Quote Originally Posted by macsen rufus
Harking back to the "pope-on-a-rope" strategy, I've just reloaded that Genoese campaign (I was trying to load Hellenic TW but hit the wrong icon, then got sucked into an old game ) and have spotted a potential fly in the ointment. It seems each time a new Pope comes along, one of the existing units gets "elected". Which means, of course, that his support costs are decreasing (and so is the loyalty). The more Popes you burn or assassinate, the more likely he will get back into a positive cashflow and be able to start rebuilding or retraining. In this Genoese campaign, he now has an income of 250 or so, and support costs look to be around 180. Not a huge profit, but he may be able to save up for a watch tower and border fort, in which case my spy and assassin will have to get out PDQ. What I don't know, though, is how much debt he has to pay off from all those turns when the costs outstripped his income. Must be a fair packet... (I could check with -ian, I guess...) The other thing I don't get is why he hasn't assigned the governorship? He has some worthwhile candidates available, and being so cash-strapped you'd expect that to be a priority. But then the AI can do some dumb things with titles and offices (like the one-province factions that give the chancellor title to someone other than the governor, so the acumen boost is wasted).
Actually i'm not sure this is a serious flaw as after a re-emergence the papacy usually has so many usless units to support that it would take ages for them to get back in profit - this is why I always bottle them up after one re-emergence rather than right at the beginning.