Europeans always lose their Crusades?

[Patricius]

They lose early in my games, when the Moslems have an easier time of raising huge armies, but later that changes. If the Mongols become Catholic or Orthodox - in my current game one Mongol faction is Catholic, the other Orthodox - it is easier still.

 

[Grifen88]

In my game, the Iberian Christian Kingdoms (with France) pushed the muslims to a small corner on the south-west without any interference on my part. Castile is coming close to forming the Spanish Kingdom. Also, Jerusalem is currently held by the HRE and they're whopping Fatimid's arse whenever a jihad is called. All also without me interfering. (I did break up the Fatimids to itsy-bitsy pieces later through a string of assasinations on the reigning family, so there's that.)

 

[Comradebot]

I've seen many Crusades succeed. The only failures tend to come if the Pope calls one for Jerusalem (or, more rarely, Egypt) against a still powerful and stable Fatimids or Seljuks. Beyond those, the only failure I can recall seeing was one for Finland against the Golden Horde, with only a few medium powers joining.

 

[Arokel]

Just had a Crusade for Sicily against a powerful Fatimid Caliphate succeed in my Sultanate of Rum game. Knights Templar now own southern Italy (minus the heel) and Sicily.

 

[Coniuratos]

In my current (Denmark) game, had the Fatimids take Greece from the Byzzies. A subsequent French-led crusade took it back, and not long after that, it split off into a French-ruled Greek Crusader state. The ERE up in Bulgaria ain't too happy about it.

 

[Kaiser Ludwig]

Right now the First Crusade for Jerusalem was beaten back, but the second resulted in a DANISH!!! victory... a few years later the Fatimids were in a massive succession crisis, so the KOJ lands were even able to expand a bit into syria... then the Fatimids reblobbed, and Jerusalem's pretty much titular (not literally)

Funnily enough in that game, the Byzantines won Manzikert but lost a Fatimid Invasion to Anatolia, and duyring this succession war they were able to recover everything. Yay Bizzies!

 

[Hootieleece]

In my current Game,Saxon England.The Pope has Called 3 Crusades for Jerusalem.First Failed.2nd was won by Denmark.(subsequently lost KOJ).1249AD 3rd Crusade.Between 2nd and 3rd Crusades was a Crusade for Aragon won by England.(I had to win Latium also in a Holy War so Pope could have Rome back from Fatimids)

In this Game there will be more Crusades and Holy Wars. Golden Horde owns Poland,Bohemia,Bavaria, and Tuscany!(Poland owns some land in Russia)Ilkhanate owns Modern Iran and most of Russia.

The Fatimids keep losing Jihads(3) for Persia.(Mongol Deathstacks anyone)

 

[magritte2]

I've seen many Crusades succeed. The only failures tend to come if the Pope calls one for Jerusalem (or, more rarely, Egypt) against a still powerful and stable Fatimids or Seljuks. Beyond those, the only failure I can recall seeing was one for Finland against the Golden Horde, with only a few medium powers joining.

That's my experience as well. It's only the Jerusalem crusades against the Fatimids that generally fail. Although I think with both crusades and jihads that there may be a momentum factor that clicks in because of their impact on religious authority.