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View Full Version : Observation - Shouldn't crusaders leave once a crusade is over?



Omisan
04-15-2007, 22:31
Why would pilgrims and crusaders stay with an army once the crusade is over? Since they are so easily willing to desert during the crusade, I don't see why they would want to stick with a general that never reached destination after the crusade has ended.

I think the pilgrims/fanatic should leave as soon as a crusade ends. Spearmen and Knights should stay only if you are the one who "completed" the crusade.

This would eliminate all the crusader stacks that linger around the map long after a crusade has ended.

I know some of you rely on this to blitzkrieg all over the place, but it's cheap and it doesn't make much sense.

Philbert
04-16-2007, 12:13
Hear hear, I agree to this motion.
If you are the one who captured Jerusalem, the crusaders would still be willing to defend their hardfought holy city against the Saracens, but if their general is just ambling around they should abandon him. Possibly even defect to the winner.

RickooClan
04-16-2007, 16:22
Actually i find the most annoying thing is, sometimes if some other faction take the target city the crusade suddenly end and left your army in nowhere. [In enemy land or what ever]

And the running cost of the crusade suddenly kick in and sometimes it will eat up all of your balance in one go!!! :furious3:

I suggest there should be a period from 3 turns or so for your crusade army to dismiss or march home, instead of a sudden end like that.

_Tristan_
04-16-2007, 16:37
And the running cost of the crusade suddenly kick in and sometimes it will eat up all of your balance in one go!!! :furious3:

I had the same problem with my French Crusade to the Holy Land when the Hungarian faction ended it first...

Ouch ! That crusading stack killed my treasury !!

So I started my own little crusade against the neighbours : The Turks....

I took Adana and Iconium and the cash I got from sacking put me back on... Plus I had a foothold near the Holy Land and when the next crusade was called on Antioch I was able to win it in one by attacking the Egyptian army standing right next to the city...

S now, I try to wait on military and building expenses until the crusade is over or send a spy to Jerusalem or any crusade target to see if I will be first or when the City will fall and I generally disband all pilgrims/fanatics and other low-level troops I might have acquired and keep the rest if I see my treasury will keep it...

gardibolt
04-16-2007, 18:45
A lot of crusaders stuck around for the long haul--didn't want the infidels to take the Holy Land back, after all. Even after Jerusalem was taken on the First Crusade, there was plenty to do in the surrounding territories.

Bob the Insane
04-16-2007, 19:04
Well you can always disband the crusade units yourself and just send you general(s) on their way home...

Skott
04-16-2007, 19:26
Many crusaders stuck around and many went back home. Those that stayed started life anew in the Holy Lands. Some went onto take more land from the muslims. Some started trade and other businesses. Like mentioned above if you want your crusading armies to reflect them leaving just disband them. For the AI crusading armies not much you can do about those stacks unfortunately. I've seen them stay and I've seen them go in my experiences.

I do think your idea about the pilgrims and fanatics a good one. After a crusade concludes they should auto disband from a stack. The rest should be allowed to stay if the player wants to hire them out like mercenaries.

HoreTore
04-16-2007, 20:05
And the running cost of the crusade suddenly kick in and sometimes it will eat up all of your balance in one go!!! :furious3:

That's something you seriously cannot blame on anyone but yourself. While you are on a crusade, you have to keep in my that there will be a time when the free troops start costing money again, and prepare for that time. The situation is the same whether you take the target or not, neither antioch or any of the cities there will be able to pay for the crusaders.

edyzmedieval
04-16-2007, 20:44
I find it quite weird that I cannot hire as mercs only 2 units of Crusaders. Knight and Sergeants. Weird.

Omisan
04-16-2007, 21:05
I was mostly talking about stacks that remain all over the map between their countries of origin and the crusade target.

Why would pilgrims or fanatics stay with an English general who is stuck in Italy once the crusade ends? If he had made one move in the wrong direction, they would have deserted, but now they stay while there isn't a crusade anymore?

Didz
04-17-2007, 18:09
Well basically you have the option to dismiss your units if you wish. That cuts down the cost of upkeep after the crusade is over and avoids the problem of how to get them home.

Personally, I dismissed all the trash units like pilgrims and just kept the Crusader knights and Horse Archers. The Crusaders I set up in their own personal castle on Sardinia and the Horse Archers were sent to deal with the Hungarian's.

Dracula(Romanian Vlad Tepes)
04-17-2007, 19:16
All the crusaders should leave when you finish a crusade.

Didz
04-18-2007, 11:40
Well historically they didn't leave, so I mean its up to you whether you go or stay. Personally, I prefer mine to leave once they have earned their pay.

Furious Mental
04-18-2007, 13:26
If you don't want them disband their units.

Omisan
04-18-2007, 21:09
What about AI crusade stacks? I can't disband those.