Tales of the Ottomans

[Tem_Probe]

By 1419, the Ottoman Turks are a proud nation whose borders include Macedonia, Bulgaria, Rumelia, Broduja, Smyrna, Anatolia and Angora. Our wise ruler controls three mighty armies of over 20000 mens, and our nation is one of the richest in the world. I, a most humble scribe, have been instructed by my liege to write the history of our small empire, which I am told will one day be the greatest in the world. Indeed, my lord has decreed that the Ottoman Empire shall engulf all lands that were controlled by the Byzantime Emperors, and beyond. Surely this is a noble goal, to create an empire for the greater glory of Allah. To further this goal, my noble suzerain has proclaimed himself the Sole Defender of the Sunni Faith.

[Tem_Probe]

January 1st 1419.

After decreeing himself the Sole Defender of the Sunni Faith, my liege has taken actions that befit a noble ruler like him. He started social reforms, increasing the number of serfs in his realm, so that the public stability may be more easily maintained. In addition, he declared war with the Duchy of Athens, to take over an annoying neighbor that is both weak and strategically positioned... its conquest will allow us to march into Morea, so that we can bring down the Byzantines. He was not the only ruler whom tried to extend his borders at the time, as evidenced by the simultaneous declarations of war from the Teutonic Order on Pskov, and Muscowy on Novgorod, quickly followed by a war between Castille and Granada, and another between Suzdal and Novgorod. However, we are not here to tell the tales of the foe of the Empire, so we shall return to the topic at hand.
The war against the Duchy of Athens went well. First, Tuscany, its liege, failed to support her vassal in Athens against us, removing one enemy from our list. Also, by the end of the month, our grandiose 1st army had marched into Hellas and defeated the standing army there, initiating the siege of Athens. A few survived, and fled north to rally their troops, marching back on us on April, being quickly defeated once again. Our army was more numerous, better trained, and most importantly, more proud. We would not accept defeat.
By May, we had brought our 3rd army back in Anatolia, where we expected to put it to good use soon against the Byzantines. However our ruler had a sudden change of heart, and decided to redeploy it into Angora, for a plan of his which I am not privy.

By September, our age old enemy, the Byzantines, joined Trebizond in a war against Georgia. At first, this annoyed our ruler, but he decided to make the best of it. The Byzantine moved their troops by ship to Georgia, to fight their enemy there, so by November 14th, we declared war on then, exactly one month after the declaration of war, one month after we protested by canceling our military access. Their ally in Trebizond refused the call to arms. Their main army fighting on a foreign front, our 2nd army marched into Byzantium nearly unopposed, only a small levy was raised to fight them, but were no match against our mighty army. By december, we were besieging Constantinople.
In January of 1420, the Byzantines brought back their army from Georgia, and engaged us in Thrace. However the superior training of our troops and the defensive advantage gave us a quick and decisive victory over them.

In February, finally we captured Athens, annexing the small state into our borders, and moving south into Morea. We would defeat the Byzantines. We would engage the Byzantine regularly over the year in Thrace, succeeding at every turn, until we finally captured the province in 1421. The byzantines in Morea gave a harder time to our 2nd army however, we could not breech their defenses as they had a numerous army there.

In May 1421, our wise and noble ruler died, only to be replaced by the wise Murad II, whose first decision was to take command of the 2nd army in Hellas to lead them to victory over the Byzantines in Morea. Two months later, he was marching on Morea, engaging the massive Byzantine contingent located there, and fighting with all his heart. The battle was tough and lasted for months, but finally in January 1422, a charge got through the opposition of the Byzantine, and their army was crushed. Two months later, the province was ours, and the Byzantine suing for peace in return for the province of Morea and 37 ducats.

[Tem_Probe]

After the war with Byzantium, our ruler first decided to redeploy his armies. The 3rd army was deployed to Anatolia, while the 1st army moved on to Macedonia. The Ottoman Empire could enjoy a little peace while it would rebuild its forces for the next onslaught.

Murad II, our wise and noble ruler, set upon him to rebuild our military. He supported an increase in power to the nobility, which would in turn serve more easily in his army, and also signed several trade agreements, in particular with Venice, Genoa and Portugal. He also entered an alliance with Ak Koyunlu, one of the few states with which he enjoyed friendly relations. Then the unexpected happened: Our ally, Ak Koyunlu declared war with their traditional enemies, the Qara Koyunlu, which had allied themselves with our own traditional enemies, the Mameluks. Calling on us, we quickly replied and supported our allies against them, eager to conquer Egypt.

