Crusader Kings 2 [official site] is (somehow) now five years old. Adam raised a glass to its humour and humanity last month in celebration of its half-decade anniversary, so I thought I’d delve into its modding community to mark the occasion too.

1. Crusader Kings 2 769 Easy Country Starts

Much like the digital empires depicted in-game, many of its mods have risen and fallen since my last visit, however the following list sends the best into battle. Given how involved CK 2 can be at times, I’ve tried my best to link videos where possible so as to properly showcase each mod’s worth. Enjoy!NB – Note that some mods can only be accessed via Paradox forum accounts. You’ll have access assuming you own the game, so remember to sign in.

Choosing a start date. As technology advances, large realms become more stable and merchant republics become economic powerhouses. Expect larger wars at later start dates, as crusades and jihads are called, and as hordes invade from off-map. Ah Crusader Kings II doing its usual 769 big where Charlemagne either forms his empire or mainland western Europe tends falls to Islam bit and christian Spain always seems to be doomed. Hmm given that map I suspect the crusades are going to head right at Italy followed by France and Greece once they start so I suppose it might depend on how. So my question is if a Byzantine 769 game is worth it. The reason I am asking is because I have a lot of disdain for starts where you are already a huge blob (like playing as Charlemagne) but I also hate starts where it takes centuries just to get on par with feudal realms who continually beat the♥♥♥♥♥♥out of you (aka non-Norse pagans).

CK2Generator

By yemmlie

Let’s start with a wild card. A wild card, not in the sense that the CK2 Generator mod is temperamental, but that it’s intentionally unpredictable. Last year, Adam rightly compared yemmlie’s work to Dwarf Fortress in that instead of portraying the world as we know it against what the history books might tell us, CK2 Generator spawns an entirely new history of humankind from scratch.

In turn, this lets you grow your own entirely fictitious societies and landmasses and watch them procedurally generate before your eyes. Like Dwarf Fortress, you’re free to transfer your new creations over into Crusader Kings 2 and watch them take flight further still.

“Basically the tool will generate, from scratch, a completely new history of humanity from its first exodus from Africa as a new mod to be playable in CK2,” explains yemmlie. “These cultures will then spread throughout Europe, mutating and changing as they spread, words and language, religions, ethnicity, cultural ideals, laws, looting, river sailing, incest, religious heads, holy sites, wives, concubines and everything, all morphing, mutating and branching off as humans spread through time and land.”

A Game of Thrones

By CK2:AGOT Development Team

Sticking with fictional landscapes, CK 2’s A Game of Thrones has been going since 2012 and brings the famous book series and television show’s bounds to Paradox’s historical grand strategy. It expectedly intertwines George R.R. Martin’s fantasy drama with the game, however also tweaks its base mechanics so that the realm is less likely to fragment into multiple kingdoms over time – in turn in-keeping with its inspiration, as players vie singularly for the Iron Throne.

At present, the A Game of Thrones team has designed the mod so that players can kick things off up to 300 years before Aegon’s Conquest, all the way through to the beginning of The Feast of Crows – Martin’s fourth book. The A Game of Thrones mod featured on RPS’ list of the best total conversion mods last month.

Elder Kings

By Elder Kings Dev Team

From Westeros to Morrowind: the Elder Kings total conversion mod transports the world of Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls series to Crusader Kings 2. Set in wider Tamriel, Elder Kings sees players take control of “one of the many fledgling countries of the Interregnum,” so reads the mod’s description.

While still in development (and probably due an update), Elder Kings boasts two playable scenarios both contained within the series lore’s Second Empire. The Interregnum takes place towards the end of this era with Cyrodiil in disrepute following the emporer’s murder. The Colovian, the Nibenese, the Bosmer, and the Argonians are but some of the races locking horns here in a bid to conquer Tamriel. The Kamal Invasion, on the other hand, follows on and sees the Kamal Snow Demons invading Tamriel for the first time, and the fallout this incurs from the Akaviris, the Nords, and the rest of the realm. A Fourth Empire scenario – Skyrim’s The Stormcloak Rebellion – has been in the works for some time.

NB – as this is a work in progress, its creators warn bugs may be present. It’s perhaps worth bearing this in mind before installing.

