Can't surrender in a war I didn't start. Got ♥♥♥♥♥♥ out of a game because of it.

[WoodlandAlliance]

Screenshot: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3277428762

Had a defensive pact with another empire. A fallen empire declared war on them, we had zero chance of winning so I smashed fleet after fleet into the fallen empire to get war score to 100% so we would lose as quickly as possible.

Hit 100%, and nothing happens. My ally refuses to surrender and the fallen empire refuses to force peace. OK, very stupid move for my ally but they are not a person so the AI is like that sometimes. I just need to wait for them to get wiped off the map by the fallen empire so I can get out of this damn war.

So my ally gets wiped out, and the war doesn't end. It just continued with me as the primary. However I cannot surrender because of my "war goal", which I don't have, and the fallen empire refuses to take white peace. I have literally no other option but to sit there as my empire is torn apart in a war that I didn't start and can't leave. What kind of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is this?

[EJR]

This is why I never really bother forming defensive pacts with other empires unless my military is strong and my ally (Or allies) are just as strong, or I'm in a federation and defensive pacts are required for them. As you have seen already, it also doesn't help that the AI is stubborn when it comes to ending wars.

How long has it been in this playthrough and what is the FE's military strength compared to yours? If your military was at its peak do you think you could stand a chance? Asking because sometimes when I get dragged into a war like this I just switch to the defensive and just keep protecting my borders while my ally (Or allies) just get demolished while I keep my empire running. This continues until war exhaustion reaches 100% for both belligerents and peace is made. This method has worked for me for both normal and Fallen empires, moreso the former obviously.

[HappySack]

It's the combination of having useless allies, a broken war system, and you not understanding how it works because war exhaustion is not a win/loss meter as both sides need to be at 100% for a forced status quo.

Also your screenshot doesn't work.

[Mike Garrison]

Originally posted by HappySack:

It's the combination of having useless allies, a broken war system, and you not understanding how it works because war exhaustion is not a win/loss meter as both sides need to be at 100% for a forced status quo.

It's busted AI, because you *can* force the end of the war if the other side has been at 100% war exhaustion for 24 months. But the AI just won't do it until they also get exhausted. They could do it, but they won't.

[Kleiner's final Form]

If you really want to continue, have you tried switching to your enemy and "making" them end the war?
Open console, enter debugtooltip, hover over enemy country, use the ID in the command "play (ID)", make a status quo offer, reverse the process to become the player nation again.