Time to get this show on the road.


I start by abandoning Campus Sakae. It is practically worthless, and I could really use its general and horse archers elsewhere in the early game. So I march for the coast to rendevous with my beginning ship and set taxes to very high behind me (may as well squeeze every denarii out of the place before it goes). In the meantime I recruit Peasants in my other two cities, and disband all my Slingers. I have Horse Archers, the last thing I need are Slingers. Even after this my army is so large that I am losing money. I have to either disband more or get out there and start conquering.


Next turn the rioting begins.


Time to start that conquering. My faction leader leads an army against little Phraaspa. Since it has no walls, I attack immediately.


My Faction Leader comes straight up the middle with a Horse Archer behind him. This has the unexpected effect of drawing the rebel Archers out of the square and toward him. In the meantime my other Horse Archers and Cataphracts are sweeping around either flank and surrounding the city.


My Faction Leader charges and archers go flying.


After finishing them off, the rest of my army closes in on the town square from all four directions. Heavy Cavalry and Generals lead, with Horse Archers behind.


The Horse Archer fire draws the rebels out of the square. I send in everything I have.


Victory was never really in doubt.


Next turn Campus Sakae goes over to the rebels. I am not going to miss it. I have no intention of going up on the plains. There is nothing there of value. I should know after my Defensive Scythia campaign.


My Southern Army has moved west toward Seleucia. I intend to attack and take it asap. Unfortunately a rebel army has appeared in my territory further south. They will have to be dealt with later.


An Armenian Diplomat offers trade rights. I accept.


Then I sell him my map info. Little do they know what is coming their way...


Next turn my Southern Army is in range of Seleucia. I attack.


This means War! Since I have no infantry, I cannot assault. Nor do I really want to given the odds against me. Four Horse Archers and a General are not going to fare well inside a city against two Generals and assorted Hoplites. My only hope is that they sally out after me so I can get a fight outside the walls.


They oblige.


Here they come. I just love lightly-armoured troops. They make such wonderful target practice.


While their infantry came out the front door, their Militia Cavalry and Generals were coming around from the side.


I succeed in baiting one of their Generals into taking a Scythian Horse Ride (or maybe I should call it a Parthian Horse Ride now?) For those new to the term, the Seleucid is pursuing my General, who flees. At the same time my Horse Archers ride alongside and behind, showering the enemy General with arrows.


After the Seleucid General is whittled down I turn and deal with him.


However, while I was busy paying attention to that, the other Seleucid General pinned one of my Horse Archers against the map edge and got into melee with them. Naturally they routed in seconds, straight off the map too.


Much to my chagrin he did it again a few moments later. I was now down half of my Horse Archers. Things were suddenly not looking so good.


One of my remaining Horse Archers was able to rout a Seleucid Militia Cavalry with arrowfire. They pursue as the Seleucids race for the town square. If they are fast enough, they can slip inside the gates before they slam shut behind the last Seleucid.


Denied! The gates close right in my Horse Archers faces.


However, the second Seleucid General was routed by my own, and this time he was able to pursue into the city.


I head straight to the town square and crush the few pitiful Seleucids there. All that is here are the remnants of units that have routed. The rest of their army is outside the walls chasing after my Horse Archers.


The square is mine. Now my Horse Archers race to claim the gates before the Seleucids can get inside.


I am faster than them, and lock them out of their city. Victory, and with it Seleucia!


I enslave. I need the bodies in my tax base. But I doubt I can control Seleucia with a full population right now.


I now have my first Wonder.


Look, I am actually turning a profit for once as well!


The Northern Army, bolstered by the former garrison of Campus Sakae, has gathered at the Armenian border. This is quite a juggernaut for this early in the game. I intend to use it to knock out the Armenians fast.


I attack them and lay siege to Artaxarta. This time I hire a unit of Mercenary Eastern Infantry to push the ram.


In the meantime my Southern Army rides out of of Seleucia to deal with the remnants of its old garrison.


They are easily destroyed.


It turns out it was just enough kills to give each of my Horse Archers an experience chevron.

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 03-30-2008 @ 01:03 AM).]

Yes! Another AAR! This made my day when I saw it.

Parthia is good, especially those persian cavalry. I actually doubt you'll find them too challenging at first, but when you start meeting those chariot archers out of egypt, that's when a Parthian runs into trouble.

