Here is a thread for tales of your campaigns with Europa Barbarorum. Fan fiction, stories, post them here, or post links to where they can be found.:book:
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Here is a thread for tales of your campaigns with Europa Barbarorum. Fan fiction, stories, post them here, or post links to where they can be found.:book:
Baktrian Independence
Pantaleon Bandobeneios, son-in-law of Theodotos Baktrios, was not a particularly intelligent nor energetic man. He did, however, possess a certain charisma that endeared him to people, even though he believed he was above the normal rules of society. In his service to Theodotos, he helped repel ambushing dahae on the trail to Gava-Haomavarga, and in the process became a rugged outdoorsman, prone to superstitious beliefs.
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After the capture of Kophen, he was sent south into the mountains to hunt down brigands and other barbarians. With success came a thirst for more. He'd always been a bit unscrupulous, but now he had his sights set on acquiring a city of his own to govern as a satrap. In his optimism, he thought Alexandropolis would be an easy target.
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He petitioned Theodotos for more funds to hire some mercenaries, and convinced his brother-in-law Diodotos to send him more Arshtbara from Baktra, versatile archers who are also handy with a spear. Theodotos approved of the mission. Perhaps it would sate the man's desire for conquest, and get him away from the ever-present Seleukid diplomats, who could easily turn his head with their mnai.
After crossing the Amu Dar'ya, the situation of the defenders became more clear. Pantaleon asked for more funds, but dahae ("robbers") were probing the passes near Gava-Haomavarga, and had even captured Antiocheia-Margiane from Seleukeia!
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Mnai was tight, with Theodotos trying to develop Kophen, Diodotos building a temple to Dios-Ahura Mazda, and his brother-in-law Krateros Termitaios building farms in Gava-Haomavarga. No further funds could be spared for the expedition; upkeep for Baktria's armies was increasing rapidly already.
Pantaleon decided to starve out the defenders, and hoped the reinforcements coming from Baktra would help in the event of a sally. He noticed Seleukid forces nearby, and urged his men forward to lay siege before they could get there. Alexandropolis would be his, not Syriakos'!
But Seleukid desire was stronger than he thought; they demanded he support their seige of the town. He refused, claiming the right to lead the seige was his, by the ancient law of being there first. Besides, he was more experienced with command than the young Seleukid officer, Dionysios.
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This argument did not sway the officer. He said, "My orders come from the Basileus himself, and you are nothing but a barbarian, with a barbarian for a mother!"
It almost came to blows there, but Pantaleon's loyal aide restrained him. Dionysios ordered his men to Pantaleon's rear, cutting off the supply route to Kophen.
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Faced with enemies now on both sides, forced to put his men on half-rations, and his honour and that of his mother insulted, Pantaleon could not back down. He had his men take some high ground in view of the city. The garrison at Alexandropolis watched from the walls as Dionysios marched against him.
Outnumbered two to one, Pantaleon knew his strength lay in his Arshtbara, Thanvabara, and Daha horse archers. If they could do enough damage to Dionysios before he reached the summit, it would only be a matter of mopping up the remnants.
https://img93.imageshack.us/img93/50...a0297kk.th.jpg
Five hundred horse archers kept two thousand heavy cavalry occupied, sending showers of arrows and retreating out of lance range, again and again. The Seleukid pantadapoi suffered heavy casualties, as well, from Baktrian bows. But they all pressed on up the hill, forcing the Arshtbara and Thanvabara into hand-to-hand combat. Pantaleon stayed in the thick of battle, charging again and again, into cavalry and phalanx both. His steady presence kept the men at their positions until the last desperate charge by Dionysios was repulsed, and he rode away at top speed, with only one quarter of his army intact. Pantaleon had lost almost half his men in this heroic victory!
He had no time to savor the victory, however, as word soon reached him of a mass of cavalry destroying his expected reinforcements from Baktria.
https://img93.imageshack.us/img93/92...tria0428do.jpg
Though the situation was grim, he still held out hope that Alexandropolis would be his. He had the men continue to prepare for an assault or starving out the enemy, but the Haravautish sallied instead.
Though outnumbered more than two to one, and facing the rested, well-fed, well led garrison, Pantaleon believed he could repel the attackers, and perhaps even seize the walls in the confusion. He prepared a defense before the main gate, but was flanked by Skuda Baexdzhyntae firing their bows as they charged. Sheer numbers played their part, and one by one, his men fell. His phalanx flanked, his army almost destroyed, Pantaleon decided he wanted to live to fight another day, and with only a handful of his guard, rode his battered horse away from the city.
