Crusader Kings III
158 Achievements
2,250
173-230h
PC
Frankokratia
As a French Catholic, hold the Kingdom of Thessalonika without being vassalised to Byzantium
15
0.11%
How to unlock the Frankokratia achievement in Crusader Kings III - Definitive Guide
Silent ChaosO9
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
Edit: As first reported by Twisted Drummer, you do need to be Catholic (can convert to Catholic) as of the latest patch
The achievement description is actually misleading. You do not need to be Catholic, you just can't be Orthodox or Iconoclast. The easiest way to do this achievement that I've found is to start as Count Haesteinn of Montaigu in 867. You can convert to French culture instantly and since you are Asatru, you don't need claims to declare war on Catholic or Othodox rulers.
Count Haesteinn starts with plenty of gold, prestige/fame, and levies to get this right away. Here are the steps I used to get this by 873 (make sure you turn Ironman on so the achievement can unlock).
Before unpausing:
Convert to French culture (in addition for achievement requirement, it gives you access to siege man-at-arms)
Arrange a marriage with the strongest alliance possible (Jarl Sigurdr for me)
Declare war on the county of Napoli in Italy so you can get in range to declare war on Byzantium.
You should easily take Napoli and be in good position to attack Byzantium with an Invade Kingdom declaration of war.
Call your ally (or allies if you can get them) and hire mercenaries to have similar troop counts as Byzantium. If you are lucky, they won't have any allies yet and possibly be fighting other wars already. You can try and take the capital and get lucky with capturing prisoners, or go through the counties belonging to the kingdom of Thessalonika. Most of them only have level two castles so they will go down quickly.
Once the war is done, achievement unlocked.
If you then wait to get 500 gold, you can create the kingdom title to get the 'Going Places' achievement as well.
The achievement description is actually misleading. You do not need to be Catholic, you just can't be Orthodox or Iconoclast. The easiest way to do this achievement that I've found is to start as Count Haesteinn of Montaigu in 867. You can convert to French culture instantly and since you are Asatru, you don't need claims to declare war on Catholic or Othodox rulers.
Count Haesteinn starts with plenty of gold, prestige/fame, and levies to get this right away. Here are the steps I used to get this by 873 (make sure you turn Ironman on so the achievement can unlock).
Before unpausing:
Convert to French culture (in addition for achievement requirement, it gives you access to siege man-at-arms)
Arrange a marriage with the strongest alliance possible (Jarl Sigurdr for me)
Declare war on the county of Napoli in Italy so you can get in range to declare war on Byzantium.
You should easily take Napoli and be in good position to attack Byzantium with an Invade Kingdom declaration of war.
Call your ally (or allies if you can get them) and hire mercenaries to have similar troop counts as Byzantium. If you are lucky, they won't have any allies yet and possibly be fighting other wars already. You can try and take the capital and get lucky with capturing prisoners, or go through the counties belonging to the kingdom of Thessalonika. Most of them only have level two castles so they will go down quickly.
Once the war is done, achievement unlocked.
If you then wait to get 500 gold, you can create the kingdom title to get the 'Going Places' achievement as well.
6 Comments
Thank you - this is a solid strategy which worked for me. As touched on, the war with Byzantium will be tight in terms of numbers, so it may take some tries.
Some tips:
a) get a good spymaster immediately, as the French King will always attempt to murder you.
b) If you divorce your wife, you can get a second alliance to help with numbers.
Some tips:
a) get a good spymaster immediately, as the French King will always attempt to murder you.
b) If you divorce your wife, you can get a second alliance to help with numbers.
By M B Roflcopterz on 22 Apr 2021 14:55
Worked like a charm. Forgot I wasn’t duchy level and granted most titles away. This is why you don’t drink and CK3. Luckily they were small and won the titles back quickly.
By pistol09pete on 28 Jun 2021 01:39
SbN Spacefish
TrueAchievements
TrueAchievements
I'm sure someone will find a quick and easy way for this achievement as they have for most of the other leader or culture specific ones.
For now I want to provide some pointers.
1. You do not need to start as a French (culture) Catholic (faith). Though starting somewhere close to France, which usually makes you Catholic anyway, helps.
1a. So long as you have any Christian faith you can convert to Catholicism through the faith menu. I recommend starting as a Catholic to save yourself the trouble.
1b. If you hold a county which has the French culture [edit: possibly needs to be (de jure) part of the kingdom of France] you can move your capital there, though only once per character. After that you will get the option of converting to your (new) local culture in your decisions menu.
Beware: Don't do that unless you're close to finishing the other requirements or whatever else you had planned for your game. You will lose access to the innovations of your original culture which could result in an unwanted change in inheritance rules and other unpleasant stuff. And since you can only switch capitals once per lifetime you can't just go back afterwards.
Unconfirmed: You could possibly set your capital to a French county as one character but only convert to the local culture with your heir who should then have the option of changing their capital available again, which should in turn allow converting back to your original culture.
To change your capital you need to not be at war. Select your desired county and click the crown icon.
2. Conquering the Kingdom of Thessalonika from outside Byzantium can be a lengthy process. Unfortunately you cannot use a Holy War for Kingdom against Byzantium (even if you meet the high requirements) as their faith is only considered "astray" by Catholicism. So either get lucky and have some claimants for relevant duchies visit your court or have your Patriarch fabricate claims on the individual counties which could also grant you a claim to an entire duchy.
After each war you have to wait 5 years for the truce to end.
