can't wait for the update looks good

Chapter One
Macedon's Awakening



Let us take a look at the situation of our peoples. To the south, we have the Greek Cities, a defiant group that no longer recognizes Macedon as their rulers. Next to them is the independent city-state of Athens. to our east stands the Byzantium, occupied by dirty rebels. To the north lies Thrace and Dacia; the former is a state that seems to bear similarities to us, and the other a state of barbarians.

The current King of Macedon is an aging man named Antigonos. He may live for many years, but his son Gyros will soon ascend to the throne.



I immediately ordered the construction of barracks in Larissa and Corinth. The town of Bylazora was to have a Governor's Villa built within. Thessalonica began to build economically. Meanwhile, the militia units that make up the defense of Macedon are trained; Militia Hoplites and Levy Pikemen. Neither are good for an extended battle, but they can hold a town plaza fairly well.

Militarily, I began to look at Athens and the Byzantium. A spy was sent over to the city to take a look around. An army of 240 Militia Hoplites under the command of Damasos marched from Corinth and Larissa to remind the Athenians who really ruled the Greek peninsula.

A diplomat was sent to the Greeks to negotiate trade rights; we may as well profit from them before we crush them beneath our heel.

End turn.

A diplomat from those barbarian Dacians walked into Bylazora with offers of trade and map information. I accepted, and countered with an alliance offer, which they agreed to.



Anxious to begin the reclamation of Greece, I ordered an immediate assault on Athens. Damasos hired a unit of Mercenary Hoplites to bolster his troops and assaulted the Athenian army under the rule of a man named Kerkyon. Odd name, if you ask me. Below, our illustrator shows the battle.



Macedonian militia climb the ladders to enter the city.

The mercenaries close with the Athenian militia.

Kerkyon boldly leads his troops for a clash with our militia.

The fight ends, the Athenian militia retreating for a last stand in the plaza. Kerkyon died honorably in battle.

One Macedonian hoplite seems lost. The main battle is several yards in front of him.
<a href="http://forums.heavengames.com/redir/http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/5687/rometw2009071709234123.png" target=_blank>[PNG, (505.88 KB)]</a>
Damasos takes Athens!


Our victory at Athens is shortlived. It seems the Greeks have had the gall to assault a poorly defended Corinth. They seem to forget the fate that befell Thebes for their defiance of Alexander!

Meanwhile, we were finally recognized by the world as the most advanced faction.

And shortly after, the richest faction.


A small reinforcement army of militia and mercenary hoplites is deployed to assist Corinth, but due to the Greek army's stronger troops, were ordered to wait until the larger detachment from Thessalonica arrived.

The Greeks would have none of that, though.


The Corinthian commander, Memmon, made due with his few troops and Basileios marched to assist. They faced the king of Greece himself in this fight.

Our illustrator drew some scenes from the battle.

The Greek ram is set alight by the guards in the tower.

Basileios's men are intercepted by the Greek troops! Unable to turn about in time, the hoplites are decimated.

The idiot Greeks manage to somehow get their ladders locked together...

Memmon bravely leads his archers in hand-to-hand combat with the Greeks. Having lost his blade, Memmon now fights with his fists. He later fell dead at the hands of a (literal) backstabbing peasant.

The archers finished off the peasants and withdrew to the plaza. The hoplites outside were down to six men and were being shot by the towers. The archers were thinking hopefully they would all die. However, four surviving hoplites ran up the ladders and across the wall to take the gatehouse. The king of Greece charged into the city and straight at the militia hoplites in phalanx formation. However, heavy cavalry beats militia anyday, and they defeat the militia, but with 17 dead.

The remaining 50 or so men gather and begin a futile attempt to slay the guards. It was a massacre. After a long fight, two militia hoplites remained. The king charged his men at one and killed him immediately. The last militia hoplite stood defiantly, shield up, spear ready. This man's last moments will be remembered for all eternity.


The thirty remaining heavy cavalry charged him. The hoplite let loose a defiant roar and struck forward with his spear, striking with accuracy that would be expected of an elite Royal Pikeman. That strike cut down the Greek king only a second before the hoplite was slain himself.

