Crusader Kings 2: Game of Thrones mod - "Our Blades are Sharp"

Welcome to my Let's Play of Crusader Kings 2 and the Game of Thrones mod. I will be playing as Roose Bolton at a time starting in year 282 - when the war against the Mad King Aerys II has just begun. My goal? To see the Flayed Man hanging over the gates and towers of King's Landing! Winter may be Coming, but Our Blades are Sharp!

Game Start
War has begun! The Starks, Baratheons and their allies seek to depose Mad King Aerys. In the north, our troops have not yet been raised and the High Lordship (duchy, in normal CK2) sits securely in our grip. It is comprised of four Lordships (counties). We control two, the Dreadfort itself and the Sheepshead Hills. The Lonely Hills and the coastal province of Overton are controlled by loyal vassals. I happen to be in line to control the Lonely Hills and the current loyal vassal has no heirs or wife... hmmmm.




Here's the family



I have two sons, Domeric and the bastard Ramsay Snow. I can't say I much fancy this Ramsay kid - he's kind! And I don't much fancy his mother - she's rude!

She is, however, first in line for the High Lordship of The Rills. Should her father have an accident...

Oh my GOD I had no idea this mod was a thing

I am so happy, you do not even know

First things first. The Lonely Hills. The greedy Lord Whitred of the Lonely Hills must be dealt with. We need his lands. A plot is formed and instantly has a very high chance of success. Interesting. For fun, let's add more people to the plot to guarantee his success. Although I can't get anyone to join the plot, I take a stab anyway. Haha. Get it? Stab! I flay me!

Well, first of all - our Castelan and Master of Coin oversee production and construction in the Dreadfort while the Master at Arms overseas military research. My Master of Whisperers heads to the Lonely Hills to see if they can assist with the plot before we send in the assassin. The Master of Laws is sent to Winterfell to improve relations with the Starks. Yes, in time.. in time...

I also change the laws to Agnatic Gavelkind so only my sons will divide the lands between them, should I have any more. In due course I wish to secure my position even further with more changes to the laws, but they will have to wait for now.

I also send for a Maester to help administer my lands. (And with that, I unpause).

And what do you know, the Grand Maesters have sent me A LEPPER! Do they think that's funny? He is basically useless at everything except being a Maester. Which is handy, I suppose. I set him to educating the children in the Dreadfort.



In early October troops are raised and Stark sends them, and me south, to battle.

While I'm gone I figure is a good, albeit risky, time to complete my plot. Fifty coins in the right hands and success, we are now the Lord of the Lonely Hills as well! Our Whisperer is returned to watch the secret ways of the Dreadfort.

With this wonderful success in place it would perhaps be a good idea to hurry along developments in The Rills. I plot to kill High Lord Roderick, but unfortunately no one really wants to join on my scheme. His High Whisperer may if we can, perhaps, sweeten him to our cause. I order a gift of twenty gold coins sent to him to encourage him to consider the immediacy of my wife's claim.

Despite my gift, and even marriage to one of my courtiers (who, lets be honest, was quite an awful woman and past her best childbearing years), and despite a favourable outlook in relations with Lord Rorge, we can not convince him to join the plot. The Rills will have to wait, perhaps when my Council finish their current tasks I can send someone over to the Rills to stir things up a little among Roderick's people.

In April '83 I send in the Master of Whisperers and Master of Laws to sow dissent and form plots in The Rills. Perhaps.. with time.. people will see things my way. Meanwhile, war continues but with few battles near the north. Neither side appears close to winning.

In August, the first plotter joins the scheme, the Mayor of Coldbrookw in The Rills. It's only a small boost to the likely success, but time... time will tell.

As '84 rolls around the war is starting to go badly. We're not making progress, although I am leading a large force south into the Riverlands. My oldest son comes of age for tutoring and I order him to my side to learn the arts of war. Might as well start young!

But in other news, Rorge joins the plot! As you can see, it seems he has started to dislike his liege! (In the background of this shot you can see the diplomatic relations of King Aerys - he's at war with the north and the Riverlands and the Stormlands but at peace with everyone else, or they are his ally).

