How to prepare for a crusade. The West still practices crusades - now for the “liberal order” - FAZ Army on a crusade

Fantasy? Finally!

Release date: May 24, 2016
We waited, we believed. And our faith was rewarded! Announcement Total War: WARHAMMER took place! The skeptics were put to shame, and the Vachomans rejoiced! The developers have already managed to tell a lot of details. Was it first known? that this will not be one game, but a trilogy flavored with a whole bunch of add-ons and additional paid and free content. Secondly, there will be only 5+1 factions (Empire of Sigmar, Greenskins, Dwarves, Vampire Counts and Chaos Warriors + Bretonnia in custom and multiplayer battles) but they promise to make them as developed as possible, rich in units and really different from each other in gameplay. Thirdly, the heads of factions are now not just generals whom you don’t mind losing in battle. Now these are the Legendary Lords (Karl Franz, Grimgor, Thorgrim and Mannfred von Carstein and others), heroes with unique weapons, mounts, clothes and a set of quests. They also promise such new items as flying units, magic, tanks, cannons and muskets... in general, yummy! In general, we are waiting for more information and hope that the game will become a breakthrough in the series.

More details about Total War: WARHAMMER

and again antiquity + naval battles

The announcement of Rome II Total War took place on July 2 and it caused a real storm of delight in our community! People were so hungry for hand-to-hand combat and legionnaires that the announcement of the sequel was perceived as a real miracle and a “dream come true.” To again lead legions bound by iron discipline, unshakable Greek hoplites and Macedonian sarissophorians into battle, trample enemies with elephants and throw severed heads at them - isn’t this happiness! But the new Total War games are also sea battles. And there will be a lot of fun here, because the developers promise active interaction between the ground and naval forces. Mutual shelling between coastal fortifications and warships in the roadstead will give a new degree of freedom to the “strategos” of the ancient world.

More details about Total War: Rome II

Release date: 2009
The fifth game in the series was released three years after the previous one. The historical framework, compared to its predecessors, is greatly narrowed - only from 1700 to 1799. But over these hundred years, the player will have to go through a difficult path of victories and defeats, taking part in the next redistribution of the world - the era of colonial wars. Now the game involves three full continents - Europe, Asia and America, which are tearing each other apart, striving for world domination. The game is as close as possible to the realities of the eighteenth century - the lines of units of different nations here do not have striking differences, so tactical art comes to the fore. And here the developers did the impossible, because the artificial intelligence of huge armies - from soldiers to generals - is very high. And now it is difficult to snatch victory from the hands of a computer enemy, fighting only with numbers. The main difference between the “empire” and its predecessors is naval tactical battles.

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Release date: 2004
In 2004, Total War entered the third dimension. Now the strategic map is not a field for chips, but a full-fledged land from a bird's eye view: with rivers, seas, forests, changing seasons and troops walking along the roads. Continuing to roll back along the timeline, the developers dedicated their new project to the brilliant Roman Republic - from 270 BC. e. (transformation of Rome into a world power) until 14 AD. e. (death of Octavian Augustus). Leading one of 21 factions, the player will have to conquer 50 provinces and conquer Rome. Here the economy is in the background - war, war and war! Don't want to go through long, multi-year campaigns? You can play out individual battles - both historical and random. Historicity is guaranteed - after all, this is the engine that the History Channel and BBC use in their documentaries!