3. Before you can attack the Byzantine Empire with any chance of winning you will require a suitable army. The easiest way I found to get ahold of that much power was through the Holy Roman Empire. If you start as a vassal to the HRE you can become Emperor yourself by either using the Meritocracy perk from the stewardship lifestyle to gain a claim, using that claim to create a faction against the Emperor and either getting your ultimatum accepted or by winning the ensueing war with your allies. The kidnapper perk from the intrigue lifestyle helps win wars quickly. As soon as the emperor is in your dungeon the war will be won.
Or you can slowly rise up through the ranks by first conquering land around your starting position, claiming kingdom titles and becoming eligible for the HRE elections yourself. After that it's as easy as having some of the electants like you more than the others. Alternatively you can try and get a hook on some of the electants and use that just before the emperor's death to force their vote. Unfortunately this is only good for 5 years and you can't always be sure when the emperor will die (unless you are responsible yourself
).
4. A good leader I found to start as is Duchess Matilda di Lucca in 1066. She is Catholic and as she's Italian this coice makes it easy to combine this achievement with
The Rise from the Ashes achievement in Crusader Kings III (Windows) worth 216 pointsRestore the Roman Empire
,
which requires the conquest of some of Greece anyway,
as well as her own achievement
The Give a Dog a Bone achievement in Crusader Kings III (Windows) worth 139 pointsStarting as Matilda di Canossa in 1066, rule Italy, have 50 Dynasty members, and found a Holy Order
.
TLDR: Start as a Catholic vassal to the Holy Roman Empire, usurp the HRE, conquer the Kingdom of Thessalonika and a French (culture) county, move your realm capital there, go to decisions menu and select Convert to local culture.
This is my first solution, so any suggestions or additional pointers are welcome and will be added and credited to you once I find the time.
For now I want to provide some pointers.
1. You do not need to start as a French (culture) Catholic (faith). Though starting somewhere close to France, which usually makes you Catholic anyway, helps.
1a. So long as you have any Christian faith you can convert to Catholicism through the faith menu. I recommend starting as a Catholic to save yourself the trouble.
1b. If you hold a county which has the French culture [edit: possibly needs to be (de jure) part of the kingdom of France] you can move your capital there, though only once per character. After that you will get the option of converting to your (new) local culture in your decisions menu.
Beware: Don't do that unless you're close to finishing the other requirements or whatever else you had planned for your game. You will lose access to the innovations of your original culture which could result in an unwanted change in inheritance rules and other unpleasant stuff. And since you can only switch capitals once per lifetime you can't just go back afterwards.
Unconfirmed: You could possibly set your capital to a French county as one character but only convert to the local culture with your heir who should then have the option of changing their capital available again, which should in turn allow converting back to your original culture.
To change your capital you need to not be at war. Select your desired county and click the crown icon.
2. Conquering the Kingdom of Thessalonika from outside Byzantium can be a lengthy process. Unfortunately you cannot use a Holy War for Kingdom against Byzantium (even if you meet the high requirements) as their faith is only considered "astray" by Catholicism. So either get lucky and have some claimants for relevant duchies visit your court or have your Patriarch fabricate claims on the individual counties which could also grant you a claim to an entire duchy.
After each war you have to wait 5 years for the truce to end.
3. Before you can attack the Byzantine Empire with any chance of winning you will require a suitable army. The easiest way I found to get ahold of that much power was through the Holy Roman Empire. If you start as a vassal to the HRE you can become Emperor yourself by either using the Meritocracy perk from the stewardship lifestyle to gain a claim, using that claim to create a faction against the Emperor and either getting your ultimatum accepted or by winning the ensueing war with your allies. The kidnapper perk from the intrigue lifestyle helps win wars quickly. As soon as the emperor is in your dungeon the war will be won.
Or you can slowly rise up through the ranks by first conquering land around your starting position, claiming kingdom titles and becoming eligible for the HRE elections yourself. After that it's as easy as having some of the electants like you more than the others. Alternatively you can try and get a hook on some of the electants and use that just before the emperor's death to force their vote. Unfortunately this is only good for 5 years and you can't always be sure when the emperor will die (unless you are responsible yourself
).4. A good leader I found to start as is Duchess Matilda di Lucca in 1066. She is Catholic and as she's Italian this coice makes it easy to combine this achievement with
The Rise from the Ashes achievement in Crusader Kings III (Windows) worth 216 pointsRestore the Roman Empire
which requires the conquest of some of Greece anyway,
as well as her own achievement
The Give a Dog a Bone achievement in Crusader Kings III (Windows) worth 139 pointsStarting as Matilda di Canossa in 1066, rule Italy, have 50 Dynasty members, and found a Holy Order
TLDR: Start as a Catholic vassal to the Holy Roman Empire, usurp the HRE, conquer the Kingdom of Thessalonika and a French (culture) county, move your realm capital there, go to decisions menu and select Convert to local culture.
This is my first solution, so any suggestions or additional pointers are welcome and will be added and credited to you once I find the time.
3 Comments
If the achievement still shows ingame when you select "Possible" it should still be available in your game.
As for moving your capital check the screenshot I posted in the solution. I marked the part you need to click.
As for moving your capital check the screenshot I posted in the solution. I marked the part you need to click.
By SbN Spacefish on 23 Oct 2020 17:31
I don't see what would prevent that decision from showing up. The county you moved your realm capital to does show "Culture: French" as in the screenshot right? I remember seeing several different cultures within the kingdom of France.
Also don't be at war, otherwise the decision will be greyed out, but the tooltip will tell you that.
If you're certain everything's right you can also try dying and moving on to your heir.
Also don't be at war, otherwise the decision will be greyed out, but the tooltip will tell you that.
If you're certain everything's right you can also try dying and moving on to your heir.
By SbN Spacefish on 24 Oct 2020 04:09
