How to declare war???

[Eboreus]

So, I'm playing as the Duke of Brandenburg, a little part of the Holy Roman Empire. My neighbour, the Duke of Meissen, declared war on me over the possession of the County of Anhalt. Unfortunately he won. Now I want Anhalt back. I even got a strong claim. But I've got no idea how to declare war on him. There isn't even an option to do so ...

[Barn]

If you don't have a du jour reason to declare war (cassis beli) then you will have to send your diplomat over and fabricate a claim. That cant take a while depending on the skill level of your diplomat.

[Eboreus]

Well, as I stated in my question I have a claim, a strong one even.

[Barn]

The only other thing I can think of is are you declaring war on the right person? That is, not the person who controls the county but their leige? I've done that before.

[Eboreus]

Yes, in this case it's the same person, the Duke of Meissen. I tried in both places - Anhalt and Meissen. I looked everywhere where an option to declare war could possibly be hidden or the claim might be "activated". No luck so far ...
Where should it be hidden anyway?

[Theodamus]

Originally posted by Eboreus:

Well, as I stated in my question I have a claim, a strong one even.

Might be that crown authority is too high for vassals to attack eachother (medium or above)

[Eboreus]

In the Holy Roman Empire? You are kidding. Anyway, the Duke of Meissen could declare war on me - so why can't I?
And where would the option be, if there is one?

[Ragnarök]

Go into the guy's diplomacy screen, (Right click on his portrait.) and click the option to declare war. Cite whatever CB you want and push the button. If the button isn't there, it means the HRE's Crown Authority is too high.

The only way to rectify this is to form a faction, hope for allies and then present the emperor with an ultimatum. Everybody loves the emperor usually, so it will be hard to gain support. Sow dissent with your chancellor. Probably won't bear fruit, but it's worth a shot. The HRE is like a venus fly-trap, if you don't move quickly enough you're going to get caught under the yoke of hardcore feudalism. Be an opportunist, pick on the pagans who are at war in the meantime. Pick up allies where you can. If Crown Authority is actually the issue, you'll know in that it's the HRE's doomsday clock on future playthroughs.

[Caelus]

i know what your problem is....

after a war, any war, and no matter what the result of the war, both sides get a peace treaty with each other that lasts a year or so..... you may need to wait until the peace treaty is up..... try hovering the mouse over one of the icons on the other nation, like how you see if that nation is at war it shows shield and who at war with, it should show a icon/shield and say "has a peace treaty with you until **** date" ....just have to wait

[jlahnum]

If he has a valid casus belli then he should be able to break the truce and suffer the penalty which will be huge. The main reasons you would not be able to declare war if you have a valid casus belli is that the crown authority of the HRE is too high or the person you want to war on has a higher level lord and you have to declare war on that lord.

If you are both HRE vassals then the only real thing I can think of would be that the Emperor's crown authority is too high.

How then you might ask did duke so and so declare war on you?

There's two explanations that I can think of. First the crown laws changed between this guy declaring war on you and you wanting to declare war on him.

Second if the land he took from you was part of his de jure Duchy then he could have used a plot to revoke the title from you. If you got a dialogue box saying so and so wants the title you have and you refused then they can declare war on you for being a rebellious subject and this falls outside the normal rules of the HRE. As you are not his de jure lord you would not have the same plots available to you.

So what do you do about this?

Well you could as someone said form a faction to lower crown authority in the HRE so that you could then declare your war. You could also try for independence or heck go crazy and try to install yourself as emperor. Factions can be useful if the Emperor is unpopular.

If that's not your style, you can simply manuever your way into the land you want. See who's in line for succession there and then marry/assassinate your character into the titles. Obviously male characters have it easier with marriage. Marry yourself or your eldest son to the Duke's eldest daughter and then murder as many people as you need to in order to assure that the eldest daughter or her eldest son become in charge of the Duchy. Not only do you get your land back you get all the other land in the Duchy.

[Eboreus]

Hm, I don't remember a change in the crown authority nor do I remember a dialog box like you mentioned. But, well, it may have been so, nevertheless. I wouldn't take an oath on it. But worming into the succession line by marriage sounds like an interesting proposal ...

[alangriffith]

You can check the crown authority of your kingdom (and presumably empire) on the Laws screen (p[icture of hammer). It will at least tell you if the Crown Authority is stopping you declaring war (mdeium or above).