convert to italian culture

>>1602526
Yeah I remember my first game...
I played in Ireland 1066 didn't know how to declare war, win a war, conquer territory anything.
I just kept playing the game and since I was in Ireland it's pretty hard to actually lose.
By 100 years in I had already figured out how to do all that shit and I conquered Wales, most of Scottland and formed the Kingdom of Alba or whatever it's called.
So yeah just chose one of the more powerful people in Ireland in 1066 and fuck around until you figure it out. You can read some guides or watch youtube if you're too stupid / ADD to figure it out yourself but it really isn't very complicated and won't take you more than like 15 hours probably max

>>1602526
do the tutorial

>>1602526
Play some guy in Ireland and just keep going like >>1602670, there's a reason it's called tutorial island.

>>1602526
Play the tutorial or start in ireland and do nothing until you get the UI and buttons

>>1602526
Read the wikia

>>1602670
To play devil's advocate:
There are few aspects of the game that are close to impossible to figure out via just playing, like army composition or how the trade republics really work and generate money or how to handle societies if you have the DLC... but yeah, general gameplay can be just trial-and-errored.

>>1603089
How do you handle secret societies?I got tired of getting bibles as an orthodox christian ingame and just disabled them.

Is playing my first game without DLCs to limit amount of bloat a good idea?

>>1603355
Maybe

>>1603111
You have to send your bishop to hunt heretics but that is still meh solution and you can't convert anything during it

>>1603111
Turn them off when first starting a game like you said. They're only purpose is to act as an annoying 5th column and adds nothing to religion.

>>1603355
>bloat
Even with all the dlcs + mods ck2 is so lacking it gets stale after a couple dozen hours

>>1603089
>Army Composition
I was playing with the mindset more troops = win but it's actually way deeper than that. Any tips for a good retinue composition? Should I just spam culture specific retinues?

>>1603488
This. The faggots looking at the past through rose tinted glasses will disagree though.

>>1607279
Oh fuck off you CK3 cunt. The only reason to play CK3 is for coom. That's it.

>>1607273
>Any tips for a good retinue composition? Should I just spam culture specific retinues?
Yes and no. Basically, your chance at rolling a certain tactic (as well as the availability of a certain tactic, I believe) is based on what troops are available and how many exist in a flank. So if I recall correctly, it's generally best to stack armies with as much of a specific 1 or 2 unit types as possible. Culture units are generally the best go-to (mainly because of the bonuses from buildings) but in some cases, like Greek, its not ideal because the units either suck or the composition isn't synergistic. From what I remember reading, pikes and heavy inf tend to be some of the most consistent so when in doubt you can just spam those. Keep in mind it's been a while since I've played so I might be wrong on some of this.

So this game is nothing like eu4 or vic2 right? From what i saw on youtube it looks like rpg where you LARP as ruler, go to feasts and hunts to make your vassals like you more.

>>1607461
It's very character focused, you play as a single character at a time and you are usually trying to make sure you have a proper heir (usually one of your kids). That being said map painting is still a huge part of the game

>>1607461
Pretty much.
Think about it as if playing Princess Maker, but also have crayons to paint the map your colour.

>>1603111
They literally exist to sell shit DLC to gullible idiots. If you have the DLC, disable them. If you don't - no problem, then.

>>1607273
Depends entirely on who you are playing as and which version (the exact fucking patch) of the game you are using. But as the rule of thumb, if you are Scottish, Italian, Byzantine or Bong, you get your cultural retinue. Jade Dragon cultures (Tibetan, Han, Jurchen) are also good. When playing as steppe nomads, you DO NOT get horse archers, but their heavy cavalry. Everyone else is best off using the defensive retinue - and multitude of cultural retinues have similar composition of pikemen and archers, so they might be better/cheaper/more numerous/whatever. NEVER mix retinues, always just use the single type.

>>1602539
this was funny to read as the first post

>>1607461
yeah basically.
Its fun. Kinda get into the chars head some and roleplay.
Also look at medieval history stuff, its a cool era.

>>1607461
I mean there is still a heavy element of map painting and moving armies around on the map.
But yeah the central aspect of ck2 that makes it comparatively unique is that you aren’t playing as the country, but rather the specific person ruling it, and their various successors.
The land and map painting is important, but the success and proliferation of your family is your primary objective.

>>1607797
This always makes me confused
>CK2 is just a paper doll dynastic game with map added to it
>CK3 builds up on the whole concept of dynastic game
>People have a meltdown that CK3 has less content and more shallow dynastic gameplay
>Which isn't even remotely true, but the sentiment lingers ever since premiere
What the fuck? Is it just the resentment over removal of actual nomads and the (dead-brain) merchant republic that makes people so spiteful? What am I missing here? It's all-around improvement when it comes to dynastic gameplay, starting with the banal fact that proliferating your dynasty to independent realms actually matters.

