Prevent neighbors from attacking

[rookie7]

It seems like every neighboring factions eventually declare war on me. Right now, I'm playing the English faction and I'm at war with the following: HRE, Sicily, Milan, Denmark, Portugal, Poland, and Rebels. Is there any way to stop the neighboring factions from declaring war all at once? All of these factions were my Allies at one time.

Thanks

[Eltharon]

There are some AI mods that will prevent this from happening. The other option is to attack them first, since alliances are pretty unsteady in this game.

[TevashSzat]

Make sure that you did not go to war against a faction with tons of alliances which may cause htier allies to go to war with you. Also, try to keep up a good relations with everyone by bribing them and keep spies and watchtowers so you will know when it looks like they are about to go to war with you.

[hoetje]

So what?just slay them all

[Flavius Gonzo]

Best I've been able to do is keep super strong garrisons in cities at my borders and bribe factions I don't wish war with up to perfect.

That seems to stave off an attack for a while... but eventually it seems that a faction inclined to attack you will do so regardless.

[IrishArmenian]

Cut off access to your regions by making border-esque forts everywhere. You can move through them, but no one else can. If they attack, you have 3-5 turns to respond before the fort falls.

[PseRamesses]

I´ve found that patrolling my border is a pretty solid way to minimize most DoW´s. If you just garrison a full stack in a border settlement the AI will eventually take that into count and just bring in more troops to counter your presence there. But if you patrol a stretch of your border the AI will be constantly occupied with recalculating its moves.
If an enemy enters your realm send the stack towards him, place it so that he´ll only can go up, down and backwards. When he moves repeat and cut him off. Eventually he´ll get the message and stroll on home.

[Von Nanega]

I fortify natural choke points frequently. Bridges, a mountain pass etc. One would do this in rl so why not in M2TW? Kingdoms would often set up border check points.

[Slyspy]

It was a "feature" of Rome that you could maintain friendly relations with a nation for the whole game but that as soon as you shared a border they would become increasingly hostile. Nothing you can do about ti. It seems to be the same in M2TW, which is a shame. It may make for "total war" but sadly it also makes for "total annoyance" and "total pointlessness". Hopefully a more balanced and sane diplomatic model will feature in the next game.

[FrauGloer]

It was a "feature" of Rome that you could maintain friendly relations with a nation for the whole game but that as soon as you shared a border they would become increasingly hostile. Nothing you can do about ti. It seems to be the same in M2TW, which is a shame. It may make for "total war" but sadly it also makes for "total annoyance" and "total pointlessness". Hopefully a more balanced and sane diplomatic model will feature in the next game.

Hear, hear. As the English I was allied with the HRE for 120 Turns. Perfect relations. Then I take Antwerp from the Danes, for the first time connecting my lands to theirs. 3 turns later, they besiege Antwerp, ending a mutually profitable alliance that had lasted for more than a century...
It would have been okay if they had had any chance of winning, but they had only four provinces left, were at war with most of their neighbours, were excommunicated and attacked my elite garrison (Retinue Archers, Armoured Swordsmen, Knights Templar) with half a stack of Town Militia!

It's ok that alliances don't last forever, but at least some common sense should be applied as to when they end!

[Braden]

As a M:TW player of old I have to ask…

…what’s happened to the Pope?? In the old Medieval if you attacked another Catholic nation you’d get really slapped and FAST!

Seems that in this game you have to keep attacking a Catholic nation for 5 or more turns before the Pope even notices (this is AI nations attacking me not visa versa).

Even then, Excommunication seems to mean next to nothing!

Example:

Playing as HRE and being nice and friendly to my fellow Catholics. Venice attacks me from several directions, I repel them, they keep trying and eventually the message I’ve been waiting for (though it took 5 siege wins against Venice before the Pope acted) is displayed.

Venice has been Excommunicated!

“YAY!” I think, now its payback time…and I wait for the other Catholic nations to gang up on Venice and open a big can of whuup-ass on them.

And I wait…and wait.

Nothing, if anything the other Catholic nations (France included who were my allies) seem to get their armies lost and attack me!

Long story short – I gave up. This was silly and the AI seemed to not care about consequences from the Pope if it got in the way of just bashing me!

Lower difficulty settings needed I think (was playing on Hard campaign/Very hard battles).

So, is the Pope impotent in your game?

[Zharatustra]

I'm still hoping for UN:Total War...

[dismal]

Even then, Excommunication seems to mean next to nothing!

20% order hit in all your cities is the thing that worries me. If nothing else, that'll cost you some florins.

[rookie7]

Well...now Spain also declared war on me. So, I'm now at war with 7 factions and the Rebels. The thing with being at war with so many factions is that you (I at least) have to spend all your income training armies to defend your regions. I hardly have any money for upgrades. Every ceasefire offers I made is being rejected because AI knows/thinks that I stand no chance with 7 factions attacking. Also, being at war with 7 catholic factions, the chances of one of those factions winning the Pope election is pretty good. When it does win an election, your relation with the Pope drops to 3-4 and you get slapped with the excommunication threat, all the while his own faction is free to attack me.

I agree with you guys, I wish something is done because this is ridiculous and becoming pointless to play. I guess I could try bribing them with money the next time I play. As for now, I'm gonna try to build forts and defend key choke points like you guys suggested.

Just wondering, what is the most number of factions that you're at war with at the same time?

[Booga]

By the end of the game I'm at war with pretty much everybody. At that point though, it's feasible to lose a settlement or two to draw in their armies, then crush their front while they're far from reinforcements and then just sweep through their undefended lands. Excommunication isn't even that scary since just about nothing can make a dent in my economy. Just hang in there, as long as you can field armies and win battles you'll be ok. Try letting the AI have a couple provinces, so hopefully you won't share borders with so many and hopefully they'll bicker amongst themselves, or at least give you some breathing room. It may be more cost-efficient to stop trying to hold onto every single settlement and consolidate for the time being.

Also, if you can spare it, send an army off into enemy territory, preferably a capital. Once its heartland is under attack the AI will usually break off to pursue you, and if you're fast you can siege, loot and skedaddle before they catch up to you.

One more thing...don't underestimate the value of agents. Swarm a city with spies and assassins (for sabotage) and see if you can get it to rebel. Even if you don't they'll have to divert troops to keep order and money to repair the damage, which will cost them way more than your agents' upkeep. Hope that helps you a bit.