Slitherine

I like the diplomatic options,

But there doesn't seem any penalty for me to make a white peace when pulled in by another country?

But there doesn't seem any penalty to not participate in a an alliance which calls me in?

I have played EU4 and STW2/RTW2 and the diplomatic system seem to have a clear memory of the past behavior of nation.

Also, it seems to me that being a client state is almost and exploit. Example: I had a war with Macedonia and was losing badly. I was probably going to quit, but first I wanted to be a client state. I immediate had all my territory returned. I gave very little cash to Macedonia. I aided in no wars. I disbanded my army so that I could focus on growth. The only real limitation was that I could have not foreign policy. But first I built up Rome, and then I rebuilt the Roman military. I canceled being a client state, and quickly defeated Macedonia and adsorbed it. It seem to me that I was able to exploit the whole client state thing. I doubt in the real world, I would have been allowed to become so threatening.

Thanks.

Good point on client state status, I'll make a note on that.

There is no big benefit either for being an ally and not doing anything. On the contrary, you'll accrue war exhaustion and being dragged into wars, you might even have the visit of your enemy. So why in the first hand did you ally?

Well, in reality, I just wanted to try the option, but was ready to quit the current game ... so, I tried it.

Around turn #150 or so.

But when, I saw I got all that I lost back, and was now shielded. It was exactly what I needed to win the game. Kind of like "drafting" in car racing, when you follow a lead car closely to avoid much drag, and then sling shot yourself past it with the extra speed you were able to accumulate.

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I just finished another game, and it seems to me alliances are rather weak. I had Rome as my good ally, the country which attacked me only had a land power 12% of Rome, but Rome sent no help. I even backed up the game, and became a client state of Rome. And still Rome sent not even a retired verteran with a rusted gladius!

Unless your capital is threatened, allies won't enter much your territory, as players asked over several patches to stop having the AI allies roam their land and eat their food. The balance is apparently difficult to find and the AI don't yet read the mind of players to know what they would like