Allied with the Mongols

[Doug-Thompson]

Playing Eqypt, I expected to get hammered by the Mongols. Instead they are my allies, they have about 10 stacks that have lived on my territory for more than 25 turns and are causing no devestation.

======

Early on, I prepared for the Mongol invasion by putting one stack each of high quality units at two river crossings: One north of Mosul and one between Mosul and Baghdad. This still left one open east of Baghdad.

I also put a full stack of archers and spears in Baghdad, and was working on filling up another one in Mosul. The Mongols and the Russians had a war in the meantime.

About 4 1/2 stacks worth of Mongol units show up. I go on a mercenary hiring binge and recruitment drive. Now I have one stack at each river crossing, and the one north of Mosul has another stack in easy reinforcement range. The Mongols have sacked and destroyed the province north of Baghdad, several times.

I have another full stack up near Trebizond.

The Mongols shuffle back and forth between my two river crossing for a while, but don't attack. I send a diplomat, who's treated with something very similar to hatred. Meanwhile, spies notice Russia coming in behind the Mongols, mopping up destroyed provinces. I send the stack from Trebizond to the province capital north of Baghdad, pre-empting the Russians and hoping to lure the Mongols back northward. Now the Mongols are living on my territory.

Nothing happens. By now, I've completed an upgrade of Baghdad's fortifications to include cannon towers, and strengthened Mosul. I leave a couple of infantry units in the town east of Trez and await developments.

Time passes and another five full stacks of Mongols arrive. However, they join the original stacks and assume the same pastoral lifestyle.

OK. More time passes. I send another diplomat and offer alliance, which is accepted. I move away or disband about a stack worth of units. I replace many of the units left guarding the river with infantry, including desert archers and javelinmen. These are much cheaper.

I assume this docile existance will continue until the Timurids hit. I don't know if the Mongols and Timurids will fight, or if I'll suffer the Mother of all Barbarian Invasions. Curious to find out, though.

If the Mongols and the Timurids fight each others, I'll be quite pleased.

[katank]

That would be hilarious. Or will you be able to get the Timurids to stay at peace with you also? The big happy Islamic trio.

[zulukiller]

Thats sounds brilliant Doug-Thompson your gonna have to keep this post updated as i want to know what happens (im adding this page as a favourite now). Will you get the biggest arse raping in history or somthing else lol its better than watching the soaps this.

[Shahed]

LOL ! I was thinking just the same thing !!! If I don't get attacked by the Mongols and the Russians do... oh oh.. did I ally with the Russians ???? EEEEKKK!!! Well I don't remember, but I could'nt have done something so darn foolish. I was thinking if they atack the Russians I'll ally them.

Will be great to know what happens when the Timurids come. I'll tell you one thing Turk-Mongol duo vs Timur = dead Timur. I'm only in 1140 though still have time a lot of time to kill.

[Doug-Thompson]

Giving the Mongols a more agressive AI is a specific feature of an uncoming patch. Therefore, this little story won't have any lasting implications. I'll post what finally happens just to satisfy any curiousity.

[Doug-Thompson]

The Mongols finally betrayed me at either turn 130 or 131. At the same time, I got the "Black Death" cutscene. Wasn't exactly a smiley, happy turn.

They broadcast the fact they were turning on me by dispersing to threaten multiple crossings. Next turn, one stack besieged Baghdad. I had to cross a river to disperse them but did, although losing about twice as many men as them. Most were bargain-rate Baghdad garrison troops, at least. One Mongol stack routed and it's general killed.

Then two stacks attacked me at the river crossing north of Mosul, which turned out to be one of the best bottlenecks I've ever seen. It's a deep gorge with a bridge and one other crossing a bit downstream. One force could cover both. Even the deployment by the computer was pretty good. I did send two more Mameluk Archers to cover the ford, though. Their reinforcements arrived. My reinforcements arrived. Four full stacks glared at each other accross the gorge in full laggy glory at night.

We wait. And wait. And wait. There is no time limit. Since I'm sure my dumb AI reinforcements will attack across the river if I don't do something, I send one unit of desert archers to try and provoke an attack. I lose five of their 60 men for nothing.

