Quote Originally Posted by al Roumi View Post
Really? I can honestly say I've never managed to do that - hence my sense that at RD everyone simply goes mad (with some reason and empirical evidence). It would make total war a little less total if I could setup vassal buffer states... Did you have to do anything other than be friendly/allied for a long time? i.e. bribe them every turn? I must return to the Dojo and focus on my lessons.
Well, the vassal part is really pretty straightforward, you just turn them after RD. I do it because once RD starts I lose all my trade partners and need a revenue stream. But I also vassalize because I don't have to leave an army behind to stabilize it and I don't have to waste money fixing the place back up. It's almost comical they give me a unit for free to boot.

That said, these guys will not stay with you forever, so you better be primed with your army for a medium speed blitzkrieg and have a plan of attack where you are going. This is not a casual walk in the park, it's Sherman heading to the sea. Since I often start this push in the immediate vicinity of Kyoto because I hold off taking that till after RD kicks in, I do also create a decent size standing army there that can "persuade" vassals that change their mind to come back into the fold.

As for allies that stayed with me post RD, that one is also pretty straightforward, but it does require a bit of planning and some luck. Early on in the campaign you have to pick who you are going to trade with and stick with for the long term, if you choose wisely and select one of the clans that tends to survive to the end having been with them in an alliance for the entire campaign they will hold out for awhile post RD. Like the vassal strategy above, time is not on your side, you do need to get on it once RD kicks in.

Which is why the last part of the strategy to handle RD involves moving right up to the line where it kicks in (watch fame) and stopping short to prepare, collect some money and build armies, so the final push can be one constant effort. And yes, bribing does help forestall losing vassals or allies, but ultimately only for awhile. Money though it always a handy thing to have, so it is good to have a pile handy, I love buying a stack from the enemy as a recruitment mechanism once the push is on.