Vassals

The above post made we wonder bout these things. I know what a vassal is but, what are they in the game? As far as I can tell, they are fairly meaningless, more like an ally then a true vassal. I attacked a vassal of Spain and not a thing happened other then I defeated it. Perhaps my rating with Spain went down but it was already very bad so I couldn't tell.

Nobody has a clue either, eh? OK, I guess it really is window dressing; I was hoping to be wrong.

Hey mate, the Vassals in M2TW means nothing, just like the whole alliance-treaty system in the game.

You should be going war with someone just because you attack someone's vassal, or I don't know the vassal should be paying you some money every turn. But in reality, even vassals can attack you, and there is no downside.

Thanks; verified what I suspected.