[Beginner] Good smaller places to start eaither 1066 or 867

[Jake]

So ive basically just started playing ck3 and its my first ck game so i'm not very familiar with the concepts, i'm still learning everything and i'm having a blast doing so, so far i love the game to death even though i don't have much of a clue what i am doing.

i was wondering what would be a god place to start thats not too big, maybe a county or dutchy, despite a larger kingdom will probably be easier however i wanna start small then grow big if you know what i mean. Whether they are independent or within a kingdom i dont really mind just somewhere fun.

Thanks :)

[The Former]

Ireland's usually the suggested start, but I always like to start as an earl in a bigger kingdom so I have time to get my bearings. Your liege will protect you because no one outside your upper realm (beware rivals within!) can take your land without winning a war against your highest liege.

To that end, maybe somewhere at the edge of the Byzantine empire, or possibly in western France 867. Either should offer a really strong top liege to protect you while you get your feet wet.

[toutvabien]

Bohemia, Flanders, Tuscany, Burgundy, Anjou, Sardinia, Cyprus, Ireland, Castille, Navarra and so long.

[Abacus]

Be a count. Or King, just play like you will restart in a few hours. Better to learn then actually start to get somewhere, then hit a wall of advanced mechanics.

Being feudal will be the safest as anyone in the kingdom would have to have casus belli ( a cause for war.) to try to take your titles. Levies and Taxes are based on feudal contracts.

In a clan you are a leader of said clan. Traditionally you would want everyone in leadership to be a family member. Taxes and levies are based on their opinion of you.


In tribal, you are essentially an centralized group of tribal clans. That agrees on the leader (the strongest.) Taxes and levies are through your fame level. Since tribal are a loosely knit group vying for power. They can pretty much attack each other despite having a liege.


There are two types of landed characters (you always play a landed character.) Independent and under a Liege.

Being independent leaves you to the wolfs and it's better to know the game a little. As you can be even an independent count, but you need to know the politics to survive.

[VoiD]

In CK2 I'd suggest Ireland but in CK3 I'd go against that idea, you'll have to deal with a lot of viking raiders and that can get really annoying.

Pick any random count within a big european empire surrounded by other catholic (or orthodox) rulers, they tend to be the most stable, and the least aggressive places.

If you want to expand freely take a count or duke under a king or emperor closer to religious enemies, so you can just go nutts through holy wars.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Lockfågel, Paradoxriddaren:

Ireland's usually the suggested start, but I always like to start as an earl in a bigger kingdom so I have time to get my bearings. Your liege will protect you because no one outside your upper realm (beware rivals within!) can take your land without winning a war against your highest liege.

To that end, maybe somewhere at the edge of the Byzantine empire, or possibly in western France 867. Either should offer a really strong top liege to protect you while you get your feet wet.

Thanks man i will be sure to give it a go! I appreciate the feedback :)

[Jake]

Originally posted by Simply B:

Be a count. Or King, just play like you will restart in a few hours. Better to learn then actually start to get somewhere, then hit a wall of advanced mechanics.

Being feudal will be the safest as anyone in the kingdom would have to have casus belli ( a cause for war.) to try to take your titles. Levies and Taxes are based on feudal contracts.

In a clan you are a leader of said clan. Traditionally you would want everyone in leadership to be a family member. Taxes and levies are based on their opinion of you.


In tribal, you are essentially an centralized group of tribal clans. That agrees on the leader (the strongest.) Taxes and levies are through your fame level. Since tribal are a loosely knit group vying for power. They can pretty much attack each other despite having a liege.


There are two types of landed characters (you always play a landed character.) Independent and under a Liege.

Being independent leaves you to the wolfs and it's better to know the game a little. As you can be even an independent count, but you need to know the politics to survive.

Thanks for the useful information, it really helps alot! Much appreciated :)

[The Former]

By the way, earl = count. I've been playing in England so long I just used it as second nature lol. Earl is England's title for count.

[Harris]

I like to start as Rurik in 867. Super rich in terms of what you can do.

