Raiding, why didn't anyone tell me!

[Renco]

I only just found out how awesome raiding is. As Moors I had taken Tunis at teh start of the game (go Jihads) and Scicily was annoyed. At turn 30 they attacked, starting war. I was still finishing off Spain in Iberia and fending off invasions from England (who had backstabbed me) and France (again, backstabbed) and Milan was at my coast in boats. So, I decided I couldn't conquer Scicily just yet and I needed money, so I decided to set them back a bit. Beat the Tunis army, then sent invaders to Caligri, Ajacco, palmero (?), Naples. Sack, destroy all buildings, high tax, revolt. Then I took Rome and Florence, again, raiding as I went (Papal States were already at war, through no fault of mine!) Finnally my horse/camel men fell in a sea of crossbow fire from Milan. They then swept down and took most of Italy. Long story short I averaged about 30,000 a city after all was done. I easily outrpoduced England, France and Spain and now have considerably chunks of their land. I have since made peace with Milan and we are now the dominant northern and southern powers. Mongols have the East.

In summary, if you find yourself strapt for cash, loot, pillage and plunder. Island towns are rarely defended by more than 3 units.

EDIT: By 'They then swept down and took most of Italy' I meant Milan.

[SGD2C]

i used to do this as england. i went on a crusade and ended up sacking EVERYTHING in the area. it helped me fund my wars in europe against france, HRE, denmark, milan, and spain.

[finsternis]

While playing the Teutonic Campaign, I did the same. I couldn't defeat Novgorod and I needed money. So I started raiding the towns and cities on the border with Novgorod. It slowed down their attacks by a bunch.

[craziii]

if you are a catholic faction, killing + sacking will improve your relations with the pope as a very good added side affect.

[antaeus]

its a great thing.

its really good against the mongols/timurids.

capture cyprus and rhodes.. from there you can raid the entire eastern med at will.

my personal; favourite is capturing cities and giving them back to the turks or egypt. cashing in, and enabling those factions to survive the mongols.

something else i like to do.. is live by the philosophy that its better to fight on their land than my own. so i send raiding armies deep into enemy lands to destroy their forces before they join into larger armies. after time these raiding armies need reinforcements so i just get mercs. can be great fun.

[Kratos]

Yeah, it's great fun. Just send an army deep behind enemy lines and watch them wreck havoc.