This is my first thread

[Lonewarrior]

I have a MTW question, I have tried many times, (only 2), to win with the egyptians, but everytime I get destroy by the Spanish. Why is this and is there a way to avoid this. :knight:

[KukriKhan]

Hi Lonewarrior, welcome to the Org~:wave:

Others may have a more detailed, nuanced strategy for you, but what I've done as Egypt is: make alliance with the Almohads (the guys between you and Spain), and concentrate my initial efforts toward Turkey. Spain needs my (Egyptian) land more than I need theirs. Try to strike alliance with the Byzantines also. Build "happy" buildings (mosques, etc) so that when the inevitable Crusades get unleased, we can counter with Jihads.

As with all factions, buid up trade and shipping ASAP, to bring in $$$'s to spend on military buildup.

[IrishMike]

Hey Lonewarrior, welcome.

I can't help u on the Eggys, usually i am the spanish crushing them ~D.
I am sure though that someone around here could help. :bow: ~:yin-yang:

[eadeater]

Hi lone warrior ~:wave:
I've played with the egyptians a number of times, and have struggled a few times, but eventually won through, so maybe I can help you. Firtstly, I don't wage war on anyone and just build up some farmland, trade etc. to get the $$$ rolling in, and wait for the inevitable war between Turkey and the Byzantines (make sure you're allied with them AND the Turks). Then, keep your alliance with the Byzantines, gather your armies and destroy the Turks. This should bring you a few provinces, some of which are quiet profitable, and a (relatively) secure border with the Byzantines. Then, focus all your efforts on the Almohads - they aren't that tough, and you've only got to defend one province at a time all the way up to Morocco. They should be at war with the Spanish as well, so the war on two fronts should ensure their demise. If you have trouble beating them, I would suggest Saracens and Nubians as well as desert archers with Ghulams, these are generally pretty handy together and are bound to do some damage.
Now, you have two choices, either wage war on the Spanish, concentrating all your efforts on them, face up to the fact that the Pope will ask for Crusades, and these are bound to come, but, if you're lucky, the Byzantines might have some beef with the Catholics and not let them through (however this is somewhat unlikely). If the Crusades do come, just grit you teeth, man the hills with your archers and go for the general with all you got. The Spanish are a very annoying nation to fight, however, as the AI tends to use the jinettes a lot, and I mean a LOT. Use camels against them.
Option 2: You can go for the Byzantines. This tactic will not prevent the Crusades, but at least will not provoke them. The Byzantines are, in my opinion, much stronger than the Spanish, but they are also more vulnerable. You can grab a few provinces off them and they will not resist too much, whereas the Spanish value their limited land more. However, the Byzantines WILL defend their key provinces vigorously, and they tend to have super generals as well, which is always an annoyance. If you get Constantinople though, you will be turning the tide of the war quiet significantly (provided you don't lose everything else ~D , as this is a cash farm and is very developed.
Essentially, both choices are valid, but both have their set backs. If the Spanish are at war with either France or Aragon (or even better excommunicated) then definately go for them. Also, don't fear the Crusades too much, they will get weakened as they march through Byzantine provinces, and might not be let through at all.
Hope this helps! ~D

[Lonewarrior]

OK then after I do all that, how do I deal with the mongols?

[eadeater]

Right, well, I was assuming you were starting in the early ages, in which case you should have a while to go before the Golden Horde rears its ugly head, but if you didnt, or you took longer to fight the Spanish and Byzantines than expected (often happens if the crusaders are more persistent than they should be). The Mongols will appear in areas like Khazar and Georgia, and all those provinces around there, and it appears to me that no matter how many troops you put there just before they appear, they will just send more men ~:) . I think this is intentional though. Be prepared to lose several of these provinces to the Horde, and then just make sure you defend the provinces beneath Georgia, and let them have all the northern ones. Firstly, the Russians will fight them, secondly, if you haven't finished off the Byzantines, they will fight them, and if the Polish or Hungarians got a bit of a good deal off of the destruction of the Byzantines by you, and hold some of the Balkan areas, they will probably fight the Horde as well. This will allow you to gather some men very quickly (as by this point you should be a force to be reckoned with very seriously - especially if you developed your navy and got that trade going). None of the Mongol units are so great as to have a profound effect on a battle (in my opinion) and when attacking them, be sure to take plenty of cavalry and skirmishers as this is what they like to use - don't use infantry masses as they will take these to pieces - your force must be able to match them for mobility.

[IrishMike]

Yes, it is true that the mogels appear with more men than you so try to garrison like 100 pesants and keep you main army's in provinces close. Then after they attack, counter attack and hopefully u will win the day. If not kill as many as u can and prepair for a tough war of defending untill u can get then down enough to counter attack again.

[Lord DeVeau]

Hello Lonewarrior,

And welcome to the Guild.

I have not used Eygpt yet. I am still trying to take over the entire world with England. I hope to use all the possible factions sooner or later although not yet...

"War is an art and as such is not susceptible of explanation by fixed formula"
- General George Patton Jr

"If a man does his best, what else is there?"
- General George Patton Jr

Battle on,
Lord DeVeau

[Nowake]

OK then after I do all that, how do I deal with the mongols?


