

And, due to the fact that he can never win a war against his independent de jure vassal the Count of Glamorgan, he isn't even fully united, weakening him further. By the time you have consolidated your power, you are considerably more powerful than the Duchy of Deheubarth. The second option would be to first invade the south of Wales, before implementing these law changes. I prefer this one over, say, elective due to the certainty that you retain all your titles and that these titles stay in the family. Also, I recommend that, sometime before you create Wales, you change the succession law to Primogeniture. This choice means that later on, when vassals are necessary, you don't get the penalty of upping laws that work against them. These are all easy to pass because, since you have no counts as vassals anymore, no one gets mad. Once you've consolidated your power internally, there are two options for you, 1) Look to your laws and up your centralization and the feudal levies and taxes. He is by far the stronger of the two dukes available and you can easily revoke you only count's title to centralize your power by forging a claim. My advice begins as the Duke of Powys, the northern Duke in Wales, and centralizes on independent domination. From this position, you can chose to conquer Wales, invade Ireland, pledge fealty to either England or Scotland, or and number of things.

At the 1066 start, it is divided between two decently powerful independent dukes (Duchies of Powys and Deheubarth), a small independent count (Count of Glamorgan), and the Kingdom of England (Duchy of Cornwall). Wales is my favorite starting position out of all of them because it is, for the beginning of the game, safe from invasion from any major power and the Kingdom of Wales (Brythoniaid if you are Welsh) is small enough to be easily formed with a few well timed wars. The advice and tips following are for the more petty kingdoms, duchies, and counties in the Isles. WARNING: This is NOT a guide to playing as England. The majority of the starting positions are independent and small nations that are all Christian, developed, and easily playable.

The British Isles is, personally, one of my favorite starting points in the game.
