Why did I enter into a civil war?

[Krakra]

I was playing in VI for the Irish. Nice start, nice going, had lots of fun. Suddenly, half my country and army turns rebel, right in the middle of a large war. Really nasty. What in the world went on? Did I miss some factor? Should I be disbanding princes and powerful generals if they lose loyalty?

[mercian billman]

The Irish do have loyalty problems

I think more info is needed, when did the rebellion happen, what lands did you hold etc... You cannot disband princes if your at war sending a crappy disloyal prince on a suicide mission isn't a bad idea though. Just make sure you have enough heirs to take his place.

Disloyal generals should be kept in a stack to themselves as the Irish you will have a lot of disloyal generals, just keep shuffling them around until you find a general with at least 4 loyalty and put him in a stack last.

Hope this helps.

[Demon of Light]

Loyalty is affected by your king's influence. If your king's influence is 4 or less, start checking your generals. 3 loyalty or less is a hazard. Combine this with a high command general and you have problems. Titles, marriage to princesses, Great and Magnificent Builder on the king and on office holders increases loyalty. Certain vices and virtues also influence loyalty.

[katank]

yeah, check for all high command generals.

BTW, turn off the automerge stacks feature and keep the general by himself at all times with another stack having a high loyalty guy leading it.

this way, your uber but not so loyal general will command battles but don't have men to lead to mutiny.

spam watch towers and border forts in every province you get first thing.

not only does this improve happiness and is cheaper than garrisons, but it also is very likely to get your king great/magnificent builder.

BTW, you can't disband princes at all.

suicide missions are good.

they might even conquer the province for you due to their uber jedi skillz.

I've had an unhinged byz prince who I sent on suicide mission after suicide mission and eventually became skilled risky attacker, attack specialist, etc. after taking half of the steppes using only his BG.

[Krakra]

All good advice Thanks guys. That civil war ruined me. The loyalty issue plus some really crappy generals and battles lost marked the end of my forray in Britain.

I actually used bribery exclusively for expansion.

[Krakra]

Forgot to mention disbanding princes. When they are still throne contenders, you can't disband them. But once a new king start his own line, the old princes are no longer princes -- they are merely of royal blood. You can disband them then (at least the disband button is available, but I haven't done it).

[katank]

yeah, that's very true.

I don't see why you would want to though.

I'm usually very aggressive in rushing etc. and constant warfare with winning battles means my influence level is maxed out.

my heirs usually end up as very good commanders with nice all around stats too. They also have the advantage of being BG units which means their units don't get outdated by period changes (excepting orthodox BGs).

[Bhruic]

And don't forget that you CAN marry your princesses to your princes. They only get +1 loyalty, and they get secret incest, but hey, that +1 loyalty may be worth it.

Bh

[katank]

they also get kids earlier when they finally get to the throne.

inbreed all the way

[Spartacus]

too high taxes, places must be oppcuiad by a army for a while before there safe to leave and disband unloyal generals

[slackker]

u can get spies faster than u can in vanilla mtw so use them, 1 in each province shld do the trick, 3-4 is max in the each province if u want to move on faster and attack.
i make sure i hav at least 1 province producing spies and increase as my lands grew larger.

[katank]

ummm, civil war is a bit different frm other rebellions.

what spies can do though, is to frame generals for treason.

every time you execute a fella, the others all get scared and their loyalty goes up almost by a full shield.

so hire some mercs who likely aren't loyal and try them.

Spies in VI are great.

you can use them in packs of 5-6 to help open castle gates.

this exploits the AI's tendency to retreat into castle and counterattack later.

I could take them out far easier using spies.