The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR

[mayorqw]

I would say A, but turn the Bizzie's steppe (and other non-hellenic) territory into a protectorate.

[loki100]

really has to be A, finish off the Byzantine upstarts once and for all

[Sybot]

Malurous: Hopefully I get another one eventually, as they’ve gone and got to Taiwan first.
mayorqw: I was considering that, although I might just hand it over to Georgia or Muscowy considering what happens.

Thanks you all for voting! Option A takes it.

The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Twenty Nine: Full Circle



The promise Emperor Konstantinos made would not be one he took lightly. He would be back as soon as the ceasefire was expired.



In the meantime, there were other places to conquer. Persia had recently been expanding deep into Central Asia and was now moving away its armies from its capital to fight another war in the region. This was the perfect chance to isolate the Persian capital.



With the Persian armies away it was simple to cut off the capital and seize control of the land, although such a blatant land grab was not popular amongst the other Chrisitan nations, especially Muscowy which was beginning to see Asia as its sphere of influence. The capital itself would have to be taken at a later date.



Meanwhile, the native rulers of Makassar declared a jihad to drive the heathens off of their island (Muslim Holy War stays around until 1675 in Miscmods, also Pagan until 1700).



That went as well as could be expected considering that the Army of Java was still stationed on the island.



Besides these distractions, the time flew by as Konstatinos eagerly prepared his armies to march on Constantinople once more. However this time there was a snag. Muscowy had thrown its support behind Byzantium in response to Alexandria’s expansionism. Luckily, as long as Georgia stayed out of the war there was no way for the Russians to reach Alexandrian territory.



In a lucky event the majority of the Byzantine Fleet, and the large army it was carrying, was caught and wiped in the Western Mediterranean as they sailed to a war with Savoy. This left Greece itself almost completely undefended.



The Kandeshi armies won a major victory over the Republic of England, completely forcing them out of India. Overextension could be blamed for the English failure, as they were already expending great numbers of men defending their colonies in the Americas from the natives.



Brunei followed Makassar in a foolish declaration of war, and they lost their only mainland holding as a result.



While Constatinople fell once again, the boy-Emperor was nowhere to be seen. Apparently the nobles had spirited him away to Moskva to continue the war in exile. Meanwhile Georgia had started up its own war with eyes on Byzantine Asia that Muscowy had not intervened in.



Konstantinos was not about to let the boy slip away from him, and he convinced the Russians to drop out of the war and hand over the exiles with a significant bribe. Once they were in Alexandrian territory, the Byzantine nobles were executed and the Emperor taken into ‘protective’ custody.



Georgia concluded its war with the conquest of Astrakhan. The loss of the valuable trading centre annoyed Konstantinos, but it was a minor issue for the moment.



For it had finally come to pass that the Byzantine Empire and the breakaways of Alexandria were finally reunited. It just wasn’t in the expected way. The young Emperor signed a contract making Konstantinos Regent, a position he intended to hold onto regardless of the boy’s age.

Alexandria was now undoubtedly the centre of Greek power, but on top of that the city was well on the way to becoming the centre of all the power that the world held.

The year is now 1667.
To be continued…

[Enewald]

Farewell to the last Roman...

[loki100]

that was soo appropriate, and you really are the power in the East Med now

[Rifal]

I can only ask: What now?

[mayorqw]

I can only ask: What now?

TAKE OVER THE WORLD.
Konstantinos is quite cunning.

[Boris ze Spider]

Very fitting, is there any power right now that could currently challenge you?

[Novea]

Khandesh , probably.

[k-a-bob]

Very fitting, is there any power right now that could currently challenge you?

Is the troop type still inferior to the Latin group? There could be someone up there who could give him some trouble if they are large enough.

[Sybot]

Enewald: A little early on that…but not too early.
loki100: I think more like I’m the only power in the East Med at this point.
Rifal: There’s one more thing to take care of first…
mayorqw: WC is a little out of my reach unless I go over the infamy limit, but I wouldn’t be averse to just being the sole superpower.
Boris ze Spider: Bohemia, Burgundy and, as Novea said, Kandesh probably. At least that was the case before this update.
k-a-bob: I’m in the eastern group still, but Miscmods normalises the units a bit so as long as I have a similar tech level I should be able to put up a decent fight against western units.

Thanks for all the replies!

The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Thirty: Atop the World



To show there were no hard feeling over their siding with the Byzantines, the alliance with Muscowy was re-established. The Russians were already at war with Persia over a minor trade dispute, so this was the perfect chance to finish what was started previously.



War was declared and troops marched on the isolated former Persian capital.



Their armies were in the east fighting Muscowy so they were completely unable to defend it. Hamadan fell to Alexandria, while Muscowy received a couple of border territories.



Muscowy was quick to go on the offensive again. This time they attacked their northern neighbour in another conflict over dominance of Russia. This time Alexandria was in a position to help as it now had access through the Byzantine steppes.



General Choniates was first on the scene, but he had failed to take into account the weather. His troops went up against Novgorodian forces that were far more experienced in fighting in the cold northern forests. He retreated in humiliation and moved west to engage the weaker Latvian forces from Riga.



In South-East Asia, Europe was once again gaining a foothold. Burgundy and Normandy were both establishing significant presences in the region.



After Choniates’ failure, Konstantinos himself rode up to join the war effort. In the east of Muscovite territory he waited for a Novgorodian army to be weakened before striking. This was the main force in the east, which allowed Konstantinos and his allies to being tearing through enemy territory.