In June I pick up a wound in battle near King's Landing. Curses! Also, my tiresome firstborn is turning into a suborn boy! I elect to not spend any money whatsoever on his education.



In other news my wife has given birth to a daughter... with a harelip. The gods have cursed me! And my wife is to blame, I am convinced! Did I mention that I've ordered a castle town built near the Dreadfort? We need more trade and more income to support our ambitions. A town will help that.

In November the town is built and we have enough money for a certain, stabby person to do some stabbing.

And indeed, our Blades are Sharp!



My wife rude, deceitful and proud wife heads off to take over the responsibilities her father so untimely left behind. What a terrible and sad turn of events for her!

Naturally, the first thing that my mind turns to is assassinating my wife. While contemplating the idea three lords step forward to suggest the same thing. Good, loyal Roge along with the Lady of Sea Dragon Point (northern bit of The Rills - and sister of my wife!) and my previous conspirator, the Mayor of Coldbrooke.



At least that injury has healed into a delightful scar!

Despite the ease this plot could be deployed I don't press it for now. I need to save some money for Ramsay, who will come of age soon and require educating! He's certainly a more promising individual than his brother, who has become a bit of a layabout. I might even have to legitimize that boy!

January '86 and Ramsay comes of age and is brought to me at Winterfell for personal tutoring. I send the Master of Whisperers and Master of Laws off to the Rills to stir things up a little with the locals. Meanwhile.. hey, what's that?


DAMN IT!

Meanwhile, Ramsay comes of age and will receive an Academic education. It costs 100 coins to hire the necessary tutors and equipment, but it should serve him well. He needs knowledge more than a strong sword arm. You can hire those.

With my plot hanging in the balance I decide to press it.



DAMN IT!!

In a fit of rage, and to thumb my nose at the wife, I legitimize Ramsay Snow! From now on he shall be known as Ramsay Bolton!

Screw it. Let's see if we can end this!



And we can! Hah! Off goes Domeric to the fairly bloody chair of High Lord of the Rills. Good riddance, he has been a poor son so far!

Wow I discovered only now about this mod, and crusader king 2 was on discount on steam just a few days ago... I should have bought it :/

What do you know, all this good work seems to have made the Stark's sit up and take notice. The poor fools. Yes - I would be happy to be your Spymaster!



Not much happens for several more months until the Maester dies. We send for another and those twenty coins were a waste - the man is a fool!

Then, Domeric has something to ask. I accept, but intend to do nothing to assist him. Perhaps I'll get some useful Cas. Bel. if it all goes wrong for him...



And with that, good night for now!

Back to the wars.

My boy, Ramsay, is turning out to be a delight! But the war against the Aerys is going badly and Domeric's war against his Aunt isn't going well either.



The war still isn't resolved by '91 and I decide to take matters into my own hands. It takes two assassins, but the job is done.

Winning the war against my Sister-in-Law takes a few months but mercenaries turn the tide handily and I settle for a white peace. There's no need to tempt fate when a beating down will put the lady in her place. Peace rains - except in the south where we continue to fair poorly in the war against Aerys, despite my own personal leadership on the battlefield of my Liege.

It's time to take stock. I now control Two High Lodships and five counties inside those Lordships. We have some money from the title we picked up and so an ambitious program of town construction is started in the Dreadfort, Shepheads Heart and the Lonely Hills. It's time for consolidation and technology research, a strong economy will prove useful for us in the long run.



Despite my desire to let bygones be bygones, at least until there's an appropriate excuse for a bit of flaying, it seems unlikely my sister-in-law will let her desires to be High Lord of the Rills rest. As you can see, she desires the title and has a claim on it, and worse, her daughter, were she to inherit, has another High Lord as liege! We would lose the lands!

It's time for action. As she despises me (and the feeling is mutual, of course) I decide to raise her troops and send them off around the countryside. Perhaps south to the war. I'm sure this will anger her and prompt her to do something rash!

