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Thread: Egypt

  1. #31
    Guardian of the Fleet Senior Member Shahed's Avatar
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    Default Re: Egypt

    Point taken.

    I played an Egyptian campaign yesterday and with the first Jihad I raced for Antioch, then Adana, to cut the Turks off. Otherwise they'd be in Asia Minor as well. 2nd Jihad to Baghdad taking Mosul on the way and kicking the Turks out.

    I like that strategy posted by bbrass10, it's sound.
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  2. #32

    Default Re: Egypt

    I didnt think you could attack the turks on a jihad.

  3. #33
    Guardian of the Fleet Senior Member Shahed's Avatar
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    Default Re: Egypt

    Hmm I don't know if you can.I think you can launch a Jihad army against any enemy. I did'nt launch against them anyway, this was turn 1, Antioch was rebel.
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  4. #34

    Default Re: Egypt

    I've struggled through several campaigns to understand Egypt as a faction, military, and economy. Here's my take on Egypt:

    (Before I begin I need to tell you that I've modified the game a little. Instead of the Mongols Arriving at around turn 70 or so, they arrive around turn 20 and the Timurids around 25. Also you get gunpowder around turn 4, but it's more of a help to the Mongols and Timurids than it is to me. Oh and all Mercenaries in the game appear earlier as well and a few select factions have boosted Kings Purse to make them Super Powers. (but not Egypt!)

    The first turns are important to me because they set you up financially in the long run. Most notably is the production of 2 emisaries, a spy,and three merchants from Cairo and Alexandria and 2 ships built in Gaza. It will take about 4 turns to produce them and the buildings needed to make them all and get them started up towards Nicosia. The task is to split the ships up and drop the merchants off near Ragusa and drop one emissary off at Naples and then carry the second to make deals with the Moors and then around Iberia all the way to Russia.

    The merchants will be in good position with the spy to make you a cash boost by acquiring enemy merchants and Iron will bring in 300 to 600 a turn. I do not make merchants to send to Dongola. Why eek out a living there when you can HUG and pillage in Northern Italy and rest on Iron paying 580 a turn? Try getting 580 a turn on Ivory in Dongola when your Capital is in Jerusalem! Plus you don't make any points towards Merchants Guild by sitting your buns on Ivory in Dongola!

    The emissaries will sell deals to all of Europe. The best part is you get an early boost to Merchant Guild Explorers Guild, and Thieves Guild.

    You won't need the money really though because this is what you will be doing back home. . .

    On the first turn move the troops outside of Gaza into Gaza. Move the spy into Jerusalem and call a Jihad. Now move all troops out of Gaza and join the Jihad. You won't be able to move but that's OK. Hire Jihad Mercs and leave the 4 units behind with no movement points. (I should mention it's important to save the game around this point) Take your Jihad army up to Jerusalem and lay seige. If the gates are open then hire some more Jihad Mercs and take the city. Your general now has good Chivalry and Jerusalem will grow quickly. The units you left behind also have the experience bonus and should have enough movement points to get back into Gaza. You've also got a nice chunk of change for the Jihad. Oh, and you have Jerusalem! If the gates aren't open then reload!

    IMPORTANT: Look at your Imam and guess what you will notice? You have another Jihad available! It's a glitch but it works in your favor.

    Now move up the coast using your Jihad army (not the general. he stays in Jerusalem until it hits 24k) and maybe some Mamluk Archers (for yuks) and take Acre.


    Convert Acre and Gaza into Cities. Why? Your best units will be produced in Cities and by the time you will actually need, or be able to afford castle made units you will have captured them from the Turks or someone else.

    Move your Faction Leader and Prince to Dongola and take it with the peasants and the archers. Leave the Spear Militia in Cairo. No sense in paying support when you can win this with units you will have to pay for no matter what.

    When you get to Dongola and take it leave one peasant there and head to the Red Sea. Build a boat in Cairo (plan ahead by building a port silly!) and pick up your Prince (king usually dead by then) and take him to Jedda. Take Jedda. (By this point, because I've created gunpowder early Elephants will be available. They aren't very important in the early game, but they are fun later. Don't waste them!


    Meanwhile. . . you should have been moving up the coast to take Antioch, Adana, and Aleppo. If you are lucky you will have a new general by the time you get to Antioch so call the second Jihad there and hire more Gazis and Muttatawi'a (or whatever it's called) Bolster your forces with Spear Militia if necessary but try not to drag them along and pay support. If you are careful your Jihad Army will be in good numbers, good experience, and they will be dirt cheap compared to anything else you can recruit at this point. Their support is 70 florins a turn and they beat any troops you will encounter or can produce at this point. (infanty wise that is)

    Take Edessa and the start moving towards Baghdad. (I sometimes like to skip Damascus and save it for a Jihad later. I'm running out of Rebel territory to make quick Jihads and I don't want to have to go to war with the Byzantins yet. ) You should have two new generals to take over your Jihad Army by now. The next Jihad will be available soon so it's important that you keep this in mind. I can't stand wasting a single turn because I wasn't ready with my generals or with spies or artillery. It seems every campaign I play this is when the Turks break their Alliance. It works for me though.

