The Antigonids : A Makedonian AAR

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Again very enticing to start a new Makedonian campaign on my own. I like how you roleplay the characters. Can the Maks now recruit the Skytho-Hellenic Bowmen, Toxotai Thureophoroi I think they are called?

I'll answer that question with a picture of them fighting for me in the next chapter:

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Cool. Makedonia really has one of the best unit-rosters. Only thing they really lack is Thorakitai.

[Intranetusa]

That's as pissing as fighting four huge battles on AI's turn and then the game CTDs.

You can actually save the game during an AI's turn-seige by pressing the esc button. XD

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

You can actually save the game during an AI's turn-seige by pressing the esc button. XD

Really? That'll help alot... Thank you.

[Puupertti Ruma]

You can't active the script until your own turn if you load that kind of save, unless there has been some improvement on the script activation.

[Pharnakes]

There hasn't and there never will be, however, missing a couple of turns once in a while won't do much harm. If it was near the beging of the campiagn, then possibly the AI would stall, but deep into a campaign missing a turn will not break your game.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 6: The Pontic War (Part 1)

In Syria, Demetrios was once again faced with fighting off another Ptolemaic army. Over time the Ptolemaic forces continued to decrease in quality, drafting many Jewish levies, Galatians, and random locals. Demetrios was beginning to be annoyed by the mail armor of the Galatians and Ptolemaic Thorakitai, though:


The battle when quick, and after the main force was flanked, they crumbled and were wiped out. Seeing the main force fleeing, the reinforcements turned and ran, but not before they were chased down by the Thracians and Thessalians and took heavy casualties:


Meanwhile, in northern Asia the Pontic War finally began to heat up. The city of Nikaia was once again besieged. Theodoros, son of Kalos, was forced to fend off Megabazos Stameneus and his army alone. Though, as spring approached, an army of elite Thracians, deployed by Perseus to assist his uncle in Syria, was passing by. Perseus immediately sent word to them that they were to assist the city of Nikaia. As the Thracians approached, Theodoros sallied forth to meet the Pontic enemy:


As Theodoros assembled his army outside the city gates, the Thracians marched along a ridge to the north of the town and moved to the Pontic right flank:


As the Thracians approached, Megabazos Statemeneus sacrificed several units of Hoplites from the city of Sinope as he weighed his options:


The Thracians cut through the Hoplites as though they had sheilds made of straw and slaughtered all who stood their ground. When Theodoros moved to attack the Pontic left flank with his personal guard, the Pontic forces turned and moved away from the city. Seeing the opportunity, Theodoros signalled for his entire army to charge the enemy. Fortunately the attack went well and half the army was killed before they could flee:


Near Sinope, Alkyoneus had the Pontic king, Artaxerxes Herakleotes surrounded and outnumbered. Only the city walls were between the two leaders. Realizing that an assualt on the walls of a great city would cost the lives of many men, Alkyoneus had his own army retreat and had an army of allied Galatians move in to attack the city:


The Galatian swordsmen manned the towers as they moved in on the great city. The city had been conquered and subjugated by the Pontic armies, but it still showed signs of the fact it was a Hellenic colony:


As the Galatians charged out of the towers onto the city wall, the defenders quickly realized their fates:


The swordsmen fought the skirmishers on the wall to the last man and opened the gates as the few archers who guarded the walls retreated to the city center. The Galatian spearmen then marched to the city square, followed by Alkyoneus and the cavalry. They expected to met an envoy telling them that Artaxerxes had surrendered the city and honorably taken his own life, but instead they were met with a cavalry charge of Artaxerxes and his personal detactment of cataphracts. The spearmen held their ground as Alkyoneus and the cavalry went around the reat and hit Artaxerxes from behind:


Eventually Artaxerxes was alone and being attacked from all sides. The elderly king continued to fight, alone, for many minutes, personally killing sixteen Galatians after his bodyguard was wiped out. But finally, he was pulled from his horse and stabbed many time by the Galatians. As Alkyoneus watched from his horse near the edge of the battle, he was reminded of the heros of old:


As the battle drew to a close, the Galatians began to celebrate. The celebration turned into looting. The looting turned into raping, pillaging, murder, and destruction. Unable to do anything about it, Alkyoneus watched as parts of the city burned down and the Hellenic people he had come to save were murdered before his eyes:


Word eventually reached Demetrios that this battle and the aftermath had greatly effected his brother:


Alkyoneus was quick to move the Galatians from the city of Sinope and ordered his own army in to regain order in the town. The Galatians were then ordered to engage a series of Pontic armies. Since they were clearly outnumbered, Alkyoneus had originally planned for this to just be an attempt to weaken the Pontic forces in preparation for his attack:


As the battle went on, though, the Galatians proved to be quite valuable in battle. By taking up a defensive possition on a hill, the Galatians had managed to gain just enough advantage to swing the battle and win. The Galatian army chased the Pontic forces from the field that day:


Even with half the forces, the Galatians succeeded:


The Galatians then confronted the retreating army of Megabazos Stameneus, on his way back from Nikaia. The Galatians succeeded once more, but Megabazos managed to escape:


In Sardis, a great trade hub at the end of the Persian Royal Road, where Kalos administers the western parts of Asia, a plague breaks out, so severe it even reaches the palace and Kalos himself:


In Sophene, Aristotelis, son of Demetrios continued his seige of the fort city of Karkathiokerta. Karkathiokerta had long been the gathering place of Ptolemaic military expeditions into Kappadocia and Kilikia to attack newly acquired territories in the Makedonian Empire. Now, Aristotelis sought to capture this strategic city and put an end to the Ptolemaic invasions.

After about a year of seige, the city was reinforced by an army lead by Pasikrates Koptios. As soon as the battle began, Serapion Anemurionios, governor of Sophene sallied forth with his army to assist in the battle:


Aristotelis arranged his forces in a defensive possition on the top of a hill, though it was hard to find a battle field in the region that wasn't a hill. The Dacian spearmen took the center, with the Thracians on the flanks, protecting Persian archers, all in front of the cavalry and steppe cavalry archers:


As the battle began, the garrison of Karkathiokerta was the first to make its move, charging in on the Makedonian right flank. The Persians and cavalry immediately opened fire on the approaching enemy:


As the two lines met, the Ptolemaic levies and Galatians charged the center while their general moved across the front of the line and approached the far left flank of the Makedonian line:


Seeing the flanking cavarly, Aristotelis ordered that all archers open fire on the enemy general, Serapion Anemurionios. As Serapion approached the enemy line he soon found himself under the fire of the Thracian javelin as well. Attempting to regroup, Serapion turned and moved away from the Makedonian line, but it was too late and an arrow found its mark in side of his neck:


On the right flank, Galatians attempted to flank and attack the Persian archers. Countering the threat, the Thracians rushed in and attacked the Galatian troops:


With an opening, Ptolemaic Thorakitai charged the engaged Thracians from behind:


Soon the forces attacking the center of the Makedonian line began to desolve and flee, which was soon followed by those fighting and loosing to the Thracians on the right flank. Aristotelis took his cavalry and gave chase, cutting down many before turning back and reforming. The Thracians and Dacians, meanwhile regrouped and began to march down from the hill to meet the rest of the Ptolemaic forces:


With the Makedonians forces out of formation and marching, Pasikrates Koptios, general of the Ptolemaioi, charged the Dacio-Thracian line. The Dacians and Thracians held their possition and began to cut through the heavily armored enemy cavalry:


After some time, Aristotelis managed to move his heavy Thracian cavalry around the rear of the battle and charge into the rear of the Ptolemaic general and his bodyguard:


Pasikrates Koptios quickly fell and his remaning guards began to flee. As the fight came to a close, Aristotelis soon realized that the remainder of Pasikrates' forces were lining up to attack. All that remained was a group of elite pikemen, Thorakitai, and some Jewish levies. Aristotelis quickly ordered his Dacio-Thracian line to reform and prepare for the fight:


The steppe cavalry quickly dispersed the Jewish spearmen, while the Dacians and Thracians took out the Thorakitai. Seeing they were surrounded and outnumbered, the Ptolemaic army folded and ran. The cavalry chased them down and killed the cowards:


With the sun low in the sky, Aristotelis marched into Karkathiokerta and claimed the city as his. He was surprised to find that the people were neither happy nor angry at his presence. Declaring that he was their to assist them, not subjugate them, Aristotelis kept looting to a minimum and quickly set to the task of setting up an 'independant' local government.

