Ever tried this?

[The New Che Guevara]

Old Geezer,

Are you sure you don't want yours to go to 11?? Hey, if its good enough for Spinal Tap, its good enough for me!!!

On that basis,

Spinal Tap: Total War

allows for 11 chevrons
all range weapons are guitars (starting with poor rip off brands)
All melee weapons are drumsticks
Cavalry are moving amplifiers
and elephants are drumkits

[FactionHeir]

Please stay on topic.

[Old Geezer]

I think the computer plays this exploit. I have often seen factions send off huge armies which don't even seem to be trying to get there and would be so very late that they don't have much chance of getting there to take a city unless 5 other armies get defeated. I just had to destroy an impressively powerful French stack of "ex Crusaders" who never got close to getting out of France. The stack had many mercenary spears and crusader sergeants and 5 crusader knights and a mounted sarg and 3 mailed knights. The only weak units were 3 peasant crossbowmen. Having a 7 star general and each unit having a chevron resulted in me losing 600 men in a close battle in which my 61-year old king performed a few suicidal charges. However, I can not recall ever seeing an AI faction send more than one Crusader Army. Has anyone else?

[anweRU]

However, I can not recall ever seeing an AI faction send more than one Crusader Army. Has anyone else?

HRE sent two crusader armies to Marakesh in my current Venetian campaign. The second army started one or two turns after the other, with the Crown Prince. I suppose the HRE AI got the "send faction heir on crusade" mission from the Pope.

On a side note, the Danish crusader army never left Stettin, and did not lose its army to desertation either.