Since we did not share a border with the Mameluks, we had a distinct advantage: We could only fight by moving accross the Mediteranean, and our navy was by far superior to theirs.We thus loaded our two strong armies in our fleet, and set sail for Egypt. We sailed to the Bay of Alexandria, and unloaded both armies in Egypt. We fought the Mameluk armies there, defeating them twice in a row. Our first army set to besiege Egypt itself, the second moved into Delta to besiege it. I need to mention how chaotic were the defenses of the Mameluks. While my liege was eager to fight them, he expected them to be a worthy challenge. He was wrong. Their only major army, not locked in conflict against our ally, was the one in Egypt. By defeating it, we effectively scattered their defenses, and all they could do was send minor armies against our well-equipped and sizeable armies, and were always repulsed. Oh, there were lots of battles. But most of what they did was only get themselves killed, barely scratching our invading armies. So it was that my lord decided to wage a war that would bring more spoils than he expected at first: He decided to occupy all the lands of the Mameluks. This would take some time, but he was convinced it would work.

April 1425, my lord instituted the Sheikh-ul-Islam Office, to better coordinate the spread of the Islamic faith. Two months later, we captured the province of Egypt, and moved on to fight on the Nile borders. By December, we had captured the province and moved on to the Sinai while we captured the province of Delta and set ourselves to attack Alexandria and occupy the powerful trade center which my lord lusted for. By 1427, we had occupied Delta, Egypt, Sinai, Nile, Alexandria, Judea, Samaria and Cataract. Such was our progress against the Mameluks, that its neighbors grew lusty and decided to wage war on them also. Within 6 months, Nubia, Teke and Karaman had independently declared war on the Mameluks.

On the home front, things were going well. Every province had a newly appointed tax collector, the provinces of Morea and Smyrna had been converted to Islam, though we failed to do the same in Anatolia. Murad II had designs to convert his whole realm to the One True Faith however, and did not give up, and raised an army to quickly quell the rebels.
In Africa, our troops continued the rapid attacks on Mameluks outpost, occupying them one by one. In February of 1929, our ally had left the war, signing peace with our enemies, taking Azerbaijan as a spoil, however we continued to wage war on the Mameluks. In September of 1430, we had occupied all territories of the Mameluks, except the province bordering Karaman, which they occupied, and started negociating for peace. The negociations was harduous, as my lord demanded unbelievabely large ammounts of territory, which the Mameluks kept refusing. Finally in March 1431, we finally reached a compromise: the Mameluks would give us Alexandria, Delta, Samaria, Lebanon, Sinai and Judea. The Mameluks were left greatly weakened, while we had grown to the size of a small Empire.

[Tem_Probe]

So far, I've played this game up to 1609. I'm going to try to catch up to what I've done by continuing to write here. Feedback appreciated.

[Sokollu]

Very nice start! You have conquered most of the Mameluks already..

By the way how come you left those infidel Byzantines still standing?

[MrT]

Yep. Nice start indeed.

It's unusual to see the Ottomans not go fro Thrace, all things considered. That must do something odd re CoTs later... not to mention missing out on the free(ish) shipyard. Interesting...

[Wasa]

Very nice start indeed..

[Imperialism Inc]

nice , very nice , exstreamly nice , etc etc
you get the picture

[Tem_Probe]

The problem is that you can't annex a two province state in a single war, unless you let your allies get the other province first. Since I waged a first war on Byzantium early, and I made peace by 1422, our peace treaty would last until 1427. While I could declare war on them before that, I would lose much stability for nothing, and I don't like doing that. So my plan was essentially to declare war on them in 1427. However, my plan was foiled by the declaration of war my ally made, which placed me at war with the Mameluks(something I did not mind at all though :P).

While I could have fought both the Mameluks and the Byzantines at once, I didn't want to take unnecessary risks, especially with the rebellions caused by my constant attempts to convert everyone and the war attrition

All in all, there was no hurry to conquer Byzantium at that time, it would come soon enough.

[Carolus Rex]

Ottomans are so much fun, I just love to kick some ass with them and still don't get the BB wars until I've taken all of my core provinces.

