The Golden Lion of Benin

When I arrived in Ivoria I was excited. With my caravan of merchandice I approached the markets, seeking trade. I found lodging in a poor inn, paying with my last ducats. Would I be stranded here in the Land of the Blacks with no money and means to return home? I looked up the mayor of the city, giving him my credentials. He hardly looked on me, and said I would get further message if I was allowed to do bussiness.

For the following days I was uneasy, wondering what the future would have for me. Great was my delight when I was sought out by a captain of the royal guard, with order to follow him. Arriving in the city of Benin a few days later I was introduceed in front of the king, the great Oba.

He asked me with great interest who I was, and about my travels from Fez through the mountains to Songhai and through to Benin. To my delight he asked me to stay at the court so that he could queation me further. He also propes a deal for my merchandice, hinting to a great expansion of the army and a need for good weapons.

I was now a wealthy man. The Oba gave good price. I was also an esteemed person at the court. As a traveller from far away I was considered exotic, and was welcomed wherever I went. In this way I got a good look into the state of Benin, and the relations with other nations.

Benin consisted of six provinces: Oya, with the capitol Benin, Ivoria with a Center of Trade, Accra, Nigeria, Nupa and Kano. The main production was Grain, with a little trade in slaves and ivory. The king, the great Oba, was recognized as overlord by several tribe chieftains with great power in their local tribeland and over their subjects (DP: aristocracy (10), decentralized (0), and serfdom (10)). Though a coastal nation, the focus was toward the inland (DP: land (10)). The trade in Ivoria was heavily controlled by the king (DP: mercantilism (10)). At the time of my arrival the military was poorly equiped, and with little focus on quality
(DP: quality (3)). This was changed, however, with the arrival of my brand new sabres to help equipping a few elite regiments. (Changing DP: +1 on quality).

Benin had knowledge of four other Western African kingdoms: Dahomey, Ashanti, Songhai and Mali. Both Songhai and Mali recognised Allah as their god and that Mohammed is his true prophet. Dahomey and Ashanti were, as Benin, worshiping false gods and spirits in rocks and trees.

After presenting gifts from the Oba the kings of Dahomey and Ashanti accepted to give one of their daughters as a token of friendship. The Oba gave twenty cows and hundred goats for each of them, a dowry worthy a great king! Dahomey entered an alliance with Benin, and Ashanti was about to do the same when their king refused. He claimed the cows he had recieved were sick, and wanted them replaced. The Oba refused, only to see Ashanti enter an alliance with Songhai and Mali.

I stayed in the service of the Oba. As a well educated man of many skills I soon rose in importance, and became a close advisor of the king. When I had been in Benin three years the Oba decided time had come to teach the Songhais a lesson. He was envious on them for their two goldproducing provinces, and wanted to have his share of this wealth.

On May 18, 1425 Benin declared war upon Songhai. Mali and Ashanti joined them, while Dahomey honored our alliance. Our troops moved to the north and west, and soon besieged Zaria and Say. Attempts to break the sieges failed in both locations, and they turned south to besiege Ivoria.

In December we captured the province of Say from Songhai, and Ivoria Regiment moved west to lay siege in the rich province of Buré in January. An attempt to break this siege was also stopped. In January 1426 we accepted a white peace with Ashanti.

In February Our trade level increased to Early Renaissance (1). We could now place Merchants. (how convenient - now I can take my CoT in use... )

The captured province of Say was besieged by Songhai, while we were attacked by hostile armies of Mali in Ivoria. The Mali soldiers proved to be of a different cast than their allies of Songhai. They beat off our army and initiated a siege in Ivoria.

In May 1426 we captured the provinces of Zaria and Buré from Songhai. The troos in Buré moved west to initiated a siege in Bambuk, the other gold province.

In January Dahomey had to cecede Palanas to Ashanti for peace. A new attempt to throw the Mali soldiers out of Ivoria failed in the summer, but the palisades were still standing. I entered the Mali war-camp to negotiate a truce, but they refused my suggestions.

