands one of our strongest rebellious factions though so that's good.

In March 1263 we announce a Grand Tournament and by July it is over, this helps our vassal situation somewhat and we only have about a half-dozen vassals who don't like us (out of 35) but unfortunately they are mostly Dukes.

The Welsh populace in Dyfed embraces the Irish culture in September 1263. Actually 4 of the 5 counties in Wales consider themselves Irish now and 1 in Lithuania!

In April 1264 the Romuva Religion in Lithuania revolts - but unfortunately we don't have time to play that out today (especially as they caught my garrison Retinues off guard so we are starting at a disadvantage)

Oh what the heck let's finish it. We hire a Holy Order to help us out.

I gain the Honest trait in September. We kick the revolters back and chase them around Lithuania until December when we are able to Enforce our Peace demands, gain Piety and Prestige and give the Catholic church a boost in Moral Authority for 10 years.

1264 Status

The dark green to the right of the main portion of the Holy Roman Empire are our lands in Lithuania. We fortunately had plenty of relatives to get a pretty healthy feudal system installed there and besides the threat of religious revolt (as I just witnessed) I should be fine there for some time. My hope is to eventually absorb a bit more and get the entire Kingdom of Lithuania but its a secondary goal to Scotland.

Our wife is now the Heir to the Kingdom of Georgia and our son is Heir to the Byzantine Empire (along with all of our titles, King of Ireland, Wales, Lithuania, etc.) so it will be interesting to see how that plays out.

The Holy Roman Empire is still massive of course but what you can only see some of is the almost equally massive ilKhanate that is now basically the empire of Persia and Russia that is nipping at their heals. If we get the Byzantine Empire like I think we might, it will be interesting to see if we can help fight them off.

In any case the next few session will be where the rubber really meets the road, this has been an interesting playthrough to say the least.

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 11

We return again to the land of Ireland in 1223 as King Amalgaid II mac Ardgar Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond, Earl of Gwynedd, Earl of Dyfed, and Heir to the Baronry of Mellifont.

We are 46 and have 5 children, including our eldest son and heir 28 year old Prince Eamonn mac Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, Duke of Gwynedd, Earl of Powys, Baron of Trim, Heir to the Kingdom of Ireland and Wales. He has five children of his own with the eldest being 10 year old Iacob mac Eamonn Ua Cheinnselaig, Heir to the Duke of Gwynedd - our line of succession is fairly safe.

We recently were able to wrest two counties away from Scotland in the continual expansion of our realm. We now have claims on two more counties, and once the truce with Scotland is over we plan to attack them once again. And so we begin...



1223-1230 In the Court in Ireland

We settle down to the normal running of our Kingdom, we marry relatives off, raise our Grandson, etc.

I bed a mistress in 1225 and one of my nephews wants to duel another one, babies are born by the dozen it seems and a few people die but basically we just move through the same old, same old.

We got our grandson the patient trait but then later we were forced to give him wroth and he lost patience.

I have a bastard son with a lover in 1227 and legitamize him, later in the year I gain the lustful trait - and all of this after I got an STD in the last session, this King is just a horndog!

The Duke of Dheubarth passed his titles to an heir in 1228 and was followed by the Duke of Connacht in 1229. As the end of the truce with Scotland approaches only the Duke of Ulster and Baron of Enniscorthy have negative opinions of me. I'm definately going to try to get one more war in with Scotland before this King passes once that truce comes due.

1230-1234 War once more in Scotland

In late 1230 our truce with Scotland ends and we immediately declare war - they are still being revolted against so we also declare war on the Scotish revolt (as they own one of the Counties we hold claim to) and once more the mighty armies of Ireland rise up and march to the land of Scotland!

We engage in several skirmishes in which we come out decisivley on top and then siege the counties of Argyll and Carrick.

I lost the trait of shy at the age of 54 in 1231 (apparently it took me that long to grow confident).

We finish the conquest of Argyll and get a peace offer from the Scottish Revolt, and in August 1232 we Usurp the title of Earl of Argyll - we gift the title to the new Earl Cerball Ua Cheinnselaig and move on to fighting Scotland itself.

The Duchess of Munster is caught trying to fabricate a claim to the Kingdom of Ireland and we are able to imprison her - we'll see where that leads after the war is over.

In 1233 England turned Grey - I was afraid that the Holy Roman Empire or Norway had taken them over - turns out King Guy 'the Ill-Ruler' changed his main title from King of England to King of Jerusalem but they are still actually the same country.

Later in the year our brother Brandub dies and passes the Baronry of Enniscorthy to his daughter, who has no children and we become her heir. A short while later she is ambushed by mercenaries on a country road and we inherit her title (we may have successfully plotted to kill her...) We grant the title to our eldest son and continue on in our war.

Unfortunately it becomes common knowledge that I was involved and get the 'Kinslayer' trait, now a few of my vassals don't like me.... Ooops.

We get a peace offer from Scotland very late in the year and grant the title of Earl of Galloway to our son.

Unfortunately our son Eamonn dies of Leoprasy on the last day of 1233 and his titles are split among his eldest three sons (there goes all my work collecting them!). Now our heir is our grandson Iacob, he's a good kid but his wife is already 35 (he's 20) and she has abysmall stats - I set out to kill her (already a Kinslayer so why not?)

Soon after our Grandson gets excommunicated in 1234 and I have to beg the Pope to lift it before Jerusalem decides to attack him.

Now I guess we wait to die... (is that bad?)

Our Duke of Connacht hatches a plan to kill one of my court so I throw him in jail. That makes two Dukes in jail now.

In October 1234 we pay the Pope 100 Prestige and 50 Piety to drop the trait 'Kinslayer' it is a good thing as less than six months later we finally succomb to our Great Pox and pass the succession to King Iacob of Ireland.

