Fighting long offensive wars

[unmerged(135995)]

How do you guys fight long, continuous wars?

Since I'm scared to death of getting in debt (call it a trait I got from HoI and EU) I tend to hoard cash in my treasury, mobilize all my armies and crush the chosen enemy in a quick war.

This works perfectly against a smaller enemy or a large kingdom caught in a civil war, but against a unified kingdom which in size, wealth and manpower is my equal it works... Less than I'd like. Since the A.I. can not go in debt, it can theoretically stay in combat forever, while I, at some point, will have to stop warring because vassals get disloyal, improvements get lost and instability hits.

Any general hints and tips for fighting a long, protracted, offensive war?

 

[jordarkelf]

The first rule: don't be afraid of a debt. If you can afford to go to war (you're a king or an independent multiduke), you will be able to get out of debt with your income. Raise the scutage after the war, and lower expenses where possible. It is possible to offset the piety loss from no donations with buildings.
Second rule: accept peace offers from your enemy's vassals for money. Let them pay off your debts. As long as their overlord remains at war, they will eventually reDOW you anyway, or their lord will take their land when he loses his own demesne.
Third rule: set goals before the war and peace out after that. Giving up a claim or paying a little cash can help the AI accept a peace offer.
Fourth rule: accept a loss to end the war. If you've hit the point where you risk an internal war, it is time to end the war even if this means losing a province or two. Wait until you recover and strike again. With some luck your enemy will be weakened by the badboy from grabbing your land.

 

[TempestDK]

How do you guys fight long, continuous wars?

Since I'm scared to death of getting in debt (call it a trait I got from HoI and EU) I tend to hoard cash in my treasury, mobilize all my armies and crush the chosen enemy in a quick war.

This works perfectly against a smaller enemy or a large kingdom caught in a civil war, but against a unified kingdom which in size, wealth and manpower is my equal it works... Less than I'd like. Since the A.I. can not go in debt, it can theoretically stay in combat forever, while I, at some point, will have to stop warring because vassals get disloyal, improvements get lost and instability hits.

Any general hints and tips for fighting a long, protracted, offensive war?

Another good idea is to primarily use vassal troops, as they are free. If the vassals start getting upset, disband their armies for a while (if you are in a position to).

Though I rarely have prolonged conflicts (since I don't like debt either), I could imagine, that you could use your own troops to crush enemy armies with, and then disband them (remember to do that on your own territory). Then when needed, raise them again and use excessive force to destroy enemy armies that invade. Eventually you should be able to reduce his manpower. And disbanding your armies once in a while would keep you out of bankruptcy.

Not sure how viable this strategy is towards a large enemy that lives just next-door. But for one that is far away it could work, as the enemy armies would tend to arrive piecemeal, and thus easier to destroy. Once his armies are destroyed on your territory, use vassal troops to siege his home region for free.

 

[Cèsar de Quart]

Well, this was the situation of Medieval kings. Unless the fact that when a king asked for their own soldiers (not their vassals') those soldiers had to maintain by themselves for two or three months, depending on the country. France, Aragon and Castille gave 3 months to their soldiers, and after that the king began to maintain them.

PS: And thanks for the "rules".

 

[unmerged(31020)]

Usually I go for the vassals first. I use one or two strong armies from provinces far behind the frontline and quickly force-vassalize as many of their vassals as possible until I either run out of prestige or have to flee from approaching big stacks.

The AI will always go for the closest provinces of my desmene. As soon as they start sieging, I raise the regiment there, which will usually kick them out in a second (I've never been sure if this is an exploit or WAD), and immediately disband that regiment again. So this doesn't cost me a buck and leaves their armies at zero morale.

I wait a while if they offer a white peace. If they don't, I besiege some of their provinces quickly, which is easy then as their forces are in really bad shape by now, till they offer white peace.

Rinse and repeat until they have no vassals left. Then they should be easy picking.

 

[unmerged(135995)]

Thanks for the tips, folks.

 

[unmerged(31881)]

There's also the question of why you're fighting the offensive war. If you want The Big Title of the enemy - focus on his demesne. If you want to carve a slice off his realm from his vassals, focus on the border.

Far-flung possessions combined with the aiming high is probably the hardest part. e.g. fighting the King of England if you're Scotland is one thing... but if you have to track down the king's extra castle in Alexandria too...

 

[saskganesh]

There's also the question of why you're fighting the offensive war. If you want The Big Title of the enemy - focus on his demesne. If you want to carve a slice off his realm from his vassals, focus on the border.

Far-flung possessions combined with the aiming high is probably the hardest part. e.g. fighting the King of England if you're Scotland is one thing... but if you have to track down the king's extra castle in Alexandria too...

true enough.

what I like to do, to make those wars quicker (I like quick wars), is mobilise my strike force against Alexandria (or whatever) and send them on their way first. I do not declare war until my troops are landing on the beach.

Sometimes, one may want to do a pre-emptive war against another foe in the area to secure some bases before the main event. something I do with Crusades all the time.

 

[unmerged(75409)]

Wherever possible, use the troops of your vassals' vassals as first line cannon fodder. If they get pissed, the dukes have to handle it. And they are usually good at it, because the loyalty of AI vassals to their AI lieges is not affected by badboy, so their vassals are usually a lot more loyal than yours. Better loyalty also means that their leaders don't cause desertions and treason events as often as your own vassals would.

However you need to send dukes or even your own king's regiment in if you need to steal sieges. Or if the counts are all poor and have shitty regiments.

Also if you assemble your troops, leave maintenance on zero as long as they are all within friendly territory. Only when they are at sea, or outside of your realm, or stacked in armies larger than 15000 do you actually need to spend money on maintenance to prevent attrition.

Lastly there is an event called "Calling the estates general" which, if in debt, can let you get instant cash worth your yearly income or more in exchange for some stability and prestige. It's worth it unless you are short on prestige and it can get you out of debt in no time.