Pagan Denmark Revived

[cheesefacemcgee]

Who else has tried to roleplay as a revived Pagan Denmark?

Play as the Danes and "declare pagan revival" by refusing to build churches, no priests, destroy all religious buildings when conquering settlements, do not use any cavalry (only foot troops), no archers (we fight man to man, as Odin intended), no armor advancements beyond Leather Tanners (pagans were poor, so no metal armor added), only troops you can use are Vikings and Huscarls (and Generals bodyguard, since the chieftain could have the wealth for armored horse guards). The only mercs you can hire are melee infantry. No ships beyond simple longships (not even Dragonships). No upgrades beyond basic Castle and regular Stone Walls for towns (its not pagan to have huge stone works). You must sack or exterminate, never occupy (pagan nature is to slaughter enemies). No alliances whatsoever (pagans stand alone in a world against them), no ceasefires offered (no mercy expected) and no ceasefires accepted unless you can get some money from your enemy out of it. Any generals with loyalty below 3 you must make them "sacrifice themselves to Odin" by charging them against any nearby enemies up to three times. If they survive all three attempts, they can stay in the royal family, otherwise they die purified by Odin.

I have tried this self imposed roleplay style, and even with the restrictions (no alliances, no advanced units, no ceasefires accepted without getting tribute, sacrificing disloyal generals, no advanced settlements, no advanced armor, no churches to maintain order) and the game is STILL too easy to win! Its a bit slower and harder to do, but I still beat everyone.

Anyone else tried something similar to this?

[Dismounted Feudal Knight]

Not to overcomplicate this but it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to 'patch in' the difference from how Lithuania is implemented from Teutonic, which would give an authentic pagan experience including religious conversion, buildings and agents, at least in relation to this interpretation/playstyle of pagan tradition. But of course this means spending the time to mod instead of play. It's ultimately rewarding if stuck to but the time investment isn't trivial. Really it's with modding that any challenge is derived from the game and my solution using hotseat mode to literally fight myself is a very niche answer. But fundamentally playing in different ways is something I tend to do whatever the mod. Rarely do I make a desirable 'bulk' and instead I often like to play factions which expand in more defensively difficult ways, think how the empire of Alexander was a really long straight line, or of a greek state planting colonies in hostile lands. So in the case of denmark early priorities would be heading straight off to England and Russia and getting wilder from there, potentially but not necessarily going the full distance to take over Scandinavia in the meantime.

Alternative to everything suggested there's the hotseating community, which is not lively on TWC anymore but can be found on discord and will set you directly against a world of human players. It can be clunky but if you enjoy the style it can be very rewarding.