1235-1237 A new King in Ireland

King Iacob's reign begins with a few issues. First and foremost is that we hold too many duchies along with several other negatives and that makes us have some pretty pissed off vassals - I decide not to give up any of my titles and to see if I can manipulate things so I get some of the titles of my brothers back.

My wife dies at the age of 37... it may have been me (I'm in a ruthless mood :) )

We marry 16 year old Princess Teresa Jimena of Leon, tying us into an alligeance and getting us a young wife who might actually give us some children.

I realize that I have a level 10 demense! and we have a claim on a county in Scotland (and no more truce because the truce was with our Grandfather) to war! But unfortunately he is fighting a heresy and I don't have the piety to afford it so we will have to wait.

My Chancellor is murdered while trying to fabricate claims for me in Scotland, but turns out he was the Count of Galloway and I was his heir, another County in my Demense!

Now we only have two adult brothers left, the first is the Baron of Trim and Enniscorthy and the second is the Duke of Austria and the Heir to the Baron of Enniscorthy (we are the heir to the Baron of Trim). So the only way to collect all of these titles would be to die... so that sucks. No biggie though, they're just Baronries.

Looks like England is tied into a Holy War in Outerjordan right now and can only muster about 9000 men total, we can do probably 17-19,000 so we could press some claims right now if we want - but since all we have is a De jure claim to one county it really isn't worth it.

1238-1247 Another new King of Ireland

King Iacob dies from poisoning in mid 1238 - the one who did it is imprisoned but the deed is done and now King Olchobar is the new King! Turns out we only imprisoned the actual assassin, he was being paid by our own brother Broen - hopefully the same doesn't happend to us!

Now to the business of giving away some of these titles and not having so many pissed off vassals. We make a new Earl of Galloway and a new Baron of Enniscorhty (two different guys) and this reduces our Demense to 10 counties. Unfortunately even though we have 20 stewardship our wife has none so we can only have 9 counties so we need to get rid of one more. A new Earl of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd and we are under our Demense cap and lost the too many Duchies penalty.

Some of our Duke level vassals are pretty ticked with us so we hunker down preparing for rebellions. We are able to expand the retinues to 3000 men (1000 cavalry) and build some other castle upgrades and such.

I just realized my wife is chaste! Dang I am having the hardest time with succession lately. But in August 1241 she is finally pregnant! And in March 1242 our son Enri is born!

To celebrate the new heir to the Kingdom and a marriage and alliance to the Kingdom of Aragon we decide to hold a Grand Tournament!

We are able to upgrade our Retinue to 3500 men in 1243 and our wife becomes pregnant with our second child!

We are able to get a marriage alliance with Jerusalem later in 1243. Our daughter Lucia is born just before the dawn of 1244.

I lost the Cynical trait through an event with a Courtier in 1246.

1247 Status

We went through two Kings in this update, Iacob didn't last very long but hopefully we can get some good reign time out of Olchobar. And we have our Heir Prince Enri who is about to turn 6 so we can start being his guardian. I took a chance and betrothed him already - Princess Emma Salian of the Holy Roman Empire is 4 years old, and she is a 'Born in the Purple' Genius and already has 6s and 7s on every stat! I'd love to breed that into my line (have a few with quick and strong but no geniuses).

As you can see on the map, the Kingdom of Ireland continues to grow and the map continues to turn grey! We actually have about a dozen Dukes (in and out of Ireland) and about the same number of Counts+Barons in the Dynasty which now has 456 members (219 living) and a Prestige of 1355.

It's still weird to see England called Jerusalem on the map, and the size of the Holy Roman Empire still astonishes me. Just to the right of the visible map, the Ilkhanate has absorbed most of the lands that were first conquered by the Golden Horde and they are starting to chew on the Holy Roman Empire, Fatimid and the Russian states, this version of history is all about big empires - Next time we will see how close we can get to us being the next one...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 10

We return to land of Ireland in 1205 as King Ardgar mac Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, King of Wales, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Desmond, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Gwynedd and Baron of Trim.

We are 46 years old with 8 children including our eldest son and heir Duke Amalgaid II mac Ardgar Ua Cheinnselaig, Duke of Gwynedd, Earl of Powys, Baron of Mellifont, Prince of Ireland and Heir to Kingdom of Ireland and Wales. He has four children (including 3 sons).

We hold a claim to a county in the Duchy of the Isles in Scottland and a de Jure claim to a County in England.

1205-1213 Building the Kingdom to new heights

We raise our first Retinues (should reinforce to 2000 men) which should help us enforce the claims we are attempting to make on the Kingdom of Scottland.

Early in 1206 our wife Dorothea becomes pregnant with our 9th child and in November our son Aengus is born.

My son and heir contracts Typhoid Fever in June 1208 but thankfully he seems to loose it shortly after. The disease is moving through our lands like crazy.

My daughter Lerthan (who is unwed at 27 but betrothed to an almost adult Prince of Poland) becomes pregnant out of wedlock, I gain the Kind trait - which helps me fulfill my ambition to improve my diplomacy. Later we fulfill our ambition to improve our intrigue and are out of ambitions!

We gain a claim on the County of Innse Gall in 1210 and begin to try to get a claim on County Argyll, if we can get all three we will Press All Claims and take that Duchy from Scotland.

In late 1213 our second wife Dorothea dies and so we set out to get remarried. We marry the 23 year old Hungarian Queen Edit Arpad, who is a relative of a Count in Hungary. She has some great traits and most importantly has high stewardship so we don't have to shrink our Demnse.

1214-1218 A new King

Unfortunately we don't have time to have any children as King Ardgar dies a natural death at the age of 54 3 days before the end of the year 1213.

