When you’re playing Civilization, you realize that the true sign of a powerful empire isn’t just about having the most territory or the biggest army; it’s about influence. While there’s a certain satisfaction in straight-up conquest, the smarter play is often turning a rival into a vassal. This gives you a path to dominance that’s both clever and incredibly strategic. A vassal, which is a semi-independent state that pays you tribute and pledges its loyalty, can become one of your most powerful tools—acting as a buffer against your enemies, a source of income, and a stepping stone to your ultimate victory.
I’m going to share a deep dive into how vassalization works across the Civilization series, with strategies and specific examples to help you bend your neighbors to your will. Whether you’re a long-time player or just starting out, you’ll find the insights you need to reshape the geopolitical map and build an empire that not only lasts but is also propped up by others.
The Basics of Fealty: Why You Want Vassals
Before we march our armies to our neighbor’s borders, it’s important to understand what a vassal is and why you should want them. A vassal is a civilization that has handed over some of its independence to a more powerful “master” civilization—that’s you. The details change from game to game, but the main idea is the same: the vassal gives you resources, military help, and diplomatic support. In return, you offer them protection and allow them to continue existing, even in a diminished state.
The benefits of having vassals are massive:
- Economic Tribute: Vassals can provide a steady flow of income, resources, or research. This can fuel your war machine, speed up your scientific discoveries, or fund your cultural projects.
- Military Alliance: A vassal is automatically at war with anyone you’re at war with and at peace with your allies. Their armies, even if weakened from the war that made them your vassal, can be a useful distraction, a defensive buffer, or even an extra offensive force.
- Strategic Buffer Zone: A loyal vassal on your border is the best kind of wall. They absorb the first wave of an invasion, giving you valuable time to mobilize your own troops. Their territory also makes a great staging area for your own military campaigns.
- Diplomatic Dominance: In games that have a World Congress or a similar feature, your vassals’ votes can be a powerful way to push your agenda and stop your rivals from achieving their goals.
- Reduced Micromanagement: Compared to annexing and managing a bunch of new cities, a vassal is much less hands-on. You get many of the perks of conquest without the happiness penalties and administrative work.
Now, let’s look at how you can get these valuable assets in the different eras of Civilization.
The Classic Way: Subjugation in Civilization IV
Civilization IV, especially with its Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansions, has the most direct and well-developed vassalage system in the series. In this game, making a neighbor a vassal is a key strategic goal, and you can do it in two main ways: through force or by their voluntary submission.
Forging Chains: The Path of Conquest
The most common and satisfying way to get a vassal in Civ IV is to beat them into submission. This requires a careful balance of destruction and diplomacy, where you need to cripple your enemy without completely wiping them out.
Step 1: The Calculated Campaign of Attrition
Your goal isn’t to erase your target from the map, but to hurt them so badly that they see becoming your vassal as their only way to survive. This means you should focus on their military and key cities.
- Decimate their Armies: Concentrate on destroying their military units wherever you can find them. A high “war score” is key to convincing the AI to give in, and destroying units is a big part of that score.
- Capture Strategic Cities: Take cities that are important for their economy, culture, or strategic resources. Capturing their capital is a huge blow to their morale and their will to keep fighting. But be careful not to take too much. You want them to have enough territory left to be a useful vassal.
- Pillage with Purpose: While pillaging everything can wreck their economy, be strategic about it. Target improvements that help their war effort, like mines and workshops, but think about leaving cottages and farms in the cities you plan to let them keep. This will help them recover faster and become a productive vassal for you.
Step 2: The Art of the “Generous” Peace Offer
Once you’ve thoroughly beaten up your opponent, it’s time to offer them the “olive branch” of vassalage. In the diplomacy screen, you’ll see how willing they are to accept different peace terms. Your goal is to get them to agree to “Become Our Vassal.”
- Monitor the War Score: The game doesn’t show you a number for the war score, but you can get a sense of it from the AI’s diplomatic responses. When they start offering you cities and gold for peace, you know you’re getting close.
- The Capitulation Threshold: There’s a point where the AI’s desperation becomes greater than its pride. This usually happens when they’ve lost a large part of their military and several important cities. At this point, they’ll often propose vassalage themselves in the peace treaty. If they don’t, you can propose it.
- Sweeten the Deal (If Necessary): If they’re still on the fence, you can sometimes push them over by offering a minor technology or a small amount of gold along with peace in exchange for their vassalage. But if you’ve been dominant enough, you shouldn’t have to.
