Papal States Details (M2TW Faction)

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Overview

The Papal States is a non-playable faction in Medieval II: Total War. Historically one of the major Italian states until the Unification of Italy in 1861, the faction leader of the Papal States is always the Pope, who can participate in battles like a regular General unit. The faction's starting settlement is Rome.

Players cannot play as the Papal States unless enabled by modifyinging the descr_strat file. While it is possible to unlock the Papal States and other non-playable factions, it should be noted that gameplay as them can be unstable.

Unique Characteristics

The Papacy is the only faction that:

• can control Inquisitors (see below for more information).
• can excommunicate Catholic factions.
• gives the player missions (from the Pope that is; other campaign missions come from agents, family members or a Council of Nobles). Through this, the Papacy is like an "invisible hand" that controls the balance of power in the campaign.
• has no family tree - although it has "family members", these generals are bachelors (they are immune from marriage) and immune to bribery.
• is the only indestructible faction in the Grand Campaign – it cannot really be destroyed even after the loss of all settlements, armies and agents!

Religion

The Papal States are strictly Catholic, and as the name suggests it is literally the "Pope's States". Despite that you cannot regularly join and/or initiate a crusade because ironically, your papal standing will usually be too low. (Once in a while though it is possible, or you will randomly get a crusade!)

Military

Like most of the Italian states the Papal States have limited cavalry, but excellent infantry and militia units. Directly from the start of the game, they have access to the Papal Guard, which can be trained from any minor city, regardless of the barracks that is present. This unit is superior (if more expensive) than the Italian Militias, and will probably form a substantial part of the Papal armies. The Papal States best unit is the Swiss Guard, which can be trained in any huge city.

Inquisitors

If you have modded your game and play as the Papal States, you have access to a unique and quite charming agent: the Inquisitor. That's right, you can actually use these buggers against your enemy. Inquisitors spawn at random, in an area that is either rife with heresy, or in a region that is owned by a faction that has fallen out of favor with the pope. They can attempt to condemn ANY character for heresy, although they have to be out in the open field for you to try this - for some reason they don't work in settlements. This makes it possible for you to hunt down enemy generals, spies or assassins, or clear the college of cardinals of all clergymen that don't support the papal dogma (or even eliminate a faction!). Inquisitors also seem to disappear at random at times.