The brave hoplite lies dead next to two guards that had been slain earlier, and the body of the Greek king nearby.

Now what will become of Corinth? Thanks to the brave sacrifice of the militia hoplite, the Greek king's bodyguard has disbanded, ashamed. Four hoplites occupy Corinth now, no match for the army of Thessalonica.

(Next update should come soon it seems to be vacation time, and most of the friends I can tolerate, and my girlfriend, are on vacation, so nothing to do.)

[This message has been edited by Drakedeath (edited 07-18-2009 @ 11:51 AM).]

You're the luckiest guy I've ever met. That was an incredibly awesome Hoppylyte.

[This message has been edited by Hoppylyte (edited 07-17-2009 @ 01:13 PM).]

I don't know why it told me to show that image on Twitter...

Anyway, next update when my images get through imageshack!

And I know, what're the odds?

-----------------------------

Chapter 2
The Second Rise of Macedon

We left off our last report with the city of Corinth falling into the hands of those authority-ignoring Greeks. They must pay for their defiance. The army that had been originally ordered to reinforce Corinth from Thessalonica now laid siege to it. Meanwhile, my diplomat gave me some news from the shoreline.


The Romans have landed on Greek shores. This is despicable, but we cannot deal with the Romans until the Greeks recognize the rule of the true Heirs of Alexander. My diplomat secured trade rights from these 'Brutii' Romans. He then headed north, meeting a diplomat from the 'Scipii' Romans, gaining trade rights there as well.

The Romans declared war on the Greek Cities, most likely to force them out of Sicily. This is a mixed blessing; Syracuse is a second home to the Spartan warriors, but this strengthens the Romans, who we must deal with sooner or later.

Around this time, Thessalonica's City Barracks were completed, allowing us to train professional Phalanx Pikemen. I ordered three of these to be trained at once.

The siege ladders were ready in Corinth; time to retake our lands!

Our illustrator arrived late, so he could not draw the crone's visions for the battle, which were highly in our favor.

Macedonian forces took the walls with no resistance but the archers. The Greek captain stood at the gate with five hoplites. When the Gateway was taken, they fired upon the general. His five guards were slain immediately, and when the Levy Pikemen marched out of the gatehouse, he fled.



Macedonian militia press against the Greek conscripts, eager to avenge their comrades


A Macedonian hoplite cuts down the Greek leader


Macedonian warriors have retaken Corinth, and the Statue of Zeus!



Shortly after, an army from Thermon was getting a bit too brave with it's proximity to Corinth and Athens. So Damasos took some men from Athens and gave them a lecture on why it was a bad idea to threaten Macedonians.


The Greek army was almost entirely Peltasts, with one unit of Militia Hoplites. The peltasts would be an issue to the poorly armored Macedonian militia hoplite, so Damasos led his bodyguard to pursue the peltasts.



Meanwhile, one of the hoplite units engaged the Greek one, and whether it was that Greeks were more trained as hoplites and Macedonians as pikemen or if it was just that my men lacked balls, but the Macedonians disgraced us and fled after thirty losses. Fortunately, Damasos saved the day with a hammer and anvil strike on the Greeks, who broke and fled.



Many Macedonians died when enough Peltasts to matter came back and hurled their javelins at the militia.

Feeling good, Damasos carried his momentum on to Sparta and laid siege. Another two hundred Macedonian militia marched from Corinth to aid them against the imminent presence of Spartan hoplites.
The Greek warriors sallied, and Damasos looked at the odds...

...and gave it a miss.
Well, two units of Armored Hoplites and one Hoplites pursued Damasos to the field just outside of Corinth.

Aristoboulos promised to come to Damasos's aid when the battle started.


The dangerous-looking Armored Hoplites march forward. Damasos knows that his only chance is to crush the Greeks with superior numbers. He sincerely hoped that the Greeks wouldn't make a second Xerxes our of him with his attempt.


Macedonian levies and militia have almost encircled the Greeks.


The Greeks are surrounded! Our warriors press in to finish off these hoplites.


We have won! The militias held and destroyed the entire Greek army, but so many good men have died...