And I have sad memories associated with the crusade (the only one in the entire game). Papik gave me the task of capturing Antioch with a procession of the cross, gave me 4 detachments of good troops, and I even added to the full stack. My heroes boarded ships and sailed from England to explain to the chumps the virtues of the Faith of Christ and the depth of their errors. After the passage of Gibraltar, ferment and discord began in the army. And desertion. God, how they scuttled, these children of the dead monkey were conceived by mistake! Not a single ship entered any port, but the army melted like snow on a hot frying pan (how did they escape, by swimming or what? Stoned ichthyanders). In short, upon arrival in Cyprus, I had only 4 detachments left: 1 General, 2 heavy cavalry (out of the four that were assigned by the Pope) and 1 hired spearmen. I had to land on the island and urgently recruit all the trash that was found there. It turned out to be half a stack. We finally sailed to this fucking Palestine and then I started to feel sick: all the chicks had already been killed by the evil Mongols, they seized everything they could reach and were scurrying around the entire Middle East in gangs of 2-3 full stacks (apparently they were looking for adventure on someone’s butt) . But DADDY GAVE AN ORDER!!! Therefore, with the remaining gold, I hire generally good (as practice has shown) cavalrymen and some infantry and, singing, go to hammer Antioch.
YEAH, SHAZZZZ!!! The Mongols turned out to be not idiots at all, but very proper bandits, they did not want to lose such a tasty piece and, with an army and a half, intercepted me halfway. I won’t describe that fight (modestly shuffling my foot), it’s enough that the Mongols raked as they had probably never been raked before. It would seem that the path to the goal is clear, but from the east a gang of 3 stacks was advancing at full speed, and a 2-stack army was approaching from the south. I had to retreat north. There, after two battles, we managed to occupy a fortress (I don’t remember the name).
I thought - now I’ll replenish the army, create another one and finally recapture Antioch, but it didn’t work out that way, my pursuers caught up with me and besieged the castle. In general, I found myself in a trap: it was impossible to break through and it was impossible to sit until victory. Here my crusaders would have gotten screwed, but the Mongols, having regrouped in a few moves, went on the assault. It was something with something. No one has ever stormed me like this, neither before nor after: clouds of arrows literally eclipsed the Sun, the screeching of rockets made it impossible to hear my own voice, the blows of trebuchets and rams shook the earth.
The enemy managed to break through the walls and was stopped at the cost of huge losses and incredible courage. By attacking the flank and rear of the reserve, we managed to put the enemy to flight. Unfortunately, the Mongols had too many forces at that time and literally the next turn they laid siege to my Fortress again. It became clear that the Campaign had failed and even the Fortress could not be held. And then there was an assault and everything happened again, the losses were simply monstrous: out of the entire army, after two assaults, no more than 140 soldiers survived, including the general. Since there was nothing more to catch here, and the enemy was again bringing a fresh army to the Fortress, it was decided to leave for ships and burn the Fortress so that it would not fall to the Mongols, which was done.
This is how the first and last English Crusade ended ingloriously and at the same time heroically.
As for the General, he and the remnants of the army safely reached Europe, was showered with favors at the Court and participated in many victorious campaigns, but that is another story.

Crusades

Crusade- a holy war carried out with the approval of the Papal States. Most often, the participants in the campaign seek to capture a certain settlement for the benefit of the entire Christian world. Either this settlement is a breeding ground for heresy, or Catholics are oppressed there. Sometimes the Pope personally declares a crusade, but most often he supports the initiative of the ruler of some power.
The Crusade inspires warriors to perform miracles of courage and heroism. After his announcement, the commanders of the Catholic powers lead their troops to the indicated settlement. The one who takes possession of it first will earn great glory throughout the Christian world!

Crusade proposal

The Crusade is an event of the greatest importance, and the Pope is not easily persuaded to announce its commencement. Here's what's important for a future crusader to know:

You can propose a crusade to the Pope through Scroll "Pope". Before he answers you, you must select a settlement that will become the target of the holy war.
The better your relationship with the Papal States, the more willing the Pope will be to bless the Catholics for the crusade.
The more heretics there are in the selected settlement, the more willingly the pontiff will bless the Catholics for the crusade.
The more Catholics there are among the inhabitants of the specified settlement of a non-Catholic power, the more willingly the pontiff will bless the troops for the crusade.

Joining and abandoning the crusade

Leading an army on a crusade has its pros and cons. Here's what you need to know about it:

You can join the hike for a limited time.
All Catholic generals can join a crusade, unless their country is excommunicated.
In order for a commander to go on a crusade, his army must have at least 8 combat units. Take the commander out of the settlement, double click on him to open scroll “About the Army” and then click on "Crusade" button at the bottom of the scroll.
If an army is participating in a crusade, this icon appears on its banner.
A commander may abandon a crusade, although this will lead to mass desertion of his warriors.

