Having trouble with Oman

[Renegen]

I wanted to try out this great mod and started my first game with Oman on hard and hard I believe. I chose them because they were the closest faction to the Saba faction in EB in terms of location, it's pretty cool The Sultanate of Oman still exists today!

Anyway, I have huge problems. I'm in about 1210 right now. I have about 10 regions.

To the south I control only the Aden region. Makuria and Ayyubid each control 1 town too. I also control the horn of Africa and that small island.

I control the 4 Oman towns in the middle and Salalah of course.

And in Asia I control Hormuz, Firuzabat and Turbat which I converted to a castle.

My problem is that I am at war against no less than 4 factions, the most of any faction in the game and not only do I get full stacks thrown at me by Makuria in the south, Abbasid in Oman and Ghazni and Solanki in the north but I barely make 1-2k per turn! I played many TW mods but never was the money situation this tight.

Of course my diplomats are trying in vain to get peace, these wars get started at random and there's nothing that I can do. I barely have maybe a combined 2 full stacks in my armies and manage to get great victory after another every turn, but it's incredibly tedious. What kind of crazy money script does the AI have, does it actually have a ceiling?


I have merchants all over, that is not the problem. I make over 3k using the ivory and I make good money from all the over resources, including a gold mine in Turbat. I'd have huge defecits every turn if it wasn't for the merchants. I haven't ventured too far however as merchants seem to die off really quickly in enemy territory.

Right now, I fund expansion plans with ransom money, it's really sad. If I'm lucky I might get 2 or 3k from a ransom and use it to build a new farm building on 1 town. I don't even dream of having more than 2-3 projects.

Btw, I don't sack towns but considering how I didn't get a new town in many many years the extra money wouldn't matter.

I'd like some advice from fellow Oman players or people who understand the rules a little bit. I find the balance really bad, I spied a bit and of course my enemies have buildings that I didn't even know existed. My towns are chronically undeveloped.

Does playing on medium make a huge difference? Anything I can do about the stupid money script? I don't want to fight against endless hordes, I want to feel like I weaken an empire. Or how about some advice on the diplomatic situation so that my enemies don't concentrate all their resources on me.

[Kip]

Oman is generally acknowledged as having one of the worst base economies in BC...their home regions just aren't very rich. The key, therefore, is to pick your targets wisely. I personally think you have overspread yourself too much...Arabia is your core, so the settlements of Oman and Yemen are probably your main targets. After this, I would suggest attacking only one overseas front: Africa OR Iran. Once you construct a decent colonial empire in one, you can gain your financial leggings to attack the other if you so choose.

As the Omanis, methods I've used to gain cash fast include sending merchants to Sudan and the Horn to trade ivory, and sending the occasional army to raid and sack towns in India.

[Renegen]

Thanks, I started a new game but really the theory was that the 3 towns in Iran would get me about 4k in earnings and that would offset the cost of the army, I see a slight increase in my earnings now that I'm sticking to Oman and Yemen but it's nothing extraordinary. I didn't know about Sudan, I shall send a few merchants there.

73 views, wow! Anyone has anything else to say?

[byzantineklibanophori]

Train lots of assasins and assainate rival merchants. Heck, keep a large network of assasins to protect your merchants.

And regarding stacks. I hear ya bro...I faced the same problem as the Abbasids and it was TEDIOUS to fight battle after battle.

But eventually, I overcame them........but still, it was TEDIOUS!!

