Songhai - Abe's New EU3 Dynasty - Complete!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Hello all and welcome to the newest EU3 campaign featuring yours truly. I just d/led both expansions and fully patched this baby up. It appears that there are more changes in the two patches from EU3, then there were from EU2 to EU3. Where EU3 featured some new ideas like National Ideas and recruiting generals and admirals, and a different philosophy behind the events engine, it also was very similar to EU2. However, the patches and expansions have completely renovated areas of the game such as colonies.

I will be beginning on October 14, 1399. The two expansions increased the play time of the game until 1821.

I will be playing until I get bored, or I am done. I do not promise a full Grand Campaign, which can take weeks to play.

So, without further ado, let’s get started.

[Abe Sargent]

Who to play? Well, I try to stay away from things I’ve done before. I’ve played as Trebizond, Naxos, Oldenberg, Mataram, Grenada, Wallachia and in CK as Salerno (S Italy), Halsingland (Sweden), Lubeck (North Germany), and a losing triad of games in the Middle East.

I have played Hindu, Muslim, Catholic and Orthodox. I have played only Asia and Europe.

My favorite dynasty of all time was Mataram, no doubt. It was fun building an empire to rival any other in the Indies and later in India. I am looking for something really interesting, so let’s look and see what’s around.

Byzantium - Down to just their capital of Thrace, Byzantium is surrounded by the Ottoman Empire. It would be interesting to see if I could get a win out of Byzantium. However, this might be too similar to the Naxos campaign.

Benin - This little one province minor power in Africa is next to states in Hausa and Oyo. It is on the coast east of Whydah. It is an Animist religion. AKA nasty. It has Ivory, which is a solid enough. It sees adjacent Oyo’s two provinces, Hausa’s provinces, and two unclaimed, one of which is adjacent to Benin.

Ashanti - This one province inland empire is near Benin. It is also Animist. Ashanti’s one province is gold, which means you might make a solid amount of money, but your inflation is likely to go astronomical. You can only see one adjacent province, owned by Mali with is ten provinces. You only see Mali’s ten provinces on your map, and naught else.

Being an Animist means you will see a lot of problems doing things like gaining technology.

Songhai - This three province Islamic state is in central Africa, adjacent to the northern parts of Hausa and Mali’s province of Timbuktu, which is also the Center of Trade for the area. As an Islamic state, it will get that group’s tech advances, and develop more quickly than some neighbors. You can also see Benin and Oyo on your maps, but not Ashanti. The provinces of Benin are poorer, with one salt and two grain. You are adjacent to the unclaimed land of Nupe as well, for future colonization purposes.

So, although it is poor, it appears that Songhai’s three provinces and position give it several advantages. One, it is right next to a COT it can try to grab in war. That jacks up its value. Two, it can advance more quickly than some neighbor states (although Mali and Hausa are also Islamic). Three, it is in a better position to gobble up neighbors than other states. The five provinces of North Hausa have four grains among them, and one salt. The good salt province, with over 20k people, is right next to Songhai and easily cut off in war from its brethren. Hausa’s south two provinces are both slaves, and I want to steer clear of those, because they have such a cheap value right now. Both of the Oyo provinces are grain as well. So before you think that Songhai is in a bad place economically with 2/3rds grain, just know that most other neighbors are similarly scathed. Fourth, when the big bads from up north, like Morocco, come down the desert, Songhai is easily defended, using the Sahara as a natural defense.

If I am interested in repeating my Mataram experience in Asia, there are one province states like Makassar and Ryukyu available to select.

I could play as one of the Native American tribes - Creek, Cherokee, Shawnee, Iroquois and Huron. They have between four and seven provinces each and are ideally situated to be eaten by the European powers when they arrive.

The Chimu are a one province nation surrounded by the Incas. There are also the Mayas and Zapotec as well.

Perhaps one province Sukhothai, in SE Asia would be nice. You begin with a decent enough map. You are just a grain province. You also have less people in your state than in every adjacent province. Every adjacent province is part of a multi province country, so no easy expansion for you, and eventually you have to deal with China.

The Shawnee, of which I am a descendant partially, have six provinces, four furs and two grains. The populations in these provinces are very low, virtually colonial level. The Shawnee capital, Ohio, for example has just 1000 people in it. The Shawnee are a Shamanist nation. The nearby Creek and Cherokee have better possession, including cotton and tobacco provinces. The Creek have five cotton provinces. The Cherokee have one cotton and two tobacco, plus one furs, one naval supplies, and two grain. In at least the game I opened, the Shawnee begin with an option to hire a level six trade tech advisor right off the bat.

So, who do I play?

Well, let’s take a poll!

[Abe Sargent]

Here is the poll with the final five choices - Benin, Songhai, Shawnee, Makassar, and Sukhothai.


http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...ad.php?t=69268

[Abe Sargent]

It looks like Shawnee is the runaway choice. Let’s get started!

We will begin with a look at the six provinces that I begin the game with:

Ohio - Our Capital. 1000 Shawnee Shamanists work the fur trade here. Furs have decent trade values at the beginning of the game. We are making 3.8 ducats annually here. That makes this our wealthiest province.

Wea - Directly west of Ohio is the province of Wea. 1500 Delaware also work the Fur trade here. It makes us 2 ducats annually. Wea and Ohio are our northernmost provinces.

Kentucky - In between Ohio and Wea, and south of both lies the fur province of Kentucky. 3001 Shawnee work the fur trade making 2.91 ducats annually. This is our most populated province. It is completely surrounded by four of our provinces.

Cumberland - South of Kentucky and Ohio is our province of Cumberland. 2001 Shawnee work the Fur trade here making us 2 ducats annually. This province borders the Cherokee province of Cherokee.

Pennyrile - West of Cumberland, and south of Kentucky and Wea is the grain province of Pennyrile. 2501 Shawnee work here, making us 2.73 ducats annually. It just touches the Cherokee province of Tennessee.

Shawnee - Our southernmost province of Shawnee is south of Pennyrile and Cumberland. 1200 Shawnee work the grain trade, making us just 0.93 ducats annually. It is adjacent to Cherokee and Chickasaw and Tuskegee and Tennessee, all Cherokee provinces.


We have 1000 archers in Ohio, and we see 1000 Cherokee troops in Tuskegee.

We have 50 ducats in the bank. We are currently at Tech 0 in every category.

[Abe Sargent]

We have unclaimed land all around us. The provinces of Cahokia, Kaskaskia, Miami, Wyandot, Erie, Kanawha and Monacan are around us. In this game, you do not know what trade good a province has until you’ve settled it, and it is determined randomly.

There are several ways I can try to do this. I can try to build some armies and out manpower the Cherokee and take a province or two. If I were to do that, I’d want their most valuable non-capital province - Cheraw, which is not adjacent to me. I’d also like Cherokee itself to provide a land connection to Cheraw. If it goes well, I’d want Catawba as well, next to Cheraw.

We have a Tribal Democracy. We can switch to Tribal Despotism or Tribal Federation right now. Tribal Despotism is good for war, because you get +20% to your manpower, and this appears to be a small manpower on manpower battle. It would cost us four stability to move, and that would hurt us in the short term for a while before we got back up.

I went to take a look at our tech and saw a very disturbing thing. We have to get 148000 production points in order to increase one tech! That’s crazy! I went and looked at other countries. I loaded up Castille and they need 3300 to increase. I loaded up Sukhotai and they need 3800. We need 148000, which means we will never, not once, increase our techs in the game. We will be level zero, or perhaps one, for the entire game. That means we will never be able to defeat the Europeans, no matter the odds. A level 5 tech can trounce a level 1 most of the time, but you have a fighting chance. A level 10 can defeat a level 5 usually, but again, there’s a chance. You can fight in terrain that suits you, have more men, attack when they are exhausted, and so forth. A level 20 force, or higher, will never lose to a level 1, no matter the odds or situation. 1000 European troops will, literally, run through my entire nation, and there is nothing I can do about it. I cannot put all of my efforts into infrastructure and research, I cannot build forts ( I don’t have the tech yet), I cannot do anything.

To be fair, I think that’s probably an attempt to make the encounter between the Europeans and natives portray themselves realistically.

I loaded a game as Chimu because I wanted to see if the North Amercian tribe biases continue into the Central and South America empires. Instead of needing 148000, I need 116000. The anticipated date when my techs will get better by one is May, 2990. Again, just ridiculous.

This makes the American natives essentially unplayable, to my mind. The Incas need 241725 and will tech up in September, 3982. Silly.

With these nations being such mega push-overs, I wonder why they were made playable at all.

Why even bother?

