Great Khan,
The two columns of the Golden Horde have nearly reached the lands of the west. Blocking the way deeper into the land beyond the steppes are mighty empires; the Mameluke* Caliphate, the Byzantine Empire, and the Ottoman Turks. The Golden Horde is mighty, but we are stretched thin. No matter; we have persevered in the face of overwhelming numbers before and will do so again. 32 companies of Keshiks now stand ready. I have authorized the training of local tribesmen as auxiliaries. They do not have the life-long experience and skill of a Mongol, but they shall aid us in taking holding the land we conquer from the Caliphate and the Turkish Horde. Per your orders, we are in the process of setting up a Chinese bureaucracy, but this project is many years from completion. In the south, Tamur faces the Mamelukes and the Turks serpate from my own troops by the Ottomans horsemen. Our bases remain impregnable, protected by miles of barren steppes that the peoples of this land cannot hope to cross and survive.
Sabutai1140 AD
Note: I will refer to the Abassids as the Mamelukes for flavor purposes
Preturn: Well, we sure are in an intrusting strategic situation. We are faced with an immediate war with the Mamelukes (Abassids) in the south, and the Poles and the Kievan Rus box us in up north. No one will sell us maps right now, so we will be fighting blind for awhile. Preliminary plan is to forge an empire up north, smashing the various Scandinavian colonies the AI likes to build, while fighting defensively in the Middle East, depending on how much resistance the Horde ends up facing. Hit enter.
IBT: The Poles finish ROBIN HOODS in Wroclaw. I hadnt realized just how far along the tech tree theyd gotten; I hope we wont be facing Pikemen right out the gate. Our two cities get culture expansions and pop their missile units out.
Turn 1: Destroy the two Great Distance units holding us in. I find the animation pretty hilarious. Declare war on the Poles. The inhabitants of Warna dare to defy the horde, slaying a Keshik. They pay the ultimate price, and the Golden Horde burns their city to ashes! We also get a (rather useless) Golden Age as a result. In the south, the people of New Damascus wisely surrender to the Horde. The city controls an iron source (we can always sell it off) and will make a good forward base anyway. Striking across the desert wastes, the horde smashes the defenders of New Medina, whose citizens wisely surrender as well. Bad news as well: A company of Vassal Cavalry spots a regular pikemen defending an Abassid city. Didn't know we were this far along, although I should be used to the demigod tech pace by now. Unprepared for the lightning speed of the Golden Horde, two Mameluke laborer battalions are caught in the open and enslaved.
IBT: The Mamelukes (ansar warriors) themselves move up to counter-attack, but in their arrogance remain in the open. Do we strike now, without knowing how many follow in their wake?
Turn 2: A single Keshik blitzes New Mosul; there was only a single pike in it along with a spear. Promote to Elite. Kill the two Mamelukes (ansar warriors) approaching New Medina, one promotion, and one enslavement. The Elite goes after a pair of exposed workers, running into an Assassin. The Assassin is enslaved, the workers captured. Two more Ansars fall in Mesopotamia, 1 enslaved. Hattin falls next, and 2 more units are enslaved. A longbow company is seen in the fighting; Swiss mercs could be only a tech away! In the north, our Keshiks spot a Turkish settlement and move to attack it next turn. Another Polish town is targeted as well.
IBT: The Caliphate is craftier than we expected-their counter thrust comes not in the form of a cavalry charge, but in a swarm of Assassins are are. Our Keshiks retreat ability and decent defense means we do ok, but our offensive force in Mameluke territory is nearly overwhelmed by sheer numbers. We NEED a way to deal with Invisible units. MAJOR miscalculation on my part, I totally forgot how much the AI loves invisible units and spent all my time planning for an Ansar attack.
Turn 3: Kill 3 Assassins. Move three units with Blitz do make nice patrol units. At New Baghdad, an Elite Keshik slays a defending longbow and:
Ogedai! Keshik army time. Perfect timing.
In the north, Turkish Sliven and Polish Torun fall before the horde. Karakorum, our first self-built city, is founded near the ruins of Warna.
IBT: Assassins and Longbows counterattack. Lose a total of one vassal cav, thanks to the retreat ability.
Turn 4: Raze a Polish city halfway off the map. More skirmishes with the Mamelukes I the Middle East. Spot another Turkish border, but I think that the horde will take the German City of Hannover first
IBT: Lose two regular Vassal Cavalry to Abassid counters. Torun and New Medina continue rioting; cant starve the resistors, they surrendered.