Meanwhile, in a moment of whimsy Ramsay considers becoming a Maester. My endless laughter foretold my answer.

What's this! In September '94 Lord Stark receives a terrible wound and is rendered incapable! I am asked to be Regent. Why yes, of course I would be happy to serve as Regent to little lord Rickard (the history has started to to stray from the books) (also, I'm not sure how I can take advantage of this!).



By January '85, Stark is dead and the Little Lord rules - assisted ably by me, his Regent and High Whisperer.

A few days later a vassal, the Lord of Overton, dies in Mace Tyrell's dungeons. His child takes over. Good luck, kid!

In March the Lord of Pinesend claims I am a terrible Regent and should step down. I scoff at this and the court agrees. In May, he rebels. I send mercenaries to help him reach some better decisions.



In January '96 Ramsay comes of age and is immediately made Master of Coin, he has grown into a skilled young man! It is time we found him a wife!



After searching for weeks Ramsay is betrothed to a 12 year old Lady of one of the hill tribes - he must have taken a fancy to her while on campaign as I swear the idea was his. These independent minded folks have the Lord of Winterfell as their High Lord and this young lass is due to inherit! Or perhaps Ramsay will. We will see.

A short while later the Lord of Pinesend is defeated, imprisoned and stripped of his title. That will teach him to defy me!

In March '98 Rikkard Stark dies in a riding accident and the ruler-ship transfers to his younger brother, the 10 year old Bronn, who again makes me Master of Whisperers. In April 300 Ramsay marries Lady Elise. It turns out she's an awful, lazy, gluttonous slob but at least Ramsay is a lord now and he remains in line to inherit all my lands. Well done that boy! Take her for a tumble and produce strong sons!

July '01 one of the hill tribes - there are so many of those scum - rebels against my Liege. I decide to aid Rikkard and raise 3000 of my personal levies to sort the problem out. Also of interest, a previous conspirator Lord Rorge of the Blue Hills is plotting against his wife. Meh, good luck to him. Seems to be a time-honoured tradition around here - although, no sooner does the old man arrive then he is called back to Old Town to serve on the conclave. Time to spend another 30 gold on finding another Maester! ...And what do you know - he's awful.



By April '02 the revolution is down and Hugo "Big Bucket", as he is known is locked up, with the Lordship going to Stark. That will teach him! Later in the year our awful Maester dies (not my fault!) and another is ordered from Old Town.

The war against Aerys continues without any victory in sight. In fact, Lord Hoster, my Liege's grandfather, has been captured and jailed. Maybe this will have an effect on the war? At this rate, probably not.

In 1835 as I ponder expanding the realm through claims it turns out that Lord Poole, of Acorn Grove (a province just north of Winterfell) has laid claim on the lordship of Lonely Hills! The moron had better not try and push the claim with war or I will crush him like a bug.

As all this claim jumping goes on Ramsay's wife sends him off to fabricate claims in the New Gift. Hah! Taking on the watch - I like that Lady's ambition!

Meanwhile, there are some interestingly tantalizing provinces nearby that surely were once the property of some Bolton or other...

'08 sees Rorge succeed in his plot to off his wife and a prettier wife is soon by his side, by the end of the year Rorge is plotting to off wife number 2! I suppose I could try and put a stop to this, but I'm getting kind of curious as to how many wives the guy can kill - is he mad, or are his wives just deeply unsatisfactory?

Another hill tribe rebel and are quickly put down by 14,000 Stark men. I don't know why they try any more!

Oh, my claim! Hah!



Take that! Dawnforest!

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! MY BOYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY



The gods curse me! And... bless me - his wife gave birth to a son mere months before Ramsay died. I have to say, I'm a touch suspicious.

Meanwhile the Master of Whisperers of my Aunt-in-Law is plotting to kill my Master of Whisperers. I imprison her.

By '11 the war is won and I hand the title of Lord of Dawnforest to a dutiful courtier. I even find him a young wife - may his line go strong under my rule!