[Abe Sargent]

By comparison, here are the numbers for the other countries I was considering:

Benin - 18165 - which is still six times that of Castille. You start at all ones.

Songhai - 16758 - Still bad. I thought this would be a lot better than it is. Yuck. All ones.


Makassar - 3492. Not bad at all. Start with all 3s.

Sukkoth - 3828. Start with all 3s.


It appears, in this game, that the nations are generally in this order (with some exceptions of course):

Western Europe. Eastern Europe and Middle East. Asia. Africa. America.

Actually it appears that Songhai does not get the Muslim tech group, despite being a Muslim nation. They get the African one, which is really bad.

Now that I know that they suck more than I thought, I am going to switch to Songhai. Benin’s map sucks, and Songhai at least has three provinces to draw upon.

[Abe Sargent]

SONGHAI

We are a Muslim nation in the African tech group. We have a Despotic Monarchy. We are ruled by Mar-Arkana. He is a two star Admin, zero diplo, and two start military guy.

Our Provinces:

Tadimekket - This salt province sees 4002 Tuareg Sunnis make us 3.68 ducats annually. This is our northernmost province, and it is adjacent to the Mali province of Timbuktu.

Gao - South of Tadimekket and east of Timbuktu, lies our capital in Gao. Despite our Sunni-ness, our capital is Animist. 9500 Malinese people work the grain harvest here, making us 5.21 ducats annually.

Dendi - South and east of Tadimekket and Gao is Dendi, our final province. It has 7003 Sunni Malinese people harvesting grain and making 2.31 ducats for us annually. It is next to three northern Hausa provinces - Zamfara, Katsina, and Gobir.

We have 1000 spearmen in Gao.

[Abe Sargent]

My Goals:

1). Establish economic superiority by taking Timbuktu as quickly as possible.
2). Defeat a major power in the area to gain breathing space and military might. Perhaps taking land from Mali will serve both of our goals here.
3). Conquer or vassalize all Eastern African powers.
4). Begin colonizing Africa
5). Stop the encroachment of Europe into Africa
6). Turn Africa Islamic
7). Take every African province, either by politics, sword or colonization. This includes the islands around Africa. I am happy to loosely determine what islands are “around” Africa.

I am not interested with playing around with provinces outside of Africa. Perhaps, down the road, I might grab Mecca or something, because I am an Islamic nation, after all, but outside of that, I want to tsay very clear of places outside of Africa.

[Abe Sargent]

I choose to move our slider to be more Innovative which causes us to lost five prestige after an event triggers.

We have al-Amin Ouedraogo available as an advisor, a 6 star (the best available) for land tech investment, and I absolutely hire him. It will hurt our economy to do so, but I simply must use this resource.

This drops our ducats from 50 to 32. I adjust our treasury sliders to help us out.

Here is the area.

I immediately prepare for war. We need to take it to the Malinese immediately.

My ruler takes on the role of general and I order troops built in Gao.

[Abe Sargent]

Took me a bit but I think I figured out how to post the image of the starting area. Let's see.

[Abe Sargent]

Tell if you can or can't see that

[Abe Sargent]

The Favor of Fortune


1 Nov, 1399 - We discover the province of Gurma, an unclaimed province next to Gao and Dendi.
Dec 26, 1399 - 1000 more spearmen are built in Gao. I order 2000 mercs assembled.

Jan 15, 1400 - I complete a mission to Create an Army for our nation. The next one is to Accumulate Money, since we are sitting at a low treasury due to my efforts to build an army. Missions are new from the expansions, and are your advisors suggestions for things to do, and you get benefits if you do them.

Jan 30 - 1400 - 4000 troops are ready in Gao and I Declare War against Mali and order them into Timbuktu. I order 1000 more mercs to be prepared. Our stability drops massively.

We fail the Money mission and now gain a Keep Our Capital Safe mission.

13 Feb - We are trade embargoed by Mali.

Feb 19 - We arrive in, and therefore capture Timbuktu. I order our troops in further. Our last 1000 mercs are assembled in Gao and I order them to Timbuktu.

March 1 - Rebels have captured the eastern five provinces of Mali.

March 6 - Our independence has been guaranteed by Hausa.

March 9 - Our 4000 forces arrive in and capture Massina. I order them further into Malinese territory.

March 27 - We capture Segu. I order them in further.

April 24 - We arrive in Bambuk and capture it. 1000 troops have arrived in Jenne and capture it as well. I order our troops in further.

I see 8933 Malinese troops fighting 1600 rebels in an adjacent province, but I order our troops on nonetheless.

May 1 - We discover Yatenga, an unclaimed province next to Timbuktu, Gao, Massina and Jenne.

May 12 - Our 1000 troops capture Wasuju. I order them on. We have to take out a loan of 35 ducats.

May 16 - We capture Futa Jallon with our 4000 troop army.

May 29 - We capture Bure with our 1000 army. I order our troops on.

June 1 - Our stability improves.

June 16 - We capture Gabu. I order them on. As the Malinese army fights rebels, we claim their territory.

July 3 - We capture Cayor, leaving just one province of Mali in the hands of the rebels, while the Malinese army fights the rebels in that province. Now is the time for a peace offer.

July 5 - We accept peace with Mali for four provinces. This also completes the Mission to keep our Capital safe. I disband two thousand mercs and order our two thousand troops we built ourselves to our new provinces while 1000 heads back to Timbuktu.

[Abe Sargent]

Here is what we gained:

Timbuktu - this was the main prize. 14093 Malinese Sunnis work the salt trade here making us 22.64 ducats annually. This is a COT. It is next to our provinces at Tadimekket, Gao and Massina.

Massina - Just a small grain province. 8000 Mali Animists make us 2.20 annually. It is adjacent to Timbuktu, and three Mali provinces. Taking it means we can defend it, rather than Timbuktu, in future wars out west.

Gabu - This coastal province is west of our holdings in Futa Jallon and connects with two Mali provinces. 8000 Animists of Senegambian descent harves grain and make us 2.20 ducats annually.

Futa Jallon - This ivory province is adjacent to three Mali provinces and east and inland of Gabu. 14500 Animists here make us 3.37 ducats annually.

Note that Futa Jallon and Gabu are several provinces away from our other holdings, so I hope to secure them for a while until we can connect with them.


Goal 1 Complete in less than a year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Tell if you can or can't see that

Yep, it's there. A bit large, but definitely there.

[Abe Sargent]

Consolidation of Inequities


We discovered the Coast of Gambia when we captured Gabu, adjacent to it.

During the war, Hausa took Benin and established a COT in Gobir, which is right next to our province of Dendi.

July 6 - We enter into a Royal Marriage with Hausa. We get a mission to repay our loans.

We have significant revolt risks in our conquered provinces. For the next few years, we need to work on our stability, finances, and get that revolt risk down.

Aug 1 - We Discover Borgu, next to Dendi to its south.

Oct 15 - I hire a couple of one star stability advisors to help us temporarily in this area.

Dec 1 - We discover Konian, south of Futa Jallon. I’ll let you know if any of these are inhabited by nation state.
Feb 21, 1401 - Mali rejects our royal marriage proposal.

Apr 1 - We discover Azawadd

Kanem Bornu and Hausa are at war. KB has already captured the five northern provinces of Hausa.

June 1 - We get a Patriot revolt in Gabu (There are many different kinds of revolts now, with different force sizes, different intents, and so forth. For example, a religion revolt might change the religion of captured provinces, whereas a Patriot one will create Nationalism in any provinces it captures.)

June 29 - We defeat the rebels in Gabu.

Aug 1 - Our stability increases.

Sept 3 - We have lost Gabu and Futa Jallon after our forces were driven out with Animist revolters spilling over from Mali provinces. I retreat with my forces and intend to go back after they leave my territory.

Oct 1 - We discover Sierra Leone.

Oct 7 - We have a revolt in Gao and it is lost. The Rebels move into the adjacent province of Yatenga, and attack the natives there.

Oct 10 - We recapture Gabu,

Oct 28 - We recapture Gao and Futa Jallon.

Kanem Bornu has taken all five Hausa provinces in the north and is now our neighbor.

Nov 6 - We send a diplomat to Kanem Bornu and enter into a trade agreement with them.

Jan 8, 1402 - The rebels finally won in Yatenga and march on. They are cut in size down to 3000.

Feb 8 - The rebels have left my map, so they must have gone into land which is currently Terra Incognito.

Mar 27 - Mali has finally defeated the rebels in their province of Bambuk.

Apr 17 - We lose Gabu after those rebels arrive.

May 5 - We have an event - We gained a gift to the estate and I put it in the treasury so we gained 100 ducats

May 6 - The rebels arrive in Futa jallon and attack our forces.

