taking whole countries

[Tace]

is there a way to take whole countries in one war? i can only take a county...or a duchy if im lucky...each time. enemy just took half of Europe in one go! grr.

[EA Latium]

Yes indeed. It's important to remember those are not countries but Titles, so the amount of land you can get in one go really varies.

There are different CB but in this case I'd recommend to look at how claims work, as I suppose you saw an AI push a Kingdom claim or more.

[Half-lidded Bruiser]

The subjugation CB is the closest thing to that. It's a once-per-lifetime CB, and is only available if
1) you and the target are tribal, or
2) you and the target are of an Eastern religion (ie Buddhism), or
3) you are a temporal head of faith and the target is of your faith

The main way to take vast chunks of territories is pressing claims, as EA Latium said. However, in the early stages of the game, you can only press one claim at a time. There's a specific innovation, blanking on the name at the moment, that unlocks the ability to press multiple claims at once.

[Heraclius Caesar]

Originally posted by Jatarian:

is there a way to take whole countries in one war? i can only take a county...or a duchy if im lucky...each time. enemy just took half of Europe in one go! grr.

Yes, if for example you have a claim to a kingdom or empire you can press that claim and take that "country" in that war.

Another way I suppose would be the Holy War for Kingdom CB.

I believe there's also Invasion for kingdom CBs that tribal rulers get, right?

So yea its fairly easy to do whether by claim or religion or whatever.

[CyberEagle]

There's the forced vassalage lifestyle perk, the sanctioned loopholes lifestyle perk, the holy war casus belly (if your devotion is high enough), the previously mentioned subjugation casus belli, and the conquest casus belli (for tribals, clans, warmonger faiths and pursuit of power faiths, all requiring enough fame).

Also, I'm no history buff, but I think the concept of a "country" didn't exist for most of the game's playtime.

[The Former]

Originally posted by CyberEagle:

Also, I'm no history buff, but I think the concept of a "country" didn't exist for most of the game's playtime.

Was about to say the same. It seems trivial, but it's actually an important mindset to get into if one wants to understand and enjoy the CK3 experience. The concept of nation states isn't coming for another 100-300 years after the end date of the game. Rather, the era we play in is defined by countless land owners whose property happens to be vast enough to be visible on a map.

[Sid1701d]

actually countries existed in that time frame known duchies = equal to states, Kingdom to Country and Empire was a allience of Kingdoms.

Edit: When the house of commons came, the duchies where divided into provinces. The house of Nobles where already there, but was changed for the round table to the nobles, when Parliament came as a result of reduced crown authority later in the life of the Kingdoms, Empires.

Edit: If the county you want is not part of the Kingdom de jura claim waiting until the current King or Queen of that Kingdom dies, the confederat partition for more than one child partition any non kingdom land by that Kingdom away from that Kingdom.

[The Former]

Originally posted by Sid1701d:

actually countries existed in that time frame known duchies = equal to states, Kingdom to Country and Empire was a allience of Kingdoms.

In size, perhaps, but not in purpose and centralization. In a duchy, the duke's word was the final law, and the people who lived in the duchy were either his or his counts' property, in a sense. This is not the case of countries.

[Tace]

Originally posted by CyberEagle:

There's the forced vassalage lifestyle perk, the sanctioned loopholes lifestyle perk, the holy war casus belly (if your devotion is high enough), the previously mentioned subjugation casus belli, and the conquest casus belli (for tribals, clans, warmonger faiths and pursuit of power faiths, all requiring enough fame).

Also, I'm no history buff, but I think the concept of a "country" didn't exist for most of the game's playtime.

ahh i forgot about the force vassalage perk. which tree is it in? i cant do that other thing as im not tribal.

[Half-lidded Bruiser]

Originally posted by Jatarian:

ahh i forgot about the force vassalage perk. which tree is it in? i cant do that other thing as im not tribal.

Diplomacy. Foreign Affairs tree.

[Tace]

thank you

[Sad_Gumby]

Playing as Norse you can also use the 'Invade Kingdom' CB to seize all lands under the targets primary title once per lifetime if your prestige is high enough. Not sure if it's specifically tied to tribal governments though.

[ottomanstamper]

Originally posted by Jatarian:

is there a way to take whole countries in one war? i can only take a county...or a duchy if im lucky...each time. enemy just took half of Europe in one go! grr.

You have to satisfy certain criteria but it can be done (supposedly) once in a lifetime but I have found you can do it more than once if one of them was a holy war.

If you click on a potential enemy so that you have the option to decide what kind of war, and for what title, if the target has kingdom title/s you should be able to see it although you may not be able to choose it BUT it will tell you which conditions you do not meet ( eg you may not have the level of prestige or piety etc )

[Novia]

The higher rank CBs (Duchy, Kingdom) are initially blocked off by the tiers of a character's fame I believe. If you're Norse Pagan, it should be pretty simple to up this with constant raiding as the level will increase with with each prestige you gain (spending prestige has no effect, it's just the process of gaining it that matters).

Would recommend caution when using the Kingdom Invasion CBs, however, as while yes you will gain the de jure territories of the defending king, you will also gain their vassals and thus whatever contracts they've been working with if they're feudal will be inherited by you.

This is essentially why the Norse invasions of England for instance tend to take up entire character's lifetimes, as they have to manage the new land *and* the unruly local warlords/peasants.

So ultimately if it's a good idea comes down to preparation for the peace that comes after the initial war. If you're a foreigner and an infidel, it can be profitable but it will take an insanely long time.