[EB AAR] Pontos Rising

[FriendlyFire]

This is a Pontic campaign AAR using Europa Barbarorum 1.2 and BI.exe. I'm playing on hard campaign difficulty, medium battle difficulty, and huge unit sizes. I'm also using the city mod, which limits the upper size and growth of most cities to historical proportions.

I love Pontos in EB for three reasons: first, it's a complete underdog in an almost impossible position, starting with one small town and the Arche Seleukeia breathing down its neck. Second, even after fighting off that initial threat, Pontos finds itself in the center of the map, with danger and opportunity in every direction. This makes the campaign much more unpredictable than that of a "corner power" like Carthage, Saba, or the Casse, where you pretty much know who you'll be fighting and in what order. Third, Pontos doesn't really have any factional elite troops worthy of the name, so late-game armies tend to have a lot more interesting regional troops in the mix.

I've tried and failed to complete AARs before, so this time around I'm trying to be a bit more character-based. Hopefully the story will drive the gameplay, and the gameplay will drive the story, and I'll get past the second page! And I apologize in advance for battle screenshots where cavalry have transparent necks and forelegs: there's something about those textures that my laptop just can't render, although I try to change camera angles and positions to minimize its effect. This is why you'll never see one of my generals doing the heroic-rearing-horse thing - it just looks too bizarre with a floating horse's head :)

For in-game numbers, I'm applying the AAR rule of multiplying unit sizes by a factor of 10, so that the story has "realistic" historical battle sizes. Then I round things up a little, so I'll say "approximately 2,500 phalangites" instead of "2,420 phalangites".

I'm also cross-posting the AAR to the Total War Eras AARs section at twcenter.

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 1: A King of War

In 272 BC, the Pontic kingdom consisted of a single province in Mikra Asia, centered around the town of Amaseia. Its king was Ktistes Mithridates Kianos, who had ruled over an uneasy peace since breaking away from the great Arche Seleukeia in the east. At 70, Ktistes Mithridates knew that he was not long for this earth.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Having concentrated on military matters for most of his adult life, Ktistes Mithridates had little time for the affairs of scribes and money-men. His son and heir Ariobarzanes also preferred the army life, but his son-in-law Ariarathes Herakleotes, a Hellen, showed some promise as a manager as well as a leader of men.

Even with his limited grasp of figures, Ktistes Mithridates knew that his tiny kingdom was in trouble. For the royal treasury was rapidly running out of silver to pay the wages of the Pontic military.

The choice facing Ktistes Mithridates was a stark one. He could disband the military, saving his kingdom from bankruptcy but dooming it to soon serve a Seleukid master. Or he could instead use the military to take the riches of the nearby mines and trade routes for Pontos. What decided Ktistes Mithridates' mind was not the fate of himself, or even of his immediate heirs, but that of the entire family tree. For the Kianos family was fruitful, and he had many grandchildren yet to come of age, and even a young son born to him late in life. And no Kianos would ever bow to a Seleukid master again.

With what little silver remained, Ktistes Mithridates first ordered the construction of the most basic of civil infrastructure, so that someday his people might remember him as a king of peace.

And then he earned his legacy as a king of war, dividing his military into three tiny armies and sending them out from Amaseia. Ariarathes Herakleotes would take the first army west, into the province of Galatia near the town of Ankyra, who were once the friends of Pontos but were now openly hostile. Ariobarzanes Kianos would march south with the second army, towards the Seleukid town of Mazaka. And Ktistes Mithridates himself would lead the third army past Mazaka, to march along the old Persian Royal Road, and into history.

And thus began the rise of Pontos.

[Hotseat_User]

nice, I love Pontus, should start a campaign too. good look

[The_Blacksmith]

Oh yeah! Very good start FriendlyFire!

Looking forward to updates :D

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Ktistes Mithridates, commanding a field army at age 70? Daring - and risky. When I played Pontos, I left the old man at home in Amaseia to die peacefully in his sleep. He was a good governor.

Surprised to see you going after the Galatians so soon too. I didn't fancy fighting both them AND the Seleucids with my starting army and empty treasury....this should be interesting!

[FriendlyFire]

Yeah, it's always a gamble to see how long Ktistes will last - but I figured that since he's optimistic and vigorous, he'll lead this campaign until he dies in the saddle.

And the Galatian thing is a little bit of a misdirection. Notice that I only said my army was marching near Ankyra... :)

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 2: Gaining a Foothold

In the summer of 272 BC, as Ktistes Mithridates Kianos marched his army westward along the old Royal Persian Road, a herald came from the nearby Seleukid town of Mazaka. Although Pontos and the Arche Seleukeia were still notionally allies, ties were strained, with the Seleukids clearly eager to reabsorb Pontos into their empire. Nevertheless, the herald begged to inform the Pontic king that far to the east, the upstart kingdom of Pahlava had declared war on Arche Seleukia, and that as a result all allies of the Seleukids were now required to break ties with Pahlava.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The herald found it curious that the king smiled at this news. What he did not know was that Ktistes Mithridates had brought a diplomat along with his army, for the very purpose of breaking his alliance with the Seleukids. Now he would not even have to use a proxy - he told the herald to his face that Pahlava was the home of his forefathers, and that since he was being forced to make a choice in the matter, the alliance with Arche Seleukeia was therefore, sadly, at an end.