In Sardis, Kalos, brother to the great Antigonos dies. He was a great governor and a terrible general, though he fathered many sons and established control in Asia for this brother and nephews. Having survived the plague, he lived for nearly a year in a weakened state, only to finally fall to the forces of time:


In Makedonia, Perseus, son of Alkyoneus is left in control of the region. Seeking to expand the borders of the Makedonian Empire, locally, Perseus looks to the north. With a strong Getic Confederation, Perseus decided to do the same as his father and avoid all out war. Instead, Perseus enters negotiations to redefine the borders. Eventually after much negotiation, the Getic Confederation agrees to transfer ownership of all lands south of the river and north of Makedonia to the Makedonian Empire. In exchange, Perseus offers a large some of money and the promise of continued friendship:


Perseus then personally moved to the fort city of Naissos, where he quickly established military control:


With the city in control, Perseus immediately refounds the city and begins to completely rebuild it from the ground up. With a new territory, Perseus busies himself with surveying the land, controlling the locals, and building up his new city.

The known world in 229BC:


Next: Chapter 7: The Pontic War (Part 2)

[Sakkura]

Another great update to a great AAR.

PS: Silly Romans, bypassing Segesta. It's the easiest town in Northern Italy to conquer

[Subedei]

Very entertainig & well written!

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Very good update and a very nice AI faction progression.The only thing I don't like about 1.0 is that the soldiers are almost invisible on the shadow-side. And that the snow sometimes looks yellow... But in general the beauty of the landscape has increased a lot from 0.8 (vanilla) to 1.0.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Very entertainig & well written!

Yes I think it must be quite hard to find a banlance between details & overview. You want to learn about the characters by role play aspects, but at the same time too much detail could lead to ennui. I think MAA did that very well.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks for the feedback and compliments!

I've watched the Romans since the beginning and ever since about the second turn they have been beseiging Segesta, always failing. And with every failure, they send a smaller army to try again. I think last time I looked half a unit of Rorari were besieging about 50 defenders, but that failed as well.

Yeah, I've got to agree, winter battles in some regions do look odd some times.

I was originally going to show every battle in detail, but lately I've had so many I've had to compromise and just mention them shortly so I can add other content. The defensive battles of Antiocheia every other turn would definately get repetative.

[gurakshun]

I'll answer that question with a picture of them fighting for me in the next chapter:

awwww man are you serious? just when i thought pontos had a decent advantage over the massive juggernauts in the area. now when i think about it, pontos is outclassed in phalanxes (chalkaspides <<< argyraspides, reformed mak heavy phalanx), infantry (do those pontic thorakitai even count?), cavalry, and now even archers are the same. i suppose our only advantage is the ability to recruit tindanotae...but that is hardly factional nor does it make sense for pontos to have their best unit be gallic.

any suggestions on how to play pontos properly based on its units? so far i've only been using an imitation alexandrian style army - a line made up of the best phalanxes, behind is the bosphoran heavy archers, swinging out to the flanks is tindanotae while the galatian heavy spearman screen enemy cavalry, supported in their role by scythian noble cav and FM. any suggestions on how to make better use of the pontic roster?

On topic: really enjoying this AAR and the awesome armies and their compositions you bring up. i'm staying tuned in.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Actually, in my next battle I had fight between Pontic chalkaspides and my argyraspides and I was taking signifigant losses. I won, but I definately underestimated the strength of those chalkaspides.

And Mak has to go into Skythia or Crimea to get the Bosphorian archers, so it isn't really that unfar.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 7: The Pontic War (Part 2)

After some time, Alkyoneus manages to establish control of Sinope, hiring some local levied Hoplites to defend the city. With the city in relative order, Alkyoneus decides to move in and hit the Pontics before they can build an even bigger army. The Pontic forces consisted of two large armies and two smaller armies. One small army had been defeated by the Galatians, while the other had attacked Nikaia and failed, only to be defeated by the Galatian army as well. The largest army guarded their capital at Amaseia, while the second large army had conquered Trapezous. After the Makedonian-Pontos war had started, the Pontic forces at Trapezous had withdrawn to their capital. The citizens of Trapezous saw their opertunity and overthrew the remaining Pontic garrison and liberated themselves. But now, Alkyoneus marched against the Pontic capital and their two remaining armies. As he besieged the city, the Pontic field army moved to attack the rear of Alkyoneus' camp:


Alkyoneus possitions his army to counter the Pontic field army, hoping he could crush it before the army from Amaseia arrived:


On the flanks were the elite Basilikon Agema, sent to defend the Makedonian king:


In the center were elite veteran pikemen:


As the battle started, Alkyoneus quickly noticed the Pontic chariots rushing forward:


As the Pontic chariots attempted to flank the Makedonian line, the Pheraspides squad of the Basilikon Agema opened fire with their javelin. Taking losses, the chariots turned to charge their attackers:

[Stupid arrows.]

