Taha

Alright, I have a small issue with the court system in the original game. The concept is great but it was very limiting in the original KoH. First and foremost, it has limited spots. We had only 10 spots to fill in merchants marshals spies and clerics, and now we have a new class we need to account for, the diplomats. The issue here that it is not a royal court, it is not me picking up the best of the marshal to make him my military advisor, it is not about picking the best clergyman to make him my moral compass, nor is it about choosing the best merchant to tell me what trade routes are the best for the kingdom. NO. If I want to make an army, any kind of army, even a small contingent to clear out a very small rebel group, I had to have a spot on the royal court. If I have 10 lucrative trade routes, I can't send a merchant to each one, otherwise I will have nothing but merchants. Etc. And I really don't think that there was a kingdom, no matter how small it was, with only 10 men taking care of all it's aspects, let alone 8 men including the king as you mention in KoH2. So please tell me that I will be able to have marshals to lead my armies outside the royal court, and I will be able to hire a merchant to take care of a trade route without filling one of the 8 spots you mention in the royal court. OR, tell me that the royal court will have at least 20 spots, which is the minimum that can reasonably sustain a kingdom. The second limitation in the original court system, the SPIES, yes the spies. After couple of hours playing, it was clear that, if I'm optimistic, after the first hour I can't trust anyone I appoint in the royal court, he will most definitely be a spy from another country. Which led me to develop a strategy where I recruit a marshal as the very first thing I do in the game, even though I need the money for other things. And afterwards, I only wait for the king to have more than one prince and then use the extra princes to fill the royal court with what I need, merchants, clergymen, etc. Sometimes, this meant limited income from the trade, having to limit my expansion since I have only two armies. And any loss in the court will take long time to recover. The idea of the royal court (or maybe we should call it royal council as it is more suitable since I don't think there was a royal court in history with 7 men in it) is a great idea indeed and adds a very nice of interaction in the game, but it should not limit the game play, it should not stop the expansion.

I was actually gonna suggest the possibilities to conquer elements in the province, like a farm or a monastery, and add that part only to your kingdom instead of having to add the whole province when you take the city. But I just saw your comment above 😄

For me it's hard to pinpoint a moment as my favorite in the medieval history of Europe; one can say that there were interesting events and timeline during the Mongol invasion of Europe which is exactly at the second starting point you mention. However, an interesting story that took place in the corner of Europe, took place during the last days of the Umayyad Caliphate, when the Abbasid revolution was taking place to establish the new Caliphate. The last Umayyad prince evades capture and death and travels all the way from Damascus to Cordoba where he re-establish the Umayyad Caliphate. I guess you can say that I would like to try playing as the Umayyad Caliphate in Iberia, but it is a little bit before the timeline and the starting points you mention. For the map, I liked the provinces' system in the first KoH, simple and effective. And I would say that a map that is 15~20% bigger than the one in KoH would be very suitable, more than that it might be too big. Now I have a small suggestion for the provinces, but not sure if this is the platform to mention it!