On assassinating enemy family members

[Draye]

OK, so here is my question. I have currently two master assassins moving around enemy territory along with a spy killing every family member I come across. I have also killed their faction leader and heirs multiple times. However, through all this is seems that they keep coming up with more and more members. Is there any benefit on simply killing them randomly or only during a quest or as to when i'm about to attack their army?

Thanks

[Sp4]

As far as I know, you can't eliminate a faction by assassinating their ruling family. The game will just spawn a new family leader as well as an heir every time you kill them and every time you do it, they become harder to kill.

When you are about to attack their army and assassinate the general leading it, the army wont have a commanding general (obviously) and loses one unit of heavy cavalary (general's bodyguards).
That's about the only benefit I can see.

The only person you can assassinate while also getting a benefit 'on the campaign map' is the Pope after he excommunicated you, because the new Pope always (in my experience) reconciles you.

[Alsatia]

I thought that you could kill off a faction by losing FMs. E.g Assassinating Genghis Khan when the Mongols first invade converts the whole army into rebels. You may be having a hard time because you are late in the game and by that time, the family trees, including your own, are absolutely huge, thus trying to assassinate all the FMs, especially of larger faction, would become redundant, unless you do somehow kill the twenty or so of them, particularly since there is almost always a younger member who will come of age.

[phonicsmonkey]

You have to kill all the remaining family members in the same turn in order to eliminate the faction. Otherwise they will spawn new FMs in proportion to their number of owned provinces.

[Draye]

oh alright thanks phonicsmonkey for that i got it now

also thanks for everyone elses input

[Sp4]

You have to kill all the remaining family members in the same turn in order to eliminate the faction. Otherwise they will spawn new FMs in proportion to their number of owned provinces.

Aah, that makes sense, never tried it. *launches game*

On a sidenote, does the game spawn new family members for your faction too if you get too low?