My Castille game is insane! Help!!!

[Belegorm]

Awhile back I played as Scotland (first SS game), and everything went just fine. I took over Britannia, became a major trading power, was on the verge of destroying France when I stopped playing.

Just recently I started playing as Castille-Leon. I chose late period (instead of early) because I eventually want to start using pike and shot armies faster (with tercio pikemen and musketeers). I thought of playing as Aragon, but I don't think they get Jinetes (which in my game so far have been the VIP unit). I also didn't want to play as Portugal, as I think the Tercio pikemen look cooler (obviously they're less armoured, but honestly I don't think I would lose battles just because of that). Plus Castille is bigger; I wanted to take over Spain quickly and start getting those muskets.

That seems to perhaps have been a mistake. I made the mistake of thinking that my neighbours (who liked me) wouldn't attack me, so I went after the Moors (who were marching in my direction). I took Cordoba, then Portugal attacked. Years later, Aragon did the same (though luckily they're both at war with the Moors as well), then I gave up Cordoba for a peace treaty with the Moors (I'd have lost an army and a good general in an impossible siege otherwise). I was on the verge of taking out Portugal's only castle (which had a Santiago chapter house already, for some reason), but the Pope told me he'd excommunicate me.

Since the war with Portugal died down around that time, I took Zaragoza (which was well defended; however, there was a small army right outside, I attacked that, the garrison assisted, I marched in unopposed). I was also on the verge of besieging Barcelona with a veteran army, but the Pope intervened again (around this time I got peace with Portugal, figured one less thing to worry about). Soon afterwards, the Moors attacked again, and so did France. I've defended the fortresses of Toledo and Pamplona against impossible odds so far; so far I've gotten 4 heroic victories defending them (Badajoz also got besieged; as it's only a castle I figured I'd lose to an assault, so I sent a small cavalry army to break the siege, and was able to beat them).

Right now, the French (after losing in an assault on Pamplona) besieged it again; as there's only 3 units I think I'll sally. Badajoz could be besieged again (can't remember... in this completely defensive war I've lost track of my enemy sieges), but that cavalry army could possibly save me again. King Fernando (6 star general, 6 star chivalry), has a veteran, 18 unit army (had 2 trebs but they're in a fleet off the coast now), is near Valencia, which I unfortunately can't attack due to the Pope. That didn't stop the Aragonese though, as they've besieged Zaragoza (unsure about the outcome... I think I'll think of something). I'm thinking of taking the King and taking the poorly defended Murcia, selling it back to the Moors for a peace treaty (only has some spearmen and a palisade).

Any advice on getting myself out of this horrible situation? I don't have much money, not enough for a peace treaty; the only way to get one is to give up a territory (possibly could get a ceasefire with Aragon by giving up Zaragoza). France keeps on going after Pamplona. My king is near Valencia, which translates to that he's in no place to really help. I've barely had enough money to go on for a while; this was by taxing on very high in my 2 cities and 1 town. Leon, Salamanca and Burgos have small garrisons (mostly to stop the enemy from just walking in), Toledo has a small garrison of javelinmen and peasant archers (my most amazing victory was fought there; with 500 men I beat a 1001 man army, I didn't have hardly any melee troops). Zaragoza has a fairly small garrison, maybe with forces from Pamplona I can break the siege.... Pamplona has a small garrison (substantially decreased from the last enemy assault), under a small siege; there's 2 holes in the wall (too expensive to fix), but that's not a huge deal since it's a better idea to defend the inner wall. Badajoz has a moderate garrison of infantry, most likely that could be eventually turned into a field army.

I haven't had any time for offence since the Moors went to war with me again (not to mention France), I've been struggling to keep things together (luckily they attack fortresses).

Can anyone think of absolutely any way to get me out of these confounded wars (I'm on a tight budget), or win? At this point I'm wondering if I should dare an excommunication; while my king is young, I don't think I can have many more enemies than I do now (though Portugal could attack again... that side is poorly defended now; I've got good relations with them now because of my Moorish war).

[KittySN]

I don't know... that's a lot to read to give advice on... hurrmmm...