[King-Fredrik]

nice, very nice stuff

[Tem_Probe]

After reaching a much deserved peace for having beaten the Mameluks down to a bloody pulp, our grand ruler decided to enjoy a little peacetime and use it to rebuild his armies, pacify the newly won territories, appoint tax collectors to its provinces, and continue converting those heathens and heretics. Peace wouldn't last long however. On January 8 1433, we declared war on Byzantium once again. He also started the Great Military Reforms, and sent the Imperial Army to engage the Byzantines in Thrace. Their standing army was strong however, and they repelled our initial charge. Our troops retreated to Rumelia and proceeded to lick their wounds, preparing for a second assault. We recruited volunteers for our army, and in October, moved on the Byzantine positions again. Their army was crushed, and siege laid to Thrace. After laying siege to Thrace, we knew the wait wouldn't be long. Our worthy soldiers worked 24 hours a day to take the city by force, and in March of 1434, Thrace was in our hands, the Byzantine a part of history, their ancient capital became ours. The capital of the glorious Ottoman Empire. As we had vanquished our ancient enemy, our Sultan proceeded to break our agreement with the treacherous merchants of Venice and Genoa, nationalizing their trading operation, which resulted in the creation of a Trade Center in Thrace. Our Empire thusfar controlled 2 Trade Centers, and was beginning to win the constant trade wars fought all over the globe. Also, our wise ruler closed down the Patriarchate, sealing the fate of the Orthodox faith for good: They would be converted, or die.

In the passing month, our wise ruler strenghtened our alliance by inviting Tunisia in our folds, which they did. The Ottoman Empire needed reliable allies... for now.

In November of 1435, our wise ruler declared war upon Serbia, with the obvious intent of gaining more ground in Eastern Europe. Unexpectedly, his ally, Ragusa, dropped out of the war... only to ally with Hungary and Austria and declare war back on.... Serbia! It mattered little however, we would conquer Serbia and none would stop us. We first sent our army in Albania, crushing the rebels there(The rebels of Serbia, not mine).

Our armies were strong all over, our neighbors weak. After a meeting with his highest ranking officers, our ruler decided it was time for our borders to explode into a full-fledged empire, in one quick stroke. On June 8th 1436, our diplomats were dispatched to formally declare war upon the Mameluks again, which was made an alliance war(Ottoman, Tunisia, Ak Koyunlu vs Mameluks, Qara Koyunlu), and simulateneously, we declared war upon Karaman, where they were joined by their ally in Teke, where we were also joined by our allies. Our 3rd army proceeded into Egypt rapidly while our 1st army moved into Syria, while another moved into Antalya, defeating Teke there.

By the beginning of 1437, we had occupied the provinces of Syria, which were in the control of Karaman, while also occupying Albania from Serbia and Egypt in the Mameluk's territory. We continued the offensive, as one army moved into Aleppo, another on the Nile. Soon, we lost control of Angora to Karaman, but also took control of Aleppo which was theirs. We were not worried about their progression into our territory: It was just a diversion to allow them to march in while we sneaked from behind and won on the other fronts. When the other fronts would be settled, Karaman would lose everything.

NOTE of the Editor: To follow what is happening next, you have to remember that Karaman waged war on the Mameluks. The provinces of Syria and Aleppo were occupied by them, but never formally taken in a peace treaty. Thus, while I took these provinces from them, they still technically belong to the Mameluks: Which is also why I declared war on both of them simultaneously.

[Tem_Probe]

The thrice-damned catholics of Lebanon revolted again, forcing one of our armies to move back to crush the rebels and besiege the province. Oh, they would pay after this war, they would. We sent our Anatolia Army to move into Aleppo to provide backup there, while we besieged the province. Karaman left the siege of one of my provinces, and sneaked into Sivas, crushing my newly raised army there, forcing them to retreat further. A temporary setback at best. November 1437, we captured Nile and Antalya from Teke. Karaman proceeded to besiege Smyrna. Our siege in Lebanon was getting arduous, and we were forced to dispatch another army there. Damned rebels. February, we attempted to move into Kosovo, although the massive Serbian army there repulsed us. We settled a boundary dispute and moved an army to occupy Cataract. Teke was annexed shortly after that. One less enemy to worry about.

Right after annexing Teke, we finally completed the siege of Lebanon, retaking the province there. We scored a victory against Karaman in Antalya cand captured Cataract. The Mameluks had once again been totally occupied, we started the negociations while continuing the battles against Karaman and Serbia, as well as the ally of the Mameluks: Qara Koyunlu. I would defeat them now as well. Thus, I sent an army to fight them in Kirkuk. Karaman proceeded to besiege Antalya once again, while we failed to negociate an agreeable truth with the Mameluks. These Shiite dogs were not easy to negociate with.

Beginning of 1439, we crushed rebels in Albania, and attempted to invade Kosovo again. Failure. The terrain played for them, we had difficulties to defeat them. A bunch of heretics in Dobrudja decided to revolt at this time. They would pay for their mistake soon enough. There would be no obstacles to our new order. In July, we had taken control of Kirkuk. We sent an army there to bolster our current army, and once done, moved into Tabriz engaging Qara Koyunlu there, defeating them easily. The heathens in Lebanon revolted once again, while Qara Koyunlu tried to drive us out of Kirkuk and Tabriz. We defeated Qara Koyunlu in Tabriz, crushed the rebels in Dobrudja, and there ended the year 1439.

