Ok, I'm back in AARland after a forced pause, only to write a non-gameplay AAR.
Why you ask, why a non-gameplay AAR? Well, because I've had a rather interesting AI game lately and, inspired by mayorqw's great aar I've decided to analyze the game in a neutral standpoint. Of course, I'm playing Fez and I'll post most things about them rather than about other countries, but there are some exceptional things to note in the game, so don't expect much screenshots of the game (as I've taken very few, not intending to make an AAR to begin with). Clarification: The beginning will be more fezian-centric. I will start focus on other countries after I've secured my position in Iberia.
Well, I hope this goes out at least as good as my previous one.
Chapter 1 : From the ashes of the Monotheists
1356 was a year full of change for Europe - Charles IV, of house Luxemburb, Bohemian lord and Holy Roman Emperor, had completed what Frederick II, the Puer Apuliae, had ideologically started, making the once mighty Holy Roman Empire a conglomerate of belligerent city-states with a powerless Emperor. It was, in the eye of the outsiders, not an Empire, nor holy and less of all Roman.
One year prior, the mighty Stephan Uros IV of Serbia, self-proclaimed Emperor of the Greeks and the Serbs, died leaving his extensive Empire to his ill-prepared son Stephan Uros V, which, while well mannered and of great piety, in one year already lost control over some of his father's possession (The princes of Hum and Montenegro declared independence (while the Montenegrin still aknowledging him as their Emperor), the Greek lands of Chalcidiki was conquered back by the Greeks and the Epirus Despotate reacquired independence.
The Empire of the Greeks, in the meantime, was under the constant menace of the ever rising power of the Osmanli turks, which started to watch at Constantinople as the jewel they need to consacrate their power in Europe and to be the first muslim power in europe since the days of Al-Andalus.
The succession war between the Franks and the English was still raging, with the french having taken the upper hand on the conflict.
And, to focus more on our area of interest, Abu Inan Faris, the last Marinid ruler of the Maghreb, was on the verge of washing the shame of losing Tunisia and Tlemcen with military action. It was mandatory for him to show strength hence to lose the feeble grip he had on his own realm, with his vizier planning to murder him and replace him with a more condiscendent Sultan and the constant revolt of the Tlemcen territory.
It is clear that the Tlemcen condition of de facto independence mined his credibility among the Islamic world.
Luckily for the Sultan, the submission of the Tlemcen rebels was an easy task. It of course enraged most of the Muslim world and received condemnation from the Imams, but if Abu Inan Faris showed lack of decision his rule could have been stopped earlier than it did in reality.
Fezian forces pillage and siege Tlemcen. It will capitulate less than a year after the military intervention
Excluding the condemnation, the move did have important consequences in the balance of power of north Africa. While still considered a weak ruler by the fezian nobles and religious autority, Abu Inan Faris had become the most powerful man of the region. This caused his influence in the foreign courts to grow exponencially, culminating in his victory over the Hafsid succession crysis which he won. With most of the Tunisian viziers, general and imams proposing weak and uncapable rulers to manipulate, the proposal of Abu Inan Faris of himself as the rightful ruler of Tunisia caused great clamor at first, but this was destined to grow when he actually succeeded in uniting the two countries into one. Of course, the use of assassination and bribes were the main reason behind this fact, but nonetheless now Abu Inan Faris had an empire second only to the Mamluk dominion in importance and to the Timur's dominion in extension.
With the integration of Tunisia, the economy of the Sultanate started to flourish: Controlling the important commercial centre of trade of Tunis and half of the mediterranean made the trade bloom, as well as the effective control of the rich Copper and Iron mines of inner Tunisia.
However, Abu Inan Faris had little control over his own realm, which was strongly under the control of his court and Vizier, which had proposed a different heir in his succession, Abu Salim Ibrahim, a child of no more than 5 years old, feeble and weak and with a way too fanatical devotion, which made the Sultan describe him as "A bird who cannot talk with the trees".
His court, however, commanded an invasion of the Tuareg territory to expand their influence over North Africa, an expedition which was wildly successfull and caused the integration of the poor Tuareg territory into the Fezian authority.
In 1367, the last Marinid was assassinated by his Vizier, which proposed as Sultan Abu Salim Ibrahim. His realm, however, was very brief as one of the nobles, Zaydan Wattasid, rose against the new rule and succesfully seized power. Being popular among the soldiers, Zaydan, a man of demonic charisma, great intelligence and an impressive tactical knowledge. After a brief civil war, Zaydan effectively seized power in 1371, giving start to the Wattasid dinasty - And we could say, the Wattasid Empire.