Middle Earth Project

By CK2: MEP Team

I swear we’ll get back to the real world soon. But if Game of Thrones and the Elder Scrolls are a shoe-in for Crusader Kings 2 total conversions, then so too must be Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. Featuring bookmarks throughout the Third Age, this ‘un’s map covers the main areas of Middle-earth as it’s known in the books and films.

“Will you play as the descendant of one of the noble families of Rohan or Gondor?” asks the mod’s creators. “Will you try to reforge the ancient kingdoms of Elves in Eriador? Or will you try to destroy all the Free Peoples, and claim Middle Earth for Morgoth?”

Whatever you answer above, the Middle Earth Project offers seven races – Humans, Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs/Goblins, Elves, Nazguls/Sauron, and the Istari – and five scenarios by way of The Last Alliance, The Fall of Arnor, The Kinstrife, The War of the Ring, and The New Shadow. If you’re familiar with LotR lore, you can probably guess what some of those entail, however full details of what they’re all about can be found in this direction.

Crusader Kings Z

By Korbah

Besides being a pretty brilliant and intuitive mod, Crusader Kings Z has a fun story too. After Paradox released a teaser for the fictional Crusader Kings Z as an April Fools’ Day joke in 2013, modder Korbah (who is also involved in Elder Kings mentioned above) decided to make it A Real Thing.

The result is something similar to Paradox’s own Sunset Invasion DLC as it creates an alternate timeline for it events to unfold within. At some stage after the year 1000 AD an unexplained zombie outbreak occurs in Ethiopia which quickly spreads from Africa to Europe. Enter you, the player, and supposed world saviour as you scramble to form armies strong enough to combat the spreading infection and restore peace and, you know, humanity to the world after ridding the globe of the walking dead. If it feels like zombies are in everything these days, that’s because they are. But they’re also good fun.

When The World Stopped Making Sense

By Enlil

While it could be argued 2017 fits this bill more than any other era to date, Enlil’s When The World Stopped Making Sense is a lovely mod which reinterprets the Migration Period at any date between 476 AD – which aligns with the fall of the Western Roman Empire – and 700 AD. From here, players can play through till the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire centuries later in 1453 AD.

This is definitely one for the history buffs and while other Crusader Kings 2 Dark Ages mods tend to follow a typically predictable historically-accurate arc, When The World Stopped Making Sense allows for more player autonomy as you craft yet another alternative timeline. It’s still in development, however ten multi-century-spanning bookmarks are planned in total.

CK2+

By CK2Plus Team

Perhaps the most essential Crusader Kings 2 mod available for those after a challenge – CK2+ changes host of things about the base game with the aim of “deepening the CK2 experience”. In practice, this means making the base game more challenging without straying too far from what makes it enjoyable. Historical accuracy somewhat takes a backseat along the way, but the upshot is a more involved game.

For example, one of the most obvious tweaks CK2+ brings with it is the reduction of vassal limits. In turn this means managing larger empires is significantly more difficult, and makes the decision to increase Crown Authority far more important. Retinues are also smaller, thus more difficult to maintain, and the usefulness of technologies has been capped.

Furthermore, more considerations have been applied to factions, meaning they now bore more common interests. “Do they want peace and wealth?” asks the mod’s creators. “Do they want a strong ruler with lots of prestige? Do they want a pious ruler who doesn’t change from the old ways?” These changes mean there’s less chance of players gaining wider personal power, as they become more reliant on vassals.

No Hassles Vassals

By MonteCristo

Speaking of vassals, MonteCristo’s No Hassles Vassals is a simple but very effective mod which lets players distribute both county and barony titles with just one click. This is likely one which needs to be experienced in order to appreciate its worth, however NHV uses targeted decisions which in turn means you’re no longer required to run with your rule from one county to the next.

I’m actually going to turn you over to YouTube person Arumba here, who does a fine job of talking us through exactly what this one’s all about:

After the End

By Ofaloaf

While I’ve enjoyed watching the world burn several times in Ofaloaf’s After the End mod, part of me worries it’s more prophetic than I’ve given it credit for. As depicted elsewhere on this list, Crusader Kings 2 is perfect for recreating alternate histories, fantasy or otherwise, however this one opts for an arguably more ominous alternative future. We know that didn’t happen in the past, but this could happen in the future, right?

Hopefully not, because after an Extinction Level Event of cataclysmic proportions years prior, the world as we know it in the year 2666 has apparently gone to shit. North America now attempts to rebuild its disconnected societies – which sees a host of new-age cultures on the rise, as players get to grips with over 900 provinces, 25 kingdoms, four republics, one theocracy, five tribes and 14 religions.

