Crusader Kings II

[Matrix]

I started as count of Suomi, which corresponds to the contemporary region of Varsinais-Suomi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwest_Finland). The first ruler ended as High Chief of Finland, the second as King of Suomi and some five rulers later I owned the Empire of Scandinavia, which I subsequently renamed to Greater Finland and later just Finland.

It's now 1236 AD, a few years after I suddenly had a causus belli on the whole Byzantine Empire! [:O] I have no idea where that came from, but I took the opportunity, loaded all my military power in ships, more than 70,000 soldiers, sailed through the Mediterranean Sea and dropped them right on Constantinople. Slashed all the holdings and the war was at 100% for me before the Byzantine emperor blinked. :p But now I have work to do.
- I want to destroy the title of the Byzantine Empire to secure that all the land remains under the same ruler after death. I can only do that by changing its succession from gavelkind to something else, and in order to do that all my vassals need to be positive towards me. That is a problem, because
- there are *eleven* kingdoms missing and creating each of those costs me 200 gold. So I need to muster up 2200 gold to get rid of the countless number of duchy vassals I have now.
- It was probably so easy to win the battle against the Byzantines, because he was too busy fighting the Mongol Horde. That's my task now.

But all in all, the word "Finland" is in bloody huge letters now. Mannerheim (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Gustaf_Emil_Mannerheim) can be proud of me. :D

[Shabbaman]

2 things to look into to solve your Gordian knot:
- transfer vassalage: this'll make a lot of people happy. However, you'll piss them off once you disband the empire.
- it's possible to take the primary title from infidels. But I don't think orthodoxy is considered as a different religion for Catholics. Worth checking though. Another reason why you shouldn't have changed religion ;)

Or you could make all your secondary heirs bishop, problem solved.

[Matrix]

My income is high enough to create these kingdoms in a fairly high speed. My ruler is still in his thirties, so plenty of time left. And the Mongolians have not bothered me yet. And each king is happy to have become one, of course. :) As for other unhappy-beyond-repair vassals, it's quite easy to find enough people who are willing to kill them. :rolleyes: There aren't that many pissed off vassals at all, actually.

Yes, I wish I had put some more effort into reforming Suomenusko, but it was too late when I thought about it. On the other hand, England and France would've eaten me alive. I am now the most powerful leader out there, but that wasn't the case when I converted to catholicism.

I've got an elective monarchy, by the way. Quite fascinating, but also a bit dangerous, as it seems you might continue as a vassal of your own empire after the ruler's death. http://straland.com/images/smilies/mutant.gif

[Matrix]

But do you have any idea how or why I was able to claim the Byzantine Empire myself? It's quite a significant change in the game, and I would like to know how that was made possible. Also so that I might be able to do the same trick again against Francia or England, for example. :D My best guess is that it had something to do with family. I was able to marry the Byzantine emperor with one of my daughters, but that was a few generations ago already.

[Shabbaman]

It's hard to tell from here, but if you have family times then you can end up with a claim upon death of the title holder. When their succession law is changed to elective, weird shit happens. You might have been eligible, and got a claim when you lost the vote.

[Shabbaman]

Oh, and another thing: you can grant independence (sometimes). Better keep half an empire than lose a whole .