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There are hundreds of rulers and campaigns to select from in Crusader Kings 3 and many of them are easy to play once you learn the basics of the game. In this video, we will explore the top 10 most challenging campaigns and interesting characters in game and explore potential ways to overcome their difficulty and emerge victorious in these impossible CK3 starting scenarios.
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Special thanks to the following patrons and member supporters: akurohan, btop85, David Yves, Davon Collins, Dilraba, D.K., Dylan Steele, FelixMortem, Ferdinand Müller, Graf Zahl, Greg Stewart, Jarod L Vautrot, Jonas Horstmann, Jourdan M, Kurt P Ference, Kyle, Lonesome Shoe, Lord of Ark, Markus Delves, Matteo Stanchina, MyMainManManny, nick koo, Peter Hayward, Reon, Shamir Khodzha, Sheamus Byrne
Table of Contents:
Introduction 0:00
Ras Dawit of Dambiya (867 AD) 1:38
Countess Katalin of Pozsony (1066 AD) 2:35
Infante Fruella Ordonniz of Asturias (867 AD) 3:40
Count Smbat of Suenik (1066 AD) 4:44
Emir Sawdan of the Sawdanid Emirate (867 AD) 5:40
Chieftain Aatrak of Guzkol (1066 AD) 6:44
Marzipan Wahsudan of Gilan (867 AD) 8:04
Petty King Aella of Northumbria (867 AD) 9:15
Countess Gyda Torgilsdatter of Devon (1066 AD) 10:09
Sheikh Mu’nis of Acre (867 AD AD) 11:40
Conclusion / Final Thoughts 12:54
All music is owned and copyrighted under their respective owners. Crusader Kings 3 is a grand strategy game published by Paradox Interactive. All rights reserved.
#ck3 #top10ck3 #alzaboHD
Reign supreme and download now for FREE - gmlft.co/Alzabo Sponsored by Gameloft
This game is a pile of turds but I like your channel
Absolutely loving your CK3 vids... really happy that for once KZhead recommended such an awesome channel. Just a thought, but you should give a go at rebuilding the Zoroastrian faith as a Persian as it was so much fun in CK2 (using secret societies), maybe even remaking the Persian Empire. Would be really interesting to see how you would achieve it, especially with such phenomenal historical narration. Keep up the awesome work good sir.
You should play Great Moravia and restore it to its fullest glory mate.
You can't tell mobile games with MLM schemes apart anymore...
I find it so funny how those crap games sponsor content with real deep and somewhat complex quality paid games. As if the CK3 or HoI4 community wants to play Rise of Kingdom Nations Heroes Saga.
“But if you thought being blind was bad, try being Armenian”
Armenian Genocide/Mass Murder/Genova Suggestion
@@jeremiahtisdell4823 oh thats why
@@jeremiahtisdell4823 That whole Genova thing is always a pain.
@@jeremiahtisdell4823 darn that Genova Suggestion
im armenian RIP
"If you thought being blind was bad, you should try being Armenian" -AlzaboHD 2021
I paused the video to look for this comment.
fucking laughed and liked the vid after that kek
Absolute Turkish moment
Sad Armenian noises 😢
Armenians got the last laugh, when they unleashed the Kardashians on the world.
I actually did a playthrough starting as Aella of Northumbria. I used a mental break to switch religion, attacked Ulster, surrendered against both invasions...and then died alongside my son to simultaneous outbreaks of the plague and smallpox. A newborn grandson was able to ally with Gwynedd, survive smallpox, use mercenaries to conquer part of Mercia (Which was at war with Wessex and Jorvik), and swear fealty to England, when it formed. Through a lucky event, I befriended Alfred, who pressed my claim on Northumbria. I later used Meritocracy to get a claim on England, was elected by the Witan, and united Britannia. There was also a (successful) 30 Years Crusade for Denmark.
I feel like I was given an IRL hard campaign start at birth
That's why a good education is important, otherwise being born with Slow is gonna ruin ya.
@@cwovictor3281 Thats why a good education system is important. Too fucking bad its utter garbage in most countries.
@@sus4644 you can always resort to ck3 c u c k o l d r y in real life?