I saw "Pope" appear a few times... so yeah... just unleash the pain train. Who cares about the Pope.

[Belegorm]

Ouch sorry, when asking for help I tend to make it read like a story. My main questions:

1. Any ideas on getting out of multiple unwanted wars? I think I probably could get a truce with Aragon if I gave back Zaragoza, but I've been winning so far...

2. Any strategies for fighting a multi-front war in which I've generally had to fight defensively?

3. I've been on "very high" taxes for years now (I've been fighting almost half a century straight), since I always need every man I can get. Would trade pick and increase profits fast enough to warrent lowering taxes?

4. Are Portugal or Aragon easier to play as early on?

5. If I restarted (which I've considered, as 1) I've gotten no where in the last 40-50 years, and 2) I could probably change the unit size to "big"), what is an effective strategy on the conquest of Spain by Castille? This time I attacked the Moors right away; I didn't bother with alliances with Aragon or Portugal because I figured I'd bulldoze over them once I kicked the Moslems back to Africa. I didn't have the money to buy France into an alliance by the time my diplomat reached it, plus in order to win I need to destroy France anyway, in the long run.

6. What's the penalties for dissolving an alliance, then declaring war on them? I'm figuring I'll acquire a bad reputation, but if I were to ally with Aragon or Portugal I'd need to end the alliance once the other threats were dealt with.

[CrossSide]

1. Any ideas on getting out of multiple unwanted wars? I think I probably could get a truce with Aragon if I gave back Zaragoza, but I've been winning so far...

Just focus on one first. I think Portugal is the weakest, so try to wipe out them first. Try to pick some castles (pamplona for France, Cordoba for Aragon/Moors?) and defend from those. The AI is really bad in assaults, so just have some spear and bowmen and you will be safe.


2. Any strategies for fighting a multi-front war in which I've generally had to fight defensively?

Attack!! With defending you will only loose armies and money. When you attack you will weaken the enemy and get some money/experience for yourself. The AI always lets the cities and castles almost defenseless, so try to get there with a boat of something.

3. I've been on "very high" taxes for years now (I've been fighting almost half a century straight), since I always need every man I can get. Would trade pick and increase profits fast enough to warrent lowering taxes?

The trade would be ed up if you are at war with everyone around you.. So kill them

4. Are Portugal or Aragon easier to play as early on?

Don't know.

5. If I restarted (which I've considered, as 1) I've gotten no where in the last 40-50 years, and 2) I could probably change the unit size to "big"), what is an effective strategy on the conquest of Spain by Castille? This time I attacked the Moors right away; I didn't bother with alliances with Aragon or Portugal because I figured I'd bulldoze over them once I kicked the Moslems back to Africa. I didn't have the money to buy France into an alliance by the time my diplomat reached it, plus in order to win I need to destroy France anyway, in the long run.

6. What's the penalties for dissolving an alliance, then declaring war on them? I'm figuring I'll acquire a bad reputation, but if I were to ally with Aragon or Portugal I'd need to end the alliance once the other threats were dealt with.

Just wait till they attack you and your reputation would not suffer much. Also, keep good relations with the Pope! Alliance with him, give him a lot of florins and finish his missions.

[Ochiee]

just kill them anyway and then send your king in a suicide mission when you are done.

[Belegorm]

Thanks for the replies. To Ochiee, I could have been excommunicated before (really wished I realised that... Alfonso was old anyway, and not too great of a general), but now I've got King Fernando, who's my best general (also commands the most experienced army, though it's only medium sized now).

I am discovering, as CrossSide said, that the best defence is a good offence (though I've quickly learned a great deal about defending myself in sieges). With King Fernando in the enemy's territory (sadly, I wasn't able to get Murcia, since my trebs wouldn't have gotten there), and a fair-sized army defending a bridge into my territory, the Moors can't go after me.