1 Aug - Our stability increases.

Aug 10 - We lose in Futa Jallon and it is captured by rebels.

Aug 29 - We recapture Gabu with our defeated forces.

Sept 6 - I order spearmen built in Massina and Timbuktu.

Sept 19 - We recapture Futa Jallon.

Oct 7 - Mali rejects another RM proposal.

[Abe Sargent]

Entanglements in Court

Oct 9 - Kanem Bornu accepts our offer of a military alliance.

Perfect, that protects our right flank. I recruit a general for our Timbuktu armies.

Jan 1, 1403 - I disband our remaining 1k merc troops and order another 1000 spearmen to replace them in Massina.

Mar 15 - The rebels are finally put down by the Malinese infantry.

Mar 22 - Kanem Bornu grants us military access after we ask for it.

Oyo’s province of Oyo has succeeded and taken the name of Benin. Oyo is now a one province.

We now have 3000 troops in Massina and 2000 in Futa Jallon. I order 1000 more in Futa Jallon. This uses up the manpower we’ve been building over these past years.

June 20 - 2000 Animist rebels rise up in Massina and attack our troops here.

Aug 1 - Our stability increases.

Sept 10 - We defeat the rebels in Massina with just 160 troops lost on our side.

I order Missionaries to Gao. Unlike previous games, this is now an up keeping event, that continues until successful or you cancel it. Your have to upkeep the missionary effort, and the more you pay per year, the more successful your efforts are. Your revolt risk rises as well during these times.

Oct 9 - After capturing the Mali province of Jenne, our Animist rebels have returned to harass us again in Massina.

Nov 2 - We drive them away. Again.

April 1, 1404 - There are some Pretender Rebels making noise in the former Hausa provinces of Kanem Bornu. Hopefully they won’t cross into our nation at Dendi.

April 13 - I send missionaries to Futa Jallon.

June 22 - Our east army arrives in Dendi, just in case.

Aug 1 - Stability increases

Sept 14 - Mali rejects another RM request.

Oct 23 - I give military access to Kanem Bornu

[Abe Sargent]

Conflicts Continued

May 1, 1405 - We repay our loan. We lose an inflation because we met our mission goal. We get the next mission, which is to Improve Our Prestige.

June 5 - Our truce with Mali expires in a month. Will they attack me? I don’t have a lot of money after starting the missionaries and repaying our loan and building our military up.

Aug 1 - Our stability improves to +3 - the best it can get. I fire our advisors that help stability.

Sept 1 - We discover Taodeni.

Mar 6, 1406 - I order another 1000 spearman in Futa Jallon.

Apr 21 - A pretender rebel army arose in Segu, a Malinese province and is moving deeper into their territory.

June 17 - Our ruler dies. Da Ud I is our new ruler with an Admin of 5, Military of 7, and Diplo of 5, he’s pretty solid.

July 19 - We have a small rebellion in Futa Jallon.

Aug 15 - Our east general died.

September 3 - And we put it down.

I make my ruler a general and assign him to the west army. It looks like Mali has removed many of their missionaries - or they were destroyed by rebels if that’s possible with the new system (I imagine it might be)

Jan 7, 1407 - Mali rejects another RM. We proclaim guarantees against Oyo and Benin.

Jan 11, 1407 - I have an opportunity and I am taking it. While the only Mali army is busy up in the corner of their territory with rebels, I DOW them. I move my troops into Bambuk.

Jan 15 - I order war taxes to be collected.

Jan 24 - Bambuk is ours.

Feb 5 - We capture Bure.

Feb 25 - We capture Wasuju.

Mar 4- We capture Segu

Mar 10 - We capture Jenne.

Mar 12 - They accept peace for four provinces and 75 ducats. We have gained a motherload. Ready?

[Abe Sargent]

Jenne - This peaceful little provinces is south of Massina and Segu, and adjacent to the Mali province of Wasuju. Ashanti is also next door be we haven’t discovered it yet. 18000 Animists work the grain trade here, making 4.74 ducats for us annually.

Segu - West of Massina and Jenne, north of the Mali province of Wasuju, east of our new provinces in Bambuk and Bure lies Segu. The 13000 Mali Animists here grow grain and make 3.9 ducats.

Bure - Recently converted to Sunni by Mali, 14076 Mali people here mine the gold mines, making 72.24 ducats annually. Watch out for inflation. This province is south of Bambuk and Segu, and west of Futa Jallon and east of the Mali province of Wasuju.

Bambuk - This gold province has 9779 Mali Animists making us 65.72 ducats annually. It is north of Bure and Futa Jallon, west of Segu, and east of the Mali province of Wolof.


Mali is down to three provinces. Wolof, Cayor and Wasuju, which is surrounded virtually by us.

With our winnings from the war, I order us to build 4000 more infantry which will probably normally be stationed in Segu.

Looks like we accomplished the second goal, mostly. Mali was a pushover (Very historically realistic, in real life Songhai would just overwhelm Mali with ease marching to the coast, but it didn't happen for another 100 years or so, we just accelerated the real life timeline).

Looks like its map time.

[Abe Sargent]

After 8 Years and Two Wars with Mali:

[Abe Sargent]

Regionalism Over Nationalism

Apr 19 - I recruit a new general for our east army.

May 1 - We discover the Coast of Guinea.

July 30 - We now have a 4000 army in Segu. I order another 1000 built in Gao. That will put us at 4000 in each army.

Aug 29 - The heretics of Futa Jallon have converted!

Sept 11 - Gao has also converted!

Nov 11 - I proclaim a guarantee for Mali, just in case someone comes by and wants to poach our neighbors. I order another 2000 troops built.

Dec 11 - We have a Peasant revolt in Futa Jallon and they are marching to Bambuk. I order my men to Futa Jallon and Bambuk. Futa Jallon has gained Tax Revolt for a year, and will only give me 50% of its normal tax income.

Dec 27 - Bambuk is captured and now suffers Tax Revolt for a year.

Jan 3 - 1408 - We recapture Futa Jallon.

Jan 5 - Our 4000 strong Segu army arrives in Bambuk to protest the rebel’s presence.

Jan 16 - Our 4000 Gabu army arrives to join the protest. Our army is now 8000 strong here.

Mar 9 - We lose in Bambuk. I order the 2000 we just built to join our army.

Mar 13 - We lose Bure. Tax Revolt and all that.

April 7 - We lose in Futa Jallon. We recaptured Bambuk. A Meteor is sighted. Our stability drops.

Apr 12 - We recapture Bure.

I’m going to skip all of the give and take for a while and just do it.

May 10, 1409 - We finally defeat the rebels in Jenne.

July 1 - Our stability increases. We discover Kumasi. That means we have discovered the Ashanti. I proclaim a guarantee against this one province gold nation.

An important point. The rebels captured Wasuju. Will they declare independence after a while? It was a peasant revolt, so I am not sure. Perhaps we’ll find out.

Our Prestige fell to -7 too after several losses to rebels.

Oct 3 - We proclaim a guarantee for Kanem Bornu.

Nov 1 - I hire a few stability advisors.

[Abe Sargent]

Friends and Foes Found


Feb 9, 1410 - We can change a slider. I order us to move towards Innovate again. This time, we notch an advisor because we are gathering the intelligencia. It’s a level 2 Trade Tech guy, so I drop one of my stability bonus advisors for Salman Diarra.

Feb 17 - We have a rebellion in Segu. Its pretty large so I marches my Timbuktu army over to help.

June 15 - We defeat the rebels in Segu and they move into Terra Incognito.

I order another 1000 spearmen drafted and trained and equipped.

Sokototian Nationalists arrive in Dendi and took it. It will now experience Nationalism for ten years. They are all over Kanem Bornu’s area. They are having a massive rebel problem right now. Like we did for a year. I order troops over to recapture Dendi and guard our border.

July 1 - Sokoto declares independence from Kanem Borno, which brings with them the five provinces adjacent to us that used to be part of Hausa that were taken by Kanem Bornu. There is now a new player on the map. They leave our Dendi alone. They are an Animist state, despite having two Sunni provinces, Kano and Gobir.

The first thing I do is proclaim a guarantee on them as well. Helps relations and gives you casus bellis on those who may feel otherwise.

Sokoto has over 10000 troops already.

Sept 8 - I leave our alliance with Kanem Bornu. They are now nothing and appear to be a one province power.

Sept 11 - I get an event - Growth of Cities attract Serfs. Choices:

We Have to Accept This. Lose one stability. Lose one tax base in Gabu. Gain one in Gao.
The Serfs Belong on Their Turf. Gain two serfdom on the sliders.

I don’t want to be two on the slider. So I accept it, even though it means we lose a stability.