And so at the beginning of 1214 we become King Amalgaid II mac Ardgar Ua Cheinnselaig.

Our first order of business is our Demense, we hold 11 areas including 9 counties and 2 baronries, we also hold 3 duchies which makes are vassals not like us.

We happen to have 2 unlanded sons (out of our 5 children). The first is our eldest son and heir Eamonn who is 18 and has an 18 year old wife who is an amazing 20 stewardship so when/if he takes over they should be fine with demnse size.

I grant the Baronry of Trim to Eamonn and the Baronry of Mellifont to our second son Lugaid. We also give the County of Powys and Duchy of Gwynedd to our son Eamonn as well. This balances the books as far as vassals go. New assignments for our council and we only have 2 vassals with a negative opinion (our Brother, the Baron of Enniscorthy is mad he isn't king, and the Duchess of Munster is up to her old tricks).

Our stewardship goes back up to allow a size 9 demense in January (not sure why but we didn't need to give up one of our titles!) this just means we will have room to keep one of the titles we plan to take from Scotland.

And within the month we have a claim on the County of the Isle of Man again.

The Duke of Munster dies in February and the new Duke of Munster has a slightly less negative opinion of us so that's good.

In 1216 our Duke Baetan of Connacht is caught attempting to fabricate a claim to the Duchy of Ulster so we attempt to imprison him and unfortunately he escapes our guards - to arms!

During the conflict we successfully fabricate a claime to Innse Gall.

In November 1217 the Duke of Connacht surrenders and we Usurp the Title of Earl of Oriel, then we reform the title of Duke of Connacht. We pass the two title to Ardgar mac Fergus, our Kinsman.

We follow the revolt with a Feast that is successful in increasing our relations with our vassals.

1219-1221 Expanding the Kingdom Once Again

In 1219 we see that Scotland has just finished a large revolt and their army is nearly halfway gone. We only have claims to the Isle of Man and Innes Gall (not Argyll) but with Scotland free of allies this may be our best shot - and so war is declared!

We get a few good licks in on the Scotish Army before our allies, the Holy Roman Empire, simply flood Scotland with several 10-15,000 man armies and basically win the war for us.

During the conflict Duke Mael-Maedoc of Ulster dies and passes his titles of Earl of Connacht and Duke of Ulster to his son, Duke Eogan II of Ulster - who is anything but loyal, but he's depressed so maybe he'll pass on to his heir quickly.

The war in Scotland ends by the end of 1220 and we take the titles of Earl of The Isle of Man, Earl of Innese Gall and Duke of The Isles. We pass the Earl of Innese Gall and Duke of The Isles titles to the young (12 year old) Murchad mac Eamonn Ua Chenniselaig. But we keep the Earl of the Isle of Man to ourselves.

We gain the claim on Argyll shortly after the end of the conflict but Scotland is in the middle of a revolt (and Argyll is one of the revolting Counties) plus we probably have a truce with them for a while and breaking that wouldn't be the best thing. We will wait and continue to gain claims, grow, etc.

To celebrate the added size of the Kingdom we announce a Grand Tournament in early 1221. I become the Guardian of my 8 year old Grandson (the heir of my heir) and get him the dilligent trait almost immediately.

A Crusade for Andalusia is announced in 1221, after the Grand Tournament is through we may choose to join. After the Grand Tournament we hold a feast but neither is very interesting.

Duke Faelbe of Deheubarth dies from illness and passes his County and Duchy to Duke Toirrdelbach, who isn't the happiest with me but just by -6.

1221-1223 Crusade!

With the Holy Land still in control of England, the Papacy has declared a Crusade for Andalusia (the souther portion of the Iberian peninsula. We join in early 1222. We raise the Levies and prepare for war!

Even in camp preparing to leave on the Crusade we are able to convince our Grandson of the virtues of being Kind and not Cruel.

Our forces embark on the Crusade and reach the shores of Iberia in mid 1222. By October we are engaged in the Crusade and get the trait. Unfortunately on the Crusade I develop the Great Pox! This has the side effect of reducing my Stewardship so that I am only allowed a level 8 Demense - so I give the County of Isle of Man to Iacob mac Gilla-Comgain Ua Cheinnselaig, a newly mature kinsman of mine.

We are asked to join the Duchess of Normandy's war of revolt, and since we are allies with her we break off from Iberia and go to help her out. Two of our kinsmen are married into the Duchy of Normany (1 to the Duchess herself and one to her daughter and heir, who is also a baroness in the County Evreux). Gotta protect our Dynastic interests.

The Duke of Munster dies of illness and his daughter becomes Duchess Aibinn II of Munster, she likes me a lot more than her father so that is good.

The Crusade for Andalusia is successful and in 1223 the Kingdom of Andalusia becomes another part of the enormous Holy Roman Empire.

1223 Status

The sun sets on 1223 and the Kingdom of Ireland and Wales is larger and stronger than ever before and with Scotland wracked with internal conflict we will hopefully be able to expand even further soon - we have two and are working on a third claim on their counties but have a truce with them until 1230.

England has been very quiet for some time, they still hold the Holy Land and don't seem to be having any revolts or anything like that - we will likely have to fully unite the Kingdoms of Ireland, Wales and Scotland before we can hope to take them on.

Elsewhere we see that Francia is in shambles, we have our Dynasty in the Duchy of Brittany and the Duchy of Normany so maybe in the long haul (after taking England) we can start taking over the mainland like England tried in the 100 years war.

I've basically decided that the Holy Roman Empire is going to take over the world and I'm just trying to become strong enough that when they come for use we can swear fealty and be the Kings of 4 Kingdom (and maybe an emperor) within the greater Holy Roman Empire that owns the world :)

Next time I plan to continue to build until we can attack Scotland again, hopefully we can grab 2-4 counties before we die (although the Great Pox may hasten that) the next Succession era isn't going to be an easy one so we'll need to prepare. Next time...

