The lost tribe of Asher: Humble Origins + Idea Guys run

[mackwolfe]

November 11, 1444. - INTRODUCTION

Mehli ben Eldad rested his gaze on the southern horizon. It was late afternoon and the sun was high in the sky . The longer days - they were exactly 40 days to the summer solstice- had allowed his scouts to look farther away from camp. His favorite scout Negus the Simienite had finally arrived with the long-awaited news:

"Gold, we have found gold my Consul".

About time , thought Mehli. After fourteen tries at finding a settlement site near a gold mine, he was starting to despair and doubt had started to creep that his inspired plan was doomed. But now he was reinvigorated. He stood up and got ready to address the people. He looked one more time wistfully at the southern plain he knew existed beyond the horizon. Not quite the land of milk and honey, but certainly a good site for a new city. A future great city protected by two great seas that joined at its tip. A city of rebirth that would lead his ragtag nation back to its glory days. And with time, back to the promised land and the Holy City .

He turned and stood up on a rock to address the assembly .
"My fellow believers. Today is truly a blessed day. For the LORD had given us a gift, a gift of wealth that would end our wanderings and mark a new beginning. Like our forbears who wandered for 40 years before entering the Holy Land, we have wandered far from our mountain homes. We had escaped the galleys of the Mohammedan traders and the gold mines of the idol worshippers to come here, as a free people. Here we will forge our new destiny , for the LORD had promised me that " from these Humble Beginnings , I will raise you back as a great nation so that you and your descedants shall rebuild my House in the Holy City. . . . " Ben Eldad's speech went on for some time longer, but the message was delivered. Tomorrow the prepartion will start.

 

[mackwolfe]

After a 4 year hiatus from playing eu4 ( and posting AARs), I was sucked back into playing the game by a family member. ANd now I decided to write up my current campaign as an AAR. I will be roleplaying a bit , as you saw in the introduction, but the run is focused on gameplay.

Just like the title says , it is an achievement run where I aim to get the Idea Guys and the Humble Origins achievements. From the wiki, these are the requirrements:

and

In the introductory post I gave several hints about the setup of the custom nation . Namely its religion, its government form , its location, and one cheesy strategy to get a buff start. Before you read the next post, where I will flesh it out in detail, try to guess the above.

 

[Rensslaer]

An intriguing start! Welcome back! I'm not very familiar with this achievement thing. Is that peculiar to the custom country setup?

A location protected by two great seas, and with a southern plain beyond the horizon... Hmm... I may be forgetting someplace obvious, but I'm going to guess you'll start on the northern tip of Australia? That doesn't sound like a quite right location, though, especially given the culture setup. I dunno!

Curious to see how this turns out!

Rensslaer

 

[mackwolfe]

Thanks for following

You guessed correctly that it is in the Southern hemisphere, as I hinted about a "Summer " solstice in December. But the tip of land separating the two vast seas is actually the Cape of Good hope, one of the most strategically important provinces in eu4. The Cape procince is grassland and would be a great place to spawn renasissance (it is the plain just south of my starting location)

 

[mackwolfe]

Mehli Ben Eldad, first Consul of the nation of Asher (1444). Behind the piercing gaze lay a visionary mind with unparalleled administrative skills.​

The day after the discovery of the gold mine in the hills of Namaqua, Mehli ben Eldad called a meeting of all the notables of the Asherite nation. For this special occasion he had the great tent raised over a clearing at the center of the encampment ( today , this is the site of the Great Synagogue of Lesser Namaqualand). He had his aides raise s special table on which he lay all the scrolls he had carried with him over the years. Scrolls that had been bequeathed to him over generations, passing from father to son , going all the way to his illustrious ancestor Eldad Ha Dani (c 851-900 CE)

The scrolls contained detailed geographic description of much of what we today call the Middle East and Europe . Much of that was from Eldad Ha Dani's voyages, but it was augmented during the Asher tribe's travels from their ancestral home of Simien in the highlands of Ethiopia, down the coast of Kilwa and through Mutapa's land, to their location near the Cape in 1444. Of course, he would not have had knowledge of the New World , which was yet to be discovered. But for his time , he possessed remarkable geographic knowledge, surpassing that of even Henry the Navigator of Portugal.

