"Pope problems
Ah yes, that pesky Pope in Rome.
The only ways to avoid the Papal Excommunication and all it entails,
(rebellions, breaking of alliances, a Crusade being declared on YOU!), are to
either keep the Pope happy, or to simply play as a Muslim or Orthodox Faction.
The Pope is essentially kept happy if you dont go to war with other
non-excommunicated Catholic Factions. Going to war with the Muslims or the
orthodox dosn't bother him, though note that it may effect politics overall due
to any alliances in play.
The problem is that as a Catholic nation, your nearest neighbours, and thus your
best chances at expansion, are Catholic also. The only thing to really do is to
wait until one of them is excommunicated, then go to town on them, or to keep
any inter-catholic wars quite small. And if those Frenchies are just asking for
a good war, wait untill the pope is old, (45ish and up), so when you do get
excommunicated, he'll be dead in a few years and all excommunications are voided
anyway.
If another catholic faction declares war on you, don't go on the offensive, just
hold your provinces and wait for the attacker to get excommunicated. Note: if an
attacking catholic faction takes your province but you still hold the castle,
you can retake it without problems from the pope. BUT, if the keep is lost also,
and you retake the province, the pope will deem it as Catholic on Catholic
attacking, regardless of the fact that a catholic just took the bloody province
of you in the first place. You'll get the ole "withdraw in two years and dont
attack for ten" line.
And lastly, if you just cant stand the Pope and his meddling, simply go to war
with HIM, and take his lands. The Pope will then be a puppet of your imperial
power, so drinks all round. But if you do this, do it fast, because in a few
turns, the pope will declare a crusade on your faction." - Spud
"Even when attacking a province I try to use the high ground, march your
troops up there and lure the enemy by sending some cavalry in and withdrawing,
they usually follow, may take a bit more taunting, and you have the advantage.
When faced with a bridge defence dont just put your spearmen up front assuming
the enemy cavalry is coming first, if elite troops storm it your spearmen will
crumble, always get a set of spearmen and elite troops on the left and right
sides and wait to see what comes over first." - knight of the kitchen table