Turn 5: Capture Polish Denizil, enslaving two cavalrymen. Trade WM+10 gold to the Germans for contact with the Celts, then declare war on them and take Hanover. They surrender, and shall be spared the wrath of the Horde. Oghedi forms the Golden Horde in New Damascus, the sword that shall cut the throat of the Mamelukes! Speaking of Mamelukes, kill 4 Assassins, two longbows, one archer, and one pikeman. Our attack on Basra destroys the barracks. Poland will now give us Castle Building and two workers for peace. Buy Castle Building from the Celts for 250 gold to open up more valuable techs, higher up in tech tree.
IBT: Lost 3 Keshiks to Mameluke counters. All offensive forces are being pulled back next turn; the army is definitely needed. The Bulgars ask us to leave-they are Gracious towards us, maybe because their leader is the long-lost twin of the Great Khan.
Turn 6: Entering the next age has the side effect of opening up the Arab tech tree for us; I remember this being in the scenario introduction but had forgotten about it. Presumably, we can build Assassins if we get the tech, which would obviously be better than waiting until warrior monks for a unit that can spot, invisible. Rjazan and Merv switched to libraries. The Poles will give us Early Siegecraft and Code of Laws for peace now. The Golden Horde attacks Basra, slaying two pikemen, enslaving one.
IBT: Usual Assassin attacks. The Germans sign the Castilians into an MA against us. Were real scared, Otto.
Turn 7: The horde has begun to penetrate into Turkish territory. A pike and a spear are slain in Aydin. Two spears slain in a German Siberian colony, which has its name, covered by the fog. Slay 4 Assassins and 1 longbow. The Golden Horde takes Basra:
Raze the city. It will just culture flip and we have settler sitting around waiting for something to do.
IBT: More Mamelukes counters attack, lose 1 vassal cavalry. They are attacking with normal archers now for some reason. The Germans found Bonn; down in the Middle East near where New Baghdad was razed.
Turn 8: Found Ta-Tu, up in the Russian Steppes. Aydin falls to the Horde. Plovdiv, the German Mystery City falls next. Two Bulgar swords stand right next to it; the Bulgars must be at war with the Germans, explaining their attitude towards us right now. Kazan is founded near the ruins of Basra. The Golden Horde slays the defenders of Mameluke Ascalon, taking the city. Keshik armies are just insane! We keep it; it is not suffering from the same cultural pressure Basra was. An overzealous Keshik spots Baghdad to the south; uh-oh, not only are more longbows moving up, but also Baghdad is now defended by a veteran Swiss Mercenary. Buy Jihad from the Cordovans for 160 gold +WM.
IBT: The Germans sign the Magyars to an MA against us. Oh well, one more steppe city and some slaves for the Horde.
Turn 9: Vezpren and Stuttgart fall to the horde. Neither city is worth anything, but since we are going for domination. Antalya is next.
Turn 10: Kill 5-6 Assassins or so. The Golden Horde is on the road to Baghdad. The people of that wondrous city can hear the thunder of hooves fast approaching, and pray desperately to Allah for salvation. But no salvation is coming, for the Mongols are demons! MUWHAHAHAHHAHAAHHA. Ahem. Antalya is attacked. One Keshik dies, the next slays a pike and reveals
and unfortified Swiss Merc. Uh-oh. He slays another Keshik before falling, but we capture the size-11 city. Iron, Horses, and 50 Gold to the Kievan Rus for Code of Laws and WM. From the way their Berserks are acting, the Rus are probably at war with the Turks as well (they are polite towards us as well) We now have a complete strategic picture; although this will make the game run even slower. The map reveals that the Poles have no more cities in range right now, so we might as well take peace. Peace and 95 gold to the Poles gets Map Making and Early Siege craft for us.
Notes: Doc, this was a real blast to play, and probably the best of the middle ages modified maps so far just because it is so different from a normal game on this map. We will definitely want to keep up the pressure on the Turks and the Mamelukes. These are the big dogs, and we want to link up our burgeoning empire at some point. Baghdad and Medina are all that stands between the Mameluke Core, and us and we have already reached the Turkish second ring. The Turks are a lot bigger, and although they dont have any were near the troops that the Mamelukes have they are definitely still a threat, although I have yet to see any Siphai.
The Apocalypse has begun!
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Pretty realistic, right?