Just try to use Georgia as a stopping point, and masse there some 1.500 troops, consisting of spears, light cav and of course, arbalests. Then wear them down. You can do the same against the spanish btw

[katank]

read guide forums.

pretty sure I wrote something for Eggy.

attack Syria with everything around it except for Antioch which remains in place.

leave a token peasant in egypt and stream all troops toward Syria.

almos wouldn't fight you this early.

next turn smash into Rum and then attack whichever province the Sultan is and he shall be ransomed to the other.

then crush the turks utterly the next turn.

give gov of Rum to the 6* fine leader camel and make him into a 7*.

spam troops out of every place you have and usually attack 2-3 turns later the Byz and strike at Const. through Trebizond.

you can afford to lose treb. just hold onto Const. for dear life and you would have crippled the Byz.

after you fully secure Trebizond and Const, hit Anatolia and then hunt the Byz emperor from one part of the empire to another, collecting ransoms as you go.

you end up with 50k or so of moola at the very least and all the lands of the Turks and Byz around 1105 or so.

secure the black sea rim and tech for ships and trade. the game is yours.

Mongols are best handled by a combo of saracen inf and arbalests.

naptha can also do wonders for vaporizing their cav.

defend Kiev from Khazar and you have huge bridge battles.

[Procrustes]

read guide forums.

pretty sure I wrote something for Eggy.

There used to be something for the Egyptians, as well as almost all the other factions as well. Since the new forum, they are almost all missing - are they to be found somewhere else, now?

(I enjoyed reading the guides immensely, but when it came to playing the factions I honestly found it a lot more fun just to play and find my own way - even if I got beat up. The forum guides will give you cookbook answers to some initial strategies, but if you avoid the urge to rush in the first few turns you can find that the AI will behave differently than others have described it. Also, the guides seemed to be skewed toward the "world domination" modes rather than "greatest achievements". Just my ill-informed opinion, mind you... :-)

Best,

[katank]

true. I've just found that I'd like to push some more aggressive strats such as initial rushes.

I find a lot more enjoyment out of fighting with a few units and winning despite the odds.

the turtle and build until you can't build any more and attack doesn't appeal to me as it usually boils down to the same old shield wall with spear, archers first in front and then behind, swords on close flank, cav behind swords or on outer flank.

once lines clash, initial flanking and rear attack maneuvers...

also, larger battles are easier to win against the odds due to the one wave at a time thing.

breaking the first wave is usually all you need to do as you can park on their rally point and destroy the reinforcements.

[Procrustes]

Hi Katank,

Hope you didn't think my comments were a slam on your tactics/tactical guides, I really appreciate all your posts and have enjoyed all the guides I read. Actually, I think we are pretty much after the same thing - a challenging game. And I'm still a n00b, so you have to discount ~25% of what I say ;-).

For some reason I don't mind loosing to the computer. I like the smaller battles - tactics seem to mean a little more and I prefer a short fight with long odds. I don't enjoy the massed clashes - by the time it gets late in the game I'm just as likely to autocalc as to fight. (It's more of a stategic game to me at that point.) I don't let myself sit by the AI's rally point - just takes advantage of the poor 'puter - and I try not to tech so much that every battle is my uber-unit against peasants and spears. I make do with as many cheap units as I can - it's just more fun to see if you can hold your army together when they aren't all elite. (Of course, I'd have to change all of this if I ever played another person.... Even then I'm sure to get my butt kicked.)

I do find that if I avoid the rush, and don't just spend all my initial florins on soldiers etc. (instead spend it on economic development), the AI is apt to do something a little different each time I play with a faction. For example, playing as the French if you avoid taking out the English first thing then sometimes you find that the English get aggressive and go for you first, but the next time it's the HRE. And sooner or later it will be the Spanish or the Italians that attack. (I've always found the Spanish to be quite agressive.) Gives each game a little different flavor. And I tend to play nice with my neighbors and let them attack me first if possible. (Sometimes it's not.) I form lots of alliances and try never to attack an ally, and I like trying to make the GA requirements when I can - some are quite difficult.

Still, the AI is a little, well..., stupid. Even if it has an overwhelming army on your border, it will often only send enough troops to make it an even match or so on autocalc - at least at first. Sometimes it's even dumber than that. I started a quick VI game as the Irish last night (on hard), and the Vikings have attacked me three times so far. But each time they landed with far too few troops. Last invasion they dropped 100 peasants and two very depleted units (5 berserkers and 10 huscarles) in a province with 2 full units kerns, 2 full gallowglasses, 3 full spears, and a full royal knights - just plain suicide, it was like 115 men to 600. Most of my casualties were from friendly fire when the impetuous gallowglasses charged units that were being pelted with javelins. I was so annoyed at the AI's stupidity that I murdered all my prisoners and went to bed.

Best,

Procrustes

[katank]

I didn't take it that way at all.

I in fact don't quite agree with complete blitz.

I usually wipe out a neighboring faction or two and then settle back and turtle a bit.

I actually tend to like strategic elements a bit more.

Later on, I would autocalc quite a few battles since I don't have time but the charm of small battles in facing 3-4 units using your 2 with them equal in quality and winning is great.

my troops aren't elite either. I learn to use primarily spearmen, archers, and UMs and find that for Early at least, I can piece together a quite potent force if I throw in some cheap cav too.

AI is stupid so meet the GH as it emerges instead of waiting in adjacent provinces and you may actually get a good fight.