It comes to me that my grandson my be in a dangerous position way up in the north where rebellion and murder are common. I send my Master of Whisperers off to watch the area for plots. We need to keep the boy safe!

In '13 peace comes to Westeros! A white peace. Can it hold? Aerys is old and has only a young daughter to inherit. This won't end well.

And sure enough, at the end of '13, Aerys dies and Queen Eleana comes to the throne. Long live a united Westeros!



....is anyone reading this? :p

I'm enjoying the strange turn events have taken. I really need to get better at this game.

Yes I am. You executed flawlessly one of my favorite moves. The "marry the heiress and get her with an heir asap then murder her and the child so the titles fall back up to me" move. :)

A medieval classic!

I have been following from the start! :D

With the war at an end it's time for a little stocktake!

• The Westerlands are ruled by Lady Cylia - the 8 year old first child of Tyrion the Imp and his wife, Lady Petrola of Drox castle.The girl is cruel and zealous. Perhaps Tyrion died of disappointment at age 34. By the way, Cersei is dead and Jamie incapable due to a battle wound.
• The Riverlands are ruled by Lord Cormac, son of Cersei Lannister and Lord Hoster (Cersei was the first wife he had of three)
• Lord Balon still rules the Iron Islands and has his horde of kids.
• We've covered the north.
• The Vale is rules by Lord Canther, third child of Jon and Lysa Aeryn.
• We've discussed Kings Landing
• The Stormlands are ruled by the imprisoned Robert the Drunkard.
• The Reach is ruled by Mace Tyrel
• Dorne is ruled by Arianne - both parents (Doran the cruel!) are dead.

There are a few minor claim battles going on, but other than that, peace!

A lot of people have been let out of various people's dungeons in the course of this conflict being resolved. Benjen Stark is one among many (for a random paid for by his newphew, my liege). Meanwhile, my liege Bron has been made the Master of Arms of the queen.

Oh, '14 - Rorge plots to kill his current wife. The guy is doing well for 55!

In '16 the Lord of the Vale declares war on the Iron Throne over a legal matter! I can't see this going well for him as no one joins his cause.



Woah, by September The Reach has joined the fight as well as part of Kings Landing (the grey part above). Everyone else is currently neutral and not participating. How interesting! September also sees Roge off his current wife. What a surprise!

I start to feel ill. At 57 this is to be expected. I'm concerned about my succession - little Lord Roose is only 8 and I have a couple of upset vassals. My sister-in-law (who I would happily see rebel) and a lord in my west-most Rills province - who I make cupbearer and to whom I make a small gift, all of which sees him back in with a positive view of things. No point in having too many upset lords under one!

At the end of September something rather wonderful happens. My Liege, Bron Stark, declares war on his mother's younger brother Cormac, Lord of the Riverlands. As far as I can tell Bron claims the Riverlands because under northern law his mother should inherit. This is not the case in the Riverlands, where women can't inherit. Interesting, there is already a medium-sized scuffle in the Riverlands (the enclave in red) but I can't determine what it is about.



It would seem likely to me that Bron Stark will win this war, the north can raise a sizeable force of men these days, probably enhanced by the extensive construction program I have been engaged with across my lands. What will happen? Who knows!

Curiously, the Law War (as I call it) in the south has seen the Vale leave the war while Mace continues to battle the Iron Throne. I expect this will peter out into some kind of white peace in due course.

A just Stark is leaving the North and heading down South? Yeah, good luck with that.

The war for the Riverlands seems to be going slowly. Figuring it might be my last chance for a decent scrap I call the banners. My lords and 7,000 men march south!



When we left the for The Twins there were sizeable northern forces smashing the Riverlands. When we arrive, however, they're mostly gone and we rapidly lose two battles to a very large number of Riverland's troops. With our tails between our legs, we scurry back to the north. I release the levies and fume.

