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This thread is the Egypt visual strategy guide, as voted upon by forum members. The general strategy for Egypt is quick expansion. The difficulty level on a scale of 1-10 is about a 3. You need only basic skills to succeed here, but a decent strategy is called for.
Overview:
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Egypt begins with 3 provinces and some basic garrison forces. Nothing particularly threatening, except perhaps to Jerusalem. In order to turn Egypt into a mighty Sultanate, we must expand quickly. I understand that many players prefer the slow and steady approach, however this will backfire. Turkey will expand and take the rebel provinces nearby if you do not, and your Sultanate will not have enough forces to repel the Mongol and Timurid invasion if you halt your expansion there. In the long view, a slow expansion is suicidal. Therefore we must move quickly; the Jedi are relentless.
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Turn 1- Egypt begins with the lucky ability to declare a jihad through your Imam, Mahfouz. You should take advantage of this ability immediately. Because we will want to expand quickly, a short jihad would prove almost useless. I chose the most distant target for my assault; Novgorod, Russia. You could also choose Lisbon or Baghdad, but I prefer the long road. Let's begin the crusade by joining all of our existing forces together. Use all of your generals. We will use the spare florins from the lack of troop upkeep to recruit more generals. Since our faction leader is 60, don't even count him among the living. He will be dead shortly.
While we are on jihad, do not forget to expand your borders at home. Recruit and expand. Rebels are easy to conquer, therefore send your weakest generals after them. Do not forget to promote captains by engaging in battle with wandering troop stacks. Generals are the lifeblood of your Sultanate.
Turn 2- by now you should have laid seige to Jerusalem and to Acre, and amassed a total of two nearly full stacks of troops. Recruit maximum troops and mercenaries. I used a mercenary ship to travel from Alexandria to Acre. You are on your way to greatness.
Turn 3- Now you must prove your worth. You must take Jerusalem! It is easier to auto-resolve this battle, but you must learn how to fight, so I am asking you to fight it. My tactic was to feint towards the walls with my ladders and seige tower, while battering down the gate. Once the ladders were up and the seige tower was in place, I ordered my troops to stop and reform. By now the gate was almost down, and I moved my cavalry into position. The gate opened up, and I charged straight towards the city center, leaving the guards on the towers the option of either letting me take the town, or having to crawl down and fight like men. I soon overpowered the garrison at the city center, and the morale bonus from having a general and being atop a wall was nullified. I was fighting on two fronts, in the middle of a narrow road between the gate and the center of town, but my advantage was clear. Their general fell, and soon the troops at my rear were
routing. Then it was simply a march forward to hack the stragglers to pieces.
Victory, my Sultan! Losses: 300 brave Muslim fighters. May Allah smile upon their noble sacrifice. You may lose fewer troops if you auto-resolve this fight.
By the end of the turn I was beseiging Antioch and Damascus, moving towards my target, Novgorod.
Turn 4- Antioch should fall quite easily, as you are more than a match for them. However, Damascus is well prepared for you. The losses from your previous battle have made you too weak to take this city without devastating casualties. So your king rides to the rescue from Antioch, and the two armies overpower Damascus. I recommend auto-resolving these two battles, as they are too simple to learn much from.
Now you have Antioch and Damascus, so continue north before you lose too many troops to desertion. Meanwhile, build up your cities with military buildings and masjids, and recruit like crazy. Your pillaging florins should more than match your expenses, and you should be floating 20,000+ florins by now.
Turn 5- Consolidate what's left of your forces and take Aleppo. By now you should have only one useful stack. Have your prince command this stack and head east. Have your other general return south for some fresh troops, alone.
Your castles should be producing cavalry by now and there should be some fresh infantry as well. Now, you own Aleppo, Antioch, Damascus, Acre, Jerusalem, Gaza, Alexandria, and Cairo, tripling the
size of your Sultanate in just five short turns. You are well on your way to controlling the middle east.
Your status: By now you should have recruited as many troops as you can muster, and possibly an Imam or two. Move your spy north as quickly as possible so he can assist with opening gates, if possible. Your garrisons from Alexandria and Cairo could be used to march south into Dongola, securing that small province and moving you one step closer to world domination. However, we still have an active Jihad, and a general moving south to pick up some more recruits, so leave them where they are for now. They will join the Jihad when the general is in range, and then catch up with your prince via boat. You will want to expand quickly but maintain peace with your neighbors. This is a critical time for you, so you should avoid unnecessary conflict. Do not attack the Turks or Byzantium just yet. Wait until your forces are more powerful.
The jihad strategy allows you to expand quickly while not going into debt. Remember, the Mongols are coming and you will need to have a very strong defensive army to repel them; something you are not likely to have if this is the extent of your expansion. Troops are expensive and they need provincial taxes in order to pay for them, therefore we need provinces.
Don't worry too much about domestic concerns just yet; all your provinces are experiencing high public order and are content to be left alone for now. I do recommend troop producing buildings and level one masjids, for both public order, religious conversion, and recruitment concerns, which are your priority.
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Visuals: Click to view
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Were this not Egypt, Turkey, or Russia I could honestly recommend an alternative strategy, however you must expand to survive with these three factions. There is no slow, economic building game with these factions. You must prepare for the coming Mongol invasion.
Turns 1-5 are now complete. The next post will include turns 6-10.
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