The world known to the Asherites in 1444 . Despite their location at the Southern tip of Africa , they knew of the Christians of Europe, the Muslims of Asia and the heathens of Africa thanks to extensive contact with the technology of the Islamic world and their trek from Ethiopia to South Africa.​

But the maps and geographical notes were not Mehli's most prized possession. Rather, his most cherished documents were treatises on sundry subjects , written by ancient and medieval scholars alike.. These guides ranged from topics such as how to develop cities and increase production of goods from the land, to a variety of military ideas for increasing discipline and capturing cities by sea. He even had a medical potion treatise that purported to increase life span o rulers!!.

Mehli's blueprint for the young nation of Asher focused on building up the cities and creating a high quality army (1444)​

Last, but certainly not least, he had with him the scrolls of the holy Torah. For he understood that the Jewish faith will be key to the success of his long term plans for Asher. For, unlike most other rulers of his day who proclaimed themselves kings and handed succession tot heir children, he believed in rulership by the most capable and skillful . To maintain support for this republican system, he would lean heavily on the Jewish faith . Public readings of the books of the Torah and the book of Judges , when Israel was not ruled by kings, would be crucial in keeping a healthy tradition of plutocratic meritocracy.

Mehlistarted the use of Simchat Torah – public readings of the Torah –to maintain support for his unusual form of government and todrastically speed up the adoption of reforms. ​

Mehli spent much of meeting explaining his vision . But truth be told , most of his audience did not grasp his vision . But they did understand his immediate orders to develop the gold mines in Namaqualand to focus on starting the colonization of the grassy land that layjust south of their current location, a location like none other in the world, sitting between East and West and protected by the vast Indian and Atlantic oceans.

Those efforts would bear fruit 10 years years later, when the first settlers from Asher started moving to the Cape province .

Asher starts colonization of the the Cape (and soon after Swellendam )provinces, an effort sustained by the rich gold mines of Namaqualand(1454) Note that Kilwa is invading Mutapa already.​

He made frequent use of the Simchat Torah festival to push through government reforms that made elections more frequent leading to a better administration.

Asherpasses an electoral reform in 1457, much earlier than other Republicsin Europe. Note Swellendam being colonized at same time as the Capethanks to the gold mine of Namaqua. Note Kilwa's growing power.​

The colony of the Cape would become a full city in 1464 and soonafter Mehli would lead a massive development effort to turn it into amajor city, rivaling the greatest cities of the time.

TheCape , while not officially Asher's capital , becomes its mostimportant and advanced city ( 1464)​

The rapid expansion of Asher throughout South Africa would continue at breakneck speed so that by the time Mehli reached the ripe age of73, the Asherites controlled all the provinces in the region except those bordering Kilwa. Amazingly, the Kilwans had no inkling of the growth of their new southern neighbor. In his last year in office, Mehli Ben Eldad would pass another government reform, instituting the custom of Cawa levies that his Amharic ancestors practiced in Ethiopia . He was clearly starting to worry about the growing power of Kilwa to the north , and the Cawa's prowess could prove important in the coming clash.

By 1477, when Asher instituted the use of Cawa levies, Kilwa had consolidated their hold of the lands of Mutapa.​

A few months after pushing the Cawa reforms through, Mehli celebrated 33 years as leader of Asher and stood for election for the last time. At 73 years of age, he felt weary, but was very proud of his accomplishents. Asher was now a confident young nation . But he saw clouds on the horizon. His Kilwan neighbors had grown very strong and would be a formidable obstacle for further expansion . He now faced a choice : should he prepare Asher for military conflict with Kilwa, or should he seek more peaceful expansion by taking to the sea and exploring new lands? At 73, he knew he would not be the one to lead Asher down either path. And he decided to step down as Consul and use his immense popularity to push through the election of a new leader. His choice of successor, would of course be based on what he thought was the best course for Asher.

