Steam? Steamroll? What's that anyway?
Well actually, the steam machine may have been invented many times, and although it didn't become the useful engine that ushered in the industrial age in the 17th century, inventions like Heron of Alexandria's (1st century!) do have a certain appeal. To me anyway.
But, steam or no steam, let's crush some nations!
Part XI - To Africa! (neglecting the North) (1530-1542)
Our main target, the Mamluks, hasn't recovered from the previous war last year. We have.
We enlist a new commander and now we have 3 decent generals. Maneuver is important as it reduces attrition, which is severe in the desert. I have formed 5 divisions of 8-9 units: 4 cavalry division and 1 infantry division. One of the cavalry stacks will stay in Thrace as much as possible to fight rebels in Europe and Anatolia. Another will stay in our Crimean provinces.
This means 2 cavalry divisions to wipe out armies and 1 infantry stack for sieges. For defeating their main army, the 2 cavalry armies cooperate, and when enemy forces are taken care of, they split in 4k groups to speed up sieging ( I kind of dislike microing this too much though )
Anyway, that's the battle plan.
Just to show that sometimes I do think ahead.
December 1530: The Reformation starts in some German minor. Not really something we care much about, being Orthodox. I guess it's good for us that Western Europe will become more divided.
In January it spreads to our Catholic province of Szolnok, just days before our missionary that was already working there succeeds.
According to the ledger, the Mamluks have about 17000 troops, which means that this stack is their only significant one.
Our combined cavalry forces, 17000 brave souls, meet and defeat them in Cairo, then chase them into the Sinai desert. Another defeat awaits there.
Here you can see how one division takes a longer route via Gaza. This was an attempt to reduce attrition somewhat. Sinai and Tabouk have a particularly low support limit, and this way the Glorious Army will resupply in Gaza in the end of May, while still being able to assist in the final battle in Tabouk.
Totally annihilated 13000 Mamluks, with less than 2000 casualties on our side!
Surely an epic battle, and in a biblical surrounding too. Heroic tales that will enthrall generation are made here! Can we say it? Victoglory!
Also, note how our vassals have made significant advances, but our infantry army is still stuck up north.
Meanwhile, the Polish king, HRE, dies and the electors pick some Anhaltian to take his place
Fools! I was just starting to appreciate the Polish emperor, as he was capable of actually defending the minors from the aggressive French and Scandinavians. Right.
Splitting up for sieges.
We warned Poland at some point. The idea was too get a free CB and maybe show some opportunism. But Riga is only joined by Livland and I'm occupied elsewhere anyway. So I decline. Note that declining calls for arms that come from warnings do NOT cause prestige hits, unlike the ones that originate from guarantees.
Sieging proceeds uneventfully. The Mamluks appear unable to field any significant new armies.
So we decide it is time to explore the unknown parts of Arabia
Wow! This is quite possibly the best thing that could happen. Well, for achieving my long-term goal of reaching California at least. Sinai has a port on the Red Sea, which means we will very soon be able to build ships there.
Basra will core in 1554, which means this will get us in the Indian Ocean some 20 precious years earlier!
There's one thing that bothers me though. How can we have a 'border dispute' with a nation we are at war with?
Our inflation is following an interesting curve...
And look what we found!
We annex Hedjaz because the Conquest of Mecca bonus is just too attractive.
Then we discover that annexing a muslim nation only gives 2 BB (we are now at 9.4/42). Excellent!
We discover a bunch of provinces in what is now Yemen and Oman. Very strategic locations for our schemes. Also, we discover artillery. We immediately order 2 regiments to augment our infantry division.
Within the year, land tech 13 and 14 follow as they are relatively cheap. They give us Spahi cavalry and Janissary infantry, excellent models.
Then we reach the 90% war score mark, after which conquering more isn't useful anymore. So, let's end it.
We take a few rich relatively rich provinces (Damascus and Delta), Sinai for its core and strategic value, some stuff way down in Arabia to connect Mecca to our lands, and some worthless stuff in Libya we intended to sell to Tunisia (but never did). The Arabian provinces, Najd and Asir, produce coffee. In time this will be valued goods in Europe. Not yet though.
