Egypt Details (M2TW Faction)

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Have a look at the main Egypt page for general information and facts regarding this faction.

Overview

Egypt is a Muslim faction, with starting positions of Alexandria, Cairo, and the castle Gaza. As a desert-based faction Egypt's units largely rely on mobility, along with a small complement of heavy cavalry. It boasts large buffer zones between potential enemies- it's closest neighbors are rebels, the other Muslim factions, and the Byzantines. It's comfortable starting positions allow quick wealth and relative safety from attack, but it's closest neighboring regions are typical targets for Catholic crusades, as well as emerging factions from the east.

Win conditions for the long campaign: hold 45 regions, including Jerusalem and Constantinople. For the short campaign: hold 15 regions and destroy or outlast the Moors and Turks.

Military

Egypt has a similar roster to the other Muslim factions in speed-based units, and their unique units are the Mamluk and Royal Mamluk heavy cavalry. Having the least varied of Muslim factions as missile troops, Egypt's greatest asset is the desert. Egyptian units are generally lightly armoured but fast and capable of holding their ground, allowing enemy troops to tire out before striking back.

Religion

Egypt is a Muslim faction: it's Imams can call Jihads against choice settlements once enough Piety is attained, and have Muslim traits that give bonuses against Catholics.

Strategies

Egypt has its two fellow Muslim factions, the Moors and Turks, as its closest neighbors, allowing a large timeframe to develop and advance before confronting a serious conflict. Early-game will find Egypt quickly becoming rich, large, and powerful, allowing its settlements and armies to deal with Crusades or hostile Muslims with relative ease. Because European factions and the other two Muslim factions will largely be focused on fighting eachother, Egypt is generally able to easily expand, fighting against battered enemies and being able to weather through wars with its generous income. Late-game, the possible arrivals of the Mongols and Timurids are liely to pose a serious challenge to Egypt if they are spawned near Baghdad, to the far right of the campaign map. The best way to deal with Mongol armies is to fight them in bridge battles, where their missile units can be forced to cross and engage in melee, negating their cavalry and missile advantages. Egypt's small roster of gunpowder units are the best weapons against the Timurids elephants, causing them to run amok and, hopefully, deal damage to friendly nearby units. Egypt's lack of unit specalization makes the problem of the Mongols and Timurids a considerable challenge.

Fighting against Egypt is relatively difficulty due to the desert, its wealth and distance from sources of reinforcements. Egypt can train large numbers of units, though they are generally not particularly powerful. The best way to defeat Egypt would be to capture the rich territories. Alexandria region has bridges to force Egyptian armies to fight bridge battles, and in the open desert strong missile units will make short work of most Egyptian units, while a light cavalry and spearmen complement deals with flanking, chasing routers and protecting the missile units from melee attacks.