Is it better to vassal or annex off-religion territory in 5.2?

[DABegley]

I am Muslim Morocco who has gotten deeply involved in southern Germany and the Balkans having annexed a bunch of turf. The locals are unhappy about this and revolt a lot and I also keep getting attacked by my infidel neighbors. As of the moment I can't afford the cost of mass conversion, the $122 to put a missionary in Thrace was an eye-opener. Would it be better to vassal Hungary, Austria, etc., which I could do, and give them all my troublesome provinces or hold my Balkan conquests (and continue to get more) and wait until they core and I have the money to convert them? I have never had a large, off-religion vassal before so I don't know how reliable they are. Thanks.

 

[grommile]

They're as reliable as any other vassal.

 

[cywang86]

If you create vassal on a nation that was not in your religion group, they'll automatically convert to your own religion.

After that, the AI will slowly convert said provinces to Muslim.

Just make sure you park some of your armies there to kill those religious rebels as they can decimate the armies of your new vassals.

 

[unmerged(501710)]

If you create vassal on a nation that was not in your religion group, they'll automatically convert to your own religion.

After that, the AI will slowly convert said provinces to Muslim.

Just make sure you park some of your armies there to kill those religious rebels as they can decimate the armies of your new vassals.

He means release as vassal, not vassalise in a war. I wanted to add for people who don't know all the mechanics yet.

 

[cuendillar]

If you create vassal on a nation that was not in your religion group, they'll automatically convert to your own religion.

After that, the AI will slowly convert said provinces to Muslim.

Just make sure you park some of your armies there to kill those religious rebels as they can decimate the armies of your new vassals.

Keep in mind that they won't convert anything for you unless they get missionaries, released states take on your sliders so if you're heavily innovative (even if compensated by decisions/ideas) they might not get any and will remain with all their provinces of the wrong religion.

 

[brifbates]

Keep in mind that they won't convert anything for you unless they get missionaries, released states take on your sliders so if you're heavily innovative (even if compensated by decisions/ideas) they might not get any and will remain with all their provinces of the wrong religion.

Even so, at some point you will be in position where diplo-annexing them is feasible and you can subsequently convert the provinces as needed.

The big key to remember, of course, is that the state religion must be in your religion group to diplo-annex so you have to ensure they don't get broken by religious rebels in the interim.

edit: It seems the OP is asking should he force-vassalize nations then sell the provinces-this is sub-optimal in that you can never subsequently diplo-annex those nations as they are not in your religion group. far better to create new vassals in the area. Keep in mind though that if any of your provinces are part of the HRE you can't give them to nations without cores even if they are your vassals, the ai will refuse.

 

[grommile]

The big key to remember, of course, is that the state religion must be in your religion group to diplo-annex so you have to ensure they don't get broken by religious rebels in the interim.

Conveniently, only OPMs can change religious group (and IIRC it happens when they go bankrupt while their only province is in a heathen-to-them group).