Bloody Tribal Revolts and Constant Resistance

[OConner]

The first time Afghanistan was invaded it was in 550 BCE, as Darius the Great of Persia tried to expand his empire into Central Asia. Arguably, he set the precedence for further invasions of Afghanistan. A brief occupation, followed by bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance. Eventual withdrawal after taking heavy casualties.

The second invasion was undertaken by Alexander the Great. It was the first part of his empire to collapse, mostly thanks to bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance.

The next to arrive was the Tang Chinese. Despite having ten million more guys then the Afghans, their armies quickly succumbed to bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance.

After that came the mongols. They, being experts themselves at bloody suppression of resistance, managed to keep hold of the country. Until Genghis Khan died. Bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance quickly forced the mongols out.

After that came two more Persian invasions, an Indian one, and several attacks from other Central Asian nations. All were forced out by bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance.


The year is now 1836, and Afghanistan is physical proof that people don't learn for history. The British Empire looks to expand it's influence into Central Asia. The Russians look for a Central Asian puppet to curb British efforts. The land hungry Chinese turn West to fill their bellies. Warlords and tyrants of Central Asia look to expand their own power. Corruption and political isolation has left Dost Mohammad Khan, King of Afghanistan, with little control beyond his palace. To any outside observer Afghanistan's future appears uncertain. But all Afghans know what the future holds...


Bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance.

[NapoleonComple]

The country that nobody should invade, and yet everyone feels compelled to. Good luck, I'll be following.

[Avindian]

An interesting choice, no doubt. Should be a good one!

[OConner]

The country that nobody should invade, and yet everyone feels compelled to. Good luck, I'll be following.

I'll need the luck.

An interesting choice, no doubt. Should be a good one!

I was hoping to have the first Afghanistan AAR for V2, but someone beat me to it. Thanks for the optimism, by the way.

[OConner]

New Years Resolution

Dost Mohammad Khan, the King of Afghanistan, settled on his New Years Resolution on January 1st. He would invade, annex, and enslave everyone else in Central Asia. This was fairly big resolution for most people, but of course, Mohammad Khan was the absolute and unquestioned ruler of Afghanistan. Aside of course from the fact he had taken the throne by force. Or that the only way for him to extend his authority was through warlords that had no loyalty to him. Or that he had no social or economic control of the country what so ever. Other then that, he had total power.


Mohammad Khan, the king who was only significant on paper, and even then he had to work for it

Luckily, Khan's chief adviser, Toco Nur (or O'Conner as the foreigners called him) told him that "The game mechanics of Victoria 2 cannot model the complex political situation of Afghanistan, thus you have control, regardless of historical circumstances." Khan had no idea what he was talking about, but apparently it meant that he was in charge.

Thus with the country politically unified, it was time to look the the country's short-term situation. Toco Nur described them as being "very screwed." In the mid-term, they were apparently "extremely screwed." In the long-term, things seemed grimmer, with Afghanistan being "utterly screwed."

As if to drive the point home, a foreigner showed up at the palace's front gates! He was shot several times before they realized he was a diplomat, not an invader. When the let him in, he said that a random country of no significance wanted and alliance with Afghanistan. After a ten second negotiation Dost Mohammad Khan accepted.



Toco Nur decided he wanted to treat the diplomat to lunch, and told his servants to go to the market to buy food. The servants were obviously very confused by this. They had no idea what the words "buy" or "market" meant. The king's top scholars (that's not saying much) were assigned to figure it out.



Toco Nur also said they needed to "balance the budget." No one knew what this meant, but apparently it involved taking the peasants money, establishing a ridiculously high tariff, and cutting the amount of money reserved for buying guns from the foreigners. The king was a bit concerned by the last bit, but Toco Nur assured him that the defense strategy (bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance) would not fail because of lack of guns.



Toco Nur said the army also needed more officers. He said it would help Afghanistan "westernize." A big recruiting drive started in Kabul.



Afghanistan did have one of the largest armies in Central Asia, comprising of 54,000 horrendously armed peasants with no training what so ever. Some had horses, but those men didn't get guns. Not only that, but they were all led by men named Mohammad. The king himself apparently was in direct command of 18,000 men. This came as quite a shock to everyone, the king most of all.



The king decided to take a look at Afghan "law," and found out the most liberal policy of the country was no one owned slaves. (unless you count half-starved peasants struggling to pay the ridiculously high taxes slaves, but no one seemed to) The Amir Faction ("Amir" was the official title of the Afghan king) controlled the upper house. No one knew what the upper house was, but it was apparently very important for creating new laws.



After the general situation of the country was established, it took fourteen days for Khan to start in on his resolution.

[lordvagrant]

No additional funding for bureaucrats? Probably not a popular job considering promotion opportunities involve becoming a polo ball.

[King50000]

Too bad the game doesn't allow "Bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance" after you're conquered
I'll be watching

[Tanzhang (譚張)]

Be wary of Bukkhara, each central territory you annex brings you closer to Russia!

[OConner]

No additional funding for bureaucrats? Probably not a popular job considering promotion opportunities involve becoming a polo ball.

I would have lost money. Although I forget to raise it later.

Too bad the game doesn't allow "Bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance" after you're conquered
I'll be watching

Another thing V2 can't represent!

Be wary of Bukkhara, each central territory you annex brings you closer to Russia!

The Russians had better fear me! I have bloody tribal revolts and constant resistance!

