defectastic

**Tezel** · 02-20-2007, 15:21

quick question....

I have a crusade going as milan to antioch....I jumped on a ship under venice and headed around the balkans....as I went around the greek penisula I starte loosing troops cuz it was taking too long(we had been crusading a whle like 3 turns at this point...so I dropped off my troops in the balkans figureing the slight curve of the land around greece was the cause(going slightly away from antioch), going cross country I would jump on my ships on the other side of the balkans/greece and sail right to antioch....well, my troops keep defecting, is this a snowball effect, that once it starts it continues? I have been going in a straight line since I landed inthe balkans.....

any help or ideas would be appreciated...I had a scottish army go straight there with no defectoins, just took a LONG time, so wondering if anyone had any thoughts.....

thanks...

**Kraggenmor** · 02-20-2007, 15:42

I'll admit upfront that I don't know all the factors that go into deciding when, how many, and for how long desertions go on. All I know for sure is what the game says, taking a long time to get there will lead to desertions.

With that said, I've had crusade armies make very long treks to the holy land without desertions and I've had defections start the very turn after joining the crusade.

I would suppose the piety, and possibly chivlary, of the crusading general have an effect.

I don't know that it matters but, I've started putting at least one priest and at least one spy in my crusading armies, so as to have them readily available to begin preaching Catholocism, possibly opening the gates, and to have them there to help secure th city if I decide to keep it.

You 'should' be able to replace your losses by buying crusade mercanaries - assuming you can afford to and assuming that wouldn't make your crusading army too weak to accomplish it's goal.

**AlphaDelta1** · 02-20-2007, 15:48

The really annoying thing is that the AI doesnt suffer desertions half as often as the player does. Many times playing as the Byzantines, Turks or Egyptians, I have blocked the land bridges around constantinople, preventing the crusading armies from crossing into Asia minor. Many times I've seen these stacks sit there staring at my fleets for 10-15 turns without suffering from desertions.

A mod to even things up would be very nice.

Cheers

**Lacessit** · 02-20-2007, 21:25

Hello all, been reading these forums for about two years now, never felt brave enough to try and contribute. Till now, obviously!

Originally Posted by AlphaDelta1

I've seen these stacks sit there staring at my fleets for 10-15 turns without suffering from desertions.

And the reason for my very first post is this, I really wanted to tell you about this French crusading stack that just *sat*¨there for over fifty turns, blocking the land bridge to my capital Venice. No way out of my best city... It was extremely annoying, seeing how you can't attack crusader armies without being severely punished as a Catholic. AND I had just married my king off to a French princess. Every time I wanted to move someone out of Venice (and let me tell you, a LOT of family members spawned there) I had to get a (preferably strong) navy-stack out of the mediterenean to get them out. The guy "leading" the Crusade (more like ally-harassing field-trip) went from family member to crown prince to King of France in the time he spent sitting on my Venice Beach. Probably drinking the medieval equivalent of Pina Coladas.

It nearly was a relief when I was excommunicated and felt morally free (and certainly obliged!) to whack the idiots.

And all this wouldn't hurt just that bad, if MY crusading force didn't just decide to call it a day after being holed up in Hungarian castle for one turn.

Oh, and absolutely love the game to pieces btw, just thought I'd mention that too. ;)

**Microwavegerbil** · 02-20-2007, 22:11

Lol Lacessit, that's a pretty funny story, and impressive that you had the patience to let the idiot stay there!

On to my worst ever case of desertion, as the Scots I formed a Crusade with my only large army, lead by my faction heir, only to have every single unit in the army besides my heir defect the very next turn!