Favorite Exploits?

The game has been out for a long time now but it still has things that are troubling and need a work around, and some of these may just be nice tricks that do the job. So! Let us hear what your favorite is.


Mine is a bit silly but it works when you are trying to get that pesky province next to you to rebel, especially if it is of the same religion as you and you lack that one something to get the job done.

Heretic Herding! Or just Cleric Herding…

Heretics are very effective in converting population and causing unrest, much more so than a normal cleric. They are also rebels and don’t require as much management to keep them in the province you put them into. The trick though is to get them there.

It takes a minimum of four units to herd one heretic. Horse is best and the more the merrier, you can even have tag teams to take over when movement plays out, but basically you use two units to block spaces you don’t want him going into and the two others leap-frog pushing him on.

Make sure your agents have taken out the churches and clerics of the other faction or you my have to encircle the heretic to protect him but he will cause rebellion quickly enough when he converts more than 20 to 50% of the population.

The old kill a spy/diplomat/inquisitor/priest trick.

Surround a non combat unit with a military unit of yours in every direction (ie all 8 spaces directly next to it) Move a 9th unit on top of the agent and boom, the agent instantly dies

Letters of Indulgence, Paying the Pope for your Sins.

You can play an agressive game vs other catholic factions, without getting excomunicated, as long as you have friendly relations with the Pope. Give him large cash sums or per turn payments to keep him off your back. Lol, you can even ally with the Papal States right in the begining to keep your relations high. You can now spend the rest of your game focusing on world conquest. This may not be an exploit, but to me it is kind of gamey. lol, I still do it most of my games.:laugh4:

I dont normally take advantage of them, but in this one case...the stupid diplomacy of the AI.

French attack me, I win, I get a settlement off them for peace, French attack me, I win, I get a settlement off them for peace etc

Another I have made use of is the empty fort. Mongols and Timurids will some times attack forts blocking a route but I have never seen them occupy an empty fort with only an agent inside. I won’t say it will never happen, I just have never seen it happen.

I call this the "vassalage" exploit. Venice offers me vassalage after I've been kicking their butts,I counter with an offer of 5,000,they accept. The next turn they re-commence war and offer the same deal, I counter with the same offer,they accept. I can drive the ai into having no cash in no time using this..

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Spoiler Alert:

Here is a strategy to have a really early blitz against rebels and poorly defended settlements:

If you want to quickly expand, look for settlements that have few cavalry forces in them. Attack the castle/settlement with a unit of your own cavalry or generals bodygaurd. When you lay seige with such a small army, the enemy will usually sally. In the sally battle use your cavalrys movement to your advantage against the enemy infantry. Tire them out and let them chase you around the map. It is important to make sure that they run towards you, so that they tire out quickly. Continue to tire out the enemy and withdraw to the corner of the map. Once all the exhausted enemy have chased you there, run full speed to the city center. In most mods the gates will still be open. If the conditions are right, you can hold the center for 3 min and win before the enemy get back to fight you. LOL, a very cheesy win:laugh4:

This strategy really works best on larger battle maps. You can sometimes win when there are enemy cavalry present if you can seperate them from the infantry and anihilate them before the enemy infantry catch up. It is harder to do when Horse archers are present because these units are faster and more elusive and will inflict causulties on you from their missle fire. It also works better if you have two cavalry because one can fight a delayig action while the other holds the square.