Oct 7 - Sokoto accepted a military alliance with us.

Jan 2, 1411 - I ask for an receive military access through Sokoto.

Apparently the revolt in Wasuju ended without being lifted.

Feb 1, we discover Brakna

Feb 6, 1411 - We give military access to Sokoto

[Abe Sargent]

Allegiance Gained and Blood Continued


I declare war on Ashanti. Since they are a different religion (Animist) there is no loss of stability.

I order troops in Jenne into Ashanti’s single province of Kumasi.

Mar 5 - We won.

Apr 5 - We force Ashanti to become our vassal and they give us 650 gold.

A fine two months work.

I send missionaries to Jenne, Gabu and Segu. I order 7000 troops built in various parts of the empire.

May 1 - Stability increase

Nov 1 - I order another 2000 troops built.

Jan 3, 1412 - We have the sixth largest infantry army in the world after Ming, Golden Horde, Timurid Empire, France and Japan. We have 24828 infantry. We can’t build cavalry yet. However, other nations that have less infantry beat us in total troops.

June 22 - Segu converted to Islam.

Oct 1 - We discovered Wagadugi

Oct 11 - Our ruler died and we got a new one. Say hello to Harangi I, with an Admin of 7, Military of 3, and Diplo of 7.

We renew our Royal Marriage with Kanem Bornu.

[Abe Sargent]

Struggles Through the Night


Dec 1 - Stability increases.

Dec 15 - We establish an embassy in Dendi using the province decision panel. This will last for ten years, jacks our relations with Sokoto by 50, taxes in Dendi are at -0.05%, spy defense there is up ten percent and local defensiveness is up 5 percent. This costs no money or diplomats or anything.

Feb 1, 1413 - We send missionaries to Bambuk.

I send Mali a gift.

Mar 6 - I do it again.

May 2 - And yet another is sent.

May 10 - Benin is attacked by Hausa. I DOW Hausa because I have a Casus Belli since I guaranteed Benin’s independence. It will take a while to get down there, though.

June 25 - the 1000 troops of Benin are being assaulted by Hausa. I just need them to hold out a bit longer.

July 8 - Benin knocked back the Hausa assault.

July 21 - We arrive in Benin with 6000 troops. I order them to the province of Benin, currently under control of Hausa.

20 August - We win the Battle of Benin and capture it. I order my troops on.

Aug 31 - Hausa sends us a peace offer of White Peace. I laugh them away.

Sept 12 - We arrive in Bonny, win that battle, and capture it as well. I immediately sue for peace.

We get Benin, some ducats, and their vassalization. Their other two provinces are cheap and chincy slave provinces, worth very little. Benin was the major prize here.


Benin - 14040 work the ivory trade in this port city. The Yorumba Animists here make us 4.99 ducats. We are south of Benin on Oyo, south of Oyo in Ife, and west of Hausa in Bonny. We discovered the Gulf of Nigeria as well.

I send a gift to Mali again.

[Abe Sargent]

Gifts Ungiven


Sept 23 - We have a revolt of 5000 Animist Zealots in Jenne, but luckily I have a bunch of troops here.

Jan 20, 1414 - We defeat the rebels in Jenne. I recruit a general.

Apr 17 - Another gift sent to Mali.

May 1 - Another stability increase. One more and we are maxed again.

10 June - My previous mission to increase our prestige worked, and now we gain more prestige plus one stability, so we are maxed. I sack our stability advisor.

Our new Mission is to let our manpower grow back.

July 16 - Another gift to Mali is shipped.

Aug 18 - Another follows.

Nov 1 - And another.

Feb 3, 1415 - And yet one more.

April 1 - We discover Idah

May 2 - Revolt in Bambuk, another Animist Zealot revolt, of 4k.

July 29 - We win in Bambuk.

Aug 1 - We discover Whydah

Aug 3 - Another gift sent to Mali. Perhaps the last one.

Sept 4 - There are rebels in Ashanti’s province of Kumasi. I request military access and get it, and order my troops in Jenne in.

Oct 3 - We win in Kumasi.

Oct 14 - Peeasant rebellion in Bure. They capture it, Tax Revolt, etc.

Nov 1 - We complete the manpower mission, and our prestige again takes a hike and we lose some war exhaustion, not that it mattered.

Our next mission is to Incorporate Hausa into Our Country.

Nov 5 - Rebels arrived in Segu and more Tax Revolt, etc.

We arrive to protest their presence.

Dec 10 - We lose in Segu.

Dec 23 - They capture Bambuk.

Jan 9, 1416 - they capture Futa Jallon

Jan 29 - We recapture Segu

Feb 20 - We capture Bambuk.

May 3 - We win in Futa Jallon and break the rebels. Rebellion over. Our Missionary to Bambuk was taken when it was captured.

I decide to send on e last gift to Mali, maximizing our relations.

June 16 - We are now in a Royal Marriage with Mali.

Oct 2 - We are now in an alliance with Mali. Perfect.

Oct 12 - Mali cancels our alliance. Seriously? After all of the work I put into it? Fine then.

[Abe Sargent]

Lessons Given...


Nov 12 - I make a claim on the throne of Mali. I go ahead and hire a 2 star stability tech advisor. I’m going to need him. I have a CB for a year.

Dec 12 - I sent an insult.

Jan 13, 1417 - I send an insult.

April 1 - We discover Worodugu

April 7, 1417 - I DOW Mali for the last time. I don’t want her janky grain and slave provinces, I want her to bow down to me.

Our stability drops two.

April 24 - We capture their capital of Wasuju,

April 26 - We win in Wolof.

May 6 - I get a peace offer for them to renounce their claims on my territory and give me some ducats. Nope, I’m taking this all the way.

May 9 - We win in Cayor and capture it. We now have all three provinces and have destroyed their army. I simply await a diplomat to force peace

June 17 - I send a missionary to Benin.

July 2 - We are now at peace with Mali. We got 150 ducats, they are our vassals, and they agreed to give up their cores on all of our provinces that were formerly theirs. That’s what ya get for withdrawing from my alliance Mali.

[Abe Sargent]

...On Both Fronts


Aug 12 - I send a spy to increase the revolt risk for Gobir. I have a success rate of 83% and a discover rate of 53%. We both succeed and are not discovered. The revolt risk there increases by 3%. That only cost me ten gold, but it looks like it lasts just one year. That’s probably not worth it in the long term.

Apr 29, 1418 - We convert the heathens in Benin.

June 1 - Stability increase.

It appears like things are all quiet on the western front now. We’ve vassalized Mali and Ashanti, and taken multiple valuable properties. The remaining powers in the east, save one, are small and have no provinces we want, such as the power of Oyo, Benin and Hausa.

That leaves one major power left for us to tackle - our allies Sokoto. They have Gobir, a COT next to us in Dendi with Sunni brothers. I could also take Kano, a sunni grain province that would cut off the other three grain provinces.

The only problem with that is that Sokoto has their capital in Gobir. That’s bad news for us. We cannot just take it in war. I’d have to take grain provinces just to reduce its size. I’m told by ledger that Sokoto has 9 provinces. I only see five so there are four others out there. If I take some of their territory, then slowly I can discover the territory next to it. The problem with that is that the first war with Sokoto would be for relatively valueless grain provinces and not really hurt their ability to wage war in the second war. I prefer to economically cripple an opponent in the first war if possible, and I cannot do that here.

I send a spy to subvert the population in Kano, and begin to consolidate my forces for a possible strike much later down the road.

I order 3000 men built.


Nov 17 - I revoke Sokoto’s military access to our country.

Dec 27 - I dissolve our alliance.

Mar 19, 1419 - I DOW Sokoto.

I order 10000 troops in Dendi into Gobir and a follow up army in en route.

10 April - We capture Gobir.

April 23 - Our main arrives in Katsina from Gobir and assaults the 3000 strong Sokoto army.

April 28 - We win in Katsina.

May 1 - Our backup army captured Zamara.

May 15 - Our army arrives in Kano and attacks the forces there

May 16 - Our backup army arrives in Zazzau and captures it.

May 21 - We win in Kano. I order my troops to march into opposing Terra Incognita that they control, which you could do in EU2 but not vanilla EU3, and I just realized now you can again it appears.

June 9 - Our backup army wins in Katsina.

July 30 - We discover Damagaram with our main army and assault the forces arrayed here. This is a sunni salt province. Excellent!

Aug 3 - We win in Damagaram.

Aug 31 - I have several peace options. I can take a full five provinces - everything we’ve captured except the capital. I cannot force vassalize them, however. Instead, I decide to go with four provinces, 200 ducats and they lose their core on Dendi.