Zaydan was reported to be a warrior, poet, artist, carpenter, scholar, animal trainer (he had several lions, and he trained most of them himself), blacksmith (he crafted himself several nimchas which he used in battle), armourer and theologian. He was a skilled historian and never a man with such deep knowledge of Al Andalus has ever liven in Fez, it is said.
He was fervently fascinated by the myth of the catholic reconquista, and was sure he could revert the course and regain the lost land to the heathens. On the month of june 1371, after having raised an enormous and highly trained army, he claimed the Granadian territory for the Fezian (now known as Banu al-watas, child of the Wattasid) Sultanate.
He had hoped that the army alone and his silver tongue could win him the land, but the Granadian sultan felt this attack to his authority as a grave offence, and refused to capitulate. This left Zaydan with only one choice left, to invade the last Islamic state in Al-Andalus and completely annexing them into his direct dominions, which he firmly controlled with an iron fist which, while he himself disliked, deemed necessary for the stability of the country and the consolidation of the wattasid power into the areas he deemed be his.
The Granadian Sultan, while proud and of an ancient lineage, was to Zaydan the symbol of the weakness of the Taifas that caused the Heathens to stole their ancestral land and had to be scraped of. Luckily, their military force was ill-trained and composed by a handful of regiments, nothing that could resist his 40.000 men strong standing army.
The day after his conquest of Granada, Zaydan had a son which he called Abdallah.
This didn't stop Zaydan however, as his scouts reported that the Castilland were out of a harsh war against France and Aragon and were exhausted and weak. Zaydan decided to exploit the situation and, when some nobles opposed his move out of fear, he said "They attacked us when we were weak and divided. We will attack them when they are weak and divided. This is a gift from Allah, praised be his name, and I will oblige the will of Allah".
As soon as a week after the report, he lead his army of 45.000 men into Castillian territory finding little resistance.
The odds were in his favour as he was able to intercept the armies the Portuguese and the Castillians send to him and cut their supply lines before they could compose and reorganize. The swiftness and boldness of his attack alone granted him an undispitable victory, and vanified centuries of Christian "Reconquista" in no more than 10 years of war, which was so long only because of the stern resistance of the Castillian cities and the constant harrassment of the Portuguese soldiers. In the end, however, the spanish kingdoms had no army to fight with, leaving their lands to the wrath of Zaydan.
When Toledo felt, the Castillian kind decided he had enough and obliged to the high demands of Zaydan. In 10 years, he had conquered most of the lands his previous rulers had lost in 400 years.
Year is 1381, and here ends the first part.
Why you ask, why a non-gameplay AAR? Well, because I've had a rather interesting AI game lately and, inspired by mayorqw's great aar I've decided to analyze the game in a neutral standpoint. Of course, I'm playing Fez and I'll post most things about them rather than about other countries, but there are some exceptional things to note in the game, so don't expect much screenshots of the game (as I've taken very few, not intending to make an AAR to begin with). Clarification: The beginning will be more fezian-centric. I will start focus on other countries after I've secured my position in Iberia.
Well, I hope this goes out at least as good as my previous one.
Chapter 1 : From the ashes of the Monotheists
1356 was a year full of change for Europe - Charles IV, of house Luxemburb, Bohemian lord and Holy Roman Emperor, had completed what Frederick II, the Puer Apuliae, had ideologically started, making the once mighty Holy Roman Empire a conglomerate of belligerent city-states with a powerless Emperor. It was, in the eye of the outsiders, not an Empire, nor holy and less of all Roman.
One year prior, the mighty Stephan Uros IV of Serbia, self-proclaimed Emperor of the Greeks and the Serbs, died leaving his extensive Empire to his ill-prepared son Stephan Uros V, which, while well mannered and of great piety, in one year already lost control over some of his father's possession (The princes of Hum and Montenegro declared independence (while the Montenegrin still aknowledging him as their Emperor), the Greek lands of Chalcidiki was conquered back by the Greeks and the Epirus Despotate reacquired independence.
The Empire of the Greeks, in the meantime, was under the constant menace of the ever rising power of the Osmanli turks, which started to watch at Constantinople as the jewel they need to consacrate their power in Europe and to be the first muslim power in europe since the days of Al-Andalus.
The succession war between the Franks and the English was still raging, with the french having taken the upper hand on the conflict.
And, to focus more on our area of interest, Abu Inan Faris, the last Marinid ruler of the Maghreb, was on the verge of washing the shame of losing Tunisia and Tlemcen with military action. It was mandatory for him to show strength hence to lose the feeble grip he had on his own realm, with his vizier planning to murder him and replace him with a more condiscendent Sultan and the constant revolt of the Tlemcen territory.
It is clear that the Tlemcen condition of de facto independence mined his credibility among the Islamic world.
