How vassals work

[Dangrebe]

I have been playing m2tw for a while and have yet to get a vassal, and after looking around on the forums i've been wondering, do vassals contribute to you end goal of how ever many cities you need to control? Do the factions get annihilated or not?

[FactionHeir]

The factions stay as they are but pay you a tribute every turn. They do count towards your victory conditions, but they may well betray you via other alliances, though they will not directly attack you while they are your vassal.

[Marauder]

What triggers the AI to be willing the a vassal request? Does anyone prefer making them a tribute state vs. annihilating them? If they're weak enough to be a vassal, one stack could run amuck in their territories and do the same thing, netting more cities for you to launch NEW invasions from... I just like seeing my color blanketing them map =)

[FactionHeir]

Usually you need to border each any every one of their regions and massively outnumber them and their allies on their borders and in general military strength.

[Marauder]

Maybe I'm a tad bloodthirsty, but in the situation you're describing I'd send an army to take over so they can't backstab me later. Is there an advantage to having a vassal?

[FactionHeir]

Well, basically all excess florins they have (I think above 5000 or so) go to you at the end of their turn. If you already swim in florins, you can control the amount you have I suppose by gifting them the money you'll get back in the end. That both keeps relations high and prevents you from getting bad traits.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

And if I remember correctly they should have at least three regions left.

[Dangrebe]

Sweet thanks alot

[Ciaran]

Maybe I'm a tad bloodthirsty, but in the situation you're describing I'd send an army to take over so they can't backstab me later. Is there an advantage to having a vassal?

There´s another advantage. Let´s say you´re Catholic and have an islamic vassal. Now you go on and conquer a lot of other islamic provinces. Usually you´d have to keep huge garrisons to keep those provinces from rebelling, but if you hand them all over to your vassal, he´ll manage them for you, and you don´t lose them from your region count. It worked even better with the different cultures in RTW, I remember making Gaul my protectorate in one game and gifting all of Britain, Spain and Germany to them.

[Noncommunist]

Though, there have been points when I was a vassal of someone else despite the fact that I massively outnumbered them. Like when I was England and I owned the western world and yet I was the vassal of France which had three territories. Eventually, they betrayed me when they went on crusade. I really don't see what they got out of it.

[Jason X]

And if I remember correctly they should have at least three regions left.

iirc they need more than three regions in order to consider selling you a region, not to become a vassal.

[Ciaran]

Though, there have been points when I was a vassal of someone else despite the fact that I massively outnumbered them. Like when I was England and I owned the western world and yet I was the vassal of France which had three territories. Eventually, they betrayed me when they went on crusade. I really don't see what they got out of it.

So were the Avegnin kings.
I suppose you´ve accepted to be France´s vassal at some earlier point in the game, right? That can be a usefull strategy in the beginning, becoming a vassal of one of your neighbours, demanding a vast sum for it and use up the money to improve your infrastructure and army. Being your overlord, you´re save from attacks from them (saver than an alliance, as a matter of fact), though I´m not sure what you pay to an AI overlord.

Vassalage doesn´t depend on the number of provinces or the strenght of the army, those matter when you try to make a faction your vassal, but not once they are you vassal.

[Jason X]

also, see this twcenter thread for how to make vassals

[A Nerd]

Can you become a vassal to the AI? Not that you'd really want to...just curious...

[FactionHeir]

Sure. If your kingdom isn't going well, they sometimes approach you.

[Askthepizzaguy]

Heh...

I've been offered vassalage by aggressive and belligerent AI's when at war with them. Wars I was winning, by the way.

There's no way I'd ever surrender to a computer in this game.

[Enron]

Heh...

I've been offered vassalage by aggressive and belligerent AI's when at war with them. Wars I was winning, by the way.

There's no way I'd ever surrender to a computer in this game.

I agree. I'd rather have every single soldier die free than live as a slave under the AI control.

[A Nerd]

Wouldn't it be fun to become a vassal, then take your armies and destroy the oppressor? He'd be fun to kill!