The pope

[Andrei]

Ok i want your opinions about this...because of the way the pope is chosen...if you eliminate all catholic factions resulting in no cardinals for the seat of cardinals...could the faction Papal States really be destroyed...keeping in mind that if the pope dies and you finish off the only cardinal the papal states has and you don't have any cardinals your self...would the papal states just disappear?

[Old Geezer]

This is arcane knowledge that only the most enlightened and experienced M2TW players have obtained. It should not be discussed in such public places.

[Rhyfelwyr]

I've conquered the map as both the Moors and Turks, and at the end of both games the Papal States was the only faction bar mine that remained in the diplomacy scroll.

If they have no provinces, the new Popes appear in either Rebel provinces or within the Rome region. I think if there is no Pope at present then the Papal States just continue with the units and Generals they have until a new Pope comes along.

If the Pope is killed during a turn, then if you are a Catholic faction you can notice in the Pope scroll that is says something along the lines of "that Papal seat remains vacant, a new Pope will be elected".

So I'm pretty sure the Papal States will always remain, waiting for a Cardinal to spawn himself as the new Pope in some province.

[FactionHeir]

What he said

[Andrei]

But will the game spwan a cardinal just like that??? if there are no pirests to become cardinals...how can he appear???

[FactionHeir]

No it won't, but the papal faction cannot be eliminated under any circumstances. It will just "hope" that a faction lives somewhere and eventually gets a cardinal.