50+ Year crusade

[Pjstaab]

I'm playing as the CS in late era and I ran out of places to expand since I didn't feel like expanding into mongol territory since I managed to secure an alliance with them so I started attacking venice and sicily. Venice literally had a city undefended so I had to take it and Sicily I just work my way westward. So the pope decides to be an idiot and tells me to stop attacking them and then I get excommed. A few turns later I get a crusade on jerusalem. No big, my empire rivals the mongolian empire so i've been fighting it off with ease until the black death appears, my empire shrinks by half and now i'm only -28k in the hole. Not as bad as I thought as i'm making 15k or so a turn. But i'm pretty sure this crusade started in the 1200s and it is currently 1354. Somehow crusading armies manage to make it to jerusalem even though I have the two bridges covered and it's only about a quarter stack but because generals are OP he escapes every time and just comes back with more and resets the time till end of crusade. Half the armies I dealt with with my assassin but this guy I only have a 14% chance. How can I get back on my feet. Also I assassinate the pope every time he gets appointed but a denmarkian bishop keeps getting appointed every time. I probably have more priests wandering around than I have cities. Also I have one bishop preferati but i'm the only one who would vote for him.

TL;DR I got screwed by badly times 50+ year crusade coinciding with black plague. What do?

[Ichon]

I don't now if you have any chance of getting Pope elected if you are under excommunication unless you fully control college. You need to reconcile with Pope first- offer him region somewhere- then assassinate him when not excommunicated and at war and if you have decent relations with other factions that have cardinals or you control college you can get your Pope elected. That doesn't mean you get free reign though... I'd had my own Popes excommunicate me.

14% chance of assassination isn't bad. Keep throwing assassins and one will get lucky eventually. Or just trap and kill that general.

[Pjstaab]

Except i'm broke from the black plague. I just want this damn crusade off of me. Do timurids emerge in 1370 like they do historically? I think their done sending crusading armies at me so hopefully I can dig myself out of this hole.

[A_Dane]

If it's been going on for 50 years, then that general must be old, and if the bastard is old, he'll die soon enough? at the very least he'll be 64..

[Angrychris]

gonna be fun

[Alfonzo over Innsmouths]

Surround the general with smaller units, then send a main stack at him. Think like taking down a heretic or a witch using armies.

[Qchongfu]

I'm playing as the CS in late era and I ran out of places to expand since I didn't feel like expanding into mongol territory since I managed to secure an alliance with them so I started attacking venice and sicily. Venice literally had a city undefended so I had to take it and Sicily I just work my way westward. So the pope decides to be an idiot and tells me to stop attacking them and then I get excommed. A few turns later I get a crusade on jerusalem. No big, my empire rivals the mongolian empire so i've been fighting it off with ease until the black death appears, my empire shrinks by half and now i'm only -28k in the hole. Not as bad as I thought as i'm making 15k or so a turn. But i'm pretty sure this crusade started in the 1200s and it is currently 1354. Somehow crusading armies manage to make it to jerusalem even though I have the two bridges covered and it's only about a quarter stack but because generals are OP he escapes every time and just comes back with more and resets the time till end of crusade. Half the armies I dealt with with my assassin but this guy I only have a 14% chance. How can I get back on my feet. Also I assassinate the pope every time he gets appointed but a denmarkian bishop keeps getting appointed every time. I probably have more priests wandering around than I have cities. Also I have one bishop preferati but i'm the only one who would vote for him.

TL;DR I got screwed by badly times 50+ year crusade coinciding with black plague. What do?

If you're making 15k a turn and areonly 28k in the hole, it should only be a few turns before you can start making stacks again. Or are at least able to muster enough troops to find/surround this general's quarter stack and at least focus on him and take him out in battle, even if you lose the fight. After all them years, you have to stop thinking defensively and get aggressive.

If you're CS and allied with the Mongols and attack Venice and Sicily, I'd excomm you too lol. And call a crusade on you later. Though there's no crusade timer being reset, it's not going to end til the general's dead. Hi-Five to the general running around for 54+ years, good for him. Or good for his horse, since he's probably passed out drooling being pulled behind it in a lil red wagon unable to control his bowels.

With so many priests try grouping them up and doing mass conversions instead of having them roam around by themselves. Send them to a low Catholic % area and sit them still and then move them as a pack once you raise the percentage up a bunch. If the need arises, instead of focusing on the Pope, take out the other cardinals.

[Pjstaab]

I posted literally the turn after the black death ended and I was -50k and a few later i was at -28k so my situation wasn't as bad as I thought. I kept getting messages that if no one crusades it would end in 5 turns, I got like or 4 of those and then he would show up with his quarter stack. I think I should be fine but hungary, venice, and sicily took advantage of it and nabbed up a few territories. What's the recommended way to deal with the mongols. I think the whole black death is what was getting me and now that it's over it shouldn't be too bad.

[ashenhigh]

Kill the remaining crusading generals, and give the Pope the bank to reconcile.

Crusade ends, your national is favorable again in the eyes of the pope.