Ktistes Mithridates was not surprised when later messengers brought news that the small kingdoms of Hayasdan and Baktria had also broken away from their alliances with Arche Seleukeia. Other leaders had seen which way the wind was blowing, and taken their chances. Individually they were small, but maybe together they could topple a mighty empire…

In the same season, Ktistes Mithridates accepted a new member into the royal family. Smerdis Phabdaios was a rare Galatian who still remained true to Pontos, unlike the majority of his countrymen in nearby Ankyra. And although his barbarian habits brought him into disfavor with many refined Hellenic and Persian members of the royal court, his natural aggressiveness would serve Pontos well in the wars to come.

Ktistes Mithridates immediately sent Smerdis Phabdaios to join the army of his son and heir Ariobarzanes Kianos, and together they laid siege to the Seleukid town of Mazaka, beginning an open war with the Arche Seleukeia. For Mazaka was of crucial importance: a small town on the Royal Road, it was dangerously close to Amaseia. Were it to remain in Seleukid hands, Mazaka would undoubtedly serve as their base for repeated attacks into the Pontic heartlands. The town also controlled access to the high mountain passes to the east and south - a small garrison here could block incoming armies from spilling out into the unguarded plains below. If Pontos were to have any hope of survival, it must occupy Mazaka.

A Pontic spy within Mazaka reported that the garrison was weak, composed mainly of levy spearmen raised from the townspeople, and commanded by a Seleukid general who was barely out of boyhood. Ariobarzanes therefore waited just a season before attacking, long enough for additional skirmishers to join his army from Amaseia, and to construct a single ram.

The small Pontic force was not a very impressive sight as it stood before the walls of Mazaka, with a core of approximately 5000 levy phalangites bolstered by 7500 light skirmishers. Nonetheless, the besiegers possessed almost a two-to-one advantage in numbers over the defenders. The Pontic skirmishers were unarmored and carried only a handful of javelins, and would be of little help in a fight in city streets. There the phalangites would have to hold their own, but they were irreplaceable, for Amaseia did not yet have the ability to train and equip new phalangites of her own.

The battle opened with the skirmishers rushing forward to hurl their javelins over the low wooden palisade, and into the mass of Seleukid troops marching into position. The hail of missiles caused many casualties and much confusion within the enemy ranks.

Still this was not enough, for when the phalangites brought the battering ram to bear on the main gate and broke it down, they found the defenders still standing firm behind the breach, despite the bodies of their comrades lying at their feet. The levy spearmen were in the front ranks, while behind them were heavy skirmishers, professional peltastai who stiffened the resolve of the townspeople.

Ariobarzanes therefore ordered the phalangites to move the ram along the wall and make a second breach. As the Seleukid forces dithered about which unit should defend this new threat, half of the Pontic phalangites had time to rush the breach, come into a rough formation, and set their sarissas just as the Seleukid peltastai charged them. The contest was an unequal one, with the peltastai desperately struggling to get past the sarissas and engage the phalangites with their swords. Unable to break the pike wall, and having already taken heavy losses from the skirmisher javelins, the peltastai eventually broke and ran.

The other half of the phalangites now faced off against the Seleukid levy spearmen. This matchup was even more lopsided, since the spearmen were unarmored and equipped with just a simple shield and short spear. Despite the urgings of their commander, who bore a silver shield to denote his rank, the spearmen soon joined the peltastai in running for the square.

With the remaining enemy now refusing to leave the center of town, Ariobarzanes and Smerdis each took half of the phalangites and slowly approached the town square from opposite directions. The young Seleukid general, Sarpedon Syriakos, could eventually stand it no longer and charged forth with his bodyguards, slamming into Ariobarzanes' phalangites on a narrow side-street.

This was the moment that Ariobarzanes and Smerdis had planned for: the phalangites dropped their sarissas and switched to axes for close combat, and while Ariobarzanes attacked Sarpedon's bodyguards from the front, Smerdis led his bodyguard in a charge around the main square and attacked Sarpedon from the rear. The Pontic bodyguards swung their vicious forward-curved swords, competing eagerly for valor. Finally Sarpedon was trapped against a wall, and there he fell.

The death of Sarpedon Syriakos was truly the end of the battle, for there was now no real hope left for the defenders. The remaining levy spearmen did not immediately realize this as they stood firm on the square, shouting insults at the phalangites who marched in and took up position around the edges of the square. It was only when the sarissas were lowered and began their slow remorseless grind forward that the spearmen suddenly understood the true horror of their situation.

And thus was Mazaka captured. Pontic losses were gratifying light, amounting to less than one-twentieth of the original numbers, and sparing the precious phalangites from any great damage. Ariobarzanes had proved his worth as a general.

The remaining townspeople were spared, and little looting was done - not that there was much to loot in the first place. For although Mazaka had much potential mineral wealth in the surrounding province of Kappadokia, at this time it was still little more than a minor trading town that had the (mis)fortune to be in a strategic location. The silver it now sent to the Pontic king was never going to be enough to halt his campaign, for Pontos was now in debt to moneylenders, and with every season that debt would grow.

Ariobarzanes Kianos therefore took his bodyguard and marched to catch up to his father, leaving the phalangites with Smerdis Phabdaios to guard the critical mountain passes around Mazaka. The war would continue in the west.

[CCadaver]

I have been lurking on the forums for a while, and I have to say that this is one of the better written AARs. Good job, and I hope that you keep it up. I will definitely be watching this thread.

