I don't know how many other people are doing the Ghazette challenge, but I figured I'd post my notes from my run through. I finished in 1188, the primary hurdle being the Cathedral in Jerusalem. I know I could've done it three turns faster, and in theory it should be possible to complete it about 6-8 turns faster with a lot of luck or reloads.
For the start I left Henry to defend the 'Abandoned Fort' while King Rufus and the majority of my army hired a Galley and headed, first, for Tunis. I experimented with saving my money and hiring a second Galley by landing at Sicily on turn 2, but eventually decided I was better to spend it in the first turn by repairing the fort and training Hobilars. King Rufus was dropped off with some of the former crusaders to conquer Tunis while my other two generals made for Jerusalem at top speed. Venice had besieged the Fort by this point, and were landing more troops the next turn, so I sallied to break them, and because they had primarily cavalry units I was easily able to hold against both besieging armies.
Meanwhile I conquered Tunis, and considered holding it for a few turns to try to generate income, but the Sicilians landed a full stack the very next turn, so I abandoned Tunis and moved east into Moorish lands. King Rufus had gotten a start down the Dread path, and I developed him along those lines. The Moors may have had ample money, but their garrisons were an embarassment, and with only a few other units in his command Rufus was able to move through and sack all of their holdings in Africa, drawing particular benefit from the sack of their furthest western settlement, where we reached solvency and hired a merchant (For Timbuktu) and a spy to scout through Spain. I'd thought to do a little more raiding in Spain, but looking at the timeline in Jerusalem decided I needed to move north with more speed.
By the time Rufus had rampaged across North Africa, the Prince and his companion had conquered Jerusalem and Acre, razing all the building at Acre in anticipation of the full stack of Egyptians lying in ambush reconquering it quickly. That Egyptian force just kind of sat there, however, so I held Acre with no structures until the end. The single galley, upon dropping off the Prince, headed back west to grab King Rufus. My first mistake, losing at least one turn on the Cathedral development, was sacking Jerusalem. I got plenty of cash for it, much needed cash seeing as I'd developed my way 20k in the hole, but even with a decently chivalrous governer the population growth was slowed. I quickly moved to take Gaza as well.
Meanwhile, at the old fort, the Byzantines had worn down poor Henry's forces to a nub, and Venice had sued for peace, paying me off nicely for the privelege (They were the last successful bit of diplomacy I accomplished). When a full stack of Byzantines landed next door to the fort, Henry abandoned it and his much reduced forces hopped the galley as it sailed by.
While Henry and Rufus sailed north to Caernarvon (I figured it was better to capture the fort first if it was still rebel held, or Dublin first if someone had taken over England) the Prince ransacked his way through Egypt. Cairo, Alexandria, and Dongola fell quickly to the horde, with Cairo and Alexandria being kept intact to generate funds. At this point the Pope called a crusade to Antioch. Convenient! The Prince joined up and headed north, wiping out a few rebels and 'Jerusalem or Bust' Jihads along the way. My economy was nearly self sufficient at this point, and I developed the ability to train Yeoman at Gaza, though they weren't strictly necessary.
Landing at Caernarvon, dropping the spy off on the spit south of it, I discovered that England was still a rebel land, for the moment. I crushed Caernarvon. My second mistake, as far as time, was here as I debated how long it would take me to get to Cathedral-able population at Jerusalem. I realized then that I'd had Jeru at 'High' taxes for ten years... ARGH! ::shrug:: Dumped it, did the math, and realized there was no time to develop Cae, Mailed Knights would be the best it could offer realiztically in my time frame.
Meanwhile, the next turn the Portuguese landed a pair of decent stacks by Cae, sailing right around my Galley. Rufus picked up all the mercs in the area, and squashed them, hiring on a couple of mercenary ships as well to defend the coast, and sailed for Dublin while sending Henry for York. York fell quickly while my spy watched the Danes, and Henry recruited more mercenaries for the trip north. I got a Papal warning for besieging the Scots at Edinburgh, but I gambled that they hadn't taken Inverness so and wiped them out, moving on Inverness and crushing their suddenly rebel forces the next year.
In the Holy Lands Antioch was eventually sacked, and two more Jihad attempts by the Turks were turned back. I slowed the pace a bit here to not strain my economy, but it might've been a mistake, as I almost ran out of funds before I could sack the Turkish capital at Edessa. Jerusalem finally became large enough to build a Cathedral, and the time crunch was on to wrap things up in four turns.
Sack Dublin and Inverness, and head south for London and Nottingham leaving minimal garrisons behind to maintain loyalty. My mercenary fleets were sinking the scattered Portuguese ships that came north. The garrison at London looks tough, and they even think they're tough, sallying out against me as soon as I siege them, but they break under heavy charges from my mailed Knights, and my when my King slips behind them and claims the city square, the last unit of spearmen that hadn't ever made it out of the city breaks and surrenders. Meanwhile at Nottingham the Danes have a potential relief force waiting in the wings, but it never budges, and I squish the city the turn before my Cathedral completes. 1188, and England is reunited. The AI is as dumb as a bag of hammers on the strategic map, *frequently* leaving nearly full stacks standing around while I sack their minimal garrison capital cities.
The best battles, IMHO, were the early ones in North Africa, where I had to disrupt much larger and better armies as they sieged that crappy fort while pillaging my way to Gibraltar. I enjoyed some of the fights in England as well, while the battles in the Holy Lands were, by and large, embarassing AI efforts.
The best places to shave time off my effort would be:
1. Walk to Tunis.
2. Keep taxes very low on Jerusalem while holding the highest Chiv general there and building only population/church buildings.
3. Streamline the trip to England by sacking on the European mainland possibly. Better merc availability too.
Can't wait to hear how everyone (Anyone?) else is doing!
Ramses II
