OMG - it just occured to me...

[Deus Ex]

how many triggers/flags I may have tripped in the NSA, CIA, FBI etc because I just did a forum search on "kill pope"

[Mithrandir]

hehe...
that's nothing compared to a search on "Kill Mithrandir", my people would be on your doorstep in no time....

[Demon of Light]

With the way the Pope's health is going, you may not need to bother killing him. Nature already seems to be doing a stellar job of it.

[Odin]

With the way the Pope's health is going, you may not need to bother killing him. Nature already seems to be doing a stellar job of it.

Time marches on for John Paul... It'll be curious to see who the replacement is, if they go back to an italian, or look to the new base of catholics in south america.

But Deus Ex if you want to kill the pope just drop an assisin on him, or 5 or 15... When he dies all excommunications are revoked which is a wonderful thing for catholic players.

[{KotR}Lionheart]

Wiping out excommunications is pretty much the only reason for killing the pope, as if u wipe out the papacy, they will rebel, and on the higher difficulty levels, with armies larger than thos of the golden horde. This can be especially dangerous if your core provinces are far from italy, as it can be difficult to get the volume of quality troops there to beat him. I find it is best to leave the pope only one province, and occasionally raid that and destroy the buildings to stop him becoming too powerful.

[Deus Ex]

Thanks everyone for the replies!


I was playing around using save games to see what happened when I took out the papacy. didn't work the way I thought it might

I read about the technique of running the pope out of rome and leaving him in the papal states - destroying his buildings and effectively taking away his resources - but when I tried it, he just hung out in his castle - and I could'n't destroy any buildings.

I must be missing something -

Playing the Danes - "Crusades? We don't need no stinkin' Crusades"

thanks
(guess I should make a sig..)

BTW this is one of the Best Game forums/message boards I have ever come across (20 years in the computer industry) - great people and lots of good info - and folks are VERY willing to answer questions and help - thanks again!!