There is a system of marriage alliances that's much more fun and immerse than total war marriages. You can also appoint your own council members from maester all the way to master-at-arms. He had to trust in the loyalty of his vassals to raise their banners in his name to save his father. Remember in the books how Robb had to call all his vassals to bring themselves and their levies to Winterfell, and how guys like the Greatjon wanted to test his lieges courage by demanding he lead the march in the front? Robb didn't recruit troops with his own money in the castles of the North and simply command them to go where he pleases.

Rather than the simple total war strategy of improving economy->training troops->conquering everything in your path, CK2 makes you work for your vassal's loyalty so that you make sure you have sufficient support from your lords and sufficient levies that they will raise in your name when you call your bannermen for war. The game engine is mainly based on king/vassal relations and working towards keeping your kingdom/duchy/county stable. The difference with CK2 is that it's much more accurate when it comes to portraying the feudal system. Any other WTW players here who've played it? I've seen a couple threads on here on this subject but they're pretty old. I just recently bought Crusader Kings 2 and its a pretty great game.

Ck2 agot valyrian sword