[thekinguter]

Another thing V2 can't represent!

You could spawn rebels on the area, using a custom event. You could invent some back story about it and later release Afghanistan from it's master and play again, say give it another chance. But it wouldn't be fun!

Otherwise, awesome AAR! Very good just like the other Sokoto AAR that is somewhere in the forum. The thing about these AArs that make them so addictive, is that you have zero expectations when they start and instead of dissapointing you, they taunt you and you never know if the next update the country will be annexed or will continue to survive.

Maybe you can restore the Timurid Empire's borders?

[Ivir Baggins]

I suggest after Bukhara, invade Kalat and Makran, then Kokkand.

[NapoleonComple]

Expanding north? Brave choice. I'd have gone south; as far away from Russia as possible.

On the other hand, this could present Russia with a problem; instead of annexing the weak Bukharans and then moving on to Afghanistan, they've now got to cope with a very large, very formidable Afghanistan that will take more than one war to defeat completely.

[yodaime]

Looks interesting so far ! I hope this AAR will get more frequent updates than some other ones on forum, waiting 1-2 months for each update kinda kills it. xD

About Russia, it might prove to be quite difficult to deal with them, my bet would be to become friends with them and seek their support in conquering other fools, but who knows what's going on in minds of Mohammed Khan and his adviser !

[Vaya con Queso]

Having played as Afghanistan once before, and having made the same first move as you did, I would have suggested taking some territories from Persia first, instead. Their Birjand and Isfahan regions have coal and iron, and it would be best to go for them before Russia or the Ottomans can sphere them.

[wzhang29]

I was hoping to have the first Afghanistan AAR for V2, but someone beat me to it. Thanks for the optimism, by the way.

Do you mean ME??? I owned an Afghani AAR, but I made it Russian. You are the SECOND one for Afghan AARs, check out the librAARy.

[Tanzhang (譚張)]

Do you mean ME??? I owned an Afghani AAR, but I made it Russian. You are the SECOND one for Afghan AARs, check out the librAARy.

Nope, there was a very good Afghan one with a title like "better to send a lion than 500 sheep" or something like that

[wzhang29]

*ahem* READ THE PART WHERE IT SAYS I CHANGED IT TO RUSSIAN TANZHANG (谭张）

[OConner]

The Rather Small and Uninteresting War

The Afghan war plan was highly complex:

They would kill the enemy and occupy his territory.


Perhaps calling it "complex" is a bit of an overstatement.

The first clash was in Kulob, where foreign troops attacked a small force of Afghans in the mountains. Surprisingly, both armies were led by men named "No Commander" who proved equally inept.


When Dost Mohammad's 17,000 men joined the battle, the foreigners decided that running away like little foreign girls was the bravest thing to do.

The second battle was fought on less even terms, but never the less resulted in a Afghan victory, despite the great odds.


After the destruction of the foreign army the occupation began.


*crickets chirping*
































The troops were hopelessly board, but some foreign peace envoys came along, making excellent target practice.


Half-trained newly raised foreign troops also joined in the fun.





After waiting forever for the occupations to finish, the foreigners fell to Afghan might.



Of course, the was still the issue of the foreigners that had become the allies of Afghanistan, but then refused to join them in their justified war of aggression...

[OConner]

You could spawn rebels on the area, using a custom event. You could invent some back story about it and later release Afghanistan from it's master and play again, say give it another chance. But it wouldn't be fun!

Otherwise, awesome AAR! Very good just like the other Sokoto AAR that is somewhere in the forum. The thing about these AArs that make them so addictive, is that you have zero expectations when they start and instead of dissapointing you, they taunt you and you never know if the next update the country will be annexed or will continue to survive.

Maybe you can restore the Timurid Empire's borders?

The Timurids ain't got nothin' on me.

I suggest after Bukhara, invade Kalat and Makran, then Kokkand.

I will invade anywhere foreigners dwell. All of those people are on the list.

Expanding north? Brave choice. I'd have gone south; as far away from Russia as possible.

On the other hand, this could present Russia with a problem; instead of annexing the weak Bukharans and then moving on to Afghanistan, they've now got to cope with a very large, very formidable Afghanistan that will take more than one war to defeat completely.

I seem to be the only one who's not planing any long term strategy. I attacked toward Russia because I felt like it.

Looks interesting so far ! I hope this AAR will get more frequent updates than some other ones on forum, waiting 1-2 months for each update kinda kills it. xD

About Russia, it might prove to be quite difficult to deal with them, my bet would be to become friends with them and seek their support in conquering other fools, but who knows what's going on in minds of Mohammed Khan and his adviser !

As stated previously I have no long term plan what so ever.

Having played as Afghanistan once before, and having made the same first move as you did, I would have suggested taking some territories from Persia first, instead. Their Birjand and Isfahan regions have coal and iron, and it would be best to go for them before Russia or the Ottomans can sphere them.

Taking strategically valuable provinces is for foreign pansies.

Do you mean ME??? I owned an Afghani AAR, but I made it Russian. You are the SECOND one for Afghan AARs, check out the librAARy.

*ahem* READ THE PART WHERE IT SAYS I CHANGED IT TO RUSSIAN TANZHANG (谭张）

I have no idea what you mean, but OK!

[King50000]

Once you are finished with your former allies, you should attack Kokand, then Khiva, try to get as long as border with Russia as possible!! It will make perfect sense