The Antigonids : A Makedonian AAR

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks for the support. Good to see that I'm converting people over to the Makedonian ways.

No matter how much money I'm making, it isn't enough. Before I started training the elite army that invaded Pontos, I had nearly 300,000 mnai (part of the reason I built the army - to waste my excess income). However, once the army was built I lost money quite quickly. After disbanding excess mercenaries and the 'defeat' at Amaseia, I started being able to afford more. Now that I've retrained the army, I am having problems again.

Here is my boom/bust cycle for this game:

[Sakkura]

Isn't it risky to have that much cash? AFAIK it can give your FMs bad traits if your treasury is over a certain limit. I usually just queue up a ton of buildings in my capital and the nearest cities around it, to soak up the dough.

[Sakkura]

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...

Lol, I just noticed: Serdike, 5681

[Hax]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I'm making something of 8 k per turn in Pella, while maintaining a pretty good, large army, just by mining. Another 2 k by tax rates and trade.

Marcus, I must say I really like your AAR, it's awesome. I never really liked Makedonia myself, but I think the way you write has placed a perfect balance between role-playing and gameplay.

[Tarkus]

Lol, I just noticed: Serdike, 5681

Yeah...that's exactly what made MY eyes pop out too!!!
My own mines in Rhegion and Karali are smelly mudholes by comparison...I gotta start movin' my legions eastward...

[Tarkus]

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I'm making something of 8 k per turn in Pella, while maintaining a pretty good, large army, just by mining. Another 2 k by tax rates and trade.

Marcus, I must say I really like your AAR, it's awesome. I never really liked Makedonia myself, but I think the way you write has placed a perfect balance between role-playing and gameplay.

Yup, it's got everything...giant bankrolls, lots of huge-unit full stacks, great rows of sarissas that extend for what seems like miles in either direction, good narrative...a fun one for sure!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I don't mind the negative traits. They really aren't that bad and having money when you really need it is a nice trade off. Besides, for role-playing, a kingdom with tons of money would have leaders that act differently from a kingdom with little money. If a town turns out bad because of a bad general, you have the money to 'throw money at the problem'.

My mines sure do save the day. When I had my first depression, I built as many L2 mines I could (which increased the speed of the depression). When the L2 mines all started finishing around the same time, my money shot up faster then I could think of ways to spend it. This new depression is going to be harder to get out of, as all of my mines have been fully upgraded.

It is good to hear that people like this AAR. A couple chapters ago, I was thinking about stopping. Since people are enjoying it, and due to an interesting turn-of-events in the campaign, I guess I'll continue for a while. Though, after the next chapter, which I'm planning on posting today or tommorrow, I'm out of stuff since I haven't had the time to play the game recently.

Thanks again for reading.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 9 : The Desert Storm

Before the winter of 225BC could turn to the spring of 224BC, Aristotelis marched his army out from Antiocheia. To the south lay two Ptolemaic armies, one proceeding toward Antiocheia and one recently repulsed from Antiocheia, in the cycle all of Syria was becoming accustomed to. In order to secure Syria, Aristotelis sought to destroy both armies:


Aristotelis marched south until he reached a plain near the sea, which the now abandoned Syria-Phoinike trade road passed through. There he met the Ptolemaioi. Aristotelis formed up his ranks and slowly marched forward:


As the Ptolemaic units came into sight, the Makedonians took note of the Klerouchoi they had come to destroy, formed up in the center of the enemy line:


As the Makedonian line approached and possitioned itself parallel to the Ptolemaioi, the Makedonian slingers and Cretan reserves prepared themselves. On Aristotelis' order, the open fire on the units possitioned behind the Ptolemaic line:


With the Ptolemaic slightly distressed, the Makedonian phalanx line slowly moved forward to confront them. As the two lines clashed, the Ptolemaic reserves rush in and attempted to break through the Makedonian formation. Soon the bulk of both armies are in combat. Breaking from the fighting, the Thracians along both flanks make an attempt to circle around the rear of the Ptolemaioi and attack them from behind. Noticing the flanking move, Stasioikos Arrhidaeos, the Ptolemaic general, charges his cavalry in to counter the flankers. Unprepared to fight the Thracian weapons, Stasioikos soon finds his cavalry cut to pieces:


Stasioikos Arrhidaeos is quickly cut down. Though, before they can even regroup, the same flank of Thracians are once again charged by a Ptolemaic general. Theoxenos Soknopaiou Nesou charges in quickly from the hills to reinforce the Ptolemaic line:


After a short battle, Theoxenos falls dead, as well. With both flanks now secured, both flanks of Thracians met up behind the engaged Ptolemaioi and charge their rear, risking being surrounded themselves, by the approaching Ptolemaic reinforcements:


With the first army routed, the exhausted Thracians fall back through the wall of sarrisas as the Pezhetairoi attempt to regroup. As they regroup, the approaching Ptolemaic reinforcements force the Pezhetairoi to make a hasty stairstep formation, as they prepare to counter the new line of Klerouchoi:


With the Thracians exhausted and displaced and the cavalry chasing down the remains of the first army, the Makedonian flanks are left open. Seeing the vulnerability, Ptolemaic Thorakitai rush to the flanks and began to pepper the Makedonian phalanx with javelin. But the Thorakitai hesitate to attack and loose their advantage as Aristotelis and his cavalry return to crush the unit from behind:


With the loss of the majority of the reinforcements, the remaining enemy begin to fall back and attempt to regroup. Before they can, the Makedonian line breaks formation and charges them, winning the day:


Aristotelis takes the battle as a learning experience and his command skills improve from what he has learned this day:


In Kyrenaia, with a semi-rebuilt economy, African goods are quickly shipped out and to Greece, where greatly welcomed. Not since the early days of Antigonos, when there was peace with the Ptolemaic Dynasty, did African and Egyptian goods easily make their way to Greece and Makedon. Rare goods from the south had had to come through other nations, like the city of Kart-Hadast. But Kart-Hadast's distance and agression against Hellens had always complicated the matter. Now, however, the Makedonian Empire had a foothold in the Africa and the African market:

[In case you're wondering, I tore down the port and rebuilt it to the same level using process_cq so that it would look Greek instead of Eastern.]

With Syria momentarily secured, Aristotelis arranged for an diplomatic and scientific expedition to the east. Very little was known by the Makedonians, about the current state of Persia and beyond. The Seleukids did not share their exact conditions and trade had been nearly completely been cut off by the Ptolemaioi in Assyria. Seeking to learn more of the east, Aristotelis hired several diplomats, scouts, and envoys to head east and report on the state of nations, economy, geography, technology, and foreign knowledge. One group headed across northern Persia, first through Media, while they other group headed through Babylonia and into Persis. As the scouts passed through Persis, the came to the rebuilt city of Persepolis. The Seleukid Dynasty had unexpectedly managed to rebuild the city, nearly to the greatness that it had held when it was the capital of the old Persian Empire:


With the Ptolemaioi distracted with a loosing war in the east, Demetrios assumed that Kyrenaia was safe from large scale attack, for the time being. Demetrios, however, did not take into account the treachery of the Poeni people. To the west was the insignifigant city state of Kart-Hadast, once a colony of the Phoenicians, now the last of an outdated way of life. Hellens had long traded with them (they were infact, current trade partners of the Makedonian Empire) and had interactions with them. To the various Hellens, Kart-Hadast had been both friend and foe. Though, for most Hellens that interacted with them, they were only ever seen on the battlefield. For centuries, this city state had attempted to make an empire in the west but had always been defeated by the Hellenic colonists in their way.

Unable to hold the single Hellenic city of Syrakousai, they now marched across the deserts to confront the united Hellenic and Makedonian Empire in Kyrenaia. Without even a declaration of war or any form of warning, they sneaked across the deserts from one oasis to another, as they made their way into Makedonian territory. Their suprise failed, though. Demetrios had set up outposts across Kyrenaia to spot desert raiders and send advanced warning of attack. These outposts had spotted the forces of Kart-Hadast and had given Demetrios enough warning to send his army out and counter the threat:


The forces of Kart-Hadast were divided into two main groups. Demetrios moved quickly to wipe them out separately and not have to deal with a huge battle against a superior number of enemies. As he approached, he lined up his men in formation:


Seeing the Makedonians, the enemy moved forward. Demetrios halted his line and and prepared for defense, waiting for the over anxious enemy to come to him.

As the enemy approached, Demetrios surveyed the new type of enemy. Their ranks were a mix of many different unit types. They ranged from the savage barbarian:


...to the elite pikeman, trained in the Makedonian style:


...but most of their army was medium infantry similar to the Hoplitai, Peltastai, or Thorakitai.

