The Crusades Campaign
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The Crusades Campaign is one of four campaigns available in the Kingdoms expansion to Medieval II: Total War.
Contents
Overview
The Crusades campaign takes place in the year 1174 AD, right before the Third Crusade, and continues on towards the Fourth Crusade. It provides the player with an opportunity to either expand the Crusader factions land or/and to see if they can defend the Holy land from the revenge seeking Muslim factions. The player also has the opportunity to play with the Islamic factions and to hopefully bring them success in retaking the Holy lands. The Byzantine Empire (M2TW Kingdoms) is also playable, which will allow the player to defend and bring back the former glory the once mighty Byzantine Empire, from the armies of the Turks (M2TW Kingdoms) and even from various European foes.
Map
The map extends East from Constantinople to Baghdad, and North from Georgia (country) to Egypt.
Playable Factions
Non-playable factions
The Mongol Hordes
Venetian Crusaders
Faction Information
Kingdom of Jerusalem 
- Religion- Christian
- Long Campaign Win Conditions- Hold 25 Regions, Hold Jerusalem (30 Turns), Hold Limassol (10 Turns), Hold Baghdad (10 Turns), Hold Cairo (10 Turns), Hold Tripoli (10 Turns), Eliminate Egypt
- Short Campaign Win Conditions- Hold 15 Regions, Eliminate Egypt
- Finances- Initial Money: 30000 Florins, King's Purse: 5000 Florins
- Faction Leader- King Baldwin (16) - 8 Command, 6 Chivalry, 10 Authority, 7 Piety
- Faction Heir- Prince Guy (24) - 3 Command, 3 Chivalry, 5 Loyalty, 4 Piety
- Biography- The Kingdom of Jerusalem starts off in a good position with scope for expanding into the far east of the map. Antioch begin as your allies and effectively guard your northern frontiers. The Turks are not a particularly dangerous adversary but Egypt to your south is a different matter altogether. expect to face waves of attacks. Ascalon must be guarded at all costs because if that falls, Jerusalem will be next. Another difficulty will be the lack of family members & generals. Egypt will send full stacks against you but this has a side benefit in that you can get great experience for your troops. Saladin himself might attack and he is very dangerous. His troops will fight to the last man unless you kill him. Luckily Baldwin your starting king is a very good general as is Richard the Lionheart, who you acquire later in the campaign. Once you take Cairo & Alexandria, the forces of Egypt should be spent and you can concentrate on eliminating the Turks. Antioch will be expanding as well and if you let them expand too much, you may have to conquer lands in Asia Minor to make up your total number of settlements at the end of the campaign. In the long campaign, Cyprus must be taken. It is a feature of this island that you need a fleet to move units from one end of the island to the other. The Emperor(Byzantine Empire) is a somewhat unreliable ally and needs to be watched with care if you sign any alliance with them.
It is important to note that many of your best units can not be constructed without Jerusalem - defend the capital at all costs.
Special Features
- Generals are able to construct permanent forts that won't disappear even after being abandoned for a long time.
- When Constantinople is taken, some reinforcements will arrive. This can only happen 5 times.
- Each of the factions controls a "Power Centre." Losing control of a "Power Centre" will take away the ability to train certain types of troops.
- The Power Centers are:
- Byzantine Empire: Constantinople
- Turks: Baghdad
- Egypt: Cairo
- Kingdom of Jerusalem: Jerusalem
- Antioch: Antioch
- For the first 3 times a power center is lost, reinforcements will appear nearby to aid in taking it back.
- The Third Crusade is presented with reinforcements. The Kingdom of Jerusalem gets a 12-units army, led by Richard the Lionheart. The Principality of Antioch gets a 12-units army as well, led by Philip the Chivalrous. The units are elite and are very useful when appeared. Make sure to make use of them
Hero Units
Crusader States
Philip II Augustus - Can temporarily increase the attack and stamina of his troops on the battlefield.
Richard the Lionheart - Has the ability to immediately rally any routing units.
The Islamic Factions
Nur ad-Din - Can temporarily increase the attack speed and morale of his troops on the battlefield.
Salah al-Din - Has the ability to greatly inspire his troops. Setting their morale to full.
The Christian-Orthodox Faction
Manuel Komnenos - Can cause chaos amongst an enemy unit, removing them from play until order is resolved.