There is thread here that amends the cash script for ai.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Oman is my favorite faction and as I have tried all others, I can confidently confirm that it is the hardest faction to play in the mod. This si due to the crappy economy, which is crippled by corruption (I think the BC team is looking into fixing this for future releases). Then due to Oman's location, it constantly needs to fight on at least two fronts against spammed AI armies, most likely Abbasid in the west and Solanki or Ghorid in the east.
My advice - do not go to Yemen, leave it for the end when you have to fulfill your victory conditions. There is nothing there - because of the distance the settlements will require garrisons, which cost more in maintenance than these settlements can yield. Any tax income is negated by the corruption, and the best merchant resource is wheat. Trust me, Yemen is the crappiest part of the map. Same goes for Suqurta or whatever the little island is called - nothing there, only trouble. Calula is worth it, but just because of the ivory - holding the city helps your merchants get more that if it is in rebel hands.
Instead of Yemen, I try to go into Eastern Iran, where the income opportunities are a lot better. The key is to beat the Ghaznis, Seljuks and especially the Khwarezmians to the rebel settlements. Moving your capital to Hormuz or Bam might be a good idea. The Omani towns can go to hell - you will keep them, of course, but trying to develop them is useless, they are just too far away.
Leaving the hell hole called the Arabian peninsula solves the economic situation to a degree. Then one needs to be careful about alliances and wars. Usually everyone beats up on the Seljuks, and this is where Oman can usually take advantage. The problem for Oman is India, as either the Ghorids or the Solankis develop as a superpower there. They both can spam stacks and if you do not deal with the threat early, it can be painful. I prefer to fight the Solankis, because apart from the Kshatriya units, their armies consist of fodder, easy to defeat. Unfortunately, Oman's situation means that you will have to defeat the Solankis or Sindh before you can get to the Ghorids.
In the west, the Abbasids usually become tough to beat if they conquer almost all of the Seljuks provinces and especially if they take over Edessa, Aleppo and start crawling towards the Holy Land. They are usually well allied and you should not attack them until they attack you. However, if they lose their allies for some reason and if they are in a war with someone else, like the ERE, then they are easy to take, just be careful with Baghdad - if you siege it be prepared to face a massive stack of their best units because of the garrison scripts.
Then you need to hold out until 1218, when the Mongols will solve your problems with the Khwarezmians (if any). Hopefully, by then you would have been able to establish yourself in India and Punjab, and you will need to just duke it out with the other power there and possibly with the Abbasids. Finally, when this is achieved, and you have most of the Eastern part of the map, you can march on Yemen and take whatever you need there in order to win the game.

[anaztazioch]

Armenia is hardest. Eigther you sit quiet and barelly have settlement and ecoonopmy to keep army with Turks invading, or you expand and find yourself stuck betwean Turks, KoJ wanting Antioch, Ayybids being bored and Abbassid or Seljuk comming from Van.

Oman on other hand has hard early economy, but if you manage well you can get quite good 6k/turn. Omani army is weakest. No strong lancers, no strong infantry, Noble spearmans even in shieldwall arent effective against bodyguards or Ghulams. And i dont like Ansar warrior skin :p dont like chainmail (same for ghulam spearmans)

[Renegen]

Exactly, in EB the arabian peninsula had huge mines to give them enough money to offset the corruption. I did notice that my huge army that took Yemen had to be pretty much disbanded to act as garrison in the area.
Maybe I'll try another faction, possibly the crusaders?

[Kip]

Oooo yeah I completely forgot about distance penalties to order in settlements. That would make holding Yemen difficult.

[anaztazioch]

Oooo yeah I completely forgot about distance penalties to order in settlements. That would make holding Yemen difficult.

Does the distance or number of regions betwean capitol and city matters ?

[Kip]

Does the distance or number of regions betwean capitol and city matters ?

I always thought it was actual distance, but I guess I've never really thought about it or checked to find out.

[Kiki52]

Capture Calula, then have your general build a fort on the Ivory, then that same turn send all your merchants there. They will all go into the fort and collectively gather money on the same resource. I do that with the Ayyubids all the time for the Silk resource near Damascus.

[Renegen]

Capture Calula, then have your general build a fort on the Ivory, then that same turn send all your merchants there. They will all go into the fort and collectively gather money on the same resource. I do that with the Ayyubids all the time for the Silk resource near Damascus.

Holy crap, what a bug. So you're saying multiple merchants will exploit the same ivory? Will they ever die?

