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…