Crusader States Campaign

[Iguand]

I was looking around in this Forum, read some Guides etc. and now i registered because of a question to the Early Era Campaign with the Crusader States.
First of all, I am german and my English isn't perfect, so I apologize for any spelling mistakes etc.
My problem is, that I'm not able to manage the Early Era Campaign with the Crusader States.
First of all there is the financial problem, which was pretty annoying to me, but I managed it by conquering most of the costal Regions, like Acre etc.
I was quite happy after that for a few number of turns but then a Dschihad was called on Jerusalem and suddenly the Egypt in the south, the Osmans in the North and the Moors somewhere else declared war on me.
So they attacked me from North and South, and after a few turns I've lost 3 of my City's and Jerusalem was besieged by a big army so i surrendered.

How am i able to manage that? I like the Crusader States as a Nation very much, because of there Infantery and cavalry, but they seem very difficult to me, and I wondered if you could probably help me out with my problem .

Btw. I haven't tried the Late Era Campaign by now but I've heard, that it is very difficult too, because of the Mongols and stuff.

[Desley]

Try calling a crusade on Cairo, so all the christian factions will help you

[bɑne]

Which version are you playing and with what options?

[Ichon]

A screenshot before Jihad started with FoW off would help any advice unless you are simply wanting to start completely over.

Did you have castle anywhere? Kerak or Gaza? Crusaders States city roster is very weak initially until you get Knight Orders and Edessan Guards available.

[Iguand]

6.3 and Savage AI.
I've already called a Crusade on Acre, in my last game, but I'll try this in the next game, thanks.

[Tan Zhi Han]

Crusader States have it tough mate. Every game thus far, the first jihad is on Jerusalem and after that it's a downhill defensive war against the surrounding Islamic factions. I suggest you do your best to make peace and trade with Khwarezm and Seljuks and then use Crusades and alliances to tackle Fatimids. Once you have taken them out, it's a matter of eliminating your neighbours through war, trade, espionage... Atleast until the Mongols come, at which point, it's best to make peace with them and run West, calling a crusade every chance you can.

[Iguand]

I've already deleted my Saves in my frustration, so I can't give u a screenshot, sorry. And the game was pretty much lost, all my bigger armies were destroyed and Jerusalem was about to be captured. Then I would have only 2 Cities left, and war with 2 of my neighbouring antions, so I saw that agme as lost, and quit.
Before the Dschihad I had 2 castles, Kerak and the other one, between the 2 regions, you start with at the beginning of the campaign.
Kerak was taken by Egypt and the other one by the Osmans, I think.

Edit: I had alliances with both, Osmans and Egypt, but they broke the alliances when the Moors declared war on me, and next round, I was attacked by them...

[Ichon]

As Crusaders States you can try to keep alliances as long as possible with nearest Islamic factions but it is mostly to build up money with the trade rights that allows. Expect attack at some point though. To successfully resist you need to keep Kerak and Jerusalem above all. Ballista towers as part of the defenses and some archers or javelin troops in both cities garrisons are a must.

What turn was it that Jihad called? If you have time to build better barracks in Kerak and start getting higher level soldiers you should have easy time winning siege defense. Then the normal problem is getting enough money to fund an offensive army to attack Egyptian coast or Osman cities in the north. Alliance with Byzantines, Sicily, and Genoa help as well.

[Gogolometro]

Ally with egypt from turn 1.
Turks are ingnored. Make trade but alliance with them is useless. Byzantium will atack you and will blocade your ports.
Suggestions:
Get Kerkak from the 1 turn. Use the king and all crusade units. Siege.
Second target is Acre. Garison from turn 5-6 will start patrol their area. Atack them. Is easier to beat 2-3 units than all his full garison. Dont let turks to get damascus. This will cut you in half. Tortosa and Aleppo are last your objectives, poor developed, hard to boost them.
Get Cyprus. Is the backup for KoJ. Let byzantines and turks fight with armenians near Antiochia. Than get that castle.
Midgame strategy:
Get Gaza with first ocassion. Without Gaza, egyptians are in Damietta, low developed, and Luxor, same thing. Without castle units they are not so big power. You, like Gaza owner will access all cream of feudal units of KoJ. Keep all priests in this sensitive areas.
Caesarea is the capital of turks. Forstress, well developed, and next on your target list. Keep in mind turks with castles can get hordes of HA. So Dyabakirr is on your list too.
Jerusalim is easy to defend if you know how.
A must, balista towers, the cannons of holy sepulcher, some spears to stop cavalry and many xbows/archers. Especially xbows. One you got templars things became more easy. King will boost your population instant becaus ehe havechivalry.
Hint, try to rotate generals. A good administrator will make your castles to grow fast. To be a good builder must be a bit a city developer with low taxes.

