Scramble for Africa scenario. Egypt

[zxcvbob]

I've been playing this a lot lately, mostly as the southern African tribes. Starting easy, then upping the difficulty as I learn what I'm doing. (the latest was Ethiopia at emperor) I like that I can finish a game in a couple of hours :) What is the strategy for the northern Africans, like Egypt?

I tried bribing Italy to declare war on Morocco but they didn't; they went after the Ottomans first and wiped them out. (better than having them attack me) While they were doing that, I built a bunch of privateers and cannons to protect my coastal cities.

I assume I need to secure a source of coal, then declare war on Italy and liberate Ottomans so I'll have a close trading partner? The coal is because I should be able capture some Italian ironclads and I assume they need coal to keep from getting one-shotted the same turn as I capture them. And try to draw the Italians into a land war in the desert where I have the advantage -- kill lots of them for the gold. Does that sound right? If I pull that off, do I still need to worry about a cultural runaway Ethiopia? Are any of the other Europeans a real threat; maybe Portugal? Or do they stay busy in the south?

I'm not sure how the points for gold work. I don't lose anything when spending that gold (like for a settler or a frigate) do I?

[Ghadaro]

As north africa you earn most of your points through gold per turn. Spending the gold has no effect on your score so use the money you earn and get your trade routes going.

You have a good defensible position as Egypt but Italy will always be an early threat, you can beat Italy without coal and you should start with plenty of iron which helps as you can get some frigates but you will certainly need to support Ottomans as they are your primary trading partner.
Cannons and Frigates are your primary method of attack against Italy, only use privateers for the finishing blow.

Get open borders with Ottomans so you can move cannons and ships near Benghazi,you can use them to body block Italy if you aren't at war and can get pre-positions to take out as much as possible when you declare war.

First trade routes should be internal for production, you'll change them later to get gold but for now you need to pump out units faster. I also rushed the ironworks in Cairo.

Send your first rifles to scout south and if possible pass by Kilamanjaro and fountain of Life. Kilamanjaro is the more important as it speeds up movement across hills.

If Ethiopia leaves settlers unprotected you may want to grab them to slow their expansion and obtain a worker or 2 but be aware if you do you're going to be defending against Ethiopia while attacking Italy, they dont have their combat policies yet though so their troops aren't walking tanks yet.

Dont join Morocco against Portugal which they will undoubtedly ask for.

Expand your empire south and if you have excess gold and no buildings or units you particularly want/need buy some tiles towards Ethiopia, you need to limit their growth and try to create a good position to attack from. This means roads and as much jungle and forest cleared as possible, mobility is key against Ethiopia. You'll need to hit them later as Ethiopia tends to runaway in score over the last 10-20 turns.

If you capture a city you dont want sell it to a nearby civ for gpt.

Save your great generals and use them to steal land when you are preparing to attack.

[zxcvbob]

Thanks, I like the idea of selling cities for GPT. (lump sum gold doesn't seem to affect score) I've played it several times at emperor level and I'm usually in the top 3 (Ethiopia, one of the Europeans, and me, in no particular order but I'm usually third) but haven't won one yet.

I think I'm worrying too much about happiness (important for the south Africans), and not warring enough. Most games are mostly peaceful, mostly. In my best attempt, Italy overextended themselves and I declared war and conquered them, but did so very late. I probably should just be deterring Italy and conquer Ethiopia early-on before they get too strong.

[Ghadaro]

The way score works is what makes south africans easier to play, as South Africans all culture gains count towards your score so warmongering combines with culture buildings making it very straitforward, as North Africa GPT counts but the gold you earn from kills doesn't so you need to use trade, gold buildings and sell off cities for a decent score.

As Egypt I declared war on Ethipia around turn 50, as Ottomans I declared war on ethiopia as soon as I realised they had a settler unprotected so right near the start. Honestly these should have been reversed as Egypt have less early defending to do in the first place.

Late game Ethiopia have insane survivability, the adjusted strength of a Mehal Safari will be mostly around 70-100 depending on terrain and upgrades so it is vital that you deal with them as early as you can to prevent them stacking the policy combat modifiers.

Always try to bribe a civ into declaring war on your close allies the turn you declare war, this will prevent a Warmongering penalty from crippling your income (They offer more gpt in deals if they like you)

[zxcvbob]

I started another game at king-level. About 20 turns left; I'm friends with everyone except England. I think the Boers and Zulus are dead; I never met them. I was friends with England too until very recently, and I think she is about to declare war and try to take Suez (good luck with that, it's heavily fortified to the south and my navy is guarding the north.)

I've been leaving Italy alone this time, they are a good place to send my cargo ships. I built a few frigates and then ironclads early to protect Alexandria, and I also used them to surround Benghazi to keep it from falling. All my cities are just building gold, and I buy whatever I need.

Germany invited me to a war with Ethiopia somewhere around turn 50 and I accepted. I captured one city and Germany captured one. I might should have attacked Addis Ababa next but I really didn't want it. I offered peace for all his GPT and he accepted, but it was only 2 GPT -- probably because Germany settled first. I sold the city (Harar?) but all I could get for it was 16 GPT. Nobody really wanted it. But the important thing is Ethiopia is crippled and no longer a threat. Although I guess they might surprise me :)

[Ghadaro]

People only pay anything useful for cities if it borders their own and then only pay big money if they like you which is why you bribe the soon to be enemy to declare war on your friends. (You quickly rack up a warmongering penalty so having a big joint war bonus keeps them at least content)

Gibraltar for example is worthless to you, it only really serves you as a territory bridge to Lisbon if you take it but Morocco will pay a fortune for it if they are friendly. I had them paying 266 gpt(their entire earnings), some iron, some horses and a luxury.

If you take a few cities close together you may find selling them 1 at a time to a friendly civ with a lot of money will get you something like 10 gpt for the first, 100-200 gpt for the second and 300+gpt for any more so sell the smallest first.

If you've managed to keep Italy friendly you've had a lucky game. I haven't played any of the North african civs below Deity mind you so its going to be more lenient at king but even so Italy tend to be highly aggressive to Ottomans and Egypt.

While the North African civs are the harder ones to play I do like the fact that once you are pulling in 1000+ gpt a turn you can basically just go to meat grinder tactics to push through cities if needs be

[zxcvbob]

I just finished the game; I ran away with it at the end. England did declare war on me (I thought she might because ships-o-the-line were gathering near Suez) -- a joint war with Italy. If I had declared war preemptively on her, I don't think Italy would have joined. Her dozens of ships were no match for my strategically-placed citadel with a cover-promoted Gatling gun inside, rifled cannon garrison, and a couple of more cannons on the shore. I don't think she ever even bombarded the city. And I had an ironclad just sitting there blocking the harbor and protecting a fishing boat.

Italy put up a good fight; all of it by land. They actually killed a few of my units, mostly Landsknechts but also one rifleman. I slaughtered Italian units and captured a city just as the clock ran out.

My GPT never got over 500, and it dropped to about 300 when I lost all my cargo ships. Probably means I didn't settle enough cities (I think I had 5 or 6) Or it just means nobody was willing to pay me anything for my goodies even tho' they were friendly (the other Africans had no GPT because of all the wars.)

[Ghadaro]

Morocco are never a threat to the score, they have too much city flipping with france and portugal and also get a lot of trade routes plundered by france, england and portugal, Ottomans have a strong gpt if they survive more or less intact due to the turkish bath and Egypt have such a strong isolated position they will always be a threat to the score when controlled by the AI.

With south africans the Boers are likely to get wiped out but can build a big score if they survive, Ethiopia scyrocket in the last 20 turns if they arent stopped and Zulus are wiped out or crippled early.