    From here on out the game takes twists and turns so it's hard to give a blow by blow, but here are a few things to do.

    Concentrate on farms first unless there is something specific you need. For instance I built a Race Track in Jerusalem right away. I used to build Mosques so I could get Theologians Guild but you will go broke trying that in the early game. Horse Breeders Guild Headquarters can be achieved here by turn 20. Plus since you've got no castle nearby you will need some Mamluks to take care of the Rebels that pop up.

    After you build your first 2 farms then concentrate on trade. Bazaars, Ports, and Roads. Damascus is my exception but it doesn't have a port, which is why I chose it to produce assassins and the brothel line of buildings.

    If your two emissaries are working well you should be drowning in money. After turn 5 you should be able to convert all cities to Growth Build instead of Financial and you will still be rich.

    Antioch is my trade city. I concentrate on trade and building Merchants. It's closer to Turkey and Byzantium so you get a few merchants that pass by to boost stats. This is where Merchants Guild headquarters will be at around turn 30 if your first merchants clean up in Northern Italy area.

    I try my best to get Hashashim Guild in Damascus. I leave a low Chivalry general there and start cranking out assassins as soon as I can. If your king is available then this is a good place for him. He will be a Dreadful sight before long. However, dont' put a high Chivalry General in Damascus while you are cranking out spies and assassins. He will loose all his Chivarly and become Dreadful. (learned that the hard way)

    About turn 20 or so you should have all Rebel territories in your area and if Turkey has attacked you should charge up there and kick his ass. Caesaria and Mosul are nice Castles to have and the best part is that Turkey has already spent a fortune building them up for you.

    I don't build a Thieves Guild ever. I capture them and destroy them unless it's a Master or Headquarters. Baghdad seems to always give an Explorers Guild so that's taken care of. I won't work on Theologians Guild until I take Thessalonica. It's in good position to pour Imams into SE Europe thus boosting their Piety.

    Other tips: Pay attention to Jihad so that you are ready to call, join, and complete the Jihad in one turn. (keyword here is Ballista!) (ironically it takes less time to build a Bombard building than it does a Ballista building, but whatever) Anyway, leave those Jihad Generals behind in Key Cities like Antioch, Jerusalem, Edessa, Mosul, Baghdad, and Damascus. Also put 2 generals who have never been on Jihad in every Jihad. They will both get the Chivalry boost thus making two great governors out of every Jihad. If you run short on Generals then make one using a Mamluk and a Rebel army. You can kill enough Rebels with a Mamluk and get a Man of the Hour in a pinch.

    By turn 20 you should have had 4 Jihads using my methods. That's a lot of great governors to boost population growth in key cities. Once you get a city up to 24k put the wall in the queu and move your general to another city. That city will probably lose population for awhile without the general but you've got the Huge Wall and that's what matters. Remember the Mongols and Timurids are coming.

    Mongols and Timurids. Well this is simple really. One of the reason some people don't like Jihad/Crusade armies is you can't retrain them. I love these armies in the early game and you should too. Low maintainance cost! and they beat most ealry units. But also they make great Castle garrisons. Which would you rather have? Peasant or Gazi? Also if you consolidate the units carefully you can end up with a unit with just a couple soldiers left in it. Put these soldier in forts so you can block the passages that the Mongols and Timurids will take. Their upkeep will be miniscule and if you lose the forts who cares?

    I always send a general west to Europe to purchase Free Company Longbowmen. I need the spear wall to help in City/Castle defense. One you neutralize the cavalry then the Hordes are paper tigers. Catch them at the rivers if you can get them to attack you there, but my personal favorite is in the mountains. Get them to come at you up some goat path and cut them down with your archers and Javelins. My greatest battle was 4 stacks of Timurids against 1 stack of Egyptian Saracen, Desert Archers, Javelins, and 4 Mamluks in reinforcements. Javelins give a nasty surprise against the elephants! And once they move up that choke and drop dead they block the path of next soldiers and horses thus making it an even deadlier place to be. But I digress.

    Once you get to Europe and start facing heavy infantry you are going to have to upgrade out of Gazis. They will still be useful in large numbers, but Mamluk Archers will win the day in field battles.