The borders of Asher at the time of Mehli's retirement. Facing a growing Kilwa to the north, Mehli's successor would soon face a choice between continuing expansion by colonizing overseas, or directly challenging Kilwa for supremacy in South Africa (1477)​

 

[mackwolfe]

A few bullet points about the custom nation in the previous post, for those who may not be very familiar with Custom nations or have not played Jewish religion before

- because of the Ideas Guy achievement rule, the starting province has to be a 1,1,1 dev . Because of Humble Origins limit of 50 pts , I could not use expensive ideas like a Colonist in the traditions ( that would be 60 points) or Siberian Frontier ( over 400 points).

- I used some negative traits in my ruler and a final negative ambition to give myself some more point space

- the most important idea is in the traditions: +0.5 goods produced. This means I get 1/2 manufactory in every province I own, including Gold provinces. This income will power the colonization of South Africa.

- my starting location had no set trade good. It had wool and livestock as most likely trade goods to spawn. Gold was 3.9% only. I had to restart 14 times till I got gold . This was the reference to sending the scouts 14 times in the first post .

- because I started with low dev and far from Europe, I needed Mana and lots of it to develop and spawn institutions . Hence a Republic

- I chose a 6 admin ruler to start in order to get Expansion ideas ASAP

- I chose Jewish religion because the Simchat Torah interaction basically allows me to keep re-electing my ruler without ever dropping below 50% RT

- Simchat Torah also allowed very fast adoption of government reforms because it gave 25% progress each time. Combine with high RT and government reforms were adopted very quickly

- for technology group I chose Muslim group for a bit of role play and and image sprites and to give much better map visibility at start

- for culture I chose Amhara for roleplay since the only Jewish provinces in the game were in Ethiopia. Also Amharic names could sound somewhat Hebrew ( both are semitic languages) whereas other Levantine cultures would clearly sound Islamic and not Hebrew , killing the roleplay . The choice of Amhara had the added benefit of allowing recruitment of the Cawa special units once I unlocked the government reform

- I chose the name of my starting ruler with a play on the name of a historical Ethiopian Jewish explorer Eldad ben Mahli Ha Dani . I basically flipped his first name and his "family " name. Subsequent rulers would have random Amharic names.


A couple of points about the aims of the run:

1) obviously getting the 2 achievements I mentioned earlier

2) recovering Jerusalem (the "Holy City" in the opening post) and triggering the "Build the Third Temple" decision :

This means a war with the Ottomans at some point, to make the run more interesting .

Once I achieve all 3 aims, I will probably stop the campaign as late game is pretty dull.

 

[Rensslaer]

Great start there in South Africa! It's a really good location.

You'll hopefully grow into Kilwa's space, enriching yourself and weakening them. That's some good territory too!

So it sounds like you made good decisions on religion and Amharic, etc. Is this a direct connection with the Queen of Sheba or not so much?

Looks good!

Rensslaer

 

[Rensslaer]

Oh, btw, you should start an Inkwell page to advertise your AAR and to keep track of them as you write more.

I half expected to find a page already. Do I remember correctly that you have been active on the Forum before? I know you said you've been around, but I swear I remember a MackWolfe from when I was around previously.

Rensslaer

 

[mackwolfe]

You'll hopefully grow into Kilwa's space, enriching yourself and weakening them. That's some good territory too!

Killing Kilwa is literally the focus of chapter 2 , hopefully to be posted soon.

So it sounds like you made good decisions on religion and Amharic, etc. Is this a direct connection with the Queen of Sheba or not so much?

Looks good!

Rensslaer

The choice of Amharic was serendipitous. I did not know about Cawa till I played a bit and saw the choice .
I did not think of the Queen of Sheba connection.. Maybe I'll find a way to incorporate it into the legend of Asher.

 

[mackwolfe]

Oh, btw, you should start an Inkwell page to advertise your AAR and to keep track of them as you write more.

I half expected to find a page already. Do I remember correctly that you have been active on the Forum before? I know you said you've been around, but I swear I remember a MackWolfe from when I was around previously.

I will take your advice and start an inkwell post. Have to search for all my prior AAR's first

And yes you have commented on my AARs in the past ( I recognize your username). After a 4 year absence ( basically when COVID started ) , it is nice to be back and I see some familiar names on the forum.