Sure enough, my dumb reinforcements cross the river bridge. I get to watch Mongol rocket launchers in action for the first time. Mamaluks (archer and melee), desert archers and such attacking two full Mongol stacks deployed on a steep slope with artillery, including a trebuchet. I considered myself lucky that the reinforcement army only suffered 60 percent casulaties and routed after their one-star general got killed. I stayed where I was, hoping the Mongols would chase the routed across the bridge.

They did -- with one whole unit -- which happened to be their general's bodyguard. (Their second stack was led by a captain.) I killed him and the whole Mongol army comes pouring over the bridge. Now its my turn. Heavy cavalry charge into what's largely a cavalry fight, but I have three units of decent spears and two mercenary javelin units. These prove to be my secret weapons, with a high-value horse to kill everywhere they turn. The desert archers are pouring it on from height, too, and so are the Mameluk archers.

Still, I just don't have the numbers any more, so as the last survivors of spears and heavy cavalry die I tighten up my Mameluk archers and charge them into the brawl, practically rolling like an avalance down the steep slope. The Mongols are still pushing, so I commit the last reserve: The Sultan himself and his bodyguard. The desert archers keep up the fire. Thirty-six bodyguard charge into the wild melee. The sultan was one of two left before I finally got them out.

The Mongols are beaten, and what's left of my Mameluk archers chase them mercilessly, even going after the trebuchet crews.

Two more Mongol stacks routed. That makes three. A second of their generals killed.

My depleted sultan's army is attacked again. I can't stand against another full stack, and retreat. New troops are headed my way from across the empire , mercenaries are hired and more units rebuilt in Mosul and Baghdad. Two more full stacks are ready near Mosul, and I attack the army that forced me from the bridge.

So now I'm the attacker at the famous gorge. I send a mercenary elephant unit across the bridge to cause some losses, create some confusion, and then run amok. They do a little, then rout without running amok. Uh-oh.

My full-stack army gets wiped out, almost to a man. This time, my reinforcements are riding to my rescue. My original general's bodyguard stack is covering himself with glory as unit after unit routs or is simply wiped out. At one point, I'm more than 60 percent casualties among my two stacks and the Mongols are in the 40s with one. But this time, they run out of men. They commit missile troops to melee, but these cav archers (who must have been out of arrows) are not Mamaluk archers. They commit their general, who's killed. The dam bursts, and the Mongols are swept away. All that's left of my original stack is a bodyguard unit that's down to 10 men and one dismounted Arab Cavalry that has about one man left and he hasn't reached the map edge.

Four Mongols stacks routed. Three of their generals killed.

And that's that. I'm installing the patch today, and have no doubt that my vast Egyptian empire's ability to reinforce itself would ultimately defeat the Mongols. I can take losses. He can't.

[CaptainSolo]

That was an excellent read Doug

Once i get the patch i'll be starting a new game,probably with Egypt.Even more so now you have shown the Mongols to be beatable.

Update the thread and let us know how your campaign progresses.

[Doug-Thompson]

Thanks, CaptainSolo. Regrettably, however, I won't be able to finish that campaign after installing the patch.

Key points to remember when fighting Mongols as Egyptians, however:

1. Mameluk Archers have a melee option that Mongol Horse Archers don't have. Mongol Heavy Horse Archers are a dead-on match for Mameluk Archers in melee and have 3-silver experience to boot, but the basic MHA is outclassed, particularly if your MA have some experience and upgrades.

2. Mongols have no javelins. Those are the perfect weapons for softening up their lancers and other decent melee cavalry. You may have to turn skirmish off if the brawl is big. Otherwise, they have trouble getting in range of the units you really want to kill.

3. Saracen Militia are a fine, solid spear unit. So are dismounted Arab Cavalry.

4. Desert Archers are a fine, solid archery unit.

5. Arab cavalry are too light for this work.

6. Kwazian (sp?) cavalry is generously available as mercenaries. They're not as good as melee Mamalukes but will do.

7. Although I've disparaged artillery elephants in other places, firing across that gorge at long range would be a lot of fun.

[CaptainSolo]

A shame that Doug,it would have been interesting to see how the rest of the war played out.
Also,thanks for the tips,i'm looking forward to getting started with the Egyptians and i'll keep your advice in mind.

[Shahed]

I'm getting desperate to meet the Mongols and the Timurids now... should be so much fun. Nice account Doug.

Solo, all the factions are beatable. People like to hype.

