Quote Originally Posted by [b
Quote[/b] ]I usually try to finish up by invading Rome & the Papal States as my last move, or moves.
Exactly, the Pope cannot be held out of the game.

If you manage to beat him back and wipe him out he will come back with a rebellion, and if you should win the battle and send him back in exile... he will be back next time with more and more men

During my first muslim faction game (the Almohads) I held onto the Papal States and Rome for ages when suddenly the Pope returns... I beat him back and laugh at his attempts to overthrow me, then he's back again a few years later (after about five years) with a much larger force of better troops. I beat him back again but take heavy losses, then before I know it he's back yet again with an even larger army than before and my previous losses still have yet to be replenished

Soon enough I learned my lesson, fighting the Pope and keeping him off the map is a war of attrition, and a very costly one that he will win in the end...

The Pope doesn't have to worry about production costs and training his men up, he gets them every time out of thin air We however do have to worry about such things, and its much easier to just weaken him down to the point where you can crush him like an ant... and leave him there as a solitary voice in the darkness.

The Pope is the eight ball of the game, the last one down