With Corinth secure, Damasos marched south again to fight the weakened garrison in Sparta. Not wanting to risk undue casualties, he waited to starve them out.

Meanwhile, a diplomat walked north and encountered an army from the barbaric Gaul. However, their culture is rich, and their armies may prove useful later, so we gain trade rights and an alliance with a rival of Rome.


The diplomat continued north on my orders. Meanwhile, a spy infiltrated Thermon, and informed us that the garrison could be easily overcome with the militias. At the same time, Aloeus marched east with an army of Phalangites (phalanx pikemen) to take the Byzantium. Another army under Abreas began to move to besiege Thermon.

Our diplomat was able to catch a diplomat from the nation of Carthage, in the southernmost holdings of Gaul. Carthage and Rome had long been rivals, so I had my diplomat gain trade rights and an alliance with these Carthaginians. Their wealth could help us.



In Thermon, an army of Greeks marched to meet my militias before they could lay siege to the city.

Abreas decided that victory could be salvaged and moved to meet the Greeks.

As the battle began, the Greek militia cavalry moved in to harass the hoplites and pikemen with javelins. Abreas would have none of that, and sent his one hundred Light Lancers to meet the militia cavalry. They were unable to move away, and soon, the lancers were wiping up the cavalry.


Having failed to cause damage with missile cavalry, Doros of Sparta ordered his peltasts and the archers of Crete to move forward, while positioning his own heavy cavalry to crush the light lancers. Seeing this, Abreas moved his guards to meet the light lancers at the slope, and then charged the guards of Doros of Sparta. Soon, the brave Greek general fell.


With the heavy cavalry neutralized, Abreas's cavalry charged the peltasts and Cretan archers.


Realizing that he could not win the battle, Antigonos of Sparta ordered the few remaining warriors to flee.



Our warriors have crushed the Greeks! Maybe now the Greeks will realize their foolishness in not using cavalry!

Meanwhile, Macedonian courage at sea would be tested. Admiral Achaeos was attacked by a pirate navy.




Aloeus now assaulted the walls of Byzantium. He put the battle to fate and attacked. (I had to do stuff so I hit auto-resolve)



With food running out, the Spartan garrison marched from the city to meet Damasos on an open field.





The Spartan Hoplites marched for the center of the Macedonian army, under peltast fire, and the Armored Hoplites marched for the flank. Two militia hoplites broke off to fight the latter, and the rest of the army engaged the dangerous Spartan warriors. They encircled them completely and slugged it out.

The Spartan general, Erasistratus, falls dead.


With all his comrades dead around him, the last Spartan fights to his death.


Victory is ours!

The settlement is in our hands now. The Spartans have defied us and slain our warriors. Like Thebes, they must pay the price.


With the fall of Sparta, we now control the largest amount of land in the world!


Meanwhile, the city of Thermon is assaulted by Abreas.


Illustrations below.


Having broken the gates, the levy pikemen foolishly refuse to fight in a phalanx. The battle lines melted together and became a brawl with swords.


A Light Lancer prevents Antigonos of Sparta's attempt to strike down Abreas.


Antigonos of Sparta has fallen dead. However, a light lancer's later death causes his body to be found in an ignoble position.


Levy Pikemen mop up Greek resistance.


Victory! Praise Ares!

With the fall of Thermon, mainland Greece, short of Apollonia, is in the hands of Macedon. The Empire will rise again!

Let's look at Macedon now.



Now, Macedon must decide it's next path. The Greek Cities of Rhodes, Syracuse, and Pergamum are not a threat to us. Should the Macedonians turn immediately upon the Romans? Move north and crush Thrace? Cross the sea and begin a crusade against the other successor states?

(Any advice will be considered)

[This message has been edited by Drakedeath (edited 07-18-2009 @ 11:50 AM).]

Excellent AAR, on where to go next, I would suggest going on to attack the Romans AND the Thracians at the same time.

I think you should go after Rome. If you let Rome build up it will be a huge threat, but Thrace will pose a much smaller one.

Alright, I'll look into that. Thrace can be dealt with in a blitz, since they always attack Dacia. All their troops will be laying siege to that Dacian city.