    My current campaign it's turn 27. I've taken all of western Turkey as well as Corinth, Rhodes, Nicosia, and Constantinople. I also hold Edessa, Mosul, and Baghdad and all of Egypt. I have Master Thieves Guild (captured in Constantinople), Horse Breeders Headquarters, Master Hashashim Guild, Master Explorers Guild, (from driving my dhow all the way to Russia! Ha thank goddess for passive rebel fleets!), Master Merchants Guild and several Merchants Guilds (one of the few Guilds I reproduce). The Turks still hold north east Turkey but they are stuck up there with the Timurids and the Mongols! haha. I hold the river crossing with Mamluks, Gazis, Desert Archers and Free Company Longbowmen! (That spear wall is worth every penny!) And other crossings or passes are blocked by a couple Gazis or Mutas in forts.

    I have yet to build a single barracks in a city because I've been using Jihad Armies and I have better than 25,000 florins laying around in cash for the last 10 turns.
    Last edited by Kekvit Irae; 07-07-2007 at 10:40.

  5. #35

    Default Re: Egypt

    That's a very strange strategy, but very interesting as well...
    I think I'm gonna try it on my next Egypt game :)
    With God, The One & The Only, Comes Victory to us. We are His People. The Free People of God

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  6. #36

    Default Re: Egypt

    I just finished a long Russian campaign. The Mongols and Timurids appeared near Baghdad and never bothered me.

    Now I'm playing as Egypt and I thought: OK now there's no way out of it I'll face the hordes

    They appeared on Sarkel, moved north, wandered around a lot and now have finally decided to attack Russia's Ryazan. I have conquered Turkey and Byzantium and am planning my move into Europe. I just hope the Timurids don't show up down south!

  7. #37
    Member Member Henry707's Avatar
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    Default Hail Heirs of Pharoh

    Afternoon All,

    With my current Egypt game on VH & LTC mod, I have tried to establish myself in Egypt & the Holyland but then turtle a bit. I don't really want to knock out other powers so early, hopefully to make it a more challenging game in the long-term. So, the Turks are pretty much left alone & same with the Byzantines but I have one beady eye on Cyprus which has wonderful all-year round beaches! (I also thought nice to have an island to run to if needed!)

    In terms of Mongol prep, I think it is a bit strange to be preparing from the off for the Mongol invasion - I know there was some warning but I don't want to structure my whole game around it. However, in Egypt, it is always in the back of your mind.

    Crusades are beginning to arrive but I will make human kebabs out them hopefully.

    With Egypt, my approach has been to expand into the available rebel provinces, then develop & build. I wanted to get the amazing afghan javelin men who deserve all the credit heaped upon them. It goes without saying as Egypt you need to build up your cash reserve - gives you a bit of flexibility.

    I also agree with someones tip on moving your capital into a more central location for your empire - Antioch seems like a good choice.

    Anyway, that's may pyramid's worth of info.

    Henri
    Arch Bounder & Cad

  8. #38
    Merciless Mauler Member TheLastPrivate's Avatar
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    Default Re: Hail Heirs of Pharoh

    4 jihads in 20 turns??
    I thought the Jihad "cooldown" was 10 turns...


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    Possibly the earliest full-armored heavy cavalry in human history, deployed by the Goguryeo from the 3rd century A.D.

  9. #39

    Default Re: Egypt

    Is it just me or does anyone else use completly archer armies?
    I first stumbled upon this with the Moors and their awesome camel gunners. No joke, 4-5 camel gunners came out of conflicts with English armies of a general and 5-6 D chiv knights. Then I played RTW for a while and on Hard I used Stacks of Persian Cavalry and they always beat the best post marius armies Rome pumped out. Just surround them and watch the glorious slaughter as all the legions exp is wasted by arrows to the face. Although I haven't tried this in MTW2 yet, experience leads me to believe that if HA could beat the best of Rome, then better HA in MTW2 could beat the best of the world.

    Relating to the Mongols. If you meet them in a field battle, they would have some infatry. So they would have less firepower. If you run a Gureilla(sp) war, then you could, IMHO, bring down the mongols at their own game. Clever maneveuring could prevent you from attacking more than one at a time if you have multiple stacks.

    Any thoughts?

  10. #40

    Default Re: Egypt

    I just started playing as Egypt, but in a different way. I've began colonizing islands such as Cyprus, Rhodes, and Iraklion and used them as power bases. I never bothered conquering the whole Arabian penninsula, just Jerusalem, Acre, Damascus, Aleppo, and Antioch. I've waged war with the Byzantines along with the Turks and have a pretty good advantage against them seeing how close I am, thanks to the islands.
    Oh, and Mamluks are the best! I've conquered Sicily with these guys, and they're one of the best units I've seen so far. After I conquered Sicily, relations with the Papal States were "very poor", but when I blockaded Rome, they sent a diplomat to negotiate a peace and trade agreement.
    It's a fun campaign, but does anyone know which factions are recommended when it comes to firearms? I've never reached the point that I was able to recruit firearms and never got to see the Timurids and the New World.