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But it was too late. His worn mount couldn't outrun the skirmisher's ponies, and he was cut down in the prime of his life.
https://img93.imageshack.us/img93/2905/034mp.jpg
His men had given a good account of themselves, but it was not enough.
And so the Baktrian war for independence began.
https://img93.imageshack.us/img93/67...a0688ea.th.jpg
To be continued...
The Baktrian War for Independence
As a result of Arche Seleukeia's aggression against one of its vassal states, its fragile system was shattered. Her alliances with Pahlava, Pontos, Hayasdan, and Makedonia were broken, though outright war did not result with any but Baktria.
Simultaneous with the assault in the south, Seleukeia moved a large army towards Baktra, consisting of approximately 17,000 spearmen and archers. This action reveals a plot more sinister than a simple disagreement between Pantaleon and Dionysios.
https://img296.imageshack.us/img296/...a0801sg.th.jpg
The avarice of Antiochos now exposed, nothing remains for Baktria but to defend herself and sever all ties, permanently. There is no point in pleading for a truce or ceasefire. The Empire will have no mercy.
Diodotos quickly contacted some tribal chieftains nearby and retained the services of their militia for the defense of Baktra. This brought the total defenses of the town to over 7000 men. Would these prove enough to stop Seleukeia's army?
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Theodotos marched from the east, intending to lift the siege with a small force gathered from all corners of Baktria. Sensing weakness, tribals had sprung up to cause unrest near Baktra. They would be happy to participate in the sack of the city.
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Afraid of being caught between Theodotos and his son, Captain Polyarches broke off the siege and set a trap for Theodotos. Word reached Theodotos that the Seleukids had abandoned the siege, but he was not so sure. Having once been ambushed and nearly slain thereby, one does not travel blind.
His agent Antimachos brought more accurate news. "Just as some tribesmen delight in our misfortunes, eager to throw off the yoke of our rule, others are eager to aid and assist us, having seen what depravities the Seleukid army is capable of. They have revealed the location of Polyarches and his army, waiting in ambush for your passage."
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Theodotos consolidated his forces, totalling some 10,000 tribal archers, and let it be known that he was aware of Polyarches' position by leaving the road and circling to his rear. Cut off from home and even the conquest of Baktra now, Polyarches had no choice but to enter the field of battle. With greater numbers, but less skill, he would need
to press hard and overwhelm the Eranshar Arshtbara before they could devastate his lightly-armoured Pantadapoi.
Theodotos set up on two small rises, telling his men, "The gods are on our side this day. We make our stand here, and Baktria will rise or fall, depending on this battle, so fight bravely, and tell your grandchildren of this day, when you beat the greatest empire in the world!"
https://img383.imageshack.us/img383/...a1263lj.th.jpg
The Seleukids charged hard...
https://img461.imageshack.us/img461/...tria1272gm.jpg
...but could not break the lines of Arshtbara spearmen.
https://img377.imageshack.us/img377/...a1283eg.th.jpg
Already weakened by volleys of arrows, the Seleukids broke and ran, abandoning the field, and Baktria, to Theodotos. Within 2 years, every Seleukid army had been driven from Baktrian lands, and Captain Dionysios, pawn of Seleukos and instigator of the war, had met with an untimely "accident", in repayment for Pantaleon's death.
Great stuff! :2thumbsup:
Gah. Get the banner download though so that your Seleukids aren't carrying Roman flags. :grin: Even if the rebel or general ones are visible - I don't think it's going to be a big deal - it'll just make folks interested more in it. I personally don't have an issue with doing that.
