Ever get... too powerful?

[Alpha Zeke]

Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but after I reach a certain height of my Empire, I wish their was more of a challenge for a collapse of the empire. Not so that I was defeated entirely, but almost I had rebellions or a civil war. This would make my life so much better

Or if I just played as a small faction and used assassins and spies to get my empires will done.

Or maybe its just me

[Meneth]

Not sure if anyone else feels this way, but after I reach a certain height of my Empire, I wish their was more of a challenge for a collapse of the empire. Not so that I was defeated entirely, but almost I had rebellions or a civil war. This would make my life so much better

Or if I just played as a small faction and used assassins and spies to get my empires will done.

Or maybe its just me

I think BGR has features to make rebellions more likely the bigger your empire is (yes, I know you don't want to play BGR)
You could make a sub-mod that decreases public order and general loyalty based on number of settlements, though, could be pretty interesting.

[Scandal]

Personally i cant play after ive got about 15-20 regions, for some reason i lose interest. I enjoy starting with one or 2 settlments and building up to be a reasonable but not huge power. Generals start losing their personality aswell when theirs too many of them running around

[Ichon]

I think most player get this feeling at some point. For me it varies exactly when- usually somewhere between 10 and 30 regions but a couple games where I did all 70 regions to win I still felt threatened even with 40 regions controlled like with Portugal when finally won Reconquista only to be invaded by a monster HRE which had defeated France which was allied with Genoa that took over Italy... and the other time as Turks when controlled half of Anatolia and N Africa/S Italy but alliance with Byz led them to take SE Europe and K-Shah defeat Mongols and take most of Russia... in those types of campaigns even with 40 regions you can still feel threatened and that keeps you playing longer. However that rarely happen and usually when I make my kingdom a regional power with no neighboring threats its boring fast.

[Amaranth]

Personally i cant play after ive got about 15-20 regions, for some reason i lose interest. I enjoy starting with one or 2 settlments and building up to be a reasonable but not huge power. Generals start losing their personality aswell when theirs too many of them running around

Truer words were never spoken

That's why I don't play by the victory condition, I play it on my own way, I don't try to expand my borders, but only take the settlements I want or need due to strategic reasons and try to hold them. Try to to be the supreme military power, and if some other faction gets strong enough to be a threat I attack, but not destroy them, sack and pillage their settlements, fill my pockets, then either give the settlements to mutliple factions nearby, or let them rebel, giving the other factions something to amuse themselves or keep themselves busy. If a faction is about to be destroyed, I send help, re take their lands, and give them back, with a little bit of financial help, to let them rebuild. So I like to shape the map as I see fit, I want to decide who inhabits which land, who gets how much stronger etc. That way I get to have many battles and still not get too expanded.

[Mornai]

You could always use the add_money cheat and give 1 million florins to your enemy at the start of the campaign. :p

I have this feeling many times as well, after some time has passed, and you grow strong enough, it's like no one can beat you. That's one of the reasons why i love playing factions like Scotland, Norway, Sicily, etc. They start out small and i can work my way up.

I wonder how interesting it would be if we had to face the Mongols and the Timurid at the same time? I'm sure that couldn't be TOO boring...

[Alpha Zeke]

I've never made it too the Mongols getting to Italy or Scotland... They always get crushed by the K-Shahs. Or I'm already too powerful by then. Im trying to use Byg but so confusing! xP

[Meneth]

Heh, maybe I should try BGR just for fun after this campaign (might be a while, only on turn 20 with Norway (early campaign))

[Sanderlicious]

I know where you're coming from...

Many times, I find it more fun to play as a small faction or just not expanding much and control a relatively small number of regions and focus on making my Empire the best without needing to destroy everything. This can get boring if I am not defending it from somebody for some length of time.

Example: When I first got Kingdoms, I played as the Welsh and spent the entire campaign simply defending Wales from overwhelming English and Norwegian opposition. One of the most fun campaigns I've ever had actually

[gonzo90806]

yah i get to powerful if i attack early and often.

Im really passive in my campaign. I am pretty much waiting till other nations become powerful and more powerful units are available to recruit.