One of the most interesting and possibly also difficult campaigns I’ve played in ck3 is Ivar the boneless to emperor of israel
Actually easy
@Renan_PS he means owning the tag israel obviously
The isles/Scotland into Israel. Yep that is the very definition of Cursed
Mine in 3 is just a normal count run tbh since I run a "no cucked heirs" and "male line extant only" rule on ironman, if my heir is a cuck and I can't murder the posing little pissant to get a real kid in charge before i die, i'm dead, if i have only a girl, dead, true bloods only in this palace yet my wives always soulmate me and cuck me however merc educated hindu norse island - 400 years observing from afar - Britannia in 2 still reigns as most absurd and fun
Well I made a jewish culture character in a middle of muslim world and not only preserved judaism, but also weakened abassids, taking the kingdom of arabia after their empire crumbled and defeated the crusaders. Started as a duchy of eastern desert, It was pretty fun.
I remember coming across Infante Fruella during an Umayyad Campaign. I felt bad for the kid so I made sure he could keep his land and religion without my vassals attacking him.
Not to brag, but I've reformed Persia as Gillian, then steamrolled into Europe through Africa. If I remember correctly I held just about all of the Middle East, North Africa, and Western Europe. And not one single secession war through the entire playthrough. Just kept restarting until I got 4 star commander education, and other good personality traits. The best way to deal with the seljuks is to put your spymaster in their capital to get a bunch of hooks, and then just keep murdering their leaders until a child gets on the throne, at which point you can just watch the empire fracture into a bunch of smaller, more manageable pieces.
Ah yes the most powerful tactic known to Crusader Kings: S T R A T E G I C C U C K O L D R Y
One my dudes did that. His wife cheated on him with a Lustful knight an produced a kid with an insanely high learning stat despite not being Quick, Intelligent, or a Genius. I named the kid Senku, as one does, and by the time he died of a seizure in his late 50s his learning stat was at 45. I'm still not sure how he managed to get a stat that high without any sort of selective breeding, but he was a cool guy and made a great court physician.
@@Amy_the_Lizard plot twist: this wasn't in the game. It was real life
‘PLEASE SLEEP WITH MY WIFE!!’
@@Amy_the_Lizard Learning stat has impact an physician outcome? I thought only Miracle worker and Physician traits matter.
@@krzkam7792 Yup, those both help, but generally speaking the higher the learning stat the better, so if you've got a courtier with a 20 learning stat and no physician, mystic, or herbalist traits, they'll usually make a better physician than a courtier with a low learning stat who does have one of those traits. They also tend to level up the physician and mystic traits faster, and are more likely to acquire the herbalist trait at some point
As an Armenian I can support the claim that this life is worse than being blind.
My favorite Armenian surname is Lifeispainian
@@RHR199X *Lifeispainyan
As another Armenian, I can very much confirm that.
And as a turkish, I can help you with that.
Question, It has to do with Munis. Munis was a Greek Muslim in service to the Caliphate. He was an Eunuch. He was the main diplomat between Islam and the Roman Empire. So the Greeks knew him well. In Greek the word for Pussy,is Muni (Μουνί),and here is the thought. Since we know that he had great connections with the Greeks,does the Word Pussy come from him, basically saying "No Dongey Dong"?
Lol great theory man, but tell me, why is the CIA at your door?
*+NICK PASCHIENTIS* That would certainly be facinating if true.
@@daddyleon We are Greek. Sex is part of our culture,we literally have Sex Holidays throughout the year. And we swear and Shout alot.
@@ogaucho6235 It's the Imperial Inquisition!!! Her name is Greyfax!
@@nickpaschentis5284 lol, ok. Sounds nice, albeit a bit overhyped I assume.
4:45 I have never laughed this much in my life.
I'm sorry, but it gets me every time: it's not pronounced "duckie" lmao
Quack, quack! I am the 10th Duck of Mallardy!
One day I'll figure out what he's referencing when he does that. One day.
His pronunciation of Chaste is also a little bothersome XD I can live with it, it's just bothersome :P
He fucks up the pronunciation of common words too like when he says Mass Tie Kistic instead of Masochistic and when he says CuckHoldery instead of Cuckoldry. This is such a common thing with specifically Americans who make videos about Strategy Games. It sounds like a generalization but its so common you would be baffled. Been thinking about making a compilation of sorts cuz i hear it happen so often
@@rocketensky3336 I always figured it was some kind of injoke. I hadn't considered the possibility that someone may have made a mistake and then it just... spread through the community by way of example and precedent because no one knew any better.