I think you can continue the campaign Doug, at least I have'nt tried continuing mine just yet (busy with other stuff), but I think the patch is compatible.

[Doug-Thompson]

Lo and behold, the patch is compatible. Why can't I read some of those announcements correctly? Oh well.

I fought another Mongol battle during lunch, This one killed their faction leader, Khan Orda, at at a much more shallow river crossing between Mosul and Baghdad. It was also by far the most decisive victory yet. For once I took out a Mongol stack without losing one.

(Lucky for me I wasn't facing Orda Khan )

No reinforcements for either side.

I've changed my mind about cannon elephants. I was pretty disparaging about them in another thread. This time I had hired some as mercenaries. I stuck them far out on my left high up on the river bank, where they could fire into the enemy's 2 o'clock, hopefully get some raking action and do some long-range sniping. They did -- and killed 158 men out of a 746-man army by themselves without getting in range of Mongol arrows, except for one brief moment by my mistake. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

The Mongols wait long enough to see if I'm an idiot who will cross the river to attack them. I'm far enough back from the bank that they can't snipe at me with either their trebuchets or rocket launchers, much less arrows. I have an army unusually heavy (for me) with infantry: Saracen Militia, dismounted Arab Cavalry, at least four Desert Archers and one militia archer, a unit of mercenary javelin infantry in their usual general-killing role, supported by Khwarazmian heavy cavalry and Mameluk Archers, about four each. There are the aforementioned elephants and my general, too, but for once my general didn't have to fight.

I start sniping at their heavy cavalry archers with my EleCannons, turning off fire-at-will and settling on some good Mongol lancers that are almost directly across the river from my big new pets. The Mongols sweat and groan and push two trebuchets over there to counterfire. I wait until they're almost in position, then switch fire to the treb crews. You can't target the trebs themselves, but you can target the crews with a good chance of hitting the trebs. Those stray shots cause 20 percent damage a hit. The Mongols shove their trebs away, back toward the center of their line without firing a shot. At this point, I stop fire to conserve ammo. The battle hasn't started yet and 7 percent of the Mongol army is dead.

Rising to the inevitable, the Mongols cross the river in a typical Total War cross the river lunge. I commit everything right away, because I don't want those Mongol horse archers slipping around me. The Mongols are going to die, but the real issue now is how much of an army will I have left.

That where the elephants come in again. Barely having to move, they take the river crossing under constant fire, having to switch targets as units stream past. I'm wishing for a "fire at this spot" command, but otherwise do fine.

As the Mongols get across, the elephant's cannons target large clumps of units at the tail end of their formation. Although my troops in melee could use some help, friendly fire from a cannon is dangerous. The archers, foot and horse, are all firing at will, and all are firing.

I don't want to give the impression that the elephants won the battle all by themselves. They didn't .They just had the most unique role, which requires more description. The rest of the battle was a textbook contested river crossing fight, with Mameluk archers and their Desert Archer cousins sweeping the air with arrows. Between that and the return fire, a cricket could have jumped from arrow to arrow from one side of the Mongol army to the other.

Then two things happened. The Khan crossed the river and Mongol rocket launchers started to get to the other side. Trebuchets were getting across too, but it wasn't exactly their kind of fight.

I sent every heavy cavalry unit I had, plus a spear unit, plus my Javelin-hurling king-killers after the khan. That left an opening for some light Mongol lancers to make a half-hearted lunge at my general, but they quickly turned aside and got spanked by my general's bodyguard for their trouble. Meanwhile, my EleCannons, with seemingly limitless ammo, take the rocket launchers under fire. It's personal. If I ever saw a weapon that looked like it might scare elephants, it's a Mongol Rocket Launcher.

The Khan is captured by heavy cavalry. What's left of the Mongol army starts to panic. They're pushed into the river and chased by my largely intact Mameluk Archers, which now switch roles to melee cav. The Mongol army is 95 percent destroyed. Me? About 30 percent. The Mongols refuse the ransom, including the $10K for the Khan alone.

Oh, by the way, about half the provinces in my Empire are hit with the Black Death. So far, the chief consequence is financial. However, I've been able to raise my taxes and had about $18K florins in the bank, so I should be OK for at least three turns. My largest expense, by far, is army expense. I should have enough troops to fight the rest of the Mongols off.

[CaptainSolo]

Excellent stuff Doug,i was hoping you'd post an update.

