The Empire

The Empire
Rome: Total War
Europa Barbarorum 0.81a V2
First Cohorts, Night Battles and Recruitable Generals MiniMod
Money Script

After reading a number of AAR’s I’ve decided to give my own campaign a shot. I’m not sure if it’s going to be any good but I guess it’s worth a try. I am currently playing as the Romans in 137 BC. I have possession of the Italian peninsula, Spain, Greece, Gaul, Thrace, Moesia, Corsica and Sardinia. Below is a map of the state of the world in 137 BC according to my campaign. The following factions were vanquished either by myself or by the AI: Aedui, Arverni, Epeiros, Getai, Koinon Hellenon, Lusotannen, Pontos and Saka. Currently, the superpowers are Carthage, Baktria and Ptolemy’s. Macedonia, Phalava, Sweboz, Sauromatae and Hayasdan are managing. The Casse are immobile after conquering Britain. Astonishingly, the silver death (for the first time ever in any of my campaigns) has only one settlement and is at the mercy of Baktria. I’ve decided to start the AAR in the middle of this roman campaign, that way I have enough background information on my characters and their heritage. I am at peace with all factions except Macedonia, no allies. The story starts with the annexing of Asian Minor and the destruction of the Macedonians. So lets sit back relax and hopefully you’ll enjoy this.

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sounds good do you have house rules that you follow and can't wait for the first chapter

Date: Spring, 132 BC
Province: Macedonia
Settlement: Pella
Governor: Pvblivs Cipivs Cotta

Background Information

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Intro: The Macedonians has been pushed out of the Hellespont for a number of years now. Their king has been seeking refuge in Asia Minor and has been constantly raiding the surrounding roman provinces to no avail. It was the senate’s intention to deal with the Macedonians peacefully and diplomatically. Yet, they refuse to indulge. Therefore, the senate has decided to deal with the Macedonian menace in the only possible way: by declaring WAR. A special commission was bestowed on Consular Servivs Metilivs Asina to stop the Mac’s threat. Eight veteran legions (I to VIII) and two newly recruited legions (IX, X) gathered in Pella the former capital of Macedonia under the command of ten highly capable generals to discuss the upcoming foreign campaign.

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the story follows ....

Sounds nice. Could you list your house rules? And, do you think ten legions will be enough for Asia Minor?

it looks great but don't you think ten legions is a little too much :beam:
and could you post your house rules

House Rules

Once they come to age, all family members are sent to Roma. They work up the Cursus Honorum on their own. Once a family member attains the Ex-praetor trait he is either shipped to govern a province or if he has good command traits then he goes to lead an army.

If Rome gets crowded (and it does) then I send family members that are 30+ years to Athens to continue their education.

There are two governs in Spain, two in Gaul, one in Italian Gaul, one in Sardinia, one in Sicily, one in Pella, one in Italy and sometimes governors are sent to troubled provinces to keep them intact.

I use two units of Vigiles as garrison for all settlements. If public order drops then I hold either games or races or sometimes both.

I am currently at the Marian Reforms so my legions are composed of 9 cohors reformata 4 antesignani, 1 cohors prima and 1 cohors evocate. I use regional cavalry Germans in Germania, Gallic in Gaul etc.

At the end of autumn all legions are but into camp either within a city or within a fort unless they are besieging a settlement.

After pacifying a number of provinces I usually sit back and build a military base in one of the settlements to retrain my troops. Once the cohors pirma gets below 100 men the legion is shipped back to Italy to retrain in Rome. I hate merging units so I won’t merge unless I am forced too by the game.

Generals retire at the age of 60. Usually, I ship them to Rome for a year or two then send them out to govern a province. Note: 60 year old governors rarely come back from their retirement provinces.

I role play certain aspects of the game like who is commander-in-chief and who is second in command etc.

I rarely play battles on the map I usually use the auto-resolve. I take both defeat and victory.

I don’t keep a navy fleet in place I hire navies whenever I need too and disband them as soon as they serve their purpose.

