Why Does Everyone Want a Piece of You Once You Conquer an Island?

[Exarch]

take your pick of islands; wether it be Ajaccio or Palermo, everyone will come a long way just to attack you or deposit men on the island as a prelude to an invasion force.

i find myself having to declare war against intruders

[Double A]

It's more like you got there before them, because the AI rarely plans naval invasions against the PC.

[Cyrahzax]

Yes, Venice ended an alliance that lasted hundreds of turns to attack me on Crete, right after the Byzantine nobility died out.

[Double A]

Might be because they used to own Crete.

[Chad29]

Well I know Sicily and Milan like Cagliari, as well as the Moors. Spain and Portugal like to send some troops up to Dublin and Caernarvon. The Byzantines like to take Iraklion.

Different factions do different things in different campaigns, but certain factions always seem to want certain places. Like don't go for Antwerp unless you don't mind the Danes going after you. HRE likes Antwerp too. Milan likes to go for Dijon early, though if you're France you can have Dijon by turn 2 or 3.

HRE will eventually go after Bucharest. Or is it Budapest? The settlement next to Vienna.

Soimetimes HRE goes for Hamburg, and sometimes the Danes take it. They both have forces nearby to go after it in turn 1.

Poland and Russia both want Kiev. Hungary too, I suppose.

More often than not Durazzo gets taken by the Byzzies, but sometimes Venice or Sicily take it.

The Turks usually grab Adana, though in my current campaign Egypt took it because I got a crusade called on the Moors first, rather than Jerusalum or Antioch. There's usually a crusade called by turn 15.

Sometimes Scotland goes after Dublin early, and sometimes they don't.

The Pope usually grabs Florence, but sometimes Milan does.

Sometimes Spain grabs Bourdeux, and sometimes France. Rennes could also be taken by France, England, Spain, or Portugal.

[Leaf-Fan-Forever]

Whoever takes Ajaccio (France, Sicily, the Pope, Venice), will be attacked by Milan. They love that island. Even if you have an alliance. Its like their sacred burial ground.

[Shasqua]

Whoever takes Ajaccio (France, Sicily, the Pope, Venice), will be attacked by Milan. They love that island. Even if you have an alliance. It's like their sacred burial ground.

It's only sacred to to them if you own it.

[FootSoldier]

IMHO some islands belong to a set of "trigger" territories. Crete (Iraklion) and Sardinia (Cagliari) are two in particular. Anyone, however, can take Rhodes. While Rhodes might possibly annoy the Byzantines or Venetians enough to start a war, this has never happened to me.

There are a number of other territories that have this trigger affect that are not islands, not all of which start as rebel. It is also faction dependent. This was discussed in detail on the diplomacy thread, in relation to the islands as well.

Dijon (Milan, France, and the HRE)
Antwerp (Denmark and the HRE)
Stettin (Denmark and Poland)
Prague (HRE and Poland)
Venice (anyone in reach)
Durazzo (Venice and the Byzantines - possibly Sicily)
Sofia (Hungary and the Byzantines)
Constantinople (anyone in reach)
Antioch (anyone in reach)
Jerusalem (Egypt, Turkey, the Mongols if about, whoever has Antioch)
Kiev (Russia, Poland and Hungary)

Generally, every territory is on the want list of some other faction besides yours. Some, like Rhodes, aren't particularly wanted by anyone. Others might only be wanted by one faction. If you are the HRE and you take Bern you will be fighting Milan sooner rather than later, but France won't care unless maybe the HRE also has Metz.

This is loosely based on history, so that, in the case of Dijon (Burgundy) it was originally HRE, was later divided between France and the HRE, and parts went to Italian Savoy (Milan). All three factions have an historical claim to it. Burgundy was a major factor in 3 centuries of war in Western Europe, and the Burgundians sided with the English against France in the 100 years war.

These faction "wants" transcend alliances, so if you want a long and satisfying alliance with the Danes when playing England then don't take Antwerp. Take Bruges, and fight with the French, but leave Antwerp alone. If you're the Danes and don't want to fight with Poland leave Stettin (and Prague) alone ... until you're ready

So the "trigger" territories are usually key strategic territories, like Dijon/Burgundy, or Sicily, and are wanted by several factions. Taking one of these territories may also prompt faraway factions to attack you - presumably to maintain the balance of power.

