Do Protectorates Count Towards Victory Conditions?

[Neroptime]

Hello there, all!



In the year of 131 BC, Rome has the Seleukeia, Pontos, Getai, Sab'yn, and Ptolemaioi as protectorates.
The only regions needed for Rome's victory conditions which I do not control are three regions controlled still by the Seleukeia which evidently I'm supposed to raid.
And so, my question is, do protectorates count towards victory conditions? Is there some reason Rome hasn't already won? Or should I march in and punch my poor Seleucid protectorate in the face in order to finalize Roman victory?

Thank you,
Neroptime the Unenlightened

[Ludens]

Hello Neroptime, welcome to the .Org and to EB .

I am not entirely sure about this, but I don't think protectorates count. The victory conditions are checked by the EB script, which has trouble dealing with protectorates. Protectorates mess up the scripted financial-aid for A.I. factions as well, so it's best not to use them anyway.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Protectorates mess up the scripted financial-aid for A.I. factions as well, so it's best not to use them anyway.

That's interesting!

Does that apply to AI factions becoming protectorates of other AI factions too?

In my campaign, AI-controlled Aedui has become a protectorate of AI-controlled Rome.

[Ludens]

Does that apply to AI factions becoming protectorates of other AI factions too?

I suppose it does. Protectorates have to pay part of their income to their protector; so part of the financial aid intended for the Aedui will end up in the SPQR's coffers. IIRC the financial aid stops when a faction's treasury starts to fill up, but because the script looks at the Aedui's treasury rather than the SPQR one, that won't happen here. Even if the SPQR's treasury reaches the threshold, it will still continue to benefit from aid given to the Aedui.

However, it's not that big a deal when it happens to A.I. factions. It's just that the player isn't supposed to receive this financial support; but protectorates allows him to "steal" it from A.I. factions.

[Miaow]

That's interesting!

Does that apply to AI factions becoming protectorates of other AI factions too?

In my campaign, AI-controlled Aedui has become a protectorate of AI-controlled Rome.

This seems to happen in most games, whenever Aedui becomes quite large and dominates Arverni, they give in to the Romans surprisingly easily. This makes Roman conquest of Gaul very easy :(

[Kralizec]

Hmm, in my current Hayasdan campaign (only one I'm playing at the moment) the Averni became a protectorate of the Aedui and remained so for a long time. The Aedui then proceeded to steamroll both the Sweboz and the Romans, almost to the point of extinction. (the last Romans being holed up in Noricum, mostly being left alone)
Then: Qarthadast finished its conquest of Iberia and started conquering Gaul as well slowly taking southern Italy from the Gauls. A very atypical game.*

Is it possible that an AI faction which gets a protectorate will do far better than they would otherwise do, for the reason that Ludens mentions? I've seen Arverni becoming a protectorate more often, but usually that state of affairs doesn't last very long. It's rare for the AI romans to perform so badly, and even then it's usually Epeiros or Qarthadast which cause it.

*in case anybody's wondering; at this point I started sending navies with multiple troop stacks to Italy to restore the Roman republic. That worked out well so far; the Romans have more land now than they ever acquired by themselves and are only at war with the remnants of the Aedui. Predictably the Romans backstabbed me, but since I have no lands of my own bordering them (Anatolia is the westernmost tip of my own empire) they accepted a ceasefire. Right now I'm trying to save the Gallic factions from extinction by a combination of spies, assassins and burning down Qarthadast MIC buildings in Iberia and the Gallic coast.

[Ibrahim]

punch them in the face. then curb-stomp them