  11. #41
    Typing from the Saddle Senior Member Doug-Thompson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Egypt

    Turks are an excellent firearms faction.
    "In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns."

  12. #42

    Default Re: Egypt

    I am playing egypt m/m and i had no crusades called at first. after two reloads, it finally called a crusade but then, nobody joined. Do i serioously need to play on vhvh to make the ai come. and how do they come? through asiaminor like during the first crusade in 1099(in actual history) or by sea? oh and i am playing 1.0. Thanks!

  13. #43

    Default Re: Egypt

    I had experienced to this time (turn 60) in my egypt game on E/E ! one crusade on antioch leaded by Venice,HRE,Poland and Danes. All of them was wiped out by my mamluks archers. While HRE,Poland and Danes take it through Constantinopole, Venice surprisly take it from tripoli to my core regions of Cairo and Alexandria

  14. #44
    Member Member Agent Miles's Avatar
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    Default Re: Egypt

    This is my campaign so far on VH/VH, huge units, no mods, but patched up to the Kingdoms pack.

    I chose not to blitz more than one target with the first, or any other, jihad army, because the high chivalry of the Holy Warriors you get as a result is very useful. Each jihad had a different leader. If you plan the jihads well, then every ten turns or so you can expand just as well as if you gobbled up everything all at once. I did send a second jihad army to take Dongola when the main jihad went to Acre, and I did this again with Jeddah when the main jihad went to Damascus. This allows the second army to get to these distant targets at “jihad speed” and I had no desertion.

    I also occupy each conquest rather than sack, as this yields one more point of chivalry and you don’t really need the loot. Then build a mosque and you get another point of chivalry for your Holy Warrior/Governor. Low taxes will quickly get you another. This allows me to create high chivalry governors that get small settlements to boom in population, as each point of chivalry adds a half of a percentage point to population growth. I convert all castles to cities and rapidly grow them up to minor cities too.

    Cairo was my arsenal. I built both racetracks, got the Horsebreeder’s Guild, teched up the blacksmiths (to heavy armor improvement) and upgraded the town watch so that I was quickly able to produce Saracens, halberdiers and Mamluk archers. My typical field army is eight Saracens, two flanker halberdiers, three archer militia, six Mamluk archers and a general, although the jihad armies are just lots of Ghazis, Arab cavalry and whatever else is available.

    In Jerusalem I built a Jama and got a Master Theologian’s Guild. Since the periodic ability to call a jihad is central to my strategy, I kept the starting imam in a city and brought him out only to call a jihad. If he is left wandering around he may become a heretic. It takes four points of piety to be able to call a jihad. Jerusalem was producing imams with two points and a short trip to Cyprus quickly boosts them up to four. I soon had five high piety imams.

    The Byzantines continually land near Alexandria and every now and then lay siege. I leave the diplomat next to Alexandria because the Byz will immediately agree to a cease fire and then trade rights. This way, I am not entangled in a war with the Byz, who are free to fight the Turks, and each new trade rights agreement gets all of my settlements +10 points towards acquiring a Merchant’s Guild.

    After forty turns, I have nine settlements, 80k florins more than I can spend and my faction is number one in each category.
    Last edited by Agent Miles; 04-21-2009 at 18:03.
    Sometimes good people must kill bad people to protect the rest of the people.

  15. #45

    Default Re: Egypt

    Well first post and on an old thread. After learning the game on english short campaign I thought I'd give Egypt a whirl. Note this is on M/M, so not too challenging. It's been interesting. After looking through peoples advice here's what I've done.

    opening 10 turns: Jihad to Antioch via jerusalem and acre. Sacking those cities gave me a big cash injection to get started. I learned my first lesson there. Jihad mercenaries are cheap, plentiful and get the job done for seiges but they dive in droves. Also moved south to take Dongola but considering i didnt know where it was it took a few turns longer than it should have. City wise I'm building up economically and with high chivalry from the jihads cities grow smoothly. Guild-wise my goals were Cairo for theologans, Alexandria for merchants, gaza for builders and jerusalem for horsebreeders. Antioch became thives guild, I'm saving damscus later for alchemist and aleppi will be hashashims guild.

    6~20 turns: Started fighting the Turks. They took aleppi about the time I finished my jihad to antioch and didnt have much left after the seige so i swooped in. My HA got lucky and ran into a big stack of Turkish infantry to shoot to bits. Using my economic advantage I was able to take cesaria. Turks paid Trezbond for a ceasefire! After that it was consoldate, build up and finall go on 2nd Jihad to Baghdad.

    20~35 cleaned up turks and remaining rebels. Iconium went down first after a field battle outside I was able to lure most of their defenders out. The Baghdad Jihad then set sites on Eastern Turkish territories quickly taking mosul before the slow mountain slog north. Around this time I also put together ships to land and take nicolessia from byzantium.

