CK3 is so back with the Roads to Power DLC!! You can get it here: play.crusaderkings.com/Zieley Long time no see legends 😅 I really hope you enjoy this video. Let me know your plan what you guys have planned for your first game with the new DLC 😁
Mate, I have no idea what’s going on in your life and it’s none of my business but just so you know, the world is slightly sadder, paler and less interesting without regular video uploads from your channel. Stay safe.
@@DavidAndrews-eb7gm this. I started playing CK3 solely bc of this channel. Still today when starting a new game I hear his voice in my brain "never stop building...."
The little animated knight that pops up randomly in the intro is the trigger for me. I have no idea what’s going to happen next but I know it’s going to be good.
That’s a challenge most fail!!!! Conquering the world, getting free(almost) buildings, and saving disaster saves is one thing but remembering your YT password is a whole other(that’s like 100 dev, world conquest, and 500 gold per turn IN YEAR 1000 level difficulty)
Imagine Leopold's reaction when he gets back to the camp from robbing some dude and his men come back and tell him he now rules the Latin Empire from Constantinople
I think this is basically how Macedonian dynasty was formed. Basil I being a commoner from Thrace (or whatever contested region in Byzantine-Bulgar he came from) who became an Emperor…in Crusader Kings manner.
I'd say the most noteworthy thing about the crusades is the first crusade, then the third crusade (which involved saladin, barbarossa, Baldwin, Richard the lionheart etc). THEN it's the fourth
Most fun I had in a run was starting as the Hapsburg count in 1066. He was excommunicated, imprisoned by the kaiser and burned at the stake... his son was elected Kaiser 2 years into his succession. Did EVERYTHING. Won a crusade, vassalized the pope, almost conquered historical Roman borders. Hit like age 63 or something and realized I had NO sons. 8 kids, all daughters. No one eligible for the kaisership. Adopted the seduction focus. Popped out 5 more kids... all daughters. Died of lovers pox. Lost the kaisership. During the last years of my life, most of my kids died save for my youngest daughter... she was assassinated by some distant relative. Game over.
And the wait was worth it!!!! Also might I recommend celebrating it with a collab? You could re do the bingo video with only things that have been added to ck after it!(it was like 2 years back or something so there’s probably enough)
War contribution score during crusades needs rework especially now. Before this DLC, I’d just make sure to have my troops be the first guys landing (I mean really early) and acting as vanguards. My troops would get literally wiped but this ensures my allies get to land safely. The rest of the crusades continues for victory, and even though I literally have zero troops left in the effort, my score contribution is so high I always get the lions share
You're probably one of the only content creators that I see getting a review copy and still respect because you give it an honest playthrough, no deception for the sake of the sponsorship. Nice video, always good to see you in the feed.
I am super hyped for this. The only thing that would make it better is the ability to become a baron as well. Also bro, super glad Paradox gave you the review key, you deserve it!
I'd love if they created theatres for different sections of the map. Such as just loading Europe and cutting off at Asia and the middle East with the game still processing everything happening outside of the theatre it's just not all loaded and active at the same time
Welcome back! We’ve missed you man. I’ll just say this about the DLC. It looks really fun and incredible but I’m a little disappointed in how easily it was to acquire an empire in one go. I wish it was more like berserk in a way where Griffith has to fight multiple battles with the band of the hawk to gain recognition and favor from the king before all the crazy stuff happened at the end of the golden age arc.
I think you can choose not to inherit an empire though, so there is that. I personally would not have taken the empire, as I prefer staying small in my games usually.
If I had to guess, it was probably as he said in the beginning, that the ai forgets trebuchets. I bet he was getting a lot of score from helping with sieges even if the manpower contribution wasn't high.
I think it is a bug because the choice of who is put in charge should be given to the leader not to the player. (Also I don't think he was the major contributer)
Think about it, if no one had siege weapons then he is the hero of the crusade and the one that made it posible... and also the only one who could even enter to constantinopla after not gettin paid
@@mariox204 It won't work that way. You are literally an unlanded guy. You being a hero as you said should be equal to Duchy title at best. So yeah it is kinda dumb. Why would anyone in the crusader council pick an obscure unlanded person to become an emperor
You are by far the best CK3 content creator. Love watching the wacky and super creative things you do with this game. Definitely brings a lot of enjoyment. Take care and cya on the next one 👍
I was watching you videos yesterday hoping you'd come back 😭😭😭😭 WELCOME!!! Right in time for the hype expansion! :DDD Glad to see you got sponsored, cheers mate.
