The Pharaoh and the Prophet - An Egyptian Caliphal AAR

[Memnon]

The Pharaoh and the Prophet



An Egyptian Caliphal AAR

[Memnon]

Introduction

Welcome everyone.

This is my first AAR, and an ambitious one at that. I am going to play as Egypt--and I am going to declare the Caliphate. The goal: reconquer the once vast Muslim empire.

Settings:
Vanilla Victoria, DR's ACW and Education Fix mods. Normal/Normal.

Rules:
Ahistory matters little to me. I'm going to do what I need to do in order to win. That means everything's in except for blatant cheating, neville, etc.

Updates shall commence shortly.

[rafiki]

Finally! We'll be able to see what really happened in that Egyptian game you keep referring to!

*brings out tub of popcorn, settles in couch and *subscribes**

Rafiki

[JoshWeber]

I'll be looking forward to this one.

[Seidita]

lets see how well (or badly) you do

[Nerfix]

Good luck!

[Sultan Of Swing]

I'm just here to receive your taxes, but I'll be reading the AAR as well

[Memnon]

Chapter One:
1836-1838

Egypt is not the most welcoming of countries to play in Victoria. It has no iron, no coal, and an economy based on cotton, fruit, and grain. Still, I hope to show that Egypt has potential in it.

Egypt starts off with relatively impressive position for an uncivilized country. It has impressive holdings, a population of over 9 million, a superior navy, and the expansionist-friendly Arabic as its national culture. Of course, it also has 0 prestige, negative manpower, a literacy rate of 2%, and exactly ₤500 in cold hard cash.

Egypt—January 1, 1836:



So, first things first—get the budget in order. No crime spending, education to max, no defense spending, minimum navy maintenance, maximum army maintenance. All taxes to 49.22%. Tariffs to max. Hurray, we’re making a minuscule profit!

Right off the bat, a few things happen. France guarantees out independence. This is very good. Also, Persia chooses to allow the English reforms to continue. It seems the Persians, at least for the moment, share our goal of civilization.



What’s this? We have 20 leadership points! Let’s make a general!



This guy is good. Very good, in fact. It would be a shame to waste him, se we’d better use him. What looks like a good target? Nejd! But why Nejd? It costs 20 prestige to DOW them. The cost of declarations of war has a lot to do with relative prestige, so the sooner we take them, the better, because later in the game it’ll be very expensive. We can’t invade Tripoli because we need to conserve out manpower. Their desert would have too much attrition. The deserts of Nejd, of course, have substantial attrition as well, but at least this war will be quicker.



And the invasion progresses quickly and with negligible resistance from the natives:



At last, Nejd is annexed, and Egypt returns to peace:



What now, you ask? Wait. You all know as well as I do that I’m soon to face a war with the Ottomans over Syria. This war, I believe, will make or break any game as Egypt. Lose this war, and you’re finished. Win it, and you have a shot at greatness. So we must prepare.

Although we’re making a small profit now, let’s keep all unnecessary spending at a minimum. We need to keep army and education spending up, but we can let navy maintenance drop as we aren’t planning to risk our navy in a war against the Ottomans.

Basically, then, preparation consists of saving up as much money as we can. We’ll need it when things get going, believe me. We’re going to be relying very heavily on the French in this war as well. It’ll be up to them to take out the Ottoman navy and to give us the kind of freedom of movement we’ll need to strike the death knell for the Turks.

All that we need now is one more crucial bit of information. The Ottomans, too, have an event coming up—Abdul Meijid’s Reforms. If they choose well, this event can give them the necessary military strength to halt the majority of our possible assault. If they choose the “Prussian Advisors” option, we can still win, but the victory may be pyrrhic at best.

But what a fantastic stroke of luck!



And now comes the pivotal moment in this tale, the moment that shall define our actions from now until the end of the game. February 12, 1838—Egypt declares itself the Caliphate—the shadow of God on earth, the legitimate successor of the Prophet and the rightful leader of all Muslims. Hundreds of thousands of followers and believers rush to our nation to aid us in our holy cause.

The Ottomans, meanwhile, declare war.

Tune in next time for Chapter Two of The Pharaoh and the Prophet.

[JoshWeber]

Good so far, but no VIP?

[Memnon]

Good so far, but no VIP?

No sir. This is a vanilla game.

[JoshWeber]

Lacking faith in your own program. For shame.
Mine's VIP.
Anyway, I do like it so far.

[Deaghaidh]

Is the declaring the Caliphate an actual event, or dramatic license.

[Nerfix]

Actual event. It is a 'Vin Diesel/Kickass' event.

[Memnon]

#########################################################################
#  The 2nd Oriental Crisis
#########################################################################
event = {
	id = 8100
	random = no
	country = EGY

	picture = 8100

	trigger = {
		event = 1100 # TUR
		NOT = {
			atwar = TUR
		}
		NOT = {
			atwar = EGY
		}
		NOT = {
			peace_treaty = { country = EGY country = TUR }
		}
	}

	name = "EVT_1508_NAME"
	desc = "EVT_4609_DESC"
	style = 0

	date = { day = 2 month = january year = 1838 }
	offset = 29
	deathdate = { day = 30 month = december year = 1842 }

	action_a = {
		name = "ACTIONNAME8100A" # Get influence of the Syrian Clans!
		ai_chance=34
		command = { type = trigger which = 1101 } # TUR
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
	}
	action_b = {
		name = "ACTIONNAME8100B" # Syria belongs to us!
		ai_chance=33
		command = { type = trigger which = 1102 } # TUR
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
	}
	action_c = {
		name = "ACTIONNAME8100C" # The Kaliphate has arisen anew!
		ai_chance=33
		command = { type = trigger which = 1103 } # TUR
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = infantry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
		command = { type = add_division which = cavalry }
	}
}

[JoshWeber]

Not to get too far off topic, but that's the war you're supposed to lose as OE, right?

