The Fatamids/Abayyids/Mamluks (Egyptians)

Note: I plan on adding an actual faction guide fairly soon. In the meantime, however, I've put up a unit guide for those who are interested in the Eggies.


The Egyptians' unit roster is more geared towards utilizing speed & finesse, as opposed a standard Catholic-style slug-fest -- fire massive volleys of arrows into your enemy, and use your speed to make your more heavily-armoured opponent chase you all over the map (thereby exhausting themsevles). The Eggie's only real weakness is their lack of a decent heavy infantry and heavy cavalry unit (although they do have access to Aremian HC if they own Armenia), but this is easily offset by their good selection of hybrid units. I've compiled below an assessment of the main units in the Egyptian roster, and my opinions of each.

Abyssinian Guards & Heavy Abyssinian Guards: Excellent attack, decent morale, so-so defense. The heavy version has better defense, but they're still not very well-suited to stand-up, drag-out, knockdowns like the Catholics' CMAA are.

Armenian Heavy Cavalry: These are probably the best overall heavy cavalry the Eggies can get. While not spectacular when compared to the Frankish cavalry of Western & Central Europe, they're still very solid and perform well. AHC have good overall stats (speed, attack, defense, and morale); and just as importantly, their recruitment/maintenance costs & building requirements are pretty reasonable. Combined with the +1 bonus they receive when trained in Armenia, they can make for a very formiddable force.

Arab Infantry: In vanilla MTW/VI, they're admittedly not that great. In XL, however, I find they're actually quite good at taking on more heavily armoured, slower-moving units. This is especially true if they're paired together with another unit such as Saracen or Muwahid Infantry. Once their throwing spears have been expended (by which point the enemy should have suffered significant casualties), just charge them into the enemy's flanks and finish them off.

Bedouin Camel Warriors: The creme de la creme of any Eggie army. ~D Yes I kid, but I can also honestly say that these guys have won many a battle for me. It's true they're slow (compared to other cavalry), and their stats (attack, defense, morale) are only about average. However, they're cheap and easy to produce (in XL, only a fort is required to train them), and the morale penalty they inflict on enemy horse units is not to be underestimated. Even in the later part of my campaigns, I still find them to be useful.

Faris: A hybrid unit that can serve multiple functions, Faris are "light" heavy cavalry that use their bows to pepper the enemy with arrow fire. They have a solid charge, decent attack/defense, and good morale. Their relative lack of heavy armour gives them the advantage in arid/desert areas, but are still effective in the temperate zones as well. Just remember to not engage them one-on-one with heavier units by themselves -- pair them up with either Muwahid/Saracen Infantry and/or another cavalry unit.

Gazi Infantry: Shock troops with very high attack, poor defense, and ridiculously good morale -- they usually suffer 80% (or more) casualties before retreating! Best used to flank an enemy when a battle has reached a decisive moment, these guys can break the enemy if their attack is timed correctly. For this reason, they're often employed at the "moment of decision", when a battle has reached a crucial point.

Ghulam Cavalry: On the the lower end of the heavy cavalry family, some players feel these guys don't perform quite as well as they should. That isn't to say they suck, as GC definitely still have their uses. I do find, however, that their morale and attack abilities are a little lower than it seems like they should be. Training them in Lesser Armenia helps, as they receive a +1 valour bonus there.

Khwarazmian Cavalry: The only real heavy cavalry on the Eggie roster, but they're not that great IMHO. While they are heavily armoured and have good defense, their charge & attack is less than what you would expect from heavy cavalry, and their morale is only "okay". In addition, Khwarazmians have -- at least relative to their abilities -- rather high building requirements, as well as pretty stiff recruitment & maintenance costs. I might train a few of these guys, but overall I find them to be somewhat underpowered, especially compared to what they cost in terms of both florins and tech requirements.

Mamluk Cavalry: They're not anything special, but are still decent medium cavalry; they also get a +1 bonus when trained in Egypt. They can take on most units, although they should avoid engaging heavy infantry/cavalry head-on. Flanking heavy units is fine, however, as the Mamluks' armour-piercing ability can seriously damage their opponents.

Mamluk Horse Archers: Essentially horse archers with a limited melee ability, Mamluk HA's actually make for a decent all-around light cavalry unit. In addition to skirmishing with their bows, they're also quite capable of flanking attacks and chasing down routers. They're especially effective when trained in the Sinai (+1 bonus).

Muwahid Infantry: Personally, I love these guys -- they're spearmen, they're fast, and they possess an excellent charge/attack value along with good defense & very good morale. They don't really have a standard role in the line of battle; but they're the ultimate utility unit, able to fulfill several different roles/missions. Need to quick plug a gap that's suddenly opened up in your lines? Need flankers? Need to kill those annoying cavalry regiments that are bugging you? Need someone to take and/or hold a crucial position while you summon reinforcements? Then send in the Muwahids!

