Should I Grab Only Martial Study Feats Or Diversify?

[ccflier]

I am making a dread necromancer crusader/warblade, that is supposed to support the party's action economy and tank with maneuvers and undead. A bit more than 3/4BAB and access to level 9 spells.

Original plan was to incoporate as many martial levels I could so I can unlock the maneuvers I wanted at exactly the right time, but I only just now while reading the description of the martial study feat in the actual Tome of Battle, the prerequisite doesn't involve any kind of level. The online resources I used always listed a level so I was trying to keep my initiator level in check while planning my build, but I don't need to do that, it's just the number of maneuvers I know.

So correct me if I'm wrong but, at level 1, I could take a crusader level, learn 4 white raven maneuvers, and than grab War Master's Charge with martial study. Then have my party do over 100 damage by charging, on my turn, without using their movement, without using their action. It sounds amazing. I think I'm going to buy us all mounts and lances.

I was going to wait so I can unlock as many maneuvers as possible when I take a crusader/warblade level in later levels, but I'm starting the think it would just be easier to grab a single level of crusader at level 5 or 9 so I get up to level 2-3 maneuvers, and then just burn feats to get the big white raven manuevers that will benefit my team the most.

Are there any feats I should be grabbing instead to make the build more gishy? Arcane Strike was one, and I guess Combat casting to get more full BAB caster levels in abjurant champion. Was thinking about getting karmic strike to be more useful at lower levels but now I can just grab Defensive Rebuke really early with combat reflexes.

[el minster]

Remember, you can only take Martial Study three times.

[MicHag]

You also need to be initiator level 17 to take War Masters Charge.

[smasher0404]

I think there's a misunderstanding as to what maneuvers you can select with Martial Study. The book actually does define a minimum Initiator Level needed to select maneuvers of a certain level (see the table in Tome of Battle pg. 39). By RAI, it feels pretty obvious that Martial Study can't just grab a 9th level maneuver for a level 3 Warblade (typically accessed at level 17). By RAW, even if we argue that minimum Initiator Level is NOT a prerequisite, the Selecting Martial Maneuvers section specifically outlines that your levels in a Martial Adept class determines the highest-level maneuvers you can select, and Martial Study specifically uses the term Select and thus would be beholden to that rule.