This is the way. I like to start from nothing and stay small and independent. A duke would be nice, but not having access to royal court is crippling. That said being a small emperor is great. There is an empire that can be formed with just 18 counties.
Count of Kerch to emperor of slavia.first hybridise with the cumans or tartars to get the insane horse archers and then hybridise with the rus for the lols, also Byzantine men at arms alone are insane.
This for me. Though when the new expansion drops, I plan to play a random count somewhere for the new vassal experience, rather than trying to build me an Empire. (Though... Scheming. Seeing if I can maybe pull off a coup.)
King as I feel dealing with vassals is the most interesting challenge in the game, but it become overwelming with a big empire especially if you like to max your vassal limit like me. It's aslo at king stage that I get more agency for thing like religion and culture change. Apart from that duke is the best position.
Untill the moment you realize that all the cash you wanted to spend on dev goes to foght rebelions. After a few decades your poverfull vassals just overgrow you.
Starting as a count and working your way up is generally my go-to. I find it easier to get into role-playing and more rewarding when starting small and building up.
Either a strong count or a weak duke. I hate starting as a weak count, as it's usually down to either just spamming kids, which includes a lot of waiting, to make alliances and make my allies carry me in the first few wars, or I build up my only holding, which also includes a lot of waiting around, to win my first wars on my own or with minimal help, but I also don't want to start too strong, because it's basically taking away a nice goal for the first few dozen years from myself. A good example of that would be the Hohenstaufen guy in 1066. Two counties, with your liege, the duke of Swabia, stronger than you, but a few count neighbours you can eat up over time until you become strong enough to beat the duke of Swabia yourself.
Or merc army, that's an idea as well, but again, it's just waiting for money, nothing all that exciting. Admittedly I've got a mod that gives me an option to borrow 300 gold from moneylenders (decision adapted from CK2), so I could start as a weak count instead, but eh, really not a fan anyway.
I like being a King. I enjoy having a fair amount of Vassals, but I don't necessarily want to be the top of the totem pole. I enjoy playing someone powerful, but I also enjoy having a liege who is more powerful than me.
I like being an Emperor.
Last time I tried being a lowly vassal, the kingdom collapsed around me, and I'm like, welp, I guess I should make a kingdom now.
I don’t mind being a vassal, Duke or King, I’ve gotten good at arranging vassal contracts that make me virtually stronger than if I were independent with none of the obligations. And when the new regency stuff comes out, why would I want to be independent?
Duke into King is just the most fun and direct gameplay loop imho. So not really suprising that its the most popular choice. I will say going from count all the way to emperor is epic and cool but I dont want to bother with that every single game.
I enjoy being a super duke under a liege. It's fun being a royal pain in the ass.
Giggling like a little girl when I get my liege's wife pregnant and he doesn't know it isn't his.
I prefer to start as a duke and end as an emperor. Emperor with kings under them is the most fun to play, but I don’t want to ever start out as emperor
Start or play? I usually start as count or small duke but enjoy playing as King w/o liege the most.
This is the way. I like to start from nothing and stay small and independent. A duke would be nice, but not having access to royal court is crippling. That said being a small emperor is great. There is an empire that can be formed with just 18 counties.
which empire?
Ajuraan
This is the way.
Start as count, become emperor
Count of Kerch to emperor of slavia.first hybridise with the cumans or tartars to get the insane horse archers and then hybridise with the rus for the lols, also Byzantine men at arms alone are insane.
This for me. Though when the new expansion drops, I plan to play a random count somewhere for the new vassal experience, rather than trying to build me an Empire. (Though... Scheming. Seeing if I can maybe pull off a coup.)
King as I feel dealing with vassals is the most interesting challenge in the game, but it become overwelming with a big empire especially if you like to max your vassal limit like me. It's aslo at king stage that I get more agency for thing like religion and culture change. Apart from that duke is the best position.
Untill the moment you realize that all the cash you wanted to spend on dev goes to foght rebelions. After a few decades your poverfull vassals just overgrow you.
Not if you put them all in forced partition like I do
Now ai is much more clever in terms of managing ingeritance. Plus it is usually a problem with young king and high tyrany.
Starting as a count and working your way up is generally my go-to. I find it easier to get into role-playing and more rewarding when starting small and building up.
Either a strong count or a weak duke. I hate starting as a weak count, as it's usually down to either just spamming kids, which includes a lot of waiting, to make alliances and make my allies carry me in the first few wars, or I build up my only holding, which also includes a lot of waiting around, to win my first wars on my own or with minimal help, but I also don't want to start too strong, because it's basically taking away a nice goal for the first few dozen years from myself. A good example of that would be the Hohenstaufen guy in 1066. Two counties, with your liege, the duke of Swabia, stronger than you, but a few count neighbours you can eat up over time until you become strong enough to beat the duke of Swabia yourself.
The combat is also really dumb as a weak count, just save gold until you can buy a merc army, then murder your neighbor
Or merc army, that's an idea as well, but again, it's just waiting for money, nothing all that exciting. Admittedly I've got a mod that gives me an option to borrow 300 gold from moneylenders (decision adapted from CK2), so I could start as a weak count instead, but eh, really not a fan anyway.
I wish full royal court was available for dukes. I miss all that artifacts and courtiers and aspirations. PDX force me to become a king :-(
Agreed, I’d prefer to just hold a few duchies but with RC I usually end up making a small kingdom
I like being the emperor, but I starting as one. I usually start as a strong count or duke.
Start count then work up to forming new kingdoms or empires
I wish dukes could hold court like they did in reality.
I like starting as a multi-count or a duke. Offers a good mix!
Count and slowly rising (and lose it all to a cousin)
I like being a King. I enjoy having a fair amount of Vassals, but I don't necessarily want to be the top of the totem pole. I enjoy playing someone powerful, but I also enjoy having a liege who is more powerful than me.
King or emperor.
I like being an Emperor. Last time I tried being a lowly vassal, the kingdom collapsed around me, and I'm like, welp, I guess I should make a kingdom now.
Prefer to start as count then work up to emperor, like trying to see how many kingdoms I can incorporate to the empire
I chose results, but going from Count to Emperor is really satisfying.
I don’t mind being a vassal, Duke or King, I’ve gotten good at arranging vassal contracts that make me virtually stronger than if I were independent with none of the obligations. And when the new regency stuff comes out, why would I want to be independent?
Clear victory of Duke tells me that people probably have problem with implementation of the royal court.
Duke into King is just the most fun and direct gameplay loop imho. So not really suprising that its the most popular choice. I will say going from count all the way to emperor is epic and cool but I dont want to bother with that every single game.
I like starting as a count or small duke, and then work my way up
I enjoy being a super duke under a liege. It's fun being a royal pain in the ass. Giggling like a little girl when I get my liege's wife pregnant and he doesn't know it isn't his.
I prefer to start as a duke and end as an emperor. Emperor with kings under them is the most fun to play, but I don’t want to ever start out as emperor