Client States

[Bramborough]

I've found it beneficial in some cases, and not so much in others. Early in my campaign I was in the process of conquering Sparta, but when down to one region, he offered to make peace and become my client. I figured, "well, let's see what happens". Soon after I quickly subjugated and made Athens a client as well. Initially both nations had very strong neg diplomatic modifiers to me because of the recent war, and would not trade with me. Over time, however, that has shifted and now in late mid-game, Athens one of my friendliest nations and biggest trade partners (although to this day Sparta remains somewhat snitty). Negative diplo feelings aside, however, the Athens/Sparta combination proved pretty strong in the east, and conquered lots of regions on their own. Plus, having these two Hellenic factions on my side slowly brought around quite a few other Greek states, now I'm buddies (either voluntarily client or even military allies) with just about all of them. Result; tons of "blue" acreage counting toward victory conditions, secure eastern frontiers allowing my legions to focus elsewhere, alongside steady, secure, and substantial tribute/trade income streams. Probably not bringing in quite the amount of money they might under my direct rule, but considering zero public order, rebuilding, and military occupation headaches, a trade-off I was happy to make.

My chief take-away is that most piddly factions are probably not worth "clientizing", but taking on a relatively strong client state who seems on good terms with several other factions can be very helpful in the long run.

My primary annoyance with client states that I think should be promptly corrected right now is trade. If one is strong enough to subjugate and compel a faction at spearpoint to end its political independence, seems one would be able to compel them into a forced trade agreement as well. Game currently doesn't work this way, however, which I think is a little strange.