Why you guys hatin the pope

[Sith_Lord]

Why do I always seem to find people complaining about the pope and how he was so annoying in Med2. As long as you gift a bit of cash to him your set. I find his to be a very useful tool. Crusades make it so easy to eliminate a faction or at least get that key settlement.

So why do you guys not like him?

[Reynolds]

Because sometimes, a Catholic Faction attacks me, thus common sense would dictate that they are the aggressor. If i am caught off guard and lose a settlement and then try to take it back, or just want to wipe the buggers off the map then I get threatened with excommunication for being aggressive towards christians, which begs the questions....WTF?

However you are right, with preparation and a good dose of common sense he can be easily manipulated towards your own ends, its just frustrating at times

[Norgesveldet]

What really bugs me are his inquisitors. Worst message you can get when out campaigning is that your skilled general has been found guilty of heresy...

Most of the time I just ignore his demands, which usually lead to war on multiple fronts. There's no way that I'm kissing the ass of a religious lunatic with a funny hat!

[Sith_Lord]

@SurfingTurtle: Thats true, but some times even when it says that "This will result in excommunication" if your relations with the pope are high enough, there'll just be a huge drop but no excomm. Also you can just leave your armies outside there towns and your ships near their ports. They will often rise to the bait.

@Norgesveldet: Get some good assains roaming your lands and they'll pick off the inquisitors no problem. Also, you'll find it wise to do some of the popes bidding. Having good relations with him helps avert wars (so Ive heard) and also doing his missions sometimes leads to monetary gain.

anyway, only time a crusade sucks is when The crusading armies march through your land. Im currently siegin Spain but im a little worried as three whuge stacks are now in my empire...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[Reynolds]

OP, i know, i seem to remember saying something along the lines of "you are right" in my post

hmm you are right those are tricky situations, they also seem to be quite frequent in my games, just look at it this way, you now have hundreds of pilgrims to test your artilley on......

Strategically speaking, those armies will likely be mediocre so even if the unlikely event of the crusade ending when those armies are in your backgarden unless you are at war with said faction they will disband that army for financial reasons

[Sith_Lord]

OP, i know, i seem to remember saying something along the lines of "you are right" in my post

I realise ou said I was right. I was just putting my two cents into your situation.

[Sir.Mitchell VII]

I find it annoying when Im trying to destroy a faction that I keep getting excommunicated. I dont even know if it effects the gameplay that much but its annoying.

[Spartan90]

You know why the Pope is annoying? Because every few turns he draws two cards out of a deck full of faction colours. The first card has the colours of France. "Yay!" He says. "I'm going to randomly send an Inquisitor to his lands to randomly kill their best General!" The second card he pulls is Venice. "Yay!" He says. "I'm going to randomly excommunicate these so-called Christians, even though it was Sicily that attacked their fellow Christians first!"

In conclusion, do not underestimate the unpredictability of the Pope's AI.

[Owain Glyndŵr]

If Inquisitors are about to swarm my best general, I don't screw around. I attempt an assassination on the Pope. Either he dies and someone else is elected, or I get excommunicated, they can't do anything, and I'm free to ravage other Catholic lands until the Pope dies or reconciles me.

[Sith_Lord]

If Inquisitors are about to swarm my best general, I don't screw around. I attempt an assassination on the Pope. Either he dies and someone else is elected, or I get excommunicated, they can't do anything, and I'm free to ravage other Catholic lands until the Pope dies or reconciles me.

wait... if the pope dies, does it affect the inquisitors? I've never heard that before and I's always a good little catholic faction so I don't usually get them and when I do I just off them.

[★Bandiera Rossa☭]

I don't like his funny hat...

[Conquistatore]

The Pope is a hindrance rather then a help in most of my games. He loves to pick on you, the player but is usually more than happy to let the other catholics go to war with you.

[Conquistatore]

Im pretty sure they still operate even when there is no Pope in power.

[Sith_Lord]

I figure they work a lot like assasins who dont need a specific leader to remain active.

[PhoenixFury23]

The pope is your greatest ally if used properly, and of course he can be a pain if you neglect to court his favor. That is the dual risk and reward of being a catholic faction.

If you think the pope is annoying you then clearly you've neglected your duties to religion, in which case you should be prepared for the consequences.

Just as if you neglect your garrisoning you should be prepared for riots and invasion.

Rather than these things being seen as annoying, they should be seen as challenges to take into account of your overall strategy.

[Glory]

The pope is your greatest ally if used properly, and of course he can be a pain if you neglect to court his favor. That is the dual risk and reward of being a catholic faction.

If you think the pope is annoying you then clearly you've neglected your duties to religion, in which case you should be prepared for the consequences.

Just as if you neglect your garrisoning you should be prepared for riots and invasion.

Rather than these things being seen as annoying, they should be seen as challenges to take into account of your overall strategy.

Not true.

If some people ally with the pope and you declare war on them, or if they attack you and you fight back, your reputation will drop regardless of your peity.

That happened to me in my last game as Poland, the HRE/Hungary attacked me and they were both the Papacy's dogs so when I fought back my reputation fell.

[Viking Prince]

The pope is your greatest ally if used properly, and of course he can be a pain if you neglect to court his favor. That is the dual risk and reward of being a catholic faction.

If you think the pope is annoying you then clearly you've neglected your duties to religion, in which case you should be prepared for the consequences.

Just as if you neglect your garrisoning you should be prepared for riots and invasion.

Rather than these things being seen as annoying, they should be seen as challenges to take into account of your overall strategy.

This is true. I find it is really true in my short campaigns. (advertising my short campain guides)

The key is to make your enemies to be first the enemies of the Pope. Excommunication is merely an opportunity for a Crusade. Rather than wipe the faction out though, just take the Crusade target and then work out an accomadation -- slay too many Catholics even if the faction has lost Papal favor and you may irritate the "man in white".

[Pink Beard]

nooo if a faction is excommunicated you can kill as many of them as you want. Did u never got that message when ur threatened by excommunication and then the other is excommunicated so u get a message like
"mission expired. It doesn't matter now how many of their faithless blood is spilled etc. blablabla"?

[Viking Prince]

nooo if a faction is excommunicated you can kill as many of them as you want. Did u never got that message when ur threatened by excommunication and then the other is excommunicated so u get a message like
"mission expired. It doesn't matter now how many of their faithless blood is spilled etc. blablabla"?

Excommunication is not a continuos condition. Upon being excommunicated, the AI faction slowly improves it's Pop-O-Meter and will eventually be restored. The leader is the one excomunicated, not the population.

Besides, I tend to role play!

Gimme a break.

I deserve it.

***smilies off***

[Pink Beard]

Lol the Pope-O-Meter?
That thing that shows your standing with the old fart?
hahaha