Transforming Alba Into Scotland: Some Comments

[David McMurdo]

Even though I got familiar with Crusader Kings III by playing an Irish county as many people do, since I'm Scottish in real life I vowed not to play as any realm until I'd transformed the Kingdom of Alba in 867 AD into the Kingdom of Scotland. I don't know why. I mean I'm not some raving nationalist or anything. I just felt obliged to. But it took several attempts. In fact, almost all of the thirty odd hours that I've played Crusader Kings III for were spent in these attempts. But now I want to talk about my experience in doing so, especially since I've seen literally no-one on this forum even mention the Kingdom of Alba, which I find kind of strange. So, in case anyone fancies attempting this themselves, I thought I'd comment on a few things, including the methods that I eventually found success with. Just for fun.

- The first thing to know is that you're on your own, as there are no potential allies that are both nearby and powerful enough to make much of a difference. Oh sure I had some fun with my Irish allies, but rarely were they in a position to assist me in my times of need.

- Alba is more diverse than you might suspect. In the beginning you've got a large Gaelic population living alongside an increasingly diminishing Pictish population, but the Scots as a unique people very quickly emerge, and as you begin to claim the de jure Scottish Lowlands, you'll be introducing Cumbrians into your realm's mix as well. While there are counties that are de jure a part of Scotland, your realm's name is dictated by your own cultural identity. If you want you can change "the Kingdom of Alba" (the Gaelic name) to "Pictland" (the Pictish name) straight away by just having your starting king (the Gael, Causantin II) adopt the ways of the local Pictish culture that he just so happens to be presiding directly over. That does alienate most of your realm's population, but it's still good for a laugh. As far as religion goes, Alba itself is Catholic, but Insular Christianity is a strong influence from Ireland, as is paganism from the Norse held territories.

- As is the case with every native ruler on the British Isles in 867 AD, your biggest problem initially is the Norse, especially Ivar the Boneless. A big issue with fighting the Norse generally is that they tend to lose and gain allies often, so you can declare war on a Norse realm when they're in an obviously weakened state, only to very quickly be facing hordes of their freshly acquired allies. Another issue is that while both you and the Norse are tribal realms, their warriors and champions are considerably more deadly than your own, so you can't count on numbers even on those rare occasions where numbers are on your side. I was ultimately able to definitively beat Ivar by having my first king focus on martial abilities, and by having him lead my army personally. While I lost many, many battles, being a king with an increasingly great strategic edge ultimately won me the day after a gruelling campaign. When Ivar begins to lose territories, his military power starts collapsing quite dramatically. Of course, you can simply go on the defensive and wait until the Norse presence around you dwindles, as it certainly will after the sons of Ragnar die to be replaced by lesser men, but the problem with waiting things out is...

- Alfred the Great. Now, he couldn't care less about you. I don't think he even knows you exist. But the thing is that Alfred and/or his heirs can be amazingly quick to drive the Norse out of their homeland and form the Kingdom of England, and more than once the English swept up north and claimed counties that should rightly form the Scottish Lowlands. If your ambition is to form Scotland, then you really don't want that to happen, because facing feudal England as tribal Alba, while not impossible, is certainly a potential nightmare. Therefore, consider yourself under a strict time limit from the very beginning, and when you expand to claim de jure Scottish counties, head south first and claim the Scottish Lowlands before Alfred and his kin can.

All in all, taking Alba into the second millennia as Scotland is a very fun endeavour. It's far from the hardest thing I've ever attempted in Crusader Kings, but it's not easy either. I'd say it's a nice, moderate challenge that one might like to attempt having fully gotten to grips with the game in Ireland as I did.

EDIT: Updated with screenshot. As you can see I've begun creeping into England now. That was actually the work of my vassals operating on their own. Oh well. I guess forming the empire of Britannia is the next logical step anyway.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2224269493

[Kapika96]

Interesting read. Never played in Scotland/Alba before, but sounds like a lot of fun. I'd definitely like to try it some day, so thanks for the tips!

[Messsucher]

Nothing wrong in being nationalistic in games, like there is nothing wrong in doing wrong things in games. If your ancestors were not nationalistic you would live in China, for the rulers would had oppressed their own country instead of lands abroad.

[David McMurdo]

I updated my original post with a screenshot.

I meant that in real life I'm not a raving Scottish nationalist and that's not the reason I felt obliged to achieve this before anything else. Just felt like the right way for me to get playing seriously.

[Messsucher]

Originally posted by David McMurdo:

I updated my original post with a screenshot.

I meant that in real life I'm not a raving Scottish nationalist and that's not the reason I felt obliged to achieve this before anything else. Just felt like the right way for me to get playing seriously.

Yeah, it is beautiful. I did the same for my country, but got bored of it. So limiting, so repetitive.