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 9

We return to Ireland in 1180 as King Amalgaid mac Constantin Ua Cheinnselaig 'the Wise', King of Ireland, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Duke of Deheubarth, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Gwent, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Desmond and Earl of Gwynedd.

We are 42 years old with four children (2 sons, 2 daughters) including our 20 year old eldest son and heir Baron Ardgar mac Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, Baron of Trim, Prince of Ireland, Heir to the Kingdom of Ireland. Who is turning out to be a fine young man (if a little plain) and he has his own 2 year old son and newborn daughter.

We are 1 county away from uniting the land of Wales (outside of Engish rule) and we have just gotten the claim and the freedom to invade that County of Powys in Wales, and so it begins...

1180-1183 Forming the Kingdom of Wales.

We declare war on the County of Powys in April 1180 and although they call in the Kingdom of Galacia into the war, we have their army beaten and the County layed siege by the end of July.

My eldest son is hatching a plot to kill one of our Kinsmen (a rival of his) and tries to invite me, hopefully he will drop these kinds of things once he becomes king. My younger son gains the Zealous trait and has pretty good stats for a 6 year old.

Looks like my elder son Ardgar picked up the 'Just' trait and now wants to be my steward, he's the best man for the job so I have no problem with that.

The sieges in County Powys end and we Usurp the title of Earl of Powys in July 1181. We grant that title, along with the newly created Duchy of Gwynedd title to our son Ardgar. We will hold off on forming the Kingdom of Wales as it would nearly bankrupt us at this moment.

I loose the humble trait in 1182, hopefully I don't get too full of myself. Shortly after the population of Gwynedd embraces the Irish Culture.

I hold a summer fair in 1183 that is fairly low key, although I almost got the gregarious trait which would have been nice. My second son Mael-Morda gainst the Honest trait.

I form the Kingdom of Wales in September 1183 and to celebrate I release people from the dungeons and go on a Grand Hunt. Unfortunately this is put on hold due to my death and my son King Ardgar Ua Cheinnselaig assumes control of the Kingdom in October 1183.

1183-1187 The bumpy road through succession.

Succession is always a bumpy road and we have several things to deal with when taking over as 24 year old King Ardgar of Ireland and Wales.

First we have a Demnse that is simply too large (11/9) fortunately we have very high stewardship so we only have to give away two titles.

I take a look at my vassals and realize we have some work to do, one of our problems is that we hold too many Duchies. I decide that I am going to grant the titles to the Counties Gwent and Powys in Wales out to my kinsmen and then give the Duchies of Gwynedd and Deheubarth out as well - this should balance the books and give us some very happy vassals while also keeping the core of our Demnse and power intact.

We grant the title of Earl of Gwent and Duke of Dehubarth to a Kinsman named Fiachnae Ua Cheinnselaig, he has high stewardship but low diplomacy so he should take good care of the County and Duchy but not make many friends. Next we grant the title of Earl of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd to the young Niall Ua Cheinnselaig (who is 3). Unfortunately I did not realize that if he dies childless his father (not of our dynasty) will inherit the titles but it can't be undone now and that's still no big deal.

Now with these changes I have all but 1 vassal happy with me and the Duke of Ulster is maimed and depressed so hopefully he won't last long.

We get a message that after 100 years under the Kingdom of England, the Duchy of Cornwall is no longer considered a de Jure part of the Kingdom of Wales. This sucks because we loose that claim on them but then again we weren't powerful enough to take it and it makes sense that after that long it would change de Jure hands. We are planning to concentrate on Scotland next anyways.

My prestige hits the positive side in 1184 and is going up almost 6 a month now which is great. Also my wife is pregnant with our 4th child, I fall ill shortly after but it passes fairly quickly and our second son Brandub is born in October of that year.

My eldest son and heir, Amalgaid (named after my own father) gains the Patient trait thanks to my stewardship while my younger brother (whom I am also raising) becomes Charitable. I fall ill again in early 1185 and so does my wife but thankfully we both recover.

The Duke of Dehuebarth dies in July 1185 and passes succession to his less than 1 year old son (yeah it just barely stayed in the dynasty) while I send my daughter to be raised by my wife. I wasn't able to get my brother the Dilligent trait but at least he's not Slothful.

We join a war alongside the Holy Roman Empire in 1186 (not sure why they want me, they can raise an army over 85000 men strong) while we continue to try to build our prestige and keep upgrading things in our Demense to make our levies bigger.

I gain a claim to the County of the Isle of Man which saps most of my prestige. Once I have a little more I plan to try to get claims to the other two counties in the Duchy of the Isles and try to take that chunk from Scotland/Alba.

At the age of 39, Duke Eogan of Ulster died a maimed cripple, that thorn in my side is now out of the way and while his son doesn't like me a lot he is at least positive in his opinion (and only just now about to come of age). I took a look back and realized that the Duke of Ulster has long been a thorn in my side, starting with Stefano, the legitimized bastard of our King Uilliam 'the Just' - looks like the lore of Ireland and the Duke of Ulster being the 'loyal opposition' is being formed.

My brother Mael-Morda picks up the gregarious trait but still doesn't seem to like me very much.

1187-1189 Forging my own path

With the path of succession pretty clear and our strength in hand we hear of the announcement of the 3rd Catholic Crusade for Jerusalem. Our line participated in both the 1st (successful) and 2nd (failed) Crusades and we decide that this is our time!

This isn't going to be easy as the defender of Jerusalem is Caliph Zaia Fatimid, Sultan of Egypt and Africa and can command an army of something like 65000 men, hopefully they can get the Holy Roman Empire involved as that would be the only thing that I think is going to give us the power to win.

