Carrocio standard/Holy Cross

[Exarch]

who the heck uses these useless units?
and how the heck do u use them?
if it's the morale factor, i jsut have my spearmen and park my general behind them.

[RollingWave]

they look really cool

my question though, does the moral effect only work when it's guards are holding them? or can they just park it near the main line and join the fight?

[Exarch]

usually i order my carrocio standardto attack which they duly do...abandoning the standard.
if it were real life, they'd all be dead for abandoning the standard.

[Theseus1234]

holy crosses and standards make your nearby units virtually unroutable, which would be pretty handy in an outnumbered battle

these units are a must

[townie33]

to get the full effect put them directly in the middle of your infantry line. The actual soldiers are armored sergents and can stand up to just about anything. The effect the standard has is like having a second general on the field of battle. Its similar to the eagle standards carried by the legions in rome tw i do believe.

[Surgeon]

The Carrocio Standard is a pain because for some reason it's considered to be your most powerful unit. Thus when you get one of those missions that says "Do this and you'll be rewarded some whoopass units" and you complete it, you get six Carrocios at your capital. WHOOP-DEE-FREAKING-DOO.

However, I do keep one in every city and usually try to cart one around with my armies. In cities/castles I usually park it in the city square and send the crew to hold the gate. Sometimes in fortresses or citadels I plop the standard right in front of the second/third gate to block the way for rams.

The crew are pretty powerful and always fight to the death so they're kind of cool that way. Lots of inspiration for the other troops, too.

[Cmdr_Sdxo]

How do you get the Holy Cross? I've gone on a lot of crusades but never gotten one... Can only certain factions get that?

[Jolle]

As far as I know you can only recruit the holy cross in italy.

[Old_Scratch]

The standards are great, especially since the Italian factions have big morale problems. I try to always include one, especially in late period armies since a lot of muskets can pretty much mass rout an Italian army from range. Also, you can defeat larger armies just on the fact that your men will pretty much never flee.

[townie33]

the holy cross is only recruitable in the rome region which for many factions is out of the way but if you do get the chance it is well worth it.

[syntax_error]

I've seen it only in videos and screens, not during my campaigns.

Honestly, from a tactical standpoint, are they really worth it? Should I choose a big, golden cross to be lugged around the field as opposed to another unit of retinue longbowmen?

[Viking Prince]

I used it today as Sicily in the first crusade on Cairo. I do not think I needed it since there was less opposition than the rebels provide, but it really looked cool on the battle field and rolling through the gate.

By the way, recruited in Sicily's capital region(Palermo).

I figure to use it again since it is cheap and can't hurt.

Does this slow the movement of the army? I already had catapults, but I did not think to compare during movement.

[Exarch]

yes it has the same mvmnt points as a trebuchet/cannon
it'll slow u down

[Surgeon]

Italian armies seem to always have problems with morale, ergo it's useful to cart one of these around. English, French, HRE, Denmark and other Northern/Eastern Europeans are much less prone to routing in my experience, so they don't necessarily need one.

But you can always load it onto a ship if it's slowing you down too much.

[alinus]

The great cross keep high morale to your soliders !!!! In specialy in crusades !!!!!

[townie33]

plus it is and uber spear unit since it will never route, good for siege defense

[RollingWave]

so no one has answered my question, does the cross work if you drop it near the line and just send those uber spears off to the fight? or do they only work when the guys are holding it?

[townie33]

i think it looses its effect only when the enemy "captures" it

[Surgeon]

From my knowledge of how the game works, the spearmen themselves provide the morale boost, rather than the cross/standard, which is just there for the looks/to make sense. So it's okay to have them drop it. Just be careful not to get them killed, since then the morale boost goes with them.

[Viking Prince]

The cross is a symbol. "Contolling" the cross is important. Proximity is important. I do not know if there is any doxumentation regarding your question. Perhaps an adventerous sould will read the code and check. I would suspect if you release the troops, you get the troops but not the cross moral boos. Honestly, I do not know. I always kept the troops with the cross. What are reserves for if not to be kept in reserve. Just as my general will go into battle, but sits most of the time in reserve. Napoleon understood reserves quite well. You keep your meanest and most loyal/ high morale troops as reserve. Reserves are committed to win a battle and are withdrawn from the field when all is hopeless and the expendable troops are then expended.