Yeah, this is from a few days ago. I have the good banners now. :2thumbsup:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Malrubius
heeeelllloooo...I WANT the good banners aswell! :horn:
They'll be in the upcoming patch. Just be patient a bit more. :grin:
The Peninsula falls:
The Romani have just started to expand and take control of the peninsula. the rebel Cisalpine gual territories have all fallen except for Segesta. Gauis Aurelius Cotta leads a depleted Roman army towards the city to besiege it, only to find a gallic tribe of the Aedui already surounding the city. Cotta camps his army just outside the city, sending scouts out to check positions of the armies in the area. The Aedui force saw the Roman army and started to worry about being attacked while vulnerable, and retreated away from the seige ready to face the roman army if it advanced. Cotta took this opportunity to besiege the town, while sending emmisaries to the gallic warlord, offering traderights, and smoothing relations over, ensuring them that they would not be attacked. tensions rose in the roman camp as the Aedui army still stood by, camped but a mile away from from their position. a small force of gauls recruited to serve Rome were called in from the north, and positioned themselves behind the Gallic army in case they attacked, while Cotta's army continued to wait and starve out the enemy. Just when the Autonomous tribe (rebels) could no longer hold out they sallied forth, hoping to break through the roman blockade, a faint spark of hope for the doomed tribe.
The autonomous tribe's army sallied out of the gates, with the main army lining up opposite the Roman camp. Cotta had three seige rams deployed, and decided to use them to his advantage when the enemy attacked. Using the outer most rams as an anchor point he lined his hastati up on either side, forming a wall (like so, where H = hastati and r = ram, \ = Principes, / = Rorarii, MG = Mala Gaeroas )
H Hr_r_rH H H
___\___/
____MG
behind the rams a unit of Mala Gaeroas from the roman cisapline territories lined up, ready to recieve a charge, with principes and Rorarii on either side, ready to spring a trap on the enemy who couldnt see them behind the hastati and rams. the enemy infanty line charged, with the wings being caught by the hastati, while the centre flooded into the gap between the rams, seeing the gallic warriors ahead, and proceeded to charge. the Mala Gaeroas met the charge head on, and suddenly the enemy found themselves being peltered by pila from both flanks, a slaughter house ensued as the roman soldiers charged into the centre, massacaring all who stood in their way. the hastati destroyed the small gallic wings, and circled round behind the enemy centre, completely encircling them. Mean while the enemy cavalry marched out of a side gate, trying to flank the roman forces. As they charged in many were cut down by the arrows of the sturdy sotaroas, before being charged by a unit of clyddabre swordsmen. Now the enemy cavalry was caught and the roman equites easily flanked them and decimated them form the rear. The gallic forces were annihilated, and the autonomous tribes of cisalpine gaul were finaly all under roman jurisdiction. seeing the decimation of the tribal army, the Aedui tribal army left the scene, not wanting to get involved in a war with Rome.
Now, the remenants of Phyrrus' army awaits in the south. Can Rome's might unify the entire peninsula, or while the strain of a protracted war be too much for this fledgling state?
aegean campaign...
background: things weren't looking well for the greek city states, rhodes was lost and the epirote/makedonian alliance besieged thermon and athenai. Soon the son of pyrrhos sent forth an emisary, offering status as a client state to the tired hellenes. Arokratos, a spartan and leader of the hellenic alliance gives in to this demand at the request of his athenian allies, and sees the joining of the league by Halicarnasos as a chance for future victories. The greeks take this chance to boost their economy, recovering from the loss of rhodes, before rebuilding their army, this time in the east. A young spartan, Damas Syrios, decides that he can best serve his home city in the east and so he brings a few units of ekdromoi and ikphratides hoplitai with him to halicarnasos. With a full stack army and some of the best equipped soldiers in the southern aegean, he sets forth quickly across seleucid territory with the ambition of persuading the city-state of pergamon to join the spartan cause. Upon arriving at the gates however, he is told to find shelter elsewhere, an order backed by a powerful veteran army. Rather than fight a battle against the odds when his soldiers are tired, Damas complies and heads north into Thrace. After crossing the lower strait, a messenger arrives from Byzantion. On the last campaigning season a large pontic army captured the city from the Hellenes. Enraged that the same peoples reponsible for the enslavement of Sinope and Trapezous would now cross the aegean, young Syrios made his move and quickly captured Byzantion from the pontic force. At this time, an athenian captain began a march through makedonia to reinforce the now somewhat depleted and technologically outdated garrison at Byzantion. Syrios took this time to study philosophy, an odd passion for a Spartan general. In the spring, the athenian force merged with Syrios and the hellenic army crossed the strait towards the pontic city of Nicomedia. Meanwhile, tensions were rising between the Epeirotes and their Makedonian allies. All along the borders, large armies faced off, and in answer to this, arokratos had his own army trained and made ready to defend the peleponnesus of necessary. Back in the north, Syrios raided Nicomedia before retreating from pontic forces and giving Byzantion to his allies the Ptolemies.