I'm sure you'll manage though.

Another AAR, can't wait for it to get intresting and I've been waiting for someone to do a Parthian/Armenian one too.
I'm still waiting for an Amazon AAR though.

[This message has been edited by Ischenous (edited 03-30-2008 @ 04:17 AM).]

Nice!

Good luck on your campaign. I haven't seen much Parthians for some time. I defeated them quite quickly in my current Seleucid campaign.

Yay, another one! I knew it, you can't live without Horse Archers (jk ). Anyways, I've started up a Parthia campaign once for about 10 turns. It's really quite a breeze. You outnumber the Armenians (even without the reinforcements from the north), and Seleucids are no match for you. But watch out for the Egyptians. Those Chariots are really a pain for Parthians. Skirmishers + Eastern Infantry will probably be your best bet.

However, I don't really agree with abandoning Campus Sakae. Unless you don't plan on expanding north later (ie facing the Scythians)?

Excellent

Parthia is good, especially those persian cavalry. I actually doubt you'll find them too challenging at first, but when you start meeting those chariot archers out of egypt, that's when a Parthian runs into trouble.

I disagree, early game basically how well Parthia's going to get on- if they don't get to the black sea and the fertile lands pronto, their treasury's going to dry up, and/or be stuck with some rather dodgy units.

Once your cataphracts get used up, I find Sarmation cavalry are the most excellent alternative.

I also noticed something. The Parthians have Zoroastrian temples? I was not aware of them practicing that religion?

Enemy of Jupitor: Sarmatian Cavalry? You mean the mercenaries? Hmmm. I usually do not use a lot of heavy cavalry in my Horse Archer campaigns. Usually I just use my Generals instead. But I will probably need more than usual with the absolute dearth of decent infantry afflicting Parthia.

xingjianma: I have no intention of expanding onto the plains. There is nothing there worth having. If I can I will make an alliance with Scythia. If not I will just deal with whatever attacks they might make south of the mountains.

edited: NVM i found ur guide to AARs

[This message has been edited by Marianus (edited 03-30-2008 @ 06:35 PM).]

Glad you found it Marianus.

My enemies are allying with one another.


I have no time for the Selucids now however. My southern lands are infested with Rebels.


That takes care of one band. I really need to get some generals out building watchtowers. Not just on my frontier, but in my interiour, so I can spot these blackguards more quickly.


The Northern Army assault Artaxarta. I am not looking forward to a street fight against two Generals, especially one with a 100-man bodyguard.


Even though I only have a single ram, I decide to approach the city from both directions.


After my Eastern Infantry batter an ingress, I have them pick up the ram again to keep pounding holes in the walls.


Now that I have three breaches on this side I send some of my cavalry in. In the meantime the Eastern Infantry have begun a long walk with the ram around the city to where the rest of my troops await them at the other wall.


I send a unit of Horse Archers up the central street to see if I can bait out one of the Armenian Generals.


It works, and I clear a path for him all the way to the gate.


He hits one of my Generals near the wall. Exactly as I had hoped. I rush in my heavy cavalry from all directions and trapped him.


He flees for his miserable hide, and is cut down like a dog in the dust!


The next General is likewise baited out into a trap.


However, he manages to flee back to the town square with a third of his original bodyguard.


My Horse Archers work him over in the square, and bait him out again. But he routs before making contact.


Things were going good. The Eastern Infantry had finally reached the other wall and were battering through the other gate. My Horse Archers were moving up to shower the remnants of the Armenians in the square. Then I looked down to see this.


I lost a lot of Cataphracts because of that stupid charge of theirs. I guess they must be Impetuous, as I do not remember ordering them to charge the square. In any case, Artaxarta was mine.


Next turn the Northern Army continued west, sans my aging Faction Leader who has gone east to deal with rebels deep in my interior. I do not have any spies up here, so I move slowly. I discovered a large Armenian army near Kotias, and moved to end my turn next to the mountains so that I would have the high ground if they attacked.


A Pontic diplomat has turned up at my door offering trade rights and their map. I accept.


Then I sell them my own map.


Those Armenians attacked me alright. There sure are a lot of them.


Just as I had hoped. Such lovely high ground I have.


Here one of their Horse Archers routs while trying to come to grips with my own horsemen.


