how to join Crusades

[wazuup]

kinda a noob question... i just started to play and i got a message from the pope to take part of a crusade and to build an army.
well i thought to build a large army and just wait until what happens next, so wen a few turns later it says i faild to join to crusade and that stuff...
¿my question is how to join a crusade, is there a button to it or something?

[SOE digital]

Yeah, you do it via your generals. Click on your general of the army and if he is religious enough then there should be a button down the bottom of the generals info page that allows you to join.
It's all in the manual.

[Antissa]

I doubt Piety ratings have anything to do with the requirements to join the Crusade.

If I'm correct about this, if you have several units (8+) under the command of your general, there should be a "Join Crusades" button on the list after you right click on his portrait.

EDIT:From TWC's FAQ

How do I join a crusade?

Once the Pope has called for a crusade, whether it was requested by your faction or another faction, you are able to join it.To join the crusade you must have an army with more than 8 units in it. Once you do, select that army and press the "Join Crusade" button.That army will now become a crusading army and you are now able to recruit crusader mercanaries to swell it's ranks. Be warned though, if the crusade doesn't move fast enough it will run out of men due to desertion.

[Monsieur Alphonse]

The army should be at least 8 units; a general and seven units. Piety has nothing to do with it.

Some advise:
Make sure your crusading army travels in a straight way to its target and always uses it moving points or the army starts to desert. The fastest way is to travel by boat, but that can be dangerous if you meet enemy ships. If you are playing England or Scotland, sailing around the Iberian peninsula isn't a straight line. Soldiers will jump overboard and swim home

[loquar]

Tip for those that dont know (i'm sure most do) if you are about to win a crusade by taking the objective, as long as it is within the time limits for the "join crusade " mission join all of your available armies to the crusade.

A general with some troops in a city just needs to step outside, join crusade and step back inside etc.

Then take the objective and all your crusading units get a chevron and you get extra money and extra points towards knights chapter houses. Also often your generals gain chivalry/lose dread as they join.

It can work when another catholic faction is about to take the objective too (sieged it the turn before normally) but it involves the end turn and that is a slightly unknown variable as sometimes the sieging army can be attacked etc

[Samir]

Also often your generals gain chivalry/lose dread as they join.

which is my personal main problem with crusades and the reason I rarely join any...

Nothing worse than to have a general who by just entering the battlefield, sends half the enemy army fleeing and who is more or less the boogy man himself suddenly starts crying like a baby and even enemy peasants start laughing...

[N3rull]

Sailing as a Crusading Army is not as dangerous as it would seem, because Crusaders get special Mercenaries available, among them Mercenary Cogs for 200florins only. Just make a 3-round march along a coastline and you have a nice little Armada sailing along for basically no recruitment cost.

Also, when thinking of Crusades, keep in mind one thing that results from the following:
- All crusading units cost no upkeep.
- You get to recruit multiple powerful mercenaries (e.g. Unhorsed Knights or Crusader Knights) for nearly nothing who cost no upkeep as long as you're crusading.
- Crusade targets are typically Antioch and Jerusalem. They're muslim and highly populated Cities, which means - you'll need to send there a number of priests or have a huge garrison to make the population somewhat content. Otherwise, they'll try to rebel all the time.
- Crusade targets are in a muslim-dominated region of the middle east, where Mongols show up and where the Nation you took the city from is at War with you. Nobody likes you there, and you'll need a lot of units to hold your ground in the region.

However, when you DO win the Crusade, all your former no-upkeep units become adequate to normal units in their upkeep costs! The cheap and powerful Unhorsed Knights (16/23) begin to suck away a solid 275 (methinks) florins aech turn.
So the point is - WINNING A CRUSADE WILL COST YOU DEARLY IN CA$H, be prepared for it. In my first game as english I had +4000 florins each turn during the Crusade. Once it ended, the profits shifted to losses - I started losing 4000 florins each turn on the upkeep costs. And that's when mongols came up...

[loquar]

I had none of those troubles I make loads of cash in a crusade. I dont recruit extra units for the crusade at all, just take my normal stack in as fast as possible, take the objective, destroy all the destroyable buildings and gift away the settlement.

Often this makes me 20K plus in money, over 100 units with an exp bonus and if i gift the place to the pope I get perfect papal relations.

Current campaign as the french the first crusade was against the moors in tunis and the second was on rome after the sicilians took it off the pope.

I kept tunis as a bridgehead in africa and gifted rome back to the pope after asset stripping it totally.

I took both and reaped absolutely massive rewards. I am the only one with perfect papal approval and intend to "spend" my crosses attacking catholics

[N3rull]

Somehow I always thought that taking *and holding* the target settlement is the better idea, for the sake of future expansion. But yeah, you can gift it away to... make the whole voyage kinda synthetic.
It is a way out though.

[Bob The Fearless]

I totally agree with N3rull's first reply, be careful with financies because when you win, and I wasn't expecting to the army is back on your payroll.

I was crusading and making 4K+ (just) per turn now I'm just scrapping 280.

Looks like the town will rebell P.O stands at 45 witha very red face.

Hopefully have a tip when moving by forces by boat.

Don't just click on the edge of the movement zone because you don't know what lies between you and that point.

Instead use a series of clicks, each time moving to just inside your field of view limit, if you see what I mean. If there are any other fleets around then hopefully you will spot them in advance and can take avoiding action.

[pwijnands]

Good tip. I always hate it when my navy runs into another navy and I have to fight them or face desertion due to the zone of control of the enemy/neutral navy.