As playing with the Greek faction, if you claim your Capital Sparta from the start, I belive that you gain one unit of Spartan Hoplites, I have the unit sizes on large, so my unit was 81 Spartan Hoplites.
They started off from Sparta one day, the Capital of my Empire, to march North to assist in the taking of Athens. Uniting with over 2,000 Greeks, they marched upon Athens, and easily over took the defenders, with around three lost men in the battle.
They returned to Sparta, & stayed there for two years, as the situation with the Roman family Scipii grew harder & more die on Sicily, where the faction heir & future Emperor was defending his great city of Syacrause, battle after battle, defying the Romans the entry & claim to his city.
As the war intensified, the Bruti family decided to unlease a attack upon the Spartan homelands, and marched upon the growing Spartan Empire from the north. Clashing with many hundreds of greek hoplites, and beating them back many miles.
To save the city (which cant remember the name, right above the main Greek cities to the left), they fought hard & long on the defense, & repeled the Romans.
The Spartan Hoplites set off from the Capital on a dire mission to protect their lands. They marched towards the previous Macedonian Captial that was captured by the Spartan Empire, then taken by the Bruti Romans. There they fought in the valley's to deter the acending Bruti armies. Taking sever losses due to the horrific battles that took place, the once mighty 81 manned unit of Spartan Hoplites was now a mear 8 men.
They were sent to the fields to the west, to ensure the Bruti military did not gain any more ground there, since they had been halted in valley's suffering crushing defeat after defeat.
They arrived, astonished to see that of the once powerful Greek first army units, were all down to just 31 men a piece or less, some a tad bit more. They joined up with the army there, pledging their lives to the defense of the Greek homelands.
Six months later, the Bruti army marched upon their incampment, with over 4,000 soliders. They were over whelmed, but yet, stood their ground with their Greek brothers. The battle took place, and they were out numbered with their forces of some 450 or less men, against Bruti's military of over 4,000 soliders.
The fight enraged, as the phalanx line was completely surrounded by the Romans. The light calvery was demolished by arrow & enemy calvery attacks, and routed from the field. The phalanx was split in three's, and both were suffering incredable losses. All of the Greeks but two units of them, and the Spartans, routed, but by being surrounded, they were demolsihed, the ones that did escape out of the death trap, were ran down by Roman light calvery, as they had learned to do from the Greeks, which on the battlefields they fought they spared no one.
The now six remaining Spartan Hoplites were heart borken, but they stood & kept on fighting, to the last man. At last even the last two Greek units broke & ran, with just one Spartan Holpite left, of the origial 81. He had witnessed the deaths of his 80 brothers, and stood alone on the field surrounded by thousands of Romans, as his Greek brothers ran in fear & were being massacred by calvery & arrows.
The attention then turned upon him, where he struck down his last three Roman soliders, and then feel by being stabbed in the back, by a Bruti Hastati.
The Spartan Holpites never gave up, even when the situation was hopelssley lost, they stood & fought to the last man, and died, for the country.
This really happened in my Campaign. The war still goes on to this day, but the Spartan Empire is about to have a turn around, as their leader is leading an army against Bruti's Capital, and then Scipii's this Friday, where we will be triumphent, and the tide of the war, will turn. Estimated losses to the Spartan Empire side, are 5,000+, estimated Roman losses of all of their sides, 25,000+.
