Khaz and Effect

The Early Years

Chapter 1

Initial moves and the Uzbek conquest

It took a full decade for the Khazaks, and presumably all their neighbors as well, to build up economic strength before any warfare and conquest could be considered. The only actions that could be taken at the beginning were first diplomatic, sending a modest gift to the Nogai and forming an alliance with them; and second, defeating the natives at Turgai and starting a colony there.

Late in 1423 the peasants became seriously unhappy because of the general lack of action. So they started revolts at Karsak and Nura which were quite difficult to put out.

By 1428 our cousins in the Golden Horde already had suffered a major defeat at the hands of Muscovy, losing the provinces of Saratov, Bogutjar, Kazan, and Tambov. Not a good sign.

During 1429 at last the Khazaks reached tech level 1 in trade and infrastructure. Tax collectors were appointed in the four home provinces, although this took several years. The only COT open to us was at Isfahan. We began to send merchants there, but progress was slow. Even with several open slots, our chances of a successful placement seemed to be about 40% empirically. Evidently the Khazaks were not destined for economic greatness.

During 1431 our military techs also advanced, finally, to level 1. Other nearby nations also advanced at about the same pace.

Our careful diplomacy with the Nogai was all for naught. Early in 1430 our alliance expired, and instantly they defected to the alliance headed by the Golden Horde. Lacking any reasonable alternative, the Khazaks did the same.

All Central Asia was at peace until January 1431 when the Uzbeks went on the warpath, declaring war on the Khazaks. Our allies (Golden Horde, Nogai, Sibir) all joined on our side, although the Golden Horde and Sibir really didn't enter into any combat. The Uzbeks fought some inconclusive battles with the Nogai, but the Khazaks' all cavalry army dominated the battlefield. We won every battle and gradually sieged and captured all 6 of the Uzbeks' provinces.

The last of the Uzbeks' provinces was captured in July 1434, and at that time the Khazaks imposed the following peace terms: Uzbek ceded the two provinces Khiva and Khwarizm, and became vassals of the Khazak Horde. With our nation having grown to 6 provinces from 4, the Khazaks finally got a better cash flow, although they were not rich by anyone's standards.

The Uzbeks were vassalized with the intent of a future annexation. However, relations between the Khazaks and the Uzbeks, for obvious reasons, were very poor. Fearful that the vital relationship might be severed, the Khazaks desperately scrounged the money for a series of gifts to the Uzbeks, which did not begin until 1438 due to lack of funds. By 1439 the relationship had improved to at least neutral, and we let it go at that for the time being.

Further gifts, or any improvement in our relationship with the Uzbeks, were impossible for many years as a series of crises during the 1440s resulted in chronic instability. First, in 1442 a wave of obscurantism roiled the Khazak provinces with increased revolt risk. In 1443 a group of powerful sheiks allied with our vassals, the Uzbeks, beginning a power play in an attempt of a coup d'etat. After two years of increasing political intrigue, conflict between rival factions reached the boiling point with a brazen assassination in broad daylight. By 1449 we had finally recovered as the Khan gave everyone a lesson in who was really running the country. Unfortunately the Khan himself got a lesson in that year when it was discovered that several trusted advisors had been engaged in corruption on a massive scale. The Khan put an end to this, but the cost was yet more of our scarce cash, plus still more instability. This was truly a decade to forget.

Alexandru and heagarty, thanks for the comments. This was a great game, a lot of fun, but I think I used up my desired to play in Central Asia for the time being! One GC there was enough.

Part 1 is a bit dry, "just the facts" so to speak. The other parts will have some more color, and actual conversation.

Next update very soon.

The Early Years

Chapter 2

We need money and Astrakhan is rich

The terrible decade of the 1440s ended with exciting news: in October 1449 the Golden Horde fell apart and several smaller nations declared their independence: Ukraine, Crimea, and Astrakhan. Of these, Astrakhan with its rich trade center presented a very tempting opportunity. We certainly had no personal grievance against them but as bad as our economy was, if we had any reasonable way to take that province, we would. Now, we could take the high road and send them gifts in an attempt to vassalize and annex them peacefully. This strategy would cost a lot of money which we didn't have -- that's why we wanted Astrakhan in the first place. Further, even if we played nice, with a prize that rich it was a sure bet that someone else would take it if we didn't.

So we opted for the low road: brute force and military annexation. This had to wait a few years until we were strong enough, but we were helped greatly by an exceptional year in 1453. We were even able to send another gift to the Uzbeks and they became our friends!

Finally, in March 1455 the Khazaks declared war on Astrakhan. We did not invite our allies, but we did have military access via the Nogai province of Alga. Our army defeated Astrakhan's and then it was just a matter of time until the siege was completed.