Everything fell apart after that, and the battle became a confused mess. In the end I pulled out the victory, although with heavy losses. Still, I get my first Heroic Victory and Famous Battle marker.


This fellow looks like a good addition to the family, so I accept him.


Here is another alliance that cannot bode well for me.


Here is one of my sons who has just come of age. I like a Liar in the family. Well, I hope the trait will get that high at least. Liars make good Faction Leaders.


The Northern Army continues its march on Kotias. I find a few Armenian units outside the city and attack. This brings their last General out of Kotias as reinforcements. If I can kill him then the city will be mine without a fight.


Sadly it did not turn out that way. He ran away before I could even get close. I did exterminate the other Armenians though.


My Southern Army has caught up with more rebels.


The pink sands of Mesopotamia render up another Heroic Victory.


Further west, my diplomat has struck some deals with Egypt, gaining trade rights and again selling our map.


Finally, the Northern Army assaults Kotias. I did not get the odds screen. All that remains is the lone Armenian General who escaped with his bodyguard in the last battle. Here you can see I have baited him out of the square and into a street fight, while more of my cavalry are pouring into the town square behind him.


He is trapped between my two forces.


We give him the luxury of dying in the shade.


Kotias is mine!


With that the Armenians are destroyed. Phew, that is probably a record for me. I do not believe I have ever destroyed another faction so quickly. Although it is interesting to see whose glory it was all for?

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 03-30-2008 @ 08:51 PM).]

Gosh Damn'it! It really looks like you're finishing in a week!

Nice, you don't forget many details... in the AAR i'm doing i forget to take screens... if you have time could you lead me in the right direction Criticism is welcomed

Everyone forgets to take screenshots, especially when you are in the thick of a really intense battle. Like that one I had with that big army of Armenians between Kotias and Artaxarta. Just try to take one at least every time you pause. When you do remember, try to think of yourself as the director of a film, and look for what angle and distance would make the best picture. Then take it off pause and snap your pic (that way you do not get that "Paused" box in the middle of your picture).

Now, one last update before my carriage turns into a pumpkin.

After making that fast grab for territories I have been left spread out with a lot of space between my armies. Worse, my new (and original) lands are infested with rebels whom I have been ignoring in order to concentrate upon the Seleucids and Armenians. Now I have to consolidate, put down the rebels, build watchtowers all throughout my realm, concentrate more on my economy, and then realign my armies for the next phase of conquest.

I start with one band of rebels south of Kotias. I send out a young General with the Horse Archers from the Northern Army to get some experience leading. He is met by another young General from Artaxarta, and they trap the rebels between them.


There are no survivors.


Much further to the east, my Faction Leader and another General rendezvous with a newly minted Horse Archer to take on another nest of rebels near one of my fishing villages.


Again the rebels are crushed.


Another band of rebels has been detected in the western mountains. Since this is a big one I bring up my Faction Heir to reinforce the Northern Army in the attack.


No survivors.


Here is good news. I hope Pontus stays busy with the Greeks. My business will be south of the mountains for some time, not west.


Here is the situation. I have finally cleared the Caucasus and Zagros mountains of rebels. There are a few more rebel bands in the foothills and lowlands that need dealing with however. My troops are moving up to the borders, building watchtowers all the while. I have spotted a full stack of Seleucids that have marched south-west from Hatra. My guess is that they are headed for Seleucia.


I really do not want to face that army with only 4 Horse Archers and a General. So I decided to deal with the rebels first. This has the added bonus of moving them away from the Seleucids and toward Seleucia in the process. Bagabigna (he is turning into an excellent General), intercepts the rebels at the bridge over the Tigris.


Once again, no survivors.


Further north and west, again near the Tigris, my Faction Leader and a Horse Archer bracket another pack of rebel dogs.


They are brought to heel.


This finally clears my lands of the rebel infestation. Now I can start thinking about finishing off the Seleucids and tackling Egypt.


Whoa! One of my Generals from the Northern Army has been bribed by the Seleucids!


My Faction Heir takes a Horse Archer to deal with this honorless upstart.


Here is bit of Horse Archer 101. I call this the Scythian Circle. What you do is bait an enemy unit with your General, and then lead it in a circle around a missile unit. It is ideal to do this clock-wise, as that way the missile troops will be shooting into the unprotected right side of the pursuers.


