So I finished my first campaign in Crusader Kings 3 Ironman Mode. Total length 38 hours.
Started off as the Catholic Norman Hauteville dynasty of Sicily. I easily united The Kingdom of Sicily as the historical
Roger the Fox. I converted to Orthodox and swore fealty to the Byzantine emperor. Even though the Byzantines had lost a big chunk of their territory in Anatolia as a result of
The Battle of Manzikert, they stabilized and could defend my little Sicilian empire as I expanded. I was a part of this game's version of the
Komnenian restoration, as I lead the Normans on conquest of North Africa and Central Italy in the name of the Byzantine Emperor. The Byzantine Emperor left me alone to do as I pleased in Africa as long as I paid my taxes. I was often a member of the imperial council in recognition of the King of Sicily's power. The screenshot below is of my empire at the fall of the Roman Empire.
As in history, the
Seljuk Turks won at Manzikert and controlled a large Middle Eastern Empire. It eventually went into decay while the Byzantine recovered. Eventually the Seljuk Turks were overthrown by an Afghan ruler who then had his empire conquered by the Mongol Empire. I used the disorder among the Muslims to launch an invasion of Egypt at the same moment the Mongol Empire declared war on the Byzantine Empire. I finished a good amount of my conquest of Egypt before the Byzantine Empire was conquered by the Mongol Empire.
When the Mongol Empire defeated the Byzantine Empire, the Khan of the Mongols took the core of Byzantine territory while newer territory got independence. What this meant for me is that I was still King Of Sicily in title but all of my southern Italian holdings were gone. I had just a few scattered castles along North Africa and Tuscany. While I plan out my next move, the Mongol Empire begins to collapse.
When the Mongols started their invasion of the Byzantine Empire, a bunch of their Muslim subjects rebelled. Once the invasion was complete, the Khan of the Mongols dies and the empire is
divided as in history. Lucky for me, there is an independent Khan in Southern Italy. So I gathered up all of my forces and invaded Sicily and retook it over a course of a few years.
That's part 1 of 2 of my playthrough. Let me know if you want to hear how it ended.