Though having taken many losses, the chariots turned and fled before most of them could even have a chance to use their deadly blades against the Makedonian flank. Meanwhile, the two lines of infantry slowly began to clash:


Alkyoneus began to move to the flanks with his Hetairoi, while in the center of the lines two groups of elites fought:


As his elite silver shield pikemen began to suffer losses, Alkyoneus quickly made a charge on the rear (now undefended with the flight of the chariots) of the Pontic phalanx:


The elite Pontic soldiers quickly started fleeing, but before Alkyoneus could make another move, he was confronted with Galatian mercenary cavalry serving the Pontic king:


While the two sides of infantry fought, Alkyoneus and the Hetairoi were faced with defeating many groups of Pontic cavalry right behind the Pontic line. As the Galatians turned and fled, Alkyoneus tried to possition his men again to attack the Pontic infantry, but was now faced with skirmishers. As he turned to face the skirmishers, the fled just far enough to continuing harrassing the Makedonians. Using a few tricks, Alkyoneus finally managed to force one group into combat:


As the Pontic cavalry broke and fled, Alkyoneus turned to see that the Pontic infantry had broken as well and were fleeing. Alkyoneus quickly charged in and crushed the Pontic troops who were attempting to reform. As Alkyoneus chased down the Pontic army, the main battle line turned and reformed to counter the Pontic army from the city, which had recently appeared, marching down from the edge of hill:


First forward from the Pontic army was, again, the chariots. As the Pontic chariots seemed to be flanking the main line, Alkyoneus decided to counter them personally with his Hetairoi, rather than devert troops. Alkyoneus lined up his cavalry and charged into the formation of chariots:


As he hit, both sides took losses, but soon the chariots paniced and began to flee. Rather then let them get away, Alkyoneus gave chase, but then tragedy hit. As one of the chariots rushed past Alkyoneus, the blades hit his horse, cutting its legs out from under it. Alkyoneus flew through the air, chashing to the ground in a mangled mass. His Hetairoi broke off and turned to assist, but it was too late. He lay motionless on the field, dead:


[I didn't do that on purpose, I was actually stupid enough to get my faction leader killed off by taking on scythed chariots.]

Seeing their king fall, the Basilikon Agema quickly rushed forward to save their king or at the least defend his corpse from Pontic desecration:


The Hetairoi quickly attacked Pontic cavalry attempting to make their way to Alkyoneus' corpse, chasing them from the field. Meanwhile, the Basilikon Agema fended of nearly the entire Pontic army, including the general and next in line to the Pontic throne, Megabazos Stameneus. The Pezhetairoi line moved forward to defend the body of their king:


Just to the west, Arsiochos Amaseios, the new king of Pontos charged straight into the Makedonian phalanxes, with surprisingly few lossses:


Without their king and general, the Makedonian army struggled to maintain order. With their flanks wide open, the phalanx line attempted to continue to engage the enemy:


To the south, the Basilikon Agema achieved a victory, with the long overdue death of Megabazos Stameneus:


But soon, the battle was too much, even for these elite Makedonian men. As they became overwhelmed, groups started to break off and flee. Soon, only one lone unit of Hypaspitai spearmen held the Pontic army from attacking the rear of the pike line:


As the Pontic king began to force his way through the Makedonian phalanx, the Bosphorians, who had been considering retreat, moved to flank the cavalry:


As the Bosphorians fought on, it seemed that even the pikemen and flanking manuever wasn't enough to stop these heavy cavalry. Just as the battle looked completely lost, the Hetairoi returned from chasing off the rest of the Pontic cavalry and charged the Pontic king with all the energy the poor horses had left in them:


Arsiochos Amaseios' cavalry finally began to die, and soon the Pontic king was nearly alone. Fearing for his own life, he turned and fled as the remainder of his personal cavalry fell. The Hetairoi chased him from the field as the Makedonian line turned to face the rest of the Pontic army:


As the Makedonian line once again formed up to protect the body of their king, the Pontic army began to flee. Seeing their king fleeing and the Makedonians revitalized to face them again, the fled to the defenses of their city:


Even with the death of their king, the Makedonian army had achieved an amazing feat that day. Facing forces nearly twice their number and fighting after the death of their king, to the death in the case of much of the Basilikon Agema, it was a day to be remembered for all time. On the site where Alkyoneus had fallen from his horse, a plaque was placed to comemorate the battle and the death of the king:


When word reached Demetrios that his brother had died, they say he had to hide himself away from the public for the rest of the day. Even though they had competed at nearly everything, Demetrios had loved his elder brother. Even when their father had died without an heir, they cared enough for their family and eachother that they had promised to share the thrown. Now, however, Demetrios was the sole king of the growing Makedonian Empire:


Demetrios gave a speech to the people of Antiocheia and sent for his son, Aristotelis. When Aristotelis arrived in Syria (he had already been on his way after setting up a local king to rule Sophene for Makedonia), Demetrios handed over the governorship of Antiocheia and the command of the eastern army to his son. Demetrios then immediately boarded the Makedonian fleet in the Syrian harbor and sailed for Makedonia itself.

In Thessaly, Euboulides, youngest son of Antigonos, received word of his eldest brothers death and his brother, Demetrios' ascension to the throne. Euboulides had been governor of various places in Makedonia, Epeiros, and Thessaly for some time but had little hands on experience with warfare like his brothers:


Rather than sadness, anger overcame Euboulides. He quickly sent message to Pella and to his brother that he was headed for Pontos to join the forces still beseiging the city. When word reached Demetrios in Rhodos, he sent a messenger to meet up with Euboulides and grant him full command of Alkyoneus' army to crush the remaining Pontic forces and completely destroy the entire kingdom. The only condition was that once Pontos fell and the territory secured that the army was to be sent back to Makedonia. The army, thus waited in their depleted state for Euboulides to arrives so that they might continue the war and avenge their king.

Demetrios soon landed in Makedonia, arriving before the body of his brother. Demetrios puposely brough no military forces with him as he approached Pella:


As Demetrios entered the capital city of Pella, he was greeted with hesitant cheering and praise. As he came to the center of town he was greeted by his nephew Perseus, first born son of the previous king. An awkward silence filled the entire agora for what seemed like a lifetime. Then with a sudden fluid movement the tension was released as Perseus embraced his uncle. The next morning, the two men appeared in the agora and annouced that Demetrios was the new king of the vast Makedonian Empire.

Soon, the body of Perseus arrived in Pella, where it was burned in the pyre in a great ceremony. The ceremony was even grander than the ceremony that was for Antigonos. When Antigonos had died, the Makedonian Kingdom was in a precarious place, but now the Makedonian Empire was strong and rich and could risk having all the distant generals travel to Pella for a burial.

As Alkyoneus was entombed in Aigai, on the far side of the empire, Euboulides had finally arrived in Pontos. With minor forces defending the last loyal Pontic city, where the Pontic king hid, Euboulides decides to risk an attack on the walls:


With mercenaries leading the attack, Euboulides prepares to attack the northern gate of the city:


After receiving missile fire from archer, skirmisher, and tower, the seige towers reach the wall. As the caucasian swordsmen charge out, they quickly deal with the Hellenic archers and Hellenic skirmishers in front of them. On the east side of the gate, the opposition is light:


To the west, though, the fighting is much tougher:


The Basilikon Agema quickly moves to the eastern tower to get passed the fighting and enter the city, while Pezhetairoi move to the western tower to assest the outnumbered mercenaries. As they take the walls, the Pheraspides move into possition where they are just above a group of Pontic chariots. Realizing that these can be none other than the the chariots that killed their king, they open fire with the javelin [with help from a captured tower]. Soon the entire unit lays dead in a twisted heap of horse, man, and machine:


The Hypaspistai, on the other hand, quickly move to assist the mercenaries at the eastern tower:


As the enemy on the eastern side are defeated, the Hypaspistai move to assest the western side, as the Pontic forces are crushed between them and the Pezhetairoi:


As the walls are taken, the rest of the infantry move in through the captured gate. The Bosphorians and slingers then move in and take up possition on the walls of the city. Near the eastern gate, they see an oppertunity and open fire on the Pontic king in the town square:


Angered by the attack, the Pontic king and his remaining cavalry rush from the town square and charge down a road at the assembling Makedonian forces. Unprepared for the attack, the Pezhetairoi and Hetairoi simply attack with sword and counter the Pontic heavy cavalry:


The battle lasts quite some time, but eventually Arsiochos Amaseios, King of Pontos, falls dead in the streets of Amaseia:


Even as the Pontic king fought on, a flanking force of Makedonians manages to make it to the center of the town. As the enter the town square, the face a line of elite Pontic pikemen, whom they counter:


As the fighting goes on, it eventually desolves into broken formation sword battle:


As the last Pontic soldier falls dead, the town taken, the Makedonian soldiers celebrate and cheer Euboulides' name:

[Look at the time. I almost lost the battle even though there were only a couple Pontic guys left.]


With the death of the last Pontic king and the fall of their capital, the Kingdom of Pontos fades into history, as its citizens are integrated into the Makedonian Empire:


As the era draws to a close:
Aristotelis fends off another attack on Syria by the Ptolemaioi, with little effect:



A plague from Egypt arrives in Kypros and devistates the population:


Makedonian greatness once again trumps all other nations:


North of Makedonia, the reconstruction of Naissos is completed as it is rebuilt as a Hellenistic city:


And to the east, the Kingdom of Hayasdan conquers the newly liberated Hellenistic colony of Trapezous:

Next: Chapter 8: Kyrenaia
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Ha! I found the forum cap for number of pictures.

[Sakkura]

Ha! I found the forum cap for number of pictures.

Lol, I'll say you did some thorough searching for it. Glad I'm not on dial-up...

It's an excellent update really. I was so sad that Alkyoneus died... Not least because he was a special character in my 0.81 Makedon campaign, where he went from the bookish prince of an unstable kingdom to being the greatest conqueror and general since Alexandros himself.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

That was really epic! How can you charge chariots with cavalry? That's really foolish.

Did you move the Generals for burial really to Aigai? And Caucasian spearman, are they hired mercenaries? Because I thought Makedonia can't recruit them.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I had 52 pictures and had to drop two or else it wouldn't let me post. For anyone having problems, sorry for mass of pictures. A while ago, my internet wasn't working correctly (turns out the ISP was purposely doing it to me as some sort of retarded punishment... long story), but I couldn't even load my own AAR.

My Alkyoneus was really bookish too, but he turned out to be a decent leader. And yes, I was so stupid as to charge him into chariots. My Hetairoi had already taken a whole lot of losses and I though, "What's a couple more? My faction leader has multiple hitpoints, he should be fine," but he wasn't. I thought of just quiting and fighting the battle over again, but then decided his death would be nice roleplaying event.

Yep, I roleplayed that Alkyoneus was entombed in Aigai and move a bunch of family members to Pella for the funeral celebration.

The Caucasian swordmen are mercenaries now. I was suprised when I saw them, but needing some augmentation, I thought they would be a good choice.

[Folgore]

Great AAR Marcus! I'm looking forward to the next chapter. :)

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks.

The next chapeter is going to be a short(er) one since it is basically a series of repetative battles.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 8 : Kyrenaia

As time went by, events in the Makedonian Empire began to return to normal. The reign of Demetrios was not that different then when Alkyoneus and he had shared the throne. The war with the Ptolemaioi continued, troubles to the west with the Romanoi and Punics conquering Hellenic colonies and defeating Gallic allies remained, and the Hellens still continued to complain. To the East, Pontos and Kappadocia were integrated into the Makedonian Empire, and Euboulides began to build a defensive border against the growing power in Armenia. In Rhodos, the great port was upgraded to provide more advanced ships then have ever been available to the Makedonians:


In Syria, Aristotelis, son of Demetrios, and now the presumed heir, defended the growing city of Antiocheia. The city had suffered greatly during the Syrian Wars, but since Demetrios and Aristotelis had taken over, the city had begun to grow, dispite the near constant invasions. As fate would have it, the Ptolemaioi were once again attacking the city:


With a quick sally, and a flanking maneuver by the Thracians, the battle was won and the Ptolemaioi fled the region:


As Aristotelis surveyed the damage to the region and began to make repairs on that which the Ptolemaioi had looted and destroyed outside the city, he received word from his Dacio-Thracian army in Sophene:


Though, before Aristotelis could even think upon the matter, he receive another messages saying that the local ruler had lifted the seige on his own. [I had some mercenaries hiding near by to initiate the battle, since the client ruler couldn't.] Even outnumbered, the combination of the locals, the depleted Dacio-Thracian army, and some Hellenistic mercenaries, the battle was won and the region defended.

