The Strongest And Most Interesting Counts in CK3 

It's almost like Alfred was Great or something. . .

You sorely missed Count Bretislav of Plzen, 1066 start date, Bohemia, gain claims to Hungary/Bohemia and can snowball into a 4 kingdom strong empire (Bohemia, Hungary, Poland, Pomerania) within 1 lifetime. Really easy too.

You mentioned human trafficking enough times in this video that I got an ad from the Canadian Government for human trafficking awareness as a midroll

He's not necessarily strong, but Count Herbert of Vermandois is the last member of the Karling house with a title in 1066. It's fun trying to reconquer Charlemagne's empire.

Alfred's brother seems to have a scripted event where he dies a few years into the game so you don't even need to assassinate him, he has died 90% of the times I've played as Alfred the Great (keep learning new things and restarting with my new knowledge) and he almost always dies before he has a child

Bill Wurtz: No one conquers the Tamil Kings AlzaboHD: Hold my Count

2:06 Who ordered roasted Libya for dinner?

Gonna second Harald Finehair my god this guy is a beast, he's trucking into his 60's with 28 prowess, he's a organiser with the reaver and viking traits letting him just merrily skip over and raid the english isles without a care in the world. Got exceptionally lucky and managed to marry him to a giantess genius, giving birth to 4 giant genius sons, who all have their own Jarldoms. They all became friends with their dad with no effort from me and they are friends with their brother and heir. Life is good for the finehairs. Edit: nevermind they all contracted lovers pox from their wives.

Kind of surprised Maredudd ap Gruffydd wasn't on here. He starts with one county in northern Wales as a vassal of Gwynedd, but is second in line to the duchies of both Northumberland and Mercia through his maternal uncle Morcar. After inheriting the two large duchies, you can easily take over the rest of Wales and reform your father's kingdom, and set your sights on the rest of the British Isles. Being Welsh, he also has the option to rid Britain of the Anglo-Saxons and gain the unique nickname "Pendragon".

The top 10: 10. Chieftan Heraldr "Fairhair" of Vestfold (Norse Asatru, 867) 9. Sheikh Al-Khattab of Ghat (Berber Ibadi, 867) 8. Count Rostislav Mstislavovich of Tikhvin & other unpronouncable syllables (Russian Orthodox, 1066) 7. High Chieftess Dauruma of Kano (Hausa Bori, 867) 6. Count Adalhard of Ravensburg (Franconian Catholic, 867) 5. Chima Hummay of Bilma (Kanuri Ash'ari, 867) 4. Thakur Vijayabahu of Rohana (Sinhala Theravada, 1066) 3. Sheikh Abdul-AlMadjid of Kharga (Egyptian Isma'ili, 1066) 2. Earl Afred Ethelwulfson of Dorset (Anglo-Saxon Catholic, 867) 1. Count Haesteinn of Montaigu (Norse Asatru, 867)

Started as Alfred... Married some kids off... Wound up playing as the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire by 950.

AlzaboHD, just FYI the "Mother of Us All" achievement is basically impossible to get right now since Daurama still has to be alive when you control and convert all of Africa to the reformed religion. Paradox accidentally stipulated `exists = character:251187` (Daurama's char ID) in the achievements file. And in fact, sadly all achievements that require you to start as a specific character are also apparently broken right now too, since the only way to get them is completing them in one go without reloading a save file. According to the Paradox devs reloading breaks them for some unknown reason (which they are "investigating").

fact not mentioned in the video: Haraldr Fairhair is.. probably.. the historical first king of norway, there's some debate about wether he has really existed, but general concensus is that he probably did even if the stories about him probably aren't all true.

yo Infante Fruella in Zamora is a good meme, cause he's blind and is the next in line to inherit the kingdom of Asturias.

"No one can conquer the tamil kings" is a valid statement until some norse breton dude with a big event army appears

re: Hummay of Bilma "For reasons unknown": Historically, he takes over that region (the kingdom of Kanem Bornu) and Islamifies it around 1085.

