well, it finally arrived....12 days after direct ordering from Paradox games....from Sweden....
and the wait was ABSOLUTELY worth it. AWESOME GAME!!!!
I started finally playing it last night, at around 6:30-7:00 pm....and finally went to bed at 4:30 this morning....and even then, had to FORCE myself to shut the game off and go. It is a rare game that causes me to stay up and play it for nearly 10 hours.
This game is quite different from the other Paradox game i have played, EU2. In EU2, you basically control the nation, you play as the "grey emminence" behind the throne. In CK, you play as the count, duke, or king, whichever one you start the game as. And there are quite a few to choose from. The goal of the game is to survive, keep your family name alive through male heirs. Along the way, you "stumble" upon new technology, assassinate rivals, claim thrones, and duke it out on the battlefield.
There is just so much in this game that i really enjoy. The technology race (and spread) is really different than most other games. Well, ok, any other game I have played. You choose 1 area of tech from 3 differnt types (military, cultural, economy). Your capital is where the research takes place. There is no set amount of time it will take to research something....but once you do, it is only available in the counties (provinces) that konw that technology. How does your other counties benefit from the new tech? It has to "spread" to the other counties. In other words, lets say I discover Chain Leather in the military advances. At that moment, only my capital county has knowledge of it. After a while, that advance will spread throughout my territory. Now, also, Chain Leather will spread into neighboring lands also. I have in my current game, discovered stone pit mining because a neighbor actaully discovered it, and the word of the advance travelled into my territories. This shows the way technology was just sorta "found" during the time period. Like I said, you "research" one area from the 3 types of advances at the same time.....so, you will be able to advance in the 3 areas at the same time.
Assassination is a fun little tool to use, also. In my current game, I started out as the Duke of Lancaster in 1066. My brother was the Duke of Cumberland. I noticed he didn't have any male heirs that were of age, so, I assassinated him, and took his land through inheritance that way. Too bad that my assassin was discovered, which caused my prestige to drop, put me on bad terms with the church. Oh, and I became known as a "kinslayer". So, even though I took those other lands, the church didn't care much for me, the folks around me, the neighboring dukes, counts, and kings, didn't really care for me, and my own children and wife didn't want to be around me too much.
Also, in my current game, I started out with only 4 provinces (I believe, it was either 4 or 5, but pretty sure it was 4). By the time Edwin (my original Duke) died in 1082 of old age (he was 56 yrs. old), I had secured the title Duke of Cumberland, and had wrested control of 8 provinces, which I had given to my oldest son, Estmond. Estmond rose to the title of Duke when Edwin died, and quickly moved into position to lay claim to the title, Duke of York. I "grabbed" the titles Count of Lincoln and Count of Liecester, and then moved in for War. I was able to take over Lincoln, and became Count of Lincoln. But my leige, William King of England (William the Conqueror), made his way to Leicester, and took over the seige. When Leicester was finally captured, William took the county as his own. During the time I was seiging Lincoln, William also took over Durham and Norfolk. This gave him at least 66% of the duchy, and he took the title Duke of York (the very title I was aiming for myself). That was when i finally tore myself away from the game to go to bed....
Wow....just an awesome and fun game....