The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR

[Sybot]

World Update: 1448

I'll be doing one of these every 50 years.



Of course, there's not too much to say about it this early in the game. A few interesting things nonetheless:

- Aragon rather than Castille is dominating in Spain.
- The Timurids are still going strong.
- Hungary's looking quite dangerous.

[morningSIDEr]

Quite a pity that Kallinikos has passed away so quickly, however his death seems to have been the spur needed for you to achieve complete control of Jerusalem, which is a useful gain. Although the rebels which seem to have come with this gain are not quite as useful... As for the world map, probably the most striking thing at present is Aragon's domination of Iberian Peninsula, as you've noted, I've not seen that happening too often!

[Enewald]

You look too much like vanilla Mamelukes.

[Jape]

You look too much like vanilla Mamelukes.

I thought that, though I suppose different religions doesn't stop similar geopolitical 'interests'. Even Stalin used the Tsarist play book when it came to foriegn policy.

[Tallfellow]

Nice to see you're still going strong. Doesn't colonization cost you alot of money? And is it really worth it?

[BootOnFace]

Looks to me like you're gonna need a good, old-fashioned Crusade down Arabia to Yemen. Convert the heathen Moslems! Burn Mecca to the ground!

[Malurous]

At least the regency period was well used, getting over the worst part of Jerusalem nationalism. Nice inheritance, let's see which direction you take your nation next.

[Sybot]

Enewald: That I do, but hopefully that’ll change as Alexandria grows in power
Tallfellow: It does cost a lot of money and probably isn’t worth it in the long run, but I’m not trying to play this optimally.
BootOnFace: I think you’ll like Theodoros. His character’s shaping up to be into that sort of thing.

Thanks to everyone else who replied! I’ve decided I’ll be aiming for an update once every three days instead of two. These days I have less time to play EU3 and I’m not quite as into the game as I was before.

The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Six: Marching on Medina



Hedjaz, or more accurately the Tribes of the Hedjaz, was a loose affiliation of various Muslim tribes and cities that was steadily on the rise in Arabia. With Jerusalem paralyzed by its commitments to Alexandria they had expanded out and made major gains against their rivals in Najd and Yemen. That was about to change.



Theodoros had his eye on an accomplishment that rivalled his grandfather’s founding of the kingdom and his fathers integration of Jerusalem. The Muslim holy city of Mecca was his goal and Hedjaz was all that stood in his way. Their aggressive expansion had not won them many allies amongst Muslims, so he saw no need to bring his allies into this fight. He personally lead the bulk of the army along the Red Sea coast while a smaller force split off to seize desert villages and prevent the advance from being flanked.



Meanwhile, Greeks were continuing to flood into the country. As the next most important city in the country, Cairo was one of the most popular destinations. As the locals began to cater more and more to the waves of immigrants, they too were absorbed into encroaching Greek culture.



More good news came from much further west. A succession crisis in Portugal had been resolved with the placement of Theodoros’ cousin on the throne. He had been considering expanding Alexandrian influence into Europe somehow, and this was as good a chance as any to earn some allies among the Catholics.



Things did not go as well on the campaign trail. Despite positioning himself strategically in the hills of Tabouk, a large force of tribesmen was able to dislodge his forces and force him back. No one was entirely sure of the reason, but it was ultimately blamed on Muslim sympathisers sowing discord and reducing morale in the ranks.

(I’m not sure either. A general, -4 modifier in my favour, equal numbers and I lost with minimal casualties. It’s possibly a result of the mod rebalancing units and Muslims getting an early advantage in morale damage.)



Castille’s terrible situation was further confirmed when an advisor excitedly told Theodoros that they now outnumbered the Iberians. Apparently his father had put in a directive to expand the fleet to prevent a repeat of earlier invasions but the money to carry it out had never been gathered. Instead, the Castillians had been forced to sell off most of their navy and brought it down to Alexandria’s level.



The tribes had pursued Theodoros back into his own territory, but this time they no longer had the advantage of knowing the terrain and he was able to decisively defeat and then totally rout the army. With that out of the way there was nothing stopping him from reaching Mecca.



To the north, disputes regarding the overland trade routes between Constantinople and Alexandria through Armenia had led to the local governor declaring that all of that land should belong to the Kingdom. This diplomatic outburst caught the king’s attention and he was quick to offer his support for the claim.



