Question about Conquistadors and religion

[zxcvbob]

Playing as Philip, if you don't found a religion (maybe don't even try), can you exterminate a religious neighbor and buy missionaries in the captured cities, then use them to buff your conquistadors? It will spread that religion everywhere, but I think that's okay. The timing would be good; rush in with knights, pikes (optional), crossbows, and a ram to set-up for when you research gunpowder.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

Yep. Conquistadors get the buff for being on the same tile as any religious unit; it doesn't matter which religion.

You don't even need to take any cities. Just wait for someone to spread to you. As long as you've got a shrine in the city to make missionaries, you're good to go.

 

[zxcvbob]

Thanks.
I just thought you should to exterminate whomever you co-opted a religion from so you didn't accidentally give them a religious victory.

 

[Ivan Hunger]

Thanks.
I just thought you should to exterminate whomever you co-opted a religion from so you didn't accidentally give them a religious victory.

To clarify on that point, conquistadors spread your majority religion, the religion that is dominant in the majority of your cities. If you don't have a majority religion in your empire, then conquistadors will have no effect on the religious status of conquered cities. The religious affiliation of the unit sharing the tile with the conquistador, if any, has no impact on this ability.

 

[zxcvbob]

I'm playing a Philip game now where I ignored religion and got one by accident at emperor-level. Defender of the Faith and I don't remember what the other belief is, I think the pantheon is Divine Spark.

I declared war on Monty during the first 5 turns of the game to steal an unguarded settler coming at me. Managed to hold onto the city that I founded with it, just losing one warrior in the ensuing battles and killing all of his many eagles (it was touch-and-go until a couple of turns after I finished researching Archery) Then realized he had no military left so I advanced on his capital and surrounded it with scouts (!) so it couldn't recover while I whittled it down with a couple of archers. He had a holy site with a shrine, and that was enough to get me a pantheon and a religion. I think I was getting faith from Jerusalem for a while, before Germany conquered it.

Now Trajan has declared war on me and really wishing he hadn't. I've captured 2 cities and will be taking Rome pretty soon. Every turn he offers a peace deal and I turn it down. I was planning to go for a science victory, but there are no scientific city-states so I might just go for domination because that's working pretty well.