However, that said, the enemy really can much better afford to lose entire armies than I a few units. I've only barely enough troops for 2 armies that are big enough to do something, and that's assuming the Moors don't slip in behind them. My northern fortress Pamplona does defend well against enemy attacks (already repulsed 2 of them at least, that's with a couple holes in the outer wall), but I'm apprehensive of the siege of Zaragoza (they've got a ram, a siege tower, and a ladder ready; I don't think I have near enough archers to set the ram or the tower on fire). My strongest chance there is to sally out of Pamplona (I originally thought that would be easy, but the enemy are well-armoured and have 3 big units), then send most of that army to assist the army in Zaragoza (considering giving it back to Aragon for peace... then I can concentrate on fighting the Moors, defend myself from the Frence, and possibly get some breathing space).

At least I have just enough money to get a few units now, mostly mercs.

[Ichon]

I've played both Portugal and Aragon in 6.2 not Castile though but similar strategies should work for all.

The sea is your greatest asset whenever you play around Spain or Italy/Greece. Many towns near the shore unlike Scandinavia where many towns just far enough inland you use much movement just boarding and embarking from ships. Moors especially are easy to defeat because they send so many armies north onto the Peninsula. Raid N Africa and it will draw armies there plus gain you money. You should be able to raid effectively with a half stack army because of small garrisons. Just make sure to put a couple spies on the ship as well to scout and open gates, you can take 2 strongholds in 1 turn that way sometimes. Sack the raided cities and destroy a couple buildings for the cash. Don't raze them completely because you want to take them over eventually yourself. If you take out just a couple buildings and sack the cities will rebuild by the time you come looking to occupy forever.

Moors sending armies to recapture their coast diverts from Cordoba which you should hold, not give up as its tax base is 2-4x any other city in Spain. The thing with Cordoba is don't wait to be sieged, take on approaching armies in the field or at the river crossings while they are divided. Moors will send a constant stream of reinforcements to Cordoba even with their N Africa possessions under attack, just those raids will lessen the amount sent and make field battles easier. Make the max amount of priests and start converting Granada and Cordoba as those will be your main stronghold vs Moors. An alliance with Portugal or Aragon as Castile would be nice but its not necessary.

The main objective is to get 2 full stack armies going, 1 in Spain to fight whoever, 1 to take Moors homelands. France can almost be ignored and often after you beat a few sieges off will buy peace. Aragon most likely to be the difficult one though that depends alot on what happens first 10 turns.

In the present situation retaking Cordoba will give a rep hit if you gave it up thru diplomacy but releasing prisoners should fix that in 5-10 turns. Your king needs to get close to the action, Valencia is nice stronghold but will draw attention for sure of Aragon and sometimes Sicily or Genoa as well. Only take it when western/southern Spain secure. I'd probably use your king to raid a 1 N African city then take Granada. Watch Moor reaction and check the Cordoba garrison. If you can retake it without punishing losses do that ASAP. You are already stuck defensively in your other areas it sounds like unless you want to give up Pamplona and use that garrison to take offensive against Aragon or Portugal which might not be bad idea as France and Aragon potentially fight each other. Portugal and Moors are probably the easiest to defeat or nearly. You can take Moors down to 2-3 provinces and then try and get peace or let Sicily/Genoa finish them.

Moors armies not that strong though some of the general bodyguard are killers. Aragon and France have much more balanced armies and seem for me slightly harder to defeat. Portugal would be dangerous if it started larger, but so small start means you can wipe it out in 2-3 battles unless you let it get big.

[KittySN]

You can always get reconciled diplomatically after you're done if you really care.

Just toss all your excess winnings at the Papal States and request it.

[Belegorm]

The trouble is that I think France and Aragon are allied - if not, they certainly haven't done anything against each other. Defeating Aragon's armies and taking their cities leads to a drop in relations with France as well as Aragon.

Portugal has 3 provinces (basically looks like how it does on the modern map), and has its hands tied with fighting the Moors as well (they like me now, as well; though last time they liked me as well, so they could turn on me again if the tiny garrisons in Leon and Salamanca tempt them).

