Kara Koyunlu - The Black Sheep

[Fingal]

Kara Koyunlu – The Black Sheep

I’m going to write this AAR in a similar style to ‘The Golden Horde – A Dying Empire’ by dealing with events from the rulers view (really enjoyed it by the way). This is my first AAR and only 2nd game of EUII so don’t be surprised if it isn’t perfect played. Its played on Normal/Normal using AGCEEP.

The Kara Koyunlu were a tribe of Turkish origin and settled in and around Azerbaijan. They suffered a great defeat and were routed by Tamerlane just previous to the start of the Grand Campaign which explains the hatred of the Timurids. The Ak Koyunlu (White Sheep Turkomans) who destroyed them in the end are also bitter rivals. Anyway getting on with it...

The Tribal Leaders and later Sultans

Qara Yusuf - New Beginnnings
Qara Iskander - The Calm Before the Storm, The Timurid Wars I, The Timurid Wars II, No News is Good News
Jahan Shah - Of Traitors and Timurids, The Might of the Black Sheep, Watching and Waiting, War and Peace, What Comes Around Goes Around
Pir Budaq - The Last Black Sheep


(Continues as the Safavid Empire)

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Qara Yusuf - New Beginnings (1388 – 1420)

The Great Qara Yusuf

Quara Yusuf had been from riches, to rags and back to riches again. Early in his reign the Kara Koyunlu had been vassals of the Jalayirid dynasty in Baghdad and Tabriz. Later after defeat against Tamerlane he fled to Mamluk Egypt before finally returning to take Tabriz as his home and force Baghdad into vassalisation. He had led the Kara Koyunlu since 1388 and now the kingdom appeared stable for the first time in a long time.

The question was where to take them now. They were rich, thanks to the mines of Kurdistan and centre of trade at Azerbaijan, but not powerful even with their Vassals further south in Baghdad and Basra. They were also surrounded by enemies. To the east lay the great Timurid Empire with their vassals the Ak Koyunlu to the west, to the south the equally worrying Mameluks and no doubt the Ottomans would soon dominate the west. With his horde numbering only 13,000 men they might not last long alone and their vassals in Iraq would likely only aid an attacker.

Qara's Map of the World

• Black Sheep - Grey (curiously not Black)
• Timurids - Brown
• Mamluks - Lighter Brown
• White Sheep - White
• Ottomans - Green

(Buy black paint for future map)

Qara was wily in his old age and knew action had to be taken. First he started overseeing the recruitment of 5000 infantrymen to bolster the horde. Secondly he sent diplomats to Shirvan, the Ottomans and the Mamluks securing marriges between his 3 daughters and their royal princes.

Next he needed an ally, a big powerful ally. The Timurids were sworn enemies so they were out. He looked south on his map of the world. The Mamluks! He sent a diplomat immediately to join the Mamluk alliance. The Mamluks refused without justifying their reasons. Quara wasn’t amused but he had a backup plan. The Janissary army of the Ottomans was the greatest military machine in the known world and they would be the new allies of the Kara Koyunlu. He dispatched another diplomat. The Ottomans approved being short of other allies save a few Christian nations they had previously vassalised. This was grand news for the Kara Koyunlu.

Meanwhile in Azerbaijan the 5000 men were ready for action. Due to a lack of funds none had horses but that may be an advantage in the mountans of Azerbaijan.



Before




After

Qara thought these extra men should be enough to persude any larger kingdoms from attack the Kara Koyunlu for a little while at least. Qara now came to review where all his money was going. He sacked a large number of men working on ship building. The Kara Koyunlu needed no navy, for a start they had no port. He also instructed no money be minted as a wise administrator he knew the dangers of inflation (well ahead of his time).

During his time in Egypt Qara had learnt the he led a backwards nation. The Kara Koyunlu had no notions of trade or running provinces and while the horde was fierce he had seen the Mamluk and Ottoman armies and to stand up to them and others like them they would need training and discipline. He set about pouring the wealth created from the mines into improving their knowledge of these things.

Qara was a brilliant yet simple man and knowing there was little else he could do to aid the kingdom he spend his time with the horde and his sons. He was old and he knew one day one of them would take charge of the horde. During a patrol Qara was stung by a scorpion. The wound became infected and he died shortly after. Such a great leader killed by something so small.

Funeral Procession of Qara Yusuf - 1420

[Duke of Wellington]

A very good start. I like the Black Sheep, never played as them seriously but they're a nation I like to see succeed. Thanks for the compliment regarding my AAR. Would you like to know how to make Qara black on the map?

[Capt Janszoon]

I like it, good start!

The picture of the black sheep is nice, though looks more like a black goat

[CatKnight]

It could be a black ram....

Good start!

[Fiftypence]

Kara Koyunlu! This will be interesting.

