How to Run a Small Nation into the Ground: A Broken Crescent AAR

[Zim]

Hello,
There's been a lot of talk about the MTW2 mod Broken Crescent recently, here and in a thread in the Citadel. After a bit of difficulty (on my end, not their's) I managed to download and install the mod today.

I thought people might appreciate seeing the mod in action, the new units, factions, etc. so I'll be writing an AAR of my first campaign. I have only a vague idea of what's changed gameplay-wise, and decided to try a fairly small faction, so there's a fair chance I won't succeed, hence the name of the AAR.

My intended victim...er...faction? The relatively unassuming Kingdom of Makuria, located in northern Sudan and Southern Egypt, or so say the BC forum thread for the faction. They are Orthodox Christians, and strong in lighter infantry and cavalry. They have a pretty cool history of conflict with whoever is controlling Egypt at the time (the Ayyubids in the mods timeframe), and I'm looking forward to more of the same in my game.

Here's a pic of the Kingdom and its capital, Dongola.



I should have my first update tonight.

[Xehh II]

Good luck. Makuria has been my first and only campaign and they're awesome.

[Zim]

Thanks, Xehh II. I've really been enjoying the campaign.

Scratch everything I had pre-edit. Turns out high level churches slowly convert the population, and although the image is off, churches still seem to work fine (adding the public order bonuses, etc.) That's good enough for me.

[Zim]

Alright, time to get this started.

We come to the small nation of Makuria in 1174. It consists of two settlements, the more noteworthy of the two being the capital, Dongola. The leader is Negus Melku, who seems to be an ancient relation of Samuel L. Jackson. That can only be a good sign. I'd make a Pulp Fiction joke now, but it's been done in the BC forums.



Fearful at the small size of his Kingdom relative to that of the mighty Ayyubids to the north, the Negus decides it is time to expand. In the meantime a diplomat is sent north to secure a temporary alliance with the Ayyubids. It is unlikely to last long as there is a history of conflict ebtween the two nations, but for now at least it should serve to stave off an attack from the north.

The city of Qasr Ibrim to the north is claimed by no major power, and shall be first to suffer from the armies of Makuria. After a siege of a single season, he decides an assault is in order. Makurian forces are far greater than the defenders, although the cities walls may even things up a bit.



Some Tigrayan spearmen man the ram, while Zanji mercenaries take ladders to the walls. All find themselves under a hail of fire arrows. The ram is set alight, but the ladders reach the walls and the real fighting begins.





Fighting is fierce on the walls, and the Makurian army suffers terrible losses. Eventually, however, our advantage in numbers tells and the enemy is pushed from the walls. Some also credit our slightly superior shirt technology as a factor. Whatever the reason, the gate is opened and the Negus' bodyguards pour into the city, running down any resistance on their way to the town square.





Once the bulk of the Makurian army has swarmed into the city and towards the town square, it is only a matter of time before the inevitable occurs. After defeating the valiant rebels in the square, Makuria finds herself in position of Qasr Ibrim.

[Zim]

In 1175 a shocking thing happened. A Fatimid Caliphate was overthrown by Salahuddin, who declared himself Sultan of Egypt! With his emphasis on retaking the Holy Land from Makuria's friends the Latins, this could only bode ill for the Makurian-Ayyubid alliance.

The Negus was now even more determined to strengthen his country before any war began. However, there was one main obstacle to further expansion. An Ethipoian by the name of Zacharias had declared himself King of the lands lying east of Makuria. He had a powerful army at his command. Melku would have to defeat him to lay claim to the nearby settlements. He collected as many men under his banner as possible, and challenged Zacharias to a battle. The Maurians were outnumbered by a few hundred men, but did have the advantage of better if sparser infantry.





The battle opened curiously. Zacharias was apparently better at gathering an army than commanding one, and his troops were ill-positioned to take advantage of being on the defensive. Instead they allowed Melku to gain the high ground, where his infantry could take advantage of their higher quality, hopefully making up for their sorely inadequate numbers. Not having enough ranged units to beat melku in a firefight, especially shooting uphill, Zecharias had little other options than to charge up the hill.

This proved a poor decision, as Melku's cavalry sweeped around to flank the Ethipoians. The Ethiopian cavalry had been divided and was easily defeated in detail, allowing the Makurians to strike at their enemy's flanks. Even Melku himself got in on the action, taking out the few units of especially high quality spearmen possessed by the enemies.




The Makurian infantry also took the offensive, counter charing their foes. Caught between infantry and cavalry, the Ethiopians slowly broke and ran, until none were left standing on the field. Zecharias acquitted himself well, however, never fleeing but instead falling in battle.







