See Naples and die!!

[Vladimir]

Use the re-emergences to groom your heirs. Just make sure you have at least a whole army within striking distance of Rome. Bring plenty of horses kill the Pope at all costs! After that it’s easy to get all those 0 valor troops to run and you’ll need the horses. Butcher virtue here I come.

[King Kurt]

By the way - does anybody know if the Pope keeps coming back?

[Deus ret.]

oh yes he does. you might indeed overcome the first reappearance; if he is vanquished anew, he'll soon turn up again, this time with a much larger force; but even if you manage to hack yourself through this throng of troops, the situation won't be quiet for long since the Pope, like some kind of annoying ghost, is doomed to re-appear eternally, each time with more minions around him.

(just FYI, I somehow also quelled the third re-appearance in due time, laying my economy and the number of my capable generals to ruins in the process, only to witness a fourth appearance somewhat later when I had just begun to recover from the losses of the third. and this fourth reappearance....the province space on the camp map was absolutely crammed with full stacks and still more seemed to be there. The Horde was a pathetic bunch of scattered troops compared to this onslaught. I finally gave up in the face of this one, since it had become late period by then and the Pope's troops, innumerable as they were, had enjoyed a sizeable quality bonus with the change of the periods.....after that campaign (which I had already won anyway) I reached the conclusion that it's best to conquer Rome and let the Pope and the rest of his troops starve in the Papal States. Believe me...)

edit: thinking of it, Vladimir's method seems to be a good way to get rid of this bothering Pope. Park a good army with a capable general in Rome and kill the Pope who will inevitably be in the first wave in their attack, when there are still 16 vs 16 units on the field. as long as they appear in no other region than Rome (which never happened in my experience), they will immediately perish again after the battle.

[Mithrandir]

It'd be cheaper to just assasinate him time and time again I think...

[Vladimir]

Aww, but then you don't have the thrill of crushing the Papist menace. As the Venetians I've kept the Pope in Check for 100's of years. Just don't station a large amount of troops in Rome or the Papal states and his army won't be more than 3-4,000. I've also noticed that in the later years the reemergences don't keep pace with technology. Just don't build any military improvements there and you'll be fine. Stick to economic and administrative improvements and you'll be fine. It hardly ever rains in Rome and there are some decent hills for defense, but your poor horses will get a workout.

Edit: It's also a good way to "force" an assault once you've built up your fortress. Loads of fun.

[The Wizard]

Build fleets, many great fleets. Just like in history, Sicily's dominance relies on its control of the seas. Make sure neither the Italians nor the Byzantines are a danger, and lord it over anyone who dares to oppose that thought.

As far as conquest goes, Sicily is best suited to using your naval dominance to grab whatever good province you can if a good opportunity presents itself. From these beginnings on the mainland you can start expanding your empire. If it fails you can always retreat and fall back onto your fleet.

In conclusion: rely on your position geographically. Dominate the seas, and think from that point of view. So long as Sicily can cut the Mediterranean in two it can't lose.

[Martok]

King Kurt: My advice? Wipe out the Italians, and any other Catholic faction that's irritating you. Since the Pope's dead, you can't be excommunicated; and you can't Crusade, so you might as well use this time to make war on your fellow Catholics.


Things have taken an interesting turn in my Sicilian campaign. I was almost ready to launch my Crusade to Palestine, when two extraordinary things happened:

1.) The Byzantines actually rode to the Fatamids' aid in Lesser Armenia and raised the siege!
2.) Immediately following their defeat by the combined Byz/Eggie army, the Seljuks fell into civil war.

As a result of this, the map of the Levant has been suddenly and radically redrawn. My Crusades to both Palestine and Tripoli were successful, and Roger II has suddenly made a name for himself among the great leaders of Europe and the Near East (he's at 9 Influence now; woot!). The Seljuks still have Egypt, Sanai, Rum, and (ironically enough) Lesser Armenia--a loyalist rebellion drove out the Fatamids. With the exception of Lesser Armenia, many of the Seljuk-occupied territories have returned to the Fatamids' rule; the Eggies now hold Edessa, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Arabia.

Finally, in a surprising show of aggression, the Byzantines siezed both Antioch and Armenia (from the Turks). Sadly, this campaign turned out to be Alexios Comnenus' last, as he died 2 years later. The Sicilians joined their Orthodox brothers in mourning his passing; he was truly a great man, and left the Empire stronger and in a better position than when he first took the throne. The Greeks are now led by Alexios II, and he shows every indication of being just as able a leader as his father was.

I look forward to working with him in the years that are to come, as there is still much work to do. The Turks have been dealt a great loss, yes; but they are hardly destroyed. With Egypt and Rum in their hands, they can easily begin amassing wealth with which they can rebuild their army. My navy is already patrolling the eastern Med in force, and am sinking any of their ships that leave harbor, but it is not enough. I have begun preparing an invasion of Egypt and the Sanai peninsula....