As they army approached, the Kart-Hadast general and heavy cavalry possitioned itself on the flank. Seeing this isolated unit, Demetrios moves his Hetairoi around to the same flank and orders a charge of the enemy:


As Demetrios eliminates the cavalry and kills the enemy captain, the rest of the Makedonians hold their ground against the onslaught. The Kart-Hadast army fails to find any holes in the Makedonian line and soon looses their nerve as they throw themselves against the pikes. Fearing defeat, they turn and slowly move away from the battle, leaving two groups of elite pikemen:


With the Kart-Hadast pikemen before them, the Makedonian phalanx doesn't dare break formation and charge after the fleeing enemy. Already chasing after the retreating enemy, Demetrios signalled to the Basilikon Agema on the flanks to join the pursuit. Upon seeing the pursuing units, the Kart-Hadast split off a few groups to turn back and intercept both flanks of Basilikon Agema. As the selected Kart-Hadast units fight to the death, those units Demetrios couldn't finish off with cavalry alone, flee the battle:


After finishing off the units sent to hold them down and unable to catch any more units, the Basilikon Agema turns back to attack the Kart-Hadast pikemen. As they approach, the Kart-Hadastism pikemen turn to confront the would-be flankers, turning their backs on the Makedonian line. Seeing a chance to win, the Basilikon Agema hold down the enemy as the main battle line ironically attacks them from behind:


With the enemy broken and fleeing, Demetrios organizes his army for another battle:


After dealing with the dead and wounded and replenishing his supplies, Demetrios heads further south to face the remaining Kart-Hadastism army:


The battlefield, chosen by Kart-Hadast, is on a small plateau, already occupied by the Kart-Hadast forces. As the battle begins, Demetrios rushes his forces up the edge of the plateau and onto the flat high ground:


As the two lines converge, the Kart-Hadastism test the Makedonian line with skirmishers and light infantry:


Not wanting to make the same mistake as the last army, the Kart-Hadastism move their forces to both flanks and attempt to attack the Makedonians from the sides. On the Makedonian right flank, the Pheraspides hold down the flankers as the Hypaspistai outflank the flankers:


On the Makedonian left flank, a large force, including general Melqartpilles Gisgo's cavalry charge the Basilikon Agema:


As the Basilikon Agema hold down the enemy, quite successfully, Demetrios flanks his Hetairoi and charges in at the mass of enemies from the rear, eventually killing the general:


As both flanking groups are defeated, the mass of men holding down the Makedonian center break and flee back into the desert:


Demetrios chases the enemy into the hills and kills as many as he can:


Kyrenaia is saved and the forces of Kart-Hadast are completely crushed. As Demetrios marches his army back to the city of Kyrene, he takes note of the battles and realises that, even though easily won, they have taught him something new of war. Even at his age and level of experience, he continues to improve his battle tactics:


In Syria, Aristotelis receives two messages that he wasn't expecting. First, his scouts in Persia relay back that Arche Seleukeia has completely rebuilt since their massive defeats in the Syrian Wars and is now in a possition superior to both the Ptolemaioi and the Antigonids:


The second event in Syria is even more suprising to Aristotelis. The Ptolemaioi have marched an army across the Syrian border and are once more planning an attack Antiocheia. As it turns out, the battle Aristotelis fought near Sidon only provided him with a year of peace in Syria. So, Aristotelis prepares for war once more. To the north, however, another surprise awaits the Makedonian Empire.

Next: Chapter 10 : The People of the Mountains
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Sorry if there are a bunch of spelling/grammar errors. It is late and I can't manage to thouroughly proofread it right now, but wanted to post it before going to sleep. Finally proofread and fixed errors.

[Jurdagat]

Lovely update! :)

[Chirurgeon]

Wow those were some impressive battles. The way you described them it sounded almost like you were evenly matched. Then I looked at the battle results. Man you hardly have any casualties! That last battle you only had 48 casualties. Very impressive indeed. I like how you got a foothold in Kyrene. Can you recruit home units there? Anyway keep it up!

[Basileus Seleukeia]

Oh oh, looks like now the Getai want a piece of the pie, too^^
You have done marvelous work with this AAR, MAA. You have even inspired me to start my own Makedonian campaign. But I'll use more Agrianikoi Pelekuphoroi, I think they are just too sexy not to use

[Wolfman]

this AAR is beautifully composed Marcus. Your AAR's are always entertaining and informative at the same time good work!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

3000th post!

Thanks for the comments.

I try to make my battles dramatic, even if they really aren't. Though, when I saw those two huge Carthaginian armies marching towards me, I thought I was in trouble. As it turned out, they really didn't stand a chance against that army and tactics. Maybe if I fought a Carthaginian general with more stats it would at least keep them from breaking too early, but right now it seems I could easily conquer Kart-Hadast.

Kyrene gives most of the basic Hellenic units, and I think they even get the reformed Pezhetairoi.

Yeah, I was suprised at how well the Getai are doing, and even more suprised that they haven't attacked me. Even though they were allies of Ptolemai, they have always been my friends, trusting me (they will only leave 1 or 2 units in their border towns). Recently, their alliance with Ptolemai broke and I allied to them quite easily. They've run up against the Boii and Lugia, though, and will soon run out of places to expand except towards me...