At this point Epeiros and Makedonia had engaged in full war and The Koinon Hellenon took this chance to declare independence and take up arms against the Epeirotes. After a year of hostilities, epeiros had taken sardika, tylis, and demetrias from makedonia, leaving only pella, mytilene and rhodes. Near byzantion, Syrios knew that something must be done to prevent the spread of the Epeirote forces which now controlled most of makedonia and southern italy. Quickly he lead his brave veterans against tylis and took control. At the same time epirus bribed Thermon, leaving arokratos to retake it before moving on demetrias. After a two year siege, Syrios and a large makedonian army managed to take tylis, which he offered to makedonia in order to keep his ally alive and also in return for their valiance against the epeirote elephants which might have slain the spartan general. He attacked Sardika next, but was turned back by a large epirote army. HE retreated quickly towards demetrias, recently taken by the Koinon, and an epirote army moved to besiege athens. Thermon was bribed but arokratos sent an athenian general to take it back (at the expense of demetrias), and an epirote army retreated from athens. It met up with Syrios on the aegean shore and drove him back towards pella, where he hoped the makedonian armies would defend his weakened army. Looking back, he realized that although he had now traveled around the entire aegean, not one mile of land was earned, nor were the epeirotes driven back yet. He knew that returning to corinth or thermon would allow him to retrain his army and perhaps claim the lands he had already earned, but if he was defeated by the epeirotes it would all be in vain. The only hope was that arokratos would send aid to him, but as large armies pushed towards him it seemed that perhaps it was all over. Who could know what the next spring would bring.
this has been the most fun campaign i've ever played. Thanls EB!
Wow mattholomew this looks like great campagne.
Please continue i am dying to know what will happen next.
ok, lordbula, here's the continuation of Damas Syrios' campaign around the aegean.
Things weren't going well for Damas Syrios, he had been away from home for nearly ten years, taking settlement after settlement but never holding a single inch of land for long. He had striven to return south to his home city, sparta, but at Demetrias he was turned back by a large Epeirote army. His small, weary band of soldiers was able to escape without battle, but now he was many miles away from home and dependent entirely on aid from the makedonian city of Pella. To the north, a large epirote army threatened him from sardika, and in the south, his adoptive brother and political rival Nikator the harsh (an athenian) was busy evaiding the much better equipped epirote armies and defending roads between greece and makedonia. In the east, the city state of halicarnasus was besieged by a powerful rebel army. Originally he had planned to flee eastwards, past byzantion, pergamon, and sardis, but rebels were now roaming freely among warring successor kingdoms. Ionia was no longer a safe haven. The makedonians allowed him to remain near pella for a time, but on the condition of military aid. Soon, a general named Alexanor Troikos attacked from Sardika with great military might, but with the help of Syrios, the makedonians were able to drive back the invasion. At the same time, Syrios recieved word that Pergamon had just fallen in a makedonian siege. Even more good news reached him, when a scout reported that Demetrias was now unguarded and Nikator just won a decisive battle at thermon. Quickly, Syrios rushed southward towards thermon, meeting Nikator in a mountain pass, and in the spring he reached thermon finally, joining up with a new army and re-training his verterans. Initially he had hoped to return to sparta for a visit to his family but it would not be so. Instead, he and nikator moved northwards into makedonia again, Nikator watched the pass towards ambrakia while Syrios besieged Demetrias. Nikator held the road for six months but finally a large epeirot army drove the greeks back. Nikator escaped towards thermon, but Syrios did not have the time to abandon the siege, and by the end of the spring he found a large epeirote army pushing him towards the city. The battle was long, and though he routed nearly all of his enemies, he was unable to defeat the city's garrison and retreated into attica for the summer months, avoiding his enemies and receiving a few ikphratides hoplites from Akrotatos back in Sparta. In the autumn he returned with the knowledge that winter snows would prevent any reinforcements to aid the small garrison at Demetrias. When the first frosts of winter swept in from the north, Syrios stood victorious in the city square. He looked outwards towards the aegean, towards ionia and the city of pergamon. Rhodos and Sardis lay there, the island of lesbos and the city of mytilene. The makedonians stole these lands from his people. Greek states which he would liberate, to the west Epeiros was weakened. The city of Ambrakia stood stong still, but in makedonia and italy they were weak. The greek cities would rise again. They had faced hard times but now his enemies in makedonia were weakened. Victory was near.