2. Strategic Overview

Welcome back to the Welf Chronicles

In this Crusader Kings 2 chronicle, we are following the exploits of Count Konrad Welf of Troyes and his descendants.

Last time (1. Introduction), we introduced the realm and characters of the County of Troyes. This time, we will talk more about early decisions and strategy going forward.

Since both me and my brothers had yet to wed and the court included many an unmarried man, i made it my ambition to get married, and a great procession was sent out across Europe to locate suitable spouses.

Across the entire Karling empire, very few noble families had daughters of marriable age. No great alliances seemed possible, but that was when we started to look to the lower classes.

One of the problems with starting in 867 is that most of the characters are auto-generated and that very few noble families are fully populated, often only with the title holder, as is my case. Historically, this would not be very likely in this age, but that is the condition of the game.

On the island of Ireland, I heard rumors of new texts appearing in a cathedral library, and the clergy discovering that the texts were written by a young scullery maid, who had apparantly learned to read and write by herself. Despite being evicted from the town, she now awkwardly stays at the local Earl, tutoring his children. Upon travelling to Ireland and meeting the woman, I decided that she would become my new Countess.

My coming wife

Her name is Ben-Muman, and apart from her obvious Charm, her sense of Justice, her Patience (matching my own) and her Gregarious nature, she clearly possesses an incredible intellect, which will serve me and my county well. Her only flaw is an inherent Sloth, if she is unable to do what she wants.

Our hopefully coming wife was clearly the best of the female 16 year old courtiers in the Cristian world, with Just, Gregarious and Patient and of course Genius. I personally value Strong slightly over Genius, but both are hereditary traits that you really want in your family. The fact that she is Celtic, the hottest culture group in terms of character portraits, is just a bonus.

For Rupert the Younger, a young woman names Héloise was found in northern Italy. Despite her almost complete lack of a formal education, she was seemingly managing the affairs of a merchant family all on her own, in addition to tutoring the heir of the local count.

My status was not such that I could convince any woman to marry brother Monk.

Well, that is what you get with a vow of celibacy, you dunce.

Folkhard the Steward, being a commoner, was initially not part of the marriage scheme, but returned from the Byzantine holdings in sourthern Italy with a request to marry a 'magnificent' woman he had found there. Apparantly, this Zealous woman, named Anthe, would patrol the streets of her village and beat anyone found not reverent enough to her Orthodox beliefs. Her Strength was so great that trained mercenaries would have a hard time fighting her off. Despite her seemingly Zealous Orthodoxy, she (or more likely the local nobility) was Content to marry this foreign Frank.

Anthe was the only Strong unmarried woman i could find in Christendom, and dispite the potential religious issues, Strong is just too good not to have in your court. Content also offsets the penalty from Zealous.

A couple of Beauties also caught the attention of a couple of my lesser courtiers and they also decided to bring them home to Troyes.

Attractive is the least important hereditary trait, but it is good in that it stacks with both Genius and Strong, and since i have the 'excess' courtiers, i might as well bring them to my own court.

With the familial situation settled for now, my thoughts turned to managing my lands and planning my future.

Given my location and (future) good work, it seemed obvious in my mind that a new duchy ought to be created for me.

Troyes and Sens are two of the three counties that make up the de jure Duchy of Champagne, and since i fulfill the requirements to make it, that will be my goal.

My final task before setting out for this great journey is to hold the first meeting with my council and decide a course of action for each member.

The Spymaster Erich had heard of the magnificence of the great Eastern Roman Empire and volunteered to head to the Queen of Cities, Constantinople, to study their achievements.

My chancellor Ehrenfried had heard rumors that the border between Troyes and Dijon had not been set correctly and set to work scouring the archives for proof.

Creating the duchy of Champagne is going to take some time, so we are setting this backup plan in motion to increase our claims.

Folkhard, my loyal Steward, immediately sets to work digging more of his wonderous bags of gold out of the countryside of Troyes.

Marshal Guntram goes out to yell more at the troops. They can never have enough yelling.

Finally, when everyone else has left, I agree with brother Rupert that Bishop Ehrenfried prehaps need some assurance of my noble and devout intentions. Purely coincidental, this might convince him to send some of his tithes to my coffers, instead of taking the trouble to ship it all the way to Rome.



And with that, we are ready to start the game. Next time, the glorious beginning of Count Konrad of Troyes. Now available: 3. The First Year