Koinon Hellenon banners, roleplaying and Proxenos trait [Archive]

Qvintvs

05-21-2010, 11:40

I am wondering about the Koinon Hellenon Somatophylaktes Strategos banner. Can anyone tell me more about it, and how to make some units have their unique banners?

I also could use more information about Koinon Hellenon roleplaying. Anyone could come up with a guide? The best i have managed to come up is when the city about Halicarnassus rebelled to me. The city called its citizens to war, (train several Psiloi and levy hoplites, after a few turns more advanced ones) sought the service of some local mercenaries, (Anatolian Hillmen) a more liberal government (Free Polis) and start fortifying themselves with Stone Walls, Phourion and sending envoys to other Poleis asking for help (you probably get it)

And the Proxenos and it`s ProxenosBad evil counterpart. The ProxenosBad is triggered by OnaWarFooting trigger, meaning it should fire when your faction is at war with another. But then, I have read somewhere that the trigger is bugged due to "war" with the slave faction. Is it true? Maybe i decrease the chance to gain that trait to 1?

Titus Marcellus Scato

05-21-2010, 21:54

The way I roleplay Koinon Hellenon, is to see it as a defensive alliance of individual city states, who fight side by side when defending against a strong invader, but otherwise fight separately.

The KH campaign starts with you having Sparta, Athens, and Rhodes. Think of these as independent cities, each with their own objectives.

Now think of your KH army, not as one single unified army, but THREE SEPARATE ARMIES - a Spartan Army, an Athenian Army, and a Rhodian Army (plus a Rhodian Navy). The Spartan Army is by far the strongest, and some of it starts on Crete.

The Spartans and Athenians will generally not link forces, but remain as separate armies. Unless there is an invading Macedonian or Epirote full stack to deal with, then they might link up for that one battle. Otherwise it's up to each city to defend itself and fight its own battles. The Rhodian Navy, however, is available to ferry Spartan or Athenian troops as required, and fight naval battles.

The Spartans, Athenians, and Rhodians will have slightly different armies, each with their own slightly different fighting style. The Spartans might prefer to attack and be aggressive, while the Athenians might be more cautious and prefer defensive battles. The Spartans might prefer traditional hoplite head-on tactics, while the Athenians prefer mobile, flanking tactics with peltasts and cavalry.

As the Spartans and Athenians conquer more cities, they will actually be liberating those cities from Macedonian tyranny and setting them free. Or crushing pro-Macedonian Eleutheroi allies and turning them into part of the Koinon Hellenon alliance. So, as you liberate them, Krete, Corinth, and Chalkis will become additional KH independent cities. From them, you will create a Kretan Army, a Corinthian Army, and a Chalkisean Army. These too will have their own preferred fighting styles. The Corinthians, having been more influenced by Macedonia, might be interested in raising phalangites, while the Kretans and Chalkiseans prefer missile troops and traditional hoplites. Each new city should ideally have it's own Family Member, who will become its leader.

Now, the Kretans and Corinthians, having been liberated by the Spartans, will start of as Spartan allies, and their forces can fight as part of a Spartan army. While the Chalkiseans, having probably been liberated by Athenians, will be initially loyal to Athens and fight as part of the Athenian army. But they might change their minds later on......if they feel 'used' and 'unappreciated' by their 'benefactors'. Corinth, being a large, powerful city, will soon want to do her own thing instead of taking orders from the Spartan king...

This process will continue as you liberate more cities. A Syracusan Army might have good hoplites, while a Tarantine Army would have good cavalry. Greek cities further afield will make use of local specialised troops, such as Iberian Caetrati or Scythian horse archers.

Eventually you'll end up with about 20-odd cities raising 20 separate armies! Things will start to become very confusing as you struggle to keep track of which armies belong to which city. You'll have to start making paper-based notes to keep track of it all. The larger the Koinon Hellenon alliance becomes, the more organisationally inefficient it becomes as the individual cities all try and pursue their own agendas without enough consideration of what's best for the alliance as a whole. Think of KH as a bit like the EU, supposedly united, but still separate.

I think this is a great basis for very intricate roleplaying involving lots of internal politics (i.e. squabbling) , as each 'free Greek' city insists on doing its own thing....maybe even getting so pissed off that they refuse to help each other! Tons of potential for a great AAR here, with the focus not on conquering the worlds, but trying (and often failing!) to resolve endless political squabbles between cities and their FM leaders.

You could expand the idea to cover the economy as well, keeping track of how much tax each individual city is making, and then spending the proceeds within that city whenever possible. Although rich cities like Rhodes, Athens, and Corinth might give loans to the poorer Spartans and Kretans (provided that the recipients returned the favour somehow, perhaps by lending troops, or helping to fight off an invader.)