Federations need ways to be dismantled by external powers

[Lady Lacroix]

Playing as a fan. xenophobe again I have found myself in the unfortunate position of being surrounded by empires that all allied and federated almost immediately. Not to complain about my own luck but it strikes me as unfair that there is almost nothing I can do to directly counter federated power blocs. At the very least I should have access to an 'evict from federation' wargoal.

Hell, opportunistic empires within federations should ALSO have access to this same war goal,

 

[TerrBear]

If you do a vassal or tributary wargoal (which is a lot cheaper) it'll drag them out of the federation, so basically pick the biggest one in the federation that you can tributary, win the war and you'll have majorly gimped their federation.

 

[Velorian]

Well, you can vassalize a member or liberate a cluster of stars (who'll typically join you in vassalage or a protectorate), which will shrink the federation by a decent amount.

Also strategically I find that limiting your outright expansions in favor of vassalizations/protectorates and liberations will make the opposition weaker by the time they get their act together, and it will mean you have some meatshields to take some of the heat off you while you take out the main opposition.