Concrete Example: The Roman Conquest of the Aztecs
Let’s say you’re playing as the Romans, and your neighbor, Montezuma of the Aztecs, is expanding aggressively. You declare war, and your Praetorians, which are stronger than his Jaguar Warriors, start cutting through his empire. You capture his second and third-largest cities, Tlatelolco and Texcoco, and destroy his main army. Montezuma’s war weariness is high, and his power rating has dropped. In peace talks, he offers you his remaining gold and a city. You refuse and continue your march toward his capital, Tenochtitlan. Before you even start the siege, a new peace offer comes in: Montezuma offers to become your vassal. You accept. Now, the Aztecs are a buffer state between you and the Mayans to the south, their remaining cities add to your score, and their resources are yours to use.
The Velvet Glove: Voluntary Vassalage
It’s less common, but just as effective, to convince a weaker civilization to voluntarily become your vassal. This is a long-term game of strategic positioning and diplomatic skill.
Step 1: Cultivate Overwhelming Superiority
A civilization will only willingly submit to you if they see you as a kind protector and a much greater power.
- Economic and Technological Dominance: Stay far ahead in technology and have a strong economy. A weaker civilization is more likely to ask for your protection if they’re falling behind and see you as a way to advance.
- Cultural Influence: Put a lot of cultural pressure on their borders. When their cities start feeling the pull of your empire, their leaders might see vassalage as a way to avoid being culturally absorbed.
- Military Might: Even if you’re not at war, having a large and advanced army on their borders is a strong persuasion tool. They’ll see you as a credible protector against other aggressive neighbors.
Step 2: The Diplomatic Dance
Your relationship with the target civilization is crucial.
- Maintain Positive Relations: Open borders, trade agreements, and shared religions all help build a positive diplomatic relationship. Avoid doing things that will make them angry, like demanding tribute or settling too close to their cities.
- Shared Enemies: A common enemy can be a powerful unifier. If you’re both at war with a strong, aggressive civilization, the weaker civ might seek your protection by becoming your vassal.
Concrete Example: The Peaceful Absorption of India
As the Persians, you’ve built a peaceful and technologically advanced empire. To your east is Gandhi’s India, a smaller and less developed civilization. You’ve had friendly relations for centuries, with a shared religion and many trade routes. A new threat appears: Genghis Khan of the Mongols starts a relentless attack on India. You see an opportunity. You build up your military on your border with India, not as a threat to them, but as a show of force against the Mongols. As Gandhi’s situation gets worse, he comes to you diplomatically and asks to become your vassal in exchange for your protection. You agree, and suddenly you have a loyal ally and a buffer against the Mongol hordes, all without firing a single shot in that conflict.
A Different Kind of Dominance: Puppets and City-States in Civilization V
Civilization V, in its original version, got rid of the direct vassalage system from the previous game. But the idea of indirect control and subjugation is still there, just in different forms. The Vox Populi mod, a popular community-made overhaul, brings back a vassalage system similar to Civ IV’s, but in the base game, your tools for domination are puppeting cities and controlling city-states.
The Puppet Master: Controlling Conquered Cities
When you conquer a city in Civ V, you can annex it, puppet it, or raze it. Puppeting a city lets you get its science, culture, and gold without adding to your empire’s social policy cost or the unhappiness you get from having too many cities.
The Strategy of the Puppet Empire:
- Selective Annexation: Only annex cities that are absolutely vital—those with unique wonders, crucial resources, or in a perfect spot for military production.
- Widespread Puppeting: Puppet most of the cities you conquer. These cities will be managed by the AI, which will focus on making gold that you can use to fund your military or buy buildings in your main cities.
- Happiness Management: While puppeted cities don’t add to the “number of cities” unhappiness, they do have their own local happiness levels. You’ll need to build happiness buildings in your core cities to balance out the unhappiness from a large puppet empire.
- The Courthouse Connection: If you later decide you need direct control over a puppeted city, you can annex it. But you’ll have to build a courthouse to get rid of the extra unhappiness from occupation.
Concrete Example: The Arabian Puppet Empire
Playing as Harun al-Rashid of Arabia, you go on a conquering spree. You take over the entire Siamese empire. You annex their capital, Sukhothai, because it has the Great Library, but you puppet the other five Siamese cities. These puppeted cities, even though you don’t control them directly, pour a steady stream of gold into your treasury. This lets you keep a large and advanced army, which you then use to conquer your next target. You’re effectively using the production of a conquered civilization without the administrative hassle.
Suzerainty: The Art of City-State Diplomacy
City-states in Civ V are single-city civilizations that don’t expand and can be allied with. Becoming an “ally” of a city-state is like having a mini-vassal.
How to Become a City-State’s Ally:
- Gold is King: The most direct way to ally with a city-state is to give them gold. The more gold you give, the more your influence with them will grow.