Erzin: Macedon really is in an ideal position to deal with the Brutii and Julii at the same time. The Scipii expand slower, in most cases, so I can deal with them later. But I'd personally like to crush every Roman faction before the Marius Reforms.

And on another note, are the General's Bodyguard upgrades for non-Roman factions tied to the Marius Reforms? As Germania, I got a Chosen Warlord around the time that I started spotting legions, but as Greece, I built a Royal Palace, which states it provides improved bodyguards, but Armored Bodyguards never showed up.

---------------------------------------------

Chapter 3
Cleaning the House

My faithful diplomat, Carpus of Pylos, has continued his trek through the barbarian lands. In his travels, he came upon the Men of the Forest, those collectively known as Germania. A Germanic warlord named Vannius graciously gave Carpus a tour of the city of Mogontiacum, which he informed Carpus the Germanic tribes knew as Mainz. Carpus told us that these Germans had adopted the Greek fighting style of the phalanx, and that their ‘spear warbands’ utilized this formation to great effect against the People of the Misty Island, the Britons. Carpus and Vannius began to talk politically, and shortly after, Carpus had secured trade rights and an alliance with the Germans. May it last forever!

(I’m highly biased towards Germania. In my last Greek campaign, I didn’t want to fight them, so I gave thousands of denarii to them, and returned provinces that Dacia took from them. They never attacked me)

I decided that our rivals to the north, Thrace, would have to be dealt with. I had all the more reason when they attacked my allies, Dacia. An army of phalangites marched north to Thrace, and a second army under Damasos sailed on biremes to Tribus Getae. I wanted the first blows against Thrace to be crushing, and I didn’t want the army besieging a Dacian city to return in time to aid the garrisons, so I had Damasos and the other army camp in the forests near the cities, out of sight.


In the summer of 259 BC, the armies struck. Campus Getae and Tylis were besieged by the armies of Macedon. Thrace will be destroyed now!


Our spy in Tylis informed us that he had managed to spring the locks of the gates in Tylis, and so the army of phalangites attacked immediately. (Screenshot didn’t take, no odds people. Sorry.)
Militia Cavalry defended the gates, no problem. Sadly, phalanx units seem infuriatingly inept at marching in any semblance of order into a city; bad news when the gate is guarded by any unit. The phalangites took heavy casualties before forcing the militia cavalry of Thrace to flee to the plaza.



Thracian peltasts were unable to outrun the pikemen of Macedon.


The Thracian king and his son lead their guards in a desperate charge against the Macedonian phalanx. In the back you can see Thracian King Byzas and his son Gaidres. The phalanx had yet to be reorganized when they charged (why are pikemen so stupid when they march? Is it really that hard to keep in even a slight formation in a city?), so the first unit of pikemen was decimated. The captain in charge of the assault quickly formed a new plan out if it. A second unit of pikemen formed up, and the retreating pikemen were just able to slip through before the pikemen readied the phalanx. This minimized the effect of the charge, but the battle was still tough.


King Byzas falls at the hands of a pikeman. His son Gaidres fights on nearby.


The last Thracian in Tylis stands his ground against the pikemen.


Victory! Ares has favored the Sons of Alexander over those that stand influenced by barbarians (Thrace has falxmen.)

(That was obviously not my best battle. If a general’s bodyguard charges a reforming phalanx at the right time, like this, they can win. Against a readied one, though, it’s a death in a second.)


The following summer, Damasos assaulted the last Thracian city. The odds were so in his favor, he put it to fate and entered the fray. (Auto resolve)

(Fraps failed to acknowledge the screenshot request of the results, but this should explain what happened.)

Thrace’s warriors lie dead. Their lands are in the hands of Macedon once more! This was a crushing war, easy by all standards. (One year, that’s a record for me.)

Earlier on, the Germans and the Brutii Romans had allied. It was shortly after we allied with them. Their loyalty was put to the test shortly after the War in Thrace.

The Romans have assaulted the Heirs of Alexander! Fortunately, the Germans decided their alliance rested with us, not those Speakers of Lies!

Now, why would the Brutii invoke the wrath of Macedon? Did they besiege an important city? Were they marching upon the gates of Thessalonica at this very moment?
No.

