Crusades a question

[LoboSoulman]

As the spanish i launched a crusade against the egyptians which was succesful. Then i launched another crusade and found this time my army couldnt move where it wanted to.
Before i went through lands cotrolled by the english and italians etc but this time although i was right next to these lands the option to move through them wasnt there?
Why is this? Why cant you move your crusader army where u like?

[Kommodus]

I think you can only move a crusade to a province that gets you closer to its target province. Note that by "closer" I do not necessarily mean geographically closer, but rather a shorter number of moves away.

For example, let's say I have a crusader army in Aragon, aimed for Palestine. Now, one possible way to move would be up through Toulouse and along the Mediterranean coast. However, if there's a port in Aragon, and an unbroken line of friendly/allied ships leading from there to Palestine, the crusade could get to Palestine in one move. If this is the case, the crusade will only be allowed to move to Palestine, and not to Toulouse.

The purpose of this rule is to prevent crusades from wandering around indefinately, soaking up troops. They have a goal, and must reach it at some point in time, or die in the attempt. You'll be glad for this when the AI factions launch crusades - it's annoying enough when they march through your land and take some of your best troops.

[LoboSoulman]

Thanks that could be it, the english have soaked up my troops with a crusade and then invaded the same province next turn before.
I will launch another crusade and see.

[dgfred]

That is good to know about the line of ships . I will try from now on to
have my line of ships 'almost' connected, so I will be able to soak up a few
more troops before my trip . Those ship lines can get
tricky .

[bretwalda]

That is good to know about the line of ships . I will try from now on to
have my line of ships 'almost' connected, so I will be able to soak up a few
more troops before my trip . Those ship lines can get
tricky .

Make sure that there is no ship of yours (or in matter of fact of your allies) in the sea region of your crusade's residing province. In other words remove the ship where your crusade in the next turn will be...

[LoboSoulman]

Strange this time launching a crusade from algeria to syria it only let me go through where the novogood (or what ever) people are. Bizzare.

[dgfred]

The point reward system is really tough and the AI is pretty
slick about NOT cooperating.
Playing last night I tried a little test: I captured Palestine with a Crusade and
then pulled out most of the troops there into Sinai so I could gain the points
by falling back into the castle . Not only would the Egyptians NOT attack
the lone troop of peasants in Palestine- but they attacked the strong forces
in Sinai (and retreated) and did not EVER attack into Palestine. The year
was 1195 and it sure did seem the AI was waiting for 1204 and the point
count to be over. What do you guys think? Is the AI that ???

[EatYerGreens]

The year was 1195 and it sure did seem the AI was waiting for 1204 and the point count to be over. What do you guys think? Is the AI that ???

I don't quite understand why you wanted Egypt to attack you in Palestine. What's to be gained (by you) by retreating to the castle? Is that one of the conditions for getting the GA points?

Or is it a case of you want to re-win the province but in the 'right' year?

I've not done GA yet, so I don't know what the conditions are for you to get the points. However, I assume that the AI is programmed to know what your faction goals are and therefore how to stop you achieving them.

Isn't it sufficient to just take Palestine at a convenient time and then make sure you still hold it in the points year? The trouble is, you can never tell how long a given siege is going to last, so you will always have to attack a few years in advance of the target year, to ensure the siege is properly over by the right time.

[Don Corleone]

He didn't say it, but I think he took Palestine without an actual crusade. That means you don't get the Crusader points. The Crusade has to be in the province when it's castle falls. If it's not, you just get the province, you don't get the crusader points. I believe he was hoping Egypt would attack so he could crusade against their encamped siege force. I'm not certain if using a crusade to break a siege would count or not, as I've never done it.

[EatYerGreens]

That makes sense.

I think it'll need very careful reading of the points conditions to work this out.

If the province must be held, in 1204, by an active crusade marker then it's going to be very tricky to get the timing right and it will largely depend on how well developed the fort/castle in the province is at the time. That is largely outside of your control for as long as it stays in enemy hands.

A Crusade marker reverts to a conventional troop stack, as soon as it's won the battle and the ensuing siege so, if you win a year or two too early and the conditions require the Crusade marker, then you won't get the points.

If the condition is more simple: "win the province by means of a crusade but ensure it is still held in 1204, with no loss of control in the intervening years" then that is easier to achieve.

At least it is for the player. How the game is able to keep track of the exact sequence of events when post-victory troop moves in and out are going on is harder to imagine.

[Marquis de Said]

For you to get the Crusade GA points, you need to capture the provinces with a crusade between 1087 and 1204. You can only get those points once, so if you lose the province, you lose the points, but if you again retake the province with a crusade, you will regain the points.

A lot of the in-game texts are quite misleading or unclear. The best way be sure about things with MTW is trial and error and reading the experiences of others on this forum, for example.

[dgfred]

No, I have experienced it and read about it here and on the 'other' forum.
There is some kind of, I guess bug with the GA pts for Crusades .
I took Palestine with a Crusade, the game told me I had completed the
assignment but NO pts were awarded. What I did was send my now free
units (except for about 400 to fit in the castle) into Sinai and captured
that without a fight. After a couple of turns , Egyptian 'rebels'
appeared in Palestine and I picked to retreat to the castle. After the end-
turn trumpets played and it told me I had completed the Crusade--Pts were
then awarded . Next turn I attacked Palestine with my ex-Crusaders and
a couple of stacks coming from my HRE empire. The new/rebel/Egyptians
retreated and I had Palestine back plus I sent another Crusade at the same
time into Tripoli . Next turn Egyptians attacked from Antioch and I did the same retreat/counter-attack move and got the pts for it. Kind of hard
to explain but it is the only way I have found to get the points .
I only play GA by the way because I'm not really into world conquest, but
that is just me--- I have to have my empire 'just so' .

[EatYerGreens]

@dgfred

I think I read somewehre that you can complete the mission at any time between 1987 and 1204 but the points themselves aren't awarded until 1204 comes around. I think the conditions mean that losing the province, between the year of conquest and the assessment year, means you lose the points. It therefore seems that timing is everything!

[dgfred]

@dgfred

I think I read somewehre that you can complete the mission at any time between 1987 and 1204 but the points themselves aren't awarded until 1204 comes around. I think the conditions mean that losing the province, between the year of conquest and the assessment year, means you lose the points. It therefore seems that timing is everything!

No, I have experimented several times with this and I have received the pts
once I retreated to the castle. I just had to make sure that my ship routes
were still open and I had extra troops to retake the province the next turn
before the enemy had a chance to attack the castle. I still hold the province
thereafter but it is difficult to keep enough troops available to hold indefinately with 3 or 4 factions lusting over Antioch . But you are
right about the timing being everything anyway. I have to have about 4
crusades ready before I begin and it is usually late in the time frame .