Forming the BRITISH EMPIRE in CK3 is OVERPOWERED! (Crusader Kings 3)

I attempt to take Alfred the Great's dynasty in 867 AD from Petty Kings of Wessex to eventual Kings of England and then onward to capture as many of the provinces that were historically under the British Empire or occupation! (expanding our borders far beyond the Empire Of Brittania defined by CK3).
Please like the video and subscribe for more!
💬 Join Our Discord Community Now: / discord
0:00 What are our goals?
0:33 Encounters With The Vikings
3:38 God Save The King
6:50 Rule Britannia!
#crusaderkings3 #ck3

[@MellowScot]

Errata: Aethelred II (978 AD) was the official Aethelred “the Unready”, not Aethelred I, Alfred’s brother.

[@landonricketts4309]

ye

[@aguy6771]

M8 dont talk that shite at the beginning. We're all Brits. English, Scots, Northern Irish, heck even the Welsh. GSTK

[@MellowScot]

@@aguy6771 A lot of Scots don’t actually consider themselves British. Around 62% of the country according to the 2011 Census. Not saying whether or not I agree but this intro was meant as a piece of satire not to be taken too seriously.

[@aguy6771]

@@MellowScot yeah i get that m8. Be whatever national identity you want to be.

[@tomdebom1346]

Also quick side note, unready doesnt mean the same as the modern meaning, it means ill-advised. Slightly ironic as Aethelred means well-advised. Same way that Alfred means Elf-Advised or Elf-Counsel

[@Eupator5]

Meanwhile Croatia and Navarra were like "if the English can do it, why can't we?"

[@Diesalot-sc9qz]

Love how the rise of Britannia starts with the suicide of misunderstood fellow

[@Vancofe]

i love when british do british. British

[@makebritaingreatagain4712]

If only Ireland felt the same

[@hunterhorsehelmsley7315]

​@@makebritaingreatagain4712 Who cares what those peasants think ?

[@bsicstars]

What 😀

[@xebastianrodriguez]

Same, I love it when British do British

[@corsojames]

​@@makebritaingreatagain4712 I don't think they liked it when British

[@ellzbreaux]

Great video. It always amazes me people who can just stretch across the map, but i'm such a slow player, and will spend 200 years developing lands before i consider expansion.

[@goose93]

I'm such a fast player, ill conquer half of europe in 8 years then collapse because independence factions. Such border gore

[@chrislosd162]

​@@goose93 this comment is so real.

[@lewisphelan6819]

@@goose93 i used to be like this and then i played a game with the idea of making all my vassals my dynasty members, in particular my rulers children. it made family members more powerful, more likely to be problematic, and aslo more likely to be close allies. not to mention it slowed down expansion. i also try to convert all my lands to my culture that one is much slower and i don’t follow so closely

[@jonahthrane812]

For some reason I'm never able to do that.

[@lewisphelan6819]

@@jonahthrane812 do you mean because you dont know how or you just never think to do it?

[@OttawaWelshman]

Damn those edits be shmexy 😍

[@potatohead9551]

ayeeeeeee! Here comes another fellow Celts (well... Canadian)! Love ur vids btw!

[@MellowScot]

Thanks a bunch!

[@Strat-Guides]

It's insane how much your videos have improved over a short period of time!

[@electricVGC]

Scots were just as involved in empire as the English, which is why Australians and Hong Kongers have weird accents

[@MellowScot]

Especially the jacobites who had a line dedicated to them in the national anthem which you get to hear in the video

[@goranpersson7726]

While england ended up the senior partner in the union weren't the monarchs actually Scottish tho? Like the whole thing where they started to be a single nation was because Scottish royalty were placed on the English throne

[@MellowScot]

They were until the glorius revolution when the Stuart dynasty got ousted causing a civil war where mostly Scottish Highlanders were on the side of the Stuarts

[@aguy6771]

@@MellowScot the "rebellious scots" to crush isnt actually used in the National Anthem, its an older deviation from the original "God Save George our King."

[@MellowScot]

@@aguy6771 yeah it was probably only ever officially sung in the 1745 rebellions

[@MephilesRider]

Just found your videos today. These are amazing! Really appreciate the effort you put into editing these, definitely gonna subscribe to see more of your work!

