I'm nearing the late-game in one of my campaigns, and something I've noticed is that elective monarchies are far, far harder to conquer than any other type of realm. Pressable claims are incredibly rare and player agency is almost nonexistent. In all other forms of succession there are multiple ways you can use to maneuver into a claim. First, you can search for someone with a strong claim and try to invite him to your court. If there are none, you can move on to weak claimants. You can marry them so you'll personally get the claim in your descendants later on (useful on empires) or you can land them + press to add the lands to your realm now (better on kingdoms). If you're going the marriage route, you can decide to press your spouse's claim now so the rewards will fall into your descendants lap, or you can wait and only press when the claim is securely within your dynasty. No matter which method you choose, you have multiple options for pushing your enemy into a regency so you can press the claim. If the enemy ruler is unpopular, the most direct option is to chain plot-murders until you get to a child. If not enough people would join your plot, you can antagonize+duel them instead. If your dueling stat isn't up to par, you can instead opt to plot-murder their heir until they're left with women or boys too young to be of age upon succession.
Elective monarchies turn all of this on its head:
This is my current game. I've conquered most of Europe and all of Africa, yet the Byzantines still elude me since their elective government is nearly impossible to play against. Note that we share the same religion (Catholic). What am I supposed to do against them? My son is slated to have a weak claim when his mom dies, but I'm afraid he won't be able to use it. Is there some strategy that forces them into a regency with some sort of consistentcy? The only thing I can think of is save-scumming duels until I hit an emperor with an intrigue education, plotting to kill him, then hoping he hears rumors and goes into hiding. That doesn't sound very fun
Elective monarchies turn all of this on its head:
- No strong claims are ever generated on ruler death. They'll only come if an emperor gets kicked off the throne, which is very rare. Even if this does occur, the emperor will probably have other lands to fall back on, which means you can't invite him to court, so the claim is useless.
- Pressing your spouse's claim early is completely nonviable since your child will never be chosen as your spouse's successor. This means your window to act on the claim is only from when your spouse dies until the time when your child dies. On average, this will be an approximately ~30 year tineframe. This would be workable if elective monarchies were unstable, however...
- Elective monarchies are by far the most stable form of country. In other succession types you can often end up with someone who's a cruel, left-handed homosexual simply because they were born first. Electives filter those types of people out, ensuring the ruler tends to be well-liked. This makes assassination very difficult.
- Assassinating heirs is also nonviable. Children are almost never selected to be the successor. Neither are women, even in agnatic-cognatic countries.
This is my current game. I've conquered most of Europe and all of Africa, yet the Byzantines still elude me since their elective government is nearly impossible to play against. Note that we share the same religion (Catholic). What am I supposed to do against them? My son is slated to have a weak claim when his mom dies, but I'm afraid he won't be able to use it. Is there some strategy that forces them into a regency with some sort of consistentcy? The only thing I can think of is save-scumming duels until I hit an emperor with an intrigue education, plotting to kill him, then hoping he hears rumors and goes into hiding. That doesn't sound very fun
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