Need some advice on stoping North Italy from leaving HRE.

[NLTakaSMOG]

So, I decided to start an Austria campaing. So far, things were going good, I got a PU with Hungary and took all provinces I need from Venice. And now I have ~20 years left to deal with Papal State. The problem is their alliance with France. While it seems to me that this war is winnable, it'll probably take too long and I won't be able to start the 2nd war before The Shadow Kingdom event will fire, while annexing all the provinces I need in one go would probably lead to a huge coalition against me.

What's the best course of action in this situation? Is there a peaceful way to get The Papal State to join HRE?

 

[JSparks101]

So, I decided to start an Austria campaing. So far, things were going good, I got a PU with Hungary and took all provinces I need from Venice. And now I have ~20 years left to deal with Papal State. The problem is their alliance with France. While it seems to me that this war is winnable, it'll probably take too long and I won't be able to start the 2nd war before The Shadow Kingdom event will fire, while annexing all the provinces I need in one go would probably lead to a huge coalition against me.

What's the best course of action in this situation? Is there a peaceful way to get The Papal State to join HRE?

Is the Pope allied to anyone you can attack? Even if you just break alliance for Rome and France in the war.

Also, can you use the Great Power activity to break alliance?

 

[Bebou]

So, I decided to start an Austria campaing. So far, things were going good, I got a PU with Hungary and took all provinces I need from Venice. And now I have ~20 years left to deal with Papal State. The problem is their alliance with France. While it seems to me that this war is winnable, it'll probably take too long and I won't be able to start the 2nd war before The Shadow Kingdom event will fire, while annexing all the provinces I need in one go would probably lead to a huge coalition against me.

What's the best course of action in this situation? Is there a peaceful way to get The Papal State to join HRE?

Yes, stopping the Shadow Kingdom can be annoying but it is possible although you pretty much have to DoW off the bat and given how nerfed Austria is this patch, it is much harder than previously.

The trick to fighting Venice is to force them to return the core to Milan rather than take it yourself if you are suffering too much AE. This will return it to the Empire and give you 0 AE for that province. The rest you can take in 2 separate wars.

Don't be afraid of getting a coalition against you, because it is usually quite easy to beat it off with strong allies. One thing that you may want to keep in mind is that PU-ing Bohemia at the start is a very good addition to your overall power so it may be an option you want to explore, and it helps you keep the coalitions from attacking you.

Oh right and before I forget. After taking provinces from the pope make sure you improve relations and kiss his ass a bit to avoid him excommunicating you.

Good luck.

 

[NLTakaSMOG]

Is the Pope allied to anyone you can attack? Even if you just break alliance for Rome and France in the war.

Also, can you use the Great Power activity to break alliance?

While breaking the alliance through Great Power activity is not an option, attacking one of Pope's allies is the thing I completely forgot about, will try to do that. Thank you!

Yes, stopping the Shadow Kingdom can be annoying but it is possible although you pretty much have to DoW off the bat and given how nerfed Austria is this patch, it is much harder than previously.

The trick to fighting Venice is to force them to return the core to Milan rather than take it yourself if you are suffering too much AE. This will return it to the Empire and give you 0 AE for that province. The rest you can take in 2 separate wars.

Don't be afraid of getting a coalition against you, because it is usually quite easy to beat it off with strong allies. One thing that you may want to keep in mind is that PU-ing Bohemia at the start is a very good addition to your overall power so it may be an option you want to explore, and it helps you keep the coalitions from attacking you.

Oh right and before I forget. After taking provinces from the pope make sure you improve relations and kiss his ass a bit to avoid him excommunicating you.

Good luck.

Thx for the advice. I actually did return Brescia to Milan to avoid unnecessary AE. About PU with Bohemia, what's the best way to get a CB for that? Royal Marriage and claiming the throne at the start?

And one more noobish question. I never had to take this into account in my previous campaings, that's why I never looked it up. Does taking provinces from a non co-belligerent participant in a war makes AE worse, or there's no difference?

 

[creativitypersonified]

While breaking the alliance through Great Power activity is not an option, attacking one of Pope's allies is the thing I completely forgot about, will try to do that. Thank you!



Thx for the advice. I actually did return Brescia to Milan to avoid unnecessary AE. About PU with Bohemia, what's the best way to get a CB for that? Royal Marriage and claiming the throne at the start?

And one more noobish question. I never had to take this into account in my previous campaings, that's why I never looked it up. Does taking provinces from a non co-belligerent participant in a war makes AE worse, or there's no difference?

yes taking provinces from a non coebligerent makes AE worse. its something you might want to avoid if you are having coalition problems

 

[Bebou]

While breaking the alliance through Great Power activity is not an option, attacking one of Pope's allies is the thing I completely forgot about, will try to do that. Thank you!



Thx for the advice. I actually did return Brescia to Milan to avoid unnecessary AE. About PU with Bohemia, what's the best way to get a CB for that? Royal Marriage and claiming the throne at the start?

And one more noobish question. I never had to take this into account in my previous campaings, that's why I never looked it up. Does taking provinces from a non co-belligerent participant in a war makes AE worse, or there's no difference?

As the gent above me said avoid taking provinces from non co belligerent as the AE is higher. In terms of the PU of Bohemia try to RM them from day 1 and pay consistent attention to getting a habsburg on the throne. Immediately claim ad DoW them. Care of their allies though, if you're lucky they wont have any so you get a freebie. Even alone they're not weak though but the reward is worth it since you get a pretty strong attack dog. It does lead to loss of stability, when you DoW, due to the RM but still worth imo.

 

[Vincentst]

Thx for the advice. I actually did return Brescia to Milan to avoid unnecessary AE. About PU with Bohemia, what's the best way to get a CB for that? Royal Marriage and claiming the throne at the start?

At the start, there is an interregnum in Bohemia. 9/10 times if you do a royal marriage, you'll get your family on the throne. Next => claim throne and battle it out. I got my personal union already in 1445.