How Do You Crusade?!!

[diotavelli]

If you do crusades for first time I suggest you Crusade Jerusalem wit full stack and then split some troops and/or hire mercenaries to get Acre.

My own suggestion would be to go for Tunis. In the case of most factions, it's closer. It has a smaller garrison. It is neighboured only by the Moors and their attention tends to be elsewhere for the most part; otherwise, there are only rebels in its vicinity.

A great tactic is to put two or three generals in a stack with a few makeweight units. Call a Crusade and recruit any good or cheap crusaders available. Jump on a boat and take Tunis. Leave a small garrison and take Cagliari on the return voyage. The whole thing should take less than 10 turns and you should end up with two or three highly chivalrous potential governors. Return these to your core territories and build up your key provinces.

I've found this to be the very best first crusade you can undertake if you're chasing a rapid and high return on investment.

EDIT: by taking Tunis, you'll have an excellent base to launch the careers of future cardinals, too. The Holy Land tends to be full of Imams and heretics which can hinder more than help you. Tunis is yours for the taking and those red hats will follow as sure as night follows day.