Egypt: Visual strategy guide

[Askthepizzaguy]

Wow...I must say...I really admire your aggressiveness in waging a war against the world and in your quest of expansion.

Can you go a little bit more into depth on how you won this battle? I'd like to learn our battle tactics.

Thank you, Rookie 7.

My playing style is a blending of speed and aggression, an attempt to master the art of blitzkreig. It is my personal theory that this style most closely reaches the maximum possible playing strength; in other words, more regions are captured, more troops are recruited, more buildings are constructed, and more foes vanquished in the least amount of time, thus maximizing to the upper limit the ability of your small band of troops to wage war.

There is a limit to how much you can accomplish in a turn. You are limited by troop levels, movement, funding, and territory. If you can accomplish more, quicker, with less, then you are approaching maximum effectiveness.

According to this theory, the least effective factions are Byzantium and Russia, as they do not have crusading ability or jihad. This makes them the hardest factions in the game. I rate Russia as the hardest faction, due to poor economy, starting position, and starting troop effectiveness, as well as lack of crusading.

I would rate France as being the most effective faction, due to their starting position, abundance of starting generals, number of nearby rebel provinces, weak catholic neighbors, economic potential, and number of provinces. This makes France an easy faction to play.

Responding to your question; to which battle are you referring?

[Lupiscanis]

I rate Russia as the hardest faction, due to poor economy, starting position, and starting troop effectiveness, as well as lack of crusading.

I for one, would be very interested to see you post a Russian campaign after this one then =)

[Askthepizzaguy]

Turn 22-24 UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Will be posting the strategy section soon.
Check back soon for updates!

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The Pope wisely asks all the Catholic leaders to repel my assault. They will fail.



How to promote captains: Find weak rebels in the field and attack.



My Sultan prefers a Meritocracy. Welcome to the royal family, al Muazzam.



We must push the Turks out of Asia Minor. This is a good place to start.



My standard seige setup. Column formation, ram, seige tower, ladders.



Approaching the walls. I intend to distract the guards on the walls while my cavalry rush to the town center.



The seige tower serves to attract fire away from the ram.



Storming the walls... a tactic I don't actually use very often. These troops are gong to be toast.

This demonstrates that it is not wise to use ladders to actually take a wall.



These troops scale the wall unharmed. They are the lucky ones.



These troops aren't so lucky.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

We must destroy the gate, or the seige will fail.



Knock, knock...



CHAAAAAARGE!!!



Thier general dies in battle. Had he fought more valiantly, he might have been praised for such a noble sacrifice. But there is no honor in dying like a fool.



My troops battle to the town center.



Cavalry often can push through infantry by bunching together and charging somewhere beyond the enemy.



The town square belongs to me. I will now focus on defense.



You shall not pass!



So ends the battle for Iconium. Note the heavy losses. Let this be a lesson: Do not use ladders to storm guarded walls. It is just stupid.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

My forces are victorious, but reduced to a third of their original numbers. Caesarea was undefended, so I auto-resolved that battle.



Captain Mubarak wants to join the royal family.



Why wait for princesses to give birth to generals? There are plenty of deserving fighters among the warrior class. Those who prove their skill and loyalty deserve to be treated as royalty.
My Sultan cares not for hereditary rule. I intend to build a powerful nation, not just a powerful clan.



A general sitting in Budapest was vulnerable. He escapes to Krakow. Don't let your generals die, under any circumstances.



The new Sultan stands at the peak of westward expansion, and eyes the Holy Roman Empire...



I conquer Russia's finest city without even using my reinforcements.



European mercenary infantry is better than mine. It works wonders on seiging distant territories.



The long Jihad is over. Now watch as my budget goes into the red for a bit.



Cleaning up the leftover mess.



Now, with no Russians at our back, we can advance.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

After a successful crusade or jihad, you often go deep into debt. This is to be expected.



This general eyes the territory to the east... on to Baghdad!



Trebizond is the destination for my lead general... Tiblisi the other.



We must capture the remaining province to the west.



An attempt to get some more troops heading east to Asia Minor is delayed by naval attacks.



The last remnants of the old Empire are being swept away.



I send a unit to scout the area for ambushes. Always a good tactic. Spring any traps before you advance into uncharted territory.



This guy doesn't seem to take a hint.



The Turkish province is surrounded on all sides by Egyptian territory, and troops are on their way.
I don't necessarily stop to pick up every province on the first pass.