[Olaf The Great]

I've already deleted my Saves in my frustration, so I can't give u a screenshot, sorry. And the game was pretty much lost, all my bigger armies were destroyed and Jerusalem was about to be captured. Then I would have only 2 Cities left, and war with 2 of my neighbouring antions, so I saw that agme as lost, and quit..

What you do in that situation is take Cyprus and Rhodes and just turtle in them until you have enough money to attack again.

Romans!?

The "Byzantines"

[TwinBird]

My current CS campaign I was able to defeat the Fatimids by turn 7. Amazing right? Well, this was done by seigeing Gaza on the very first turn with the prince's army, pay attention: Siege, but do not engage. This is important because the Fatty prince is here, and it is crucial that he not die yet. Now, spend the next 2-3 turns building churches and mustering armies in Jeru, Antioch, and Edessa. With the churches built, you will have enough papal favor to call a crusade. Target Cairo(Usually where the Calph is). At this stage in the game the Fatties are very weak and you have to hit them hard and fast. I suggest sending the king and the army in Jeru along with some crusader mercs to take Cairo. Hopefully, your crusading army will get there with little casualties. The time will come when the army is ready to take Cairo, but not just yet. Make sure to kill the fatty prince and calph on the same turn, persumably the prince before the king. And with that done, the Fatties will be no more and you can take all the time in the world to conquer the surrounding lands.

I know the Fatties were destroyed merely by luck, mainly the prince and king not adopting. Also during this time frame the Fatimids will have a chance to build up at least one 1/2 to 3/4 stack. Where they build it, who knows?(In my case it was in Al-Awhatever, and did not reach Cairo in time to help defend against the assalt.) But if it's in Alexandria or Daimetta, it will be troublesome.

If anyone can duplicate this scenario then great! The holy land is yours! Just make sure to kill any turkish imams you see to prevent any jihads in the immediate future.

[yxele]

I have played several early campaign games as the Crusader States. I had the same problems as you - bad economy and war, and jihads called on Jerusalem. It is very important to obtain an alliance with the Turks and if possible also with Egypt. This will help your trade income and your economy. Plus they seldom call a jihad on you if you are allied. Take as many independent cities as you can - Damaskus gives lots of trade income, and also Acre and Tortosa. Aleppo is good because its a castle and can give access to other units. Then get Hospitaller guilds for good and cheap units.

In my latest game i managed to keep my alliances with Egypt and the Turks for almost 100 turns, and there where no jihads called on any of my cities. Now I am at war with Egypt and have joined a crusade on Gaza.

Good luck.

[Iguand]

As I said, I had alliances with both of them but they broke them, when the Jihad was called. That must have been round about round 20, so I had no time to build up a strong economy and proper defences. I couldn't take Damascus because of a full rebel stack there, but i managed to take all the other cities, Acre, Kerak, Torsota and Aleppo.
Well I wasn't able to built better baracks and ballista towers and all that stuff.
I had trade rights and alliances with pretty much all factions in Europe and Near East...

[Ichon]

As I said, I had alliances with both of them but they broke them, when the Jihad was called. That must have been round about round 20, so I had no time to build up a strong economy and proper defences. I couldn't take Damascus because of a full rebel stack there, but i managed to take all the other cities, Acre, Kerak, Torsota and Aleppo.
Well I wasn't able to built better baracks and ballista towers and all that stuff.
I had trade rights and alliances with pretty much all factions in Europe and Near East...