[Kavhan Isbul]

The fort exploit will solve the problems, sure, but to me it feels like cheating.
On a side note, I have played and finished the game with Armenia and it is actually the fastest I have achieved victory. It is fun and easy to play with Armenia as long as you are willing to fight several battles each turn (gets tedious after a while). Once the Turks are gone (and they would be gone quickly, because if you attack them, so will Georgia and the ERE), the ERE is very friendly and so are the Crusaders. I found myself in a war with the Abbasids and the Kypchaks and proceeded to beat both, because the Armenian economy is strong and their units are really good, especially the nakharars (and you get a lot of them with family members, plus they regenerate). As long as I managed to keep my reputation trustworthy or better, which is really easy during wars (just release prisoners every once in a while and always occupy cities), the ERE would accept ridiculous deals, so I was able to buy or trade for half of their settlements in Anatolia. I actually paid them a few thousand denarii just to help me against the Kypchaks, and then when I offered to attack the Kypchaks, they agreed to give me Smyrna. This is of course all on VH/VH settings.

[anaztazioch]

The fort exploit will solve the problems, sure, but to me it feels like cheating.
On a side note, I have played and finished the game with Armenia and it is actually the fastest I have achieved victory. It is fun and easy to play with Armenia as long as you are willing to fight several battles each turn (gets tedious after a while). Once the Turks are gone (and they would be gone quickly, because if you attack them, so will Georgia and the ERE), the ERE is very friendly and so are the Crusaders. I found myself in a war with the Abbasids and the Kypchaks and proceeded to beat both, because the Armenian economy is strong and their units are really good, especially the nakharars (and you get a lot of them with family members, plus they regenerate). As long as I managed to keep my reputation trustworthy or better, which is really easy during wars (just release prisoners every once in a while and always occupy cities), the ERE would accept ridiculous deals, so I was able to buy or trade for half of their settlements in Anatolia. I actually paid them a few thousand denarii just to help me against the Kypchaks, and then when I offered to attack the Kypchaks, they agreed to give me Smyrna. This is of course all on VH/VH settings.

Dont tell me you achived easy victory becosue you rushed the enemy, please.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Dont tell me you achived easy victory becosue you rushed the enemy, please.

I did not rush any enemies, actually they rushed me. A few turns into the campaign I took Karaman and Homs (both rebel), and I was immediately attacked by both the Turks and the Ayubids. With the Ayubids I was able to get peace in a few turns, and with the Turks I fought until I destroyed them. Their last settlement was Edessa, and immediately after I captured it, the Abbasids attacked me. While fighting the Abbasids, I bought Trebizond and Ani from the ERE, and in this particular game the Kypchaks simply crushed the Georgians, after which they proceeded to attack me (and broke an alliance). The only time I attacked a faction without being attacked by it first, was when I already had 50+ provinces and the Ayubids were taking over the Holy Land, crushing KOJ. So in my experience, playing with Armenia was a very fast paced game. I think this makes it easier, because of the AI's inability to use its troops well in battles, and also most ettlements in the western part of the map are close by, which reduces corruption and makes for a strong economy.
Oman on the other had is surrounded by plenty of rebel settlements in every direction. Unfortunately capturing it sometimes makes no sense, because most of them are in infertile areas and therefore take forever to grow, and besides, the huge distances make for tons of corruption and unrest. And unlike Armenia, which seems to be rarely threatened by the ERE and the Crusaders (as long as you keep your relations with these two factions perfect and your reputation trustworthy), Oman cannot really rely on anyone, so has to wage war on two distant from each other fronts, which is too much of a strain for an already weak economy.

[Munkins]

I've played quite a bit as Oman, and I've decided that the most important thing to do is to send a diplomat ASAP to the Abassids and set up an alliance. If you don't cultivate a really good relationship with the Abassids they will attack you at some point and you'll have to fight endless battles against a stream of armies. It's boring.

In financial matters, you do need a period of time to build up your infrastructure before you fight any big wars. Merchants and trade relations are obviously key. Calula is a great source of money because the AI never sends its own merchants there, so you can clear a couple of thousand without it being taken away from you. Hormuz is usually my financial and trade center.

