So, it's been a thing for a while that Muslims are generally agreed to be OP in some form or another. Pre-TRD, some of the blobs would collapse quickly and others were insanely stable. Levies are usually relatively high due to the theocratic nature of the government, and decadence bonuses can make or break an entire war almost regardless of army size and composition. In a somewhat recent patch wherein the AI is more likely to declare war if a CB is available, there was a wave of complaint about the pure aggression and effectiveness of Islamic states, for their armies were strong and they were literally never without a CB between each other and the non-Islamic world.
Now, let me relate my most recent endeavor.
I was playing as Abyssinia in 769, one of my favorite starts. My goal here is not to unite the East Africans, per se, but rather to convert the country to Judaism, push all the way to the Levant, and try to form Israel, at which point I would theoretically release Abyssinia, Nubia, and Egypt and form a massive alliance. I've never accomplished this, and I never go into a game expecting to, but rather I view it as a distant hope that my be one day achieved should Egypt opportunistically collapse or revolt.
If I intended to actually do this, I would just start as the emir of Jerusalem. Why Ethiopia? Why, the Solomonids, of course! What good is a Jewish state if you don't have the Judahites ruling over it? Well, a kohen might be more fitting in theory, but that's beside the point. I do it to try to get the Solomonid dynasty on the throne, preferably without changing religions again.
This start, things went pretty well. I vassalized the other Ethiopian kings and chiefs, got Somalia, and converted pretty nicely. Everything went smoothly apart from Egypt creeping into Nubia, something it usually did not do with so much success. I shrugged and went with it, assuming the Abbasids would collapse eventually. They did, in fact, but things got complicated.
The dynasty of Egypt is shared with that of Africa. When Egypt got independent, the entirety of Saharan Africa was united under a single country. Unfortunate, but surely it would collapse too, right? It did. However, the Egyptians procured out of Nubia alone more troops than all of Ethiopia could muster. I began improving relations and went for Yemen twice, failing both times due to an active Caliph (for once), although a revolt allowed me to steal Taizz. This did not help.
Eventually, Nubia declared holy war. It dragged Egypt and Africa into the war with it, despite the three kings all having a deep hatred for each other, and despite offensive holy wars often lacking support. I fight and fight, although soon my land is besieged by 10-15k soldiers, far greater than my petty 5k (after hiring out every mercenary available, and raising all levies, and having a full retinue). I lost Axum for the first time ever, and with it I lost the majority of my wealth buildup, nearly 2k in hospital construction, and every province I had managed to convert.
So, that's my story. Consider this something of a general "Issues with Islam" thread. Tell stories, discuss things done well, things not done well, what needs to stay, what needs to go, ad infinitum. To start us off, here is my question to the forums, the official intent of this thread at start, and the reason I felt obliged to share my experience:
Do Muslims need a nerf? Should their aggression be lowered? Should they be given conquest weights?
Now, let me relate my most recent endeavor.
I was playing as Abyssinia in 769, one of my favorite starts. My goal here is not to unite the East Africans, per se, but rather to convert the country to Judaism, push all the way to the Levant, and try to form Israel, at which point I would theoretically release Abyssinia, Nubia, and Egypt and form a massive alliance. I've never accomplished this, and I never go into a game expecting to, but rather I view it as a distant hope that my be one day achieved should Egypt opportunistically collapse or revolt.
If I intended to actually do this, I would just start as the emir of Jerusalem. Why Ethiopia? Why, the Solomonids, of course! What good is a Jewish state if you don't have the Judahites ruling over it? Well, a kohen might be more fitting in theory, but that's beside the point. I do it to try to get the Solomonid dynasty on the throne, preferably without changing religions again.
This start, things went pretty well. I vassalized the other Ethiopian kings and chiefs, got Somalia, and converted pretty nicely. Everything went smoothly apart from Egypt creeping into Nubia, something it usually did not do with so much success. I shrugged and went with it, assuming the Abbasids would collapse eventually. They did, in fact, but things got complicated.
The dynasty of Egypt is shared with that of Africa. When Egypt got independent, the entirety of Saharan Africa was united under a single country. Unfortunate, but surely it would collapse too, right? It did. However, the Egyptians procured out of Nubia alone more troops than all of Ethiopia could muster. I began improving relations and went for Yemen twice, failing both times due to an active Caliph (for once), although a revolt allowed me to steal Taizz. This did not help.
Eventually, Nubia declared holy war. It dragged Egypt and Africa into the war with it, despite the three kings all having a deep hatred for each other, and despite offensive holy wars often lacking support. I fight and fight, although soon my land is besieged by 10-15k soldiers, far greater than my petty 5k (after hiring out every mercenary available, and raising all levies, and having a full retinue). I lost Axum for the first time ever, and with it I lost the majority of my wealth buildup, nearly 2k in hospital construction, and every province I had managed to convert.
So, that's my story. Consider this something of a general "Issues with Islam" thread. Tell stories, discuss things done well, things not done well, what needs to stay, what needs to go, ad infinitum. To start us off, here is my question to the forums, the official intent of this thread at start, and the reason I felt obliged to share my experience:
Do Muslims need a nerf? Should their aggression be lowered? Should they be given conquest weights?
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