Nizaris: A very good infantry hybrid unit, able to shower an enemy with arrows and then close to melee for the kill. (Not that they should go attacking Kataphractoi, of course.) They have excellent morale, and receive a +1 bonus when recruited in Syria.

Saharan Cavalry: They're cheap and easy to replace, but they die so easily that I find they're of only limited usefulness. Unless you can recruit them in Cyrenacia (which gives SC a +1 bonus), they seem to drop like flies no matter who they fight. The sole redeeming feature of Saharan Cavalry is that they're fast, making them good at persuing & capturing routers. Some people also like using them to chase & engage enemy horse archers, but the SC's melee ability & morale is poor enough that even that can be a tricky proposition. If you're going to have SC in your armies, your best bet is to make sure to train them in a province with a mosque and/or ribat (so as to improve their morale).

Saracen Infantry: SI make for a solid main battle line, and (as Agent Miles indicated) any morale difficulties they may have can be at least partially remedied by recruiting them in a province with a mosque. The only true "pin 'em and stick 'em" unit on the Egyptian roster, Saracens aren't meant to truly kill the enemy so much as they're intnended to "hold the line".

Good post !

EGYPT (early ) - XL

Important is to destroy the Turks and Armenians IMMEDIATELY

try (it aint critical, but good to have) an alliance with the Byz.. and remember to back stab them after you've consolidated your gains...

I usually always build up a fleet (8 - 10 ships), with enough men sitting in Egypt to take out Cyprus, Crete and Rhodes generally all at once, as your main forces talke out the main Byz armies...

With your fleet wreaking havoc, the highway to landing troops in Greece are easy, as I use Greece as my main attack path to Constantinople and Asia Minor as a diversion...

At this time, I usually have an alliance with Scicily and Venice, since those 2 hate the Byz...

But remember, those two will try and invade and take away your gains, so remember that the alliances are STRICTLY temporary!

Once I take out the Byz, I then launch an invasion agianst the ALmos and take North Africa and have actually allied with Castile against Sicily & France

Two Keys I have found with the Eggys..

BE OPPROTUNISTIC!!

ALWAYS HAVE LOADS of troops, ALWAYS have more than ANYBODY else!, since man for man, your men are weaker in nearly all categories, so massive amounts of troops should work

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sinan

Good post !

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Thanks, Sinan. :bow:

I've just updated the unit guide again, as (much to my chagrin & embarrassment) I'd forgotten to include the AHC and Ghulam Cavalry. :oops: I've not bothered with listing the Ghulam Bodyguards, however, as their stats are very similiar to that of Royal Knights.

What the Nubian Spearmen, Desert Archers and Saharan Cavalry? All basic units, but all really good early on, and they come really handy against the Turks - the Nubians beat the Turkish spearmen easily, especially in the desert, and the Saharan Cavalry (I think it received bonus in Cyrenaica) is a good solution to the annoying horse archers. Combined with camels these are adequate units that can get the job done, and you do not need to worry that they all die like flies, because they are cheap to maintain and replace. Even if they were not, money is never a problem for the Egyptians.
Actually, this combination of decent troops, especially when AHC, Saracen Infantry and Ghazi Infantry are accessed, and really powerful economy, is what makes the Egyptiens such a formidable foe. For me it has always been really frustrating to fight them with a faction such as the Volga Bulgars, who have an unbalanced roster and poor lands - I would slaughter one Fatimid army after another, just to have to face them again next turn - with arbalesters and Mameluk Horse Archers at that. Hordes of Saracen and Arab infantry, followed by swarms of Armenian Heavies. :wall:

I didn't address Nubian Spearmen and Desert Archers because there's really not a lot to say about them. They're basically the same as their vanilla counterparts, except slightly better. The only real difference Nubians and regular spearmen is that Nubians are disciplined. The only real difference between DA's and regular archers is that they're a little faster and their morale isn't quite as poor.

I suppose one could specifically mention that an Eggie player should make sure to train Nubians & Desert Arhcers, and not bother with vanilla spearmen & archers; but that's really about all there is to say about them. :shrug:

As for Saharan Cavalry, I personally don't like them and almost never use them (probably even less than Khwarazmians). Thus, I never thought to include SC when I was making the list. ~;) I'll go ahead and add them, but I have little good to say about these guys.

What are the stat differences between Murabitin and Saharan Cavalry? I know SC get the provine bonus but my experience tells me that Murabitin Cavalry actually have some fighting skills. Also, Im not sure whether they are as fast though (and thus useful to hunt HA).

Well, I'm not totally certain on the Murabitan's stats, but I do know they're vulnerable to arrows. Means that unless you can pull off some good manuevering, you're going to suffer some casualties from arrow fire. Otherwise, Murabitan's are considerably better in combat than Saharan's, but still not nearly as good as Ghulam or Armenian's.

and just to mention, ghulam cavalry get the valour bonus if trained in lesser amenia. a good justification for eliminating the armenians, if you needed one :beam: