retraining & Crusading

[banick]

can someone please tell me what technology i need & what i need to but to be able to crusade & retrain troops

[Heidrek]

Crusades:

To Crusade, you need to build a Chapterhouse (church upgrade). Once you have a Chapterhouse, you can build Crusades from the units menu. costs 1000 Floring and takes 4 years, so it's quite an investment. Not all Catholic factions can build chapterhouses, so if you're playing the Danes for example you may not be able to crusade.

Once you've build the Crusade, grag it to the province you want to conquer with it. Must be non Catholic (or excommunicated catholic). Valid traget provinces will be highlighted once you're gragging the crusade around looking for a target.

Once you've selected the target, the pope will give you a price for him to support the crusade. You can't crusade without the popes support. I think if the pope is at war with the target faction or they are excommunicated, he'll back you for free. I got charged an extra 500 Florins once, but that's about it.

Once you have the popes support, the crusade will be announced and your crusade army with gain a bunch of units of different types, some of which you can't get any other way and kick some serious rear. Youu can load this crusade army up with as many units as you want - the is no 16 units, 960 man limit to the size of the stack.

From here on in, you can either move the crusade manually each turn until it gets to it's target or just grab it back to the trarget and it will find it's own way, picking up followers on the way. This is a great way to get rid of out of date units.

Retraining:

This is very simple. move the unit you want to retrain into a province that can build that unit. Once it is there, open that provinces unit building menu, the while it's open, select the stack with the unit you want to retrain and drag that unit into the unit building queue. the unit will disappear from the campaign map (important because it will not count towards the loyalty of that province any more - can make a big difference in rebellious provinces like Scottland) and show up in the build queue.

Retraining takes 1 year, no matter how long the original unit took to build (artillery units take 2 or more turns to build, but only 1 turn to retrain) and at the start of the next year you will have a fully manned unit which also has any weapon/armour upgrades the province can supply.

[banick]

Thanks a lot this explains everything i need to know.

Im in as the french & my friend told me you could just by a crusading cross from idse de france or the main province of the french but it didnt let me.

[Heidrek]

No sweat, there's a bunch of people way more knowledgeable that me in this place so it's good to ask. I'm learning a lot here as well.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
In addition to Heidrek's wonderful post, you can't crusade if you're excommed and you can't launch a second crusade before the current one is resolved. (You can train as many crusade markers as you wish though.) Provinces with higher zeal will contribute more units to your crusades. It's a good (and evil ) way of weakening your fellow catholic neighbours.
.

[Peasant Phill]

And a few notes on retraining:

- Retraining will give the unit armour and attack bonusses if the appropriote building are in the province. Regional valour bonusses and morale bonusses can't be added with retraining.

- You can't retrain your king, but he'll replenish his unit on his own. So, unfortionatly you can't tech up your king ones he is crowned.

- You can retrain your heir but be careful with that. If the old king dies when the heir is in the retraining cue, it is very likely that the game crashes in some way.

[seireikhaan]

.
In addition to Heidrek's wonderful post, you can't crusade if you're excommed and you can't launch a second crusade before the current one is resolved. (You can train as many crusade markers as you wish though.)
.

Actually, I've had exactly one exception to this. There was one time, and one time only, where, as the Spanish, the Pope let me launch two different crusades at the Almohods during the same time span. Not exactly common, certainly, but it is possible to get a second one going at the same time. I wouldn't exactly be counting on it, though.

[banick]

probably C i think

[banick]

no i dont think it is because i can move other troops in/out of Malta but not my crusade?

[caravel]

Pick up a normal stack, not the crusade, in Malta and see which provinces highlight. If Palestine does not highlight then check all of the sea zones again for enemy vessels and ensure that you have a ship in every connecting sea between the source and destination.