MTW Faction Reemergences

When a faction is eliminated, there is a possibility that it may make a comeback (not the faction controlled by the player though). This feature of the game adds a little spice to the campaign, and forces the player to keep an eye over conquered territories. With the right circumstances, a faction can come back several times.

Faction Elimination

A faction is considered eliminated when the faction leader and all the heirs of age are killed. This can happen through battle, assassination/inquisition, refused ransom, or by losing the last province (essentially a death in battle or refused ransom situation).

Just as the game tracks the player's under-age heirs, royal children of the AI factions are tracked. It is with these scion that reemergences are spawned.

Back From the Dead

The game will keep track of under-age heirs for eliminated factions as they mature and age. Once the oldest under-aged heir matures, til he becomes to old (aged 60, younger brothers take over here?), there is a chance of a reemergence.

The game also keeps track of what factions have ever controlled each province. This is done for two reasons, reemergences and Jihads. Any province ever owned by an eliminated faction is eligible to trigger a reemergence.

If, during the timeframe that an eliminated faction's heir is capable, a province that was once under their control meets the criteria of a rebellion, a reemergence will occur instead. At this point, all provinces that were ever controlled by the reemerging faction are checked, if any of them have a loyalty below 120%, they will join in on the reemergence. So a reemergence requires a province below 100% loyalty to start, but can spread to provinces between that are under 120%. The reemergence manifests itself with several stacks of loyalist troops along with the new leader and any of-age heirs.

It is possible that when a reemergence occurs, the new faction leader will already have heirs (of age or under), and will definitely start breeding if none exist when the reemergence happens. So even if the faction is eliminated quickly after the reemergence, it is still be possible for them to come back later.

Holy Roman Empire

The faction leader of the Holy Roman Empire can have heirs, but if the leader dies without heirs another general will be elected faction leader. So the elimination of the HRE requires conquering all of their provinces. Under-age heirs of the last faction leader will be tracked for HRE reemergences (verify this?).

Papal Reemergences

The Pope will always reemerge, and will come back stronger each time. Papal reemergences are treated differently than normal factions.

Preventing Reemergences

To prevent a reemergence, the player should keep the loyalty of provinces above at least 120% for 60 years past the elimination of a faction. Provinces previously owned by the faction, but not controlled by the player, are potential trouble spots. Once 60 years passes without a reemergence, the faction can safely be considered gone.