Crusader Kings 2 Aztec

1. Crusader Kings 2 Aztec Invasion Early Game

The highly unrealistic Aztec invasion of Europe is not something that history fans appreciated. But it did make Western Europe a lot livelier for a time. Crusader Kings II playthroughs always.

By EquitasInvictusDecember 26, 2012One thing I love about Crusader Kings II is the amount of flexibility they give for the player's Grand Campaign options, enabling the player to essentially start as a anyone, whether it be an Emperor or a Count. So basically you can start off a lowly Count with a never-before heard person/dynasty (thanks Ruler Designer) and actually expand and build your Kingdom or Empire from scratch.

My Byzantine Empire went Catholic, since I figured it'd be easier to expand east with a united Christendom.The Legacy of Rome DLC particularly had me vying for control over the Byzantine Empire with my new Sicily-based dynasty. From there I began restoring the Roman Empire's borders (from Augustus Caesar's reign), since a new major decision available in Legacy of Rome is to actually replace the Byzantine Empire with the true Roman Empire once you have its borders restored. Since I also recently got the Sunset Invasion DLC, I was basically trying to expand fast enough within two centuries before the Aztecs landed in Western Europe potentially starting an 'end of the modern world' alternate history scenario in a game event similar to the emergence of the Golden Horde/Ilkhanate/Timurds except from the other side of the map. Not only was going to restore the Roman Empire but I'd basically be pitted against barbarians from every side just like good old ancient times.Because I was so used to the Sicily start (was my preferred start even before the DLC) I had no trouble building up the Kingdom of Sicily, entering the Byzantine Empire and eventually having my own claim to the throne. After a brief blitz of Constantinople and friends due to a fractured Byzantine Empire (it's not very cohesive from the start) I was well on my way from restoring the Roman Empire.Fast-forward through a lot of micromanagement, wars of expansion, multiple successful crusades and finally I've got my Roman Empire just in time to stop the invading Mongolian hordes in their tracks.

The Ilkhanate in particular tried to pull a fast one with my Middle-Eastern holdings but that backfired on them hard, as their surrender request above shows.A cool new event the Byzantine/restored Roman Empire gets for victories after a major war is a prestige-boosting opportunity in which you can dish out some gold to lavishly celebrate your victory:This would typically be a good endgame for most people (there's not much else after successfully thwarting the Mongol hordes besides conquering the rest of the known world) but due to the impending Sunset Invasion, I wasn't done there. Considering I had both all of Spain and Britain under my belt (and was about to start a war of expansion over Scotland), I definitely faced a larger hurdle with the Aztecs. Unlike the Ilkhanate, who conquered my neighbors first at full-strength causing them to be whittled down by the time they tried encroaching on my turf, I'd be facing the Aztecs raw. That basically meant they'd be landing with a force of over 100k, kind of unprecedented compared with the wars I've dealt with up to me defeating the distilled Ilkhanate.At this point I knew I had at least a year before they arrived. My strategy at this point was basically to raise the armies of my entire realm for the first time and concentrate them at Western Europe while leaving a huge navy in the English Channel to deal with shipping over troops in the case they were over at Britain.Thankfully I had a good volume of armies and would be able to basically use the entire Mediterranean as a staging area for pre-deployment. At this point I had enough navies to concentrate all my Central European armies in Italy and ship them over in time for the fight.

Crusader Kings 2 Aztec Invasion Early Game

Yeah, you read that headline right. I was just as confused about, the latest DLC for Crusader Kings II releasing on November 15, as you were.at first. To quote from the official release: 'In the latest DLC for the critically-acclaimed strategy/RPG Crusader Kings II, Paradox Interactive and Paradox Development Studios pose the question—what would have happened if the Aztecs invaded 13th Century Europe?' What it means is that the Count of Anjou could have his heart ripped out of his chest and sacrificed to Quetzalcoatl. I think that's pretty awesome.CKII's previous expansions, Sword of Islam and Legacy of Rome, have been focused on fleshing out existing, historical civilizations. Sunset Invasion expands the game's already rich palate for alternate history by turning the tables in a scenario that explores the ramifications of the Mesoamericans bringing the fight to Europe, rather than the other way around.

The Aztecs will show up around the middle of the 400-odd-year timeframe covered by Crusader Kings, arriving at a random location on the Western coast. The irony of the fact that this will likely be Spain in many games, I don't think is lost on anyone.The Aztecs will bring with them a new culture, a new religion, and some kind of terrible plague (again, no irony is lost) to shake up the European balance of power in violent, human-sacrifice-laden ways. Unfortunately, you won't be able to play as the Aztecs. The invasion is only two weeks out, so start reinforcing those castle walls and sharpening your swords. You're going to need them.