[FriendlyFire]

Glad you like it :) Starting an AAR is always the easiest part, but this time around I've tried to really cut down my workflow for writing each chapter, and I have a few in hand now.

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 3: Along the Royal Road

In the same season that Mazaka fell, Ariarathes Herakleotes the Hellene arrived with his army at the Seleukid town of Ipsos. They had marched through wild countryside past the hostile town of Ankyra, but had been untroubled by the Galatians there. A more immediate threat lay with the independent general Alkibiades, who commanded a sizable mercenary force to the west. Ariarathes quickly sent forth a herald, conveying a solemn assurance that the Pontic army would not cross the border, and the herald shortly returned with word from Alkibiades that in return he would not intervene in the quarrel between Pontos and Arche Seleukeia. With winter coming on, and some hopes that his flanks were thus secure, Ariarathes ordered the town to be laid under siege.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Once again a town was important more for its location than its current resources. Like Mazaka, Ipsos lay on the old Persian Royal Road, and in the mostly untracked lands of Asia Minor the paved surface of this road was by far the fastest route between east and west. With control of the road, Pontic armies could swiftly march wherever they wanted, and therefore Ipsos must be taken. Fortunately it was defended by even fewer troops than Mazaka, and did not have a general in command - the speed and direction of Ariarathes's advance had clearly taken the Seleukids by surprise, denying them time to reinforce the town garrison, levy more local troops, or even send a relief force. As a result, the Seleukid defenders were once again greatly outnumbered by their Pontic attackers.

On a bright winter's day, Ariarathes's troops attacked the gate using a single ram, but found the streets eerily quiet. Perhaps having heard recent rumors of the disaster at Mazaka, the Seleukid defenders chose to remain near the center of the town. And despite his numerical advantage, Ariarathes had a hard time pushing the attack home - his slingers could not easily operate in the narrow town streets, and his skirmishers found themselves facing a wall of Seleukid sarissas. In the end the Pontic and Seleukid troops locked sarissas on the approach to the square, and Ariarathes and his bodyguard had to charge into the enemy's rear to break them.

The final grind to rid the square of levy spearmen was equally brutal, with the combat devolving into a hand-to-hand affair as the phalangites broke formation and used their axes against the spearmen. As the last spearmen fell, the tired phalangites celebrated a victory of their own, blooding another Pontic army.

The capture of Ipsos was never really in doubt, but despite Ariarathes's best efforts his army had suffered 10% casualties, many of which were the irreplaceable phalangites.

The town was spared from major looting, although all trace of Seleukid life was obliterated: the military colony headquarters, armory, state shrine, and even the homes for military settlers. The presence of these settlers had been resented by the original inhabitants, and removing them went a long way towards ensuring the loyalty of Ipsos to its new rulers.

With two sections of the Royal Road now secured, the way lay open for the final drive to its western end, and the ultimate goal of this first campaign.

[An annoying battle - I really didn't use my missile troops very well, but then I realized I could roleplay that as Ariarathes being a better manager than general :) And we shall meet Alkibiades again later on, for he plays a surprising role in the history of Pontos]

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 4: The Temple at Ephesos

In the spring of 271 BC, the youngest son of the king of Pontos came of age. Arsames Kianos had been born late in his father's life, and despite his royal blood he did not make a good first impression on the court. Although he was always well-spoken and cheerful, the young prince could came across as abrupt and self-centered. There were also rumors that he was perhaps a little too free with the royal treasury, and (much more damagingly) that he avoided sparring with anything heavier than wooden weapons.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Well aware of these rumors, the king arrived to take personal control of the town of Ipsos, and instructed Arsames to accompany the army of Ariarathes Herakleotes as it marched towards the next Seleukid town of Sardis. If anything could toughen the young man up, it would be combat. And there would be combat aplenty at Sardis, the town which marked the western end of the old Royal Road. As the Pontic army marched, they were closed shadowed from across the border by general Alkibiades of Pergamon, still suspicious of their intentions.

Once again the Seleukids were outnumbered almost two-to-one by their besiegers, who prepared battering rams to assault the wooden walls. Ariarathes had not waited for many reinforcements, and his army was much the same as the one that had taken Ipsos.

The rams were to prove unnecessary, for a Pontic spy succeeded in spreading dissension within the town. Having heard of the fall of Mazaka and Ipsos, some townspeople of Sardis were persuaded that opening the gates to the Pontic invaders was their best option. This stratagem succeeded beyond Ariarathes' wildest dreams, for as his skirmishers kept the defenders pinned in place at the open side gates, he realized that the Seleukids had left the front gate completely unmanned.

Seizing the opportunity, Ariarathes ordered the main body of his troops to rush the front gate. Too late the garrison realized their mistake, and a Seleukid phalanx began to move from a side gate. This allowed the Pontic skirmishers outside to run up and hurl javelins over the low wooden wall into the backs of the phalangites, inflicting many casualties.

When it finally reached the main gate the small Seleukid phalanx found the Pontic army ready and waiting, and although it fought hard it was ultimately broken by two charges led by the young prince Arsames. Seeing the loss of his best troops, the Seleukid general Attalos Pergamou Mysiakes now despaired. After urging his bodyguards to hack at the pikes of the Pontic phalangites, he was himself cut down as Ariarathes led a counter-charge.