I really liked your 'Worst Rulers in CK2' video and would love a CK3 version. Great video here too.

"Change the course of English history...." you are aware that's King Alfred the Great? Lol

Last time I was this early nothing was different and I still left a like on the video!

The Duchy of Thaton is also interesting to play before they add in China. It's on the very edge of the map in the bottom right and seeing yourself go from this ryukyu-tier nobody to Emperor of Asia is incredibly satisfying.

Thank you! I was waiting for a list of interesting characters in ck3, especially since the map has improved greatly

I’ve been waiting for this video! Thank you!!!

Another one is Raimond, count of Rouergue. Historically, he became the Count of Toulouse (in CK terms, the Duke) and was one of the principal leaders of the First Crusade In game, you start with decent traits, though nothing inheritable. Your brother is Duke and you are his heir, and he can be...dispatched. You are also married to second in line for the Duchy of Provence, and can make sure your wife inherits that title. Pretty quickly you can become the pre-eminent power of Southern France, and then start launching Holy Wars into Iberia or North Africa, and also reprise your historic role as leader of the First Crusade

“Bless the pain down in Africa” was worth a subscription...

You need to continue the Inbred Dynasty video. You left us at a very interesting place. The new faith you created is still not fully embraced. He just became King of West Francia and from what it looks, the Pope is still Crusading against you. I think its time to claim the HRE for the Inbred Dwarf King.

If we're talking strongest count(esses), how about Infante Urraca of Zamora in 1066? All you need to do is 1) Modify your contract to guarantee a council position. 2) Become spymaster 3) Murder your liege 4) Repeat 2 more times And you are a Queen of a realm of size 26 (probably merged into one kingdom by one of the kings before he dies). It takes about 4 in-game years.

Now we want to see the worst

I started in Ghat during my last play and had so much fun. It's nice to see different areas mentioned in your videos!

6:49 apparently hummay was a powerful leader and in a decade or so historically he became King of Kanem so the devs buffed him for historical reasons but idk

Alzabo: "It is time to cover the most powerful count in crusader kings" Me: "*EEEEY IS MY BOII*"

Just found this channel and quickly subscribed. You have Sseth's (un)godly voice, Isaac Arthur's eloquence and relaxing tone... yeah, we've got a winner here folks. (Oh, and a little of ISP's edginess, too!)

This man just casually dropped a roast on Libya, great content indeed

I have been waiting since middle ages for this video to come out.

really like your videos man, tks for the content :)

God I love your work! Keep it up

Man, you have Ghat to be kidding me about that second pick

HELL YEAH! Love all the content!

good luck with your campain as Daurama. I cross my fingers and wait if you can do it. Thanx for turning my attention to this character, I would probably never knew about her if not you :)

Can't wait for the Daura campaign, I'm also playing it and it's a blast! Not ironman though, might restart to hunt that (for now) hardest achievement in the game.

Someone making an up-to-date Imperator Rome guide? Praises be to you Sir! :) Also, this video was fantastic.

Love all your videos, man! I'd love to see a top ten WORST leaders in CK3. Can't wait to watch your next video, regardless. Cheers!

Great Video! Did you ever finish the Mother of Us All Achievement with Daurama? I didn't see the link and didn't see the video on your channel either? Thanks again, really enjoyed your insights.

Your narration makes me feel like I'm on blind date. I love it - 11/10 would plunder again.

Excellent articulation, and humorous word play.

9:20 I love the usage of Ducketts there.

I would had put on the list Nana Eufa of Aowyn, a 1 county child in the South West of Africa coast in 866. You are surrounded by one county Lords so that will raid each other really quickly but you can create religion really easy and making a custom kingdom is actually pretty easy. I like it because the early game is like mad Max, everyone against everyone.