I didn't end up using any Agrian units. Their recruitment was so high up in the MIC. By the time I got them (I took a while to upgrade Pella's MICs) my fighting armies were already so far away from Makedonia.

[Sakkura]

The Getai seem to be a powerhouse in 1.0, at least in my campaigns so far. They definitely got fixed compared to 0.81 when they usually stayed at 1 province forever.

You better put down the Ptolies quick, before you end up in a 3-front war against Kart Hadast, Ptolies and Getai. That could be a bit of a nasty situation.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

I'm lucky, Getai is throwing themselves at the Boii right now and don't care about me... yet. Though I am faced with a three front war (see 'next chapter' hint) that is quite draining right now.

While I'm posting I'd just like to complain a little. I was playing this campaign today and I got to one turn where I fight two epic battles in the enemies turn, then I fight a tiny little battle just before my turn. As the little battle ended, CTD. I lost more than an hour of gameplay. [/COMPLAIN] I've got some nice pictures of the battles, though.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Great update, MAA. Ahh, the good ol' Makedonians...

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 10 : The People of the Mountains

In Kyrenaia, war was now being faced on two fronts, but in the rest of the Makedonian Empire, little had changed since the fall of Pontos. In Athenai, Karpophoros, tyrant of the city, dies peacefully in bed:


The old tyrant had ruled Attike for decades, ever since Antigonos had defeated the anti-Makedonian tyrant in 271BC. With the city now leaderless, Perseus in Pella contimplated the fate of the city which had long been, in name-only, an 'ally' of Makedon.

To the Northeast of the Makedonian Empire, in the mountians, hid the Kingdom of Hayasdan. Once a protectorate of Arche Seleukeia, the tiny kingdom grew into a relatively large power with a powerful line of kings. Since the Syrian Wars and the decline of Seleukid power, the Hai people had managed to gain a base of power. They then began to expand in their region, conquering all of their neighbors, including the Iberians.

After conquering all of the Caucasus area, they spread northward onto the plains. This act, however, pushed steppe nomads westward, threatening Hellenic colonies. These colonies and Hellenic peoples began appealling to Makedonia for help, which they received. Alkyoneus quickly sent diplomats north to make an alliance with the steppe people. Gaining their friendship, through promising the return of their lost lands. Alkyoneus then sent envoys to the Hai and exchanged Makedonian silver (which was abundant in the Makedonian treasury at the time) for the steppe territories. In the process, Alkyoneus had thought he had made two friends. The loose alliance of steppe peoples were happy to have their land back and the Hai were happy to have a large portion of silver, not very concerned about the loss of worthless land.

[I just want to say that I didn't cheat or use forced diplomacy with any of that. It cost me a great deal (probably around 50,000) to give the Sauromatae back two provinces.]

The Kingdome of Hayasdan didn't just sit quitely in the mountians, though. As the Kingdom of Pontos collapsed under Makedonian assault, Hai forces headed westward to grab a piece of the decaying kingdom. With acquistions in Kappadocia, the Hai attempted to grab a piece of the Pontic coast but failed to hold the Hellenic city of Trapezous for very long. Desparately needing help, Euboulides sent a garrison to hold Trapezous and defend the town, as an allied city. And with that, it seemed Hayasdan gave up on the area and went back into their moutains.

Nearly all Armenian peoples were now members of the Kingdom of Hayasdan. Only in one territory outside the Kingdom of Hayasdan were the Armenian people the majority. This area had been part of the conquest of Alexandros and had been traded off several times in the wars of his successors. Now, this territory, the land of Sophene, was in the hands of a Makedonian-friendly tyrant. It is unknown whether the the Hayasdan simply wanted the territory, the people of Sophene requested help from their Hai cousins, or if the tyrant of Sophene had betrayed the Makedonians and requested help, himself. The end result was the same, though. One autumn morning, an Hai army marched down from the mountains, crossed the Tigris, and besieged the garrison of Karkathiokerta.