My last two AARs I did ( you may remember them ) were these 2:

Power Broker Chaos ( written in 2019-2020 , interrupted by COVID and never finished)

and

Pax Americana ( written in 2018-2019 and completed)

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

Kilwa will be dangerous, but the Europeans will also be showing up sooner rather than later. The Republic may have to keep electing military candidates for its own protection.

 

[mackwolfe]

The Cawa, renowned for their courage in the face of enemy fire, formed the backbone of Asherite armies in the 15th and 16th century ​

Kilwa in the 1480's was beset with peasant rebellions , while Asher worked on improving the quality of her army (1488)​

"So, in conclusion , Kilwa is weak. The moment to strike is now", said young Botros of Xhosa, as he finished presenting his scouting report of the Kilwan lands.

"Hmm.." muttered the Consul Afework Astakteid. " I will think about it".
Unlike his predecessor Mehli ben Eldad, who exuded confidence and charisma, Afework , consul of Asher since 1477, was indecisive. Despite good military skills, he lacked the strategic vision of his predecessor.
"Their military techonology is less advanced than ours . They have peasant rebels everywhere. They have no manpower. Our Cawas will destroy them!" replied the young Cawa commander confidently .
"Well", said the Consul, "the great Mehli recommended we complete our discipline improvements before we start any wars. That was written in the scrolls he bequeathed me".
"Mehli is dead!" came the retort. An audible gasp came from the rest of the council. No one has ever challenged Mehli's wisdom before. "If we wait, Kilwa will recover and scale up. We must kill Kilwa now, before new enemies show on our horizon", continued Botros.
"Enough!" said the Consul. He could not take the insolence of a young junior commander any longer. But deep down, he knew the youth was right. The time to strike Kilwa was now.

A few months later, war was declared on Kilwa without much fanfare

Asher declares its first war on Kilwa ( 1490)​

The young Cawa commander's prediction was totally correct. The main battles of the war happened in Transvaal and Tswana , when Kilwan forces tried to invade Asher's heartland. And for their trouble, they met complete doom at the hand of the superior Asherites

Asherite armies annihilate the main force of Kilwa, who was still suffering from peasant rebellions ( 1491)​

The remainder of the war would be a matter of mopping up resistance, with Asher's forces fighting more Kilwan peasants than regular Kilwan troops. After 2 years of war, Kilwa was willing to cede large amounts of land, including their capital city with its gold mine and trade center

Peace treaty ending the first Kilwan war ( 1493 ) ​

The first Kilwan war would be the main event of Consul Afework's tenure. At his death in 1498 , a bureaucrat succeeded him to the top spot in Asher.

Election of a bureaucrat to succeed as 3rd Consul ( 1498)​

The choice of someone with more administrative than martial skills was driven by the need to deal with the religious discord brought about by annexing Muslim Kilwan lands. For the first time in her history, Asher had a large minority that did not follow the Jewish faith, and this was making the practice of Simchat Torah problematic. Clearly, the new lands had to be converted, and for that a Consul capable of pushing through the necessary laws was needed.

But before the new Consul could dedicate himself to religious affairs, he found himself dealing with new events, far over the horizon. In 1502 , news of European nations starting extensive colonies in a new world beyond the Atlantic reached Asher. Consul Alwa wasted no time learning of the new European "Colonialism" and enshrining its ways in a new city in Transvaal.

Colonialism, first invented by the English, is quickly copied by the Asherites ( 1502)​

The sense that one age was giving way to another was reinforced by the appearance of a new faith in Europe. The Christian faith appeared to be undergoing yet another split.

1505 marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation in Germany ( 1505)​

But for now , the sequelae of these momentous events were still far over the horizon, and Asher remained occupied with more local issues, such as another war with Kilwa.

Declaration of the second Kilwan war ( 1508)​

The second war would prove even easier than the first one, as Kilwa had gotten weaker while Asher grew in strength after their first encounter. And this time, Asher had a fleet that allowed armies to land on the Island of Madagascar and deal a crushing blow to Kilwa's ally Antemoro.

