Has anyone actually LOST before

[TheWingedVictory]

Oh yes, I remember playing Danes too, I conquered Scotland, scandinavia, and some rebel faction that came out of hre. But eventually those darn germans conquered all of denmark and scandinavia, leaving me only scotland to rule. I got frustrated and deleted the campaign just like i did to my grand spanish empire campaign.

[ShadowMagnet]

To be fair if deleting a campaign counts as losing it - then I have lost dozens and dozens. Only because of waning interest in a faction and urge to try something differnet next time round. Losing the game with Polish was indeed so refreshing that I stuck with them until the bitter end. Trying to overcome the odds was so challenging I barely got an hour's kip before going to work for 11 hours.

[TheWingedVictory]

I don't care, for I still dream about my grand Spanish Empire which I have forged with my own 10 fingers about a year ago... WHY WHY did I deleted that campaign?!!!

[jadast]

I have never won as Poland. Three times in a row my growing Turkish empire crumbled into civil war and was swallowed by Spain twice and the Byz once.

[bretwalda]

Yesterday I overextended myself Turks/Late/Hard and could not cope with rebellions, etc. so I quit. I don't know why the game says it is easier than the difficulty level selected...

I might try later but I feel that late campaigns are less interesting than early or high. But with most factions the most enjoyable period is early - for me. What do you think?

[ShadowMagnet]

I absolutely agree. Early is the most enjoyable starting era and the later you start the less development you witness. Going through all the farming/mining/military/naval/urban upgrades is the most intersting bit of the game to me especially when you desperately try to find money for all that as well as beefing up your humble starting forces.

Unfortunately the vastness of the map and the very length of early capmaigns often tends to put me off a little, so I usually start in high. Everything else aside this also gives me immediate access to polish retainers which somehow are one of my favourite units in the whole game. Don't ask me why, they just are.

[Don Corleone]

I didn't get a message from the computer or anything, but I did lose according to my rules as the French over the weekend. When I play, I require that any specific event GA must be met or I fail. Well, the French have the Krek de Chavliers GA. You have to build a citadel in Tripoli by 1200. NOT EASY. Assuming the Egyptians haven't developed it beyond keep level, and your storming of it knocks it back to fort level, you have to take it no later than 1164. As it turns out, a Tripoli crusade is also a GA event for the French. So, you have to launch a successful crusade and storm any fortifications by 1164. If you're worried about loyalty issues of any form, add a year or two for watchtowers & border forts. If you want to regenerate your troops over there, you better add in time for those buildings as well.

I have always played that to launch a crusade, I build a fleet all the way a province to the province I intend to crusade. After the disaster this past weekend, I always, always, always will do this... Why?

Another thread in here stated that you don't have to be allied to borrow somebody's fleet. This is not true. The AI doesn't have to be allied with you to borrow your fleet, but you cannot use a neutral party's!!! I sent my crusade from Toulouse into Province, thinking when I got to Venice, I'd just hitch a ride on the Italian's fleet. Well, the Italians let me in, but no, I couldn't use their ships. I had to go the Looooooong way. What's more, Byzantium wouldn't let me pass so I had to fight my way through. It destroyed my crusade, well almost..... this was the part that really ticked me off.... it took 9 years for my crusade to fail once it got under 100 men. They wouldn't quit for love or money. I admire their spirit, but it really, really sucked because I couldn't launch another crusade until it was too late.

Anyway, I learned my lesson... I don't mess around in Aragon or the Brittish Isles anymore. I get my borders sealed, I start cranking ships, and I get that citadel built PRONTO

Interesting trick i learned... I made a rule for myself that I wasn't going to take and hold anything East of Champagne, North of Flanders or South of Toulouse/Aquitane. BUUUUUTTT.....if you don't want those pesky English shutting down your fleet periodically and keeping you from making your due off of Flanders, RAID . I wait until they've built the port, the keep and then the dockyard. I then wait 2 more years, then invade Wessex with enough troops to carry the day. I storm the keep, destroy it and everything else in there, then, buh-bye.... Let them deal with that mess.

It's working well so far, I'll let you know how it turns out. Sucks to have no steel, but it does make the game pretty challenging. Maybe I'll start a French colony up in Sweden, seeing as how the Danes clearly don't want it...

[Sir William Wallace]

i have lost a few times before,,, just recently i was playing the scots on hard, and i tried to take over too much land from the picts and got caught in monetary problesm and was back stabbed by the irish, no one wanted to marry my daughters, so i had them marry in the family b/c all my generals were already married,, to get money back i destroyed all the buildings i had in outlying and unproductive provinces and moved out of there, but with my luck,, no rebels or other factiosn wanted my abandoned provinces, so i was stuck with them, so i tried to launch attacks on the picts for more money, but my king eventually died in battle and had underaged heirs, so the suffereing was put to an end, thankfully, i started a new campaign, witht he scots and doing everything opposite of this last one and im doing failry well