What's interesting about this is that it's the opposite to what i saw many people recommend in various threads,(ie) Hold up in your largest citadels and cities,though the idea of limiting the mobility of the mongol army may be the same i have a feeling you are able to inflict heavier casualties with this approach,though i have yet to try either myself.
I always knew it would be a war of attrition and heavy on the bank balance but you seem to be getting on top of them now.

Judging by a few of your earlier posts it seems i have underestimated the Mamluk troops a little as they sound very effective in your descriptions.How do you rate them against other troops of a similair type? I don't mean in a 1 V 1 custom battle but in larger engagements,say against the Turks and their various horse archer units who i imagine you have crossed swords with at some point?

Thanks in advance.

[Shahed]

That was an excellent read. Well done. Sounds like an awesome battle.

I tried the Rocket Launchers in custom, and holy smoking macarel, they are mean. I love the elephant artillery as well, it's great fun to watch them shoot. I love all things projectile, so am a big artillery fan as well. Once gunpowder comes around I'll be using some canon and musket armies in supplement to the usual all cavalry combined arms.

It's Khwarazmian, named (as you know I suppose) after the empire of the same name. The cavalry is an abstract generalisation in M2:TW.

The spelling varies from source to source but in Persian it's pronounced Khhh-waa-raz-me-an, or Khhwaa-raz-me-an.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khwarezmid_Empire

[Doug-Thompson]

Thanks, CaptainSolo. I get the impression that other players have had to bear much more of the brunt of Mongol attacks. I've read about three waves of Mongols and have only seen two, and one of them had suffered losses. I've destroyed five Mongol stacks, and they're down to three full ones left, two partials that add up to at least one more and a remnant — as far as I know.

My long peace with the Mongols allowed me to build up armies and my economy. I'm not sure that's going to be an option after the second patch comes out, with it's advertised added Mongol agressiveness.

As for Mameluk Archers (MamAs), Turkis Saphis have slightly better stats. I assume building requirements for them are similar, but would have to check. The real advantage of the MamA is that an Egyptian economy will provide, retrain and maintain them in large numbers.

A top contender for the best horse archer would be the Byz Vardariotai, for example. You can only get at a castle. You can't increase a castles output of them with stables, either.

You can make or retrain MamAs at a city with a level-3 racetrack or a relatively low-tier castle, and you can boost production at castles with stables. I'm embarrased to admit that I'll have to look up the building requirements tonight, but they're not demanding.

Other factions might have building requirements as low. They often do not, however, have trading income cash cows like Alexandria or Antioch. Farming income in Egypt is not to be dismissed, either. Playing the Egyptians won't solve all money problems, but it should help.

MamAs aren't the best cavalry archers, but they're very good and a "critical mass" of them can be built in, supported in or moved to and resupplied in all sorts of far-flung places.

[Orda Khan]

It has more to do with the General behind them!!
Cowering behind walls is no way to behave, you have to fight fire with fire and let the tactical brilliance of your command be the deciding factor.
They sounded like fantastic battles Doug but I have to ask, what did Orda ever do to you?

........Orda

[Shahed]

lol

[sapi]

Great writeup mate :P

....I still reckon the vards would win :D

[katank]

Note one thing that Siphais and Vards don't have is an armour piercing melee attack.

Mamluk archers actually have an armour piercing melee attack according to the text files released recently. Mongol Heavy Archers also have it which might explain higher than expected casualties when I fight them with my heavy cav.

[CaptainSolo]

Thanks for the reply Doug-Thompson.This thread and your battle narratives have been a very interesting and pleasurable read.

As for Mameluk Archers (MamAs), Turkis Saphis have slightly better stats. I assume building requirements for them are similar, but would have to check. The real advantage of the MamA is that an Egyptian economy will provide, retrain and maintain them in large numbers.

Which i would imagine is an important consideration,especially in your current campaign.I would imagine a couple of experience chevrons would even up whatever small difference there might be in melee although as you say thats an option they have on the battlefield even if it's not their main function.In my current campaign with the Moors i found the desert cavaly unit's i deployed to be lethal given a little experience and have used them even late on in my game.The Horse archer is something the Moors don't have so i'm looking forward to getting a good mix between the two when i start my Egyptian campaign.

MamAs aren't the best cavalry archers, but they're very good and a "critical mass" of them can be built in, supported in or moved to and resupplied in all sorts of far-flung places.