In Makedonia, the Alkyoneus' army had managed to return home from Pontos. Demetrios quickly supplemented, retrained, and re-equiped the army at the military facilities of Demetrias. Once the army was reassembed, Demetrios took it on a march. When there is a transfer of power, the Hellens often seek to betray their Makedonian protectors. To avoid this, Demetrios made a grand show of strength by marching through the Hellenic city states with his army, all the way down to Lakonike. South of Sparte, Demetrios met up with the Makedonian fleet, which had been hunting pirates in the Aegean, and sailed south:


To the east, the city of Trapezous had once again thrown off their foreign oppressors. Now the city was left with little defenses and a damaged infrastructure. The city could no longer hold off the enemy on their own. Trapezous was thus forced to turn to the Makedonian Empire to ensure they would not be conquered by a foreign culture. Believing in his brother's (Alkyoneus') idea of assisting all Hellenic people who desired assistance, Euboulides sent an army, including some veterans from the battles of Nikaia, to garrison the city of Trapezous against any further attack:


From late spring to late summer, Demetrios sailed from Lakonike, to Krete, to Kyrenaia. In Kyrenaia, Demetrios set out to liberate other Hellenic colonies being oppressed:


Though he wanted to assist Kyrene and the surrounding colonies, the real reasons behind Demetrios' attack on Kyrenaia were much more political. There were now only three great successors to Alexandros: the family of Antigonos, the family of Seleukos, and the family of Ptolemai. For decades, the Antigonids and the Seleukids had been allied by their hatred of the Ptolemaioi, whose territory had always been situated between the two. In Syria, Demetrios had purposely stalled his expansion, fearing what would happen if his Makedonian Empire was now in between the other two. If the Seleukids were no longer fighting off the Ptolemaioi, then they would begin to demand the return of territories that had once been theirs but had now ended up in the hands of the Antigonids. To weaken the Ptolemaioi and ensure a continued alliance with the Seleukid dynasy, Demetrios decided he would force the Ptolemaioi to fight on two fronts and he would conquer Egypt from the west.

In Syria, Aristotelis found himself once again attacked by a Ptolemaic army:


As Aristotelis marched his army out, the Ptolemaioi began to retreat. The Thracians chased them from the field, cutting down the stragglers:


By the next spring, another army, this time from Assyria, approached the city of Antiocheia:


Once again, with the assistance of the Thracians, the Ptolemaioi were chased off:


Aristotelis once again received word that the city of Karkathiokerta was under siege by the Ptolemaioi. At the same time, a second army had moved into Sophene and was was attacking the Dacio-Thracians which had been stationed just outside of the town. Refusing to fall back, the Dacians and Thracians held their ground against the first army. The Ptolemaioi were taken by surprise by the skill of the army. Soon the Ptolemaioi fled the field, but now the second army which had besieged the city approached:


By the end of the day, a messenger was riding to Syria to inform Aristotelis that the mix of heavy cavalry and cavalry archers had won the day against the superior forces:


Even on the uneven terrain, the Thracians Prodromoi and Steppe cavalry had managed to wipe out the forces thrown against them, even without assistance from the garrison of locals and their 'king':


In Asia, the sons and the in-laws of Kalos, continue to administer the region. With the recent fall of Pontos, the territory manages to grow in size and gain a level of security never seen before. With the Hellen cities liberated, the locals subdued, and the Galatians allied, the region was beginning to prosper. Under the new found peace, the family of Kalos begins to set up colonies and estates for soldiers, both for veteran soldiers to retire and to ensure military families that may be needed in the future. With the establishment of these estates, the regions started to gain even more stability:


By the summer of 255BC, the Ptolemaioi manage to march an army across the Libyan desert and into Kyrenaia to face the army of Demetrios:


