Quote Originally Posted by Insane834
I always do the popes whims, well always apart from crusades, why would i weaken my borders to pay for a load of men who will abandon me the second i make them join the crusade, it happened mainly when i was within reach of the destination, and my army got completely destroyed by an Egyptian Horse archer unit, and those stupid archers
I would very much like to offer my advice on crusading effectively. If you use it properly, the crusade/jihad function can spawn a horde of troops ten or a hundred times larger than what you can currently afford as a standing army.

Why would you need that many troops? Answer: To crush the entire world in a few short turns.