But in any case we immediately join the crusade as do many Dukes and even the King of Hungary - hopefully more will join soon.

We form our forces into three Armies, and we of course personally lead the main force.

In camp we are unfortunately unable to give our son the 'Kind' trait, but we do stop him from being cruel. We notice he seems depressed, hopefully the adventure of the Crusade will cheer him up. Similarly I am unable to give my brother the temperate trait but I at least keep him from being glutenous.

The armies of the Kingdom of Ireland land on the shores of Northern France in February 1188 and begin the march towards the Holy Land. The Holy Roman Empire has joined the fight so hopefully we will be successful (or maybe not if it just expands their empire)

While we are away Prince Domnall, Duke of Munster dies and passes his titles to Duke Ainmere, he is less loyal but hopefully shouldn't be a problem. He does pose a little bit of a problem due to his femal heir however...

Shortly after Duke Ainmere dies and Duchess Aibinn takes over, I had entrusted her with raising some of the young people of our dynasty so she has a just slightly positive view of me and her husband is commanding one of my armies. She is pregnant so hopefully her third child will be a son so she won't have a female heir anymore. - on a side note the Dynasty Ua Cheinnselaig is really starting to breed some good folks, this unknown woman from a side branch of the Dynasty has 19 Stewardship and only her intrigue is under 10, plus she has a crapload of good traits.

We are passing through Constantinople in January of 1189, news from the front is that the Crusade is getting slightly better (went from -10% warscore to -3%). Hopefully our addition can help to tip the scale into the positive.

Our Duke of Ulster is now grown (and again has a slightly negative opinion of me) and has imprisoned the Duke of Tyrone. If he tried to take the title of Earl of Tyrone I may have to start figuring out how to reduce his power.

I didn't realize our monthly expenses were being drained so much by this Crusade - maybe my stewardship isn't as good as I thought! We make it to Beirut just as the coffers run dry, I have to disband the army and return to Ireland - I get the Crusader trait however!

Our coffers return to the positive in August of 1189, our hopes and wishes go out to those on the Crusade but unfortunately the health of our empire is more important.

1190- Back to the Court in Ireland

I convince my Duke of Connacht to drop his plot to fabricate a claim on the Duchy of Ulster and am able to get my son Amalgaid the 'Kind' trait he was unable to grasp while in camp on the Crusade. I also take my youngest son Brandub as a ward as well.

The 3rd Crusade for Jerusalem succeeds and despite it being the Holy Roman Empire that did all the fighting, the Kingdom of England gets the holy land due to them still holding the titles from the 1st Crusade. Again I hope this will tie them into wars with the muslim world and reduce their strength!

On a side note one of my kinsmen is now a Count in the Kingdom of Norway and has a claim to the throne - good for him. Looks like Norway tried to invade Alba/Scotland and they brought the Kingdom of England in as allies - this is important as I can't hope to fight both of them in my future planned wars!

My wife is pregnant with our 5th Child in late 1192 and my third daughter Caitlin is born in April 1193. To celebrate I announce a Grand Tournament!

My son Amalgaid gets the midas touched trait upon reaching adulthood (although he is still depressed, I wish he could get over that) I marry him to a young (17 years old) Princess of England named Beorthwaru of Godwin. She has many great traits (Scholarly Theologian, Charitable, Gregarious, Brave, Dilligent and Kind) although her stewardship leaves something to be desired (if/when he becomes king Amalgaid will likely have to give up 1 county).

I decide to found another Castle in Dublin in order to have a Baronry to give to my new adult son.

I gain the charitable trait by being charitable to my wife and the Grand Tournament is a smashing success. I am able to get my younger son Brandub the Gregarious trait.

Another betrothal comes due and we renew our alligiance to the Holy Roman Empire (we are now allied to the HRE and England, the two greatest powers of the day).

We fulfill our ambition to become Exalted among Men and gain the nickname 'the Great'.

Our Duke of Connacht dies and his son Duke Baetan takes over, I did not realize he was from another Dynasty but at least they have been loyal (and he has great stats and traits). I take a look at our Dynasty and see that House Ua Cheinnselaig has 223 total members (101 living) and a combined prestige of 774, not too shabby.

Our new castle is completed in 1194. We take the title of Baron of Mellifont and grant it to our Son and Heir Prince Amalgaid.

We join the Holy Roman Empire in the defense from the 5th Italian Liberation War - looks like these are basically old hat for them, I don't plan to actually contribute.

My daughter Derborgail comes of age and I am able to marry her to another Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (matrialinigealy of course) to further strengthen our alliance.

Our own Wife dies in December 1196, we remarry immediately to a young german girl named Dorothea de Saint-Omer, she is 21 years old, Midas Touhed, Ambitious, Temperate, Brave and Dilligent, if a little Deceitful. She is not the relative of a very high noble family so he must have remarried for love (or maybe it was her high stewardship?) I immediately spend lavishly and get her some ruby earings.

My new wife is pregnant by the end of 1197, and my son Ainmere is born in June 1198. Around the same time my son Brandub gains the Dilligent trait, later he would pickup the Zealous trait as well.

I receive word that an ambitious adventurer, Davi, from the south of France/Aquitaine is gathering men for some sort of attack on my territory! I start a plot to kill him but am only able to enlist a few people in it.

Davi of Davi's Host has declared Davi's Conquest of Ulster on King Ardgar the Great in December 1199. We will see what comes of this.

Our brother's betrothal to the Duchess of Brittany has finally come to marriage so now hopefully they will spit out some heirs and we will have another Duchy outside of our lands in the Dynasty.