i agree with you tbh. feels like he didnt really contribute enough to just straight up own byzantium. i feel like being a duchy or smth and climbing up from there would make more sense
@@giddyspiderboyyeah realistically you shouldnt be able to achieve this much in a single lifetime either, it should be a dynasty thing were subsequent head slowly increases the family's holdings, unless you get some veery special circumstances that allow an individual to do it all at once
YES I do agree and it's very concerning. Watch other yt creators with the same gameplay of how they start landless and become the byzantine emperor. This should be significantly harder, not something you can achieve in a lifetime
@@doggerlander Eh, some people historically could get that lucky. Baldwin I was a count and became the Latin Emperor. But i feel the issue is that realistically he didn't do enough but was rewarded by a badly implemented system for the crusades.
This DLC looks good, but it should be *way* harder to become a landed noble, most rulers wouldn't even give you the time of day if you had no claims. ESPECIALLY IF YOUR A CRIMINAL TOO!!
A limit I’ve put on myself is that I have to wait till after two character lives(3-4 if they’re short lived) I can only seek a county AFTER I’ve gotten 5k troops and I can not be a criminal.
@@AaSs-kk3tk im very good to begin with, i only drink like twice a year and even then not much, its a rare treat. and the game's great, i made a viking, shattered all three carolingian successors, paving the way for italia, which i then conquered and was deposed from by a crusade.
Yo welcome back man, hope you stick around. I’ve been getting back into ck3 and your older videos were what taught me so many mechanics that got me into the game.
I think one really hard to spot, but secret QoL feature for Byzantium is the change to the terrain, which normally was utterly dull and forgettable and not really representative of Greek and Anatolian geography, has had a major overhaul..
@@NDFJB not just that, they've fully changed the anatolian terrain, previously almost all of the anatolian interior was hills, now its a mix of plains and even STEPPE, meanwhile Pontus has had a increase of forest, and farmland added, making the Pontus region more fertile. meanwhile the mountain regions have been spread out further and more accurately represent the anatolian mountains, as well as more clearly defining the Cilicia Gates, as well as farmland down in Cilicia proper.
Similar thing happened to me. I was squatting outside Jerusalem when I joined a crusade against the Byzantines. Basileus randomly offered me a duchy to switch sides so now I'm chillin next to a beach in Pontus.
To be honest it's not that horrible. Basically you found the crown in the gutter. Now like Baldwin of Flanders, you try to keep it now from the remaining Greeks, the Bulgars, the Serbs, the Rums, etc.
Random shady dude with hardly any ability shows up with 200 dudes and a few tents....ends up with an empire. These things never happen to me in this game.
imagine being one of the people this guy has robbed. you're cursing his name day in and out. you're hoping one day he gets killed or imprisoned for the rest of his life, and then you hear he became the Kaiser of the Latin Empire.
Would be interested to see what you can/can't do whilst landless--for ex, diverging and hybridising culture--and how far/long you can play, if the loop is intended to eventually end and you gain land. I'd like to play a roaming barbarian sell sword picking up culture traditions and min/maxing my MAA as I go!
I would be so happy if it was free. Because I bought the game with dlc when it was the royal court and after that came the other big dlc. Anyway, it was a very good video, keep it up.
And it wasn't anything hard to start with, not that CK2 was much different in that regard either. It's something of a running theme with Paradox's games that added content gets in the way of their infrequent attempts to keep the AI as at least somewhat of a factor that you don't just walk over by breathing.
@@S3Cs4uN8I agree and I think bacause there are relatively decisions you as a decent player can easily make the AI have a hard time making the same decision. Look at TW Shogun II (I know it's quite different), the AI can be very competent because the AI also understand the mechanic, thus give you more of a challange. With CK3 every mechanic they add can be understood by a decent player resulting a stackload of bonuses but the AI can't understand resulting in mediocre realm building in their own realm.
@@m.rizaraihansatrio2658 It's not as much can't understand, the AI doesn't understand anything, it's actions are dominated by a set of weighted functions. Total War AI needs to cheat on a lot of things to be able to catch up to human players. I'm sure if Paradox really wanted they could code the best AI possible to always make the best choices, but the end result would be players not having fun, players that don't have fun, stop playing then stop buying DLCs, which stop game development. It's not an easy job to make the AI be challenging but also dumb enough that it can be defeated by the human player.
