So... my Crusader Kings 2 habit got a bit out of hand. In about 2 months it went from my least played game, to my most played game, with over double the playtime if my second most played game, Dark Souls. This has meant that I now have a greater understanding of the mechanics of the game, and am more equipped to talk about them. This post will contain some of the things I have learned over this time:
1) Higher Crown authority is not the end of the world.
Kingdoms and Empires in Crusader Kings have a law that can be changed by the ruling monarch that basically determines how independent the vassals of the empire are. On medium crown authority and higher vassals cannot fight amongst themselves, making expansion within a kingdom hard. Originally I thought this level of authority was boring, and tended to end my games if i didn't achieve independence before that level was reached. Now I realize that it can be the most fun setting, as you have to expand outside the kingdom via military force, and use intrigue and cunning to expand within, setting yourself up as 3rd or 4th in line and then assassinating those higher in the line of succession.
2)There are more ways to expand than just fabricating claims or holy warring.
Originally I used this long and, to be honest, fairly boring method of gaining territory, and when I didn't I used holy wars which are risky and tend to wind up with you losing. Now I know that there are many other ways to gain claims, such as my personal favorite: Marrying your son to the third child of a nearby independent Duke. When the duke dies, your daughter-in-law will have a strong claim on the Duchy, which you can push, installing her as an independent Duchess. When she dies, your son and heir will inherit her Duchy, as well as your lands, expanding them out and giving you a large power increase.
3)Independence is overrated
Sure, it might be easy to get powerful, then declare independence and win the resulting war against your liege. But where is the fun in that? it is much more fun to set yourself up as the power behind the throne, working in the background. Sure, you have less actual power, but if the king ever does something to displease you, you can just depose him and set his son on the throne. Do this enough times, and eventually they will get the message.
On reflection, after 247 hours Crusader Kings is even deeper than I first thought. There are many mechanics that I still had not learned when I wrote my initial review, and there are still chunks of the game I have not experienced yet, such as playing as a republic. All in all, I very much recommend Crusader Kings 2, and would list it as one of my favorite games.