[Abe Sargent]

The Booty


Katsina - East of Deni, Katsina connects our new provinces with our old provinces. It also isolates their captial, Gobir, and their province Zamfara from everything else to the east. Katsina is a sunni grain province where 10373 Malinese people make us 2.81 ducats annually. It is adjacent to all three new provinces.

Damagaram - The north most of the new provinces touches Katsina to the southwest, Gobir to the West, Kano to the south and Borno to the east - Kanem Bornu’s final province. 7986 Mali sunnis work the salt trade here making us 3.03 ducats annually.

Kano - Also Sunni, the 31963 people here harvest grain and send us 4.03 ducats annually. It is adjacent to Borno, Damagaram, Zazzau and Katsina.

Zazzau - The only province that was not sunni are the 23813 Mali Animists that grow grain here, making us 2.07 ducats annually. It is adjacent to us in Kano and Katsina, and Zamfara, a Sokoto province.


Kano is immediately our biggest province, and Zazzau our second biggest.

I’ll leave an army in Katsina.

[Abe Sargent]

The Rewards of Patience


Sept 1 - We discover Bauchi, adjacent to Kano and Zazzau and unclaimed. The natives here have been wiped out. Probably by Sokoto trying to get from their provinces in the east to those in the west hat we just hammered.

Nov 14 - I offer an alliance with Kanem Bornu again, and they accept again.

Our prestige has jumped to 59. I recruit a general and put him in the Katsina army.

Nov 27 - Kanem Borno broke their alliance with me. Sillies.

Dec 1 - Stability increase and we are back to full. Yay!

April 21, 1420 - I support a revolt in Zamfara, the isolated province of Sokoto.

May 6 - I offer an alliance with Mali. Perhaps this time they won’t break it. Perhaps now they’ve learned their lesson.

May 7 - They accept.

May 14 - We have a peasant revolt in Damagaram, which carries the Tax Revolt thing. I order our troops to Kano where they are supposedly going. Luckily we can beat the,m there.

May 25 - We get a event about National Institutions. I can chose to insitute them or not. I choose to do so, and we move one towards centralization on the sliders and lose a stability.

13 July - We defeat and destroy the rebels in Kano.

Dec 26 - Tax Revolt in Kano.

Jan 28, 1421 - We lose in Zazzau and it falls as well.

Feb 28 - We recpature Kano.

March 15, 1421 - We can change a slider. I decide to move us Innovative again. We get a new thinker available for hire. He’s level 5! But he’s a naval reformer. Do I want to hire a naval reformer, even a great one?

Sure, why not. I’ll keep my stability guy for a few more months, then drop him for the naval reformer.

June 1 - We discover Pindinga.

July 13 -One of our generals has died fighting these dumb rebels.

Aug 18 - We finally defeat these rebels once and for all.

I recruit another general. Not a good one, but I get him nonetheless.

Aug 23 - We lose another general. I don’t really want to keep making these lousy generals, so I’ll stop for now.

Sept 2 - We start another revolt in Zamfara, only this one succeeds but is discovered.

Nov 1 - I jettison the stability guy and hire Silman Diallo, a Naval Reformer.

Dec 16 - We get a Peasant revolt in Katsina.

Jan 1, 1422 - Our stability increases again to full.

Feb 22 - We lose in Katsina

June 21 - We have a peasant rebellion in Bure.

Aug 24 - We lose in Bambok.

Sept 6 - We win the battle of Kano and defeat the first group of rebels.

Oct 21 - Jenne has converted.

Jan 5, 1423 - We won the Battle of Segu, recaptured it, and destroyed the last remnants of rebels.

I order a missionary to Zazzau.

Sept 12 - In order to complete my mission, I would demand annexation from Hausa, but they don’t want it that much, even at max relations and so I ask them to be in my alliance. Perhaps that will help coax them.

Sept 15 - They accept.

Oct 16 - The odds seem to have gotten better with the alliance. Good! Let’s try now.

Oct 17 - They reject our proposal. Boo!

Dec 11 - I send them a gift.

Jan 12, 1424 - I send them another gift to make the nicies. Relations maxed again.

Feb 14 - Gabu has converted!

Apr 23 - I proclaim a guarantee on Hausa in case that’s holding us back or helps us.

Jan 13, 1425 - We have a Peasant revolt in Benin.

Jan 15 - A Gift to the State happens and we add 200 ducats to our coffers.

Jan 26 - We lose in Benin.

Aug 16 - We win in Benin, defeat the rebels, and recapture the province.

Oct 10 - We offer Hausa annexation and then they take it.

We get an event that causes our Decentralization slider to move one/

Oct 11 - We have completed our mission and as a prize, gained Bonny as a core. That means virtually no revolt.

Our next mission is to incorporate Mali into our country.

[Abe Sargent]

Bonny - This slave province is on the coast east of Benin. 4618 Ashanti Animists make us 2.14 ducats annually. It is a core province.

Calabar - Next door to the east is Calabar where 4091 Ashanti Animists make us 1.35 ducats annually. Whoo boy, that’s a lot of money!

I order our Benin troops to Calabar, which has the highest revolt risk by far since Benin is now Sunni and Bonny is a core.

Nov 1 - We are now accepted Ashanti as a part of our nation.

Feb 2, 1426 - Our sultan dies and we have a new one. Meet Tomo I, Admin 7, Military 8, Diplo 5. Not bad, not bad.

May 1 - We discover Wukari.

[Abe Sargent]

Conflict Continued

Aug 11 - I DOW Sokoto.

I order 9000 troops into their capital where 5000 await. I order 5000 troops into Zamfara. I order an expeditionary force of 8000 into Borno, and from thence into areas suspected to be Sokoto.

23 August - We capture Zamfara and assault Gobir.

Aug 28 - We win in Gobir and capture their capital.

Nov 7 - We arrive in the newly discovered Mandara, a Sokoto province back in the back here and capture. Onward to the next province.

Jan 18. 1427 - We arrive in Bagirmi and defeat the 1000 defenders in a few days. Onward to the next province.

Apr 16 - We convert the heretics of Zazzau!

Apr 25 - We discover Kanem.

Apr 30 - We defeat the defenders and capture Kanem.

May 2 - We annex Sokoto.

[Abe Sargent]

We have gained five provinces:

Gobir - The jewel of their provinces. Gobir is already Sunni, has a Center of Trade, is internal in our provinces, features 23533 Mali people working the salt mines and making 7.23 ducats for us.

Zamfara - the 7677 Animist Malinese people here are the afterthoughts of our wars. We could have taken them in thje first war but chose not too. We Didn’t even want them that much in this one. We get 2.25 ducats from them annually.

Mandara - Southeast of Borno is Mandara, a sunni province where 5171 mali people make us just 1.74 ducats harvesting grain. It is west of Bagirmi.

Bagirmi - south of Kanem and east of Mandar lies this province where 5127 sunnis of malinese descent work the ivory trade making us 1.63 ducats.

Kanem - North of Bagirmi and east of Borno lies the Sunni Malinese province where wool is the maine export and the people make 1.83 ducats annually.

I will be moving my army back here to Bagirmi.

[Abe Sargent]

Quiet into Harmony

July 1 - We discover Cameroon.

Aug 17 - We have a peasant revolt in Katsina.

Oct 23 - We defeat the rebels in Katsina

Jan 1, 1428 - We discover Yola

June 1 - We discovered Lake Tchad

June 22 - We have a tax revolt in Mandara.

July 16 - We recapture Mandara

Nov 21 - We have a Peasant rebellion in Zazzau.

Mar 12, 1429 - Rebellion in Gobir.

May 23 - We defeated the first rebels in Zamfara.

May 31 - We won in Katsina.

Jan 15, 1431 - After a quiet year, we get a peasant revolt in Zazzau.

Aug 1 - We have a revolt in Bonny.

Sept 24 - We win in Kano and destroy the peasant rebels.

18 January 1432 - We won in Calabar

4 February - We recapture Bonny and attack the remaining rebels here.

Apr 2 - I get an event - Complaints about Bailiff. I can execute him and lose 5 prestige or ignore the complains and watch stability drop. I execute him.

April 20 - Peasant revolt in Damagaram.

Apr 23 - We win in Bonny and destroy the remaining rebels

Oct 3 - I can change my sliders again. I choose to go innovate again. This time I get the We Look Weak event and our prestige drops 5.

Nov 15 - We defeat the rebels.

Jan 1, 1433 - We get a level 5 theologian that arrives in Benin. He increases our chances for missionaries to take by 5% per year, which is significant except we don’t have any outstanding and we don’t have any in the queue, nor will we get any now that we are moving towards innovative.

Feb 5, 1434 - One of our generals died.