@@l4nd3r I'm sure Paradox could make the AI better, without being meta perfect, just as easily, even if it's only when playing on harder difficulties. I don't really play this game anymore because it's not a question of if I'll win, but how long I'll play until I get bored. If they want to keep players engaged, there needs to be an option to make it more challenging, ideally without just giving the AI unfair advantages like so many other games do.
![ATEEZ(에이티즈) - [GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2] Preview](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/X4PfgRPBUVo/mqdefault.jpg)
CK3 is so back with the Roads to Power DLC!!
You can get it here: play.crusaderkings.com/Zieley
Long time no see legends 😅 I really hope you enjoy this video. Let me know your plan what you guys have planned for your first game with the new DLC 😁
I really hope they add Republics to the game again.
Mate, I have no idea what’s going on in your life and it’s none of my business but just so you know, the world is slightly sadder, paler and less interesting without regular video uploads from your channel.
Stay safe.
@@DavidAndrews-eb7gm this.
I started playing CK3 solely bc of this channel. Still today when starting a new game I hear his voice in my brain "never stop building...."
The little animated knight that pops up randomly in the intro is the trigger for me. I have no idea what’s going to happen next but I know it’s going to be good.
The king remembered his yt password
That’s a challenge most fail!!!! Conquering the world, getting free(almost) buildings, and saving disaster saves is one thing but remembering your YT password is a whole other(that’s like 100 dev, world conquest, and 500 gold per turn IN YEAR 1000 level difficulty)
@@ItIsYouAreNotYour cumania321
😂😂😂
💀Fr though
@@Mrwhoisdreks looks like he heard you missed him
Imagine Leopold's reaction when he gets back to the camp from robbing some dude and his men come back and tell him he now rules the Latin Empire from Constantinople
"great work team" ☝🤓
"What's next, a nigerian king had too much gold and wish to send me some?"
Bad end, someone else get the empire.
greek empire*
@@dannys6871a holy latin roman empire*
@@Zedpade there we go
The title isn't even a little clickbait...
The thief just started to plan on not being a thief and BOOM, Emperor!
“The Lord works in mysterious ways…”💀
From level 1 thug to Level 100 Byzantine Emperor
latin emperor
Careful, someone will see this then write a manhua around it.
@@iamepic6726 to be fair, that would go pretty hard!
Ken Arok grindset
I think this is basically how Macedonian dynasty was formed.
Basil I being a commoner from Thrace (or whatever contested region in Byzantine-Bulgar he came from) who became an Emperor…in Crusader Kings manner.
"I think this is based on a real life event" and it's the single most noteworthy thing about the Crusades
Ironically enough, Byzantine calling help from the West directly caused their collapse in the 4th Crusade.
@@Hu_Li nah, read the history right. They massacre the Christian Latin and the emperor kid for greed. They got what they deserve
First two crusades were pretty noteworthy.
I'd say the most noteworthy thing about the crusades is the first crusade, then the third crusade (which involved saladin, barbarossa, Baldwin, Richard the lionheart etc). THEN it's the fourth
@jpanda79 the second crusade wasn't that noteworthy. They just besieged Damascus and then left because they ran out of food.
Wouldn't be a Paradox game if it didn't randomly thrust you into one of the biggest positions of power for no reason
Most fun I had in a run was starting as the Hapsburg count in 1066. He was excommunicated, imprisoned by the kaiser and burned at the stake... his son was elected Kaiser 2 years into his succession. Did EVERYTHING. Won a crusade, vassalized the pope, almost conquered historical Roman borders. Hit like age 63 or something and realized I had NO sons. 8 kids, all daughters. No one eligible for the kaisership. Adopted the seduction focus. Popped out 5 more kids... all daughters. Died of lovers pox. Lost the kaisership. During the last years of my life, most of my kids died save for my youngest daughter... she was assassinated by some distant relative. Game over.
@@LLMCxDak I hate it when ck3 is historical correct! ^^
@slaggerthor4501 ahh should've mentioned, this was CK2
Nearly half a year since the last video, and Zieley comes back on my birthday. An unexpected, but certainly not unwelcome surprise.
Happy birthday brother!
Its my birthday too! :) Thank you Papa Zieley!
Its my birthday today as well, thanks Zieley
All yall dad's nutted the same day
happy birthday man!!!
The GOAT returns!!!!