[@MellowScot]

Thanks a bunch, more on the way!

[@Ludovicus1769]

I can’t wait to see your channel grow, your videos are of so high quality!

[@MellowScot]

Thanks so much!

[@mariasirona1622]

Totally agreed

[@danielduhzgaming3070]

I swear all the channels with like 3,000 subs are amazing. Nice video you now have another viewer

[@MellowScot]

Thanks!I only got to around 3k subs in the past week so hopefully will keep going!

[@PSIgmr]

This channel needs more subs ngl I really enjoyed this video

[@MellowScot]

Thanks a bunch! Working on it 😂

[@cuff1626]

You can just start as alfred the great btw :). His older brother seems to die like 90% of the time.

[@MellowScot]

Yeah I know but if you do this you can actually get Alfred on day 1 if you have a successful abdication! (Was originally trying to see if could beat off both viking hordes but it’s a bit of a nightmare)

[@cuff1626]

Oh yeah getting him as fast as possible seems like the best way to go about it.

[@zerogbot23]

Everytime I've played as him the brother lives it's this games way of trolling me

[@vetofallen521]

@@MellowScot His brother is scripted to die pretty quickly. Committing suicide has the pretty harsh -1 dynasty fame malus

[@MellowScot]

Ideally you want to just reload until you get an abdicate but I just decided to go with what happened for dramatic effect...

[@unbindingfloyd]

I formed Great Britain as the Irish and it was called Alba. But the Kingdom of Scotland was also called Alba. So a bit of territory up north was a yellow Kingdom of Alba but I was red Alba and an Empire.

[@kaifidango]

The Empire name changes based on your culture if im not mistaken, given both gaelic and irish cultures fall under Goidelic that is why

[@unbindingfloyd]

@@kaifidango I wonder if that means the Kingdom of Alba being named just "Alba" forming Great Britain just stays "Alba". I was Ireland to Alba but I'm guessing Alba would just stay Alba either being a Kingdom or Empire.

[@kaifidango]

@@unbindingfloyd I suppose its just lack of flavor from paradox, since Irish and Gaelic in this time period would still be really closely intertwined, the closest real name should technically be "The Empire of Albion" or "Albion Empire"

[@komaromikevin35]

very nice vid my only issue is that it wasnt longer, also rule britannia u just earned a sub

[@MellowScot]

Thanks a bunch!

[@refreshingryan]

I love a good British empire video

[@Ymylock]

When he called Æthelred I “Æthelred the unready” my inner historian became angry for 2 reasons

[@MellowScot]

What was the second reason? I am pissed off at myself for naivly assuming there was only one Aethelred of England. My thought process just jumped to ah “this will make for a good joke about his stats” ... oops

[@Ymylock]

The other reason is that he was called “Æthelred Unred” which many people assume means “Æthelred the Unready” but “Æthelred” means “Wise council” and “Unred” means “Poorly (or badly) counselled” so his name (along with the nickname) means “Wise council poorly counselled”. My inner history nerd hopes this cleared things up.

[@Jojo-rh4ml]

very great video

[@MellowScot]

Thanks!

[@marcfrancisteodoro7720]

Amazing!

[@MellowScot]

Thanks a tonne!

[@pedrotbird5426]

Amazing.

[@MellowScot]

Thank you!

[@yamackocovali1083]

THIS is a MASTERPIECE

[@MellowScot]

Glad you think so! 😂 I had fun making it

[@Pan_Torcha]

great video

[@MellowScot]

Thanks!

[@anthonyjobey8821]

that joke at 5:14 was pricless!

[@thomasrobloxfriends3780]

I don't know how people are so good at this game!

