Deter
aggression. Show peaceful intentions. Keep alliances. Increase marriages. Screenshots illustrate.
Emissaries are good - they are for the friendly side of the action. Everyone uses emissaries to ally, propose marriage, bribe, and ceasefire. They do more. As
always, the King's Influence and the emissary's Valour are critical. No Influence means no influence. Simple as that.
Here's a list of things to use emissaries for. I'm always interested in more - help me, and everyone out, by
posting a new trick. Heh.
· show peaceful intentions to neighbours by placing an emissary on their province
· deter aggression from that large neutral or enemy army on the border by placing an emissary on it
· trigger the acumen boosting Charm virtues (though Oozes Charm sounds horrible)
· explain to neighbours why you are moving a large army through a border area - you don't want them to respond with a large army of their own. Put an emissary in the affected province while your army goes by.
· keep a key ally when attacking one of his allies - send your top emissary, preferably to his king Best before attack,
· trigger the acumen boosting Clever With Words virtues
· locate a faction king by dropping an emissary or princess on his emissary
· put your emissaries in neutral and easy to find places - be approachable
· trigger the acumen boosting Approachable Manner virtues
· soften up rebels for bribing by leaving your emissary there for a few turns before the bribe attempt (put a spy in too)
· wait a turn on the faction King's province before asking for an alliance
· visit allies often and keep them sweet, especially after the death of a king
· use an emissary as the bait in a spy trap
Remove your emissaries before attacking another faction. Otherwise other factions won't trust your emissaries in future.
The Emissary "friendly" effect diminishes over some turns. It won't keep someone sweet forever.
When you attack another faction and they want you to stop they will place an emissary on your provinces.
Make lots of emissaries, and keep using them. Protect your best - keep them in Ports with Border Forts, or protected by Spies and Assassins. Watch what the
other factions are saying to you and each other with their emissaries.
Of course, it's not that simple. The diplomatic game is as complex as the military game. You are sending an emissary to sweeten someone up, but behind the
scenes someone is using a inquisitor to blackmail them. If you've taken a province they want, say Russia and Lithuania, they will always go against you.
Have a look at the screenshot, and see what Italy, the HRE, and Poland want from each other.
The
HRE and Poland are sweet. Poland has found the Emperor, and placed an emissary with him. The HRE has an emissary on Polish
Croatia. Poland can relax - but only for now. Elsewhere HRE bishops are active in Polish Pomerania.
Italy wants to be friends with both - an emissary in Polish Croatia and one in HRE Austria.
The HRE responds with Princesses in Venice. The Pope harasses the Doge with Inquisitors - could it be he wants Venice? His attitude to Italy is clear. If both
are allied to the Pope and war breaks out Poland can rely on the Pope.
Both Italy and the HRE are using the King as a strategic piece, using them to hold a single province. The Doge is approachable (he could be in
Milan). The Emperor is always difficult to find, hidden in Tyrolia. He is not an approachable man. If he suddenly appears on your border he is saying something
to you - you have to figure out what. Keep an emissary nearby.
In
Hungary the Egyptian Assassin Trap is action. Annoyed by the Alim converting the population the Poles
send an Assassin. If the Assassin follows too far he will be killed in Border Forted Sinai or Palestine. He will wait in unprotected Egypt, and catch the Alim
on his way out. Not a good idea if Poland wants to ally with Egypt.
The next
screenshot shows why it is not so simple - but the messages are clear.
Aragon has just taken Castile and Cordoba from Spain, storming
the castles last turn. The Spanish Emissary in Castile with the Aragonese King seeks to deter further attacks.
However, Spain is not happy. Although an emissary in Cordoba seeks also to deter attack the Inquisitor and
Princess show Spain's attitude. It is not the Spanish emissaries that deter Aragon. An Aragonese bishop and
inquisitor move into what is left of Spain. The Pope has intervened - Aragon will wait.
Aragon is allied to England - but English Inquisitors in Aragonese
Toulouse show what he thinks. He doesn't like it. His emissaries passing through Valencia
and Aragon are spying, not to showing peaceful intentions. This is not a strong alliance.
Elsewhere a French Emissary in Toulouse shows France wants peace, despite being at war with Aragon. Everyone spies on Aragon
- Valencia is busy. Other factions no longer send spies and assassins - the 3* Spy there gets them all. Aragonese spies are everywhere.
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Emissaries are active, and the diplomatic offensive starts before the military offensive. Use your bishops and emissaries
to support your military objectives. "War is an extension of diplomacy" is the famous quote from the Prussian von Clauswitz.
(The
King is a strategic agent. I recommend keeping him away from ports, so you can see those alliance proposals coming. Then you have time to
think and see what other factions think about it. Put him in a port when you are open to approaches.
You can use the King to hold a province - a useful tactic
when short of troops - other factions rarely attack the king. You can also use him to deter aggression - a large army appears on your border. You move the king
in to face it down. Bring your king in if an enemy king shows up - if he runs you've got the upper hand. If you run you'll probably get Chinless
Wonder. You can use a single 7* general the same way. Obviously don't try this with the Mongols.)
As always, I'm keen to hear what others think, and am interested in new tricks. One thing to be sure of - other factions are playing against you in this way - keeping a neighbour quiet when attacking you, getting your allies to choose against you, tempting your assassin into their trap with an emissary and so on.