But I smiled and took it all in stride. Rome was just saving me the trouble of opening up hostilities. And they did it with a pathetic start.
I ordered forth the Armies of Macedon to fight the Brutii out of Greece. Their base of operations stood in Epirus, the city of Apollonia. We decided that the late King Pyrrhus would prefer Macedonians in his land, not the foul liars of Rome. So we went to relieve the Brutii of their burden. Meanwhile, a second, smaller Macedonian force that had been positioned to hold off Thracian reinforcements moved quickly south to take Salona from the Brutii.
Down south, a Macedonian army disembarked on Crete to crush the rebels there and bring them under Macedon’s glorious banner. Easier said than done.

The battle looked even, so Choerilos ordered his men to fight the battle. He greatly underestimated the Cretan Archers.
This battle was embarrassing for Macedon. The militia hoplites were slaughtered with no casualties, the Cilician Pirates with few, but the Cretan Archers did great damage with hit-and-run tactics. Phalanx pikemen lack large shields or heavy armor, so they suffered greatly.

Choerilos sailed back to Sparta to regroup and had the builders begin construction of stables before resigning his command in shame.


The first battle against Rome! Time for Praxinos to prove I was right in allowing him into the family!

In all realities, this battle was all too easy. Why? Check out the slope of this mountain as Praxinos drives away some flanking hastati.

Now imagine 700 hoplites and pikemen standing on the ridge of that slope, with peltasts behind. Reports tell me that this slope was so deep that the Romans were all exhausted before they even made it to the fight.


When the Romans were massacred on the mountain, Cassius Brutus decided to flee the field. The fresher guards under Praxinos caught up with him, forcing him to fight.

If you look closely enough, you can see Brutus lying dead, but that guard decided to try to make his death more glorious than his leader’s.




Victory! The Roman imitations of our gods are clearly not enough to overcome the blessings of Ares! If you look at the background, you can see the slope the army was positioned on.
So what happens when you try to fight Macedon on a mountain?
You die.


King Antigonos died peacefully from his palace in Thessalonica. His son, Gyras, currently on march to fight the Romans, took the throne. Long live the Second King of Macedon!


Speak of Hades! King Gyras now faces off with the Romans in Epirus. A victory here will be well deserved for our new king.


Gyras’s mercenary fodder break through the gate.


Gyras and a unit of Light Lancers charged an army under the Roman Captain Decius attempting to flank the mercenaries in the city. In this charge, you can see about three Romans are taking lessons on flight. Our illustrator, sadly, failed to get a later picture of a Roman war dog flying ten feet in the air before falling and dying. (Seriously, that was hilarious.)


Cornelius Brutus fights a unit of mercenary hoplites from Greece.


Cornelius Brutus falls dead in battle. No Macedonian will weep at the passing of such a man!


Greek mercenaries and Roman hastati fight for the plaza.


The Greeks won. Ares be praised! Few true Macedonians were slain in this battle.

Greece is now entirely under Macedonian rule! Brutii troops remain in Dalmatia and Illyria, but they will be dealt with in due time. Meanwhile, professional soldiers have been removed from the backwater cities to be replaced by peasant conscripts.

[This message has been edited by Drakedeath (edited 07-19-2009 @ 10:38 AM).]

once as the greeks I crushed the scipi in sicaly and pushed them and the bruti back to greece then I destroyed them both and spqr so with an army of one general and 2 hoplites I was on the mountain beside segesta the Juli attacked with a full stack and by the time they were half way up they were exausted eventualy I won the battle and those were green hoplites.(green = new recrutes if you didn't know)

The steeper the hill and the longer the distance, the more it exhausts a unit, especially a unit with a shield as heavy as the hastati and princepes carry. Exhausted troops, as a rule of thumb, will fight worse than a soldier that is fresh to the battle. Phalanxes are highly effective when placed on a hill or at the ridge of a hill, so that's why my battle and your battle went so well.

Very nice AAR. I will be following it. I was just going to start up a Macedonian AAR, but I guess will hold off on that. Maybe I'll do a different faction. Maybe a BI, Hun campaign. Never done that before.

