Why am I not getting a personal union?

[InvisibleBison]

In my current France game, I've been expecting to get a PU over Brittany, since their ruler has no heir and I have a royal marriage. However, when the Breton duke died, I didn't get a PU. Instead, a noble of my dynasty ascended to the Breton throne. I'm not sure why this happened; as far as I can tell, I met all the requirements listed in the wiki to get a PU. Is there some other factor the wiki doesn't mention, or is it just out of date?

 

[YellowPress]

Because its not guaranteed you pu them, see atwix's guide on pus. If they have your dynasty, but dont have an heir, or have an heir with a weak claim, you can coaim their throne and force a pu

 

[Blust]

If I remember correctly, there's 3 possibilities in your scenario : you can PU them, straightly inherit them, or, in your case, place your dynasty on their throne (the only possibility when they're at war). You might get to the other options if you wait a few years

 

[brifbates]

To be guaranteed at least a PU (direct inheritance is still a possibility) you need to have the same dynasty and be the most powerful nation with a rm when a ruler dies without an heir. In cases like yours where you dont have the same dynasty the outcome is calculated based on the factors discussed in the Atwix thread between inheritance, PU, succession war, and installing your dynasty.

 

[Blizzrd33]

The target nation that you want as your junior PU partner needs to be at peace, were they perhaps at war when their ruler died? Instead of forming a PU, their next ruler will default to be of a dynasty they share a royal marriage with if they were at war when their ruler died. Note, it doesn't matter if you were or weren't at war however.

 

[Republic of Mercury]

The target nation that you want as your junior PU partner needs to be at peace, were they perhaps at war when their ruler died? Instead of forming a PU, their next ruler will default to be of a dynasty they share a royal marriage with if they were at war when their ruler died. Note, it doesn't matter if you were or weren't at war however.

You can see in the screenshot that Brittany is at peace. The reason is, as mentioned above, just that a royal marriage with an heirless nation doesn't guarantee a union.

 

[Blizzrd33]

You can see in the screenshot that Brittany is at peace. The reason is, as mentioned above, just that a royal marriage with an heirless nation doesn't guarantee a union.

I can see in the screenshot that the Breton ruler hasn't yet died, because the dynasty hasn't yet changed to Valois, meaning the screenshot was before the ruler death and also possibly before a war broke out. My question about war was entirely reasonable, despite your reply, which simply assumes there was no war which is not a given like you think it is.

 

[Republic of Mercury]

I can see in the screenshot that the Breton ruler hasn't yet died, because the dynasty hasn't yet changed to Valois, meaning the screenshot was before the ruler death and also possibly before a war broke out. My question about war was entirely reasonable, despite your reply, which simply assumes there was no war which is not a given like you think it is.

Since you felt the need to reply twice: the screenshot is evidently from a previous save from before the Breton ruler's death, given the OP's post. Britanny's ruler therefore died not long after the image shown, making it seem very unlikely that they were at war. The OP also made it clear that they assumed that "Royal marriage + no heir = PU", which isn't true. While it is true that nations at war generally won't be PU'd, it doesn't change the fact that that's not the issue described either in the text of the post, or the shown screenshot

Also, the OP said they met all of the prerequisites listed on the wiki, and one of those is the target nation being at peace.

 

[The Macedonian]

"Bonus PUs," as you describe are very RNGesus because so much is out of your control. For example, if the target is at war when the ruler dies. This is why the mission tree PU's and the scripted PU's (Iberian Wedding; Poland-Lithuania) are so powerful -- they are so controllable.

A more structured approach is to prep for PUs by getting a member of your dynasty on their throne (or a member of their dynasty on your throne using favors with an ally) and then keeping an eye on when they have a weak, average or no heir situation and claiming throne. This can be frustrating because it can take a couple decades to close the deal because you'll want to have the diplomacy set up to immediately seize that throne as the windows to successfully claim throne can close very fast.

They can be worth fishing for, however, particularly if you have diplo ideas.