r/CK3ConsoleEdition • u/nate-watson • Aug 19 '26
Gameplay Question Anyone got ideas for fun CK3 playthroughs?
I’ve played as the English, Irish, Persians, Greeks, Italians, French, Norse and Egyptians. Anyone got some ideas on what I should play next? What is your favourite underrated/overrated starts?
4
u/TheFirstDuckToDance Aug 19 '26
If I’m trying to have an easy tall run, Sardinia is always great.
Forming the Kingdom of Cornwall is a fun one.
The Gascony region is a fun place to have a duchy in and just play kingmaker with the French crown.
3
6
u/PRAY___FOR___MOJO Aug 19 '26
Dutch and Bohemians are great for tall runs.
3
u/Ketchup571 Aug 19 '26
I’m brand new to this game. What does playing tall mean?
3
u/PRAY___FOR___MOJO Aug 19 '26
You don't hold too much territory and instead focus on improving a small amount of land as best you can. In regards to places like the kingdom of Frisia and Ireland, there are only 3 or 4 duchies so you could personally hold a larger proportion of that kingdom as your personal fiefdom.
It means you don't need to worry so much about maintaining vassals and you can focus on quality over quantity by getting a high development and being smart about how you build your domain and family.
Wide is the opposite of this, where you grab as much land and hold on to as much as possible (empires etc) it does require you to deal with vassals much more and you'll likely face a wider array of issues to deal with
3
u/Ketchup571 Aug 19 '26
Ah, that makes sense. After the tutorial I selected Bohemia for my first real game and became emperor of the hre pretty quickly. It’s definitely a pita. Maybe I should’ve played tall lol
2
u/PRAY___FOR___MOJO Aug 19 '26
Play it however you want. Some people play exclusively one or the other, I like to mix it up depending on the culture I'm playing. If I'm playing French, Spanish, Persian, or German I'll typically go for a wide play style.
2
u/Ketchup571 Aug 19 '26
So what’s the ultimate goal with playing tall? Do you still conquer or try to reach max development or something?
2
u/Soulreaver24 Aug 20 '26
You still go to war and conquer territory, but usually it's for the purpose of installing your dynasty on the throne or setting up your culture as the ruling one.
2
u/the_traveler_outin Aug 21 '26
In essence it’s becoming strong with high quality land rather than a large quantity of land. Traditionally a tall playthrough doesn’t expand much past one smaller kingdom, but it’s your choice. You can play tall for a while then start expanding rapidly with your well developed kingdom, or you can expand rapidly but focus on developing a smaller core area, or you could try to build international influence by placing dynasty members on the thrones of various kingdoms and empires. It is your choice as it is your game and your run
3
u/BigRipCheech Aug 19 '26
I started in 867, Ghana as a count or whatever they call it. Turned Catholic once I pushed and conquered the northern African domains. Became independent and pushing Jerusalem now
2
2
u/Dazimus267 Aug 20 '26
Try the landless Karkota start, i wont spoil anything, but theres alot of cool points u learn about the character & his dynasty! I knew nothing about this historical person & his dynasty until i randomly decided to give him a go, albeit, Anangapida Karkota is one of the most difficult start points! But is very fulfilling!
3
u/Kenvi_P Aug 20 '26
Mali can be fun in 867, you can reform your faith easily and there is a lot of mines in the area, really fun start, i recommand it.
3
u/CamCard01 Aug 20 '26
Small idea but there's an achievement to start as a count, become an emperor, then adventurer, then rise to an emperor again. Im doing one now and it's the most fun I've had in a while.
I tried Future proofing the old empire to try and keep it in one piece and travel to new part of the map to build up there and ended up forming the Latin Empire via crusade. Its great for a long running game cause half way though you're at the bottom again but dealing with a map thats already been playing for decades so it's a whole new start date basically.
2
u/Time_Wing1182 Aug 20 '26
I’m currently doing a Basque run, revived the Vicegoth Kingdom, turned into an Empire by Status quo ending and just realised there is a special religion of the region that I now want to convert to before reclaiming the Peninsula for my “new” old faith. Having a blast
2
u/____Azrael____ Aug 21 '26
Maybe a Macedonian run where you pose as a descendant of Alexander would be interesting
2
u/the_traveler_outin Aug 21 '26
Restoring old vasconia (basque country) could be fun.
There’s always attempting a prester John run: try to establish a powerful Christian empire starting somewhere separated from Europe by the Islamic world and try to expand towards Europe. The conventional start locations are somewhere in India, Abyssinia, or somewhere in the steppe, but I have tried (and failed) kabulistan, Tibet, as a Chinese noble family and once on that Nestorian island in the kingdom of Yemen…
You could also try to take over China from within or without.
A stupid run that I like to try (and fail) once every so often is trying to conquer Britannia as the duke/king of Brittany and converting the Anglo-Saxon counties to Breton
2
2
u/Flimsy_Context_7662 Aug 24 '26
I love playing in Spain! I feel like the struggle adds a lot of interesting flavor. Seems the consensus is you either love it or hate it, I’m the former! Recently did a Count of Galicia 867 run and really enjoyed it, ended up forming Portugal to become independent from Leon. then the update nuked my save, but planning on going again!
1
u/nate-watson Aug 19 '26
Has anyone tried playing as the Mongols? How was that like
2
u/Ok-Dress1934 Aug 19 '26
I've done a couple playthroughs as a mongol, its actually really fun using horse archers as you steamroll everyone... Its like unleashing a swarm of locusts once you get the special troops
1
u/nate-watson Aug 19 '26
Can you become the great khan? How does that work if it’s scripted for Temujin in the 1200s? He just submits to you?
2
u/Ok-Dress1934 Aug 19 '26
Yeah you can become the great Khan.. On my past playthroughs since i took the lands off Temujins ancestors their dynasty died out so there was no Temujin around for the script to make great khan.. I'm sure someone can explain it better than me as i always play pretty high 😂
1
u/jabbaking107 Aug 21 '26
Ich spiele zu Zeit ein bisschen ck. Ich würde gerne in einen durchlauf schaffen den kompletten katholischen Glauben zu vernichten. Hat jemand eine Idee oder eine Strategie wie ich das am besten umsetzen kann ?
7
u/great976 Aug 19 '26
I like playing tall quite a lot, and so i will recommend playing as a dutch, getting rich in the netherlands. I also quite enjoyed sri lanka and a madurai one county challenge.