Army on Crusade

When a general leads troops on a crusade, his army undergoes the following changes:

An army on a crusade doubles its movement speed.
An army on a crusade does not pay for the maintenance of troops.
Troops available only during a crusade can join the ranks of the army. By summoning mercenaries, the commander can hire unique units for a nominal fee.
If the crusader army does not move towards the goal of the campaign, the soldiers begin to desert.
If you divide the army of the crusaders, then the combat units that left it will disappear in one move - who would like to be expelled from the army of Christ? The only exception to this rule is the formation of a garrison in captured settlements.

End of the Crusade

A crusade can end in different ways:

The crusade ends successfully when one of the armies captures the settlement chosen as the target of the campaign.
A crusade ends unsuccessfully if not a single commander joins it within a specified period.
If the target settlement was excommunicated from the Church and then returned to the fold, the crusade ends in reconciliation.
If the settlement chosen as the target of the campaign is captured by Christians who are not crusaders, the campaign ends in nothing.
The powers that took part in the crusade receive rewards depending on their contribution to a good cause. Even those who have not achieved their goal can receive a reward.

Jihad

Jihad- holy war against the enemies of Islam. Jihad proceeds in the same way as a crusade, although the declaration of holy war occurs differently than among Christians. Muslims do not have a single spiritual shepherd, so the rulers of Islamic powers can declare a holy war on their own.

The crusades of Europe and the current interventionist policies of the West are very similar, writes Jürgen Trittin, a member of the German Green Party, on the pages of Frankfurter Allgemeine. After all, as then, today we are talking about power, not missionary work. The only difference is that instead of faith, the current West hides behind the defense of the “liberal order.”

The policy of Europe and the United States in the Middle East for more than half a century has been “under the sign of strict adherence to their interests,” the publication continues.

The West supported dictators and criminals, acting on the principle: “He is a son of a bitch, but he is our son of a bitch.”

For a long time, the so-called partners and “useful idiots” of Europe and America were the leader of the Libyan Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi and the President of Iraq Saddam Hussein.

They oppressed their people, “trampled underfoot human rights,” but the so-called “champions of the liberal order” patted them on the back benevolently, and then deprived them of their favor due to strategic interests. Europe has pursued an “opportunist policy of promoting its own interests” in Syria as well.

In this region, people perceive Europe and America not as a community of values, but as colonial powers committing chaos.

“We are outraged by Assad’s barrel bombs, the use of poison gas - but the Americans are supplying weapons worth hundreds of billions of dollars to the Saudi child killers in Yemen,” Trittin emphasizes.

Before it can claim to be defending the liberal order, the West itself must begin to take its own values seriously. Until this happens, the analogy with the Crusades remains correct. Therefore, European interventions will continue to be doomed to failure, the politician is convinced.

In addition, Europe can no longer rely on the United States to resolve its security issues. Previously, America and the EU were bound by common ideals, interests and institutions. But the current head of the White House is destroying all this with the help of a “battery ball”. "He is the gravedigger of Western politics," writes Trittin.

After the end of the confrontation between the blocs, not a unipolar, but a “multipolar disorder” was established in the world, the author continues. And Europe, with the world's largest domestic market and a population of half a billion, cannot remain neutral.

Otherwise, in the new bipolar world, it will become the plaything of a rising China and a weakening United States. Europe must become one of the poles in this world system, not hypocritically advocating a liberal order, but pursuing a multilateral policy of interests.

To do this, it will be necessary to enter into alliances with various partners, basing this cooperation on international law and using its economic power and soft power.

And to a lesser extent, this policy should be interventionist, advises Trittin: “The security of Europe is primarily threatened by the collapse of states and new types of wars on the southern borders, and not by Russia.”

New weapons, intimidation, and increased military spending will not help against such crises. Development, investment and cooperation will help resolve them.

Europe must pursue a wise policy towards neighboring countries. After all, crusades always lead to failure, the politician concludes.