[Grundius]

Watching this one. Good luck!

[Fingal]

Yeah I'm a fan of the sheep/goat/devil thing

And yeah it'd be nice to know how to make them black. The grey always seemed abit odd.

[Fingal]

Qara Iskander - The Calm Before the Storm (1420-1424)

Qara Iskander

Qara Yusuf had four sons Ispend, Iskander, Jahan Shah and Abu Sa’id . It was decided by the tribal leaders that Iskander should take control of the realm. There was discontent about this however as another tribe pushed Ispend forward as leader. In the end Iskander took control but the squabbling left the Black Sheep weakened.

Crowning of Iskander

Iskander was a good ruler. Brave, just and a skilled military leader. He wanted to prove this strength to the influential tribes and cement his place as leader.

As a child he had always despised the White Sheep or Ak Koyunlu. He really, really hated him. He didn't believe them fit to even share a border with the Black Sheep and now he had risen to rule the horde he had a chance to deal with them and prove himself to the tribes. Two birds with one stone. Iskander had a large army thanks to his father but he knew more could be done. He set about improving training methods personally and also sent spies to the Ak Koyunlu lands.

The fruits of Iskander's Labour

With the army better prepared to face the White Sheep menace Iskander waited for his spies. He also sent a letter to his brother Jahan Shah who had fled to Baghdad during the succession crisis asking him to return home for he had always like Jahan. Jahan however believed it was a trick and sent no reply.

Only a few days after this the spies from the White Sheep lands returned. They had reports of the Ak Koyunlu horde numbering only 8000 men and also that two buildings for tax collecters were under construction.


The White Sheep Horde

Iskander was not skilled at the day to day running of things. He was brave, a good tactiction and negotiator but to be blunt he was lazy. If a matter wasn't grand and important he wasn't interested. Never the less his advisors assured him that these ‘Tax Collectors’ should built in Kurdistan and Azerbaijan to take advantage of the great wealth of these provinces. Iskander just nodded and agreed in truth he had listened to little throughout the meeting.

Now Iskander was ready to strike. His horde poised. Soon the mighty army of the Kara Koyunlu would fall down upon the White Sheep. He ordered the Ak Koyunlu be informed of his declaration of war. Then a problem arose apparently there were none in his lands with sufficient training in diplomacy to travel to the White Sheep lands and inform the White Sheep without facing certain execution at their hands. A surprise attack occurred to Iskander but for some reason he decided against. He was furious. Such a little detail could ruin such grand plans.

Iskander arrived back at his tent and sighed. The attack would have to wait until next year. Until then of course the excess of food, wine and women would just have to do.

One year later when a diplomat was finally trained terrible news arrived. The White Sheep had allied with the Timurids! Iskander, in his despair, simply sat in his tent alone all day. The alliance meant any war with them would surely involve the Timurids and this was not a good thing. The Timurid empire at the time stretched from Tibriz all the way to the Indus and possibly further for the Black Sheep cartographers knew of nothing past this point. They could quite easily squash the Black Sheep like a bug but this was what the Qara Yusuf had made his pact with the Ottomans for.

Meeting of the Tribal Leaders

Iskander held a council with the tribal chiefs. They concluded that the combined strength of the Ottomans and the Black Sheep could destroy the White Sheep and conclude a white peace with the Timurids. Battle plans were made. The Ottomans would attack from the west while the Kara Koyunlu would hold firm until the Al Koyunlu were defeated. Then Attention could turn to the real fight – the Timurids. All but the major tribe from the Tibriz region agreed. The iron was hot and it was time to strike.

The Timurids were ready for any such war and the border was garrisoned lightly with men in the mountains. Iskander knew if he had to fight there many men may fall against even a small army and the Timurids had big ones (bigger then he would ever believe as it would turn out)

Timurids greedily eyeing up Tabriz

More men were trained. The leader of the horde, Salih, was sent to the Ottomans to tell them of the plan. The horde was moved further south ready to try and hold out against the Timurid storm while garrisions were trained and equipped to hold out in the north.

Iskander visited the southern provinces. As dusk fell he looked out over into the Timurid lands. The air was still and quiet. It seemed so peaceful. This was to be short lived. Soon the area would run red with blood.

[Fiftypence]

This will no doubt be a tough war, but if you can deal with the White Sheep quickly and then focus all your attention on the Timurids and get some armies into their undefended heartland you should hopefully be able to come out on top. Good luck!

[Duke of Wellington]

An unfortunate alliance there. The Timurids can be either a real difficult enemy to deal with or keel over easily. I think focussing on getting thme out of the war first best but that might leave the White Sheep open to be taken by the OE instead.

