Crusader Kings III: How to Win Any War Without Raising Armies

Have you ever wondered if it is possible to win a war without even raising your armies? Well, I am here to tell you that it is one hundred percent possible and I am going to teach you how to do so with this simple step-by-step guide.

In order for this to work you must first select the Intrigue lifestyle for your current character. I recommend you select the Skulduggery focus because it gives you +10 Agent Acceptance which will help you later on when you need to recruit agents for your abduction schemes.

After choosing the Intrigue lifestyle and your selected focus you will need to get at least 3 lifestyle points to unlock the Truth is Relative, Digging for Dirt, and Kidnapper perks. You need the Kidnapper perk to be able to start an abduction scheme on characters.

My current character in this example has a claim on the Barony of Ismay in Scotland so I would need to start an abduction scheme on the King of Scotland. Start an abduction scheme on the character who has the claim you want.

It doesn’t matter if you only have 5% success & secrecy like I do in this example you can just invite agents to the scheme using gold or hooks as long as the potential agent is convinced.

You can get extra hooks by using your Spymaster’s ‘Find Secrets’ ability on the court of your target.

Hire as many agents as you need to get Secrecy and Success Chance to the max 85%

After waiting your abduction scheme out, you will eventually get a pop-up window asking you to confirm the kidnapping of your target. Instead of finishing the abduction scheme, right click the victim and declare war for your claim(s).

After declaring war, finish the abduction scheme.

If the abduction scheme is a success the war will be over without raising any armies.