Has anything changed for West Africa?

[LeSingeAffame]

Yes, your enemies will only get a crushing attrition in your lands if they are of West African religion (or any unreformed pagan religion), until they get to Military Organisation IV.
Keep upgrading your buildings, mainly the ones in your capital holding, and keep a good amount of cash if you suddenly need mercenaries

 

[sigeena]

Take note that your Light Infantry can only fight in skirmish. If your fight heads into melee, best withdraw to avoid getting smashed big time.

Keep Archers above 20% for the flank composition, that best activates Feint. And use martial commanders between 12-15. Feint improves your LI offense by 100%.

If martial is higher than 15, your commander is more likely to activate Shieldwall, which is defensive in nature, and lets you head into melee to get pummeled.

If you're unable to achieve the Feint combi for all your flanks, at least make it so for 1 flank and hope that your strong flank comes thru before melee.

More help here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CrusaderKings/comments/4t4c0e/whats_the_best_way_to_surive_as_mali/

 

[Forderz]

I would convert to sunni/catholic for a day once you hit max tribal authority and adopt feudalism asap.

 

[orochi2k]

For unknown reason, in my ironman game, Mali became a Christendom and they are somehow in a war against Muslim Poland. That's fantastic.

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

Answer to 2: Unreformed Tribal pagans are stuck with elective gavelkind.

This is terrible for West Africa. There should really be, from the beginning, a really sloppy form of primogeniture and any significantly powerful ruler should basically have a cadre of regional nobles acting essentually autonomous. Revolts were rare. Succession crises weren't.

Any powerful ruler should also have a retinue of professional slaves acting as administrators or, if the ruler is weak, as behind-the-scenes puppeteers.

I just don't understand the decision to force gavelkind, I guess.

 

[Damarrocarion]

Hey, I don't make the rules...

 

[CrackdToothGrin]

Hey, I don't make the rules...

Fair enough, haha. I just guess it jars me to see a random gavelkind election when most of the Mande and Soninke peoples practiced either primogeniture-based appointment or salic primogeniture matrilinearly traced through the eldest sisters of the ruler, with most provincial governors appointed on non-hereditary titles or given military appointments focused on cavalry.

 

[dreamer05]

Well I'm not sure what changed but thinks are really whonky. Catholic Africa somehow got pieces up by a Slavic pagan, and then broke off into some Christian duchies. I was able to swoop in and reform the religion and turn to feudal. Was able to get Empire of Mali and Kingdom of Mali both to regular elective. Keep going back and forth with vassals as I take away their council powers. Still trying to consolidate so I haven't even had any time to tear into holy wars on the smaller pieces of Africa.