In what is a brazen attempt to take advantage of the war my Daugher-In-Law raises he flag against Lord Bron Stark. Foolish woman! She will end up in jail or dead. Perhaps this is a good thing. Another province also tries it's luck and concerned to see our lands expand and to curry favour with Lord Bron I hire mercenaries to help smash the rebels. We can't afford to let the north be distracted by the rebel scum when Riverland armies are on the march. As it stands some 10,000 men are dealing to my rebelious family, much to my great annoyance.

Oh, and remember Lord Roge of Blue Hills? Yeah, he died of syphilis =)

Speaking of which... ERRRRRRRRRRKKKKKKKKKK!



Hi! I'm Roose II, but you can just call me Roose.Grandad has left me in a bit of a pickle: his military adventures have seen the family broke and our levies severely weakened through death and disease in the south. What's more, Lord Stark called an end to the war signing a white peace with the Riverlands. What a waste of time!

But it gets worse! Seeing an opportunity, the Lord of Hornwood allies himself with upstart vassals in the Rills and starts a war over my dominance of two High Lordship titles! And did I mention we're broke and have no men to raise? My foolish grandfather!



Imprisonment! Shame! Humiliation!



I languish in jail for months and watch in disgust as the title of High Lord is stripped from me and given to the Lord of the Stony Shore. The rest of the Rills go with him, leaving me with just the central, Rills province and the Blazewater Coast. I'm ransomed from the Hornwood dungeons, but not before some smug smiles and a cheap joke about thrones and games are tossed my way.

The only spark of joy in all this is that my wife Hylena has given birth to twins! A boy and a girl. They are my second and third children respectively. Gods be praised! Perhaps there is life in the Bolton family name yet!

Dying just before everything goes to hell and completely screwing over your grandson? Oh Roose, nice to see you remained a brilliant conniving bastard even at the end.

Oh, I didn't mention but Lord Stark hates Roose II (-100). The Hill tribe lordship and the Dawnforest lordship are two that he covets. I'm going to have to come up with a plot to improve my hand, so-to-speak, and I'm not sure what that would be right now!

Murder seems to have been the most reliably successful tactic so far...

Yeah, but who to murder?

Also, I am almost tempted to hand the title of the hill tribe area over to the Starks. I am not sure -100 favor is a good place to be long-term and the hill tribes aren't worth much. With them gone I can focus on claim jumping near my own provinces and saving the money I need for the mercenary armies to take the claims.

Well you are a Bolton, you know what to do...

And I tend to follow a NOT ONE STEP BACK doctrine when playing grand strategy games but that doesn't always end wonderfully so letting the hill tribes kill each other sounds like a decent idea.

I am actually not sure I can give the title to Stark - the lord ruling it probably would get shirty. Next chance I get I should probably raise their troops to get them royally peeved and then crush their rebellion and strip the titles. Hmm.

Heh, trying to play as lord of the neck. But am poorest of the poor. May need to restart as a rich lannister vassal....

On with the Game

It's time to focus on rebuilding and strengthening my position. Although the loss of titles and vassals hurts, it doesn't hurt that much - those western provinces weren't that valuable.

Having a look at my relations with the Starks it doesn't seem that transfering my vassals that they covet will help that much. I will still be strongly disliked by my liege. I'm going to have to keep my head down. Meanwhile, those bastards in Hornwood, Lord Folcard, deserve some of my scorn. First up, as my aunt is married to the Lord of White Harbour, which sits beyond Hornwood, I've set my Castellan to improve relations with the Lord of White Harbour. I've set my spy-master to Hornwood to stir up anxiety against Folcard and I've sent my Master of Laws to uncover claims to a Hornwood province. My Master of Arms is hunting out new levies - should we need them - and I'm saving every penny I can in case I need mercenaries.

I've also passed a measure which should result in improved finances by bumping feudal taxation up to small. My income is about at the same level it was when I had the extra vassals. I am pleased.

In other news I've invited a claimant to the lordship of Hornwood to my court. He's come (but I can't figure out how to use that to my advantage, nothing is clear from the diplomacy menu) but seems merely content eating my food and eyeing my ladies.

