First time being the target of a Crusade, and I managed to win.

R5: as the title says. This was really cool for me.

I started as Svithjod, reformed Germanic, formed Scandinavia, the works. I invaded France because why not, and I won. The Pope didn't like that so I got a crusade called on me.

It was a really cool experience for me. When I took France, it was incredibly exposed. South of Dijon, Burgundy was really strong, and their king had a martial of 30 or so. East Francia was also really stable. The territories east of France were neutral, which meant less enemies for me but also opened up a third front. And of course we had England up north. I only won because the Catholics never consolidated their forces, so I had to fight big but not unmanageable armies. Also it helped how tribals can pull 2500-regiments out of their ass whenever they feel like it.

There was a really cool moment in the war -- after being routed, my army retreated near the English Channel while a Catholic force bore down on my demoralised troops. It looked like it was a lost cause until I saw ships from my vassals and the king of Ireland (Germanic) sailing across the Channel. 25k of troops were funnelled into my war, and we won the decisive battle that shattered the Knights Templar. I killed the grandmaster in single combat, and afterwards the Catholics only really sent piecemeal attacks into France to try and siege out unguarded counties. After that it was just a waiting game.

/r/CrusaderKings Thread Link - i.redd.it