Here you see my General a quarter of the way through the circle. My Horse Archers in the center have beautiful shots at the turncoat.


I keep turning, and you can see how few of the turncoats are left already.


When there was only a handful left I turned and charged the turncoat.


Traitors are not suffered to live in Parthia.


The end of the next turn shows that big Seleucid army still advancing upon Seleucia. Excellent. I hope they lay siege to it. With that in mind I have concentrated all my troops in the area in the city. This also leaves Hatra wide open to attack. With only a lone General as a garrison it will be easy to take. The rebels outside will pose a greater problem. But Parthians know how to deal with them...

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 04-04-2008 @ 08:35 PM).]

Hey! A new AAR by SubRosa, I dare say you may become more renowned than Severous in the art of AARs.

I found it funny that the picture of the Tigris and Euphrates valley looks like you had turned off the fog of war.

Good luck in turning the world pink.

I didn't think the cataphracts were the hot-headed type, but you learn something new every day

I'm going to try the horse ride in M2TW- the HAs there are stupidly strong, so it should do wonders.

Hey, a new AAR.

So far, so good.

You are in a strong position. That Seleucid army is quite big. What does it contain?

I would want them to lay siege and then destroy them in a sally. Break their back and then make an offensive among their lands.

I think that is what SubRosa wants too.

The Mistress of Sallies, Lady of the Plains, she does it all, and leaves time for the horses to be cared for.

That is exactly what I am hoping for. That big army is mostly Militia Hoplites, with a few cavalry and Eastern Infantry mercs. Normally no sweat for a Horse Archer army. But there are a lot of them. More than I really want to take on in the open with only a 4-5 unit Horse Archer army.

Besides, care of the horses is more important than anything else.

Now, on to the Lavender Tide of Parthia.

Another turn passes and that big Seleucid army turns back to the west.


This is probably why, The Northern Army is threatening Hatra. They have brushed aside the rebels like flies off a camel's hindquarters, and besieged the city.


Mercenary Peltasts have pushed the ram to batter a way into the city, then led the way down the main street with my General and half my Horse Archers behind. Here you can see they have pulled the enemy General out of the square to attack them. In the meantime Cataphracts and many of the Horse Archers are sweeping around either edge of the city to approach the town square from the flanks.


My own General charges into the fray.


The Seleucid General flees, but is ruthlessly cut down.


"Turn to the Lavender Side Luke..."


No survivors. Hatra is Parthian Purple.


This explains why that Seleucid General was a Drunkard and had a Pet Idiot and a Drinking Companion as retinue members. I am so destroying this temple.


The same turn those peksy rebels are brought to bay.


Sadly, a few of their Horse Archers were able to flee to safety.


To the east, a young General leads some Horse Archers out of Babylon to deal with an equally small group of Seleucids. I held back my other Generals in the city because I did not want the Seleucids to flee, forcing me to follow them across the map before they would fight. I also wanted to give the youngin' the chance to earn some traits and retinue members by leading an army. I often purposely use only a fraction of my available troops for these reasons.


Here is some more Horse Archer 101. Basic Horse Archer doctrine is to surround the enemy. When they are infantry as in this case it is child's play. You can see by the arrows where my units are headed.


Now they are almost in position, time to start picking specific targets. The dotted lines show where I tell my units to attack. As you can see, I always try to find a unit to shoot in the back. Horse Archers have very low attack values, so they need to look for every opportunity to make the most of their arrows.


Now it is just a matter of pounding away at the hoplites.


Here one has routed from arrow-fire alone. I shut off fire at will to avoid killing my own men, wait a few moments, then charge in to finish them off.


Now the rest are routing as well. Concentrated arrow-fire is often all it takes to rout an enemy. Especially if you have a good General nearby to lower the enemy's morale.


The outcome was never in doubt. No survivors. You can see my only losses were from friendly fire. That is also common in Horse Archer armies.


Look at this. I am doing well it seems.


Speaking of doing well. Horse Archers are now obsolete. I now have Persian Cavalry. I love these multi-role Horse Archer/Heavy Cavalry units. You can do everything with them.


This does not look good. Seleucia and Scythia are allies.


That means this Scythian army headed for Kotias is definitely an ominous sign. Good thing I have built those watchtowers and placed Generals and Horse Archers along my northern frontier.