Meanwhile Burgundy was continuing to throw its weight around as the wealthiest nation in Europe. With England still bogged down in North America it was able to wrest away a chunk of Central America.



The loss of the eastern army had broken Novgorod’s strength. While Muscovite forces rampaged everywhere Konstantinos besieged the capital city personally. Meanwhile Choniates worked on regaining his honour by invading Latvia and taking them out of the war.



Muscowy settled for significant regions of the Russian heartland. With Alexandria’s help they had asserted themselves as the dominant force in Russia.



However tragedy struck as the Alexandrians armies left Russia. As a result of the cold weather and constant marching, Konstatinos caught pneumonia and became temporarily bedridden. While he recovered, it shook the Emperor to his core. He was already getting on in years and did not want to see the Empire fall to internal disputes or external enemies if he were to weaken as a result of the ravages of age. He decided to abdicate the throne to his son Thomas.

(This is a Miscmods event to deal with very old heirs.)



Thomas I, now Emperor, was just as shrewd and aggressive as his father. One of the first things he did was to proclaim that the inherited title of Regent of Byzantium was now King of Greece and Anatolia, officially adding them to the titles of the Emperor and absorbing the lands directly. The young Byzantine Emperor was locked away somewhere quiet to live out his days and Thomas entered Constantinople to install Ptolemaic nobles and bureaucrats into the administration.

(I’ve had ridiculous luck with PU’s this game, haven’t I? At least this means I won’t have to worry about it never inheriting or something.)



The Asia territory was rapidly sold off to Muscowy and Georgia, with Georgia getting the culturally Greek regions and Muscowy getting the Tatars.



The inheritance, along with all the aggression of his father’s reign, had left Alexandria’s standing in the world very low. A major embassy was established to handle this and manage relations with the Empire’s northern allies.

The world was now Alexandria’s oyster. With the wealth of Greece at its fingertips it could afford to fight anywhere in the world. It was unlikely that even the other major powers such as Burgundy and Bohemia could stand up to it any more. It was now up to Thomas to decide which direction he would lead the greatest empire on Earth in order to achieve even greater glory.

The year is now 1673. Two and three quarter centuries have passed since Ptolemy declared independence.
To be concluded…

[Sybot]

No longer needed- read Epilogue

[Arakhor]

That's an impressive map, Sybot!

[dinofs]

Impressive luck with the inheritance! Now switch tags to Orange and build it up to take down your old empire.

[Nikolai]

I come back to this AAR after a while of.....forgetting it I must confess. And boy, have you done well for yourself! It's sad that the Roman Empire is no more, but 'tis just fate I guess. Any way to assume the Roman mantle in this mod?

[Boris ze Spider]

Your borders look nice with the exceptions of those enclaves in Arabia.

[Blackfish]

It's quite fitting for another Konstantinos to conquer the second Rome.

What's next?

[Sybot]

Thank you for all the replies.

I have been considering where to take this AAR next, and I'm afraid to say that I just don't feel like continuing now that all challenge has gone out of it. I would have to contrive something to make it interesting for the remaining 150 years, not to mention that the next couple of updates would be boring infamy-burning ones in any case. So I have decided to end it on the high note of Byzantium's annexation. The epilogue will be posted tomorrow.

Thank you all for reading.

[Boris ze Spider]

Oh well, it was a nice read, and I do not blame you for ending it.

[Sybot]

The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Epilogue:

By the end of the 17th Century, Alexandria stood at the apex of power in the world. With the rich lands of Egypt and Greece firmly under its rule and control of valuable trade routes from the Orient it accumulated wealth far beyond the assorted nations of Europe. With this wealth it fielded enormous armies to patrol its vast territories and wage war against the other great powers of the era. With clever diplomacy it had assembled allies in Portugal and Muscowy that extended its reach even further and came close to encircling Europe in its sphere of influence.

However that was not the full story. While Greece and Egypt were as developed as any European nation, the vast majority of Alexandria’s lands were backwards rural villages that lived little better than mediaeval serfs. As the Age of Industry began, this would be the biggest weakness that would have to be overcome in order to keep up with the more innovate Europeans.

In Europe, Bohemia and Burgundy continued to struggle for dominance over Germany while the Milanese Holy Roman Emperor tried desperately to hold onto power. These three would form the nucleus of European conflict for centuries. Spain had ended its focus on Europe after being expelled from Italy, but it remained a major player that was simply focused abroad for the moment. The English Republic was on the rise after years of being a minor power as it gained increasing wealth from its American colonies

Even outside of Western Europe, great powers rose. Muscowy continued its march east while absorbing the remaining Russian nations. Eventually it would be able to declare itself the true Russian nation and truly become a force to be reckoned with. Meanwhile the Kandeshi Empire continued to exist as a nation of contradictions. While it was filled with minorities that rose up at the slightest provocation, whenever European nations attempted to gain a foothold on the subcontinent it suddenly gained incredible unity as it drove them away. Already some people were starting the call the nation ‘India’ and as it continued to advance in order to keep out the foreigners it might one day become a great rival of Europe.

With these great challenges and enemies in the future there was only one thing to say. History never ends.



They say that Alexander wept for want of worlds to conquer. Perhaps it is better then that I am not of his calibre so that I leave achievements for my son. As long as we can advance, the dreams of Alexander…of Ptolemy…of Alexandria…will never…die.
-last words of Konstantinos I, (abdicated) Emperor of Alexandria, 1613-1675

The End