System of a down syndrome had me dying.
I hate it It was beautiful
"reforge Israel if they defend themselves into Palestine, Golan heights, and Sinai" oof
Yeah that didn't go over my head, savage and historically accurate.
*Judea * The Golan is a strategic point from which the Syrians bombed civilian settlements * They gave Sinai back for peace
@@yaboipalps8616 and so the comment war began...
@@bleddynwolf8463 TO WAR WITH THE IGNORANT !
@@yaboipalps8616 oh hey a larper
What are the hardest campaigns you've played in CK3? Let me know in the comments!
Andalus europe conquest when the mongols had half of europe cornered. Had to stress suicide to get the invade kingdom cb and a lot of murder.
0 because i have never completed one i leave all of them after my first character dies succesion is hard.
Played the Gideon start once before the video came out and reformed a Roman Empire under Jewish control, lot of fun
none as i dont have the game
Playing as historical oghuz-il (Conquer persia then asia minor)
"But if you thought being blind was bad, try being Armenian." As someone of Armenian descent who is familiar enough with Armenian history, that hurt. Edit: I changed "I felt that one" to "that hurt" to make my feelings more clear.
As an armenian who lives in armenian and who speaks it fluently i couldn t careless
@@lordmoncef5494 , to be clear, I felt it almost like I was being physically hit. Like when you see someone else get hit and can almost feel the hit out of sympathy. There have been some rough times in Armenian history, and some amazing high points. I wouldn't blame anyone in those rough times to trade their sight if they could be spared them, but I cannot say I know of anyone who would, myself included. I am proud of being Armenian, of being of Armenian descent, and I have no desire to give it up. I hope to sometime visit the land my great grandmother lived in and all the wonderful history and life that is there, though I'll admit, that would mean going to part of Georgia too. I'll edit my initial comment to be more clear about my feelings.
"68 years young" I cracked up hahahah
1:50 “hails from beta israel” Yeah I cant do that campaign cuz Im a sigma male
Oh god, that SOAD pun. You're the best, Alzabo.
I get the notification when i was searching something to watch while eating.I cant describe how happy iam
Bon appétit - hope you enjoy it!
I did!Great video as always
Love the CK3 videos keep them coming! Your narration style is peerless and every time I see you upload I stop whatever I am doing to watch.
Nice System of a Down reference in the context of Armenian count lol
You made my day, great content as always.
Unfortunately with count Munis you can't do it anymore :-(, at least not with strategic cuckoldry. They patched out eunuchs being able to take concubines, which is a shame, I was very eager to try that one.
Just found your channel and really like your style, binged a few videos now. Going to try out some of these start date challenges after this. Subscribing too, keep it up man. Gj 💪
Thank you so much for the support!
Did not expect to hear “Baruch atah Adonai” come out of your mouth anytime soon (nor shalom, in fairness), but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless
Pronunciation was a wee off (the “ch” in baruch sounds more guttural, akin to how the more guttural ch is sometimes pronounced in german), but nonetheless thank you for your best attempt, and mazel tov!
not to flex or anything, but i formed persia as gilian
Respekt
Respect, how many hours you played dude
wast actualy that hard, i have around 400 i got realy lucky with the abbasids colapsing imidietly, won some death wars and got an ally with some guy acros the black sea
Yeah, it's a bit of work but surprisingly straightforward even without strong alliances. The Byzantines are generally a good target for finding secrets and blackmailing gold for mercenaries, you've got some small neighbours to expand into using mercenaries and the abbasids rarely seem stable enough to pose a consistent threat. As long as you have land in two duchies, even if you lose a war with them, by the time the truce is over, they'll probably be busy with a rebellion or a war on another front.
Ey same. Bless the mountain defensive buffs
played a campaign as Fruella, and it actually wend really well. The Umayyad Sultan died in battle during thier first invasion, turning the peninsula into delicious spanish spaghetti. I gave the man who killed him a large sum of gold as a gift. 10/10, would reconquer again.
After watching this, I gave the Sawdan start a try. Once you get over the initial challenges, it can be a fun and rewarding playthrough!