I think that’s about it. But if I remember anymore of my rules then I’ll definitely add them here.

I think ten legions will do fine given that they are veteran soldiers with 2 to 3 golden chevrons. Actually only the first eight legions are veterans the last two only fought a few battles in Gaul. I’ll probably start conquering my eastern empire from Asia Minor so I’ll need all the help I could get. The plan is to attack the Macedonian holdings in Asian minor simultaneously. I’ll post the story shortly so stay tuned. :beam:

this may be a stupid question, but how did you get the numbers on the flags of your legions? is it some sort of mod or just done yourself in photoshop?

Gotta say i love the scrolls your using to show your screenshots, very nice!

Photoshop, I reckon.

Kemozz, if I can give one piece of advice, use your two new legions as much as possible. That will give them something interesting for their resumé.

Dear Brother,

I write to you from Pella the capital of Macedonia. The place where Megas Alexandros was born and started to conquer the world. I wonder if part of what I feel right now was part of what Alexandros felt when he started his conquest. I am not claiming that a mere Primus Pilus in the roman army could compare him self to Megas Alexandros but I just feel eager to explore the eastern side of our sea. I have never been that far eastwards. Certainly, as Primus Pilus the commanding centurion of the first cohort and the senior centurion of the entire second legion I’ve seen my share of wars. But they were always in the west. It would be intriguing brother to go east and see those ravish kings with their emeralds, pearls and gold. One can’t help think about his share of the bounty.

Anyway, I have finally found the answer to that question you always asked me in your letters. I admit it took me sometime to figure it out but I finally know the answer. The question was “why is it that I continue to serve in the army”, the answer my brother is quite simple. There is nothing else fit for me to do. I’ve been fighting in the 2nd for 20 years now. I have to admit that I was very lucky to serve under the command of some of Rome’s most esteemed generals. But after 20 years of training, fighting, marching, digging, bullying and killing I can’t simply roll up my kit turn and settle to farm for the rest of my life. I can’t do it or I won’t do it. I’d rather die in battle then spend the remaining days of my life getting soaked like a country bumpkin. As it happens “simple life” like you call it doesn’t cut it for me. I was born a warrior and I shall die a warrior. I hope that was an adequate answer.

But enough philosophy, I’ve been reading too much lately I am beginning to think there are reasons for everything. I think I’m growing a brain in side that thick skull of mine, you don’t become a Primus Pilus if you’re dumb now!!! Back to what’s important. As you know the senate has endowed a special command on Consular Servivs Metilivs Asina to deal with the run-away Macedonian king once and for all. So where is the run-away king I hear you ask, reports are coming that he has established himself a nice kingdom in Asia Minor other reports say that he has setup himself in a village near the Euxinus sea. But does that matter? Well the answer is yes and no.