I played as the viking fair hair guy. It was a freaking blast. Conquer and execute everyone. Took over the entire continent in 2 generations.

Count cobbo of kassel in 867 is also very strong sometimes he starts as a good administrator and a vast amount of 7 holdings one of them being göttingen with the castle of goslar and the ability to build the unique mine of rammelsberg giving you 4 monthly income a good start to build an empire.

Count Eunes is really fun. I got “Kings of the Seventh Generation” achievement and still on an achievement trip. I role play Capet dynasty by let Eunes suicide and pass the title to Robert Capet. Being Capet is not necessary but fun to role play. Edit: Eudes

"buckets of ducats" -- instant thumbs up. 9:20

0:49 "On the topic of booty"😂😂😂😂 You killed me

Chieftain of Traendheim is also cool in 867. 5 sons and historical Rollo at court, even that he is unplayabale via iron man.

Great video and analysis.

The Alfred referenced in the video is alfred the great so that makes a lot of sense

The reason Chima (a title) Hummay Sayfawa has special event troops is because he was the first muslim king of Kanem-Bornu (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hummay ; www.vincenthiribarren.com/pdf/Hiribarren%20-%202016%20-%20Kanem-Bornu.pdf see p3 "Islam as Imperial Cement"). He kicked out the previously ruling dynasty and recreated the Kanem-Bornu empire ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanem%E2%80%93Bornu_Empire#Sayfawa_or_Sefououwa_Dynasty_(1085-1846) )

Awesome video! The puns keep it real lol

Man, my second try was with Herald and it was exactly like you showed. Divorce wife and merry giantess, then a lots of raiding and conquering of Norway.

Great video with an interesting twist.

Never stop making puns. It brings me such joy. Thank you

Any chance for another version of this now that Fate of Iberia is out?

nice reference to history of the world i guess at 8:22 "at war with the Tamil kings and nobody messes with them"

That jab at Libia. O O F !

Video ended 5min ago and im still chuckling at 'Bless the pain down in africa pun', absolute gold

Count Zdeslav Trpimirović of Požega (867) is amazing (especially if you want to form a custom Croatian empire). Starts with 5 counties and a claim on duchy of Croatia. Managed to form an empire in 2 and a half generations

I did the Mother to us all achievement with Ironman on but it didn't fire for me and wasn't in the in-game achievement list so I had to give it to myself after converting all of Africa. Same also happened for Sibling rivalry. Are some achievements bugged?

Your puns are giving me an aneurism and I love it

Surprised you didn’t include countess urracca of Zamora with claims on three kingdoms

I really enjoy playing the Occitan rulers. The Toulouse one, under west Francia. (Occitans have the Visighotic codes, enabling very early access to equality law and the high partition law) And count Guilhèm of Lyon. (Lotharingia) This one especially. Cause you can easily join the independence faction, and your liege, king Lothaire will give you the duchy title to "please" you. (he also has a personal and exclusive Duke title name. He's called the Dauphin instead of Duke.) I love the Duke of Flanders too. That guy can spew out tons of gold, and he's only a fortune builder. As early as 900 AD making 9 gold per month. You can easily blob into Lotharingia, because of the conflicts, sometimes vikings launch conquest against Lotharingia, and it splits in half, making the north independent. And you can also face the king without problems, because they usually have a weak military. But my favorite character by far is Duke Jiawei of Ganzhou. He's on a prime position for defense, you can unify the kingdom of Xi Xia very quickly, (and vassalize the other two han dukes) because he can launch holy wars. And from that onwards, very easy to form Tibet. He also has that unique religion, Taoism. If you like, you can also start as that tribal Nestorian from Wuluhai. And do both conquest and holy wars. That's such an overpowered start. I was midpoint for Tibet, sitting atop of 4k gold. Having nowhere to spend. (tribal) doing hunts, feasts and pilgrimages. I also founded the holy order. It gets a little hard close to the end. Because you get that negative opinion for being tribal and having feudal vassals. These are my personal picks. All from 867 AD start. (I don't like late starting dates. Sorry.)

nice third way reference, i swear I've had multiple strokes trying to do that as mzab..

