Why doesn't the enemy attack my cities on campaign?

[Spajjder]

So I'm playing the crusader campaign the enemy is standing around my cities with big armies. I have big armies inside too, but he could beat mine, he even has catapults etc.
Why does he just stand around my city?

Does the Ai only attack if you have no troops inside the city?

Im playing on hard/hard.

[GarretJax]

No, they should attack if there is a statistical advantage. Without more details I'd have to say that despite what you're saying, you're probably in a stronger position then you think . . . or it might just be a bug.

[Aymer de Valence]

It depends on who you're playing as. If you're the Kingdom of Jerusalem with Templar infantry and Tripoli squires against an Ai Egypt (for example) then I don't blame the AI. Their strength lies in the open field with horse archers, not assaulting the walls of Jerusalem with their inferior infantry, catapult or no catapult

[Sitalkes]

What kind of Crusader are you? Don't cower inside cities, sally forth and attack the foe!!!

[Kaiser Nonsense]

It depends on who you're playing as. If you're the Kingdom of Jerusalem with Templar infantry and Tripoli squires against an Ai Egypt (for example) then I don't blame the AI. Their strength lies in the open field with horse archers, not assaulting the walls of Jerusalem with their inferior infantry, catapult or no catapult

I suffered from the very same problem, in the Crusader campaign.

What kind of Crusader are you? Don't cower inside cities, sally forth and attack the foe!!!

It's not just about being brave, sometimes it's nice to see if they will try to retake Jerusalem, and you must defend it to the death, but unfortunately, that never happens. As a matter of fact, anywhere, ESPECIALLY on SS, they almost never assault my city (any enemy, any city), just besiege and make me starve, forcing me to sally.

[❋ Flavius Belisarius ❋]

With units of equal level and even outnumbered you can easily won a siege, the AI ​​just think that it's not worth trying.

[Peelyposter]

It's a shame, because I enjoy a good siege defence, but the AI does seem very reluctant to attack. I've got two or three full stacks of Danes hanging around Oslo on my current Scotland campaign (we're at war) and they just refuse to attack, or even besiege me. True, I have a full stack inside and it's a citadel (with cannon towers ), but the troops aren't great quality and I'm heavily outnumbered. I'm considering removing a few units from the garrison, just to see if I can persuade them to attack

[toysoldier82]

Sometimes it is not just about your strength in that one settlement. It is about your strength as faction or possibly that you might have re-enforcements within range. Diplomacy and your allies will also play a roll in how brave the AI tends to be. If you have many strong allies that they are not in good standing with it may not be wise for them to attack. The simple presence of their forces is doing you harm however with the devastation their armies cause in the area slowly draining from your income. I have had the enemy besiege some of my outer settlements when they knew I could not get forces there in time even though my military was the strongest and theirs was not second, third, or even fourth. Just to make myself more tempting and to keep the game fun I will often have my settlements whether city or castle filled with only half the unit slots it can handle but with the best troops I have. I like 2-3 missile units at least to place on walls, at least 2 good melee sword or axemen to back them up on the walls, 2-3 spear units to block any breaches in the walls or gates to make getting in very bloody, and 1 light and one heave cav unit to clean up whoever punches through my spears or comes down the walls.