Braedonnal
12-24-2006, 04:54
Maybe this is known to you all and maybe not but as I didn't see it listed as such (or I missed it) I decided to write this up for those that didn't know. Without further ado, I'll get down to business.
Crusading Catholics got you down? Muhammedan anti-liquor laws making you grumbly? The Emperor of a long decaying empire annoying you but you don't want to lose his trade? Do what I do, fight a covert shadow war and topple them without a 'hot' war.
How does one fight a war like this, you ask? Well, it is all about public order. Drop this low enough and the citizenry gets mad and eventually goes rebel, making for some easy pickings. With that as the goal, let's see what will get you to your goal.
You need several types of agents to make this work well.
The spy: He is a major component of the bloodless (to you anyways) conquest. His drop to public order is significant (about -30%) and he makes it easy to take the city when it finally goes rebel assuming he survives the rioting. I suggest 2-3 per city for some backup and possible capture by enemy agents.
The assassin/hashashin: He is very important for a few reasons. He kills off priests and imans that might ruin your converting fun if your target isn't of the same faith and offs generals/family members that have bonuses to popularity, law, and squalor reduction.
He also gets to play with explosives and generally just act like a crazied anarchist, blowing stuff to whichever Hell you choose to believe in. I try to blow up everything I can but it is vital to start with public order type buildings. Race tracks, city halls, barracks, baths, churches all need to burn. After the order buildings are gone, I wage economic warfare and target markets, banks and whatnot. I leave armorers, labs and such junk for last. This can take some time as the AI burns what cash reserve it has on the initial repairs but eventually it runs out of money and the buildings stay damaged. You have your enemy by the short hairs when you hit this point.
You'll want plenty of assassins on hand as they do tend to die a bit, especially on assassinations. I like a city/castle to be surrounded by them if I can manage it. A note to overzealous agent activity, this phase is dangerous as if you bumble too many assassinations/sabotage attempts, you will end up at war with your target which is what we are hoping to avoid. The assassinations are pretty high risk normally, sabotage is generally easier.
The priest/iman: They are useful in two capacities. Firstly, if you target is not of your faith, you can convert the entire population and the public (dis)order effect this has is rather large at 100% wrong faith. The 'God Squad', as I've heard it called, is a potent weapon of medieval covert warfare. Grab a mob of priestfolk and convert away.
The second way the 'God Squad' can help is against either a co-religionist or a different faith by having one go heretic. This tends to happen more often than not and you should be glad of the event. Heretical beliefs really hurt your target city's public order and you should NOT wipe out the heretic immediately. Move away from him with your priests/bishops/imans but if you happen to be a Catholic faction, you can fence it in with cardinals as they are immune to heresy. You do have to be careful as heretics can get out of control fast if they manage to turn several priests to the dark side. It might get ugly but heresy is a great weapon to make a city go rebel. Cleaning up a horde of heretics is a pain, however, so do be careful and manage things carefully.
The siege army: Someone has to mop up those rebel cities you have made and these guys are it. Heavy infantry and a few sieges weapons work well and some heavy cavalry to charge breeches/mop routers also do good work.
My general order of operations is this. First, I move in the priests into one territory and attempt to get some spies into every city/castle. I eliminate all priests/imans that I can via assassination. I then unleash my assassins to sabotage missions and target the barracks first as you want to keep him from recruiting larger garrisons. Your enemy will try to rebuild his agents as well so watch for that but generally they are easy pickings. This is the burning the cash reserve stage, just keep at it as he rebuilds agents and buildings. Eventually you will torch everything or the city will be in revolt. Then besiege the city and eliminate any heretics that might have popped up and then move your assassins/priests to the next target.
You've made it to the end. Well done and may your low-intensity warfare bring you much joy!
Crusading Catholics got you down? Muhammedan anti-liquor laws making you grumbly? The Emperor of a long decaying empire annoying you but you don't want to lose his trade? Do what I do, fight a covert shadow war and topple them without a 'hot' war.
How does one fight a war like this, you ask? Well, it is all about public order. Drop this low enough and the citizenry gets mad and eventually goes rebel, making for some easy pickings. With that as the goal, let's see what will get you to your goal.
You need several types of agents to make this work well.
The spy: He is a major component of the bloodless (to you anyways) conquest. His drop to public order is significant (about -30%) and he makes it easy to take the city when it finally goes rebel assuming he survives the rioting. I suggest 2-3 per city for some backup and possible capture by enemy agents.
The assassin/hashashin: He is very important for a few reasons. He kills off priests and imans that might ruin your converting fun if your target isn't of the same faith and offs generals/family members that have bonuses to popularity, law, and squalor reduction.
He also gets to play with explosives and generally just act like a crazied anarchist, blowing stuff to whichever Hell you choose to believe in. I try to blow up everything I can but it is vital to start with public order type buildings. Race tracks, city halls, barracks, baths, churches all need to burn. After the order buildings are gone, I wage economic warfare and target markets, banks and whatnot. I leave armorers, labs and such junk for last. This can take some time as the AI burns what cash reserve it has on the initial repairs but eventually it runs out of money and the buildings stay damaged. You have your enemy by the short hairs when you hit this point.
You'll want plenty of assassins on hand as they do tend to die a bit, especially on assassinations. I like a city/castle to be surrounded by them if I can manage it. A note to overzealous agent activity, this phase is dangerous as if you bumble too many assassinations/sabotage attempts, you will end up at war with your target which is what we are hoping to avoid. The assassinations are pretty high risk normally, sabotage is generally easier.
The priest/iman: They are useful in two capacities. Firstly, if you target is not of your faith, you can convert the entire population and the public (dis)order effect this has is rather large at 100% wrong faith. The 'God Squad', as I've heard it called, is a potent weapon of medieval covert warfare. Grab a mob of priestfolk and convert away.
The second way the 'God Squad' can help is against either a co-religionist or a different faith by having one go heretic. This tends to happen more often than not and you should be glad of the event. Heretical beliefs really hurt your target city's public order and you should NOT wipe out the heretic immediately. Move away from him with your priests/bishops/imans but if you happen to be a Catholic faction, you can fence it in with cardinals as they are immune to heresy. You do have to be careful as heretics can get out of control fast if they manage to turn several priests to the dark side. It might get ugly but heresy is a great weapon to make a city go rebel. Cleaning up a horde of heretics is a pain, however, so do be careful and manage things carefully.
The siege army: Someone has to mop up those rebel cities you have made and these guys are it. Heavy infantry and a few sieges weapons work well and some heavy cavalry to charge breeches/mop routers also do good work.
My general order of operations is this. First, I move in the priests into one territory and attempt to get some spies into every city/castle. I eliminate all priests/imans that I can via assassination. I then unleash my assassins to sabotage missions and target the barracks first as you want to keep him from recruiting larger garrisons. Your enemy will try to rebuild his agents as well so watch for that but generally they are easy pickings. This is the burning the cash reserve stage, just keep at it as he rebuilds agents and buildings. Eventually you will torch everything or the city will be in revolt. Then besiege the city and eliminate any heretics that might have popped up and then move your assassins/priests to the next target.
You've made it to the end. Well done and may your low-intensity warfare bring you much joy!