Anyway, good work and I look forward to coming updates.

Short update today, but I've decided on my campaign objectives.
Control all of Asia Minor
Control all of Italy
Control the province of Illyria.
Control Crete
------------------------------------------

Chapter 4
Phalanx vs Pila, Macedon Lands on Italy


We begin the turn with some naval action. A Roman navy boldly anchored near Sparta's port. Admirals Alcaeos and Hippostratos moved to engage the Brutii navy under the command of Roman Admiral Marcus.

Victory!


Meanwhile, Macedonian forces under the command of Praxinos of Nicaea have assaulted the walls of Salona. Young Praxinos seems to have been a wise choice for our family.

Mercenary Illyrians employed by Praxinos take the hits for Macedon. Roman War Dogs are unleashed upon the mercenaries.

Roman Hastati engage the Illyrians in melee. Two more units of Illyrians hurl javelins from behind or over the walls.

An Illyrian strikes down the Roman general.

Salona Town Watch provide the final line of defense for the town.

Gods be praised! Victory, with no Macedonians or Greeks slain. These Illyrians are truly worth their pay.


With the Romans in Dalmatia dealt with, only the ones in Illyria and southern Italy remain. I dispatched 1400 Macedonian soldiers under the command of Captain Pausanias. He landed on Italy and engaged a small Roman force, reinforced by a similarly sized one.

Pathetic that one would think the Romans had such a chance.

This was also a pathetic facade for a battle. The Romans swarmed the phalanx line with wardogs and then ran from the battlefield without risking their own lives. About 50 unarmored archers and levy pikes were killed, but no Roman soldiers. Disgusting.


Pausanias marched on and attacked the Roman city of Tarentum, assaulting with the same odds as the previous battle.

Pausanias neglected to equip the Levy Pikes with the rams, forgetting the Roman pila that were used to great effect on the Phalanx Pikemen. At least twenty Phalanx Pikes were cut down by pila before Pausanias ordered them back and sent the dispensable levy pikes in.


When the first line of defenses were pushed back, the phalangites marched in. With walls to either side, they presented a wall of spears to the Romans. Their infantry fell before their pikes.

Sadly, these phalangites shamed Macedon and Greece. When the Roman general charged this formation from the front, they almost instantly broke. None of the cowards lived through the pursuit led by the general. Cowards fall easier than warriors.
A new unit of phalanx pikemen marched forth and had more success. Vibius Brutus fell dead as he fought; honorable, considering many Romans flee for their lives when their bodyguards die.


Victory, but at a cost. The Roman citizens were enslaved as a price for their defiance.

Macedon now has a foothold on Italy. Soon, we shall march north and crush the Scipii, the Julii, the rest of the Brutii, and then crush the Senate of Rome beneath our heel!


Notes by Drakedeath
Pikes maneuver horribly in cities. Tell them to move one foot and they jumble up and become vulnerable to anything.
Phalanx pikemen have pretty crap morale. Can't wait till I can get Royal Pikemen.
Why does the AI love Wardogs so much?

[This message has been edited by Drakedeath (edited 07-21-2009 @ 06:15 AM).]

Woah! I think there must be about five ongoing RTW AARs at the moment - and that's not including Empire or Medieval2!

Nice work so far. Good luck against the Wormy Cowards!

great job in slaying the dishonrable Bruti they are an insult to great Romans like the the noble Juli and trusty Scipi but the women of the senate are more dispicable than the the Bruti so slay them first.

good luck on your aar

Will be following this one with interest, the Macedonians were my favourite faction in Rome. Keep it up

Masterbrett, the Brutii had two cities left when that update ended; Segestica and Croton.

Alright, here we go! A longer update.

----------------

Chapter 5
Moving North

I began this next group of moves by marching excess troops from Sparta to the frontline. Meanwhile, several units of phalangites and light lancers were sent across the sea to meet the Cretans at Kydonia.

Results were lost to sea on the way back to my palace in Thessalonica, but the casualties were few.

Meanwhile, scouts reported the Brutii had a small army at the border, and that the Julii were apparently taking the opportunity to try and expand their influence in Italy.



