Any use for Cardinals?

[Martok]

Martok, are you sure that bishops don't stop inquisitors? I have never researched, but mainly took it on faith because some else posted it and my cardinals also seem to slow them down.

Hang on here, I'll double-check.... Well it says right in the manual that *both* bishops and cardinals can help keep an inquisitor from getting out of control, so it would indeed appear that my earlier post was incorrect. (And no, I don't know how the idea that bishops couldn't do that got stuck in my head.) Even assuming the manual is correct, though, I still don't think bishops are nearly as good at counteracting inquisitors as cardinals are. In a few early games from when I started playing MTW over three years ago, I know I would spam my provinces with multiple bishops in an attempt to prevent nearby inquisitors (both other factions' and my own) from going overboard. They never seemed to make much of a dent, however. Only if I sent in a cardinal or two would things truly calm down.

So at least in my experience, a single cardinal is more effective than a handful of bishops--not to mention more cost-effective. It's been a *loooong* time since I've even tried using bishops for that purpose, though; so it could be that I just have a selective memory, and that bishops might work just fine. I just know that given how ineffective they seemed to be at the time, I long ago started using the tactic of cranking out as many cardinals as I possibly could (in place of bishops).

Incidentally, the Muslim equivalent of the Cardinal, the Imam, increases zeal in Muslim provinces. Though this is not as important as for a Crusades (as Jihads are more limited in their targets), it is still nice for generating some extra Janisaries.

I agree, Imams rule! Nothing like sending a few of them out to whip up the Faithful into a frenzy and take back what Allah wills me to have.