“The setting also allows for the introduction of salvaged modern technology in the mostly neo-medieval setting and several invasions and events that change the game-world as time goes by,” reads the mod’s description. Ominous.

Honourable Mentions

RIP – Realm Intrigue & Politics
By ManiacTehGreat

While the contents of this list so far has focused on CK 2 total conversions, ManiacTehGreat’s RIP targets some of the game’s finer details. Well worth your time.

CPRplus – Cultures and Portraits Revamped
By Silverino

Make everyone pretty.

Fantasy!
By JordanDoes

Make everyone not so pretty.

Unique Buildings
By Morrolan

Adds a host of neat historical buildings and monuments to the game.

Bloodline
By Dorimi

Inherit your own bloodlines.

Secret Society
By JordanDoes

Shhhhh.

And so concludes our battle chest of Crusader King 2 mods, fit for toppling kings, conquering nations and winning wars. But what mods were lost on the field? Herald your own favourites in the comments below.

I'm am playing as England. I wanted to invade Scotland and Wales. When I try to fabricate a claim I only get a claim on a county, not a whole kingdom. It takes a lot of time to capture a kingdom that way and when I try to fabricate a claim on the Capitol of the kingdom it doesn't work.

Is there a way to declare war on a whole kingdom?

badp

5 Answers

There are a couple of things that make conquering a kingdom hard.

1. Getting a casus belli (cb).
2. The truce waiting period. (You can break a truce, but the penalty is harsh)

1. As mentioned by svick, if you are an emperor, you can press a claim on the kingdom title for a relative or vassal, and upon winning, the claimant will be your vassal.
2. If you are invading realm that is larger (more holdings) than yours, you can use the Invasion CB
3. If the target king is a heretic of your religion, your religious head might declare a crusade against the king.
4. If you have a claim on the kingdom, you can press your claim.
5. If you are playing as a pagan (requires The Old Gods expansion), the become king of [kingdom] ambition gives you a CB against realms inside the de jure territory of the kingdom.

Beware, an untimely death can spoil your plans. On the other hand, you may be able to use assassination or a plot to arrange a timely death.

1. Position a future heir of your kingdom to inherit the target kingdom.
   • The most direct way: If the target kingdom is ruled by an unmarried queen, your male heir (or you, if you are male and do not have a male heir) can marry the queen. Assuming a child is born and compatible succession laws, your heir will rule both kingdoms.
2. As mentioned by svick, position a future heir of your kingdom to inherit a claim on the target kingdom. For example, have your male heir (or you, if you are male and do not have a male heir) marry a princess with an inheritable claim.

With claims, you may have a choice between

1. Pressing the claim of your heir's parent, setting up your heir to inherit both kingdoms
2. Waiting until your heir inherits both your kingdom and the claim on your target kingdom, and can press the claim playing as your heir.

1. If vassals of the target king are rebelling, you can declare war on a rebel. You still need to find a CB. The significance is that you can declare war on rebelling vassals without penalty even if you have a truce against the liege (king, in this example)
2. Especially if you cannot marry into a claim on the kingdom, consider pressing claims on duchy titles in the target kingdom.
3. Once you gain more than 50% of the de jure counties in the target kingdom, you can usurp the kingdom title. This tends to make conquering the rest of the kingdom easier because
   • The remnants of the old kingdom will probably be fractured into different realms
   • You get a de jure CB on the rest of the de jure counties
   • Rules in the de jure realm, especially counts, may agree to become your vassal without a fight

Aaron KurtzhalsAaron Kurtzhals

As far as I know, there is no quick and easy way to do this. You have several options:

Crusader Kings 2 769 Easy Country Starts

1. Invade county after county, until you have enough counties to usurp the title.
2. • Find someone who has an inheritable claim to the kingdom.
   • Marry them, have a son
   • Wait until you die and become that son.
   • Now you have a claim to the kingdom and you can invade it. (If it's a weak claim, you will have to wait for the right circumstances.)
3. If you're already an emperor, invite someone with a claim to the kingdom to your court, grant him land and press their claim. This will make the kingdom part of your empire, but not personally yours.

svicksvick

I have found it best to not press claims immediately upon fabricating them. You can fabricate claims on multiple counties in a kingdom, and then when you declare war on the king, you can press all claims at once. You just have to balance that with the likelihood of your ruler dying, which would make you lose most, if not all, of your claims. The benefit of going this route is that you don't have to face the resources of an entire kingdom and its allies multiple times at a gain of one county per war. You also don't have to wait for truces to expire one county at a time.

