Many players begin their journey in Crusader Kings 3 as counts; the lowest level leader title available in game. In this video we will take a look at the strongest and most interesting count characters to play in your next CK3 campaign. Count to King / Emperor has never been easier!
Want to support the channel and vote for future videos? Check out my Patreon, here: / alzabohd
Special thanks to the following Patreon users and Channel members who support AlzaboHD: akurohan, Cydonia, Dilraba, Dylan Stewart, Shamir Khodzha, Ben Greenhagen, D.K., Dylan Steele, Emil Hansson, Graf Zahl, Jack, Jourdan M, Lynda Lowe, Matt Smyth, Nicholas Walker, nick koo, Noah Corbitt, Peter Hayward, Remyl0p, Sheamus Byrne, Tyler Pentecost
All music is owned and copyrighted under their respective owners. Crusader Kings III is a grand strategy game published by Paradox Interactive. All rights reserved.
#ck3 #crusaderkings #alzabohd
It's almost like Alfred was Great or something. . .
It's almost like Harald had fair hair
Naaaaah, that can't be right. What could a lowly count like Alfred hope to accomplish against the relentless power of the Vikings? Certainly nothing of historical significance, I can tell you that!
yeah idk, never heard of him
Litton Wang Alfred the All Right.
@@MrWeeseAChine Alfred the So-So
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.
I formed Hungary-Poland as Lazlo of Transylvania lol then created Wallachia and Pomerania
This is true but when I started as him I quickly faced a few catholic holy wars and pagan county conquests making it difficult to achieve greatness. I think he was going for more like cake walk achievement based easiness for starting players tbh
@@vincentfalcone8802 Catholic holy wars? Pagan conquests? Not sure how thats possible, 1066 start date everyone is catholic, you start off catholic and your under the empire so pagans are not a threat.
@@Flayings sorry I was talking about 867. 1066 bohemia is completely OP
I had a great run with the count of Plzen in the 867 starting date. I had a custom character but you can do it as the default one, too. as you start, youre still tribal, so I fabricated claims on the other tribal counts in bohemia and them went on to feudalize through liege... Bohemia fell to a bavarian holy war, so I converted to christianity and started playing tall under the bavarian kingdom. later I decided to become independent - I'm pretty broken righ now as I managed to fix my inheritance by conquering pagan lands and already did the unite the west slavs decision. My starting character died age 89, and I've only played his heir for a handful of years yet.
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
The algorithm has become self aware! Thanks for watching
@@AlzaboHD I always watch your videos
They don't like competition
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.
And because he's a karling he does start with high splendor which helps in making alliances.
and it's a lot easier to get the "unite the Karling realms" achievement with him than in 867, just become independent :p
you mean la baguette
@Paul Gauthier I did the same I had my daughter as the benefactor and I was surprised when it asked if I wanted to play as her or stay with my current empire. If I was not on Ironman mode I would have done it. But I was trying to create the empire of Italia*
Bill Wurtz: No one conquers the Tamil Kings AlzaboHD: Hold my Count
British : hold my tea
Who are the Tamil Kings?
@@hephsmith3738 merchants probably
@@Illegal_man-gi5gp And they've got SPICES!
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
I started my 1st game game not knowing I'll be so OP. The brother actually died like few days or months into the game. Not 100 years in I've got empire and conquering Europe + I've almost got buffs to my dynasty.
In my Cornwall game, Alfred's brother did not die and had a daughter, while Alfred got beheaded during a battle against the vikings. Very fun alternate history situation.
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.
I just want to say that absolutely everything about this comment is perfect and, especially given the edit bit, the likes being at 69 is truly magical, I can't bring myself to destroy it by making it 70...
Every time I try to form norway with finehair, one of ragnars sons declares war and fucks my shit up
2:06 Who ordered roasted Libya for dinner?
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)
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".
how to get the nicknane?
pineapplepizza aka germaneistee If I remember right you have to take over the whole of England (or might be Britannia) and all your powerful vassals must be of either a Brythonic or Goidelic culture (Welsh, Cornish, Irish, Gaelic, Manx, Cumbrian and Breton)
@@simonandsimbagaming thank you!
@@simonandsimbagaming so you're telling me i can become King Arthur... Interesting...
@@simonandsimbagaming It's the whole empire of Britannia, indeed.
Started as Alfred... Married some kids off... Wound up playing as the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire by 950.
