Refuse a Call to Arms!

[General Karthos]

Your liege lord is waging wars all across Europe, against your European neighbors, perhaps even your friend or a house yours has been allied to for generations through ties of blood and marriage. Your population is tired of constant warfare, and they're making trouble for you because they can't make trouble for your liege. You need the able bodied men around to harvest. So many have died already for your liege that if you send even a fraction of the number he's demanding the crop will wither in the fields and more will die of starvation.

So you send a message to your liege lord that you will NOT be sending any troops his way. That if he wishes to conquer new lands, he'll have to do it without your contribution. Maybe you can send some gold in lieu of soldiers in the hopes that this softens the blow.

Naturally this is a breach of your feudal contract, and such an action gives him a legitimate reason to imprison you and seize your titles, but maybe he doesn't want to deal with it, and accepts it. Or perhaps his troops to arrest you will come knocking after the war is over. But his levies are depleted and yours are fresh, and they'll be fighting for their homes, not to conquer some nameless piece of soil a thousand miles away. If he fails to arrest you he'll have yet another war on his hands.... So maybe he lets it go... this time.

 

[prismaticmarcus]

or not

 

[Ollum]

I agree, but AI shouldn't use this option often.

 

[Andrzej I]

This was how summoning vassal troops worked in CK1, and I think it might be interesting to see it return (though I'm unsure on it granting the ability to seize land from the vassal in question, as in CK1 that led to a high turnover rate of vassals). I think CK2's tribal mechanics, of having to call vassals to war, is an improvement over just straight levying the troops under your direct control. It also allows the possibility of vassals betraying you, deepening CK's intrigue. As mentioned directly above by @Ollum , though, the AI ought to not resort to such often. It should be meaningful if a vassal breaches their contract to this brazen degree.

 

[General Karthos]

I'm seeing it as a way to check growth or to discourage war without giving some time for levies to recover. I don't think it should just happen because a vassal doesn't like you or you don't like your Liege Lord. Perhaps do it as an event option that pops up only when your populace is exhausted, your levies are low, or something like that with an option to refuse the call or say "I suppose we will have to make do," and accept the call. It shouldn't just be an option to refuse it every time your liege calls troops to war. After all you ARE a vassal and if you have plenty of able-bodied men you can spare without risking the harvest, you should definitely send them.

And it should really only apply to wars of conquest, outside of your liege's dejure territory. Not to rebellions within the realm or to defensive wars.