effect · set_border_war

Hands-On Usage

set_border_war is commonly used in custom events or decisions to artificially trigger border conflicts in bordering provinces between two nations, simulating scenarios of escalating tensions, proxy wars, or territorial disputes. When using this command, you must ensure that both the target STATE and its adjacent states have the border war marker set; both sides are required, otherwise the effect will not take effect.

# Trigger border war on a disputed state within a decision's complete_effect
541 = {  # target state scope
    set_border_war = yes
}

Synergy

• [has_border_war](/wiki/trigger/has_border_war) — Check before execution whether the state already has an active border war to avoid duplicate triggers or conflicts.
• [has_border_war_with](/wiki/trigger/has_border_war_with) — Precisely determine whether a border war is already active with a specific adjacent state, useful for conditional branching logic.
• [any_neighbor_state](/wiki/trigger/any_neighbor_state) — Iterate through adjacent states to check if conditions are met (such as also having border war set), ensuring bilateral conditions are satisfied.
• [set_state_controller_to](/wiki/effect/set_state_controller_to) — Commonly used after a border war concludes to directly change state control, serving as post-war resolution handling.

Common Pitfalls

1. Forgetting bilateral setup: set_border_war must be executed on both adjacent states of the conflicting parties. Setting it on only one side will not produce a valid border war, and this is the most common cause of failure.
2. Scope mixing errors: This effect must be called within a STATE scope. If mistakenly placed in a COUNTRY scope execution block, it will cause script errors or silent failure. New players should prioritize confirming the current scope type during debugging.