Too true,i suppose their availability also enables you too build armies quickly in regions where they may be required in a hurry,either to support an existing army or in the creation of a new one.

Thanks for the Lowdown on this unit Doug.Having recently played a few large scale custom battles with Egypt i have also found the regular mamluks to be a lot better than i imagined too.I have no idea why i have underestimated these units,probably stat snobbery,as if i hadn't learned already that 1 V 1 custom battles rarely mean a lot in comparison to large scale campaign battle scenarios.In the large custom battles i have fought as Egypt they have been a very steady unit,even in prolonged melee.Must say 'hands on' i'am very impressed with both so far.

[katank]

I believe that Mamluk Archers can actually beat Siphais 1 on 1. However, you can field more siphais due to their 175 upkeep rather than the 210 upkeep of the Mamluk Archers.

Build reqs should be similar, both buildable at racetracks in cities (awesome!). Turkish economy should be same as Egyptian one as I usually smash the Egyptians within first 15 turns or so as the Turks.

[KARTLOS]

nice account, from what i understand of what you are doing i would suggest a couple of changes in approach that will result in less heavy casualties.

from what i understand you seem to end up regularly having cav vs cav melle fights? obviously ideally you want to avoid this, without the charge bonus statistically similar units of cav are going to cause similiarly high casualties on both sides -it is aproximately a fair fight = a war of attrition. ideally you want cavalry to be involved only in unfair fights to your benefit, non?
i am thinking that this because you have insufficient spearmen and you are forced to commit cav becuase the mongols manage to cross the bridge - and thenn you charge you cav in?

whenever i face the mongols in a bridge battle i have a heroic victory, with relatively few casualties from top of the range units.

i know you are a horse archer fan but i would suggest including more spearmen in your bridge battle stacks - say at least 5 units. most of the rest of your army should be missile units -horse archers, javelins, foot archers are all fine. heavy cav are unecessary as you shant get the opportunity to charge and you ha's will be fine for chasing down routers at the end.

my approach is to rush a couple of units of spear inot the entrance of the bridge. the mongols charge into them and cause heavy cas on both sides, i then throw in my remaining spears for support as and when they are needed. the key is that the mongols never get off the bridge. eventually their general eventually dies and they run away -the routers are then chased down, battle over.

you suffer heavy casualties from at least the first two units of spear but the rest of your army is fine. obviously following the battle you are regularly attacked imediately by more stacks. i would say if you have les than 4 viable units of spear then this approach will not work and you should retreat.

i hope you dont mind my suggestions, i know you are a very experienced player and if i misunderstood what was happening please correct me.

one thing i have never experienced though is prolonged standoffs across the river -they laways charge headlong into my spear. ther are a couple of reasons i can think for why this happened to you but not me. firstly sprinting my spear units onto the bridge might be provoking an attack - that or the fact that i set up my infantry v close to entrance of th bridge before the battle. the other factor maybe the ai recognsise your cav heavy army as being stronger than my typical set up of spears and foot archers and this causes it to be more circumspect??

captain solo - bridges are the best spots to defeat mongols cheaply + you invariably kiill their generals. obviously it avoids disrupting you towns for a while as well.

[Doug-Thompson]

It's over. The Mongol faction is destroyed. The plague has run its course too.

There was one more battle at the shallows, and one at the gorge. The one at the shallows was the same as before, with another Mongol stack gone at acceptable losses for me. The one at the gorge had the Egyptians outnumbered about 2 to 1. A full stack of Mongols was reinforced by another and they all crossed together. The bridge and the gully on my end was still a deathtrap, though, and the lines of Saracen Militia, dismounted Arab Cavalry, Desert Archers, one set of elephants, javelinmen and Mameluks held.

The plague must have taken its toll of Mongols too, for that was almost the last of them. Two partial stacks which didn't amount to one whole one was all that was left.

I spent a turn replacing loses, then went after them. My forces from the gorge crossed the river and caught the smaller Mongol force. My force from the shallows closed in from the east but wasn't in reinforcement range yet.

The larger Mongol force arrived as reinforcements in my attack on the smaller bunch. I'd considered a night attack, but rejected that option to get my chance to finish it all in one day.

