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Though I control most of the map, without being able to trade with anyone (all potential trading partners have started war with me), I can't keep the armies I need to defend my empire and still maintain a positive cash balance. All provinces are maxed out on trading posts and agricultural upgrades. So, what to do?
Use those armies for attack. You will gain land, and decrease the upkeep as they die.
destroy all the buildings u don't need & disband units that u don't need & last of all & your only real option is to go to war & pillage to feed your troops
I do that in Europe, but most of my fightng is in Muslim territory. I move the army and I get a rebellion. And, as I fight to defend myself, I keep getting excommed and Christian provinces goes ballistic. I drop ten assassins on the Pope, get the excom nullified, then it all starts over again with the next Pope. Not much fun.
It's really not worth it to conquer the papacy, especially if you are catholic faction. You have to keep an elite army in Rome to deal with his constant ressurections(hehe), then you have to keep bigger than normal garissons around safe european provinces just to keep everyone in line when you get excommunicated. And add to that the extra harassment from other catholic kingdoms because they dont like you as much now (more spies, wars).
All the expenditure from that really isn't worth the added income/benefit of holding the papacie's 2 provinces, which are just average ones and not very special or coveted(well, Rome is decent, but not worth all that). Just let the guy site there and don't mind him.
I DO let him sit there. I have never taken Rome or Papal states for the reasons you stated. I assassinate him when I get excommed, but the wars continue (whether I like it or not) and the next Pope who's elected just excoms me all over again. Usually, I'm fighting at sea to clear the trade routes and get my income back. Apparently, the Pope doesn't think I should pick on the poor HRE or Sicily who started the wars in the first place. Ack! The end game really frustrates me.
Oh yeah, that's pretty annoying. Especially the sea stuff. I hope it gets cleaned up with the patch.
Personally, I think that taking Rome, and keeping it by maintaining a butt kicking army, is a good way to go. This works best on the easy or normal difficulty levels. I would much rather keep one or two full armies in Rome than have to divert or scrounge up 5 or 6 armies to quell revolts when I get excommunicated.
Those revolts can be costly in manpower, not to mention the losses in facilities that you may take if you can't get an army there within one move.
Not being excommunicated also allows you to keep your tax rates maxed out for better income. Another plus is that usually by the time you get to Rome, if you are playing England or France for example, it is pretty well developed, so you also get a fairly diversified resource center for troop production.
When playing on hard or expert, it is a bit different because you are going to get revolts thrown at you whether you are excommunicated or not. I've had as many as six revolts in one turn. Prior to this, I was not excommunicated and every province was green with a 0% chance or revolt. I'm am guessing that this is a feature and not a bug.
Cheers
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Artillery adds dignity to what would otherwise be a vulgar brawl.
[This message has been edited by Forward Observer (edited 09-20-2002).]