And the wait was worth it!!!! Also might I recommend celebrating it with a collab? You could re do the bingo video with only things that have been added to ck after it!(it was like 2 years back or something so there’s probably enough)
War contribution score during crusades needs rework especially now. Before this DLC, I’d just make sure to have my troops be the first guys landing (I mean really early) and acting as vanguards. My troops would get literally wiped but this ensures my allies get to land safely. The rest of the crusades continues for victory, and even though I literally have zero troops left in the effort, my score contribution is so high I always get the lions share
Yep losing troops is one pf the fastest ways to gain contribution, usually the only difficulty is the AI winning the crusade.
You're probably one of the only content creators that I see getting a review copy and still respect because you give it an honest playthrough, no deception for the sake of the sponsorship. Nice video, always good to see you in the feed.
Most people I see sponsored by paradox are pretty honest, I mean ISP clearly does not give them a pass, he talks a lot about bad decisions from them
This is only an exploratory video. I can't wait for Zieley to really get in there and min/max to cheese the hell out of the new systems.
The CK3 goat is back with that smooth Canadian jazz voice.
I am super hyped for this. The only thing that would make it better is the ability to become a baron as well. Also bro, super glad Paradox gave you the review key, you deserve it!
It's not happening, would be too resource intensive to make baronies playable.
I'd love if they created theatres for different sections of the map. Such as just loading Europe and cutting off at Asia and the middle East with the game still processing everything happening outside of the theatre it's just not all loaded and active at the same time
Welcome back! We’ve missed you man.
I’ll just say this about the DLC. It looks really fun and incredible but I’m a little disappointed in how easily it was to acquire an empire in one go.
I wish it was more like berserk in a way where Griffith has to fight multiple battles with the band of the hawk to gain recognition and favor from the king before all the crazy stuff happened at the end of the golden age arc.
I think you can choose not to inherit an empire though, so there is that. I personally would not have taken the empire, as I prefer staying small in my games usually.
@@onlytwogenders420 the favorite thing to do as a small state: breed with everyone and as a result descendants are rulling the entire Europe.
That's honestly more of an issue with crusades than it is the dlc. Something like the great conqueror route is much more difficult
Griffith: "You became an emperor by just participating in one war?!"
Leopold: "What, like it's hard?"
Dad came home from buying a pack of cigarettes!
That was ridiculous getting an empire for a few seiges with 200 men .
Kinda dumb !
If I had to guess, it was probably as he said in the beginning, that the ai forgets trebuchets. I bet he was getting a lot of score from helping with sieges even if the manpower contribution wasn't high.
I think it is a bug because the choice of who is put in charge should be given to the leader not to the player. (Also I don't think he was the major contributer)
Think about it, if no one had siege weapons then he is the hero of the crusade and the one that made it posible... and also the only one who could even enter to constantinopla after not gettin paid
@@mariox204 It won't work that way. You are literally an unlanded guy. You being a hero as you said should be equal to Duchy title at best. So yeah it is kinda dumb. Why would anyone in the crusader council pick an obscure unlanded person to become an emperor
@@m.rizaraihansatrio2658 as I said, who else is going to invade constsntinople? The rest cant siege sht
You are by far the best CK3 content creator. Love watching the wacky and super creative things you do with this game. Definitely brings a lot of enjoyment. Take care and cya on the next one 👍
I was watching you videos yesterday hoping you'd come back 😭😭😭😭
WELCOME!!! Right in time for the hype expansion! :DDD
Glad to see you got sponsored, cheers mate.
This Game was an absolute roadtrip!
That growing AyuChad empire slowly growing closer and closer, man CK3 can tell some stories
"I wasn't even there to fight" i.e. basically "some of you will die but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make" Great Video !
disappointing to see how easily you landed at head of an empire. Even more worrying is how unstable the game appears to be with all those crashes.
i agree with you tbh. feels like he didnt really contribute enough to just straight up own byzantium. i feel like being a duchy or smth and climbing up from there would make more sense
@@giddyspiderboyyeah realistically you shouldnt be able to achieve this much in a single lifetime either, it should be a dynasty thing were subsequent head slowly increases the family's holdings, unless you get some veery special circumstances that allow an individual to do it all at once
YES I do agree and it's very concerning. Watch other yt creators with the same gameplay of how they start landless and become the byzantine emperor. This should be significantly harder, not something you can achieve in a lifetime
It's an issue with how the Crusade system works, they need to do a full conceptual rework.