Our son Brandub gains the brave trait and is nearly a man - perhaps we should set him up with a Baronry as well... and when he comes of age we marry him to a 17 year old princess of Poland, tying us into an alliance with the Kingdom of Poland (part of the Holy Roman Empire).

Duke Naill of Gwynedd attempts to fabricate a claim on the Kingdom of Wales so I am able to imprison him without tyranny, unfortunately he is wily and escapes back to his Duchy - to war!

We crush the Duke's petty forces and lay siege to his castle in April 1201, by November the revolt is put down.

Our new castle in County Leinster (named Enniscorthy) is complete and we are able to usurp the title of Earl of Powys from the former Duke of Gwynedd (and then recreate the Duke of Gwynedd title as our own).

We then give the Earl of Enniscorthy title to our second son and give the County of Powys and Duke of Gwynedd titles to our first son (he can deal with having too many titles when he takes over the Kingdom).

We see that a new anti-pope has been setup in Galacia.

Our wife becomes pregnant with what will be our 7th child in January 1203 and in August Lucia is born.

Davi's Conquest of Ulster ends in failure in November 1204, I am able to banish him for almost 500 gold.

Our wife becomes pregnant with what will be our 8th child in January 1205 and in August Artur is born.

1205 Status

We now stand as the greatest King of Ireland, our armies and vassals are stronger than they have ever been. We have a very healthy Dynasty and are getting close to being able to move on Scotish lands - they are now known as the Kingdom of Scotland again as the Dunkelds are back in power.

Elsewhere there are some intersting things happening. The Holy Roman Empire continues to expand to the East and England still holds the Holy Land. Norway has been rocked by two unsuccessful wars against Scotland and seems to be in the process of being swallowed by Sweden. Denmark has gained several areas in Russia (and many more are under their Dynasty) and the countries in Iberia continue to hold the now redrawn line with the Moors. Africa seems to have split off from Fatimid (as did -off map- the nation of Abyssinia).

We hold a claim to the Isle of Man but can't seem to get one on Innese Gall or Argyll (I want to try to get all three and then just take the whole Duchy of the Isles) but if I can't get those claims fairly soon (within 10 years) I may just go to war for the Isle of Man. Next time....

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 8

We return to the Kingdom of Ireland in 1166 as Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Duke of Deheubarth, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Dyfed, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Thomond, Earl of Tyrone, Earl of Gwent and Heir to the Duchy of Munster.

We are 28 with a six year old son and heir Prince Ardgar. We also have a daughter (3) and our wife is 33 year old Queen Mathilde Billung from Germany.

We recently invaded and captured the Duchy of Deheubarth in Wales and thanks to our (and our wife's) high stewardship we did not have to give up any of the Earl titles we gained.

We now embark on our continuing journey to expand Irish rule, prestige and power!

1166-1171 The beginning of a new century of Ua Cheinnselaig rule.

The first few years of the new century were quite low-key. The normal happenings in the court, my Son is turning out to be quite Gregarious, I got sick for about a month in the fall of 1166 but got over that fairly quickly.

I gained the zealous trait in 1167 and fulfilled my ambition to increase my Martial traits.

I put down a few plots and finally lost the Depressed trait in 1168 - apparently Amalgaid just enjoys the normal running of the state and not the big wars and such.

We successfully fabricate a claim to the County Gwynedd in Wales and in mid 1169 the armies are on the march once again.

The battles in Gwynedd themselves weren't too bad, we were able to crush their main force and their secondary force they sent to try to raid Ireland itself, we even beat back the army from Navarra that the Earl of Gwynedd had called in as an ally.

Unfortunately the big problem was that several portions of the Kingdom of England (a multi-county Earl with the support of a Duke) decided it was a good time to press their own claim on Gwynedd so once we were finished with one war we were immediately drawn into another while our armies were tired.

Fortunately we have our vassal levies and mercenaries to pull from and these together were able to beat back the English and enforce our claim to the title of Earl of Gwynedd by the end of 1171 (which with our very high stewardship we were able to keep!)

1171-1177 In the court of Ireland

Back to running our Kingdom, we are informed that a nobleman in Lincoln, England is looking to hire mercenaries to invade us in an 'adventure'. I start a plot to kill him and enlist many of his subbordinates, hopefully we won't even have to fight his armies off.

I increase my learning due to some events in 1172 and gain the nickname 'the Wise'

In 1173, despite her being 40 years old (and my homosexuality), my wife Mathilde becomes pregnant with our third child.

Another adventurer, this time in Denmark is gathering troops to attack us as well. I have a claim on the last free county in Wales now but I think I may wait these adventurers out and see if anything comes of them.

Our second son is born in 1174 we name him Mael-Morda. Our first son, Ardgar, is nearing adulthood.

Our plot to kill the first adventurer against us is successful - so we start one on the second guy.

We get our first sexual advance by a courtier as this king (we usually get several with each but this guy hasn't gotten any) and it is Fergus who apparently isn't very interested in his 33 year old wife.

My son and heir Ardgar is nearly a man and his traits are less than desirable, he's gregarious but decietful and beyond that fairly plain. Hopefully he will become a better man later in life.

I'm forced to bribe a mayor to keep him from pissing off all my other vassals about the level of our city taxes.

Fortunately my son Ardgar picks up the Midas Touched trait when he turns 16 in 1175 so at least his Stewardship is fairly high. I marry him to a woman who also has very high stewardship (and much better traits than him, Elisabeth is Midas Touched, Brave, Humble, Patient, Dilligent and Just) and at 21 she should start giving him children quickly.

I decide to comence construction of a new castle in County Dublin for the sole purpose of having a Barony to give to my son.

Rune of Rune's Host has declared Conquest of Tara on King Amalgaid the Wise in December 1175. Just to be safe we raise our levies in Ireland and group them in Dublin to wait this out, sometimes these adventurers don't even come but sometimes they do and with some big forces.