[@MellowScot]

A lot of hours...too many

[@PnzrDiv666]

Very satisfying! I'm alsö a histörical börders recreater =)

[@MellowScot]

It was satisfying but towards the end man was it a slog! India especially

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

Personally I love to bring back great historical (or mythical) leaders back to life. Like a week ago I recreated King Arthur’s empire

[@birphon]

"Going to upgrade to this model" i laughed a little

[@richardcasey7180]

Great video but that's not Ethelred the Unready! He was a much later king of England (still from the house of Wessex though)

[@sahilhossain8204]

Lore of The MOST British CK3 Playthrough Ever momentum 100

[@tylerteape2772]

When I want to play as Alfred I play as his brother and try to imprison Alfred, when he rebels surrender and you play as him

[@Kubilay31820]

Well, the title unready given to Æðelræd actually means bad counciled. There is a word in old English “Rǣd”. It can mean several things, byspell: council, plan, rule… But, in this case it means council, and unready is a misoversetting of Unrǣdiġ.

[@MellowScot]

Thanks - I am cursed with 100 comments on this for the sake of trying to make a pun myself 😂

[@simbachvazo6530]

Angevin holdings in France and Hannover would also have been good.

[@goose93]

But that's not part of the British empire

[@angelo151294]

Ive got the game for some time now, but never really understand how to play.

[@gokkugo]

at first i thought the video was posted by a really famous youtuber bcz of the vid quality

[@MellowScot]

Haha thanks 😂

[@user-bl6jd9lm4g]

If we want to be accurate, the Brittish empire would not exist without the Scottish. They were like a good 1/4 of the Empire's strenght

[@MellowScot]

Yeah very true

[@goose93]

And 2/4 is Indians, and the last 1/4 is split between England and colonies

[@stevepickford3004]

But the Scottish only exist because the English save them from themselves over and over again. Only reasonable they were expected to be useful in return.

[@glenbe4026]

@@goose93 And despite modern Irish claims to the contrary, the Irish were also hugely involved in the British Empire.

[@RiksFunStuff]

It was originally a Scottish lead idea too with Queen Anne being of the Stuart dynasty and Britain kind of being in Scottish hands after Queen Elizabeth I died. The Scots went bankrupt from colonizing Panama so the English agreed to merging the crowns under the stipulation that Britain wouldn't have a catholic king and to avoid Scotland allying with France.

[@ericmyrs]

The ammount of Elgar and Hols in this video makes me vaguely nauseus. I have now also read the 6th verse of God Save The King, and can affirm that Marshall Wade is extremely based.

[@MellowScot]

And Handel too - was a naturalised British subject 😂

[@vittoriobr_6271]

Meanwhile France being absolutely yeeted out of history by Aquitaine and Navarra

[@Hugh_Morris]

It's empire time 🇬🇧

[@teverwelsch9114]

Did a Scot just say “now just to fight off those pesky Scots.”

[@MellowScot]

😂

[@virgin_chad]

Aethelred dies of a hunting accident when you play as Alfred

[@pepeproductions4802]

What’s the song you played at 0:31? it’s so familiar but I just can’t find it anywhere…. Ps: great vid btw :)

[@MellowScot]

Pomp and circumstance march no. 1 by Elgar. It is the same music from the start of the video just the second section where they sing “Land of Hope and Glory”

[@pepeproductions4802]

@@MellowScot what a legend, thank you brother *subscribed*

[@bigmanmichael3807]

watching a fellow brit reclaim their birth right brought a tear to my eye also the video was really well done

[@MellowScot]

Haha 😂 thanks a bunch

[@Ronnet]

Next up: reclaiming Spain so British seniors can go back to retiring abroad while complaining about immigrants.

[@stevepickford3004]

@@Ronnet leave your political leanings at home. This is a fun channel for gaming. Keep your virtue signalling for twitter.

[@oakleymakela2408]

5:14 🐑

[@OttawaWelshman]

🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑🐑

[@IronWolf123]

Navarra doing well in France

[@urquizagabe]

Should have started in the isle of man. It would have shortened the campaign a few centuries.

[@VVopal]

How has your editing improved so fast? I require the sauce

[@MellowScot]

Lots of practise and watching other videos

[@G26_10]

Instead of getting yourself killed right at the beginning as Alfred’s brother you can try to arrest Alfred and when he rebels just surrender and you get deposed and become Alfred anyway. That way you have a really high steward vassal who can be on your counsel

[@maxwalker1159]

Based

[@Dascl]

I did Exactly this in a save but with Muslim Ireland it was so fun just like the video

[@callumbucknall]

Funny enough, im English, and I had a dream to unite the UK as Scotland. on CK3 obv.. that failed for my first game, so im here, i will be back to Scotland later.