Meanwhile, in September 1455 the Khazaks' star was shining brightly as we acquired a great reputation among our neighbors. Just how that came to be, in view of our ongoing war against Astrakhan, no one ever knew.

In December 1455 Ak Koyunlu, a member of our alliance, declared war on the Timurid Empire. Although the other members (Golden Horde, Nogai, Sibir) honored the alliance, it was time for us to go. We formed a new alliance with our vassals, the Uzbeks.

Just days later, Astrakhan fell to our army and we annexed them.

At last we had another COT available for our merchants. Prior to this we had known of the Astrakhan COT but our merchants refused to go there, citing professional courtesy rules forbidding them to engage in commerce in another continent unless they traveled by ship. Our Khan could not understand this, nor could anyone else, even the merchants themselves, but rules are rules and we couldn't argue. But once we obtained actual ownership of Astrakhan the merchants pointed to a section of fine print in their professional code of ethics and advised the Khan that they could now be sent there, although the cost would increase from 4 ducats to 10. This was good news indeed. Though it took many years, by 1474 we had 5 merchants at Astrakhan as well as Isfahan. Our trade income -- and all income, for that matter -- was still tiny, but it was clear that things were getting better.

I don't remember precisely what DP changes I made, but I know my #1 priority was innovation, which I took to the max. In order to colonize I eventually compensated with all the way naval and free trade. I thought it was silly for landlocked Khazakstan, with no ships, to be 0 on the naval-land slider, but it's the only way to be innovative and colonial at the same time.

I also moved the quality slider up, but stopped at about 6 or 7 because of manpower considerations. And I brought serfdom down to about 6 or so, but it wasn't a high priority.

Of course it took 300 years or so to make all these changes!

Thanks, everyone, for the comments! For the DP sliders, remember what I said before described the changes over the whole campaign. Early on the ones I moved were innovation and quality. Eventually I went all the way on free trade in order to get more colonists, but not until the 1600s or so. For trade and merchant success it really didn't matter whether I was free trade or mercantilist, as you will see in Part 3 of the story.

Yes, Judge, Astrakhan was a "fine trophy" but as you will see in the next chapter everyone else thought so, too. But no harm done in the end.

Initially I wasn't sure I wanted to go completely innovative, maybe just 7 or 8 as you said. But once I found out Khazakstan is exotic tech I went for broke on innovation. Only way to catch up. Stability wasn't a big problem because almost every province in that area is Sunni.

The Early Years

Chapter 3

Shifted alliances and the Nogai conquest

By the end of 1455 the Khazaks had left the old alliance with the Golden Horde, Ak Koyunlu, Nogai, and Sibir, and had formed a new alliance with their Uzbek vassals. This was essential in order to annex the Uzbeks later. However, due to the recent annexation of Astrakhan, the Khazaks' reputation had deteriorated significantly. The Khan planned to wait some years, perhaps a full generation, in order for their reputation to improve before they attempted to annex Uzbek and bring their reputation lower again. Also, it was hoped that by this time nationalism revolts would be ended at Astrakhan.

But the Khazak Khans did not count on the aggressiveness of their new allies. In May 1456 -- just 5 months after the change in alliances and the conquest of Astrakhan -- the Uzbeks declared war on the Nogai. All three of Nogai's allies joined the war, and the Khazaks joined on the side of Uzbek. This had a tragic and unforeseen side-effect, as royal marriages with Nogai, Sibir, and the Golden Horde were hastily annulled and the Khazaks' stability sank quickly.

Well, no matter, there was a war to fight. Our Khazak armies began sieges at the Nogai provinces of Orsk and Ust Urt. Unfortunately, however, just as we recognized the enormous value of Astrakhan so did our new enemies, as Ak Koyunlu led a siege there. Their army was joined by forces from Sibir and the Golden Horde; the combined army was much too big for us to confront, so we retreated from Astrakhan, biding our time as we increased the pressure on the Nogai.

Fortunately our sieges were finished first, in January 1457. At that point Ak Koyunlu offered a white peace, to which our Khan gratefully agreed at once. Sibir took over the siege at Astrakhan as our armies redeployed to begin to relieve the city. This climactic battle never took place, however, because the next month Nogai, under intense Khazak pressure, offered us 165 ducats for peace. With the fate of Astrakhan unknown and what was for us a huge amount of money being offered, we accepted their offer and the war was over.

The Uzbeks persisted in their quixotic mission, finally paying 9 ducats for peace four years later.

For many years thereafter all was peaceful. In 1472 we finally had the resources to begin our second colony, at Karaganda. In contrast to most of Central Asia this province actually produced something with economic value, namely iron.

The good news continued in 1475 when a group of wealthy sheiks presented a whopping 500 ducat gift to the Khan.