We would have liked to take the CoT of Alexandria, but there were other priorities and 56% is a bit much. Next time!
The Mamluks are now effectively cut in two pieces, an Arabian and an Egyptian part, and they are most certainly doomed.
New borders of the Empire.
HOWEVER...
9000 of our dudes are trapped in Oman!
After a war you can usually move out of the country your armies are in, into your own territory. But not into a third country, even if it was part of the alliance you fought. A flaw, I say.
Anyway, we start bribing/gifting Yemen, hoping we can pass through their land. It's the pinkish inland province above, we didn't fight them in the last war.
We also start the construction of a Red Sea fleet straight away. No time to waste!
In the meantime we get some cores, like Mus. The 'Agricultural Revolution' event also fires a couple of times, which is very nice as it adds 2 base tax to a province in additional to a lump sum of 50 ducats.
We spend a shipload of money on Yemen to raise relations from -200 to positive, but it makes no difference: Military Access stays impossible.
There is only one solution and they asked for it (it's now March 1536)
I almost pitied the Mamluks.
This war wasn't much different from the last one so I'll skip a bit. One difference was that Morocco was the alliance leader, and their being far away and our vassal Tunis being much weaker them caused some slight problems, but they were overcome.
The Mamluks are downed quickly, but after we had to divide our forces between Oman and Morocco, two fronts thousands of miles apart, a logistical disaster.
We fight for a while, and in February 1538, France says "hey, wanna be my ally?". We politely decline because their aggression against fellow christians would undoubtedly cost us lots of stability and we don't like that very much.
March 1538 brings us a new king, the last one just disappeared. Skantarios I (nice name), ADM 5, MIL 8, DIP 5. Yes I'm trying to conserve some screenshot space here.
Then, after we peace out with Oman for the province of Mocha (southern tip of the peninsula), we can concentrate more on our remaining foes.
We take all of their remaining Mediterranean provinces. Including Alexandria! We accomplished in the last decade what the Crusaders never could, arr!
I intended to release Tripolitania as a vassal afterwards, but it just didn't show up in the list. Hmm?
Anyway, now we freed some soldiers from duty in the east the Moroccans are repelled swiftly. We discover some inland Morrocan provinces we didn't know about, then allow them to buy peace for gold.
France offers an alliance again and we change our minds. It's good to have them as friends and maybe Unam Sanctam can fix the stability problem.
Unam Sanctam is a strange National Idea by the way. Historically it is a papal bull from 1302, not something decreed by a king or held as an high ideal by a nation. Well at least it's useful, unlike Vetting.
I don't know what to think of this message. Eternal Lake Van has been Greek since the beginning of time, has it not?
April 1540: Hedjaz reemerge in some rebellious part of the Mamluk Arab desert. Also, we move a slider to innovative (one more move to Westernize) and lose 1 stab as a result.
This is the trade map after our latest conquest. Yellow indicates Alexandria. Yes, it is our first CoT and it has suddenly become quite influential!
The Red Sea Fleet is renamed to 'Paradise Fleet' as that is what they will be searching for. In May 1540 it consists of 1 carrack, 3 cogs, and rising. We also train a colonial army to be carried on this fleet, initially consisting of 5 cavalry regiments.
In 1542 we discover the Ethiopians! Fellow Orthodox christians, somehow hidden from us for centuries. We'll try to befriend them.
Note the uncolonized province of Majerteen. It is just within my feeble colonial range from Sinai (178/190), however, it is inhabited by many fierce natives, so I intend to land my colonial brigade there first (as soon as I can).
After all this time looking at North Africa and my southern provinces, I completely forget to check how things were going in other parts of the world. I scroll up for the first time in a while, and I'm utterly surprised to see this:
GEORGIA! NOOOOOOOOOOO!! :FRENZY:
We weren't allied anymore but that doesn't mean we didn't want to protect you!
Will we be able to save the Georgians from the terrible claws of the infidels? What about the hints I was throwing around about the dawn of a new age and colonizing and all that? Well, this update got longer than I expected. Check back soon for more victoglory!