My king can likely take Valencia this turn, with the use of the trebuchets (could be a spy in the area, as well). I forget what the state of the garrison is, though. As long as I can break 1 wall, then the other, I should be able to capture it. Then I could sell it back to Aragon for peace. I could even get peace with France possibly after that as well (seeing as you said they usually withdraw after a few failed sieges; with Aragon out of the war it'd be even weirder than it is now for them to attempt to carry it on). After taking care of Aragon, I should be able to more easily take on the Moors. I could either go for Murcia, or start marching towards Cordoba (which now that I think of it, seems like something good to take back, since when I had that the enemy only went towards it, but now they go after both Badajoz and Toledo). Unfortunately, the King's army is somewhat smaller now, especially in the infantry department (that and the enemy have dismounted knights, while I only have regular swordsmen; I never had enough money to get the buildings for that).

The problem with raids in Africa now is that I've got so few men for the undertaking; though while when I left off I had like 4-6k florins (from ransoming Moorish troops; don't want to hurt the King's 6 chivalry), so mercs is helpful. Unfortunately, I thought that in order to defend a bridge, I needed to be behind it, not on it. So instead of fighting a defensive bridge battle, I fought one in the open plains. I beat them, but lost a fair amount of troops as well. Another problem with raids in Africa is my king's already good in chivalry, so he can't really be used for sacking towns (I could bring a general down who has 1 dread, but he's the current defender of Zaragoza).

I have noticed the Moor's armies aren't too great; the problem is they have a bunch of them all the time running all over the place. When I had my king going after Barcelona (speaking of which, the Pope's mission for peace with Aragon is over now), I had to deal with successive sieges at Badajoz and Toledo (the former won by getting reinforcements to the area, the latter by simply defending the fortress well).


Edit: As I mentioned, I'm finally getting in more cash. I was able to retrain several units of knights, repair Pamplona's walls (seemed a bit ridiculous... a couple of holes sitting there from my initial attack). My king's army was reinforced by 3 full or near-full units of knights (technically he has a full stack, but still only a little more than 600 men on normal size). If I beat this big Aragonese army (which is by far the biggest army they've got left), I'll finally have some peace of mind in this war. I can then take Valencia, then march to Barcelona, and from there...

Obviously the Pope'll probably cause a problem soon (my relations with the Vatican are very poor, since I've never had any spare money to pay them with). However, I just remembered that the Pope is quite old himself (forgot that when the Pope dies as well you get reconciled), so I'll likely persist in my warring (would've been so much better if I'd just crushed Portugal earlier... I could have gotten knights of Santiago). Once I get Valencia (a fortress; will be harder than several other battles and I don't have any trebs except 1 with 4 men handy), I'll be able to get DFKs (ridiculous, I know that I haven't gotten them myself in 1250, but I've been constantly warring... plus I've done pretty well with regular swordsmen, jinetes, knights and some others).

I've got 1 (admittedly undersize, but still potent) army in Badajoz. I'd have sent it along towards Aragon but Portugal sent an army into the area, which I blocked with it. Considering my western, south western and southern borders will be virtually undefended, this now leads into my question:

1. If I put a good garrison in my border settlements, will this make the enemy think twice of attacking? Or will it not matter?

[Tyrenia]

In my experience a good garrison WILL make the enemy think twice about attacking.

As far as what to do next though, I would suggest that Portugal should be the first faction for you to go after.Not because of the money, but for strategic reasons.Taking Portugal will completely eliminate one of the fronts in your war, as no-one can attack from the west. Kicking the Moors off Iberia still leaves you with a North Africa front, still leaving you in a 4 front war, taking Aragon still leaves you vulnerable to Portugal, the Moors and France.

Try to get a ceasefire with Aragon, then bring your single stack to crush Opporto, Lisbon and Silves. Then swing around through Cordoba and Granada. Hopefully by that time you will be able to support a decent garrison in Granada, and use it to attack Moorish stacks besieging Cordoba. If you have the resources, Ichon's piracy strategy would work well to keep the Moors occupied, or at the very least give you something with which to bargain for a ceasefire. After that, take on Aragon, and Iberia is yours.

As far as the French are concerned, just ignore them. With fortresses, it is easy to hold armies 3 times the size of yours with minimal losses. Just place all your forces in the inner walls. This prevents the AI from using siege towers and makes it less likely that they will use catapults/cannons on your walls, meaning that a breached gate and some ladders are all you will have to deal with.

