What Should I Do With Acre?

[Sparkshot]

So I'm Egypt--which I don't play that often--and I'm wondering what to do with Acre. Should I keep it as a castle and continue to upgrade it our should I convert it into a town? My first thought was to convert it because it's a coastal city and one would think it would get very wealthy. But does it get wealth enough to warrant converting it instead of having another stronghold to recruit cavalry?

[Stolet]

I would advise keeping it a castle. It can grow into a huge citadel and be a great military settlement. It doesn't generate THAT much cash as a city. Sure it is a coastal settlement, but the region itself has very few (if any) resources to trade with. In my Egyptian campaigns I tend to keep Gaza and Acre as castles, I usually train cavalry at Gaza and infantry at Acre, cause it's a bit closer to enemy lands. You don't really need any other castles if playing as the Egyptians.

[Rakoua]

Best leave those castles, because you'll be getting crusades, and that means constantly getting full stacks with extra movement points and tons of men in the middle of your teritory.

[Commander5xl]

Acre and Gaza as castles are great, especially during crusades or the mongol invasion, they are great for producing fast and effective strong troops to defend your settlements and counter with. I usually leave Mosul as a castle too, keep the northern holy lands well defended and its great as a buffer against the turks, although that is all I really leave for castles the rest are usually cities.

[Haribo]

i would ceep it as a castle as Eygpt dont really have millitary place so as u upgrade the better the units u get.

[penquin11]

whore the thing out XD sell it

[total war lover]

keep it as a castle because you will probably have a crusade or 2 on your hands,you will have a strong base to repell attacks,first from the crusaders and later on from the mongols

[Old Geezer]

When I played as Egypt in LTC Gold, I took it asap and kept it growing as fast as possible with farming, ports, and good-growth generals so that it became a Citadel. The Hordes will never attack it and you can raise and retrain a lot of good cavalry there. The cavalry will start with several chevrons and can be rapidly retrained to be sent out to destroy the Hordes or any Crusaders. Acre is really the lynch pin of the Egyptian Empire. (When I play as Poland, or any western power, I get there asap too and use it as the focus of defense and offense in the area.) Antioch is the bait for the Hordes and Acre can crank out a lot of good units and generals.

[eebaagum]

Never really played a long term game as Egypt, but with England, i usuallly keep it as a castle to protect Jerusalem. Same with Aleppo or Adana for Antioch.

[Silverheart]

I also support keeping it as a castle.
If you ever gain total dominance over the entire Middle east-region and need more income, it´s not necessary anymore, but otherwise it´s best to keep that stronghold.
The Mongols and Timurids often go for Jerusalem after taking Antioch, and crusader armies which travel by land will also come from that direction, so it may well be worth it to have a strong fortification blocking their way, as well as the way of all other enemies.