My dear mother, I need your land pls let these troops in for lunch alright ? -Petty King of Kent
Sawdan is still pretty hard but tbh its actually doable now, not actually impossible like in ck2. Allies are pretty easy to come across and as long as the italians dont have allies you can survive, and even then you only lose 1 province lmao, thats really forgiving of paradox.spend that time converting and further allying and as long as the byzzies dont end your game early, its much easier
The Italian king can at any moment call their strong brothers from Lotharingia and West and East Francia because they're from the same house. So, except if a revolt deposes the king or something, he will always have allies.
what you can also do is swear allegiance to the byzantines, exchange more taxes or levies for title revocation protection or religious rights protected and you're golden
Hey Alzabo, I have a CK3 challenge suggestion: Unify the 3 Francias as the weakest county in West Francia (or Brittany if you wanna make it slightly more difficult.). Again, just a suggestion, I loved your Brittany and Finland challenge videos.
If I remember correctly the king of Asturias has both his brothers blinded in 867 after they tried to overthrow him , so there is that new info for you :3
I just started a campaign as King Alfonso of Asturias and was wondering why all my brothers were blind. Now it makes sense!
congrats on 100k subs homie
YES! finally! so pumped for this vid - thank you!
8:04 oh yes, I used to play Gilan (CK2 HIP) almost exclusively before, nice to see its return
Love the content keep it up
Yooo amazing video
Oh oh! Them Sabaton hints. They outnumber them 5 to 1 before the battle's begun But then the winged raiding parties (hussars) arrived Pray to the high heavens (i think that's a lyric too)
@Belagerungsmörser the Sheep ye that's true, but for some reason I feel like I remember it from one of their songs
@Belagerungsmörser the Sheep Yeah it does feel like caroleans prayer, but i don't think that it is a direct quote like the others
I’ve beaten #10 and #4. Thanks for the challenge, Alzabo!
“If you thought being blind was bad, you should try being Armenian.”
i feel vindicated that northumbria is on this list. i tried playing them because that's where my ancestors are from, but within a year i was invaded and deposed by my other ancestors
The Sheikhdom of Tbilisi is ungodly difficult. You hold the historical capital of a pretty large Kingdom of Georgia next to you and get invaded basically immediately, and the easiest expansion opportunity is to the south of you, and is of the same royal family as Georgia, so they almost always join forces. Even if you choose to submit to the Georgians, the Kingdom will force you to change religions and and the Duchy of Tao-Klarjeti will invade you anyway. I tried playing about 8 or 9 times and the best option is to either submit to one of the two neighboring Empires, Byzantine or Persian, and just hope that you can develop your county to become economically powerful and influential.
Love your voice ❤
I'm currently playing as aellas dynasty :) it's so hard but if you get a white peace with one of the Vikings and surrender to the other you'll survive but it's still very hard but I've gotten through it and now I'm the king of Northumbria
Awesome list! Love playing as my namesake Ras Dawit
nice!! thanks
Ahh, good ol' Mu'nis. That was a ride.
Your CK3 videos are so good
Thank you very much!
"Word is that a warlord named Genghis Khan is on his way." "I doubt he'll get very far." *OOF*
Actually, the blind dude from Asturia was one of my first campigns in CK3. If I remember correctly, I think I didn't understand how many things work back then, so I stayed as Asturia's vassal for a long time untill I somehow inherited it peacefully. I was doing fine, because the vikings were killed by France and the Muslims got divided and were fighting each other. I lost after some time, because I couldn't manage the elections and the game ended when my last dynasty member died.
Id Love to see you play all of those
I just exited out of my Sawdanid Empire of Italia run to find him at #6, tbh hes not that difficult since u can ally Umayyads and Tulunids day 1.
“If you think being blind is bad you should try being Armenian”
There are actually three ways to obtain an heir as Munis (though the one mentioned in the video has been patched. They are all random events however, and I believe require a kingdom level title. First, you may be approached by two vassals arguing over who gets to marry a girl, and you have the option to marry her yourself, giving you the opportunity to look the other way to any children she may have. The next situation is similar, but involves two women arguing over a child you can choose to adopt yourself. The last is when you have a lowborn orphan in your court, who you are presented with the opportunity to adopt. Adopted children inherit normally, but have penalties. I'm not sure, but adopting children might work for post menopausal women too. I guess they would have to be single or in a matrilineal marriage though.
nice job on the sponsor
I made quite good "Hyperborea" campaing starting as Tyumen tribe. It's the closest to thing i did in CK2 with making Syktyvkar into richest city in the world, too bad Komi was cut from CK3. Siberia is far better with development system here since it's mostly forests with occasional plains and hills, compared to mountainous or steppe regions, those are nightmare to develop, less than gaining new barony slots in CK2 but still.
please do one of these !!!