The next problem is the succession. With two sons and the current legal framework (which I can't change) there is a great deal of risk that the Bolton lands will end up divided amongst my boys. Fortunately, the Godswood in the Dreadfort loses its Maester (a function of how the mod has to work, I guess) and I'm able to appoint Jorah, the twin, to be its Maester. He's already getting a Maester's education and I hope he enjoys his succession-free profession!

I have dug up a number of other claiments to lands around the north and invited them to court whereupon I had a lavish feast. I wonder what I can do with all these people...

In sad news the 9yr old Lady of the Hill Tribe land of Arrendell has been murdered on the orders of Harold of Arwood Tower. I can't find him, nor the tower (although there is a castle supposedly in Arrendell named as such, but the castle holding there does not have that name. A bug maybe?). Anyway, I now have a demense of 6 when I can only hold five. I'm not sure that's such a penalty at this time. I've nominated a successor and should probably appoint the guy... (except now I can't find him as the dialogue closed. Perhaps I should just give it to one of the claimants). Hell, I give it to a half brother just to make sure my vassals don't get tetchy at me thinking I'm greedy. Hope that keeps everyone quiet.

And then, tragedy of tragedies, in '40 my wife dies of illness! What a horror! (no more kids to give land to though, hurrah!). I vow to stay celibate for the rest of my life.

(Oh, I've just noticed I can use diplomacy to declare war and press a claim from a courtier. I'm not sure how that would help me if I'm pressing a High Lordship claim (duchy) as I would not be the claimant's ruler, right? But it works if I press claims for counties? I'd be their ruler?

No. If you press a war for a claimant they get the county / kingdom unless it is a dejure county of your titles

If you put your mouse over the claim before you hit "declare war" you'll get a tooltip telling you under what circumstances the guy you're pressing claims for will become your subject.

Mods can and do mess with this so don't take what I say as gospel but if the guy you're pressing a claim for already has a holding under you then he's already your vassal and will keep being your vassal as he gets new lands. If he's of your dynasty then he'll always become your vassal. Those are the easy ones to get. For dynasty claims what I'll do is look around for courtiers with claims who are willing to be invited to my court. Once there I'll matrilineally marry them to one of the eligible women of my dynasty (because your courtiers can't refuse if you insist on them matri-marrying). Wait a few years and they'll hopefully have kids of your dynasty who'll inherit their father's claims.

Ahhh. Good point. That is going to be quite a slow strategy!

When you play the game of heirs you take the long view.

Restarted as a Lannister gopher, the Cracklands (sp?) A certain Gregor Clegane has become my vassal, taking (twice!) two of the four lordships. Twice have imprisoned him & taken one title away, twice he has killed my champion in single combat... Whoops. Now have a plot to try and remove his remaining title, but no-one wants to join. Odd that! Keep on insulting him to try and force him to rebel (can defeat him in open battle no problem)

Have an uncle safely esconsed as a vassal in a one domain of neighbouring duchy, once the Mountain is dealt with will move in on that whole duchy.

Seems less important to have direct control of domains vs vanilla

(love stories from this mod - keep them coming!)

(I have decided to build a castle and to give it to a claimant - then I will fight for their claim elsewhere. As a vassal they should also be a vassal at their new claim. Quicker!)

Onwards!

Our boy is of age! And I've found a suitable wife. She's only 9 - so it's going to be a few years before they can marry, but she's in line to inherit huge tracts of land! Well, a lordship, and a nearby one as well. I think of the welfare of my family.



And then in '83 some great news reaches the Dreadfort. Lord Stark has died, replaced by his son, Harrion Stark. Stark has to immediately put down a small rebellion from an independent lordship, but otherwise this is a positive development for us Boltons - he doesn't hate us, for starters!

Meanwhile, I've ordered a new castle built in the Dreadfort lands. I need a holding to hand to a courtier with a claim and this is the easiest way. Once I have a courtier bonded as a vassal I should be able to press their claim and win another lordship to my holdings.

