My vassals can't annex other countries while I'm fighting alongside them

[Nein]

Today I got stuck stuck for a long time in a war against Trebizond as the Timurids, as I was waiting for the Ak Koyunlu to annex them but which they never did, so I loaded a save as them (Ak Koyunlu), only to see that they can't sign a separate peace since they're my vassal, despite the 100% score. That feature is great to stop vassals from abandoning you in a war, but here the result was completely unsatisfactory here as I could neither get my vassal to annex Trebizond nor vassalise them myself since it wasn't I who occupied the enemy capital. I know there won't be more fixes to FtG, but this really sucks, especially when your vassal has leaders but you don't so they'll just keep stealing sieges away from you...

EDIT: Signing a separate peace doesn't work either since it takes my vassals out of the war too.

 

[ConjurerDragon]

That is WAD.
From the patch 1.3 changelog for the beta since 23 February 2013:

- Vassals can no longer make a separate peace while their overlord is still at war.

Look in the file "Changelog.1.3.txt" in your FtG directory.

 

[Nein]

That is WAD.
From the patch 1.3 changelog for the beta since 23 February 2013:



Look in the file "Changelog.1.3.txt" in your FtG directory.

Yes, I know. What I'm saying is that I don't think this was an intended consequence

 

[ConjurerDragon]

Yes, I know. What I'm saying is that I don't think this was an intended consequence

It was a conscious choice.
The alternative was the AI vassal&ally who simply quits the war for 1 ducat or whitepeace and abandons you in a time you actually would need it (not so much as actively fighting the enemy but as a sponge to soak up some of the enemies armies who would try to siege the vassals provinces so that you can siege the enemies.

Next time simply siege OPM´s yourself and annex or vassalize them. To avoid that my vassals do something I do not want them to I have set myself a rule that I am "allowed" to use the richelieu cheat (to be able to control my vassals units) when a country is my vassal and ally.

 

[Nein]

It was a conscious choice.
The alternative was the AI vassal&ally who simply quits the war for 1 ducat or whitepeace and abandons you in a time you actually would need it (not so much as actively fighting the enemy but as a sponge to soak up some of the enemies armies who would try to siege the vassals provinces so that you can siege the enemies.

Next time simply siege OPM´s yourself and annex or vassalize them. To avoid that my vassals do something I do not want them to I have set myself a rule that I am "allowed" to use the richelieu cheat (to be able to control my vassals units) when a country is my vassal and ally.

This could be solved if we allowed vassals only to annex other countries (that is, they still wouldn't be able to accept or demand any other peace settlement, avoiding the problem you mentioned). See, the problem is that the current rules leave a sort of blind spot in how negotiations are carried out. The idea behind not allowing vassals independent peace deals is that it allows the overlord to decide for the vassal, right? But as things stand, if I want my vassal to annex the other country (which is no idle thought, as it is one of the main ways for players to avoid the BB malus of forceannexation) I cannot decide that the way I can demand that the enemy cede provinces occupied by my allies. Either do this or allow the overlord to have the enemy annexed by the vassal, in any case the problem is fixed.
If you say you have to resort to cheating to get around this issue, you are actually admitting it is fairly serious.