Unable, or perhaps unwilling, the tyrant of Sophene did not sally to meet the enemy. Aristotelis quickly sent word to his loyal Dacio-Thracian army in the area, who attacked the Hai forces. Fearing the combined forces of the Dacio-Thracians and the city garrison, the Hai retreated. The Dacio-Thracian pursued and attacked them again a few weeks later:


As the battle began, the steppe horsemen quickly flanked the enemy and showered them with arrows:


Between the steppe horses and the Thracian weapons, the little Hai army couldn't stand up against the forces of Makedonia. As they fled northward, the steppe cavalry gave chase and killed the majority:


Aristotelis quickly sent word to his father that the Hai had attacked, but his uncle Euboulides, did not wait for an answer to escalated the war. Euboulides took this chance to crush the Hai forces which had been slowly encroaching on territories in Pontos. To the east of Trapezous, was territory claimed by both the Makedonian Empire and the Kingdom of Hayasdan. Seeing as there were Hellenic settlers in the area, Euboulides ordered the garrison of Trapezous to expel the Hai from the area and free its people:


On a cold and rainy day, the garrison lined up as they met up with the local Hai forces:


Slowly marching forward into a forested area, the Hellenistic forces met the Hai battle line:


With the line held in place, the Peltastai flanked the enemy and threw their javelin. The untrained Hai levies soon broke and fled:


After throwing all their javelin, the Peltastai found that only one group of Hai soldiers stood their ground. Completely outnumbering them, the Peltastai charged in:


The remaining Hai soldiers stood their ground for a good amount of time but eventually broke and fled with the rest of their people. With the victory, the Hai pulled out of a long stretch of land along the coast, east of Trapezous:


Euboulides himself quickly assembled an army from the Amaseia garrison and of the Kappadocians (veterans of the Mazaka seiges). With his army, he marched north to confront armies of the Hai who had clearly transgressed on Makedonian territory:


As the battle begins, Euboulides marches his strangley mismatched army forward to confront the enemy on the flat high ground:


As the armies meet on the top of the hill, overlooking the sea, the archers on both sides open fire. While the armies are occupied, Euboulides moves his Kappadocians to the flanks:


Marching forward once more, the Helleinc phalangitai are charged by Hai elites, halting their progress:


On the Makedonian left flank, the Kappadocians move forward, only to be engaged by Hai cavalry:


As the left flankers are held down, the reinforcing Hai army arrives and charges in. As a select few hold down the pikemen, the rest of the Hai attack the separated left flank of Kappadocians, but fail to break them:


On the right flank, the remaining Kappadocians attempt to circle around the rear of the enemies holding down the pikemen, while the Peltastai hold the flank. Before too long, Yervand of Artzruni charges in at the depleted right flank and clashes with the Peltastai:


The Kappadocian flanking on the right quickly return and surround the Hai general and slays him. With the general dead, the Hai forces begin to retreat. What remains of both flanks of Kappadocians and Peltastai charge the fleeing units and surround the last man as he fights to the death:


A few skirmishes is one thing, but with the death of a relative to the King of Hayasdan and the destruction of a large army, an all out war seems all but unavoidable:


The following year, with consent of his brother Demetrios, Euboulides invades Hayasdan territory and besieges the fort at Ani-Kamah. To the south, the Dacio-Thracian defend the Tigris River crossing from further attack from the Van Lake region:


In Syria, Aristotelis continued to rule the secondary capital of the Makedonian Empire, Antiocheia. Over the last decade, the city had flurished under Makedonian rule and had expanded greatly. As the city grew, it came to look more like a Hellenic city and less like eastern Hellenistic city, founded by Seleukids and built by Syrians. Even though Aristotelis had hoped he had crushed Ptolemaic power and provided peace to the region, an army of the Ptolemaioi once again marched into Makedonian territory. Aristotelis marched out of Antiocheia and confronted the enemy on the open field:


As Aristotelis approached, the Ptolemaioi marched down from the high ground, to confront the Makedonians on level terrain:


To the east of the battle was a great outcropping of granite, and to the west a great storm was building out at sea:


As the Makedonian line made its way up the gentle slope, the Ptolemaioi moved to counter. As the Klerouchoi moved toward the Makedonian Pezhetairoi, a large contingent of Jewish spearmen attacked the Thracians on the Makedonian right flank:


As they continued to be confonted with more attackers and continued to wipe them out, the Thracians slowly move forward. Soon, they found themselves up against the Ptolemaic reserves, fighting far from their own line. Depleted of arrows, the Kretans move to the right flank to take the place of the Thracians:


In the center of the line, a group of Klerouchoi some how manages to decimate a section of the Makedonian line. Nearly wiped out, the section of Pezhetairoi breaks and flees. The Kretans quickly rush back to the center to fill the newly made hole:

This was one of those game bugs, where sometimes when two phalanxes fight, the defending unit just stands there and doesn't fight back, eventually dying. I should have watched closer and told them to attack.