Right now i am playing as Sicily. VH/VH, Savage AI Early Campaign

The Holy Roman Empire has nearly taken over everything in Europe. T
The byzantine empire is Strong
mongols are strong are overpowered.
Currently im allied with the byzantine empire and HRE and just passively waiting till they destroy all their neighbors before i go to war with them.

Poland, Hungary, Crown of Aragon, Tuetonic Order, Venice, France, and Kwarezm are all destroyed and not by me. +_+. The papal states was almost destroyed by the HRE they took rome but the Pope had the city Granada
Egypt is about to be destroyed.

[chrono672]

I sell my settlements to my neighbors and left only one castle for myself, and defend it 100turns before i attack

[JorisofHolland]

It's the only problem that stands between me and world domination. It just gets boring after some time.

[YourOnlineHero]

I too get the feeling of just being too powerful to bother playing anymore and have to start a new campaign. So in my current campaign as scotland I plan to send a huge army on a personal crusade when the mongols come. Just so I get to fight them with my pikes and hordes of cheap highlanders .

After that I plan on playing as norway so I can send my vikings around in their longboats sacking coastal settlements all around europe, letting most of them rebel or sell them off. And if I get into too much trouble with lets say the english or the danes, i'll just strike at their unprotected coastal settlements, gain controll for a turn and dismantle all of the buildings inside before deserting it. Sounds like fun actualy, I might just start that campaign now....

[Amaranth]

I too get the feeling of just being too powerful to bother playing anymore and have to start a new campaign. So in my current campaign as scotland I plan to send a huge army on a personal crusade when the mongols come. Just so I get to fight them with my pikes and hordes of cheap highlanders .

After that I plan on playing as norway so I can send my vikings around in their longboats sacking coastal settlements all around europe, letting most of them rebel or sell them off. And if I get into too much trouble with lets say the english or the danes, i'll just strike at their unprotected coastal settlements, gain controll for a turn and dismantle all of the buildings inside before deserting it. Sounds like fun actualy, I might just start that campaign now....

Haha sounds like a lot of fun Take some screens for us.

[vopohame]

Im playing the byzantines and no one likes me. I have 27 provinces that range from acre to durazzo, every jihad is against constantinople and none of the catholics are my friends. I dont feel secure at all. The Mongols invaded so hopefully I will have some respite but we will see. Combined Muslim armies on my frontier are over 20, with the catholics always trying to sneak into my western provinces. On top of that my 17 family members are all over 40 with only 2 kids to replace them.

[Alpha Zeke]

Wow! Guess I'm not only. Im going to try BGR after this next campaign of mine and see how it goes... who knows, it may be fun!

[Sea_Snipe]

Wow! Guess I'm not only. Im going to try BGR after this next campaign of mine and see how it goes... who knows, it may be fun!

I'd say that RR/RC and BYG, by adding historical realism to prevent the player from being able to play around in a sandbox so easily, eg. in vanilla you could have an army of knights besieging a settlement in a few turns, it makes the fun more fun by making you work towards your goals (planning out invasions, recruiting your armies, etc. ) and not just blindly recruiting and sending out armies on your whim, and interspacing the fun with strategy. That might not be everyone's cup of tea, but that is why it's optional.

As for the OP topic, I've actually played very little of the game compared to my browsing TWCenter and modding. But the thought of it drives me crazy.

[Rogal Dorn]

1) Reduce all garrisons to governor + one unit of Peasants.
2) Raise taxes to Very High in all cities.
3) Destroy all churches, farms, and anything else that would increase public order.
4) Conquer an island city detached from your lands and make it your capital.
5) Have fun with some new "challenges."

[bɑne]

Play hotseat and take over factions on the brink of destruction and help them recover.
Spices things up even if your "native" faction is dominating. Of course only works in conflicts AI vs AI... you wouldn't want to beat yourself would you.

[Alpha Zeke]

Hmm. That sounds like a great idea bane. Creating a empire of the scots lets say and then take control of a 1 settlement nation and bring them back to power.