Why crusade???

[fester]

I've never bothered with crusades before, What are the pros and cons

[Joshwa]

You get influence if you succeed, and on GA you get GA points as well. You also get access to land that you wouldn't normally be able to get at, you can steal troops off other factions on the way there so you dont have to make them yourself. Cons, if the crusade fails you loose influence, which can set your empire into civil war if you're not careful

[Ludens]

I've never bothered with crusades before, What are the pros and cons

+If succesful, you king gains influence and the leading general gains piety.
+In GA mode, you gain GA points with it. (There is a bug that prevents this, but also a workaround. See one of the recent GA threads for this.)
+It allows you to cross neutral territory (and sometimes even hostile territory) without provoking a war.
+You get a free troops, more if zeal is high. These troop are often high quality (unless you get fanatics) and I also tend to get a free three star general to lead it. That said, these high-quality troops often come in small numbers, unles you mod the game. This also allows you to steal troops of enemy nations. Just make sure the zeal in their province is high by stationing an inquisitor there.
+Generals leading a crusade won't die of old age.

-You have to take one of your armies away, usually to a place on the other side of the map, and you can't use them again until they have captured their objective.
-If you take your king, there is a severe risk of revolt back home while he is away (the Ireland-effect).
-When in non-Christian or low zeal territory, Crusades tend to lose men fast through desertion.
-If you lose, your king will lose influence, and your troops are either lost or need to be ransomed.

[bretwalda]

I can only add one: you don't pay upkeep for the troops in your crusade...

[Budwise]

I personally like taking over a territory NEXT to yours with a crusade. But, unless you have thousands upon thousands of troops you just want to get rid of due to finance reasons, don't go marching to Palestine.

[antisocialmunky]

The infamous Early era Spanish Crusader Hop where you exterminate all the Muslims with crusades.

You can get a ridiculous amount of Order Foot Soldiers and Santiagos that nothing can stand in your way.

[yesdachi]

I sometimes use a crusade to attack an enemy I would normally attack just to gain the benefits (as mentioned by Ludens and others) of a successful crusade. Plus, its only $1,000 to make the marker and another $0-1,000 (depending on zeal) for the “permission” from the pope and you can usually get 3-4 good units out of the deal. I would say, why not crusade? Especially when it is a slam-dunk sure win situation.

[Ironside]

I can add that the king gains influence and piety with a successful crusade.

[Martok]

The infamous Early era Spanish Crusader Hop where you exterminate all the Muslims with crusades.

You can get a ridiculous amount of Order Foot Soldiers and Santiagos that nothing can stand in your way.

Yet another reason why I love the Spanish so much.

[Martok]

I can add that the king gains influence and piety with a successful crusade.

Yep, that's correct. Your king will often receive piety-related traits as well.

[Advo-san]

Yep, that's correct. Your king will often receive piety-related traits as well.

And may I add that your ruler's piety defines how fast you convert newly conquered lands... "truly pious" makes Palestine chanting Haaaalleluja in no time...

[antisocialmunky]

Every so often, the Pope will pay you 1000 florins for your services. Free crusades!

[English assassin]

Plus its something a bit different to do when you are bored. Wandering about other peoples empires depleting their troops is quite fun. The only thing is crusades lose troops so fast you want a sea route to your target and a "real" army actually to do the fighting when it gets there.

Is that cheesey? I guess so.

[Varangian Berserker]

Can Denmark Crusade? I wouldn't mind doing a Crusade against their traditional target of choice-Eastern Europe/Russia!

[Martok]

Can Denmark Crusade? I wouldn't mind doing a Crusade against their traditional target of choice-Eastern Europe/Russia!

Unfortunately, no they can't. They're one of 3 catholic factions (along with the Polish and Hungarians) who cannot crusade. I believe, however, that at least one of the fine fellows here at the Org created a mod that allows all catholic factions to crusade. For the life of me, though, I can't remember who it was. (I want to say Zarax, but that doesn't sound quite right.)

[bretwalda]

Unfortunately, no they can't. They're one of 3 catholic factions (along with the Polish and Hungarians) who cannot crusade. I believe, however, that at least one of the fine fellows here at the Org created a mod that allows all catholic factions to crusade. For the life of me, though, I can't remember who it was. (I want to say Zarax, but that doesn't sound quite right.)

It was me. (See my sig.) Version 1 does nothing but allows all catholic factions to crusade. To be able to crusade is imho both historically accurate and good gameplay-wise.

[Martok]

Thanks bretwalda. There you go, VB; go nuts!

[Mr White]

if the crusade has no goal anymore, does my king lose influence?

I set up a crusade against the Italians but they have just installed a puppet pope so they won't be excommunicated anymore. No more target => no more crusade => crusade defeated?

[antisocialmunky]

The crusade pops up in the provence of your's the crusaders are closest to.

[ah_dut]

The infamous Early era Spanish Crusader Hop where you exterminate all the Muslims with crusades.

You can get a ridiculous amount of Order Foot Soldiers and Santiagos that nothing can stand in your way.

Yes, I can still smell the cheese from that particular thing...

[Deus Ex]

if the crusade has no goal anymore, does my king lose influence?

I set up a crusade against the Italians but they have just installed a puppet pope so they won't be excommunicated anymore. No more target => no more crusade => crusade defeated?

I just had a situation similiar to this - playing sicilians/early/hard. The damn pope started a multigenernational war with me. I finally got rid of him and installed a puppet pope. Started building my crusade - when it was done building, it had to sit there UNTIL the real pope emerged, and then also until he ACCEPTED peace terms with me. Once we were no longer at war, I was able to send my crusade to Palestine (one hop - since I owned the seas).

so to answer your question - NO your crusade has not really started until the pope blesses it, and you pay for it (not the building cost, but the "donation" cost) THEN it is active.

If there is a puppet pope, or you are at war with the pope (and also if your target is allied with the pope or something like that) you can build a crusade marker - but cannot start your crusade until the REAL pope blesses it.

Hope that helps!

DE

EDIT: after I wrote this I re-read your note - you had already got the blessing of the pope and started your crusade on it's way?? Then the pope was killed? Hmmm - that's interesting. I would think they would still be a valid target for your crusade... let us know what you find out.