Interesting Game Starts?

[Michael]

Speaking of interesting game characters...

I continued playing the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the 9th century (from the Alfred Walkthrough) and had a granddaughter of Alfred named Elizabeth. I married her to the 22yo King of Scotland because that seemed like a good alliance. Well, a male child was born and then the king subsequently died, so I had my widow 17yo princess/daughter back in my court.

The 20yo King of Aragon wanted to marry her, so I said okay, since Aquitaine was also a pretty good alliance to have. Well, they had one male child and the king subsequently died, so I had my twice widowed 20yo princess/daughter back in my court.

Then the 19yo King of Italy asked for her hand in marriage. Going with the flow, I said okay. Sure enough, after the birth of a son, the young king of Italy died afterwards, making my daughter a widow (Dowager Queen) again - with three dead kings as ex-husbands - and Queen Mother to all three kingdoms.

Well, that was just the beginning. My daughter didn't return to my court but stayed in Italy. The regents there decided to marry her off to the middle-aged King of Bavaria who already had five daughters. Well, sure enough, they have one male child followed by the death of the king. The regents of Bavaria then married (four times widow) 28yo Princess Elizabeth off to the King of Bohemia, where Elizabeth and the King of Bohemia lived happily ever after.

So the good Princess Elizabeth, daughter of the King Arthur the Great of England, had five husbands in her life, all of them kings, and each one ruling a different kingdom (and all died natural deaths). She was also the Queen Mother of Scotland, Aquitaine, Italy and Bavaria. Rather impressive life for an Anglo-Saxon princess.

[Michael]

So far, my ultimate player-ruler has to be Emperor Arthur the Lion of Britain. He reigned 1187-1234 in the game, the 6th ruler of the Normandie dynasty beginning with William the Conqueror.

Arthur the Lion was a True Christian Knight, married a princess of the HRE, had 10 legitimate children and won the 3rd Crusade for Jerusalem - where "songs were sung of his battles". He had a martial stat around 25 (brilliant strategist and inspirational leader of course). I used him as my main army general for every single battle/war fought throughout his reign. He was thrice-scarred in the process.

He was king of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Jerusalem and Andalusia, as well as Emperor of Britain. His son and heir was married to the Queen of France, so grandson would inherit that crown as well. He had over 16,000 presitige and over 6,000 piety at his death, after a reign of 47 years. His final score was over 22,000 - the highest I've gotten for any ruler in the game.

I played this Normandie dynasty through from the conquest of England right through to 1453 end date - 148,000 score.

By 1453 our royal crown collection included: England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Jerusalem, Andalusia, France, Aquitaine, Burgundy, Navarre and Castile. The Kings of Aragon and Leon were vassal kings. Eleven royal crowns held plus three imperial titles: Britannia, Francia & Hispania!

I'm glad I got that "crown-collecting" game finished because the new patch/version 2.2 seems designed to prevent 'crown-collecting' as a game strategy!