The Livonian rebels are about to meet their fate.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Drop all seige equipment and charge!



Crunch!



Their leader falls by my hand.



Victory, mighty Sultan!



Yes, I have a general. But I want another. So I send my captain to take these idiots down.



Paying attention? This is how you get dozens of generals out of nowhere.



I like big stacks and I cannot lie
Those infidels won't deny
When Sultan walks in with an itty bitty grin
And tears you limb from limb
you get pwned

Dial 1-900-Jihad-a-lot and kill those Christian rats
Sultan got stacks

Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week. Try the veal. Very fresh.



The HRE pesters my cities. I am unconcerned. I want to dismantle their empire, not babysit Breslau.



You guessed it... I promote another captain. You can't touch this.

[IMG]https://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x168/im_alumberjack_andimok/0200.jpg

Stop... hammer time!

I hereby nickname Mahmoud "The Arabian hammer".
[/IMG]

[Askthepizzaguy]

Turns 24-28 UNDER CONSTRUCTION

photos uploaded, but have not been given captions.
Check back soon for updates!

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[Askthepizzaguy]

Turns 28+:
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
Photos uploaded.
check back for updates.

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[andrewt]

Curious, why abandon and siege Sofia? Couldn't you have just attacked the sieging army and destroyed them? Or don't you have enough cavalry to chase the routers?

[Askthepizzaguy]

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

VICTORY EGYPT Turn 35

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That's all for today. Check back for updates. I intend to put captions and strategy sections... but hey, I did a lot of work already. Gotta take a break.
Anyone else post almost 300 photos? I didn't think so.

lol

[Askthepizzaguy]

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Curious, why abandon and siege Sofia? Couldn't you have just attacked the sieging army and destroyed them? Or don't you have enough cavalry to chase the routers?

At the time, I didn't have good quality troops. I attempted to do just that, in fact, but I got killed. Sometimes you just don't have the better troops on the field. Seeing as how this was a minor battle in the scheme of things, I decided to use a tactic and trap them instead of waiting for reinforcements.

EDIT:
I may decide to extend the campaign and continue demolishing the other factions, but only if there is enough interest in the thread.

If you would like me to post more of the campaign, make your voice heard.
If you would like me to start another guide, cast your vote.
Which faction would you like a guide made for?
(Cannot be England or Egypt, as I have already posted for those.)

You can vote to continue this thread, and suggest a new thread. I am considering my options.

EDIT:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/09yhyo Save files, turns 1-10
http://www.sendspace.com/file/z0cgor Save files, turns 11-21
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5hp7sm Save files, turns 22-35
http://www.sendspace.com/file/oz678d Theme music for your listening enjoyment

[BattleN00b]

I'd say go for another guide. Will you put up another poll?

[Privateerkev]

While it would be fun to watch you stomp all over the world again, it would probably be more useful to post another guide. I agree with what someone else on here said and would like to see Russia since it seems like the biggest challenge for you. Either way it will be fun to watch.

If you keep posting, I'll keep reading.

^_^

[Askthepizzaguy]

Responses:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

I'd say go for another guide. Will you put up another poll?

Sure thing. A new poll cometh.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

While it would be fun to watch you stomp all over the world again, it would probably be more useful to post another guide. I agree with what someone else on here said and would like to see Russia since it seems like the biggest challenge for you. Either way it will be fun to watch.

If you keep posting, I'll keep reading.

^_^

That's two votes for a new guide.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Winning a campaign isn't all that difficult, but to do it in such style as you is very impressive. The speed at which you won; the efficiency of your armies movement & replenishment; and the brutality of pwning the AI. Well done.

Is this your only style of play? If it isn't, then I'd love for you to show turn by turns where you play the way you have most fun. Otherwise more of the same would be just as good.

I'm blushing. Believe me, I eat up this kind of praise.
The whole point for me posting such threads is for your enjoyment. I am glad they were able to entertain, and possibly inform you of ways to make your gameplay more efficient.

Others have commented on how easy the game is, and they form 'house rules' to limit their own behavior to make it harder. So that is the common trend. But I feel that there is room to make the game harder in the opposite direction: How quickly and soundly can you destroy the AI? What is the maximum efficiency of your armies? The game can become a challenge trying to beat goals such as
"destroy factions X, Y, and Z by turn W"
"victory condition X by turn Y"
"total domination of the old world by turn Y"
"eliminate the map of all Mongols and Timurids by turn Y"

No, this is not my only style of play. Although the crusade and jihad function can be used to maximize efficiency, there are other ways of playing with flair.