Soon only the peltastai were left on the square. Their flags flew defiantly, but were of no more use against Pontic sarissas than were their short swords. The older Ariarathes and younger Arsames then combined their bodyguards for a final charge into the rear of the peltastai, sealing the victory.

Ariarathes Herakleotes had won another somewhat bloody victory, losing men who might have been saved by a more experienced general. And although Arsames's bodyguard had fought bravely and well, rumors still persisted that he himself had not been in the forefront of the action.

[Another battle that I could have done a little better at: when the peltastai first moved off the square to challenge my oncoming phalanx, I raced in some skirmishers behind them to try to throw javelins into their backs. The peltastai promptly turned and began slaughtering the skirmishers before I could pull them out]

The town itself was not harmed. In this way it was hoped that word of the fate of Sardis would spread, and that other towns might also be persuaded to open their gates to Pontic armies. However, outside the town lay the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos, and this was stripped of all its finery. For the temple had been the true target of the campaign all along: the gold and silver within it amounted to some 20,000 Mnai, and this was immediately transported back to the capital Amaseia.

Within a season, the money-men and scribes came to Ktistes Mithridates with great news: the temple wealth had repaid all of his kingdom's debts, his military was once again being paid regular wages, and Amaseia was now constructing facilities for the training and equipping of new phalangites. Additionally, the small mines around Sardis and Ipsos now generated enough silver to allow for a minimal amount of construction every season.

And from across the sea came more good news: a Pontic diplomat had traversed the land of the Hellenes, meeting with the warring generals Kalos Argeades of Makedonia, Pyrrhos Aiakides of Epeiros, and Chremonides Aithalidos Attikos of the Koinon Hellenon, and had negotiated trade rights with all three. No preferential rights had been given to any of the three, as Pontos maintained a policy of strict neutrality towards the west.

Meanwhile the newly conquered towns of Mazaka, Ipsos, and Sardis were integrated into the Pontic empire as Philhellenic Satrapies, giving them some degree of self-government, and boosting the loyalty of the population in their respective provinces.

In a year and a half, Ktistes Mithridates had expanded his tiny kingdom to the point where it could stand alone against the world. Now he just had to hold onto it.

[Going for Mazaka, Ipsos, and Sardis is a standard Pontic blitz tactic, kicking the Seleukids out of Asia Minor and getting the economy back to a slight profit. Looting the temple is optional, but saves a year or two of waiting around to get out of debt!]

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Nice work!

I wouldn't have looted the Temple of Artemis though. It is a wonder of the world, after all - and I'm not sure that the citizens of Pontos who are of Hellenic extraction would appreciate a king that sanctioned such a blasphemous atrocity against a goddess of the Greek pantheon. So although it might garner a lot of wealth, it might also make your Hellenic citizens more rebellious and maybe even an Hellenic family member less loyal. (You might want to roleplay this.......) ;)

[IrishHitman]

I only loot non-Hellenic stuff :P

Great AAR so far though.

[FriendlyFire]

Yeah, I feel kinda bad about looting the temple now. At the time I was really paranoid about the Seleukids attacking me before I could recruit any more troops, but as it turned out they laid off for a couple years, so I could have gradually made my way out of debt without the loot. Ah well. I'm role-playing it as the king promising his troops "just one more town boys, then I'll pay you all your back-pay with the loot from the temple" :)

Slight change of pace for the next update...

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 5: A New War for a New King

"Where was I when the great king Ktistes died? Starving in the winter snows outside some Ptolemaioi fishing town that the gods had forgotten about! You know something's wrong when a messenger comes galloping into the camp, royal banner flying, horse all lathered. Five minutes later we're ordered into formation, the prince comes striding out of his tent still wiping away tears, and then we all had to stand there in the snow and swear our royal oath again. You don't forget a day like that in a hurry."

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

"It seemed like we'd been marching for a year by then. See, the prince Ariobarzanes Kianos had one army, yet to be tested in battle, while his brother-in-law Arirathes Herakleotes the Hellene had another, with whom I had marched and fought in Ipsos and Sardis. And the two armies were supposed to meet in the lands of our old Ptolemaioi enemies, combine our strength, and march along the southern coast to kick the Ptolemaioi out of our rightful territory. Carve out a new homeland for Pontic settlers, that kind of thing. And after Ipsos and Sardis we were feeling pretty good about ourselves. Sure, we'd lost good men, but we'd already taken two provinces, sent the Seleukids running back to the east, gotten well-paid after liberating the treasures of the gods from that temple near Sardis, done everything that the great king Ktistes had told us to."

"Then things started going wrong. We soon found out that the Ptolemaioi hadn't even bothered to cut the simplest trading roads through their impoverished province. So that slowed us down. Then when we actually located the other troops and combined our strength, it was the largest army Pontos had ever seen. Small by today's standards, but back then it was huge. With us all concentrated in one area, foraging was harder than ever. So rations started to run low, troops were grumbling a little. We were supposed to be inside the town of Side by winter, but even that hadn't worked out according to plan. And then we had this new leader, Ariobarzanes Kianos. Suddenly the great old king is dead, and the prince steps forward. People were whispering that the gods must be unhappy, that we weren't meant to be fighting the Ptolemaioi. Well, how would you feel in the circumstances?"