As the Kretans hold down the Klerouchoi, Aristotelis hits the phalangitai in the rear, breaking the whole Ptolemaic army. Filled with anger over the loss of his men, Aristotelis ignores the Ptolemaic signal of surrender and kills as many of the routing men as possible:


To the west, the Makedonian fleet arrives in the Aegean, returning from Kyrenaia. As they pass Krete, they are ambushed by an army of pirate ships, who had been enjoying raiding the Aegean with the lack of any navy in the area, for the last few years. Even though outnumbered, the experienced Makedonian admiral manages to pull out a victory, only loosing one small fleet:


After about a half a year of sieging the fort city of Ani-Kamah, reinforcements from Armenia arrive to attempt to lift the Makedonian siege. The small army of elites attack the Makedonians, attempting to save the Hayasdan faction heir, isolated in the city:


Euboulides assembles his awkward army on the awkward terrain and awaits the Hayasdan army:


The Hayasdan elites slowly approach the Makedonian line, then charge into the center of the sarrisa spears, trying to make a hole:


As the pikemen try their best to prevent a hole from forming in their line, Euboulides circles around back and charges the Hai elites, breaking them:


As Euboulides attempts to chase down the fleeing Hai elites, he is suddenly confronted by a huge unit of cataphracts. Vahagn Yervanduni and his bodyguard had managed to arrive from the city and suprise Euboulides' Hetairoi by crashing into them. Completely outnumbered and outmatched Euboulides breaks from the combat and attempts to escape the cataphracts. But nothing Euboulides does can shake the cataphracts as they continue to draw closer to him. After circling the field of battle, Euboulides turns and heads for his own battle line. Slowing just enough to prevent massive losses on his own side, Euboulides and his Hetairoi go through their own line and draw the cataphracts into battle with the Kappadocians:


As the cataphracts are tied down, Euboulides circles around the battle and charges the Hai heir from behind:


Outmanuevered, the Hai heir attempts to flee, but doesn't manage to escape:


As his army chases the enemy from the battlefield, Euboulides is finally able to relax. The next day, they march into Ani-Kamah and claim the entire region for the Empire of Makedonia:


Suffering defeat after defeat, the Hai turn to the one surviving people in the region who have hatred for the Antigonids, the Ptolemaioi. Though, even with an alliance of these powers, Makedon does not fear. Both kingdoms have had their backs broken and it is simply a matter of time before they both fade away.

Around the same time, in the east, the traitorous people of Baktria repel an invasion from the steppes. After loosing several territories, the steppe invaders promise an subseviant alliance to the Baktrian king:


In Greece, two armies of Greek allies is assembled (reducing the number of fighting men in Greece). The armies make a quick stop in Sparte to train, then head over to meet up with the Makedonian fleet, to sail south to Kyrenaia:


In Illyria, Nepos gathers the Illyrian army and prepares for his own invasion of foreign territory (sanctioned by Demetrios):


Illyria had been conquered by Krateros, elder brother of Antigonos. It was then governed by Alexandros, son of Krateros. But recently, Alexandros had died, leaving control of the region his son, the well educated but violent Nepos. To the north of Illyria lay fertile lands, controlled by hostile tribes. But war with the Getic Confederation and northern tribes had left the area weaken. Nepos knew if he attacked the region, the northern allies of the region's tribes would come to their aid, but if he could take the territory, their northern allies wouldn't risk their lives to liberate them. So Nepos sent spies and diplomats to the fort city of Vindobona, to prepare the region for conquest. Then Nepos and his son, Neikolas, gathered the army and headed north.

In Thermon, the Makedonian-friendly tyrant, Kalas dies quietly. Perseus makes plans...


The known world in the winter of 223BC:


Next: Chapter 11 : War on Every Front

[Chaotix]

Awexome update, Marcus! A 3 front war... must be rough. Don't you think the Getai might join the fight if you take Vindobona, though? And you always have to worry about those Romani...

[Jurdagat]

Awesome, really enjoying this and overjoyed of the update.
Thank god I don't have work tomorrow! :)

[Sakkura]

Great update as usual

I think I might have used my spare troops to arrest the growing Roman danger instead though. Pyrrhus showed well that the city of Kart Hadast can be defeated by good Greek warfare without too much trouble, but these Roman upstarts fight in strange ways. Their tyrannic grip on Megale Hellas should be broken as soon as possible. The good Greeks there would surely welcome the Macedonians as liberators, and accept their protection.

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks.

At least I still have enough power to continue attacking. At least with Hayasdan, if I loose the initiative, I may get stuck in a defensive war against cata-tanks. My complete lack of money makes reinforcing all fronts difficult, too.

My attack on Vindobona and a war with the Romanoi are actually one in the same. My plan is to take Pannonia and the Alpine territories, then attack the Romans from the north. In every other campaign where I fought the Romans, they have always put up little challenge and just retreated northward, where they become essentially a bad version of a Celtic nation. In order to prevent them from retreating north, I'm going to cut them off (which doesn't actaully seem necessary with the Boii script).