In April of 1176 Duke Blathmac, the Duke of Munster and Earl of Ormond dies and we inherit his titles. I think about giving the titles to my son, but I had planned to give him a Baronry in Dublin that would eventually become a permanent part of the King's Demnse (having a core demnse helps when/if big rebellions occur).

Instead I find Prince Domnall (my Uncle) who is fairly old without any Children) I can give him these two titles and in a few years or decades our line will just likely receive them back.

In May 1177 the Castle Trim is finished being built in County Dublin and we Grant the title of Baron of Trim to our son Ardgar.

Also in the same year our 'War' with the Adventurer Rune from Denmark starts to tick to the positive so we are fairly certain he isn't coming, we release our levies to put more gold into the coffers and settle in to wait out the end of the 'War'

Later, despite her age being 45, my wife becomes pregnant with our fourth child, and in March 1178 our second daughter, Der-Lugdach, is born.

I gain the humble trait later in 1178 and my eldest daughter Aignes comes of age. How I wish she could be my heir as she is an Ambitious, Brave, Humble, Charitable and Zealous Fortune Builder - I have to settle for a matrialinigeal marriage to Prince Dietrich Salian, Prince of the Mighty Holy Roman Empire.

1178- Turning our Kingdom into an Empire, the first steps.

In 1178 the Duchess of Glamorgan dies and her heir is Earl Ynyr of our own Ua Cheinneslaig dynasty. This means our last vassal with a negative attitue of us is out and we have the freedom to start changing things without too much fear of rebellion.

We enact Medium Crown Authority for the Kingdom of Ireland. Seemingly the only major reaction to this is Duke Eogan of Ulster founds a faction to make him the King of Ireland (with him the only member). None of the opinions of my vassals even dip low enough to go negative - this is a great sign and should allow my Dynasty a lot of breathing room going forward, we will have more authority and in a pinch could lower the laws to get better relations with vassals.

My daughter must not have been as virtuous as I had thought, I had her betrothed to a Prince of the Holy Roman Empire (who is a few years from reaching maturity) and she went and got pregnant out of wedlock! My choices are to raise the child and forgive my daughter (I will get the child as a legitimized bastard and the King trait), Punish her severily and give the child away (The child will 'dissapear', she will get the Chaste Trait and I may get the Cruel Trait) or I can pay heavily to cover the whole thing up. I decide to be Kind even though I already have that trait.

King Inwar the Great of England wishes to marry one of my unwed Kinswomen. This makes him like us a bunch but unfortunately does not tie us in as allies.

In February 1180 Rune's Conquest of Tara ends and we imprison him. We also see that the war in which the County of Powys was in has ended and we have an active Strong Claim on the county - one more war and we will have all of Wales (besides what is held by England)!

1180 Status

As 1180 dawns we can see that we have nearly united all of Ireland and Wales, our Sons will likely be drawn into wars with England to get the rest of Wales but hopefully with the power we have built we can pull it off. All of Scotland is united under the Kingdom of Alba as well so it won't be the easiest task moving forward to try to unite the Isles - we will just have to go slowly and surely.

Elsewhere we can see that Aquitaine and Norway are both dealing with big rebellions. The muslims are pushing back the Catholics in Iberia and the Holy Roman Empire continues to dominate (and grow)

Next time we should be able to see King Amalgaid the Wise through to the end of his (hopefully very long) reign. We have a claim on the last independent county in Wales that we can now freely press and with that county we should be able to form the Kingdom of Wales!

Our son now has a son and daughter of his own so hopefully the succession should be clear for the forseeable future, until next time....

Crusader Kings II: Ironman Ireland Playthrough - Part 7

We return to the Kingdom of Ireland in 1150 as King Amalgaid Ua Cheinnselaig, King of Ireland, Duke of Tara, Duke of Leinster, Duke of Ulster, Earl of Dublin, Earl of Leinster, Earl of Kildare, Earl of Ossory, Earl of Desmond, Earl of Tyrconnell, Earl of Dyfed and Heir to Duchy of Munster.

We are 12 years old having taken the reigns of the kingdom at a very young age (5) following the death of our father King Constantin 'the Holy' when he was only 25 years old. We had to fight three seperate conflicts of rebellion and civil war before grasping fairly stable control of our Kingdom.

We lead our Dynasty, House Ua Cheinnselaig, which has 133 total members, 70 of which are living and a total prestige of 470. Besides all of our titles there are several other Earl and Duke titles in Ireland held by our dynasty and also several Baronry and even one Duke title (the Duke of York) held by our dynasty outside of Ireland.

1150-1153 Lets see what this rulling things is all about again

We settle in to see if we can't get some of our vassals to like us a little more, marry off some relatives, etc.

In 1151 I gain the Homosexual trait!!! Later we learn that prince Uilliam is raising troops in an attempt to attack us once again - I wish we had finished him off the last time!

I gain the Just trait in 1152 and learn that Prince Uilliam will be attacking in October 1153 so about a month before I will raise my levies and group them together, I'm also saving all my money in case mercenaries are needed. I also gain the ambitious trait.

Late in 1152 King Edern 'the Great' of Alba declares war on us to enforce a Nobleman by the name of Ruaidhri's claim on the County Ormond. Their forces march into our lands and engage us at our rally point of County Oriel. Nearly 8000 men stand on each side and the swords of the Irish and Scotch(/Breton) cross for the first time.

The battle is a success and although we do suffer some losses we are able to chase the remaining army of Alba around Ireland and destroy it to the last man. The King of Alba accepts defeat, pays us a hefty sum and then releases Ruaidhri to us for imprisonment (and loss of his claim).

