


As a head of a large kingdom or empire, you'll be bombarded with confusing, decontextualized information. If you play as a Count, you probably won't have the power to do much of anything, making for a boring game. Second, new games are best at the Duke or small kingdom level. Spain, the Balkans, Russia, Scandanavia, Turkey, and Iraq are the boundary areas for the 1066 start year. The game mechanics make these areas more interesting for conventional strategy play. This can be an overwhelming beginning, and it isn't helped by the fact that the only way the game offers for sorting different rulers is an incredibly misleading “Difficulty stat.” My two recommendations:įirst, play fairly near the religious borders. Your first decision is which noble to play as. I also highly recommend and briefly discuss “ Sword Of Islam.” “ The Republic” has its own odd rules, and as of this writing, I'm not an expert on them. (note: this guide assumes that you have the core game and the “ Legacy Of Rome” expansion. Hence, The Newcomer's Guide To Crusader Kings II. There are a lot of YouTube tutorials, but some people (like myself) prefer reading over listening. Its crossover success has meant that many people who haven't played previous Paradox games are giving it a try, which would be fantastic if it weren't for the extremely lacking tutorial for newbies in CKII. Crusader Kings II is one of the surprise hit games of 2012, showing up on several Game Of The Year lists, including our own.
