Faction going extinct on its own?

[Skyduke]

Hi!

Something rather quaint happened to me while playing EB for the upteenth time. I had reduced the Sweboz to their capital; the problem was that it was guarded by two full stacks, the faction heir and the faction leader, and I did not have enough troops to just go in and smash them. So I waited on the bridge south of the capital, undecided on whether to bring up more troops, or construct the foreign buildings and levy some more regionally, when the faction heir with his full stack decided to attack me on the bridge.

Needless to say, he got slaughtered, but I took a substantial amount of casualties. Nevertheless, I moved to siege the capital, adding to my stack some Lugoae spearmen. The capital was due to fall in 10 turns. I intended on waiting it out, because the troops inside were all silver chevrons. Suddenly, however, I got the message that the Sweboz faction had died (complete with the fact Romans played a big role in their extinction). Next turn, the city had become Eleutheroi, and the troops inside were standard issue rebels that I easily slaughered.

My question is: what exactly triggered the faction's demise? Because it's the first time this has happened to me and I am rather curious. Please enlighten me.

Thanks a lot!

[Arjos]

The faction leader must have been quite old and died of natural causes, without a family member the faction collapses...
The bit about the Romans playing a part in it is peculiar though...

[Skyduke]

I see. Well, I was playing as the Romans, had conquered/pillaged him into (almost) oblivion, and killed his son four turns before, and then sieged him. I suppose he died of natural causes, childless, four turns into the ten it would take to goad him into a sortie, and that the announcement Romans had played a role in their downfall is normal then.

So if I kill all the characters present in a faction, the faction goes extinct? Makes sense, but I had never thought of that...

[Arjos]

Oh you were the Romani, I thought a celtic tribe, because of the Lugoae :P
When a faction is destroyed the message changes depending on your faction's culture, giving you credit, even if in this case you didn't "kill" them...

Anyway yes, if there isn't any family member around to become faction leader, that faction will disappear ^^

[Ludens]

Usually, the game will prevent this kind of situation by giving the nearly-extinct faction a couple of adoptees. I guess that didn't happen because, with their final city under siege, there was no place for them to spawn.

[vartan]

Usually, the game will prevent this kind of situation by giving the nearly-extinct faction a couple of adoptees. I guess that didn't happen because, with their final city under siege, there was no place for them to spawn.

What a peculiar and interesting situation, I'd say :)

[Arjos]

Either that or he had already 4 children and couldn't adopt any...

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

In my game (1.1), AS, Carthage and Lusotannan died out after they were reduced to one settlement and located / renamed by me to Indohellenes, Axum and Goidils.

[Cute Wolf]

just assault the last city then :D

well? its' more statisfying that way, and no true Romans should fear those unwashed Barbarians

[STuNTz2023]

This happened to me recently as well and until I saw this post, I thought it was just a one time fluke. However I wasn't besieging the last city (no one was) and I wasn't responsible for killing the last family member. They had one city left and next turn I got the faction destroyed message and the city went to the Eleutheroi. It was the only time I've ever seen it, after many years of playing EB. I had assumed that perhaps an assassin killed their last FM, and for some reason the computer could not give them another FM.

[d'Arthez]

The last FM might have been on board a ship, which was sunk by Pirates? Had something like that happen to me in a Makedonia game with the KH.

[vartan]