Can you conquer a nation with leftover rice from Hari Gawai? Yes, you can.

We’ve came across a possibly game-breaking yet totally legit feature in Total War: Three Kingdoms which allows you to take over settlements (and even more) without even having to lift a sword.  That sweet, sweet jade mine you’ve been eyeing for ten turns now can be yours before your turn is over.

The most important factor to have in order to pull this treachery off is relative abundance of food supplies compared to your rivals. Since China serves as the backdrop to Three Kingdoms, we are pretty much talking about rice, rice, and more rice here.

To make the deal even more satisfying, go for rivals whose supplies are in the negative. Once that is sorted, here are the steps to take.

1. Enter diplomacy mode – where you get to broker deals with other factions

2. Start negotiating and select your intended target under the ‘Trade Territories’ option.

3. You will notice the balance of the initial proposal in red. Territories are always highly valued so expect this initial value to be deep in the negative.

4. Offer to help them with their food supply crisis. Food in Three Kingdoms at times is more valuable than money. So watch as they bend over with the offer of food assistance for about thirty for ten turns or so.

5. Adjust the values as you see fit (to get it into the green) and if you feel super evil, add in other deal sweeteners in your favor.

6. Once the deal is agreed on, you’ll end up with a brand-spanking new territory with a temporarily diminished food supply. But fret not.

7. Head back to the negotiations tab and cancel that food supply deal. This would cost you some credibility points but would seriously hinder – or even cripple your opposite number. In return, you get your food back while maintaining control of the recently acquired territory.

8. A quick run through of the steps mentioned above is shown in our gameplay below. We do not recommend you pulling this fast one too often, though as it may affect your own allies’ thoughts of you.

Space it for about ten turns or so, to allow you time to regain your lost credibility.

In the video above, I decided to take over Liu Cong’s only supply of food (lol!) which forced him into an even deeper hole once I break the deal. That jade mine up north can be acquired the same way, or via other treacherous means.

Is this fair? Of course it isn’t. But how realistic is it? I guess it shouldn’t be far from real life, right? Parties reneging on deals after getting what they wanted. All’s fair in love and war – and what better setting for that idiom in the land of the Romance of Three Kingdoms?

You can check out our review of the game here where we spoke highly of Creative Assembly’s latest title to the Total War franchise.