July 20 - Revolt in Mandara

Aug 5 - We recapture Mandara

July 23, 1435 - Revolt in Kanem.

Aug 27 - We recapture it.

Oct 11 - I want to offer annexation to Mali today for the following reasons - I can complete a mission. And, they have a level 6 statesmen, going back to the beginning so he’s older, but I’d love to get him. Plus I can take out one thorn in my side. I also want maximum coastal provinces in order to be adjacent to the Europeans when they come, so I can westernize.

I offer them an alliance, and they accept. In order to pump up the chances and all.

Nov 19 - They accept annexation. We decentralize another one.

I immediately hire their level 6 tech government advisor, enough though he’s been around for 36 years. I jettison my level two trade tech guy.

Nov 20 - Due to our completion of the mission, we gain a core on Wasuju. Our new mission is to take out the Oyo.

Wasuju - Which we now have a core on. 29549 Animists of Malinese descent work the grain trade here, making us 3.06 ducats annually.

Cayor - Way up north, north of Gabu and west of Wolof, this coastal province features 11950 Senegambian Animists working the slave trade and making 1.75 ducats annually.

Wolof - 2.43 ducats are made by the Animist Senegambians in the slave trade. It is west of Bambuk, north of Gabu, north west of Futa Jallon and east of Cayor.

All that is left is four one province nations - Kanem Bornu, Oyo, Benin and Ashanti. We have everything else. Mua ha ha!

[Abe Sargent]

Silencing the Voices

Feb 18, 1436 - I don’t want Benin or Oyo, but my mission is to take out Oyo. I will take out Oyo in a bit, but for now, I want to finish off Benin, by making them my vassal. Then, perhaps, I won’t be forced to take them.

I DOW Benin.

No stability drop because they are Animist.

Mar 15 - Troops from Benin province arrive in Benin’s province of Oyo. I know, it’s confusing.

Mar 22 - We won and capture Oyo. Instead of annexing them, I offer them vassalization, all of their money and them giving up their cores on provinces they do not control. They accept our generous offer.

Now I DOW Oyo to take them out.

Apr 7 - We arrive in Ife to attack the Oyo forces here.

Apr 13 - We win and capture their province.

Apr 26 - They accept annexation. We now have the province of Ife.

Ife - 6452 Yorumba Animists harvest grain here, making us 4.26 ducats annually. Ife is adjacent to Benin’s nation in Oyo, and our province of Benin. Because we finished a mission, Ife is now a core. We also lost some badboy as rewards.

No mission replaces it, which is good. I didn’t want to have to destroy Benin’s nation, so vassalizing them seemed the best option.

Now we have one nation left to handle. Kanem Bornu.

[Abe Sargent]

Foes Into Friends Into Foes

Jul 10 - I send a gift to Kanem Bornu.

We get a new mission. Get a royal marriage with Kanem Bornu.

Oct 16 - We send another gift.

Nov 13 - One of our generals has died.

Mar 25, 1437 - Another gift is sent

Jun 15 - Another gift sent

Jun 17 - We have a Patriot revolt in Wolof.

Sept 1 - We discover Trarza

Dec 14 - We win the campaign in Wolof.

I recruit a general.

Feb 4, 1438 - I send a gift to Kanem Bornu

June 2 - Another another

Oct 15 - And another

Feb 13, 1439 - We enter into a Royal Marriage with Kanem Bornu, which also fulfills our mission.

Our next mission is to vassalize Kanem Bornu. Don’t worry, I had intended to.

Nov 5 - They accept an alliance

Nov 7 - They break the alliance. Hmpf.

May 23, 1440 - We have a Peasant revolt in Kanem.

Jun 25, 1440 - I cancel our military access

Aug 17 - We defeat the rebels in Kanem.

Dec 1 - We claim the throne of Borno, which gives us a CB against them for a year.

Jan 10 - 1441 - We declare war against Kanem Bornu.

Jan 11 - We get a message that we failed our mission to vassalize Kanem Bornu, but that’s untrue, I wanted to vassalize them all along. Just by the sword. Ah well.

Feb 12 - We defeat the troops in Borno and capture it.

Mar 14 - We have a revolt of Ashanti patriots in Calabar.

Apr 12 - We annex the province of Borno.


Borno - 4664 Sunni Malinese harvest grain in this crucially important province strategically. They make just 3.75 ducats annually here. It connects our holdings in Damagaram and Kano with those in the east in Kanem and Mandara.

[Abe Sargent]

Fighting Against One's Own


May 15 - Rebellion of Peasants in Gobir.

June 16 - We win in Calabar. No more rebels there.

Nov 26 - Rebellion of Peasants in Borno.

Feb 6, 1442 - We lose in Gobir.

Mar 8 - I get an event Reformation of the Army and choose to invest in army tech, gaining a bunch of ducats there.

Mar 11 - We get a mission to defeat the rebels.

Apr 21 - Another rebellion arose in Borno while we were fighting the rebels from the first one, but we had almost destroyed the first army by now, so it’s not as big of a deal as it could have been otherwise.

July 8 - We win in Borno.

Aug 1 - We capture the final rebel province in Zamfara and destroy the last rebels here, and our mission is complete. As a reward, we gain two stability, putting us back to max.

Sept 20 - We have patriot rebels on Cayor. I order my troops in Wolof to the province.

Sept 26 - A general died.

Nov 23 - We win in Wolof, defeat the rebels.

Dec 1 - We arrive in Cayor and recapture it. The remaining rebels are headed back for more thrumping.

Dec 16 - We win in Cayor, and the rebels retreat.

Dec 29 - We get an event. Military Divided. The are two major factions in our military. Who should we side with?

The Forts Are Our Strength - Lose on stability, gain one defensive on the slider
We Must Always Attack - Lose one stability, gain one offensive.

I choose to move towards defense. Our stability drops.


Jan 22, 1443 - We defeat the rebels again, this time destroying them.

Nov 22 - We get military access through Benin.

Jan 19, 1444 - Ashanti has been sending spies against us. One of those rebels was fomented by Ashanti spies. This will end.

Jan 30 - We cancel military access with Ashanti.

April 23 - We cancel our alliance with Ashanti and our tribal elders give us a new mission - Wipe Ashanti off the map. I concur.

May 25 - We declare war on Ashanti.

July 18 - We win. I have two options. I can sue for peace and take their 525 ducats for my treasury, or I can just annex them. I can’t annex them and take their money, unfortunately. I choose annexation. The ducats were tasty, but I want to move on from this.

They accept. We gain a core on Kumasi because we completed the mission.


Kumasi - 5464 Ashanti Animists mine the gold here making us 62.56 ducats annually. It is southeast of Jenne and surround by unclaimed provinces.


Well, if we hadn't completed our third objective before, we certainly have now.

[Abe Sargent]

Maptime:

[Alan T]

Abe, just wanted to comment that I've been reading along. I haven't ever tried playing in Africa (as an African start), so have been quite interested in how things go for you. I am extremely eager to see how things work out for you once some of the European nations start to colonize your way as well. Just wanted you to know that your posts were not just going into a black hole.

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

Years of Quiet

July 30 - I can move a policy slider. I move us towards Free Subjects. We get Better Administration as an event and lose two inflation. Our inflation is down to 7%, which is still crazy high for less than 50 years of play.

Aug 1 - We discover Abomey.

Apr 25, 1445 - Ashanti Nationalists revolting in Calabar.

Sept 1 - We have a Gift to the State and I put it in the treasury.

Sept 9 - We win in Calabar, defeating the rebels.

Aug 20, 1446 - We get an event - Naïve Relative. I can

Execute Him for Treason - Lose one stability
He is a Relative After All… - Our nation gets -25% spy defence for ten years.

I choose the latter option.

Nov 1 - Our stability increases back to max.

June 3, 1447 - A revolt in Gobir, where I have an army

Sept 15 - Revolt defeated.

Sept 29 - Rebellion of a nationalist nature in Wolof.

Jan 1, 1448 - Rebellion defeated.

[Abe Sargent]

50 Year Review


Military -

We currently have 35 spear regiments in our territory. We are running at 50% land support, which means they are not reinforcing after attrition or battles with rebels, and have half morale. Every few years I jack it back up to 100% for a few months to get reinforcements and such.

We have three great advisors:

al-Amin Ouedraogo - A 6 star Army Reformer. 50 years in service.

Silman Diallo - A 5 star Naval Reformer. 28 years in service.

Al-Mansur Diarra - A 6 star Government Reformer. 50 years in service.

My guess is that Al-Mansure or al-Amin will die soon, and that will be unfortunate.