When you start getting multiple kingdoms, you quickly learn that keeping your kingdoms is actually a lot harder than gaining them. I prefer elective monarchy, so you can have a larger demesne than primogeniture, and you can select the best member of your family to be your next playable character. This gets tricky when you have to rig multiple elections, though. An untimely illness or assassination before you can get your ducks in a row could be devastating. A nice trick is that if your preferred heir doesn't look like he has a chance of being elected in one kingdom, you could just grant the kingdom to him as a landed title before you die. The biggest threat here would be your king outliving the preferred heir, which would trigger another election in the kingdom that is more or less outside of your control.

If you want more than one kingdom, you need to become emperor as soon as possible. That way, even if you lose a kingdom, the new king will still be your vassal and the kingdom will still be in your realm.

There are 2 ways, the easy way, and the hard way:

1. The Easy WayFind someone with an inheritable claim on the kingdom and marry them to your heir or yourself. I was King of Ireland and married the Queen of Sweden. When she died, my heir became King of Sweden (by this time, he was already King of Ireland) automatically, without any fight.
2. The Hard WayFabricate claims, or find people of your dynasty who have claims on the target kingdom's individual counties. Go first for those counties that are in large duchies (duchies with 4 or 5 counties), as once you have 3/5 duchies, you can take the rest of the duchy through de jure claims. De jure claims are great as they go to your demesne (if you are the duke). You want the large duchies as its quicker then to get to 51%, and then press for the whole realm in a de jure claim on the kingdom. To speed it all up, you need to either assassinate or plot to kill the king of the target kingdom whenever there is a truce. Also, fermenting dissent in their kingdoms helps break them up (when their vassels rebel, you immediately conquer them before they have a chance to go back to their old king).

Personally, if it is a large kingdom, the first way takes a fraction of the time and effort (maybe 5% of the effort).

You want to think carefully about which Kingdoms you go for. I was king of Ireland and conquered Scotland, Wales, Brittany and England - all of them. Then I died and my heir inherited just Ireland, Brittany and Wales. I only inherited Brittany and Wales as I had never created the titles, so they were de jure part of Ireland. The others were gavelkind, so my 3 kingdoms were divided between my sons. This caused a phobia of gavelkind to develop and I then got Sweden (primogeniture), and conquered Scotland (renamed to Alba as I'm Irish) before converting it to Primogeniture. Primo is great as succession wars are few. I still haven't got England on Primo, so when I get old, I save up a war chest of money and then win a brutally fast succession war upon succession. It must be fast as you want to continually upgrade to high authority so that you can convert to primo (kill your brother -the king- if you can't start a war). When you lose the kingdom, the first thing the bastard does is downgrade crown authority, so that you will never get primo! Get in before the laws are passed!!!

I could go for an emperor title but then I risk losing the kingdoms in successions. Ultimately, I try to convert my kingdoms to primo, then downgrade crown authority so that my vassals don't rebel every 2 minutes.

If you do not mind the prestige/gold hit, you can always destroy a kingdom title and recreate it (if not primary) to force the kingdom to have the same laws as your primary (unless gavelkind). Pretty useful for forcing higher CA quickly without multiple successions. Also, if you do not mind being a little gamey, you can destroy all duke titles so only you can vote for your heir. Although you take a net -25 vassal opinion and have to manage them all, it is better since you can choose the best successor and never have a succession war. For me I never had to bribe anyone as they are all too weak to do anything and I periodically remove some vassals to replace them. At the same time during times of truces and waiting for stuff to happen, it is also good to make sure none of your vassals have more than 1 county. If they do, excommunicate + imprison and hope you fail (if you don't execute and try again with the heir). That one vassal is going to be weak and no one is going to bother to help him. I currently have the empire of brittania with close to 100 direct vassals. The highest faction power I ever get is like 48% and they don't even send an ultimatum. Pretty easy to deal with IMO.

If you are powerful enough though, you can always consider going heretic and have CBs on everyone :). Fast expansion, but have to deal with some internal issues until you can make the transition.

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