Then our luck was better with Songhai. In July 1427 we captured the province of Bambuk and they accepted our peace offer - The Oba got control of Zaria and the gold province of Buré. Mali refused to accept peace and our victorious troops from Bambuk split and attacked Mali from east. Our attacks in Segu and Jenné both failed, and our soldiers retreated to Walata to initiate a siege. Combined they managed to strike back an attack.

In May Mali captured Ivoria, while our soldiers captured the province of Walata from Mali. A new meeting was held, where they accepted peace for a sum of 50d. We were now at peace, and the Oba had secured a steady income from the gold in Buré.

As a recognition of my achievents in these nagotiations I was given a title by the king ((actually Viscount, but somehow I do not think they had viscounts in Benin...))

Originally posted by Spruce
Great AAR. I guess lots of people are anxious wether the AI is too weak. If you would loose most battles, the AI would then be too strong.

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I won all battles with Songhai, and lost all (but one) with Mali... This is a moral issue I think...

So if our Betazoid community feel the AI is in balance, please let us know! Or is tweaking still necessary?

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We are still testing...

Originally posted by chris8b


It seems awfully premature to judge the AI. Further, I would guess that a lot of the challenge comes in trying to maintain a stable empire once you've expanded.

-C

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A "problem" as Benin is that the provinces of the northern countries have different culture and religion. This give severe panalties to income. With 15000 pop. cities I see no way to change culture, and as a pagan I get no missionaries...

As it is now I have a foreign culture (Mali) and religion (moslems) in some of my provinces.

A different problem is the tech. development penalty I have as a pagan...

In July 1428 our land technology increased to Late Medieval (1). With the current research there will be only 64 years to the next level.

In January 1429 our naval technology level increased to Late Medieval (1). Only 65 years to the next level. Soon after our infrastructure was improved to Early Renaissance (1). The great Oba was delighted when I explained the concept of "tax" to him. A whole new possibility opened to increase the income of the king. (Our Bailiffs can now be promoted to Tax collectors.) Tax-collectors were promoted in Oya and Ivoria.

A gift of ten camels were sent to the king of Dahomey. It was recieved with pleasure. To the king of Ashanti a similar gift were sent. It appears to bve a better understanding between us now. They should be regarded as the closest of our friends!.

In July 1434 traders from Kongo entered the tradecenter of Ivorea. They managed to compete away one of our own there, but he was soon replaced. A tax-collector was promoted in Nupa.

The king was worried by the influence of moslem traders and neighbouring moslem countries. He wanted no "heretics" as he called these believers of the true faith in his realm, but chose to ignore them for the time being. (randomevent: regional heresy. I can choose between paying 50d to supress them or take a -1 stab hit. Since my coffers are empty I took the latter.). In January 1436 a new site with gold was found in Buré. (radom event: mine give +5 production).

In fall the following year I managed to persuad the king to focus even more on the elite troops in the army.
(DP: Quality +1).

In early 1438 a petition from the tribes in Nupa arrived at the court. They wanted the king to intervene on their behalf, as the local chief was behaving cruel. (RE: Petition for redress. I can accept their complaint and get a -4 stab/+1 centralization effect or deny to get -1 stab/taxvalue -1 and a revolt). The great Oba refused to do anything, saying this was "local problems" they should address to the chief. Angered by the answer the local tribes in Nupa revolted. An elite regiment from Oya was dispatched to deal with them, and they returned successful in the summer.

In summer of 1438 our Military Alliance with Dahomey expired. So did the Alliance of Songhai, Mali and Ashanti, This time I managed to persuade the king of Ashanti to enter our alliance. Now the three pagan nations of western Africa are allied against the moslem north.

In July 1439 new tax-collectors were appointed in Accra and Nigeria. Our alliance now field 80000 men, almost half of these are camel cavalry. the Great Oba still look to the north...

Originally posted by Doomcow
Do you have the option of converting your state religion to Islam? You ought to be able to, seeing its influence in the region and that you have Islamic provinces. Would that put you on the "Islamic" tech tree?

But good AAR, and good luck against those pesky westerners when they come...

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It has been discussed in the beta forum to make a few events making it possible for pagan nations to convert either to islam or christianity, depending on their contact with other nations.

Benin (and the other w-African nations) are already in muslim tech group