>>1607897
You could have just said that you never actually played CK2 .Would have been shorter.

any tips for making playing as a vassal fun?

>>1608608
>any tips for making playing as a vassal fun?
Set restrictions on yourself like never ascending to the top level rank of the realm, King, Emperor etc. Play as the super faithful vassal that is hyper competent and expands the realm but never wants anything but freedom to expand the realm. This is obscenely hard in realms like Byzantium where the Emperor continuously wants to enforce peace and enact laws preventing vassal wars. A lot of politicking and scheming required.

>>1602526
After you've played the tutorial island and familiarize yourself with the UI, if you have the Old Gods DLC, try playing in the 867 start date as any Norse ruler. The conquest CB is going to make the game much more comfortable to play and teach you more about the warfare.

>>1602670
>pick ireland
>keep getting ass rape by magically conjured script event Norsemen every few years
this is suppose to be easy?

>>1608684
I specifically told you to start in 1066 after the Viking bullshit is over.
Don't (you) me over something as stupid and trivial as your inability to read

>>1608608
Cuck the king

>>1602526
just play and look something up if you don't understand it

>>1608693
NTA but I played my first full game as Ireland starting in 769 and by the time the Vikings started I was strong enough to push their shit in.

>>1608824
Well apparently the original anon is too stupid for that, just like he was too stupid to follow a simple instruction of "start in 1066"

>>1608048
>Arguments? Nah, who needs that
Here is the (You)

>>1608608
Unless you ultimately plan to splinter off as independent or usurp your liege, then the only way to make your time fun is being a merchant republic. Otherwise it's just watching time fly.

watch a short gameplay of the game of thrones mod
then play the game of thrones mod
then play vanilla

Is 1066 the only start date that doesn't devolve into border gore?

Best start date?

Play as Nomad with starting event troops like Arpad in old gods and Genghis Khan in later bookmarks.
Keep the maximum number of clans, but make them own only one province each - this prevents minor clan revolts.
They will hate you, but will be unable to do anything besides plot fruitlessly.
Pillage and keep all other provinces.
Basically invincible mode, where you can learn intricacies of religion, dynasty and incest.

>>1603089
>army composition
I didn't even realize there was army composition in this game. During my own attempts to learn the game, I just assumed that you're stuck with whatever armies your levies provide and had no control over their composition.

>>1608999
>He doesn't even deny it
What a little bitch

>>1609116
Every start date devolves into border gore after 100 years. 1066 is just the one that prevents /most/ massive blobs. The early starts have serious problems with Abbassid and Byzantine blobs but even 1066 gets blobby after a while but it's not the same faction every single time.
You as the player will still blob no matter what start date you choose. (Unless youre completely new then you might just die at some point)
>>1609117
I personally go for 1069, 969 when I want a ERE run, and 869 or 769 when I want to play a Viking or Pagan.

>>1603089
>army composition
I hate that mess of a tactics system that CK2 was left with so much. It might be my single most hated thing in CK2.
Thank god for mods.

>>1607549
> Depends entirely on who you are playing as and which version (the exact fucking patch) of the game you are using. But as the rule of thumb, if you are Scottish, Italian, Byzantine or Bong, you get your cultural retinue. Jade Dragon cultures (Tibetan, Han, Jurchen) are also good. When playing as steppe nomads, you DO NOT get horse archers, but they’re heavy cavalry. Everyone else is best off using the defensive retinue - and multitude of cultural retinues have similar composition of pikemen and archers, so they might be better/cheaper/more numerous/whatever. NEVER mix retinues, always just use the single type.
Have a few things wrong here. You forgot about the cultures that can get Camel Riders as their cultural retinues: levatine, Bedouin and Egyptian. Camel riders are basically the best troops in the game because Paradox forgot about them so they get few bonuses but basically no penalties which make them good everywhere, on top of being like a better light cavalry.
Light Cavalry can be good too in battles if you build for it due to their incredible tactics that can be reliably triggered. Not good at seiges or on the defense though so you’ll still want your pikemen defense retinues too (but don’t mix them like you said).
You are right about horse archers, worst unit in the game which is such a shame, especially because it is for stupid reasons.
Also right about avoiding mixed retinues but might be good to clarify that you do sometimes want to mix them slightly in the proper ratio because some bad tactics get triggered if you have a flank that is 100% one unit or at other thresholds so you need to ever do slightly mix some others in.

>>1602539
I love colonizing the papacy with my dynasty.