Sorry for the lack of response, haven't been able to think of anything to say.

Quote Originally Posted by Martok
Not in my experience, but that doesn't necessarily mean much. When I take out the Pope and occupy his lands, he usually continues to re-emerge about once every decade, regardless of how many times I put him down. This means little, however, as I usually save conquering the Papacy for last.
I originally crushed him because he was between me and the Italians, and I needed a second front besides the Croatia-Venice invasion route (I lacked ships at that point).
I keep him down because I discovered that w/o a Pope in Rome, Catholics can't even build Crusades let alone launch them, and I hold the Big Four Crusade Targets(BFCT?). The occasional attack is worth it, and the governor of Naples is now my only non-Kataphraktoi 9-star.

Quote Originally Posted by Martok
The AI automatically tries to pair its armies with yours. What I prefer to do is keep just modest-sized garrisons on my borders, and then station a more powerful army just a little inwards of my empire. I find that a good size for my border garrisons is approximately 300-400 men--it's large enough to deter invasions, but not so large that the other factions feel compelled to place large stacks next to your territory.
I'll remember that for the future, but reducing the border garrisons now would just be inviting invasion. Now then...

1. How do I deliberately incite a rebellion in one of my own provinces? Franconia won't rebel despite having very high taxes, no buildings and no garrison. The French don't seem to be interested in taking it either.

2. Is the Golden Horde supposed to suck that much?
Picture this: Khazar's Fortress filled to capacity with Varangians. 11,000 or so Mongols camped outside. Mongols assault Fortress. Autocalc Result - Varangians lose about half their number, 9,000+ dead Mongols and the Horde ceases to be a serious threat.

3. When I tried to fight the above battle personally, the GH used mortars to break the castle walls and then just sat there until the timer ran out.

4. Am I the only one who enjoys charging a unit of V.Guard into a unit of enemy Peasants? Yes it's a waste of their abilities, but it's just so much fun to watch. The Peasant unit just... melts.

5. Are you the Official Forum Knower of all things Medieval?