Turning down vassal state offer

[fathertuck]

I'm currently playing as Joao 2 on monarch/continents, and Wang Kon offered to become my vassal state and I accepted without any hesitation. Wang Kon was at the moment in war with Cyrus and his vassal Brennus, so by accepting I declared on them. I didn't remember this rule, but it doesn't matter because I'm no1 in soldiers anyway so I think I can pull if off.

My question though is this, should you sometimes consider turning a vassal state offer down? I've always thought a vassal state offer was like a christmas gift, you never turn it down even if you dont like it.

Oh, and hello to the forum!

 

[Magnificent One]

Welcome to the Forum!

And yes,sometimes you should turn them down.Like,if Ramesses II offered to be your vassal,but was at war with multiple civs,who probably are quite powerful,you should turn that offer down.

Once,i started a World War just because the Dutch offered to be my vassal.

 

[fathertuck]

I guess you sometimes should. I've never actually done it because it's too tempting to grab that cheap price.

And the game turned out just fine, victory by domination/conquest. It saved my day.

 

[Ataxerxes]

I guess you sometimes should. I've never actually done it because it's too tempting to grab that cheap price.

And the game turned out just fine, victory by domination/conquest. It saved my day.

Same here. By that time, I've always had the power to deal with his enemies. But I can see situations, such as a dogpile, where it would be good to turn it down. Always try to keep up with what wars are going on. They give you opportunities and pitfalls like this.

If you're going domination/conquest, then you start taking vassals like crazy. Speeds up your victory.

One other point to think about with vassals, is that your relations with all other Civs gets worse. You get the -1 for their rivals being vassals of yours and the attitudes average between you and your vassal.

 

[Sisiutil]

You also get a +1 in each city for having vassals, but your city maintenance goes up.

Also remember that you can not declare war on a vassal, or end the vassal relationship yourself. So if you were set on conquering the vassal, that's another reason to turn down the offer. Maybe the potential vassal has some choice city sites with wonders and/or a holy city that you're coveting. If you accept the vassal offer, they'll never be yours.

But beware--if they're willing to become your vassal, they're almost definitely willing to become someone else's. If you declare war on them and start taking some cities, don't be surprised if they go running to your biggest, most powerful rival for help.

Like many things in Civ, there is no hard and fast rule; as always, it depends--there are both benefits and drawbacks to accepting a vassal. Consider the offer carefully given the situation in the game and your strategy and plans. Don't just blindly accept or reject it.

 

[fathertuck]

But beware--if they're willing to become your vassal, they're almost definitely willing to become someone else's. If you declare war on them and start taking some cities, don't be surprised if they go running to your biggest, most powerful rival for help.

This is probably the biggest reason why I always accept when offered. It has sometimes happened that a war (that's going well) has come to an end because the enemy vassals to someone else, and that's frustrating! It's a bit of a gambling if you don't accept, but I understand that it might be better sometimes to capture all the enemy cities because of the diplomatic minus-points you get for having vassals.