Fear and Loathing on the Crusade Trail.

**Golden_Gonzo** · April 25, 2014, 08:38 AM

I usually play on VH (or Legendary in new titles), but this being the first campaign I've played in Medieval 2 in over 6 years I am warming myself up by playing Medium/Medium difficulty.

So I decided to split my entire armed forces in 2, sending one half on a Crusade. I knew it was a long shot, I knew I would be extremely lucky to capture the target settlement and hold it more than 5-10 turns, and I knew it would be a miracle if I was able to create a lasting presence in the middle east.

Going into a land that is 100% Islamic I knew public order was going to be in upheaval so I brought few bishops, still knowing the odds were stacked against me. Well I started by capturing Antioch so I could use it a launching pad for my main assault on Gaza. Well when I finally captured it, I see this:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read:

That is fifteen Islamic priests surrounding Antioch, 9 of which are leveled enough to earn themselves a title (all of them are "The Unorthodox"). Does this seem a bit extreme? I was expecting stacks on stacks, assassins, and priests, and was prepared (as I could afford) to deal with them. In no way am I prepared to deal with 15 priest, 9 of them titled.

It's ridicules, frustrating, but honestly, quite a bit hilarious. Looks like the god of (Total) war had a hangover and puked religion all over Antioch.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I have a feeling the makes of SS did not intend for something like this to happen.

I really do enjoy and love this mod, I was just a bit perplexed and set back by what I saw after I occupied Antioch.

**Melooo182** · April 25, 2014, 10:19 AM

Looks like they sent all their priest to that single region, according to the minimap they have 15+ regions controlled...so is perfectly possible they had as many priests...however did that happen all in a single turn? even with steeds ancillaries a priest couldnt move that much to get from say libya to antioch in a single turn

**Golden_Gonzo** · April 25, 2014, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by Melooo182

Looks like they sent all their priest to that single region, according to the minimap they have 15+ regions controlled...so is perfectly possible they had as many priests...however did that happen all in a single turn? even with steeds ancillaries a priest couldnt move that much to get from say libya to antioch in a single turn

I don't know if I just could not see them, or if they actually were not there at all, but they were not on the campaign map when I was sieging the city. As soon as I beat the defenders and occupy the city, BOOM. Hello fifteen priests.

**_Elysium_** · April 25, 2014, 03:57 PM

I don't know about Stainless Steel, but in the Vanilla game and the expansions, any enemy agents that are in a city are displaced just outside the walls when you take it. It looks like they put all/most of their priests in Antioch, then got displaced when you claimed it for yourself.

It happened with me today in my Crusades campaign. Two Imams were removed for a city when I took it. I introduced them to my assassins hanging around nearby. Whenever I send stacks long distances, I attach multiple spies and assassins to them. If I'm heading for infidel territory I'll put some priests in there aswell.

**Basileus of Byzantium** · April 28, 2014, 08:32 PM

Wow, looks like they're about to do a Jihad bukkake on Antioch. Best to ready the defenses and assassinate some of those imams. If you don't have an assassin to recruit at the moment then the good old box formation should kill them too. Also try to bribe some of their smaller armies coming to the region and use them to impede the incoming invasion or bolster your own settlements.