Tunis - advice?

[tapewormlondon]

So I fancied trying to get an achievement and playing in Ironman for once, and picked the "sons of Carthage" to go for, so basically just need to get Tunis owning Sardinia, southern Spain, Beleric Islands and Sicily.

I started by diplo Vassilizing the two other states to the right of me before the Mamluks did, and then I slowly ate Algiers. I am allied with Aragon and Ottomans, with Castille, Mamluks and Portugal as rivals.

I need to eat into Mamluks & Morroco (Who are allies) as I want to make my power base Africa, by eating down past Eithiopia, Kilwa etc, and also down into central africa.

I took Acrostiric (sp) as first idea and will need to choose my second shortly, I think choosing exploration is needed to uncover the Terra Incognita in central Africa so I can eat the african states....or is it?

Also, I keep joining Ottoman wars with Mamluks so I can hopefully be thrown a bone on my claims in either Mamluk or Morrocan territory (They wont join my offensive wars).

Am I at risk of Ottmans kicking my arse if they get to strong? Will they want my lands eventually?

 

[HabemusZlatan]

Yes, you are at risk.
And disregard the alliance with Aragon, you can conquer Sicily and Sardinia easily if they have lost their PU with Naples (quite likely) and aren't in a PU with Castille. Just wait the inevitable war of conquest between Aragon and Castille and grab what is left.

 

[BestOfTheWest]

Just drop the Mamluks and ally the Ottomans... Worked fine for me in wars against the Mamluks and Ethiopia.
I now own most of Egypt and Mamluk is reduced to Cairo.

I did keep Morocco as an bulwark against Spain/Portugal, as I did not allied Aragon. Together we kicked them out of the Maghreb. But I see me backstabbing them at a certain point in the future. :ninja:

 

[Knibis]

Tunis advice? just hope that Spain and Portugal doesnt want to conquer North Africa, then you're fucked no matter who you ally...

 

[tapewormlondon]

Tunis advice? just hope that Spain and Portugal doesnt want to conquer North Africa, then you're fucked no matter who you ally...

Thanks Guys.

I actually allied Aragon to deter Castille from attacking me or Aragon, as Castille has one province in northern Africa and now obviously wants everything I own! in turn, I dont want them to get stronger by eating Aragon.

 

[BestOfTheWest]

Tunis advice? just hope that Spain and Portugal doesnt want to conquer North Africa, then you're fucked no matter who you ally...

It depends.
I won a defensive war Spanish Conquest of Ceuta with Portugal/Ethiopia/Austria, against Morocco as the war leader, me=Tunis and some west african allies. (*Edit* both me and Morocco had already westernized)
We won, mostly by occupying most of Ethiopia, while Spain/Portugal did not manage to stage a notable invasion in North Africa. Austria never really showed up on the battlefield.

 

[ahyangyi]

My Tunis kept alliance with Ottomans from 1444 to 1820 even if we bordered at Syria after eliminating Mamluks, which helped a lot.

I picked Maritime and Naval, two ideagroups which are usually considered weak. However, once you can win naval battles, you will be able to handle crazy attacks like Spain+Portugal+Austria+France. They can and will overrun your base in south Spain or Italy, but as long as they can't reach Africa you can at least hold for a white peace.

(If I will play again I will probably try converting to Ibadi in the beginning for that naval morale bonus. It's probably not worth the trouble but could be fun...)

Of course you will need defensive. The 3% attrition along with your superior navy is how you win wars.

 

[ahyangyi]

Also, I feel Tunisia is one of the countries hit hardest by the embargo bug... Maybe if you wait for a few days until it's fixed, and suddenly you can earn a little more from trading at Portugal and Spain's expense.

 

[ragnarokk]

Jut finished my game in ~1620 (just got boring and wanted to try a different country). Ally Ottos. Don't eat all Mameluks, because Ottos will hate you for that. Spain will attack you (unfortunatelly for me Spain has united quickly) and there is no chance you can stand them on ground. Therefore a (very) strong navy is a must. Galleys are your friends, as you get a NI bonus to it. I took influence (bad choice), quantity, maritime, expansion.

As I finished I had Corsica, Gibraltar, Cadiz, Grenada, Almeria, 80% of Mamluks and some of Africa. And had one 75-yrs long war against Spain (Holy War, no ticking score and my full see blockade) - complete stelmate until France/Portugal destroyed Spain.

 

[HabemusZlatan]

My Tunis kept alliance with Ottomans from 1444 to 1820 even if we bordered at Syria after eliminating Mamluks, which helped a lot.

I picked Maritime and Naval, two ideagroups which are usually considered weak. However, once you can win naval battles, you will be able to handle crazy attacks like Spain+Portugal+Austria+France. They can and will overrun your base in south Spain or Italy, but as long as they can't reach Africa you can at least hold for a white peace.

(If I will play again I will probably try converting to Ibadi in the beginning for that naval morale bonus. It's probably not worth the trouble but could be fun...)

Of course you will need defensive. The 3% attrition along with your superior navy is how you win wars.

Maritime and Naval are a bad combination for powerful countries, as they are thought for Barbary states. That plus trade and defensive will make you an impenetrable thick wall of desert, attrition and spanish tears.