In my current campaign, the Mongols have just shown up, and I control about six cities in Iran in addition to Oman, Yemen, and Calula. I have alliances with the Abassids, the Ghaznavids, and the Khwarezmians. Relations with the Abassids and Ghaznavids are at "Perfect". The Seljuks are less thrilled with me. Diplomacy has been key.

Now the game is going to get interesting because I'm planning a short war with Makuria (to destroy their naval bases), and then a drive up the Western side of Arabia (Mecca, Medina, etc.) to unify the peninsula. That means war with the Ayubbids. After that maybe a trip to the Holy Land to take on a very powerful KOJ.

[Renegen]

I've played quite a bit as Oman, and I've decided that the most important thing to do is to send a diplomat ASAP to the Abassids and set up an alliance. If you don't cultivate a really good relationship with the Abassids they will attack you at some point and you'll have to fight endless battles against a stream of armies. It's boring.

In financial matters, you do need a period of time to build up your infrastructure before you fight any big wars. Merchants and trade relations are obviously key. Calula is a great source of money because the AI never sends its own merchants there, so you can clear a couple of thousand without it being taken away from you. Hormuz is usually my financial and trade center.

In my current campaign, the Mongols have just shown up, and I control about six cities in Iran in addition to Oman, Yemen, and Calula. I have alliances with the Abassids, the Ghaznavids, and the Khwarezmians. Relations with the Abassids and Ghaznavids are at "Perfect". The Seljuks are less thrilled with me. Diplomacy has been key.

Now the game is going to get interesting because I'm planning a short war with Makuria (to destroy their naval bases), and then a drive up the Western side of Arabia (Mecca, Medina, etc.) to unify the peninsula. That means war with the Ayubbids. After that maybe a trip to the Holy Land to take on a very powerful KOJ.

How do you get these alliances and "cultivate good relationships." My diplomats are worthless, and they even have 5 in diplomacy. Do you mean tribute? How much, how often? I hear that your relations will drop if you share a border, war is inevitable.

Also in my game I haven't faced any faction yet but by reputation is unthrustworthy, how do you get your reputation up? Release? Or do you just always do the same?

[anaztazioch]

And unlike Armenia, which seems to be rarely threatened by the ERE and the Crusaders (as long as you keep your relations with these two factions perfect and your reputation trustworthy)

5th game, 5th alliance with KoJ broken the turn i catuper Antioch.

[Kavhan Isbul]

Then I guess I lucked out. Very soon into the game I was in a war with the Ayubids, together with KOJ, so they were too busy to bother about Antioch, which I took on the very first turn. Then I not only did get a ceasefire with Saladin's guys, but also an alliance, and it helped to keep the Crusaders at bay. I probably could have defeated the Crusaders easily, especially with Ayubid help, but I did not want the Ayubids getting too powerful and with no other utlet for expansion other than my lands.
So when playing with Armenia I was not that worried about KOJ, even with the stacks coming thanks to Crusades, but I was much more afraid of the ERE, because my spies could see a douzen stacks with some pretty nice troops deep in their territory, and soon I was the only faction the ERE bordered in the east. I was surprised to find out how peaceful and loyal the ERE was, and getting them to fight against the Kypchaks with me deffinitely helped, as they lost some of their armies and at the same time my relations with them were perfect, as we were battling the same foe.
With Oman on the other hand, noone really likes me and because all my neighbors are Muslim and allied to each other, as soon as I attack someone like the Ghorids or even the Solankis, I lose most of my allies. And if I do not attack and simply wait, then I have to fight superpowers in both the east and the west.

[Poach]

In my KoJ campaign I've been allied to the ERE for the whole game (150 odd turns I think) with excellent-perfect relationships. Just help your allies and trade lots with them. If they get in a war, offer assistance, it actually IMPROVES your reliability if you make treaties to attack factions and do it! Regularly giving them map information also makes them like you.

For rep: Release prisoners, occupy (no loot or slaughter) settlements, hold true to treaties, never start wars, do not infringe on other nations' lands without military access etc etc.