Any Suggestions for interesting starts?

[ZoroTheBold]

I've played a lot of different starts in this game and its starting to get a little stale. I've played all of the nordic kingdoms, england, france, italy/rome, egypt, and nubia. I did do a campaign in India once but that was short lived because of a DLC drop. Does anyone have some suggestions for truly unique/interesting starts?

[AC Denton]

I feel the same sometimes so I like to change things up with a mod playthrough sometimes.

My favourite of Princes of Darkness, set in the Vampire the Masquerade / World of Darkness.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2216659254
You're undead so don't die of old age, but there's a lot more murdering, diablerizing etc and other ways to die.

Lord of the Rings is also pretty cool
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2291024373

Fallen Eagle (Ancient Rome) is awesome too
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2243307127

I also recommend Asia Expansion & Shogunate mods for playing in Asia / Japan
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2706635752

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2253278582

[spasti696969]

Great Moravia. Such a fun area right on the border of Christianity and the Russian tribal region. Absolutely wild in the 867 start with brutal warfare and raiding.

[Grunaldi]

Start as some Polish Count and try to "unite all slavs" .
Polish culture is quite weak and u will be surrounded on all sides with stronger opponents . A lot of small goals before the big decision like : form Kingdom , reform faith, build hall of heroes , go feudal , make ur culture not a total poo poo or make it even more poo poo.

Start as Erik the Heathen in 1066 the last Asatru viking and try to spread it all over the world again.
Age of Vikings is almost gone , u are under a Christian ruler, no1 likes you and u are Feudal and that's something new for a viking .
good times

[spasti696969]

Originally posted by Grunaldi:

Start as Erik the Heathen in 1066 the last Asatru viking and try to spread it all over the world again.
Age of Vikings is almost gone , u are under a Christian ruler, no1 likes you and u are Feudal and that's something new for a viking .
good times

Feudal Asatru is so busted, I love it. Raiding for gold and building up cities is just so great.

[vortex_13]

Try a mines of Mali run. Or the islands off the coast of Africa. They have some fun mechanics.

[Twelvefield]

Any of those starts where the Norse have travelled about as far south into Eastern Europe as they could go are really interesting: it's the beginning of the Rus nation and you're caught between Norse paganism and Christian Orthodoxy. Oooh, and also the Moors if you're lucky.

Unfortunately, this (like India) is one of those places that get the most generic game assets, but in terms of things to do this (like India) has some of the most interesting things to do.

I like India as a start. Unifying the place is satisfying. The farther south you start, the easier it is to dominate, if that's what you want. The Mongol invasion is not really a threat, though, they just sweep right over you.

[ZoroTheBold]

The Moravia and Poland start ideas are really interesting I'll go for those next! I'll also try the norse travel far south and east start! Thank you all for the suggestions!

[spasti696969]

Dyre the Stranger in Kyiv. He's a genius Asatru deep in Slavic lands. One of the most interesting characters on the board in my opinion. He's related to Bjorn Ironside.

[AC Denton]

Originally posted by spasti696969:

Dyre the Stranger in Kyiv. He's a genius Asatru deep in Slavic lands. One of the most interesting characters on the board in my opinion. He's related to Bjorn Ironside.

I gotta try this

[dwarfpcfan]

start as the lone Han chinese duke and prevent the great khan from ever appearing by conquering the stepped nomads

[ZoroTheBold]

Originally posted by dwarfpcfan:

start as the lone Han chinese duke and prevent the great khan from ever appearing by conquering the stepped nomads

I might try that I have a few mods that expand on the Han as well as other cultures so that might be really really fun!

[Twelvefield]

Originally posted by spasti696969:

Dyre the Stranger in Kyiv. He's a genius Asatru deep in Slavic lands. One of the most interesting characters on the board in my opinion. He's related to Bjorn Ironside.

That's the thing: there's these heavy-duty Norse explorers that made it all that way, mostly for trade. However, they got cut off for various reasons, mostly simple overextension, and ended up either trying to establish their own land or else succumbing to the local culture which in turn gets pulled apart by Orthodox and Catholic influences, invaded by the Muslims, and then reformed into at least two major Slavic nations, all of which ends up echoing world events today.

[Miffology]

My recent one was rebuilding the Persian Empire as a descendent of the Sassanid dynasty, (Bavanidid? can't remember spelling, cadet family) Never once changed faith which is fun because you're surrounded by hostile faiths including the Arabian empire, actually surprised there isn't a achi for this because it's pretty difficult and you have to be aggressive early on, he's located in modern day Iran, south coast of caspian sea as a count under a Muslim ruler. (daylamite kingdom area)