In the north, I decided that our alliance with Dacia had outlived its usefulness. Porrolissum had a meager garrison, so I ordered Damasos to leave Campus Getae and take the city.



Victory! The Dacians didn't expect a thing!


Shortly after, Damasos sent a captain by the name of Kalas with an army to deal with a Dacian warlord named Palacus. Palacus escaped, but Kalas did so admirably in battle that my advisers asked me to allow him into my family. I consented, as Kalas had great potential.

(First Man of the Hour!)

The newest member of the royal family, Kalas of Pydna, rode his momentum on to Campus Iazyges. Soon after, Palacus and a refreshed bodyguard returned to assist the garrison of Iazyges. Kalas took the challenge.


As the larger Dacian army under Cotiso the Wrathful marched towards the flank, Kalas ordered his army to turn and face them while he and a unit of Sarmatian sellswords defeated the small force under Palacus.

Kalas and his guards fought bravely, and slaughtered the Dacian warriors without a single casualty. However, one warrior escaped.

Palacus rode away from the battlefield.

Kalas and the Sarmatians moved back to where the battle lines would meet. They stayed to the Dacian's right flank, where Cotiso the Wrathful was with his guards. At the right moment, they would charge and slay Cotiso. Illyrian skirmishers moved ahead of the battle line and hurled javelins at the oncoming Dacians and stood their ground as the warriors charged.


The Bastarnae and barbarian sellswords on the right flank let out a tremendous warcry and charged the Dacians attempting to flank the formation.



Cotiso joins the battle. Seeing this, Kalas and the Sarmatians charged the Dacians like a hammer on an anvil. The Dacians panicked and began to flee.


Cotiso fell as he fled the fight. His death was so swift that our illustrator failed to get it drawn in time, but he claims the warlord flew. Considering how far he was from his horse when he died and the speed his horse was going, it doesn't seem so unlikely.


The Sarmatians chase down the Dacian archers.


The last Dacians on the field are slain in the wheat field.


Victory! Kalas has served me well.


Palacus had gathered another set of guards and was infringing on our territory. Kalas had something to say about it.

The guards were slain with minimal casualties, but one man escaped.


Alright, this is getting ridiculous.


Victory.

The Julii, who had indeed besieged Tarentum earlier, assaulted the city. Six months before they had laid siege, Deukalos had arrived to take command of the city. This is Deukalos's first battle, and it is the first time the Julii will face us in battle.


Deukalos set up three lines of defense; one at the wall, one in the streets, and one at the plaza.


Macedonian archers fire upon the approaching Roman hastati.


The Romans broke through the gate and walls, impaling themselves upon the pikes of Macedon.

The Romans were slaughtered in most of the breaches, but these hoplite sellswords struggled.


The Romans broke through, but most of the equites were slain by a levy/phalanx pike pincer. Decius Julius charged in himself and fought the phalangites...


And died shortly after.


Victory! The Romans were all routed before the retreating hoplites even made it to the plaza.

A spy was sent to infiltrate the Dacian city of Aquincum. My advisers stated he had a 93% chance of success. Shortly after, the Dacians told me they'd killed my spy.

He was clearly a moron.


Alright, really, this was just mean.


Meanwhile, Kalas marched west from Iazyges and laid siege to Aquincum. The city was assaulted...


And taken.

Meanwhile, Aloeus had taken an army from Tylis and marched to take Segesta. He struck camp at a river crossing. To the north, Abreas, the former garrison of Sparta, and some mercenaries were moving to attack the vulnerable city of Patavium, under Julii control. Scouts told them both about a large Brutii army commanded by the Brutii patriarch near Segestica. Abreas and Aloeus both began to move for this army.

But Aulus Brutus had other plans and attacked Aloeus's army at the river crossing.


A unit of phalangites formed up on the shore opposite the Romans. Aulus Brutus ordered his men to charge.

As the first phalanx held the Romans, two more units formed a Phalanx Triangle.

The first phalanx is broken! Here you can see Aulus Brutus ordering his men to charge...

...and here you can see him falling dead as he led this charge.

Soon after, the Romans begin to flee.

Aloeus and his guards cut through the dense forest of Brutii soldiers...

