Egypt (M2TW Faction)

Medieval 2: Total War | Factions:
Aztecs | Byzantine Empire | Denmark | Egypt | England | France | Holy Roman Empire | Hungary | Milan | Mongols | Moors | Papal States | Poland | Portugal | Russia | Scotland | Sicily | Spain | Timurids | Turks | Venice | Rebels

Starting Info

Egypt in M2TW are a Muslim faction, representing the Fatimid Caliphate and later dynasties. They have powerful armies and rich provinces, and they begin in a position that's suitable for quickly seizing the Holy Land, holding Cairo, Alexandria and Gaza (the borders are about the same as those of Modern Egypt).

Gameplay

They are surrounded by rebel settlements that should be taken before other interested parties arrive, such as the Moors and Turks, as well as crusaders. Their neighbours are the Turks to the far north, the Moors to the very far west, and the Byzantines on Cyprus. The most immeduiate threats will come from accross the Med in the form of the Venetians and Sicilians. Most likely, the Turks will eye your lands as soon as you start to share borders. As well, since you will most likely be the first faction to conquer the Holy Land (Jerusalem, Acre, Anitoch, etc.), the armies of Christendom may be called to take one of your settlements, so watch for those messages. After you have conquered Arabia and most of North Africa, you can either head west to defeat the Moors, north into Turkey, or accross the Med to Greece and Italy.

One thing to be aware of is that later on, both the Mongols and Timurids will head into your lands.

Units

Egyptian armies are more generalist then most, lacking specialisation in one area (such as heavy infantry) but having units capable of filling in the role (Tradayabba - the new version of the Abysain guard). They also have a very good selection of cavalry.

As most Egyptian units are lightly armoured, they are suited to combat in hotter conditions such as the entire south of the campaign map.

Unique Units

Egyptian unique units include powerful Mamuluk cavalry, in both heavy horse archer, and heavy charger cavalry variants. Though they are not equal in skill to those available to cavalry specialist powers such as the Monguls, Turks and Russians.

Win Conditions

For the long campaign, you must hold 45 regions, including Jerusalem and Constantinople.

For the short campaign, you must hold 15 regions and destroy or outlast the Moors and Turks.

Conclusion

The Egyptian army can effectively see off any threat in any situation, so long as you are using the proper units. If you are fighting against them, remember that they use powerful missile cavalry, so develop a tactic for dealing with this, or if you are a faction which also has an effective form of missile cavalry, try using them to counter.