Here is a fun goal:
"How many generals can you spawn by turn X"
Promote, adopt, steal, bribe... all of the above plus births. How many generals can you bring into the royal family by turn X?

Since the game is more likely to award you a general if you have many provinces, and more likely to promote a captain if you attack wandering stacks of enemy troops, how many generals can you spawn without cheating?

Another style of play:
Ultimate Chivalry
NEVER do anything dishonorable. Try to maintain excellent reputation. Always occupy. Et cetera.
Meet victory conditions set by the game or create your own.
Never join crusades or jihads unless already at war with said faction (you would be required to act with dishonor and ruin your reputation)

or

Victory condition: Gain 10 chivalry general without using exploits.

Ultimate Dread
Attack everyone. Always exterminate. Butcher prisoners. Assassins, spies, and so forth.
Conquer the world
Never join crusades or jihads. (Chivalrous act)
and gain 10 dread general

Ultimate Economy
Never initiate war, pillage and extermination unavailable, and try to reach an economic goal such as
"X number of merchants"
"Profit per turn of X"
"X number of florins in treasury"

Ultimate Robber Baron
Initiate war available, pillage.
"X number of florins in treasury by turn Y"
Try to increase X while decreasing Y.

Ultimate Cold War
Use only spies and assassins on other factions. Never enter another faction's territory with your troops. Conquer only rebels. Meet victory conditions.

[rookie7]

Thank you, Rookie 7.

My playing style is a blending of speed and aggression, an attempt to master the art of blitzkreig. It is my personal theory that this style most closely reaches the maximum possible playing strength; in other words, more regions are captured, more troops are recruited, more buildings are constructed, and more foes vanquished in the least amount of time, thus maximizing to the upper limit the ability of your small band of troops to wage war.

There is a limit to how much you can accomplish in a turn. You are limited by troop levels, movement, funding, and territory. If you can accomplish more, quicker, with less, then you are approaching maximum effectiveness.

According to this theory, the least effective factions are Byzantium and Russia, as they do not have crusading ability or jihad. This makes them the hardest factions in the game. I rate Russia as the hardest faction, due to poor economy, starting position, and starting troop effectiveness, as well as lack of crusading.

I would rate France as being the most effective faction, due to their starting position, abundance of starting generals, number of nearby rebel provinces, weak catholic neighbors, economic potential, and number of provinces. This makes France an easy faction to play.

Responding to your question; to which battle are you referring?

I'm referring to the battle below. Can you give me more details...maybe a video of your moves. I'd like to see what units you select to move where...etc. I must say, it was an impressive win.

Thanks

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The goal of this battle is to take the hill quickly, crush the small enemy force, and then slay their King.


The uphill charge.


Time to get Medieval 2: Total War on their candy asses.


Clean-up on aisle four.


I charge into the lone patch of Polish Nobles.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Their King leads the charge... into a trap!


Never charge with your general in the lead. That's just dumb, dumb, dumb.


I finish mopping up what's left of them.

They technically should have beaten me... they had far better troops than I did. I was playing with milita archers and some weakened cavalry, and they had Polish nobles and good infantry. Not to mention 2 generals.

[Askthepizzaguy]

The links to England are now broken so that Egypt is once again viewable.

My bandwidth was exceeded.

I will figure out what to do with England... somehow.

Rookie7- Sorry, but I don't know how to make battle videos.

(hangs head in shame)

I would like to know. Does anyone know?

[Hermann the Lombard]

BTW, I never thanked you for posting this guide...so why should I start now?

No, really, thank you very much for your yeoman efforts (no, wait, those were in the English replay).

Naturally, your bandwidth is now exceeded here! So it goes...

[Askthepizzaguy]

BTW, I never thanked you for posting this guide...so why should I start now?

No, really, thank you very much for your yeoman efforts (no, wait, those were in the English replay).

Naturally, your bandwidth is now exceeded here! So it goes...

As I understand photobucket, the bandwidth is exceeded for this month, but the files should be available for viewing again next month.

I really cannot afford to upgrade my photobucket account.



Apologies for the inconvenience.

[Hermann the Lombard]

No reason you should pay to upgrade! You already paid in time and effort, we can ask no more of you! Besides, your text covers the strategic and operational levels.