Nuclear Bomb Multiple Inquisition Tactic

[Grond]

I was getting familiar with the use of Inquisitioners as a military option for removal of competent enemy commanders. I’d successfully gotten three inquisitioners to 5 valor, and was working hard on making it difficult to be a French commander. It occurred to me the following facts:
1) An inquisitioner has a chance of success based on the piety of the target.
2) After an unsuccessful inquisition, the target’s piety frequently goes up and they receive a virtue (Piety, secret atheist, born again, etc.)
3) We all know it’s a sham; if you pound a target enough times, he will break with the church and then you burn him. Thus, you get devout combined with atheist. Ultimately, the target has 0 piety, and you win.
4) It sometimes takes an average of 5-6 inquisitions to break someone.

Has anyone attempted a nuclear inquisition (I’m coining the phrase right here): Take seven level 5 inquisitioners or better, grand inquisitioners, and drop them on a single target in one turn. Why not? Based on my experience using a combined arms approach to a single target (assassin, spy, then inquisitor in the same turn), the game processes things in a certain order (assassin first, then the spy, inquisitor last), and you could thus do seven inquisitions at once; the target’s status will change in each inquisition, but ultimately the result is he’ll break after 4-5 and the last guys will get the kill. The inquisitions seem to be in the order you set them up, so if you start with a low level guy or three, they’ll build up the target’s immunity, and then end with a few big guns to get the kill when he cracks. All in one turn, using a nuclear inquisition team.

I’ll give this a try later on, when I’ve got some time.

[lilljonas]

Depends on your motive. Do you want to destroy a faction with inquisitors? If so, this is not the best alternative.

Why?

Well, the chance of burning a king is automatically smaller than doing the same for a prince, even one with slightly more piety. Therefore, you are better of spreading out your inquisitors on several targets, luring them into the atheist burn-trap, and killing them off before they achieve the crown. In a perfect world, you'll have burned all royal material when you finally go to town on the king, sporting a nice "atheist" vice induced by your crappiest inquisitor, who has been using 0% attacks on him while you killed off his family (even at 0%, failed accusations will eventually turn them atheist). Also, killing off the slightly easier, yet juicy targets that the princes are, you'll gain stars quicker. If I go for this version, I'll more or less spread the pointy hatted inquisitors evenly on the targets (3 on each, 4 on each or so on).

The second reason why this is more time-efficient: cancellations. Or rather, the lack of them. You can't give the agents new orders after you press the "end turn" button. Say you order 10 inquisitors to burn a general. The second succeeds. The other 8 spends a year playing canasta. If you had used them in several "kill teams" instead, you become more efficient, since fewer will spend turns burning people who are already bacon.

Basicly, the inquisition warhead would have a big chanse of killing the victim, but it is potentially less efficient than smaller teams with several victims. But hey, if you only want one person dead, and you want it really, really much, then you might as well bring all your guns to the fight. Most people use this approach for burning the pope, I think, since his generals are mostly irrelevant and he has no heirs.

[Emerald Wolf]

Ahh, I rather like this option... find the pedo's... and burn them to a nice crisp golden brown. I never thought about taking out a whole royal family before though. Interesting. I have a thought. You know how we have all been trying to find out if you can gain provinces from royal marriage. zthis could speed up the process a bit.

[lilljonas]

Indeed. Be allied and burn the entire family. However, this is also undoubtedly considered the cheesiest way to play the game, together with the spy rushes of the old days. Simply put: it's so ridiculously easy and impossible to stop, that you'll probably be bored with it after one campaign. But yeah, it's worth to do it once, just for laughs.

[HopAlongBunny]

It works rather well

Burning down a faction is possible but tends to get tedious after you do it once or twice. If catholic I always keep a Papal Hit Squad for burning "Charismatic, Gentle Knight, Captured, Fine Leader" monstrosities.

[lilljonas]

The absolute best targets for inquisitors IMHO are the small, mediterranian Navy factions: Italians and Sicilians. Burning their families will get rid of all the ships, without you having to endure years of lost trading income or possibly rebellions in faraway colonies, just because you want one or two provinces. Oh, and you probably hate these factions much enough to not feel TOO cheap while doing it.