    35~45 building up infrastructure. Unfortunately the Turks had moved to Sarkel so it took a while to find and finish them off. Also sent a small detachment to take Jedda for completeness.

    ~51 4th Jihad swept Byzantines out of Turkey. Varotai are tough to fight, but at least I didnt run into Vargarian guard. Constantanople fell on turn 51 and I'm trying to decide what to do next. My next long term goal is to prepare for Mongols but I dont want to kill my economy with upkeep. Byzantines still have their Greek territories and Hungry is right next door in Sofia, but I'm more worried about the mongols....

    Crusades havent been much of an issue, besides 1 venetian stack that I fought on the field with my cav I havent seen any others. I also just bought a papal alliance so I dont have to worry about crusaders when the mongols come. The mongols really scary me any ideas?

  16. #46

    Default Re: Egypt

    The problem with Egypt is that you have Turkey near you and they are a far more fun faction to play. You can quickly conquer each other lands, you are both Hordes target, but Turkey has far more excellent units. In some way Turkey is superior to Egypt in every way, better infantry, archers, cavalry. Plus you train your best units only in cities as for Egypt you have to mix it a bit.

    I think Egypt is one of the factions that i could agree that the faction description in game is correct. It's all about Mameluks, the rest is just not important to you. If you dont like playing cavalry heavy factions then Egypt is not for you. Infantry is only for garrison and horde defense system. Desert lands favour fast mobile armies.

    Well one thing good about Egypt is money. You will never run short.

  17. #47

    Default Re: Egypt

    I've just come back to M2TW after a long break, so decided to play Egypt, as I hadn't done them. (I love the Turks - fantastic units, fantastic fun). Kingdoms Gold Vanilla vh/vh, long campaign. Turns edited to 1 per year.

    The salient facts about Egypt are:
    - It has easy expansion north into rebel areas
    - It gets very rich very quickly if the Levant is taken (Antioch and Jerusalem)
    - Most of the best units are trainable in cities, so you can convert lots of castles to cities (Adana, Nicosia, Trebizond are particularly recommended.)
    - It is well protected by distance with only a few rivals north of it
    - Jihads allow quick expansion and can ramp up the experience of all units
    - Getting the Assassin's Guild allows the training of Hashashim, an uber strong heavy infantry unit from early in the game
    - The Horsebreeder's Guild gives experience bonuses to all cavalry: getting the HQ is fairly easy
    - Crusades against it are easily managed by blocking, assassinating crusade leaders, and, if you don't mind the relations drops, by fighting them

    The easiest and recommended way to expand is north in the Levant. Go quickly to beat the Turks, and get Antioch, Adana, and Edessa (big garrison) before them. Use jihads for this - you get Ghazis, a cheap, plentiful, and capable medium infantry who unfortunately aren't retrainable. Later they are the cheapest garrison for your castles.

    Use jihads as often as possible, and make sure all your troops join for the experience bonus. The turn before you take the target city put all your troops in a stack under a general, and join the jihad. This saves a lot of money, too.

    Transfer the artefacts you get from successful jihads to your faction heir so you can keep track of them and don't lose them.

    My Egyptian armies were missile and cavalry heavy.

    As said, I hadn't played for a long time, and hadn't played Egypt before. Consequently I missed a couple of tricks which I didn't correct till later e.g. forgot about the Horsebreeder's Guild, and didn't go for it till around turn 70. I now have the HQ in Durazzo.

    Egypt gets so rich so quickly, especially if you run a lean army. My strategy was to expand by purchase. I present my strategy as mainly AAR type, because this is what the above posts are.

    The Tabardariyya and Halberdiers suffer from the 2 handed bug. This prevents them from being as effective as they should be. The Hashashim are far and away the best heavy infantry Egypt gets.

    Obviously there's many ways of doing any faction.

    I'm roleplaying the Egyptians as the peaceable Fatimids they supposedly were. Diplomacy is the challenge now. I aim to get a Very Trustworthy reputation, good relations with all, and long term reliable allies. Generally, this means only attack when attacked, occupy cities, pay for good relations with other factions, purchase ceasefires etc. This means a slower expansion, which is fine by me.

    I find it odd that so many automatically assume it's best to sack cities. It's a beginner's strategy, and ok when you are learning. But, materially it breaks down the infrastructure, dropping building levels, lowers the population, and generally retards development. It ends up costing more in rebuilding and tax losses than you gain. Diplomatically, it hurts reputation, damages diplomacy, appalls the Pope and catholics if christians the target, appalls Islam if muslims are the target, etc. This is even if rebel cities are sacked. As a practice it has so many negatives. Even if you need the money with poor factions Egypt gets so rich they don't need to do it.

    Strategy - Early Game
    The strategy was to occupy the Levant, going north. This meant cutting off the Turks, and getting all the rebel territories available. Antioch was the first target.