But all good news must come to an end, and so it did in this case with another Uzbek declaration of war against Nogai, in 1479. The war shaped up just as the previous one, with the same nations involved. The first year of war brought repeated defeat on the battlefield, culminating in the loss of Astrakhan in September. This news understandably upset our citizens considerably, and as a result we had a full blown political crisis in October. On the other hand, Sibir and Ak Koyunlu were willing to make reasonable peace settlements as we paid 25 ducats to the first and got a white peace with the second. Facing only the Golden Horde and Nogai, the Khazaks had a much better chance to recover.

The year 1480 brought a turnaround on the battlefield as our armies won most of the battles. Alga was captured in September. Astrakhan was recaptured in May 1481 and we began a siege at Uralsk. This brought enough pressure on the Golden Horde that we were able to buy them off for the modest payment of 15 ducats. Now we were focused exclusively on Nogai, and against them we had a commanding edge.

Our Uzbek allies, however, upset these plans with a rash declaration of war against the Timurids. Now it is true that the Timurids were falling apart with massive revolt problems. Persia, for example, had broken away from them in 1480. But this wasn't the time to go after the Timurids; we wanted to finish our business with Nogai first. Unfortunately our allies didn't leave us much choice. We did have a huge advantage in that many of the Timurids' provinces were unfortified. We sent a small army on a tour of two or three of these, and that was enough to extract a white peace offer from the Timurids in September 1482.

Meanwhile we captured Orsk and Ust Urt from Nogai and began further sieges. By the end of 1482 they capitulated, offering us 146 ducats plus the provinces of Alga, Orsk, and Ust Urt. Alga in particular was highly sought by our Khan so that we would have a direct connection to Astrakhan. The Nogai offer was more than reasonable and we were happy to accept and sign this new treaty of perpetual peace between our nations.

By the spring of 1483 news of our great victory had gone out to the entire population. Many Khazaks, startled and unsure what to make of this news, became uneasy. This alarm spread to the highest levels of government and Khan faced a political crisis. This kept us away from any significant action for several years.

But as before, the calm could not last forever, or even a decade. Early in September, 1489, Ak Koyunlu declared war on Qara Koyunlu, and their allies followed. Almost instantly the Uzbeks responded with another declaration of war on Nogai. Unlike the previous two wars, with Nogai crippled and their allies largely busy elsewhere, the Khazaks were on a sound military footing right from the start. During 1490 we won most of the battles, capturing Emba (the Nogai capital) in August and Uralsk (from the Golden Horde) in November. This was enough to negotiate white peace settlements with Ak Koyunlu and Sibir.

Now facing only a weakened Golden Horde and Nogai, we were confident of victory. By July 1491 we had captured the remaining Nogai provinces of Irgiz and Bouzatchi for a total victory against them. They ceded Irgiz, an important grain province, and became our vassals. In time, we intended to bring them into our alliance and annex them, just as we intended to do to the Uzbeks.

We continued the war against the Golden Horde, capturing Orenburg early in 1492. But they would not concede to us until we captured Samara, their capital, in 1493. At that point we finally received peace, and Orenburg. We also made a gift to the Nogai and improved our relations to neutral.

However, just as occurred 10 years before, the news of our great victory so unsettled and disturbed our citizens that the Khan once again faced a serious political crisis. But as long as we remained at peace this was not a terrible problem. In time the winds of conflict blew over, and all was well. Actually, all was even better, as we received an unexpected invention in 1494: a goods manufactory, far ahead of its time, in our home province of Nura.

Very perceptive on all counts, Storey. First, as to game play, my style is definitely to go at a slow steady pace as far as this is possible. Playing a GC (the only scenario I've tried, other than Fantasia when I first bought the game) you have 400 years, so there really isn't any hurry. And I very much like to keep rebellions to a small, manageable group of provinces at any one time.

I am still relatively new to the game, having just bought it last February. So even downloading 1.05 was a fairly recent move for me. I chose 1.05 mainly for difficulty reasons, based on what I've read in the forum about 1.06 and 1.07. Also, my 7 year old son likes to play, too. Even if I could handle 1.07 (and I think I could) it probably would frustrate him. At least that's my excuse! When all the new changes get tried and tested into a 1.08 I'll probably take the plunge. From my experience I like 1.05; the error in the centralization slider is irritating but not terrible.

I am deeply humbled and honored to be blessed with a visit by the immortal Prufrock himself! Your Sibir AAR is one of the all time classics (along with Waar of the Worlds, which has to take the top prize). Sibir has had only a minor role so far but as you will see in Part 2 they play a significant and very irritating part. If I could have found that Sahib I would have killed him!

I find 1.05 a very good product. No compelling reason to change.

The Early Years

Epilogue: The situation in 1494

Before I continue the tale with Part 2, I'll summarize the state of affairs as the 15th century came to a close.

