Is Bologna more trouble than it's worth for HRE?

[Saibot42]

Every game it gets taken, losing me a general. I eventually take it back but it's constantly besieged and I need to keep a full or near full garrison there. I try to go for a merchant guild to get the free upkeep cavalry, but by the time it grows it gets sieged again.

[Rectunator]

You could gift it to the Papal State for alliance, reconciliation etc. With a bit of luck the other Italian states will shoot themselves in the leg by wanting it after the pope has it.

[Judeman266]

It mimics how difficult it was for the HRE to hold Northern Italy. Best bet is to give it to Pope when you're excommunicated

[T r a n c e]

Wouldnt that give them access to Pisa and become an annoyance later? Papal States in some of my games have this tendency after getting a couple of settlements, to declare war to excommunicated factions (and Venice gets it everytime) and start expanding till their borders neighbor some more catholic factions.. So instead of fighting Venice as Byzantines for example, i'm fighting the Pope which makes things unrealistic..
Defend it till the last man!

[Saibot42]

Which is true about gifting a settlement, that you can never take it again without tanking your reputation, or just that you can never take it from the faction you gifted it to?

[Saibot42]

It mimics how difficult it was for the HRE to hold Northern Italy. Best bet is to give it to Pope when you're excommunicated

Somehow I'm rarely excommunicated, which is odd for HRE I know.

[Rakoua]

Probably, as any italian faction I usually by it for 5k florins on one of the first turns and the HRE seems quite happy to get rid of it. When I played HRE though what I did was take Venice early so I had no problems with this.

[Deteriorate]

As Venice in the late period I often trade Rhodes and Crete to the HRE in return for Bologna and Alliance/Trade. So trading the other way should work too. Then you can send your Prince to rule the islands and have a staging ground for Crusades, or to take Constantinople. Both allow you to attack non-Catholics and build an empire when you are being threatened with excommunication, build Pope points and take a region in Europe now and then.

[Saibot42]

Interesting ideas. The problem I see with those would be keeping a War Council member away from my core would eventually end up with me getting crushed from at least 2 sides. Unless I kept a non War Councilor, which would mean I can only build cannon fodder.

[Strengelicher]

As Venice in the late period I often trade Rhodes and Crete to the HRE in return for Bologna and Alliance/Trade. So trading the other way should work too. Then you can send your Prince to rule the islands and have a staging ground for Crusades, or to take Constantinople. Both allow you to attack non-Catholics and build an empire when you are being threatened with excommunication, build Pope points and take a region in Europe now and then.

That makes sense for Venice, as the adjacent regions generate financial benefits from internal trade. Additionally, Rhodes and Crete are out of the way, resulting in a decreased risk of conflict with the HRE. However, the other way around it would not make much sense for the HRE. Rhodes and Crete are a burden financially, and it would make a lot more sense to take Venice and link Bologna up with other provinces. Also, the fact that the trade works for Venice does not mean it also has to work the other way around, as Venice as controlled by the AI would have to accept one region in exchange for two. Has anybody actually tried the trade playing as HRE?

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

I used to play on H/H settings with the Gracul AI and not being a war monger I always found trying to keep Bolonga and the rebel province next to it a pretty big pain in the butt. In the early going all you could field was militia spears from those towns so all three italian states had you outgunned with their better spear units from the get go.

I'd sell those two provinces off, and retreat back to the castle in the alps. Yes you gave up a big chunk off change by doing it, but getting out off Northern Italy also removed a lot off early game drama which put you squarley in the italian states cross hairs while you were trying to get your economy going so you could field a sizeable force of armoured seargeants and lite cav.

Later on I would come back loaded for bear like Charles the V and make them all pay for that early game indemnity with buckets of blood and guts....

[Pyres Δt Varanasi]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I used to play on H/H settings with the Gracul AI and not being a war monger I always found trying to keep Bolonga and the rebel province next to it a pretty big pain in the butt. In the early going all you could field was militia spears from those towns so all three italian states had you outgunned with their better spear units from the get go.

I'd sell those two provinces off, and retreat back to the castle in the alps. Yes you gave up a big chunk off change by doing it, but getting out off Northern Italy also removed a lot off early game drama which put you squarley in the italian states cross hairs while you were trying to get your economy going so you could field a sizeable force of armoured seargeants and lite cav.

Later on I would come back loaded for bear like Charles the V and make them all pay for that early game indemnity with buckets of blood and guts....

This ! Haha

[Saibot42]

I know there's a problem with giving away and then retaking a settlement, but is that only if you retake it from the faction you gave it to, or does retaking it destroy your reputation even if it changes hands between you giving it away and taking it back?

[Grabbin_Megroin]

Sorry, I had to.

[Melooo182]

Dat Habsburg Jaw

[Mega Tortas de Bodemloze]

Sorry, I had to.

Beautiful work...Bravo!!!....................................+Rep


Only if we could all be HRE Emperors every once and a while. Just imagine the jumbo smackdown and total carnage that we could lay down. Oh.. it would be marvelous..."I want four Hagen Daas Double chocolate milk shakes "toot-sweet" & :chop chop!"........



.........

Saibot42
I know there's a problem with giving away and then retaking a settlement, but is that only if you retake it from the faction you gave it to, or does retaking it destroy your reputation even if it changes hands between you giving it away and taking it back?

Not sure, but if your playing a chivalry game, to be sure....what you give away dont take back. I myself used to play half & half games. 1st half chivalry to build the economy and max out settlements... then 2nd half would be "Dread Total War" as I'd make Vlad Dracul look like a goody two shoes......