"Ariobarzanes wasn't one to be deterred. This was before he was, well, you know, but even then you could see signs of it. Right after the oath, he ordered the army to form up and march out of camp. I'd been promoted after Sardis to captain of a phalanx, so I had to chivvy my men into position. Back then we were just levies of course, not the professionals you see now. No metal armor, just padded cloth, and none of these fancy swords. Hand-axes were what we had when I fought in the phalanx, and we were good with them too. You still can't tell me that a sword can do much against one of those Eastern cataphracts - when your sarissa's broken and one of those great iron-clad beasts is stomping on your foot, an axe is your best friend. That was one thing I didn't like about being a captain, having to give up my hand-axe.

Where was I? Oh, the fight. Well, our spy had gotten a good look at the garrison of Side beforehand, and he said there was good news and bad news. The good news was that the garrison was lightly armed, just spears and javelins. The bad news was that there were more of them than there were of us. That was another shock - we had gotten used to fighting with the advantage of numbers."

"Anyway, we march up to this fishing town - that was all Side was back then, no roads, no port worthy of the name - and we get the last surprise. No walls! After Ipsos and Sardis we thought we knew how to take a town: you make a ram, push it up to the walls, let the skirmishers do their thing to clear the enemy away from the breach, then get inside quickly and lower your sarissas. At that point the battle would be as good as won, and that was when men became cautious, for none wanted to be the last to die before a great victory.

The battle of Side was different. With no walls to breach, our phalanxes advanced in front, with the skirmishers following. The streets were so narrow that Ariobarzanes ordered us to divide into three, with the other two full-strength phalanxes moving towards the side streets, while I had the honor of leading my own phalanx towards the main street. Then everything seemed to happen at once. The Ptolemaioi started boiling out of that town like rats from a sack, more men than we had ever seen before, horses too. I barely had time to order my men to drop sarissas and then they were upon us. I could see that the other two phalanxes were similarly hard-pressed, turning to face their attackers. That's the moment that's clearest in my mind: standing to the left of my men, looking like a damn fool in that fancy cape and crested helm they give you as a captain, telling my men to stand fast. Telling them their new king would do something to save us. Praying to my gods that I was right."

"Hmmm? Oh, sorry. I just get lost in that moment. Well, what happened then was that I heard this great thundering sound behind me, the new king came sweeping by on a charger blowing his horn, his bodyguard slams into the enemy spearmen pressing the phalanx to our left, and those spearmen all start screaming and dying and running away. I still hear that horn in my dreams, it sends chills up my spine to this day. That was when I started believing in Ariobarzanes Kianos."

"That wasn't the end of it, of course, just the beginning. I had only just turned back to cheer my men on when I saw their sarissas shiver. Ever been in a phalanx, history-man? No? You'd know what I was talking about if you had. In a phalanx, see, you're locked in tight with the men around you. Shoulder to shoulder, chest to back, so close to each other that you know which way they're going to step before they do it. All pointing your pikes forward, trying to keep them nice and lined up, taking strength from your numbers. Then, let's say someone on the far end of the phalanx suddenly sees something that scares him. Lots of things can do that to a man on a battlefield. He'll give a little involuntary flinch, and the tip of his sarissa will waver a little. Everyone around him will turn to see what he's looking at, and the odds are that some of them will flinch too. Pretty soon you've got this ripple going across the entire phalanx, and your spear-points are all making circles in the air. You always want to see that in an enemy phalanx, best sign of the battle. Means you can break them. Not so good in your own men. Anyway, my men were doing that because the crazy old Ptolemaioi general was charging us. Three score and two years old he was, almost as old as I am now, and still spurring a battlehorse on, just like old Ktistes did. Charging his horsemen into braced sarissas!

So things got desperate again. My men in the front rank were dying. Those in the ranks behind were dropping their broken sarissas and drawing their axes. The formation was falling apart because those damn Ptolemaioi bodyguards were chopping their way into it. Not a good moment. Then I hear thundering from TWO directions. Ariobarzanes comes charging in from our left, Ariarathes comes charging in from our right, and that Ptolemaioi general is stuck in the middle. Squish. When the old-timers get together now, we still argue about when the enemy routed. Me, I swear they had all started running before their general finally died, and I had a better view than most."

"Then comes the bit no-one really talks about, when you start stabbing fleeing men in the back, even as they're crying for their mother or their king or their gods. That's how battles are won, but you wouldn't know that from the histories I've read. You going to change that, history-man? Going to tell your readers how it feels to wade through blood?

Anyway. Anyway. Ariobarzanes called us back from the main street before we reached the square, chasing the stumbling and the wounded and the dying. Some of the men get a bit carried away in those moments, axe-crazed we called them. Every phalanx has a few, soldiers who let the bloodlust get to them. You soon find out who they are. They're the only ones who'll meet your eye right after a battle, and you can see the glee on their faces. As a captain, you have to decide where to put them in the formation. Some captains preferred to have them in the front rank, but I always figured that just meant they'd drop their sarissas sooner, so I stuck them on the side next to me, where I could keep an eye on them. So, I had to calm them down, reform the phalanx, clean up the lines a little. We all take a breather, and then it's finally back to the battle we know: lower sarissas, slow advance to the drumbeat, box them in on the square and push forward. Another bit that's not talked about much, but at least they die facing you and hurling defiance instead of begging for mercy. Mostly."