[Belegorm]

Thanks for the advice about Portugal. I might swing north to Barcelona to take it then sell it back for a ceasefire, or do the same with Valencia (would be harder, but faster though). I did a test run, buying some mercs and using auto-decide to take Valencia, and offering it for peace didn't get me peace though.

What I think I'll do is that whenever I can get peace with Aragon, I'll swing an army or two over to Portugal and blitz them with trebuchets. If the Pope decides that isn't nice again, I think I'll brave the excommunication, hoping the Pope'll die soon (though, for that matter, my assassin could be a high level by that time).

[boss_tay]

Besides these advices, I would suggest Merchant to improve your economy
If you attract the Merchant Guild in either Leon or Zaragoz, recruit merchants there.
With the guild, your merchant will have 4 star finance at least: 3 from guild master, 1 from good with money, clerk, legal nouse or something.
Then, you simply "acquire" the walking-by merchants with 0 or 1 finance to build up our merchant status, and eventually "acquire" more 2-3 star merchants

In my game, a lot of merchants walked by Leon and Cordoba --> you should aim there, then move to Constantinope to trade Silk, Belgrade or s.where in Africa for gold. That way, you will get a lot of additional cash each turn.

[Belegorm]

I used that merchant strategy in my Scotland game . I was the big trader in the northern regions. London had an advanced guild; and I had guild halls all over. The only issue was that since I had so many merchant guilds I never had any other city guilds (and only a swordsmen's guild and a horse guild in a few other places).
Turns out I missed one valuable resource in my current game; my 5 star merchant will be along to get it from a 2 star French merchant (unfortunately, since I've only got the cities of Leon and Zaragoza and the town of Salamanca, I can't get any more merchants).

I took Valencia, then took Parma. I wanted some peace, and eventually an invasion of Portugal, so I decided to give up Parma and a good amount of gold (which I'm going to be paying for some more turns). This was in time for the Pope asking my king to personally lead a Crusade against excommunicated Frankfurt. I figured there's no way he'd get close, there were other crusader armies all over en masse, I'd just go out, get some experience for the units (maybe florins as well), get in the Pope's good graces, then go and try and take Toulouse (to sell back to France, or if I want to carry on the war to hold; seems like the only way to get peace in this game is to give up a settlement, and most of the time they'll give peace).

Alarmingly, the Moors took the southernmost town in Portugal (the Portuguese's best army decided to go crusading... I really feel sorry for them at this point). I want to seize the northernmost castle, to be able to get the knights of Santiago (Lisbon would be much nicer, since I've got so few cities, but I don't think I can reach it before the Moors). Annoyingly enough, my 2 trebs are across the country now, it'll take a long time to get there; though a spy will probably take like 3 turns, who could possibly open the gate).

Speaking of the Moors, the strategy of leaving strong garrisons on my border territories seems to be working well. I saw a Moorish army enter Badajoz province, so filled the castle with a full stack. Happily for me they bypassed on their way to Portugal (I'll need to strike soon though or I won't get that one castle, then I'll be fighting an even worse war against the Moors next time. Portugal is really, really ruined now, and the Moors are growing stronger (though at least Aragon is substantially weakened, especially with their loss of Valencia; they've got a big stack though that's sitting around, and could possibly attack Zaragoza.

1. I saw (for one turn) 1 general in Barcelona. If I'd assassinated the general, would it have been unoccupied? I'm annoyed the Pope told me he'd excommunicate me if I attacked it; I was in the perfect position to do so with the army from Parma and some trebs. However, excommunication seemed like a bad deal at the time.

[Tyrenia]

saw (for one turn) 1 general in Barcelona. If I'd assassinated the general, would it have been unoccupied? I'm annoyed the Pope told me he'd excommunicate me if I attacked it; I was in the perfect position to do so with the army from Parma and some trebs. However, excommunication seemed like a bad deal at the time.