[@MYPSYAI]

the best knight effectiveness is to go viking, create the great temples, create the stave church, take uppsala. thats an extra 100% or so just in buildings, not to mention you reform the faith and get unrelenting faith and mix that with only the strong. dont even need camelries. its far more effective to have sheildmaiden berserkers with 40-50 prowess than a few extra knights. The prowess stack you can get on vikings is ridiculous.

[@MellowScot]

Yeah definitely. I’m planning on doing something with this. This one was I was having to optimise while staying within the provinces I set out to capture. (Could have hybridized for shieldmaidens though)

[@MYPSYAI]

@@MellowScot I really like starting as Erik the Heathen in 1066. If you reform the Norse faith with "Christian Synchretism" and go for "Strange Gods" with your dynasty and take "Apostate" with your lifestyle, you get a whopping +75 to all relations with christians, both orthodox and catholic. You can marry and Ally them as well. It's pretty easy to do this as a vassal if you can overpower england and norway for the holy sites, and raid everyone else into the ground. Your vassals will actually like youmore if they are christian so you dont have to worry about conversions. You can also use christian artifacts, some of which are quite nice. It costs only 3 dynasty legacies to set this up, worth going for Mann and the Isles to speed it up - if you have viking super-soldiers it's really quite nice to combine that with this broken diplomacy trick. It's also hilarious to befriend the pope and be allied to the holy roman empire as a Viking heathen.

[@MellowScot]

@@MYPSYAI I like this a lot

[@MYPSYAI]

@@MellowScot DOOOO IT THEN

[@thrillhouse4151]

Æthelred the Unready speedrun! Hahahah stressed him the fuck out with failed seduction attempts and he offed himself, a grand start.

[@MellowScot]

Aethelred “the not Aethelred the Unready” 😂

[@herrikudo]

If you dont have a video of the most Scottish CK3 playthrough ever im pulling your scotsman card and informing the council of scots....

[@MellowScot]

Haha definitely will at some point! I did a Scotland vid (with a bit of a twist) already so will have to think of something else to do in that region

[@herrikudo]

@@MellowScot maybe an alternate timeline where the clans got their shit together, or perhaps one where they never were converted to christianity? Great vid mate keep slaying

[@OnCydig]

I died when you changed the capital.

[@paulsmith5752]

It's not strange at all. Scotland is a key part of Britain, and Scots regiments and settlers were instrumental in places like Canada and New Zealand - just look at the placenames - Dunedin, Banff, Nova Scotia, Perth etc...

[@MellowScot]

It is strange now although not back in the 1700-1800s - go to Scotland and see how many people support the idea of Britain let alone the British Empire these days, it's definitely a minority - not saying I agree but my observation makes sense given the hostile sentiment.

[@paulsmith5752]

@@MellowScot Mmmm. Nationalism may have peaked now Wee Nicky Krankie has left the stage and the Tories are imploding - but let's see...

[@scp-0962]

Hey what's up! Im both 50% Scottish, 20% British and 10% Irish, so I know a bit about Britain and I have played a lot of CK3 and I can say, YOU DID REALLY WELL! Ima subscribe to you pal!

[@yorkshireman5861]

Scottish is British 😂

[@MellowScot]

@@yorkshireman5861 you just triggered about half of Scotland 😂

[@yorkshireman5861]

@@MellowScot well it is British is Scottish,English and Welsh

[@HR1SS]

Lol Thet make sense British is the term to describe all people from brittania /britian Scotland England and wales are part of britian

[@HR1SS]

@@MellowScot true tho lol

[@alanandconnielast]

Does not have the full map? huh

[@bazilevs777]

Круто, что мне попалось это видео❤

[@demonic_myst4503]

To be fair the scots did helo militerily form the empire and were one the few to join volunterily

[@palehunter6711]

bruhhhhh this in a mega campaign , starting EU4 with the empire premade

[@jamesscott305]

T E A 🫖 !