But first let me tell you a small story about how our esteemed Consular Servivs got his special commission. As you know the three most influential families in Rome are the Scipio’s, Asina’s, Cotta’s and Blasio’s. The Scipio’and Blasio’s have long perished. However, the Scipio’s adopted a Libanivs a long time ago; of course, the Libanivs were a bunch of Patricivs nothings before being adopted but ever since their star has been rising. When word arrived that the Macedonians have regrouped after being thrown out of Greece some years ago our Princips Senatus decided to go on a field visit to Byzantion our closest border with Bythnia and our passage to Asia Minor. His mission was to find the truth about these Macedonian insurrections and to deal with them peacefully and diplomatically. I don’t know what happened in Byzantion but it must have been terrible. Our Princips Senatus returned to Rome full of fear and advised that senate to take action and take it quickly for the Macedonian threat was real and perilous. After a few sessions, Domitivs Ligvstinivs Libanivs Consular and nephew of the great Decimvs Cordivs Libanivs took the floor and started advocating the job to his great uncle. But there was a problem. Decimvs has been in Rome for almost two years but has been rarely seen in the forum or attending the senates meetings. Consular Servivs, being a great military man himself, always regarded Decimvs as his adversary and made sure to track Decimvs every move. It struck him as unusal for a great general like Decimvs, who was awarded with an infantry commander of genius award to hide from the public eye. So Servivs turned to ask his beloved brother Nvmerivs (a close friend of Decimvs, both were of similar age) about the well being of the great Decimvs. Naturally, Nvmerivs didn’t want to disclose any information but under the persistent nagging of his older brother Nvmerivs gave in and admitted that Decimvs health has been frail. After promising not to disclose this information to any one Servivs left his brothers companionship to find the companionship of the Malchvs cousins. Servivs promised the Malchvs a legatus position in his Asia Minor campaign if only the cousins agreed to spread the tale about Decimvs health to the senate backbenchers and some of the ever strong Cotta Consular’s. So in the next meeting Domitivs delivered a very long speech about how his great uncle Decimvs risked his life in Gaul and Germania for the sake of the republic, Domitivs asked the senate to commission the eradication of Macedonia to his uncle. Domitivs asked for division and a few minutes later a stunned Domitivs watched the entire senate opposing his commission. No one doubted Decimvs military ability but what Domitivs didn’t know was that every single senator was now aware of Decimvs health condition.

More pictures! And if you could avoid wall of text, it would be much better.

Also, why do you add "consular" after some of the names? I don't think they were called that. If you would show rank, the correct way would be "Consul Cotta" for example.

thanks for the advice Warmaster Horus, i promise to keep it short :2thumbsup: this is my first take so its bound to be a bit clumsy i'll play a few turns today and post some more screen shots later on

i add consular because the character is no longer a Consul but an Ex-consul. Currently, i have no consuls but ex-consuls and ex-praetors.

i'll take your advice with regard to using the newly recuited legions i need to put some golden chevrons on thier shoulders.

Caesar89, i used photoshop for all my images.

The esteemed Princeps Senatus has passed away. The house is now lead by a member of the august Asina family.

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The fleet sails from Pella to Asia Minor under the command of Consular Servivs Metilivs Asina and his brother.

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The macedonian kingdom in Asia Minor was sieged according to the previous plan

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All battles resulted in a victorious win for the roman legions. attacking all the macedonian settlements in the same instance cripples thier ability to counterattack and renders any attempt to recapture the settlement useless. plus now asia minor has 10 fully trained roman legions.

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the wonders of Asia Minor are now the property of ROME

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Congratulations, that's a manly start!

Phew! That screenshot of 10 legions besieging Asia Minor is quite a sight. Imagine being in the Macs' position and seeing an AI faction do that. Surely it would be a bowel-weakening sight.

I do think 10 legions is a little excessive though if you want any kind of challenge, but I suppose it is befitting of Rome to be crushing its enemies excessively. What difficulty are you playing?

I personally would only send one or two stacks, even if i could afford 10, although I can definitely see the immense joy that conquering half a sub-continent in one fell swoop must bring.

I love the photoshop work. This is a very good-looking AAR! Keep it up.

After securing the coast, reconnaissance revealed a large Macedonian force near the town of Ipsos.

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The IV, VII and VIII were dispatched to deal with the Macedonian mercenaries at Ipsos, which resulted in a significant victory for the roman forces.

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The Macedonian heir retreated into Ipsos with the remnants of his forces. The roman generals decided to besiege Ipsos and put an end to the Macedonian insurrection in Asia Minor. However, no word has yet arrived regarding the whereabouts of the Macedonian king.

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hey Laevex, thanks for checking this AAR out. i too believe that 10 legions are excessive but i am planning to conquer the east so it'll be a few more years before these ten legions go back.

i play on vary hard campiagn & median battles. i hardly play battles on the map unless the AI has put together something really neat. or the odds are against me. i role play a lot and keep moving my governors around. I am not so sure i'll continue this AAR its not turning out to be as interesting as i thought it would, but i did post a new update.

anyway, thanks for the comments guys.