Tomo I is our Sultan and he has been ruling since January 1426. He’s pretty good, with Admin 7, Military 8, and Diplo 5.

You want high Admins and Military because those are invested monthly in your research, meaning a good Sultan beats a poor Sultan for research.

We are getting close to getting Land Tech 2. We are moving closer to Government Tech 2. We are far away from everything else.

We are a Despotic Monarchy.

There are only 15 Level 6 advisors in the world, and we have two on our staff.

[Abe Sargent]

50 Year Review - Provinces


Let’s look at our provinces:

Calabar - 4091 Animist Ashanti make us 1.16 ducats in the slave trade. A total crap province.

Bonny - A core province, 2.03 ducats are made by the 4618 Ashanti Animists in the slave trade.

Benin - A Sunni province, the 16901 Mali people make us 6.33 ducats annually.

Ife - 1.23 ducats are made in the grain harvest by these Yorumba Animists.


Let’s start on the right and go left.


Bagirmi - 5684 Sunni Malinese make us just 1.46 ducats annually in the ivory trade.

Kanem - 16984 people of Malinese descent worship Allah and make us 1.68 ducats in the wool trade.

Mandara - 1,68 ducats are made in the fields of this Sunni Mali province.

Borno - 1.67 ducats are grown here in the grain trade by these Sunni Mali people.

Damagaram - 9512 Malinese Sunni make us 2.60 ducats working the salt trade.

Kano - 38933 farmers give us 4.26 annually while worshipping Allah and being of Mali descent.

Zazzau - 27037 Sunni Mali people farm grain and make us 2.99 ducats.

Zamfara - Up to 2.11 ducats annually, the 7677 Animist Mali people harvest grains.

Katsina - 12412 Sunni Mali people harvest the grains here and make us 293 ducats.

Gobir - 27887 Sunnis of Malinese descent make us 8.88 ducats annually.

These are all of the provinces east of Dendi, one of our starting provinces. Basic rule, except for Gobir, they all suck. At least right now. Of the four on the coast, only Benin is worthwhile.


Now let’s look at our starting provinces. How have they grown?

Dendi - Sunni, Mali, 9410, grain, 2.92 ducats. Very similar to the crap to the east.

Tadimekket - Tuareg, Seunni, 3.81 ducats in salt trade, 5401. A little better.

Gao - Our capital was converted to Islam decades ago. The 12855 Mali people here harvest grain and make us 12.66 ducats annually.


Now let’s look west.

Timbuktu - 21831 (Mali, Sunni) people work the salt trade here making us 24.11. This Center of trade has a temple and marketplace.

Massina - These 7983 Malinese Animists make 2.93 ducats farming.

Jenne - 21120 make us 6.63 ducats annually in the grain trade (Sunni Mali).

Kumasi - 5465 Ashanti Animists make us 58.86 annually mining gold.

Wasuju - This core province has 29549 Mali Animists make us 3.03 ducats annually in the grain trade.

Segu - 5.39 ducats and made by the 16205 Mali Sunni farmers here.

Bambuk - The gold mines here are mined by 9779 Mali Animists, making us 65.88 ducats.

Bure - 18054 Mali Sunnis make us 72.40 ducats in the gold mines.

Futa Jallon - 18579 Mali Sunnis work the ivory trade and make us 6.34 ducats annually.

Wolof - Another lousy slavr province, 6970 Animists of Senegambian descent make us 2.60 ducats.

Gabu - We get just 2.68 ducats annually fromt eh ivory trade in this port province of 12310 Mali Sunnis.

Cayor - Our western and northernmost province are the 11925 Senegambian Animists that work the slave trade here netting us 1.85 ducats annually.


As you can see, the provinces out here are much wealthier. Timbuktu is a treasure, there are three gold mines, and even two grain provinces with high ducats. After you pass the gold mines of Bure and Bambuk, however, that drops and the final four provinces only include one, Futa Jallon, of any significant value.

Starting next year, I’m going to start getting cores on provinces I’ve taken (it takes 50 years in your possession to count as a core). In 1450 we will gain cores on Timbuktu, Massina, Futa Jallon and Gabu.

[Abe Sargent]

Intersections in Space and Time

November 1, 1449 - We discover Tabora, on the other side of Africa, and no, I’m not sure why.

Nov 12 - One of our generals died.

Nov 24 - Another general died. Must be a bad month to be a general.

Mar 1, 1450 - A level one diplomat arrived in Cayor but I’m happy with my advisors.

June 1 - We discover Ogaden. I think we are getting the discoveries of other African nations on the other side of the continent 50 years after they found them

1 August - We have gained those four cores.

Sept 1 - Tuareg is no longer an accepted culture.


Dec 1 - Rebellion in Cayor. They capture it and I move my army in Wolof to defeat them.

March 29, 1451 - We defeat the rebels and move to recapture Cayor.

May 28 - I don’t know when it started, but Castille is trying to get a colony in Trarza, north of Cayor and Wolof on the coast. This is actually a good thing. We can’t westernize until we’ve met the west, and we have to be adjacent to them to do that. So I actually hope their colony takes.

I take a quick look through Europe to see what’s up in the world. Provence has colonized Madeira, and that’s it, so Castille wants to beat everyone to the punch it looks like.

Aug 1 - We get a level 4 statesmen advisor in Timbuktu. I jettison our Naval Reformer for him. Say hello to Musa Zerbo.

Aug 23 - Castille succeeded in their colony at Trarza. I proclaim a guarantee for Castille. I have the diplomats just sitting around, and it slightly helps our relations.

Sept 23 - We now have the ability to Westernize, and we meet three of the four qualifications - stability good administrative ruler, and very innovative. However, we are too decentralized, so we need to move that in order to Westernize. The decentralization hits I took earlier prevent us from immediately Westernizing. Sucks.

Nov 1 - We discover two more provinces, one by Kumasi and another on the other side of Africa.

We can now see a bunch of nations on the east side of Africa, but just one or two provinces each.

We can see - Ethopia, The Mamluks, Yemen, Najd (Middle East), Swahili,

Nov 6 - We enter into a Royal Marriage with Swahili.

I Proclaim Guarantee’s against the other three Sunni states.

Dec 1 - We discover another province in east Africa.

12 January, 1452 - Castille Trade Embargoes us.

February 1 - We gain Trade, Land, Government and Naval techs! Apparently something in the game clicked once we were next to Castille or we saw all of those other African nations. Who knows?

June 1 - Holy jeez. We just got knowledge of virtually everything. All of East Africa, the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe, India, and parts of the Indies. Someone had knowledge of all of this stuff and gave it to us. No clue who. The Mamuks perhaps?

Wow.

I don’t see everything, such as Provence’s colony on Madeira or The Azores, or what explorations the main countries have been doing. I just get the nations, not the Terra Incognita around them.

[Abe Sargent]

The World in a Glass

11 October - I get a mission to Build Level One Fort in Benin. That’s not happening anytime soon. I cancel the mission. We lose five Prestige which just about takes us back to zero.

Our next mission? Create a Proper Fleet.

I order some ships built in Gabu

27 Oct - I create The Militia Act. Our stability costs are 5% harder but our military discipline increases by 6%.

I create Jizya, which causes our national taxes to rise by 6% and our stability costs to increase by 20%.

These will last, I believe, until the end of the game.

Nov 1 - More provinces fall our way, including many inland Russia, Afghanistan, and so forth.

Dec 1 - We gain coastal provinces up SE Asia into Ming’s coast.

Jan 1, 1453 - Land tech gain.

Feb 1, 1453 - Govnerment gain.

Apr 4, 1453 - Some Updates:

Portgual is in Barcelona, Granada and seven provinces in North Africa. Aragon and Granada have been taken out.

taken most of the former Aragonian provinces.

Morocco has not lost a lot of provinces which is unusual for now.

The Mamluks are currently undergoing severe rebelitis.

The Ottomans took out Byzantium. In this game, Thrace is not a COT, although you could make it one easily enough.

Hungary has grown a bit into some Polish areas.

Lithuania looks to be losing a war against Polotsk.

England has united Ireland under its banner and has started capturing Scottish provinces.They have lost all mainland provinces except for Saintonge in east France.

Looks like Burgundy is no more.

There are still a ton of one province minors in Europe, which is realistic. Navarra, Galicia, Bourbonnais, Lorraine, Corsica, Sardinia, Tuscany, Pisa, Modena, The Papal States, Naples, Urbino, Utrecht, Alsace, Cologne, Liege, Oldenburg, Hamburg, Ansbach, Mainz, Flanders, Gelre, Anhalt, The Palatinate, Saxony, Meissen, Luneburg, Friesland, Morea, Naxos (yay!), Cyprus, Wallachia, Teutonic Order, Kurland, Magdeburg, Bremen, Orleans, and Mantua. That’s after many, such as the Irish states, The Knights, and such were taken down. Sometimes you see a push by the major and mid-majors to gobble up the small guys in a grab for power, and although that does happen eventually, I’d prefer it to be a bit more historic in terms of timeline.