[@GiraffeFeatures]

Why would it be odd for a Scot to make a video about Britain…? Last time I checked Scotland was a part of the UK and a willing and substantial participant in the British Empire.

[@MellowScot]

The 2011 census data on how many Scots identify as Scottish only and not British is 61%. This is likely even more nowadays. Hence you wouldn’t generally place your bets on Scots to be making patriotic British videos... especially those with a channel name and logo like mine 😂

[@gibusllama3418]

You forgot Constantinople, sure they only held it for like 3 months and it was post world war 1 British Empire... But still...

[@MellowScot]

And also Heligoland never made the cut

[@thomasgoldthorpe1158]

Why would this be strange for a Scotsman? The Scottish played a leading role in the British Empire.

[@MellowScot]

Don’t remind them of this today 😂

[@Emanon...]

Great video. Those damn English!... (Sorry, force of habit)

[@brookb5890]

Great video! Now it's time to play as an Indian vassal, get independence from GB, and unite the subcontinent. 😂

[@MellowScot]

I’m wondering if there’s any indian vassals alive in this save... would be interesting to do

[@theartist395]

Don’t let spiff see this

[@MellowScot]

If it get’s enough views he no doubt will 😭

[@zerogbot23]

real Bri'ish hours

[@theserhoratio]

The starter guy isn't aethelred the unready, he was a king of England, sadly this guy is just aethelred

[@MellowScot]

I’m now cursed to keep getting comments saying this all for the sake a of a pun 😂

[@Apollo1989V]

Wrong Aethelred. The unready version wouldn’t appear for over 100 years later.

[@MellowScot]

I’m annoyed now I didn’t check that, I incorrectly assumed he had that epithet - however does seem Aethelred II was only given that name a few hundred years after his death

[@blu5543]

Moving the capital from London is Heresy.

[@cardsatanywhere363]

"This may seem like a strange thing for a scotsman to do". Mate the Scottish and English ARE the british empire. We are brothers by blood and by arms. Without Scotland, England is nothing, and without England, Scotland is nothing. The act of union in 1707 was what set this in stone and truly solidified the dawn of the British Empire. Rule Britannia!!

[@Makarosc]

You can do all of this as Scotland

[@MellowScot]

Eh yeah I guess you can 🤷‍♂️

[@Ronnet]

No you can't , when Scotland does it they go bankrupt.

[@MellowScot]

@@Ronnet Darien fiasco

[@stevepickford3004]

True. Game is not realistic

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

Here's a challenge: Create the SCOTTISH EMPIRE and the WELSH EMPIRE thx

[@MellowScot]

lol so take panama in EU4 and then go into default

[@MedjayofFaiyum]

@@MellowScot ye

[@laurenceharakis]

are we just gonna ignore the fact that aquitaine rules all of france?

[@TaylorPrem]

Rule Britannia.

[@MellowScot]

Britannia rules the waves!

[@carolinemasson7172]

Is this man from the lowlands

[@MellowScot]

👍

[@martychisnall]

Why would it be a strange video for a Scottish person to make when the Scottish are British and played a crucial role in the expansion of the Empire? Only Americans would think it’s strange

[@MellowScot]

Sentiment in Scotland is not very positive towards Britain these days

[@Finnbobjimbob]

@@MellowScotthey are Britain

[@dominicomucci3014]

Why would the British empire be strange for a Scot? They were an integral part of the British empire.

[@MellowScot]

Because the vast majority of scots don’t consider themselves british anymore, and aren’t very patriotic about the empire

[@dominicomucci3014]

@mellowscot ohh that's sad. They should be the British empire has shaped our modern world and given millions democracy and freedom from slavery. Plus all the science, inventions and amazing history. People need to be taught the good so they can be proud.

[@MellowScot]

@@dominicomucci3014 yeah you make a good point. When at university I once attended a debate about whether or not we should regret the empire. The house went in favour of regret and that is pretty much the sentiment, only the bad is to be remembered

[@Finnbobjimbob]

@@dominicomucci3014exactly, people only focus on the bad

[@anadaere6861]

Its ok Mr Scot, Alfred is a Saxon, that's just the Sea Germans

[@seangallagher5695]

RULE BRITANNIA!!! BRITANNIA RULE THE WAVES!!!

