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Miaphysite Tutorial
Part 14: Carpe Diem (955-963)


At first I nearly tore my hair out. Another Jihad, NOW?! But then I noticed two things upon closer inspection. It?s for the Shia, and it?s for Anatolia. They?re off attacking Byzantium which has unfortunately (mostly) reconstituted itself. So where is the Shia Caliph?


Off in Khiva! Sidenote, that is the best dynasty name I?ve ever seen.


Back to our revolt in progress. All our guys are tied up in Sunni Holy War No. 67, so this four thousand man rebellion is going to continue for a while.


Or it doesn?t.

When you win a battle or a seige, there?s an offhand chance you?ll capture a prisoner that can up your overall war score. Capture a wife or child and they?re not worth much. A count or duke can take a bunch. The ruler?s heir is a load. But the ruler himself? Instant 100% victory. I?m not wasting my time. Declare victory, hand out the holdings, and ship out for Bulgaria!


The revolt went on long enough that the revolters started taking holdings. The good news is that I can crush their manpower. The bad news is that I can?t just win by doing that since this is an offensive war (revolters are defense). It?s at this point I come up with an idea. An astoundingly simple idea.


It starts with a White Peace. Wearing down her holding is going to take a ton of time I don?t have, opinion bonus for crushing a revolt be damned.


Step Two: She immediately starts a plot. Since she?s the leader and it?s been revealed I can arrest her and no one will care.


Last Step: I make her release contingent upon her conversion to the Miaphysite faith. While this means I can?t get rid of her, I can exploit her AI?s behavior to ensure her Orthodox holdings turn into Miaphysite ones. You?d think she would make some attempt to reconvert back to her old faith. Nope, totally devout Miaphysite now


During a regular checkup of the Caliph, I notice something odd. He?s fighting someone with the nickname ?Conqueror?. That nickname is exclusively for characters that won a war with the Invasion CB.


Wow the French got to Algeria FAST in this timeline. He survives the war, but I don?t think he?s long for this world.


Let?s talk vassal management. You?ll notice that I?ve been conquering a ton of land over the whole LP and forming Duchies with them once the succession type is secured. There's two simple reasons.

First the less vassals that are directly under you have the less of a hassle you?ll have. Four counts on the same plot is more than one duke on the same plot, and that?s more vassals you have to deal with in the revolt. The exception is King vassals who are usually more trouble than they're worth.

The other reason came up after technology received a much needed revamp WAY before this LP was began. Characters that are at least Duke-tier can invest in technological upgrades, you?ve seen the screen in previous updates. I want them to start updating the realm piece by piece.


This is the last independent Muslim Emir in range, and he?s an easy snack.


Goddamn it. My heir has managed to get the Kinslayer trait AGAIN. What is with my heirs and shit operational security? Second heir this run, and a lot of my vassals and neighbors are starting to become my dynasty. This will be hard. The one thing he turns out to be good at is an astounding Intrigue score ? he?ll need it when it?s his turn.

I make him my spymaster and start discouraging vassals from joining factions. If he gets himself killed that makes my life easier.


My heir is not making a good impression on me. His mega-duke status made him a threat for ?give duchy to someone else? plots, and one of them fires off. He loses the Duchy of Karnuva eventually and there?s nothing I can do.


Apparently my ruler?s name changed when I swapped cultures? I?m not sure what happened here.


The war ends without fanfare. Mostly because my eye is on the Abbassids who are still enduring revolts.


Giant, giant revolts. Picture is from before I started taking holdings.


Even AFTER the conversion this Duchess continues to try and start plots. I decide to try and assassinate her for real this time.

Throughout the course of her life, I make six separate attempts on her life if you count the one that set off the revolt. All six not only fail, but I get exposed each and every time. If relations weren?t capped at 100 she would shoot laser beams of hate powered by -600 GW. She will end up dying of natural causes 40+ years down the line in a few updates.


Let me tell you about Baghdad. Before the map expansion it was the best Duchy in the game. It still might be post-Rajas. The duchy can hold at maximum 32 holdings, the most in the entire game. Make no mistake this piece of land is prime real estate and for most non-Muslim players you will never get to own it.

We?re Miaphysites, so fuck that shit. Baghdad is strategically the lynchpin of the Abbassid Empire. It?s the source for a large chunk of their manpower, the Caliph has some holdings there, and it contains a holy site for the Sunni faith. I want all of that gone and in my hands instead. You know what they say: you come at the king, you best not miss.


Already off to a bad start. The Sultan of Egypt and Arabia has joined up. He?s got another 10K men to bring in, meaning I am in serious need of good strategy.


I need my guys to unite and lure them into a fight. They?ll take the bait, I just need reinforcements to arrive.


I luck out and immediately kill one of the Caliph?s leaders, an Emir. Their flank becomes exposed as a result, and I show no mercy.


By the time I finish hunting down the Caliph?s armies, I have 33% warscore and ten thousand men on the march.


I come all the way down to Outerjordain because some of the Sultan?s men are in this stack. I?m losing warscore by not seiging Baghdad but as I?ve shown in previous parts the priority is stomping mudholes into armies before they outgun you.


No shit it failed. You?re the only Shia power on the map and you sent in a force the third of the Emperor?s army. You are literally neighbors with Persia, attack Persia!


I want to make an addition to my ?stomp mudholes? strategy. By repeatedly defeating the Caliph?s and the Sultan?s armies I am accruing a ton of warscore. I?m now at 50%. 50! I haven?t won a single siege and I?m halfway to enforcing demands!


Just by taking a single holding in the Duchy I not only erase all the negative warscore from the Caliph playing ?successful defense? but I get the score from the holding too. I jump 20+ percent in warscore as a result.


Three years of war and the best duchy is all mine. With two of the best duchies under my control, I?m going to do a lot of housekeeping...


Back in our Ledger, notice how much the Sunni religion has tanked ? it?s back to 55. It climbed back before, Holy Wars are at best temporary bonuses/penalties to Moral Authority. But the Caliph qualified as a religious head and he held Baghdad. Without that things are going to get hairy.

Next Time: Byzantium ? Dick or Biggest Dick?