Alliance with the Pope

[Askthepizzaguy]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Getting an alliance with the Pope is quite easy if you are Catholic. If you keep your Pope-o-meter rating around 4 he should accept rather easily.

This is my theory but I have never tested it nor read about anyone else testing it (maybe I should visit twcenter..... nah, i'll stay here ). Anyway, back to my theory:

Other nations are more willing to accept alliance/'I will attack faction x' offers if you have a certain military strength. Logically it makes sense, why would someone want an ally who could not help them? Obviously in the real world many alliances are made for economic/political purposes but as has been demonstrated innumerable times in this game, war is the only thing on the AI's mind, and therefore strength is all it cares about, even if it ignores its own pathetic military rating when attacking you.

I hate to pick on Askthepizzaguy, but in his HRE blitz campaigns he talks about allying with everyone while offering them attacks on other nations as soon as possible. I wonder if they only accept because HRE is the #1 military/#1 territory on turn 1, and I'm sure he doesn't fall behind in the few turns it takes to march the diplomats

I do not take offense to your line of thought, ReiseReise.

Actually, what matters most is REPUTATION, not military strength. Who is the weakest starting faction?

One could argue that it is Russia, given their horrible starting position, economy, and lack of same-religion factions to ally with. However, so long as you don't attack Poland right away, release and occupy, and do not tarnish your reputation, it's not only possible, but a good idea to ally with as many catholic nations as possible.

One of the things tiny, underdeveloped nations MUST do is gain a network of alliances, for fear of being browbeaten by some random AI nations.

If Sicily had to defend against Milanese, Byzantine, Venetian, Moorish, and French incursions, I doubt it would survive. However, allying with one or two of them makes survival possible. Allying with most makes attacking Sicily a bad option.

Your chance of gaining an alliance is based on starting relations and reputation alone. If, as Russia, your starting relations with Poland are bad, you can easily increase them with a simple offer to attack Denmark as a gift. Toss in a couple more and maybe a few florins if that doesn't cut it. But the reason you have trouble with Poland is because the AI for Poland in that campaign is rigged to dislike you from turn one. Like the Turks for Byzantium... but I found it easier to ally with the Turks than it is for the Catholics, by a long shot. It just takes a few gestures of goodwill.

Conversely, if one has 12 allies, and backstabs one, good luck getting an alliance or a vassal state in the next 50 turns.

It's got nothing to do with military strength, my friend. It has to do only with relations (easily fixed) and reputation (not so easily fixed).

[The Wandering Scholar]

My focus of my current Scotland Campaign is to keep my repuatation high, hopefully in the long run it will make diplomacy easier.

[Mek Simmur al Ragaski]

I always do the popes whims, well always apart from crusades, why would i weaken my borders to pay for a load of men who will abandon me the second i make them join the crusade, it happened mainly when i was within reach of the destination, and my army got completely destroyed by an Egyptian Horse archer unit, and those stupid archers

[Askthepizzaguy]

I always do the popes whims, well always apart from crusades, why would i weaken my borders to pay for a load of men who will abandon me the second i make them join the crusade, it happened mainly when i was within reach of the destination, and my army got completely destroyed by an Egyptian Horse archer unit, and those stupid archers

I would very much like to offer my advice on crusading effectively. If you use it properly, the crusade/jihad function can spawn a horde of troops ten or a hundred times larger than what you can currently afford as a standing army.

Why would you need that many troops? Answer: To crush the entire world in a few short turns.