How to win a war effectively ?

[PikeSpam]

Hey there !

Because all of my Shogun 2 saves are gone, I wanted to try M2, cuz I never played it but it looked interesting... the problem is, when I play as England and declare war on Scotland, pope excomunitaces me... is there an effective way to vage a war, without the risk of making pope angry ?

[edyzmedieval]

If Scotland attacks you, you wage a war of defence, hence the Pope will not excommunicate you. Try to draw them into a war, that way you can defend and take them over.

[PikeSpam]

If Scotland attacks you, you wage a war of defence, hence the Pope will not excommunicate you. Try to draw them into a war, that way you can defend and take them over.

Didn't work much, France attacked me and I got a quest from Pope that I have to end that war, even when France started it :/

[edyzmedieval]

Usually when you fight defensively, the Pope warns the attacker rather than the defender. What difficulty are you on?

[wooly_mammoth]

Since this happens to be Medieval II: TOTAL WAR, the answer to your problems, mr. pikespam, is... taff the pope and just see to your plans of known world domination.

[PikeSpam]

Usually when you fight defensively, the Pope warns the attacker rather than the defender. What difficulty are you on?
I am playing on medium both campaign and battles....

[edyzmedieval]

Got it. You'd do good to boost up your trade and employ a larger army. That's a deterrent.

Once you have enough money, do as wooly said, make sure your ranking with the Pope is at a very high level and then you can do some quick war waging. Strike fast, build up your armies, take them out very quickly and then the Pope won't really matter any more. Get one army to attack Edinburgh and a strong fleet with army near Inverness.

Strike quick and you should be able to take them fast.

[PikeSpam]

It finally worked now ! France declared war on me, and Pope didn't even notice :D
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=770414128

I ordered them a peace, in exchange for city Rheims, and they fking accepted it, 5 spear militia for free xD

[edyzmedieval]

Atta'boy ~D

Good to see it works! Now work your way around Europe slowly, and keep excellent relations with the Pope!

[LordK9]

Usually when you fight defensively, the Pope warns the attacker rather than the defender. What difficulty are you on?

In my experience, the Pope favors the smaller kingdom.

[edyzmedieval]

It usually frowns upon the attacker, but you might be right as well, I'm not sure about it. ~:)

[Lord Godfrey]

The Pope acts as a counter balance to one catholic faction dominating the others. You can just ignore the Pope and be excommunicated, but that has a lot of negative side effects. Instead, wait for the duration of the Pope's warning to expire (I think you can check it in the missions tab) and build your army. Once it expires attack your opponent at several places at once using siege equipment to break walls. Since you defeat your opponent in a single turn, if the Pope once again warns you not to attack you can just hold in place with your new conquered territories.

Sometimes the Pope's warnings go both way and if your opponent attacks you, they will be excommunicated. This gives you free reins to attack as you see fit.

[edyzmedieval]

Wasn't it around 10 turns that the Pope would ask you to refrain from future actions? Building your army in 10-15 turns then striking decisively would work rather well.