    So, I took Antioch on jihad turn 2 or so. Grabbed Adana, (later converted it to a city). Backfilled Aleppo and Acre. Took Jerusalem with a jihad around turn 12. Everyone joins the jihad, so some 30 units get experience. Excellent artefact - the sword of Mohammed +2 command. Then took Dongola with spear militia, converting it to a city. Then Damascus with a jihad on Turn 22. Again, all generals and units join. Holy Warriors abound. Got to Edessa before the Turks. Next was Jedda. Kept the castles of Aleppo, Acre and Gaza as castles, as I'm still a bit uncertain of the demand crusades will make on Egypt's forces.

    Allied with Russia, the Moors and the Pope.

    No one seemed to mind. Ran a lean army, so stacks of cash. All that money - I bought most places following.

    I bought Smyrna from the Byz (3000 Gp). The Venetians blockaded my ports, so I took first Rhodes (and later Iraklion). Then I bought peace with them (10,000 Gp).

    I carelessly allied to the Byz. The Hungarians had taken Thessalonika and were sieging Constantinople. The Turks had Trebizond and were sieging Nicaea at the time, so the Byz looked like they would be at the mercy of the Venetians in Durazzo and Corinth.

    Of course, as soon as I allied with the Byz the Hungarians lost interest in Constantinople, and started attacking me in Smyrna, crossing 2 Byz territories to do so. Smart. They don't want a ceasefire for 10,000 Gp and I don't want to pay more. The Byz resurged against the Turks, and were shortly sieging Iconium. I tried to time an attack on the Turks to prevent the Byz from taking it, but was too late. Seemed I might have to cancel the alliance with them, and suffer the embarrassment (and reputation loss).

    Egypt takes Baghdad with a jihad. Everyone joins.

    One place Egypt is not peacenik is assassins. These come out of Adana, and sharpen their knives on any rebel captains foolish enough to stand about. The assassins points rise, and the Assassins Guild comes to Adana around turn 60.

    Hashashim, an expensive and super strong heavy infantry unit appear. (Ok, I didn't use these before since they are a fantasy unit, but what the hell).

    So, next I bought Trebizond from the Turks (5000 Gp), later converting it to a city. They were pathetically grateful. Encouraged, I then bought Mosul from them (also 5000 Gp). Turkey is down to 3 territories - Caesarea, Yerevan, and Tbilisi. They'll have to go.

    Also bought Tripoli from the Venetians (3000 Gp) and Tunis from the Sicilians (7000 Gp) to pass the time. Hope the alliance with the Moors will stand up.

    (The alliances with the Moors and with Russia last the whole campaign, despite mutual borders. The advantage of being Trustworthy, not taking places they want, paying them tribute, and not putting ships in their waters).

    A crusade was called around Turn 50, but only 2 armies (the Spanish and the Poles) showed up. I let them come to Jerusalem, where they were easily destroyed, despite hiring loads of Crusader Knights there. The Egyptian armies are good (more on that and their units later). I regretted the loss of relations with the catholic factions, and resolved to be more subtle in future.

    At the time I had wanted to try out the Egyptian units against the catholics, and they did the business. Saracen militia stops the cavalry, Halberdiers beat the sword militia and spears. Not so good when charged by heavy cavalry. The Desert Cavalry thin out the Crusader Knights effectively, and are fast enough to stay out of trouble with them. The Desert Archers get very high kill rates. The Mameluk Archers do loads of damage and chop up the flanks in melee.

    All in all the crusade armies seemed easy to beat.

    So, turn 60 or so, and time abandon the peacenik attitude. The Turks were down to 3 territories - Caesarea, Tbilisi and Yerevan, with tiny armies. I trained an army in Trebizond, then attacked and took Ceasarea while the army from Trebizond ran around and sieged Tbilisi. This fell the following turn. There was a bit of a scrap at Yerevan, but the Turks had nothing left, and a couple of turns later that was also Egyptian.

    I'm still pondering how to get to Constantinople without losing reputation (i.e. attacking ally the Byz), so I buy

    Egypt, with a small army and blossoming ports in Nicosia, Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria is swimming in money. Income is around 25,000 profit each turn. The money is stacking up. I've maxxed the free units (Saracen Militia and Halberdiers) which make up most of the army, and store them in cities to minimize costs. Everyone is idling.

    I buy Iconium from the Byz for 50,000 Gp. They didn't want to sell, but couldn't resist the price. The next turn they attack the little garrison of spear militia the AI gave me, and then they exterminate the population when they take it back. *sigh* I hate all the damage, and this is going to put the place back for decades.

    On the other hand - yippee! The Byz broke the treaty, are viewed as despicable, and Egypt is still the righteous reliable faction (*cough* don't mention the Turks) it should be.

