Malurous: Tunisia and Swahili are pretty much the only Africans outside of European control (or my SoI) that I can get to at the moment. That could change in future of course.
loki100: There are so many potential place to expand I just take opportunities when I get them.
morningSIDEr: It would be good to link up with the Asian colonies but that will have to wait for Imperialism considering the infamy cost otherwise.
Enewald: Colonial nations will start to appear after 1750 (or as early as 1700 if the AI’s done well at colonising), so we’ve got a while yet.
I’ll see what the situations like when I get there.
Thanks for all the replies! Make sure to check to bottom of this post for a vote. I had decided I wasn’t going to put as many votes into this AAR as my Frisian one, but I think this situation deserves a bit of reader input.
The Pharaohs Return: An Alexandrian AAR
Chapter Twenty Eight: City of the World’s Desire
Much to the annoyance of Emperor Konstantinos, Omani traders were establishing bases and preparing the way for full colonisation of parts of the East Indies. Because the war with them had only recently concluded there was nothing he could do about this blatant attempt to go beyond their station.
Meanwhile the invasion of Tunisia was far less exciting than expected. No one came to their aid and they submitted within a month.
In the East Indies, a major push began to get colonists into the Philippines to prevent Portgual expanding too far. This was hindered by the serious resistance from the natives, however the local Alexandrian forces were tied down preventing native uprisings on Java so nothing could be done.
European politics was very much turning against the old feudal orders with the rise of burgeoning nation states like Bohemia and Burgundy. Among those losing out was the Milanese Holy Roman Emperor. In order to gain a little influence back he attempted to wrest Liguria from its Orthodox Sicilian rulers. In a grand Orthodox alliance Muscowy, Byzantium and Alexandria all came to Sicily’s aid.
The Army of Alexandria set itself up in the mountains of Central Italy to prevent Milan advancing any further south, while Konstantinos himself led an invasion of Venice. However to the west the allied forces of Savoy had been crushed and Milanese reinforcements were on their way east.
The Milanese army was equipped with much more advanced weapons and forced Konstantinos to retreat with his army to neutral Mantua. However the loss of Venice was already impacting the Milanese economy, so they were willing to accept a ceasefire. It wasn’t a glorious victory, but Konstantinos was happy with holding onto the status quo that his Holy Roman counterpart had tried to upset.
There was another reason for ending the war, which was that the truce with Oman was expired. It was time to punish them once again. This time Persia, dealing with a major rebellion in the Khorosan region, did not come to their aid.
While the colonies were conquered easily, there was a surprising victory for the Omani forces when they ambushed and wiped out the Army of Arabia. Of course, that army had been neglected for centuries so it was inevitable that it would eventually fall.
Despite their victory, more Alexandrian troops descended upon Oman and more of their territory was taken.
The removal of troops from Java to take the Omani colonies left the settlements there with neglected defences. The natives took the chance to rise up and massacre the population. For their trouble, a retaliatory strike exterminated the tribe responsible. (This is a Miscmods event designed to prevent the AI getting a bunch of colonies it can’t maintain. In this case a native uprising dropped my colony to about 20 people which triggered the event.)
With troublesome natives and other powers making plays for the East Indies, colonial companies were established to speed up Alexandrian conquest of the area.
Georgia had grown arrogant from regaining the majority of its territory. It declared war on Byzantium with eyes on the Crimean peninsula. Its own allies abandoned it, leaving it alone against the still-powerful Greek juggernaut. Konstantinos did not want to see the work of his father undone and Georgia fall into Constantinople’s hands once again so he offered them an alliance and joined in the war.
The Emperor’s first act of the war was to order the fleet to secure control of the straits leading to Constantinople. While the city was defended by a large army, its once famous walls would be no match for modern cannon. His aim was nothing less than capturing the City of the World’s Desire!
Displaying amazing incompetence, the Georgians surrendered and gave up some of their land before Alexandrian troops could even come to their aid. Konstantinos was beginning to wonder whether they were worth aiding.
The Alexandrian court was not short of skilled diplomats who assured the rest of the world that this was dispute between the Hellenic nations and did not indicate any Alexandrian intention to push deeper into Europe.
Anatolia fell without a fight, but the army guarding the enemy capital showed no signs of moving. In an attempt to draw them off Konstantinos sent General Choniates across further along the crossing. However, the defenders did not fall for it and stayed put. They knew that as long as they held out, reinforcements could be brought up from Greece to aid them.
But Konstantinos had no intention of waiting that long. When the plan to draw them away failed, he decided to do it the hard way. Amassing all of his forces in the region he attacked the city directly.
It was a bloody and brutal battle but the city fell, its ancient walls crumbling against enormous volleys of cannon fire. For the first time in centuries the City of the World’s Desire had fallen to a foreign invader. In an unusual display of brutality, the Emperor ordered the city sacked and many of its treasures to be shipped to Alexandria. It was time to show the world that there was a new city that should all be longing for.
In contrast, the peace treaty was far more lenient. Georgia was returned and more of Anatolia was taken. Additionally Bulgaria was freed and made into an Alexandrian protectorate. The Holy Roman Empire was losing power, the Pope was a puppet, and the Byzantium Empire was rapidly failing. It seemed that the era of Rome and its remnants was at long last coming to an end. Alexandria was not alone in its meteoric rise but it sat at the forefront of the new era and could only get stronger.
The year is now 1659.
To be continued…
The Fate of Byzantium
While in the city, Konstantinos was able to meet the current Byzantium Emperor. He was only four years old. With many of the nobles ruling in his stead killed during the sacking of the city, the Byzantine Empire is now in political chaos. It would not take much to see it dismantled completely. What fate will Konstantinos decide for it in the next war? (Okay, the problem is it will take a lot of time and infamy to wipe out Byzantium completely even when story-wise they should be gone at this point. This vote decides what CB I will get and what the outcome will be.)
Option A: Claim the throne: Gain the Claim Throne CB. PU if successful.
Option B: Dismantle the Empire: Gain the Liberation CB. Byzantine Empire will be split into Greece, Anatolia, Cyprus, Crimea and Astrakhan and all placed into the Alexandrian SoI if successful.
Option C: Divide up the Empire: Gain the Conquest CB on Anatolia. Alexandria will get Anatolia and Cyprus, Muscowy will get the Asian territory and the rest will become Greece, left to fend for itself against whatever goes after it next.