Theodoros laid siege to Mecca, but the conquest was not to be. New uprisings that required the army’s immediate attention in Syria and the rallying tribes assembling a new army were an indication that he was pushing his luck. He decided to pull back and settle with his current gains that included the other holy city of Medina. That would sate his desire for glory for the moment.



Immediately he began financing the construction of churches and deployment of missionaries to the region. While he still had an agreement with the Jerusalem nobles to leave their lands Catholic, it did not apply to these Muslims. There were some minor setbacks such as a large Shiite force migrating from Syrian Iraq and burning the local church before it could be completed but soon things were progressing well. Elsewhere, the Arabs of the Levant continued to prove troublesome despite the Catholic nobles constant assurances they had their populations under control.



Southern Egypt had been calm and peaceful for decade and was now considered a part of the country as much as any other.



Theodoros was not the only one on the march. The Emperor continued to consolidate Greece with an invasion of nominally independent Corfu. The Knights were the only ones to offer support, and found themselves subjugated once Corfu had been annexed.



To the south, Ethiopia was on the march as well. The struck at the weakened Hedjaz to gain a foothold on the Arabian Peninsula and advanced south into territories Alexandrians had never even heard of to conquer them.



It made Theodoros somewhat jealous, so he decided it was time to pick up that claim that had been waiting around. Armenia had become a tributary of Qara Koyunlu a long time ago, when Alexandrian and Byzantine attentions had been focused elsewhere. They would not stand for Greek intrusion on their territory and would surely come to stop the invasion.



That was proven right when an unexpectedly large army descended from the east and forced out the invading Alexandrians. The Emperor offered his land as a safe place to recuperate, but was not interested in providing direct support. A second attempt was forced back as well before Theodoros decided to take matters into his own hands.



Leading the attack personally, he marched through Armenia with minimal opposition and no sign of the massive army that had beaten them back before. He considered himself blessed by God for this luck, although his ruthless sacking of Orthodox towns on his way east gave him a different image in the eyes of many others.



Eventually the battered and beaten remnants of the Qara Koyunlu army were found and crushed on the shores of the Caspian Sea. They had probably been caught in a battle with the Timurids or opportunistic rebels, although no record exists of exactly what happened. Whatever the case, the enemy leader offered surrender.



They were forced to pay tribute as reparations for all they had stolen while overlords of Armenia and give up that position too. Armenia was free, although it was questionable how long that would last with Theodoros eagerly planning his next campaign.

The year is now 1461.

To be continued…

[morningSIDEr]

Good and steady progress. It seems as if Mecca will soon be in your hands. Rome next perhaps?

[Omen]

A nice set of wars there. How is your infamy doing?

[Boris ze Spider]

Nicely done, unfortunate about Mecca though.

[Enewald]

Soon to Antarctis?

[Rabid]

That certainly was a lucky boundary dispute, owning that province will prevent Byzantium from getting any ideas towards expanding into the middle east.

[Legosim]

Enjoying this AAR a lot. Keep it going!

[Malurous]

Interesting boundary dispute - you'll actually get a border with your ally after you take that province.

I wonder what the thinking was behind the retreat from the Battle of Tabouk? "We have killed thousands of them without any trouble whatsoever, but they just keep coming!"

[Darkstrom]

I'll be interested to see what happens when you reach the 1500s. I've had two games CoD around 1520-1530 (repeatedly) using Miscmods which is really unfortunate.

[Sybot]

Darkstorm: That sounds like it may be an identified problem with one of the religious decisions (the code got changed in DW but the modder didn't notice, breaking it). It should be fixed in the latest version.
morningSIDEr: Possibly, if only to have every Catholic as well as Muslim gunning for me.
Omen: Not too badly, as I used the Holy War CB.
Enewald: At the rate they're going I think Ethiopia'll get there first. :P
Malurous: That's right. I'm actually hoping it'll cause a bit of friction between us to make things interesting.

Thanks to everyone else who replied! The next update should be coming tomorrow or Sunday.

[Sybot]

The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Seven: A New Order in Alexandria



Almost as soon as he returned from Armenia, Theodoros ignored the exhaustion of his army and was marching south towards Mecca once again. This time the large but not particularly strong state of Oman came to the Hedjaz’ aid, but Theodoros pushed on without calling his allies as he believed he could handle them.



