So far it seems...interesting, to say the least
I've been playing it for the past few hours and am about three years in (if you start in 1066 then you get nearly 400 years out of it by the time you reach the end in 1452, but you can choose any start date up to Jan 1st 1337)I opted to start as Gospatrick, Duke of Lothian. I deliberately wanted to avoid starting off as a king but equally I didn't want to start right at the very bottom. Gospatrick's the cousin of the king of Scotland and has blood relations to other Scottish nobles as well (Cumberland is currently in Scottish hands and the Earl of Cumberland is his son Dolfin, the Duke of Moray is his cousin and he's got another son who's due to inherit the title of Earl of Dunbar...which I'm currently guessing will take place when he's old enough - he's only 3 years old just now
- or when Gospatrick dies; I dunno the mechanics yet), and he's got some vassals so he's got some people he can boss around but he's not right at the top of the ladder.So far Malcolm III (the king) has declared war against England (England are now simultaneously defending against Scotland, Normandy and Norway, with all their respective vassal states (e.g. Norway controls Iceland, the Scottish Isles and a few territories in western mainland Scotland)) and to 'do my bit' I gathered up a few troops and sieged Durham. While that's been going on, Gospatrick's been busy getting his wife Aethelreda up the duff with twins (one of whom was born with the "Ugly" trait...the poor bugger's only just a few weeks old now and already he's been labelled as 'ugly' for the rest of his life
) and having an affair with Gruoch, a princess of Scotland. So it's all fun and games just now
I'm just wondering how much England may be crippled by being in three wars simultaneously so I'm hoping to pinch a bit of territory in the hope that it might end up being mine when a truce is called, but I doubt I have a say in the matter and that if Scotland gets to keep any territory then it'll belong to Malcolm and not me
Ireland looks like it'd be fun to do for a player who fancies being militaristic - the island is made up of no fewer than twelve independent states controlling thirteen counties, so trying to start off with just one territory and build up to conquer all of Ireland seems like a fun challenge
Edit:
I've just noticed that Gruoch is pregnant. If it turns out to be Gospatrick's kid and not her own husband's, this might get rather good