    The Egyptian army goes to Iconium. Iconium falls. Egypt is still batting away the little Hungarian armies that monotonously get slaughtered at Smyrna. The Hashashim are better than any infantry the Hungarians have - their DFK's. The Desert Archers shoot down the Hungarian Nobles. I take them off skirmish, so they don't retreat when the Nobles run up to them.

    With the money from the Iconium purchase the Byz pour out Byzantine Infantry from Constantinople. A series of enjoyable battles follows as the Egyptians work their way down to Nicaea. It's not a tough contest. Desert Cavalry, Desert Archers and Mameluk Archers do lots of damage to the Byz Infantry before they reach the Egyptian line. There the Halberdiers and Hashashim are superior, and the Byz Infantry rout quickly.

    Guilds
    The guilds are very important to Egypt. The Assassin's Guild gives Hashashim, and the Horsebreeder's Guild gives +2 experience to cavalry when you get the HQ. I'm assuming people know how to get whatever guild they want in whatever place.

    Egyptian assassins did their work every turn possible, mainly on rebel captains. The guild came to Adana.

    The Hashashim are an uber heavy infantry unit with better stats than DFK's, albeit there are only 45 of them. They can also hide in the open, and have 2 hit points. I took to making a line of them, with archers in front. As the Byz Infantry came in reach the archers retreated, and the Hashashim charged the Byz line, appearing from nowhere. Already damaged by Mameluk HA, Desert and Nubian archers, the Byz generally routed at this point.

    I did forget about the Horsebreeders Guild *blush* so was late to get it. When I suddenly realized I went for all the guild points by building racecourses everywhere. Then I staged races and trained cavalry. The guild came soon to Durazzo, followed shortly by a Master HB, and not so long after by the HQ.

    I made all my imams in Edessa, getting the Theologians Guild there, and later the HQ

    My merchants came from Antioch, which got the Merchant's guild, and later the HQ. This guild isn't so important to Egypt, apart from the bonuses to merchants. Cavalry are trainable in cities with racecourses, and the Arab cavalry you get are same as that out of castles.

    Jerusalem accepted the HQ of the Explorer's Guild.

    Later in the campaign Egypt got the Swordsmith's HQ from the Hungarians in Bran. To my knowledge, the Swordsmiths isn't available to Egypt normally, as they don't produce swordsmen from castles. Building the Armour Factory (as suggested in an earlier post) might possibly do it, but I can't see how that was built in time, and it's pointless, as no Egyptian units benefit from it. (Only the Italians and Spanish do, I think - and then only a few units like Broken Lances and Ducalia Famiglia do).

    However, since towns have a "memory" of the units produced there Egypt may get offered the Swordsmiths Guild after capturing a castle (as happened with Sicily). Always worth building an armourer when you take a castle.

    The big bonus was getting the Swordsmiths at Constantinople. It had a Master Thieves Guild, which I destroyed. Then I was offered the Swordsmiths Guild there, and a couple of turns later the Master Swordsmiths. This was a benefit of all the sword using Byzantine Infantry that the Byz produced. I'd got the Swordsmiths here with the Turks in similar fashion, so I knew it was on the cards.

    Units
    Saracen Militia - great unit. Standard spear, but cheaper, and free upkeep in cities.

    Halberd Militia - good unit. Beat arrow damaged DFK's and spears. Long lasting but slow damage in melee. Suffer from the 2 handed bug, so don't perform as well as they should. Slightly slower moving. Ok against cavalry. Did most of the heavy lifting at the end of the early stage. Also cheap, with free upkeep in cities.

    Kurdish Javelinmen - ? I'll try these again in light of the comments others made above in earlier posts. They didn't work for me. Rarely did they produce more than 4 or 5 kills from throwing javelins. I did use them for melee at the start, and they are ok against spear militia, but wilt against anything stronger.

    The AI likes to charge them with heavy cavalry - useful for tying up their general's unit for a while, as they seem to have a quicker move than other infantry, and run a long way away before being cornered.

    Obviously they will be useful against Timurid elephants, though the Merc Afghan Javelinmen look much better. The game will be won by then, so it's a matter of purposefully waiting for the Timurids to show up.

    Hashashim - fantastic unit. Fantastic in all senses. Hide in the open. Half size of standard unit. 2 hit points. Very good stamina means they effectively don't tire. Expensive to buy, expensive upkeep. Use sparingly - you don't need many. On the other hand, with Egypt you can afford a lot of them. Used for the first time by me because they were fantasy and that put me off them when playing the Turks.

    They are only available when Egypt gets an Assassin's Guild. A Master's gives +1 experience, and the HQ +2 experience. This guild is a must. They transform Egyptian infantry from defensive to fully offensive capable against Catholic armies in the early and middle game.