[Abe Sargent]

Interlude of Boredom

Nov 1 - We found Rio de Oro.

Dec 1 - Land tech gain.

Mar 1, 1454 - Production gain.

We are getting Neighbor Bonuses of significance due to the Castillean neighbor to our techs.

I can actually build that Level 1 fort in Benin - too bad I canceled it.

May 21 - I order forts built in Futa Jallon, Wolof, Cayor, Gabu, Massina, Timbukto, Tadimekket, Gao, Benin, Bonny and Calabar. These are the coastal provinces, the ones by the Castillean province, my capital, the ones by the corridor down the Sahara, and the one closest to Castille but inland.

June 9 - We have finished our third boat and completed the Create a Proper fleet mission. Our next mission. Fortify Wolof. Thatll be happening soon enough.

I recruit an Admiral for our fleet.

July 4 - Peasant rebellion in Bagirmi.

Sept 16 - We defeat the rebels in Bagirmi.

There was only a 0.1% chance of a rebellion in Bagirmi and it still happened. Sheesh.

Oct 5 - We get an event - Unhappiness Among the Merchants. Options:

Reduce Trade Investment - Lose 500 ducats invested here.
Get Rid of the Troublemakers - Lose a merchant, lose a stability.

I choose the first

Jan 15, 1455 - Our Slider’s arrive. We choose to go Centralized. We have a Local Pretender arises and several rebel armies are made. I order our military maintenance up.

Feb 3 - Our army in Timbuktu attacks one of their armies in Gao, our capital.

Feb 9 - Another army runs into our large combined army from the west in Segu.

Mar 30 - We lose in Segu.

April 5 - We win in Gao and chase the rebels to Dendi.

May 20 - We win in Bambuk. Rebels obliterated,

May 22 - All of the forts are built. We complete our mission. Our next mission is to fortify Kano, so I order a fort built here.

June 1 - Our land tech increases.

[Abe Sargent]

Decision of Destiny



June 15 - We defeat the rebels in Dendi and they flee into Terra Incognita. Now it is time. Time to Westernize.

With our land techs, fighting rebels is much easier.

Westernize:

This moves us out of the African tech group and into the Oriental tech group. Is that good? Sure, but not as good as you might think. Here is the technical order - Catholic - Orthodox - Muslim - Indian - Oriental - Africa - America. It moves up one, which is important, but it comes at a really, really hefty price.

The Good:

Our Tech Group is now Oriental.
Gain 1 tax base in Kanem
Gain 164 manpower in Kanem
Innovative gets one stronger.

The Bad:

You get Western Influences for 6 months, where everything is raelly difficult, I’ll ignore the percentages.
Your stability drops. 5. To negative 2 from 3. That will take decades to get back up. And it is worth it.

[Abe Sargent]

Recalibrating

1 July - Our naval tech increases. We also learned about Scandinavian provinces.

1 August - Our trade tech increases.

I destroy the Gobir COT. I send merchants to the Timbuktu COT.

July 29 - We now have five merchants in the Timbuktu COT. No other country has any.

2 Oct - We get an event - al-Amin Ouedraogo. He has revolutionized sieges and fortificatioons, wars and fortifications. We get a choice:

His Efforts Will be Admired Troughout the Nation - +2 stability, extra Land tech investment for six years.
His Reputations Will Reach Further Than our Borders - Gain Prestige, same Land tech investment.

I choose the first. Our stability immediately jumps to 0. Lucky we got that now and not six months ago.

Nov 23 - Rebellion in Bonny, Ashanti Nationalists are reaering their heads.

March 1, 1456 - We lost in Bonny. The rebels begin a siege.

March 14 - We have an Animist rebellion in Bambuk.

April 2 - We enjoin battle with the rebels near Bambuk in Wolof.

Apr 19 -0 We lost in Wolof and the rebels are besieging us.

May 2 - Our forces arrive in both Wolof and Bonny to protest rebel actions there.

May 14 - A group of rebels in Wolof joins their brothers already fighting me.

May 26 - We fortify Kano and now they ask for us to do the same in Jenne and I agree.

June 1 - Looks like Castille has lost her colony in Trarza.

July 4 - I retreat in Wolof because our army in Cayor is arriving.

July 23 - We win in Bonny.

Sept 1 - We win in Wolof.

Sept 29 - We win in Cayor when the rebels retreat. They head for Trarza.

Oct 3 - Government tech increased. Time for our first National Idea.


Options:

We take Colonial Ventures to start making colonists. No need Quest for New World yet, just needed for making of explorers, conquisatodrs, and increases colonial range by 50%. It requires Trade Tech 7 anyway.

We could snag Bureaucracy for a +5% tax modifier.

National Bank could really help our inflation problem. (Inflation is 8%).

Military Drill +1 Morale of Armies. Very nice.



I decide to go with Colonial Ventures to expand in Africa.


Jan 1, 1457 - Stability increase

[Abe Sargent]

Expansion

April 1 - We gain cores on Bambuk, Bure, Segu, and Jenne.

May 28 - We fortify Jenne. Next mission is for Katsina.

Nov - I send out our first colonists to Konian - south of Wasuju, Bure and Futa Jallon, because the natives here are the lowest aggressiveness in the area at just 6.

Nov 28 - Our colony took (has a 53% chance of taking).

May 29, 1458 - Katsina has a fort. Next request is Zamfara.

Oct 15 - Rebellion in Calabar and I order my troops in Bonny over while they besiege my fort.

Nov 13 - I decide to send more colonists to Konian. I don’t have too. Colonies now get supported by your government, and I could set up elsewhere and grow quickly, but I want to settle past the natives.

Dec 10 - We expand in Konian. In one year we’ve already added 37 people and are at 237.

Jan 4, 1459 - We win in Calabar.

June 2 - We build that fort in Zamfara and now we get a mission to do so in Mandara. Again I agree.

July 15 - Rebellion in Calabar again.

Oct 12 - We put them down again.

Nov 1 - More colonistss sent.

Nov 28 - It expands and has 369 people already.

Dec 9 - We get reports from our settlers in Konian that the area seems to be rife with ivory. The province is now officially an ivory province. Not bad.

May 1, 1460 - Portugal has set up a colony in Tuat, along the Sahara cooridor that links us to North Africa. It is not adjacent to us, but its one away.

June 5 - We fortify Mandara.

Oct 26 - Our ruler died. Meet Muhammad I with Admin 8m Militay 7, and Diplo 5. Not bad at all.

[Abe Sargent]

Years of Grain and Growth

Nov 28 - Konian expands after we send more colonists there.

Feb 1, 1461 - Land Tech increase.

May 1, 1461 - We get an event - Good Governemtn Policies. I can choose one of three.

Use the Money to Increase Stability - +1 Stability
Invest in Government - Extra ducats in Governmetnn Tech.
Let’s Fill our Treasury - +200 ducats

I obviously choose the first.

We were really helped by well timed stability helping events.

Nov 28 - Konian Expands.

Feb 15 - 1462 We have an event Plague!

We Have to do Something - Population in Dendi -20%. Lose 40 ducats.
There is Nothing We Can Do - Population in Dendi -50%, Plague in Dendi for 18 months with -20% population growth.

I choose the first.

March 9, 1462 - Our Army Reformer, an adivsor that has been with us since the beginning of the game, al-Amin Ouedraogo has died. Unfortuante. I pick up a four star stability advisor to get us that final hump.

Nov 28 - Konian expands. This may be the last colonists I send. Here. I want tp save up my colonists in order to shoot them through angry and hostile natives.

Apr 1, 1463 - Our stability increases back up to maximu. I dump our stability guy. There’s nobody else I want out there.

June 1 - Govnt tech increase

Oct 1 - Benin is now a core province. Our Trade Tech increased.

Nov 1 - A level 6 Sherrif named Yahya Lamizana arrived in Futa Jallon. I hire him. Our tax rate nationwide is now +6% while we have him.

Jan 23, 1464 - Castille is back in Trarza. Hello!

[Barkeep49]

I've enjoyed this dynasty as I've never played in Africa. However, Songhai seems quite viable so perhaps I should give an African game a chance.

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Barkeep49

I've enjoyed this dynasty as I've never played in Africa. However, Songhai seems quite viable so perhaps I should give an African game a chance.

Yeah, you just have to know when to push, and when not to push. That's true of all EU though.