"Change the course of English history...." you are aware that's King Alfred the Great? Lol
Nooooo. Reeeeeally? Who would have guessed...
Pedro Barrera R/whooosh
@@publiopaolacci495 he’s joking
Can't get the Norman Conquest if you've already united the Isles under a superhuman by 1066.
@@publiopaolacci495 Uhhhhmmmm... r/whoooosh to you, I guess.
"No one can conquer the tamil kings" is a valid statement until some norse breton dude with a big event army appears
Norse presence in Southern India is always a fun playthrough.
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.
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").
On top of that, equal and especially female-only religions are completely broken at the moment because AI female rulers always marry patrilineally.
@@rurunosep was that way in ck2 aswell, formed a cathar basquian female empire and saw the bordergore from dukes all over europe marrying my vassals
There's a mod fixing matrilineal marriages for matriarchal religions, but it's not ironman compatible.
They're finally fixing matrilineal marriage in 1.2... ..but only as a game rule which you can't change after starting a campaign. smh..
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.
It’s usually temporary. The Infante is the king’s brother and he’ll eventually have a son. Not to mention that the elective nature of Asturias will make some other person king. That, or the Ummayads will destroy you.
@@alexanderchristopher6237 That's true, in my playthrough all the way back, I was able to claim the kingdom because his son died in a battle.
re: Hummay of Bilma "For reasons unknown": Historically, he takes over that region (the kingdom of Kanem Bornu) and Islamifies it around 1085.
is that a good reason to have thousands of levies?
@@treyebillups8602 The basic idea of games like this is that anything can happen, but there is a bias toward historical outcomes. Those troops create a bias toward the historical outcome of the Islamification of the region. If that's not a good reason, there's no good reason to say, spawn Genghis Khan in the 12th century with god knows how many troops.
@@ragnarrahl Very good point.
@@ragnarrahl wait genghis khan spawns with troops??? he spawned in my game claiming he will conquer the world and in like a year it was like he no longer existed lmao, I didnt think he actually spawned with troops, i guess his starting area was too much for him at the time
@@ragnarrahl as @Shadow said, Genghis might not be the best example, as he comes from "outside the map" centuries after start, so even with event troops he can get shat on. Better examples are the other starting counts (Haesteinn) with massive event troops. Although Haesteinn's despawn on death, which tends to rip apart the realm he conquered.
I really liked your 'Worst Rulers in CK2' video and would love a CK3 version. Great video here too.
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
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.
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.
Last time I was this early nothing was different and I still left a like on the video!
Always nice to see you in a comment thread Chewy.
I’ve been waiting for this video! Thank you!!!
Thank you! I was waiting for a list of interesting characters in ck3, especially since the map has improved greatly
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.
A "dwarf only" challenge / succession video would be interesting! I''ll definitely consider it if there's interest, thanks for the suggestion
AlzaboHD I must say, there is indeed interest! Not in “dwarf only” specifically, more just that I want to see where the dynasty and religion goes. I mean... Dwarf only is also good and funny But it would be my secondary interest of the two
Now we want to see the worst
I'm sure there are plenty of 70 year old counts without family to choose from.
Maldives in 1066 made for a very short run lol
Count of montaigu in1066 starting date start with a son that is not in his familly
Eadgifu the Fair. You can't have an heir because all of her children are legitimised bastards of King Godwinson. I had to increase authority with console.
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
“Bless the pain down in Africa” was worth a subscription...
I started in Ghat during my last play and had so much fun. It's nice to see different areas mentioned in your videos!
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
@Tattle Boad lol what?
You're grasping at straws trying to make what this guy briefly said to fit your bullshit racist perspective. Why don't you shut the fuck up and keep letting this guys voice "do strange things to you" you weird fuck.
@Tattle Boad black AMERICANS focus more on what happens in AMERICA. Strange...I know.
@Tattle Boad Racist fuck
@Tattle Boad Youre not the victim here. You were trying to "dunk" on blacks for absolutely no reason. It wasn't a "candid comment" on race, it was a way for you to be shitty and you succeeded
I have been waiting since middle ages for this video to come out.
Someone making an up-to-date Imperator Rome guide? Praises be to you Sir! :) Also, this video was fantastic.
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.
the "starting as " achievements arent hard theyre just bugged right now, theres a high chance you become unelligible for them after reloading into the savefile as an heir of the character
really like your videos man, tks for the content :)
HELL YEAH! Love all the content!
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.