Outside the walls of Mecca, a minor but decisive skirmish saw a hastily assembled force of tribesmen beaten and sent fleeing into the desert. Not wanting to see them link up with possible reinforcements from Oman, the king ordered the bulk of his army into the desolate centre of peninsula in pursuit.



It would be his last mistake. As the remaining Hedjazi forces were hunted down his horse finally gave way under heat exhaustion and he suffered a fatal blow upon contact with the ground. With his son still a newborn, an alliance of Catholic and Orthodox nobles took control of the government and continued the campaign in his stead.



Even though it was his own overeagerness that cost him his life, many of the rank and file considered the Muslims responsible and so when Mecca fell the city was ravaged by the Alexandrian armies and stripped of many of its holiest treasures.



The campaign continued with thousands of soldiers determined to push on and accomplish what their king had set out to do. It was slow going through the deserts of Arabia, but with Hedjazi armies smashed there was little to oppose them. Oman offered up more of a fight, repelling Alexandrian forces from Qatar.



The lands of the Hedjaz were absorbed fully into the Kingdom of Alexandria, bringing its influence all the way to the edge of the Indian Ocean.



The glory from the conquest of Mecca brought enormous prestige onto the kingdom. Messages of congratulations came from all corners of Christendom, even the Pope who for the moment had put aside the Schism to celebrate the late Theodoros’ crusader spirit. The consensus was that even if he had died before completing his goal, he would be proudly watching from wherever he was now.


The influence from this achievement was not to be underestimated. As the new champions of the crusade, which most Europeans were now ignoring, Alexandria’s influence could easily spread across the minor Muslim nations and mark them out as future lands to liberate from the heathens.



The war was not over though. It continued for a couple more years as Alexandian forces slowly slogged through the totally unknown territory of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. Oman continued to offer up resistance as well, repeatedly pushing back attempts to move along the northern coast. In the end, the council agreed to take only an unimportant desert region just to get the war over and done with and the army back in case of revolt.



What followed was years of quiet bickering between the Orthodox and Catholics in the regency council. Neither side had enough of an advantage to claim control of the kingdom and influence over the young prince. While Alexandria went quiet, events in the rest of Europe continued apace. Lithuania had broken through the lands of the Golden Horde as was now on the march even deeper into Asia.



In Western Europe, France and England continued to fight for dominance while Aragon cemented its hold on Iberia further. This was good for Portugal as their allies, and through them good for Alexandria as prince remained in close contact with his relative, the Portuguese King.



One of the things he was told was that the Portuguese were searching for a passage to India to the west. He brought up the idea to the council, who laughed it off as pointless for Alexandria considering they already had easy access to Indian trade routes from their new conquests.



Hungary, which many considered to be the up and coming rival for the Byzantine Empire, was shattered in a war with the Bohemian Holy Roman Emperor and forced to give up almost all of its Balkan holdings. Bohemia had emerged from the Hussite wars more aggressive than ever and was rapidly conquering territory and beating down its rivals. This infamous behaviour eventually cost them their crown, although with their gains it was questionable how much that would slow them down.



Prince Makarios was rapidly growing into a shrewd young man. This also made him forward-thinking. He had to respect the glory the country had earned from bringing Jerusalem and Mecca into the fold, but at the same time he saw that continuing his father’s policies further east into Oman, Syria, Persia and possibly even India would lead to tremendous loss for very little gain for the country. Only the prestige of taking Mecca had made his father’s last campaign worth the loss of his life. A different tact had to be taken if Alexandria was to rise above simply being the latest Crusader state endlessly fighting heathens.

So, on his fifteenth birthday he announced his decision to the council. The Kingdom of Alexandria would be no more.



Instead, the Empire of Alexandria would be born. Makarios would be crowned Emperor of Alexandria, as well as King of the Kingdoms of Egypt, Jerusalem and Arabia.

No longer would Alexandria hang at the edge of Europe, a minor partner in Byzantium’s own schemes. It would stand on par with the Empire of Constantinople and step into the European arena in an effort to become the most powerful nation in the world.

The year is now 1475.

To be continued…

[Enewald]

So evil. The last heir-kingdom of Alexander...

[BootOnFace]

Ooo! I hope the Emperor of Constantinople doesn't think that Makarios is overstepping his bounds and claiming a title reserved only for Romans.

But I guess he wouldn't be able to do much about it.