[@tovarishmausedits18]

Song name?

[@MellowScot]

Which one? One at start is elgar pomp and circumstance

[@tovarishmausedits18]

@@MellowScot the start one, thx for the info

[@saraywavesks]

rule britania

[@fedordanie]

dont give lands to your vassals if you are over the top. Give them to you heir. Then also disinherit all of your (male) children except the heir.

[@deepfriedlostchildren2627]

I love the scots

[@demonic_myst4503]

The term palistine didnt reemerge till 1900smit was a roman term the term has no root in english also palistine pre 1900s actualy was syria not lavant

[@zakhawker344]

Why did you hang onto titles above your limit like that?

[@MellowScot]

I mostly handed them out to vassals - what do you mean? Sometimes I hang onto a few if I think I can boost stewardship up somehow

[@zakhawker344]

@@MellowScot ah okay, I just saw your limit was in the red a lot of the time and thought you were doing some kind of half North Korea strat lol

[@MellowScot]

It’s usually when I took a Marshall focused heir and I was thinking I’d like to hold on to some of the land for later rather than have to revoke it which probably isn’t optimal, but by the end Liberty factions became a pain so I was low crown authority most of the time

[@Fat_Paws]

Reverse colonization is far more challenging and fun imo. Starting in India makes it so much harder, especially with all the choices. Establish Hindustan first or colonize the European barbarians? Decisions, decisions!

[@MellowScot]

From what I’ve seen in my Discord, India start is actually very OP

[@Fat_Paws]

​@@MellowScot Depends. If you start as a king, sure. Starting as a duke/count under a liege takes a generation to set things up. Stewardship and high dev helps a LOT early game. Once your income can support elephants, nothing in the west can stand in your way. But the main challenge is the sheer amount of options. We have a saying for that in my part of the world- "a stork blinded by too many fish."

[@ertugrulcabuk2759]

Colonial dogs

[@ernesto6595]

why england if your playing wessex just call it saxland

[@MellowScot]

Alfred actually did name the kingdom after the angles and saxons, weird his descendents dropped the saxon bit

[@sphagetti3628]

Only British people will get the sheep joke about the Welsh.

[@goose93]

I am an American and I get the joke about the welsh and sheep

[@sphagetti3628]

@@goose93 school shooter

[@paulsmith5752]

What do you call a sheep tied to a lamppost in Swansea? A leisure centre.

[@tarekzoabi9031]

ü (11:59)

[@liawweileong6036]

You miss south africa

[@MellowScot]

It’s not on the map lol

[@carlose4314]

You should have formed anglicanism

[@TheNotthediver]

You Scots did better than anyone from empire m8

[@faxenmacher4633]

Heroin capital of Europe. Men in skirts. Murderous ice-cream gangs. That one toilet from Trainspotting... You don't get much rougher folk. The world never really stood a chance, eh?

[@LiamADHD]

Honestly i got this game, it could of been a lot better for the price. Not worth it.

[@MellowScot]

You tried it since the updates?

[@LiamADHD]

@@MellowScot 3 months ago I would say is the last I played it. Took over the island. Just disappointed you can't watch battles playout and look at your city's. Very lack luster.

[@Mr_OogaBooga]

Bri'ish?

[@David-on1mr]

I prefer to be in Ireland, get Dublin and convert to Norse, conquer Ireland, Scotland and the northern isle. Become feudal and turn every British isles country feudal. Then eat up England and Normandy, capital in Normandy and establish Norman. Form England, capital in England form English then the empire. Then I’m bored and quit

[@Gwanhk.]

oh ffs

[@MellowScot]

😂

[@oatdilemma6395]

The Idea of a Hindu-Anglo-Saxon Empire makes me cry with pure happiness. Imagine the art, the culture.

[@MellowScot]

We hybridized with egyptians, I don't think any hindu vassals remain

[@thunderbolt1964]

Hope ur a unionist

[@MellowScot]

👀

[@thunderbolt1964]

@@MellowScot ?