Sword of Islam: Strategy discussion

My Timur was rather lame. He found most cities in sight to be rebel, and very few foreign religions to extinguish. Nevertheless, it's actually easier to win this way.

Turn culture slider to max (no techs will need to be researched--Music Theory can be traded for). Market economy and religious law again, aristocracy is optional. Samarkand builds monument and market, then Royal Mausoleum when other monuments come online and National Epic. Be sure to have a great artist to spawn in Samarkand (some cities might overtake it with priests like Otrar--so I used him for a golden age). The 2nd most productive city builds Heroic Epic and churns out troops. The most commercial city (way up north, since it's the farthest from all the other civs) builds Karimi Fundiq and Royal Mint.
If a rebel city has a foreign religion, massacre. If not, see how much infrastructure is saved--anything less than 3 buildings-->raze. (I actually razed all the Khwarezmid cities since they are tough to defend, then later on rebuilt just one for the land).
Don't need any science buildings at all.
Some safe places to found cities are the Taklamakan Desert, the mountainous land between that desert and your southern cities, and east of Otrar (can found a city without name).
As long as you get something like 8000+ culture you should win even without provoking major war with the highly cultured civs like Ajmer or Byzantines. I didn't even venture beyond Western Khorasan. The Delhi Sultanate was my friend, no war at all between the 2 of us.

Here's my human shield in 1500 (in case I didn't win, since Samarkand was defended very lightly!) So that's why Timur always collapses around that time...:D
 
It seems no one can resist Timurid puns :D
 
Finally did Khwarezmids, got Shahanshah in 1292. Almost underestimated the Mongols in Khwarezmia. Got Delhi Sultanate and Zengids as vassals too...although I was taking a gamble that the Zengids didn't venture to capture a Seljuk city.

Balkh and Kunduz do not appear to need defended except for the occasional barb axeman.
 
The Khwarezmids are fun to play IMO. I was tech leader and had the most gold. Too bad that the Timurid spawned a sizable chunk of my empire away :mad:.

I was just going to play as the Timurid but I guess I'm going to have to forget about that. I hate being the last in tech and swarmed by barb HA at the same time. It's the Samanids/Babylonians all over again. I want my empires to stand the test of time :blush:.

By the way, who were those barbarians attacking the Timurid? I thought that the Timurid were the last of the "barbarians" to attack that side of the world. Were those barbarians supposed to signify some sort of civil war between the khanates or something?

On a side note, thanks for the awesome mod Embryodead! I swear that I learn more world history from this game and this mod than school...which is pretty sad.
 
Abbasid guide:

This strategy is based on getting the religious goal before the crusaders arrive. I got it in 1056, more than 40 turns early on epic, so its really no problem. This strategy is also based more on having a huge population in mesopotamia and the levant than sending out a large number of missionaries.

First build 2 workers each in all your starting cities (don't conquer anything yet), build farms, plantations and orchards, research cash cropping and build a great saint in Al-Kufah, timing the tech and the saint together. Then bulb religious unity and switch to agrarianism-slavery-persecution. Within a few turns your economy should be in great shape. Send your second settler to Khuzestan or really anywhere, since you will soon settle everything possible.

Build a racetrack somewhere and work an artist for a great artist. You will have to take the priests off in Al-Kufah to ensure they don't make another saint before your artist comes, but do it just enough to get the artist next, then put them back, as you will want more saints later. Use the artist for a culture bomb, ensuring the cultural victory, then use the saints to bulb techs (don't research any religious techs) to ensure the tech victory.

Once your economy is decent send your starting swordsmen and spearmen to conquer Mosul, Edessa, Sur, and Antioch. Purge the unwanted religions and improve the land as quickly as possible. You could go for Tarsus as well, but don't be late for your dates in Jerusalem and Mecca.

Once your workers are done build a catapult in Damascus and archers, workers, madrassahs and settlers in your core cities. Settle Basrah, Ar-Raffah (where the road crosses the Euphrates in N mesopotamia), Kermanshah (which will flip to the Seljuks), Tarabalus and anything else you can fit that has decent food tiles to itself. Be sure to improve the land around Kermanshah as this will give the Seljuks health bonuses when they spawn.

When your catapult is ready send it to Jerusalem, Medina and Mecca with your now upgraded swordsmen.

Keep an eye on the mercenary screen and hire the most promoted horse archers when they show up. The Buyids arrive in 934 to give those horse archers even more promotions. If you kick their ass really bad you can take their cities and convert them. Esfahan is definately worth taking since it will grow decently and will flip to the Seljuks so you won't have to hold it for long. Again its health bonuses will help the Seljuk population right away if they are intact.

