The Holy Roman Empire have the Power of Ambition.

In some six centuries or so from now, a certain French man of letters would describe the status quo of Germany today as "neither holy nor Roman, nor an Empire". And he could well be proven correct. For despite such a great and lofty title, the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation is very much a land divided - often bitterly so, with rivalries between this or that noble and the lands he rules, while the Kaiser (or emperor) must also compete for power and influence over matters of state with the Pope, head of the one and only thing keeping Germany together - a common Christian faith, albeit one whose valence and intensity have been compromised by many a corruption scandal and dissension, even within holy Rome itself, ever since the Empire was established only less than three centuries ago. And even then, the Kaiser himself and his line themselves do not have absolute control over the empire, unlike the Caliph of the Saracen infidels or the Autocrat of the Byzantine Greeks - rather he must be elected by the nobles of the land (a process that the Church can influence, no less given that the members of the Church are sometimes also descended from local nobility) and often must bear by himself the costs of ruling all Germany (and any non-German land that submits to the Empire).

Thus it would seem that the Empire is but a recipe for disaster. The current Kaiser, Lothar of Saxony, is advanced in age and has no male heir of his own, sparking a rebellion at home in which an anti-king, Conrad of Hohenstaufen now challenges him for control of Germany after having been anointed king of Italy by the bishop of Milan. At the same time, the Italian states fare no better, with different groups of nobles squabbling for power, with some doing so in the name of the Pope, others for the Kaiser (with the shopkeepers of Venexia, allegedly playing both sides off for profit). The only saving grace thus far for the Empire has been that Germany's neighbours (or rivals) have been too disunited (like the crown of Denmark to the north, or the Poles to the east) or too distracted (like the Hungarians, who busy themselves with the Adriatic and southeastern Europe ... or the French, who have proven to be no more stable nor coherent than the Germans) to think of interfering in Imperial affairs.

Equally important is the fact that the lands of Germany and northern Italy are not poor; rather, they play host to vast tracts of land and forest whose value of late has only been slowly realised by both authorities secular and spiritual. It is this very wealth - particularly in Timber and rudimentary industrialisation with water wheels and windmills - that the Kaiser has had the resources to invest in rallying his followers, and even intervening in both Bohemia and Poland - sometimes militarily, too - and spreading German culture and fashions across Central Europe, particularly into Bohemia where Imperial influence is strongest, despite the restive nature of the Bohemians toward the Kaiser and all Germany. Still, there are reasons to be wary - aside from recalcitrant nobles, a repeat of the bloody 10th century - an era of bloody invasion by Asian nomads - still yet can happen. A new group of Asiatics called Polovtsy by Slavic peoples (and Cumans or kunok by the Hungarians) have started arriving in Wallachia after bypassing the Kievan Rus'. And this may yet be the beginning: rumours abound too throughout all Christendom of vast heathen empires, far to the east of the Saracen lands. If any of these do approach Europe (or even the kingdom of Outremer in the Holy Land) in vast swarms, there may need to be a call for a Crusade - in which case there is plenty of reason for Kaiser Lothair to sharpen his sword and sleep less soundly, even though he be well advanced in age.

Order Knight
German unique knightly cavalry trained from a Nobles' Court; replaces Brother-Knight; is very powerful, but too impetuous like Peasant Levy to be individually selected and ordered.

Berrovier
Light cavalry unit available to Latin Christian civs only if Republic was researched.

Palatinate Burgmänner
German unique sword infantry: is tougher and more powerful than Swordsmen; trains more quickly than the same and is useful for countering units trained from the Outpost. 

Flemings
Mercenary spear infantry, on par with Spear Sergeants and recruitable to the Empire, as well as Bohemia and Outremer. The long spears used by Flemings can help in fending off war elephants in a pinch.

Sergeant
Heavily armed but slow-moving spear unit, recruited from the Nobles' Court with the ability to boost the armour of nearby units.

Citadel
As in The Hellenistic Era, the Citadel (alongside its weaker counterpart, the Guard Tower) continues to be the most powerful form of point defence in this instalment in the Kings & Conquerors family of mods. 

Nobles' Court
Sumptuous and stately yet foreboding, the Nobles' Court is the ultimate expression of regnal power, consisting of a vast castellated estate around which the nobility of the land must rally around. It is not as cheap as a Mansion nor as easy to come by, but its ability to boost the size of your Territory around it, and the fact that it is immensely powerful as a point defence structure means that a Nobles' Court can be more than capable of defending your borders, whilst training some of the most powerful land units available in all of this mod.

Fortified Barracks
Stronger than a normal Barracks, this building may be weaker than most point defence structures, but it is nevertheless a useful way to quickly set up and reinforce a forward building operation against any enemy counterstrike. 

Peasants' Hovel 
Trains levy units for sedentary agrarian nations. Not available for Outremer, Qara Khitai, Khamag Mongol, or Polovtsy. 

• Magdeburg
  
• Aachen
  
• Köln
  
• Rome
  
• Mailand
  
• Heidelberg
  
• Reutte
• Lübeck
  
• Mainz
  
• Fellin
  
• Augsburg
  
• Leipzig
  
• Hannover
  
• Stuttgart
  
• Bolzen
  
• Innsbruck
  
• Landeck
  
• Trier
  
• Luttich
  
• Koblenz
  
• Taormina
  
• Caccamo
  
• Adrano
  
• Castelvetrano
  
• Aci Trezza
  

• Nuremberg
  
• Bremen
  
• Waiblingen
  
• Halle
  
• Spandau
  
• Hamburg
  
• Dresden
  
• Karlsbad
  
• Marienbad
  
• Franzensbad
  
• Constance
  
• Kassel
  
• Marburg
  
• Bern
  
• Imst
  
• Schwaz
  
• Kufstein
  
• Kitzbühel
  
• Lienz
  
• Monreale
  
• Palermo
  
• Catania
  
• Bronte
  
• Biancavilla
  
• Niscemi

• Campania
  
• Bari
  
• Brindisi
  
• Amalfi
  
• Crotone
  
• Taranto
  
• Marsalá
  
• Eraclea
  
• Gela
  
• Modica
  
• Cefalu
  
• Enna
  
• Ragusa
  
• Trapani
  
• Agrigento
  
• Gaeta
  
• Napoli
  
• Salerno
  
• Anzio
  
• Siracusa
  
• Benevento
  
• Messina
  
• Melfi
  
• Erice
  
• Porto Empedocle