I saw something similar in Scotland while playing as England, one general in Inverness. My response? Marry my princess to him (quite nice, he was 5 Star, 6 Chivalry) and then use him to take the now empty Inverness. Worked a charm

[JorisofHolland]

I found myself trapped in such a sitiuation too, before. I was the HRE and Denmark, Poland, Venice, Genoa and France were fighting me. Altough I had more enemies, I also had a bit more territory than you have. I got out of it by defending (the Pope liked me as I gave him Jerusalem, my only crusading state) and waiting for the others to get excominucated.

Then I called a crusade on France, my worst foe. Altough I didn't took Toulouse, the many wars broke their back (and i took Paris and Rheims, so their economy went down)

By then, I had the strenght and money to take out Denmark, still defending on the other borders. As the Pope started disliking me, I played defensively for a few turns and then crusaded Venice, cripling their economy. Genoa offered me ceasfire, I accepted and only Poland was fighting me.

But probally this won't work for you as the Moors are islamic, altough it might work against Portugal (if they survive long enough to attack you) and definetly against France and Aragon.

[Vaz]

Just play defensive, and eventually build up your stacks in a some castles, using the free upkeep.

Gradually feed troops into the front line castles, then just gradually retrain, and build up large numbers of trained or elite troops. When you feel the time is right (usually after beating a stack or two), quickly send them to raid the enemy fortresses, and then have untrained, and damaged troops just hold the caputre settlements.

I'd suggest either sacking the settlements if you are in need of money, and then destroying every building possible for the cash (apart from Ballista/Cannon Towers), and leave half dead militia units to guard it. As soon as the enemy gets ladders, ballista or siege towers in base contact with the walls, retreat to the inner circles (in a castle) or to another gate in a city.

Alternatively, sue for an alliance with your nearest enemy, and trade all the captured cities as a safeguard barrier. If you can sweeten the deal as well, then your two enemies, of which one is now an ally will go into a slogging match. Support them in field battles with large stacks of Artillery, or Cavalry, as Moors are poor in Heavy Cavalry, while you have Knights of Santiago and Montesa to combat them, and nothing can really counter them in the Arab armies, unless they get a load of Camels.

Recruit assassins, spies and Priests like no tomorrow, and send them on a cold war hunt, killing large stack generals, Faction Leaders and Heirs (unless they're very weak, in which case it's more beneficial to leave them), encourage settlements to rebel by sending a load of priests to the Moors on a converting spree, and the same with spies.

[Belegorm]

Thanks for the further advice guys.

That dratted Crusade finally finished; not however, before it left my king and his (strong) crusading army in the middle of hostile France. If he could get home quickly I'd have a very strong army (mostly composed of crusader units, all veterans), with which to fight my enemies (well, actually I'm only fighting France now, though the HRE is also officially my foe, I want to blitz Portugal and I've got a cold war with the Moors).

The major problem now is that since I've now got a fair sized army (spread out along my borders as deterrance; except in Pamplona where I just defended against an assault and now is besieged again), and also since the Crusade ended (leaving a large, expensive army with upkeep now), I now am in debt... and I believe it's going to get worse next turn (well, maybe). I'm still giving 1k a turn to Aragon, too (still have at least 5 turns left on that).

Speaking of Aragon, I've seen their large, single stack set out in the direction of Zaragoza... but as I would train more troops they'd fall back (this happened once before, now is happening again). Since I own Valencia, they never go after the Moors anymore, despite being at war.

I don't think the Moors will be able to go after the last castle of Portugal for a while; I think Lisbon will keep them occupied for a little bit (the idiots... going on crusade with a large army while at home they're fighting a losing war).

What's interesting is that Sicily, and maybe Genoa too, were at war with the Moors as well last time I checked. That's taking a small portion of their forces (all/most of their navy too) away from Iberia.

I think I should mention to Vaz that the Pope currently hates me a bit... it's been challenging to stop myself from getting excommunicated. That means I can't exactly go on crusade, either (it'd be awesome if I could though... I could use the extra movement speed for my king to get back to Spain quicker, then take Murcia and Granada in one fell swoop). As it is, I may take Clermont and secure a peace treaty by trading it back, or go after Toulouse, then do the same with that (in the latter case, I could possibly send my one dread general out and sack it too).