Luckily for the Sultan, the submission of the Tlemcen rebels was an easy task. It of course enraged most of the Muslim world and received condemnation from the Imams, but if Abu Inan Faris showed lack of decision his rule could have been stopped earlier than it did in reality.
Fezian forces pillage and siege Tlemcen. It will capitulate less than a year after the military intervention
Excluding the condemnation, the move did have important consequences in the balance of power of north Africa. While still considered a weak ruler by the fezian nobles and religious autority, Abu Inan Faris had become the most powerful man of the region. This caused his influence in the foreign courts to grow exponencially, culminating in his victory over the Hafsid succession crysis which he won. With most of the Tunisian viziers, general and imams proposing weak and uncapable rulers to manipulate, the proposal of Abu Inan Faris of himself as the rightful ruler of Tunisia caused great clamor at first, but this was destined to grow when he actually succeeded in uniting the two countries into one. Of course, the use of assassination and bribes were the main reason behind this fact, but nonetheless now Abu Inan Faris had an empire second only to the Mamluk dominion in importance and to the Timur's dominion in extension.
With the integration of Tunisia, the economy of the Sultanate started to flourish: Controlling the important commercial centre of trade of Tunis and half of the mediterranean made the trade bloom, as well as the effective control of the rich Copper and Iron mines of inner Tunisia.
However, Abu Inan Faris had little control over his own realm, which was strongly under the control of his court and Vizier, which had proposed a different heir in his succession, Abu Salim Ibrahim, a child of no more than 5 years old, feeble and weak and with a way too fanatical devotion, which made the Sultan describe him as "A bird who cannot talk with the trees".
His court, however, commanded an invasion of the Tuareg territory to expand their influence over North Africa, an expedition which was wildly successfull and caused the integration of the poor Tuareg territory into the Fezian authority.
In 1367, the last Marinid was assassinated by his Vizier, which proposed as Sultan Abu Salim Ibrahim. His realm, however, was very brief as one of the nobles, Zaydan Wattasid, rose against the new rule and succesfully seized power. Being popular among the soldiers, Zaydan, a man of demonic charisma, great intelligence and an impressive tactical knowledge. After a brief civil war, Zaydan effectively seized power in 1371, giving start to the Wattasid dinasty - And we could say, the Wattasid Empire.
Zaydan was reported to be a warrior, poet, artist, carpenter, scholar, animal trainer (he had several lions, and he trained most of them himself), blacksmith (he crafted himself several nimchas which he used in battle), armourer and theologian. He was a skilled historian and never a man with such deep knowledge of Al Andalus has ever liven in Fez, it is said.
He was fervently fascinated by the myth of the catholic reconquista, and was sure he could revert the course and regain the lost land to the heathens. On the month of june 1371, after having raised an enormous and highly trained army, he claimed the Granadian territory for the Fezian (now known as Banu al-watas, child of the Wattasid) Sultanate.
He had hoped that the army alone and his silver tongue could win him the land, but the Granadian sultan felt this attack to his authority as a grave offence, and refused to capitulate. This left Zaydan with only one choice left, to invade the last Islamic state in Al-Andalus and completely annexing them into his direct dominions, which he firmly controlled with an iron fist which, while he himself disliked, deemed necessary for the stability of the country and the consolidation of the wattasid power into the areas he deemed be his.
The Granadian Sultan, while proud and of an ancient lineage, was to Zaydan the symbol of the weakness of the Taifas that caused the Heathens to stole their ancestral land and had to be scraped of. Luckily, their military force was ill-trained and composed by a handful of regiments, nothing that could resist his 40.000 men strong standing army.
The day after his conquest of Granada, Zaydan had a son which he called Abdallah.
This didn't stop Zaydan however, as his scouts reported that the Castilland were out of a harsh war against France and Aragon and were exhausted and weak. Zaydan decided to exploit the situation and, when some nobles opposed his move out of fear, he said "They attacked us when we were weak and divided. We will attack them when they are weak and divided. This is a gift from Allah, praised be his name, and I will oblige the will of Allah".
As soon as a week after the report, he lead his army of 45.000 men into Castillian territory finding little resistance.
The odds were in his favour as he was able to intercept the armies the Portuguese and the Castillians send to him and cut their supply lines before they could compose and reorganize. The swiftness and boldness of his attack alone granted him an undispitable victory, and vanified centuries of Christian "Reconquista" in no more than 10 years of war, which was so long only because of the stern resistance of the Castillian cities and the constant harrassment of the Portuguese soldiers. In the end, however, the spanish kingdoms had no army to fight with, leaving their lands to the wrath of Zaydan.
When Toledo felt, the Castillian kind decided he had enough and obliged to the high demands of Zaydan. In 10 years, he had conquered most of the lands his previous rulers had lost in 400 years.
Year is 1381, and here ends the first part.