Another Crusade for Jerusalem is announced and we decide to join, we likely won't be able to participate at least until we reach adulthood and make sure Prince Uilliam's claim is put to rest - but it will bring us prestige and piety and the good graces of the pope and our bishops so we join! Shortly after I fall ill but it passes by mid 1153.

We take a look around where the Crusade is happening and see that the Holy Roman Empire has taken over the Byzantine Empire - they own like half the map now!

Prince Uilliam announces his war to reclaim his claim (which is now to the County Tyrconnell as he lost his claim to all of Ireland in the last war) so we raise our armies and move them to Tyrconnell to wait.

1154-1166 Embarking on my own Journey

We reach adulthood! We are a Fortune Builder, Kind, Just and Ambtious, unfortunately we are Deceitful and secretly Homosexual. We take a prestige hit for marrying a relative of a Bishop but she has very high prestige like our own so hopefully our Demnse max size will stay up there. We get our prestige back by not taking our Royal Aid Duty and our wife, 21 Year Old Queen Mathilde Billung, who is Midas Touched, Kind, Dilliget and Ambitious (if a little Proud) takes her place at our size - and our Demnse max goes to 9! we have room for two new titles, time to go a viking!

Our war with Prince Stefano begins to tick to the positive in 1155, hopefully it will be over soon and we will be free to pursue other things - although the Crusade looks like it isn't going well maybe I should send a small army there just to get the trait.

And so I split off a portion of my army (around 700 men) and take personal command. We sail across the channel to France and then start moving through the Holy Roman Empire (first through Germany and then through Byzanthium)

We arrive on the border of the Holy Land in mid 1156, we enter the Province of Beirut and realize that our force is but a drop in the bucket compared to the fighting that is going on, and that they are loosing! We gain prestige and piety for being there (and the Crusader Trait) but King Amalgaid is no fool and immediately begins the return trip even before engaging in anything but an abortive siege of Beirut.

King Amalgaid gets sick trapsing back through Greece in late 1156. We hear of the death of Prince Stefano and that his son Eogan inherited one of his titles while another man inherited two of his others. This is good news and we return the messenger with orders to transfer the title of Duke of Ulster back to its rightful owner (I took it from his father). This makes him happy and takes away our -10 penalty from having too many duchies as a King.

King Amalgaid's army returns to the Coast of Normandy in mid 1157 just as word of the failed Crusade reaches the area. They embark on ships and return to Ireland shortly after. Despite the failure of the Crusade Amalgaid is looked on with high prestige and piety thanks to his involvement and he even looses his illness (must have been homesickness).

Our sister (and Heir) reaches maturity in late 1157 and we Betroth her (matrialineagially) to a young Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, with their strength as an ally we should be able to continue our expansion.

In 1159 fate smiles upon me and despite all my flaws I am able to impregnate my wife Mathilde (I imagine I did it simply due to my love for her and her desire to have children). My son is born in August and we name him Ardgar unfortunately he is sickly and may not survive.

In September of 1161 we finally have the warscore to finish Prince Uilliam's Host Claim on Tyrconnell War and imprison him. We get a prestige and money bonus from this and decide to Hold a Grand Tournament! And also to celebrate that my wife is pregnant with our second child (and that our two year old son is no longer sickly!)

I am victorious at the Grand Tournament (+100 Gold, +300 Prestige!), my daughter Aigness is born and our alligieance with the Holy Roman Empire is sealed and forged in a short war (that they won without our help of course).

1162-1166 Back to expansion

In mid 1162 we decide it is time to press our claim to the County of Gwent in Wales. We conscript the Holy Roman Empire to help and our armies begin to march to Wales. A small detachment of their troops tries to invade Ireland itself but the home guard is able to crush them easily.

Unfortunately during the conflict King Amalgaid slips into a depression - apparently war in Wales and expanding his empire is just ho-hum to him. Later he falls ill - hopefully we can finish this conflict before he dies!!

The illness fades in early 1163 and our siege of the Captial of County Gwent is successful. Unfortunately the County Gwent army gave us the slip and is now in County Ulster about to successfully seige the capital - I believe I will let them wear themselves down.

Finally all three sieges in County Gwent fall and we usurp the title of Earl of Gwent - we could usurp the title of Duke of Dheubarth as well but that would give us a penalty for having too many held duchies (and I don't want to give it away right now) so we may wait on that.

Or not! I realize that the Countess of Glamorgan (the last county in the Duchy of Dheubarth) has an heir who is of my dynasty, and she is old so she will pass soon and make Connal Ua Cheinnselaig my vassal - so I usurp the title of Duke of Dheubarth and offer her vassilization, which she accepts!

1166 Status - 100 Years since we first reigned!

After all of these shakeups I take a look at my vassals and only two, the Duke of Munster and the Countess of Glamorgan have negative opinions of me (-12 and -28 respectively) and I am the heir of the Duke of Munster (and he has a 60 year old wife so hopefully no surprise children and i'll get a Duke and Earl title back).

I am still depressed but I just took over stewardship of my 6 year old son and heir Ardgar so maybe that will ease the depression.

We hold all of Ireland and an entire Duchy in Wales with fairly healthy lines of succession, and we are the personal lord of 8 counties. Hopefully I can raise up my heir with high stewardship and get him a good wife so he doesn't have to give any of those away - but if he does it will help him to get good vassals at least.

Elsewhere the Kingdom of Alba is nearly fully united and England has been quiet for some time. France has been fully taken over by Aquitaine and just a tiny portion of the Byzantine Empire has broken away from the Holy Roman Empire.

My hope is that I can at least hold out until my son is grown and in good shape to take over the Kingdom. I'd also like to finish conquering the rest of what is independent in Wales (two more counties) and then I should be able to form the Kingdom of Wales, but that will likely be my Son who does that.