    Superb stats. 2 hit points - yes, on top of the best sword stats in the game they have 2 hit points ... and very good stamina (did I say that?). Beat any infantry in front of them. DFK are easy, and Byz Infantry are simply mincemeat.

    Overpowered? Who am I to say?

    Tabardariyya - good unit, but suffer from the 2 handed bug, so don't do as well as expected. Hashashim do better.

    Desert Archers - very good unit

    Nubian Archers - very good unit. Almost identical to the Desert Archers in stats. Not quite sure what the point of adding them is.

    Desert Cavalry - very good unit. Fast. Cheap. Good for chasing routers once their javelins are thrown. And, with those javelins they look ideal for taking out Timurid elephants.

    Mameluk Archers - fantastic unit. One of the best in the game. Battle winners all through the early to middle game. Only the Byz Vardariotai and the Russian Dvor are better in the HA area, and the Mameluks are better armoured than the Vardariotai.

    Arab Cavalry - good unit. Standard medium cavalry. Useful early in the campaign, and much cheaper than the Mameluks.

    Mameluks - great unit. Heavy cavalry, better than Feudal Knights.

    Royal Mameluks - fantastic unit. Very heavy cavalry. Very expensive, though upkeep is standard for heavy cavalry. The match of anything on the battlefield, better than most things from catholic factions (haven't checked the stats, but on the battlefield they've carried all for me).

    Oh snip - look at the time. I'll have to come back to this.

    Screenshots
    1. Turn 20 - 9 territories: Alexandria, Cairo, Dongola, Gaza, Jerusalem, Acre, Antioch, Aleppo and Adana. Shows the main Egyptian army preparing to jihad against Damascus. Much cavalry.

    (Oops - need 3rd party hosting for images. grrr. No neat thumbnails, and images in a row)


    Screenshot 2
    Turn 58 - 19 territories:
    From T20 - Alexandria, Cairo, Dongola, Gaza, Jerusalem, Acre, Antioch, Aleppo and Adana (now a city).
    Newly acquired: Damascus (jihad), Edessa, Smyrna (purchased from Byz), Rhodes (taken from Venetians), Baghdad (jihad), Trebizond (purchased from Turks, later converted to city), Jedda, Mosul (purchased from Turks), Tripoli (purchased from Venetians), and Tunis (purchased from Sicilians).

    Egypt's treasury is around 25,000 per turn, with most places are building.

    Shows the main Egyptian army preparing to attack the Polish crusade army outside Jerusalem. Cavalry heavy army. No Hashashim yet.

    Last edited by sharpshooter; 11-01-2011 at 04:15. Reason: Order of taking cities adjusted after checking saved games. Uploaded screenshots

  18. #48
    Lord of Underpants Member Seabourch's Avatar
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    Jun 2007
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    Default Re: Egypt

    Honestly, Egypt's best strength will be its starting position. You are in the least hostile region on the map. Ironic, given the Middle East today but you start in a position where major factions won't be harrassing you for a while. There are few factions with this luxury. The Russians and Danes are fortunate enough to start largely isolated. Sicily can avoid an early war if they cosy up to the Pope but they won't be untouched for long.

    Even the Danes will have to fight the Germans or Poles at some point, Russia will need to fight Poland too.

    You on the other hand, the closest faction would be the Byzantines in Cyprus followed by the Turks in Mosul. They won't bother you much once they're at each other's throats. Venice and maybe Hungary will try their luck with the Byzantines so they'll be very busy, leaving the Turks as your only real adversary.

    You also have the richest cities in the game at your doorstep, all rebel held territory. The other rich cities are held by major faction. Milan, Venice, Constantinople , they're held by major factions. It'll be a slog getting there, occupying the city and then holding it. You also get Alexandria and Cairo, two money makers right off the bat.

    You just need to invest in them and money won't be an issue.

    So your initial strategy should be to turn Egypt into an economic powerhouse. You need to build up Cairo and Alexandria while taking the Holy Land. Go for Dongola, it's at the edge of the map and no one will take it from you unless you let them. Call a jihad and take Jerusalem. It'll put a target on your back but the city is a cash cow. Then go for Acre, it's easy to reach from there. It's not even heavily defended, just go for it.

    From there, you ought to take Jedda and Antioch. Antioch will be dangerous because the Turks will be lurking around there so keep it well defended as a deterrence. Develop Acre well and you'll be able to hold it from whoever is coming your way.

    Jedda is for Alexandria and Dongola, since Cairo's port opens into the Red Sea, which means you'll need to set up a trading network all by yourself. Antioch, Jerusalem and Alexandria will develop if you can get trading rights with any faction. Go for Aleppo, then Damascus. One great tip for your empire, which can encompass a lot of empty space is to build watchtowers. It's only 200 gold, and you'll have merchants who can easily make that amount in a turn so don't hesitate to drop money on it. It'll help you spot bandits and enemy armies.

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