@@doggerlander Eh, some people historically could get that lucky. Baldwin I was a count and became the Latin Emperor. But i feel the issue is that realistically he didn't do enough but was rewarded by a badly implemented system for the crusades.
This DLC looks good, but it should be *way* harder to become a landed noble, most rulers wouldn't even give you the time of day if you had no claims. ESPECIALLY IF YOUR A CRIMINAL TOO!!
I agree I was pretty disappointed when it just offered up the strongest empire of the time for one click
A limit I’ve put on myself is that I have to wait till after two character lives(3-4 if they’re short lived) I can only seek a county AFTER I’ve gotten 5k troops and I can not be a criminal.
Good to know that the op mechanic in this video wasnt from the new dlc, its just the same broken-ass crusade mechanics from release lmao
congrats on the sponsorship to you and paradox, you caught me while i was drunk and i bought ck3 and half the dlcs
hope ur doing better lmao
@@AaSs-kk3tk im very good to begin with, i only drink like twice a year and even then not much, its a rare treat. and the game's great, i made a viking, shattered all three carolingian successors, paving the way for italia, which i then conquered and was deposed from by a crusade.
nah the medieval eminem "without me" is crazy
The slim shady intro got me.
Look up the Barcore playlist there are some bangers.
"And when they needed him the most... he returned?"
Yo welcome back man, hope you stick around. I’ve been getting back into ck3 and your older videos were what taught me so many mechanics that got me into the game.
Markos Spongeboborus pulling off that key battle all by himself.
It's too EASY! The crusade contribution needs a serious patch.
I think one really hard to spot, but secret QoL feature for Byzantium is the change to the terrain, which normally was utterly dull and forgettable and not really representative of Greek and Anatolian geography, has had a major overhaul..
I noticed the Maiden's Tower was new, so yes that would make me think they've added a bunch of unique buildings (like they did with Spain and Persia)
@@NDFJB not just that, they've fully changed the anatolian terrain, previously almost all of the anatolian interior was hills, now its a mix of plains and even STEPPE, meanwhile Pontus has had a increase of forest, and farmland added, making the Pontus region more fertile.
meanwhile the mountain regions have been spread out further and more accurately represent the anatolian mountains, as well as more clearly defining the Cilicia Gates, as well as farmland down in Cilicia proper.
@@Pazliacci good spot, I watched on mobile and didn't see the terrain changes, great news as anatolia is diverse
We missed you Ziely. I love the "Guess who's back" at the beginning of the video.
It's been a bit since I have watched your stuff, gotta say, it's gotten better (it was already good, but you are killin it my guy)
Feel like there should be like a bonus to popularity for winning wars, especially winning wars against foreign invaders.
Isn't this like broken if a guy not even involved in the crusade gets to be chosen Emperor of the whole roman Empire?!?
Similar thing happened to me. I was squatting outside Jerusalem when I joined a crusade against the Byzantines. Basileus randomly offered me a duchy to switch sides so now I'm chillin next to a beach in Pontus.
When thief richer than landlord
My liege has returned from his pilgrimage
God save Emperor Zieley
Weird how we don't get "Adventurer" once we become landed...
To be honest it's not that horrible. Basically you found the crown in the gutter. Now like Baldwin of Flanders, you try to keep it now from the remaining Greeks, the Bulgars, the Serbs, the Rums, etc.
lol the medieval eminem sound track at the beginning sounds awesome took me a second to realise.
Good to see you back King! Thanks for the video!
Man's playing all the way in 12000AD
Starts as lowly thief.
Ascends to worm god emperor of Dune by clicking the option.
Great video man, definitely excited for this. CK3 one of my fav games
This is singlehandedly the best introduction to the Roads to Power DLC.
Bonus points for the bardcore version of Eminem - Without Me.
Really wish youd upload more, 😢 you give me so much insight into playing this game
This is going to be incredible when AGOT mod updates with these features.
Im so glad you are back! Insta watch! Hope everything is good in your life :D
Zieley is back!
The Tallist Ck3 Master we learned from!
Hope to see a video about playing Tall with the new government too in future.
Good. Now I can get overthrowned and installed again without losing!
Random shady dude with hardly any ability shows up with 200 dudes and a few tents....ends up with an empire. These things never happen to me in this game.
