Jim is basically the J. Jonah Jameson of RPS: I was handsomely making sweet news for you guys when he stormed into the forbidden RPS chatroom of mystery, slammed his fists on the desk with the rage that only an editor can muster, and demanded I find some mods. “It’s the weekend!”, he angrily typed. “If you don’t find at least three mods by the end of the day that the readers can play, you can go and beg VG247 forra job.” And then he stormed out, muttering about page impressions, tea, and robots. Luckily I’ve been on a bit of a modding binge of late, so I have a few interesting things for you. Do you have Arma 3 installed? That’s nice. (more…)

The Old Gods expansion for Crusader Kings II is out now. It costs £9.99 and for a few short hours, the base game is actually cheaper than its expansion thanks to a 75% price reduction. The Old Gods moves the start date back a couple of centuries and adds playable pagans, among other things. I’ve played CK II more than any other game in the last 12 months and it’s going to end up at or near the top of the list over the next 12 as well. That’s at least in part thanks to the DLC, which has opened up new features, factions and play styles. I shall be playing with the Old Gods tonight. I hope they’re friendly.

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I’ve played Crusader Kings II’s latest expansion and it’s packed full of exciting things that I’d like to spend at least eighty hours exploring. For pagan characters, who are the focus, there are raids, landless adventurers, river-based assaults, plunder, warbands and human sacrifices. I never found the time to play with previous Republic expansion but I am incapable of ignoring the opportunity to unify every pagan religion beneath Odin’s banner, creating a British empire that clings to the forests and the ancient ways of worship. Paradox are currently running a competition that will include the winner’s historically appropriate event in the game. Rules below.

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Crusader Kings II is rolling out the pagans, and the game is changing not just by the nature of the idols it worships, but also in a few fundamental game mechanics, game events, and in the start date, which has rolled back to the ninth century. The Paradox team have taken some time to explain these decisions in a series of development update videos, which you can see below. (more…)

Paradox are finally ready to unleash the Pagans, or at least they are finally ready to announce that they will unleash the Pagans in the near future. The Old Gods expansion for Crusader Kings II won’t just allow players to control Pagan leaders, with all new mechanics and events, it will also open up a new start date of 867 AD. Details are scarce but I did speak with members of the studio about raids and Viking bands. Raids sound like a sort of terror event, with bands sprouting from the woodlands and wilds once a trigger is hit, falling under the leadership of a nearby ruler. Their numbers are not tied to the provinces that leader controls, so they can quickly become overwhelming. Trailer follows.

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If you listen carefully you’ll be able to hear Adam, all the way hidden in darkest Manchester, mumbling to himself about how much he likes Crusader Kings II. Listen now… [mumble mumble awrite ourkid i love crusader kings ii mad for it mumble mumble>]. Did you hear it! He’ll be uncontrollable with glee to learn there’s a new trailer for the Republic expansion, as well as two other smaller expansions out now.

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Last year’s most impressive fratricide simulator, Crusader Kings II, receives another expansion today in the form of The Republic DLC. If you’d like to learn more about trading, nautical dominance, economic skullduggery and political corruption, you could either read several volumes of Serious History, or jog over to the Paradox forums where the designers are responding to questions right now>. People are already saying things like, “Doesn’t this cause problems with modeling the Hanseatic League?”, and regarding the upcoming patch, “Could you provide more background about the 1.09 changes to bastardy/pregnancy?” How many games patch in ‘changes to bastardy’, eh?

The expansion should be live at 3PM CET and costs $9.99.

When all of the expansions are in place, Crusader Kings II will be a completely inaccurate title. They’ll just have to change the name to ‘Medieval Chaps and Ladies (also infants)’ because everyone will be playable, even if they have no interested in Papal-dictated conquest or monarchical pursuits. Moving away from the previous alternate history DLC, The Republic is a meatier expansion that should alter the game significantly. Money, not blood, drives the engine of the merchant republics. Venice, Genoa, Pisa, the Hanseatic League and Gotland will all be playable, and Patrician families will have a greater emphasis on trade, cash and political corruption, the latter of which isn’t quite> the same as defenestrating your first born. Probably.

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Aztec invasions of late 13th century Europe have no place in otherwise believable historical strategy games, particularly not when they threaten to shatter the united realms of slothful hunchback Cormac Whittlestump, ruler of the mighty Empire of Britannia. Crusader Kings II’s Sunset Invasion DLC insists> on the madness of an Aztec invasion – bringing armies, disease and human sacrifice – and it’s the first significant slab of content that I haven’t immediately installed. I’m not opposed to its existence but I doubt I’d spend much time with it. Any takers?

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Here’s the inevitable pagan DLC for Crusader Kings II then. I’ll just take a quick look at the feature list: human sacrifice…Mesoamerican Menace? That second part doesn’t with my preconceived notions as to what this next expansion includes. “Brings the savage, blood drenched Aztec civilization to European shores, determined to wreak carnage on its inhabitants”? This might not be the pagan DLC I expected after all, but rather a fantastical alternate history upheaval of the sort never before seen in a Paradox grand strategy game. Set your eyes below the break for more info on what the Aztec invasion might mean for the ever-warring folks of the Old World.

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