Just build those extra things in Jerusalem and Kerak. Turn 20 for Jihad is early but it happens sometimes. Islamic faction will almost always break alliance if Jihad is called. Weird that Moors called it though...

That early for a Jihad I would probably give up Jerusalem and focus defend the rest of the cities then when some Jihad captured it I would take it back within 1 or 2 turns to get the income back. That way at least it is back to a more normal game and you don't face countless Jihad armies. Then try and get peace again with Turks. Maybe even give them 1 city... although its best to capture Egypt city and give it to Turks for peace.

I'd be surprised if you start campaign over that Jihad occurs on turn 20 again. But usually it does happen by turn 50. Somewhere between 30 and 50 in most of my games. That seem small difference maybe but it is important time to get ballista towers and more barracks which makes defense MUCH easier.

You can look at this guide I did and I know some other people also have guides out there but if you aren't playing BGR it might not be as applicable.

http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=346699

[yxele]

I started by stripping Jerusalem of all but one unit (my General) and then together with my other troops beseiged Damaskus, and then waited them out and defeated them. Damaskus gives you a very good trade income.
Alternative strategies are : You can attack Gaza on the first turn and take the city on turn 2. then call a crusade on Cairo and let your crusading friends take the city. This will buy you some time and give you a defensiv perimeter for Jerusalem.
Or you can sail to Cyprus and take Nicosia. This will give you a castle which can give templar units, and its relatively safe so you dont need to keep a large garrison.

[Iguand]

Okay, so I'll just try it once again with all these hints, and if it goes wrong once again I'll let u guys know
It's good to know that this Jihad was an early one, if it normally tkes longer till the first Jihad i'll probably have a better chance to survive.

Edit: I always use all of my soldiers in Jerusalem to besiege kerak, but probably it was a mistake to call a crusade on Acre...

[rekishiotaku]

I usually ally with Egypt and the Turks early on, build up my army and expand, into Arabia and into Greece. However usually the Muslim faction and the Christians always seem to go to war, and I choose to remain allied with the Christians, which means later on there is a Jihad called on either Jerusalem or Mecca. If you take Mecca or Medina or the other Major Islamic sites, don't destroy the Muslim buildings because I think it puts you on bad terms with the Muslims, but I think repairing them puts you on better terms.

Also, declare war on the Khwarezm, they are weak and always just get eaten up by the Mongols, even after taking just one city they are ready to become your vassal, and also, become allied with the Mongols as soon as you can to secure your Eastern borders.

Also be prepared to lose Jerusalem and take it back later.

[dominion]

Actually i'm playing an EE campaign now as CS with Gracul's AI and VH/VH settings. It's turn 15 and i've conquered Aqaba,Gaza,Cairo and Damietta. Currently there is going to be a huge battle at Alexandria (lots of generals on both sides)...if i loose, i loose everything but if i win the fatimids last huge armie is destroyed. I'm also at war with the turks. My advice attack from turn 1 Gaza and keep all your effort on one faction, best is the fatimids....once there hartlands are taken you have a relative secure position(your western flank is relativly save). I have no alliances in my game except the papacy. Good luck in your game and as you see it's possible.

[yxele]

I never start by taking Kerak. Its not yet a caste and wont give you the templar units for some time, and it gives very little to your enonomy (which sucks in the beginning). I usually go for strengthening my economy in the start of the game. building grain exchange and dirt roads and ports.

[ShadowKiller2000]

Crusader States are tough until you get them up and running. I just started a 6.3 Early campaign, Savage AI. I allied the Turks, Egypt, Sicily and the Romans.

Sicily declared war on both Egypt and the Romans so I lost my alliances. But at least a crusade was called on Cairo. It is turn 19, and I have all the local regions and am seiging Damascus. No Jihads yet, but now that I am at war with the Fatmids, one could come at any time......joy.

I will try to take Gaza next turn, and then join the crusade. But it is tough until you get better units. And from what I hear in this version the Mongols overrun everything. That is going to be a huge challenge when it comes along.

I do like 6.3 it feels like my leaders age and die way to quickly though.