I'm just suprised that the Romans haven't attacked me again. We had one battle near the start of the game over Segestica, then we made peace, which has lasted. I'm allied with the Aedui though, for anti-Roman support.

I'm upgrading about four mines in Anatolia. Hopefully when they are completed and Egypt falls, I will be able to afford things again.

[Chirurgeon]

Finally Im seeing some pitched battles. I was tired of only seeing 40 or 50 dead Makedonians....just kidding. Keep up the good work. Im surprised Rome hasnt attacked your holding in Epirus. You have territory right next to them. I am sure they will. As a fellow AAR writer I can attest that you must have spent alot of time on the editing of screenshots. Thats incredible how many screenshots you have in there :) I hope to see some upcoming battle with Phalynx versus Phalynx. Jewish spearmen are cannon fodder. Have you lost a battle yet? I remember fighting the Ptolemies as Carthage and getting my ass handed to me by those Galatian Swordsmen. The Ethiopian axemen are brutal as well. Perhaps as you get into the larger Ptolemic holdings they will field an army comprable to your own. Good job and keep it up. I'm enjoying this :)

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

If you like seeing me loose, you'll like the next chapter. Though I don't actually loose the battle. I don't really take many risks in war, if I'm not sure I'll win, I wait until I have more forces. Though, I'll occationally loose when I do something stupid or the AI 'magically' suprises me. And sometimes I'll take little, unimportant, easily replaceable forces to war and end up getting them wiped out.

I'm surprised that peace has lasted with Roma, too. I have a fort on the Illyria - Cisalpine Gallia border, and I think that has detered them.

About the screenshots, thanks. My last AAR was really lacking in screenshots, so I went with a lot for this one.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Nice update, MAA.

It's surprising how much your campaign resembles my own. I too "liberated" the southern steppe from the Hai to give it to the Sarmatae... they weren't very thankful though but betrayed me instead.

I also conquered the alpine regions, liberating them from the Getai. Suddenly I was attacked by Sweboz Giant Empire and Roman Tiny Empire. I was not able to hold the territories up there, as reinforcements could never arrive speedy and were always needed elsewhere (Persia, Caucasus, Egypt). I gathered a mercenary Celt army though and rampaged through northern Italy, taking the Roman levies by surprise, pillaging and sacking every northern city. As I had finally assembled another army, a attacked them from the south at Taras, totally rolling them up from south to north.

I'm really looking forward how things will go in your campaign. Good luck!

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Thanks, Centurio.
I don't think I have anything to fear from the Sweboz, in this campaign. They have just been sitting around for half a century. I have used the "give_money germans, 40000" code several times and I think they are finally out of debt. They just conquered their second town. I think both me and Sweboz will have to start worring about the Aedui, though.

I finally finished a paper I was working on, so even though it is nearly 1:00 in the morning, I'm uploading my pics right now. I'll plan on making an update for this AAR over the weekend...

[Chirurgeon]

waits for another update :)

[MarcusAureliusAntoninus]

Chapter 11 : War on Every Front (Part I)

In the year between 223BC and 219BC, the Makedonian Empire found itself at war with nearly everyone they bordered. The Ptolemaioi knew they could no longer stand alone against the combined forces of Arche Seleukeia and the Makedonian Empire. They had, thus, enlisted the help of their allies: the city of Kart-Hadast and the Kingdom of Hayasdan. Makedonia now faced the threat of these three powers as well as smaller nations and peoples in the southern deserts and in the northern forests.

In Kyrenaia, Demetrios, king of Makedonia, faced the forces of Kart-Hadast as well as the threat of the Ptolemaic Egypt to the east, on the far side of the desert. In Armenia, Euboulides, uncle of King Demetrios, faced the forces of the Kingdom of Hayasdan. In Syria, Aristotelis, son of King Demetrios, defended the territory from constant Ptolemaic attack, unable to move his forces southward to invade, fearing the armies of Assyria. And in Illyria, Nepos, decendant of Antigonos' brother, sought new territory to expand into with his family, choosing to face the celtic tribes of the north. In Pella, Perseus, nephew of King Demetrios, attended to the adminstration of Makedonia, Thrakia, and the Hellenes.