Aquire the inscense at Damascus, build Sufi shrines when possible and send Sufi missionaries to the big Byzantine towns and 2nd priority, if you have Basrah and boats, send them to India. I also found size 4-6 Ghaznavid and Samanid towns without sunni islam when I sent missionaries to them.

Keep your vast army of workers constantly busy, hire the choicest mercenaries, build granaries and aqueducts. I got Bhagdad to 18, Wasit to 15 and had 6 other cities 10 or higher. You might not think that Ghazza would grow to size 10, but it will.
 
Great guide, it sums up the bits and pieces around this thread really well.:goodjob:

However, there is one thing I would like to add:
Use your initial horsemen accompanied by some mercenary horse archers to take Makkah early, since the shrine will boost your economy enourmosly.
 
By the way, who were those barbarians attacking the Timurid? I thought that the Timurid were the last of the "barbarians" to attack that side of the world. Were those barbarians supposed to signify some sort of civil war between the khanates or something?

Those barbarians are the Uzbeks, which are dominant in the region nowadays.
In the game they will found the khanate of bukhara if the timurids get driven out.
And I agree with you, I knew close to nothing about middle eastern history before SOI. Good job Edead !
 
I did everything in the Abbasid guide (nice summary of all the previous posts) except the part about building workers. It does not make sense to have all cities stagnate at size 2-3 when they could easily grow to size 3-4 before building workers (20+ turns vs 10-14 turns). Just make sure to reassign tiles to growth and with all those floodplains, it'll only take 10 turns for all cities to grow, and then you can build those workers.
 
The nice thing about the Samanids, Khwarezmids, Seljuks and Timurids is that you can most definitely win with a nice margin of time before the next great big empire spawns and makes your task much harder.
I cannot say the same for Ak Koyunlu--the Safavids are often so strong that when I come back from Spain, I'm going to try to erase some of their cities before they spawn.
 
The Ak Koyunlu can go to Spain? How? :mischief:

:D
 
not to put too fine a point on it and only in the way of furthering discussion: the 2 free workers radically speed up the first worker at baghdad, by farming the wheat and barley, which also speeds up all the workers by adding health, then the baghdad worker joins in and it all snowballs so almost none of the workers take the full time to build. to me its the cities' low production until they have a ton of food and quarry/mines that is the real impediment at the start. but you can actually build workers fast due to all the food and every worker speeds up the rest, then you have 8 workers and the mines and quarries and plantations that you can now work for hammers are improved very quickly.

sorry I tried to do a quote but thought I would just make a mess of it

and sorry I should have credited others ideas in the abbasid guide, especially AP, whose advice is always sound. thanks.
 
By the way do you suggest taking Mosul early on, which is usually easy to capture, would that be ok to do?
 
I dont capture anything til I my first civics change to agrarianism/slavery/persecution, after researching cash cropping and bulbing religious unity with a great saint from Kufah. it doesn't take long. 1 city will not cripple your research, but I even spend my starting money to get cash cropping quicker.
 
By the way do you suggest taking Mosul early on, which is usually easy to capture, would that be ok to do?

I took Mosul last, thinking that there are no immediate AI opponents who would take it. I prioritized Tarsus (since it's the closest to the Byzantines that actually has some production and the Byzantines have usually tried their best to take it first) and Mekkah instead.
 
The Ak Koyunlu can go to Spain? How? :mischief:

:D

By being laid over in Newark with the stupid rain delaying flights. They can also watch the King's Speech on Continental now! :)
 
Eventhough you start really backwards there is a way to become the tech leader before the end, so actually you'll only lack production. Here is how I did the UHVs.

-Found capital on spot, there aren't any sweeter spots around (1S will give more production). Sent your extra javelinman towards Lesser Armenia to ensure good trading relationships. His survival is crucial for gaining the tech lead.
-2nd settler should travel southeast and found a city 2SW from the gold and 3E from ivory. This city will eventually encompass three luxury resources, make sure to build a Orthodox monastery there asap, so that the borders will expand before 1000AD.
-The capital should build a settler quickly after couple workers. That settler needs to found Massawa on the coast of the Red Sea. Massawa will become your safe haven and thus a science center. Make sure to spread Orthodox there.
-The tech path should initially go towards Long Distance Trade and then towards Narekavank, which you'll build in Tungul. Choose a scientist. Anyways make sure that your first GP is a Great Scientist, so that you can bulb Education. The other orthodox civs will give juicy techs for it, even the crusaders spawn without it. After that beeline for Guilds and your UU. Again trade it around for your friends; this will also pretty much ensure their survival through the mongol invasions.
-All in all my tech trades allowed me to build Narekavank, Bagrati Cathedral, Kizil Kule and Al-Jazari's Workshop. I got as far as Patronage.
-When you're up for it, found your 4th city (Kalabsha) 1NE from the northeastern Sorghum. It won't flip to Mamluks (if they spawn) and it will have a nice production.
-Then just build troops (Longbowmen, heavy infantry, trebutchets and Lancers) and march straight to Domyat, after 1250 of course.
-Make sure to hoard health resources!
-Here are some screenshots showing the city locations, etc:
Spoiler :
 
I dunno, I still like a Makurian Cairo best.:crazyeye:
 
I went the easy road and snatched Abbasid Tyre after the crusades made a mess out of the Levant. Fatimids were my best friends, I didn't want to attack them :)
 
I think I'd like the Timurids better if they started with more troops and needed to capture Persia.