As I thought, that big Seleucid army was indeed headed back toward Hatra, and has laid siege to it. It is a good thing I had my Faction Leader and all my horseborne from Babylon shadowing them. They are able to reach the city in time. Now when I sally they will come in as reinforcements.


Sally I do. Note that the Seleucid army is on the edge of the city. This means they will head for that map edge when the battle starts.


The battle opens to a great dust storm, and right on cue the Seleucids begin their march for the corner. This makes their army very vulnerable to fast mounted units like mine.


My Faction Heir spots an opening and rides down some Seleucid Peltasts, who routed before he even reached them. He would take out the Bedoins and Peasants to the left moments later.


The garrison of Hatra followed the Seleucid army, harassing them and breaking them up into pockets. Then the reinforcements came up and engaged. That was enough for the Seleucids, who turned and ran for the map edge.


At that point it was a race to see how many I could run down.


The Seleucids are broken and buried in the dust.

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 04-01-2008 @ 00:25 AM).]

This is looking far better than any Parthian campaign I've done. I love it when armies march to the corner, you can just isolate and attack one unit at a time and they still keep going regardless.

you should try to cut down freindly fire

But still the best start for an AAR.

P.S: you always win your battles which is something i dont like

They are really going to have to cut down on the sally exploit in Empire. It is much too easy to wipe an enemy many times stronger than oneself in a sally. I even have had enemies come right up next to my wall during a sally, requiring me to do almost nothing to win.

Rant aside, good job, it takes a lot of skill and knowledge to exploit sallies properly. And besides, sallies aren't the only thing you are good at.

Ischenous: Thank you. That is one of the things I like about sallies. The AIs tendency to walk for the corner lends plenty of opportunities to make mischief.

stormer: The reason I do not lose is because I pick my battles very carefully. I only fight where I want to, on ground that suits me, with odds that suit me. Otherwise I avoid battle.

You will note that full stack of Seleucids was roaming around Mesopotamia for 4-5 turns. I had ample opportunity to ride out with 4-5 Horse Archers and a General or two from either Hatra or Babylon and attack them. I did not, as it would have placed me at a disadvantage. Instead I move my troops first to Babylon, as it appeared they were headed there to lay siege. Then when they turned back west I moved out and concentrated everything I had in the west at Hatra. Rather then fight them in the open there I still let them lay siege to me, so I could sally and have every advantage in the battle.

Or if you remember that big battle I had against the Armenians south of Kotias, I made sure to end my move next to the mountains. Because of that I started out on the high ground in the battle that ensued. That gave me an incredible advantage.

That is the essence of strategy. Pick your battles and stack the odds in your favor. Do not fight when they are not in your favor. A good general wins their battles before they are ever fought.

CaesarVincens: You are right, they do need to work on the AI's behaviour in sallies in Empire. It is very easy to crush a much larger besieging force if you know what you are doing. Then again, the same tactics that win in a sally also win in the open. It is just easier to use them in a sally.

A good general wins their battles before they are ever fought.

I see you have read Sun Tzu . I read it too, but i still engage every battle possible.

That is the essence of strategy. Pick your battles and stack the odds in your favor. Do not fight when they are not in your favor. A good general wins their battles before they are ever fought.

There is a certain WW2 game called Hearts of Iron 2, it focuses on very single country in the world starting in 1936, and is incredibly detailed. Anyway, although armies are moved around on the province-divided map, the player does not fight the actual battles, but the amount of things he can do to tilt them to his favor are extraordinary. The outcome of a battle can depend on the weather, if the attack is backed up with a coastal invasion, which generals and what their ranks are, the terrain, whether or not it is nighttime, etc. It goes to show that winning battles isn't just about battlefield strategy, but about imposing one's conditions.

That said, I find your foresight and ability truly amazing.

Tryhildor: Thank you Tryhildor. That sounds like my kind of game. One of the things I really like about the Total War games is that they have so many variables that have a large impact on the battle. Weather, terrain, morale, fatigue, etc... It really gives you the opportunity to make it a game of thinking rather than just one of button-mashing.

Danilh: Actually, I have only read a little bit of Sun Tzu. I learned the Art of (Rome: Total) War when I was but a wee lass sitting on uncle Severous the Cunnning's knee while he recounted the tales of his great victories here in the War Stories forum.