The next years saw great expansion by the Kingdom of Makuria. All the lands to the east of Makuria were taken. Unfortunately, two attempts to take Yemen across the sea failed. The first stalled because not enough troops were brought. The second, led my Melku himself, led to the capture of Aden, but Melku died in bed the next day of a fever and his men were unable to control the city. By the time the forces were mustered, Ayyubid armies had already occupied the area.

Makuria did take the Horn of Africa, however, and a small island in the Persian Gulf. While still standing in the shadow of the Egyptian Empire, by the turn of the 12th century Makuria was now at least a powerful country in its own right, able to field multiple large armies.

[Zim]

OK, everyone, I may be on the verge of Total Peace. The Ayyubids are sticking far more faithfully to their allaince than I thought, and I don't have other neighbors.

What do you think? Should I cancel our alliance and see what happens? Or maybe just builld up my cities until they attack another ally (I allied with the Crusaders for one thing)?

[phonicsmonkey]

Some also credit our slightly superior shirt technology as a factor.

[Zim]

Makuria spent the beginning years of the 13th century at peace. There were no more rebel Kingdoms to conquer. and so much of the Makurian army was disbanded so that there would be money to upgrade settlements.

Elsewhere much happened, as rumors that the faraway steppes north of China had been united under the rule of a great Mongol leader named Temujin abounded. At around the same time the Pope launched a crusade, which ended up taking a slight detour away from the Holy Land and towards Christian Constantinople. Obviously they just need directions.



Shortly after the Makurian King decided it was time for war with the Ayyubids. But first their alliance had to be broken. In order to damage their relations the Makurian diplomat Moise was sent to offer a rediculous deal for the castle of Aswan. Moise offered the Ayyubid governor of the strategically important castle a small sum of florins per turn for 20 turns, hoping to insult the Egyptians. However, this offer had an unexpected result, revealed in this dramatic reenactment of what we today believed occured.

Governor Camona: So, what do they offer this time, advisor?

Advisor: 256 florins per turn for 20 seasons.

Governor Camona: Really!? That will cover the payments on my new camel!

Advisor: Sir, Aswan makes 4 times that amount every season. Heck, one of our larger buildings is worth more than that amount. They obviously mean the offer to be a jest against us. They even sniggered as they told me about it, and insulted the Sultan's mother.

Governor Camona: Nonsense! It is a wonderful offer. Tell them we accept.

Advisor: *sigh* Yes sir.

And just like that, the Castle of Aswan, with far more advanced structures than any of their current settlements, became a part of Makuria.



The acceptance of this offer was greeted by astonishment. Was there no end to Ayyubian stupidity? Even more attempts were made to weaken Makurian-Ayyubian relations, with a sum of 100 florins offered for the rich city of Luxor just north of Aswan, but to no avail. Finally a sum of 687 florins and the far off settlements of Suqutra and Culula were offered for Luxor. Noteworthy is that both of those settlements together did not make 200 florins in a single season, but Ayyubian stupidity abounded and once again they agreed to the deal, this time throwing nearly a half stack of Saracen Militia into the bargain. Further attempts to offend the Ayyubians by offering 100 florins for Cairo and Alexandria failed miserably.

The King had had enough. Forces were concentrated on his Northern border, and trade rights, military access, and finally in 1214 the alliance were canceled with the Ayyubians. They seemed to get the message this time, and relations dropped to "very poor". More forces were diverted to the front, and preparations for war were made.



In 1215 the Ayyubids and Oman went to war, and the next year the Ayyubids sent several large armies in the direction of Makuria. Obviously they had also prepared for war, but the Makurian King hoped that their fighting on two fronts at once would weaken them.

3 armies were prepared. General Alemu headed the war, as he was Makuria's best general. He led an army consisting of Sudanese Longbowmen, higher quality Makurian infantry, medium cavalry and a core of worthless Saracen militia (they're much weaker in BC) to soak up arrow fire and charges.

General Jacob had a slightly smaller force, meant to use in reserve, while faction heir Ezekiel had a largely cavalry and archer force coming around onto Cairo from the East.

The war began in 1216. Jacob moved in to secure a bridge south of Cairo, while Ezekiel blocked trade to Cairo's port and secured supplies from captured merchants. Finally General Alemu suprised a fair sized but leaderless force of Ayyubids in a night attack.

[Zim]

The way I counted it, about half of their forces were shirtless to a quarter of mine. Battles against the Ayyubids will be tougher as they have the superior shirt technology, but we will make up for it with advances with our diapers for older men division, a must for any general worried about jsut how frightened his men will get when they see that the enemy has armor and they don't.