April 1440, we moved in Kosovo again, this time defeating them within a tenday. They tried to drive us out, but to no avail. In May, we captured Tabriz and settled for peace with Qara Koyunlu. We gained Kirkuk, and they paid 44 ducats in indemnities. The peasants in Dobrudja revolted again, as well as in Syria, while in Lebanon they took control of our fortress there. We settled for peace with the Mameluks: We gained Nile, Aleppo, Syria and Cataract from them, as well as 140 ducats in indemnities. Our enemies were falling to us one by one. We crushed the rebels in Syria, captured Angora and Sivas from Karaman, moved into Lebanon to defeat the rebels.

1441, in March, we moved into Adana, defeating the armies of Karaman there. Soon followed was the conversion of the heretics in Rumelia and the occupation of Kosovo. In May, the peasants in Dobrudja rebelled again. The sultan was getting tired of this, and is reported as having said: "Those damned heretical dogs, we let them survive to this day, and this is how they repay us! Let it be said that no longer will the Ottoman Empire tolerate heathens and heretics within its midst!" We once again defeated the rebels in Albania while our Monarch moved into Serbia unopposed. They did attempt to rally some opposition later on, but it was too late. An army moved into Dobrudja, destroying the rebel scums there.

In March and April 1422, we took control of Adana and Konya from Karaman, occupying Serbia as well. We quickly settled for peace with Serbia, receving Kosovo and Albania for our efforts. We retook control of Lebanon and before the end of the year, they were converted to the One True Faith. By the end of the year, we had occupied Taurus from Karaman, and they made peace with our ally, leaving only us to fight them. They were already defeated however, and gave in to our peace offers: We received Adana, Sivas and Konya. All in all, our Empire won its gamble, expanding massively in this one war, and finally achieved peace for about 4 months... until our ally Ak Koyunlu declared war upon Georgia. We would follow them in battle, but this is another story.

[Tem_Probe]

That is it for today. The war against Georgia officially starts in August 1443. I'm trying to catch up to where I am in the game now, but with the number of wars, its not easy

Suffice it to say though, that the Ottoman Empire has a lot of wars to go through, and I have a nearly perfect record in them, stay tuned

[Tem_Probe]

The first move of our Sultan against Georgia was to send an army on Trabzon (which they annexed early in the game). We soon captured it, however our ally, Ak Koyunlu, decided to make peace early with them, for a few ducats, preventing us from territorial gains in this war. My other ally, Tunisia, however decided to declare war on Cyrenaica, and our Sultan declared war in coalition with them. Their army was quick to enter Cyrenaica, so it was decided that it was best to leave them the territory, and Tunisia annexed Cyrenaica soon after. In 1445, our Sultan decided to finish off the Mameluks, and declared war on them already. We sent an army moving against Egypt.

Bulgaria was soon converted, and Egypt occupied within the year. Instead of immediately annexing the Mameluks, our Sultan instead decided to declare war upon Candar, as he had a limited number of diplomats. Ak Koyunlu dishonored our alliance, however they were quick to rejoin when offered again. By the beginning of year 1447, we were besieging Kastamonu, and had finally annexed the Mameluks. By April of 1448, the Ottoman Empire had annexed Candar as well.

[USA patriot]

This is one of the best AAR's I've ever read! Fantastic stuff! Keep t up! And for my sake, please challenge Ebbesen and take over the world .

[Tem_Probe]

I doubt I will conquer the entire world in this game. If my goal was to conquer all the world, I would get bored rapidly

The Ottoman Empire at its size in my last post(1448) is nowhere near the size of where I stopped(1618), which is also nowhere near the size of what I'll be before the game ends.

Half the world sounds like a reasonable compromise?

[USA patriot]

Half the world sounds like a reasonable compromise?

Hmmphh.. I suppose so . So you are 200 years in the game before your posts. How do you remember what you did?

[Sokollu]

Originally posted by Tem_Probe


While I could have fought both the Mameluks and the Byzantines at once, I didn't want to take unnecessary risks, especially with the rebellions caused by my constant attempts to convert everyone and the war attrition

.

The Ottoman Military Strategy:

Never fight two fronts at the same time.

hehe

[Tem_Probe]

Originally posted by USA patriot Hmmphh.. I suppose so . So you are 200 years in the game before your posts. How do you remember what you did?

Open the ledger, there's this page called history, which shows the record of your game. I have to read it carefully so I don't skip things, but once I read an event, I usually remember the details. Got a good memory