[Ichon]

It is easy to check if France and Aragon are allied... it can be important to keep track of that on your borders because if two neighbors ally you can expect a war shortly most of the time. The key to getting neighbors to fight is to make sure they share a border and have a city that both want. In this case Pampalona both France and Aragon usually want. That city also a bit far north for a war vs Moors- you want frontline castles or whatever more. It does produce decent income however but still... Moors lands are some of the richest in the game for such a small area including the merchant trade goods. Leaving strong garrisons is ok if most of the troops are free, but otherwise you are wasting money being defensive. Though sometimes it is unavoidable on a distant front. I would make getting Cordoba and taking the rest of Portugal a priority. If you let Moors finish Portugal not only are they stronger and will come after you next, but the way that would give them access to your lands from 3 directions and when you are poor and only 1-2 stacks you'll have lots of trouble expanding as every time you go to attack Moors will not only siege the castle your stack left, but also a couple stacks to meet it in the field every other turn.

[Belegorm]

As it is now, I've got both Pamplona and Zaragoza. Pamplona can withstand virtually any AI assault, while in the case of Zaragoza I believe I'm better off marching out to meet them (possibly a street battle, though).

France made peace with me - it's really weird, usually I need to offer something for it but this time it said "very generous." My king's reached Pamplona with his strong, crusader army and I sent my new princess off on a ship to try and marry William Wallace (weird I know... the Scots, who with the Irish are destroying the English, can afford to lose him; in any case I have a history now of weird marriages, as my first princess married an Aragonese general when shortly thereafter we went to war).

That's the good news; the bad news is that the Moors attacked again. I unfortunately left only half a stack in Toledo for some reason; while that should be enough to defend it, the enemy decided they could take it (bypassing Barajoz, which has a full stack and just sallied out to utterly crush the enemy; 88 casualties on my side to 1000 on theirs, none escaped). The new thing is that this new Moorish army has several catapults; fortunately that mentioned general of mine who's from Aragon is on his way with a little army, the knights from Badajoz can get there, so I'll outnumber them.

King Fernando is marching south from Pamplona (just got back from an attempt at crusading), hopefully he'll be able to reach Valencia before the enemy takes it. My strategy now is that since Portugal seems to be somehow holding on, keeping a good number of them busy, and Parma has an absurd amount of Moors prepared to attack (thus also busy), I should be able to march south with the King and take Murcia, then try for Granada, working my way west (this is of course against the advice I've gotten, but it seems wisest at this point). I'm now quite annoyed that I disbanded my 2 trebs (I thought they'd never get anywhere on time, plus I wanted to be earning a little more money).

The enemy is pretty much entirely in command of the Mediterranean (haven't had the time or the money to build a good fleet), but I hope I won't have do deal with any naval invasions (though the only port on the Med I have is Valencia).

As my king marches south towards Valencia and Murcia, I believe I'll send a second general into Portugal, if the enemy takes Lisbon. I should be able to manage a big enough stack to take and hold that fortress, then once I start getting enough troops together again I'll be able to march south as well... the idea of me being able to march down from 2 directions is a dream.

Here's an unrelated question:

1. When I was playing my Scotland game, I used a lot of pikemen. However, are you normally able to put them back into spearwall formation if you've taken them out of it? Whenever I took them out of spearwall (usually to try and chase down some fleeing enemies) the option for spearwall was greyed out. I think I read somewhere that you should be able to put them back into spearwall; does this mean I have some bug? I patched the game from 6.0 straight to 6.2, using the appropriate patcher...

[Vaz]

You might have either had them while running, OR you could have accidentally hit 'C' and knocked them into loose formation.

Try giving france a sum of money over a stretch of a couple of turns, and see if they take the bait. Even though they may have a appreciative, they have a low reliability, or you might. Try feeding them several map informations, a small village (in the way of a Moorish stack, naturally), offer attacks against your and there existing enemies, and the like to increase it. It basically gives you 2-3 turns respite to repair, retrain and rebuild.