The Khazaks started with 4 provinces: Nura, Karsak, Aralsk, and Kyzylkum. To the South, they have taken Khiva and Khwarizm from the Uzbeks and vassalized them. Farther South, the Timurids have lost territory to Persia and Baluchistan but they have held their northern territory. To the North, Sibir's holdings have not changed. The Khazaks have colonized Turgai and Karaganda, which lie more or less between the original Khazak and Sibir territories. To the West, Nogai has been reduced from 6 provinces to just 2, along the Caspian Sea, and are vassals of the Khazaks. The Khazaks have taken Ust Urt, Orsk, Irgiz, and Alga from Nogai. Farther West and North, the Khazaks have conquered Astrakhan and Orenburg, the latter from the Golden Horde. The Golden Horde lost several provinces early on to Muscovy and Ryazan. As Muscovy diploannexed Ryazan, "it all belongs to Mother Russia" now, or at least very soon it will. The Ottomans also got off to a good start, taking most of Asia Minor and the southern Balkans.

Back to Central Asia, the Khazaks are clearly the strongest power in that region, but that says more about the weakness of their neighbors than their own strength. The Uzbeks and Nogai are vassals of the Khazaks. The Uzbeks are in the Khazaks' alliance (in fact, that's all the alliance -- just Khazak and Uzbek) and they could, in theory, be annexed at any time. I have held back from trying to annex them on the theory that I want my reputation to be at or near perfect first since I would get several BB points (Uzbek owns 4 provinces). Also, I know I'll get RR from the Uzbek provinces after annexation, and I'd like to wait until RR expires from other conquests first.

The Khazaks have taken most of the Nogai provinces and left them as a very weak vassal state. But Nogai are still in the Golden Horde's alliance. I am waiting for that alliance to expire or be dishonored so I can try to get Nogai into my alliance, obviously with a future annexation in mind.

Colonies have been started at Turgai and Karaganda. We lie at the gateway to Siberia, but we need a conquistador before we can go farther in that direction.

Economically it has been very challenging playing the Khazaks, and being in the exotic tech group certainly doesn't help any. Once I got maps from Astrakhan and Samara that ended the isolation penalty. However, I can't send merchants to European COTs since Khazakstan has no port. So far, only Isfahan and Astrakhan are open to me.

Some vital statistics, as of 1498:

Inflation 8
Monthly income 23.0
Annual tax 60.45
Land tech 2
Trade tech 2
Infra tech 2

Cost to research land tech 3 is about 10K. It's not going to happen anytime soon.

The Search for the Mughal Capital

Chapter 1

Imagine how much warmongering the Uzbeks would do if they were free

Allies -- can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. We needed an alliance with the Uzbeks in order to diploannex them. But their consistent aggressiveness surprised us, to say the least. By 1494 they had made 5 declarartions of war, all but one while a vassal. And they were only just beginning.

As the year 1495 began, we had recently taken two provinces in an offensive war, thanks to the Uzbeks. We intended to wait a few years in peace, let our reputation improve, and then annex the Uzbeks. They thwarted this strategy brilliantly by declaring war on the Timurids in June. In the Uzbeks' defense I admit that at this time the Timurids were falling apart and several nations were lining up for a turn at the banquet table to feast on the remains. We hadn't intended to take anything from them, but now that we were at war, maybe some of the provinces at the Persian border looked tempting. As a first step, we sent a small army to walk through Kirgizstan and Tadjikistan, both of which were unfortified, in order to have some bargaining chips when it came time for negotiation.

Our plans backfired badly. First, in October the Persians settled with the Timurids, taking Khorasan, Meched, and Kerman. So most of the provinces we were thinking of taking were already gone. We had to revise our plans, trying to figure out new objectives within reason. But then in January our commanders in Kirgizstan and Tadjikistan received surprise visits from the local Timurid governors:

Dushanbe, Tadjikistan, January 1496

"Good morning to you, General Deniz! I bring you the keys to the city!"

"Thank you, Governor Samir, but we already control the city. I don't need the keys."

"No, no, you don't understand. It's all yours now, we're leaving. If you would just hold the door for me as I pull this file cabinet out, we are departing for the capital in Samarkand."

"What are you talking about? We're still at war! We never even started peace negotiations, let alone a settlement!"

"Too many rebels, too few Timurid soldiers, too bad. It's yours. Farewell, and may we never see each other again!"

"But we don't even want this city! It was just a bargaining chip! You can't do this to us!"

"Live and learn. Adieu!"

"!!@$#%^&*%!"

A similar conversation took place in Kirgizstan. We were stuck with two provinces we hadn't really wanted, at great expense to our reputation. The Uzbeks acquired Bukhara in the same manner.

Our Khan sent a stinging rebuke to our "little brothers" at Uzbek. His instructions were explicit:

"Do not initiate any wars without my approval!"

In 1501 the Uzbeks declared war on the Timurids again.