To change to black do this.
1. In folder EUII / Map open colorscales.csv with Notepad (back it up first)
2. Change the first entry Black so it looks like this

Black;;;
red;green;blue;index
255;245;220;0
255;245;220;1
255;245;220;25
128;122;110;64

3. In Folder EUII / AGCEEP / DB open country.csv with Notepad
4. Find Qara Koyunlu (tag qar) and change lightorange (for some reason grey is called this) to black.

[Grundius]

Time to unsheathe the blade and send the Fury of the Black Sheep against all comers.

[Capt Janszoon]

Time to unsheathe the blade and send the Fury of the Black Sheep against all comers.

^^ what he said!

Is the western Timurid empire fortified in Agceep or not?

[Fingal]

I'd say about half fortified half not so that makes things a bit easier. The White Sheep are in the way of any Ottoman armies coming to help so I'm relying on them to get beat quickly. I don't think I could get a peace with the Timurids before the Ottomans over run the White Sheep anyhow. Looking forward to it.. update soonish with a bit of luck

Thanks for the map thing Duke

[Freddan]

Subscribed.

I've always liked the black sheeps. A very interesting nation to play as.

Good luck Fingal!

[Fingal]

Qara Iskander – The Timurid Wars I (1424-1425)

Lightning flashed in the skies above and rain poured down. Iskander sat in his tent with Salih his leading general. The diplomats had returned, or at least their heads had. The Timurids and White Sheep knew. War had come. The Ottomans were marching on the White Sheep lands at this very moment.

The Janissaries March

Scouts reported that Hamadan was lightly defended and Salih wished to attack the Timurids there to seize the initiative. After some debate Iskander let him take the horde.

Salih Leads the Horde to Hamadan

Just after Salih had left the war camp terrible news reached Iskander. Shah Rukh had played upon discontent within the tribes of Tibriz. They had defected and declared themselves part of the Timurid Empire handing over Qazvin. Their sympathisers in Azerbaijan had also shown themselves but were quickly repelled by the garrison there.

Shah Rukh’s meddling

Iskander ordered money to be minted at the treasury to fund the war effort. Meanwhile north in Kurdistan the brave garrison was repelling attack after attack from the White Sheep. Using the mountains well they achieved victory against much greater White Sheep forces. Where were the damned Ottomans?

Only a month after the Ottoman army arrived. They destroyed the White Sheep horde in the north and besieged Sivas. Meanwhile the garrison of Kurdistan held off yet another attack the 4th of the war.

The White Sheep hit hard by the Ottomans

Scouts rushed to bring the ill tidings to Iskander. The Timurid Imperial Army was marching straight for the capital in Azerbaijan. A few thousand infantrymen were rapidly trained. Iskander surveyed the troops. They knew their home well but they would have to fight like 5 men each to win the coming battle.

The Timurid Imperial Army

Preparations were made the soon to be legendary Mustafa organised his men the ‘Azerbaijanli Alay’.

The Battle of the Mountains

The following fight was strange. Of the 50,000 men involved in the battle only 3000 were killed on both sides and yet the Timurids were routed.

I’ll never understand combat in this game

At the same time the Timurid garrison at Hamadan fell and two diplomats arrived. The Timurids were offering peace for 8 ducats. Iskander consulted Mustafa and they agreed that this was not enough. With the defeat of the Imperial Army and the capture of Hamadan the tide of the war was turning. Funny how both would of gladly paid twice that for peace with the Timurids just a few weeks earlier.

The second messenger offered 25 ducats for peace with the White Sheep. Begrudgingly and after much whining from the tribal chiefs he accepted. Apparently they should focus on the Timurids and the Ottomans could handle the White Sheep. Iskander was not pleased at his hand being forced and rode off to join his allies’ siege of Sivas. He would have White Sheep blood even if his horde would not. He really wasn't fond of those White Sheep.

[billy bob]

Now I wonder who is the shepard?

Great AAR I have to say.

[Fingal]

I'm the shepard!

Duke I changed the files but the colour in game came out cream.

The black entry was already in the colourscales and the colour for Black Sheep was listed as 'Gray'. Not sure if this has anything to do with it?

[Fiftypence]

Try changing the black entry in colorscales.csv to this:

Black;;;
red;green;blue;index
50;50;50;0
20;20;20;1
10;10;10;25
5;5;5;64

and you should get a colour like this:



Be sure to back up the colorscales file.

[Fingal]

Ah done it

Its just a bit too black. Not keen on the way it blocks borders/shadows. Ah well the 'Gray' Sheep will continue.

[Duke of Wellington]

An unfortunate event to get in the midst of your war. I hope it strengthens your resolve to win though.

Sorry about the mix up I gave you the unedited version of the Black. I seem to have lost the lighter version I used in my AAR that allowed shading etc. If you want I can try to recreate it?