I started a 1.05 game as Sisnando de Coimbra, Count of Coimbra. I had never played him before, and it looked like a prime place to start. Coimbra is on the Atlantic Ocean with the Muslim countries directly to my south, which should make this a very good place to see how the new crusades work in this patch. Coimbra is also one part of a future Kingdom of Portugal, and I decide to make that my long-term goal.
Sisnando starts out as a vassal to an old duke, Nuno of Portugal. He is also married to the duke's only child Loba of Portugal. So I thought with the duke being so old and not having any male heirs, all I would have to do is produce an heir, and he would inherit both my titles and his grandfather's titles. It looked like an ideal situation. However... the old geezer died after a year and before I could produce a male heir. Someone else became the new duke and now I was a vassal to a duke who had plenty of heirs.
But it gets better... I started the game with a one year old daughter. Well, it wasn't long before Loba had a stork pictured over her, and soon gave birth to my second daughter. A year later, I have another daughter. In two more years I have another daughter. A year later my wife is pregnant again.... and I greet my fifth daughter. I start to think this might be a very short game, as I have no heirs to carry on the Coimbra name.
About this time the pope starts the first crusade. And my liege loses all his territory and his one other vassal to the Muslims. I barely survive and sue for peace, giving up my entire treasury. I end up being completely surrounded by Muslim countries after a few years. During the first crusade, I also meet this really attractive young thing that manages to provide me with a bastard son. However, he is not considered my heir.
I begin to see this game as being almost over, when suddenly my wife who along with me is starting to get up there in years tells me she is pregnant again. All right, I knew I had it in me. Here comes that son I have been waiting to greet. Of course, it's another daughter, so I get mad at the world and start declaring wars left and right.
Meanwhile, I have been marrying off my daughters and one of them produces three sons. So, it looks like one of them will get my title as the Count of Coimbra. During my wars with the Muslims, I manage to capture the territory, Castelo Branco, which is next to Coimbra. I give it to my bastard son, so at least the Count of Castelo Branco will have my name, even though he is not considered my heir.
And then I get my game saving event. At 18 years of age, my "Bastard Son had declared himself your legitimate heir based on his strength of rule." Woo Hoo. I can die a happy man. Too bad I live for a really long time before finally dying and letting my bastard son take over the rule of both territories.
Now the problem I have is that the bastard son is depressed which makes him infertile and he currently has no heirs. Here I go again.