(Of course, the Council of Nobles and the Guilds will set you missions calculated to get you into just such messy situations. Handle with care.)

Cagliari and especially Sicily are key strategic islands in the western Med. Ajaccio usually just upsets Milan. Cagliari, however, will bring in the Moors, the Sicilians, and possibly the Milanese and the Byzantines, depending on which faction you are and at what stage of the game you get there. Maybe the French. Cagliari/Sardinia was originally Byzantine, then split up, being mostly allied to Genoa (Milan). It was raided by the Moors and Berbers. All of these factions in the game are likely to appear if you take it, especially early.

Sicily is the key territory between the western Med and the eastern Med. Everyone cares who has it. Taking it alters the balance of power, so may also provoke attacks from factions such as France and Venice. It is the stepping stone to Tunis, so obviously involves the Moors, and might also bring in the Egyptians. Historically both the Papacy and the HRE have claims on Sicily. So do the Byzantines and the Aragonese (Zaragoza) - which could translate into Spain - all these historical claims being within the game period.

(Just before the game period Sicily was Saracen - from Tunis, with a lots of Byzantine farmers. They took it from the Byzantines. Then the Norman bandits, err ... the Norman nobles took it. - final conquest 6 years before the game period starts. As well as the Saracens the Normans were already fighting the Byzantines, who still had fortresses in the Naples area, and went over to Durazzo to fight the Byz there. When their line died out the HRE got it. Then the Pope gave it to the French. After the French came the Aragonese - all this in the space of about 200 years).

Similarly, Crete/Iraklion is a key territory in the eastern Med, much more so than Rhodes, or even Cyprus. In the game period Venice has it, but it used to be Byzantine. It controls the entrance to the Aegean Sea, to Constantinople and the Black Sea. Its trade links reach to Alexandria in Egypt and to the Holy Land. Lots of factions care who has - basically anyone in the eastern Med through to the Black Sea. Expect to see Egyptian ships prowling around when you take it.

Most of all in the game Venice cares about it. For Venice it's key for fighting their natural enemies, the Byzantines.

Historically it was Byzantine, but taken by (independent) Moors for a couple of hundred years. Then the Byz took it back - they should have it at the start of the game period. Venice didn't get it until 1204, when the 4th Crusade took Constantinople (against the wish of the Pope, incidentally, who excommunicated the Doge of Venice for hijacking the 4th Crusade).

If you're like me, as the player you're mostly looking one territory ahead, and don't see necessarily that you'll use Sicily to dominate navally in the western Med, control who gets from east to west Med, take Tunis, maybe Naples, clean up north Africa, perhaps go east to Tripoli ... and Alexandria. The AI sees this, and uses the factions with historical claims (or local superiority) to oppose the player.

Basically, Cagliari/Sardinia and Sicily involves Milan, the Byzantines,the Moors,the Sicilians themselves, and further out France, Egypt, Venice and Spain. You'll definitely see the Moors and Sicilians on Sardinia, probably Milan, and likely one or more of the others. Taking Sicily makes this situation worse.

Crete/Iraklion involves the Byzantines, Venetians, likely Egypt and possibly Turkey.

So those two islands you mentioned - Sardinia and Crete - are big potential trouble-makers. Not all the islands are, but those two - definitely!

Umm ... hope this helps :d

Edit - just noticed Chad29's post, He's managed to say the same as me with about 10% of the words.

[painter]

I think that those who have created mods of their own would know better of what motivates the AI. My guess is that it isn't scripted, but somehow valued your conquest of the islands in some manner that makes them a priority target.

[FootSoldier]

Hmm ... so I should start reading the mod forums too. I barely have time to General Discussion and get some game play in :d

Is there someone who knows for sure?

[FootSoldier]

Hmm ... it's a curious thing too, about some rebel places. It's like everyone wants it to be rebel, or at least, doesn't want anyone else to have it.