The Real Slim Shady medieval version intro really slaps hard ngl
Honestly this is just pure Zieley, accidentally the best CK3 player ever lol
I like the idea of a wondering adventurer with nothing but a retinue of trebuchets
love your videos! they got me into ck3!
imagine being one of the people this guy has robbed. you're cursing his name day in and out. you're hoping one day he gets killed or imprisoned for the rest of his life, and then you hear he became the Kaiser of the Latin Empire.
We missed you man, welcome back!
Engagement: I'm always happy when your videos drop!
Excited to see what you've been cooking up since the last video.
i thought something had happened, happy to see you posting again
Holy advantage! giving +10% damage instead of +2% per point is huge. I bet i'll cry over bad rolls even more now XD
Hey @zieley, how are you? What happend? Are you all right? Great that you are making video’s again. ❤
Good to see they've fixed the incessant crashing.
Glad to see you back Zieley!
Estates looking like a ground work for republics or at least I hope so
holy fuck the Eminem cover sent me when I first realized what it was
Thabks for returning, king 👑
Oh boy thats gonna be wild 14 months till the next Zieley video drops
Zieley dropping a banger of the new CK3 expansion on my birthday?! Hell yeah!!!
Great to see you back!
13:54 hahaha Bald and Bankrupt, that was funny.
welcome back best ck3 youtuber
20:36 lol the AFTV soundbite RIP Claude
historically accurate though, although not a thief but a stable boy.
What timing! I just discovered you a couple weeks ago!
If TheLegend27 started a thieves guild
zieley is back danm lol bro uploads once a year now 😂
The Found Hold decision is probably the most busted thing rn.
I want to go around installing my family members as nobles.
I feel like there should be a perk where in exchange for provisions you can get very slow replenishment.
Good to have you back💜
Wow… I’m actually really excited for this update
I loved the Storyline in this video. Hail the Bandit King of the Latin Empire!!
Would be interested to see what you can/can't do whilst landless--for ex, diverging and hybridising culture--and how far/long you can play, if the loop is intended to eventually end and you gain land. I'd like to play a roaming barbarian sell sword picking up culture traditions and min/maxing my MAA as I go!
Long have we awaited your return my Liege.
Thats how mafia works
I'm just here for the slim shady bardcore
I would be so happy if it was free. Because I bought the game with dlc when it was the royal court and after that came the other big dlc. Anyway, it was a very good video, keep it up.
First time on this chznnel. Love the background music. Recognized eminem
Bro, this is actually so sick
Zieley the goat is backkkk🎉🎉🎉
Hey zieley i really enjoyed your "saving disastorous game saves" and i wish you could continue them. I play in console so i can't send my own save tho
HE’S BACK!!!
welcome back Zieley, hope life is treating you well bro
Yo ziewly, imma need u to check out Memoriapolis. Loads of fun, many references, great fun all around.
Nice to see they still haven't bothered to balance mid to late game economics or absurd army bonus stacking.
the legend is BACK
He has returned ! There's still hope for humanity
New dlc looks fun but this game is becoming easier and easier with every update
the ai needs a major rework because otherwise the game is a cake walk, problem is where would you even start
And it wasn't anything hard to start with, not that CK2 was much different in that regard either. It's something of a running theme with Paradox's games that added content gets in the way of their infrequent attempts to keep the AI as at least somewhat of a factor that you don't just walk over by breathing.
@@S3Cs4uN8I agree and I think bacause there are relatively decisions you as a decent player can easily make the AI have a hard time making the same decision. Look at TW Shogun II (I know it's quite different), the AI can be very competent because the AI also understand the mechanic, thus give you more of a challange. With CK3 every mechanic they add can be understood by a decent player resulting a stackload of bonuses but the AI can't understand resulting in mediocre realm building in their own realm.
@@m.rizaraihansatrio2658 It's not as much can't understand, the AI doesn't understand anything, it's actions are dominated by a set of weighted functions. Total War AI needs to cheat on a lot of things to be able to catch up to human players.
I'm sure if Paradox really wanted they could code the best AI possible to always make the best choices, but the end result would be players not having fun, players that don't have fun, stop playing then stop buying DLCs, which stop game development. It's not an easy job to make the AI be challenging but also dumb enough that it can be defeated by the human player.
@@l4nd3r I'm sure Paradox could make the AI better, without being meta perfect, just as easily, even if it's only when playing on harder difficulties. I don't really play this game anymore because it's not a question of if I'll win, but how long I'll play until I get bored. If they want to keep players engaged, there needs to be an option to make it more challenging, ideally without just giving the AI unfair advantages like so many other games do.