"We win, the Ptolemaioi lose, we take over their town. We count up our casualties, patch up the wounded - we didn't have chirurgeons back then, or even herbalists, your mates just wrapped a piece of cloth around any holes you had, and if you made it through the night you'd probably live, and if you didn't that's another one for the priests to worry about. Anyways, I figured my phalanx killed about ten Ptolemaioi for every man I lost. Damn good men. We got hardened after that battle, too. Tougher. "

"So, that was Side. Did you know that more men died in the battle than the place had inhabitants? That should have been another sign, really. What kind of king bothers going to all that trouble for a little fishing town? Still, we loved him for it, back then."

[CCadaver]

Interesting. I am curious to see what the captain is talking about, with the signs the king is showing. Btw, I found out what you were talking about earlier, starting an AAR, and such. I don't know if I'll continue mine, I find that it interferes with my enjoyment of the game. I can't play without documenting the events, even if I simply don't want to today!

[FriendlyFire]

Yeah, it's no fun when writing an AAR feels like a chore. You can always skip battles (or years, or even decades) and just come back to the AAR when you want to write about a good bit. And take lots of screenshots for yourself - I find that they act as good memory-joggers when I see them later, so I don't have to write as many notes during the game itself.

[IrishHitman]

It would be nice if the game had some sort of event log that you plug in, and then you could just create the AARs off of those.

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 6: A Restless Peace

After the fall of Ipsos in 270 BC, Ariobarzanes Kianos did not allow his small army any rest, but instead marched them eastward along the coast and besieged the Ptolemaioi town of Tarsos:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Just like that of Ipsos, the garrison of Tarsos was large but lightly armed. With no general to lead them, the Ptolemaioi troops were unable to withstand the Pontic phalangites, and the town fell easily:

And thus by the end of the campaign in 269 BC, Ariobarzanes Kianos had raised Pontos to be the sole great power in Asia Minor. The only imminent danger was from the Seleukids in the east, but they could be held at bay in the mountain passes near Mazaka, and the bridges of Tarsos. As word spread of Pontos's expansion, other peoples asked for help. Across the Bosporos, the city of Byzantion requested aid in their defense against Epeiros:

Beyond Byzantion lay the lands of the Getai. Feeling threatened by the growing power of Epeiros, their king quickly agreed to an alliance with Pontos:

And from far across the Pontos Euxinos, the Hellenic peoples of Chersonesos offered the use of an army, if Pontos would only send a good general to rid them of the raiding parties of the Sauromatae:

Finally and most importantly, the Ptolemaioi agreed to an end to hostilities and a restoration of trade rights. Both Pontos and the Ptolemaioi had a far larger enemy in Arche Seleukeia: for now their old enmity could wait.

However, all requests for aid would also have to wait. Ariobarzanes still had barely enough troops to garrison his newly-conquered towns, let alone send them off on expeditions overseas. Besides, the new members of the royal family hardly inspired great confidence in their potential abilities as generals. His first-born son was a particular disappointment, for although Mithridates Kianos was the namesake of his grandfather, he showed none of the same qualities, and took no action without first asking his chief advisor what he should do:

And thus after three years of relative peace, when the first Seleukid army appeared in the mountains near Mazaka it fell to Smerdis Phabdaios the Galatian to repel it:

In truth this was little more than a skirmish, with the Seleukid army testing the response when they besieged a Pontic border fort. Shocked at being confronted by a Pontic army twice the size of his own, the Seleukid captain sacrificed 1/3 of his men to cover his retreat. But Ariobarzanes was to use this small incursion as an excuse for bloody retribution against the Seleukids, even as he readied a new army to expand his holdings in Asia Minor.

[vollorix]

You´ve reminded me how much fun a Pontus game is, especially in the beginning, when you struggle with your finances, beeing pressed from multiple sides by far superior enemies. So, i´ve started a new game couple of days ago, and though i´ve attacked and took Mazaka on the first turn ( spy opened the gates, as usual.. lol ), i´ve taken a bit different way this time, and didn´t wipe out the Seleucids from Asia Minor too soon. When the time came, i did what i had too, but meanwhile i´ve managed to let Karkioherta (sp?) rebell ( twice^^ ), and got "cease fire" offer from the greyish faction right the turn after, without any force diplomacy. Now, i´m free to slowly grab Asia Minor, avoiding a too long common boarder with Seleucids, who became too busy fighting Ptoleys ( and the rest of their neighbours. Just some info, for the case... Keep writing, i´m curious to compare your advancements with my own ( H/M, like yours ), and good luck. Looking forward for more :)

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Suggestion:

Send Mithridates Kianos, the worthless firstborn son, to answer the call of Chersonesos for aid against the Sarmatians. Don't give him any troops, just give him enough gold to hire several units of mercenaries once he gets there. Then he will be forced to fight for his life against a superior enemy! He will either return a new man, reforged and tempered in the fiery furnace of combat - or he will not return at all. Either way, the problem he poses to the succession will be resolved.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Suggestion:

Send Mithridates Kianos, the worthless firstborn son, to answer the call of Chersonesos for aid against the Sarmatians. Don't give him any troops, just give him enough gold to hire several units of mercenaries once he gets there. Then he will be forced to fight for his life against a superior enemy! He will either return a new man, reforged and tempered in the fiery furnace of combat - or he will not return at all. Either way, the problem he poses to the succession will be resolved.