As Jerina, my daughter comes of age I marry her to the Heir to the High Lordship of The Fingers. This move will net me an alliance that could be beneficial in the long run. Her brother, of course, is a Maester, keeping him out of any succession squabbles.

War!
In '45 my new castle is completed! And I promptly give it to Ser Brandon, a courtier who has a claim on Torrhen's Square, notionally part of the Barrowlands High Lordship. With Brandon as my vassal I immediately declare war on Lord Doran of the Barrowlands. I hire 3 mercenary companies and raise my own levies and after some engagements I capture a couple of lords, defeat a couple of armies and emerge victorious - with a new vassal in Lord Brandon of Torrhen's Square!



One prisoner asked for trial by combat (and lost - note here I have realised today I'm not using the most recent version of this mod with all kinds of fun duelling options :( ), the other languishes in prison until I merciful release him a month after the war is over. No hard feelings, chum!

During the conflict my son's betrothed comes of age and marriage is arranged. Wonderful! Their eventual-child will claim another territory for the Bolton's once its mother dies.

In another piece of good news my Master of Laws has found a musty old document proving my rightful ownership of Widows Watch (a province to the bottom right of my holdings, just below the unit list in the above shot). I can't declare war with my levies raised so I disband them and mass my mercenaries on the border of the despicable Lord of Hornwood's lands, declare war, and immediately invade. I raise my troops and despite the allies Hornwood calls in the result falls in our favour, giving us Widows Watch. I grant the land to a lord with a claim in The Rills but decide to cease warfare for now as it's time to refresh the coffers a little more before we get intro any more scraps.

Annoyingly, the lord of Torrehn's Square is an ambitious scheme, as is his wife, who successfully schemes to kill my Master of Whisperers! I don't have any proof to do anything about it, but thankfully her husband falls infirm, putting his child son on the Lord's seat. I immediately call him to the Dreadfort to be my ward in the hope that this will prevent any more shenanigans - better be more careful in future about who gets given what!



By the end of '53 I control directly (or via vassals) all the territories in green and have cordial relations with the territories in yellow.



Next time I will press my claim for another province in The Rills and look at further dismemberment of that fool Hornwood!

The End of our Tale

(there's quite a lot to tell!)

Our Liege invites us to a series of feasts, which brings me hope of a more pleasant relationship with him in the future - but this does not turn out to be the case. He still covets my lands and dislikes my character. Disappointing Not disappointing is that my Master of Laws has managed to fabricate a claim on the High Lordship of Hornwood! I immediately raise an army, hire several mercenary companies and storm across the border. Whereupon I die in the first battle!



Well met! I'm Ramsay!
I'm married, with a daughter, and determined to carry on fighting for my father's (by the old gods and the new I hope he finds peace) rightful claim over Hornwood, despite them calling in allies.



The war drags on for much longer than it should, partly due to the necessity of chasing small rag-tag bands of battle survivors around the map while also trying to put down large garrisons in Hornwood lands - oh, and keeping their allies at bay as well of course. But, in due course, the war is won and we find ourselves holding more land than we could ever imagine! Faced with limits on what I can administer I hand properties over to courtiers with claims, bonding them as my vassals. As peace spreads and soldiers head my home properties are thus:



I hold two High Lordships as well as Lord titles in The Rills. My vassals own a swath of lands around me.

Meanwhile, war breaks out in the Riverlands between Starks and Tully's and then the Westermen join in, attacking the Tullys. It lasts for years and years and and is a complete waste of good coin if you ask me.

All this peace brings a fruitfulness to my wife's loins and we have two more children, a boy, Eadward, and another girl. Oh joy! Pity I die (!)



How did I die? The Starks sent me south into that pointless war and I fell in battle!

Daddy had an oopsie?
Hi, I'm a three year old boy! A high reagent is appointed to watch over me, my loyal Lord Daryn of Sheepshead Hills. This is an extremely tense times. The vassals are restless and the High Lord of White Harbour has started a war with the Starks over something or other and managed to call in some hill tribes as well - the end result is armies stomping across my lands and the ever-present fear of revolt.