Hey man, love ur content. Idea: Conquer all/most of China as a South Arabian state
My next 10 campaigns right here
Three times the charm!
CK3 Videos are the best!
10:55 Did he just pronounce 'duchy' as ''ducky''? 🤣🤣
I've tried to start Armenian (not found that suffering guy, was small vassal in Kakheti). It is not so challenging as may look like, cause the region is divided and you have enough expand options (one adequate ally will be enough to start the expansion). Byzantium does not really care of you, so does not Seljuk. Major problem is forming a kingdom/empire - big strong guys block all nearby options, and I ended in forming brand new empire through decision (you can try to take the Byzantium Empire lol).
All I want is for Jihlava (A county in Great Moravia) to have it's own ruler and not be under personal management of the Mojmír dynasty at the start of the game. I want my own ruler to be able to start there damn it
The hardest start that I've done is Count of Lancaster in the early start. It took me 37 tries to finally be able to free myself from Northumbria before the Norsemen managed to conquer it. Then, I managed to grow under Jorvik's duke, eventually took it over and became vassal of the King of England, only to take the title in the same generation and to elevate it to Empire. Then, as anyone else would do, I conquered most of Europe and made it my dynasty's breeding ground for renown farming!
Another great video! Have you permanently moved on from ck2? I'll watch CK content either way, just wondering.
I love CK2! And theres atleast one more horse campaign to arrive, so stay tuned
@@AlzaboHD great! TYVM!
6:26 levy, enactment is the insitution of them
I created a custom character for the two Zoroastrian provinces on the west coast of the Tahirid emirate with the express goal of restoring Zoroastrianism while keeping the Gilan dudes dynasty alive until the end of the game. Formed Persia and now they’re a great dynasty as my vassal, holding a kingdom tier title within my realm. One of their branches sailed off to India without me even noticing, until I realised they’d somehow carved out an independent Indian kingdom. Also unwittingly united Tibet and converted it to Zoroastrianism by marrying one of the most powerful rulers there, converting her and helping out with her wars.
I can't believe how detailed was this video with memes jokes and correct pronunciations
This video is great
5:26 10/10 i;m subscribed
Mu'nis shall be my next playthrough.
I find CK3 hard to play due to the succession mechanics, I don't need any additional challenges.
northumbria is a dutchy tier title not a kingdom title. Petty king is an independent duke.
You don't think we didn't notice that sabaton reference
You should play Great Moravia and restore it to its fullest glory.
I have yet to see anybody start out with my home country of the Faroe Islands. I don't think there's any campaign or anything assigned to them but I've also read that starting there is pretty difficult.
your wordplay is so good lol
Spiffing, I will try them all at once!
I know this is old vid. you can technically adopt kids from events, a cultural pillar, and this might of been working before, mystic treatments can cure anything. changing faith or culture was easier before but they had no buffs or differences. some of these are only hard if you don't do that.
9:27 You didn’t really think I’d miss that one, did you?
Sabaton reference = immediate subscription
@@Acehalo2 Yes
tnx
You are actually a smart guy.
Highly Defined Alzabo
Say "Ayla" like a west texan and you'll have the pronunciation for Aella. Aside from that, great content
"If you thought being blind was bad, just try being Armenian" Alzabo 2021
I was playings once as Alfred in ck2 and we somehow won against Jorvik
0:43 Mashes thumbs on screen while nothing at all is happening. Exhilarating gameplay lmfao
The hardest part of CK3 is finding a campaign fun.
Interesting I'll have to try these all on very hard in ironman mode.
when your first game in ck3 is the 3rd hardest start
The 69 year old widow reddit play was absolute insanity. You gotta love the crusader kings community
How can Aartrak be difficult? He's the boss baby.
Agreed,I am honestly happy to see there is a manicheist character in 1066, and it doesn't even look that difficult
I tried play as countess gyda, made duchy Cornwall, converted to local culture but tanistry option did not reveal. I guess this not works anymore at curent patch
What is the outro song?
I wish they would let us adopt an heir.
More ck2 please
your puns are fantastic