Worst off path Crusade ever!

**The Darkhorn** · 11-18-2005, 15:31

Hey guys, I've been devoting my time to reading in the Archives and found some old threads dealing with this topic. So, I'm opening it back up to vent some frustration!!

I've played 11 campaigns and know the Crusade movement rules and such. I don't believe it. I refuse to believe it. The computer CAN and DOES wander anywhere he wants to (within SOME reason) and leaves on his crusade whenever he darn well pleases.
I was playing as the French. A German crusade bound for somewhere in Holy Land (it's been a while) wandered into France and moved around, CHASING MY MAIN ARMY through EVERY SINGLE TERRITORY in France....that's not a misprint. I had tried to move out of it's way. (In several campaigns, I have done that only to have it illogically move right to where I moved my army) This lasted for 7-10 turns. It then wandered down into Spain all the way to Cordoba even and this took 10 turns or so. It then came back up into France and we repeated the previous dance for 7-10 years again.

It then went back through Germany to it's doom I guess.

player crusade

AI crusade

That's crazy. If there was some real reason....I sure couldn't figure it out. Supposedly you don't have to take the quickest route to your target, but think about how illogical that idea is. If that were true.....EVERY province that borders where your Crusade is one step closer to the target....just taking a longer route....(all right fellers, we're headed to Turkyland to kick some butt. We're gonna get on this here ship and sail from France to Cathay. Then we'll march to India and take a ship to London, where we'll march to Byzantium and sail to Stockholm. Then we'll march through Denmark, France and Spain...across Africa...from Palestine we'll sail to Venice and then march to Anatolia to fight!.....hope we're not all old men by the time we get there). Also, Crusades didn't take 30 years marching to the target. Historically, they lasted 3-5 years TOTAL. This is one reason I've always been in favor of a change to a 3 turn year (Spring, Summer, Winter....penalties to campaign in Winter.....except for GH which thrived in the Winter and historically campaigned pretty much only in the Winter) in any future version. One way the wandering Crusade problem could be helped is to have a Crusade end if it doesn't fight it's first battle within x number of years (about 5 should be fair).

I have NEVER had the movement options that the AI seems to have with it's Crusades. Only rarely is there even more than one choice of province to move to.

**miho** · 11-18-2005, 16:38

I've never seen that happen. What faction are you?

**The Darkhorn** · 11-18-2005, 16:50

Originally Posted by miho

I've never seen that happen. What faction are you?

I was playing as the French in my 2nd or 3rd campaign. It was also before I got VI.

**matteus the inbred** · 11-21-2005, 15:55

happens to me all the time too (see the thread 'arrrgh, i hate crusades!' by Cowhead 418) and is very annoying. you can get round the enforced route with YOUR crusades by shifting them by sea before you reach Byzantine turf and lose men through lack of Christian zeal, but short of refusing permission to enter your land (which at best gets you ex'comm'd for being aggressive and at worse gets you a war you didn't want as well) there doesn't seem to be anything you can do about AI crusades wandering aimlessly through your provinces and generally messing about instead of getting down to business against the heathen.

i suppose you can reduce zeal in your provinces by various means listed in the guides, to reduce troop losses, but i agree that AI crusades could have been better regulated. although part of the 'fun' of crusades is that they're rather unpredictable, and historically often got a bit 'sidetracked'...the Second Crusade attacked the nominally Christian-allied city of Damascus and the Fourth Crusade ended up sacking that well known Muslim enclave of, er, Constantinople.

**m52nickerson** · 11-21-2005, 22:45

Crusades tend to hang around Poland a lot also. Early in the game all you can do is move your troops away and hope it will move on quick. After about 1250 or so I normally start telling them they can't pass. Since no one ever helps me with the Horde, I get bitter.

**The Darkhorn** · 11-22-2005, 03:43

Originally Posted by m52nickerson

Crusades tend to hang around Poland a lot also. Early in the game all you can do is move your troops away and hope it will move on quick. After about 1250 or so I normally start telling them they can't pass. Since no one ever helps me with the Horde, I get bitter.

Of course not....that ungrateful Western rabble whom you are defending!