Well actually, the steam machine may have been invented many times, and although it didn't become the useful engine that ushered in the industrial age in the 17th century, inventions like Heron of Alexandria's (1st century!) do have a certain appeal. To me anyway.
But, steam or no steam, let's crush some nations!
Part XI - To Africa! (neglecting the North) (1530-1542)
Our main target, the Mamluks, hasn't recovered from the previous war last year. We have.
We enlist a new commander and now we have 3 decent generals. Maneuver is important as it reduces attrition, which is severe in the desert. I have formed 5 divisions of 8-9 units: 4 cavalry division and 1 infantry division. One of the cavalry stacks will stay in Thrace as much as possible to fight rebels in Europe and Anatolia. Another will stay in our Crimean provinces.
This means 2 cavalry divisions to wipe out armies and 1 infantry stack for sieges. For defeating their main army, the 2 cavalry armies cooperate, and when enemy forces are taken care of, they split in 4k groups to speed up sieging ( I kind of dislike microing this too much though )
Anyway, that's the battle plan.
Just to show that sometimes I do think ahead.
December 1530: The Reformation starts in some German minor. Not really something we care much about, being Orthodox. I guess it's good for us that Western Europe will become more divided.
In January it spreads to our Catholic province of Szolnok, just days before our missionary that was already working there succeeds.
According to the ledger, the Mamluks have about 17000 troops, which means that this stack is their only significant one.
Our combined cavalry forces, 17000 brave souls, meet and defeat them in Cairo, then chase them into the Sinai desert. Another defeat awaits there.
Here you can see how one division takes a longer route via Gaza. This was an attempt to reduce attrition somewhat. Sinai and Tabouk have a particularly low support limit, and this way the Glorious Army will resupply in Gaza in the end of May, while still being able to assist in the final battle in Tabouk.
Totally annihilated 13000 Mamluks, with less than 2000 casualties on our side!
Surely an epic battle, and in a biblical surrounding too. Heroic tales that will enthrall generation are made here! Can we say it? Victoglory!
Also, note how our vassals have made significant advances, but our infantry army is still stuck up north.
Meanwhile, the Polish king, HRE, dies and the electors pick some Anhaltian to take his place
Fools! I was just starting to appreciate the Polish emperor, as he was capable of actually defending the minors from the aggressive French and Scandinavians. Right.
Splitting up for sieges.
We warned Poland at some point. The idea was too get a free CB and maybe show some opportunism. But Riga is only joined by Livland and I'm occupied elsewhere anyway. So I decline. Note that declining calls for arms that come from warnings do NOT cause prestige hits, unlike the ones that originate from guarantees.
Sieging proceeds uneventfully. The Mamluks appear unable to field any significant new armies.
So we decide it is time to explore the unknown parts of Arabia
Wow! This is quite possibly the best thing that could happen. Well, for achieving my long-term goal of reaching California at least. Sinai has a port on the Red Sea, which means we will very soon be able to build ships there.
Basra will core in 1554, which means this will get us in the Indian Ocean some 20 precious years earlier!
There's one thing that bothers me though. How can we have a 'border dispute' with a nation we are at war with?
Our inflation is following an interesting curve...
And look what we found!
We annex Hedjaz because the Conquest of Mecca bonus is just too attractive.
Then we discover that annexing a muslim nation only gives 2 BB (we are now at 9.4/42). Excellent!
We discover a bunch of provinces in what is now Yemen and Oman. Very strategic locations for our schemes. Also, we discover artillery. We immediately order 2 regiments to augment our infantry division.
Within the year, land tech 13 and 14 follow as they are relatively cheap. They give us Spahi cavalry and Janissary infantry, excellent models.
Then we reach the 90% war score mark, after which conquering more isn't useful anymore. So, let's end it.
We take a few rich relatively rich provinces (Damascus and Delta), Sinai for its core and strategic value, some stuff way down in Arabia to connect Mecca to our lands, and some worthless stuff in Libya we intended to sell to Tunisia (but never did). The Arabian provinces, Najd and Asir, produce coffee. In time this will be valued goods in Europe. Not yet though.