Foulques of Touraine was the ancestor of the Plantagenets. It’s a hard start since the neighboring Duke of Champaign starts out with a claim on your county and your brother is count of Angers and Saumur. Usually he will declare war on King Philippe and after he is imprisoned and has his titles revoked they will go to you.

Count of Santiago is pretty cool with a "Great Cathedral" special building and holy site perk!

8:22 I saw that History of the World I Guess reference :)

We count the counts that you can count on to counter your enemies

I've been looking for a good Imperator guide. Looking forward to that next video.

This is quality content I must say.

Where was Gondor when the vestfold fell? - Haraldr Fairhair

You deserved the subscription

If you are looking for most interesting overall starts, have a look at Prince Ashot of the Armenian Principalities (867). He starts with a full diplomat tree, as well as an additional free diplomat lifestyle trait, and the Administrator trait. He is a vassal of the Abasids, which is rough as an Apostolic, but his contract has title revocation disabled and religious protection. He starts as Chancellor, and leader of the independence faction. He can easily vassalize the independent Armenians, and quickly form the Kingdoms of Armenia and Georgia The objective of restoring Greater Armenia is super fun, (especially if you also take over / dismantle the Byzantines)

4:24 to womansplain a bit: The hausa where actually until this point in a matriarchal system. Why the game doesn't portrait it like that, who knows.

Shameless plug worked, +1 sub

Privet, tovarich) Great pronunciation! But if you would say "R" like lion's growling, you'd be our true comrade =)

I love these videos, could you do a beginners start video

I have played basically nothing but Haraldr Fairhair since TOG was free for ck2 (with the exception of achievement runs). I remember thinking at the time that it was a relatively small start too. I'm pretty sure it's heretical to form Sweden as the guy who's famous for forming Norway though

@9:13 Abdul Walking Like an Egyptian, I see your reference there

Can you please download and play through the "vampier the masquerade" mod for CK3? Love your style of play.

I cannot subscribe twice to AlzaboHD, but i can like and leave a comment

Me: **waking up and looking at RU-vid notifications** Alzabo: **made another cool top ten** ISP: *OVERPOWERED DWARF KINGDOM* There are only two Paradox youtubers that I watch, for each side of my sanity...

Idk how but your narration reminds me of sseth. Subscribed.

So we ever getting that Daura campaign?

Very helpful

still playing ck2 but love ur vids

What mic your using, and how is live?

How do I become a duke if I start as a vassal count in the HRE? Only by independence war and marriage?

8:45 That county just across shore from Sri Lanka, Madurai, has 7 holdings. Prime real estate.

What about Karl Drye of Kiev, starting in 867 with the genius trait and a claim to the kingdom of ruthenia

Highly entertaining, but you've got a solid half-dozen pronunciations to learn. I wasn't going to say anything until I heard Giza. But still, great list. You've got a new subscriber.

Prince Karl, Duke of Swabia in 867 start is a pretty fun one with some luck. Your father and liege will be declared on by your brother the duke of Bavaria, who will soon become king of Bavaria. But you have unpressed claims to West Francia, East Francia, Italy, and Bavaria once that kingdom is created. Duke Adalhard is one of your Vassals so you can also press his claims instead. You are kind of at the big dogs' mercy for a while but if you steadily build your holdings with manufactured claims and build your levies, you will eventually start seeing excellent opportunities to take over shit.

Just started as Fairhair for fun since my wife is from Sandefjord (near the starting location and legendary birthplace of Harald Hardrada). Good to know I chose well :D

Any suggestions for 1066 Zoroastrian-Persian Empire gameplay that won't get crushed in 1 second, since the 867 is broken? Would really appreciate anyone's advice.

nice vid