I'm going under!

[A Nerd]

Nice tips! I've never tried playing in such a way but it is worth a try!

never attack another AI faction unless it is in retribution and they declared on you first.

I never attacked any of my current enemies, they always attacked me first. Though I have noticed my relations with other factions I am not at war with dropping and I don't know why. I assumed it was because I was at war with their allies/trade partners and was taking some of their cities/castles. My empire isn't very large so I don't think it is due to that.

Try and maintain the Crusading state as long as you feel possible (have your general leave the crusade one turn, rejoin it the next should prevent desertion, even if you do not make any progress towards the Crusade goal... You'll still have message of men threatening to leave but if you join back again, all will be forgotten...)

How do you leave then rejoin a crusading army? Are there time limits on crusades? Does crusading an excommunicated enemy reduce favor from other factions? Would repeated crusades against cities/castles be a viable option? Also, taking cities along the way that aren't the target of the crusade, how would that work?

I was also wondering, is there that shared border and random blockade DoW problem that I have heard others talking about? Or is this a matter of faction standing as well?

[_Tristan_]

The attacks you've suffered are probably (and most certainly) due to the fact that your faction standing had been dropping (which it will do automatically bit by bit if you play on the harder settings...). At the first sign of weakness, be sure that you'll meet swift forays into your territories by even your allies...

As to leaving/rejoining Crusades, be sure to have always at least 8 units in the stack and simply click on the icon on the general's card. You have ten turns (or thereabout) to do it. After that you'll need to make progress towards the target or face desertion. But think what ten turns of free upkeep can do to your treasury. In one of my campaigns, I spent ten turns with 8 20-units stacks at no upkeep, and I mean virtually no upkeep as cities were garrisoned with militia units only... Only the castles' garrison cost me anything during those turns... I thus managed to upgrade to cities to large cities in a single turn...

Crusading against an excom'ed faction shouldn't reduce your standing...

Concerning repeated crusades, they are certainly a viable option... I even did it with Baghdad, sending no less than 3 crusades against it, conquering it then selling it to the richest and farthest faction in the game (Denmark or Russia at the time, I think...) or trading it for a more interesting settlement then seeing it rebel and finally waiting for the next crusade to send against it...

I would advise against taking targets of opportunity along the way unless those settlements are rebel-owned, otherwise you might encounter a standing drop.

I've never encountered the random blockade DoW problem playing along those lines... Not even Milan has shown any sign of its reknowned aggresiveness...;-)

[A Nerd]

Thanks of the advice! I'm going to try the next time I play!