God I love your work! Keep it up
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!
Man, you have Ghat to be kidding me about that second pick
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
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.
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) )
Thanks for the info! Ill be sure to research a bit more for the next one
Your narration makes me feel like I'm on blind date. I love it - 11/10 would plunder again.
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.
Excellent articulation, and humorous word play.
Great video with an interesting twist.
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.)
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.
I was about to mention him as well. If you can get a demesne value high enough by rolling a good administrator, he is basically a cheat because the silver from the Harz mountains will almost unavoidably propel him and his sons to dukedom and then king. The only challenge is to avoid the mines being separated from your lands. And he starts without a son, so choosing your wife is critical first task.
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.
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
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.
Awesome video! The puns keep it real lol
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.
Never stop making puns. It brings me such joy. Thank you
Where was Gondor when the vestfold fell? - Haraldr Fairhair
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)
The Alfred referenced in the video is alfred the great so that makes a lot of sense
Shameless plug worked, +1 sub
You deserved the subscription
Thank you very much for the support!
This is quality content I must say.
nice reference to history of the world i guess at 8:22 "at war with the Tamil kings and nobody messes with them"
Because they probably smelled so badly
Video ended 5min ago and im still chuckling at 'Bless the pain down in africa pun', absolute gold
9:20 I love the usage of Ducketts there.
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
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.
Cuz it's boring
Your puns are giving me an aneurism and I love it
nice third way reference, i swear I've had multiple strokes trying to do that as mzab..
Privet, tovarich) Great pronunciation! But if you would say "R" like lion's growling, you'd be our true comrade =)
Very helpful
Count of Santiago is pretty cool with a "Great Cathedral" special building and holy site perk!
nice vid
We count the counts that you can count on to counter your enemies
I'd like to add Chieftan Krak of Krakow in the 867 start, he starts with 2 holdings and he's first in line to inherit 3 more from his cousin on his northern border, so if he has an "unfortunate accident" you can create the High Chiefdom of Lesser Poland very quickly!
0:49 "On the topic of booty"😂😂😂😂 You killed me
That jab at Libia. O O F !
8:22 I saw that History of the World I Guess reference :)
I would add an honourable mention for the count of the isle of mon off the cost of Britain, they get an amazing unique decision that turns them into awesome raiders, turns them feudal, gives a king title and gives 7500 men that can be gotten in Ironman on your first character if you plan properly.
"buckets of ducats" -- instant thumbs up. 9:20
8:45 That county just across shore from Sri Lanka, Madurai, has 7 holdings. Prime real estate.
Surprised you didn’t include countess urracca of Zamora with claims on three kingdoms
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
I cannot subscribe twice to AlzaboHD, but i can like and leave a comment
Me: **waking up and looking at KZhead 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...
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.
I love these videos, could you do a beginners start video
I like to play as Bolade of Benin, the first in the Benin dynasty in 867. He's got a random start and you can easily murder the entire royal family of Ife, your overlords, to get the title for yourself as well as an enormous quantity of gold as inheritance.
More of these please.
@9:13 Abdul Walking Like an Egyptian, I see your reference there
There's also Ras Dawit of Dambiya in the Kingdom of Abyssinia, 867. He's one of - if not the only - jewish count to start in 867. He's actually one of the two people who I know are jewish in 867, the other being the emperor of Khazaria. With him you could go for the Restore Israel decision, though there's no achievement for it. Still pretty fun to start as a count where pretty much everyone else near you hates your guts, including your liege.
I've been looking for a good Imperator guide. Looking forward to that next video.
Any county with mines is also op. There is one in the HER near hannover county and one in india, where you start with a mine that gives 5 gold pr month 20% to holding income. When fully upgarded it will give you 14 gold and 30% to holding income. Just save up your gold and merch up to victory.
I just bought CK3 yesterday. I'll take up your word on Ghat being a powerful and interesting start and I'll play that immediately after completing the tutorial. I have just under 1000 hours on CK2, but I didn't read many of the dev diaries for CK3 so I'm a bit lost on a couple of things. Will use Ghat to git gud.
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.
Idk how but your narration reminds me of sseth. Subscribed.
They need to bring back the Karen and Justanids event troups! Bavandids are doable but sooo hard and sometimes impossible...
Duke Dirk of Holland isn't a count (duh) but I've been playing him all day and i accidentally inherited the HRI twice within the first two hours of a new game.. also, A+ puns. subscribed.