The African Front

In Kyrenaia, Demetrios was once again forced to devert his army to counter a threat from the city of Hart-Hadast. This time Admetos, supreme leader of the combined forces of Kart-Hadast, personally lead an army, supported by artillery, into Kyrenaia. About a month behind the Kart-Hadast army was another army, planning to join up once they reach Kyrenaia, where the fertile land, unlike the desert, could support two large armies. Not wanting to fight two large armies, Demetrios moved to attack Admetos before his reinforcements could cross the desert:


As Demetrios engaged the Kart-Hadast army, they stood their ground, forcing Demetrios to take the offensive and move his army forward:


As the Makedones approached the enemy, they noticed a group of Kart-Hadast elite spearmen, the acclaimed Sacred Band of Kart-Hadast that was well known from their wars with Syrakousai:


Even with their elites, the forces of Kart-Hadast took note of Demetrios' forces and choose to flee. As the enemy turned to head back into the desert, Demetrios gave chase with his Hetairoi. As he charged, the Sacred Band (and some other spearmen) turned to face him:


As the Hetairoi fought with the elite spearmen, hoping they would break and flee, they began to take losses. Too pridefull to let they escape, Demetrios kept up fight, eventually breaking the enemy as planned.

Even though they enemy had fled Makedonian territory and Demetrios had wiped out an entire devision of Kart-Hadast Sacred Band spearmen, the battle had cost Demetrios more than a tenth of his cavalry:


Following the battle, Admetos retreated back into the desert, to be reinforced by his second army. At this time, a Makedonian reinforcement of Hellene soldiers landed in Kyrenaia and garrisoned the city of Kyrene. With the province defended, Demetrios decided to give chase to the Kart-Hadast army and head south as well. Along the way, he came upon a Ptolemaic army, that had been wandering the deserts since before Demetrios had taken Kyrenaia. Wishing to remove this force from what was now Makedonian territory, Demetrios engaged them:


With a flanking manuever from the Basilikon Agema units, Demetrios wiped out every last man along the shores of a desert lake:


Near the Kyrenaia - Hart-Hadast border, the Makedonian navy managed to move in and deploy a Hellenic army, which moved to assualt the desert dwellers in the southern regions. The navy then moved along the coast as Demetrios marched, ensure he and his army was well supplied. As Demetrios entered Hart-Hadast territory, the second army enemy army retreated. It seemd that the Hart-Hadast had given up on their invasion. Though, before Admetos and his army could get away, as well, Demetrios attacked them:


As the two armies lined up to face eachother along a surprisingly well built desert road, Demetrios was once agian force to take the initiative:


As the Makedonian line approached, the well possitioned Kart-Hadast artillery open fire on the line:


Due to the large bolts, the Makedonian army took considerable causalities. The bolts came crashing through line of men, ignoring defensive the wall of sarrisas, and killing several Makedonians at a time. Only by the charisma of Demetrios was the army able to maintain its slow march forward, without panicing or tiring itself by charging.

The Makedonian line finally came within range of missile fire and halted. The Bosphorians and slingers let fly on the Kart-Hadast line, eventually goading them into charging the Makedonian pike line:


On the Makedonian left flank, Admetos himself charged the line. He and his cavalry quickly pushed through the spears and began tearing a hole in the Makedonian line:


As the line began to suffer, the left flank Basilikon Agema managed to move behind the enemy general. The pikemen tried their best to hold the general, as the Basilikon Agema charged in from behind:


In the center of the Makedonian line, the Kart-Hadast elite pikemen had managed to force a hole in the line, killing many Pezhetairoi. With the Basilikon Agema tied down on both flanks and the Hetairoi occupied, the Bosphorians reluctantly moved in to fill the hole. But just then, they caught glimpes of Demetrios and the Hetairoi coming over the hill, completely suprising the enemy reserves from behind:

[Same stupid bug where the guys just stand there and die without fighting back.]

As Demetrios wiped out the Kart-Hadast reserves and their artillery, the Basilikon Agema managed to kill the enemy general, Admetos:


Realizing they were surrounded and leaderless, the Hart-Hadast army turned and fled. Angry over their losses, the Makedonian pike line broke formation and charged after them, intending to wipe out the fleeing enemy:


With the Kart-Hadast defeated and retreating, Demetrios turned and took his slightly weakened army eastward, assisted by the navy. A year later, he was besieging the city of Paraitonion, along the Libye coast. The Makedonian navy always followed Demetrios staying off the coast from his camp to ensure resupply, to disrupt enemy resupply, and to prevent any seaborn reinforcement:


Next : Chapter 12 : War on Every Front (Part II) - The Armenian Front
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I decided to split these few year up a bit and make an entry for each different war so I wouldn't have one giant update (and have to cut out pictures).

[Jurdagat]

Nice to see a fresh update somewhere among all the great AARs we got around now! :)

[Hax]

Great update as usual, Marcus!

I enjoy reading every passage of this awesome story!

[Treverer]

Well, I have been lurking this AAR (almost) from the beginning and I've to say:

"Splendid work!" And even more, if one considers that you have family, a job/college/university, eb-team- & moderator-duties.

Yours,
Treverer