To Purge or not to Purge?

[Phalanx]

Well, my 55 year old prince just took over from his father. I don't see any chance of an heir coming of age unless I get lucky and this king has a kid next year and lives to 70 years or so.

Throughout my army are generals that were former princes two or three kings ago. So they have Royal Blood.

Do I do the Stalin thing and purge all the good generals of Royal blood except the best so if something goes wrong the transition is smooth with only one person of royal blood to assume control of things? I would just disband the units, less impact on other generals loyalty than having a string of defeats of one unit of knights versus a full stack of AI troops or using assassins.

Anyone else have any strategies for this? From and RP prospective, a king "removing" potential rivals for his heirs is not unheard of and since I'll just be "retiring" then it seems like its not a "cheesy tactic".

[ToranagaSama]

Quote[/b] ]Do I do the Stalin thing....

No you do not.

Read the Cheesy tactics thread and accept the fact that you failed to marry your heir (the present King) early enough so that he would ascend to the throne with ready made heirs.

In any event, you already have an heir, do you not? Probably, one of the King's brothers. So, the game will not end because you don't have a heir.

Your present King should live a good 20-25 years or so, plenty of time to seed and see a heir to maturity.

In preparation for the remote possibility of a Civil War, in the event your future heir does not reach maturity, then start checking and keeping an eye on the Loyalty of your Generals and Govenors. Spies are good for this Purpose.

If you have Princesses marry them to your Generals/Govenors to increase their Loyalty to the King and heir.

Inquisitors are good for burning perverted and disloyal generals/govenors at the stake.

Assination my be a tool of last resort to use upon your Generals/Govenors, so is disbanding their units.

Ride your game out. Accept that Civil Wars are a part of the game. Accept the good, the bad, and the screwed up. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/mecry.gif

Good Luck http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif Have Fun

[mav3434]

yeah you will get heir apparents by the bushel if you wait long enough. I had a barren king once who ruled from his late 20's to his mid 40's with no kids, then, all of a sudden, he had Five Sons and four daughters in his late 40's to early 6o's.

[A Nerd]

Most of my civil wars have been easy to contain. My best generals have never left and the ones that do I just attack. If I lose, I bribe them.