- Fulfilling Quests: City-states will occasionally give you quests, like building a specific wonder, connecting a luxury resource, or clearing out a barbarian camp. Completing these quests gives you a big boost in influence.
- Protection: Pledging to protect a city-state from another civilization’s aggression will also increase your influence. If you successfully defend them, you’ll be rewarded generously.
- The Patronage Social Policy Tree: This tree is specifically made to improve your interactions with city-states, making it easier and cheaper to ally with them.
The Benefits of City-State Allies:
- Resource Monopoly: Allied city-states give you their unique luxury and strategic resources.
- Cultural and Religious Boosts: Some city-states provide faith or culture, which helps you advance in those areas.
- Military Support: Militaristic city-states will periodically gift you military units.
- Diplomatic Victory: In the late game, allied city-states vote for you in the United Nations, which is a key part of a diplomatic victory.
By strategically allying with many city-states, you can create a powerful network of “vassals” that support your empire in many ways.
The Modern Approach: Loyalty and Emergencies in Civilization VI
Civilization VI completely changes the concept of subjugation. It moves away from direct vassalage of major civilizations and toward a more fluid system of loyalty and city-flipping. Here, you don’t force a civilization to become your vassal; you inspire their cities to join your empire on their own.
The Power of Persuasion: Flipping Cities with Loyalty
Every city in Civ VI has a loyalty rating, which is affected by different factors. If a city’s loyalty drops to zero, it will rebel and become a “Free City.” A Free City can then be captured by any civilization, or, if your loyalty pressure is strong enough, it will join your empire peacefully.
The Keys to Exerting Loyalty Pressure:
- Population Power: Large, populous cities exert a lot of loyalty pressure on nearby foreign cities. Growing your border cities is a key strategy for flipping your neighbor’s territory.
- The “Bread and Circuses” Project: Once you have an Entertainment Complex or Water Park, you can run the “Bread and Circuses” project. This project greatly increases the loyalty pressure coming from that city. Running this project in several border cities at the same time can quickly crush a neighbor’s loyalty.
- Governors: The Governor Amani, with her “Prestige” promotion, can be placed in one of your cities to exert extra loyalty pressure on nearby foreign cities. On the other hand, putting a governor in a city you’ve just conquered is essential for keeping its loyalty.
- Golden Ages: Being in a Golden Age gives your cities’ loyalty pressure a big boost, while a neighbor in a Dark Age will have a hard time keeping their cities loyal. A Golden Age for you and a Dark Age for them is the perfect recipe for city-flipping.
- Religious and Cultural Proximity: Having your religion as the main faith in a foreign city, and having a high level of tourism influence, can also lower their loyalty to their current owner.
- Spies: A well-placed spy can be sent on a “Foment Unrest” mission, which directly reduces a city’s loyalty.
Concrete Example: The French Cultural Conversion
If you’re playing as Eleanor of Aquitaine (either English or French), her unique ability causes cities to lose loyalty when they have Great Works. You can focus on a cultural game. Build Theater Squares in your cities bordering your rival, Spain. Fill them with Great Works of Art and Music. The constant negative loyalty pressure from your Great Works, combined with the “Bread and Circuses” project in your border cities, causes the Spanish city of Barcelona to rebel. Because your loyalty pressure is the strongest in the area, after a few turns as a Free City, Barcelona peacefully joins your empire. You’ve expanded your territory without a single declaration of war.
Emergencies: Temporary Alliances, Not Permanent Vassals
Civilization VI also has an “Emergency” system. When a civilization does something particularly aggressive, like conquering a city-state or converting a holy city, a global emergency can be declared. This creates a temporary alliance of civilizations with the goal of fixing the situation.
While winning an emergency can give you significant rewards and weaken the target civilization, it doesn’t lead to vassalage. It’s a tool for stopping a runaway civilization, not for subjugating them. However, a successful emergency can cripple an opponent so much that their cities become vulnerable to your loyalty pressure, creating an indirect way to gain territory.
The Final Word on Fealty
The path to turning your neighbors into vassals is as varied and complex as the game of Civilization itself. Whether you prefer the iron fist of conquest in Civilization IV, the subtle puppetry of Civilization V, or the persuasive cultural and political maneuvering of Civilization VI, the goal is always the same: to extend your influence and build an empire that dominates the world.
Mastering the art of vassalage is about more than just winning wars; it’s about understanding the delicate balance of power, the details of diplomacy, and the long-term strategic consequences of your actions. A well-managed vassal is a sign of your strength as a ruler, a living symbol of your empire’s reach, and a powerful asset on your journey to stand the test of time. So go out there, and let your neighbors know the true meaning of fealty.