AH challenge: Survivng Vandal N Africa Kingdom

What the title says, how can it be made so that the Vandals in North Africa aint defeated by the Byzantines or anyone else and survive to the present day? Bonus points for expansion of the Kingdom.
 
Instead of the unnecessary invasion of Greece during the reign of Geiseric, the Vandals could capture a few key islands in the eastern Med, using them as a base for raiding East Roman shipping lanes, and perhaps divert the grain shipments from Egypt to Constantinople to Carthage instead, which could cause widespread starvation in the Eastern Roman Empire. Since the defeat of the Roman navy at Cape Bon in 468 CE, the Vandals would be able to raid where they wished for the next 65 years until the Byzantine reconquest in 533 CE.
 
Instead of the unnecessary invasion of Greece during the reign of Geiseric, the Vandals could capture a few key islands in the eastern Med, using them as a base for raiding East Roman shipping lanes, and perhaps divert the grain shipments from Egypt to Constantinople to Carthage instead, which could cause widespread starvation in the Eastern Roman Empire. Since the defeat of the Roman navy at Cape Bon in 468 CE, the Vandals would be able to raid where they wished for the next 65 years until the Byzantine reconquest in 533 CE.
But with the Vandal navy possibly not distracted, isnt it going to be a whole lot harder for Belisarius to land in the first place? From what I've read, it seems that his campaign agianst the Vandals was pretty close run anyway, could the butterflies resulting from the POD cause Gelimer's brothers to not die and therefore stop the Vandalic rout at the battle of Carthage?
 
But with the Vandal navy possibly not distracted, isnt it going to be a whole lot harder for Belisarius to land in the first place? From what I've read, it seems that his campaign agianst the Vandals was pretty close run anyway, could the butterflies resulting from the POD cause Gelimer's brothers to not die and therefore stop the Vandalic rout at the battle of Carthage?

The POD requires the Vandals to survive to the present day? Does that mean them continuing to speak whatever Germanic language or there's room for them to pull an Egyptian and speak a local variant of Latin.
 
The POD requires the Vandals to survive to the present day? Does that mean them continuing to speak whatever Germanic language or there's room for them to pull an Egyptian and speak a local variant of Latin.
I'll leave that up to whatever you guys think best.;)
 
I'll leave that up to whatever you guys think best.;)

Well the best way it seems is to make sure they don't take Carthage. They had territory in North Africa but it expanded once they seized Carthage. Less space means their very low numbers are distributed more evenly and they can assimilate any Romanised populations remaining.
 
The POD requires the Vandals to survive to the present day? Does that mean them continuing to speak whatever Germanic language or there's room for them to pull an Egyptian and speak a local variant of Latin.

The Vandals were so few in number ( the 80,000 strong migration that followed Geiseric to Mauretania also consisted of Alans ), that they adopted Latin as an administrative language anyway. If they survived long enough, they would probably have evolved some distint Romance dialect, with some vestigal Germanic loanwords.
 
The Vandals were so few in number ( the 80,000 strong migration that followed Geiseric to Mauretania also consisted of Alans ), that they adopted Latin as an administrative language anyway. If they survived long enough, they would probably have evolved some distint Romance dialect, with some vestigal Germanic loanwords.

Which is why I mentioned the Vandals having a smaller territory to administer over so their language could survive a little longer on its own or at least leave its imprint on a distinct Vulgar Latin language. If their numbers are that small, then at worst it would be like Spanish and best be like French in terms of Germanic influence.
 
But with the Vandal navy possibly not distracted, isnt it going to be a whole lot harder for Belisarius to land in the first place? From what I've read, it seems that his campaign agianst the Vandals was pretty close run anyway, could the butterflies resulting from the POD cause Gelimer's brothers to not die and therefore stop the Vandalic rout at the battle of Carthage?

In the 65 years before the OTL Byzantine recapture of North Africa, the Vandals have a chance to simply bleed the Eastern Empire dry by robbing its grain shipments from Egypt, and possibly forcing some kind of tribute from them in return. With famine setting into the major population centres of Constantinople, Athens, Nicaea, Pergamum, Antioch and the like, population levels may drop inside of fifty years, and the reduction of the tax-base with it. By the 530's, the ATL equivelant of Justinian probably won't be able to afford any expeditions in the western Mediterranean, perhaps struggling with the Sassanids in the east and the Slav migrations in the Balkans.
 
In the 65 years before the OTL Byzantine recapture of North Africa, the Vandals have a chance to simply bleed the Eastern Empire dry by robbing its grain shipments from Egypt, and possibly forcing some kind of tribute from them in return. With famine setting into the major population centres of Constantinople, Athens, Nicaea, Pergamum, Antioch and the like, population levels may drop inside of fifty years, and the reduction of the tax-base with it. By the 530's, the ATL equivelant of Justinian probably won't be able to afford any expeditions in the western Mediterranean, perhaps struggling with the Sassanids in the east and the Slav migrations in the Balkans.

Or simply put it, instead of conquering Carthage, they migrate east along the North African coast and capture Egypt. :D
 
Or simply put it, instead of conquering Carthage, they migrate east along the North African coast and capture Egypt. :D

Their conquest of Carthage was not such a bad move. Carthage was a vibrant trading centre in the western Mediterranean, and was a major military port. With the capture of Carthage in 439 CE, lots of warships of the Roman navy were docked there at the time. Beyond the acquistion of Malta, Sicily, the Balearics, Sardinia and Corsica, they didn't need anymore conquests. They could gain far more by raiding the two remaining Roman empires, and imposing heavy indemnities on them. The prevention of that unnecessary invasion of the Peloponnese after the failed invasion in 468 could be one answer to the long-tem survival of the Vandals. Another could be developing close dynastic ties with the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy.
 
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All good points LA. The Vandals did benefit in seizing Carthage although it would be awesome if the Vandals or a off-shoot of them migrated east and conquered Egypt.
 
Egypt was way too valuable to the Eastern Romans, and likely had a strong garrison. In the scenario I put forward, a bankrupt and beleaguered Eastern Empire might collapse into civil war after losing territory in Macedonia, Dardania, and Thrace to the Avars and the Slavs, and perhaps Syria, Palestine, and maybe Egypt too, to the Persians. Or alternately, the ATL Ostrogoths and Vandals could take advantage of the civil wars wracking the ATL Byzantine Empire, capture key provinces, and install an Arian vassal-dynasty or regime in Greece, Cyprus, Crete, Cilicia, Syria, or even Egypt.
 
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