Asher gains a foothold on Madagascar by annexing Antemoro ( 1511)

Kilwa is reduced to a land-locked rump state ( 1512 ) ​

The elimination of Kilwa as a serious contender for hegemony in South Africa was an achievement that any Consul would be proud of . But that was not the only feather in Consul Alwa's cap. In that same great year of 1512, he sent colonists to the New World for the first time and laid claim to the the great port of Bahia before any European nation took it. With that, a new chapter of competition with more distant powers was opened.

Asher gets to Bahia, possibly the most important port in the New World, before the Castilians and the English ( 1512)​

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

So with a colony in South America, the Europeans must know about you now.

 

[mackwolfe]

Kilwa will be dangerous, but the Europeans will also be showing up sooner rather than later. The Republic may have to keep electing military candidates for its own protection.

I got lucky that Kilwa had the Peasant War disaster going on , which is very brutal.

 

[mackwolfe]

So with a colony in South America, the Europeans must know about you now.

Indeed they do. I actually spotted a Castilian fleet in the Indian ocean around that time as well.
Going for Bahia is risky as that gives Europeans a CB on me , but I could not resist grabbing the Great Project province first. If I am lucky and get some big allies , I may avoid a declaration of war by one of the colonizers.

Thanks for following.

 

[mackwolfe]

Some gameplay notes

* the young Cawa commander Botros in the opening scene was inspired by a real life conversation with my teenage son, an eu4 player himself, who saw my campaign and made the case for an immediate attack on Kilwa . Glad I followed his advice.

* the Cawa units are very OP in the early game. At the cost of 2 Mil Mana , you get an immediate regiment at 1/2 strength. By merging regiments, you basically get instant troops with zero manpower spent. As a Republic with no shortage of Mana, this allowed me to raise armies without concern about manpower.

* the 3rd idea group will be religious . As only Jewish nation, the Deus Vult will be a world-wide CB generator

* the maps of South America were obtained by stealing maps from Iberians and by using the Explorer from the Estate privilege "Grant New World Charter" unlocked by having Expansion. Therefore Exploration ideas are totally unnecessary in this run. I think I will go either Trade or Plutocratic after Religious but that is far down the line.

* gold income is ridiculously high thanks to having all the Gold Mines of Mutapa with the 0.5 goods produced tradition .

 

[mackwolfe]

Chapter 3. The Coasts of Africa (1512-1529)

An Asherite ship off the coast of West Africa during the height of the Colonial Race ( circa 1520 )​

Ogbai Dengel stepped off the small boat and onto the beach . The cloudy water reached his knees immediately. He muttered under his breath . His scouts said this was a good landing spot for the army. He should have the lot of them flogged! All he could see were Mangrove trees coming to the edge of the water. And where there was a wide swath of beach, the thick tropical forest stood menacingly in the background.
"This place must be teeming with Akan warriors" he thought aloud. If he had his choice, he would have immediately left this hot humid hell and returned to the cool breeze of the Cape. But he had orders to carry out. Important orders from the Consul himself to quickly clear the province for the colonists. His only task was to kill and drive away all the natives. Nothing more , nothing less. A bloody , costly job that brought him no glory and no fame.
He trundled onto the shore. Seeing no hostile activity , he motioned to his aide who planted the Asherite flag in the humid sand. That was the signal to the transport ships to appraoch and begin disembarkation . Another massacre of natives was about to begin.

It was official Asherite policy to clear all the natives out of future colonies , to create Amhara majority provinces ( 1518)​

Ever since the colonists went to Bahia, Consul Alwa had become obsessed with the Europeans and their encroachment on the African coast. In the early days of the Republic, all the riches of Mutapa, Kilwa and Asher herself were traded in the markets of the Cape, bringing income to the treasury. But now the Cape was becoming more and more a simple transit point, as goods headed further west , towards the Ivory Coast and distant Europe. Even Kongolese and Beninese traders were appearing with increasing frequency in the Cape and competing with the Asherites. This was a situation the Consul could not let continue. And he knew it would only get worse as European traders joined in . If Asher was to ever diversify her economy, highly dependent on gold extraction , she had to establish better control of the trade routes to to and from the Cape. To that end, when time came to reform the economic laws of Asher, consul Alwa granted a third Colonization charter and immediately sent the new colonists to the western coast of Africa, in the hope of cutting off any European colonists from establishing a foothold there.