[G. Septimus]

ah, Pontos. Magnificent work Friendly Fire I will keep in touch in this AAR. many screenies

[FriendlyFire]

@vollorix: Cool - let us know how your campaign goes! I find that the Seleukids always come for me sooner rather than later, especially if they negotiate a ceasefire with the Ptolemaioi, so I like to quickly grab a secure base in Asia Minor. I'd be interested to hear how long it takes them to turn on you :)

@Titus: Don't worry, we'll see lots more of the hopeless Mithridates Kianos later on. I'm actually in danger of running out of the Kianos royal line, so every last one of them must be put to use... even if their powerful advisors might not always be acting in the best interests of the kingdom.

@Gaius: Thanks - lots more screenshots below for you!

[FriendlyFire]

Chapter 7: Retribution

In the summer of 266 BC, the new king Ariobarzanes Kianos besieged the independent town of Ankyra, seeking to subdue the Galatian inhabitants and add them to his expanding Pontic kingdom. The army he commanded for the siege was an entirely new one, with fresh phalangites levied from Amaseia flanked by the new thureophoroi troops, and supported by Caucasian archers from Mazaka. Their increased wages had once again brought the Pontic economy to a standstill.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

To the south-east, his faithful brother-in-law Ariarathes Herakleotes the Hellen defended the newly-conquered town of Tarsos, and sent spies to the east to keep watch for any threats. In the fall, one spy brought back startling news - the young governor of the neighboring Seleukid city of Antiocheia, confident in his own powers and those of his bodyguard, had dispatched his small garrison force by sea to the island of Kyprus. Eager to fulfill his king's desire for retribution against Arche Seleukeia but suspecting a trap, Ariarathes moved most of his small garrison force to the border, and ordered his spies to once again scour the countryside around Antiocheia for any sign of other Seleukid armies. Finding none who could reach the city within a season, he ordered his own men to march across the border, lay siege and quickly build just enough ladders to get over the walls.

For Antiocheia had stone walls and large buildings, and at the time was in every way a greater city than any in the kingdom of Pontos:

As soon as the ladders were completed, Ariarathes ordered the assault to begin, but at the last moment he gave command of the army over to a trusted captain of the phalanx. For while Ariarathes what had to be done, he was at heart an optimistic soul, and did not want to be personally involved in the destruction of so great a city.

Gaining easy entry over the walls, the Pontic raiders found the governor on the great square of Antiocheia. There the slingers wrought terrible destruction on his armored bodyguards, before the phalanx marched slowly to the attack. Soon they had surrounded the governor and hacked at him with their axes, winning a brutal victory.

Obedient to his general's parting order, the Pontic captain now put Antiocheia to the sword, and ordered the destruction of much of the city's great military and economic infrastructure. Garrisons, docks, and armories, all were burned and looted.

The following season, the captain's men continued their wanton destruction, looting the markets, granaries, and sanctuaries of Antiocheia, even removing the piping from its sewer system and the galleries from its playing fields. All that was cartable was transported west into Pontos; all that was not was burnt or broken to rubble.

Then the Pontic army returned to garrison Tarsos, leaving the few remaining citizens of Antiocheia to nurse their wounds and bemoan their fate. A diplomat was sent to Arche Seleukeia to negotiate a ceasefire, but warned of terrible further retribution "in the manner of Antiocheia" if Seleukid armies were to again breach Pontic borders.

The loot from Antiocheia was vast: the equivalent of over 20,000 Mnai was funneled into a new wave of construction across the Pontic kingdom, and the slaves were immediately put to use in digging out new mines in the mountains around Mazaka.

Meanwhile, after over a year of siege, the Galatian inhabitants of Ankyra poured forth to confront their besiegers. The long period of starvation had reduced the size of their army by a third, although their individual warriors were fierce and their leader Cacumattos remained defiant. Ariobarzanes Kianos almost missed the battle, having been called away to oversee the bridge defenses at Mazaka. He had to force-march his bodyguards to return in time to take over from Phabdaios, and his new army was unsure of their king's command - short rations were an ever-present feature of early Pontic campaigns.

As the Galatians sallied forth from their barbarian hill-top town, the Pontic infantry formed a thin defensive line, and the Caucasian archers got to work.

The lightly-armored Galatian swordsmen and naked spearmen were easy pickings, but the fanatical wild-men were a different matter, tearing the arrows out of their bodies as they charged forwards. They even ignored the javelins hurled at them by the thureophoroi just before they crashed together.

The neat battle line immediately broke up as the conflict stretched beyond the right end of the Pontic line. The thureophoroi were separated from the phalanx as they tried to prevent it from being flanked, while further away both Pontic generals fought the heavy cavalry bodyguard of the Galatian commander.

Eventually Cacumattos saw that all his bodyguards were dead, and despairing of the fight, he fled for the gates of Ankyra. He had almost reached it when a volley of Caucasian arrows brought him crashing to the earth.

With the death of their general, and weakened by hunger, the remaining Galatians now surrendered outside the gates, saving their town from further destruction. The new model army had done well.

As a token of respect for their valor, the Galatians were allowed to keep some of their old forms of government, although they would now be required to levy local troops for Pontic armies.

This battle also confirmed what some in his army had already come to suspect: Ariobarzanes Kianos was now a bloody warmonger, eager for the sounds of battle and the thrill of conquest.

