Crusader Units

[Koga No Goshi]

I have a question about some of the "Fighting orders of knights". The tech tree that came with the game is a bit confusing about how to build units like Knights Hospitaller, Knights of Santiago, etc. Is it just master horse + master spear + chapter house? Or is there a time restriction? or can these units only be built when a crusade is in progress? Sorry for the basicness of this question, it's just not something directly addressed and I don't seem to be able to make them.

[mercian billman]

Knights Templar, Knights Hospitaller, and other Fighting Orders can only be obtained at the beggining of a crusade. They cannot be built like regular units, you may use them after a crusade but, you can't retrain them.

[Koga No Goshi]

Ok, so they will randomly spawn in your crusade army when it appears? They cannot be built, and may appear regardless of what training facilities exist in the province?

[mercian billman]

Exactly http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Koga No Goshi]

Woohoo thank you, that was driving me nuts, I read the whole newbie guide and it didn't explain that. I thought maybe they were just restricted to specific Catholic factions and was going nuts trying to build them in various campaign games.

[Eastside Character]

Quote[/b] ]Ok, so they will randomly spawn in your crusade army when it appears? They cannot be built, and may appear regardless of what training facilities exist in the province?

Not exactly, you still have to have a chapter house in a province if you want to launch a crusade.

http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/handball.gif
.EC.

[Herodotus]

Zeal effects how many knights you will get in a crusade. A high zeal province and a zealous General (commander of crusade) will yeild good results in recruiting for your crusade.

[Gazza the Lionheart]

You could always mod the game to add them in, that's what I did.

[R'as al Ghul]

I have to pick this up again as it's not
clearly answered for my taste.
Question: Is there any way to tell if you get Knights in
your crusade before launching it?
Surely Zeal cannot be the only factor. I started two crusades from Venice, Zeal being over 50% in both cases.
The first to Tripoli had all you can ask for: 4 Orderfoot incl. a 3*star Gen + Knights Templar.
Second one: 1 OrderFoot + 3 Fanatics. Duh
Are Buildings or units or Target Provinces determining the choice of units?

[kawligia]

Yeah does the king's piety come into play when deciding what units you first get? Does the provence you are after affect that or how much it will cost? Does papal favor influence the cost? does cost influence the units? Do other buildings influence starting units? How about weapon/aromr upgrades? Does the zeal of the provence you build the crusade in matter?

I hope RTW will do a better job explaining how things work This game doesn't tell you anything

p.s. I like to move my ships away from the cost when I launch my crusade so I can suck up other people's garrisons. But it seems as though the AI moves their troops out of the way sometimes. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/angry.gif Has anyone else noticed that?