Workaround advice please - AI fleet causing crash

[MadTommy]

Hey lads, I'm pretty new to Total War, and i could do with some advice.

Playing a grand campaign.. year is 1725, game has started to get interesting. But it crashes during an ai turn. USA combines two small fleets together and the game crashes as they combine. It happens every time. I've tried going back a couple of years and doing things a little different but i have no direct influence in the area and the problem just happens again.

Not sure what i can do. I can't seem to turn off ai moves mid campaign. Anyone got any ideas? Thanks

I've checked the integrity of my files via steam, no joy.

Running:
Win7 (x64)
E8400 @ 3.6Ghz
4 GB Ram
Nvidia GTX 260
x-fi extreme music SC

(i'm really at my wits end with this game...but i wont bore you with that history tho)

[irishron]

The only I have seen is start a new campaign.

[karamazovmm]

reload a early save

[MadTommy]

The only I have seen is start a new campaign.

Not what i wanted to hear.

reload a early save

Tried that... went back 2 years (4 or 5 turns) and the same happened. I could try going back 10 years.. but.. i assume it has a good chance of happening again and it would be pretty dull redoing what i have effectively already done.

This is the last straw for this game, i don't play it too often, due to time constraints. I have never got close to finishing a campaign. I either run into a bug like above or a patch is released and i have to start again. Its like i'm destined to never complete a campaign.