...leaving dead warriors wherever they went.

Here you can see the rough shape of the triangle where the Romans died. You can also see one lost phalangite.

Victory! This is what happens when you try to charge Macedon at a river.


A young noble is considered for adoption. Since he won't be marrying one of the ladies of the family and since he has potential, I accept him with open arms.


A spy infiltrates Segestica and reveals that the garrison is mostly town watch.

Abreas besieges Patavium and is attacked shortly after.



These guys were obviously cold...


Roman warriors crash into the phalanx line. In the background, Roman Velites and Illyrian skirmishers exchange fire.


Tired of harassing fire from the Cretans, Roman Princepes charge the Illyrians on the flanks, believing them to be the weak link.


A few hastati learn that cavalry beats light infantry. Look closely and you can see that one hastati is inside the ground. This is because a light lancer took his lance and beat the hastati down into the ground with the butt end. (Or so I assume)


Victory! Patavium is ours.

Abreas took most of the army with him as he marched for Mediolanum, camping near a bridge. He expected the Julii to attack his position.


A small Dacian force strikes Iazyges.



A spy opens the gates to Segestica, and Aloeus attacks! Results were lost, but only about 20 men died.


Abreas was right. The heir to the Julii, Lucius Julius, attacks himself, but with a small army. This was odd, as scouts reported a huge Julii army nearby to the southeast. Odds are they were moving for Tarentum.


The first cavalry across fall dead.


The trend continues.


Lucius Julius dies and has three or four hourses fall on him. His body was recovered later, horribly disfigured.


Victory!

Tarentum and Iazyges are still under siege. When we deal with it, we shall return.

Very active update. Well done.

Your treasury is astounding! How are you making so much money?

Trade in Greece is very profitable. Next update I'll show my financial report.

I've done many Macedonian campaigns. I've never had that kind of money until I was nearing the end of the campaign. Wow.

edit: I'm an idiot. I just realized you are doing easy campaign difficulty. Maybe that's it.

[This message has been edited by Bones40 (edited 07-24-2009 @ 00:52 AM).]

Easy Campaign (watching money problems isn't fun, is it?)

Edorix is doing pretty well despite lack of money, soldiers, generals, and surplus of enemies. But this is still quite entertaining.

Probably. I'm keeping my first serious phalanx campaign toned down. Everyone had exaggerated how much harder campaigns like Greece and Macedon were because of proximity to Rome and their immobility in battle. So I probably overreacted with such an easy campaign and battle setting. The additional morale the AI gets for harder settings can't possibly make this much harder. So they don't break as easily, that just means less time chasing them around after they rout.

In my opinion, the Greek campaigns are some of the easiest because you have the chance to take out the Romans before they get powerful. It can be a real headache when they have tons of territories and post-marian troops.

It's much easier when they just have a handful of territories and hastati/pricipes. Even miltia hoplites are good enough to conquer Rome against hastati and principes.

Greek Factions pwn. Mercenary hoplites, ordinary hoppylytes, SPARTAN hopplytes... (pwn even more in XGM-XC )

Macedon would be an awesome faction if you could get the good stuff before Large Cities. Until then you're stuck with Greek Cavalry/Light Lancers and Phalanx/Levy Pikemen. And the first two tiers of pikemen suffer really badly to pila and javelins. Damn 3 inch shields.

Macedon is awesome period.

Don't underestimate Light Lancers. They are cheap and very effective with their 15 charge (one of the highest charge values in the game, only matched by cataphracts and generals body guards...and you get them at the very start!), especially in the early game. I use my Light Lancers all the way till the end of the campaign. By that time they are experienced and are better than Companion Cavalry with their 'fast' trait.

Levy Pikemen are good enough to beat any infantry in the game on hard if used correctly(aside from superior pikemen). Phalanx and Royal Pikemen are just gravy.

[This message has been edited by Bones40 (edited 07-24-2009 @ 02:21 PM).]

light lancers suck with 2 green squads of greeks cavalry I defeated 4 squads of lancers those cav surved till next battle and killed 6 squads of lancers my greek cav were killed by a lancers and 1 general. I can't wait for the next update.