Exactly. Taking a region through fear will be relatively fast. But then you are stuck with it, and switching it over to loyalty is going to be painful and take a bit of work. Or you can just stick with fear and go there reminding them every now and then. That's the easy road. But there's a risk: If you find yourself in a war and have nobody to go around beating the peasants, you could have rebelling regions at the worst possible time...
As a few English kings rudely discovered to their dismay with Scotland and wales
