As it is now, all the lords always vote to start a new war against any faction the player has not fought for a while, and regardless if the player faction is already involved in one or several undecided wars. Preventing the council from starting new wars costs so much influence that it is not sustainable to keep it up.
This needs to change. To be unable to direct the strategy of the faction you're playing seems very odd and is frustrating. A much better option would be to let the clans petition the king to start or end wars, and to take a hit or buff to relations with the clans depending on your decision, but you, the king, decide. Alone. And for this to make sense, so that refusing to start wars does not mean a death spiral of unreedemable relation losses, all the lords cannot be on the same page all the time. Those closest to the potential enemy should be far more reluctant to start a fight, they will bear the brunt of raiding and may lose their fiefs. And for peace decisions, those with many captive family members might be more positive to peace, to have their loved ones back home again. Land hungry barons (with no fiefs, or fewer than average) would be more pro-war, those established with many fiefs less so.
All in all, skewing the game to force me to fight useless wars just to preserve some influence is a poor design choice.
This needs to change. To be unable to direct the strategy of the faction you're playing seems very odd and is frustrating. A much better option would be to let the clans petition the king to start or end wars, and to take a hit or buff to relations with the clans depending on your decision, but you, the king, decide. Alone. And for this to make sense, so that refusing to start wars does not mean a death spiral of unreedemable relation losses, all the lords cannot be on the same page all the time. Those closest to the potential enemy should be far more reluctant to start a fight, they will bear the brunt of raiding and may lose their fiefs. And for peace decisions, those with many captive family members might be more positive to peace, to have their loved ones back home again. Land hungry barons (with no fiefs, or fewer than average) would be more pro-war, those established with many fiefs less so.
All in all, skewing the game to force me to fight useless wars just to preserve some influence is a poor design choice.