Asher establishes a third colonization enterprise ( 1516). From that point forward, the focus of colonization shifted to the western shores of Africa. ​

Alwa's efforst would be mostly successful, as Asherite colonists quikly flooded the gulf of Benin and took for Asher the best ports in the Area, at Gold Coast , Cape Coast and Bonny . This was facilitated by the military effort of Ogbai Dengel in clearing the natives out. But despite Asher's best effort, the Castilians managed to establish a foothold in South Africa, in the province of Luanda.

The Colonial Race is on in Western Africa as Asher tries to head off European Expansion ( 1520)​

The Castilian encroachment on Asher's sphere of influence was punctuated by the passage of a Castilian flotilla in the waters off Madagascar right as rule in Asher passed from Consul Alwa to Consul Mengesha Pakhoras

A Castilian flotilla rounds the Cape and is spotted off Madagascar during the Sakalavan war ( 1522) . This would later lead Asher to declare Castile a hostile power

Three European powers are encroaching on the African coast, but only Castile, the weakest of the bunch, is designated as a direct rival at this time ( 1528). Note all of Madagascar island under Asherite control. Note independent Aragon. ​

The rivalry with Castile would quickly lead to an alliance between Morocco and Asher. With both African nations worried about European encroachment, an alliance was mutually beneficial . But before we proceed with further events in the West African sector, we need to turn to events on the eastern side of the continent.

After the second Kilwan war, Asher continued to consolidate her power in Southern Africa, annexing all of the island of Madagascar in a quick war against Sakalava in 1522-1523.After a few years of rest and preparation, the third , and final Kilwan war was launched in 1529

Third declaration of war on Kilwa. Ethiopia would be called into the war soon after its start to help deal with Adal ( 1529)​

This last Kilwan war would be different from the first two. While ostensibly Kilwa was the target, Asher used the war as an excuse to establish a foothold in the Gulf of Aden region. A region of great strategic and trade importance. In this war, Asher obtained the help of the fellow Amhara nation Ethiopia. Consul Pakoras considered Ethiopia as a vital ally who would be a buttress against aggression by the Mamluks and Ottomans into Africa.

The war itself was not very notable, as Asherite armies quickly conquered Kilwa and moved onto Marehan and Adal. The Asherite fleet took part in the war effort to secure the Bab El Mandab strait and allow Asher's armies into the continent of Asia for the first time.

Naval victory at Bab Al Mandeb allows Asher to attack Hadramaut in Asia ( 1532 ) ​

These military successes were overshadowed, however, by an event of great import: the great Mamluk city of Cairo had fallen to the invading Turks whose Sultan claimed dominion over the entire Mamlukean lands

Collapse of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1532 . One threat is about be replaced by an even greater one!! ​

The looming threat of hte Ottomans led Consul Pakhoras to throw caution to the wind when it came to peace with Asher's enemies. He feared that the Ottomans would soon prevent Asher from expanding in the Gulf of Aden by allying or guaranteeing the minor muslim states in the area. So Pakhoras decided to take what he could now, while the taking was good.

Hadramut's important port of Shihr is annexed by Asher ( 1533)​

Soon after an aggressive peace is made with Adal, in wich Asher gained the important trading city of Zeila while Etiopia gained two border provinces.

Peace with Adal (1533)​

This would soon be followed by the full annexation of Kilwa.

The aggressive expansion of Jewish Asher in the region caused great alarm among the petty Emirs and Sultans of the region, who began talk about a coalition to face Asher.

The budding coalition against Asher would be a formidable obstacle if the Mamluks joined, but at that point, their survival as an independent nation was very much in doubt ( 1533)​

 

[mackwolfe]

With that last chapter, the AAR is caught up with my gameplay . further posts will now come more slowly.

 

[StrategyGameEnthusiast]

Hopefully, Ethiopia won't turn on you - you might need them if the coalition fights you.

 

[Rensslaer]

@mackwolfe I'm an update behind, but great work against Kilwa, and good move to expand into South America. Hope that's a blessing and not a curse.

Rensslaer