Military Access, whats the point - honestly.

[Budwise]

I have yet to get a faction to grant me it and at first, I though going into their land with my army meant instant war but it turns out my army can do what it wants and gets away with it. Honestly, what is the point of Military Access.

[RoadKill]

A big problem in MTW 2 is if your a faction like HRE you are surronded by poland, milan, venice, and france, and when all the rebel settlements have been taken you basiclly border each other. For example you have kept an excelent relationship with Poland but want to get over to Russia and start a war with them, but to go to russia you have to pass poland therefore making it a big problem becuase your relationship with poland will drop significantly if you keep like stacks of armys in their territory, therfore you get military acess so you can go through poland to russia without harming your relationship. Hope that helped

[Budwise]

Thank you. I, unlike others, actually read the M2TW manual and probably glossed over it. Sometimes game makers make big deals about things that turn out to be not worth much, I kinda figured that this was one of them.

[TevashSzat]

What roadkill said is true, but marching in other people's territories without access doesn't have too much of an effect on relations and certainley won't be so bad that a few good bribes can't fix

[Hochmeister]

I have tried all sorts of amounts of florins for military access but the AI never accepts. However if you want military access badly enough they will always exchange it if you offer a province. So I suggest go and conquer some backwater province that doesnt affect you diplomatically and offer that in exchange for access. Maybe sweeten the deal with map info to make sure.

[Divinus Arma]

It would certainly be nice if the AI would be more wiling to accept this. Even if you have a great rep and are allies they won' approve it.

[NefariousWolf]

I routinely grant Military Access to nations whose troops are getting in my way. That way their zones of control don't cause my armies to stop moving, which can get old quick.

Ex. In my Scottish campaign, Denmark embarks and disembarks troops around York every single turn. It's annoying as all 'ell. My troops coming down from Iverness to attack the English get stuck in their zones of control. What's worse is that they don't declare war on me, so I can't just smite them.

So I granted them Military Access and now I can bring my troops down without stopping. Who knows what ramifications this has that I overlookeed though.

[Slug For A Butt]

Here's a related question. If you grant military acces to someone, do you still suffer from devastation from their armies in your territories?
Never granted or received military acces yet, so I don't know the ramifications.

[Quillan]

Here's what always seems to happen to me: a rebel army appears near the border of a neighboring faction. I move a force over to engage it, and it retreats into the territory of the neighbor. If I pursue it to destroy it, I get the Transgression message and my standing with that faction goes down. If it goes down too far, of course, we'll end up at war. If I leave it alone, usually they'll move a force over and drive it back into my territory. They pursue it into my territory, destroy it, and then never ever move from the spot. The result is wide swaths of devastation in my territory as they forage to support the army. I can't diplomatically tell them to "Get the hell out!", so I either let them sit there or declare war.

Now, imagine that situation when playing as Sicily, Milan, or Venice, and the neighbor is the Pope. If you own Italian territory, you MUST secure military access with the Papacy.

In my experience, the only time you can usually secure military access is in the early going. It requires both a good reputation and perfect relations with the faction, and even then you'll need to form an alliance and probably gift them with a bunch of money in addition. The later the game goes, the less likely they seem to accept military access. Whether that's due to time, position, circumstances, or the normal drop in reputation you suffer I can't say.

[Odin]

I have never been able to obtain it and short of giving a province i have offerred very generous deals. This goes to the larger issue with diplomatic relations, on harder levels the AI throws alliances away anyway eventually you will end up at war with your neibhors.

As Denmark i have been burned by the lack of access because you get hemmed in by the HRE And Poland sooner then later.

[GeorgeBush]

In my experience I have been able to get military access from factions, but it took a very high rep I think trustworthy and I believe the faction attacked me a few turns later...

[Bob the Insane]

It can be worthwhile because it means your relationship with that faction and your reputation do not suffer from walking across their lands. If you have an ally which tends to troop it's soldiers across your lands it can be an idea to grant them access so their poor pathfinding does not hint their rep and thus make then likely to betray you... Unless you are setting them up to attack you anyway..

[Hochmeister]

Has anyone been attacked by a faction that they granted military access to?
I haven't but I have a very strong England running around my western border making me nervous

[Bobo]

Playing as Milan (on E/E), the HRE offered an alliance quite early on. In the next turn, I asked military access and offered them military access + map information. They took it, although their princess (2-3 hearts, I believe) said that the Kaiser would probably be unhappy about it.
Now (about 30 turns later) they keep sending spies over, so I better watch them.

[alex9337]

I got Military Access for the first time in my current campaign as Scotland.

I am not well liked by the Pope, as I have exterminated both the English and the French, however, I am not yet ex-communicated. Sicily had taken Tunis and the Pope called for a Crusade. I did not join. A few turns later, a Sicilian diplomat came offering an alliance, trade rights and map info. I countered, also asking for Military Access and he agreed.

I then moved an army down into the Italian Penninsula and stomped a Crusading Milanese army that was obviously going to be heading off for Tunis. That got me excommunicated!

Anyway, seemed like a fun thing to do, support my new allies, even though I know that diplomacy in this game doesn't work very well. I certainly don't expect Sicily to come north into Europe to help me in any way.

I admit it did come in handy later in the game when I finally accepted a Crusade mission to Antioch. I landed my army on a Sicilian held island to avoid some enemy ships which had a significant manpower advantage over my own fleet. Because of the Military Access agreement, my relations with Sicily did not fall because I was in their territory.

[jepva]

Playing as Milan (on E/E), the HRE offered an alliance quite early on. In the next turn, I asked military access and offered them military access + map information. They took it, although their princess (2-3 hearts, I believe) said that the Kaiser would probably be unhappy about it.
Now (about 30 turns later) they keep sending spies over, so I better watch them.

The reason the HRE is sending spies is that one of its victory conditions is to destroy Milan!!!! It helps before starting a game to know what each faction's victory conditions are. Its useful for determing who you should be allied with - preferably a faction which is required to destroy one or more factions which YOU are required to destroy.

[Bobo]

The reason the HRE is sending spies is that one of its victory conditions is to destroy Milan!!!! It helps before starting a game to know what each faction's victory conditions are. Its useful for determing who you should be allied with - preferably a faction which is required to destroy one or more factions which YOU are required to destroy.

Thanks. Where can I see these victory conditions? I don't recall seeing this kind of condition in the grand campaign screen where I can choose the faction. Or are you referring to the short campaign?

Incidentally, they approached me, and I was already at war with Sicily and Venice, while I want to go take Marseille from France. So I could use a 'friendly' neightbor for a while...

[Afro Thunder]

Here's a related question. If you grant military acces to someone, do you still suffer from devastation from their armies in your territories?
Never granted or received military acces yet, so I don't know the ramifications.

As far as I know, if you're not at war with a faction, it's armies can walk all over your territory and they don't cause devastation. I might be mistaken, though.

[Carl]

I admit it did come in handy later in the game when I finally accepted a Crusade mission to Antioch. I landed my army on a Sicilian held island to avoid some enemy ships which had a significant manpower advantage over my own fleet. Because of the Military Access agreement, my relations with Sicily did not fall because I was in their territory.

Not just that, but it also hits rep which makes all diplomatic negotiations harder and when trusted alliances get enabled, (as several mods and probably the 1.2 path do), your reputation matters when determining if an alliance is trusted. Thus walking all over other peoples lands when not at war means it's nearly impossibbile to keep alliances.

[Slug For A Butt]

Thx Afro, I would have thought they would have caused devastation as the army still needs to eat
I think I need to check it.