Möngke Khan, fourth Great Khan of the Mongol empire, died in 1259 on campaign in China. He had not nominated a successor. His brother Ariq Böke, who had been assigned control of Mongolia, convened a kurultai in the capital Karakorum and in 1260 was proclaimed Great Khan. To secure support he appointed Alghu as Chagatai Khan, replacing the previous khan. Another of Möngke’s brothers, Kubilai, had also been on campaign in China; he also convened a kuriltai and was also proclaimed Great Khan in 1260. Still another brother, Hulegu, ruled the Middle East and supported Kubilai’s claim. He was unable to help Kubilai due to a long-standing quarrel with Berke, the ruler of the fourth Mongol state, the Golden Horde, which broke out into open warfare in 1262. Kubilai defeated Ariq Böke in 1261 but did not follow up; Alghu changed sides in 1263 and Ariq Böke surrendered to Kubilai in 1264. Fighting continued in the Caucasus between Berke and Hulegu until they died within months of each other in 1265. Amazingly all through this expansion was still going on at the edges of the empire, including a long-lasting war with the Mamluks and the epic struggle to conquer south China.
The four protagonists are: Kubilai (green), Ariq Böke & Alghu (red), Berke (yellow) and Hulegu (blue). Transoxiana (the area where Samarkand is) is held by governors loyal to Kubilai. This area is different from others. It doesn't have an army in it, and so anyone who invades it occupies it without a fight - they replace the governors with their own men.
Each turn is a year.
In each turn carry out steps 1 to 3:
Step 1 Roll for change in status. For each box roll 1D6. 1,2 the number drops by one; 5,6 the number rises by one.
Statuses are:
Status 1 At war. War breaks out. Roll a dice for each side and add their aggression. The side with the higher score invades the other provided they have a border. Will also act as under Hostile.
Status 2 Hostile. Will supply a three element contingent to any state which attacks the state they are hostile to, provided there is a route through territory which is neutral or friendly to the state providing the contingent.
Status 3 Neutral. Nothing happens.
Status 4 Friendly. Will supply a three element contingent to the state they are friendly with if it is attacked, provided there is a route through territory which is neutral or friendly to the state providing the contingent.
Status 5 Allied. Act as in Friendly above. In addition the alliance status between this state and any attacking the state this state is allied to drops by one.
Status 1 At war. War breaks out. Roll a dice for each side and add their aggression. The side with the higher score invades the other provided they have a border. Will also act as under Hostile.
Status 2 Hostile. Will supply a three element contingent to any state which attacks the state they are hostile to, provided there is a route through territory which is neutral or friendly to the state providing the contingent.
Status 3 Neutral. Nothing happens.
Status 4 Friendly. Will supply a three element contingent to the state they are friendly with if it is attacked, provided there is a route through territory which is neutral or friendly to the state providing the contingent.
Status 5 Allied. Act as in Friendly above. In addition the alliance status between this state and any attacking the state this state is allied to drops by one.
Step 2 If any states are at war (status 1) roll for who invades who.
Step 3 Resolve battles. The winner holds the area in which the battle takes place. The armies are made up as below, and some might have one or more allied contingents. There are not allied generals – the extra elements are just added to the army size.
The areas held by each faction at the start are shown below. The first turn is 1260.
In our game this is how things turned out:
In 1260 Alghu & Ariq Böke threatened Hulegu in an attempt to detach him from his loyalty to Kubilai. It had the opposite effect and in 1261 Hulegu offered an alliance to Kubilai. Ariq Boke declared war on Kubilai, and as Hulegu was allied to Kubilai this meant that relations between Hulegu and Arik Boke also worsened. Berke in his turn also declared war on Hulegu, so the statuses at the end of step 1 of 1261 were:
In 1260 Alghu & Ariq Böke threatened Hulegu in an attempt to detach him from his loyalty to Kubilai. It had the opposite effect and in 1261 Hulegu offered an alliance to Kubilai. Ariq Boke declared war on Kubilai, and as Hulegu was allied to Kubilai this meant that relations between Hulegu and Arik Boke also worsened. Berke in his turn also declared war on Hulegu, so the statuses at the end of step 1 of 1261 were:
The resulting moves are shown below. Despite being at war with Hulegu Ariq Böke didn't have a border with the Ilkhanate and so had to content himself with sending troops to help Berke against Hulegu's invasion. The other battle was in Manchuria with Kubilai on the defensive.
In the ensuing battles both invaders were repulsed - the Ilkhanids handily by the larger army of the Golden Horde and their ally Ariq Böke, and in the east after a close-run one in which the Yuan appeared to be set for an easy victory, were brought to the brink of defeat by a fierce attack by Ariq Böke, and eventually managed to drive them back. (The Yuan went three elements to nil up, were pulled back to three all, and eventually won four three.) That was the action for 1261 and so it was on to step 1 of the next year.
For the year 1262 the war between Kubilai and Ariq Böke continued, with Kubilai taking the offensive and driving on Karakorum. In the west Hulegu again crossed the Caucasus to attack Berke, who again had help from his allyAlghu. Kubilai defeated Ariq Böke and took Karakorum, and Hulegu was once again driven back by the allies. That was enough for Hulegu and the war between the Ilkhanate and the Golden Horde petered out into suspicious neutrality. Kubilai's commanders drove on into the Chagatai Khanate proper and were beaten off, so the map below shows the situation at the end of 1262.
The battle outside Karakorum, seen from behind the Yuan lines. Arik Boke's general can be seen at top centre (between the edifice & the hill). His heavy cavalry deployed into line in front of the Yuan infantry and he stopped an arrow.
End 1262 / start 1263
The urgent diplomacy over the winter of 1262-3 led to the situation above. Hulegu and Berke enjoyed an uneasy truce. Kubilai and Ariq Böke were locked in their struggle for the title and authority of Great Khan, and as part of that Alghu took the opportunity to invade south into Tibet hoping to simultaneously weaken Kubilai and strengthen his own position.
This invasion in early 1263 ended in a disastrous (5-0) defeat of Alghu by Kubilai's general. The Mongols were flummoxed by the strange terrain-types - a hamlet, two ploughed fields, an enclosure (paddy field) as seen below. A third of Alghu's men, his right, started in the paddies and never got out.
This invasion in early 1263 ended in a disastrous (5-0) defeat of Alghu by Kubilai's general. The Mongols were flummoxed by the strange terrain-types - a hamlet, two ploughed fields, an enclosure (paddy field) as seen below. A third of Alghu's men, his right, started in the paddies and never got out.
Another third were detached on a flank attack round the Yuan right. The archers, crossbowmen and light horse making up the Yuan right were able to turn to face and completely wipe out the outflanking force (below).
In 1264 the uneasy truce between the Golden Horde and the Ilkhanate continued, and Kubilai resolved to deal with Arik Boke. He invaded and headed straight for Turfan. Outside the city Arik Boke suffered a severe (4 - 0) defeat and the valuable Tarim Basim fell to Kubilai. Below we see Arik Boke's cavalry making a headlong and unscientific attack on the Yuan infantry and being soundly trounced.
With Alghu's plans in the south in ruins and Arik Boke being driven back in the east, and it now being 1264, we decided it was game over. Alghu offered to betray Arik Boke to Kubilai in exchange for being allowed to remain as Chagatai khan and the return of the land taken in Kubilai's invasion of earlier in the year. The situation reverted to its historical course and we could chalk up a campaign played to a satisfactory conclusion.