Soon after the battle begins, the forces from the city of Kyrene attack the Makedonian flank and engage the Basilikon Agema:


As the Basilikon Agema is preoccupied with the Ptolemaioi infantry, the general Mikikos Theadelpheus and his cavalry manages to hit the flank of the Makedonian pike line. The flank breaks formation and confronts the enemy, as Demetrios moves his Hetairoi around and hits the rear of the engaged Ptolemaic cavalry:


Mikikos Theadelpheus attempts to flee, but is chased down by the Makedonian Hetairoi:


As Demetrios turns back to look at his own line, he sees that the Ptolemaic army from Egypt has already engaged the Pezhetairoi:


The battle continues for some time, but the Ptolemaioi continue to break, regroup, and attack over and over again :


Taking initiative, the Makedonians' right flank Basilikon Agema move forward and chase off a small flanking party and chase them back toward the Ptolemaic center:


While much of the Ptolemaioi flee, both flanks of Basilikon Agema manage to circle around the rear of the Ptolemaioi. Seeing their oppertunity, they charge the rear of an elite Ptolemaic phalanx unit, while they are already engaged:


While the Basilikon Agema and returning Hetairoi break the last units, the Ptolemaic army flees the field. Though, in order to prevent them from fleeing back to the city and hiding behind the walls, Demetrios has his Hetairoi chase them down and capture or kill as many as possible. With their effort, the day is won and the city of Kyrene is taken:


As winter arrives, Aristotelis once again faces an enemy army in Syria:


With effort from the Thracians, the battle is won, once more:


Though tedious, Aristotelis soon realizes that these battles have at least taught him something new about the ways of war:


As Aristotelis thinks back to the battles he has faced defending Antiocheia, it is clear that the majority of these army's core units of Klerouchoi are the same as the previous army's. Every year, Aristotelis kills the support troops of the army and the Klerouchoi return to Ptolemaic territory, where they recruit more support troops and attack Antiocheia again. Unless Aristotelis can kill this core and damage the power of the Ptolemaioi in the region, he will have to face this same battles, every other season. After sending a spy, to locate the Ptolemaic army, Aristotelis assembes his men and marches south, to destroy the Ptolemaic forces in the open field, once and for all.

The known world in the winter of 225BC:


Next: Chapter 9: The Desert Storm

[Sakkura]

Sweet. I like the way you get some roleplay out of decisions that actually are the best in terms of gameplay anyway. Ie. avoiding a border with AS and moving your general through mainland Greece to go south for the attack.

But will you ever need those ships you can build now? In my games it seems like one unit of triremes buys you eternal control on the waves.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

A real Basileus need a really Basilike ship of course! But I wonder how you keep track of the family relations. I always have severe trouble with it, once the initial family has passed.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I always try to make a justification for things that the game does (or just cheat when I really disagree - forced diplomacy ). I figured if this situation was real, the Seleukids would start demanding their old territory back after the war was over, so I didn't invade Judaea.

I doubt I will ever need those ships, but I may build some (probably just one) for roleplaying purposes when I can afford them.

One of the main things I try to do for roleplaying is to keep track of my family lines. It is kind of easy since I always send relatives to work near eachother. Antigonos' elder brother conquered Illyria, so now his family governs Illyria and Epeiros. Antigonos' younger brother (Kalos) followed him into Asia, so now his relatives govern that region. And Antigonos' decendants (which seems to be my smallest branch of the family) is fighting the wars and guarding the borders.

[Admetos]

Brilliant as usual Marcus.

[Andronikos]

Some of the best (if not THE BEST) of AARs I have ever read (perhaps because it is makedonian). Go on!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks, guys.

[Jurdagat]

Actually you inspired me to play my own Makedonia campaign. :)

[Chirurgeon]

Such a great job with the Makedonians....Keep up the great work :) They are a wonderful civilization

[Tarkus]

Wow...just finished reading through your whole story...amazing AAR, Marcus! As with many other readers here, you're getting me fired up to start a Makedonian campaign (although I'm at only 246BC with my Romani campaign...!). A really great read...the diversity of units you have included is killer!

As with one of the earlier posts, I'm also amazed at how much money your core settlements are pulling in...those mines are incredible sources of income...

Keep it up!!!