We would have liked to take the CoT of Alexandria, but there were other priorities and 56% is a bit much. Next time!
The Mamluks are now effectively cut in two pieces, an Arabian and an Egyptian part, and they are most certainly doomed.
New borders of the Empire.
HOWEVER...
9000 of our dudes are trapped in Oman!
After a war you can usually move out of the country your armies are in, into your own territory. But not into a third country, even if it was part of the alliance you fought. A flaw, I say.
Anyway, we start bribing/gifting Yemen, hoping we can pass through their land. It's the pinkish inland province above, we didn't fight them in the last war.
We also start the construction of a Red Sea fleet straight away. No time to waste!
In the meantime we get some cores, like Mus. The 'Agricultural Revolution' event also fires a couple of times, which is very nice as it adds 2 base tax to a province in additional to a lump sum of 50 ducats.
We spend a shipload of money on Yemen to raise relations from -200 to positive, but it makes no difference: Military Access stays impossible.
There is only one solution and they asked for it (it's now March 1536)
I almost pitied the Mamluks.
This war wasn't much different from the last one so I'll skip a bit. One difference was that Morocco was the alliance leader, and their being far away and our vassal Tunis being much weaker them caused some slight problems, but they were overcome.
The Mamluks are downed quickly, but after we had to divide our forces between Oman and Morocco, two fronts thousands of miles apart, a logistical disaster.
We fight for a while, and in February 1538, France says "hey, wanna be my ally?". We politely decline because their aggression against fellow christians would undoubtedly cost us lots of stability and we don't like that very much.
March 1538 brings us a new king, the last one just disappeared. Skantarios I (nice name), ADM 5, MIL 8, DIP 5. Yes I'm trying to conserve some screenshot space here.
Then, after we peace out with Oman for the province of Mocha (southern tip of the peninsula), we can concentrate more on our remaining foes.
We take all of their remaining Mediterranean provinces. Including Alexandria! We accomplished in the last decade what the Crusaders never could, arr!
I intended to release Tripolitania as a vassal afterwards, but it just didn't show up in the list. Hmm?
Anyway, now we freed some soldiers from duty in the east the Moroccans are repelled swiftly. We discover some inland Morrocan provinces we didn't know about, then allow them to buy peace for gold.
France offers an alliance again and we change our minds. It's good to have them as friends and maybe Unam Sanctam can fix the stability problem.
Unam Sanctam is a strange National Idea by the way. Historically it is a papal bull from 1302, not something decreed by a king or held as an high ideal by a nation. Well at least it's useful, unlike Vetting.
I don't know what to think of this message. Eternal Lake Van has been Greek since the beginning of time, has it not?
April 1540: Hedjaz reemerge in some rebellious part of the Mamluk Arab desert. Also, we move a slider to innovative (one more move to Westernize) and lose 1 stab as a result.
This is the trade map after our latest conquest. Yellow indicates Alexandria. Yes, it is our first CoT and it has suddenly become quite influential!
The Red Sea Fleet is renamed to 'Paradise Fleet' as that is what they will be searching for. In May 1540 it consists of 1 carrack, 3 cogs, and rising. We also train a colonial army to be carried on this fleet, initially consisting of 5 cavalry regiments.
In 1542 we discover the Ethiopians! Fellow Orthodox christians, somehow hidden from us for centuries. We'll try to befriend them.
Note the uncolonized province of Majerteen. It is just within my feeble colonial range from Sinai (178/190), however, it is inhabited by many fierce natives, so I intend to land my colonial brigade there first (as soon as I can).
After all this time looking at North Africa and my southern provinces, I completely forget to check how things were going in other parts of the world. I scroll up for the first time in a while, and I'm utterly surprised to see this:
GEORGIA! NOOOOOOOOOOO!! :FRENZY:
We weren't allied anymore but that doesn't mean we didn't want to protect you!
Will we be able to save the Georgians from the terrible claws of the infidels? What about the hints I was throwing around about the dawn of a new age and colonizing and all that? Well, this update got longer than I expected. Check back soon for more victoglory!
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