Enemy of Jupitor: I finally had the chance to go look through the game files. Cataphracts are not Impetuous. So I must have inadvertently sent those Catas into the square. My guess is they followed the remnants of another enemy unit there and then got caught up with the Eastern Infantry. Shows you the danger of not pausing when you take your eyes off the action.

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 04-03-2008 @ 01:13 AM).]

Time for more purple action.

One of my spies discovered a lone Seleucid Elephant unit lurking near Hatra, so I sent out a small force to deal with it.


I quickly send my Horse Archers around behind the Elephants while my General gets their attention from the front.


The Seleucids are taking it from both directions.


Finally they rout.


When they get near the map edge I send my General and Horse Archers charging into melee with them.


One escapes across the red line, but it is shot down.


No survivors.


Just as I thought, those Scythians lay siege to Kotias. Good thing I saw them coming and moved more Horse Archers over from Artaxarta. You can see them just south of the city.


Lousy Egyptians...


I move the reinforcing Horse Archers up to the side of the city. As long as they are touching the city edge on the strat map they will come into the battle. I put them where they will be nearest the Scythians when they do. I missed the other pics from the battle, including the results scroll. Suffice to say I drove them off.


My Faction Leader has died. I have been expecting it for the last 20 turns or so. He was old when the campaign started.


This is more like it!


A programme of both hiring and disbanding mercs and bringing over Peasants from Seleucia to disband has put Hatra up to the next tier of development.


My new Northern Army rides from Kotias to pursue the retreating Scythians. I was unable to attack them my turn, but the obliged me by attacking me on theirs.


As the battle starts, I quickly move my Horse Archers up this hill.


Their General was out front and acting aggressive, so I charged mine straight in.


The Scythian breaks just as I order my Horse Archers into the melee as well.


Once again, the Scythians are sent fleeing.


Lousy Egyptians...


Wait, what is this? A silver flag over Hatra? The Seleucids bribed it from me after my army marched out!


I sent a Horse Archer back to retake the town, as it had no Seleucid garrison. The people look very unruly however.


So I sent back my liar. Not only is he Economical With The Truth, but he has Proven Loyalties. So I am sure he will not be bribed.


With Hatra back in my hands, here is the situation. The Southern Army has several targets laying open before it. Antioch, Damascus, and Palmyra. There is also another full stack of Seleucid hoplites roaming east of Palmyra. I decided to go after Antioch, as that has been one of my main strategic goals all along. I have no infantry, but hopefully I can draw the garrison out into a sally against me. I also hope that attacking the city will bring that big Seleucid stack back toward me, rather than going further east into my heartlands.


In the meantime, far up north I have decided on a punitive raid against my Scythians. I will take Campus Alanni, destroy the buildings, then abandon it to the rebels. That will bring in some coin and create a buffer of rebels between me and the Scythians.


Back down south, the Seleucids play into my hands. A reinforcing army attacks me and draws Antioch's garrison into the fray.


I am in a bit of a tight spot on at this bridge. The reinforcements are on one side.


And the garrison the other. With me in the middle.


I need to take one of the Seleucid armies out fast, so I can concentrate everything else on the other. I want the garrison to get into the map a ways so that when they are beaten they will not easily escape. So I go after the reinforcements. I set a General on the bridge with skirmish on so he will throw his javelins and run away when the Seleucids get close.


Which of course is why he did not skirmish away, but instead stood there to fight it out with their Peltasts and Pikemen.


I pulled him out as quick as I could.


Too late. This one showed real promise too. *sigh*


The Seleucids are routing however. I send both Generals in to finish them off.


I have been harassing the garrison with Horse Archers this entire time. Now I turn my full force against them. They are picked apart one by one and destroyed.


Here go the last of them.


It is a race to see if I can kill them before they cross the red line.


Lucky Pikeman.


Victory, but some escaped back to the city.


This is more like it!


My diplomat got a look at Campus Alanni. There sure are a lot of Scythians in there. Api is quite good at that fertility thing I see. On second thought, I decided not to mount that punitive expedition after all, and turn my army back south toward Kotias.


While in the south the following turn reveals that the big Seleucid army has indeed come back west. Rather than sit outside of Antioch, I decided to ride out to meet them in the open. Well, almost in the open. I construct a fort near the Euphrates and wait for them to come.

[This message has been edited by SubRosa (edited 04-01-2008 @ 11:18 PM).]