The reinforcements would have come in on my right if I'd attacked the smaller bunch, so I attacked the larger one instead as they arrived: No sitting back and shooting, just charging straight in for melee. I killed the khan and, in a hard and close fight, destroyed the larger bunch and most of the smaller one, which didn't shy away from the battle. The remaining Mongols retreated and were so few, I sent my general to the east closer, leaving his infantry behind and closing with a small force of cavalry, including his cannon elephants. I had miscalculated, though, and couldn't quite reach the last, new khan. Oh well. They'd die next turn.

Next turn, my best general, the one to the east with the small force of cavalry, went rebel. His former, comparatively large force of infantry, including Desert Archers and javelinmen, attacked without cavalry. They were beaten, but not before javelins had killed about half his elephants and arrows much of his cavalry. He had too few units left for an effective pursuit, and most of the force got away.

The Mongols had 51 troops left, a third of that being bodyguards. This last group took up a position on a small, climbable ridge and accepted the inevitable bravely. The bodyguard never routed, dying to the last man at the spot where they ended their first and last charge.

The huge Egyptian force could still move. It struck again, at the rebel general. He refused the first round, ironically retreating right up against the infantry force he'd already beaten. My main army still had enough movement to follow and, having no stomach for killing my "Benedict Arnold," I autoresolved his inevitable death.

===============

KARTLOS, you're absolutely right. The trouble is, there's a cap now on how many spear units I could make. I used up every bit of produceable Saracen infantry and dismounted Arab cavalry available in Baghdad and Mosul, and marched more in from elsewhere. I could have produced cheaper spears, but preferred not to. That was probably a mistake, but I like unit types that have a fighting chance. After the plague hit and my economy tanked, supplies of spearmen -- and Mameluks -- dried up. I will have a force of improved Saracen Infantry and Kurdish Javelinmen in place in time to welcome the Timurids, however.

==========

Note one thing that Siphais and Vards don't have is an armour piercing melee attack.

Mamluk archers actually have an armour piercing melee attack according to the text files released recently. Mongol Heavy Archers also have it which might explain higher than expected casualties when I fight them with my heavy cav.

Mystery solved. Great find, katank.

I saw the club the MamAs use, and wondered if they had an anti-armor bonus. This is role reversal -- in MTW1, melee Mameluks had axes and an anti-armor bonus but not much of a charge. MTW1 Mameluk HA were a good-enough HA, but nothing to write home about.

This new information explains why Mongol heavy lancers didn't cut through my MamAs and, frankly, explains a lot.

=========

Oh, I've got nothing against Khan Orda -- other than that he insisted on attacking me. I'm just glad it wasn't you at that river. I don't thing you would have bashed your head against that wall for me.

[Shahed]

Congrats, and thanks for keeping us updated. :)

[sapi]

Excellent writeup - you've persuaded me to start an egyptian campaign (my current vh/vh hre one is seeming far too easy so i think i'll abandon it)

[Shahed]

I'd love to do Egys too, but I'm kind of wanting to do one of the Catho factions. Must be really great to play one of the "Big Five".

I still want to play these:

Egypt
Timurids
Mongols
Moors
English
HRE
Venice

Now I only need to find 1000 hours out of somewhere to accomplish this goal.

[Doug-Thompson]

One last point: Building and replacing Mameluk Archers is easier than I knew. All you need is a second-tier horse track, which any large city can have.

[Shahed]

Great. The Turkish (not so equivalent) light horse archers, the Turcomen, require the first level race track.

[katank]

Siphais require second tier racetrack as well.

[Shahed]

I guess Sipahi is the Turkish equivalent statwise, right ?

[Doug-Thompson]

Yes, the Saphi has similar stats but morale is not as good.

BTW, the Timurids have shown up. I wasn't that impressed at first. A stack and a half north of Baghdad? Then -- I saw the other five stacks in the desert south of Baghdad.

Great, I'm all set up for another Mongol-like bash at the river crossings. My line's are totally turned. I'm falling back on Mosul expecting to fight it out in the open. Then, to my stuptification, the Timurids south of Baghdad don't even try to siege there. They cross the shallows and go into the same box I'd kept the Mongols in all those years. Now it looks like they're going to try forcing the gorge.

This may just be the first wave. We'll see. I'm bigger, richer and have worked out a "daisy chain" of cities and a few forts to keep a constant supply of infantry and other reinforcements, including cannon, flowing to the Mosul region.