[Ksim3000]

An interesting AAR you have here Memnon. I indeed look forward to seeing how it progresses.

[PriestOfDiscord]

Not to get too far off topic, but that's the war you're supposed to lose as OE, right?

If you are playing as the OE, you don't want the second oriental crisis event to even fire. You declare war as soon as you get the liberal reforms and Prussian advisers, which keeps Egypt from getting the event that gives it armies out the wazoo.

The Crimean War against Russia is the one you want to lose when playing as the OE.[/derail]

Promising start, I'll be keeping an eye on this one.

[Mike von Bek]

Awww, only one update! Thats not right. Im going to be checking this thread later, and SO HELP ME ALLAH! If there isnt an update there will be trouble, young man!

[Blitzkrieg]

I wanna see your complaints about big bad Russian bear

[Memnon]

Chapter Two:
1838-1851

When I left you, The Second Oriental Crisis had just occurred, I had declared the Caliphate, and the Ottoman Empire had declared war to stop me.

France, upholding its guarantee of our independence, intervenes on our behalf. This will be crucial as we will be relying on the French navy to keep the pesky Turks away from our shores.

Meanwhile, the new divisions recruited from zealous followers are deployed, and the invasion of the Ottoman Empire commences:



Soon after, the French received their own Second Oriental Crisis event, where they chose the “Back Egypt” option. This leads to them intervening on my behalf, which they were already, and also gives us +200 relations with them.



This choice made by the French is the second most important choice the AI must make for an Egypt player’s success. This choice, and the proceeding +200 relations, will allow us to finance this massive war. As things are, we’re losing 97 pounds per day. We need cash.

So what do we do? Sell Crete and Cyprus!!



Notice not only the massive horde of cash I’m getting for this, but also the key technologies. This will put us in a substantial research point hole, but it will be necessary for industrialization, and therefore, civilization.

The war in the Middle East began promisingly. The newly enlarged Egyptian army managed to quickly form a wide encirclement around the Ottoman main force.



The first encirclement:



The second encirclement:



The third encirclement:



Meanwhile, the Ottoman and French navies tussle in the Eastern Mediterranean:



And on the border of distant Libya, the valiant 1st Corps of irregulars managed to hold off seven separate attacks by crack Ottoman cavalry attempting to break into our heartland.



I think I managed to destroy more irregulars in this war than regulars. The fourth encirclement:



General Ibrahim reaches the Bosporus and completes the fifth and final encirclement:



Sadly, the French have made a status quo peace with the Ottomans and thus General Ibrahim is unable to cross the Bosporus and take rebel-controlled Constantinople. But it has been enough. Finally, peace is concluded for the three provinces of Kaf, Ar Rutbar, and Diyarbakr.

Just three provinces?! After all that?! Yes, just three provinces, and here’s why: though Kaf and Ar Ruthbar were cheap, the province of Diyarbakr cost 49% warscore in itself. But it is the most important province Egypt can ever conquer. Diyarbakr was the Ottoman’s main source of iron. Now it is my main source of iron. Without this province, Egypt would have to rely on expensive iron importation to build its factories. Now, it has domestic supply.

Thanks to the losses and attrition suffered by our armies in the field, we can still make money if we keep army and defense spending to zero, but it is not to be. Now comes the most painful thing I have had to do so far. I must disband many of my new divisions. Send the zealots home! They are no longer needed! I recall a quote spoken by Alec Guinness in “Lawrence of Arabia”:

Young men make wars and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men: courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men: mistrust and caution.

So it was for the grand army of the Caliph. Of the 27 free divisions, 14 were disbanded. It was a necessary sacrifice.

Now for several years of peace and slow industrialization. In 1841 we receive the technology ‘Precision Work’ which, on top of allowing us to build a machine parts factory, also brings us to a total of 20 machine parts to help industrialize. We begin by constructing a fabric and regular clothing factory, and then expand these, watching out industrial points slowly rise.

Meanwhile, the Ottoman provinces of North Africa are in revolt and have been occupied by rebels. Like a vulture circling its dying prey, we have been watching the provinces defect one by one to Tripoli:



At last, they have all defected. The time for war has never been better.



The war was brief, though costly in attrition. Tripoli entered the lands of the Caliph on the 30th of September, 1849:



Soon after, the Persians continued along their own road to civilization by choosing to continue reforms under the rule of Shah Nasir Ud-Din. It seems Egypt shall have competition to the east.



One month later, in a surprising twist, Egypt, though not yet a civilized country, became a great power:



Finally, after much toil and effort, in late August of 1850, Egypt—the Caliphate of Islam—entered the world of the civilized powers. But Egypt would not have peace for long.

Who will break the peace of Egypt? Will it be the Russians? Or will it be the British perhaps? Will the Ottomans make a surprising comeback, or will the Persians prove to be a problem instead? For answers, stay tuned for the next update of The Pharaoh and the Prophet.