And the mines of Ankyra and Mazaka could now fund another army to serve him. Asia Minor would tremble at his coming.

[I had to use force diplomacy to get the Seleukids to accept Antiocheia, because they really didn't want it after I'd wrecked all its infrastructure. And I love a warmonger king - it makes the role-playing so much easier :)]

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

Quite a blitz campaign! I didn't take Tarsus so early in my Pontos campaign, was quite happy to let the Seleucids and Ptolemies fight over it for a while. The Seleucids left me alone until after they'd taken Tarsus, even though I was still at war with them.

I see you're not taking any chances with the battles, your army always seems to outnumber the enemy.

[FriendlyFire]

Quite a blitz campaign! I didn't take Tarsus so early in my Pontos campaign, was quite happy to let the Seleucids and Ptolemies fight over it for a while. The Seleucids left me alone until after they'd taken Tarsus, even though I was still at war with them.

I see you're not taking any chances with the battles, your army always seems to outnumber the enemy.

Yeah, this turned into an anti-clockwise blitz after I realized that I still had enough phalangites left to kick the Ptolemaioi out, which would leave me with a nice protected empire. Don't worry, things slow down later :) And the Seleukids do seem to have a weird obsession with Tarsos - in other campaigns I've taken both Tarsos and Antiocheia, and then watched as they've marched stacks past Antiocheia, just to get to Tarsos. Plus they will ALWAYS send spies there.

As for troop numbers, I didn't outnumber the two Ptolemaioi armies, but I did have better troops to even the odds. And I was a bit surprised that the Galatians didn't immediately sally - with the wild-men at full strength, and if their general had charged my line instead of trying to flank, the battle could easily have gone a different way.

[Titus Marcellus Scato]

And I was a bit surprised that the Galatians didn't immediately sally - with the wild-men at full strength, and if their general had charged my line instead of trying to flank, the battle could easily have gone a different way.

The AI won't sally unless they outnumber you by quite a wide margin, generally their army needs to be about 1/3rd larger than yours. And the AI is quite scared of sallying if you have more than one family member in your army.

[vollorix]

The challenge in playing Pontus lies, mostly imho, in the fact that one really has to watch out for the finances. Blitzing couple of settlements makes it easier, while kicking out Seleucids, and even Ptoleys, from Asia Minor takes those problems away ( due to the mines in the settlements, mostly ). I don´t have a paitiens to lurk for decades, roleplaying "passivity" in a TW game. Well, if i controll Romans, for example, i do not have to warry about my income, no one threatens me, and my geographical position is safe. But this makes the games a bit boring, i think, and my FM´s become "supervisors" inevitably, or start to swear like a trooper... One could adjust the garrisons of the "eleutheroi" settlements, of course, so that an attempt to besiege it with a pathetic force, even in the hands of a brilliant strategian, would fail; or one could autoresolve the battles, especially funny on VH campaign difficulty, and get beaten until the garrison is depleted enough ( or even better grant the "eleutheroi" faction 1 mio mnai per turn or so ^^ ). Anyways, the AI will take advantage of your passivity, steamroll the smaller factions, and grow to any of the various "death" coulors we all love so much. It´s Total War, after all, eat or be eaten. And it´s also about the victory conditions, though, one could ignore them and set one´s own, but still, it´s going to end in thousends of battles if you let the AI, namely AS and Ptoleys, to develop their spamming potential.

Don´t get me wrong, i really like roleplaying, and i do not want to make it look like if i would blitz the hell out of the game, just to... do what actually? Decieve the pathetic and illogical AI? ^^ But using all those stuff like moving AI troops all around via console, monitoring the "wolrd", to keep it "historicaly accurate" is a bit too much for my tastings ( only on the rare occasions, like moving Arverni FM´s and troops to Galatia, for example ). I don´t like playing "God", just let things happen, and interfear only within the game engine possibilities.

@FF: i don´t want to screw your AOR by posting my own campaign progression ( and i´m actually too lazy to take all the screenshots^^ ), but you were right - the peace with Seleucids didn´t hold long ( just about 5 years or so ), before they made peace with Ptoleys and, both, started to annoy me from all sides. So i took Sardis, Tarsos and Antiochea, and right now, it´s year 245 b.c, i moved down to Jerusalem and enslaved the poor Jews for the second time ( after the Babylonian thing ). I havent taken Bizantion, nor have i yet put my fingers on Pergamon, nor the Macs posessments, but it allready feels bit....TW like - too much conquered in a very short time, despite the fact that i keep my generals as gouverneurs in the conquered cities and develop them properly, before i move on. I guess i should try the thing with 1 mio. mnai for the rebells next time, maybe some factions can be slowed down, and pay their attention on them, while i would need really significant forces, and superb generals, to take a city like Nikaia or Pergamon ( btw: since i didn´t touch the last, and, at the same time, Macs had started several pathetic attempts to take the city, there are now 3 silver chevroned troops, a full stack, waiting for me to be dealt with... somehow frightening, since i do remember how evil those siege battles can get, fighting elite troops commanded by 10 star strategos ;) )

[The_Blacksmith]

I'm very proud of myself because i kept allied woth the AS untill 240... where i has the black sea and Armenia... oh gawd that was one of the best wars ive ever had! Elites on both sides! clash of pikes and chariots!

the Pontic campaign is like; Pahlava and Saka Rauka one of the brainers but really really fun :D