How to conquer lands

[MrApocalyptic]

Anyone knows? I do not start as a king I want to start as a Earl, anyone got a clue what I should do? Oh and how to get more vassals as I start at 0 and I don't have that good a income :D

[Finnway]

It'd be helpful to know who you're playing as.

[Oblivion]

yea, u say earl so if ur in Britain then play as someone else, catholics dont have good cbs on eachother unless you have good realations with da pope, in which case ask him for a invasion on someone

[MrApocalyptic]

I am playing as this guy on the island that is called easy island ( Ireland bottom of it ) There is this guy with a massive beard :D I play as him.

[battlecattle]

You'll need a cassus belli to declare war, particularly one that will press a claim on that county. You can get pressable claims either through marriage and reproduction, inviting folks with claims to your court (make them a landed vassal if you want them to stay your subject after you press the claim), or have your chancellor fabricate a claim.

[Optimus Princeps]

Originally posted by Tritega:

I am playing as this guy on the island that is called easy island ( Ireland bottom of it ) There is this guy with a massive beard :D I play as him.

Have your administrator fabricate a claim on a county near you and then declare war to claim those lands. I would recommend getting some allies as well or saving up enough prestige/ money to hire a tribal army of mercenarys when you declare the war.

[AgentEv2]

Just a suggestion, or at least what I have done, is once you are the king of Ireland (by fabricating claims with your chancellor) start inviting courtiers with claims to duchies/petty kingdoms in Britannia or Wales. Just make sure before you press their claims that you've given them land so that they don't become independent. Soon you'll have a bunch of land under you but be careful with this strategy because you start to get really weak and your vassals start to get really strong so make sure to take time to really centralize and re-distribute land here and there. Once you've got Wales, Ireland, and England (for the most part) taking Scotland should be easy. This is if you want to become emperor of Brittania.

[MrApocalyptic]

I kinda want to claim Ireland and then further but Ireland first, I just bought the game today so. I also have tried to assasinate a king so my guy could marry the wife of the former king that I killed so I might have more land. Anyway how does this claim land thingy work :D

[AgentEv2]

So if you select a landowner, under them they will have "Titles:" select the title you're trying to get and once selected you'll see a box labeled "claimants." There may be no claimants and the box is greyed out but more often there will be claimants and there will be a list. Sometimes claimants will be willing to come to you and give you a casus belli if you invite them to your court. It's also worth noting that there are weak claims/strong claims. Weak claims are only valid casus belli on children(under 16) whereas strong claims work whenever. That's what I was refering to before. This strategy works with trying to take petty kingdoms or duchies.

For claiming Ireland alone though that method won't work really. Instead you will have to use your chancellor to fabricate claims. If he has 16 diplomacy for example he has a 16% chance of fabricating a claim for you. You need a claim to delare war and take land. Once you have a majority of Irish counties under your control you can form the Irish kingdom.

This may be helpful: http://www.ckiiwiki.com/Claims

I hope I've been helpful mate. (Sorry if I'm trying to hold your hand too much I don't know how much you know or don't know. You said you got the game today so)

[MrApocalyptic]

Yea, game is quite hard to understand at first. So to summarize, if I marry let's say the queen of England can I go in war or something?

[AgentEv2]

Well if you select her and under her it is labeled "Claims" and if one of the claims is on England, yes. Are you playing in 1066?

[MrApocalyptic]

Yes I am at 1066 :)

[battlecattle]

Oh yeah, and you can get de jure claims on counties that are part of de jure duchies if you hold most counties in that duchy and have claimed the duke title.

[zgrssd]

The most important part is having a Casus Bellus to go to war.
The best source for those are De Jure Duchies/Kingdoms/Empires. Hold at least half. Create the title. And then just press your claim, Province by Province, Duchy by Duchy, Kingdom by Kingdom.

Fabrcating claims is a close second. But it can take literal years to bring sucess. But it is the only way to get a "foothold" in a De Jure area.

Don't use Holy War unless you really mean it. It becomes a "free for all" slugfest, everyone will want a slice of the cake, even arch foes will fight infidels together.
And making peace in a HW you started is VERY costly.

When invading a De Jure area there is also a pretty decent chance that people holding the rest of the De Jure will interefere, ally or not. After all you are just trying to get into an area that they are in too. They understand what you are doing and that they propably will be next. Try to placate them/ally them via a aranged marriage beforehand. Get the rest the next generation.

Also use Mercenaries in your armies. Save up enough money for those.