Just as well I have my Regent to protect me!



Daryn! Don't be mean!



That was just an spot of bad management, right?



Ummm.. Daryn??



SHIT I THINK THIS GUY IS TRYING TO KILL ME! Someone DO SOMETHNG!



OH THANK GOD SOMEONE IS COMPETENT AROUND HERE! Daryn is thrown in jail, and I foolishly leave him there to rot rather than have him executed immediately. Whereupon, of course, he challenges to single combat and then SLAYS MY CASTELAN! He walks out of the Dreadfort and heads back to his lands, laughing all the way, I'm sure.

Again I make a mistake here (I'm only 3) and don't order him assassinated. But at least my Mother is now my Regent. I'm hoping she doesn't plan to kill me.

As I enter my youth my Master of Whisperers tells me of plots to remove me as High Lord of Hornwood. Other lords grow jealous of my potential power. I also take a safe bet and put me and my sisters in the hands of Uncle Jorah, Maester at the Dreadfort, who acts as our tutors and guardians. He should hopefully not try to kill us al in our sleep.

At this point the Starks offer to marry some relative of theirs to Mother. Although I lose her as a Regent the chance of improved relations with the Starks is too good to miss out on. Pity the damn Lord Stark dies a few months later and the new Stark cares not a whit about what his father thought of us - yes - he dislikes us too.

Peace falls across the realm for several years and I focus on improving relations with my vassals through gifts and titles and marriages. Everything looks to bet going well as I reach adulthood, until a new castle in Hornwood is completed. As it opens and is added to my holdings all hell breaks loose. The Lady of Widows Watch and others around The Neck (sorry, forgot about shots) declare war to liberate the title of High Lord of Hornwood off me. Also included in the Rebellion? Daryn! His mother dies inheriting him (and me!) two more provinces to the west of Hornwood. With these provinces, Sheepshead Hills, the Lady of Widows Watch and their allies I have quite a fight on my hands. It takes several years to put down and drains the treasury but in due course the Lady and Lord Daryn are captured - although on my first attempt at imprisoning the Lady she escaped, rebelled, and had to be brought to heel again.

I waste no time and execute them both, while freeing another High Lord as a sign of my justice. I won't stand for rebel traitors! Especially not ones I have personally raised and given lands and titles!

As the dust settles and the warm glow of vengeance fades I am left in complete control of a great deal of the North (note, the red finger-like bit is Widow's Watch - this shot is just before we won the war and installed the Lady's much more pleasant child into that title).



All the green and light green lands are mine or my vassals!

Hmm, it's about time I look for a wife. I need an heir to take over the realm when I pass on!

What a pity, then, that just as the Bolton star seems truly ascendant, I die.



Unfortunately the game doesn't tell me why I died, but it is enough that I am dead without an heir to end the game for me.

That was a lot of fun and I hope you enjoyed it! I'm going to do another on with the more recent GOT mod version once the new update for CK2 comes out - I'm tempted to play as the Tyrell's of the Reach or some other great house - the new version has two different start dates as well - Robert's War or around the start of the War of the Five Kings.

I'd be happy to take any suggestions and comments. If I can find where Steam stores screenshots on my hard drive I'll go about making cropped-down shot for the Let's Play, which should aid readability.

Hahahahahaha. What an irony - the poor kid survives the murderous regent, only to croak seemingly the moment he reaches adulthood. :(

Yeah - and I wish I knew what he died of!

Anyway, it seems there is a real giant-killer thing going on - it is hard to get too strong as a non-principle house. And you can even run out of mercenaries if the state of my recruit tab was any indication. I imagine it is even more important than normal to manage vassal relationships and the laws to get the most out of your provinces.

So, anyone got any ideas for LP #2? Options are

1) Robert's rebellion
2) War of the five Kings

After that if folks suggest a house or lord I will give you a state of play for them to help people determine who I should play :)