Wrapped up my second run. My most obvious mistake in run 1 was sacking Jerusalem for cash, so in run 2 I determined to sack, well, everything else between me and England for cash. I sacked my way from Sicily to Bruges with my King and Prince, and actually sent poor Henry delving into Germany's rich, juicy center for cash. I probably went overboard there, but it added fun, and I don't *think* it cost me any turns.

The middle east went more or less as before, crushing foolish Egyptians, building churchs and population adders until I could put up a Cathedral. I got the chance to upgrade Jerusalem's city size a turn earlier than I expected, so I ended up in quite a crunch to get England conquered (My King had turned aside to sack Paris along the way). I managed it, throwing off a stubborn Spanish siege at Caernarvon on the turn that the Cathedral finished, in 1162.

If you haven't tried this challenge, you should. I enjoyed having a goal other than dismantling the AI. Figuring out which family member would work best in Jerusalem, and the number of turns to get the population up, etc. adds an more stimulating mental angle too.

My best battles in this one were in England at the end, when I had to fight the vastly superior garrisons at Nottingham and London, not to mention Spanish and Danish attacks, with crude militia troops and battered mercs. I had a thread where I tried to reconcile with the Pope after sacking Rome, but he wanted the friggin' moon (20k florins and three cities, including Rome, wasn't enough) so I ditched the whole idea of diplomacy. I also gave the AI a shot at jumping the population up, but it was faster to do it myself while building the lower churches IMHO.

I think it could be done 2 turns faster, but it would require some luck to get the population numbers climbing earlier.