More on the Politics Management issue

[twgamer20197]

I don't like boasting about myself but through my experience in playing single player campaigns I learned this on the issue of secessions/civil wars:


In case you did everything you could ( and you ran out of money to spend it on securing loyalty ) to increase the loyalty of the rival parties to you and still didn't solve much of the problem, your last option is to let the secession or civil war happen but you should first check what are the provinces ruled by those rival parties ( This is something you should actually check in every turn even from the start of the campaign so that you're prepared beforehand for a secession or civil war ) . You can know that in the strategic map where it shows the political affiliations in each province. Once you know it, do this in order to reduce the difficulty of crushing the rebels and recovering the lost provinces: Give all the units of the rival parties' generals/admirals to your party's generals/admirals ( This is why I'd recommed having only 1 general or admiral of each rival party ). Then position at least one army in each province held by the rival parties. So when the secession or civil war takes place you immediatley proceed to recover the provinces before they raise big armies.

But there is a last option to check to see if you can still avoid the secession or civil war happens: Issuing the edict of +10 loyalty of the party that rules that province. This in several occasions saved me from a secession or a civil war.

And if it's very hard to appease a rival party because of features that are tough to handle: such as being pacifist, xenophobe, patriot, power thirsty, etc. You should consider killing the leader of that party so that the party features changes. Do it before the loyalty becomes very low because killing the leader of a party decreases loyalty by -5 ( I don't remember for how many turns ) and it could cause a secession instantly if you do it in the wrong time. But make sure the leader has a successor in order to avoid someone from your party switches to that party.

Extra things that helped me also to prevent secessions/civil wars is to choose these options of political intrigues that show up randomly:

- When the bandits offer you to intimidate the opposition: just reject the offer.
- When a banquet is going to be organized: just accept attending.

There are more random politcal intrigues I can't remember well by now but I'll find it out later to add them what are the options that avoid decreasing the rival parties' loyalty.

[Alwyn]

That's good advice! I use political mariages too (a tip I picked up from Welsh Dragon). Using the 'seek spouse' intrigue for members of rival parties, giving those new members the free first promotion and then sending them on diplomatic missions, helps too.

When a secession happens, have you seen armies of elite units appearing as part of the faction which breaks away? I've seen that happen. I think it happens when the player doesn't give the rival party armies in proportion to their influence - so it might happen if the player takes away armies from the rival party just before the secession occurs. I imagine this was introduced to avoid civil wars and secessions being too easy. Having said that, if you have rival parties commanding armies with several army traditions, it may be worth to re-assign those armies to members of loyal parties. I usually prefer to keep my veteran armies, even if they have to fight elite units.

[twgamer20197]

When a secession happens, have you seen armies of elite units appearing as part of the faction which breaks away? I've seen that happen. I think it happens when the player doesn't give the rival party armies in proportion to their influence - so it might happen if the player takes away armies from the rival party just before the secession occurs. I imagine this was introduced to avoid civil wars and secessions being too easy. Having said that, if you have rival parties commanding armies with several army traditions, it may be worth to re-assign those armies to members of loyal parties. I usually prefer to keep my veteran armies, even if they have to fight elite units.

Yes, I saw it in a gameplay in youtube and it was just about 15 turns after the start of the game. The gamer didn't even get to level 3 of the barracks. But when the secession took place, I saw units that can be recruited only from the last barracks upgrade. I see that as unfair lol.

I imagine this was introduced to avoid civil wars and secessions being too easy.

It could be as you say. But the idea is not giving them the time to raise big armies by having at least 1 army with a full stack ( or close to full ) stationed in that province you're about to lose. This way you'll be able to defeat the rebels faster.

[twgamer20197]

Extra things that helped me also to prevent secessions/civil wars is to choose these options of political intrigues that show up randomly:

- When the bandits offer you to intimidate the opposition: just reject the offer.
- When a banquet is going to be organized: just accept attending.

Now I recall two more random political intrigues and what decision to make:

- If it's about a complot to assassinate you: choose hiring escorts/guards
- If it's about a patrician being accused of corruption: just choose to talk for the patrician

EDIT:

- If there is a riot, just choose to use force to disperse the crowd