You're a duke but got enough titles to form a (small) kingdom right away, or you can conquer 10 or more nearby russian duchies and bind them together through a Found New Kingdom decision. Or you can go for Kyiv and Found Capital of the Rus there. Or you can conquer a one-county duchy of Visby which is part of Sweden and contend for Swedish crown and eventually empire of Scandinavia. Or you can join other vikings and go for England. Or maybe France and become Norman. Or go for gold mines in Germany.

Vikings are always fun to play because you got two additional legacies options, which buff very different playstyles from straight up warfare to diplomacy to seduction, varangian adventure CB allowing you to grab whatever duchy on the map you want, and last but not least malleable invaders tradition, allowing you to make a hybrid between an already strong Norse culture and anything else - Welsh for longbowmen, Polish for konni, Greek for castration are all solid and fun choices.

[Jake]

Originally posted by Lockfågel, Paradoxriddaren:

By the way, earl = count. I've been playing in England so long I just used it as second nature lol. Earl is England's title for count.

yeah ive noticed that when playing as ireland that they're called earls, makes sense

[Jake]

Originally posted by Harris:

I like to start as Rurik in 867. Super rich in terms of what you can do.

You're a duke but got enough titles to form a (small) kingdom right away, or you can conquer 10 or more nearby russian duchies and bind them together through a Found New Kingdom decision. Or you can go for Kyiv and Found Capital of the Rus there. Or you can conquer a one-county duchy of Visby which is part of Sweden and contend for Swedish crown and eventually empire of Scandinavia. Or you can join other vikings and go for England. Or maybe France and become Norman. Or go for gold mines in Germany.

Vikings are always fun to play because you got two additional legacies options, which buff very different playstyles from straight up warfare to diplomacy to seduction, varangian adventure CB allowing you to grab whatever duchy on the map you want, and last but not least malleable invaders tradition, allowing you to make a hybrid between an already strong Norse culture and anything else - Welsh for longbowmen, Polish for konni, Greek for castration are all solid and fun choices.

sounds very fun, ive heard alot about vikings but never thought to really play them because i was unsure how the properly worked, really useful information thank you!

[VipreRX]

867 County of Santiago in Iberia, County of Langres in France
1066 County of Eu in Normandy, County of Mâcon or Langres in France

Aside from Galicia which can snowball quickly the other three are super slow super chill starts. If you want you can sit back for a couple generations and just explore your options and the game interface. Build up for a while under the general protection of a larger kingdom, accept invites to events, no need to worry about managing a ton of vassals.

Edit: Two minor corrections, first it's specifically the Count of Santiago in 867 rather than "Galicia" though the first goal is forming the Duchy of Galicia, second in 1066 either Langres OR Mâcon are good. Mâcon is ruled by an 11 year old so right off you get to play with the new Regency stuff.

[Theandal]

867 Thaton duchy in bottom right corner of map.
You are feudal and everyone nearby are pacifists so you won't get raided.
I think it's a great spot for beginners to learn.

[Jake]

Originally posted by VipreRX:

867 Galicia in Iberia, County of Langres in France
1066 County of Eu in Normandy, County of Mâcon in France

Aside from Galicia which can snowball quickly the other three are super slow super chill starts. If you want you can sit back for a couple generations and just explore your options and the game interface. Build up for a while under the general protection of a larger kingdom, accept invites to events, no need to worry about managing a ton of vassals.

yeah that sounds nice, i love the events, especially the hunting one. ill give it a try thank you :)

[Jake]

Originally posted by Theandal:

867 Thaton duchy in bottom right corner of map.
You are feudal and everyone nearby are pacifists so you won't get raided.
I think it's a great spot for beginners to learn.

Interesing, ill have a look at it, thank you :)

[spasti696969]

I like Great Moravia. It's right next to Bohemia which is a really strong duchy, and it's right on the border of the Russian tribal region. So you get a lot of interplay between the feudal and tribal dynamic. When you start one of his powerful vassals is a feudal Christian and the other vassal is a tribal feudal. But they're all related too, so you can really see the spread of Christianity in the region happening first hand.