Is there really a purpose to Crusading when playing on World Conq. mode?

[CrossLOPER]

For me crusading is a great way at the beginning of the game of getting unique troops and conquering some territories, like those in the north-vest of Africa (Morocco , Algeria) for their resources..

I'd actually rather stay as far away as possible from anything the Spainish might want. Althought I find that it's fully possible to stick a large, weak, hard-to-control, and economically draining army in the middle of an underdeveloped province and hold it, I'd rather build up the main part of my empire before spreading out.

I like the challenge, though...

[Matador]

I would say the best advantage to crusades is some of the units you get (order foot soldiers, knights hospiteller, etc.) However I have heard that if your crusade fails then you will actually lose influence. I don't know for sure though because I usally get excommunicated pretty quick so then I have to crush the papacy.

[Arciel]

Frankly speaking, I can't seem to really like crusades, whether I launched or it was launched at me. Grabbing hold of a territory in the early game via a crusade puts me in an unwanted war against the AI. Even if I do manage to take the territory, I won't be able to hold it for long. Oh and the fact that having a failed crusade loses your king an influence point and might also possibly lead to civil war doesn't maki it any better...(if it happened to a hostile country, then it is a heavenly gift indeed)

[wizardrj]

Sorry, but I have to disagree !

Crusades is the best way to expand your empire, build up influence and stay on friendly terms with your neighbours. Ohh and did I mention the nice troops you can get your hands on ;-)

Crusades are at their most deadly in Early campaigns, due to the Chivalric-like crusaderknights, combined with Order-foot they rule in the early world.

Crusades are also the only option of you play a faction with no easy rebel neighbours to attack.

So for France, HRE, Italy, Sicily, and the like, Crusades can get you an empire without straining relations with your powerfull neighbours.

And often more important, you wont get the pope to excom. you !!!
Sometimes he even gives you a great big pile of cash !!!!

[Ciaran]

The problem is, as the HRE you can hardly spare the troops for a crusade, especially in the early era (that applies to the other factions you mentioned as well, but the HRE´s situation is most extreme). Plus, the HRE especially will have to march a crusade overland for the biggest part of it, as the HRE has no ready access to the Mediterrean, and building a ship line all through the Northern Sea and the Atlantic takes a lot time. Chances are you´ll have reached High era before you´re reasonably well off enough to launch a Crusade.

[CountMRVHS]

It's certainly more worth it to crusade from northwest Europe. As the HRE, you only really have the chance to go through one other catholic faction's lands -- usually Hungary. And while that can net you some HAs and Szekely, it likely won't be enough to sustain your crusade as you move through the Byzantine's lands and start to *lose* troops. Your only option, then, as the HRE, is to build up troops of your own to drop in your crusade -- preferably lots of archers and militia sergeants. But that's time-consuming and expensive.

I've had great luck crusading as the French in my early/expert/GA game. My starting point is Ile de France, and I've launched 3 successful crusades: Edessa (for an early foothold in the region), Tripoli (for the Krak objective), and Palestine (for the points). Antioch I captured without a crusade as there wasn't time and I needed it for my homelands. But the point is, on each of those crusades, I got *plenty* of troops as I marched through the HRE's lands, then Hungary's. So by the time I arrived in Byzantine lands I had in the neighborhood of 1700-2000 men, and was able to easily handle the Turks and Egyptians who tried to get their lands back. Because I started so far away and was able to move through some nice Catholic lands with decent zeal, I hardly had to build up troops for my crusades at all.

The first Crusade province you take is always the hardest (unless you're crusading to a neighboring province). I've had crusades end pretty badly as the French in the past, so you need to watch out for the Turks/Egyptians trying to reclaim what you just grabbed from them. Probably the single most important unit you can bring on crusade, at least in early, is the humble Archer. If you face the Turks, these guys will be your only hope against their hordes of HAs. If you face the Egyptians, they'll easily shoot down the hordes of Bedouins and Peasants.

One thing to add I hadn't seen mentioned in this thread: since you don't pay upkeep for troops in a crusade, be sure to stock up on plenty of fancy, expensive mercs before you go! Leave the siege equipment at home, though: you'll likely lose a bunch of men from the unit, making your catapult or whatever useless, and if they're mercs you won't be able to merge them into a larger unit.


CountMRVHS

[Brother Mark]

I find Crusades are worthwile early on in a conquest game and become decreasingly worth while as the game moves on.

Initially you get cheap access to some useful troop types - including mounted units which are generally in short supply in the early game. They also let you strike out at lands that are not adjacent to your own, which is useful for Catholic factions surrounded by other Catholic factions.
Later on the troop types become less useful as you become able to train superior units and your maritime network allows amphibious assaults.