Anyway, I played a Yemen game and started out like this
UHV's for Yemen.
3 Sufi Shrines by 1140:Build these in Sana'a, Mokha, and Zinjibar. A good plan is to build a Library and a Madrash in all three of the cities to attract Sufism.
Hold the title of Sharif of Herjaz in 1250:Rather easy. Basically this means to hold Mecca and Medina in 1250.
Secure or get by trade four coffee resources by 1500 AD:Ridiculously easy. Coffee can be found in Yemen,Hadramaut, and two around Aksum. You will need to found an additional city near Aksum to obtain the second Coffee.

Good Ideas:Try to convert to Sunnism shortly after the Ayyubids take over, trade to get Iron and get the horses before Oman does. Make Sana'a a great science city by settling lots of scientists. Build all the wonders that give +specialists of course. Keep a few of your UU in Sana'a, Mukalla, and Salalah to deter raids. I must have had about 20 attacks on the incense above Mukalla. Build roads around the fringes of your territory to get at the berbers quicker.

*As you can see, this land is rather...average. Too many mountains, too many deserts, not enough water, but it has many resources.
*Found Sana'a on spot
*Switch to Aristocracy, Organized Religion, slavery, Vassalage. Eventually get Religious law and Market Economy.
*Send your Skirmisher to Mecca, you might be able to snag a worker(I did) if you survive the javelinman attack(If you do, send the worker back undefended because nothing will attack and send the Skirmisher above in the desert to heal. Do NOT get too close to Medina because it's full of enemies.
*Found Mokha to the Southwest, east of the crab and southwest of the marble
*Tech to get Windmills as soon as possible.
*Found Zinjibar between citrus and copper south of Sana'a
*After finding out it's on TOP of the coffee I might have second thoughts on this, but so far I think the best city spot next is Mukalla, southeast of San'a, south two spots from one incense and southwest two spots from the other. In it's fat cross it'll have pearls and crab too.
*Make sure you build a War Galley or two and a Dhow in Mokha. Keep one War Galley to defend the fish.
*Make a Settler to found Salalah far to the west of Sana'a and southeast of horses, but since it's blocked by desert you have to load it onto a Dhow and send it over, protect the dhow with a War Galley if you think you need it.
*Even if Oman tries to flip Salalah, ignore their request and just keep a single marksman in there. The best they will do(or atleast did to me) is send a single javelinman to attack which has a 80 some % to lose to my marksman. Just don't send any workers there incase they flip and you're good when the borders enlarge again.
*Start building up an army in Sana'a(remember to build a barracks first) of axemen and trebuchets. 7 Axes and 2 Trebuchets were enough. You might want to build 3 marksmen to defend Mecca, Medina, and possibly Jerusalem if you're lucky.
*Obviously attack Mecca and Medina. This should be 100 years before you need it so if there's too many independents(unlikely) you can wait for more troops. If Jerusalem is independant or you can get the Fatimids/Ayyubids on your side, attack Jerusalem.
*Somewhere around this time you want to start converting your cities to Sunni Islam for diplomacy, especially if you intend to keep Jerusalem rather than gift it to the Ayyubids.
*Obviously build up science and buildings and stuff, make sure you tech Companies to reveal Coffee.
*If Saladin doesn't collapse and remains a Syrian Power, they might vassalize. This is when I gave Jerusalem back to them so they'd have a better chance of fighting the Normans.
*Invade Africa and take Aksum. Make sure you bring lots of missonaries(3 or 4). I founded Tiyo on the incense across the sea from Mokha, Debarwa 2 west of the spices and 2 east of the gold, and Al-Qadarif Northwest of the Coffee on the river west of Aksum.
*If you want you can take the (likely two) independent cities west of Al-Qadarif. While these cities have some potential they're not going to be useful to you if they're underdeveloped and you're about to win anyway. If you really need iron(try to get it early from someone else), you might want to take one of them.


National Wonders:Sana'a is great for National Archives and National Epic. Zinjibar is okay for Heroic Epic, but military isn't too important. Mecca is great for Royal Mint.
 
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